HP 6500, Core i5-6500, 16GB, 512GB SSD, GTX 750 Ti

The HP 6500 is a refurbished budget tower that handles light work and older games fine, but its ancient CPU and GPU hold it back hard. The SSD and 16GB of RAM make it feel snappy for everyday tasks, and at $390 it's not a bad deal for non-demanding use. Just don't buy it expecting a real gaming PC, and be aware that some units have reliability issues.

The i5-6500 sits at the 8th percentile in our CPU database, which is a polite way of saying it's one of the weakest processors we track right now. The GTX 750 Ti lands at the 56th percentile, so it's about average for budget cards, but that's not saying much in 2024. The 16GB of RAM is solid for multitasking, though it ranks in the 33rd percentile overall. Storage is a 512GB SSD at the 31st percentile, which is fine for boot times and everyday use but tight if you want a big game library. Real-world performance matches the specs: quick boots, smooth office work, and playable frame rates on older or less demanding games. Modern AAA titles will choke.

Stacked against the competition, the HP 6500 struggles. The Lenovo Legion 90YA003GUS offers far better gaming performance with modern components. The Apple Mac mini M4 absolutely demolishes this thing in CPU performance and efficiency, though it costs more and runs macOS. The Minisforum DeskMini UM880 Plus and GMKtec Nucbox K8 Plus are both tiny mini PCs that outperform the HP 6500 in most tasks while taking up a fraction of the space. The Dell Tower Desktop ECT1250 is probably the closest competitor in terms of form factor and price, and it's a safer bet for reliability. The HP 6500's only real advantage is that it's cheap and includes a discrete GPU, even if that GPU is ancient.

At $390 USD, this is a tough call. You're getting a working Windows 11 Pro machine with an SSD, 16GB of RAM, and a discrete GPU for under $400, which isn't nothing. But you're also buying a refurbished system with a CPU that's nearly a decade old and a graphics card that was mid-range when it launched in 2014. The value depends entirely on your expectations. For light office work, web browsing, and older games, it's a reasonable deal. For anything more demanding, you'd be better off saving up for something newer.

The HP 6500 is a refurbished tower that tries to pass itself off as a gaming rig, mostly thanks to some RGB lights and a bundled keyboard. Under the hood it's a 6th-gen Intel i5, a GTX 750 Ti, 16GB of DDR4, and a 512GB SSD. That's a fine recipe for a budget office PC, but calling it a gaming desktop is a stretch in 2024.

What it actually does well is light work and older games. The SSD makes Windows 11 Pro boot fast, and the 750 Ti can still handle esports titles and stuff from a few years back at modest settings. Just don't expect to fire up anything modern and demanding.

Skip this if you want to play modern games, do any serious content creation, or need a machine you can rely on for years. The CPU is nearly a decade old, the GPU can't handle current titles, and some units have failed completely after months of use. If reliability matters, spend a bit more on something newer like the Dell Tower Desktop ECT1250 or a mini PC from Minisforum or GMKtec.

This is a budget office PC wearing a gaming costume. If you need a cheap Windows 11 machine for schoolwork, light office tasks, or older games like CS:GO, League of Legends, or Minecraft, the HP 6500 will get the job done. The SSD and 16GB of RAM make everyday use feel snappy, and the quiet operation is a nice bonus. But if you're hoping to play anything released in the last few years, or if you need a machine you can count on for years to come, look elsewhere. The reliability concerns from some owners are a real red flag.