What's the cheapest way to play Hogwarts Legacy (comfortably)?

TLDR:
The most convenient and relatively cheap, when you don't care about other games: Xbox Series S + game (only digital version possible) ~1500 PLN / €329

Also the most convenient, though a bit expensive. But it gives the opportunity to play used games on discs - cheaply: Xbox Series X + game (used on disc) ~2650 PLN / €569

The cheapest, though requires a bit of effort. But it also allows for modding, and buying the cheapest games at launch (and no subscription required to play online games, as well as loads of other features besides gaming):
Desktop computer providing comparable image quality in 1080p as Xbox Series S + game (Steam key without any shenanigans) - 1100 PLN / €239

• if someone doesn't have a monitor (1080p, "free" cables included) 110 PLN / €25
• if someone does not have a keyboard, mouse, and headphones 110 PLN / €25
  So in total, even if someone owns absolutely nothing computer-related, the total comes out to 1320 PLN / €289

(end of TLDR)

I'm just saying what the options are. Everyone will surely find something for themselves - among the listed options, or beyond them. For one person, a console other than PS5 makes no sense because The Last of Us Part 2 is not available there.
For someone else, nothing other than the latest RTX 4080 computer makes sense, because they own a 32-inch 4K 144Hz monitor that sits right in front of their face. And they will not accept playing with anything worse.
And for someone who travels on business every week, by train or plane (and they could only make time to play while traveling), the only sensible option is Steam Deck.
And someone else has an old computer with an old 720p monitor, and they would be content to play at 30 FPS on the lowest settings (while spending as little money as possible). They can just buy a graphics card for 200 PLN / €45 and it would also be fine.

Not everyone who has a different console, or computer with different specs than us, is literally the worst person in the world and there is no other explanation.

However, let's get back to the cheapest way to get back to Hogwarts.
The first thing that comes to mind is Xbox Series S
(unless someone believes in a successful launch for the older console generation, and that somehow every door will open immediately on HDD drives and over 4 times weaker processors than Xbox Series S).
And it is true, that the console itself is quite cheap. As cheap as 1170 PLN / €249.
Let's add to the price the game itself - Hogwarts Legacy on Series S / X Digital Edition from Microsoft store - 320 PLN / €69.
So in total that makes around 1500 PLN / €319.

Decent value, but Microsoft doesn't lose an average of $150 on every Xbox Series S sold out of the kindness of their hearts.
If someone wants to play different games, and not just Hogwarts Legacy, it may turn out that Xbox Series X or PS5 with a disc drive is a better idea.
With them, you can buy games on discs and sell them after completing them.
And it turns out that playing one game does not cost 320 PLN / 69€, but instead around 20 or 30 PLN / 5-7€ - when buying and then selling a used disc.

And you have to remember, that when playing games other than Hogwarts Legacy, you have to pay subscriptions for online access (PlayStation Plus Essential and Xbox Live Gold normally cost 250 PLN / €54.99 per year, but with discounts, it can be had for about 50 PLN / €10 less).
And yes, some games even single-player (fortunately not including Hogwarts Legacy) require an online connection, e.g. Diablo 3 and 4, Call of Duty campaigns, The Crew 1 and 2, Battleborn, etc.

Also, there is no need to worry about Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida - he doesn't have to starve himself to give you components below the production price. He is still making the money.
But even below the production costs, prices of 2400 PLN / €499 for the Xbox Series X and 2700 PLN / €569 for the Playstation 5 (with a disc drive), are not that cheap either.

So how much do you have to spend on a used PC that will match the image quality and framerates of the Xbox Series S? (i.e. quality mode - locked 30 FPS, FSR quality high settings, or performance mode - locked 60 FPS FSR quality medium settings).
Just not at 1440p upscaled to 4K (because if someone can afford a 4K monitor, they can afford a much better PC).
1080p resolution matches the overwhelming majority of monitors, especially for players with a limited budget.
You also don't need to know how to assemble computers yourself.

We take a ready office computer, e.g. HP Z420 for 550 PLN / €119 with Intel Xeon E5-1650 V2 processor.
6 cores, 12 threads, almost identical to the consumer-grade Intel Core i7-4930K - same architecture, same cache at each level, the only difference is that the i7 has 0.1 GHz lower clock speed, so Xeon will be slightly more powerful.

At this price of 550 PLN / €119, you don't even have to insert the RAM and the drive yourself. Because there are 16 GB and 256 GB SSD already installed.

It comes with a 600W power supply, with a 6-pin connector. So we can easily add a decent card for around 350 PLN / €75 with a 6-pin connector. Such as RX 570 8GB or RX 480 8GB.
The operation of inserting the card takes less than 5 minutes. You can do it yourself using the guide below, or ask your brother, neighbor, brother-in-law, godson, homie from a technical school, etc. (but please give them something in return for helping you).
This is a completely different (much, much lower) level of difficulty compared to building the whole computer.

And so: desktop + graphics card, 550 PLN / €119 + 350 PLN / €75 = 900 PLN / €194
And the game itself costs 180 PLN / €39 (without any VPNs, Turkish or Argentinian gift cards, etc. Standard European version with standard payment methods). So it is much cheaper than the Xbox version (but of course you can't sell the disc after you complete the game).

So adding Hogwarts Legacy on PC we have 900 PLN / €194 + 180 PLN / €39 = 1080 PLN / €233.
Compared to 1500 PLN / €329 by going with Xbox Series S, there are already considerable savings.

