Topics Learned
- Working with older/OEM hardware
- Entrepreneurship
- Advertising
The Start
I got the idea for this project because of how weird the economy was at the time. I had started getting back into PC building earlier that year when I upgraded my own desktop at the start of COVID. By the fall of 2020, supply chain issues were everywhere and you couldn’t find a new GPU anywhere. Luckily, the used market was still doing okay. I decided to try building a budget gaming PC when most people thought it was impossible because of the price hikes. I really wanted to prove that you could still build something great without breaking the bank.
I picked up a used Dell OptiPlex from a recycling site for a little over $100. Here is what it came with:
- CPU: Intel i5-4590
- RAM: 8GB RAM (2 x 4GB) at 1600 MHz
- Storage: 500GB HDD
- PSU: 290 watt OEM power supply
- Software: Windows 10 Pro
It is honestly wild what you can get for that price. A Windows license alone usually costs $100, but I got a whole working computer for that. I knew I wanted to upgrade the storage, RAM, and GPU to make it actually usable for gaming. I added two more 4GB sticks of RAM to bring it up to 16GB and swapped in a 240GB SSD so it would feel snappy. For the graphics, I went with a GIGABYTE GTX 1650. It is a great card for 1080p gaming, but more importantly, it ran at 75 watts without any need for extra power cables. Since the stock power supply was only 290 watts and did not have any GPU power connectors, the 1650 was perfect because it pulls all its power straight from the motherboard slot. I could just plug it in and go. Here are the final specs:
- CPU: Intel i5-4590
- GPU: GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1650 OC 4GB
- RAM: 16GB RAM (4 x 4GB) at 1600 MHz
- Storage: ADATA SU635 240GB SSD and 500GB HDD
- PSU: 290 watt OEM power supply
The computer ended up running great. It was smooth, responsive, and did not have any of the lag you would expect from an old machine. If you did not see the case, you would never guess it was a nearly decade-old office PC that was headed for the trash. It would have been the perfect setup for me back in middle school. Plus, buying from a recycler helps keep e-waste out of landfills. It was a fun challenge working with proprietary OEM parts too. Even though the basics are the same, dealing with those weird custom motherboards makes things interesting.