I Frankenputered together a computer so I could have something to play games on that wasn't an obsolete laptop with Intel graphics. This thing isn't AMAZING by any stretch, but it's solid:
* Late 2012 Intel i5 CPU, overclocked
* Nvidia GTX 960 video card
* 8GB RAM
* 1.25TB total hard drive space
* DVD burner
* SD card reader
The only parts I purchased for this build were a new case (because none of the cases I have lying around fit the motherboard I had lying around) and a new power supply (because the power supplies I have lying around don't have enough connectors to drive the GTX 960); everything else was stuff I scavenged out of older machines.
I cut a slot in one of the drive bay covers in order to have a nice mounting place for the SD card reader. To be honest I'm not sure I actually need it, but I HAD it so I figured I might as well install it. The DVD drive, on the other hand, is super important, because I have a bunch of old games on CD that I wanted to install now that I have a machine that can stream to my TV for living room gaming.
Some of the older games worth commenting on:
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Excelsior Phase I (1993)
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System Shock (1994)
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Descent (1995)
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Terminal Velocity (1995)
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Sonic R (1998)
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System Shock 2 (1999)
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Touhou 7.5, 9.5, 10, 10.5, 12.3, 12.5, 12.8, 13.5, and 16 (2004-2017)
Sonic R was a pain to get running because it doesn't have a clue how to run on modern hardware and I had to patch it. Descent was easy to get going, but with some tinkering I actually was able to get it working in VR -- a game from 1995, with head-tracking stereoscopic virtual reality!
On the flip side, this system can run Overwatch at 70fps with the graphics settings turned up reasonably high.