{"id":383267,"date":"2021-12-19T16:00:59","date_gmt":"2021-12-19T13:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/what-is-a-potato-pc\/"},"modified":"2021-12-19T16:00:59","modified_gmt":"2021-12-19T13:00:59","slug":"what-is-a-potato-pc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-a-potato-pc\/","title":{"rendered":"#What Is a Potato PC?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2fc23f37564\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2fc23f37564\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-a-potato-pc\/#All_PCs_Are_%E2%80%9CGaming%E2%80%9D_PCs\" >All PCs Are \u201cGaming\u201d PCs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-a-potato-pc\/#The_Fuzzy_Definition_of_%E2%80%9CPotato%E2%80%9D\" >The Fuzzy Definition of \u201cPotato\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-a-potato-pc\/#Why_%E2%80%9CPotato%E2%80%9D\" >Why \u201cPotato\u201d?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-a-potato-pc\/#Modding_Games_to_Potato\" >Modding Games to Potato<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-a-potato-pc\/#Finding_Games_for_Your_Potato\" >Finding Games for Your Potato<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;#What Is a Potato PC?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage wp-image-772012 size-full\" data-pagespeed-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/shutterstock_413733049.jpg?width=398&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 400w, https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/shutterstock_413733049.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, 400w, 1200w\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/shutterstock_413733049.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"An obsolete computer on a wooden table.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/old-obsolete-computer-on-wood-table-413733049\" data-credittext=\"Santi S\/Shutterstock.com\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/old-obsolete-computer-on-wood-table-413733049\">Santi S\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Everyone\u2019s heard of <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">App<\/a>le computers, but what about\u00a0<em>potato\u00a0<\/em>computers? No, this isn\u2019t a competing PC brand. Potato PCs are the weakest gaming PCs of their generation, but they\u2019ve developed an endearing culture of plucky budget-conscious gaming around them.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"All_PCs_Are_%E2%80%9CGaming%E2%80%9D_PCs\"><\/span>All PCs Are \u201cGaming\u201d PCs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Gaming can be awesome even on modest hardware. All PCs are gaming PCs. In other words, whatever computer you have in front of you is capable of playing some subset of all the PC <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>s that are out there.<\/p>\n<p>On top of this, most PC games have settings that let you scale them from low-end visuals all the way to \u201cultra\u201d quality settings designed for computers that did not yet exist when the game was released. This is where the idea of a \u201cpotato\u201d PC comes from, although you probably won\u2019t find a single definition that everyone agrees is complete.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Fuzzy_Definition_of_%E2%80%9CPotato%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>The Fuzzy Definition of \u201cPotato\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Whether a computer qualifies as a potato PC or not is a matter of minor debate. For some, it seems to refer to a generation of PCs that were left behind when computer graphics moved on to technologies such as unified shader processors and complex lighting and texture engines. Think about the transition from the GPUs such as the old Voodoo cards compared to the 6000-<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> NVIDIA GPUs. It\u2019s not just that these newer chips were simply faster than the old ones\u2014they could perform tricks that were simply impossible on older machines.<\/p>\n<p>The other viewpoint comes from \u201cpotato settings,\u201d which refers to the lowest detail settings offered by a video game. Now, this is obviously a rolling window, since the lowest visual settings of a game in 2021 may look better than the \u201cultra\u201d settings of games from a few years ago. So a computer becomes a potato PC when games are only playable on their lowest settings.<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s the matter of PCs that were never meant to be used for gaming: For example, basic office desktop computers or entry-level laptops that have relatively weak CPUs and low-end integrated GPUs.<\/p>\n<p>So clearly there\u2019s no one universal type of potato PC, but you\u2019ll know it when you see it.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_%E2%80%9CPotato%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>Why \u201cPotato\u201d?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-771634\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Oblivion-Potato.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Oblivion Potato Settings\" width=\"650\" height=\"365\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve gotten this far into the discussion without addressing the potato in the room. Why \u201cpotato\u201d in the first place?<\/p>\n<p>This is another question that has more than one answer, but we think the most likely one is related to how game worlds and characters from games like The Elder Scrolls Oblivion look when visual settings are turned all the way down. With low-polygon counts and extremely low texture detail, you\u2019re looking at game characters and environments that look like they\u2019ve been made from peeled potatoes!<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Modding_Games_to_Potato\"><\/span>Modding Games to Potato<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-771631 size-full\" style=\"-webkit-user-drag: none; display: inline-block; margin-bottom: -1ex;\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Skyrim-Ultra-Low-Graphics-Mod.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"An ultra low graphics Skyrim mod.\" width=\"650\" height=\"365\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/skyrim\/mods\/17137\/\" data-credittext=\"Ultra Low Graphics Mod by Iyzik\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/skyrim\/mods\/17137\/\">Ultra Low Graphics Mod by Iyzik<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While plenty of people have \u201cpotato\u201d PCs, there\u2019s also a certain allure and charm to playing a game on a system that can barely keep up with the least intense instance of a title. In fact, you\u2019ll find that potato PC owners have formed a community of their own. All those college kids using cheap laptops who want to play games instead of paying attention in class have the potato spirit. Bored employees who host LANs on their office computers while the boss is away are practicing the art of potato.<\/p>\n<p>Most interesting of all, there have been some amazing projects to modify games so that they can run on systems below their minimum specifications. One of the most famous is probably a modification to allow <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KQSIT18bOvg\">Doom 3 to run on a Voodoo card<\/a>. It\u2019s ugly, but it works!<\/p>\n<p>There have also been some examples of \u201cofficial\u201d potato modding. The Nintendo Switch version of The Witcher 3 runs at below minimum settings compared to the PC version. Yes, the Switch is not a PC, but this version of the game certainly exemplifies potato settings. It still looks great though.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s why there are dedicated potato <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a> channels such as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCQkd05iAYed2-LOmhjzDG6g\">LowSpecGamer<\/a> and Reddit communities such as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/lowendgaming\">r\/lowendgaming<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Finding_Games_for_Your_Potato\"><\/span>Finding Games for Your Potato<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>So if you\u2019re stuck with a potato PC for a while or you happen to have a potato PC and would like to see what it can do just for fun, where can you find games?<\/p>\n<p>Our first stop would be <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gog.com\/\">GOG<\/a>, where you can buy thousands of classic games that have been fixed up to run on modern operating systems. Any modern computer should run these classics without breaking a sweat and they haven\u2019t lost any of what made them great in the first place.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/redirect.viglink.com\/?key=204a528a336ede4177fff0d84a044482&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fstore.steampowered.com%2F\">Steam<\/a> is also a good place to find older games that fall within your beloved potato\u2019s minimum specification. You may have to do some modding and check out the community forums to keep them running, but classic titles like Deus Ex or Half-Life will run on anything these days.<\/p>\n<p>Then there are the myriad eSports titles, which are purposefully designed to run well on the lowest-end machines that still manage to switch on. Whichever option you choose, there\u2019s no reason even the humblest potato computer can\u2019t be a satisfying gaming system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/771352\/what-is-a-potato-pc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#What Is a Potato PC?&#8221; Santi S\/Shutterstock.com Everyone\u2019s heard of Apple computers, but what about\u00a0potato\u00a0computers? No, this isn\u2019t a competing PC brand. Potato PCs are the weakest gaming PCs of their generation, but they\u2019ve developed an endearing culture of plucky budget-conscious gaming around them. All PCs Are \u201cGaming\u201d PCs Gaming can be awesome even on&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":383268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/shutterstock_413733049.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-383267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}