I'm trying to figure out a realistic budget for building or buying an inexpensive gaming PC. I previously considered spending around $100, but that doesn't seem practical. I'm 15, so I have a limited budget and may need to save up or find small jobs. Would around $400–$500 be enough, and what kind of hardware should I look for?
4 Answers
A used PC from a local marketplace is probably your best value. You can sometimes find a complete gaming system and upgrade it later. For example, used builds with a Ryzen 7 3700X and RTX 3070 have sold for around $450, though prices depend heavily on your area and timing.
Another option is an older office or workstation PC with a decent processor. Add a compatible graphics card and an SSD, preferably at least 500GB. Make sure the power supply and case have enough room and power for the GPU. A hard drive can store extra games, but Windows runs much more comfortably from an SSD.
If you’re willing to play at 720p and aim for a stable 30 FPS, older hardware can still handle many games. Used graphics cards such as an RX 5700 XT can offer good performance for the money, but check compatibility carefully before buying. Steam also lets you move games between drives, so you can use a smaller SSD as your main game drive and keep a larger hard drive for storage.
A $500 gaming PC is still possible if you’re willing to buy used parts or a secondhand complete system. Around $100 generally won’t be enough for a decent gaming computer, so saving toward $400–$500 would make a much more realistic target.
I’m 15, so I’ll probably need to save up slowly or find small jobs to earn the money.