We are well into the new year, and it might be time to consider getting a new PC. The prices have been volatile since that whole cryptocurrency jazz, but they’ve dwindled over time. Right now, they are suitable for those seeking to upgrade or get started with PC gaming.
This article will look at the budget side of things: mid-range offers perfect for current titles. Not everyone has the funds (or the will) to go far beyond the average consumer’s needs, and they shouldn’t have to. Lower-priced builds are good enough for budget-oriented gamers who need their gaming fix without giving an arm and a leg for it.
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So, without further ado, let’s see what 2023 has in stock for us regarding budget PC builds!
Best Overall
Runner Up
Budget Pick
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How we rate the builds
Before we look at the builds properly, we need to define our criteria. We’ll grade each PC’s price, individual parts, and overall price-to-performance ratio. Overviewing these few aspects of each build will grant us an in-depth understanding of what that particular build is capable of (and if it’s worth the price).
To keep the article from being too long, we will grade GPU, CPU, Memory, and Other parts. The latter will be an overall comment on the rest of the build outside the three primary categories.
With that out of the way, let’s look at the builds.
5. Thermaltake LCGS Glacier i3510
| Pros: | Cons: |
| ✅ Intel Core i5-10400F CPU ✅ Intel B560 Chipset ATX motherboard ✅ 16GB ToughRam DDR4 RGB ✅ 1TB NVMe M.2 ✅ NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050, 3x Display Port/1x HDMI |
❌ Windows 11 ❌ water cooling |
Thermaltake has been making strides in the PC building market these past few years, and their recent pre-built entry is not too shabby. First, the price: it costs around $850-900, placing it on the higher end of the budget price range. Nevertheless, we believe the price is just right.
The GPU is an RTX 3050, a powerful entry-level Nvidia graphics card. While not top-of-the-line and from a previous generation, this little guy can pull more than a few punches in demanding titles. You’ll experience enjoyable and competitive frames in most new games but also good performance in professional workloads.
This build packs intel’s 10th generation i5 10400F CPU. While AMD Ryzen’s rapid rise overshadowed that generation, it had some excellent candidates, and the 10400F is a great example. It is a mid-range CPU that will handle nearly everything you throw at it and should perform well in all the newest gaming titles.
As for Memory and Storage, you can expect 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a 1TB NVMe drive. Both are enough to satisfy all your gaming and space needs, but expansion is possible if you want or need more.
Other parts are all solid and of reputable brands and serve to justify the price further. Overall, this build is great for entry-level gamers and enthusiasts who are seeking a cheaper start. You can look at builds like these as a sandbox, i.e., a foundation on which to build and upgrade further.
Is Thermaltake’s PC good in terms of price-to-performance? Yes. While there is room for improvement, this build will perform as required and offer an excellent, enjoyable experience.
Also read: Top 7 Best Gaming PCs Under $800
4. Lenovo Legion Tower 5i
| Pros: | Cons: |
| ✅ 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700 12-Core processor ✅ 2TB NVMe SSD + 2TB 7200 rpm HDD ✅ Intel Wi-Fi 6 (2×2/160) ✅ Upgraded to Windows 10 Pro ✅ Lenovo Black Wired Keyboard and Mouse included |
❌ Windows 11 ❌ water cooling |
Coming in at a lower price but with some significant performance cuts than the previous entry, we have the Lenovo Legion Tower 5i. This is an entry-level, budget PC built by industry veteran Lenovo. While they’re mostly known for their laptops, their PC builds aren’t half bad, as seen in this example.
The Legion Tower 5i sports a 1660 Super GPU. This is a two-generation old graphics card aimed at 1080p medium-high graphics outputs. It’s not a card you’d use to fire up games at higher resolutions or maxed-out graphics settings. Nonetheless, the card can run all new titles just fine and at high frames per second, but some settings will need tweaking.
It has a newer CPU than Thermaltake’s, packing an 11th-generation i5 11400H. It’s a gaming CPU aimed at budget-oriented gamers who want the performance without emptying their wallets. A direct upgrade from the previous generation, the 11400H also performs well in professional environments, so don’t be afraid of using it for those purposes.
