A user wanted to have a gaming PC and got the cheapest offer for it. But that was not a good idea, as many people from the community explain to him. And he not only paid too much but also made other mistakes.
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What exactly did he buy? For 230 euros, he received the following system (via reddit.com):
- AMD FX 8320 (CPU)
- AMD Radeon R9 380, 4 GB (GPU)
- Gigabyte 970A-DS3P (Motherboard)
- 8 GB RAM (DDR3)
- 2 TB HDD
- 1 TB SSD
If you take a look at the hardware installed, you immediately know: The technology used is hopelessly outdated. The AMD FX 8320 still uses the old AM3+ socket and only supports DDR3 RAM. The graphics card (AMD Radeon R9 380) was originally released in 2015, and AMD has since discontinued support for the old series. 8 GB of RAM is also barely sufficient for many games in 2023, and DDR3 is somewhat slower than DDR4.
For demanding games from 2015, the graphics card provides enough performance, but for modern titles from 2023, the GPU runs out of steam fairly quickly.
The reactions are reserved. Many explain that 230 euros for the system was far too much. For 230 euros, you can at least get a reasonably decent system with current hardware today.
Another bargain hunter had little luck when buying new hardware:
Take enough time before buying a gaming PC
Take your time when considering buying a new gaming PC and think about what you want to do with the system and which games your computer should handle. Impulsive investments are often annoying in many cases, and you may be disappointed later about the bad investment.
What hardware makes sense in 2023? With the Ryzen 5 5600G, you can play undemanding titles with medium details thanks to the integrated graphics chip. If you want to play long-term, we would rather recommend investing in a decent processor and a proper graphics card:
- Good processors in the upper range are the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 or Intel’s i5-12400F, costing between 130 and 160 euros.
- With the Radeon RX 6600XT or GeForce RTX 3060 (Ti), you can get a solid graphics card for around 300 euros that provides adequate performance for current games at Full HD.
- 16 GB of RAM has now become mandatory for a gaming system, 32 GB is a possible option. We would no longer recommend 8 GB today.
If you’re unsure, consult friends or experts before hastily investing money because you immediately need a new gaming PC or you no longer feel like using your Xbox or PS5.
Others also invest unwisely a lot of money in new hardware. A user wanted to buy Nvidia’s RTX 4090 for little money. But in the end, he is likely to neither see a graphics card nor his money again:
