Are you tired of gaming on a console or your mobile phone? Want to upgrade
to a PC that can handle 4K gaming and VR with ease? Check out this $1,000 PC
build that won’t break the bank. All parts are available on Newegg or Amazon
and don’t rely on a mail-in rebate to be under $1,000.
This build is best for handling VR and 4K content well into the future. It
utilizes an NVIDIA RTX 2060 as its GPU with 16GB of RAM that can be upgraded
up to 32GB later.
Build Pros
- VR Ready: Can handle VR and 4K gaming just fine
- RTX 2060 video card included in the build
- Upgradable RAM: Additional slots for a RAM upgrade in the future
- Extra HDD space for two more drives
Build Cons
- No RGB Case: Case doesn’t have any RGB features
- No Windows 10 Included: Doesn’t include Windows 10 with the price
Let’s Build it – the Best $1,000 PC Build For Gaming
Processor
- AMD – Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor – $179.99
The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X is one of the best budget gaming processors available
on the market today. It can handle all the multitasking, streaming, and VR
gaming you can throw at it. The Ryzen 5 2600X is equivalent in performance to
any of Intel’s current-generation i5 processors, but for about $100 cheaper.
The 2600X variant of this processor is designed to be stable at overclocked
speeds. If you are comfortable with overclocking your builds, you can get up
to 4.2GHz in performance out of this Ryzen 5 2600X processor.
Tip: This Ryzen 5 processor is the equivalent of an Intel i5 in terms of
performance. For a processor that is the equivalent of an Intel i7, see the
Upgrades section of this PC build guide. The motherboard listed below will
work with either the Ryzen 5 or the Ryzen 7 listed below.
Video Card
- EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 XC Black Edition Gaming, 6GB GDDR6 – $349.99
This EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 video card is the heart of this build, enabling
4K gaming and amazing VR performance. It’s worth noting that these cards come
in a variety of choices to fit your case type. The 2-Slot EVGA cards are
longer, offer more airflow at slower speeds, and increase airflow while
keeping quiet.
The shorter 2.75 RTX 2060 card is ideal for smaller mini-ATX builds, but it
uses three PCI slots. These cards use a single fan with a thicker heatsink to
keep the card cool while operating. These cards also have a lower noise
profile due to their shortness.
The boost clock of the RTX 2060 is 1680MHz with 1,920 CUDA cores. 6,144MB
GDDR6 memory with an effective clock speed of 14,000 MHz and 336 GB/s of
memory bandwidth. The card features support for HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4,
and Dual-Link DVI.
Tip: Out of all the parts in this build, this is the one that will
fluctuate the most. If you are not in a hurry to build your PC in the next
few months, you may be able to get this video card at a much cheaper price.
Motherboard
- MSI – B450 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard – $114.99
The B450 Tomahawk ATX AM4 motherboard from MSI fully supports overclocking,
making it a great choice when paired with the processor above. It supports
full overclocking for both the CPU and RAM and requires no BIOS flashing.
The only negative to this board is the driver update process is a bit
convoluted. Windows 10 might have trouble auto-finding the drivers, but they
are available directly on MSI’s website. Despite being an mATX board, it has
four RAM slots for upgrading in the future.
RAM
- Corsair – Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 – $78.99
Two 8GB sticks of Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 RAM will handle just about
anything you can throw at it. This build starts off with only 16GB of RAM,
but you can upgrade to 32GB of RAM further down the line by buying two more
sticks of this RAM. It is designed to handle high-performance overclocking if
that’s your thing. They’re straightforward to overclock up to 3000mhz on both
Intel and AMD systems.
These RAM sticks also feature a low-profile heat spreader design, which is
preferred in mini-ATX builds. They also look nice if you’re doing an
open-glass case design, like the case featured in this build.
Storage
- Crucial – MX500 500 GB 2.5″ Solid State Drive – $69.95
- Western Digital – Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5″ 7200RPM – $46.99
This PC build incorporates an SSD for fast boot-up and load times for a
select handful of games. It is augmented by a Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB
drive that spins at 7200RPM. This drive will be the primary storage for any
media, pictures, or games where you don’t care about load times.
