One reason why many people don’t move over from consoles to PCs for gaming is because they believe that a gaming PC can be too expensive.
Whilst it is true that high end enthusiast PCs can go for £2000 or more, you can quite easily build a PC that runs most games for far cheaper. If you do go ahead with building a PC, not only will you be able to play the majority of games that are already on console, but you’ll have access to a wide range of indie games, too.
In this blog, I want to show you how you can build a gaming PC for cheap.
Step 1: Understanding and Buying Parts
The first step to building a gaming PC for cheap is to know which parts to buy. It can be a little confusing at first, but there’s a website that can do it all for you.
Not only that, but it can find the best prices for all of the parts you need and provide you quick links to buying these items online. The website I like to use is called PCpartpicker. Below, I’ve provided a look at all of the parts you will need. You can use the website to find the best prices for all of the items needed.
- CPU
- Motherboard
- Memory
- Storage
- Video Card
- Case
- Power Supply
- CD Drive
- Windows
You may also need to buy a mouse, keyboard, and monitor if you haven’t got those already.
If you’re looking to go as cheap as possible, below is a build I made to offer the best bang for your buck. It includes a GTX 1050 Ti graphics card, 1TB of hard drive storage, a 120GB SSD for speeding up your Windows operating system and favourite games, and 8GB of RAM.
The processor is also good enough to deal with most tasks. The total cost of this system is £590.91.
- CPU: Pentium G4560
- Motherboard: MSI H110M PRO-VD PLUS LGA 1151
- Memory: Crucial 8GB DDR4-2400 Memory
- Storage 1: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hard Drive
- Storage 2: Kingston - A400 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
- Case: Corsair - 200R ATX Case
- Power Supply: Corsair CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified
- CD Drive: LG GH24NSD1
- Operating System: Microsoft Home 10 OEM 64-bit
It’s more expensive than a new gaming console, but a gaming PC isn’t just for gaming. My main gaming PC is used for everything I do online. I can use it to play games, edit photos and videos, browse the internet, and pretty much anything else.
Step 2: Building The PC
The next step is to buy in the parts and build the PC.
This part can seem daunting, but when you understand the process, it can actually be quite fun! If you’d rather just buy the PC and have it built for you, you can find services like that online. If you choose this option, it will be a little more expensive, though.
Here are a few companies that can build you custom-made PCs at a lower price point:
If you’d rather build it yourself, find your parts on PC Parts Picker and then purchase them online. Once they’ve arrived, you can start building!
Building a PC is hard to do at first, but when you understand the basics, you’ll quickly realise that it’s almost like playing with big lego blocks. Everything has a position it goes into and it all slots into place quite easily.
You will need to screw in a few things, and if it isn’t turning on after finishing building, you may need to do a little bit of troubleshooting. (This is usually as simple as making sure everything is plugged in!)
I could explain everything in detail here about how to build a PC, but it would be far more efficient if you had a video to follow along the way. I’d recommend watching the video below.
It’s a long watch, but if you’re serious about building your own PC, this video will guide you through every step to building a PC successfully.
Step 3: The Conclusion
If at the end of it all, you have a brand new working gaming PC, you will have picked up three things.
Firstly, you’ll have a new gaming PC to use and play games on. Secondly, you will have learned more about PCs and how they work. Thirdly, you’ll now have a new skill! You will be able to build PCs and have a better understanding of troubleshooting them if something goes wrong.
This topic is a little different to what I’d usually write about here on giffgaff. What are your thoughts on these types of topics? Would you like more blogs like this for non-mobile tech related topics?
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