$125 Budget Gaming PC Build! (2023)

[@Holycurative9610]

I put together a sub GB£200 build for my son. The pc has a 1050Ti, an i5-4690, 16 GB of DDR3 ram, a 1TB ssd and a 1TB hard drive (7200rpm), cooler master 650w gold psu, a decent BeQuiet cooler and a generic case with NO RGB... The reason for this build is to give my son a decent upgrade path so he learns something about computers although I did include a wifi dongle and all the leads and peripherals for him.

[@EverestJAJA]

The 4690 can be pretty much a bottleneck for the 1050ti, as crazy as it sounds. Would be nice if someday you change the cpu ☺️

[@troy64]

​@@EverestJAJA what no, an i5-4690 and a 1050 ti are literally perfect

[@EverestJAJA]

@@troy64 It can have way more performance gains with a stronger cpu

[@TotallySearch]

Your son had a better computer than me until I was 17, spoiling him a little 😂

[@dickdickling9389]

@@TotallySearch I had a celeron 420 system till like 2017, you won't catch me complaining about parents being nice to their kids. Not everyone has to barely run HL2 before they get a decent system.

[@MrElliot1210]

I think benchmarking Doom Eternal is interesting because it can be surprising how well such a game runs on low end hardware.

[@TheOmegaRiddler]

Yet the switch can't handle the damn game.

[@MrElliot1210]

@@TheOmegaRiddler such an impressive port.

[@_Hasboa_]

@@TheOmegaRiddler it can. Runs at 720p on docked mode 30-ish fps. It ain't that bad for a slower cpu+gpu than my phones one

[@TheOmegaRiddler]

@@_Hasboa_ but cutscenes ran at 14 fps

[@_Hasboa_]

@@TheOmegaRiddler skip them and you will be fine. I usually don't watch them

[@thedungeondelver]

You should be able to get a right-angle 24 pin adapter, if you've got the clearance on the bottom of the board, you're set. If it were mine I'd do exactly what you did, and I'd cover it with some carbon fiber or vinyl covering to fix the look of the outside of the case.

[@dickdickling9389]

Sadly, that would not work in this situation, they are like a bit taller than an unpopulated ram slot. Either it would barely clear if the cooler is small enough or just not rly. honestly just getting a cheap riser is the way to go, something this cheap can be a little janky.

[@voteDC]

I think it is a shame the optical drive couldn't be retained in the PC. A cheap system like this would be perfect for older games that come on disc, opening up a vast library of games.

[@EmergencyChannel]

Old PC games on CD are surprisingly expensive. My copy of Fallout 2 is worth like $250.

[@tedbrousky1934]

Optic Media is B A D ! xD

[@thcriticalthinker4025]

A good option for single slot cards is old workstation cards. Technically you could modify a card with a single slot cooler if you are feeling jiggy enough

[@TotallySearch]

Old work systems can die suddenly though I wouldn't recommend it

[@dickdickling9389]

@@TotallySearch Anything old can die suddenly.

[@Martig03]

I put a dual slot 1050 ti in a similar machine. I have had no issues running it and temps remain constant

[@Martig03]

If you need a single slot, then use a quadro m4000. It’s about a 980, and the power draw is limited so it doesn’t cause issues with the low power supply

[@DaisyHollowBooks]

I’m impressed with this. My first foray into building something like this ran into a lot of snags. I don’t need something with weird lights, color coordination and all of that, so I really like what you are doing here and plan to do something similar.

[@DaisyHollowBooks]

I’d be interested to see what other models you regard as good candidates for this sort of build.

[@TotallySearch]

Honestly I wouldn't recommend buying these HP systems, the motherboards are usually 7+ years old and they feel like they're on their last leg

[@RobertFixit]

I tried to make a $100 system and it was sooooo difficult. Definitely buying the PC online hurts the budget. I always look locally first there are some super cheap deals. In contrast, the GPU deals are typically better on ebay. Even though your setup is only $20 more than mine, it appears to perform way better!

