The perfect prebuilt gaming PCs for budget-oriented gamers.
While we encourage others to build their own PCs, for those who don’t want to, there are plenty of excellent prebuilt gaming desktops that can be had for under $1,000.
And, in this post, we’ve put together a list of five excellent prebuilt desktops that are not only affordable, but that will give you high-end performance as well.
All of the desktops on this list will be good enough to max out the majority of today’s top games on a 1080P display and some—including the CyberPowerPC Gamer Master—will even work well for 1440P gaming, too.
We’ve also linked to a $1,000 gaming PC build as well, just in case you’re open to building your own system to maximize the performance you can get out of your budget.
Quick Answer:
- CyberPowerPC’s Gamer Master offers the best CPU/GPU combo
- The Empowered PC Stratos Micro comes with the best GPU
- Skytech’s Nebula is the best value desktop under $1K
- HP’s Pavilion is an even cheaper option for 1080P
- This $1,000 PC build will offer the most performance
1. CyberPowerPC Gamer Master
The best next-gen prebuilt under $1,000
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Our pick for the best prebuilt gaming PC under $1,000 right now is CyberPowerPC’s Gamer Master.
This variation of the Gamer Master comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor, an NVIDIA RTX 4060 graphics card, 16GB of DDR5 memory, and a 500GB SSD.
So, that’s a CPU from AMD’s latest Ryzen release, a new RTX 4000-series GPU, and the newest class of double data rate technology (DDR4) in RAM. Unfortunately, the RTX 4060 was a bit of a let down for many thanks to its reduced 128-bit memory bandwidth. While the lower bandwidth won’t play a factor in less demanding titles, for newer and more-demanding games like Starfield, it absolutely will have a negative impact.
Still, though, the RTX 4060 is going to be able to max out most games on a 1080P monitor. And, it does well at 1440P, too (check the benchmarks in the video above.)
In any case, this CyberPowerPC desktop is a great option to consider as it has a powerful array of hardware and offers the newer generation CPU and DDR5. It would also be worth checking just to see if the price changes on it. If it were to drop to a lower pricepoint, that might make it a better value option over the Skytech Azure.
2. Empowered PC Stratos Micro
The prebuilt with the most GPU performance
As most modern games rely far more heavily on GPU performance than they do on CPU performance, it makes sense to choose a PC that comes with the best graphics card possible, even if that means sacrificing a little CPU performance.
That’s where this Empower PC desktop has the edge.
This desktop comes with an Intel Core i5-10400F processor, an NVIDIA RTX 3070 graphics card, 16GB of DDR4 memory, and a 512GB NVME SSD.
The RTX 3070 is the best GPU out of all of the options on this list (with exception to the PC build at the bottom of this guide—which comes with the stronger RX 7800 XT.) And, while its older Intel Core i5-10400F isn’t the ideal CPU for this price range, it is still a good enough processor to where it won’t bottleneck the RTX 3070 in the vast majority of gaming scenarios.
So, if you don’t mind sacrificing some CPU performance in order to obtain the most GPU performance possible, then this Empower PC computer would be worth your consideration.
3. Skytech Nebula
The best value option under $1,000
While this Skytech Nebula desktop might be lower down on this list, in reality it might be the best overall option simply because it comes in at much lower cost than the options above and it will provide similar performance.
Its hardware configuration consists of a newer Intel Core i5-13400F processor, an NVIDIA RTX 4060 graphics card, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 1TB SSD.
That’s the same GPU as comes with our top pick, the CyberPowerPC Gamer Master And, the Skytech Nebula costs ~$150 less!
There’s a lot you can do with that extra $150. You could pair this system with a 144Hz refresh rate monitor, or get a solid keyboard & mouse combo, or just pocket it.
The downside, though, is that the Nebula comes with an older CPU and one that cannot be overclocked. The Gamer Master will offer more future proofing and slightly better CPU performance overall.
The bottom line, though, is that if you’re looking for the best price-to-performance option, with the exception of building the PC yourself, this Skytech desktop is probably your best bet.
4. HP Pavilion TG01
A solid cheaper prebuilt desktop
If your goal is to spend as little as possible but still get a prebuilt desktop that can easily max out anything you throw at it on a 1080P monitor, then this HP Pavilion might be the best option for you.
This HP Pavilion comes with an Intel Core i5-10400F processor, an NVIDIA RTX 3060 graphics card, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a micro-ATX case.
Also Read: 8GB vs 16GB RAM for Gaming: Which is Best for You?
The best part about the HP Pavilion is the fact that it comes in at about ~$820, making it quite a bit cheaper than the other five options on this list. (Although, you could build a much more powerful system for ~$800.)
And, while it won’t offer quite the same in-game performance as the other desktops in this guide, the combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and the RTX 3060 will be powerful enough to run anything on a 1080P monitor on higher settings.
Ultimately, if you’re looking for a solid prebuilt gaming desktop that comes in at well under $1,000 and that will give you ideal performance on a 1080P monitor, then this HP gaming desktop would be worth checking out.
5. $1,000 Gaming PC Build
A lot more performance for the same cost
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Here we go again. Yet another attempt to get you to try and build your own PC. Will we ever give up? Absolutely not.
While building your own PC might seem challenging, it isn’t as difficult as you’d imagne. And, you’re going to get a much better PC for the same amount of money.
Check out our Step-By-Step PC Building guide.
With a $1,000 budget, there are many routes you can go for a PC build. But, we feel the part list we have linked to here is an excellent option.
This PC build comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X processor, an XFX Radeon RX 7800 XT graphics card, 16GB of 3600 MHz DDR4 memory, a 1TB SSD, a mid tower tempered glass PC case, and a 750-watt fully modular 80 PLUS Gold-rate power supply.
The RX 7800 XT graphics card in this build is a significantly more powerful GPU than all of the options on this list. That alone makes this the most powerful gaming PC in this guide.
Ultimately, whether or not buidling your own PC is the right option will come down to you. If you’re not up for the challenge, buying a prebuilt is a perfectly fine alternative. You will just be leaving performance on the table.
For the full part list, build overview, and benchmarks for this build, check out our guide How to Build A Gaming PC Under $1,000.
Which sub-$1,000 prebuilt gaming PC is best?
With a budget of ~$1,000, you have quite a few solid prebuilt desktop options to choose from. All of the gaming PCs listed above will easily max out any game you run on them on a 1080P monitor. And, in fact, they are also all powerful enough to where they should be paired with a higher refresh rate monitor.
So, the desktop that is best for you will really all come down to how much you want to spend and what games you’re playing (if you’re playing non-demanding games like League of Legends or Rocket League, you can get away with spending less). And, regardless of how much you have to spend and the types of games you’re playing, one of the options listed above should meet your needs.
