The goal of this guide is to build the best gaming PC possible for a $1,000 budget. Not only will this system handle modern games at this price point, it’ll also hold its own for everyday tasks.

The Build

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 — $210

This is the heart of your system and you want something fast. The Intel i5 is the right choice for a gaming PC. Consider the K variant if you want overclocking headroom — if you can get it for the same price or less, it’s worth it.

Motherboard: ASRock Extreme4 Z87 — $145

A great value board. Don’t be tricked into spending $250–$300+ on a motherboard — it won’t buy you any additional gaming performance.

RAM: G.Skill 16GB (4×4GB) DDR3-1600 — $150

DDR3-1600 is the spec you want here. Brand matters less — G.Skill has a long reputation for reliability and value.

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB — $55

If you go with a traditional hard drive, make sure it spins at 7200RPM on SATA 6Gb/s. Slower models trade performance for energy savings — not what you want in a gaming rig. See the SSD upgrade option below.

GPU: PNY Nvidia GTX 760 — $240

The GPU has the biggest impact on gaming performance. Don’t cheap out here — the better the GPU, the higher the frame rates and the more you can push quality settings. The GTX 760 is available from many brands; they all use the same chip with slight differences in cooling and warranty. PNY, EVGA, ASUS, MSI, and others are all fine.

Case: CoolerMaster HAF 912 — $60

Case choice is personal — pick something you like. The only hard requirement is that it follows the ATX standard to accept the motherboard above.

PSU: Corsair HX750 — $130

Corsair has been building reliable power supplies for years. 750W is more than enough for this build. Don’t cheap out on the PSU — it’s the one component that can take everything else with it if it fails.

Total: $990

Optional Upgrades

SSD: Samsung 250GB 840 EVO — +$160

An SSD is the single best upgrade you can make to any build. It isn’t strictly necessary, but it makes the whole system feel significantly faster in everyday use and reduces game load times noticeably. If you have room in the budget, grab one and keep the HDD as a second storage drive.

GPU: EVGA GTX 770 — +$120

The GTX 770 is about $120 more than the GTX 760 and buys you a meaningful step up in gaming performance.

OS: Windows 8 — +$100

Required for modern gaming — grab a 64-bit OEM copy from Newegg if you don’t already have a license.

With all optional upgrades: ~$1,370

Prices shift over time — if you’re reading this later in the year, the parts list still applies and you’ll likely find the components even cheaper.