Expert Consulted: Adrian Gardiner. Years of experience buying both computers and computer parts for my own new customer builds has given me a keen eye for spotting great deals when shopping. In this article, I’ll be sharing my knowledge and tips with you to answer the question: How much does it cost to build a Gaming PC?
There are many aspects to consider when building a gaming PC, including, most importantly, your budget. In addition, there are various gaming builds to suit everyone’s budget. Usually, these are classified as Entry Level, Mid Range, High End, and Professional.
So, to get the point, how much does it cost to build a Gaming PC?
The cost of building a Gaming PC depends on your chosen budget, with a wide range of hardware options defining the final cost of your PC. At today’s prices, the estimated cost for an entry-level gaming PC build would be $500, a mid-range build $1000, with a high-end build costing over $2000.
In the rest of my article, I’ve covered the above statement in a lot more detail to help you better understand the options and the right direction to take in choosing your ideal Gaming PC build.
Related Articles:
How to Afford a Gaming PC
How to Build a Gaming PC for Under $1000
How Much Does it Cost to Build a Gaming PC (explained in detail)
Building your own computer is the best and most affordable way to get your ideal Gaming PC, as it gives you complete flexibility as to what parts you include in your build, with the option to upgrade at a later date.
You could, for example, start off your build with a lower spec. Graphics card and update later, or maybe a smaller hard drive and add a larger one as and when funds allow.
Your Budget and Gaming PC Needs
It’s a good idea to fix your budget before you start choosing the parts for your gaming PC, as the costs can easily get out of control as you get tempted with the latest, cool hardware.
Based on my own gaming computer builds and what I often see in the marketplace, I would suggest basing your budget around the following:
| Gaming PC Level | Approx. Required Budget |
| Entry Level Gaming PC Build: | $500.00 |
| Mid-Range Gaming PC Build: | $1000.00 |
| High-End Gaming PC Build: | $2000.00 |
NOTE: It’s possible to go considerably higher in cost than the High-End Gaming PC mentioned above, with some users including multiple graphics cards in their build, for example, and using the absolute top-of-the-range versions of every component.
Prices can easily rocket to well over $3000 in such cases. It all depends on how deep your pockets are and how much gaming means to you.
In the next section, I’ve outlined the various parts you’d need for each of these 3 builds and their costs.
Parts Required for Various Builds & Their Costs
Here, I’ve listed out the parts you’ll need for the most common builds and their costs, too, so that you’ll have an idea of what to expect.
Please note that each of these are suggested builds and are there to show you what’s possible.
Each build is for the computer tower hardware only and does not include a mouse, keyboard, display monitor, or Windows 11 software, which I’ve covered later in this article.
Entry Level Gaming PC Build – $500
Here is a list of parts to build an entry-level gaming PC for under $500. This build will give you the performance to have more fun than you think in your gaming endeavors.
You won’t be maxing out game settings, but you’ll have enough to play most current games at a reasonable screen resolution.
- Case / Chassis: Deepcool MATREXX 40 MicroATX Mini Tower Case $57.98
- Motherboard: ASRock A520M-HDV Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard $69.99
- Processor (CPU): AMD Ryzen 3 4100 3.8 GHz Quad-Core Processor $64.95
- CPU Cooler:
- Memory (RAM): Silicon Power GAMING 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory $29.97
- Storage: TEAMGROUP MP33 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive $39.49
- Graphics Card (GPU): EVGA SC ULTRA GAMING GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB $173.76
- Power Supply Unit (PSU): Corsair CV450 BR 80+ Bronze ATX PSU $59.12
Total Cost: $494.26
Mid-Range Gaming PC Build – $1000
Here is a list of parts to build a mid-range gaming PC for under £1000. It’s surprising what components you can buy for $1000. The parts listed below will give you an excellent gaming system capable of playing any game at high settings with decent FPS.
- Case / Chassis: Cougar MX330-G Air ATX Mid Tower Case $59.99
- Motherboard: Gigabyte B660M DS3H AX DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard $109.99
- Processor (CPU): Intel Core i7-12700K 3.6 GHz 12-Core Processor $285.00
- CPU Cooler: Thermalright Assassin X 120 Refined SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler $19.89
- Memory (RAM): Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory $39.99
- Storage: Kingston NV2 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive $84.99
- Graphics Card (GPU): EVGA SC ULTRA GAMING GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4 GB $239.99
- Power Supply Unit (PSU): Thermaltake Smart BM2 650w 80+ Bronze ATX PSU $90.08
Total Cost: $929.92
High-End Gaming PC Build – $2000
Here is a list of parts to build a high-end gaming PC for under $2000. This system will have more than enough performance for anyone and will allow you to play any current game at maxed-out settings with superb performance. It doesn’t get much better than this!
- Case: BitFenix Nova Mesh SE ATX Mid Tower Case including 4 x RGB Fans $69.90
- Motherboard: ASRock B760M Steel Legend Wi-Fi Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard $169.99
- Processor (CPU): Intel Core i9-13900KF 3 GHz 24-Core Processor $548.03
- CPU Cooler: Enermax Liqmax III 360 ARGB 72.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler $98.99
- Memory (RAM): TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5200 Memory $83.99
- Storage: Kingston NV2 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive $84.99
- Graphics Card (GPU): Asus TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB Video Card $799.99
- Power Supply Unit (PSU): EVGA 850 GQ 80+ Gold ATX PSU $139.99
Total Cost: $1995.87
All parts listed above are available at the time of writing and can be purchased from a number of outlets, including:
Please also note that the component prices shown are for guidance purposes only as prices are likely to change on a regular basis, both up and down.
You can, of course, also swap out individual parts for components that you would prefer to use other than what I’ve listed, like a better graphics card, for example, or maybe a different case, etc.
Windows 11
By spending $100 or so on a new Windows 11 license, our hardware options for building a gaming PC would be somewhat hampered, especially when there’s a great way to reduce or even eliminate this license cost altogether.
If you’ve got an old Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10 computer that’s no longer in use or you plan to upgrade from an older PC, you can utilize the old license, provided it’s a ‘Retail’ license and not tied to specific hardware like an ‘OEM’ license.
This method of re-using your old license is perfectly acceptable, cost-effective, and hassle-free.
Note that once transferred, the old computer can no longer use the old license anymore.
Once you get online with your new gaming PC build, the old license will be automatically changed into a digital Windows 11 license and activated seamlessly.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the cost to build a gaming PC really depends on your available budget, what sort of games you wish to play, the computer hardware you need to play them, and any personal preferences you may have (i.e., brand preference, etc.).
The cost of building a gaming PC can, therefore, vary between, say, an Entry Level Gaming PC at around $500 all the way up to a High-End Gaming PC costing over $2000.
Building a gaming PC is a very flexible affair with many choices and options, meaning you can build a decent system at any price point starting from $500.