PC gaming doesn’t have to be expensive.
I’ve spent a lot of time playing video games over the years, but I didn’t really get into PC gaming until around 2012 when I bought my first “gaming” laptop. Growing up I had always heard that PC gaming was expensive. There was and still is some truth to that, but it doesn’t have to be. It is entirely possible to dip your toes into the world of PC gaming today even if you’re on a budget.
Like many people nowadays, one of my favorite things to do is browse the internet for awesome deals. This is how I have built just about every PC I’ve sold over the last few years. Whether it’s on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or a major retailer having a sale, there are always great deals out there. You just have to be willing to take the time to find them.
Welcome to Budget Builds!
This is the first entry in what I hope to be a long running series called Budget Builds. In this series I’ll show you how I find the deals I use for building PCs. First up in this series is probably the easiest, most affordable way for someone to get into PC gaming for the first time. It’s very easy to go overboard when planning a new build, but sometimes less is more. Rather than starting from scratch, sometimes it makes more sense to use a pre-built desktop PC and upgrade it. That’s exactly what I’ll be doing in this build. With that in mind here’s what I’ll be using as a starting point:
This is a Dell Optiplex 7040 desktop PC. This is one of the most common desktop PCs out there for both home and office use. Because they are so common, that makes it extremely easy to find good deals on them. I’ve built a few gaming PCs out of devices just like this. This one in particular I found on eBay and had it shipped to me for a total of $90.27.
It may not look like much…because it’s really not at the moment. However, when starting out with a build like this, it’s more about having good bones. When you’re building a PC from scratch you need to thing about what case you’re gonna use, what processor, how much memory, etc. and you have to make sure all of it works together. Starting with something like a Dell Optiplex takes out a lot of that additional work and gives you a great platform to start.
So why did I choose this one?
This particular PC came with an Intel I7-6700 processor. This is a quad-core 3.4 GHz processor and will support up to 64 GB of RAM. Without going into too much detail, this just means this processor is a pretty strong choice and is going to be good for most games.
The processor wasn’t the only selling point though. It also included 4 GB of RAM and a 500 GB hard drive. With a lot of the desktops I find on eBay, those are not always included. Now in this case both of these will be upgraded to make this PC better for gaming.
WARNING: Always do your research!
I usually do a good job of checking and double checking all the specifications for each build I’m planning before I ever make a purchase. I thought I had all my bases covered with this one too. However, I noticed when I received the PC I missed one small detail – the power supply included isn’t upgradable. It uses a 280w power supply made by Dell to fit in small PC cases. Fortunately, this won’t affect the plan for this build, but it is something to remember for the future.
So what is the plan?
First order of business is to clean up the Dell. I’ll tear it all apart and give it a good dusting. Dust builds up in every nook an cranny of these PCs and can actually affect system performance if it gets too bad. After everything is nice and clean the plan is to upgrade the 4 GB of RAM to a much more usable 16 GB. For any standard PC I recommend using at least 8 GB of RAM, but when it comes to gaming I usually go for at lease 16. Then I’ll throw in a Solid State Drive to replace the old hard drive. SSDs are typically much faster and save power, which I’m gonna need since I can’t really upgrade the power supply in this build. Last but not least I’ll be throwing in a graphics card, which is extremely important for PC gaming.
By the end of this project I’ll have a cheap gaming PC that can be used for most modern eSports titles and maybe even a bit more! If you’re looking to get into PC gaming but don’t want to spend an arm and a leg be sure to follow along!
Interested in a bit more?
If you’re looking for a gaming PC that looks a bit nicer and can play more demanding games feel free to reach out on the Contact Us page! I’m always looking for new builds and will gladly help you get exactly what you need at an affordable price.
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