But one way you can lighten the load is to just start with a gaming laptop, which packs in everything you need to get started in PC gaming without all the extra pieces. Of course, gaming laptops can be expensive, too, but plenty of budget options also exist.

Here’s a giant saving on the excellent Asus Vivobook S14, which is superb value at £459.99. The powerful but slim 14in laptop runs on the latest Snapdragon X Plus processor, giving it improved energy efficiency and an impressive 20-hour battery life, while the 16GB of RAM can comfortably handle multitasking the most demanding software.