Budget Gaming PC Gem

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The Lenovo ThinkStation P320 is typically a corporate small form factor desktop PC from ~2017. This particular model that I got off of the Amazon used market has the following specs:
  • Intel Core i7-7700T (7th Generation), 4 cores
  • 2.9 Ghz clock speed
  • 16 GB RAM
  • 512 GB SSD
  • NVidia Quadro P600, 2 GB VRAM
  • Windows 11 Pro OEM (~$100 of the value)
It is currently listed at $300. I got it during a short weekend dip for $258. 

DCUO or Equivalent Game

The spec that stands out to gamers here is that it has a dedicated NVidia graphics card. Systems like this typically do not! With DCUO being a 2011 game, the specs for this system, despite being 9 years old are overkill. It can run DCUO at full screen and all of the max settings. At 16 GB, the RAM is a little low and that is probably the factory default. It can be configured for 32 GM and 64 GM if needed. DCUO is currently about 53 GB and growing with each episode, so a 512 GB SSD is much more than needed. 


Small Form Factor

With a 7x7" footprint, the potential for this in custom builds is endless. You can mount it to the back of a TV, hide it in little corners of the house of build an automotive system. It's also light and has a lot of expansion ports for its size. Like all Think*** products, if you open up the case, everything is neat and easy to upgrade.

The IBM/Lenovo Think*** DNA

Personally, I've had a lot of experience with the product line over the decades. IBM was the creator of the Think*** line (ThinkPad, ThinkCenter, etc.). They sold to Chinese company Lenovo in the early 2000's when they wanted to concentrate on servers and corporate solutions. Lenovo was a rising company that made OK systems. When they acquired the IBM line, they fortunately kept the IBM standards intact. 

I've worked for a couple of companies that used the IBM systems as their main product for 1000's of employees. These systems are solid and never break despite being on all the time. Typically large companies have an update cycle for their workers, so there are periods where 1000's of these systems get decommissioned (from the company) and then make it to the used markets. Back in the day, NewEgg and Overstock.com had a lor of these. I bought a bunch of these over the years to use as media PCs connected to TVs, secondary systems and workstations for my dad's office. I must have bought 5 total and non of them have ever had an issue.

This is a steal if you can find them in the wild. At the time of this article, Amazon still has them in stock at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FY41QKNL?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title.

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