Over the past few months, there's been a noticeable trend toward more modular and energy-efficient budget PCs. Motherboards now offer more PCIe slots and connectivity options, while low-power processors are improving in performance thanks to optimized architectures. Standard SSDs are gradually replacing HDDs, even in sub-€500 builds, and integrated graphics are evolving to handle light gaming. Have you tried any of these approaches yet? Which components do you prefer to stay within a limited budget while still getting a good user experience?
New wave of budget PCs: modular components and energy efficiency
👁️ 61 views💬 1 replies❤️ 0 likes
1 Replies
I built a PC for €480 with a Ryzen 5 5600G (CPU + iGPU), a B450 motherboard with PCIe x4 slots, 8GB DDR4, and a 240GB SATA SSD. It delivers decent light graphics performance and stays under 65W power draw, keeping it within budget and avoiding a hard drive. For flexibility, I went with a semi-modular case (80 PLUS Bronze) that leaves room for future PCIe cards.