I'm needing some recommendations for a cheap gaming pc I can buy, but will still run decently. I know next to nothing about computers, but would love something that is straight forward to upgrade if I ever want to in the future. I'd prefer to stay as far under $800 as possible as I am a college student with a horse who costs me more money than I can afford to keep alive lol.

My current device I use to game on is a 10 year old macbook air which is at the point where I can't run base game Sims 4 (which was heartbreaking). I don't need anything fancy, though I would like to play Baldurs Gate 3 and Hogwarts Legacy in the future, I honestly just need something I can play my ridiculous horse girl games on.

I'm not going to be playing any online PVP games really where I need to be running on High Resolutions and framerates. The most online action I get into is Star Stable online, since I panic playing RDR2's storyline's combat, which I can't even run on my laptop lol, so that's about as much combat as I need.

If anyone has any recs please help me! I've been looking at a Periphio because they're cheap and I don't need anything fancy, but I honestly have no clue what I'm looking at and the more I research the more confused I get.

2025 Update:

• This easy tutorial has been ported to TopRigz. A quicker and more convenient method is to visit Toprigz, enter your budget, and it’ll automatically show you the best value and most powerful gaming PC for your budget, including options for the USA, UK, Canada, and Australia.

How to buy:

1. Find vendors that sell reasonably priced prebuilt PCs in your country.

2. Choose your price ranges, I'd recommend at least 2 price ranges. Sort by "Price Low to High".

3. Your graphics card is the most important component in any gaming PC, it has the biggest impact on performance. Always pick the PC with the fastest GPU you can afford. Check out the GPU comparison chart here.

4. When comparing PCs with GPUs of similar performance, choose the one with the stronger CPU. For mostly single-threaded workloads, such as gaming, you can compare CPUs by their single-core performance using this site.

5. RAM: 16GB is recommended, 8GB still does the job. 3000Mhz RAM is recommended for AMD's CPUs, and 2666Mhz is good enough for Intel's CPUs. Don't choose the more expensive 3200Mhz RAM because 3000Mhz CL15 and 3200Mhz CL16 have the same absolute latency.

TL, DR:

1. Don’t overspend on hardware, people often forget they’ll need money for games too. They focus too much on the specs and forget that games themselves can be a large expense.

2. Don't listen to dissenting opinions from PC elitists on Reddit. They will trash people who have budget systems and don't overspend on overpriced, useless parts. In fact, a reasonably priced prebuilt PC will still have the same performance and upgradability as an overpriced one.

3. Stay away from terribly overpriced Cybertron, CLX SET, NZXT, MSI, Acer, MainGear, Digital Storm, and Build Redux PCs. Those companies leverage their successful marketing in order to upcharge their PCs.

Tips:

• Don't overspend on CPUs. Games tend to be more forgiving of older CPUs than of previous-generation GPUs, so even a CPU that's several generations old should still be okay.

• You don't need to buy Windows, you can use it for free forever without activation. Follow these steps to create installation media (USB flash drive) you can use to install Windows 11 for free: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-installation-media-for-windows-99a58364-8c02-206f-aa6f-40c3b507420d

• Always update your Windows and GPU drivers to the latest version:

  • AMD Radeon graphics card drivers

  • Intel Arc graphics card drivers

  • NVIDIA graphics card drivers

• Please don't install antivirus software. The built-in Windows Security is lightweight and really effective.

Building a setup in my new apartment - I've got the desk and the peripherals, but I don't have the actual hardware yet (and I’m not knowledgeable at all lol).

I want something balanced and future-proof, mainly for gaming + productivity. I also stream from time to time (on my laptop which is pretty trash). Budget’s around $2000 total.

I'm mostly torn between Intel vs AMD. I’ve been eyeing stuff like the CyberPower i9-14900KF + RTX 5070 variant, some iBUYPOWER models, but I'm honestly lost

If you had $2K for a prebuilt gaming PC, what would you pick and why?

Any regrets or “I wish I…” stories are super welcome :)

Edit:

I made a list for future readers of some good deals on Amazon right now:

Budget tier

• CyberPowerPC Gamer (i5-13400F + RTX 5060) - $987 - Entry-level gaming PC. Good for 1080p at medium to high settings. Not ideal for consistent high-FPS 1440p.

Mid tier

• CyberPowerPC Gamer (i7-14700F + RTX 5060 Ti) - $1,359 - Noticeable step up from the RTX 5060. Strong 1080p performance and acceptable 1440p gaming.

• CyberPowerPC Gamer (i9-14900KF + RTX 5070) - $1,979 - Very strong CPU paired with a capable GPU. Smooth 1440p at high settings, 4K possible with compromises.

• iBUYPOWER Slate (i7-14700F + RTX 5070) - $1,789 - Similar gaming performance to the i9/5070 system but cheaper. Solid all-around 1440p machine.

High tier

• iBUYPOWER Y40 PRO (Ryzen 9 7900X + RTX 5070 Ti) -$2,269 - Strong jump in GPU power. Excellent 1440p high-refresh and capable 4K gaming.

• Alienware Aurora (Ultra 9 285 + RTX 5080) - $2,799 - Top-end option here. Best choice for high-refresh 1440p and consistent 4K gaming, but priced accordingly.

So, I'm helping out my sister with this, since she doesn't know shit about computers. Her budget is 450-500, and she want's a prebuilt that can be modified to have upgraded parts later on.

