With an RX 5700 XT 8GB graphics card, 16GB of RAM, and an AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, 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.
*Due to extreme graphics card supply shortages, it is currently very difficult to find graphics cards at reasonable prices. This guide is usually updated on a weekly basis and is modified to fit the current status of the computer component market. However, as graphics cards are in such high demand and the prices do not reflect a normal market, we have suspended updating the graphics cards in our builds (what would be the point? they’re all out-of-stock and/or extremely overpriced). While we normally recommend building a PC yourself to get the most bang for your buck, as of right now, if you absolutely need a new gaming PC, the most reasonable option is to purchase a pre-built gaming PC, (as they are still able to acquire graphics cards at normal prices) or look for reasonably-priced used graphics cards that can hold you over until the graphics card market stabilizes.
Table of Contents
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 AMD Ryzen 5 3600X processor, an RX 5700 XT 8GB graphics card, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, a tempered glass case, and a 750W semi-modular 80PLUS Gold 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 monitor with ease 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 handle 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 2060 laptops.
Part List for $1,000 PC Build
CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 | |
MOBO | GIGABYTE B550 | |
GPU | XFX 5700 XT | |
RAM | OLOy 16GB | |
SSD | Crucial MX500 1TB | |
CASE | AeroCool Cylon | |
PSU | Cooler Master 650W | |
ODD | Install O.S. from USB | |
OS | Windows 10 |
Grand Total: $970-$1,030
*Prices on PC components change on a daily basis. Click here for the most up-to-date pricing.
**The ‘Grand Total’ price includes the parts that make up the computer only. You’ll need an operating system and Windows 10 costs ~$100 for an activation key. However, you can still install Windows 10 for free and it will work indefinitely without activating it with no problems—there will just be a watermark at the bottom left of your screen asking you to activate it.
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?
Listen, nobody is a bigger Intel fan than I am. But, when it came down to finalize this part list, I felt like AMD’s Ryzen 5 3600X offered the better value. For me, there’s a lot of reasons why the 3600X makes sense over the Intel alternatives…
- The Ryzen 5 3600X can be overclocked
- The Ryzen 5 3600X comes with a better stock cooler
- The Ryzen 5 3600X is better-suited for content creation
The Ryzen 5 3600X comes in at a little under $200. That makes it a direct competitor to Intel’s ~$180 i5-10400.
While the i5-10400 has the better single-core performance, in terms of in-game performance, the real world difference between the Ryzen 5 3600X and i5-10400 at stock speeds will be negligible at best. The reality is that gaming is so GPU-bound nowadays, that the edge that the i5-10400 has over the Ryzen 5 3600X will not come into play much.
So, yes, you could go with an i5-10400 in this situation—and, it would be cheaper to do so. However, the Ryzen 5 3600X has a better stock cooler—both from a performance standpoint and an aesthetics standpoint—and it can be overclocked, whereas the i5-10400 cannot.
Also, as so many gamers these days are doing gameplay videos and streaming, having a system that can also work well for editing and content creation is a big plus. And, since the Ryzen 5 3600X outperforms the Intel Core i5-10400 in those types of tasks (editing, rendering, etc.), it just helps give the 3600X a little more of an edge.
You could, of course, go with the i5-10600K or the older Ryzen 5 2600 as well. However, the 10600K costs ~$250 right now and will require a more expensive motherboard and third party cooler, too. And, while the Ryzen 5 2600 is incredibly affordable and will still perform well, there is enough room in a $1,000 budget to comfortably make the jump up to the newer Ryzen 5 3600X.
So, with the high costs associated with the i5-10600K and the lower performance of the Ryzen 5 2600, I feel like you’re better off going with the Ryzen 5 3600X.
2. RX 5700 XT: Perfect for this Budget Right Now
I think with this build an RX 5700 XT makes the most sense at the moment. I think you could fit in an RTX 2070 SUPER, 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 and motherboard as well.
For me, the performance difference between the RX 5700 XT and 2070 SUPER 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 2070 SUPER right now comes in at just under ~$500, 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. 8GB or 16GB?
While the growing consensus among gamers is that “you need 16GB of RAM in 2020,” in testing that I’ve done and the benchmarks I’ve seen, the extra 8GB of RAM doesn’t provide a huge performance increase in most cases.
However, as memory and GPU prices have started to come down to normal levels, there is now plenty of room in a $1,000 budget to be able to fit 16GB of RAM into your system. And, while there still isn’t a significant difference in performance between running 8GB of RAM and 16GB of RAM in the majority of games, by adding 16GB of RAM now, you will be more future-proofed for when games can fully utilize that extra memory.
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 Corsair 275R Airflow 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 dual tempered glass side panels (which means your cable management needs to be on point behind the motherboard as well), a full length PSU shroud, and a grilled front panel that cand hold three 120mm fans for excellent air flow.
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 Corsair CX 650M 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
AOC Agon AG271QX |
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/10 |
Sceptre C248B |
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/10 |
See more affordable 144Hz gaming monitor options by following the link.
