The Tech Buyer's Guru

The Best $1000 eSports Mini-ITX Gaming PC Build – February 2023

The Best $1000 eSports Mini-ITX Gaming PC Build – February 2023

By Ari Altman | Published January 28, 2023 | Updated January 28, 2023

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 by AMD

For February 2023, the $1,000 Mini-ITX Gaming PC Build starts with AMD’s value-packed Ryzen 5 5600, a six-core, 12-thread CPU that offers tremendous gaming performance per dollar. It’s by far the best value in its price range! We’re recommending you pair it with the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT 8GB GPU for this build, which has dropped way down in price, making it the best budget GPU on the market!

In terms of storage, this build gets a fast 1TB PCIe-based 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 5600

    $140
    AMD’s Zen 3 architecture made a huge splash in the PC industry. It beat Intel on a clock-for-clock basis for the first time in decades, and with far lower power consumption. The Ryzen 5 5600 is the perfect CPU for this build, thanks to its 6 fast cores and 12 total threads.
    The Guru’s Tip

    This CPU includes a 55mm-tall cooler that will work perfectly in this system!
  • AsRock AS520M
    Click to Buy
    Motherboard –

    ASRock A520M-ITX/AC

    $137
    This A520-based mini-ITX board packs in a ton of features for the price. That includes AM4 compatibility, six USB ports (including a Type-C port), built-in 802.11ac wireless networking plus Bluetooth, and an M.2 SSD slot with integrated heatsink.
    The Guru’s Tip

    Note that ITX boards are always in short supply, so a backorder may be necessary.
  • PowerColor RX6600
    Click to Buy
    Video Card –

    PowerColor Radeon RX 6650 XT Fighter 8GB

    $300
    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 just 7.9" long, meaning it will easily fit in the case, which has a 10.6" limit.
  • Click to Buy
    Memory –

    Corsair 2x8GB Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200

    $49
    Because just about every application can take serious advantage of RAM speed on the latest CPUs, we’re spec’ing a fast DDR4-3200 kit for this build. The Vengeance LPX kit is a best seller thanks to its competitive price, low-profile design that provide excellent compatibility, and Corsair’s well-deserved reputation for quality!
    The Guru’s Tip

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

    Silicon Power 1TB NVMe

    $52
    You simply can’t do better for the price than this value-packed SSD, which uses the speedy PCIe 3.0 interface and TLC NAND to vastly outperform all the SATA drives that sell for around the same amount! Note that to install this drive, you’ll affix it in an M.2 slot on your motherboard using a jeweler’s-type screwdriver.
    The Guru’s Tip

    Due to this drive's M.2 form factor, it will slip right into the motherboard, taking up zero space in your case, and eliminating typical SATA cable clutter!
  • 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

    $110
    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

    $139
    Windows 11 take everything people loved about Windows 10, and then takes 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!
    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

  • HyperX Cloud
    Click to Buy
    The Budget Wireless PC Headset –

    HyperX Cloud Stinger Core

    $79
    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 best wireless headset available for under $100!
  • 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!
  • Click to Buy
    The Pro Gaming Mouse –

    Razer Basilisk X HyperSpeed Wireless

    $35
    Offering cutting-edge performance, there’s nothing like the Basilisk X for anywhere near the price. Ultra-sensitive sensor, Razer’s awesome HyperSpeed wireless system, 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!).
  • AOC G2490VX
    Click to Buy
    The 24-inch 144Hz Gaming Monitor –

    AOC G2490VX 24″ 144Hz

    $131
    If you want to pick up a true “gaming” monitor, you want something with a high refresh rate. Luckily for you, AOC has been busy breaking down price barriers for high-refresh-rate monitors. This model features a 24″ 1920×1080 VA panel capable of displaying images at up to 144Hz, 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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