Super low budget first PC? Secondhand? ESO

IOnlyPlayXbox

IOnlyPlayXbox

IOnlyPlayXbox

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Hi, I've had a bit of a search and can't really find an answer, it's normally people recommending certain products.

To cut a long story short I play ESO on console, and would like to try it on PC. I haven't gamed on a PC for about 15 years, so I have no idea what I'm looking at! I don't have a set budget, I'm more curious how much I would have to spend to be able to play it.

What's the best budget option? Buy new PC? Make one from new parts? Buy a secondhand one? Make one from secondhand parts? Never built a PC but I'm sure I could work it out, and enjoy it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. A Pro will be along shortly!

Ok start with the system requirements from ESO site - see below:

PC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Minimum:

  • Windows 7 32-bit; Intel® Core i3 540 or AMD A6-3620
  • 3GB System RAM
  • 85GB free HDD space
  • DirectX 11 compliant video card with 1 GB of RAM (NVIDIA® GeForce® 460 / AMD Radeon™ 6850) or higher
  • DirectX compatible sound card
  • Internet broadband connection
Recommended:

  • Windows 7 64-bit
  • Intel® Core i5 2300 or AMD FX4350
  • 8GB System RAM
  • 85GB free HDD space
  • DirectX 11 compliant video card with 2 GB of RAM (NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 750 or AMD Radeon™ HD 7850) or higher

So your game of choice will run on a reasonable laptop, a budget desktop or a mid-range PC.

You can buy second hand, prebuilt on here, a bundle and you build yourself........or post a budget and your forum buddies will post a spec for each component for you.

I would say a laptop or second hand would be cheapest.

Buying prebuilt is good value.

Building is the most fun in my opinion, perhaps more expensive, it can be frustrating if you get stuck and you have no Pro IT mate to lend a hand...........but the advantage is you can choose your case, power supply, keyboard, mouse, monitor.........and in a few years.......change out the processor, motherboard. memory and cpu and you have a new PC. Plus you learn more and you can repair it!

Plus you can do tons of things with a PC other than computer games.

Forum post on building here https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/system-build-guide.18046396/

Best of luck
 
A fairly common option for low budget pc gaming, is to have a look around for a second hand office machine with a 2nd or 3rd gen i5, something like an i5 2500, them put in a budget graphics card like a gtx 1050ti, and maybe some extra ram. Should get you up and running for around about £300 - £400
 
It is best to build the pc your self as you save some money but you can get overclockers to build it for you.

No budget eh, i'll set your budget around £500-600 as that will get you a spec that will be able to play ESO.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £615.10
(includes shipping: £12.30)



​

This is for the tower only, with this spec you can play ESO on high or ultra graphic setting.
 
I will do a build that is minimum spec that can play ESO.

Edit this build below is designed to play ESO that costs less and isn't ment to be ultra future proof although he can upgrade it somewhere down the line.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £493.14
(includes shipping: £12.30)




I must point out that you will need windows 10 to support the processor and same with that ryzen 1200 i think, correct me if i am wrong.

My 2 pence.

Dan.​
 
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To be honest what your after it has to be a £500 budget for the pc tower alone buying new pc parts which requires you to build the pc or just get overclockers to build it for you.

I know full well it will get you a pc spec that will play that game in full glory, maybe get the ryzen 1200 i think or if you can't afford it then get the intel pentium.
 
I tell you what i'll do a build that will be able to run that game and using the most cheapest parts i can find.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £417.54
(includes shipping: £11.70)




I know that gt 1030 will be able to play that game on high, so for 400 quid this will be able to play that game fine.

Edit the rx550 is more powerful http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GT-1030-vs-AMD-RX-550/m283726vs3925 .

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £438.14
(includes shipping: £12.30)




So yea realistically 400-600 quid budget for the tower only(new pc parts that has to be built), if you want the cheapest go with the build above with the rx 550 as the graphics card as it is more powerful against the nvidia gt 1030 and only costing 80 pounds.​
 
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Thank you for all the replies, very helpful, and good point about it doing other stuff, I could do with having a proper PC to do some other bits and pieces too.

See this is where it gets confusing for a non PC expert. Game requirements are 3gb ram, i dont see any builds above that have less than 8gb. From what I remember running a game on developers 'minimum' requirements isn't great, but that seems a lot over. I haven't looked at anything other than ram yet, as I have no idea what model number means what etc.

