What an Entry-Level Gaming Machine Buys

Budget here means the entry point to discrete graphics: a complete machine that plays current single-player titles at 1080p on high settings and runs competitive shooters far above the refresh rate of an ordinary panel. It is the tier where every rand is allocated rather than simply spent, so the parts list gets decided by what a game asks for first.

Choose by the pinch points instead of the headline number. Video memory is the first of them, because an eight-gigabyte card copes at 1080p right up until texture quality is pushed to maximum. System memory belongs in two matched sticks rather than one, and the drive has to hold Windows alongside games that routinely install past 100GB each.

Machines listed here are new stock, assembled and tested before they leave our Centurion warehouse. Orders to Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria arrive in one to three business days; regional addresses take three to five.