HP 800 G2, Core i7-6700, 16GB, 1TB SSD, Black

The HP 800 G2 is a refurbished business tower with a 1TB SSD and 16GB of RAM that handles basic office work fine for around $301 USD. The Intel Core i7-6700 is nearly a decade old and ranks in the 16th percentile of our CPU database, so don't expect much beyond everyday tasks. It's a decent budget desktop if you need Windows now, but there are better options if you can spend a bit more.

Let's be real about the i7-6700. It was a solid chip in its day, but that day was nearly a decade ago. In our database it lands in the 16th percentile for desktop CPUs, which means it's slower than the vast majority of processors we've tested. For basic office work, web browsing, email, and light multitasking, it's fine. You won't be waiting forever for Chrome to open, especially with that 1TB SSD doing the heavy lifting on load times.

The Intel HD 530 integrated graphics are a weird case. They rank in the 97th percentile for GPUs in our database, but that's because most desktops in this category ship with no discrete GPU at all. So yes, it's technically near the top, but that's like being the tallest kid in kindergarten. You're not playing modern games on this thing. The 48GB of VRAM listed is shared system memory, not dedicated graphics memory, so don't get excited.

16GB of DDR4 RAM is workable for a budget office machine. It's below average compared to newer desktops, but it's enough to keep a dozen browser tabs and a few Office apps running without constant swapping. The 1TB SSD is the real performance hero here. It's middle of the pack in our storage rankings, but going from a spinning hard drive to an SSD is the single biggest quality-of-life upgrade any old PC can get.

Stacked against the Dell Tower Desktop ECT1250, the HP 800 G2 is in a similar boat. Both are refurbished business towers aimed at budget buyers, and both lean on older Intel silicon. The Dell tends to come with newer processor options, which gives it an edge in raw CPU performance. The HP's 1TB SSD is a nice touch, but the Dell often ships with similar storage at a comparable price.

Against the Apple Mac mini M4, there's no contest. The Mac mini's M4 chip is in a completely different universe of performance and efficiency. The HP 800 G2 is for people who need Windows and have a hard $300 budget. The Mac mini is for people who want a fast, quiet, modern desktop and are willing to pay for it. The Minisforum DeskMini UM880 Plus and ASUS NUC 14 Pro are also far more modern machines with much better CPUs and actual GPU performance, though they cost more. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M70q Gen 5 is the closest competitor in spirit, a compact business desktop, but it's newer and faster while also being more expensive. If you're comparing the HP 800 G2 to any of these, the HP only wins on price.

At $301 USD, the HP 800 G2 is cheap, but cheap doesn't always mean good value. You're getting a 1TB SSD and 16GB of RAM, which are genuinely useful specs for a budget office PC. The problem is that the CPU is ancient, and you're buying a refurbished machine with no real warranty story beyond the retailer's promise. For the same money, you might find a used Dell or Lenovo with a newer processor, or you could stretch a bit and look at a mini PC like the Minisforum DeskMini UM880 Plus, which absolutely crushes this thing in performance per dollar. If your budget is hard-capped at $300 and you need a Windows machine today, it's not a terrible buy. But if you can save a little longer, there are much better options.

The HP 800 G2 is a refurbished business tower that keeps showing up in the budget desktop market, usually around $301 USD. It's an old office workhorse from HP's enterprise lineup, now getting a second life with a 1TB SSD, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and Windows 11 Pro slapped on. The Intel Core i7-6700 inside is a 4-core chip from 2015, and the graphics are Intel HD 530 integrated, so nobody's mistaking this for a gaming rig.

What you're really getting here is a cheap, expandable Windows machine for everyday tasks. The tower form factor means there's actual room inside for upgrades, and the 8 USB-A ports plus DisplayPort give you decent connectivity for an older box. If you're searching for a budget home office PC or a cheap desktop for web browsing and document work, this fits the bill on paper.

But the age shows. The CPU sits in the 16th percentile of our database, which is rough. The RAM is also below average at the 33rd percentile. The one bright spot in the specs is that 1TB SSD, which makes the system feel snappier than the processor alone would suggest.

Skip the HP 800 G2 if you do any gaming, video editing, 3D modeling, or heavy multitasking. The integrated Intel HD 530 graphics and aging i7-6700 will frustrate you quickly. It's also not a great choice if you want a compact or quiet machine, since the tower case takes up real desk space and older HP business towers aren't known for silent operation. If you need USB-C ports or modern connectivity like Thunderbolt, look elsewhere. For gamers on a budget, a used gaming PC with a discrete GPU will serve you far better. For office users who can spend more, the Lenovo ThinkCentre M70q Gen 5 or a Minisforum mini PC will give you dramatically better performance in a smaller package.

Should you buy the HP 800 G2? If you need a basic Windows desktop for web browsing, email, document editing, and light office work, and your budget is firmly around $300 USD, it'll get the job done. The 1TB SSD and 16GB of RAM mean it won't feel as sluggish as you'd expect from a 2015-era processor. The tower case also gives you room to add a cheap graphics card or more storage later, which is a real plus.

But if you have any flexibility in your budget, save up. The i7-6700 is old enough that it'll start feeling slow the moment you push it with heavier multitasking, and the integrated graphics rule out gaming, video editing, and anything GPU-intensive. This is a stopgap machine, not a long-term investment. For a kid's first computer or a spare office box, it's fine. For anything more, look elsewhere.