If you’re in the market for a new gaming PC and you’ve never bought or built one before, the listed specs and hardware configuration for the different options out there might be confusing.
One prebuilt gaming PC might come with an Intel Core i5-13600K CPU, an RTX 4070 GPU, and 16GB of RAM. Another might come with a Ryzen 3 4100, a GTX 1060 GPU, and 8GB of RAM.
If you don’t know anything about PC hardware, how can you tell which is better?
In this guide, we’re going to give you some generalized answers on what constitutes “good” specs for a gaming PC.
Quick Answer: What Are Good Specs for A Gaming PC?
While it’s impossible to provide a one-size-fits-all answer to the question of what are good specs for a gaming PC, we’ll try and give a general answer to help you out.
In general, good specs for a gaming PC would be as follows:
- CPU: Intel Core i5 / AMD Ryzen 5
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX xx60 / AMD RX x600
- RAM: 16GB of RAM
- Storage: 1TB SSD
Preferably, the CPU and GPU will be of the latest generation, (in this case an Intel Core i5-13600K or AMD Ryzen 5 5600 processor and NVIDIA RTX 4060 or AMD Radeon RX 7600.) One- or two-generation old components are still very viable options, though.
These specs will serve as a solid mid-range gaming PC that can max out almost anything on a 1080P display while delivering an acceptable average framerate.
However, the answer to this question will vary depending on what someone means when the say “good specs.”
Different Use-Cases
While the specs listed above will makeup a solid gaming PC, they may not be good enough for extreme use cases.
For instance, if you’re looking to max out today’s most demanding titles (like Starfield) on a high resolution high refresh rate monitor (4K 144Hz displays), the specs above will not be good enough.
In this scenario, you’ll likely specs similar to the following:
- CPU: Intel Core i7 or i9 / AMD Ryzen 7 or 9
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX xx80+ / AMD RX x800 XT+
- RAM: 32GB of RAM
- Storage: 1TB SSD
On the other hand, if you mainly play games like League of Legends or Minecraft, you would be fine opting for a much lower-end hardware configuration. In fact, you could buy a system with two- or three-generation old budget-level hardware (and probably even older) and still run those kinds of games fine.
So, the bottom line is that there is no single answer on what good specs are for a gaming PC. You should choose a gaming PC based on:
- How much you have to spend
- How you will use it (what kinds of games/applications will you run)
- What resolution you will game at
What’s Your Budget?
The amount you have to spend on your gaming PC (in unison with how you plan to use it) is going to be the biggest determining factor on what consitutes good specs.
The specs listed above would be good if you have ~$800-$1,000 to spend on a gaming PC (whether prebuilt or DIY). If you had $2,000 to spend on a gaming PC, those specs would not be good.
Here are some examples of what kind of specs each budget range will get you, assuming that you’re willing to build your own gaming PC:
Good Specs for a $500 Budget
- CPU: Intel Core i3-12100F
- GPU: AMD RX 6500 XT
- RAM: 8GB of RAM
- Storage: 500GB SSD
Check out this $500 Gaming PC Build.
Good Specs for a $700 Budget
- CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 2060
- RAM: 16GB of RAM
- Storage: 500GB SSD
Check out this $700 Gaming PC Build.
Good Specs for a $1,000 Budget
- CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3070
- RAM: 16GB of RAM
- Storage: 1TB SSD
Check out this $1,000 Gaming PC Build.
Good Specs for a $1,500 Budget
- CPU: Intel Core i5-13600K
- GPU: AMD RX 6800 XT
- RAM: 16GB of RAM
- Storage: 1TB SSD
Check out this $1,500 Gaming PC Build.
Good Specs for a $2,000 Budget
- CPU: Intel Core i5-13600K
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4080
- RAM: 32GB of RAM
- Storage: 1TB SSD
Check out this $2,000 Gaming PC Build.
What Games Are You Planning on Playing and at What Resolution?
Along with how much you have to spend, the next important thing to consider is what games you will be playing. As mentioned above, for someone mainly playing League of Legends, your requirements will be much lower than if you’re trying to max graphics-intensive games on a 4K display.
Here are some example scenarios of where different specs will work depending on the games you play and the resolution you plan to play them at:
Good Specs For Non-Demanding Games @1080P
- CPU: Intel Core i3-12100F
- GPU: AMD RX 6500 XT
- RAM: 8GB of RAM
- Storage: 500GB SSD
Good Specs for Demanding Games @1080P Resolution
- CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3070
- RAM: 16GB of RAM
- Storage: 1TB SSD
Good Specs for Demanding Games @ 4K Resolution
- CPU: Intel Core i9-13900K
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4090
- RAM: 32GB of RAM
- Storage: 1TB SSD
Again, these are just general answers. There are a lot of different options out there. The specs given above favor Intel and NIVIDA products, but there are similar AMD-products that will work just as well.
Conclusion: Are These Specs Good Enough for YOU?
The bottom line is that there is no easy way to answer to whether or not a specific PCs specs are good or not. It depends on your own individual needs.
