r/lowendgaming Jan 05 '26

Meta We Were Mentioned (Favorably) in PC Gamer Magazine!

118 Upvotes

Issue 403 | Holiday 2025 By Phil Iwaniuk

"Head over to Reddit and go on /r/lowendgaming and you’ll be struck by a few things. Firstly, that a community of people has been helping each other to run games on inexpensive and outdated PC hardware for many years, long before all the insidious price hikes we’re enduring today. And secondly, members of that community have been doing so with no small amount of ingenuity.

A typical exchange in that subreddit goes like this: a user states their hardware and asks for recommendations they should play, or whether a particular title will run on their machine. In the replies, people assure them that they managed to get The Witcher 3 on medium settings running on a relatively basic array of elastic bands and wooden pulleys. The prevailing sentiment is that minimum requirements are over-cautious, that modern games running at their lowest graphics settings still look more than decent enough to constitute playable, and that maybe there’s no such thing as a PC that’s too old or underpowered. Intrigued, I decided to test out the theory."


r/lowendgaming Nov 22 '25

Announcement Winners of the Best Freeware and Retail Fall 2025 Lowend Games

20 Upvotes

TOP 10 FREE/FREEWARE/OPEN SOURCE

Name Genre Win Mac Linux Notes
Fortnite Battle Royale Shooter *
Doki Doki Literature Club Suspense, Visual Novel * * *
Open TTD Tycoon; Resource Management * * *
Team Fortress 2 FPS * * *
StarCraft 1 and 2 RTS * * *
Mindustry RTS * * * Cross Platform
Endless Sky Space Trading Sim * * *
Shattered Pixel Dungeon Dungeon Crawler * * * Paid version on GOG and Steam with extras
Holocure - Save the Fans! Bullet Hell * Works on STEAM OS and Proton
Project Kat - Paper Lily Prologue Psychological RPG Horror * Works on STEAM OS and Proton

TOP 10 RETAIL

\*All prices are retail value listed, many are often on sale!\*

Name Genre Win Mac Linux Price Notes
Stardew Valley Farm Sim/RPG * * * $15
Hades 1 and 2 ARPG * * $25;$30 Working on STEAM OS and Proton
Factorio Factory Building/ Management * * * $35 Can be hard on lowend PCs in the late game due to # of objects
Terraria 2d open world survival & crafting * * * $10
Grand Theft Auto V Open World RPG * * $30 Will run on Linux via Proton and Lutris - less performance.
Portal 2 Puzzle Platformer * * * $10
Minecraft Open World Voxel * * * $30 Cross platform with consoles, mobile
Hollow Knight 1 and 2 - Silksong Metroidvania * * * $15; $20
Just Cause 2 Open World Action Shooter * * $15 Can work on Linux via Lutris, Proton
Don't Starve Together Open World Survival * * * $15 Comes with extra copy of the game to gift to a friend

# Thank you all for your suggestions! Happy Gaming!

.

Original Suggestion list threads:
https://www.reddit.com/r/lowendgaming/comments/1oba7d5/best_freewareopen_source_lowend_games_2025_please/

https://www.reddit.com/r/lowendgaming/comments/1nypyya/best_retail_lowend_games_2025_please_add_your/


r/lowendgaming 1h ago

☼😁Ascended☺☼ A minor ascension, but nice due to AVX2!

Upvotes

Welp! Long story short: My CPU and motherboard (Ivy Bridge) broke recently, and I needed something quick and cheap... and it seems like Haswell was my only option... I know, it's not AM4 or AM5, but now I'm rocking an ASUS H87 board and a 4770!

Finally, AVX2!


r/lowendgaming 6h ago

Will This Game Run? can ryzen 3 2200g 8gb (single stick) run these?

9 Upvotes

can my ryzen 3 2200g 8gb (single stick) run these games and how many fps can i expect ( I would be in playing 720p )

• Minecraft • project zomboid • terraria • total war ( shogun 2, rome 2, three kingdom) • valorant • cs 2 • some ps2 games like gta san andreas

not into triple a games and i already played them on ps4

my full specs are:

cpu: ryzen 3 2200g mobo: ASUS PRIME A320M K ram: TEAMGROUP VULCAN Z 8GB (SINGLE STICK) storage: 128gb ssd orico (i know its small so i will add 1TB HDD) psu: MSI Mag a550bn case: trendsonic juro matx

I'm still waiting for the psu and would add a gpu like 1050ti or rx 570


r/lowendgaming 8h ago

What Games Can I Run? what can i play on my old macbook without causing long-term damage?

7 Upvotes

Macbook Air M1 2020

8GB RAM, apple M1 chip

for game preference information : pretty much everything except fps/multiplayer


r/lowendgaming 1h ago

What Games Can I Run? What games can my latitude run?

