Are you an avid gamer looking to take your gaming experience to the next level? If so, you might be considering building a gaming PC. However, one question that comes to mind is, “How much will it cost?”
The truth is, the cost of a gaming PC can vary greatly depending on your needs and preferences. Some gamers prefer to build their own custom PC, while others opt for pre-built options. Additionally, the cost of components such as the graphics card, processor, and storage can also impact the overall cost.
But don’t worry, we’re here to help you navigate through the process of determining how much a gaming PC will cost you. In this article, we’ll break down the costs of building a gaming PC, including the cost of individual components, pre-built options, and the price range you can expect based on your gaming needs.
By the end of this article, you’ll have a better understanding of the cost of building a gaming PC and be well on your way to creating the ultimate gaming setup. So, let’s dive in and explore how much a gaming PC really costs!
Do your research on what you need in your gaming PC
It’s very important to have clear thoughts that what actually required in your Gaming PC before measuring the cost of building a gaming PC. There are many parts to a gaming PC, but I put them into three categories:
1. Visual
A visual component is fairly self-explanatory and is designed to make your system look even better.
RGB, Tempered Glass, and custom cables are clear examples and there are loads of options available. The thing to remember is that none of these will make a difference to your gameplay, no matter how bright that RGB shines.
2. Enabling
Enablers are perhaps the most interesting ones and not just because I have given them a fancy name. Examples include motherboards, coolers, and power supplies with each part allowing your PC to function as intended.
Cheaper components will often be perfectly acceptable as for the most part they don’t impact your performance. They merely enable you to use more expensive components or to get the most out of them. It’s about buying the right enablers for your performance part.
3. Performance
As you probably guessed it will directly impact the performance of your PC. The critical parts are the graphics card, processor, RAM, and storage.
These four components will dictate how powerful your computer is and the tasks it can be used for. The faster the storage the faster things will load and the more RAM you have the more programs you can open simultaneously.
Now there is no doubt that a PC will benefit from having 16GB of RAM and an SSD.
But when it comes to gaming two components, in particular, will directly impact your frame rates and the processor and the graphics card.
Processor and the Graphics Card
Fire up a game and both will be put to very good use as games can be very taxing.
The processor handles the core instructions of the game while the graphics card will conduct the heavy lifting. Calculating the exact color and position of millions of pixels many times a second.
In the vast majority of scenarios, it’s these two things that will determine your frame rates. The more powerful they are the higher your frame rate will be but remember that cranking up the in-game settings can bring this tumbling back down.
These components are expensive though and they’ll probably take up a very large chunk of your budget.
Gaming PC cost is all about How much PC components will cost you?
You know better what you are looking for. So, a gaming PC’s cost will depend on its components. You can check the table below to estimate your gaming PC cost:
Let’s take a look at the all-component costs you may require for your Gaming PC
| Components Name | Lower | Medium | Powerful | |
| Processor | $60+ | $150+ | $300+ | Check Price |
| Cooling System | $20+ | $40+ | $60+ | Check Price |
| RAM | $30+ | $100+ | $1000+ | Check Price |
| Motherboard | $60+ | $150+ | $300+ | Check Price |
| Power Supply | $20+ | $50+ | $120+ | Check Price |
| Monitor | $60+ | $200+ | $400+ | Check Price |
| Storage (SSD) | $40+ | $80+ | $350+ | Check Price |
| Graphics Card (GPU) | $100+ | $200+ | $600+ | Check Price |
| Speakers | $30+ | $100+ | $200+ | Check Price |
| Case | $20+ | $40+ | $90+ | Check Price |
| Keyboard | $30+ | $100+ | $400+ | Check Price |
| Mouse | $20+ | $40+ | $50+ | Check Price |
| Total Average Cost | $500+ | $1300+ | $3800+ |
Let’s see some other PCs with their configurations that could run some games
If you want to minimize your cost, then these PCs can be very useful for you.
EL CHEAPO
| CPU | AMD ATHLON 200GE (COOLER INCL.) | $60 | Check Price |
| GPU | N/A | – | |
| MEMORY | PATRIOT SIGNATURE DDR4 4GB (1 x 4GB) | $18 | Check Price |
| MOTHERBOARD | GIGABYTE A320M-S2H | $50 | Check Price |
| STORAGE | KINGSTON 120GB A400 SATA SSD | $19.99 | Check Price |
| POWER SUPPLY | 400W BUILT-IN | N/A | |
| CASE | NZXT H510 – CA-H510B-W1 | $89.99 | Check Price |
| MONITOR | ACER SB220Q 21.5 INCH – 1080P, 75Hz, IPS | $89.99 | Check Price |
| KEYBOARD | BASICS KEYBOARD + MOUSE PACK | $13.07 | Check Price |
| MOUSE | INCLUDED ABOVE | N/A | |
| Total | $309.05 |
I have used it though, it’s not great but it runs at 90fps, the league’s graphics don’t look amazing at the best and this is particularly not amazing. So that helps you save money if you would want to go with this and if you’re not looking for a great gaming experience.
I generally recommend saving money and it’s the cheapest. And compared to older when the cheapest possible motherboard had no upgrade options but this one has an upgrade option. You can throw in more RAM, a better CPU, a graphics card, and much more.
You have an upgrade option for that. So, I’d probably recommend used hardware over a brand-new $200 tower but maybe that won’t be the case at our next price point.
