Best gaming PC under $800 2024 – build the best $800 gaming PC

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Table of Contents

Best Gaming PC Under $800

Before we break down the components of our best gaming PC build under $800, let’s discuss what you can expect from a PC on this budget. While this is considered to be in the mid-range, it is a little tricky to recommend wholeheartedly. AMD and Nvidia both have new budget GPUs, however, they don’t offer the same value or results as some of the older generation cards do, especially since prices have decreased. Regardless, this combination of components assembles to build a PC capable of any AAA game titles in 1080p, with some scope for 1440p gaming too.

$800 gaming PC build of the month

This $800 PC provides the best performance for the price that we could find. The Ryzen 5 5600X has proven itself time and time again as the budget performance king, it is incredibly efficient and offers the best performance for the money. Pair this with the RX 6700 XT, and you have the makings of a formidable mid-tier PC build. We’ve even managed to squeeze in a 500GB NVMe SSD, to keep your OS and game load times as small as possible. This PC should be able to handle whatever you throw at it in terms of AAA titles in 1080p, and it can even manage some 1440p gameplay too, with some slight settings adjustments. Not to mention the fact you have AMD FSR on your side giving your GPU the ability to perform with the help of AI upscaling.

How We Test our PC builds

All of the PCs that we recommend are built and tested in the office, this is to ensure that the builds we recommend are fully functioning and don’t have any unexpected compatibility issues. We test these PCs with the slog of everyday life just to test the functionality and longevity as an office workhorse, and of course, we test the PCs with games too. The games we use range from lower demanding indi titles to very demanding AAA titles, to offer an accurate depiction of what you can expect from the machine we are building.

 

 

The WePC experts that worked on this build

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 $800

We may have come up with the best $800 gaming PC, but not everyone has the time, skills, or even patience to build their own. While we always recommend you build your own, don’t worry, we have you covered with some of the best-prebuilt recommendations too. Our best-prebuilt PCs for under $800 are from reputable manufacturers that feature a high level of build quality and come with a warranty for peace of mind.

Below we have included the best-prebuilt gaming PCs for around $800:

Our custom PC build under $800

  • Last Updated - Mar 1, 2024

Below is a more detailed explanation of why we’ve chosen each component and some note-worthy tips on what they can and can’t do.

ANTEC NX Series NX500M

Our $800 AMD Custom Gaming PC

Our best custom gaming PC under $800 sits perfectly in the price to performance sweet spot. This is an example of great gaming capability at an affordable amount. With this PC build, you are getting more cores and threads for your money, without compromising on performance, and can enjoy all games in 1080p max settings thanks to the 6000-series GPU.

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The Ryzen 5 5600X offers a great price-to-performance ratio and its value is the main reason we included it in the build. The 6-core, 12-thread processor is renowned for excellent value multi-core performance. With a competitive single-core performance metric to boot, thanks to its Ryzen 5 5600X.

What better motherboard to tie the $800 gaming PC build together than the MSI B550M Pro Wifi? Aside from making your life much easier, this motherboard comes with everything you would expect from a gaming perspective. This board has some overclocking headroom for those who would like to squeeze a bit of extra power from their components and supports M.2 SSDs and fast RAM support.

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No cooler is present for this $800 PC build as the 5600X comes with a Stock cooler.

While there could be a case made for faster RAM, the value in this Corsair LPX kit is too good to pass up. For that reason, we have included a 16GB kit with a speed of 3200MHz. RAM of this speed has been shown to boost the gaming performance when paired with a Ryzen CPU. This is because Ryzen core communication speeds are directly tied to memory speed in older CPUs.

The RX 6700XT GPU is a card many will know, and for good reason, it’s one of the best graphics cards available for its price. We’ve managed to squeeze this card into the $800 build by prioritizing it over other areas, such as a higher-capacity SSD. With this graphics card at your disposal, you can play any game you like in 1080p, high settings, with a brilliant performance in 1440p too – thanks to technologies such as FSR.

At this price category, compromises have to be made, such as SSD size. While we would have liked to include a faster 1TB SSD, this WD Blue model is no slouch. This SSD provides lightning-fast loading, which will also help with those heavy game loading times. If you feel you want to bolster the storage of this gaming rig, then check out our SSD upgrade path below.

The Antec NX500M PC case is well-priced and allows for exceptional airflow out of the box. While this case features great aesthetics largely thanks to its window, it also provides you with decent airflow performance thanks to the perforated front panel and pre-installed 120mm fan. Overall, this case is a solid choice for the $800 budget rig.

A 750W PSU is more than enough for this build, plus the extra headroom will give you a bit more from your investment down the line if and when you upgrade to a better GPU. The Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 PSU is a fantastic addition to this build, providing excellent power efficiency for years to come. This PSU, as mentioned above, also comes with Gold-certified efficiency and features more than enough wattage to power your system, plus it is modular.

ANTEC NX Series NX500M

Our $800 AMD Custom Gaming PC

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Things To Consider

What You Get For Your $800

Although this PC is a formidable one for this price point, certain compromises have to be made when trying to stay within our $800 target. While you may not be able to get more than six cores from your CPU or an RTX GPU, you can still achieve high FPS in high settings with this PC. AMD’s processors bring almost unmatched value to the table, meaning you are always able to get great all-round performance for your money.

