Retailers like Back Market and PCLiquidations offer professionally tested units with warranties at a fraction of the cost of new systems.
Buying a cheap PC in 2026 involves a choice between finding a high-value pre-built system or assembling a custom rig using a mix of new and used parts. While building your own is traditionally cheaper, pre-built PCs currently offer competitive price-to-performance due to bulk component pricing. Top Budget Strategies Buy a used office desktop (like a Dell Optiplex
When building, skip purely aesthetic features like RGB lighting to redirect your budget toward essential components like the GPU and SSD. Recommended Budget Models (2026) Recommended Model Est. Price Pre-built Budget Hyper Cyber Colossus Ryzen 5 5500 Go to product viewer dialog for this item. , RTX 5060 Ti, 16GB RAM Entry Gaming ViprTech Stryker 1.0 Go to product viewer dialog for this item. Ryzen 7, RX 580, 16GB RAM Refurbished Desktop Dell OptiPlex 7090 SFF i7-10700, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD Key Components for Value Builds Deal Hunting PC Build Challenge - Worth It?
) for ~$100–$200 and add a low-power graphics card. This can create a capable 1080p gaming machine for roughly $300.