kerr9000 wrote:Yeah the biggest sticking points are usually the Processor the motherboard can take and what kind of memory slots the motherboard has... it all depends what you want to aim for, best bet is to look at a programme or game you want to be able to play and aim for that and if you can build something that can play that its a good starting block you have learned more of what your on with and can use or play that thing as a treat for your efforts.
I've thought about this a bit now, and that's really good advice. It's all very well me saying I'd like to play about and upgrade stuff, but it's impossible to give advice with that kind of vague idea, and impossible to ask for advice too, unless you figure out what you really want first.*
I suppose I'd like to build a pc that can do basic everyday tasks, but as far as gaming goes it doesn't need to do loads. I'll still be a console gamer primarily, meaning I'm not going to be using it for high end pc games or FPS's, nor do I really play online much.
So, realistically, something that can handle retro games would be grand, then maybe indie games - stuff like Super Meat Boy and Stardew Valley etc (which are probably deceptively hard to run).
I'm also tempted by the idea that you might be able to transfer your gaming purchases from Stadia to a pc. So, probably as a stretch target at the upper end, something that could run Assassin's Creed Origins, which I've got on Stadia and might be able to transfer across for free if Ubisoft follow through on that.
But that doesn't need to be played at high performance - it'd be on a small monitor rather than needing 4k HD stuff as it'll always be something in my home office rather than the centre of gaming life. Which is why I'm thinking the pimped refurb route might work.
I guess it'd be good if it could stream stuff like X-Cloud, but I've no idea how much of that needs computer gubbins of your own, and how much is done by computers elsewhere.
I'm thinking I'll just press 'buy' on something, then merrily play about with it till I hit a wall.
* NB, I'm an amateur astronomer, and it made me think of people asking for advice about telescopes. I just want something general purpose, they will say, and then I can upgrade later. It's of course an impossible question to answer, and for sanity's sake I've just deleted many paragraphs of irrelevant telescope buying comparisons from this response to keep it on track.