Okay, someone will say that they already have a TV (and it also comes with a loudspeaker included). And the gamepad is included "for free" for any console.
Whereas for a PC you need to buy a monitor, mouse and keyboard, and probably a headset separately. So is it that devastating financially? Not necessarily.

You can buy decent 22-inch Full HD (1080p) monitors with decent panels, and "free" cables included for as little as 100 PLN / €22.
And if someone is satisfied with a smaller screen, e.g. 18.5 inches and HD resolution (720p), even half that price is enough.

Keyboards and mice (not counting the electronic waste that people literally give away for free) are also not as expensive as the display units in electronic stores would suggest.

The cheapest keyboards with acceptable Outemu Blue or Jixian Blue switches, can be had for less than 40 PLN/9€.
The same 40 PLN/9€ goes for gaming mice such as Fury Battler or Hiro Aero V.2, which were also quite positively received both by reviewers and users.
And for another 40 PLN/9€ you can get headsets (headphones with a microphone), which also have a lot of positive customer reviews - e.g. Fury Wildcat or Esperanza DeathStrike.
By the way, in order not to pay delivery fees, you can either pick up in person at electronic stores. Or alternatively order everything from a single store (but then it will be a bit more expensive).

To sum up:

Buy the Hogwarts Legacy alone (and return to Hogwarts every now and again in the future, but not play any other games) - the Xbox Series S is pretty good.
It's not as cheap as the cheapest computers with similar image quality, but it is extremely easy to setup, takes up very little space, does not need a separate monitor, keyboard and mouse, it's OK.

When buying for Hogwarts Legacy but also with other games in mind, it is worth considering consoles with disc drives (Xbox Series X is cheaper, but PlayStation 5 has some interesting exclusive games).

But by buying the PC alone, you can get not only support for mods, but also very decent value, well below the price of the Xbox Series S (but taking up some space, especially for the monitor, keyboard and mouse).
So, if someone was considering whether to buy a separate computer for office work (because they are very cheap), and a separate gaming console (because they are very cheap) - they may take into consideration that both office and gaming needs can be fulfilled with just one (very affordable) machine.
Video card installation guide

"I don't believe the RX 570 8GB can handle Hogwarts Legacy at 60 FPS medium settings + FSR quality, or high settings + FSR quality":

"I don't believe a 6-core i7-4930K can get 60 FPS in Hogwarts Legacy":
(in reality, even a non-K quad-core i7-4770 with lower clock speeds and less cache is sitting just below 60 FPS)

[affiliate links below]
An example of an already assembled office computer, fit for adding a graphics card (they have multiple units in the stores, so the availability is quite good):
https://ebay.us/9n58cS
https://allegro.pl/oferta/hp-z420-xeon-e5-1650-16-256-ssd-win8-gw-13389062205?utm_medium=affiliacja&utm_source=ctr&utm_campaign=e6751b22-cb0d-4137-9719-5e222db5866b#

Examples of sufficiently strong graphics cards with 6-pin plugs.
https://ebay.us/c1ZmMf
https://www.olx.pl/d/oferta/radeon-xfx-rx-480-8-gb-blower-CID99-IDSJJDR.html?reason=observed_ad
The availability is not that great - especially with single graphics cards from individuals. The situation changes from day to day. In a week they may be completely different but it's just about cards of this type - RX 470 8GB / RX 570 8GB with a 6-pin connector. The board partner does not have much impact on performance (although it does have noise), whether it's Gigabyte, Asus, MSI, XFX, etc.

Cheapest deals on Hogwarts Legacy always on GG deals (not only on PC)(this one is not an affiliate link)
https://gg.deals/game/hogwarts-legacy/

Some monitors:
https://ebay.us/CX3ZH2
https://allegro.pl/oferta/monitor-asus-vs-229-13410570589?utm_medium=affiliacja&utm_source=ctr&utm_campaign=77945e39-f2c5-4eb2-b730-fd9a00c5b3f3#

Some keyboards with Blue switches
https://ebay.us/S6EGr2
https://www.mediaexpert.pl/computers-and-tablets/computer-keyboards/keyboards/klawiatura-dla-graczy-fury-tornado-us-mechaniczna-podswietlenie-jixian-blue-gamingowa

Some gaming mice
https://ebay.us/izCEPr
https://www.euro.com.pl/myszy/hiro-mysz-optyczna-dla-graczy-hiro-aero-v2.bhtml

Some headsets:
https://ebay.us/LmlQV9
https://cyfra.eu/product-pol-3454-Esperanza-Red-Headphones-with-microphone-Deathstrike-EGH420R.html?query_id=1

Other sources:
https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/hogwarts-legacy#purchaseoptions
https://allegro.pl/oferta/outlet-microsoft-xbox-series-s-13361354915?utm_medium=affiliation&utm_source=ctr&utm_campaign=c3673236-a509-4b66-9551-879219efbe98#
https://nichegamer.com/microsoft-loses-money-on-xbox-series-xs/
https://www.microsoft.com/pl-pl/d/xbox-series-x/8WJ714N3RBTL/BLBL?ranMID=46139&ranEAID=5yzDBgtFXEQ&ranSiteID=5yzDBgtFXEQ-hZv.bBKa8mx4cCaxYz.UMA&epi=5yzDBgtFXEQ-hZv.bBKa8m ohm%C3%B3Vintagetab
https://www.amazon.de/-/pl/gp/product/B08H93ZRK9/?tag=pepperpl09-21&language=pl_PL
https://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/495/Intel_Core_i7_i7-4930K_vs_Intel_Xeon_E5-1650_v2.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/8cv04t/power_hungry_gpus_in_a_hp_z420_600w_psu/