We have a guy locally that's quite good at this, but she doesn't trust him with this, so I'm not gonna argue

thanks in advance for the suggestions

I’ve got a $2,500–$3,000 budget for a prebuilt gaming PC, but honestly I’m starting to think spending that much is kind of a scam.. most “high-end” pre-builts in this range seem like overpriced RGB boxes with mid-tier parts, insane markups, and specs that barely outperform rigs $800 cheaper. Is there actually a prebuilt out there that’s worth this kind of money, or is the whole $3K prebuilt market just hype?

Currently I am looking at these pre-builts companies:

• CyberPowerPC

• iBUYPOWER

• MSI Codex

Thanks in advance for any recommendation or tips!

I'm essentially looking for a prebuilt pc that'll run fallout 4 on high graphics. I also really wanna run fnv (Fallout New Vegas) with some beefy mods (Embs). The problem with my pc is i don't have a good enough graphics card to run these games with high quality resolution. Plus my computer only takes low profile cards. it'd be cool to run Minecraft with shaders. I'm more than willing to go over my budget but i'd prefer it stay in the $400-$450 range. if anyone could help that'd be awesome!

current pc: https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Optiplex-9010-SFF-Desktop/dp/B078WGWZ1X

specs that i know of : Prossesor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3470 CPU @ 3.20GHz 3.20 GHz

ram : 16 gb

Intel (R) HD Graphics

Hi, I'm looking to buy a prebuild pc for under 400USD, in the US, west coast.

I have never owned a gaming pc and am super unknowledgeable. I'd mainly like to run modded skyrim and stuff like that.

Most of the options I'm looking at ether tell me I'd need to [upgrade](https://www.pcgamer.com/best-cheap-gaming-pc/#section-under-1000) or are [no longer available](https://toprigz.com/400-usd-budget)

I've also found [this](https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?Tpk=gaming+pc&Order=1&Submit=ENE&pageTitle=Gaming+Desktops&N=100897483&LeftPriceRange=300+400) but Idk what is good here or what filters I should use.

In essence, I am really lost and am looking for some kind of advice. (Building one myself is not an option)

So, this question has been asked a lot in our subreddit. To resolve it once for an all, I have compiled a list of Best Prebuilt Gaming PCs in 2024. I will keep on updating this with new choices as per other Reddit users comments.

1. Skytech Gaming Nebula

2. CyberPowerPC Gaming Xtreme

3. Alienware Aurora R15

4. iBuyPower Y40

5. Lenovo Legion T5

6. SKytech Gaming Archangle

7. Corsair Vengeance

8. Skytech Gaming Azure

9. Alienware Aurora R16

10. HP Omen 16

These are some best prebuilt gaming PC as suggested by other Reddit users in various subreddits. If you have more in mind, please mention them in the comments below.

I'm looking for something on the cheaper end just to play sims 4 with cc and mods, and Minecraft w/ a couple shaders maybe. I really don't wanna build a pc because I'm lazy. Also one of my friends uses an Alienware pc is that a good option or no?

my price range is around $600-$800 give or take and I know basically nothing about PCs

I'm planning on getting a prebuilt pc. My budget is just under $1000. I know pretty much nothing about pcs, so I need help choosing. I've found some pcs that I think are good, but I'm not sure.

• Skytech Shadow 3.0 Gaming PC Desktop

• Skytech Azure Gaming PC Desktop

• HP Pavilion Gaming Desktop

• ViprTech Ghost Gaming PC Desktop Computer

• Victus 15L Gaming Desktop Computer(a little over my budget)

I'd preferably life 16 gigabytes of ram and 512 gigabyte ssd.

Hi,

As title says I am trying to find a PC build for under 600. I mainly just play WoW and Fortnite and these are two builds I came across. I mainly want to just get a build thats ready to go and I'm not experienced enough to build it part by part. Will either of these two builds be fine? All suggestions for my budget range on a pre built are much appreciated. (from the UK).

https://www.ebay.co.uk pc one- (maxed out with i7 quad and nvidia gpu and no monitor selected).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/pc two

Any recommendations

I'm looking for a decent prebuilt gaming PC to buy, I've tried looking on newegg and amazon but couldn't find anything. Does anyone have any suggestions? My budget is 1000 dollars

Hey yall,

Looking to finally getting myself a desktop pc after having bad experiences with two gaming laptops I've owned. Not looking for anything crazy or expecting to play modern games at 200 fps. I’m not looking to build my own, unless you guys can convince me otherwise. My budget is $800~

I've done a bit of research and this pc seems to fulfill my needs. It does have an older CPU (13-10100F) but from what I've read online it performs okay for handling modern games. GPU is a GTX 1650 which as far as I know can handle majority of modern games.

There's also another pc I'm eyeing which has a GT 1030 (seems to be a much worse GPU then the 1650) but has a stronger cpu 15-6500 and is $100 cheaper. I'm mostly airing towards the Skytech pc but let me know what you guys think. I'm also very new to the whole gaming spec scene so I apologize for my arrogance. Thanks yall!

https://www.amazon.com/Skytech-Chronos-Mini-Gaming-Desktop/dp/B09R1V8X6F

https://www.amazon.com/Periphio-Vortex-Prebuilt-Gaming-PC/dp/B0C4Z5NLWB

Hello everyone, I'm in the market for a solid prebuilt gaming PC and was hoping to get some recommendations. I'm looking for something that's ready to go out of the box, with great performance for modern AAA titles and ideally some future-proofing.

Budget is flexible, but I'm aiming for the best value around the $1500–$200 range. I'd also love to hear any brands or specific models you’ve had good experiences with (or ones to avoid). Bonus points for good thermals, build quality, and upgradability.

Thanks in advance!