Best gaming PC build under $400 2024 – build the best $400 PC

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Our $400 Custom Gaming PC Build
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Table of Contents

Best gaming PC under $400

We’ve updated our best gaming PC build under $400 with one of AMD Ryzen APUs, a capable processor with integrated graphics, which negates the need for a dedicated GPU. While newer 8000 series Ryzen APUs have been released, none of them fit into our very tight budget. The older SKUs still offer semi-decent performance and make sense in a build for less than $400. You don’t need the latest platform to get lower-end performance. We’ve also updated our prebuilt computer recommendations for those who prefer to purchase rather than build, although we strongly advise you to build.

With the 400-dollar gaming PC, our main focus was to extract as much performance as possible from every penny. While we aren’t at the price range where value is at its absolute best, we have enough wiggle room in the budget to make 1080p gaming very playable. While this may not be our cheapest gaming PC build, it’s still extremely affordable with a slightly stronger processor and graphical power. We consider this build entry-level for both performance standards and build difficulty, making it the perfect gateway into PC building. However, you should limit your expectations. This does not come with a dedicated GPU but is set up so you can continue to save for one and then install it without issue.

$400 gaming PC build of the month

The $400 PC build we have set up today offers the best price-to-performance ratio we can achieve with just $400. This PC is equipped with a Ryzen 5 5600G, which will serve the purpose of both the CPU and GPU in this gaming machine. Because of this, the performance is limited to 1080p but can be further improved with the likes of AMD’s FSR. To make sure the 5600G has everything it needs, we paired it with an A520M motherboard and 16GB of DDR4 @3200MHz. Giving the 5600G the best chance of processing high frame rates. We’ve managed to do what many cannot when building a budget PC, we’ve included an NVMe WD Blue SN580 in the components list, ensuring long load times and laggy operating systems won’t be an issue in this build. That’s more than you can say for some more expensive PCs out there.

How we test

We carefully build each of our recommended PCs to ensure the best performance and compatibility. Our PCs are thoroughly tested with everyday use and various games to ensure they can handle demanding tasks, all the while recording temperatures to ensure overall system health and stability. We also test for overclocking capability, but please be aware that overclocking has risks and may void warranties.

 

The WePC experts that worked on this build

Benchmarking Specialist
Team Seb

Sebastian Kozlowski

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Seb is a Mechanical Engineering Graduate who has always been passionate and involved in gaming and computers. Ever since tinkering with the family computer and being the tech wizard in the family, he’s had an interest in PCs and all things tech. So while at University build his own computer, became tech support for others and finally found a career working with them daily.

Custom Build Specialist
Team Shaun

Shaun Conroy

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Shaun is a gaming enthusiast and computer science graduate who has been working with computers for the last 15 years. He took a shine to competitive FPS back in the mid-2000s and hasn’t looked back since.

Prebuilt gaming PC under $400

It is always a great idea to build your own desktop computer, especially if you’re restricted on how much you can spend. Nonetheless, not everyone is fond of building their gaming computer due to the hassle that comes with it. If you’re someone who isn’t overly keen on the idea of building their own, then you’ll be happy to know we’ve searched the web for the best-prebuilt gaming PC for around $400.

Our custom gaming PC build under $400

  • Last Updated - Mar 6, 2024

Considering this $400 build? We’ve outlined all the components below to help make this process as easy as possible.

Coolermaster Masterbox Q300L case

Our $400 Custom Gaming PC Build

Our best custom-built gaming PC for under $400 is an excellent example of entry-level gaming performance when sticking to this price. This PC is designed to give you an entry point into gaming, with the idea of leaving room for future upgrades and the addition of a dedicated graphics card down the line.

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While keeping the price relatively low, we can still squeeze in the 5600G, 6 core/ 12 thread APU with Radeon Vega graphics, and a base clock speed of 3.9GHz, with a max boost of 4.4GHz. The 5600G provides enough power to play low-intensive games such as CS2, Fortnite, DOTA 2, and Rocket League at 1080p while maintaining smooth, playable FPS. It may not be the best CPU in the world, but it’s certainly capable.

The motherboard is an area where we can save some money for this budget, that’s why we’ve opted for the ASRock A520M. This board offers enough in terms of features and offers out-of-the-box compatibility with Ryzen CPUs. That being said, it’s still effectively an entry-level board but slots nicely into this $400 build. Ultimately, if you’re looking for an affordable board that’s going to achieve everything you’d want from a gaming motherboard, then look no further.

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The Ryzen 5 5600G comes with a stock cooler that we will be taking advantage of in this build to save some money.

Corsair is a trusted and reliable brand that brings some of the most affordable hardware offerings to our shelves. For that reason, we’ve opted for 16GB of their DDR4 Vengeance LPX Series 3200MHz RAM kit in our $400 build. This Memory leaves your PC in a good spot for any future upgrades and allows you to make the most of the 5600G we feature in this build. Remember that the CPU RAM and the VRAM become one when using an APU. So it’s not only the CPU that is dependent on this memory.

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As we mentioned before, this $400 build takes advantage of the iGPU inside the Ryzen 5 5600G, so there is no need for a dedicated GPU.

You’ll be glad to hear that this build makes use of a super-fast SSD storage solution. If you aren’t familiar with SSDs and how they work, in basic terms, the technology inside an SSD differs dramatically from that of traditional HDDs. This means they can read/write data much, much faster. We’ve gone for Western Digital’s 500GB SN580 SSD in this build as we think that’s enough to get you up and running. You might need to expand your storage capacity down the road to keep up with demand, but for a start, this is a great SSD to go with.

