# Sean's PC + PS3 Streaming Brief Prepared 2026-08-20. Budget: $500 target, $600 hard ceiling, shipped. ## PASTE-THIS CONTEXT FOR AN AI ASSISTANT If you are an AI reading this on Sean's behalf: this file is the full dataset behind the recommendations. Prices are stamped 2026-08-20 and go stale fast — tell Sean to re-check anything before he buys. Confidence tags are load-bearing: VERIFIED = pulled from a live source on that date. DOCUMENTED = widely attested, not directly loaded. INFERRED = reasoning, not a measurement. ## ABOUT THE BUYER — READ THIS BEFORE ADVISING HIM Sean is **not technically experienced with PC hardware**. Pitch explanations accordingly: - Do NOT assume he can identify a graphics card model from a photo, read a spec sheet, or diagnose a faulty part. - Installing a graphics card is within reach with guidance, but it is a real task for him, not a triviality. Never describe it as "just pop one in." - Warranties, return windows, and buy-it-shipped convenience have GENUINE value to him and should be weighted accordingly — not dismissed as a beginner's crutch. - He has a technically experienced friend who can help evaluate used listings. Buying used is viable WITH that help and risky without it. Ask which situation applies before recommending a route. - When he describes a listing or a machine, ask for the exact CPU and GPU model names rather than expecting him to have judged them already. ## THE GOAL - Play PC games from roughly 2010-2015 at 1080p - Stream to Twitch/YouTube via OBS at 1080p60 — this is a REQUIREMENT, not a nice-to-have - Capture PlayStation 3 gameplay into OBS via a USB capture device - PS3 must also still show on a TV - Daily-driver use as well as gaming - Must be upgradeable later (in practice: standard ATX power supply + room for a full-height, dual-slot graphics card) - Monitor + keyboard + mouse only if bundled; otherwise bought separately (Sean plans to use Facebook Marketplace for the monitor) ## THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF CONTEXT [VERIFIED] There is a global DRAM/NAND shortage in 2026 driven by AI datacenter demand. It has repriced this entire question. - DDR5 contract prices rose 90-95% in Q1 2026 — the largest single-quarter rise on record (TrendForce) - A 16GB DDR5 kit is around $281; 32GB runs $380-589 - A Kingston NV3 500GB NVMe SSD is $119.99; 1TB is $150 - Average 2TB NVMe went from $169 to $358 (+114%) since November 2025 (GamersNexus) - MSI guided investors to 15-30% gaming hardware price rises across 2026 - AMD raised Radeon kit prices at least 10% effective August 2026 - No analyst forecasts relief before late 2027 Consequence: RAM and storage alone are about $380, which is 76% of a $500 budget. [VERIFIED] TechGuided has STOPPED updating its "$500 gaming PC" build guide, calling it "nearly impossible" and now recommending $1,000+. [VERIFIED] Gizmodo (Feb 2026) found a ~$1,000 build now costs ~$1,300 new — but the author still hit $500 by buying secondhand. CONCLUSION: In August 2026, buying NEW at $500 is poor value. The used/local market is not the budget compromise — it is the only route that actually delivers a streaming-capable machine at this price. Sean is already comfortable with Facebook Marketplace, which works in his favor. ## WHAT ACTUALLY DRIVES THE SPEC (and what does not) [INFERRED, from well-established principles] 1. The games are NOT the constraint. 2010-2015 titles at 1080p are light work for any GPU from the last several generations. Do not overspend on raw GPU power. 