How to Create a Gaming PC from a Second-Hand PC

 Gaming PCs are just way too expensive these days for some people. They generally cost a couple of thousands of dollars. Not everyone can afford these gaming beasts. If you are also one of those who don’t want to spend a few thousand dollars in a gaming PC, you can build a cheap gaming PC from a pre-owned PC. It would definitely cut down considerable cost.

Let’s learn how to make an affordable gaming PC from an old or used PC.

Building a Gaming PC from a Used PC- Step-by-Step Tutorial

Step 1: Finding an Excellent Used-PC

Never buy an old PC from an individual unless you know them in person. Buying a used PC from a gaming nerd might not be a good idea since they will only sell it if it has any hidden technical problem. They always upgrade their PC if it can work for another few months or years.

Most corporations discard their used PCs since they annually buy new PC units that have the latest features and components.  They mostly hand over their old units to the resellers and recyclers at a very low price. Many PC resellers sell these used PCs directly to the customers at a very low price. If you can contact such kind of computer resellers in your region, then you should first approach them to buy an old PC.

Their products are mostly in excellent condition since the working professionals use these PCs with exceptional care. If you can’t buy directly from a reseller, then do visit eBay and look for the used PCs from resellers. You can quickly identify PC resellers in eBay and then contact them in person. Tell them what kind of PC you are looking for and specs you want in a PC. While buying an old PC, you should invest in a PC that has a powerful processor such as Intel Core i7 series. Don’t worry about RAM, hard drive, or GPU as you can upgrade them yourself with ease.

For creating a gaming PC, we recommend you choose any model from Dell’s Optiplex series, HP ProDesk series, Compaq lineup and Lenovo’s ThinkCentre lineup.

Step 2: Collect Essential Details

Before making the final purchase, please cross-check the product details and also make sure that the reseller is authentic. You will need a little hard work here. If you are purchasing from an online store, then you will need to be even more careful. Sometimes the product can be a little different than what you see in the listing. So, before ordering, please contact the reseller and ask more about the product you want to purchase. See the return or replacement terms. Keep in mind that the PSU aka Power Supply Unit should be powerful enough to power your additional CPU.

Step 3: Check Compatibility for Components      

To turn an ordinary PC into a full-fledged gaming PC, you will need to buy extra components such as SSD, Graphics card, and RAM separately. So, before buying a PC, make sure the components you want to buy are compatible with the pre-owned PC you wish to purchase.

SSD

SSD is one of the crucial components for converting an old PC into a gaming one. SSDs perform far better than ordinary hard drives. Unlike HDD, an SSD can help a computer to load heavy-duty video games in no time. However, it is not something like you must have to play games even though it is a good thing to invest in if you want your PC to be extremely fast. These storage devices cost almost twice as compared with traditional HDD. A 480 GB SSD will cost you roughly 55-60 USD on Amazon.

Graphics

It is another performance-boosting component that you must buy. Every high-end PC has a high-quality GPU, aka graphics processing unit. Without it, you won’t be able to run heavy games. If you want to play 1080P or 4K video games on a PC, then you must buy a powerful graphics card. It can be very expensive, depending on how much graphics power you want. While purchasing it, you should carefully investigate whether your PC can run it or not. Please don’t buy a PC, without ensuring whether it can handle an additional GPU or not.    

Step 4: Final Buy

Once you have researched the components and used PCs, it is time to buy them. Just ensure your components fit well in the used PC that you are buying. Once you have validated all stuff, purchase the used pc as well as the selected parts.

Step 5: Installation

When you have your used computer and other gaming components in hand, it is time to open the CPU and install all components carefully. Carefully connect the SSD, GPU and RAM to your computer. If you don’t have prior knowledge about it, then find a good hardware technician near you. He will do it for you. He might take a little fee, but you will get your gaming PC ready without any technical issues.

Final thoughts

Creating a gaming PC doesn’t necessarily require in-depth knowledge if you can research adequately. I hope this article helped you in converting a used PC to a gaming one.

Ava Williams is an avid technical blogger, a magazine contributor, a publisher of guides at mcafee.com/activate, and a professional cyber security analyst. Through her writing, she aims to educate people about the dangers and threats lurking in the digital world.

  Source :  Gaming PC