Are you in the market for a new gaming desktop and you’re looking for something that will provide extreme performance? In this guide, we’ve listed a handful of the best gaming PCs for under $2,000 to help you find the right computer for your budget.
If you’re looking to get into the gaming PC space, it’s a good idea to have a decent budget set aside for your computer. You can find prebuilt gaming PCs at almost any budget, but with a higher budget comes more choices.
And at $2,000, you can find a great gaming PC that can handle just about whatever you throw at it, without sacrificing visuals or performance. However, with a $2,000 budget you could also build an extremely powerful system. While this guide will be geared towards prebuilt desktops, we always recommend building your own PC to maximize the perfromance you get your budget.
Also Read: How to Build A Gaming PC (Step-By-Step Guide)
We’ve also included an example of a $2,000 part list in case you do want to consider assembling your own PC.
But, if you want to opt for the convenience of a prebuilt system, that isn’t a terrible alternative. With so many prebuilt choices available, though, it can be hard to choose the right computer for you. In this guide, we’re going to present you with five of the best options for your budget to help you decide.
Best Prebuilt PCs Under $2,000
1. Empowered PC Continuum Micro (Top Pick)
2. ADVANCED BATTLESTATIONS ABS Stratos (Runner-Up)
3. SkyTech Chronos (Best Value)
4. Empowered PC Mantis V2 (Over-Budget)
Quick Look: Best Prebuilt PCs Under $2,000
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NAME | SPECS | RATING | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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TOP PICK
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Empowered PC Continuum |
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/10 | |
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RUNNER-UP
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ABS Stratos |
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/10 | |
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VALUE
|
 |
SkyTech Chronos |
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/10 | |
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OVER-BUDGET
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Empowered PC Mantis |
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/10 | |
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MINI
|
 |
ASUS ROG G22CH DB776 |
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/10 | |
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BUILD
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 |
$2,000 PC Build |
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/10 |
*For more information on the prebuilt gaming PCs above, click the “Read Review »” link and you will skip to our overview of that PC. To see our Honorable Mention picks, keep scrolling down.
1. Empowered PC Continuum Micro
Best prebuilt gaming PC under $2,000
For gaming-specific performance, no component is going to have as big of an impact on your in-game experience as will your GPU. Therefore, when comparing the best prebuilts in a certain price range, the first thing you should always look for is which system comes with the best GPU.
For the sub-$2,000 price range, that system is the Empowered PC Continuum Micro. This computer comes with an AMD RX 7900 XTX GPU, which is better than the RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4070 found in the ABS Stratos, the Skytech Chronos, and the ASUS ROG G22CH DB776.
Our $2,000 PC build also features a Radeon RX 7900 XTX and, while our Budget-Stretcher pick, the Empowered PC Mantis, comes with a more powerful RTX 4090, it is also a ~$1,000 more expensive system.
So, if you want as much gaming performance possible from your budget and you’re not willing to build your own system, then this Empowered PC desktop is probably your best bet.
To round out its part list, it also comes with an Intel Core i7-12700KF processor, 32GB of DDR4 memory, a 512GB NVME SSD, and a secondard 2TB hard drive.
In terms of performance, this PC will allow you to max out most games on a 4K display and will also serve well for competitive gaming on a 1440P 240Hz+ monitor.
Overall, for just under $2,000, this prebuilt desktop will offer you extreme performance and is easily one of the better deals in this price range.
2. ADVANCED BATTLESTATIONS Stratos
Our runner-up selection
While the ADVANCED BATTLESTATIONS Stratos isn’t quite as powerful as our top pick, it does come in at ~$150 cheaper. Its hardware configuration is also good enough to where you’ll be able to max out games at higher resolutions.
It comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 7700X CPU, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti graphics card, 16GB of DDR5 memory, and a 1TB SSD.
While the RTX 4070 Ti won’t quite match the RX 7900 XTX in performance, it is still a really high-end GPU option.
The only downside of this build, though, is that for ~$200 less you can get the Skytech Chronos listed below. The Chronos also comes with an RTX 4070 Ti graphics card and although it features a slightly older Intel Core i7-12700F processor and DDR4 memory, in the grand scheme of things, those won’t have a significant impact on its in-game experience.
