Best cheap gaming PCs in 2024

Contrary to popular belief, you don't need to fork out a huge amount of cash to enjoy a satisfying gaming experience. You can get some of the best gaming computers at affordable prices, though you might have to skip the latest GPUs, CPUs, and RAM. While getting the best budget gaming PC requires a bit of sorting, you can find PCs in the $500 to $1200 price range that can keep up with today's demanding games.

Not to worry, though, as we've handled the hard work by scouring the market and creating a comprehensive list of affordable gaming PCs. These desktop computers are $1200 or below and offer stellar gaming performances you'll love. Whether you want to enjoy VR games or get the best frame rates, these PCs will provide excellent graphics and smooth gameplay without burning a hole in your pocket.

Our picks for the best cheap gaming PCs

MSI is synonymous with top-notch gaming PCs, and the Codex R gaming PC is an excellent example. It is a mid-tower rig with a minimalist all-black design, ensuring it suits your space no matter the color scheme. Inside this PC sits an Intel Core i5-13400F processor that efficiently completes your CPU-intensive tasks and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 that offers excellent ray tracing and DLSS 3 capabilities. Whether you're looking to play 1080p games at the highest settings, edit videos, or complete other productivity tasks, this gaming PC will take anything you throw at it.

The computer is powered by a 650W Gold-Rated PSU, providing less heat and excellent efficiency on regular loads. And when you pair all of these with up to 32GB 5200MHz DDR5 RAM and 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, you get a gaming PC you can push to the limits with no issues. The mid-tower case has pre-installed RGB fans that provide adequate cooling and a filter that helps keep dust away from its internals. You get Windows 11 out of the box and an MSI RGB gaming keyboard and mouse.

The HP Victus 15L is an excellent choice for the best AMD gaming PC under $600. This PC is powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 5600G processor with six cores and 12 threads. While it isn't the latest AMD processor, it has enough computing power to handle most CPU-intensive tasks with its 3.9GHz base clock and 4.4GHz boost clock. HP has paired it with an AMD Radeon RX 6400 with 4GB GDDR6 RAM, providing enough power for smooth gameplay.

This configuration has 8GB RAM and 256GB PCIe M.2 SSD. While this is good enough for games like Apex Legends, you'll need to spec it up to play games with larger file sizes, such as Call of Duty: Warzone. You can configure the Victus 15L with up to 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and 1TB HDD. The PC comes with Windows 11 out the gate, so you may need to fine-tune your settings to get the best graphics possible since Windows 11 and AMD drivers are known to not sync well with each other.

Also, the PC comes pre-installed with HP bloatware, which can be easily uninstalled, but you may need to install the HP Omen Gaming app to turn off the LED, as you can't manage that in the BIOS. There's enough room in the case to help with upgradability, and the PC runs quietly at typical loads. While you can't play 4K games on this device, you can easily stream 4K and HDR10 shows. The PC also has a free gaming mouse and keyboard, but you want to rely on something other than them for the best gaming experience.

CyberpowerPC offers many pre-built gaming PCs under $1500, and this Gamer Master is one of the best choices. Unlike other brands that tend to compromise CPU or GPU to keep the computer on a budget, the Gamer Master combines one of the best AMD CPUs, the Ryzen 5 7600, with a top-tier Nvidia GPU, the GeForce RTX 4060, ensuring consistent performance across multiple high-end titles. Add that to the 16GB DDR5 RAM and 512GB PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD, and you are guaranteed excellent performance on various AAA titles, even on high settings.

The components are housed in an Onxyia II gaming case with an angular design that'll elevate the beauty of most spaces and glass side panels to show off your build. The case also has three RGB fans for excellent heat dissipation, while a mesh front cover ensures that dust doesn't get to the PC's innards. CyberpowerPC uses a fan-based cooler to keep the heat off the CPU, ensuring you can always get a stable performance.

This PC is available in multiple configurations, meaning you can upgrade it to an Intel Core i9-13900KF, RTX 4070 GPU, and 1TB storage. You also get a mouse and keyboard bundled with the PC, though you want to rely on something other than them for gaming. Though CyberpowerPC didn't specify the type of PSU used, it offers up to a year of parts, labor warranty, and technical support, so you won't have an issue with defective parts. Upgrading and adding more parts isn't an issue either, since there's enough room in the case to add more components.

Lenovo makes some really great computers for business and gaming, and the LOQ Tower 17 is one of the brand's affordable gaming desktops. Sleek, minimalist, and quiet, this desktop gaming PC offers excellent specs that allow you to play games at decent frame rates. The 17-liter proprietary case houses a 13th Gen Intel Core i5-13400F with ten cores and 16 threads and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 with 8GB DDR6 RAM. While they aren't the best components on this list, they offer enough performance to get decent fps on high 1080p game settings.

You can upgrade them to a higher Intel Core i7-13700F and GeForce RTX 3060 configuration for better performance. A dual channel 16GB RAM ensures excellent speeds, while a 512GB SSD stores your games and other files. The entire PC is powered by a 500W 80+ Platinum PSU, which works well but leaves little room for future upgrades to higher-end GPUs. On the cooling side, Lenovo added a 65W CPU cooler to turn down the heat, and the case has a meshed side panel that helps enhance airflow.

This PC ships with a basic keyboard and mouse that aren't ideal for gaming but might be handy in emergencies or for productivity tasks. It also has a good selection of ports, but most are low-speed USB-A ports, as noted in our review below. Overall, the LOQ Tower 17 is a good budget gaming PC for decent 1080p gaming, but it won't provide exceptional performance on AAA titles.

