Old PC in the midst of a shortage? 5 tips for playing the latest games at a low price – Frandroid

The shortage prevents the purchase or renewal of your gaming PC? Wondering what to buy for a first time gaming machine? Here’s how to keep playing the latest games for less!

For several months now, a severe shortage has affected the video game and tech industry. As a result, it is impossible to easily find a new generation game console and, above all, it is very difficult to renew a game PC. Component prices have also exploded, making the few parts in stock quite inaccessible.

On this subject, I have been regularly asked questions: my PC is at the end of its life, what should I do? Or: my nephew must have his first PC, what can I take from him so that he can play a bit? If you are asking yourself these questions, or if they are being asked of you, I hope this article will guide you in your decision. This is the whole point of Frandroid when we test products and make buying guides.

Play without buying any new device

Before going crescendo in the expenses, we will try not to buy any new device and yet play the latest games of the moment in the best possible conditions. For this, there is a technology that becomes viable, and even crucial in times of scarcity: cloud gaming. We have retained two for this guide, but we also have a complete comparison dedicated to all cloud gaming services.

First, if you are more of a PC gamer and the latter starts to stick its tongue out, there is the service. Nvidia GeForce Now. For 10 euros per month, it allows you to play games you already own, through the Steam catalog, GOG or even the Epic Game Store, enjoying the performance of a high-end PC with an RTX GPU. It’s a good way to be able to play the latest games in good conditions, while waiting for a more lasting solution.

Second service that we can recommend, the Microsoft Xbox Game Pass, in Ultimate version and if possible at half price with our tip. Here, it is about accessing a catalog of games selected by Microsoft, more than 300 at the time of this writing, playable in cloud gaming. Please note, these are console games, originally intended for Xbox, and you therefore need a gamepad to enjoy them (but not necessarily an Xbox controller). The service is available on PCs, smartphones and tablets. Microsoft announced that servers were now using Xbox Series X, which allows access to the latest generation games with good performance.

The main advantage of cloud gaming is really to be able to transfer the power necessary to run a game on the servers. As a result, you can play with any machine, even the less powerful.

PC gamers, reconsider the game console

Our second tip is more for fervent defenders of PC video games: think again about buying a game console. First, even if the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X bear the brunt of the shortage. , the price war on new products does not take place. When found in stock at retailers, they are generally sold at the recommended price: 400 or 500 euros for the PS5 depending on the version, 300 euros for the Xbox Series S and 500 euros for the Xbox Series X.

It should also be noted that the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5 now offer a good level of performance in games. The 60 FPS mode has become widespread on home consoles, even if it is sometimes done at the cost of a lower rendering definition. The ayatollahs of power can therefore be satisfied, especially at the beginning of this generation. The integration of an SSD also allows consoles to be particularly responsive and to launch games very quickly. They can therefore make very good playmates while waiting for the end of the shortage.

Note that we focus here on the most powerful consoles, but if that is not a problem for you, especially if it is to buy his first machine for a young player, you can head over to to the Nintendo Switch or the Xbox Series S from Microsoft which suffer much less from the problems of shortages. They are not very expensive, for gaming machines, and they are easily found.

Renew your PC at a lower cost

If you absolutely want to talk about PC: either because you do not want to play in the cloud or on a console, or because it is a question of keeping or offering a versatile machine that will be used as much for video games as for office automation or homework, here are my recommendations.

If it is a question of buying a completely new machine, I think the best advice in terms of performance / price ratio today is to turn to laptops. Since these are products marketed by a brand, like a game console, we do not deviate too much from the recommended prices. The bill is still steep, but at least we have a turnkey machine that’s easy to find and use. To make your choice, do not hesitate to you turn to our guide to the best laptops, and more precisely towards the best gaming PCs. Recently we tested the Asus VivoBook Pro 14X and the Dell G15 Ryzen Edition which both offer admirable performance for machines around the 1000 euro bracket.

This can also apply to gaming PCs, marketed by brands. Historically, it was really not recommended to buy these products which often offer unbalanced configurations, saving on components that are less flattering to the prospector like the power supply, while they are very important for the proper functioning of the PC. The shortage forces us here to review these recommendations. To mitigate these points, we can advise you to go and see the PCs pre-assembled by traders such as TopAchat, LDLC or Materiel.Net. This makes it possible to check the list of components installed, while benefiting from more attractive prices.

What about a stationary PC?

If you already have a gaming desktop PC, but it’s starting to age, there are several ways you can extend its life. One of the starting points for my reflection on this article was the launch of the Radeon RX 6600 by AMD. This graphics card allows you to run the latest games of the moment in very good quality at 60 frames per second. A good solution to extend the life of a PC, especially since it can operate with a simple 450 W power supply. However, in normal times, a card offering this level of performance should be marketed at well under 300 euros. , its recommended price, not to mention the possible surge in prices which will probably place it at 500 euros.

As an alternative, you probably have to look to the second-hand market to find somewhat older graphics cards at a lower cost. Today, the graphics card remains the most important component to ensure a good gaming experience. If you have a good mid-range processor, like a few years old Intel Core i5, with at least 8 or 16 GB of RAM, you don’t need to change those parts. If you haven’t upgraded to SSD, however, this is a great way to cut load times dramatically and make Windows much more responsive.

Solutions, but no good plan

As you will have understood, it is not necessarily a question here of making a ” good plan “. The best plan would be to have modern components sold at normal prices, but this is not the reality of the market. Instead, what we are proposing here are concrete solutions to deal with the situation.

Situation which should last several more months, and maybe several years.