Office PC to Gaming PC, a Guide to Upcycling

Sure, PC gaming can be expensive, but there are ways to get the PC experience without spending a fortune, because today, we’ll be going over how you can create your very own gaming rig, possibly using that dusty old PC in your attic!

It may not run games like Hogwarts Legacy very well, but you could easily run games like Fortnite, Roblox

, Minecraft and Lethal Company with no issues, so these PCs are perfect for most people!

Things to Consider

You will need to check your PSU wattage in order to make sure you can power a graphics card, and you may need to buy PSU cable adapters if your PSU cables are not compatible with your components.

With that in mind, let’s get into the guide!

1. Find a Suitable Office PC

While most office PCs will work, I would recommend purchasing a used Dell optiplex (if you don’t already have one), ideally the ATX (full size) or Micro ATX (medium size).

Stay away from small form factor (SFF) models, as they likely won’t have enough space for a full size graphics card, which is what you’ll probably want for a gaming PC build.

In terms of specs, try to find one with at least 8GB (ideally 16GB) of RAM. For storage, that’s up to you, but I’d recommend at least 250GB of SSD storage. SSDs are important for gaming because they allow textures to load faster, which can significantly improve performance compared to a hard drive. If you can’t find one with an SSD, that’s fine too, you can buy one for about $30 on amazon.

For the processor, try to get a relatively modern intel CPU, I’d recommend going no lower than 6th gen.

If you don’t know much about processors, don’t worry! 

Here’s a handy cheat sheet you can use to pick one, in order of least to most expensive:

I5-6500 ~$60

I5-7500 ~$70

I7-7700 ~$100

I5-8400 ~$100

*please bear in mind: this is the cost of a full computer that includes the named CPU

2. Pick Your

Gaming PC’s GPU

Next, you’ll need to buy the graphics card regardless of your PC’s configuration. Some of the best budget used options include:

RX 6600 ~$150

RX 5700 XT ~$160

And if you really want an NVidia card, the RTX 2060 costs around $150, while the RTX 3060 can be had for about $200.

3. RAM Upgrade (Optional)

If you managed to get your hands on a PC with plenty of RAM, feel free to skip this step, but if your PC is only rocking 8GB of RAM, now’s the time to change that!

First, check the PCs RAM speed by opening task manager in Windows, clicking on the performance tab, and then “memory”. Now you should be able to see your RAM speed

underneath the performance graph on the right. When buying extra RAM, you should ensure it’s the same speed as your current RAM to avoid compatibility issues.

 You’ll also need to check what generation your RAM is. You can do this by simply googling “What generation of RAM does (your CPU) support?”, which should give you an answer of either DDR3 or DDR4.

Now you should have all the info you need to get the right RAM for your system.

4. SSD Upgrade (Recommended)

This part is fairly simple, depending on your needs, pick up a 256GB-1TB SSD for between $20 and $60. Not every Dell optiplex will support one of the smaller, faster

NVMe SSDs, which is why I would recommend a SATA SSD, as support is guaranteed, however if your optiplex supports an NVMe, definitely take advantage of that.

*You may need to install windows again if you replace your boot drive. Here’s a brief tutorial

5. Extra Upgrades

If you want to go the extra mile in making your optiplex build a cut above the rest, you can also apply fresh thermal paste to the CPU. A small tube of high quality thermal paste typically only costs about $5, and it can make a huge difference in thermal performance versus the cheap stuff it comes with, plus, the paste that’s already on there is probably pretty dried up!

Additionally, an RGB strip or extra fans can be nice touches.

6. PC Assembly

Once you’ve bought all of your parts, assembly is pretty straightforward. Here’s a detailed step by step guide by PCBros LLC that applies to most Dell optiplexes, however, make sure that yours has more space so that you can fit a more modern GPU!

 

Congratulations!

You’ve just built a weird, wonderful, and surprisingly value packed gaming PC that’ll play most casual games in 1080P with no issues! I hope you found this guide helpful, or are now inspired to take on a more DIY approach to the electronics you rely on!

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