Of all the entry-level cases we’ve recommended here on WePC, this is definitely the most aesthetically pleasing. It also has great out-of-the-box cooling, a clean design, great airflow, and plenty of room for a GPU or a few extra hard drives down the line. The Q300L currently showcases superb value for money and is the perfect option for this $400 gaming build. This PC case comes with one pre-installed 120mm fan, providing your system with some airflow out of the box. If you add a dedicated GPU to this build we recommend buying another case fan.

When buying a cost-effective PSU, we always recommend buying from reputable, reliable manufacturers. If you don’t, you run a serious risk of hardware malfunction down the line. For that reason, we’ve gone for a Thermaltake Smart 500W white-rated PSU. It isn’t going to win any awards for the most outstanding PSU, but it certainly does the job and will provide your components with efficient and safe power for years to come.

Coolermaster Masterbox Q300L case

Our $400 Custom Gaming PC Build

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Things to consider with this $400 PC build

What you get for $400

For $400, you have to curb your expectations of what you want this PC to do. For gaming, you can expect around 30FPS in 1080p and 60 in 720p, which is perfect for e-sports titles, but not so much the AAA story-driven games. There have been a lot of compromises made when trying to confine to this tight budget, one of the most notable forfeitures is the dedicated GPU. With that being said, we do have a very efficient CPU to do all of the heavy lifting, the Ryzen 5 5600G is one of the best value gaming APUs on the market and is perfect for our purposes. We have paired the Ryzen 5600G with ultra-fast DDR4 3200MHz memory, as the 5000 series Ryzen core communication speed is directly tied to RAM speed, giving the Ryzen 5 a fighting chance.

Performance

This $400 gaming PC build is expected to hit the 30 – 60 FPS mark in 1080P, and 60FPS and over in the lower 720P resolution. This isn’t ideal for those resource-heavy AAA titles, but it’ll do just fine for those E-sports players who need every drop of FPS possible. To be frank, you’d get much better performance out of our $500 PC build if you just saved up the extra $100.

$400 PC vs Console

In reality, there’s no way that this $400 PC can compete with the likes of a PS5 or an Xbox Series X in gaming workloads. Consoles are incredibly optimized and the games that are made for them are tailor-made to the hardware that these consoles carry, and we can’t compete with that level of optimization. However, with our $400 build, you can use it as, well, a PC. Surf the web, create a website, develop a game, do some software development, all things you can’t do (or would be a pain to do) on a games console.

If you want a very capable home server or media PC, then this $400 PC build would be a great consideration against a console. you can still do some light gaming until you save up enough money to pick up a 6600 XT for example, and then you’re off to the races. But if we’re talking of exclusively gaming, there is much more value to be found in a console.

Can you overclock on a $400 budget?

The short answer is yes, you’re probably overclocking right now and you don’t even know it. Do you know how you have to enable XMP or DOCP to make the most out of your memory? That’s overclocking. If you’re thinking about pushing the 5600G beyond its limits, then we would suggest overclocking the GPU component rather than the CPU component. Doing both will produce too much heat, and give you diminishing returns. Remember, you have to increase your cooling capacity if you want to overclock your CPU, which will cost extra for a better cooler.

Should you buy second hand?

Buying second-hand can be a great way to save money if you’re looking to make your budget go as far as possible. There are only a couple of things we recommend you stay away from when selecting second-hand parts, these are HDDs and Power supplies. There’s still a lot you can save when opting for second-hand components on a $400 budget. Ryzen 7 5700X CPUs go for around $130 right now, along with RTX 1650s that go for around $100. Even if you built the PC now, and used second-hand parts to upgrade the system later down the line, you’d still be saving money.

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$400 Custom PC Upgrade Options

  • Last Updated - Mar 6, 2024

If you’re looking to inject a little more performance into your $400 PC, then you can opt for a few of these upgrades. Bear in mind, that you will need to upgrade to a dedicated GPU if the CPU you choose does not come with an iGPU.

If you don’t have much money for upgrades but can stretch to a $500 budget, then you should instead opt for a $500 PC build which introduces a dedicated GPU to the PC, which more than triples the performance of this machine.

If you’re looking to inject a little more performance into your $400 PC, then you can opt for a few of these upgrades. Bear in mind, that you will need to upgrade to a dedicated GPU if the CPU you choose does not come with an iGPU.

If you don’t have much money for upgrades but can stretch to a $500 budget, then you should instead opt for a $500 PC build which introduces a dedicated GPU to the PC, which more than triples the performance of this machine.

Operating System & Peripherals

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Building Tips

We understand that building a PC, especially if it’s your first time, can be a relatively tricky and strenuous process. Below we have outlined some of our best building tips so that you don’t make the same mistake so many have before you. If our tips aren’t enough, we have created a list of the most popular PC building questions, which should cover pretty much everything there is to do with PC building. Furthermore, we would recommend checking our most popular mistakes made by PC builders page as well.

FAQs

Is a $400 PC worth it?

Honestly, there is much better value to be had than a $400 PC. If you save up an extra $100 you can opt for a $500 PC with a dedicated GPU, which will perform much better in every aspect.

How long will the $400 PC last?

In terms of longevity, We’ve seen PCs last 10-plus years, but future-proofing is a different story. This PC is already struggling to hang on, the fact that this build doesn’t have a dedicated GPU holds it back. We’d stronglyt reccomend either saving the extra $100, or upgrading your GPU as soon as possible.

Closing Thoughts

This is our best custom PC build for under $400! Our detailed guide streamlines the hardware selection and building process, sparing you the effort and frustration of looking for compatible parts. It’s perfect if you’re a beginner aiming to play low-intensity competitive esports games at 720 – 1080p. This build is ready for action and can be upgraded whenever you’re ready.

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