The Memory and Storage side of things could be much better with this build. 8GB of RAM is simply not enough in 2023, so an upgrade would be in order as soon as you buy this PC. A 256GB SSD paired with 1TB Hard Drive is good but not perfect. It would be best if you also looked into getting a beefier SSD for the sake of playing modern games with enough speed to back you up.
Other parts are industry-standard, and there’s nothing to note. We will reflect on the case itself, as we think it’s one of the prettiest among the competition. Even though this build isn’t perfect under the hood, its exterior looks do much to compensate for that. But then again, RGB lights can only help so much.
At $799, you should get this build only at a sale or with a steep discount. Then, using the extra funds, you should upgrade the lacking Memory and Storage. At any rate, if you see it at around $650, don’t fret about buying it right away.
3. Acer Predator Orion 3000
| Pros: | Cons: |
| ✅ 12th Gen lntel Core i7 Processor ✅ NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Graphics with 8GB of GDDR6 Video Memory ✅ Intel Wireless Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (Gig+) ✅ Predator RGB Gaming Keyboard and Predator RGB Gaming Mouse Included ✅ Windows 11 Home |
❌ 16GB DDR4 3200MHz Memory (expandable to 64GB) ❌ water cooling |
With a name that sounds otherworldly and looks equally cosmic, this Acer pre-built PC is solid. Resembling the previous entry in more ways than one, Acer’s Predator Orion 3000 offers a cheap, entry-level option for starting PC gamers.
It features the 1660 Super GPU we looked at with Lenovo a moment ago. As we’ve said above, this graphics card is a couple of generations old, but that doesn’t stop it from performing just as well in 2023. With the GPU shortage and supply chains being severely damaged, even a card like this is considered high-end these days. Nevertheless, if you find the opportunity, you should replace it with something more powerful.
It has a similar CPU to the Lenovo entry, only differing in one letter. The i5 11400F is equally powerful in gaming, but professional work environments are also fine. This CPU is cheap and oriented toward budget gamers who want good out-of-the-box performance.
While Acer’s build has a better SSD of 512GB, it lacks in Storage significantly. 512GB of space is insufficient to cover modern titles, which can be as heavy as several hundred GBs. Buying a bigger SSD or HDD is a must with this build, so keep that in mind if you’re considering a purchase. The same applies to Memory, as 8GB of RAM is lackluster and won’t be enough for new games and workloads.
The other parts of this build are all standard stuff, with nothing significant to note. The case is beautiful and will at least please the eye. But what truly matters is the parts contained within, which can be improved significantly considering the price.
Speaking of the price, this build ranges from around $649 to $799. We believe it’s worth the former price, but that the latter might be too high considering the cuts made. If you really consider purchasing this build, make sure you do it during a sale or with some other discount.
Also read: Top 5 Best Gaming Chairs Under $300
2. HP Victus 15L
| Pros: | Cons: |
| ✅ AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Processor (3.90 GHz, up to 4.40 GHz Max Boost, 6 Cores, 12 Threads, 16 MB Cache) ✅ AMD Radeon RX 6400 Graphics (4 GB GDDR6 dedicated) ✅ Realtek Wi-Fi 6 (2×2) and Bluetooth 5.2 combo ✅ Beautiful, more consistent new design ✅ Windows 11 Home |
❌ Up to 32GB RAM ❌ 1 X DisplayPort |
Whenever you walk into a tech shop or visit an online vendor, the HP name undoubtedly comes up at least once. They’ve been in the game for decades and have built a reputation seldom replicated by other brands. Their new HP Victus 15L desktop solution comes at a reasonable price and contains excellent parts. What it sacrifices in looks, it makes up for with raw performance.
Sporting a medium-range RX 6400 GPU provides players with solid 1080p performance that may even go higher if pushed to the absolute limits. This graphics card isn’t a top-shelf beast like its bigger brothers, but it still does the job well enough. Considering this build’s price, it is incredible that they crammed this in it at all.