So, if it were our choice, we’d save the $200 and opt for the cheaper desktop listed below. But, it would still be worth checking the price on this system to see if it comes down in price.
3. SkyTech Chronos
The best value prebuilt under $2,000
We chose the Skytech Chronos as our “Budget-Stretcher” pick for the best prebuilt PCs under $1,500. And, considering that there aren’t a whole lot of desktop options in the ~$1,500-$2,000 price that offer a better GPU than the RTX 4070 Ti, the Chronos is a worthy choice even if you have ~$2,000 to spend.
In our opinion, if you’re going to spend $2,000 on a PC, either the Empowered PC Continuum Micro or the PC build listed in this guide would be the best option. But, if you’re just looking to get a system that will max out your favorite games on a 1080P or 1440P display, you could save a lot of money by opting for this desktop instead.
Because the Intel Core i7-12700F, NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti, and the 16GB of RAM in this system are more than good enough to achieve a high-end gaming experience.
In the end, if you want to save some money to put toward games and peripherals, or if you just want to pocket the extra cash, this Skytech gaming PC is a great option.
4. Empowered PC Mantis V2
Best option if you can stretch your budget
We always like to tempt our readers with a slightly more expensive option because we know that when we go to buy something, we often spend more than we originally intended.
Unfortunately, unlike other price ranges, there really aren’t a lot of great options for just ~$100-$200 higher than your $2,000 budget. In fact, we’ve found that the next significant upgrade—this desktop from Empowered PC—will cost you another ~$900.
That is probably too steep of a difference for most, but if you want to get the most extreme GPU possible, this system is what you want.
The Empowered PC Mantis V2 comes with the most powerful GPU currently available, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. And, along with the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D processor, and 32GB of DDR4 memory, this computer is ready for high-end 4K gaming.
Still, though, considering that the other Empowered PC computer (our Top Pick) will also offer excellent performance at 4K, should you really spend an extra grand just to get a modest jump in performance?
We probably wouldn’t do it, but if you’re someone who has to have the best and you don’t mind spending a premium to get it, we won’t stop you.
5. ASUS ROG G22CH DB776
The best mini PC under $2,000
Seeing as how mini-ITX and small form-factor systems are becoming more and more popular, we’ve also included our pick for the best mini gaming PC for under $2,000.
By opting for a mini system you’re going to have to sacrifice some performance as they typically come with a premium attached to them. But, of the mini prebuilt systems out there, this option from ASUS is probably your best bet.
It comes with an Intel Core i7-13700F processor, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card, 16GB of DDR5 memory, and a 1TB NVME SSD.
That is a good enough hardware configuration to get you into 1440P gaming and it will be plenty powerful enough to run games on a high-refresh rate 1080P display.
Obviously, the RTX 4070 isn’t going to be as good of a GPU option as the RTX 4070 Ti and the RX 7900 XTX found in the other systems on this list. But it will meet the needs of most gamers. So, if you’re dead set on getting a compact system, this ASUS mini PC is probably the best choice under $2,000.
6. $2,000 Gaming PC Build
More power, more quality control
While building a PC might seem like a challenging task, the reality is that it isn’t that difficult. And, as we’ve mentioned throughout this guide, building your own PC will get you a much more well-rounded system.
There’s a lot of ways you can go about choosing parts with a $2,000 budget, but we’ve put together this part list as a solid set to use as-is, or to modify to your liking.
This build comes with an Intel Core i5-13600KF processor, an XFX Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics card, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB NVME SSD. It also comes with a top-of-the-line ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 280mm AIO cooler, a DeepCool CH560 ATX PC case, and an 80PLUS Gold-rated full modular power supply from Thermaltake.
You can read the full rundown of this build here.
But, the bottom line is that if you want control over every component that goes into your system and if you want to maximize the performance you get for the amount you have to spend, building your own PC will always be the best option. If you’re up for the challenge, this list of parts will help you build an extremely powerful PC.
High-End Gaming Performance for Under $2,000
When it comes to buying a PC, having a liberal budget means freedom to choose from plenty of machines. Of course, if you decide to build one yourself, you can save a ton of money, or at the very least, get the best hardware that your budget affords you.
However, if you’d rather buy a prebuilt gaming PC, one of the options we’ve listed above should suit your needs.
