What gaming PC parts can I get for a £250–£300 budget?

For the whole system, £300 is extremely tight, especially for Blender and Unreal Engine. Buying every component new probably won’t work, so focus on the used market or look for a complete older gaming PC. A system around a Ryzen 5 2600 with a GTX 1660, or something similar, could manage 1080p gaming on low to medium settings and provide a reasonable starting point for learning 3D software. Check that the power supply is from a reputable brand and that the PC works before buying.

A used, already-assembled PC is probably your best option. Building from separate parts means paying for the CPU, motherboard, RAM, graphics card, storage, PSU, case, and cooling individually, and those costs add up quickly. Look for an older office or gaming prebuilt with a standard-sized case and enough PSU capacity to add an entry-level graphics card. Make sure it includes two RAM sticks or has room to upgrade to 16GB.

Don’t worry too much about thermal paste. A basic reputable paste such as Arctic MX-4, MX-6, or Noctua NT-H1 is fine, and many CPU coolers include usable paste anyway. Put more of the budget toward the graphics card and a decent PSU, and avoid unbranded power supplies. If someone is selling a complete PC locally, test that it boots, confirm the temperatures are normal, and check the exact model of every component before paying.

Try to decide what matters most before choosing parts. Sixteen gigabytes of DDR4 is still reasonable, but newer DDR5 platforms can consume a large part of the budget before you even buy a graphics card. For your use, prioritize a six-core CPU, 16GB RAM, an SSD, and a dedicated GPU, even if the parts are older. Blender and Unreal Engine can be much more demanding than basic gaming, so you may need to save more or upgrade later.