With the PC component market in an overall great state, there’s rarely been a better time to build a PC than 2023. In this parts list, we’ll be putting together a gaming rig that can run titles in 1080p, 240FPS and low settings.
This doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to play some at high or ultra presets and still hit a consistent 240FPS. In games like Fortnite, VALORANT, and CS:GO, you’ll exceed this mark with ease.
On the other end of the spectrum, in a handful of extremely graphically-demanding titles like Warzone 2 or Flight Simulator this system might not provide steady 240FPS. However, for the vast majority of games this rig will be ideal for 1080p 240FPS at low/competitive graphical settings.
In addition to this PC parts list, we have many more available. If you’re looking to spend a bit less at the expense of 100FPS or so, check out our 144FPS budget gaming PC build. Or if you’re going for higher-resolution gaming, have a look at our 1440p 144FPS gaming PC parts list. Lastly, for something cheaper see our 1080p 60FPS Ultra build or our RX 580-powered sub-$400 gaming rig.
Today’s Deals
- 55% OFF: Nextorage 2TB NVMe SSD 7300MB/s Write 6900 MB/s Read |
$249.99$109.99 - STGAubron ABR0522 Tower with GTX 1660 Super and Core i3-10100F |
$550$495 - HP Victus 15L with RTX 3060 and Core i7-12700F
- Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core, 24-Thread CPU |
$550$349.99 - ABS Stratos Aqua with Core i5-13400F, RTX 4060 Ti, 16GB DDR5 |
$1499.99$1199.99
Now, let’s get into the components we’ll be using for this build. In addition to our primary parts list, we’ll offer an alternative for some components. These will offer greater customization of the build.
For example, if you want to save a little bit more money and don’t care about fast boot times, you may want to get a cheaper SATA SSD or even a hard drive.
Sub-$1000 1080p 240FPS Competitive Gaming PC Parts Overview
How much will this PC cost?
At the time of writing, the total sum of parts (not including peripherals like a monitor, keyboard, mouse, or headset) came to $1035. You should certainly be able to buy this rig for $1000 or less as long as you opt for the best-priced option at the moment, since we didn’t take the time to shop around for the very cheapest listing for each product.
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600X
Ryzen 5 7600X is an absolute unit of a mid-range CPU. At the time of writing it’s only $10 or so more than the Core i5-13400 with roughly 12% better gaming performance on average.
With 6 dual-threaded cores (for a sum total of 12 threads) and a boost frequency of up to 5.3GHz, the R5 7600X is definitely in the mix for the best value CPU at the moment.
The only real downside to purchasing a Ryzen 7000-series CPU is that you have to buy slightly more expensive DDR5 RAM. However, DDR5 costs have come down a ton in recent months so this shouldn’t add too much cost to your rig, and the additional performance is easily worth the miniscule uptick in cost.
CPU Cooler: DeepCool GAMMAXX AG400
Since the R5 7600X doesn’t come with a stock cooler, you’ll need to purchase a third-party model. DeepCool’s GAMMAXX AG400 is one of the best CPU coolers for the 7600X. It’s extremely cheap, fits an AM5 socket, and has a whopping 220W TDP. For comparison, the 7600X’s TDP is 105W, and at maximum power draw it only uses around 135W.
This means that the AG400 is absolute overkill. However, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a CPU cooler that’s significantly cheaper, making it a killer choice for this parts list.
Graphics Card: Radeon RX 6750 XT
AMD’s Radeon RX 6750 XT offers insane value and performance. It holds its own against Nvidia’s RTX 3070, outperforming it in 1080p gaming by around 4%, all while costing over $100 less. Nvidia’s versions of ray-tracing and DLSS are more advanced than AMD’s, but these aren’t necessary for 1080p gaming. This makes it a top-tier GPU for 240hz gaming, and the best value video card for this specific use-case.
We also recommend checking prices on RX 6700 XT models before making a purchase. Framerates with the 6700 XT will only be around 4% less than the 6750 XT, so if you can find a 6700 XT that’s $30-40 cheaper than the least expensive 6750 XT, the savings are probably worth the small downgrade.
