This is another case of YMMV because you have to be thrifty. You can walk away from a microcenter with everything but the GPU for that price. (The 5600x3D bundle is a really good option but I understand most people can’t get to a microcenter in person).
If you’re thrifty, you can get your hands on something like a Radeon 5700xt for between 80-120$ (check Ali Express).
On the AliExpress note, even though I recommend a GPU, I can tell you that I do not recommend any of these Chinese motherboards from AliExpress unless you’re prepared to burn money. You can get them to work for very cheap but they are made out of ewaste and there is always something wrong with them (I’ve bought a few).
This will get you into the sub 800$ tier Gaming PC. At that point I would recommend installing a Linux OS like ChimeraOS. This will give you the total functionality of a steam Deck and that console-like experience.
If you’re looking for some more pre-assembled, morefine and minisforum make small PCs that come with a discrete radeon 6600m. This will get you into a PC that will be the size of a console but will definitely put you above 800$.
This is another case of YMMV because you have to be thrifty. You can walk away from a microcenter with everything but the GPU for that price. (The 5600x3D bundle is a really good option but I understand most people can’t get to a microcenter in person).
If you’re thrifty, you can get your hands on something like a Radeon 5700xt for between 80-120$ (check Ali Express).
On the AliExpress note, even though I recommend a GPU, I can tell you that I do not recommend any of these Chinese motherboards from AliExpress unless you’re prepared to burn money. You can get them to work for very cheap but they are made out of ewaste and there is always something wrong with them (I’ve bought a few).
This will get you into the sub 800$ tier Gaming PC. At that point I would recommend installing a Linux OS like ChimeraOS. This will give you the total functionality of a steam Deck and that console-like experience.
If you’re looking for some more pre-assembled, morefine and minisforum make small PCs that come with a discrete radeon 6600m. This will get you into a PC that will be the size of a console but will definitely put you above 800$.