Trying to find “the best affordable PC” feels like hunting a unicorn at a yard sale. I want a gaming box that doesn’t melt my wallet, my power bill, or my eardrums. What’s the smartest 2025-ish move here that won’t age like milk?

Goals:

1080p high or 1440p low-medium with upscaling/frame gen, 60-100 FPS in modern titles
Budget: roughly $500-700 all-in (I can stretch a bit if it actually saves money long-term)
Quiet-ish and efficient (bonus points if my lights don’t dim when I open Fortnite)
Upgradable without replacing half the PC in 12 months

Paths I’m considering:

APU now, GPU later: Ryzen 5 8600G + decent DDR5 + B650 mATX, ride the iGPU for esports/indies, add a midrange GPU when prices dip
Ex-corporate sleeper: cheap Dell/HP office tower + drop in an RX 6600/6650 XT or RTX 3060/3060 Ti, pray the PSU/case airflow/coils behave
New prebuilt on sale: the occasional 12400F/13400F + RTX 4060/7600 deal that promises “gaming ready” and ships with a fan that screams in legalese

Questions where the internet usually hand-waves and I’d love receipts:

Cost-per-frame after upscaling: 8600G today vs used 3060 Ti combo vs 4060 prebuilt. Which wins for 1080p/1440p with FSR/DLSS + frame gen actually on?
Electricity math: over 2-3 years at _20c/kWh, does a 4060’s efficiency beat a cheaper RX 6600 enough to matter, or is that cope?
OEM prebuilt traps: which models quietly lock down BIOS, use weird power connectors, or come with “airflow by wishful thinking” cases that kill future GPU upgrades?
Hidden costs: Windows license, Wi‑Fi/Bluetooth if missing, extra SSD, better cooler so it doesn’t throttle at the main menu. What should I budget realistically?
Visual sanity check: is 1440p low with upscaling/frame gen actually nicer than 1080p high native on a cheap 27-inch 75 Hz panel, or am I just buying blur with extra steps?
Linux curveball: if I nuke the Windows tax and run Proton, how painful are anti-cheat games in 2025 for a budget gamer who plays mainstream stuff?

If you’ve got:

A current parts list that fits this budget with an actual upgrade path, or
A specific ex-corporate model + GPU combo that doesn’t require ritual sacrifices, or
A prebuilt deal that doesn’t throttle, howl, or lock me out of upgrades,

drop it below with why it beats the others. Bonus points for wall-watt numbers, noise levels, and “I survived this and didn’t return it” stories.