Low-price gaming PCs, now and future

SubCog

SubCog

Radeon 8500 64mb
My kids are getting old enough for lan gaming. Ages 13, 8, and 5. My youngest mainly just plays minecraft, but she's getting pretty good. 13 & 8 play minecraft, fortnight, roblox, and want to get into some esports stuffs. I'd love to introduce them to lan classics like Quake, UT, CS, etc. Over the next 18 months or so, I intend to install a permanent lan-gaming center in my home, with a computer for each member of the family (including my wife). That will allow us to run family game sessions, or allow my kids to have friends over for lan parties.

That means I will need to build/purchase 4 gaming machines (I already have one for myself, of course). They don't need to be power-houses, but should run modern games at reasonable settings and smooth framerates... but don't need to do 4k, ultra settings, etc. I already have plenty of monitors, keyboards, etc... so I'm only counting the cost of the computer itself.

I'm hoping to get machines for ~$500 each, but price is flexible. I could possibly build systems with whatever the latest generation of APUs happens to be... those are getting better and better all the time. But I'm also intrigued by the Steam Deck concept... Maybe just buy several of those? Or I can imagine something similar being sold in the $500 range, but without the portability (screen, controls, etc), maybe with more powerful graphics... basically a basic gaming pc in the form-factor of an xbox.

Thoughts or predictions? What's a reasonably-priced way to acquire 4-5 gaming PCs over the next couple of years?
 
Steam decks, or something comparable, is awfully tempting.

To do it affordably... catch some sales at the right time or go used? I'd agree that AMD APU's are likely the best route. Then if they ever need or want to upgrade, you have a path.
 
I'm super tempted to go with something like this for ~$140: https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Optiple...d/dp/B01LKOZEF0/ref=sr_1_4?crid=15Z2RW6VWDC58
61Zp2XEDwxL.__AC_SX300_SY300_QL70_FMwebp_.jpg



Just need to find a reasonably priced GPU to pair with it... One with a slim form factor and small power draw. Best thing I'm finding in the $200 range is a 6500xt... but that's pretty weak, even for kids computers.
https://www.newegg.com/powercolor-radeon-rx-6500-xt-axrx-6500xt-4gbd6-dh/p/N82E16814131793

Maybe later this year, when the new GPUs come out, maybe the 3060s will drop in price? I think pairing a 3060 with the computer I listed above would make a fabulous lan system for my family.
 
My son was using a GT 1030 in his PC for the last couple years until we just built him a new computer. That should fit in that case.

It worked great for 1080p gaming as long as you don't try to run any demanding modern games, and I assume the 6500XT would be similar. He played a lot of indie pixel art type games, Source engine games, and Minecraft. Would definitely also work great for fps classics like you mentioned.

But if you want to run more demanding modern games you'll likely need to go up to a GPU on par with at least the GTX 1060 or maybe RTX 2060, but then you might run into physical size constraints in that SFF chassis. Look into it though. If an RTX 2060 will fit it could be a good choice at around the $300 point.
 
SubCog said:
I'm super tempted to go with something like this for ~$140: https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Optiple...d/dp/B01LKOZEF0/ref=sr_1_4?crid=15Z2RW6VWDC58
61Zp2XEDwxL.__AC_SX300_SY300_QL70_FMwebp_.jpg



Just need to find a reasonably priced GPU to pair with it... One with a slim form factor and small power draw. Best thing I'm finding in the $200 range is a 6500xt... but that's pretty weak, even for kids computers.
https://www.newegg.com/powercolor-radeon-rx-6500-xt-axrx-6500xt-4gbd6-dh/p/N82E16814131793

Maybe later this year, when the new GPUs come out, maybe the 3060s will drop in price? I think pairing a 3060 with the computer I listed above would make a fabulous lan system for my family.
Click to expand...

I have had access to those for years. You hit the nail right on the head.

You need a low profile, low power draw GPU for gaming. The unfortunate part is those don't really exist anymore. Especially without a PCI-E Video connector(which these towers do not have).

You could try looking at old XPS fullsize towers or Optiplex fullsize towers. However you need to double check if they do or do not have the PCI-E videocard connector and how many pins.
 
Meteor_of_War said:
My son was using a GT 1030 in his PC for the last couple years until we just built him a new computer. That should fit in that case.

It worked great for 1080p gaming as long as you don't try to run any demanding modern games, and I assume the 6500XT would be similar. He played a lot of indie pixel art type games, Source engine games, and Minecraft. Would definitely also work great for fps classics like you mentioned.

