Aspire TC-895 Future proof budget PC?

caldoom

Hi, with especially GPU prices and availability being crazy, I am looking for an entry level gaming PC for my son.
I am currently looking at at an Acer Aspire TC-895, which seems to be fairly OK specced. It looks like this:

• Intel® Core™ i5-10400F-prosessor
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
• 8 GB RAM (DDR4, 2666 MHz) and 512 GB M.2 SSD
• 500W PSU

For now, this will be sufficient for gaming - and for the price it seems to be a real bargain. Especially taken into the consideration that GPU.
A plus is the PSU at 500W (vs 300W or less I see in other variations of the same model), but I also see that it is often a minimum for better GPUs.
I also read elsewhere that the size of the graphics card is preventing usage of the other PCI slot. But that is not such a big concern, looking as what my kid will be using this PC, just gaming.

Here is what I found related to motherboard, I assume that is it fairly similar to this: https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/623782/looking-for-the-motherboard-manual-for-a-tc-895-eb11/p1
Also, while I have not found a photo from inside a rig with 1660s, I guess this is similar (but without GPU): https://au.pcmag.com/old-desktop-pcs/85864/acer-aspire-tc-895-ua91  

• How will it be a couple of years down the line - is it just a brick of metal to be trashed?
• Does it seem viable to fit a better GPU in it, like a 3060 dual mini or an equal AMD GPU?
• The MB, will it do? Then not thinking of replacing it
• Any other concerns?

All inputs appreciated 

Thread was edited to add model name to the title

Leostat

Ram may need increasing to 16GB as 8GB can be skirting it, for most games tis fine at the moment but in the future 16 gives you a bit more wiggle room,

General specs wise, it will last a while if its paired with a 1080p monitor, you should be getting a 50-60 FPS average with settings cranked. You may have an issue changing the card down the line as there is a mettal shroud on the inside, reviews suggest that it limits the height of the card. Not impossible to do though, just when you come to buy a new one in a few years, make sure to check the height!

Changing the motherbaord wouldnt be recomended, most of them are odd shaped / use a differnt power connector (ATX12Vo), so if you wanted to do that, you would either want a custom build, or a OEM one which uses standard ATX . ATX 12V is an offical standard, and its actually better as its much more power efficent / better for the enviroment. But many manufacturer's are not adopting it (probably due to the increased cost over "normal" power delivery)

caldoom

Can anyone confirm if the 500w PSU used in TC-895 is Lite-On PA-4501-1AC? I saw a Nitro with the same PSU set up with a 3060 TI, which indicates that it should work then - given that the card will actually fit in terms of space, that is.

https://ikt-nordic.no/produkt/acer-nitro-n50-610

billsey

There are two different 500W supplies that might be installed, the Lite-On or a Chicony. Other than the manufacturer the specs are identical.

Larryodie

I'm not a gamer but own a TC-895-UA92 with 12GB of ram which is plenty for my use as rarely that I see 50% used in Task Manager.
My opinion is that the TC-895 was not made to be a gaming machine unless you want to invest loads of money to convert.
Look at Newegg , Tiger Direct or any other supplier while searching on gaming computers

Larryodie

To my knowledge all of the TC-895 uses the PA-2301-3AC 300 Watt Power Supply.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q18KvKpxdI

caldoom

Larryodie said:

To my knowledge all of the TC-895 uses the PA-2301-3AC 300 Watt Power Supply.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q18KvKpxdI

It seems to be a lot of different specs the TC-895, some without dedicated GPU, some with GeForce cards, in my case 1660 super and even one with 3060. And with different PSUs.
In the end I decided to go with the deal, as my sons budget is limited, and this was on sale. Building within the same budget is impossible, especially since the prices of GPUs are crazy - if you are lucky to get one even in the range you want. I will update this post once we have the PC in house (some delivery time). 

billsey

Yes, there are actually seven different PSUs, three sizes and three manufacturers. 180W, 300W and 500W, Lite-On, Chicony and FSP. The TC-895 model series has a lot of different SKUs in a lot of different locales. I believe in most cases the 180W SKUs have no external GPU, the 300W models have the lower end GPU and the 500W models have the higher end GPU.

Larryodie

Cool. Good Luck. Could you possibly post a link to the 1660 super that you've bought ?

Larryodie

This may help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hBqwFTtvYY

Leostat

I think the model comes with the 1660 installed, it isnt an after market purchase