If you're trying to build a powerful gaming PC for $1000 then this is exactly what you need to see! Featuring an i5 9400f, an 8GB RTX 2070, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage!
Feb 27, 2019 As I ask in the headline, is the Shadow Ghost the quietest, cheapest gaming PC that has ever been made? Yes, although that statement is loaded with caveats. Shadow Ghost review: is it actually a PC? In the conventional sense of the word, no. But it acts just like one. The Shadow Ghost is effectively a terminal for the Shadow games streaming. Cheapest gaming computer ever. Thread starter secondlevel; Start date Sep 15, 2015; Forums. It is nowhere near a modern gaming GPU. If the whole PC is under $75, it is probably worth it. But, the very first thing you would have to do is pull that HD 5450 out, throw it in the garbage and buy a real GPU like a GTX 750. Anything over.
With a budget of $1000, you can pretty much guarantee that the computer you build can handle 1080p and should also be capable of putting out 1440p if you don't mind lower fps or lower than max settings. 1080p gaming is not even an issue. This is basically a perfectly balanced price-point for building your own gaming PC, it's enough to get you amazing hardware while still maintaining a reasonable budget.
That all said, if you're looking for a build running an AMD Ryzen processor then you might want to check my other $1000 Ryzen build out instead! It comes with an R5 2600 + RTX 2070 + 16GB of RAM; definitely a beast worth checking out!
Have a question? Ask me in the comment section!
The Best $1000 Gaming PC Build
Updated: June 15th, 2019-
Phanteks Eclipse P300
Mid tower ATX case, great layout and awesome cable management. Comes with 1x 120mm fans.
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MSI B360 Gaming Plus
LGA 1151 socket ATX motherboard, B360 chipset. Equipped with 6x USB, 5x SATA, and 1x M.2 slot. Comes with built in 7.1 channel audio support and integrated ethernet.
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Intel i5 9400f
6-core/6-thread 2.9GHz (base clock) processor that boosts up to 4.1GHz. Does not support overclocking. Does not have an iGPU.
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Gigabyte RTX 2070 Windforce 8G
8GB GDDR6 graphics card. 5 display outputs. Great 1440p (and 4K) performance!
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EVGA 550 B3
550W fully-modular 80+ Bronze power supply. Rated up to 85% efficiency. Comes with a 5-year warranty.
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16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 RAM
2x8GB 2666MHz DDR4 RAM, CL16. Dual channel pair.
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Kingston A400 480GB SSD
An incredibly fast SSD! Currently one of the absolute best options.
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- A smallPhillips screwdriver
Size #2 works well as a general rule. - Ananti-static wristband
Optional but recommended. - PatienceAnd lots of it.
That’s really all you need to assemble your new desktop. All of the mounting hardware and cables will come with the parts listed above. The only time you might need something extra is if you’re modifying the build on this page.
Super Simplified Build Steps:
- Install the power supply into the case
- Install the processor (CPU)
- Seat RAM in the motherboard
- Mount the CPU cooler (don’t forget thermal paste if you're not using a stock cooler!)
- Insert the motherboard’s rear I/O plate into the case's rear I/O slot
- Mount the motherboard in the case (get your i/o ports through and use the middle standoff as a guide)
- Plug your graphics card into the motherboard
- Install storage drives
- Plug all power and data cables in where they're required (storage, case, motherboard, graphics card, etc)
- Turn your PC on
- Install your OS
- Install and update ALL drivers
- DONE!
In-depth Walkthrough
If you’ve never built a computer before, then you probably want to take some time to learn the basics before getting ahead of yourself. To do that you have a couple of options you can choose from.
The first, and probably the easiest way for most people to learn is finding a walkthrough on YouTube from a reputable tech channel.Here’s one by BitWit as an example.
Alternatively, I’ve put together an in-depth guide onhow to build a PCas well as aFAQto address the most common questions and problems. I've also put together a short post covering 10 of the most common mistakes people make when building.
