I'm new to building PCs and would like to play Steam games at around 60 FPS, including games with higher graphics requirements. My Dell Inspiron 15 3515 currently has a Ryzen 5 processor, AMD graphics, and 16 GB of RAM, but it only barely handles Roblox games such as Jujutsu Shenanigans and Rogue Lineage. Would upgrading the laptop's RAM help, or should I save for a prebuilt desktop or buy components and assemble the PC myself? I'm also wondering whether purchasing parts gradually is a good strategy.
4 Answers
Don’t buy the parts one paycheck at a time unless you’re certain the build will be completed soon. Components can lose value while sitting around, and return or warranty periods may expire before you discover a faulty part. It’s usually better to save the full budget, choose the parts together, and build everything at once.
Your budget is the main factor. For a modern 1080p or 1440p gaming desktop, aim for 32 GB of RAM and a dedicated graphics card. A used system with something around an RTX 3060 Ti could be a reasonable affordable step up if you inspect it carefully and confirm that it works properly before buying.
If you can spend roughly $1,300–$1,700, building a desktop around a current midrange processor, 32 GB of memory, and a graphics card in the Radeon 9070-class range would give you a huge improvement over the laptop and handle demanding games well. You don’t need to spend that much just for Roblox, though, so set a target based on the other games you actually want to play.
I wouldn’t spend money upgrading that laptop just for gaming. Since it already has 16 GB of RAM and is struggling with Roblox, the limiting factor is probably the integrated or low-end graphics rather than memory. More RAM won’t provide a major improvement. Save for a desktop instead, and compare both prebuilts and self-built systems when you’re ready.
Prebuilts aren’t automatically a bad deal anymore. If you find a sale from a reputable seller and the parts are clearly listed, one can sometimes offer better value than buying every component separately.