Many years ago I used to take apart and put together personal computers. However, it was not for gaming purposes.

The last machine that I ‘plug-and-play’ put together was back in 2007. I imagine a lot has changed since then.

My sons want a Windows gaming PC for this upcoming Christmas season.

Would it be more cost effective to purchase all the components and build a tower or purchase a prebuilt machine?

Also, I’m not looking for a high-end machine. Something in the middle should work fine since they aren’t hardcore gamers.

  • Jeffrey
    5·
    2 years ago

    Try searching your local craigslist / classifieds market for preowned PCs. It’s usually not too difficult to find a good deal on a second hand PC as long as you’re ok with hardware that is a few years out of date.

    It is not a Windows PC out of the box, but the Steam Deck is one of the best value prebuilt options available, and since you won’t need it until December the long waitlist shouldn’t be an issue.

    If your sons are not playing hardcore games, and are fine turning the graphics settings down, then you can save a lot of money by not buying a graphics card. Intel’s integrated graphics, and AMD’s APUs have gotten powerful enough that I have not used a dedicated GPU since ~2017. You won’t be able to run a 4k display or VR on one, but most games at 1080p with the graphics settings turned down are perfectly playable.

    • suspendedOP
      2·
      2 years ago

      Intel’s integrated graphics, and AMD’s APUs have gotten powerful enough that I have not used a dedicated GPU since ~2017.

      Would you, please, give me a little more information about both of those and how to track them down?

      • Jeffrey
        6·
        2 years ago

        AMD’s APU, and Intel’s UHD graphics are marketing terms for integrated graphics processors. It just means that the CPU has a built-in GPU.

        When purchasing components, or choosing a prebuilt system, you can simply select a CPU that has “integrated graphics”.

        Even a modest graphics card will drastically out perform any integrated graphics chip, but if your sons are not playing hardcore resource intensive games then you can save a lot of money not buying a GPU. You can also always purchase a GPU later for a birthday / next Christmas to enable them to play more intensive games.