Best $1,000 Gaming PC Build: Max Out Any Game Easily

With an RX 6600 XT 8GB graphics card, 16GB of RAM, and an Intel Core i5-11400F, the sky is the limit with this $1,000 gaming PC build.

If you have right around $1,000 to spend on a new gaming PC build, you have enough to build a really solid system. For $1,000 you can build a gaming computer that can max out anything on a 1080P monitor easily. However, $1,000 in components will also allow you to max out most games on a 1440P monitor as well as serve as an entry-point into 4K gaming.

In this guide, we’re going to give you a powerful $1,000 gaming PC build, including all of the components and parts you’ll need to get it up and running.

Or, read our guide on the Best Gaming PC Builds for more options.

I. $1,000 Gaming PC Build Overview

You’re not messing around anymore. No more consoles. No more cheap laptops. No more 10-year-old desktops that can barely run Minecraft. It’s finally time to ascend.

This $1,000 gaming PC build is no joke. This thing is ready to handle anything you throw at.

For specs, this $1,000 build comes with an Intel Core i5-11400F processor, an RX 6600 XT 8GB graphics card, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, a tempered glass case, and a 650W semi-modular 80PLUS Bronze fully modular power supply.

Want to hook this build up to a 1080P monitor and never have to think about your framerates again? Well, sorry, that won’t happen with this build. You will be thinking about your framerates…

…and, how ridiculously high they are.

This build can also handle gaming on a 1440P 240Hz monitor and will serve as a nice entry point into 4K gaming as well. So, even if you do start out with a 1080P monitor, this build can easily accommodate a monitor upgrade in the future, too.

Ultimately, this $1,000 gaming computer is a powerful machine that will allow you to max out your favorite games for years to come. Check out the part list below:

*If you’re also considering a laptop, check out our guide on the Best RTX 3060 laptops.

II. Component Breakdown

We chose each of these components for a reason—but there are viable alternatives. Below, we discuss why we chose the components listed above for this build and what other alternatives there are…

1. AMD or Intel Processor?

In my opinion, you have a couple of viable CPU options with a $1,000 PC build. You could go with a newer 12th Generation Intel CPU—like, the Intel Core i5-12400—or, a Ryzen 5 5600, or the option we’ve chosen, the slightly older Intel Core i5-11400F.

The main reason we opted for the i5-11400F over the i5-12400 and the Ryzen 5 5600 is solely due to the price it comes in at. Right now, you can pick up an 11400F for ~$165 and a compatible H510 chipset motherboard for ~$85.

Alternatively, the i5-12400 and the Ryzen 5 5600 both cost ~$200 and the motherboard options are more expensive. So, to opt for one of those processors would mean to lower the budget for other components in this system. Since the i5-11400F should provide similar in-game performance to the 12400 and the 5600, we felt it was important to ensure that extra money went towards the graphics card in order to get the most gaming performance out of this build.

Of course, if you don’t mind sacrificing some in-game performance now, you could always opt for either the 12400 or the 5600 to get a boost in CPU performance.

2. RX 6600 XT: Perfect for this Budget Right Now

I think with this build an RX 6600 XT makes the most sense at the moment. I think you could fit in an RTX 3060 Ti, but you’d likely have to switch the 1TB SSD for a smaller SSD (or a traditional HDD), go with a lower-tier case, and probably downgrade the CPU as well (maybe an even older 10th Generation Intel CPU).

For me, the performance difference between the RX 6600 XT and the RTX 3060 Ti isn’t big enough to justify making all of those sacrifices—especially when you consider the real world difference between the two on a 1080P monitor.

The cheapest RTX 3060 Ti right now comes in at just under ~$650, though, so, you will need to clear a lot of room in the budget to upgrade your GPU. But, if you can afford to stretch your budget that much, it would be worth your while—especially if you plan on playing games on a higher resolution monitor, or you’re going to take full advantage of NVIDIA’s raytracing technology.

3. Is 16GB Enough for Gaming?

While the growing consensus among gamers is that “you need at least 16GB of RAM in 2022,” the truth is that it really depends on what games you are playing and whether or not you are running other games while you play your games.

Some of today’s most-played titles are games that still don’t use over 8GB of RAM (League of Legends, Rocket League, CS:GO, etc.) However, for the AAA titles that are being released, games like Elden Ring and the Tomb Raider series (as examples) are starting to utilize well over 8GB of RAM.

Fortunately, getting 16GB of RAM into a $1,000 PC build will be fairly easy. You could opt for more RAM in this build, but you’d likely have to downgrade your graphics card in order to accommodate the extra memory—and, that wouldn’t be worth it.

You could opt for a single 16GB RAM module over a 2x8GB kit, though. Then, if you want to bump up to 32GB of RAM in the future, all you’d have to do is purchase another 16GB module and pop it into your build. You’d have to sacrifice the small performance gain that dual channel memory will offer in the short-term, but if your goal is to get to 32GB of RAM, you will save money in the long term.

4. Storage Options

For this build, we went with a 1TB SATA SSD. This should give you plenty of storage space for the forseeable future. You can also add a 1TB hard drive for ~$40 if you want a secondary drive option.

5. Plenty of Case Options

There are so many different gaming cases available in the ~$45-$75 price range that would work for this build. We chose the Zalman S2 mid tower case, though, because of its price, air flow potential, and aesthetics.

The case is fairly compact for a mid tower case, but it has plenty of room to house the components of this build. It also comes with a tempered glass side panel, a full length PSU shroud, a grilled front, and three pre-installed fans (which is pretty rare for a case at this price.)

6. How Big of A Power Supply

We use Outervision’s PSU calculator to determine the power consumption for each of our builds. Accoding to Outervision, even in the most extreme scenarios, this $1,000 gaming PC will require a maximum of a quality 450W power supply.

So, we went with a little bit of extra headroom with the EVGA 650 B5 to ensure there would be no problems down the road. This will not only accommodate this build easily, but it will also allow for GPU upgrades in the future that won’t also require a power supply upgrade.

Check out our guide on How to Choose the Right Power Supply for Your Build.

III. Peripherals & Accessories to Go With Your New Gaming PC

If you don’t already have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor, you’ll definitely need them to pair with your new system. And, since you’re spending $1,000 to build a high-end gaming computer, you’ll want peripherals that match.

So, below we’ve given you a few different options to choose between for each peripheral:

Gaming Monitor Pick

See more affordable 144Hz gaming monitor options by following the link.

Gaming Keyboard Pick

Gaming Mouse Choices

Conclusion: A $1,000 Monster That Will Max Out Any Game You Throw At It

Really, if I had to choose what the perfect budget was for building a gaming computer in terms of value, I would probably say right around the $1,000 mark. As you can see, in this price range you can afford a list of components that will allow you to play any game out there on the highest settings on a 1080P or 1440P monitor.

These parts are also good enough to handle most games at 4K resolution as well.

And, you also get plenty of storage, too. Finally, if you can get the cable management right on this build, and maybe throw in some RGB fans on the front and back of the case, this build will look really nice, too.

So, overall, for ~$1,000 this gaming PC build has everything most gamers could ever want or need.

If you have any questions about the build, or need help choosing components, leave a comment in the section below and we will help you out.