Best Budget Gaming PC 2021 – Our Top 5 Budget PCs
Find yourself a budget gaming PC right here.
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Shaun Conroy
- Updated Feb 25, 2021
- Prebuilt Gaming PC, Systems

Despite what many may think, the best budget gaming PC will actually handle a lot of today’s greatest AAA titles quite well. It should be noted that you may need to reign in your expectations as playing these titles in ultra on high resolutions may be a bit of a step too far.
We all know you don’t have to fork out for an all-singing, all-dancing high-end machine to have a great gaming experience. Some of the more affordable components in these gaming PCs may be older spec but they can still deliver fantastic results in-game.
Get more gaming power for your money. Consider building a budget custom gaming PC build.
Let’s take a look at the best prebuilt budget gaming PCs that made the cut.
Our Top Picks
Editor's Pick

The Best Budget Gaming PC

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Runner Up
The Next Best Budget Gaming PC

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Best Budget Gaming PC: First Look
Editor's Pick
Kicking off the best budget gaming PC round-up is this machine from CyberPowerPC. A gaming PC that offers supreme value, with powerful components.
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This prebuilt gaming PC combines powerful specs, a great case, and RGB lighting all into something special for a relatively low price!
The I5-10400F is one of Intel’s best price-to-performance109th gen CPUs that, when paired with the powerful GTX 1660 Super, makes this build an extremely effective one for gaming.
Runner Up
ThisiBUYPOWER PC is somewhat considered a budget champion here at WePC, thanks to its impressive price to performance. This is going to be perfect for beginners and experienced PC gamers alike, with excellent entry-level specs.
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This gaming rig comes packed with budge hardware that packs a powerful punch. Inside we find AMD’s Ryzen 5 3600 paired with a Radeon RX 5500 XT, which makes for an affordable yet uncompromising combination, which along with reliable components, we see stylish RGB fans and a windowed case.
1440p Pick
This gaming PC comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 2600, which is an outstanding chip for gaming and multitasking. Not only does this have awesome processing power but it features an RTX 2060. A solid choice for any gamer!
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This pre-built is capable of handling AAA-title games in high settings. The CPU and mid-tier GPU combine to produce some incredible results for gaming. With the included SSD, loading and boot times will also feel snappy. This stylish build will not disappoint and is worth consideration.
Esports Pick
This PC comes to the table boasting great entry-level specs including a powerful AMD Ryzen 3 3100 CPU and one of Nvidia’s GTX 1650 Super GPUs.
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Thanks to a great CPU and GPU pairing, this PC is the perfect option for gamers looking to play competitive titles in 1080p.
With its storage solution of 500GB SSD, this build has more than enough room to accommodate a couple of your favorite games and some general media storage.
Mini Pick
iBUYPOWER are no strangers when it comes to building excellent PCs for gamers. This budget PC is another great example of their ability to offer up affordable, high-performing, builds.
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iBUYPOWER brings another excellent budget option to the table. This one comes equipped with one of AMD’s powerful Ryzen 3 3100 entry-level CPUs. It has also been paired with the RX 550 GPU, 240GB of SSD Storage space, and 8GB of DDR4 RAM for extra in-game performance.
How We Choose
We scoured popular and reputable prebuilt gaming PC manufacturers such as SkyTech, MSI, iBuyPower, CyberPowerPC, and even the latest prebuilt gaming desktop PCs from companies that specialize in upgrades and customizations such as CUK.
After an extensive search, we came up with a long list of potential candidates, we then: examined the specs, compared them, and came up with the five best budget gaming PCs.
How We Test
To give you an idea of how well these prebuilt gaming PCs performed, tests were made and benchmark results were recorded across a number of different games and platforms. We specifically picked popular games to give you an up to date reference.
NOTE: Due to the ongoing effects of the global coronavirus pandemic, some retailers are experiencing stock issues. WePC constantly updates our pages to reflect current availability, so if the PC or part you want shows as out of stock, check back later or check out these alternatives.
Things To Consider
Whether you are building your own budget gaming PC or buying one already built, there are still many things to consider first. The last thing we want is to waste our hard-earned cash, so we will be covering a few key areas to help you choose the right PC for your needs.
What To Look For In A Budget Gaming PC
The first thing to look for when buying a budget gaming PC is its specifications. You’ll obviously already have a budget in mind but if the PC isn’t up to tackling the games you want to play in the settings you desire, then what’s the point? There are going to be compromises when trying to buy a budget gaming PC but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a great experience out of one of these machines.
Graphics
For budget gamers, older generations of graphics cards are king. As you can see from our selections you can expect the mid range champions to feature in most – the GTX 1650 Super, 1660 Ti, 1660 Super. that being said with new releases, we see systems with the slightly newer RTX 2060 featuring in more affordable builds, giving budget PC fans a bit more power.
Prebuilt Vs Custom
We always recommend that you build your own computer here at WePC and that is for one simple reason – value. It is no secret that you can squeeze in better hardware for your cash when building your own system, with the markup on prebuilt computers usually costing the same amount as an entire component ($100-$300).
Performance
While the performance of these budget gaming PCs is solid, when building your own you could in theory include a better CPU or GPU into your computer without spending more. This means you could get even better performance for your hard-earned cash, get better in-game results, and future proof your investment for longer.
Convenience
The main selling point behind a prebuilt budget PC is it saves you the hassle. We understand that not everyone knows how to build a computer and may not even have the time to learn this new skill, so the convenience of a prebuilt makes a lot of sense. Of course, there are many more benefits to buying a prebuilt gaming PC from manufacturers, obviously, it takes the stresses away from finding all the compatible components, while also preventing damage to said components when the time comes to build it.
With one of these gaming PCs, you are going to be able to send it back to the manufacturer if anything goes wrong. Furthermore, if you feel you need an upgrade, suppliers will often do this for you or at least insist you send it to them for an upgrade. Manufacturers will also dish out a warranty, usually covering parts and labor for around a year but some companies offer impressive warranties and you can always spend extra on insurance, giving you a lengthy/ lifetime warranty.
These computers are from the biggest manufacturers around the world and aren’t just packaged nicely for you either, they normally stress test the system to ensure the components are working before shipping and that it performs as it should. You will also receive your system with software, usually with Windows and drivers pre-installed, so you can simply plug it in and start downloading games.
Related Gaming PC Guides
Check out some of our related guides below.
The Best Budget Gaming PC
Editor's Pick

