$1,500 - parts list
All things together total about $1355-1455, (we try to remain conscious of sales tax here in the good ol' US of A) and you're getting a pretty sweet set up for higher 1440p gaming and 4k 60fps for most games on lowered settings with the RTX 4070 and RX 6950XT options.
BUT please note if all you want is 1080p gaming, the $1,000 offering is all you need for now :) This combo will result in a pretty big bottleneck for most games in 1080p.
Prices listed in article are accurate as of the time published. Clicking through may change pricing. Widgets do not reflect the ongoing sales we find!
CPU, RAM, and Motherboard ($505)
Everything but the fan has changed from our $1,000 . We've gone to the Ryzen platform for quite a bit more money, but that's because we are trying to avoid bottlenecking our graphics cards too hard for high refresh 1440p gaming. These systems can play plenty of games in 4k, but you're going to get longer lasting fidelity at our 1440p resolution. Also, please note, that while you certainly can find much cheaper motherboards, most of them will not come with WIFI built in. And because this is a small form factor computer build, the GPU's can cover up the second PCIE slot on the motherboards. For that reason, we've elected to find one with built in WIFI already, but it is admittedly at a much heftier price.
Graphics card ($600-800)
Just like with the $1,000 build, you're going to have to choose between Nvidia's pretty raytracing technology versus AMD's pure FPS performance without raytracing. The 4070 is Nvidia's latest option, and probably it's best budget to performance pricing offered from Nvidia in years, with 12GB of VRAM for a $600MSRP. But compared to AMD's 6950xt, (with its 16GB of VRAM) from a pure FPS performance it lags behind considerably. That said the 6950xt below doesn't have any nearly the same raytracing capabilites of Nvidia's. So if you want a prettier picture, Nvidia is the answer; if you want a higher and more consistent frames, the 6950XT is a steal.
Storage, PSU, and Case ($320)
We upgraded our GPU, which means everything below also needs a bit more to it. The selected case comes with at least two ARGB fans pre-installed (though Amazon description claims three), and it should be able to fit the enormous cards above (the 6950XT is 340mm(!), there are not a lot of MATX cases that can fit that comfortably). It also comes with a mesh front panel to get some air in.
We're keeping the same 1TB Gen 4 PCIE M.2 drive for our operating system and most important programs and added some more storage in the form of a 2TB Sata SSD to keep the boot drive as clean as possible.
The PSU has jumped up to an 850w model; the minimum recommended for the graphics cards above. And for $120, you're getting a reliable unit that is fully modular and 80+ gold certified.
So that's it for this build. Want it, but don't want to build it yourself? We build PCs! We will charge a $50 build fee plus shipping and taxes to get it sent out to you. And even better, we offer warranty support (a full two years!), so if something goes wrong, send it back, and we will fix it. Click customs below, and let us know you want this exact build. If the parts are still available, or we have the same ones (or comparable/better substitutes), we will get back to you asap.