[@dickdickling9389]

20 bucks goes a long way when your budget is only 100, I mean its quite literally 20% more :D

[@Gab2456_]

Awesome video man, just did the same and scored a i7 2600/20GB Ram/256GB SSD and a 1060 3GB which is basically a 1650S with 1 less gb of vram for around 80/85$ Thank you!

[@grizzlyindustries7593]

Love these jank builds. I have a LGA771 build now with an RX560(had a broken fan that I replaced jankly) with a 160gbHDD running Linux and emulation or anything else. The power supply also dangles on one screw :D I have a better PC. Just love building jank. Also, three games I've been recently using for testing hardware is: ABZU for color and picture quality. Katana Zero for framerate, frametime, and latency. And Metro Exodus for hardest hitting performance. I mean. Pick and choose any games you want. Yet, I always test these three games personally to check all around gaming for different GPUs, CPUs, Ram, Power Draw, and Thermals in different cases and setups. For what I see with this build. You could make it an open air case by either grinding away parts like the top, front, and that DVD caddy. Screwing the caddy as a GPU plate for the extension(above the PSU;below the motherboard), and painting it. I don't know. Seems like a fun project to not the waste parts of the case and use them another way. Enjoy the videos.

[@jessicabruno2820]

Nice result. What I would have been tempted to do with the PSU is get a low profile 90 degree adapter (they do exist for a few dollars) and then get an SFX PSU so there was space to route the power cable away from under the GPU. Still terrible design by HP but it might just work...?

[@fusion_x_frost3836]

Ye my exact same comment, just saw yours. Sorry lol

[@andersenpeters]

HP seems to love creating clearance issues for GPUs. I built a very similar build for a friend with the same era of Intel chip in it but it was from HP's office line of systems instead of a home computer. Instead of having ATX power connector clearance issues it was USB 3.0 front header issues, the connector was immediately past the end of the 16x PCIE slot which meant any decently long card would block it. To make matters worse the bios had a front USB disconnection warning that could not be disabled. I ended up finding a flexible USB 3.0 header extension on Amazon that I could just barely route beneath the GPU.

[@fusion_x_frost3836]

@@andersenpeters Yeah thats crazy, like they do not think about the possibility of a graphics card / network card / storage card being added that may have length to it. But congrats on the build.

[@TotallySearch]

HP computers are not worth it tbh

[@Namiz00]

i think benchmarking BeamNG can be interested, its very physics based for the CPU, but as of recently its now pretty graphically demanding as its hugely upgraded with stuff like PBR, better motion blur, shading and lighting upgrades etc, they also have a dedicated Vulkan renderer to play around with but its currently experimental

[@ygmr_yt]

finally someone relates to me in this lol

[@pdog9071]

Hey Matt, great video! I did a build like this. What ended up doing was hacking and swapping it into an ATX case. The pcie extension goes over the top of the psu connector. I was able to mount the card below the motherboard in 2 slots of the case.

[@HonestHans365]

I am impressed by this build. It’s tempting me to build a £150-250 gaming pc using used parts for my kids.

[@HonestHans365]

I did not expect cyberpunk to be playable on this pc.

[@auteurfiddler8706]

I would suggest swapping cases to a big old obsolete case with back openings for many slots. Then using that riser cable to mount the gpu at the distant case opening past the edge of the motherboard. I am always shocked when low budget gaming builds ditch the hard drive and replace it with a ssd hard drive with a quarter of the capacity. I saw a video that basically said, "Brace yourself. 250gb games are coming. Get ready to expand your storage." So, you can put one big game and the os on the ssd, and four more on the 1tb hard drive. But not if you sell it for ten dollars. Who would want to have a gaming pc that only played one game? Also, a 6th gen intel computer should support a NVMe drive on a pcie card. This is probably totalling only a bit more in price than a SSD Sata drive through the SATA bus.

[@dickdickling9389]

Honestly did not make sense to me why he went with a 256 when 512 is barely more money, at this point you can get 1TB drives for like 50 bucks new.

