The Best $1000 Mid-Range Gaming PC Build – January 2025
A Mainstream Gaming PC to Grow With!
Looking to build the best gaming PC possible for $1000? This guide will set you up! We recommend components that offer excellent performance, quiet operation, and ease of assembly, all at a great price. If you’re ready to build a PC that can handle any game you throw at it, just follow this guide to get the best component picks.
This Month’s Build, Powered by Intel and AMD!
For January 2025, the $1000 Gaming PC Build gets a big upgrade to Intel’s legendary Core i5-12600KF, a ten-core, 16-thread CPU decimates anything AMD currently has in its price range. It will be supporting the best GPU available for under $400, this from AMD: the Radeon RX 7700 XT 12GB, which easily beats Nvidia’s RTX 4060 Ti 8GB at the same pricepoint, while offering 50% more VRAM for much better future-proofing. Simply put, the 12600KF/7700 XT combination provides unbeatable gaming value.
But this system is about more than a fast CPU and GPU. Keeping this build fed are 16GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, plus a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 solid-state drive, which provides plenty of fast storage to get your system running. This build is housed in an attractive, affordable, and high-airflow SilverStone micro-ATX case and powered by an efficient, high-output 550W power supply.
Parting Thoughts
If you need a monitor or peripherals, you can check out our dedicated guides, although we also have some great recommendations for you at the end of this guide. Note that we provide dedicated links to Amazon in the US, which will auto-convert for readers in Canada, the UK, and parts of the EU, with regional substitutions made based on availability. To support this site, please use these links if you purchase any of the products we list.
The Pre-Built Option
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The Mainstream Gaming Desktop –iBUYPOWER Scale Orange 7600/RTX 4060 Ti
$1000The Guru’s TipIt’s unbelievable how much value iBuyPower packs into this awesome gaming system! It all starts with the potent AMD Ryzen 5 7600 6-core, 12-thread processor, which will easily handle any game. It’s backing up a high-powered GPU, the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB, which has dedicated Ray Tracing cores and the ability to utilize cutting-edge features like DLSS. The system also includes 16GB of RAM and a 1TB solid-state drive, which comes loaded with Windows 11 out of the box!This pre-built will perform very similarly to what we spec out as a DIY build below - the CPU is a bit faster, while the GPU is a bit slower.
The DIY Option
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CPU –Intel Core i5-12600KF
$140 The Guru’s TipWhile this may be based on an older design, it is simply an exceptional deal - in the current market, neither Intel nor AMD actually release new lower-end processors. They just let older models fill the gap, and this one is the best!
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Motherboard –MSI PRO H610M-G WiFi DDR4
$100 The Guru’s TipThis board is an mATX model - make sure not to purchase an ATX board, which will not fit in the case we recommend.
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Video Card –Asus Radeon RX 7700XT 12GB
$410 The Guru’s TipThis video card is just over 11" long, so it will fit easily in the compact case we recommend, which has 12.3" of clearance. Note that many 7700XT models are too long!
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Memory –Silicon Power 2x8GB DDR4-3200
$26 The Guru’s TipThe motherboard we recommend uses DDR4 memory - and that's of course what we spec here.
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Solid-State Drive –TeamGroup MP44L 1TB PCIe 4.0
$55 The Guru’s TipThis drive gives you plenty of storage for games at a great price!
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Case –SilverStone PS15 Pro
$73 The Guru’s TipBeing a micro-ATX case, this will only fit micro-ATX motherboards, which is what we spec for this build.
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Power Supply –SilverStone ET550-B
$55 The Guru’s TipPlease avoid no-name PSUs from brands like RaidMax, Apevia, and Aresgame. They are complete junk, but this one is the real deal!
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Operating System –Windows 11 Home (USB) @Newegg
$139 The Guru’s TipWith the end of support for Win10 having been announced, Win11 is definitely what you what you want on your new PC!
Optional Products
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The 24-inch 165Hz Gaming Monitor –Sceptre E248B-FPT168 24″ 165Hz
$112 The Guru’s TipA monitor like this would have cost well over $200 a year ago!
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The Budget Gaming Keyboard –SteelSeries Apex 3
$36 The Guru’s TipThere are a lot of knock-off keyboards on the market selling for around the same price - our advice: avoid them!
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The Mid-Range Gaming Mouse –Logitech G502 Hero
$39 The Guru’s TipThis mouse has been copied but never duplicated!
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The Bargain Gaming Headset –HyperX Cloud Stinger 2
$40 The Guru’s TipThis headset's ultralight weight makes it easy to wear all day!
Total Cost: $1005
The Pre-Built Option
The DIY Option
- CPU – Intel Core i5-12600KF ($140)
- Motherboard – MSI PRO H610M-G WiFi DDR4 ($100)
- Video Card – Asus Radeon RX 7700XT 12GB ($410)
- Memory – Silicon Power 2x8GB DDR4-3200 ($26)
- Solid-State Drive – TeamGroup MP44L 1TB PCIe 4.0 ($55)
- Case – SilverStone PS15 Pro ($73)
- Power Supply – SilverStone ET550-B ($55)
- Operating System – Windows 11 Home (USB) @Newegg ($139)
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The TBG DIY PC Build Guides
View all of TBG’s DIY PC Build Guides! This is where you’ll find all the best PC builds on the ‘net, from ultra-compact home office PCs to massive gaming towers.
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The Monitor Buyer's Guide
Upgrade the view for your PC with a new monitor - we list the best in our buyer's guide!
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The Headset/Speaker Buyer's Guide
Upgrade your audio experience with one of our top-rated speakers or headsets!
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The Wireless Networking Buyer's Guide
Don't leave your new PC struggling with an old network, upgrade today!