The Crucial MX500 SSD is 500GB and gives you plenty of space for a Windows
10 installation and at least three to five games, depending on install size.
Crucial was one of the first companies to perfect SSD technology, making them
a solid choice for storage.
Samsung SSDs are also great options.
What about SSD M.2 storage?
This build utilizes 2.5″” SSD storage over M.2 SSD storage. M.2
SSDs are ideally suited to laptops and smaller mini-ATX builds. They can be a
great option, but typically cost more than a 2.5″” SSD. For desktop
builds, 2.5″” SSDs are still the standard.
Power Supply
- Corsair – CX (2017) 750 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX – $64.99
This Corsair 750W 80+ Bronze power supply will run cooler and use less
power than less efficient power supplies. It is backed by a five-year
warranty and Corsair’s excellent tech support and customer service. The power
supply itself features a black housing to match most cases and cable sleeving
and connectors for stellar cable management.
The 140mm fan is thermally controlled and offers quiet operation even when
you’ve overclocked everything. The modular design makes it easy to install
and a fantastic choice if you’re going for a mini-ATX build. It also features
ultra-short cables, which might be a con in bigger builds.
One drawback of this power supply is that the SATA power cable only has a
90º option rather than both 90º and 180º. There’s also no SFX to ATX adapter.
Some customers also note that there are no velcro straps included for cable
management, so you may want to take that into account.
Case
- Cougar – MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case – $39.99
The build you use for your computer is a matter of personal taste. Most
budget PC builds use cheapo plastic cases that are very dull-looking. I chose
the Cougar MX330 ATX Mid Tower case for this build based on its price,
expandability, and aesthetic looks. For more case options, scroll down to the
Case section in the upgrades area below.
The Cougar MX330 case features 7 PCI slots and offers support for graphics
cards up to 350mm long. The NVIDIA RTX 2060 listed in this build will fit
just fine. The case can also house up to two 2.5″” SSDs and two
3.5″” HDDs so that you can double your storage capacity in terms of
drives.
This case also has tremendous cooling power with spots for up to five fans
and a 240mm water cooling radiator.
I/O Panel on Cougar MX330 Mid-Tower ATX
- USB 3.0 x 2
- USB 2.0 x 2
- Mic x 1
- Audio x 1
The total cost for this build clocks in at just under $1,000 at the time of
writing. Prices fluctuate for computer parts, so it may be more or less as time
passes. You may even see mail-in rebates on some of the parts. The idea was
to create a less than $1,000 PC build that doesn’t need mail-in rebates to
reach that price.
TOTAL BUILD COST – $995.88
Why Not Intel?
It is nearly impossible to create an Intel-based gaming PC build below
$1,000 that will perform as well as this AMD build. Intel processors
undeniably out-perform AMD processors if the price is not a factor. However,
for budget builds that can still do 4K and VR, AMD processors are the
undisputed champions.
Upgrades
Have more than $1,000 to throw at your new PC build? This build can be
expanded in every area to offer better performance for games, multi-tasking,
video editing, and more. If the Cougar MX 330 case doesn’t appeal to you,
there are also five case options that range in price.
RAM
- Corsair – Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 – $78.99
Throw an additional 16GB in this build by doubling the amount of RAM you
buy.
Tip: Even if you end up going with another RAM brand, make sure you buy the
same brand when upgrading. You will have an easier time with overclocking and
general compatibility. Save the RAM you buy in a bookmark for your future
self to make it easier.
Storage
- Crucial – MX500 1 TB 2.5″ SSD – $129.99
- Western Digital – Caviar Black 2 TB 3.5″ 7200RPM – $129.99
If you can swing the extra cost of upgrading your storage, you’ll have more
breathing room on your SSD with this Crucial MX500 1TB. You should be able to
fit at least eight to 10 games on the SSD, depending on their install size.
The Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB will provide plenty of media storage
for all of your projects. The Caviar Black series has a longer extended
warranty than the Caviar Blue series, which is why these drives have a higher
price tag. These drives are made in capacities up to 6TB so you can have an
enormous amount of storage if you have the cash to throw at the build.