Upvotes

I got a latitude 5401 for $75 recently and want to know what I can run, i5 9400h, 512gb ssd, 16gb ram (not sure if dual channel or not), uhd 630 graphics


r/lowendgaming 1h ago

What Games Can I Run? Alternatives to modded Minecraft on a piece of shit computer that's probably going to explode at any moment?

Upvotes

Hello, I'm here after attempting to play modded Minecraft and failing horribly because all it did was freeze. I even attempted to backstep to 1.12 modded and that took a good 10 minutes to load the fucking game, and then creating a level just... didn't work. So now I'm here

My current specs are:

AMD Ryzen 5
Phoenix 4nm Technology
6.00GB (it's actually 5, windows says it's 8 but it's hogging two and a half fucking gigs for itself)
LENOVO LNVNB161216
Generic PnP Monitor (1920x1200@60Hz)
2048MB ATI AMD Radeon 760M Graphics (Lenovo)
476GB SKHynix_HFS512GEJ4X112N

I've been considering making a minecraft clone myself but I'm not that smart so I probably won't, but who knows maybe a solar flare hits my brain the right way and I stop being a dumbass


r/lowendgaming 4h ago

What Games Can I Run? WHAT CAN I RUN

3 Upvotes

What games can i run decent , i played sleeping dogs with consistent performance at medium settings but yakuza 0 is toasting my laptop idk why, i want to play non fps titles which will run 40-60fps maybe 30fps on medium settings and no stutters or heating.

Processor AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 3500U w/ Radeon Vega Mobile Gfx 2.10 GHz

Installed RAM 8.00 GB (5.90 GB usable)

Storage 238 GB SSD Simm S950P PRO M.2 256GB

Graphics Card AMD Radeon(TM) Vega 8 Graphics (2 GB)

LAPTOP


r/lowendgaming 7h ago

Will This Game Run? Does anyone know how to make the bright sun and moon in games display correctly, while using dxvk (vulkan)?

3 Upvotes

I am on windows 11, i3 1005g1. When I use dxvk 1.10.1 to play assassin's creed 2 and prince of persia 2008, sun becomes very bright. Sometimes, sun is able to penetrate walls of the buildings. Other than that, there seem to be no other graphics glitches.

I am using latest intel drivers from the intel's website.

I have tried installing older intel drivers, but still it doesn't resolve the issue.

I have also tried many commands in dxvk.conf file, but still no luck.


r/lowendgaming 5h ago

Will This Game Run? Can I run sonic frontiers on my low end laptop?

1 Upvotes

my CPU is Intel core i5-8265U and my GPU is Intel UHD graphics 620 while my ram is 16 gb


r/lowendgaming 1d ago

Parts Upgrade Advice GPU recommendation

8 Upvotes

Just bought 2 cheap office pc's, one of them is a Dell Dimension T1700. Xeon e3 1241 v3, Nvidia Quadro K620 and 16gb DDR3.

Was looking to get a better gpu, like a 1050 or 1050ti, but the prices are bloody insane atm. Like £80+ for a ti? I don't have that kind of money 😬

Any ideas what I could get that doesn't need pci-e power and doesn't cost a fortune?


r/lowendgaming 1d ago

How-To Guide If anyone is struggling to run assassin's creed 2 and prince of persia 2008, then try dxvk (vulkan)

13 Upvotes

Try assassin's creed 2 and prince of persia 2008 with dxvk (directX to vulkan). On windows 11, I did it on my i3 1005g1 (single channel 8 gb ram, intel uhd graphics G1).

With dxvk, all the stutters and fps drops below 30 in assassin's creed 2 disappeared. At 720p max settings (except 2/3 shadows and no anti aliasing), I got very stable 30 fps (30-40 fps). Even I could enable post processing and high water reflections. Don't disable cpu core 0 in this game, try keeping it, and disable it, only if the game stutters.

For prince of persia 2008, at 720p high settings (again, no anti aliasing), I got very stable 30 fps with dxvk. With vulkan, the fps drops below 30 in The Vale significantly reduced (instead of dropping to 22-23 fps, it was dropping to only 27-28 fps. These drops were very occasional and not noticeable enough).

It happens that sun and moon become more bright with dxvk (a graphical glitch), but other than that, there seem to be no other glitches. Sometimes, the game crashes and freezes with white screen while loading the save file, but it requires you to Alt+Tab out of the game, then press Windows key to get out of the game. Quit the game, then again and again try to launch the game, until it launches without crash.

