Should You Finance a Gaming PC & Is It Worth It?

Understanding the need for a gaming PC for entertainment and productivity is the cornerstone for those looking to interact and game online. Gaming PCs are great tools for work or general productivity; the entertainment industry has given a lot for people to be excited about spending the time and money to get a good gaming PC.

Gaming PCs offer a multitude of uses outside entertainment and can be financially viable in a monthly payment plan. If your system is purely for entertainment, experiment with how to reduce maintenance costs down the road while you pay off your system.

If your system is for productivity in addition to gaming, running a higher-end PC configuration will directly aid in the amount of time spent on projects to better pay for the system over time, depending on which financer you go with.

Here is our guide on the best gaming PC financing options and what planning you can do to get the best system for your needs. 

Determining Whether You Should Finance a Gaming Computer

Financing a computer is a big financial step for those looking to get a new gaming PC in 2023. Depending on your payment timeline, multiple services are available on our sites.

Before getting to the checkout, let's look at what consideration should go into the configuration, price point, payment period, and available credit. 

What Do You Need?

Determining what components should be in the PC over others depends on your gaming or productivity needs. If you can only see your system having one storage drive, it will be best to prioritize faster storage options like SSDs over Hard Drives for your system. 

What Kind of Games Do You Want to Play?

Depending on the game, some aspects of your system will need a specific configuration for a game in mind. The most addressable factor when you play games in any genre on the market is a system's CPU, GPU, and RAM. 

For open-world games, you’ll want to prioritize the CPU and RAM. A solid GPU should be the most important if you are more geared towards FPS games. No matter your configuration, ensure that the performance you'd expect from a configured system is evident in the parts configured.

What is Your Credit Score?  

Lenders will run a soft check on your credit before committing to a line of credit for your purchase. Your financial service should have an associated service (like CreditWise from Capital One) to look into your credit standing. Recently, Apex Gaming PCs opened up payment options with other financiers—valuing accessible quoted plans over submitting to credit scores first.

A popular financer taking e-commerce by storm is Bread Finacial. Over this past year, we have seen many people opt into their comparable pay rates for less than a year and pay off their PC with no added APR.  

What is Your Budget?

The overall budget spent on the gaming PC culminates at the very end of a given order. If you are going with a no APR offer from a lender, the extra money you save can go into an upgrade or better shipping. 

Deciding what you can pay monthly vs. what you can play now is essential in the long run as you choose how much your system costs at intel purchase. In addition, if your financial situation changes for the better, we have recommended upgrade referrals that are optional for your build.

Benefits of Financing a Gaming PC    

Financing a PC over time has multiple benefits over buying one outright if any of the following conditions apply to your financial situation.

Lower Upfront Costs

If you come into some cash later, financing your order will eliminate most of the upfront costs associated with a large purchase like a pre-built gaming PC. 

Depending on your payment plan, you can pay upwards of 24 months for a single purchase. There are higher APRs the more months you intend to pay, but all associated financiers don't have any fees for paying off a purchase early. 

Builds Your Credit Over Time

Your credit will significantly improve if you are on time or early with payments. Most credit service providers consider computers a luxury item but have some exceptions for particle use cases, like children using them for school or adults for work.

Since a PC is a significant purchase, you will want to pay it off as soon as possible to improve your credit by paying for a luxury item.

You Can Get the PC You Want or Need

It's always hard to permit yourself to get nice things once in a while. Getting a gaming PC outright will always seem like a costly purchase. Still, the uses for work or entertainment through gaming far outweigh the multiple years expected from the system's lifespan.

You Can Get a Higher-End System Than You Could Afford Outright

Returning to the lower upfront cost, getting a high-end system outright is not possible for some people who accrue money for extended periods, with the ability to buy now and pay later, getting additional upgrades with your initial purchase.

Bread is our first choice due to its easy payment integration and no APR under a year payment plan for incremental upgrades that cost significantly less than the initial buy-in purchase.

Drawbacks of Financing a Gaming Computer

While determination for on-time payments and a financial plan may seem like all you need to finance gaming PCs, here are some things to consider before committing to a purchase with a financial lender.

Poor Credit May Mean You Can’t Do it At All

Lending services like Affirm are very upfront with running a soft check on your credit before assuring a certain credit amount. A poor credit score will bar you from participating or greatly hinder your credit in the initial PC purchase.

Missing Payments Hurts Your Credit

While other services like Bread, Klarna, and Shopify Installments don't initially require social security to generate a quote, these services will keep track of your payments and instigate a soft check during your purchase. If payments are missed, it eventually leaves a mark on your credit score. Racking up poor credit is bad for your PC purchase and other essential credit-based purchases.

Overestimating Your Budget Can Put You in a Tough Spot Financially

Research the constants when purchasing a product with lent money with an APR. Investigate what the final monthly cost will be. Some lenders will give a “range” of APR you qualify for, stating the average charged APR before credit checks, which slightly adjusts the monthly total.

In my experience, this method of having a difference in APR in my account every month makes monthly payments a breeze and gives me peace of mind. Calculate your anticipated APR against the order total and keep that amount over your monthly payment, allowing you to stay on top of your finances. 

Interest Can Vary Depending on Your Credit Score

Depending on your credit score, getting a competitive interest rate is significant when you have a lower credit score. Getting an achievable percentage rate that works with your budget may be impossible. 

If you are more committed to a more significant down payment to make the monthly payments more accessible, making the overall APR shouldn't become an issue in the long run.

So, Is a Payment Plan Worth It for Gaming PCs?

Getting a manageable financial loan for a gaming PC is well worth it. Using our associated partners, your dream PC is one financial plan away from being achieved.

In addition to payment plans, using your new gaming PC for productivity work to subsidize your payments will become easier over time. Whether you primarily use it for gaming or productivity, financing a PC is an excellent accessibility option for those needing a modern system.

Summary of Whether Financing a Gaming PC is Worth It 

We have gone through multiple ups and downs concerning financing a gaming PC over the best service and plan to manage your payments. Many companies are concerned with helping people make significant purchases over time.

At Apex Gaming PCs, we offer multiple financial installment services at checkout and recommend that you incorporate all of them that best fit your budget and payment expectations. You don't get penalized for soft credit checks; all it takes to get a quote is to make an account with your phone number. Whatever your financing needs, we hope to be of service at Apex! 

Written By William Wilson

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