A gaming desktop is a major investment; in the case of a gaming desktop, it can also be a big hunk of machinery.
That’s why consulting a thorough gaming PC buying guide like this is a fine way to sort out what you need and where you should devote your budget.
Building a gaming rig for the very first time can be a bit overwhelming, but don’t be alarmed—it’s nowhere near as complex as it seems.
Whether you are buying a pre-built system or building one from scratch, this guide will help you get the right gaming computer for your needs at the right performance level. If you’re also interested in buying a gaming laptop, here is the gaming laptop buying guide.
We’ll walk you through the most crucial parts that make up a gaming rig, balance your budget, and make sure your gaming computer is something that will be by your side for years to come.
Understand your gaming needs:
But before you dive into those nuts and bolts, take a minute to think about yourself:
What kind of games do you play? Are you into the latest AAA titles like Starfield or Cyberpunk 2077? Maybe it’s competitive esports like Valorant, Fortnite, or League of Legends.
The type of games you play—trust me—is going to massively influence what sort of gaming computer you need.
If you’re into casual games or older titles, then it’s not necessarily a bank-breaker. However, if you’re chasing those high-fidelity graphics that newcomers boast, then you’ll want a rig that’s capable of pushing those pixels.
Not every game requires the same level of power, so figure out if you’re playing graphically intensive games at high settings or if you just need something for smooth gameplay.
For example, if you want that buttery-smooth experience at 144 frames per second on a 1080p monitor, your needs are going to be a bit different than someone looking to max out the settings on a 4K screen.
Budgets to choose from: Casual, mid-tier, or high-end?
Now, onto the elephant in the room—budget. Gaming PCs can range from pretty affordable to “I’m going to have to sell a kidney” expensive.
But the good news is, if you make smart decisions, you don’t have to blow your savings to get a rig that rocks.
Entry-level gaming, $500-$800:
This is for anyone more into casual gaming or those not minding dialing the graphics back a notch.
A setup in this bracket should allow you to run popular titles like Minecraft, CS, or Fortnite at reasonable frame rates (60–100 FPS at 1080p).
It could even handle some older AAA titles on decent settings, such as The Witcher 3 or GTA V, at around 45-60 FPS on medium settings. With this budget, you could expect a solid 1080p gaming experience.
Games you can play on desktops in this budget range:
- Minecraft
- CS
- Fortnite
- The Witcher 3 (on medium settings)
For instance, Alloy 9 (a mini gaming PC) is available under $800 and is great for casual gaming and professional use.
Mid-range gaming ($800 — $1,500):
Most gamers identify this budget range as the sweet spot. You’ll be able to play relatively newer games with high settings smoothly, with the possibility of future upgrades within a span of a few years.
The performance you are aiming for is within the realm of true 1440p or even 1080p with ultra graphics.
A PC built into this budget will give you AAA games like Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Resident Evil Village at around 60-80 FPS at 1440p on high settings.
Something like NVIDIA RTX 4060 or AMD RX 6700 XT combined with mid-priced CPUs like Ryzen 7600 or Intel i5 13600K is a killer combination.
Games you can play on desktops in this budget range:
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
- Resident Evil Village
- Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0
For instance, CyberpowerPC is priced at around $1200 and is a great PC for running any game.
High-end gaming ($1,500 and above):
This is for those who want only the best. Think 4K gaming, maximized settings, beaming graphics, and unyielding high framerates.
A high-end build will allow you to run demanding games like Starfield, Baldur’s Gate 3, or Hogwarts Legacy at 4K with ray tracing enabled, hitting around 80-120 FPS on ultra settings.
You will be eyeing something like the NVidia RTX 4080 or AMD RX 7900 XT coupled with a top-of-the-line CPU, like the Intel Core i9 13900K or Ryzen 9 7900X. You will have an excess of power so that you can figure out what to do with it—and even better, most likely you will not need to upgrade for years.
Games you can play on PCs in this budget range:
- Starfield
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Microsoft Flight Simulator
Key components of a gaming PC:
Alright! Having been through budgeting, let’s look at the actual components that you need to buy.
Processor (CPU):
The CPU is the silicon soul of your gaming desktop, and it’s arguably the second most important part of your build next to the GPU.
Such computing devices would have been absolute beasts in the context of games if only the CPUs had comparative strength. Actually, a decent central processing unit is a must when you intend to play games and carry out other video-related work, such as editing and streaming.
Currently, there are primarily two CPU makers, Intel and AMD. Each of the brands is very cutthroat in the market and does well with gaming processors.
Intel motherboards are used with Intel processors, and AMD CPUs need AMD-compatible motherboards. This should be notable as they are not interchangeable with one another, so be sure to get the correctly matched components when planning your build.
There are several very important things that you should take into account when choosing a CPU:
Core count and thread count:
A multicore processor contains separate miniprocessors, which are called cores. The more this component is present in a CPU, the more it is able to work at once.
