The Tech Buyer's Guru

The Best $1000 eSports Mini-ITX Gaming PC Build – October 2024

The Best $1000 eSports Mini-ITX Gaming PC Build – October 2024

By Ari Altman | Published September 28, 2024 | Updated September 28, 2024

SilverStone SG13 The Super-Compact Powerhouse!

While sales of PCs have been up and down over the past few years, there’s one area that’s growing at an amazing rate, and that’s eSports gaming PCs. What makes a gaming PC an eSports gaming PC? It’s simple: hitting the sweet spot on portability, price, and performance. This build will give you all that, along with the win in your next competition!

This Month’s Build, Powered Exclusively by AMD!

For October 2024, the $1,000 Mini-ITX Gaming PC Build starts gets an upgrade to AMD’s value-packed Ryzen 5 5600X, a six-core, 12-thread CPU that offers tremendous gaming performance per dollar, especially at its new low price. We’re recommending you pair it with AMD’s Radeon RX 6750 XT 12GB GPU, which matches Nvidia’s competing RTX 4060 Ti 8GB for far less money, and also offers 50% more VRAM, which is critical for the newest games.

In terms of storage, this build goes with a fast 1TB PCIe solid-state drive, along with 16GB of DDR4-3200 RAM. Once you have all your new gear in hand, you’ll be powering it up with a 500W Gold-rated power supply and installing it in the easily portable SilverStone SG13 chassis, which clocks in at just 11.5 liters (that’s small!). Learn more about building a system in the SG13 from our hands-on how-to guide!

Parting Thoughts

We also list some of our very favorite peripherals for gamers looking for maximum performance at a fantastic price. Scroll all the way down to check them out! And if this build isn’t quite what you’re looking for, we have a feeling we have another solution that will for for you, so just flip over to our Introduction to Small Form Factor PCs to learn more about our other compact options.

We provide Amazon links for our readers in the United States, which will auto-convert for readers in Canada, the UK, and parts of the EU, with automatic substitutions made where necessary. If you decide to purchase any of the products listed below, please use the links provided, which helps support continued development of this guide.

The DIY Build

  • Click to Buy
    CPU –

    AMD Ryzen 5 5600X

    $134
    AMD’s Zen 3 architecture made a huge splash in the PC industry. Beating Intel on a clock-for-clock basis for the first time in decades, and with far lower power consumption, the Ryzen 5 5600X is the perfect CPU for this build. And it brings along with it an advanced yet cost-effective platform, which will provide upgrade potential down the line should you wish to drop in an even more powerful CPU.

    The Guru’s Tip

    This CPU includes a 55mm-tall cooler that will work perfectly in this system!
  • Asrock B550m
    Click to Buy
    Motherboard –

    ASRock B550M-ITX/AC

    $128
    This B550-based mini-ITX board packs in a ton of features for the price. That includes full support for all AMD AM4 processors, overclocking capability, six USB ports (including a Type-C port), built-in 802.11ac wireless networking plus Bluetooth, and a Gen 4 M.2 SSD slot with integrated heatsink. It also has a PCIe Gen 4 video card slot, allowing it to run modern graphics cards at full speed.

    The Guru’s Tip

    Pay careful attention to our pick here, making sure you don't get a larger micro ATX board instead!
  • PowerColor RX6600
    Click to Buy
    Video Card –

    PowerColor Radeon RX 6750 XT 12GB Fighter

    $300
    The Radeon RX 6750 XT 12GB has impressive gaming power, going head to head with the RTX 3070 and RTX 4060 Ti, but with 50% more VRAM for better future-proofing!

    The Guru’s Tip

    This model is 9.6" long, meaning it will easily fit in the case, which has a 10.6" limit.
  • Silicon Power
    Click to Buy
    Memory –

    Silicon Power 2x8GB DDR4-3200

    $28
    You can now squeeze a whole lot of performance and capacity into your system by going with this budget-priced 16GB DDR4-3200 kit. It will help you make the most of your snazzy new system!

    The Guru’s Tip

    DDR4-3200 is a sweet spot for price/performance.
  • MP44L
    Click to Buy
    Solid-State Drive –

    TeamGroup MP44L 1TB PCIe 4.0

    $57
    The MP44L PCIe 4.0, which blows past previous PCIe Gen3-based drives by harnessing the power of the PCIe Gen4 interface, is an absolute bargain of a high-end drive. It can hit up to 5,000MB/s in sequential operations!

