Game Hard on a Budget!

Looking to build a budget gaming PC that’s anything but “cheap?” Then our $850 Budget Gaming PC Build is the one for you! While it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles you’ll find in higher-priced systems, like liquid cooling or fancy RGB lighting, for pure gaming purposes this build offers the best bang for the buck you’ll find. That means fantastic performance in all of today’s latest games without breaking the bank!

This Month’s Build, Featuring Intel and AMD!

Ever since our founding in 2013, the Budget Gaming PC has been at the heart of what we do, and for a dozen years, we targeted a $750 pricepoint, Well, due to inflation and other factors, trying to build a gaming PC at that pricepoint requires too many compromises today. So, for September 2025 and going forward, we’re increasing the budget to $850, but that gets you a hugely superior Budget Gaming PC Build.

Amazingly, it still starts with the legendary Intel Core i5-12400F, a six-core gaming processor that offers tremendous power for just over $100. It’s such a good processor that we don’t need to swap it out, but every other major component gets an upgrade. That starts with the motherboard, which moves to a DDR5-based B760 chipset, with built-in WiFi. This combo is supporting the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB video card, which is a full 50% faster than the 6600 8GB we used to recommend, and a steal at around $300.

In terms of storage, the $750 Budget Gaming PC Build features a big 1TB solid-state drive, but now steps up to a Gen 4 drive, which is about 3x faster than the Gen 3 drive we used to recommend based on limitations of older motherboards. It will ensure that the PC doesn’t feel budget at all. Also enabled by the motherboard switch is the move to 16GB DDR5 RAM, which is now at price parity with 16GB DDR4 kits, and a much better investment, as DDR4 production will cease worldwide in short order. Finally, this build is wrapped up in a stylish, compact mATX case, and powered by a high-capacity 500W power supply.

Parting Thoughts

If you’d like to accessorize the $750 Budget Gaming PC Build, browse our recommendations for budget-friendly PC accessories at the end of this guide, including our favorite bargain high-refresh rate monitor and a great budget gaming mouse. You can also feel free to jump over to our Monitor Buyer’s Guide and Peripherals Buyer’s Guide.

We update this build monthly, as prices and components in this market segment change frequently, and a few dollars here or there could buy you (or cost you) a lot of speed! Throughout this guide, we provide links to Amazon, which will auto-convert for readers located in Canada, the UK, and parts of the EU, with substitutions made automatically based on regional availability. Your use of these links is the only thing that keeps this site on the ‘net!