The Athlete
Opening windows and launching applications on this one is the snappiness. This is a much faster machine program that loads properly. Let’s look at the configuration and the price for the same.
| CPU | AMD RYZEN 3 2200G | $86.99 | Check Price |
| GPU | RX 580 | $175.86 | Check Price |
| MEMORY | PATRIOT VIPER SERIES 8GB (2 x 4GB) | $36.99 | Check Price |
| MOTHERBOARD | ASROCK B450M mATX | $75.71 | Check Price |
| STORAGE | KINGSTON 240GB A400 SATA SSD | $19.99 | Check Price |
| POWER SUPPLY | CORSAIR CX550 80+ BRONZE | $64.99 | Check Price |
| CASE | THERMAL TAKE VERSA H17 | $49.56 | Check Price |
| MONITOR | ACER SB220Q 21.5INCH – 1080P, 75Hz, IPS | $89.99 | Check Price |
| KEYBOARD | LOGITECH K120 | $8.99 | Check Price |
| MOUSE | Razer DeathAdder Essential Gaming Mouse | $18.99 | Check Price |
| $622.06 |
This one is pretty darn good and even looks better. It’s got dust filters on the fans, the mouse is considerably better to like, just more comfortable, and even though the keyboard is cheaper, and the built quality is not special.
The Logitech keyboard is still better than some other cheap keyboards from my experience. So, it doesn’t matter what the hardware is, for some people they just can get it done.
So, the next one is a lot fancier, it’s
The Mid-Ranger
| CPU | AMZ RYZEN 5 2600 | $174.83 | Check Price |
| GPU | NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 Ti | $300 | Check Price |
| MEMORY | TEAM T-FORCE VULCAN 16GB 3200 (2 x 8GB) | $73.99 | Check Price |
| MOTHERBOARD | ASUS PRIME B450M | $79.99 | Check Price |
| STORAGE | Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD 1TB NVMe M.2 | $67.99 | Check Price |
| POWER SUPPLY | CORSAIR CX550 80+ BRONZE | $64.99 | Check Price |
| CASE | FRACTAL DESIGN FOCUS G MINI | $45.52 | Check Price |
| MONITOR | ASUS VX248H 24INCH – 1080P, 1MS, EXTRA INPUTS | $160.99 | Check Price |
| KEYBOARD | LOGITECH K840 | $59.99 | Check Price |
| MOUSE | LOGITECH G203 | $27 | Check Price |
| $1028.29 |
The Mid Ranger has got much more features, you’re exchanging a little bit of fresh rate for versatility, but the other ones could work in this build as well.
But the disadvantage of this monitor is that it uses a TN panel which means worse viewing angles and worse color fidelity but improved pixel response time. So, this exercise is more about sort of the performance in the experience, and you could, of course, choose a different monitor you see fit for yourself.
Once again there is a rise in 3rd gen upgrades that could make a ton of sense. Another 50 bucks to go 3rd gen that could yield as much as a 25% improvement in performance, but this is also really good at the games.
I have to use Battlefield 5 at high preset 1080p, and it still produces 65-75 fps. This is really playable. So, if you’re looking to upgrade you have to think about whether that extra performance you would get is worth the money you pay.
The Gentleman
This is a noticeably better gaming experience, and the animations are many smoothers. Runs at about 80fps and the game looks pretty good. A high refresh rate monitor makes a huge difference.
While I also did a ray tracing, the frame rate was lower about 60 fps then I had to drop the rest of the in-game details. And it’s got nothing to do with the monitor because it’s 144 hertz. The cool thing with this setup is that you get versatility.
You can get a million frames per second with this horsepower, or you can pump the setting up a bit. If you want more of a cinematic experience. “The Gentleman” treats you right. Its water cooling makes its first appearance with a modular power supply which makes your build look cleaner and easier to manage cables.
The Glow Up
| KEYBOARD | LOGITECH G613 LIGHTSPEED WIRELESS | Check Price |
| MOUSE | LOGITECH G703 LIGHTSPEED WIRELESS | Check Price |
| Total Average Cost | $2505.06 |
So, these are the creature comforts that you can afford when your budget is this high. No matter what you’re doing doesn’t change the gaming experience, but the image looks a lot sharper. You just have to upgrade everything else to keep up.
Whether you’re going higher on refresh rate or need to pump more fps or going for the larger size. You need more resolution to keep your image sharper. What I think is that it provides you with a better experience overall if you can get a 1440p high refresh rate monitor instead of playing on a 4k frame rate.
The animation still feels relatively smooth. As the rise of the 3rd generation is launched. There are a lot of really good options there but because we are focusing on gaming only it would be a great option.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, building a gaming PC can be a costly but worthwhile investment for avid gamers who want to take their gaming experience to the next level. The total cost of building a gaming PC can vary widely depending on the components you choose and whether you decide to build it yourself or opt for a pre-built option.
When considering the cost of building a gaming PC, it’s essential to determine your needs and budget. By doing so, you can make informed decisions about the components you choose and whether to go for a pre-built or custom-built PC.
Ultimately, the cost of building a gaming PC is a personal decision that depends on your gaming preferences and budget. However, with the information provided in this article, you should have a better idea of the costs involved and be able to create a gaming setup that suits your needs without breaking the bank.
So, go ahead and build that gaming PC, and enjoy the thrilling gaming experience that it brings!
FAQs
Q: Do I need professional help to build a gaming PC?
Not necessary, if you are building a PC first time and are not familiar with the process you can ask a professional for help. However, there are so many helpful resources available only where you can learn to assemble your computer easily.
Q: How long does it take to build a gaming PC?
A professional can take between 30 minutes to 1 hour to build a gaming PC. But if you want to build it on your own then it might take between 3 hours to 4 hours if this is your first time.
Q: What are the most important parts of a PC?
The most important part you need to look for in a gaming PC is, the CPU, GPU, Cooling system, RAM, and Motherboard. Also, there are some basic tools you will require to build a gaming computer such as Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, and Speaker.
Q: How much does it Cost to build a Gaming PC?
On average a gaming PC cost between $500 to $3500. But the cost can be low or high depending on the PC part you choose for your gaming pc.