[@potatoes9125]

That pcie riser cable comes apart and should give you a lot more adjustability… it’s just some screws and it has no components just plastic. If you get it to empty part of the case in my close,… love your videos. I ended up doing a cube to pc conversion.. it looks cool and unless it’s open, you can’t tell ❤😊

[@jessragan6714]

It tends to be a luck of the draw kind of thing. I wound up getting a 750W power supply for $20, a used case for $10, an M.2 drive for $20, and a CPU (Ryzen 5 5500) for $40. The mobo and RAM I had to buy new from Amazon, and that was about $120. It still needs more storage and a better GPU, but still, not too shabby.

[@TechnoYacy]

Hey Matt always loved watching your budget builts as it is very relaxing. Keep doing it!

[@mysketchbook3402]

Nice. You.can use a small form factor gpu. Like an rx 6400. I know its more expensive but still a cheap system over all. There's also the arc a380. You can try removing the heatsink and fan. Mock up a small passive heat sink and Fab a fan mount at the end of GPU at 90 degree angle like old school cards.Then check temp once you by pass 24 pin.

[@certs743]

Fun video. My budget gaming system and main computer in general is an old T3600 workstation. Runs great. The old Xeon is still kicking a decade later along with 64GB of RAM. Just upgraded to an RX 5600XT. Makes for a great Linux gaming and work PC.

[@snakeeyes7973]

II worked with this same exact chassis. It has a i5 7400 that I upgraded to a 7700. The motherboard doesn't like ram speeds faster than 2400 mhz, anything higher will make the OS unstable. For the graphics card, I used a Zotac mini 1060 6 gb. Took the shroud off and it was just barely able to fit over the 24-pin with no real fuss. I put some electrical tape over the wires and plastic where they connect to make sure a spark wouldn't short anything and cause a fire

[@repairstudio4940]

Your SSD looks like it says ASS ....I'd ditch the sticker on it. Lol 😅 Nice and cost efficient build man. Good job. ❤

[@TotallySearch]

Who bought the old 1 TB hard drive though for $15 though? $10 more and you could get a SSD

[@repairstudio4940]

@@TotallySearch I'd gave dude a 1tb HDD lol

[@SeeJayPlayGames]

No, that's perfect... a $125 gaming PC should have something that looks like it says ASS in it. ;) Leave the sticker. Man, speaking of ass... how ASS was it of HP to put the 24-pin connector right under the PCIe slot? I thought Dell was bad (well, they are) but HP is a new level right there.

[@Millmantv]

You could get a right angle 24pin connector adapter. I love your cheap builds.

[@mrtims3966]

with the cable attached you could convert the back of the case for verticle mounting of the GPU. Looked like there was enough height there

[@6Twisted]

You can get low profile 90 degree 24 pin adaptors for a few bucks fyi.

[@arcadeslum5882]

where

[@dmanpc1379]

Mod the case to mount the card vertically

[@Zeebee1971]

"Measure twice, cut once." Keep this in mind when you want to turn a cheap office computer into a gaming machine. Otherwise, it will be a movie about failure. Since you got rid of the HDD and optical drive mounts, you had to check whether the single-slot GTX 1650 would fit in length and patch the hole in the case using the front removed from the ODD.

[@BmXcat902]

i built one of these budget hp builds a XfX Rx 580 fits perfectly and barley misses the 24 pin

[@OfWodensFolk]

Got one of these HP 570 here in the UK for £15 for the chassis, motherboard and 180W PSU. Thrown a i5 7400, 16GB DDR4 2400mhz, 256GB Gen3 NVME, 1TB SSD, GTX 1650 4GB and a 300W 80+ Bronze PSU. All in it cost around £150 in total and will sell for £200 roughly so £50 profit. P.S Can get a 90 degree adapter for the PSU connector if you intend on using a full size graphics card but of course, will have to remove the DVD drive and its removable chassis part. P.P.S I've noticed I've got a different motherboard that includes an NVME slot below the PCI-E slot and the 24 pin power connector is actually further to the right if looking at the connector on the motherboard at the bottom.

[@tohloc]

Everyone should get a torx 15 20 and 25, they’re common

[@NemusDark]

Great work! Nicely done

[@TuxLinuxOfficial]

The Minecraft footage tho

[@R3AL-AIM]

Not bad! I just built a 7th Gen Inspiron with an i3 7100, an RX550 and 16GB of ram for $85.it's a mid tower, so I was limited, but I think I did alright for a secondary system for light gaming and more work/entertainment task

[@ChairmanMeow1]

DY has always been a favorite brand of mine.

