Self-built gaming PCs usually offer the best value for money, and you can customize the hardware to suit your needs perfectly. However, configuring affordable yet high-quality hardware is not always easy, especially when it comes to choosing the graphics card and processor. To ensure that you get the best performance for your money, we have compiled gaming PC builds in various price and performance categories. In this paragraph, we also provide buying recommendations for gaming monitors, gaming mice, gaming keyboards, and gaming headsets to create the optimal gaming PC setup.
Note: Since the price and availability of a product can change daily, the hardware we have linked to may no longer be available or may be listed by retailers at a different price than stated by us. All our configurations are just recommendations aimed at achieving the best gaming performance in their respective price range. If you need more storage space and RAM or place a high value on a visually appealing design with RGB lighting or a different cooling solution, you can adjust our configurations accordingly.
Gaming PC for 1080p Very Low (~345 Euros)
As the prices of entry-level graphics cards are still quite high, in our most affordable configuration, we rely on an AMD APU, specifically the Ryzen 5 5600G. If you are willing to invest an additional 55 euros, you can also opt for the Ryzen 7 5700G with eight cores and a slightly more powerful iGPU. Without a dedicated graphics card, it cannot be considered a full-fledged gaming PC, but the integrated graphics unit is sufficient to play most current games at least in 720p. Additionally, the hexa-core processor provides a good foundation for retroactively upgrading to a dedicated GPU. An additional CPU cooler is not necessary as the included boxed cooler performs its task well and even allows for some overclocking of the CPU + iGPU.
We use the MSI B450M Pro-VDH Max motherboard, one of the cheapest B450 motherboards with four RAM slots. For an additional cost of around 20 euros, you can also opt for a B550 motherboard. We pay attention to a high clock speed of 3600 MHz for the 16 GB of RAM, as the integrated graphics unit benefits greatly from it. A 1 TB PCIe SSD is used as the system storage. Even with the cheapest model, you can only save a few euros by using a conventional SATA SSD. Xilence provides a 450-watt power supply with 80-PLUS Bronze certification for power supply. While a power supply with lower wattage would be sufficient, this gives you reserves for upgrading to a dedicated graphics card. The choice of the case is a matter of personal preference; we have primarily focused on good ventilation and upgradability and opted for the AeroCool Prime with a glass window.
Mainboard: MSI B450M Pro-VDH Max
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
CPU Cooler: AMD Wraith Stealth (included with CPU)
RAM: 2x 8 GB DDR4 RAM 3600 MHz CL17 (€39)
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon Graphics (7CU, integrated in CPU)
SSD: 1 TB PCIe 3.0 SSD
Power Supply: 450W Xilence Performance A+ III
Case: AeroCool Prime
Fan (optional): Arctic P12 PWM (€5)
Total (as of 24.07.2023): €346
Gaming PC for 1080p Medium (~520 Euros)
Let’s move on to the most affordable gaming PC configuration with a dedicated graphics card. For the GPU, we have chosen a highly controversial model that we did not have a good opinion of in our test. However, the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT is unrivaled in terms of price in the entry-level segment, unless you consider the used market. Both the GTX 1650 and A380 are significantly slower. The computing power is sufficient to play current games at least on low to medium settings. To unleash the full performance of the graphics card, you should definitely opt for a CPU and motherboard with PCIe 4.0 and Resizable Bar support. We have chosen a combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and an affordable B660 motherboard with four RAM slots. This allows you to easily upgrade to a Raptor Lake CPU or even the rumored Raptor Lake Refresh in the future.
The installed 16 GB of RAM can also be easily upgraded to 32 GB if needed. The system storage is a 1 TB M.2 SSD, which can also be easily expanded with an additional M.2 SSD, SATA SSD, or HDD. This gaming PC offers an affordable entry point with many opportunities for future upgrades. The power supply is a 550-watt model with 80 PLUS Bronze certification. The hardware is enclosed in a compact case with decent ventilation.
CPU: Intel Core i3-12100F
Mainboard: B660
RAM: 16 GB DDR4 RAM 3600 MHz CL17 (2x 8 GB)
SSD: 1 TB M.2 SSD
Power Supply: 550W Xilence Performance A+ III
Case: AeroCool Prime
Fan (optional): Arctic P12 PWM (€5)
Total (as of 24.07.2023): €520
Gaming PC for 1080p High (~610 Euros)
- Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super
- SSD: 240 GB
- HDD: 1 TB
- Power Supply: 450W
- Case: NZXT H510
Total (as of 24.07.2023): 620 Euros
Gaming PC for 1440p High (~820 Euros)
- Processor: Intel Core i5-11600K
- Mainboard: B660
- RAM: 16 GB DDR4 RAM 3600 MHz CL17 (2x 8 GB)
- Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
- SSD: 480 GB
- Power Supply: 550W
- Case: NZHaldy 35
Total (as of 24.07.2023): 830 Euros
Gaming PC for 1440p Medium (~685 Euros)
- Processor: Intel Core i5-11400F
- Mainboard: B660
- RAM: 8 GB DDR4 RAM 3200 MHz CL16 (1x 8 GB)
- Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
- SSB: 240 GB
- Power Supply: 450W
- Case: NZXT H510
Total (as of 24.07.2023): 695 Euros
Gaming PC for 1440p High (~870 Euros)
- Processor: Intel Core i5-11600K
- Mainboard: B660
- RAM: 16 GB DDR4 RAM 3600 MHz CL17 (2x 8 GB)
- Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
- SSD: 480 GB
- Power Supply: 550W
- Case: NZXT H510
Total (as of 24.07.2023): 870 Euros
Gaming PC for 1440p High (~870 Euros)
- Processor: Intel Core i5-11600K
- Mainboard: B660
- RAM: 16 GB DDR4 RAM 3600 MHz CL17 (2x 8 GB)
- SSD: 480 GB
- Power Supply: 550W
- Case: NZXT H510
Total (as of 24.07.2023): 870 Euros
