The well-known YouTuber Austin Evans has looked for the cheapest gaming PCs on Amazon and purchased them. However, he is not really impressed by both devices.
The YouTuber Austin Evans (4.3 million subscribers) is among the most famous tech YouTubers currently on the scene, alongside Linus Tech Tips. On his channel, Austin tests crazy hardware or buys computers and examines them with a lot of expertise and humor.
In his video, he now has selected the cheapest gaming PCs on Amazon.
- One is a PC for 450 US dollars from the manufacturer Allied.
- The other is a refurbished Dell PC for 399 US dollars.
In theory, both offer reasonable performance. But how does that look in practice? Austin Evans took a look at both systems and explains in his video what he thinks of the hardware.
We have embedded the entire video from Austin in this article. Here you can watch him as he deals with the gaming PCs:
Gaming PCs for 450 US dollars – Too much money for cheap hardware
What’s inside the computers: Austin disassembles the PCs and looks at what is inside them. Here we briefly summarize what hardware is in both computers:
| 450-Dollar-PC “Allied” | 399-Dollar-PC “Dell |
|---|---|
| 550 Watt power supply, Allied | 290 Watt power supply Dell |
| AMD Athlon 3000G | Intel Core i5 4570 |
| Vega 3 Graphics (integrated graphics card) | Nvidia GT 1030 (dedicated graphics card) |
| 8 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM |
| 240 GB SSD | 128 GB SSD + 500 GB HDD |
This is what the 450-dollar PC looks like: The manufacturer relies on an in-house power supply, which does not impress Austin at first glance. This is also due to the provided performance. A USB port on the motherboard was not connected. Instead of a manual, there is only a thank-you letter from the manufacturer.
Additionally, the computer does not start smoothly at first. Only after a BIOS update and new drivers does the device start as it should.
Out of curiosity, Austin now checks how much he would have to pay for the components on Amazon. He is surprised to find that he would have to pay 288 US dollars for a self-build. The manufacturer Allied demands a hefty 450 US dollars.
This is what the 399-dollar PC looks like: The case is functional and does without RGB lighting. Inside, there is a decent and, above all, efficient 290-watt power supply, which according to Austin “will last years longer than the super cheap part from the other PC.” The Dell PC also has a dedicated graphics card with the GT 1030, as the Intel processor does not have an integrated graphics unit like the Athlon.
Austin notes: “I’m not sure if it’s really worth 400 dollars, but at first glance, I like what I see much better than what I saw in the other PC.”
There are no starting issues here, by the way; the Dell machine starts without problems.
Austin’s conclusion: Too little performance for 450 US dollars
The manufacturer Allied is asking too much money for its “gaming PC.” Not only can you buy most of the components on the open market for just under 290 US dollars, but the performance is also not really suitable for gaming. A mediocre processor and a weak integrated graphics unit do not make a gaming PC.
Even the many years old Dell computer offers more power than the Allied PC and that even for 60 US dollars less. Additionally, the Dell device also had no starting difficulties.
While the 450-dollar PC struggles to achieve 19 – 40 FPS in Fortnite, the Dell hardware easily reaches 60 – 80 FPS at medium settings. The game may not look prettier, but it runs noticeably smoother.
Buying a gaming PC does not always mean getting “gaming”
Austin Evans’ video demonstrates very clearly what you should generally pay attention to when buying a PC. You should not be misled by grand promises and especially not by the attribute “gaming”.
Also, a cool appearance or RGB lighting does not necessarily indicate a potent gaming rig. In the end, the components installed inside are what matter.
Because while the 450-dollar PC promises to be a gaming PC, in the end, Austin can only play a game like Fortnite on the lowest settings with 19 – 40 FPS.
What else should be considered? The video clearly shows that gamers should pay attention to purchasing at least a 4-core processor. A dual-core processor with hyperthreading like the installed AMD Athlon 3000G is only conditionally recommended in 2021 – at least if you want to game. Because complex tasks are better handled by a true quad-core.
In principle, performance with a quad-core processor is better, but it also depends on the rest of the hardware. This YouTube video contrasts dual-core and quad-core once again. While games like World of Warcraft benefit from the quad-core, a dual-core has hardly any effect on GTA V or Witcher 3.
What can you buy? In general, we would advise you to spend a little more money. 450 euros can quickly turn into a trap:
- Manufacturers such as Shinobee, Megaport, or Memory-PC are generally reasonable manufacturers for complete PCs.
- In general, you should always pay attention to the manufacturer’s ratings.
In this example, a Ryzen 7 2700X, 32 GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 1660 SUPER are installed. With the GTX 1660 Super, you can play modern titles in full HD at full details. However, this graphics card cannot handle ray tracing.
| Preview | Product | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ryzen7 GTX 1660 SUPER 4K Gaming PC mit 3 Jahren Garantie! AMD Ryzen7 2700X 16-Threads, 4.3 GHz |... | Zu Amazon |
*Affiliate-Links. Wir erhalten bei einem Kauf eine kleine Provision von Amazon. Vielen Dank für Eure Unterstützung!
The complete PC from Megaport features the AMD Ryzen 5 2600, one of the most popular gaming CPUs. The GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, while from 2016, can still render modern titles with medium details smoothly. However, this graphics card is of course not suitable for top titles like Cyberpunk 2077 or ray tracing.
| Preview | Product | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Megaport Komplett-PC 8-Kern AMD FX-8300 • GeForce GTX1050Ti • 22" Monitor+Tastatur+Maus • 16GB... | Zu Amazon |
*Affiliate-Links. Wir erhalten bei einem Kauf eine kleine Provision von Amazon. Vielen Dank für Eure Unterstützung!
Our colleague Nils Raettig at GameStar took a look at Ikea’s new gaming furniture some time ago. In his column, he notes that the furniture also does not deserve the attribute “gaming.” So far, however, you can only buy the furniture in China. Ikea’s gaming furniture is expected to come to Germany in autumn 2021.