[@auteurfiddler8706]

That GT 730 isn't the worst card in the world. I would have liked to see some gaming with the system with that. A good cpu like that would have made the best out it. I would have bought the GT 730 card for 10-15 dollars because they are rumored to be the cheapest card that supports Metal on Mac OS Mojave. I tried a GT 610 ($5-$10). It said it supported metal when I booted in High Sierra, but when I restarted up in Mojave the screen was super zoomed in and the mouse pointer was unsteady. I wanted to try a GT 730.

[@yams_yams_]

Really great performance! The 1650 super is an awesome card and those older i7s work super well for low end gaming PCs

[@safn1949]

I am running an HP EliteDesk 800 G1, normally this would have a 4th gen i5, I bought it barebone fore $17, Xeon E3-1246 v3, 24gb of DDR3 and a 120gb ssd for windows, it will get a RX6400 soon and another 8gb of ram. Psu is about 360w so good enough. Lots of room inside for upgrades. Nice video.

[@xyntor_YT]

for the gpu i would watercool it with some ali express parts wich should fit also making it a budget watercooled build

[@CounterStriker013009]

If old version HP, it might be can remove the MB with I/O and the power supply to new case

[@Madderthanjoker]

Lul that $25 offer at the start was def the deal of lifetime

[@gamersklub9714]

use a right angled ATX 24 pin connector

[@threatthreat5709]

3.4GHz? SHEESH!!! Crazy how much performance that is leaving on a table compared to its bigger brother ( 6700k ) overclocked as close to 5GHz as possible...

[@ttv_highping553]

Maybe add Starfield to the bench marking mix :)

[@andrewlanger9852]

Depending on how much you sold the HDD for it might have provided more value as a game storage drive.

[@daveomania_]

Would be sick if you came up with a custom case mod to enclose everything. I also always find it amusing with USD when the costs seem so low - but that's still $250 for me, aha. Which is still a bargain for the performance!

[@why283]

love this build bro great work!

[@Nobody_256.-qj3kd]

This upgraded PC is more than enough for me since I only play Roblox most of the time, but I play an experience which might eat lots of RAM and is graphically intensive and unplayable at 30 fps, this should be able to score 150+ fps all the time I guess

[@sirmaniacc]

Nice work. Good for any non-hardcore Gamer.

[@mtgalo]

ive people say that "500$ is budget", this is the true budget gaming pc@

[@wilsondavenport6939]

I would be interested to see if a 24pin right angle adapter would work

[@andrewmutavi590]

Id pick up a used ATX OEM case,customize it n transfer everything there

[@andrewmutavi590]

Back to the roots😍😍

[@tuxpowerpc]

Possibly case swap the system to an ATX and use a 90 degree adapter for GPU and MBO clearance. No I/O shield would be better and safer than the setup as you have it.

[@aussieflightsimmer9964]

I think it would be good for you to test Microsoft Flight Simulator in the higher-end systems that you build, like the 1000$ ones, as people who want to use this game might need a higher-end system to run it.

[@RobertFixit]

It literally says i7-6700 in the ebay description. How are we not clear about the specs before purchasing? Awesome deal by the way. I would buy these all day long if I could.

[@Yelnats101]

I put together a ryzen 9 system for $70. Parts was gave to me. Just had to buy a new power supply. 5950x 32g ram rtx 3080

[@saysbadman]

Man, prebuilts are dicey! The folks that would jump on this probably are new to PCs. Proprietary hardware will kill your project if you aren't careful. HPs, Dells, and Lenovos can and will have proprietary motherboards, cases, and power supplies. I even had a HP with a proprietary 19 pin usb 3.0 cable. That cable only worked on that model mobo. Sometimes you can find adapters to use an aftermarket psu, but not all the time. Also if your oem mobo goes tits up you cant just slap in an aftermarket mobo because the case isnt built for standard sizes. You will need a new power supply if you want a nice gpu. Most oem psu are pretty anemic and lack extra power connections for a gpu. Also oem mobos will have a whitelist of products it will work with (like you think your chipset will allow you a certain cpu upgrade), and sometimes the pci slot wont put out the standard 75 watts. Good Luck

[@gunmetalgrey7103]

What keyboard do you use? It looks really good

[@realphil429]

I see Tech By Matt vid, I click Like.

