Look for a i3-10100 processor.
It sells for $100 used on ebay.
It will have graphics included which is ok for a starter.
It should also come with a cooler.
You can buy a gaming graphics card later when prices permit.
It will support gaming at a very high level with a good graphics card.
No problem buying used ram. ram usually carries a lifetime warranty.
It might cost you $25 for a 2 x 8gb kit.
Yes, 8gb would work for starters, but adding ram later is not always compatible since ram is sold in kits for a reason.
I would not buy a cheap low quality psu. .....EVER.....
A cheap PSU will be made of substandard components. It will not have safety and overload protections.
The danger is if it fails under load, it can destroy anything it is connected to.
It will deliver advertised power only at room temperatures, not at higher temperatures found when installed in a case.
The wattage will be delivered on the 3 and 5v rails, not on the 12v rails where modern parts
like the CPU and Graphics cards need it. What power is delivered may fluctuate and cause instability
issues that are hard to diagnose.
The fan will need to spin up higher to cool it, making it noisy.
A cheap PSU can become very expensive.
Do not buy one.
Look for at least tier 3 quality on a list such as this:
Credit to @Starelementpokeand @Energycore for helping out with this long-awaited refresh of the old PSU tier list by Aniallation (who previously went several months without logging in), leaving the old list in need of help. This is simply an update of the list that was flawed in creation by the P...
linustechtips.com
or this:
PSU Tier List 4.0 rev. 14.8 (END OF LIFE) Last Update: 27-07-2021 Legend : Gray - EoL/obsolete and/or otherwise not recommended for purchase. Green - small form-factor (gold and blue colors are disregarded due to scarcity of SFX PSUs) Gold - best units in the tier (includes requirements for blue ...
linustechtips.com
Consider investing in a quality550/650w psu with a 7 to 10 year warranty.
Seasonic is usually good.
Unless you have cats around, you actually do not need a case to start with.
Just assemble the pc an put it on the desktop.
You can download windows for free and use it apparently forever.
You just have to tolerate a reminder to activate watermark on the lower right hand of your display.
For starters, any monitor is likely to do. Shopping locally on craig's list will save you shipping costs.
Monitors tend to be heavy.
Yes, you can buy a used HDD for $10.
But trust me on this you want a new SSD. All goes much quicker.
250gb at least. a samsung 860 m.2 evo is about $45
A local walmart can supply a keyboard/mouse for not much.