If you’re new to PC gaming, building a gaming PC might seem like an intimidating prospect. But with this beginner’s guide to the best hardware and software, the process of assembling your PC will be easy and straightforward.
How to Choose a Budget
There are a few things to consider when choosing a budget for your PC build. The most important factor is what you will use your PC for. If you only need it for basic tasks like internet browsing and email, then you can get away with a lower budget. However, if you plan on doing more demanding activities like gaming or video editing, then you will need to spend more money.

Another factor to consider is how much money you are willing to spend on your build. It is important to set a realistic budget that you are comfortable with and stick to it. It is also important to remember that you can always upgrade your components later on if you find that your needs have changed.
Finally, take into account any promotions or sales that might be going on at the time of your purchase. This can help you save money on your build and get the best possible value for your money.
Best Budget: $500-$600
If you’re looking to build the best PC for gaming on a budget of $500-$600, there are a few things you’ll need to take into account. Firstly, what kind of games do you want to be able to play? If you’re looking to play the latest AAA titles at high settings, you’re going to need to spend a bit more than if you’re happy playing less demanding games at lower settings. Secondly, what kind of performance are you looking for? If you want a PC that can handle anything you throw at it, you’re going to need to spend more than if you’re happy with something that will just get the job done.
With that in mind, here are our picks for the best budget gaming PCs:
For those looking to spend around $500, we recommend the AMD Ryzen 5 2600. This CPU is capable of handling any game you throw at it, and with a bit of overclocking headroom, it’s perfect for those who want to squeeze every last drop of performance out of their budget. Paired with an Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti graphics card, this build will be able to handle anything you throw at it without breaking a sweat.
For those looking to spend a bit more on their build, around $600, we recommend upgrading to an Intel Core i5-9600K CPU. This will offer slightly better performance than the Ryzen 5 2600 in both gaming and general use tasks. Paired with an Nvidia RTX
Best Midrange: $700-$900
If you’re looking to build the best gaming PC possible on a tight budget, you’ll need to focus on getting the most bang for your buck. In the $700-$900 range, you’ll be able to get some great components that will put you well on your way to building a top-notch rig.
For starters, you’ll want to focus on getting a good CPU. The Intel Core i5-7600K is a great choice in this price range. It’s a quad-core processor with a base clock of 3.8GHz and a boost clock of 4.2GHz. It’s also unlocked, meaning you can overclock it if you want to eke out even more performance.
Pairing the Core i5-7600K with a good motherboard is important, and the Asus ROG Strix Z270E Gaming is our top pick in this price range. It’s an excellent board for gaming and overclocking, and it comes with plenty of features like USB 3.1 support and built-in RGB lighting.
As for memory, we recommend going with 16GB of DDR4 RAM. This will give you plenty of headroom for future upgrades, and it’s more than enough for gaming and other demanding tasks. For storage, a 1TB hard drive should be more than enough for most people. If you have the budget for it, though, feel free to go with an SSD for even faster performance.
Best High End: $1000+
For the best possible gaming PC build under $1000, you’ll need to make some sacrifices in terms of graphics and processing power. But with careful component selection, it is possible to create a system that will still offer impressive performance for the price.
Here are the components we recommend for a high-end gaming PC build:
- Processor: Intel Core i7-7700K
- Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Ti
- Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix Z270E Gaming
- Memory: 16GB of DDR4 RAM
- Storage: 512GB M.2 solid state drive + 2TB hard drive
- Power supply: Corsair RM650x Gold Certified Modular Power Supply
- Case: Corsair Carbide 275R Mid Tower Case
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What to Consider When Buying Parts
When it comes to building a gaming PC, the most important factor to consider is the components you use. The best way to save money when building a gaming PC is to buy good quality parts that will last long and perform well.
There are three main things to keep in mind when choosing parts for your gaming PC: compatibility, performance, and price.
- Compatibility
Make sure that all the parts you choose are compatible with each other. The last thing you want is to get your new PC built only to find out that one of the components isn’t compatible with the others. - Performance
You want your new gaming PC to be able to handle anything you throw at it, so make sure you choose components that will give you the best performance possible. The goal is to have a system that can run any game on the highest settings without any issues. - Price
Of course, you’ll need to stay within your budget when choosing parts for your new gaming PC. Thankfully, plenty of great options are available no matter how much money you have to spend.
Recommended Brands and Products
There are a few different ways that you can go about building a gaming PC on a budget, but we recommend starting with these three brands:
- AMD – For budget builds, we recommend using an AMD processor. They offer great performance for the price and their latest line of processors, the Ryzen 3000 series, is very competitive with Intel’s offerings. For a budget build, we recommend the Ryzen 5 3600 or Ryzen 7 3700X.
- Nvidia – When it comes to graphics cards, Nvidia is the clear leader. Their GTX 1660 Ti is the best option for a budget gaming PC, offering excellent performance for the price. If you can stretch your budget a bit further, we also recommend their RTX 2060 or RTX 2070 GPUs.
- ASUS – ASUS is our top pick for motherboards and they have a great selection of options in the $100-$200 range that will be perfect for a budget gaming PC build. We particularly like their ROG Strix B550-F Gaming motherboard which offers great features and solid overclocking support.
What Parts Do I Need?
In order to build the best PC for gaming under $1000, you will need the following parts:
- -A CPU. The best gaming CPUs will offer the best performance, but they can be expensive. For this budget, we recommend an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 processor.
- -A motherboard. For a gaming PC on a budget, we recommend a mid-range motherboard that offers good features and expandability without breaking the bank.
- -Memory (RAM). 8GB of RAM is the minimum we recommend for gaming, and 16GB is even better.
- -Storage (hard drive/SSD). A solid state drive (SSD) is ideal for storing your games since it offers much faster loading times, but they can be expensive. A cheaper alternative is to get a larger hard drive and use it in conjunction with a smaller SSD.
- -A graphics card. This is one of the most important parts of a gaming PC, and you’ll want to choose carefully depending on what kind of games you want to play and how high you want to set the graphical settings.
- -A power supply unit (PSU). This provides power to all the components in your PC. Make sure to get a PSU with enough wattage to power all your components and leave some headroom for future upgrades.
- -A case. This houses all your components and protects them from dust and damage. There are many different styles available
Final Note
When it comes to building a gaming PC, there are a lot of different factors to consider. But if you’re on a budget, the most important factor is how much you’re willing to spend.
With that in mind, we’ve put together the best PC build for gaming under $500. This build will give you everything you need to enjoy today’s top games at 1080p resolution, with reasonable framerates. And it won’t break the bank.
Here’s what you’ll need to make this happen:
CPU | Intel Core i5-9400F |
GPU | NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti |
Motherboard | ASUS ROG Strix B460-G Gaming |
Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-2666MHz CL16 |
Storage | WD Blue SN550 1TB M.2-2280 NVMe SSD |
Power Supply | Corsair TX550M Gold 550W PSU |