Can I build a good gaming PC that will last me a few years for around €500?

BetterThanThou

I'm interested in possibly building a gaming PC. I'm either going to build a gaming PC or buy an Xbox One. The thing is, if I build a gaming PC, I want it to last nearly as long as the Xbox One would, with minimal upgrades. For instance, The Xbox One will probably last till around 2020. I'd be hoping to build a PC that can run most games, even on low settings by then. A monitor isn't an issue, I'll be hooking it up to my TV. I'll just use a basic cheap keyboard and mouse to start off, so the cost for them will be minimal. I have a PC, it's fairly out of date, all I'd be able to scavenge out of it is the 6gb of RAM(I'm assuming all RAM is the same?), and the hard drive(Though, my current PC has a HDD, I'd be interested in looking into an SSD). Would I be able to build anything decent on my budget? Or should I just go ahead and buy an Xbox One? Also, I do not currently have a copy of Windows, so I will need to buy Windows.

Recurve360

Windows is going to be 80 quid so that leaves you with 420 for a full build. If you could add extra to the budget you could build a good system but otherwise it will struggle to last until 2020. Try factor in the cost of games. PC games regularly retail at half the price of console games and also theres no online subscriptions. either which could save you money in the long run.

Also check that your ram is DDR3 theres 3 different models of ram and only DDR3 will work with modern parts. An SSd would also be impractical in your budget.

An option is that you could use your old hdd until you could save up for an SSD.

TerrorFirmer

You won't build a PC for that money that will last until 2020, no. It will last in some regards to games, but not to the same extent as a One or PS4 would.

As has been mentioned though you need to weigh up other savings. PC Games are far cheaper - I got BF4 for 36.99 on release, for example, was well over 20 euro more than that on its next gen counterparts.

In your case the important thing to do is build a solid core (Intel i5) that will last that stretch - you can easily change the video card every few years.

Option A is to build a strong core and accept that you will need to upgrade at least the video card in a few years, or else option b is to increase your budget for a machine that will last as long as you want it to.

My spare card is a GTX260, distance from its release to now is over 6 years, still runs Battlefield 4 at 1080p low settings decently. So for example if you had build a Q6600 based machine six years ago in 2008 with a GTX260 and 4GB ram, without any upgrading you could still be playing most modern games. But that would have cost significantly more than your budget.

I would suggest an i5 based build with a budget card like the 260X, forget the SSD for now and reuse your old HD, and enjoy playing modern games now at decent settings, and look at updating the card in a years time and adding an SSD. The savings made on the cost of PC games will more than cover it.

beauf

No but you'd build something that would get you gaming, and that you could upgrade over time.