Affordable Desktop Computers – Up to $300
Affordable Desktop Computers – Up to $300
Greetings,
I’m looking to purchase a desktop computer suitable for playing League of Legends and Planet Zoo at their minimum specifications, but my budget is limited to
£
300. Could someone advise me on where I might find one, or if a machine meeting these needs is attainable within that price range? Here are the game requirements:
League of Legends:
Processor:
A 3 GHz processor that supports SSE2 instructions or newer.
Memory:
4 GB of RAM
Storage:
16 GB of free hard drive space
Graphics Card:
An Nvidia GeForce 8800 or AMD Radeon HD 5670, or an equivalent video card with at least 512 MB of VRAM.
Planet Zoo (Minimum Requirements)
Processor: Intel i5-2500 / AMD FX-6350
Processor Speed: Information needed
Memory: 8 GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 (2GB) / AMD Radeon R9 270X (2GB)
Pixel Shader: 5.0
Vertex Shader: 5.0
Free Disk Space: 16 GB
Dedicated Video Memory: 2048 MB
These two components would function well, and the B450 motherboard would enable expansions to future Ryzen processors through a BIOS update, extending up until the summer's 4000 series chips.
The included 240 GB SSD should comfortably accommodate the operating system and approximately 2-4 contemporary high-budget games, so consider incorporating a larger rotational hard drive for expanded storage rather than a 500 GB SSD.
Something like these?
1TB - £34.28:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/C4zv...dt01aca100
2 TB - £49.50:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/...t...t2000dm008
If you cannot acquire a gaming console within that budget, what level of performance should you anticipate from a personal computer at such a low cost? A respectable PC will typically require an investment of at least $600, and this price may not encompass the expense of a suitable, thoughtfully constructed case along with other necessary components.
Agreed.
A system capable of running well with a weight of approximately 300 pounds can be assembled for around £317.83:
CPU:
AMD Ryzen 3 1200 – a 3.1 GHz quad-core processor (available for £47.00 at Amazon UK).
Motherboard:
ASRock A320M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£41.98 at Amazon UK).
Memory:
Patriot Viper 4 – 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 RAM (£33.37 at CCL Computers).
Storage:
Western Digital Green – a 240 GB 2.5” solid-state drive (£24.99 at Amazon UK).
Graphics Card:
Gigabyte Radeon RX 570 – 4 GB Gaming 4G Video Card (£109.99 at CCL Computers).
Case:
Deepcool MATREXX 30 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£21.60 at Amazon UK).
Power Supply:
be quiet! System Power 9 – a 400W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX power supply (£38.90 at Aria PC).
The primary limitation is the relatively small SSD capacity. The 4-core processor and RX 570 are sufficiently powerful to achieve a smooth 60 frames per second at 1080p resolution for most games, and even many more demanding titles. A 1 or 2 terabyte hard drive could be added in the future to accommodate additional games. While the A320 motherboard is functional, it lacks overclocking capabilities and limited upgrade options compared to a B450 chipset. In essence, this configuration represents a budget-friendly solution that should serve adequately for several years before requiring an upgrade.
Explore online marketplaces like eBay to find secondhand components, and it’s certainly achievable. I recently acquired an FX8350 processor for $50 and a Radeon R9 Fury for $100. You can also find advanced motherboards from this era for approximately $100. This would roughly necessitate spending an additional $50 on memory, a power supply unit, and a computer enclosure. DDR3 memory is reasonably priced, and used cases are typically inexpensive as well. You’d then be short on a power supply, which might be worth investing in a more robust model.