Alternative: GeForce RTX 4060 Ti
Part of Nvidia’s newest wave of GPUs, the RTX 4060 Ti is one of their better value offerings in quite a while. It’s $100 cheaper than the RTX 3070 while offering performance that’s better in most categories, including 1080p.
It falls in between the 6750 XT and 3070 in performance, so it’s a great option if you’re a member of Team Green and want a GPU comparable to the 6750 XT in framerates and price. You’ll also get Nvidia’s industry-leading ray-tracing and DLSS, which are very nice bonuses.
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650M K
Generally speaking, AM5 motherboards are a lot more expensive than Intel’s competing 700-series. The good news is, there are still a couple of budget-oriented models that won’t break the bank but are of good quality.
Gigabyte’s B650M K is one such motherboard. This micro-ATX mainboard has two M.2 slots for PCIe 4.0 SSDs (including one with a heatsink), 8+2+1 power phases, seven rear USB-A ports, and room for four DIMMs. And it is, of course, compatible with the R5 7600X with which we’re building.
For a comparably-priced alternative to the B650M K, see ASRock’s cheaper B650M-HDV/M.2. If you’re willing to spend ~$20 more, ASRock’s B650M PRO RS is a more fully-featured board that fills the same role. Either one will work equally well in this rig, as neither should bottleneck your performance.
RAM: TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR5-5200MHz C40
You’ll need DDR5 RAM for the B650 motherboard and Ryzen 5 7600X, so we chose TEAMGROUP’s dual-channel 16GB, 5200MHz kit. 16 gigs is the sweet spot for gaming, as 32GB would be overkill and 8GB can be maxed out too easily.
We chose TEAMGROUP’s kit in particular because it’s some of the cheapest high-quality memory available. This kit, in particular, is the highest frequency that the B650M K supports, and is one of the least expensive 16GB 5200MHz kits on the market. Read our TEAMGROUP brand review for more information.
SSD: Silicon Power A60 1TB
If you want fast boot times and file writes, look no further than Silicon Power’s 1TB A60 NVMe drive. It offers respectable read and write speeds of up to 2200 MB/s and 1600MB/s, 3-4 times faster than the best SATA SSDs.
Like memory and graphics cards, SSD prices change on a daily basis and you might easily find a better deal on any given day. The brands that tend to offer the best value are TEAMGROUP, Fanxiang, Silicon Power, and Crucial, although it’s not unheard of for other brands to undercut these from time to time.
The A60 is currently one of the cheapest 1TB SSDs, NVMe or SATA, so it’s hard to go wrong with this one. Our top pick aside from this would be Fanxiang’s S500 Pro 1TB, since it’s marginally more expensive and has read and write speeds that are about 33% higher.
HDD: Seagate BarraCuda 2TB 7200RPM HDD
If you prefer capacity over speed, you might be better off purchasing a HDD. Both Seagate’s BarraCuda 2TB and Western Digital’s competing WD Blue 2TB are a good bit cheaper than any 2TB SSDs at the moment, so they’re the most cost-efficient way to reach capacities of 2TB and up.
Alternatively, buy one of these slower drives as a backup for your NVMe SSD. It’s cheaper per gigabyte, and the main benefit of an SSD is to boot and load times. You don’t need to store all of your files on an SSD, just games and your OS.
Power Supply: Segotep GM750W
Segotep’s 750-watt GM750W checks all of the boxes that a great PSU should. It’s fully modular, energy-efficient, and affordable.
Regardless of whether you chose the 6750 XT or 4060 Ti, a 750-watt 80-Plus Gold unit like the GM750W leaves plenty of headroom for either: The 4060 Ti has a recommended minimum PSU spec of 550W, while that of the 6750 XT is 650W.
Either way, the 105W-TDP 7600X is far from the most power-hungry CPU, so with the GM750W you won’t come anywhere near maxing out this power supply.
Case: Antec NX200 M
In addition to looking great, the Antec NX200 M comes at a fair price. It has a PSU shroud and solid cable management features, and comes with a case fan installed in the rear.
Most importantly, it has a mesh front panel and top for optimal airflow. At around $60, it’s one of the best cases at this price point.
