The Tech Buyer's Guru

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

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

By Ari Altman | Published December 15, 2024 | Updated December 15, 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 December 2024, the $1,000 Mini-ITX Gaming PC Build starts gets an upgrade to AMD’s value-packed Ryzen 5 7600, a six-core, 12-thread CPU that offers tremendous gaming performance per dollar, plus the a modern, future-proof platform. We’re recommending you pair it with AMD’s Radeon RX 6600 8GB GPU, which is the best GPU available under $200. This combo will get you going in gaming today, while offering plenty of upgrade potential down the line.

In terms of storage, this build goes with a fast 1TB PCIe solid-state drive, along with 16GB of DDR5-5600 RAM. Once you have all your new gear in hand, you’ll be powering it up with a 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

  • AMD Ryzen 5 7600
    Click to Buy
    CPU –

    AMD Ryzen 5 7600

    $198
    AMD did it again with Zen 4, simply smashing through the performance barrier in all respects. The 6-core, 12-thread Ryzen 5 7600 is up to 25% faster in content creation than its predecessor, while offering simply amazing energy efficiency plus the latest connectivity standards thanks to the advanced AM5 platform.

    The Guru’s Tip

    This CPU includes a 55mm-tall cooler that will work perfectly in this system!
  • Gigabyte A620i
    Click to Buy
    Motherboard –

    Gigabyte A620I AX

    $140
    This affordable AM5 board allows you to jump into AMD’s latest CPU ecosystem at a great price. It offers built in 802.11ax (WiFi 6E), a Gen 4 M.2 slot, a Gen 4 video card slot, plus six USB ports (including a Type-C). The key difference between the A620 chipset on which this board is based and the B650 chipset on boards costing twice as much is slots and ports, but for an ITX board, that has little impact. There’s only so much space for these things in a compact form factor anyway, so for mini-ITX, A620 is a perfect match!

    The Guru’s Tip

    Pay careful attention to our pick here, making sure you don't get a larger micro ATX board instead!
  • Sapphire RX 6600 Pulse
    Click to Buy
    Video Card –

    Sapphire Radeon RX 6650 XT Pulse 8GB

    $210
    Get into your serious PC gaming today with the Radeon RX 6650 XT 8GB. It has plenty of power to tackle any modern game, easily beating every Nvidia GeForce GPU in its price range. And this model has a  powerful yet quiet dual-fan cooler to keep the GPU running at maximum boost!

    The Guru’s Tip

    This model is 9.5" long, meaning it will easily fit in the case, which has a 10.6" limit.
  • Crucial
    Click to Buy
    Memory –

    Crucial 2x8GB DDR5-5600 C46

    $56
    For a cutting-edge PC, you need DDR5 RAM, and this kit offers a tremendous value for this current standard. It operates at a speed of DDR5-5600 C46 at an efficient 1.1V.  And with a total capacity of 16GB, it’s sufficient for just about any use.

    The Guru’s Tip

    Please note that this system requires DDR5 memory - older DDR4 modules will not work.
  • MP44L
    Click to Buy
    Solid-State Drive –

    TeamGroup MP44L 1TB PCIe 4.0

    $55
    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.
  • SilverStone SX700-G
    Click to Buy
    Power Supply –

    SilverStone SX700-G

    $133
    Offering an impressive 700W of power output and Gold-rated efficiency in an ultra-compact package, the SX700-G is a fantastic choice among high-end SFX power supplies. It features a 92mm fan with fluid dynamic bearings, along with fully-modular cables.

    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

    $40
    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

    $49
    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

    $108
    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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