I'll have to check funds etc, but I'd hope that at a stretch I could afford the most expensive one linked, but it probably would be a stretch by the time I've bought the game, monitor, mouse, keyboard, any software needed? Etc. The idea of buying an old office PC and putting a graphics card in is probably more realistic for me at the moment, then I can at least try PC gaming, see if I like it, and then either save up for a proper PC or replace parts as and when needed. I'll have another read through later and have a think.

Thanks :)
 
IOnlyPlayXbox said:
Thank you for all the replies, very helpful, and good point about it doing other stuff, I could do with having a proper PC to do some other bits and pieces too.

See this is where it gets confusing for a non PC expert. Game requirements are 3gb ram, i dont see any builds above that have less than 8gb. From what I remember running a game on developers 'minimum' requirements isn't great, but that seems a lot over. I haven't looked at anything other than ram yet, as I have no idea what model number means what etc.

I'll have to check funds etc, but I'd hope that at a stretch I could afford the most expensive one linked, but it probably would be a stretch by the time I've bought the game, monitor, mouse, keyboard, any software needed? Etc. The idea of buying an old office PC and putting a graphics card in is probably more realistic for me at the moment, then I can at least try PC gaming, see if I like it, and then either save up for a proper PC or replace parts as and when needed. I'll have another read through later and have a think.

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Office pc eh, make sure it is an i3 or some amd equivalent which i do not know processor at the very very least and pair it with some cheap gpu like the gt 1030 me thinks.

For what your after make sure this office pc has at least 4gb of ram and then your away to see if it is even worth it.

So yea i don't know where your going to get a used office pc but it should be cheaper due to todays competition prices.

This office pc will be able to play on Minimum with some setting set on higher thanks to the gpu and cpu.

Realistically this office pc will come at around about £100-200 and the gpu is like what 60 pounds, so 160-260 quid no need to worry about power supply as the gt 1030 is a low powered card.
 
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Never played that game or even heard of it, but 2nd hand be your best option if you want to spend as little as possible, likely wouldn't be the same for you, but I had built an old 775 system in my sig for £100 which I sourced the parts and built it myself (actually everything apart from the power supply, graphics card, geil ram, quad and aftermarket cooler cost a fiver as it had a pentium dual core and stock looking akasa cooler) you take in the account a recent purchase of the geil ram, it's not the best, but it hasn't been too bad...

However yesterday I picked up a bog standard acer veriton that had no hard drive, but is a 1155 socket model with an i3 2120, single 4gb ram for £35(win7 coa still on case), I've put in a spare 2gb ram I had which I hope will work along with my psu, gpu, hard drive, so while the 5770 is weak it's still a better system that it's replacing, okay I had the bits to go in it, but £35 for a good base which that acer board has support for an i5 2400/2500/2500k and maybe i7 2600 and you can get an i5 2400 for under £30, so given what's about whether it's standard systems or a low-medium custom it's going to be worth while for you going used.
 
Some great posts.

Picking up a second hand 2500k intel rig is a good idea.

Looking back at recommended specs - it may help to consider the following again:
  • Windows 7 64-bit
  • Intel® Core i5 2300 or AMD FX4350
  • 8GB System RAM
  • 85GB free HDD space
  • DirectX 11 compliant video card with 2 GB of RAM (NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 750 or AMD Radeon™ HD 7850) or higher
So if we update that...........Windows 7 is great but now you are more likely to use Windows 10

Second hand the idea above is great, looking for an i5 chip 2500k or even a 2400 or 2500.. (very cheap and not overclockable)...........just got to watch out that you have a compatible motherboard and ram. Or instead of intel there are AMD equivalents.........

4GB of ram is good, 8GB is future proof

A hard disc drive 500GB or 1TB is relatively cheap.........or you can get a small SSD (fast) say 250GB

Then you have a graphics card .............lots of these to chose from.......

You would need a case, power supply, optical drive, keyboard and mouse
A cpu cooler - stock or aftermarket
Monitor presumably 1080p 24 to 27 inch or a 1080p tv

If you were not having it built by OCUK then you would need a Pro mate to check out the parts are compatible with one another because there are a lot of different generations of chips and memory..............not too difficult but it is a bit confusing nevertheless.

Hope that helps. Let us know how you get on.
 
Just happened across this thread as i've just been asked basically exactly the same question - an low budget gaming computer for around £600, which I know will be used to play ESO...

and on a non-build related note, if you do want to try out ESO on PC I'm happy to recommend you to a couple of easy going guilds & can get you into a medium sized trade guild without any problems. It's much easier with folks to chat to & somewhere to sell your stuff :) just PM me on here if you're interested.
 
