Custom PC

Best Gaming PC Components - The Elite List

By Edward Chester. Posted

Finding the right balance of PC components to build the best gaming PC for your budget is a tricky task. So to make things as easy as possible we've done the hard work for you. Below you'll find six different gaming PC builds that showcase what we feel is the best hardware selection for a range of budgets.

Each build specifies the best CPU, graphics card, memory, motherboard and storage for any given price range. We don't include power supplies and cases so you'll need to factor in the extra budget for your preferred case and power supply, and double-check there's room in your case for your chosen components, especially the GPU cooler and graphics card.

We've largely stopped reviewing power supplies, as the 80 Plus certification scheme has now effectively eliminated unstable PSUs. Instead we've recommended the wattage and minimum 80Plus certification you should consider for each component bundle. You can then choose whether you want a PSU with modular or captive cables.

We update each recommended build every month.

Best Gaming PC for under £375 ($400)

The integrated graphics of the AMD Ryzen 3 3400G provides enough performance for some basic gaming while also delivering quad-core CPU performance. Needs a micro-ATX or ATX case. We recommend a 350W 80 Plus power supply.

Component Name Supplier Price (inc VAT)
CPU AMD Ryzen 5 3400G Amazon £147
CPU cooler AMD Wraith air cooler included with CPU N/A N/A
GPU AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 integrated into CPU N/A N/A
Memory 16GB (2 x 8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHz Scan £91
Motherboard Asus TUF B450M-Plus Gaming (micro-ATX) Scan £83
Storage 500GB WD Blue SN550 (M.2 NVMe) Amazon £54
Total £375

Best 1080p Gaming PC for £1100 ($1100)

This six-core PC provides enough performance for 1080p gaming. Needs an ATX case with room for a 150mm-tall air cooler. We recommend a 450W 80 Plus Bronze power supply.

Component Name Supplier Price (inc VAT)
CPU Intel Core i5-11400F Amazon £150
CPU cooler ARTIC Freezer 7 X (air cooler) Amazon £16
GPU Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 CCL £630
Memory 16GB (2 x8 GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX Pro 3200MHz Scan £91
Motherboard MSI MAG B560 Tomahawk WiFi (ATX) CCLonline £170
Storage WD Blue SN500 NVMe 500GB (M.2 NVMe) Ebuyer £54
Total £1111

Upgrades

Component Name Supplier Price (inc VAT)
Swap Graphics card AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT Ebuyer £750

Best 1440p Gaming PC for £1500 ($1500)

Get great 1440p gaming with this mid-range gaming PC build.

Component Name Supplier Price (inc VAT)
CPU AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Scan £264
CPU cooler Antec Neptune 240 scan.xo.uk £80
GPU AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT Overclockers.co.uk £750
Memory 16GB (2 x 8GB) Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3600MHz Scan £105
Motherboard MSI MPG B550 Gaming Carbon WiFi Box £165
Storage 1TB ADATA XPG GAMMIX S50 Lite (M.2 NVMe) Amazon £119
Total £1,483

Upgrades

Component Name Supplier Price (inc VAT)
Add secondary storage Western Digital Blue 4TB Amazon £80

Best Mid-range Gaming PC for under £2300 ($2300)

Needs an ATX case with room for a 240mm all-in-one liquid cooler. We recommend a 600W 80 PLus Bronze power supply.

Component Name Supplier Price (inc VAT)
CPU AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Overclockers £380
CPU cooler Lian Li Galahad 240mm (240mm AIO liquid cooler) CCLonline £110
GPU AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Scan £1200
Memory 16GB (2 x 8GB) Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3600MHz Scan £105
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming (ATX) Ebuyer £290
Storage 1TB ADATA XPG GAMMIX S50 Lite Amazon £119
Total £2,104

Upgrades

Component Name Supplier Price (inc VAT)
Swap CPU cooler Corsair iCUE H100i Elite Capellix (240mm AIO liquid cooler) Amazon £150
Add secondary storage Western Digital Blue 4TB Amazon £80

Best 4K Gaming PC for £2500 ($3000)

A 12-core CPU, 4K gaming-capable graphics card and real-time ray-tracing are all possible with this build. Needs an E-ATX case with room for a 240mm-all-in-one liquid cooler. We recommend a 650W 80 Plus Gold power supply.

Component Name Supplier Price (inc VAT)
CPU AMD Ryzen 9 5800X Overclockers £408
CPU cooler Corsair iCUE H100i Elite Capellix (240mm AIO liquid cooler) CCLonline £150
GPU AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT Scan £1590
Memory 16GB (2 x 8GB) Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3600MHz Scan £105
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming (ATX) Overclockers £290
Storage 1TB WD Black SN850 (M.2 NVMe) Amazon £159
Total £2,674

Upgrades

Component Name Supplier Price (inc VAT)
Add secondary storage Western Digital Blue 4TB Amazon £80

Best Workstation/Content Creation PC

The serious multi-threading power of the Threadripper 2950X makes this a massively capable workstation PC. Needs an ATX case with room for a 240mm all-in-one liquid cooler. We recommend a 700W 80 Plus Gold power supply.

Component Name Supplier Price (inc VAT)
CPU AMD Threadripper 5900X Amazon £490
CPU cooler NZXT Kraken X63 (280mm AIO liquid cooler) Overclockers £130
GPU AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT CCLonline £750
Memory 32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 3600MHz Scan £259
Motherboard MSI Prestige X570 Creation (E-ATX) CCL £440
Storage 2TB WD Black SN850 Amazon £370
Total £1,590

Upgrades

Component Name Supplier Price (inc VAT)
Swap Graphics card Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Founders Edition Scan £469
Swap CPU AMD Ryzen 9 5950X Amazon £700
Add secondary storage 4TB Western Digital Blue Amazon £80

We’ve included links to products on online retail stores like Amazon. If you click and make a purchase, Custom PC may receive a small commission. We only include links to relevant products from reputable stores.

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