Dev Workstation, $69 Gaming PC-inspired

[TheVi0linist]

I have a little bit of extra money saved up, and I was originally planning to buy an M2 Mac Mini, but I realized that I just don't need the extra performance and it's really not worth the effort of switching to macOS. Then, I saw the new-ish $69 gaming PC video, and since I love myself a little bit of jank, I thought I might build myself a new workstation along those lines. I've been a laptop kind of gal most of my life, and am kinda sick of it. I want upgradability, and I don't want a screen I don't use taking up space on my desk.

 

Budget (including currency):  If I'm going mostly used, I'd like to keep it under 200 USD, but I could go as high as $5-600 for new parts instead.

Country:  United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: 

    I've found since I've switched to using Linux full-time, tinkering with that has become more of a hobby than gaming with it, but I'd like to be able to run Minecraft and FlightGear. Maybe some light CAD, but it won't be anything autodesk.

   Mostly programming work other than that, and I mainly use emacs. I also dabble in music composition, so whatever I'm saving by not buying all that much computer, I'd love some audio or MIDI device recommendations

    

Other details

• I won't be purchasing Windows, I'm planning to run a Linux distro of some kind. Probably Slackware, but maybe I'll get around to actually making a usable LFS setup
• I have two displays: An FHD (2560 x 1080) Ultrawide, and a 1440p display
• Keyboard and mouse are already taken care of
• If I can avoid a particularly locked-down BIOS, I'd love to. An upgradable machine would be a dream

 

[Penpilot]

going used require a good bit of knowledge as good deals on them get exhausted within hours so asking others is not an option unless its from a physical shop where stock moves slower. other than that i have no idea what kind of hardware you need sorry

[TheVi0linist]

25 minutes ago, shreshta said:

going used require a good bit of knowledge as good deals on them get exhausted within hours so asking others is not an option unless its from a physical shop where stock moves slower. other than that i have no idea what kind of hardware you need sorry

That's true. I guess the best way to describe what I'm looking for is half decent 1080p graphics and otherwise the absolute best bang for the buck CPU. Quiet would be a plus, but not necessary.

 

I'm not really looking for like links to used hardware, but just an idea of what older hardware still performs decently without too much expense, or if there's a prebuilt workstation like the Optiplex or Z-station that are less locked down or if I should give up on that and just source parts