Enjoying PC video games in the lounge on my most important TV has been a aim since I made a decision to modify from console gaming just a few years in the past. I don’t actually have a logical motive for this, besides that I like constructing PCs and that I’m an enormous nerd.

The best scenario could be to construct a small (mini-ITX) PC contained in the silver Teenage Engineering PC-1 case I’ve been hanging on to because it launched in late 2022, however that’s not a really enjoyable story. To not point out, mini-ITX components are costly, and the best GPU that fits in the PC-1 case is a year-old RTX 3060, a card I anticipate might be changed by the RTX 4060 inside the subsequent six months or much less. Past that, I occur to have a two-year-old AMD Radeon 5700 GPU that’s nonetheless in a position to maintain its personal with trendy video games.

That’s when I discovered a stopgap answer. I may purchase a used Dell OptiPlex enterprise pc, slap in my GPU and ideally play most of my PC video games on my TV, albeit on low or medium high quality at 1080p. There have been numerous OptiPlexes (Optipli?) on Fb market, and most value lower than $180, so discovering one was a ready sport of getting the perfect components for the bottom value — and I didn’t have to attend lengthy. After a quick search, I picked up an Optiplex i7 4770 unit full of 32GB of DDR3 RAM and even had a 500GB SDD. None of those components are trendy, however in comparison with different i5 Optiplexs with onerous drives and 12GB of RAM, it felt like a rating.

The vendor even tossed in an outdated Wi-Fi dongle and the world’s worst keyboard and mouse combo, all for the low value of $140. This value is vital because it’s lower than the price of a brand new Home windows 11 key. So ideally, I can transfer this model of Home windows to my PC-1 sooner or later, making the entire endeavour not a complete waste of cash.

Keep in mind this justification as a result of I’ll reference it loads throughout this construct…

As simple as 1,2….

After getting the PC house, I ripped open the field and was pleasantly stunned with how clear and well-packed it was. For a $140 refurb, this was positively completed professionally by somebody. As soon as I obtained the PC out, I linked it to my monitor to make sure it labored. Fortunately, every little thing functioned fantastic, so it was time to begin modding.

I popped off the facet panel, and the very first thing that caught my eye was an enormous onerous drive cage within the backside nook. It wanted to go. After watching this helpful video just a few instances, I attacked my new PC with a drill, and after about ten minutes of the sketchiest drilling I’ve ever completed, the cage was gone.

After just a few take a look at suits, I used to be in a position to get the GPU in, however it was too giant for the entrance I/O connector, in order that needed to be eliminated. I attempted shearing my GPU shoulder all the way down to feed the cable by way of it, however nothing match, so after about an hour of fiddling round, I gave up and sacrificed the 4 entrance USB ports within the identify of gaming.

Every little thing was going nicely, and I felt on high of the world, however the subsequent drawback turned out to be tougher to unravel.

That’s not sufficient energy!

With the GPU seated within the case properly, I went to plug it in solely to appreciate that the Dell energy provide unit (PSU) connected to this PC solely does 290 watts and had no trendy GPU connectors.

“To not fear,” I advised myself (for the 800th time up to now), “I can simply purchase a small type issue energy provide and reuse it within the PC-1 sometime.”

In order that’s what I did. I headed all the way down to my native Canada Computer systems earlier than they closed and opted to future-proof myself with a Corsair 750-watt unit with nice evaluations and that promised to run quietly. For the reason that PSU fan is difficult to exchange, this felt value paying about $40 over the closest competitors.

I slotted it in once I obtained house and shortly realized that Dell used a proprietary 8-pin energy connector on a few of its OptiPlex motherboards. One other hurdle, however after an hour of troubleshooting, it appeared that the 24 to 8-pin adapter used in this video was my greatest guess. I ordered it on Amazon, and it got here within the subsequent day. To my shock, it labored flawlessly.

The ultimate specs

  • CPU – Intel i7 4470
  • GPU – AMD Radeon RX 5700 (8GB VRAM)
  • RAM – 32GB DDR3 (1600 mhz)
  • Storage – 521GB SSD (Sata III)
  • Networking- 802.11n Wi-Fi dongle / 1Gps LAN
  • Connectivity – 4 rear USB, dvd drive
  • Energy – 750-watt SFX energy provide

The unique specs are listed here.

How’s it sport?

To date, I’ve run Far Cry 6, The Witcher 3, Hogwarts Legacy, Halo Infinite and Crimson Lifeless Redemption 2 to various levels of success. For those who’re enjoying on a 1080p monitor you shouldn’t have any issues, however I discovered I wanted to set the interior Home windows decision to 1440p when linked to my 4K TV for optimum gameplay.

I’ve discovered that newer video games with higher FSR or inside engine upscaling options assist loads and will help this PC punch manner above its weight. I used to be scared when The Witcher 3 struggled, however newer video games like Hogwarts Legacy appear to implement higher upscaling tech, so it’s extra playable and appears higher, in my view.

Total, it’s sufficient to let me scrape by for a yr and get some use out of my outdated GPU simply sitting in my basement. The massive plus I’m thrilled with is that I can depend on cloud saves to maneuver between gaming at my desk and the brand new lounge PC. Past that,  maybe the decrease specs will push me in direction of attempting some older video games I’ve missed over the previous few years, like Management, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Dishonoured and lots of others. 


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