Advice needed: building a budget gaming PC using old case

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mgbridges

118 posts

Master Geek

#318901 3-Mar-2025 12:03

My son is wanting a gaming PC. His budget is pretty low so I'm trying to help out by re-using an old PC case I've got left from my first PC build about 15 years ago. It's an original Antec Sonata, which they don't make anymore. As far as I can tell it takes ATX motherboards, but it seems everything is microATX these days - any ideas if a microATX board would fit in this case?

I'd also be keen to receive any other general advice on budget gaming rigs.

Many thanks.

vexxxboy

4244 posts

Uber Geek

#3349626 3-Mar-2025 13:52

it will and if you want some ram i have some good ddr 4 sitting here as well as a amd 5600x cpu you can have to help out

Common sense is not as common as you think.

SpartanVXL

1307 posts

Uber Geek

#3349682 3-Mar-2025 16:56

Budgetwise the AM4 platform is best for value, it however is end of life so if possible try to get onto AM5 with ddr5. Otherwise second hand offerings are a good deal. Mid-High end hardware from 5-7 years is still quite capable of gaming except in the most extreme cases.

jonathan18

7413 posts

Uber Geek

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#3349688 3-Mar-2025 17:04

My son showed me this recent video which, despite being US oriented (and featuring a YTber I find really annoying!), could still be useful in this context:

https://youtu.be/uRrRR-96fp0?si=V_pfjAT7OJFCHHaB

Handle9

11390 posts

Uber Geek

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Lifetime subscriber

#3349751 3-Mar-2025 21:35

SpartanVXL:

Budgetwise the AM4 platform is best for value, it however is end of life so if possible try to get onto AM5 with ddr5. Otherwise second hand offerings are a good deal. Mid-High end hardware from 5-7 years is still quite capable of gaming except in the most extreme cases.

I'm making the assumption that we are talking about 1080p gaming for an entry level gaming rig. AM4 or 10th/11th/12th gen Intel are going to be great for 1080p gaming for quite some time.

If the budget is low second hand is definitely the way to go.