But if you want to run more demanding modern games you'll likely need to go up to a GPU on par with at least the GTX 1060 or maybe RTX 2060, but then you might run into physical size constraints in that SFF chassis. Look into it though. If an RTX 2060 will fit it could be a good choice at around the $300 point.
Click to expand...

The kids mainly play minecraft, fornite, roblox, etc. I'd like to be able to do esports games at 60fps, maybe Valorant or LoL... esports games are usually not too demanding though. If a $200 gpu could do that, I'd be happy with it.
 
Trunks0 said:
You could try looking at old XPS fullsize towers or Optiplex fullsize towers. However you need to double check if they do or do not have the PCI-E videocard connector and how many pins.
Click to expand...

Good tip. I'll watch for that.
 
I used to recycle these Optiplex Slim and fullsize towers relatively often. Especially the 3000, 5000, 7000 and 9000 series stuff. And the biggest hurdles to using one for a quick n' cheap gaming rig is no PCI-E video connector, half-height cards needed OR the PSU isn't standard ATX(either in size or the connector to the Mobo). So swapping in a more powerful PSU's can be challenging to acquire.
 
Low price gaming? HA have you seen the price of gp..... Wait nevermind. Yes, you can.

For $500 though, I'd look on FB Marketplace. There are a billion decent CPU/2060 laptops out there that you can do an external monitor to for $500~, and people on FB marketplace are /always/ negotiable.
 
SubCog said:
...esports games are usually not too demanding though.
Click to expand...

*Halo and Call of Duty have entered the chat*

Honestly, I'd look for used XPS towers, used MSI towers, or used ASUS towers and go from there. $500 doesn't get you too far on the new market.
 
As a test, I've ordered an Optiplex for $93.
619Spg1MDEL._AC_SX679_.jpg

  • Core i5-4570 3.2ghz
  • 8gb ram
  • 500gb hdd
  • Windows 10

I'm going to pair it with a 2gb Radeon RX 550 that I found for $50 on ebay. It's slim enough to fit in the case, and doesn't appear to require any additional power adapter.
s-l500.jpg


I expect this to breeze through classic fps games (UT2004 for example), and should also handle modern esports titles fine... plus the stuff my kids play (mincraft, roblox & fornite). If my testing is positive, I plan to build ~7 more of these, and put together a ready-to-go lan party that I can run out of my garage.

We're in the middle of a move now, and won't get the key to the new house until the end of the month... it'll take me several months to get things set up at the new house, before I get back to this project. But I figure I can start with 1 for now, as I have a few weeks to kill before the move.
 
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You can probably buy a 10th gen Intel and a 3060 for a 500-600 used these days. Maybe even less.
 
You wrote 500 each. I just told you the spec that you should be able to grab at that price. Whatever man…
 
SubCog said:
As a test, I've ordered an Optiplex for $93.
619Spg1MDEL._AC_SX679_.jpg

  • Core i5-4570 3.2ghz
  • 8gb ram
  • 500gb hdd
  • Windows 10

I'm going to pair it with a 2gb Radeon RX 550 that I found for $50 on ebay. It's slim enough to fit in the case, and doesn't appear to require any additional power adapter.
s-l500.jpg


I expect this to breeze through classic fps games (UT2004 for example), and should also handle modern esports titles fine... plus the stuff my kids play (mincraft, roblox & fornite). If my testing is positive, I plan to build ~7 more of these, and put together a ready-to-go lan party that I can run out of my garage.

We're in the middle of a move now, and won't get the key to the new house until the end of the month... it'll take me several months to get things set up at the new house, before I get back to this project. But I figure I can start with 1 for now, as I have a few weeks to kill before the move.
Click to expand...

Noice! Can't wait to see the progress :up:
 
KAC said:
You wrote 500 each. I just told you the spec that you should be able to grab at that price. Whatever man…
Click to expand...

This particular build is $140. I intend to put together a lan setup that has 8-10 of these.
 
Got the $93 optiplex in today. First test is successful. Running UT2004 at 100+ fps. As expected, this machine breezes through classic games. Next up I think I'll try CS Go or Valorant. Also need to try minecraft & roblox.

My $50 gpu is still in transit. Once I get that in, I should be able to run much newer stuff.

One thing I was pleasantly surprised about, is that the computer came with a mouse & keyboard. I expected to have to acquire those separately. This will make a big difference when I buy the next 7 machines.
 
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