I'm considering building a PC for roughly €300–500, mainly for indie games and League of Legends. I already have a Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 with a Ryzen 5 5500U and 8GB of RAM, but anything beyond League tends to overwhelm it. I play demanding games on my Xbox Series X, so this PC doesn't need to replace my console—I just want something practical for the many smaller games I'd like to play on PC. I'm not very knowledgeable about hardware, and I've heard that current memory prices may make a budget build more difficult. I'm located in Paris, so advice based on the French used and new markets would be especially helpful.
2 Answers
At this budget, the used market is probably your best option, especially in Paris. I’d try not to go below an 8th-generation Intel Core i5 or a similar Ryzen processor, 16GB of RAM, and a graphics card around the level of a GTX 1070 or GTX 1070 Ti. A new prebuilt in this price range will usually cut corners, so comparing local listings and being patient could make a big difference.
A €300–500 system is realistic for your games, particularly if you’re comfortable buying some parts second-hand. One sensible starting point would be a Ryzen 5 2600 with its stock cooler, a budget B450 motherboard, an RX 580 8GB, and 16GB of DDR4 in a 2x8GB kit. Add a basic SSD, a case that fits the motherboard, and—most importantly—a new, reputable power supply such as a Corsair CX650. Cases and extra fans can often be found cheaply or locally, but I wouldn’t take the same risk with the PSU. This setup won’t compete with a Series X, but it should be a substantial improvement over the laptop for League and many indie titles. Check prices in euros and make sure every used component can be tested before buying.
One thing to keep in mind is that a Ryzen 5 2600 may not reliably run 3200MT/s memory. Faster DDR4 is useful for a future upgrade, but with that processor you may need to run the RAM closer to its officially supported speed if the system becomes unstable.
Thanks! I’m based in Paris. What sort of total budget would you recommend for a worthwhile budget PC?