2. Modern GPUs encode video on DEDICATED silicon (NVIDIA NVENC, Intel QuickSync, AMD VCN). Streaming therefore costs very little game performance. What matters is the ENCODER GENERATION, not the GPU's frame-rate class. A cheaper card with a newer encoder beats a faster card with an older one for this use case. 3. "Upgradeable" cashes out to exactly two things: a STANDARD ATX POWER SUPPLY and a case big enough for a full-height, dual-slot graphics card. A slim office box with a proprietary power supply is an upgrade dead end regardless of its CPU. 4. 16GB of RAM is the real floor. Game + OBS + browser + chat on 8GB is where stutter comes from. ## RULED OUT, WITH REASONS ### Dell Direct — dead end [VERIFIED] - Dell sells ZERO new gaming desktops between $400 and $700. The cheapest machine in Dell's gaming category is the Alienware Aurora at $1,849.99. - Dell G-series desktop: DISCONTINUED (refurbished only). XPS desktop: DISCONTINUED. Inspiron desktop: brand RETIRED. - Every in-band Dell (Slim ECS1250 $649.99, Slim DS1265 $679.99, Tower DT1265 $729.99, Tower ECT1250 $749.99) ships a 180W PROPRIETARY power supply whose connectors are a 4-pin CPU plug and an 8-pin board plug — NOT a standard 24-pin ATX plug. There is NO PCIe graphics power connector at all. - The Slim models are 95mm wide with ALL expansion slots half-height. A full-height dual-slot graphics card is physically impossible in them. - All four have ZERO free M.2 slots; the boot drive occupies the only one. - Dell's own support forum states a standard ATX supply "runs high risk of damaging motherboard." - Even Dell's factory 360W upgrade ships WITHOUT graphics power cables. - The Tower ECT1250 spec sheet advertises RTX 3050/4060 options and a 360W supply, but the live US configurator offers only "Intel UHD Graphics" and the string "360W" appears nowhere on the page. Not orderable. - Cheapest genuinely GPU-capable Dell is the Tower Plus EBT2250 at $1,049.99 — and even that base configuration has integrated graphics. ### Intel Arc graphics — wrong card for this library [VERIFIED] Current prices: A580 $199.99 / A750 $209.99 / B570 $259.99 / B580 $309.99 (Newegg, in stock). The A750 is the only card trading below MSRP, because it is discontinued and Intel is clearing channel stock. But: - Arc runs DirectX 9 and DirectX 11 through a TRANSLATION LAYER costing roughly 10-15% performance, and that cost is CPU-side. Intel's major DX9/DX11 driver work dates to 2023; nothing comparable has shipped since. - A September 2025 B570 review lists "compatibility issues with pre-2018 titles" as an explicit reason to skip the card. - Resizable BAR is MANDATORY, not optional. Without it the card is capped to a 256MB VRAM aperture, producing 30-40% performance swings. It also requires UEFI boot mode and a GPT-partitioned disk — a real trap on older business desktops. - No low-profile version of the A580, A750, B570, or B580 exists. All are full-height dual-slot. - The Arc B770 was CANCELLED in February 2026 and no consumer Celestial cards are planned. Nothing new is coming to the $150-280 band. Sean's entire 2010-2015 library is DirectX 9 and 11. Arc fights its own worst case. SKIP. ### New-parts self-build — does not fit [VERIFIED] - Ryzen 5 8600G APU build prices out at $742.57, about $790 landed with Connecticut's 6.35% sales tax. That is $240 over the stretch ceiling. - Cutting to a SATA SSD gets it to $685.57 (~$729 landed). Still over. - An Intel i3-12100 on LGA1700 with DDR4 fits at $455.49 (~$484 landed) — but the UHD 730 integrated graphics (24 execution units) is a weak gaming part. That build fits the budget by giving up the GPU, and needs a used graphics card added, which pushes it back over budget. - Ryzen AI 400 "Gorgon Point" APUs are OEM-only, not sold as boxed chips, so the 8000G series remains the current DIY generation. ## LIVE CONNECTICUT