HP 800 G2 2016, Core i5-6500, 16GB, 1TB SSD, GT1030

The HP 800 G2 is a refurbished tower desktop with a 1TB SSD, 16GB of RAM, and a GT 1030 GPU for around $402 USD. It's a snappy everyday PC for browsing, office work, and light esports, but the aging i5-6500 CPU and weak GPU hold it back. If you want to play modern games, look elsewhere.

Let's talk numbers. The i5-6500 is a 4-core chip from 2015, and in our database it lands in the 9th percentile for CPUs in this category. That's rough. It'll handle web browsing, Office apps, and video streaming without much drama, but it's going to show its age in anything CPU-heavy. The 16GB of DDR4 RAM sits around the 32nd percentile, which is fine for everyday multitasking but nothing to brag about.

The GT 1030 with 2GB of VRAM is the real story here. It's a discrete GPU, so it beats integrated graphics, but it's a low-end card from 2017. Expect playable frame rates in games like League of Legends, CS2 at low settings, or older AAA titles. Don't expect Cyberpunk 2077 to run well, if at all. The 1TB SSD is the highlight, landing in the 57th percentile for storage. Boot times and app launches will feel snappy, which makes the whole system feel faster than it actually is.

Stacked against the Apple Mac mini M4, this thing looks like a museum piece. The Mac mini's M4 chip absolutely demolishes the i5-6500 in every metric, and it does it while sipping power. But the Mac mini costs significantly more, and it's not a gaming machine either. The Lenovo Yoga AIO F0J20012US is an all-in-one, so it's a different form factor entirely, but its modern CPU and integrated graphics will feel snappier in daily use.

The more interesting comparisons are the Minisforum UM760 Slim and the GMKtec Nucbox K8 Plus. Both are compact mini PCs with much newer processors and better integrated graphics than the GT 1030 in some workloads. They lack the HP's discrete GPU and tower expandability, but for everyday performance and even light gaming, they're simply more modern machines. The Dell Tower Desktop ECT1250 is probably the closest direct competitor, another refurbished business tower, and it's worth checking what CPU and GPU it ships with before pulling the trigger on the HP.

At $402 USD, the HP 800 G2 is priced like a budget office PC that someone slapped a GPU into. The 1TB SSD and 16GB of RAM add real value, and Windows 11 Pro is a nice bonus. But you're paying for old silicon. For similar money, a used Dell or Lenovo tower with a newer CPU and a better GPU would be a smarter buy if you can find one. The Minisforum UM760 Slim and GMKtec Nucbox K8 Plus are both mini PCs that offer far better CPU performance in the same ballpark, though you'd give up the discrete GPU. If you just need a reliable desktop for school or office work, this is fine. If you want to game, keep saving.

The HP 800 G2 is a refurbished business tower that's been given a budget gaming makeover. You're looking at an Intel Core i5-6500, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a 1TB SSD, and an NVIDIA GT 1030 with 2GB of VRAM. It ships with Windows 11 Pro, which is a nice touch for a machine this old. At around $402 USD, it sits in that tempting 'cheap enough to gamble on' price bracket.

People searching for a budget gaming desktop or a cheap office PC will keep running into this thing. And honestly, it's a mixed bag. The 1TB SSD is genuinely useful, and 16GB of RAM means you won't choke on browser tabs. But the CPU is ancient by modern standards, and the GT 1030 was never meant for serious gaming.

So is the HP 800 G2 good for gaming? Light esports and older titles, sure. Anything modern and demanding, not really. It's better understood as a snappy everyday desktop that can dabble in games, not a gaming rig that happens to be cheap.

Skip the HP 800 G2 if you want to play modern games at anything above low settings. The GT 1030 and i5-6500 simply can't keep up, and you'd be better off saving for a used system with a GTX 1650 or RX 580. Content creators and streamers should also look elsewhere, the CPU will choke on video editing and encoding. If you need a compact, quiet machine, the Minisforum UM760 Slim or GMKtec Nucbox K8 Plus are better fits. And if you're buying for long-term reliability, a refurbished tower this old is always a bit of a gamble.

Should you buy the HP 800 G2? If you need a cheap Windows 11 desktop for web browsing, office work, or school, and you want the snappiness of a 1TB SSD and 16GB of RAM, it's a reasonable buy at $402 USD. The tower form factor gives you room to add storage or swap parts later, which is nice.

But if gaming is your goal, even light gaming, you should think twice. The GT 1030 and i5-6500 combo is a dead end. You'll be turning settings down to low on anything recent, and some newer games won't run acceptably at all. For the same money, a used system with a GTX 1650 or better would be a much smarter entry point. This is a fine office PC that can play old games, not a gaming PC that can do office work.