Should I upgrade my Lenovo M Series?

[ZombiePicnic]

I bought a refurbished Lenovo M Series (M82 i think) from Micro Center about six months ago. My old PC broke and I needed something cheap on short notice. The salesman there found me one with the i5 3470 and 8GB of RAM for just under $330 (US).

So far, I've only used it for basic tasks such as web browsing and watching streaming content. I've done my gaming on console. Lately, I've been seeing games (like Playerunkown's Battlegrounds) that make me want to take my first steps into the world of PC gaming. My question is; Can I do this by upgrading my Lenovo?

It only has the Intel HD graphics card in it now, and I know that wont cut it for games. The case is very small so that may be a factor as well.

Can I upgrade the GPU in order to play games like that or should I just wait and save up to build a gaming PC?

 

[imsqam]

We will need a little more information, the M82 comes in a Mini-Tower and Small Form Factor (SFF) version.
http://shop.lenovo.com/ISS_Static/ww/wci/products/us/desktop/thinkcentre/m-series/m82/m82-datasheet.pdf

This is a key piece of information as the SFF only comes with 240W PSU, not much you can do with this. Since the PSU is a proprietary design and shape there is nothing that can be done to upgrade it.

As well, your PCI-2 x16 slot has a 45W limit so not much you can do there. Fastest GPU you could use would be the GT 1030 but it is not much, you would not meet min system requirements for your game. I would be giving up at this point.
http://www.shacknews.com/article/99754/playerunknowns-battlegrounds-minimum-pc-requirements
http://www.lenovo.com/psref/pdf/withdraw/M82.pdf

So need to know what M82 model you have, we might be able do something with the Mini-Tower.

 

[ZombiePicnic]

We will need a little more information, the M82 comes in a Mini-Tower and Small Form Factor (SFF) version.
http://shop.lenovo.com/ISS_Static/ww/wci/products/us/desktop/thinkcentre/m-series/m82/m82-datasheet.pdf

This is a key piece of information as the SFF only comes with 240W PSU, not much you can do with this. Since the PSU is a proprietary design and shape there is nothing that can be done to upgrade it.

As well, your PCI-2 x16 slot has a 45W limit so not much you can do there. Fastest GPU you could use would be the GT 1030 but it is not much, you would not meet min system requirements for your game. I would be giving up at this point.
http://www.shacknews.com/article/99754/playerunknowns-battlegrounds-minimum-pc-requirements
http://www.lenovo.com/psref/pdf/withdraw/M82.pdf

So need to know what M82 model you have, we might be able do something with the Mini-Tower.

This is as close as I could find for the exact model. The problem I've had is that the designation on the case (MT - M 2929-AZ6) doesn't come up when searching online. I think this is the one because the M82 is the only model with a 2929 variant. In any event, the dimensions of the case are the same, SFF.
https://www.cnet.com/products/lenovo-thinkcentre-m82-2929-core-i5-3470-3-2-ghz-4-gb-250-gb-2929az6/specs/

My original plan was to save up for a year or so, then spend about $700-$800 to build a gaming rig. As I started my research I thought whey not check to see if my current PC could act as a bridge until then.

Thanks for your input. I think sites like this are a good place to study up before I attempt my first build.

 

[imsqam]

Yeah, if it is SFF then I wouldn't be doing anything. And you are most welcome.