LISTINGS FOUND (Craigslist, 2026-08-20) [VERIFIED] New Haven area — the best budget signal: - Gaming PC, NVIDIA + Intel + 16GB RAM — $345 (Woodbridge) - Gaming PC, RTX 2070 + Ryzen 7 + 16GB + NZXT case — $585 (Woodbridge) Hartford area: - AMD RX 6600 8GB graphics card — $200 (New Britain) - Corsair 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 — $60 (Meriden) [vs $129-239 new — used RAM is real arbitrage now] - Dell 22" monitor $25; Dell P2412H 24" $35 - HP Mini i5/i7-6700 $100; OptiPlex 7060 Micro $300 - Other gaming PCs $750-900 (Manchester, Unionville) — overpriced, skip Market note: volume is THIN. Only about 3 gaming PCs listed in Hartford, about 13 in New Haven. Sean should expect to wait for the right listing rather than buy the first one. Local retail notes: - There is NO Micro Center in Connecticut. Nearest is Yonkers, NY, roughly 70-80 miles from Torrington [distance INFERRED, not verified with a routing source]. - PCs for People does not serve Connecticut. - No Connecticut-based off-lease refurbisher was found. ## BUYABLE MACHINES — checked live 2026-08-20 [VERIFIED] ### Headline finding At $600, NEW IS DEAD. Best Buy's cheapest new gaming tower with any discrete GPU is $649.99 (Blackout Eclipse V3, RX 580 — old VCE encoder, WORSE for streaming than the $500 refurbs). Newegg's cheapest NEW RTX 3050 prebuilt is $999.99. The answer at this budget is refurbished, unambiguously. This is not a compromise; buying new here is the bad trade. ### RANKED — all arrive assembled with GPU installed Prices are sticker; "landed" adds CT 6.35% sales tax. Shipping free unless noted. 1. **TOP PICK — STGAubron RTX 2060 — $499.99 (landed ~$532)** https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRL6XHKW Core i5 (exact model NOT disclosed), RTX 2060 6GB, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Win 11, WiFi 6, KB+M. Ships from Amazon (FBA) · free 30-day returns · 1 year parts & labour · GPU pre-installed. Fastest GPU in the band + easiest returns. Caveat: PSU brand/wattage undisclosed, likely generic. 2. **BUDGET — STGAubron GTX 1660 Ti — $488.68 (landed ~$520)** https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVBWRTGH Core i7, GTX 1660 Ti 6GB, 16GB, 512GB SSD, Win 11. FBA · 30-day · 1yr. Only 7 in stock. ~10% behind #1. A prominent review criticises the no-name PSU and cooling. 3. **Dell Precision 3630 — GTX 1660 Super — $509.99 (landed ~$542)** https://www.bestbuy.com/product/dell-precision-tower-3630-gaming-pc--intel-i7-8th--16gb-ddr4-ram--512gb-ssd--nvidia-gtx-1660s--k-m--wifi--win11pro-black/J3GWJ4L3CF/sku/12206570 i7 8th gen (best-named CPU here), 16GB, 512GB SSD, Win 11 Pro, KB+M. Refurbished Excellent. SOLD BY A THIRD-PARTY on Best Buy Marketplace (seller id 2088, name unverified). GAPS: return window and warranty length COULD NOT BE VERIFIED — Best Buy blocks page fetches. The URL itself is also UNVERIFIED (bestbuy.com blocks all automated access, homepage included). Fallback: search item number 12206570 on bestbuy.com. Marketplace returns are seller-set, often 15 days. Sean must read the terms on the page. PSU inferred proprietary Dell → treat as non-upgradeable. 4. **BEST UPGRADE PATH — AI&GAMEPC GTX 1660 Super — $569.99 (landed ~$606)** https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GQGBPZND i7-4790 (2014 Haswell), GTX 1660 Super 6GB, 16GB, 512GB M.2, **BX3 550W 80PLUS Bronze PSU**. THE ONLY machine in the band with a named, standard, branded ATX power supply — so a future GPU drops straight in. Only 7 in stock. CPU will age worse than the others. 