As others have suggested, pick up a second hand PC and buy a graphics card if required. That way you can sell it on for similar money if you don't like PC gaming and you'll not be paying separately for windows.
 
Sorry I haven't replied, have been reading just not sure what to say...

Thank you for all the replies, some great ideas, if a little confusing to someone who knows nothing about computers, for that reason and "just got to watch out that you have a compatible motherboard and ram" I'm strongly considering buying new and spending a bit more money. Some things are a nightmare with only an ancient laptop and an iPad in the house, and I have some work stuff, a basic website to make and stuff and a college course coming up, so even if I don't like PC gaming it will get a lot of use.

I have a million and one questions to be honest! I'll try and remember most of them.
Any suggestions if I get some finance and stretch the budget to around £1k? Ideally a bit less but I kind of like buying something decent that last rather than replacing it every year or whatever.
Would I be crazy to cut a few corners now, with a view to upgrading as and when I can or feel I need to? Having a look at PC builds I'm thinking use my 32" 1080p TV for now (assuming it would work?), not getting an SSD until Say Christmas or janurary, and only getting 8GB ram that I can upgrade when I can/need to?
Would I be even more crazy to over/under spec a few bits now so that it's easier to upgrade in the future? I know it probably wouldn't perform as well now, but might be better in the long run if I get into PC gaming? Let's say my budget would get me a nice 1060 GPU and everything else nicely matched, could I cheap out on the graphics card (say a 1050ti which I think would be more than enough for me for now) and spend the saved money on a better PSU, CPU and motherboard that would suit say a 1070 if I feel the need to upgrade in about a year. Might be stupid idea, but thought I'd ask.

Thanks nox, I will let you know if I manage to get to play it on PC :)
 
You can get a Dell XPS 8920 for £600 from the Dell Outlet site:

XPS 8920
Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-7400 (Quad Core, up to 3.5 GHz, 6M Cache, 65W)
Windows 10 Home (64bit)
8GB (2x4GB) 2400MHz DDR4 Non-ECC UDIMM
2 TB 3.5inch SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
32 GB Solid State Drive
8X DVD+/- RW Drive
6GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Graphics
XPS 8920 EPA Chassis (460W)
Software
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 802.11ac, 1x1, 2.4 & 5GHz + Bluetooth 4.2
Dell USB Optical Mouse - Black
Heatsink
Power Cord : 250V
Dell 105 Key USB Keyboard Black
 
Thanks, that's really interesting.
TBH I never really wanted a Dell, and was looking forward to making a PC, but that (the one for £700 or even more) looks hard to beat price wise, having a quick tally up of the listed spec buy that complete is approx £1-200 cheaper than buying the parts separate myself and making it, unless I'm looking at the wrong stuff, but just an i7 7700 and motherboard, 16gb ram and 6gb 1060 comes to over £600 alone?

When I google windows 10 it comes up as either about £30 or £180, if I was to build my own PC which one would I have to shell out for?
 
IOnlyPlayXbox said:
Thanks, that's really interesting.
TBH I never really wanted a Dell, and was looking forward to making a PC, but that (the one for £700 or even more) looks hard to beat price wise, having a quick tally up of the listed spec buy that complete is approx £1-200 cheaper than buying the parts separate myself and making it, unless I'm looking at the wrong stuff, but just an i7 7700 and motherboard, 16gb ram and 6gb 1060 comes to over £600 alone?
Click to expand...

Yep, same reason I bought my current machine from the Dell Outlet 6 years ago. £600 for an i7 2600, 2x1TB HDDs, 12GB of RAM and a Radeon 6870 was far cheaper than the same spec would have cost as a new machine or if I'd built one myself. The CPU was about £250 alone back then I think. I can't remember what condition mine was sold as (may have just been a refurb), but it was absolutely pristine when it arrived.

In that time I've added a couple of SSDs, changed the two HDDs for a larger single 4TB one, and changed the GPU to a 6GB 1060. The rest is all as-is, and the OEM PSU is still powering it along without issue. I'm getting to the point now where I'd quite like to build something new but this machine still runs brilliantly so I'm finding it hard to justify!
 
The tv is fine, if it has a hdmi it will do picture and sound (1080p)

Any modern graphics card will do 1080p vid playback.........but then there is gaming grunt.........you need a card which will play your game.

I wonder if you know anyone selling a 2500k rig,..you can use a regular HDD (hard disk drive) add an SSD later.

Do you have any PC components? Can you cadge a keyboard mouse copy of W7?

No idea what the equivalent AMD version would be to look out for?
 
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