The truth is, your choice of chassis will probably come down to your own style and preference. Any PC case that doesn’t break the bank, has great airflow, and looks good is a solid option.
Monitor: Dell S2522HG 240hz 24.5″ 1ms
Although there are some cheaper alternatives to be had, Dell’s 240hz S2522HG is the best monitor for the job. It has adjustable height, tilt, and swivel, a lightning-fast 1ms response time, and the 240hz refresh rate needed to display a full 240 frames per second.
It produces a great picture, with a 99% sRGB color gamut and comes with a 3-year warranty that ensures you won’t have to keep a monitor with bright or dead pixels.
Prebuilt Equivalent: Skytech Archangel with 4060 Ti, Core i7-12700F
- Great Value
- RTX 4060 Ti Offers Strong 1080p and 1440p Performance
- AIO Liquid CPU Cooler
- CPU Isn't Latest-Gen
This prebuilt gaming rig featuring Nvidia’s RTX 4060 Ti and Intel’s Core i7-12700F brings virtually the same performance to the table as our own 1080p, 240FPS system detailed in this article. It’s a good bit more expensive but is admittedly nicer, with an AIO cooler and a fancier RGB-lit case. Read our Skytech brand review for a better overview of the company and the quality of their PCs.
Another slightly cheaper alternative that’s a lot like our parts list is Empowered PC’s Stratos 6700 XT build. This one features the 6700 XT, an R7 5700X, and 32 gigs of DDR4 memory, plus a 512GB PCIe SSD and a 2TB HDD.
It will definitely cost more in this instance to buy a prebuilt PC than to build one yourself, so we don’t recommend taking this route unless you just don’t want to spend the time picking your PC parts and assembling them.
Peripherals
We won’t go into too much detail with peripherals, as an argument could be made for just about any decent gaming mouse, keyboard, mousepad, or other peripheral. Still, we’ll at least mention our top picks.
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder v2
The DeathAdder line has become more or less the generic gaming mouse, and for good reason. It’s not too expensive and super comfortable with two customizable side buttons in addition to the scroll wheel and two DPI buttons. You can’t go wrong with this one.
If you’re into lighter gaming mice the Glorious Model D is our favorite. It’s 61 grams and has an ergonomic right-handed design (if you’re a lefty the similar but ambidextrous Model O will suit you better.
Keyboard: Razer Huntsman Mini
If you’re looking for the best switches known to man, look no further; the Huntsman Mini has them (in fact, this entire article was typed on those glorious clicky optical switches). Customizable RGB lighting is also nice.
Of course, if you’re a big fan of arrow keys or otherwise dislike 60% keyboards the Huntsman Mini simply won’t do. In that case, the more-expensive but arrow-key-equipped Razer Huntsman v2. For best results make sure to get the model with clicky optical switches (as opposed to linear).
Mousepad: Glorious 3XL
The aptly-named Glorious 3XL is truly closer to a tablecloth–it’s 2 feet by 4 feet. If you don’t have that much space they make more traditionally-sized mousepads as well. All of these are machine-washable and very durable. Also, if you get one in black coffee stains barely show up.
Headset: Corsair HS60 Pro
It’s hard to go wrong with any name-brand headset and Corsair’s HS60 is no exception. We aren’t audio snobs but the sound quality is seemingly up to par with any other headsets in its weight-class, and memory foam ear cups make for a comfortable gaming experience.
Mouse Bungee (if you’re into that sort of thing): Razer Bungee V3
Truth be told, we’ve never demoed this specific mouse bungee; we use Glorious’ make. That being said, it’s hard to screw up a mouse bungee and this product evidently has two revisions’ worth of improvement. That’s enough to earn this bungee our vote of confidence, and we’re choosing it over Glorious’ model since it has a cleaner look and takes up a tiny bit less desk space. Still, do your own research on this one.
Conclusion:
This is our take on the best 1080p 60FPS budget gaming PC, but we know everyone’s opinion is a little bit different. If you think you’ve found a better component for the job, let us know. We’d love to hear your feedback.
If you’ve decided you want to build a PC but don’t know where to start, check out our PC-building beginner’s guide. It’s a step-by-step guide through the entire process, from part selection to building and troubleshooting.