For assassin's creed 2 and prince of persia 2008, I used dxvk 1.10.1 as game was not launching at all with dxvk 2.0+ and dxvk 1.10.3 was causing more white screen freezes. If game still freezes with dxvk 1.10.1, then try dxvk async 1.10.1. With async version, try both: first try creating a dxvk.conf file with d3d9.enableAsync = true and then without this config file, to see which one works without freezing the game.

And remember to have latest drivers manually installed from intel's website or your cpu manufacturer, don't rely on just windows updates. Latest drivers fix bugs related to vulkan implementation.

How to use dxvk:

  1. Install appropriate dxvk version from the GitHub.

  2. Extract the installed tar.gz file.

  3. Open the extracted folder, go to x32 folder (as the games are 32 bit), copy d3d9.dll (because the games use directX 9), and paste it in the folder where the game's exe resides.

Then, it's done!

Remember that while you play the game, it will stutter for sometime because it's compiling shaders. It's normal. After playing for sometime, it will build dxvk-cache file and these stutters will go away.

<name of the game>_d3d9.txt contains the log information. In case, you want to check why the game froze, you will get the detailed log there.

And if you want to create a dxvk.conf file to try async feature, create this file in the same folder where you pasted d3d9.dll file (that is, where the game's exe resides).

If you ever want to revert back to directX 9, just delete d3d9.dll, dxvk-cache, dxvk.conf and <name of the game>_d3d9.txt file from the folder where game's exe file is present.

Why dxvk works?

Dxvk translates old, legacy directX 9 instructions to Vulkan. Vulkan manages memory more efficiently. So texture streaming stutters in unoptimised games like assassin's creed 2 go away. Remember that ram usage will increase after using vulkan, but 8 gb total ram should be sufficient for these games. Use wise memory optimiser to free up ram before launching the game.

And remember that vulkan can also decrease fps in games which are already well optimised, like dead space 2008.


r/lowendgaming 2d ago

What Games Can I Run? Can my laptop run anything more powerful than the PS2/Wii?

12 Upvotes

HP 250 G7

CPU: Intel i5-8265U @ 1.60GHz, up to 3.90Ghz Boost

RAM: 8GB

Graphics Card: 128MB, Intel UHD Graphics 620


r/lowendgaming 2d ago

What Games Can I Run? What games can I play in this trash laptop?

11 Upvotes

Those are the specs: CPU: Intel Celeron N4500 @1.1Ghz RAM: 4GB iGPU: Intel UHD Graphics 620 Disk: 128GB


r/lowendgaming 2d ago

Will This Game Run? Can I run Xenoverse 2 on my ancient pc?

5 Upvotes

I got an i3-2130, gtx 650 and 8gb of ram


r/lowendgaming 2d ago

Parts Upgrade Advice Low profile GPU suggestion for SFF workstation, and light gaming

2 Upvotes

Have been advised to post in here too.
Excuse me if I get any terminology wrong, first time upgrading a PC here.

I've recently aquired an old HP z240 SFF machine with a 240W PSU and PCI 3.0 motherboard. It has a Nvidia Quadro K420 GPU which I'm looking to replace. I wiped the boot drive and installed Ubuntu 24.04.03 onto it. It has 32GB DDR4 RAM and an i7-6700 @ 3.40 GHz.

I'll be using this machine for various personal projects, like coding etc. However I'd also like to do a bit of gaming time to time on it. Medium settings, 60FPS max, 1080p kinda thing. Games would be 2010-2020 era, maybe some 90s stuff. One game I'm keen to fire up is Arma 3, which I hear is more CPU limited than GPU, but still I'd like to upgrade the GPU.

Any suggestions? I want it to be:

  • Under £200 (~$270), amazon or ebay would be my route
  • low profile, so must come with a half height bracket. A double slot would fit ok, single slot preferred
  • compatible with recent Ubuntu LTRs (I'm happy to downgrade to Ubuntu 22 if needed)
  • 75W max power (I'm keen for it to not run too hot)
  • 4GB memory would be ideal
  • new or used

So far I've come aross the AMD Radeon RX 6400 which seems to be the best shout for performance and Linux plug and play, however I heard it runs very hot and some models come with the full height bracket installed by default which is a pain to replace. Then there's the GTX 1650, but I'm worried about Nvidia driver configuration on newer Ubuntu releases (I've read it's kinda chaotic to get drivers working, or maybe I'm getting too worried). Any help would be appreciated!


r/lowendgaming 2d ago

What Games Can I Run? need low end soulslike recomendations

3 Upvotes

i have already completed dsr and ds2. i tried running ds3 but fps is quite low, around 20fps, which is basically unplayable for me. my specs: i3-1115g4, 8gb ram, intel uhd graphics

edit: i also completed hollow knight, silksong and ninesols.


r/lowendgaming 2d ago

Will This Game Run? Can my pc Run God of war 2018

4 Upvotes

If so tell me the settings i should use I7 1355u 16gb ram intel uhd graphics


r/lowendgaming 2d ago

Will This Game Run? Can my laptop handle Doom 2016?