CPU
i5-10400F
GPU
GTX 1660 Super
RAM
8GB DDR4
Storage
500GB SSD
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Runner Up

CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
RAM
8GB DDR4
GPU
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT
Storage
240GB SSD
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1440p Pick

CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 2600
GPU
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
RAM
16GB DDR4
Storage
500GB SSD
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Esports Pick

CPU
AMD Ryzen 3 3100
RAM
8GB DDR4
GPU
NVIDIA GTX 1650 Super
Storage
500GB SSD
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Mini Pick

CPU
AMD Ryzen 3 3100
GPU
AMD Radeon RX 550 2GB
RAM
8GB
Storage
240GB SSD
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Editor's Pick
CPU
i5-10400F
GPU
GTX 1660 Super
RAM
8GB DDR4
Storage
500GB SSD
Pros
Features an Intel 10th Gen CPU
Solid gaming performance
Great aesthetics
Cons
Only 500GB SSD
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The Gamer Xtreme VR Gaming PC from CyberPowerPC is more than capable of taking care of your gaming needs for some time. The performance is excellent for the budget price and you can be sure that has something to do with the powerful CPU/GPU combination featured inside.
The CPU is the Intel i5-10400F, which is highly regarded as one of the best gaming CPUs. The single-core performance on this processor is top-level and it features a base clock speed of 2.9GHz which can be boosted to 4.3GHz in the BIOS. This six-core CPU is the “F” version which basically means it doesn’t come with onboard graphics. Not to worry though as it’s backed up by the GTX 1660 Super graphics card from Nvidia.
The GTX 1660 Super is a monster for 1080p gaming and even has decent benchmarking results in the 1440p resolutions too. With this card, you can be sure to play on a wide range of games in high settings or enjoy high FPS counts in your favorite competitive games.
This machine features an SSD storage solution and while the SSD is only 500GB, it is more than enough to hold your operating system and a couple of your favorite games.
This would make an excellent PC for beginners and hardcore gamers alike, with strong gaming features at the heart of this build. Aside from the components, you get a PC case with pre-installed RGB fans, a PSU shroud, and a window to see inside. Lastly, you also receive a CyberPowerPC keyboard and mouse so you can jump straight into those games when it arrives.
Runner Up
CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
RAM
8GB DDR4
GPU
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT
Storage
240GB SSD
Pros
Affordable
Excellent CPU
Solid gaming performance
Cons
Entry level GPU
240GB SSD
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The iBUYPOWER Gaming PC Computer Desktop Trace 4 9310 is the perfect companion to tackle your competitive esports titles, with the budget yet powerful CPU/GPU combination inside.
Inside we see the 3rd gen AMD Ryzen 5 3600, which is a solid all-round CPU. The single-core performance on this processor may not be as good as intel but it runs at a base clock speed of 3.6GHz which can be boosted to 4.2GHz in the BIOS. The real strength with this processor is its multi-threading ability, with 6 cores and 12 threads, this will make light work of heavy load tasks and generally make your budget PC feel quicker.
The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT GPU is an entry-level card but still solid for 1080p gaming and has decent benchmarking results for its price. You can play on a wide range of games in high settings or enjoy high FPS counts in your favorite competitive games.
This machine features an SSD storage solution and while we would like to see more, 240GB is more than enough to hold your operating system and a couple of your favorite games.