5. **HP Renewed GTX 1660 Super — $583.22 (landed ~$620)** https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BP2NLTF3 i5, GTX 1660 Super 6GB, 16GB, 512GB SSD + 3TB HDD, Win 11 Pro. 1yr parts & labour. FASTEST DELIVERY of anything found. HP business chassis → PSU inferred proprietary. 6. **STRETCH — ASUS ROG Strix GL10DH-PH552, RTX 3060 12GB — $649.99 (landed ~$691)** https://www.newegg.com/p/3D5-000F-057C2 Ryzen 5 3400G, RTX 3060 12GB, 16GB DDR4, 512GB SSD, 500W PSU, Win 11. Seller: Iconic Micro Inc., Newegg Top Rated, 4.3/5 from 638 ratings. IN STOCK. **30-day refund + 90-day replacement — best consumer protection in this entire report.** ~1.8-2x the GPU performance of the 1660 Super tier, 2x the VRAM. NOTE: ~$91 OVER the $600 ceiling once tax is counted. Not needed for a 2010-2015 library — what it buys is the NEXT FEW YEARS. Cosmetic scratches/dents. Weakest CPU of the list. ### Other verified options (worse value, listed for completeness) - Dell RGB / RefurbChoice GTX 1660S — $525 (landed ~$558) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMW1TPHK 3P seller not FBA; delivery was dated ~2 weeks out; 256GB boot drive is tight. A customer review states it has "a standard power supply." - STGAubron GTX 1660S — $541.49 (landed ~$576) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DYJN7V83 Same SKU on Newegg at same price BUT Newegg marks it "Manufacturer Only Return Policy" — buy on Amazon instead. - Best Buy Precision 3630 variants: 1TB SSD+1TB HDD $579.99; 1TB SSD $589.99. - WATCHLIST: Newegg ABS Challenger ALI625 $549.99 — i5-11400F, RTX 3050 8GB, 550W 80+ Gold, real mid tower, sold BY Newegg. Best-engineered machine in the band ON PAPER, but currently OUT OF STOCK and marked FINAL SALE / NON-RETURNABLE — that last part is a real strike for a non-technical buyer even if it restocks. ### TRAPS — DO NOT BUY [VERIFIED] - **Amazon ASINs B0G5F63XYG ($519.99) and B0G651BQKF ($569.99) — OKAMUS builds.** Listing states the GTX 1660 Super "is packaged separately and requires installation after delivery." Sean would open the box to a PC and a loose GPU. INSTANT DISQUALIFICATION. General rule: search any listing for the word "separately" before buying. - Anything with GT 1030, GTX 750 Ti, or RX 550 — roughly 70% of sub-$500 "gaming desktop" inventory. No usable modern encoder; will struggle with Witcher 3 at 1080p. - GTX 1050 Ti builds ($378-536) — 6th-gen NVENC, 4GB VRAM. Visibly worse stream. - Refurb ABS Challenger, Ryzen 5 5600 + RTX 3050, $549.99 — only 8GB RAM. Also OOS. - Blackout Eclipse V3 $649.99 NEW at Best Buy — RX 580, Polaris VCE encoder, a generation behind even the cards being avoided here. - Any Intel Arc build (ruled out for this library). ### "Buy a cheap tower and add a card" — RULED OUT [VERIFIED] Cheapest 16GB mini-tower at dellrefurbished.com is an OptiPlex 3000 MT, i5-12500, 16GB, 256GB, Win 11 Pro, Grade A, $479.00 (3 remaining). Everything else in their stock is SFF (44 units) or Micro (64 units) — neither takes a full-height dual-slot card. $479 leaves ~$120 for a GPU under a $600 ceiling, and nothing with a 7th-gen encoder costs $120 in 2026. Plus the OptiPlex 3000 MT's PSU is inferred proprietary with no PCIe power connector, capping it at 75W cards — AND Sean would have to install it. The $509.99 Precision 3630 with a 1660 Super already fitted beats this on every axis. ### VERDICT ON THE BAND The budget is NOT short for the stated use case. Every game on the list predates 2016; an RTX 2060 at 1080p is enormous overkill on the render side, and 7th-gen NVENC handles 1080p60 to Twitch with the GPU barely noticing. The PS3 capture feed is a USB/CPU question, not a GPU one — 6 cores or a 4c/8t i7 covers it. The budget IS short for anything future-proof. $500 -> $650 roughly doubles graphics performance and materially improves consumer