The real gem of this build is definitely the CPU. The AMD Ryzen 5600G is one of the best gaming CPUs in the market, capable of delivering top-level performance in all titles. Combined with an RX 6000 series graphics card, it allows the use of AMD’s groundbreaking RDNA 2 system that improves the PCs computing power significantly.
Regarding Storage, the PC comes with only a 512GB SSD. This is on the lower side, but the build overall is pretty cheap, so getting a storage expansion won’t be a big problem. The SSD is large enough to make an HDD purchase viable, so look into that if you wish to get this HP PC. The Memory side also needs immediate improvement, as 8GB won’t cover modern titles and workloads.
All the other parts are bog-standard, including the case, which is minimalistic and slick in its design. HP made clever choices regarding cutting down the price, and the looks are part of it. Nevertheless, it isn’t about how a PC looks but how it performs, and the HP Victus certainly performs well.
At just $599, this PC beats most of the competition by a mile in the price-to-performance department. Its dirt-cheap price means you can purchase improvements and have a great little PC for less than the industry average. Now that’s a deal if we’ve ever seen one.
1. Yeyian Katana X10
| Pros: | Cons: |
| ✅ INTEL 11th Gen Core i5 11400F 6-Core 12-Thread 2.6GHz (4.4 GHz Max Boost) ✅ INTEL B560 Chipset Motherboard ✅ 500GB NVMe SSD, 16GB DDR4 3200MHz Gaming Memory with Heat Spreaders ✅ INTEL High Performance Cooler ✅ Windows 11 64-bit Pre-Installed |
❌ water cooling |
A newcomer in the pre-built industry, Yeyian has been making some great moves and set a name for itself fairly quickly. This is no wonder considering the quality of their products, and the Yeyian Katana X10 is no exception. I mean, how can a PC named Katana ever be considered bad?
The PC comes with Nvidia’s 3060 Ti GPU, a last-generation beast that conquered the market. The RTX 3000 series is one of Nvidia’s best, and the 3060 Ti dominated the budget-oriented part of the gaming industry for the entire generation. It was only handicapped a little by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting supply chain disruption. Even so, it persevered and found its rightful place in many homes worldwide.
This GPU can run all new titles at exceptional quality and FPS at 1080 and 1440p. While the latter bit will hamper the performance somewhat, it can push through just fine. DLSS and dynamic resolution technologies with this card also help you run games at high resolutions without any performance hits.
The build sports intel’s i5 11400F CPU that we just looked at in the previous entry. It’s an overall fantastic CPU that does its job reliably. Since we’ve already detailed it more in the previous entry, we will move on to the following parts.
In terms of Storage, the PC comes with an incredibly quick 500GB NVMe drive. It makes up for the lack of capacity with its sheer speed, but what use is speed if nothing can fit on it? This is a major issue of this build, as an immediate expansion of space will be required for modern gaming, where a single title can take up half a drive.
Memory is a non-issue with 16GB of high-speed DDR4 RAM. Its top-of-the-line 3200MHz of speed complements the CPU and helps with overall performance. Though the build struggles with Storage, we can see that the memory department was given special attention.
All the other parts are branded, of good quality, and have been selected carefully. What stands out is undoubtedly the case and its accompanying accessories that glow, look great and exude a dominating feel. This PC looks and performs as cool and lethal as its name implies.
Despite being the priciest of all entries here at a staggering price of $1149, it is worth every penny. It’s a great mid to high-range entry for those with some extra money to spare while still not being an overpriced lump of bolts and silicon. We highly recommend this build, even with the storage problem (that is easily solvable anyway).
Also read: Best Gaming Mouse Under $50 – Top 10 Ranked!
Conclusion
The PC gaming industry is growing, and everyone is seeking to get on the hype train. The five budget builds above are perfect for all sorts of buyers: starters, budget-oriented mid-rangers, and open-ended enthusiasts. Whatever you may be, any of the above is excellent for starting your PC gaming journey.
(5 votes, average: 4.40 out of 5)
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