We’ve all heard the argument: “Why buy a gaming PC when you can get a console without spending nearly as much?”. And the truth is that building a gaming PC is expensive. Or is it? The price will greatly vary depending on what you’re aiming for. So, how much does it cost to build a gaming PC really? Well, let’s find out!
How Much Does it Cost To Build A Gaming PC? Entry Level
My choice of specs:
- Motherboard: GIGABYTE B450 AORUS M= $74
- Case: Thermaltake V200= $70
- CPU: Ryzen 3 2200G= $87
- GPU: Integrated
- RAM: Kingston HyperX Fury 2666MHz (X2)= $58
- Storage: Kingston 120GB A400 (SSD) and WD Blue 1TB= $64
- PSU: Corsair CX 650= $70
- Total: $423
This setup should deliver at least 30FPS in 1080P low/medium settings for pretty much all games that are out there right now. If it can play something like AC Origins, then it can definitely handle everything else. And it goes without saying that it can handle e-Sport titles like CS: GO easily while delivering more than 100FPS (depending on settings and resolution).
More or less a console-like experience for a console-like price. For the money, this is an extremely good setup which gives you a lot of upgradability options. In fact, simply putting a good GPU in there could turn this into an awesome mid-range build. And if you’re up to the task, upgrading the CPU and RAM later will basically give you a high-end PC without having to buy everything again from scratch.
Now, you could probably save a hundred bucks or more by skimping a bit on the PSU, motherboard, case, or storage. However, I’d advise against it.
You see, if there is one thing that you don’t want to cheap out, then that’s the PSU – maybe also the case. A crappy PSU can destroy your whole computer and a cheap case leaves you with bad airflow and limited choices for upgradeability. So, yeah. And don’t get me started on faulty motherboards. They can be a pain in the butt.
Speaking about power supplies, this is definitely overkill for this build. But, it gives you more room for upgrading without having to get a new one.
How Much Does it Cost To Build A Gaming PC? Mid-Range Build
My choice of specs:
- Motherboard: MSI X470 Gaming Plus= $137
- Case: NZXT H500i= $90
- CPU: Ryzen 5 2600= $145
- GPU: GTX 1660 Ti= $280
- RAM: HyperX Predator 8×2= $124
- Storage: Kingston 120GB A400 (SSD) and WD Blue 1TB= $64
- PSU: Corsair RM560x= $90
- Total: $930
For a little bit less than a thousand dollars, this mid to high-end build allows you to run almost everything out there at 1080P, ultra, 60FPS. If you’re willing to drop down the settings you can move on to 1440P as well. You can even go up to 4K. But, you’ll have to accept lower framerates for that.
Compared to our cheaper build, we’ve now ditched the APU setup and we got ourselves a more powerful processor along with a dedicated graphics card. Since this setup uses more power, produces more heat, and gives the option of using much more powerful parts along with overclocking, we decided to go with a more reliable PSU. Hence the RM650x.
The case also gives you lots of cooling, room for drives, extra fans, and upgradeability options. RGB is included in numerous parts as well – if you’re into this sort of thing.
Last but not least, we also added more and faster RAM as AMD CPUs greatly benefit from this sort of thing. Overall, this is a very powerful build which will leave little to be desired.
How Much Does it Cost To Build A Gaming PC? High-End/Very Powerful Build
My choice of specs:
- Motherboard: Gigabyte Z390 Aorus= $230
- Case: Corsair Crystal 570X= $160
- CPU: Core i7-9700K= $400
- GPU: RTX 2080Ti= $1,280
- RAM: Ballistix Sport 16×2= $200
- Storage: Samsung 970 Pro 1TB + WD Black 4TB= $497
- PSU: Corsair RM 750i= $120
- Total: $2,887
Flirting with a $3k price tag, this setup is the ultimate gaming machine. It can easily deliver 60FPS on 4K and well over 100FPS at 1080P max settings.
This time I decided to move over to Intel since it delivers better performance on the high-end spectrum. And though the 3rd generation of Ryzen 7 is right around the corner, we still haven’t seen any real-life usage from it (At the time of writing this article). A Core i9 is completely overkill for gaming so let’s leave that out of the way.
Apart from that, memory, storage, and the GPU are several steps ahead from our last build. In fact, only the GPU costs more than our mid-range build.
You can cut more than 400 bucks by taking it easy on the RAM and storage. But, if you’re going to make a high-end 4K build, you may as well go all out. At least that’s what I thought while making this setup.
The PSU and case aren’t a huge upgrade in any way. The only difference is that this power supply delivers 100 more watts and also offers power monitoring with software. Also fan control, if memory serves right. The case is just a bit fancier, but, other than that, more or less the same thing functionality wise.
Overall, this is one of the most powerful gaming computers that you can get – if not the most powerful. If you’re into enthusiast stuff, you can go even higher with a threadripper and dual or even quad GPU setups and a monster power supply. But, again, that’s more about having a hobby and bragging rather than owning a functional gaming machine.
Wrapping Up
So, how much does a gaming PC cost? As I showcased in great detail, the price can greatly vary depending on what you want and how much you’re willing to sacrifice for each build.
You can start from as low as 300-400 bucks (or lower if you’re looking into the used market) and go well over the $3K mark. It’s all about how much you are willing to spend and what you need.
For example, if you’ve got a 1080P/60Hz monitor sitting around your house, then getting a high-end build for it is silly. Chances are that you won’t notice the difference in performance between the two since you don’t get to see the extra FPS and you won’t be able to go into higher resolutions either. You get my point.
F.A.Q
- Why is it that most of the builds are based on AMD and Nvidia? Are you a fanboy? – No. It’s just that AMD offers a better value on the CPU market and Nvidia dominates the mid to high-end GPU market. There’s no room for debate over that.
- That case/motherboard is bad. Why not get X choice instead? – Nobody stops you from choosing something else. That’s the magic of PC building. If you don’t like a motherboard or case for any reason, you can go with another one. In most cases, no pun intended, cases and motherboards aren’t just “better” compared to each other. Just different.
- Why not just go with the cheapest case? Doesn’t make a difference. – Airflow and room for upgradeability is a big deal. Both can royally screw you over down the line.
- I’ve got a cheap PSU and it’s been working well for years. Why go with a premium choice? – Cheap power supplies have a much higher chance of ruining one of your components or even blowing up and destroying your whole build. Maybe the odds are 1 in a 100, 1,000, more, are you still gonna take the risk? You’re risking hundreds of dollars just to save 50 bucks or so.
- Both Intel and the RTX 2080Ti are bad value. Why recommend them? – Because they offer the best performance that you can get right now. If you want the most powerful PC that you can build out of the enthusiast range, you don’t have any other options.
- A 1TB SSD AND a 4TB HDD? Why? – Look at the previous answer. Same thing. Do you want the “almost reasonable” best? That’s probably it.
If you’ve noticed any mistakes, and I’m almost certain that there will be a couple, let me know about them. Reasonable recommendations are welcome as well.
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