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Thanks in advance. I probably need to wait until prices drop and I have more money.
I have a concept for you. I think I own an older Lenovo ThinkCentre M71e, though I’m not entirely sure what processor it has—either a high-end i3 or a mid-level i5. It could be upgraded to a newer i5 or even an i7, but I’m not sure which models support the chipset. The case is compact, but a decent mid-range GPU should work with a vertical-mount setup. If you’re nearby, it might be a great entry-level option. I’d sell it cheaply since it’s been idle, though I’m not certain it will still boot after all this time. I’m in Virginia, close to Charlottesville.
The forum includes a classified area where you might discover items, though you’d likely need to spend a lot more to find anything up-to-date. The era of affordable 150-200 dollar graphics cards supporting 1080p gaming is over for a while now.
I included those items because they offer better value than working alone. The best deals I found under $100 for a CPU and motherboard on eBay are an H81M board for $50 and an i5 4670K for $45. Keep in mind, this doesn’t cover RAM, and your current DDR2 won’t fit in upgrades (Sandy Bridge or newer). If you must add RAM, it could be tricky. The second Xeon I mentioned earlier would actually run better—it’s a 4C/8T chip with 8GB RAM—but it comes in a slim case, which might prevent your graphics card from fitting. If you’re okay with some performance loss, it could still be worth considering.