One of the best parts of building a PC is being free to customize your build as you see fit. Below, you’ll find some potential upgrades as well as items you could (or should) add to your build. Not all of these are necessary, but add-ons (like an SSD) are definitely suggested as they will improve your experience a lot.
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Windows 10 (USB Installer)
Windows 10 is your best bet when it comes to picking an operating system. This version is a USB installer.
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Corsair H80i Liquid CPU Cooler
Instead of air cooling your CPU, why not try a closed loop liquid cooler?
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Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 NVMe SSD
A 250GB M.2-based NVMe SSD like the 970 EVO Plus is a step up from basic M.2 or SATA SSDs. They offer significantly more speed, but at a higher price /GB in comparison.
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Samsung Ultra-Slim External CD DVD±R/RW
External optical drives are generally just as good as their internally-mounted counterparts, and in some cases it’s necessary to go external over internal.
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This $1000 gaming PC build is going to absolutely dominate anything you throw at it in 1080p and will even let you step into some 1440p gaming as well! If ultra settings in 1080p @ 60fps is what you're aiming for, then you've definitely found the right gaming PC build!
Keep in mind that the price above is for the core components only, you will still need an operating system, and any other peripherals you don’t currently have.
Case: The Phanteks Eclipse P300 is an awesome mid-tower ATX case. You get a handful of premium features without spending a premium price. The P300 comes with a full PSU shroud, a big tempered glass side panel, good airflow, and clean cable management options.
If there's one downside to the P300, it's that it only comes with a single 120mm fan. Although it would work well to exhaust hot air from your case, adding 1-2 more 120mm fans to pull cool air in would be a good idea.
Motherboard: MSI's B360 Gaming Plus is an overall great ATX motherboard for the price. It supports the LGA 1151 socket and runs on the Intel B360 chipset - meaning it does not support CPU overclocking, but that shouldn't be a problem because neither does the i5 9400F CPU that this build runs.
The B360 Gaming Plus comes with 6x USB ports, 5x SATA headers, an M.2 slot, and support for up to 4 sticks of 2666MHz DDR4 RAM. It also comes with integrated 7.1-channel audio support as well as a built-in ethernet controller.
Processor (CPU): Intel's 6-core/6-thread i5 9400f is a processor that won’t have any issues with gaming, light content creation, or anything else. The i5 9400f has a base core clock of 2.9GHz that can extend all the way to 4.1GHz under load; that's a lot of processing power slapped across 6 high-performance cores!
One note, it's not bundled with an iGPU like most Intel CPUs would be - hence the 'f' classification. That being said, its performance is about the same as an i5 8400, to the point of any difference being negligible. So, if you already have an i5 8400, or equivalent, there's no reason not to reuse it.
I should also mention that the i5 9400f is locked and does not support overclocking. But, it does come with its own CPU cooler.
Graphics Card (GPU): The 8GB RTX 2070 is easily the best GPU you can readily buy for around $500. It's easily capable of handling any game in 1440p at 60fps+. It's also capable of 4K gaming if you don't mind running mid-high settings in those more graphically demanding titles. AMD's Vega 64 is another good option, but it can be difficult to find good models of those with reasonable prices.
Gigabyte's RTX 2070 Windforce comes with a great cooling profile, a sleek minimalist look, and 5 display outputs including 3x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI, and 1x USB Type-C.
![Gaming Gaming](/uploads/1/2/4/9/124985966/828369028.jpg)
System Memory (RAM): 16GB of 2666MHz RAM in a dual channel setup from Corsair's Vengeance LPX lineup of DDR4 RAM is the perfect amount - for a build at this level. Any more than 16GB and you probably won't notice a difference in the vast majority of games, but if you're a heavy-duty multi-tasker or you use your PC for demanding workloads, more RAM might be a good idea.
Power Supply (PSU): EVGA's fully-modular 550 B3 is a great Bronze-rated power supply that won't let you down. Thanks to it's fully-modular layout, you only have to connect the cables you'll be using which means cleaner cable management. It'll consistently deliver more than enough power to this build regardless if you're running base clocks or you've overclocked everything to sky high numbers. It's capable of delivering up to 85% efficiency under typical loads and comes with a 5-year warranty just in case the worst were to happen.