protection. Above ~$650 there is a DEAD ZONE until the ~$1,000 new-prebuilt floor — so $700-950 buys nothing over the $650 machine. ## PS3 CAPTURE — SOLVED ### The decisive fact [VERIFIED — Sony's own manual, Elgato support (updated 2026-08-18), RetroRGB] The PS3 asserts HDCP copy protection on ALL HDMI output, GAMES INCLUDED, and there is no setting to disable it. Sony's manual: "If a device that is not compatible with the HDCP standard is connected to the system using an HDMI cable, video and/or audio cannot be output from the system." No content qualifier — it is blanket, not Blu-ray-scoped. Elgato: "PlayStation 3 always has HDCP enabled, and it cannot be turned off." Contrast: PS4 and PS5 both HAVE an "Enable HDCP" toggle. PS3 does not. It is the one console where that switch was never provided. ### DO NOT BUY AN ELGATO [VERIFIED — Elgato support article, updated 2026-08-15] No current Elgato capture card works with a PS3. Elgato's own published no-go list: Cam Link, Cam Link 4K, Cam Link Pro, HD60, HD60 Pro, HD60 S, HD60 S+, HD60 X, 4K60 Pro, 4K60 Pro MK.2, 4K60 S+, 4K X, 4K Pro, Neo. The only Elgato that ever worked with PS3 was the original Game Capture HD via its bundled COMPONENT cable, and it is discontinued. Spending more money does not solve this problem. Elgato's own current recommendation is the component-to-HDMI converter chain described below. ### Component video is the physics-guaranteed workaround [VERIFIED — Sony manual] Component (YPbPr) output via AV Multi Out is ANALOG and therefore cannot carry HDCP at all. Supported modes: 1080p / 1080i / 720p / 480p / 480i. Sony's ONLY analog restriction is AACS on Blu-ray, and the manual names Blu-ray explicitly: "BD video software (BD-ROM) and BDs recorded with copyright-protected video content are output at 480i." Games are never mentioned in that restriction. ### The interlaced trick [VERIFIED — Sony manual, Video Output Settings step 7] Cheap capture chips (MS2109 AND the newer MS2130) cannot handle interlaced video — they discard one field. This is confirmed for MS2130 as of Jul 2025 (github.com/steve-m/ms2130_patcher issue #2): capturing 480i yields a stream where "the lower half is all black." THE FIX: the PS3 lets you tick which resolutions are permitted, then uses the best ticked one. Tick ONLY 720p (plus 480p as a floor). Every game then outputs 720p PROGRESSIVE and the interlaced bug can never trigger. Most PS3 games render at 720p or below natively, so this costs almost nothing. Leaving 1080i ticked is what causes the problem. ### RECOMMENDED CHAIN 1 — cheapest, zero HDCP risk (~$50) PS3 AV MULTI OUT -> component cable (~$9.45) -> component-to-HDMI converter, male-in type (~$15.97) -> capture card with HDMI loop-out (~$24.95) -> loop-out to TV (play here, no added lag) -> USB 3.0 to PC / OBS PS3 setting: Video Output = Component; tick ONLY 720p + 480p. Why this is the pick: no HDCP anywhere in the path, by physics. Nothing to get lucky about. Trade-off: capped at 720p, one analog conversion. Negligible for PS3-era games. ### CHAIN 2 — fully digital (~$58) PS3 HDMI OUT -> 1x2 HDMI splitter + audio extractor (~$29.99) -> OUT 1 to TV ; OUT 2 to USB capture dongle (~$27.99) -> PC USB 3.0 The splitter to want is the one RetroRGB tested SPECIFICALLY against a PS3 (review updated 2026-02-27): "compatible with everything I tested (including PS3!)", "no lag added", audio measured bit-identical. Sold generically on Amazon ~$29.99. CAVEAT [VERIFIED, RetroRGB's own warning]: generic-brand splitters are not guaranteed identical between production batches. BUY WITH RETURNS. Also read product titles — some sellers state "Does Not Bypass HDCP" in the name; those are explicit