This would make an excellent PC for beginners but also suits hardcore gamers on a budget. With strong gaming features at a low price, there is nothing to lose.
1440p Pick
CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 2600
GPU
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
RAM
16GB DDR4
Storage
500GB SSD
Pros
Excellent gaming performance
High-end CPU and GPU
Visually fantastic
Cons
500GB SSD
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This budget gaming PC from SkyTech features some of the best components in this roundup, smashing AAA game titles in 1080p with ease and not doing too badly in 144op either.
The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is viewed as a very efficient 2nd-gen CPU, which can deliver some fantastic results. The CPU is paired with the GeForce RTX 2060 which is highly regarded as one of the best price/performance cards available and it will handle a variety of titles quite easily in both 1080P and 1440P.
The case is sleek and brings RGB, plus a viewing window to the table, giving you an out of the box stylish setup. So if you are looking for a 1440p gaming experience without breaking the bank, this is the PC for you.
Esports Pick
CPU
AMD Ryzen 3 3100
RAM
8GB DDR4
GPU
NVIDIA GTX 1650 Super
Storage
500GB SSD
Pros
Great for 1080p gaming
Smaller form factor
Cons
Entry-level specs
only 500GB SSD space
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This SkyTech Chronos Mini offers everything you will need to get your esports gaming off the ground. This budget PC features the affordable AMD Ryzen 3 3100. Alongside the highly capable CPU, we see the GTX 1650 Super, a surprising GPU that can tackle most games with ease.
This build also offers 8GB of DDR4 RAM and a 500GB SSD drive which, although not the biggest, is still capable of holding your operating system. You may want to add extra storage space down the line but this is enough to get you started.
The build comes in a stylish case, featuring a viewing window, and some RGB fans.
Mini Pick
CPU
AMD Ryzen 3 3100
GPU
AMD Radeon RX 550 2GB
RAM
8GB
Storage
240GB SSD
Pros
Solid budget performance
Compact form factor
Great aesthetics, with RGB fans
Cons
Small SSD
Entry level graphics
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The iBUYPOWER Element Mini 9300 is a budget gaming PC that packs a decent amount of performance into a compact case. There are few budget computers that offer a CPU/ GPU combination of this quality at this price.
Powering the build is AMD’s Ryzen 3 3100, a budget CPU that packs a decent punch for the price. The processor runs at a base clock speed of 3.6GHz and can be boosted to a maximum speed of 3.9GHz in the BIOS. With 4 cores and 8 threads, you are getting budget multithreading performance and this will feel speedier than most budget gaming PCs on the market. To go along with the CPU, we see a Radeon RX 550 GPU. While this graphics card is about as entry-level as you can get, it still offers a decent gaming experience for the price.
The Element Mini 9300 features 8GB of DDR4 RAM and a 240GB SSD. While this storage solution isn’t particularly big, it is enough to get you playing out of the box, with room for your OS and a few favorite games.
This would make an excellent PC for beginners and hardcore gamers alike, with strong gaming features at the heart of this build. Aside from the components, you get a PC case with pre-installed RGB fans, a PSU shroud, and a window to see inside. Lastly, you also receive an iBUYPOWER keyboard and mouse so you can jump straight into those games when it arrives.
Final Word
There we have it, the best budget gaming PC currently available. We didn’t stop there though, we also included several other options to cater to a variety of needs. every option we recommend comes from a reputable manufacturer and you can rest assured in a quality gaming experience, of course, on a budget!