Sounds like a good way to make use of old eMachines, at a large discount too.
Finally, the year of the Linux Desktop! (eMachine edition)
like others are saying: I installed a second NVMe SSD and put Linux Mint on it. This was a very simple task, and it automatically setup a boot window so when I start the computer it gives me the option to pick Windows or Linux. Linux Mint has a software center where I selected and installed Steam w/ Proton (again, super easy to setup, lots of online instructions) and my games work just fine. I keep Windows just because I dont want to lose my access to the OS, but Linux is now my main.