A branded high-end gaming PC build for under $1500.
Replacing our competitive build is an all-new ‘high-end’ gaming PC build. This one aims to deliver performance and features that are above our ‘mainstream’ build, but not quite as bank-breaking as our no holds barred ‘enthusiast’ build. At just over $1000 before picking a GPU, that leaves only $500 to spare. With the current scarcity of GPUs, there’s not many good options for $500 unless you’re able to catch one using an in-stock tracker or bot. We’re using a 6700 XT as a placeholder, but really if you can find a 3070 or 6700 for a reasonable price, anything in this performance level would work.
| Component | Manufacturer | Product | Price (US) |
| CPU: | AMD | Ryzen 7 5800X | $399 |
| Motherboard: | GIGABYTE | X570 AORUS Elite | $209 |
| Memory: | Corsair | Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4-3600 CL18 | $89 |
| Storage: | TEAMGROUP | MP33 1TB PCIe 3.0 M.2 NVMe SSD | $89 |
| Graphics Card: | XFX | Speedster QICK319 Radeon RX 6700 XT 12GB | ~$998 (way over MSRP) |
| Case | Fractal Design | Define Meshify C TG (White) | $84 |
| Power Supply | Cooler Master | MWE 650, Gold, Fully-Modular, 650W | $79 |
| CPU Cooler: | DEEPCOOL | Captain 240X RGB 240mm AIO | $69 |
In terms of upgrades, we can’t imagine you’ll be looking for many right away, but storage is probably the first priority as it never hurts to have more. The AORUS Elite isn’t the most expensive X570 motherboard, but it can handle the Ryzen 7 5800X without a problem. Our 650W, gold-rated Cooler Master MWE power supply should provide enough power to run most GPUs, with perhaps some concern on the top-end 3090 or 6900XT simply due to tipping over the ideal 50% PSU utilization mark.
In terms of monitor choices, we’d go with the MSI Optix MAG341CQ, which is a 34″, 3440 x 1440, curved, ultra-wide gaming monitor with a refresh rate up to 100Hz and FreeSync support. At $429, it’s a great deal for a monitor that ticks off a lot of very high-end features.