[@DanielCardei]

Awesome PC Matt 👍

[@brownranger1797]

Great ultra budget build!

[@rhobson]

I wasn't able to see the spacing properly, but wouldn't it be better to run a 45 degree adapter on the 24-pin PSU connector, instead of using a PCI-E riser?

[@theshakyproject2971]

I'm super jealous that you were able to install a standard PSU into an HP case. I had an HP Pavilion 590-p0053w and just upgraded to an HP Envy te01-4000. In both instances, I'm told I can only upgrade the PSU to a 500w proprietary model from HP, which I think is ridiculous and not worth the money for such a limited upgrade in power. :(

[@skullthunder832]

if you drill new holes or buy a used case you can mount whatever yu want

[@theshakyproject2971]

@@skullthunder832 The motherboard is also proprietary to that specific HP case. I'm just going to work towards my own custom build, which I've always wanted to do.

[@ThailandDantotherescue]

i SEE A BUDGET GAMING BUILD, i LIKE AND COMMENT! Really great job... I got one of these HP systems with the original ryzen 7 and 16g of Ram and a 1TB HDD for 90$ someone bought them by the pallet and removed the GPUs for bitcoin mining. Mine was in the original box ( water damaged from a garage flood ). I threw in a 10$ SSD boot drive and a used OEM 1650 non super for 50$ as it was the best GPU I could use since the power supply wouldnt power anything bigger. Anytime you can run your entire steam library at 1080p for 100-200 dollars I call that a win. I retired in Thailand so now I just use Beelink or minis forum mini ryzen PCs... but you can NOT get a better deal than using an old office PC as a base system.

[@hollowgonzalo4329]

I suspect that generally speaking PC parts should remain adequate for long these day's due to Moore's law no longer being a thing so provided you get mostly mid range priced parts that'll probably last you up to a decade so long as you're willing to downgrade the graphics settings a bit on new games every 3-5 years as you should still be able to get a decent framerate that way. Only issue is the developers and hardware engineers removing support for old parts that still technically work perfectly well on low graphics settings as i believe is happening with some of the older rx 5XX cards rn.

[@CarterNelson-o1w]

All fun and games till we get room tempature superconductors and moores law is revived

[@fusion_x_frost3836]

Could try a right angled MB connector (low profile) to see if it could fit that way?

[@dastardlyman]

weirdly the lga1150 xeon 1246v3 has EXACTLY the same performance as your core i7 cpu. same cpu cache same everything its like they took an lga xeon and tweaked it a bit

[@hendrikott3827]

If you look more and also ask local businesses if they are upgrading there pcs and such you can get a pretty good pc. I got a hp z240 with a i7 6700 and 32gb of ram for free from a small tech shop and i bought a 512gb ssd and a 1070 for around 100€ and it perform very well and i didnt have to by a powersupply because i comes with a either 400 or 600w psu and mine had the 600w. But the z240s are usualy around 100 to 180€ with the i7 (atleast in germany)

[@gavingardiner3017]

was thinking buying pc for bitcoin mining what would be good then and cheap ?

[@BMW-M4-M-POWER]

i think it would be smarter to get a 24pin extender instead of a pcie extender

[@arnietech208]

Im sure you could have moved the gpu shroud and if needed used zip ties to fasten it to accomodate the psu connector in the way and also i have bent and or slightly desoldered and reseated those awful motherboard connectors to make some room

[@jonathanliu9418]

Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone, The Finals are a few games you can add to your testing list!! Cheers & Happy New Year!!

[@user-tx5nh7pv2o]

This is a really cool build. I do feel bad for that PC seller though, they probably only accepted that offer because they were desperate :(

[@infinity2z3r07]

i'd feel bad even offering so little for it

[@TotallySearch]

They had it coming tbh, I really don't get the people that say "Not tested". Are they really that lazy to plug in a computer?

