I have a starter system for sale for way less than what I paid for it and I maybe used it 5 times. Not sure on PC shops to learn more I would say YouTube is your friend and so is message boards

Also will give you a ton of extra parts as I am down sizing

There's an upcycle/recycle store over on w chestnut expy, you can go there to see if they have anything worth getting. I got a (admittedly slightly old, 2016 spec but perfectly adequate for most games that arent super demanding) pc for gaming there for $200

I've used PC Pros satisfactorily. They're a repair shop, but I think they sell new units also.

1339 S Glenstone Ave, Springfield, MO 65804

Does computer hospital sell desk tops? Or is that manly a repair shop? Just curious

Anything stopping you from just building your own? It's usually the most bang for your buck.

Which Linux distros are you gonna start with? I always loved Slackware and SuSE. Which is OpenSuSE now. Debian was fun, and so was Gentoo. My favorites lately are Kali and Mint.

if i had to guess its the same reason im hesitant, never done it myself before and knowing me id fuck something up and break more shit trynna take it apart to see whats wrong etc 😂

Computer innovations is small and local(I believe) they are super friendly and will help with anything you need.

What are the system specs? Might be willing to take it off your hands.

Oh I like this. Their website says they were a chain that became independent. That's cool.

I don't really know. I intend to try a few before settling down with something relatively privacy focus. Tbh a meaningful portion of my motivation for this purchase is to have a new machine for my annual darkweb adventure to get acid. I'm out, and my birthday and Mardi Gras are both potentially great acid holidays. (And I'd never buy anything as potent as acid from someone without at least years of reviews, so I don't ever buy that local. I usually look for one of a small handful of specific vendors.)

I'm not looking for anything serious or that would strain my budget. I'm looking for something basic to play around and learn Linux on that'll order me some acid. I'd rather start a positive relationship with a local professional who will know the machine and can help me if I get in over my head learning and experimenting.

They do seem to sell according to their Facebook. But they don't seem to have a stand alone website, and their facebook says the owner is injured and will be out for a while. It says to call to make sure they're open. I'll remember the name.

Noted.

It's an Asus tough branded motherboard b450 I believe AM 4 + socket, it's a ryzen CPU 5300m it's Dell variant with a onboard graphics, gigabyte 850 power supply, 16 gigs of RAM from Corsair with RGB, a hyper 212 CPU cooler,

How much are you looking for? I'd consider it, but I probably can't pull the trigger until next payday. I do love RGB as a meme >_> And spare parts to practice mixing and matching is tempting.

The extra parts are just left overs from the Dell box they aren't actually that useful unless you put something else in it. Extra SATA cables and stuff like that nothing big I do have a spare motherboard that I was going to throw in this as well I don't know if it works I think it just needs an update and you can throw an AMD socket in that b**** . Also I vaguely remember leaving the extra ram from the Dell PC in this

I was selling it for 450 but I'm looking for just 400

I saw PC Pros recommended, and I absolutely have to second that! I've never bought a PC from them, but I had my laptop repaired by them, and they were extremely helpful and nice. They truly went above and beyond in terms of repair service, so I have no doubt that purchasing directly from them would be a similar experience.

Understandable :)

Lol same. I'm about to build my own and I'm pretty nervous going off of YouTube tutorials. Thankfully I'm friends with a genius who builds his own gaming computers to guide me through it, should I get hung up on something.

Yeah I’ll second that. Had to take mine in because I couldn’t diagnose it myself after weeks of trying. Guys there were incredibly polite and helpful. Went above and beyond.

drive up to STL or KC and go to Micro Center itll be worth the trip

I worked there mid-pandemic. That's true and they do good work.