This gaming PC will play any game you throw at it, and this is thanks to the combination of components. There has never been a better time to build a PC and this $800 build is going to provide you with a solid 1080p gaming experience, with high frame rates to pair with those high refresh rate monitors.

To ensure high levels of gaming performance, we had to compromise on some of the tertiary components. That being said, you still get a 500GB NVMe SSD, which is plenty for your operating system and a couple of your favorite games. Along with the storage solution, we have selected 16GB of fast DDR4 RAM. While you could argue this is slightly more than needed in this price range, it future-proofs your system, giving you less to upgrade at a later stage. Of course, the components inside this system are all older generation parts, but they still provide great results and are ideal for those on strict budgets.

This PC is considered to be on the edge of budget, with just enough power to satisfy both hardcore and casual gamers alike. For those out there who want to future-proof their PC or play in 4K, you may want one of our higher-tier gaming PCs. It is worth noting that while we try and keep these gaming PC builds within the target budget, Amazon prices can fluctuate.

AMD or Intel when building a PC under $800?

At this price range, there isn’t much difference in terms of gaming between Intel and AMD, but they certainly are in terms of value. We recommend choosing an AMD processor here for under $800, simply because the CPU offers excellent value. While choosing AMD may not change things drastically for gaming, all your over tasks on the PC will be handled more efficiently by the AMD CPU. We feel the AMD build not only makes this a strong gaming PC overall, but its multithreaded nature gives you greater flexibility too.

Upgradability and Future-Proofing the $800 build

An important area to think about with a gaming PC is how easily upgradeable it is going to be. You do get great performance from this $800 build, but you will eventually want to upgrade further down the line as the build becomes obsolete. Time is the enemy of all. We’ve outlined a sensible upgrade path to help you choose the appropriate components to upgrade and in what order to make the most out of your PC.

Overclocking on a $800 budget

Overclocking is a great way to squeeze extra power out of your components, and the further down the price ladder you go, the more beneficial this becomes. Both the AMD and Intel processors can be boosted to give you slightly higher clock speeds, and we have selected a motherboard that comes with a robust enough power delivery system to support CPU overclocking, should that be of interest to you.

When overclocking, it is important to note that you will increase the TDP of the CPU, this means it’s going to need a more efficient cooler than the stock one that comes with the 5600X. We have also included fast DDR4 memory in this build as Ryzen core communication speed is directly tied to RAM speed, but you are going to need to overclock the RAM (enable DOCP) in the BIOS to take full advantage of the speed of this kit.

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Calculating The PSU Wattage

Making sure your PSU provides the correct amount of wattage to your custom build PC is an essential part of the build process. For that reason, we’ve created a handy PSU calculator which will work out exactly what PSU wattage your components require – no matter how many changes you make.

Upgrade Options

  • Last Updated - Mar 1, 2024

Upgrading your system, whether it is now or after you have built it will cost more. With that being said, several areas can be improved upon with this $800 build. The CPU could be improved, even while remaining on the AM4 platform, this will give you a huge boost in CPU power when upgrading to a Ryzen 7 5800X3D, for example. This is because the main areas it shines are in game related performance. You could also shoot for the RTX 4070, which offers much more performance in 1440p and even 4k in some cases, than the 6700XT we have selected.

Note: these upgrades will increase the price of the build significantly. 

Upgrading your system, whether it is now or after you have built it will cost more. With that being said, several areas can be improved upon with this $800 build. The CPU could be improved, even while remaining on the AM4 platform, this will give you a huge boost in CPU power when upgrading to a Ryzen 7 5800X3D, for example. This is because the main areas it shines are in game related performance. You could also shoot for the RTX 4070, which offers much more performance in 1440p and even 4k in some cases, than the 6700XT we have selected.

Note: these upgrades will increase the price of the build significantly. 

Operating System & Peripherals

Most peripherals should be taken care of, especially if you’re dropping $800 on a PC. Still, we wanted to give a few recommendations to accompany this system.

NOTE: These will raise the price of the build!

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Building Tips

Building a PC isn’t particularly mentally or physically-taxing, you just need to have the prior knowledge to pull it off. We have guides on common PC building questions and what NOT to do as a new builder, but if that isn’t enough, please keep reading for more assistance.

FAQs

Does it cost a lot to run a gaming PC?

It entirely depends on how much you use it, and what you define as “a lot”. Another contributing factor is the electricity rates in your country or state. Generally speaking, if you have an efficient low-wattage power supply, it shouldn’t cost too much to run a gaming PC with moderate use. Of course, the longer it is on, the more energy it will use.

Is building a PC more expensive than a prebuilt?

No, generally speaking, it’s buying a pre-built that is more expensive than building a PC. This is because businesses that build PCs are just that, a business. That means that they have to make money on top of the PCs they sell and charge for the labor of their employees.

The value of the prebuilt market diminishes the further down you go. for example, you’d likely find iGPUs in prebuilt for $600 or less, whereas you can easily get a dedicated GPU in a custom build for $600.

Closing Thoughts

Finally, we are at the end of our in-depth guide to the best custom PC for under $800. This PC brings gaming into 1080 and 1440p while also being powerful enough for VR gaming too. Consoles don’t come close to this build, and you can expect a high FPS count in your favorite AAA game titles. At $800, compromises had to be made, but gaming performance has been the main priority, making this the best gaming PC for the price.

We recommend going with the AMD build option to ensure you not only get an enjoyable gaming experience but enjoy your PC regardless of the task.

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