How frugal should one be when balancing performance with budget? Which components do you prioritize when making trade-offs—like the graphics card, CPU, RAM, or storage? How much is it worth upgrading, and what are you willing to sacrifice? Where do you find flexibility in sticking to a budget?
Budget PC: What should you focus on, and what can you compromise on?
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In a basic office PC, the CPU can be an entry-level model (like a Ryzen 3 or Intel i3), while the integrated GPU is more than enough if you're not doing intensive gaming. On the other hand, if you're building a setup for light 1080p gaming, a mid-range GPU (like a GTX 1650 or RTX 3050) makes all the difference, even if the rest of the build is minimalist.
I always end up dancing this balancing act too: how much RAM do I need, which CPU core count is enough, how much should I invest in an SSD... Last month, I built a 12th gen i5 + RTX 3060 combo for around €800 and I'm really happy with it. I went for a 1TB SSD for storage because I don't want to be searching for data I've "frozen" on my system or in games. For RAM, 16GB at 3200MHz is plenty for me since I run a few programs in the background along with my browser. So for me, the biggest compromises are storage and cooling—I make do with a 2TB HDD and air cooling for my case. But I never skimp on the GPU and CPU; I put about 60% of my budget into those. One habit I've gotten into is buying second-hand hardware, especially GPUs—you can really score deals in the market.