Gaming Keyboard Pick
HyperX Alloy Elite |
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/10 |
Redragon K552 KUMARA |
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/10 |
Gaming Mouse Choices
Razer DeathAdder Elite |
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/10 |
Logitech G402 |
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/10 |
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 Corsair 275R, 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.
John Healy says
keep up the good work, im new to computer building and have learned alot watching your videos.
DJ says
Seems like an amazing build. Cicked the prebuilt option and it’s on amazon for for over 4500. Guess it caught on so they jacked the prices.
Leo says
Hello Brent!
Should I wait until black friday to purchase the $1000 pc build on this site? How can you tell if the prices will drop? Have the prices dropped on a historical basis around on thanksgiving?
kind regards,
Leo
AGYR says
For the CPU, can I combine RX 5700 XT with Ryzen 5 3500 ???
I’ve seen many benchmark for it and above (max in Ryzen 5 3600 XT), and I noticed unsignificant differences about 10-15 FPS. It also inflict merely minimum bottleneck around 2,5% in 1440p on certain pc build website.
So, I really want to know whether I can stick with R5 3500 than others for cutting cost around $80 – 100 ? I can invest more in most powerful 5700 XT or mobo probably.
Breydin says
Does this work with vr?
Scott says
Really like your build and was going to purchase products, but with the new RTX 3070 coming out I held off. Could you tell me your opinion what you would do. Would it be better than the sapphire and is it compatible with everything else.
Omar says
If you’d like to costumize the colors you could change the colors of:
. The case
. The Ram sticks
. Cable extensions
Henry Olson says
What color is this build and can I change it?
Matthew says
Does the tower have lights in it. If not how do I get lights.
Nate says
No lights in tower, you could just get an led strip and put it inside the case
Rick Linder says
What can be upgraded and how many years will it last?
james engelbrecht says
hi i am just wondering if the 1tb sata ssd is a specific hardrive? and if so could you maybe please attach a picture of it when responding?
John says
This is my first PC build, and I’m going to use it for several aspects of game development (and of course just playing games.) I’m pretty new to all of it, though.
I’m a an artist as well. Im not sure what the balance is between games and graphics programs. I’ll be using Photoshop (with a 1440p XP Pen 24 tablet, which I’m considering using as the primary or maybe only display), Maya/Blender, ZBrush, and Unreal Engine (4 and hopefully 5 soon.)
Do you think this build is sufficient for all of those programs? I’m also curious how long you think this build will hold up in the industry with UE5 coming out soon?
Anthony Ciantar says
I was just wondering how Many frames This Pc could Run. I have a 144hz monitor,, so I was wondering if it could at least possibly hit 140 fps
Reyan says
It depends what games you play and the in-game settings. For example, if you played fortnite, on 100% 3d resolution and everything to low except view distance which is epic, you would average about 150-200. I have a really similar pc to this. The only difference is the motherboard and the company of the parts. In creative, I usually get like 300+ fps. But overall what game you play, you should get at least 144 fps.
Eliezer cohen says
Can u maybe email and help me build a pc I’m working the whole summer to buy a pc and I wanted to know how I can get the best out of it for around 1000 dollars I’m pretty good at fortnite and I’m at school for many hours a day it would mean the world if u can help me out pls
Bob says
I currently have Asus P8z77-v pro motherboard and I5 3570 CPU, 16 Gig RAM and a GTX 1050, IS this build a vast improvement to what I have or is there better cpu for my current build?
levnadav says
is the prebuilt verison with the same specs?
Marty says
Does the non- pre built have wireless wi-fi?
jackson fowler says
just wondering if you were able to help me make the switch from console to pc, ive been doing a lot of research and theres not a whole lot of solid concrete answers so I’m asking if youd be able to help me build or find a good build for a good value price
Dale Farrow-Harris says
I am very interested in this build, and as a beginner to building and Computers in general, I have done some independent research on what would be best for my specific needs. I would be gaming a lot on the PC, but I would also like it to be primed for editing videos and recording.
Based on what I have found thus far, I was recommended a Ryzen 7 2700X processor because of the extra threads available for editing and similar functions as well as being more than capable to run games at more than 60 fps. Is this valid information?
Also in terms of mother board, what are your thoughts on the ASUS ROG Strix b450-F?
Izaya says
you might want a b550 (upcoming release) or x570 (a bit more expensive) motherboard to futureproof just in case you are gonna want to upgrade in the future, but if you have no plans right now to do so, thats an excellent choice
Kallon Lewallen says
I found on Newegg a 2070 for $399 as opposed to a 5700 XT for $379 is it still better to buy a 5700 XT or should I get the 2070?
Harry Deane says
How many frames will this pc give you playing fortnite at the highest settings
FORTNITESUCKS123 says
The only reccomendation I have for you is to not play fortnite because it is an awful game
Nolan says
MSI ProSeries AMD Ryzen 2ND and 3rd Gen AM4 M.2 USB 3 DDR4 D-Sub DVI HDMI Crossfire ATX Motherboard (B450-A Pro Max)
Is that the motherboard that you chose for this build? If not what do you think about using it?