Storage: This build is running a 480GB SSD by default. For a lot of people, this will be plenty. But, if you're in the group who need more, you should know that it's really easy to upgrade storage. Basically, it's no different than installing your first drive; buy the new drive, connect power + data, and then you'll have more space!
If you're on a budget of $1000, you're in luck, because that's the perfect amount to spend on a DIY gaming PC build. If you were to go to Best Buy and pick a prefab PC up for $1000, you wouldn't get anything near the level of this beast.
When it comes down to picking an operating system for this build, you have a couple of options. One is free, the other is about $100.
The best choice if you want access to the widest array of compatible programs & games is going to be Windows. There are a few different versions available, but the one you'll want to look at is Windows 10 - especially if you want to take advantage of DirectX 12, and you do.
Your free option would be to grab yourself a copy of Ubuntu and run that. It's a solid Linux-based OS which is widely supported by most Windows based programs and games, although you might have to run some in a program called Wine.
When it comes to actually installing your OS, you basically have 2 choices. You can either do it the old fashioned way by using the retail DVD, or you could create your own bootable flash drive. If you're planning to use Linux you can also burn an installation DVD. For instructions on how to create your own bootable flash drive, check here.
If you don't already have things like a monitor, mouse, keyboard, and some kind of audio, you might want to take a look at some of my suggestions. They're hand-picked to match this budget level, and they're all great peripherals.
Since picking a monitor can be difficult with all of the different features to consider, check out my guide on how to pick the best monitor for gaming.
Even more important than picking out the right monitor is picking out the right chair. With all of the options available, it's easy to get lost and make a bad decision. To make sure that doesn't happen, I've put together this list of the 16 best gaming chairs out there!
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Acer ED273 1080p 144Hz monitor
A great 27″ 1080p 144Hz monitor with a curved VA panel that’s G-Sync compatible!
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Corsair K70
Cherry MX Silver mechanical switches. Customizable RGB backlighting. All-around amazing keyboard!
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Logitech G502 Hero
Clean RGB lighting, very comfortable to use, great sensor accuracy, adjustable weight.
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HyperX Cloud 2 Gaming Headset
The HyperX Cloud 2 is my top rated gaming headset for under $100 and for good reason!
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Logitech Z623 2.1 speakers
2.1 channel, 200W RMS/400W peak speaker setup. If you like bass and lots of it, this is an awesome choice.
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Since the motherboard in this build comes equipped with an ethernet controller, it can easily connect to the internet via a wired connection. But, if your only option is WiFi, then you're also going to need a WiFi adapter.
There are a couple routes you can choose. An internally mounted WiFi adapter is often faster and more reliable than a USB option. But, the USB option is often quite a bit cheaper. Ultimately, the choice is yours. But, here's what I'd pick.
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TP-LINK Archer T6E
One of the best internally mounted AC1300 dual-band WiFi adapters.
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TP-LINK Archer T3U
An awesome dual-band USB WiFi adapter.
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For around $1000, this gaming PC build will last you well into the future of modern games and continue to give you a seriously incredible gaming experience. If you need to game on the highest settings then you've found the right build because I've set you up with a rig that is definitely delivering a lot of bang for your hard-earned bucks.
This build can easily handle any game you can throw at it in 1440p on high settings or better without breaking a sweat. In 1080p, you could easily max anything out and get 100fps+ without a problem.
If you have any questions, comments, concerns or otherwise, feel free to leave them in the comment section and I'll answer them ASAP!
Case | Phanteks Eclipse P300 |
Motherboard | MSI B360 Gaming Plus |
Processor | Intel i5 9400f |
Graphics | Gigabyte RTX 2070 Windforce 8G |
Power Supp. | EVGA 550 B3 80+ Bronze |
RAM | 16GB DDR4 (2666MHz) |
HDD | Optional |
SSD | Kingston A400 480GB |