no-gos. ### CHAIN 3 — least fiddling (~$100) PS3 HDMI -> PS3-verified splitter (~$29.99) -> AVerMedia Live Gamer MINI GC311 (~$69.99) -> PC GC311 is UVC plug-and-play, no drivers, has its own passthrough. ### DO NOT PLAN TO PLAY OFF THE OBS PREVIEW [VERIFIED — Elgato support, updated 2026-06-11] "The image ... will be delayed from live by at least a second ... There is no way to turn that delay off." That is for a hardware-encoding capture device (same class as the GC311). Raw UVC dongles are much better — estimated 60-150ms — but that figure is INFERRED, not measured; no published measurement for any specific dongle could be located. This is why every chain above feeds a real TV. The $15-30 for a splitter or loop-out port is what buys you out of the latency question entirely. ### AUDIO — the setting that catches everyone [VERIFIED — Sony manual] By default the PS3 outputs audio from ALL connectors. But per Sony: "If you change the audio output settings, the system will no longer be able to output audio from multiple output connectors at the same time." So the moment anyone opens Sound Settings -> Audio Output Settings and selects one, the others go silent — and it looks like a wiring fault. THE FIX: Settings -> Sound Settings -> Audio Multi-Output -> On. It is NOT on the Audio Output Settings screen where you would look for it. Per chain: - Chain 1: red/white RCA on the component cable carries audio into the converter. PS3 audio output = Audio Input Connector / SCART / AV MULTI. - Chains 2/3: audio rides HDMI. Set PS3 to Linear PCM 2ch — NOT Dolby/DTS bitstream. Cheap capture chips only accept plain PCM; bitstreamed surround = silent capture. - In OBS: the capture device's audio must be explicitly enabled on the source, not left to Desktop Audio. Note: AV MULTI OUT is 2-channel only. HDMI does 2/5.1/7.1. ### CHECK THE PS3 MODEL NUMBER FIRST [UNVERIFIED — real gap] If the console is CECH-4200 or later (last super-slim revision), Sony moved Blu-ray output to HDMI-only. The manual still lists component as supported and still scopes the restriction to Blu-ray content — but no explicit confirmation could be found that GAME output still goes out component on that specific revision. If it is a CECH-4200 or newer, prefer Chain 2. Any earlier model, Chain 1 is confirmed fine. ## GRAPHICS CARD REFERENCE ### THE GTX 1650 TRAP — RESOLVED [VERIFIED — NVIDIA's own encoder support matrix] NVIDIA lists the GTX 1650 in THREE separate rows because it shipped on three different chips: - GTX 1650 GDDR5 (TU117, 75W) -> 6th-gen NVENC (OLD) - GTX 1650 GDDR6 (TU116, 80W) -> listed both 6th AND 7th gen depending on board - GTX 1650 "Ultra" (TU106, 90W) -> 7th-gen For scale: 6th-gen NVENC is the SAME generation as a GTX 1050 from 2016. Nothing on the retail box discloses which die you are getting. VERDICT: a cheap plain GTX 1650 is a BAD streaming buy — not because 6th-gen can't encode, but because you cannot know what you are buying and the likely answer is a generation behind. The GTX 1650 SUPER is unambiguously 7th-gen. One word on the box is the whole difference. ### Encoder generations [VERIFIED — NVIDIA matrix] 6th-gen (older): GTX 1650 GDDR5, GTX 1630, GTX 1050/1050 Ti 7th-gen (good): GTX 1650 SUPER, GTX 1660 / 1660 Ti / 1660 SUPER, RTX 2060 / 2070 (+Supers), RTX 3050 8th-gen (best): RTX 4060 — adds AV1 encoding ### Street prices, 2026-08-20 [VERIFIED via Newegg/Amazon direct fetch] NOTE: the GPU market is inflated. EOL cards sell at or above their original launch prices. All "used" figures below are RETAIL renewed/refurbished listings. Real person-to-person local prices typically run BELOW these — treat them as ceilings when judging a Marketplace listing. - GTX 1660 Super: ~$145 renewed, ~$190 new. 125W. 7th-gen encoder. BEST ENCODER PER DOLLAR. - RTX 2060: ~$195 renewed, ~$290 new-old-stock. 