Tip: Steer clear of Seagate Barracuda drives. They have a bad reputation
among the PC building community after Seagate was slapped with a class-action
lawsuit overdrive failure. Western Digital has become the favorite drive
manufacturer for its reliability and warranty on drives like the Caviar
Black.
Processor
- AMD – Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor – $292.66
If you can add $100 extra to your build, you can upgrade the processor to
an AMD Ryzen 7 2700x. The processor features eight cores with sixteen
threads, which means you should have absolutely no problems with modern
games. It also features LED lights if you like your build to be aesthetically
pleasing.
One thing to note is some enthusiasts report that two memory sticks can
reach 3,666MHz overclock, but this processor only reaches 3,200MHz with four
installed. Overclocking is out of the realm of possibility for most PC
builds, but it is worth mentioning if that’s your intention.
Case Options
The case you choose for your PC build should be selected based on your
personal tastes. If the Cougar MX330 in the official build list doesn’t fit
your style, then one of these cases definitely will.
Each of these five cases is compatible with the build listed above if you
like everything about it except the case.
- NZXT – H500 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case – $69.99
- Phanteks – Eclipse P300 Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Case – $59.99
- Corsair – SPEC-05 ATX Mid Tower Case – $59.99
- Corsair – Crystal 570X RGB ATX Mid Tower Case – $159.98
- NZXT – Phantom 820 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case – $99.99
Peripherals
No build is complete without peripherals to connect to your new PC build.
Even if you already have a monitor, mouse, and keyboard read on. You might
like some of the features included.
4K Monitor
- LG 32UD60-B 4K UHD Monitor with AMD FreeSync – $379.99
What’s the point of building a 4K-capable PC if you’re still playing on
your old 1080p monitor? Upgrade your viewing experience with this LG
32″” 4K UHD monitor that supports AMD FreeSync. The display is also
HDCP 2.2 compatible so that you can display 4K streaming, game consoles, and
ultra HD Blu-ray discs just fine.
With support for FreeSync, this LG monitor will display less tearing and
stuttering from your GPU and monitor refresh rates. FreeSync helps create a
seamless and fluid experience when playing 4K games. (Note: FreeSync is only
available when connected through DisplayPort or HDMI.)
One reason to choose LG monitors over other manufacturers is the Screen
Split technology. LG offers a downloadable piece of software that lets you
section off portions of the screen to act like separate areas. You can even
create picture-in-picture displays.
Keyboard
- Corsair K95 RGB PLATINUM Mechanical Gaming Keyboard – $139.99
The Corsair K95 keyboard build quality is unrivaled by any competitor on
the market. The anodized aluminum frame is an excellent complement to any PC
case. This keyboard features six programmable macro keys and 8MB of profile
storage. It can store three lighted profiles on the go with no need for
software.
Cherry MX Speed or Cherry MX Brown (silent) switches power the Corsair K95.
The keyboard also features USB pass-through with 2 USB 2.0 ports. You can
create multi-keystroke macros for the six programmable macro keys using
Corsair’s Utility Engine (CUE). The macro keys and space bar also feature a
unique textured design.
Tip: If you like the design of this keyboard but don’t need the extra macro
keys, Corsair’s K70 keyboard features the same layout and RGB features. The
six macro keys on the left are the only missing feature of this keyboard
model.
Mouse
- Corsair Glaive Gaming Mouse – $69
Whether you prefer claw or palm grip when gaming, the Corsair Glaive mouse
has you covered. It offers a contoured shape that is designed to fit in your
hand without causing discomfort.
The mouse features three interchangeable thumb grips in different styles.
It also has onboard profile storage that saves lighting effects, macros, and
DPI settings internally without the need for software.
The mouse can be tuned for both left and right button switches. Macros can
be created using the Corsair Utility Engine and saved to the mouse’s onboard
storage.
Tip: Don’t like the modular design of this mouse? Corsair makes a variety
of PC gaming mice that might suit your needs. The Corsair Scimitar MMO mouse
features 12 programmable buttons. The Corsair M65 Pro features a sniper
button for lowering DPI while playing FPS games.”
Discussion about this post