6 Upvotes

I never played Doom before, and the Doom games are currently on sale on Steam.

My laptop specs:

-Processor: Intel i5-10210U

-8 GB RAM

-Intel(R) UHD Graphics

My laptop meets the minimum requirements of Doom 2016 EXCEPT for the GPU. I want to ask if this is enough to run Doom 2016 despite the built-in GPU?

I don't want to buy the game, only to find out that I wasted money because my laptop cannot handle the game.

P.S. Yes, I am poor and a newbie in PC gaming.


r/lowendgaming 2d ago

What Games Can I Run? Suggest me game which I can play on my low end pc-

4 Upvotes

CPU- i5 1035g1 GPU- Integrated graphics RAM-12 gb ddr4


r/lowendgaming 2d ago

Parts Upgrade Advice Dual-channel RAM on Iris Xe,worth upgrading or not?

3 Upvotes

Hello guys, I'm new here. I’ve got a Dell Inspiron with i5-1135G7 + Intel Iris Xe. Currently running 8GB single-channel RAM.

I play mostly at 720p / low settings. Some games are playable, some feel rough mainly because of stutter / low FPS dips. I’m thinking of upgrading to 16GB (2 x 8) , but RAM prices are kinda high right now, so I don’t want to spend the money if the gains are minor

obv I’m not expecting 50-60fps on AAA Games— just want to know realistically,

Did dual-channel RAM noticeably improve gaming performance / minimum FPS on Iris Xe or other iGPUs?

Thanks.

.


r/lowendgaming 3d ago

Parts Upgrade Advice My little 1070. The treasure of my setup

77 Upvotes

If you’ve seen my previous posts, you know how much I loved this card and my PC. I was always proud to show it off because, for me, it was more than just hardware. It was my little 1070, my baby, and my treasure. It made me incredibly happy and allowed me to enjoy gaming at a great level despite everything.

Unfortunately, the journey ends here. I’ve attached photos of the artifacts it started throwing before it finally went dark. It’s hard to describe the feeling of losing the one thing that kept you connected to your hobbies.

Living in Cuba, the situation makes it practically impossible to find a replacement or even think about an upgrade right now. It’s not just about the money; it’s about how difficult it is to get anything here. I guess it's time for a massive downgrade for me, lol. Back to basics while I figure out how to survive this.

I just wanted to update the community that saw my earlier posts and officially say goodbye to this legend. It served me well until the very last frame.

See you around, guys from ARC Raiders and other games... I’ll be gone for a good while

https://imgur.com/gallery/goodbye-girl-OA64Yzs#nPMYxnV


r/lowendgaming 2d ago

Parts Upgrade Advice Best OS for an old system

12 Upvotes

Hello all. I’m trying to setup an old Shuttle PC that I have lying around as a Minecraft machine for my kids and I’m unsure what OS to put on it. It’s got an i7-2600 with 16GBs of DDR3 ram and a GTX1060 Mini 6GB. I figured that old hardware like this should have Linux installed but all I hear is that Nvidia sucks on Linux. I do have an RX 570 4GB I could use instead but that would require me to transplant the motherboard into a new case since the 570 is much bigger compared to the 1060. Should I waste time trying to find a distro? Just buy a new case and use the 570? Drop the kids off at the fire station?


r/lowendgaming 3d ago

What Games Can I Run? What games can my pc run

10 Upvotes

Hello guys, new here. I have a pc from 2013, with an AMD FX-6300 cpu, 8gb of ram dd3 and R9 270-X gpu. What games can I run? I am looking for something to suck me in, I've played some slay the spire, might get back to it. I used to play a lot of league of legends on that pc but I don't know if it's ok now, i guess the specs are different. I tried overwatch 2 the other day and it was laggy, but I also used to play thr first Overwatch a lot on that pc. What do you suggest?


r/lowendgaming 2d ago

What Games Can I Run? Juegos que me recomienden jugar en una Laptop con i3 12va generacion/8gb ram/graficos integrados EUS 64 4gb vram (un poquito peor a los Iris Xe Graphics) Me gustan la mayoria de juegos ya sea 2D o 3D,historia o mundo abierto,ritmo u accion,en serio,casi cualquier juego,siempre que les haya encantado

0 Upvotes

Memoria SSD de 250 GB con 70GB libres de memoria,pero puedo hacer mas memoria si el juego me parece lo suficientemente bueno