To ensure that your next computer is suitable for more than just surfing (see symbol picture ;)), you should definitely pay attention to a few aspects that play an important role in its suitability for gaming. In order for a gaming PC to be enjoyable even at a low price, you should keep in mind that gaming performance is usually most influenced by the weakest link in the chain. It is not possible to compensate for the weakness of another component with an extremely fast component. For example, even the best graphics card on the market cannot prevent a game from starting with an error message because there are not enough CPU cores. We therefore recommend that you pay particular attention to not creating a bottleneck when configuring.
Cheap gaming PC: You shouldn't settle for less
Below we give some tips on how to configure a gaming PC for under 1,000 euros so that it offers as much gaming fun as possible in current titles. We recommend making sure that the following points are met, both when building your own PC and when building complete PCs. Do you have any other ideas about what you should pay attention to when putting together a PC, for example components such as the housing, power supply and mainboard? Then please use the comment function.
6 CPU-Core my SMT: A Ryzen 5 5600 already offers such equipment for under 120 euros and thus meets the minimum requirements of many games. Even in the recommended system configurations, faster CPUs are often not found. In the CPU index, AMD's six-core processor has at least 60.7% of the gaming performance of the currently fastest model, the Core i9-14900K. However, we advise against four cores – if you don't have enough budget for a new Ryzen 5 5600, Core i5-12400F or similar, then the used market is also worth taking a look at.8 GiByte graphics memory: If PCGH looks back and checks how graphics cards perform several years after release, then one thing is usually clear: graphics memory plays a crucial role in how well a graphics card ages. Of course, the computing power and the feature set are also relevant, but here it is often less easy to estimate what will be necessary in a few years and what will be an optional luxury. 8 GiBytes enable the use of high or even maximum details in many games today and should continue to serve well for a long time at Full HD resolution. With a wide selection starting at around 200 euros for cards like a Radeon RX 6600, you get good value even when buying new: the card achieves 24.7% of the performance of an RTX 4090 in the now superseded PCGH CPU index of 2023. Nvidia's opponent RTX 3060, however, is not a good choice with 24.8% from around 280 euros – the more modern RTX 4060 from around 300 euros is available instead, which delivers noticeable added value at 33%. Intel's Arc A750 is a little insider tip with 28.9% starting at around 220 euros, especially since the drivers are constantly being optimized. When it comes to GPUs, you should definitely check the used market before buying a graphics card with too little RAM.16 GiByte RAM: Sure, more RAM would be better and PCGH usually recommends more RAM, but in the budget price range you have to be able to make compromises. The fact is that most games run well with this amount of memory as long as you close unnecessary applications and background services before starting the game, and even the amount of memory recommended by developers is often not higher. Since RAM can in most cases be upgraded relatively easily by adding modules, you don't have to go for 32 GiBytes straight away if your budget simply doesn't allow for it or if you don't have a CPU or graphics card. But very important: 32 GiByte standard RAM is better than 16 GiByte OC memory. Too little RAM has a much more drastic effect than a lower memory throughput, so prioritize the amount of memory accordingly.NVME-SSD: While it should now be known that hard drives should no longer be used for the operating system and only for installing retro games, these days there is actually no reason to buy a new SATA SSD: these data storage devices used to be noticeably cheaper than via PCI -Express connected M.2 SSDs, but those days are over. As of today, e.g. For example, the cheapest SATA SSD with 1 TB is only around three euros cheaper than an NVME SSD, which, thanks to PCI-Express 3.0 ×4, delivers around 6 times higher transfer rates and is therefore worth the minimal surcharge. The other way around is also true: a cheap NVME SSD is completely sufficient for an entry-level PC; it doesn't have to be PCI-Express 4.0 or even 5.0. The money saved is better invested in more capacity or other components.
If you are interested in what gaming PCs can look like that have been configured according to these criteria, then we will introduce you to two PCGH guide PCs below, which are currently available for 800 and 950 euros. The gaming computer for 950 euros, with an eight-core processor and 32 GiBytes of RAM, offers more than is necessary for gaming fun with little money. This pays off in demanding games and simulations (e.g. Flight Simulator) and increases longevity.
To the PCGH guide PCs at Dubaro
PCGH guide PCs: Configure a gaming PC for every budget
You can configure each PCGH guide PC extensively in Dubaro's PC configurator before ordering. So if you don't like a certain detail, then in most cases you have the option of adjusting a PCGH guide PC configuration so that it meets your expectations even better. You can therefore order the PC configurations with a different graphics card or additional hard drives, for example.
PCGH Guide PC 900 Edition with Ryzen 5 5600 + Geforce RTX 4060
The six-core Ryzen 5 5600 processor, which boosts up to 4.4 GHz, delivers a strong price-performance ratio and achieves 55.5% in the new PCGH CPU index, and even 60.7% in games. This CPU is combined with 16 GiByte DDR4-3600 RAM from Kingston Fury Beast on a Gigabyte B550M DS3H. The graphics display in the PCGH Guide PC 900 Edition is provided by a Geforce RTX 4060, which impresses in its price category with 28.3% in the PCGH graphics card index and 26.9% in the PCGH ray tracing index. The storage is a 1 TB Kingston NV2 SSD, which outperforms conventional SATA SSDs with speeds of up to 3,100 MB/s. The power supply is provided by a 500 watt Be quiet! Pure Power 11 and the Endorfy Ventum 200 Air housing with glass window give the whole thing an attractive design. This gaming PC, offered by Dubaro, has been reduced in price from 900 to 800 euros. The offer currently also includes a PCGH Carbonite Ultra thermal paste and a voucher for a PCGH special issue as a free bonus.
PCGH Guide PC 900 Edition (AMD Ryzen 5 5600 + Geforce RTX 4060, 1 TB NVME SSD, 16 GiB DDR4-3600) Buy gaming PC for 800 euros nowShare
PCGH Guide PC 1000 Edition with Ryzen 7 5800X + Geforce RTX 4060
The slightly larger budget in this configuration went into the CPU: An AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is used here. It comes to 61.6% in the PCGH CPU index, and in games it performs 64.9%. We have doubled the RAM from 16 to 32 GiByte, these are DDR4-3600 modules from Kingston from the Fury Beast series. A Geforce RTX 4060 is used for graphics calculations in the PCGH Guide PC 1000 Edition, which is installed on the Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2 socket AM4 motherboard together with all the components mentioned so far. The 1 TB NVME SSD is a Kingston NV2. A 700 watt Be quiet! Pure Power 11 is responsible, an Endorfy Ventum 200 Air with a glass window is used as the PC housing. The compilation, offered for 950 euros, reaches all buyers including a tube of PCGH Carbonite Ultra thermal paste and a voucher for a PCGH special issue.
PCGH guide PC 1000 Edition (AMD Ryzen 7 5800X + Geforce RTX 4060, 1 TB NVME SSD, 32 GiB DDR4-3600)Buy gaming PC for 950 euros nowShareTo the PCGH guide PCs at Dubaro
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