In the modern world, the average number of cores in the CPU varies from 4 to 16, but for advanced processors, it can be up to 64.
For gaming applications, an ideal spot of 6 to 8 cores should be targeted. For example, AMD’s Ryzen 5 7600X features 6 cores and 12 threads, which should suffice for almost all games.
Threads replicate almost every core of a physical CPU, bringing additional work capacity to every core of the CPU.
To do one-threaded processing in a more effective way, more than two logical cores are required and that is the reason why hyperthreading Intel or simultaneous multithreading AMD use it for processing games while multitasking like streaming, etc.
Clock speed:
Clock speed mainly focuses on the time taken by a CPU to perform a task and it is measured in gigahertz (GHz). Greater power supply equals a greater clock rate, which results in a faster treatment of information by the processor.
For gaming, a clock speed between 3.5 GHz and 4.0 GHz is considered to be an optimal range. Thus it is a reasonable starting point, but bear in mind that it is often more important to concentrate on the single-thread performance for gaming rather than only chasing the ultimate clock speed numbers.
CPUs with very good gaming performance are made by manufacturers like Intel, whose Core i5-13600K has a base clock speed of 3.5GHz and a maximum turbo boost of 5.1GHz.
Overclocking:
For enthusiasts who are looking to level up their system configuration in a more extreme way than usual, certain CPUs allow you to set a clock speed beyond the stock settings, which is referred to as overclocking.
However, before you do this, you should first check whether or not your CPU is intended for ‘easy’ overclocking, such as Intel’s K-Series or AMD’s X-Series, and make sure that you have a proper cooling system even before you decide to overclock since overclocking heats up everything.
Intel CPUs:
Intel’s processors are the favorites among gamers in the case of gaming PCs, as they deliver very good performance for every price range. The most important series to look for is the “Core” series denoted by i5, i7, or i9.
Let me put it this way:
- Best on budget: Intel Core i5-13400F—best if you have less money to spend. Plays most games at 1080p and does not cost an arm and a leg.
- Best mid-range: Intel Core i5-13600K— Most of them give the best performance at a fair price, ideal for playing games at 1440p without going overboard with spending.
- Best price performance: Intel Core i9-14900K— This is the beast you want when you need the best 4K gaming machine, a streaming device, or a video editing unit.
Intel chips come in different generations, like 13th Gen or 14th Gen—the higher the number, the newer the tech. For gaming, stick to the 12th generation and up, like this i7-14700K, which I personally think makes it good for those who intend to future-proof their PC.
AMD CPUs:
AMD is Intel’s main competitor, and they’ve been crushing it with their Ryzen series. They have almost doubled their market share in the last decade.
These processors are great for gaming as well as multi-tasking so if you are likely to do some streaming while playing or running quite a number of applications, then this is the right processor to get.
Some AMD CPUs to look out for:
- Budget: AMD Ryzen 5 5600—Although this CPU is part of the older AM4 platform, it is still quite capable of 1080p gaming on a budget and may be available at quite a good price.
- Mid-range: AMD Ryzen 7 7700 (AM5) —It’s part of the newer AM5 platform, so it’s more future-proof. When talking about gaming for most needs, this will be a very good mid-range CPU.
- Best High-End: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D—This processor is at the peak of the pile when it comes to gaming performance, thanks to innovative 3D V-Cache technology from AMD. Perfectly suited for gaming at 1440p or even 4K at the highest end.
Keep in mind that AMD’s 5000-series CPUs use the older AM4 socket, while the newer 7000-series CPUs use the AM5 socket. The 7000-series is a better bet if you’re looking to upgrade your CPU down the road since AM5 is more future-proof.
The right graphics card (GPU) makes all the difference:
There are several different sorts of computer components that are helpful for gaming, and among them, the CPU can be considered the most important.
However, nothing does it better than a GPU or a graphics card.
A graphics card processes all the images that are present in the game and helps to achieve realistic frame rates and pixel-perfect images.
Once again, we have two big brands here—NVIDIA and AMD.
If you love gaming to its fullest and are ready to spend dollars, you know that the GeForce RTX series from NVIDIA is designed for such a thing.
The RTX 4080 is just outrageous for 4K gaming with ray tracing (a technology that can be described as next-level lighting and shadow effects).
On the other hand, their Radeon RX 7900 XTX is a deadly competitive device and is, in most times, a lighter pocket burner. It absolutely obliterates performance in high-resolution gaming.
Speaking of resolution—if gaming on a 1080P screen is your ideal, the top GPU will be an overkill. You probably don’t need the most powerful GPU around to enjoy this, as an NVIDIA RTX 3060 or AMD RX 6700 XT would be average.
But then, in case now you are looking specifically for 1440p or practically 4K gaming, then for these types you would need more juice, say the RTX 4070 or above. 4K gaming is demanding, and you’ll need both a powerful GPU and CPU to avoid bottlenecks.
