When it comes to gaming, for the beginner gamers, this is one of the most common question that how much does it cost to build a gaming PC? The answer is not as simple to one fix price as it totally depends on the system requirements one looking for in a gaming PC.
Building a gaming system price can fall from $200 to even more than $2000. Low end gaming PC can start from the as low as $200 and go up to $500 while the mid range gaming systems fall into a price tag from $500 to $1200. Most of the good PC Builds start over $1000.
For the most high end gaming PC, budget would go up starting from $1200 and even go over $2000 depending on your specific needs.
Price Tag Range | Average Cost |
Low End Gaming PC | $200 to $500 |
Mid Range Gaming PC | $500 to $1200 |
High End Gaming PC | $1200+ |
How to Do Pricing for Components?
If you don’t want to go with a prebuilt gaming PC and going to build up a gaming PC, keep in mind that most of the budget goes on processor and graphic card. Make sure to price out the budget for each of the part you want to build in. For the build pricing estimation, you can go PC Part Picker, which makes easy to choose parts that are compatible with other parts. I highly recommend to use this before going to build one. Check out the best parts and compare them which one’s compatible to your needs under your budget.
Gaming Components
Following are the most prominent gaming components required to build a PC for better performance. Graphics card and CPU are most important, everything else in the build is not as much important but you should still take a look on other gaming components.
- Motherboard
- Processor (CPU)
- GPU (Graphics Processing Card)
- RAM (Random Access Memory)
- Storage SSD/HDD
- CPU Cooler
- Power Supply
- Gaming PC Case
Motherboard
Motherboard is one of the core component of the device and before going to choose one, align with your hardware components. If you need a high end gaming processor you need a good VRM motherboard. Make sure if it can support over-clocking.
VRM converts power to a required voltage for the processor from power supply. If you want to over-clock processor for maximum performance, VRM is an important factor.
Processor (CPU)
Powerful processor is important for good gaming experience. If the focus is for playing games, go with a high end processor. There’s two of the best options for the processors.
- Intel
- AMD
Intel quad core processor is more than enough to go for beginners. Although AMD processor are very popular among the gamers for it’s high end gaming support.
How Much The CPU Will Cost?
When it comes to gaming, processor is an essential component and you shouldn’t compromise on it. If you try to avoid the costs by lowering a processor this can cause the serious issues while doing gaming. Try to go with high end priced one or atleast for mid-ranged one. Following are the price ranges for the processor to choose from.
Price Tag Range | Cost |
Low End Processor | $50-$200 |
Mid-Range Processor | $200-$400 |
High-End Processor | $400+ |
It’s important to have a processor that pairs up with the GPU to avoid the drop of performance. Both Intel and AMD processors are really high performing. If you’re looking for high performing processor and don’t mind spending much, then you can go with i7 10th Gen or i5 series. For the AMD, you can save up some pennies without dropping gaming performance and can get an AMD Ryzen series graphic cards.
GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)
GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) also known as Graphics cards is one of the main concern for the gaming. It’s one of the most important factor while going to build one especially for gaming.
How Much Will The Graphics Card Cost?
Most of the building money is burned on the GPUs. Some of the GPU prices range is as follow:
Price Tag Range | Cost |
Low End GPU | $100-$200 |
Mid Range GPU | $200-$500 |
High End GPU | $500+ |
If you are thinking of compromising on a low end GPU, I would highly recommend to save money by compromising on anything else. Never go with a poor graphics card as it affects the gaming performance most. Mid priced range graphics cards like NVIDIA GeForce RTX 1660, GTX 1050ti, GTX 1060, GTX 1080 cards. You will get enough from these cards as per their price.
To move on to the high end GPU cards like NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 2080, RTX 2070 and more. These GPUs fall under high priced tag but you get more from these for their super powerful performance. I would strongly recommend not to go out with the cheaper and low end cards.
RAM (Random Access Memory)
RAM or random access memory has become much affordable these days. You can have a 16 GB for even less than $50 to $70.
We recommend going with 16 GB for most of the users, especially since the games are getting more demanding.
Storage
Storage is another part required to store the games and for the efficient gaming, SSD is the one good fit.
If you’re not having a high budget, go with at least 128 GB of SSD drive for boosting up the gaming speed and performance.
CPU Cooler
CPU cooler keeps the processor cool and avoids the overheating of the CPU. It’s placed above the CPU and controls the CPU temperature to an optimum level.
There’s various CPU coolers available like AIO CPU Cooler, Air CPU Cooler and the new Liquid CPU Coolers.
Power Supply
If you don’t plan on upgrading your power supply. It’s not necessary as the 450W will do the all, but for the ultimate security to secure your Build components then try not to compromise on power supply at all.
If you’re planning on upgrading the power supply, make sure to switch to a high Watt PSU powered supply.
Gaming PC Case
Gaming PC Case or chassis gives the look to your PC. It can cost few extra pennies but this is totally optional. You can save much by managing to a normal PC case. For the entry level build chassis, you don’t need to go with a much fancy one. Just make sure it’s airflow is good to robust quality.
We would recommend to go with a mid-budget chassis to save some pennies and spend on upgrading the other component. It’s totally up to your choice.
Final Verdict
Building a gaming PC comes down to the choice, user is looking to get out of it. Make sure to price out the build for each component and everything as it should be. I hope you experience the best joy of your first Build.