Building a powerful gaming PC doesn’t have to cost a fortune. With some smart shopping and a willingness to make a few compromises, you can put together a very capable gaming rig for under $1,000. The key is to focus your budget on the components that matter most for gaming performance: the graphics card, processor, memory, and storage.
For the graphics card, look for an NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti or an AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT. Either of these should allow you to play modern games at high to ultra settings in 1080p. For the processor, an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 will work great for gaming and everyday tasks. Aim for at least 16 gigabytes of DDR4 memory and a solid-state drive of at least 500 gigabytes for storage.
With the remaining budget, spend on a case, power supply, motherboard, and cooler that will support your core components. You don’t need anything too fancy here, but don’t go overly cheap either. For the case, choose one with decent airflow that will fit your graphics card. For the power supply, aim for at least 550 watts from a reputable brand. For the motherboard, a B450 or B550 chipset board will work well for AMD processors or an H470 or Z490 for Intel. And for the cooler, the stock one will work, but an inexpensive air cooler will lower noise and temperatures.
Putting this all together, you should be able to build a great budget gaming PC for around $800 to $1,000. You’ll have a machine that can run the latest games at high settings for a few years. When it does start to slow down, you’ll have an easy upgrade path by swapping in a new graphics card and possibly more memory.
With some patience finding good deals, you can save even more. Check sites like Slickdeals and set up price alerts for the components you want. Buy parts when they go on sale, even if you have to purchase them over the course of a month or two. If you have an existing monitor, keyboard, and mouse, that’s even more money you can put toward the tower components that really matter for gaming performance.
Building your own gaming PC is extremely rewarding. You’ll end up with a powerful computer tailored to your needs that will provide years of entertainment. And you’ll gain valuable experience in the process, allowing you to easily upgrade and maintain your PC in the future. With the right components and a little bit of effort, you can build an incredible gaming machine on a budget.