Memory:
RAM is equally important, as are the CPU and GPU. This is especially vital when it comes to playing games that require a lot of memory, as it will ensure there are no lags in the performance of any activities in progress. You would need nothing less than 16 GB. This one entirely, definitely will suffice.
For almost every game, it would be enough to have no lag at all—but let’s say you are really into multitasking, such as streaming videos and games combined with many browser windows opened—in this case, it would probably be best to have 32GB of RAM.
However, you don’t want to go overboard; 64GB will overkill for almost all of the gaming requirements.
Storage:
Gone are the days when hard drives were the default storage option. Nowadays, given how much time a game takes to load with a hard drive and then with an SSD, solid-state drives are simply a must in any gaming setup.
Ideally, your gaming PC should have at least a 1TB SSD for your games and operating system.
If you need additional storage for other files, consider adding a secondary 2TB or 4TB HDD for media, but an SSD is where the real speed comes from. Look for NVMe SSDs, like the Samsung 980 Pro, which offer blazing-fast speeds for faster game load times.
Motherboard:
The motherboard is not designed for the sole purpose of improving the gaming performance of the machine; one must see that the gaming motherboard is compatible with the CPU and GPU that are to be used.
Do not forget to check that there are adequate expansion slots on the motherboard for possible upgrades later on. For instance, if you think you will want to add more RAM or that you will want to install more SSDs later, ensure that your motherboard has such capacity.
Cooling System:
Regardless of the brand and make, a PC’s hardware is bound to get hot, operating particularly when running some heavy-duty games. A good cooling system is needed to avoid heat issues.
Most builds are cool enough even with simple air cooling. In case you are a crazy enthusiast with a high overclocked system or an extreme fan of overclocking, you may want to consider a liquid cooling solution like most of the NZXT Kraken series. Just be sure your case has good airflow!
Prebuilt vs. custom-built gaming PCs:
When it comes to gaming PCs, you’ve got two main options: buy a prebuilt system or build your own.
- Prebuilt PCs: These are great if you don’t have the time or know-how to build your own rig. They come ready to go, often with a warranty, and all you have to do is plug them in.
The downside? You’ll pay a bit more for the convenience, and you might not have as much control over which parts are used. - Custom-built PCs: If you want more control over your system and potentially save some money, building your own PC is the way to go. It can be a fun experience and gives you the ability to handpick each component.
The downside is that it takes time, and you need to do a bit of research to make sure everything is compatible.
Monitors: Resolution, refresh rate, and size
A monitor’s importance cannot be overemphasized when it comes to the joy of smooth and immersive gaming.
The resolution specifies the quality of the picture, with the most commonly used being 1080p, 1440p and 4K. For simple games, 1080p is fine as it does not slow gaming down as an extreme 1440p mode can do.
1440p has good looks while maintaining a reasonable effect on performance, and 4K is the best detailed one yet very demanding on the power of the GPU.
The refresh rate is also as important, especially when it comes to fast-moving games. Most gamers are comfortable with a 144Hz monitor, while competitive gamers will prefer a 240Hz for maximum smoothness.
When it comes to size, 24-27 inches is adequate for most people, although bigger screens are ideal for open-world games that require full concentration.
Peripherals: Gaming mouse, keyboard, and headset
Now, let’s go into the gear that puts you right in the middle of the action: your mouse, keyboard, and headset.
Gaming mouse:
A good gaming mouse will actually give you noticeable improvements in both precision and comfort.
Look for one with a high DPI for improved sensitivity, mainly if you’re one of those people who have been hooked on fast action games like shooters.
Brands like Logitech G Pro X Superlight or Razer DeathAdder V3 are top-shelf in terms of responsiveness and comfort.
Gaming Keyboard:
With keyboards, it’s all about mechanical switches. They last longer, act faster, and are a lot nicer to type on. For peak performance, we recommend a mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX switches or similar.
Corsair K95 or Razer BlackWidow options are great, and most keyboards these days will have variable RGB backlighting for added pizzazz.
Headset:
Good audio is important, not only for creating an immersive experience in your games but also during competitive gaming.
A high-quality set of headphones lets you detect more subtle sounds that help you gain an advantage. If you want the real deal, look for 7.1 surround sound. The SteelSeries Arctis 7 or the HyperX Cloud II are great mid-tier options that deliver quality sound without overdraining your wallet.
Where to buy your gaming PC?
Of course, the best place to buy your gaming PC is from my online website—duh! No, but seriously, if you are in the market for prebuilt systems or want to assemble your own, stick to reputable online suppliers, for instance, as Newegg, Amazon, and BestBuy.
They are fantastic for that; make sure you check reviews and warranties before ordering anything!
And that’s it! Whether you’re a casual gamer or an enthusiast, you now know how to select the best-suited gaming PC for your requirements.