Recommend To Me A PC For Less Than $1000 That Can Play Mid-Level Games.

[R.R. Bigman]

I had been looking into getting a new Mac soon. Unfortunately, after reading about how crummy Apple still is about games on their computers on this very forum, I think I want a modest PC that can play games fairly well. No ”AAA” stuff, just small and mid tier stuff. I looked on some other forums and sites about Gaming PCs, and that is not a scene I want to deal with for several reasons.

 

[estragon]

What is fairly well to you? What framerates and resolutions are you aiming for, ideally? What do you think of as on the high end of a mid-tier game?

(I have only built one (1) PC and it was this year so I probably do not have the best answer here compared to people who know their stuff and are really able to assess various prebuilts, but from that experience I think those questions is going to be a pre-requisite to sorting things out.)

 

[Gaer]

I’m gonna be real: you’re not going to find one easily.

The semi-conductor shortage has made it impossible for Enterprise level businesses who have excellent relationships with suppliers to source hardware. Prices have gone way up in general.

Honestly? You’d be better off buying a PS5 at MSRP if it has any of the games you’re after.

 

[estragon]

Reiterating that I'm not an expert, I really do think the answer to how easy this will be hinges on how "mid-tier" is being defined and what kind of performance is expected.

My husband plays games that could now maybe be described as "mid-tier" (Divinity OS:2, Witcher 3, City: Skylines) on a prebuilt PC he bought for like $400 dollars half a decade ago that is way worse than prebuilts I see on NewEgg today for ~$1000. (I did a simple upgrade of the graphics card on that for him when he got it from potato to extremely low-end budget gaming, and even considering that expense I think this is still true...) But he also has basically no sensitivity to low frame rates and resolutions and has no problem turning down the graphics settings, so...

 

[R.R. Bigman]

What is fairly well to you? What framerates and resolutions are you aiming for, ideally? What do you think of as on the high end of a mid-tier game?

(I have only built one (1) PC and it was this year so I probably do not have the best answer here compared to people who know their stuff and are really able to assess various prebuilts, but from that experience I think those questions is going to be a pre-requisite to sorting things out.)

Indie games and old games from the 90’s and 2000’s, really.

 

[estragon]

If you're primarily aiming for stuff a decade or more old, probably literally any prebuilt classified as a gaming PC in that general price range should be able to handle it to a level that's playable, if not necessarily with a high framerate.

And this is the point where the questions gets more into what specific prebuilt brands are reliable, which unfortunately I know nothing about because I went the build it myself route... But, considering the parts I see in the prebuilts on NewEgg at that price, I think with that budget you should not have a problem getting a PC that does what you want it to do.

It does raise the question: "Do you want to be paying $1000 for a prebuilt with a GTX 1650 in 2021?" and maybe the answer is "No, that's definitely not a good value for your money." But products do appear to exist that do what you want them to do, in the price range you are asking for. And so maybe if this is also serving primarily as your main desktop for you to do other stuff as well it's a reasonable purchase... That's debatable.

It kind of depends if you think of it as replacing a Mac desktop, or if you think of it as replacing a PS5. I think if it's the former, there's arguably a case for it. If it's the latter, it's not the best choice to make just for games. But also, when will the graphics card situation get better? Who knows...

edit: If you are willing to go into the $1200 range, it looks like there are prebuilts with an RTX 3060 at the point, which is on the very low end of current graphics cards but more than enough for what you say you want to play and also a huge increase in value for your money. At $1000 it looks like you tend to be overpaying for something quite old, while at $1200 or so you're getting an okay deal, albeit in the context of a market where all 3000 series graphics cards are hilariously overpriced.

 

[Violentvixen]

I'm also in this boat, my Macbook can't play 70% of my Steam games anymore. I'm intrigued by the Steam Deck, but it's too new and I also want to be able to play the billion free Epic and Itch.io games I have that aren't Mac compatible.

