Laptops that are a few years old can often be found for cheap at pawn shops and secondhand stores. While they might not be able to handle the most recent games, they can still be turned into decent gaming computers with a little bit of effort. In this blog post, we’ll give you a step-by-step guide on how to do just that. So if you’re on a budget and want to get your game on, keep reading!
Remove the laptop’s battery
We’ll start with a word of warning: make sure to remove the laptop’s battery and unplug it from the mains electricity supply before you get started! This might seem obvious, but we’re repeating this step for emphasis. So when you’re ready, turn your attention to the bottom of the laptop. There should be a latch that you need to press down on, and then the battery can be removed. Make sure not to damage any other components while removing the battery – it’s best if you open up the bottom of your laptop case using a screwdriver or coin instead of pulling out the battery.
Remove all unnecessary parts
Once your laptop is completely disassembled, you can remove any components that aren’t necessary for a standard Windows installation. If the computer comes with an optical drive or disk drive, those can be removed as well to save space and reduce weight. Also, if the mainboard does not have built-in wireless functionality but has room for a suitable Wi-Fi card, we can use that as well. And, of course, you’ll want to remove the laptop keyboard and trackpad as well. They’re not required for a gaming computer!
Flash your computer’s BIOS with an unlocked version
By now, you should have completely removed all unnecessary components from your laptop case and still have the mainboard, processor, RAM, and SSD(s) in your possession. To be able to boot your computer from a USB drive, you will have to flash the BIOS with an unlocked version that allows this. You can do so yourself or get help from somebody who already knows how to unlock BIOSes for this purpose. The BIOS should also be updated if possible to the newest version, while an existing operating system should be completely removed. To gain more space on your computer’s mainboard, you can also remove any unnecessary chipsets and sound cards.
Flash the operating system onto a USB drive
To work with our newly flashed BIOS, we’ll need to use an installable copy of Windows. You can buy inexpensive license keys for Windows on the internet, and download ISOs for all versions of Windows since XP. If you want to use Linux instead, any 64-bit version of Ubuntu should work out of the box – no additional configuration is necessary. Just make sure that your installation medium is plugged into one of your computer’s USB ports, and boot from it.
Install the operating system onto your computer’s SSD
Once you have booted into your newly flashed BIOS, you will be able to install the operating system of your choosing onto the computer’s mainboard. Just be sure that you install Windows or Linux on an SSD – this is where games will load quickly, and the transition won’t be as noticeable. If you want to use Windows, you will have to do without any bloatware that the computer might otherwise come with – which can save up to 20GB of space on your SSD!
Update your computer to improve game performance
If you’re using Windows, go ahead and update your computer to the latest versions of drivers, DirectX, and other software that you will need for optimal game performance. If you’re using Linux, make sure to install any updates for your graphics card’s drivers which might improve game performance drastically.
Connect all necessary parts together
Now that our computer has an operating system installed on it, we can connect all of its parts together. The hard drive should go into one of the computer’s SATA slots, while the SSD should be inserted into another slot. They can then both be connected to the mainboard through SATA ports. After that, connect your computer’s Wi-Fi card(s) and sound card(s) if you’re using them – to the mainboard, of course. Then connect all parts to the power supply and turn it on – then you’re done!
Install a dedicated graphics card and update drivers
Now that we’re finished with our gaming computer’s mainboard and other components, we can install a graphics card if we want to improve game performance. Make sure that your computer’s mainboard has enough space and power to support a dedicated graphics card! Once you’ve done that, install the graphics card into one of your computer’s PCI-Express slots and connect it to the mainboard. You can then update the drivers for your graphics card (if necessary) and enjoy the improved game performance!
Add a monitor, mouse, and keyboard
As a final step in turning your computer into a gaming computer, you might want to add a monitor – which can be done through an HDMI port on your graphics card! You will also need to install the necessary drivers for it to work with your operating system of choice. To do so, just connect your monitor to the graphics card and turn on your computer. You can then install the necessary drivers and enjoy a smoother multimedia experience!
Add speakers and webcam
To complete our gaming computer, we might want to add some speakers as well as a webcam – even though they’re not directly related to game performance. To do so, just connect your speakers to the sound card and turn on your computer. If you want to use a webcam too, just connect it to the mainboard via one of the USB ports – then install its drivers through Windows’s Device Manager! Now that we’re done with our gaming computer, let’s play some games!
Can You Turn A Laptop Into A Gaming Laptop?
If you have an old laptop lying around, you might be wondering if it would be possible to use it for gaming purposes. Well, the answer is yes! If you have an old laptop with some good processing power, you can turn it into a gaming machine just by adding some extra hardware.
Can You Upgrade An Old Laptop For Gaming?
The short answer is yes. But you have to know where to start and what you are doing. The first step in turning an old laptop into a gaming machine is to get the right parts. The main factors are memory, hard drive speed, graphics card speed, and more. You’ll want to make sure you pick up a computer at the cheapest price possible.
Can You Turn An Old PC Into A Gaming PC?
The answer is yes, you can. However, the biggest issue with turning an old PC into a gaming PC is that even if you upgrade everything inside your old PC, the main bottleneck will always be the Processor.
Conclusion
If you want to turn an old laptop into a gaming computer, just follow these steps and you’re good to go! It’s quick and easy – if you don’t believe me, then try it yourself. You can use this tutorial for any operating system of choice. If you want to use Windows, get your wireless card working as well as your webcam and speakers to complete the experience! You can also use Linux if you don’t need a webcam, but do have sound.