    The Guru’s Tip

    To ensure easy access, make sure to install this drive in the motherboard before installing the board in the case.
  • Click to Buy
    Case –

    SilverStone SG13

    $65
    Coming in at under 12 liters, the SG13 created a whole new class of high-performance cases, and it’s still the only one available at a reasonable cost! There are smaller “kick-started” cases out there, but they often come with a whole lot of “gotchas”, one of which is always an exorbitant price! The SG13, on the other hand, is a value-packed option supported by the biggest name in the ITX industry, SilverStone. It can fit video cards up to 10.6″ long, and in its default configuration, CPU coolers up to 61mm tall.

    The Guru’s Tip

    CPU cooler clearance is bumped up by a few millimeters when using the slimmer SFX power supply and its included adapter, listed below, although for this build, we recommend sticking with the stock Intel cooler.
  • Click to Buy
    Power Supply –

    SilverStone SX500-G

    $120
    To power up this build, we recommend this awesome SFX unit. It’s fully modular, offers Gold-rated efficiency, and at 500W, has more than enough power to support this system.

    The Guru’s Tip

    This PSU requires the adapter below to be mounted in our recommended case.
  • Click to Buy
    Adapter –

    SilverStone PP08

    $13
    This nifty little component is what allows you to use an SFX-class power supply in this build, despite the case having only an ATX power supply bracket.

    The Guru’s Tip

    This bracket is required to mount the power supply we recommend. It provides up to 82mm of clearance for CPU coolers.
  • Microsoft Windows 11
    Click to Buy
    Operating System –

    Windows 11 Home (USB) @Newegg

    $139
    Windows 11 built on everything people loved about Windows 10, and then took it to 11! It adds significant under-the-hood changes to make it faster and more secure, and of course, the interface is sleek too! Note that we’re linking to Newegg, because Amazon long ago stopped selling this physical USB version of Windows, which is the most convenient one to use.

    The Guru’s Tip

    Win11 opens up whole new opportunities for gaming and productivity, and it's what you want on your new PC!

Optional Products

  • Click to Buy
    The Budget Gaming Keyboard –

    Logitech G213 Gaming Keyboard

    $50
    Pick up a great keyboard at a great price with the G213. It’s quick, quiet, and responsive, and it also has sweet RGB backlighting, of course!

    The Guru’s Tip

    Note that while we really like wireless mice, we typically recommend wired keyboards unless you're shopping in the ultra-premium market, as wired keyboard don't need to move around much!
  • Razer Basilisk V3
    Click to Buy
    The Pro Gaming Mouse –

    Razer Basilisk V3 X HyperSpeed Wireless

    $45
    Offering cutting-edge performance, there’s nothing like the Basilisk V3 for anywhere near the price. Ultra-sensitive 18K sensor, mechanical switches, Razer’s awesome HyperSpeed wireless system with up to 285 hours of battery life, and perfect ergonomics. It’s a great mouse!

    The Guru’s Tip

    This mouse is priced like bottom-basement clones, but has the specs to compete with the very best! Don't be fooled into buying the no-name gear for a few dollars less (or more!).
  • HyperX Cloud
    Click to Buy
    The Budget Wireless PC Headset –

    HyperX Cloud Stinger Core

    $60
    HyperX absolutely revolutionized the budget gaming headset market with the Stinger series, and the Cloud Stinger Core is its budget wireless offering. It has an ultra-lightweight design, 40mm drivers, and a convenient swing-down mic for better control. With up to 17 hours of battery life, it will go all day and then some!

    The Guru’s Tip

    This is the lowest-cost high-quality wireless headset on the market!
  • E248B-FPT168
    Click to Buy
    The 24-inch 165Hz Gaming Monitor –

    Sceptre E248B-FPT168 24″ 165Hz

    $122
    If you want to pick up a true “gaming” monitor, you want something with a high refresh rate. Luckily for you, Sceptre has been busy breaking down price barriers for high-refresh-rate monitors. This model features a 24″ 1920×1080 IPS panel (superior to TN or VA!), capable of displaying images at up to 165Hz, which makes it infinitely smoother than a standard 60Hz monitor that costs just a bit less. And thanks to its FreeSync technology, it will run with zero lag or screen-tearing.

    The Guru’s Tip

    Once you've experienced a frame-synced image, you'll never want anything else!

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