160W, 550W PSU. 7th-gen. - RTX 2070 Super: ~$250 renewed, ~$280 new. 215W, 650W PSU. 7th-gen. - RTX 3050 6GB: ~$220 new (LOW PROFILE available), ~$200 refurb. 70W, NO power connector, 300W system requirement. 7th-gen. <-- THE pick for a slim/SFF office box. - RTX 3050 8GB: ~$260. 130W, 550W system, needs 1x 8-pin. Different card entirely. - RX 6600: ~$255 renewed, $425-490 new (MSRP was $329). 132W, 450W PSU. VCN 3.0 encoder — weakest of this list for OBS H.264, usable but not good. - RTX 4060: ~$345 new/refurb. 115W, 550W system. 8th-gen + AV1. Best encoder, over budget. - GTX 1650: ~$145 new. Low-profile versions carry a big premium ($270-380) and are a bad buy against a $220 low-profile RTX 3050. WARNING: "RTX 2060 8GB" listings around $233-236 are not a real retail SKU — those are rebuilt/reflashed boards. Avoid. ### One thing worth saying out loud If the PC were ONLY a recorder for the PS3 dongle, there would be no game-rendering load on the GPU at all and OBS software encoding on a decent CPU would suffice — the graphics card purchase would be optional. That does NOT fully apply here because Sean also plays PC games on this machine, but it does mean the GPU can be modest. ## KNOWN GAPS — DO NOT PRESENT THESE AS ANSWERED - Walmart Restored, Back Market, and GameStop refurbished inventory — all three hard-block automated access. There may well be equivalent or better listings there; unknown. - Best Buy return window, warranty length, and seller NAME for the Precision 3630 listings. Best Buy blocks product-page fetches; only price/condition/purchasability were obtainable. - PSU form factor on the Dell Precision 3630, the HP 800-series, and the ASUS GL10DH — all INFERRED proprietary, not confirmed. Treat those three as non-upgradeable until verified. - STGAubron PSU wattage/brand and case model — not disclosed on any of their listings. - Exact CPU model on machines #1 ("Core i5, up to 3.7GHz") and the RefurbChoice unit. - Shipping cost at checkout for the Best Buy and Newegg items — all showed shipping-eligible but none exposed a dollar figure pre-cart. Amazon FBA items are confirmed free shipping. - Whether CECH-4200+ super-slim PS3s still output component for GAMES (Blu-ray is definitively HDMI-only on those). Check the model sticker. - MS2130 chipset HDCP behaviour — manufacturer datasheet is unobtainable (macrosilicon.com is a dead stub; distributors 403/404). Assume the same per-vendor key lottery as MS2109. - MS2130 audio — whether the MS2109 pitch-shift bug carries over. Circumstantial evidence says no (all mono-to-stereo fix tools are MS2109-specific), but unproven. - Measured glass-to-glass latency for any specific UVC capture dongle in OBS. Nothing published. The only hard latency citation is Elgato's "at least a second" for their hardware-encoding device. - Added latency of any specific component-to-HDMI converter. No measurements found. - Whether splitter units shipping today are electrically identical to the one RetroRGB tested. RetroRGB flags this risk itself. Buy with returns. - AMD VCN vs NVIDIA NVENC subjective quality at 1080p60 — asserted from general knowledge, no head-to-head comparison source loaded. - Real person-to-person used GPU/PC prices in Connecticut. eBay returns 403 and its sold-listings are unreachable; Reddit is blocked at tool level; Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp are not accessible to automated collection. Craigslist WAS reachable and those listings are quoted above. - Amazon, Micro Center, and B&H return HTTP 403 to automated price checks.