TRIX April 14, 2025, 7:15 p.m.

Need advice for best gaming pc under $1000 without getting ripped off

Just landed my first job out of college and finally have some cash to replace my ancient laptop that struggles to run Minecraft at 30fps. Looking to get into modern gaming after years of missing out!

Want something that can handle most newer titles at decent settings without completely emptying my bank account. Budget is around $1000 but that's pretty firm since I'm also paying off student loans.

I'm lost in all the specs and options. Building my own seems overwhelming (never done it before) but I've heard prebuilts are overpriced for what you get. GPU prices finally seem reasonable again but there are so many options.

Mostly want to play stuff like Starfield, newer Total War games, and maybe some Cyberpunk. Don't need to run everything at ultra settings with 500fps, just want smooth gameplay that looks decent on my 1080p monitor.

Any recommendations for either prebuilts or part lists that would give me the best bang for buck? Really don't want to waste money on something that'll be outdated in a year.

crazy driver April 14, 2025, 10:19 p.m.

Saving u hours of youtube rabbit holes: literally buy anything with 4060/4060ti + i5 or ryzen 5. Thats it. Done. Gaming at 1080p is EASY now. Stop overthinking. Prebuilt, custom, whatever. Just get that gpu + that cpu tier and ur golden for 3-4 years minimum

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BLEND April 15, 2025, 12:44 a.m.

$1000 gets you nothing worth buying new in this economy lmfaooo 😭 my little brother just dropped $1200 and still had to compromise on garbage tier peripherals + no rgb. used market only real option these days unless you're cool with potato graphics and 45fps

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LLIaMaH April 15, 2025, 3 p.m.

Gaming laptops actually decent now?? Got asus tuf a15 (ryzen 7/3050) for $849, literally plays everything i throw at it. Portable for college too. Desktop elitists will attack me but whatevs, not everyone has space for huge gaming setup

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spaniel1993 April 15, 2025, 11:25 p.m.

dawg forget these pc nerds obsessing over fps... CONSOLE. get xbox series x ($399 now) plus game pass. boom, done, under budget with hundreds of games instant access. PC "master race" in shambles bc consoles straight value kings this gen and everyone knows it

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e1163 April 16, 2025, 5:12 p.m.

Grabbed that CyberPowerPC Gamer Master (AMD Ryzen 5 5500/RX 6400 4GB) when it hit $699 at amazon. Nothing special but runs everything smooth af at 1080p. Added 16gb ram myself (easy upgrade even for noob) and now its perfect. Thermals suck but like...who cares at this price point lol

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LOL@@ April 16, 2025, 10:17 p.m.

Look at microcenter if anywhere near you!! Their in-house powerspec brand like $200-300 cheaper than identical specs online because they make $ on accessories/warranties

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Hiryrg April 17, 2025, 1:23 a.m.

FR!!! drove 3hrs to microcenter saved like $280 vs amazon/newegg. plus they actually explain stuff instead of just pushing most expensive option. gas money well spent

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booom April 17, 2025, 9:27 p.m.

yall typing paragraphs about cpu/gpu combos meanwhile im playing elden ring max settings on office optiplex ($180 refurb) + rx 6600 ($220) + ram upgrade ($50). Ugly beige box goes brrrr while yall comparing rgb patterns lmaooo 💀

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tompsons1993 April 19, 2025, 11:06 a.m.

Careful buying prebuilts without understanding their proprietary motherboard limitations - many use custom form factors preventing future upgrades forcing complete system replacement instead of component upgrades when single part becomes outdated

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Fantom1996 April 22, 2025, 7:55 p.m.

u realize starfield minimum specs ALONE basically eat ur entire budget right??? Like bruh moment expecting $1000 to run newest titles smoothly 💀 Not trying to be mean but either save more $$ or prepare for potato graphics/choppy gameplay. Bethesda games optimization = straight doo doo water

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kara kanly April 26, 2025, 3:43 p.m.

Snagged the skytech gaming chronos (i3-10100F / GTX 1650) during flash sale. regrets? ZERO. Thing absolutely SLAPS for 1080p gaming. Ignore haters saying prebuilts trash - this thing cable managed better than i ever could lol

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21noon May 1, 2025, 9:57 p.m.

U know what nobody ever mentions?? NOISE. My "amazing specs for the price" prebuilt sounds like jet engine 24/7. Spent another $100+ fixing cooling just so gf wouldn't murder me. Cheap = loud af usually, factor that in if shared living space

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Spendaattatly May 7, 2025, 8:30 p.m.

we gatekeeping pc gaming so hard with these comments... TRIX literally just wants decent 1080p rig coming from LAPTOP MINECRAFT. almost ANY modern setup will blow their mind

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Qala1 May 10, 2025, 11:47 p.m.

THIS. mf in comments acting like you need nasa supercomputer to enjoy games. My 2yo budget build still plays everything at settings that would've blown my mind 5 years ago. Perspective check needed fr

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