@R.R. Bigman I'd grab the specs of a couple games you want, there's a ton of variation. Here are the specs of a few games in my library that seem like they might be on the more intense side:

• Svobada 1945
  • OS: Windows 10
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: HD Graphics 530 or better
  • DirectX: Version 10
  • Storage: 9 GB available space
• Uh crap I forgot what game I pulled this from
  • OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10
  • Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2.4 GHz) / AMD Phenom x4 9850 (2.5 GHz)
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: GeForce GT 430 (1024 MB)/ Radeon HD 6850 (1024 MB)
  • DirectX: Version 9.0c
  • Network: Broadband Internet connection
  • Storage: 14 GB available space
  • Sound Card: DirectX compatible
  • Additional Notes: Windows XP and DirectX® 9.0b and below not supported
• Hades
  • OS: Windows 7 SP1
  • Processor: Dual Core 2.4 GHz
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: 1GB VRAM / DirectX 10+ support
  • Storage: 15 GB available space
• Tabletop Simulator
  • OS: Windows 7 SP1+
  • Processor: SSE2 instruction set support.
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Graphics card with DX10 (shader model 4.0) capabilities.
  • DirectX: Version 10
  • Network: Broadband Internet connection
  • Storage: 3 GB available space
• Eastshade
  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 7
  • Processor: Intel i5-750/AMD Phenom II X4-945
  • Memory: 6 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Nvidia GTX 560 Ti/Radeon HD 6950
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 3 GB available space

 

[R.R. Bigman]

I certainly hope to get a current gen system in the coming years, so this is more of a replacement for my ten year old Mac.

Thanks for the spec info, Violentvixen. I’d like a computer than could run Hades, despite already having it on Switch.

 

[Becksworth]

Yeah, even most the current gen integrated graphics should be able to run games from the 00s and earlier without serious issue, unless you're wanting to emulate PS3 or something. The question would be how big of contemporary indie games are you thinking? Like just 2D stuff or some of the bigger 3D ones that start to blur the line?

 

[estragon]

If you see this primarily as replacing a PC, I think this is at least worth considering, although you probably want to wait and save up until you can at least get a prebuilt with a 3000 series graphics card, which seems to become an option around $1200.

As VV says, it would be helpful if you could list some particular games you want to play, especially noting ones you think might be more graphically intensive.

 

[Regulus]

Indie games and old games from the 90’s and 2000’s, really.

I don't think it would be hard to build a PC that would play those for less than 1k. You can run a lot on older hardware, particularly if you shoot for 1080p instead of 1440p or higher. The biggest issue is going to be finding an affordable GPU at this point, due to the shortage.

I built a new PC a few months ago, but before that I was using essentially the same machine from 2013-2021. This thing. The only significant upgrade I made to it was the GTX 970 in 2014. It was able to run Cyberpunk 2077 last year at medium-high settings at around 40 FPS. Games like Hades are nothing, comparatively.

Prebuilt I don't have a lot of experience with, unfortunately, so I can't offer much advice there. But if you are interested in trying to build one, you can have some of the above parts if you'll pay the shipping. Specifically, the ASUS z77 motherboard, i7 3770s CPU, and the Corsair RAM are just sitting in my garage collecting dust.

 

[R.R. Bigman]

The game that almost broke the PC I was using was the remaster of Turok 2 from 2017. That PC was a Dell from just the year prior, and the AMD application on it said the specs weren’t high enough to run it.

As for contemporary games, mostly in the range of Hades, Eastward, etc.

 

[Sarge]

There's also the upcoming Steam Deck if you're into portable form factors. You'll be waiting for a while on that one, though.

 

[Sarcasmorator]

You might check, of all places, Wal-Mart. I try not to shop there in general, but last year we needed a new computer fast after our MB burned out, and I got a pretty decent gaming PC for under $800 (it was a bit on sale) when it was pretty hard to find anything that would ship out quick. It can handle pretty much anything I throw at it at decent settings, including Control, Horizon ZD, FFXV, and so on.

 

[Becksworth]

There's also the upcoming Steam Deck if you're into portable form factors. You'll be waiting for a while on that one, though.

Yeah, that's the first thing I thought of given he said he wanted cheap mid tier pc gaming mainly, but then your at a nebulous "after Q2 2022" for those who haven't preordered one yet.