The Asus ROG G13CH is one of the best compact pre-built PCs you can buy. It's available in multiple configurations, but this model has a 13th Gen Intel Core i5-13400F with a max boost clock of 4.6GHz. You get plenty of power for productivity and gaming while retaining cool temperatures at typical workloads. Add that to the 8GB 3200MHz RAM and 1TB storage, and you get a PC with excellent speeds and storage for your games and other computing tasks.

On the graphical side, Asus added an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU with 8GB RAM. It's a full-sized GPU, meaning you can run 1080p games on high settings without issues. This configuration can also do 1440p gaming at 60fps, but you'll have to deal with a lot of fan noise and higher CPU temps. If you want to play at higher resolutions, you can choose a higher configuration, up to an Intel Core i9 and an RTX 4080.

The case fans on this PC aren't the best, so it's recommended you swap them out for more effective options. To Asus's credit, though, both sides of the case are vented to help improve airflow. But that isn't enough, as the CPU tends to heat up quickly when pushed to the max. Upgradability is another tricky subject due to the small form factor, but since the components are relatively recent, you may not need to upgrade for a while.

Entry-level gamers will find the iBUYPOWER SlateMR gaming PC a decent choice. It's a high-quality PC that looks great and works even better. The mid-tower case houses an Intel Core i5-12400F, Nvidia GeForce RTX 1650, 8GB DDR4 RAM, and 512GB NVMe SSD. While these are low-end compared to the other PCs on this list, they are good enough to provide entry-level gamers with decent frame rates on games like Warzone, PUBG, and other simpler games.

The components sit in a spacious tempered glass case designed with four case fans for consistent airflow and beautiful RGB lights for nice aesthetics. iBUYPOWER uses an OEM CPU cooler to keep the processor's temperatures in check, and you're guaranteed to enjoy a quiet performance if you don't push the PC to its limits.

This PC comes pre-installed with Windows 11 out of the box, and unlike the HP Victus 15L above, you get no bloatware on this device. A mouse and keyboard are shipped with the computer, and while they're not bad, they're not great either, so you want to get a decent gaming keyboard and mouse for your PC. If you feel the components are too subpar and would like to upgrade, you can spice up the configurations to a Core i7-13700F and RTX 4060Ti.

The Acer Predator Orion 3000 gaming PC offers excellent value for money. It's packed with enough specs to handle 1080p and 1440p gaming with no problems. This configuration of the Orion 3000 houses the i5-13400F, which can easily handle gaming and productivity workloads. The i5-13400F has a solid reputation among mid-range chips due to its consistent processing power; plus, you don't necessarily need to get a different cooler to keep its temperature under wraps.

On the graphics side, the Orion is powered by a GeForce RTX 3050, meaning gamers can play on high settings and enjoy its ray tracing abilities. The 16GB DDR5 memory and 1TB M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD further enhance its performance, while the Predator Frostblade fans ensure proper airflow. Its micro-ATX chassis has a tempered glass side panel, so you can quickly check and diagnose any issue at a glance; plus, you get a mouse and keyboard included in the package. However, like most free accessories attached to cheap pre-built PCs, the keyboard and mouse are not the best for gaming.

The Dell G15 laptop is one of the best cheap gaming laptops you can choose if you don't want a desktop PC. It offers excellent specs for the price, ensuring that you can game on a budget. Starting with the base internals, you get a 13th Gen Intel Core i5-13450HX with ten cores and 16 threads and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 with 6GB RAM. These are paired with 8GB DDR5 RAM and 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe storage, delivering excellent performance and enough storage to store your games and other files.

There's also an AMD version with the base model having an AMD Ryzen 5 7640HS with six cores, GeForce RTX 3050, 16GB RAM, and 512GB storage, but it costs $100 more than its Intel counterpart. If your budget allows it, you can upgrade either of these configurations to an Intel Core i7-13650HX with 14 cores and 20 threads or a Ryzen 7 7840HS with eight cores. Both configurations can go up to an RTX 4060 with 8GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and 16GB RAM and still remain under our $1200 limit.

What sets the AMD and Intel versions apart are their displays. While the base versions of both models have a 15.6-inch 120Hz FHD display, you can get a 360Hz FHD display with 1ms response time on the highest Intel configuration, while the highest AMD version gets stuck on a 165Hz FHD display with 3ms response time. The Dell G15 is available in multiple two-tone color choices, including gray and black, white and blue, and purple and mint colors. It also comes with a good array of ports to connect your accessories, including a USB-C port, three USB-A ports, one HDMI port, a headphone jack, and an Ethernet port.

While this laptop offers top-notch performance, you will want to look for a different camera if you'll be streaming, as the G15 offers a 720p webcam that doesn't work with Windows Hello. Also, Dell rates the 86Wh battery to last six hours, but we expect it to last for less, especially during intense gaming sessions. It's also pretty heavy at 6.19 pounds, so traveling with it might take a toll. Nonetheless, the G15 remains one of Dell's top-performing gaming laptops you can get at a relatively cheap price.

Rounding off the best cheap gaming PCs

The MSI Codex R is a winner

While building or buying a high-end gaming PC may offer exceptional performance, you can still get a satisfying gaming experience with cheap pre-built options. There are many affordable choices on the market, but these are the ones we found reliable. The MSI Codex R is arguably the best cheap gaming PC you can buy right now. It offers excellent specs and can handle most games at high settings.

You can also opt for the CyberpowerPC Gamer Master Gaming PC, as it's powerful enough to handle AAA titles. And if the MSI and CyberPowerPC are above your budget, you can settle for the HP Victus 15L. It has powerful AMD parts, and its small form factor helps you save space on your desk or room. Investing in any of the budget-friendly PCs we've listed above lets you enjoy immersive graphics, smooth gameplay, and decent frame rates without compromising performance.