[@surferbrg]

Yep kind of issue I had with some cards is the height and size. Onetime I got a hold of one of those Dell optiplex and besides maxing out upgrades. Was lucky to get a GTX 1650 Super and it ended up fitting fine. One of these days down the road id like to give a PC with 8th or 9th Gen CPU. Also there are some new low profile GPU you might want to consider trying like RX 6400 or Arc A310 or A380 just released low profile ones. Also watched some KZbinr try out RTX 4060 Low profile one.

[@internetcancer1672]

you said you'd leave info for the NZXT riser 'situation'

[@murrethmedia]

You rock Matt!

[@key2auce]

This is crazy, nice!

[@adiathabir]

im wondering, couldn't you have gotten a 24 pin 90 degree connector to allow for a larger gpu to fit in?

[@apryctic]

I have a p033d, i was always so stressed thinking about how big of a gpu can it fit with the 24 pin blocking

[@friendlygum5313]

broo, i love this guy😊. got angry at myself cuz im not subscribe 😂😂

[@vanfly6731]

Awesome Thank you for the video

[@edgarpc8648]

I’ve seen rx 580s on eBay for $50 and rx 5600s for $60 on hardwareswap

[@tyrantosoyt]

You should include Call of Duty warzone in your test

[@walterlegere1403]

I understand the desire to try and create these "super budget builds" like this but most of you content creators completely ignore the fact that a PC system requires much more than just the "box". For those who have never built a PC wouldn't know or realize they are also going to need the necessary "peripherals" to make the system work, such as a monitor, keyboard, mouse, cords and cables, operating system as well as a network connection to access the internet not to mention paying for the games they want to play. All that stuff costs money and the assumption that most people already have all that or could get it later when they have more money pretty much negates the whole point of the video. I have built and upgraded quite a few of these older "off lease systems" and donated them to kids who don't have anything and I can tell you from experience it costs way more than $125 to create a complete system like this. It's way cheaper and much more cost effective to just get a console if all you're going to do is game! Otherwise, a cheap older laptop can do pretty much everything else.

[@whoowhaa5196]

dude why is this getting the same frames as my 4060 ryzen 7 7700x 16 gb of ram!?

[@boy-who-likes-bats]

where's that riser vid lol

[@firghteningtruth7173]

Bro, you could thrown a 1060 3gb in that puppy. Thise things go for almost nothing locally near me. Or even a 970 for cheaper. 😂

[@TrionYT]

test rust

[@JohnnyThund3r]

Ohhhh... I would never buy a used SSD, but to each their own.

[@VideoCorsar]

Best solution for low-price gaming PC ! - i have 1356 Xeon X3440 16 GB ddr3 RAM + SSD 240 thermaltake 500W psu and GTX 980 4 GB - 200 $ price but i from Ukraine

[@melonmusk1274]

2009 cpu, sheesh

[@lthdy83]

rx 6400 has single slot version, i hope that could fit

[@jmal69]

can you add rust to your benchmark?

[@f1hpgaming]

My mother borad support 2400mhz can it support 3200mhZ ddr4 ram my pr is intel i5 6th plz give advice

[@yomaso1134]

If you try to put 3200MHz RAM into a motherboard that only supports 2400MHz it will still work, but the RAM will be stuck at 2400MHz instead of its 3200 rated speed which may cause your computer to run slightly slower than expected. It will work as if you had just put 2400MHz RAM into the system.

[@mothanyou]

Quality content

[@sergentpopoy7055]

can u try atx 24 pin adapter 90 degress

[@JosephLarco]

how much fps would this system get in warzone

[@chronotron2782]

I was just curious if anything happened to this channel since last video was 4 months ago. I enjoy watching your vids. Hope everything is ok

[@milo8425]

test stable diffusion images/minute :D

[@ogueyratogeyrat7448]

U have to gamble if u want cheap

[@RaphaelSwinkels]

only one comment fits; can it run crysis? ;p

[@jesussalazar9181]

I need a good graphics card for my i3 7th gen And also, I need to find me a better power box