 

[Patrick]

I'm intrigued by the Steam Deck, but it's too new and I also want to be able to play the billion free Epic and Itch.io games I have that aren't Mac compatible.

My understanding is that Steam Deck doesn’t lock you into Steam at all. It’s just a computer. It will run all of those Epic & Itch.io games.

 

[Sarge]

Yep, they've said you're free to do whatever you like, and can put Windows on there if you choose. I will probably initially see what I can do just within SteamOS, but if I run into any significant limitations, I'll be putting Windows on there.

It sure would be swell if they moved my preorder up to Dec 2021, but probably not. I'm still in the Q1 2022 window, and hopefully won't slip back any.

 

[R.R. Bigman]

Steam Deck sounded great, but it was already backordered into next year by the time I got on Steam that day.

Is Hewlett Packard still a good brand? We had one of those when I was a kid and it played games like The Sims and the Jumpstart educational series pretty well.

 

[Becksworth]

I'm not sure if they still stack up 2021, but HP was actually a pretty decent brand a few years back. I got a prebuilt desktop for $700-$800 from them 4-ish years ago that was somewhere between PS4 and PS4 pro in terms of game performance.

 

[Sarge]

I haven't messed with their desktops, but I'm wanting to say they're pretty decent. I have bought several laptops for my Dad, and they seem like they're pretty good. I don't think they're a bad option at all. I'd roll with them over Dell these days.

 

[R.R. Bigman]

I’ll look into some new-ish HP models. Thanks.

 

[Mightyblue]

I probably wouldn't, if this is anything to go by. Issue is that all of the old big PC suppliers have vertically integrated supply chains paired with abysmal build and customer service quality, so you get proprietary parts that cannot be easily replaced or repaired plus you get to deal with gigantic corporate monolith customer service. The mostly online ones like ABS, iBuyPower, Origin, and so on tend to be a bit better quality-wise and they use enthusiast pipeline products so you don't have to worry about parts being unobtainium.

 

[R.R. Bigman]

All right, then. Thank you for the warning.

 

[Becksworth]

Yeah, sorry. I got something from their Omen line, which was generally better build quality than the Pavilion line, but it looks like the prices on the Omen line have skyrocketed since when I got mine.

 

[Mightyblue]

Yeah, consumer electronics is basically dead in the water for at least another year or two. There's just too much demand and nowhere near enough supply to begin making up the difference, so prices are fucked and will be that way until this resolves (if then).

 

[Gaer]

Yeah, consumer electronics is basically dead in the water for at least another year or two. There's just too much demand and nowhere near enough supply to begin making up the difference, so prices are fucked and will be that way until this resolves (if then).

This is why I said it would be better to get a PS5 at this point.

 

[R.R. Bigman]

This is why I said it would be better to get a PS5 at this point.

I’m tryin’!

 

[Violentvixen]

Hmm, so I just saw this Slickdeals post which appears to put this $1500 laptop down to $850. It's definitely not a gaming PC but my Macbook is starting to have issues so I'm considering just moving everything over anyway. I have my big post above of all the games I'm interested in, but I don't know how to interpret this line in that listing:

• Graphics
  Integrated AMD Radeon™ Graphics

Does anyone know how to look into this? Can it play most of the games I have listed above?

Edit: I found this video which I think is the same model and their gaming section shows a second stick of RAM is needed for more intense games. This other video shows games above the sort of thing I'm interested in and they look fine? My guess is that Eastshade might struggle on this laptop but most everything else would run. I'd be curious to hear if anyone else on here has thoughts though.

 

[Torzelbaum]

As far as I can tell It looks like based on the CPU model that laptop has a "Radeon RX Vega 8 integrated graphics card with 8 CUs and up to 2000 MHz"

 

[Violentvixen]

As far as I can tell It looks like based on the CPU model that laptop has a "Radeon RX Vega 8 integrated graphics card with 8 CUs and up to 2000 MHz"

Perfect, thank you! I'll keep poking around and figure out what the limits of this might be. Seems like Tabletop Simulator might be the most intense thing I plan to play.

But mainly need to think long and hard about what I actually want this laptop for, the reality is I don't play a lot of the types of games a true "gaming" laptop requires.