The 6 Best Gaming PC (Prebuilt)

You want a sweet new gaming rig, but you don’t have the time, patience, or the effort for a DIY PC project, so what do you do? You play it safe and buy a prebuilt gaming computer, of course!

Skip frustrating PC builds with a prebuilt gaming PC. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to put a computer together, nor do you have to spend thousands of dollars on hardware. But sometimes, it’s best to take a shortcut to save yourself some time. If, however, you’re interested in building your own computer, don’t be that one person who skips the tutorial later to find out they have no idea how to play the game. So go ahead and read our comprehensive guide on how to build a gaming PC before you get stuck in.

Okay, back on to prebuilt PC talk!

Top 6 Gaming Prebuilt Gaming PCs

These days, pre-built gaming PCs come with some of the latest and greatest technology, as well as some pretty affordable price tags. If you’re interested, why not read more about the best budget gaming PC. That’s if you don’t purchase our premium pick gaming PC which costs an arm and a leg…sorry about that!

With that said, you should aim for a gaming PC with future-proof hardware for a long-lasting, reliable rig that you can game on till the cows come home.

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Pros & Cons

• Award-winning, compact design
• VR-ready
• Silent running

• Requires an external 330w power brick to run

Specifications

• CPU: Intel Core i9-9900k 8-Core Processor
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX SUPER 2070 8GB
• Storage: 1 TB HDD + 240 GB SSD
• RAM: 16GB DDR4 2666 Mhz

iBUYPOWER Pro Gaming PC Trace 9240V2 Review

When talking about PC vs. console gaming, the convenience of a console is undeniable; you can unplug it, walk on over to your friend’s house, plug it in, and boot up a game within no time—something you can’t do with a gaming PC. However, what you can do with a gaming PC is enjoy beautiful visuals that consoles will never come close to.

The first thing you might’ve noticed is that this gaming PC is sporting one of the most powerful CPUs available on the market. When you’re in possession of the almighty i9-9900k, you don’t have to worry about replacing your processor for the next half a decade. Maybe even longer.

As if this wasn’t enough, the iBUYPOWER’s popular model is also utilizing the GeForce RTX SUPER 2070, which can run all the newest titles at max settings. I don’t wanna get ahead of myself, but it can probably run the ones from 2022 too, it’s just that we lost our time machine and couldn’t test it.

Next comes the storage. Both random access and regular memory are top-tier, which explains the best-selling status of this gaming PC. With 240 GB of SSD and 1 TB of HDD storage, you won’t have to worry about running out of space. Finally, 16 GB of RAM is pretty good for current titles but you could go for 32 GB in a couple of years. Overall, iBUYPOWER Pro Gaming PC Trace 9240V2 is a rig that won’t fail you.

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Pros & Cons

• Eight-core i9 processor
• Runs games smoothly
• Future-proof

• Extremely expensive

Specifications

• CPU: Intel Core i9-9900K
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
• Storage: 2TB HDD
• RAM: 32GB DDR4

Corsair One i160 Review

Our best choice prebuilt gaming PC is so ridiculously expensive, that you’d probably have to sell a limb or two on the black market in order to afford it. But hear us out, as it might just be worth the price…except maybe not the loss of limbs…you’ll probably need those to game with.

Corsair’s One i160 gaming PC is a VR-ready, Oculus Rift compatible PC owing to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics card and the Intel Core i9 CPU. Yet the power doesn’t stop there. If the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is too expensive for you, why not look at the older but also incredible models of the best 1080 Ti cards.

It’s a future-proof rig that’s very compact and fully liquid-cooled to keep the Corsair One i160 refreshed throughout the day. This cooling system not only allows for lower temps, but it also increases clock rates and minimizes noise. Because let’s be real, who wants a PC that sounds like a vacuum cleaner? Not me!

Want to know what else is cool? RGB lighting. It’s almost as if it’s compulsory for a gaming PC to come with at least one zone of RGB lighting, why? Purely for aesthetics. But when the user configurable lighting is built into the pipes, you can’t deny that it compliments the bead-blasted black aluminum finish perfectly.

This prebuilt gaming PC by Corsair does a lot of things right, especially the gaming ready port selection up front. From HDMI 2.0 and USB 3.1 to a combo headphone/microphone jack, this thing has it all. Sadly, Corsair removed the DVI-D port and once again, the price is ridiculous. But if you can afford to fork out $3,600 for a prebuilt PC, go for it!

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Pros & Cons

• Powerful graphics card
• HTC VIVE and Oculus Rift VR optimized
• Stylish RGB ring fans

• Poor keyboard and mouse

Specifications

• CPU: Intel Core i5 9400F (2.9 GHz)
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (6GB)
• Storage: 120 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD
• RAM: 8 GB DDR4

CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme Review

If you want a fancy new gaming PC but you’re a college student living on pasta and cheap booze, you’ll love the CyberPower Gamer Xtreme VR PC. It offers killer specs at a very competitive price, something many gamers find hard to come by. Yes, alright, it’s far more expensive than a packet of fusilli, yet you won’t be able to play the most anticipated games of 2020 using a dough tube.

At least I couldn’t the last time I tried.

Featuring a six-core Intel i5-9400F CPU and the popular NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660, the CyberPower Xtreme VR PC will give you a smooth gaming experience right out of the box. What’s more is that it’s just $749, close to what you’d pay if you bought each part separately.

This hardware, alongside 8GB DDR4 RAM, make this a pretty powerful gaming rig. So much so that it’s fast enough to support virtual reality applications. Just, don’t go purchasing a flagship VR system if you’re a student who wants to eat. What you can save yourself some money on, however, are computer peripherals.

That’s right, CyberpowerPC was nice enough to add a gaming keyboard and RGB 7-colors gaming mouse to the bundle. They weren’t, however, nice enough to throw in some of the best gaming keyboards with satisfying Cherry MX switches, or a mouse with more than a couple of side buttons. Nevertheless, they work well as budget computer peripherals with our best value prebuilt gaming PC.

Overall, this is one of the best gaming PCs under $800 that you can find.

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Pros & Cons

• Liquid cooling system
• Z370 combo for overclocking
• RGB lighting

• Loud fans

Specifications

• CPU: Intel Core i7-9700K
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070
• Storage: 1TB HDD + 240GB SSD
• RAM: 16GB DDR4

iBuyPower Trace 9230 Pro Review

Moving onto another prebuilt gaming PC bundle, the iBuyPower Trace 9230 Pro. It’s a PC by iBuyPower, a company that is known for creating low priced computers, that comes equipped with some of the latest technology, which is expected for the price. If you’re looking for a top-notch gaming PC under $1500, this is the optimal choice.

Thanks to the 8-core Intel i7-9700 CPU and GeForce RTX 2070 GPU, games such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Battlefield V run like butter, hitting around 115 FPS on ultra-high settings according to the benchmarks photographed on Amazon. Also, while you play these games, know that the liquid cooling system within the Trace 9230 will keep it cooler than you’ll look gaming on it.

The only con we could find, aside from the pretty poor keyboard and mouse, is that like the Alienware Aurora Mid R7, the fans become pretty noticeable after a while. Though don’t worry too much about loud fans as they are expected to start spinning only during intense gameplay.

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Pros & Cons

• Inexpensive
• Minimalist design
• Great performance

• No solid-state drive

Specifications

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 1200
• GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti
• Storage: 1TB HDD
• RAM: 8GB DDR4

SkyTech ArchAngel Review

Tired of looking at expensive PCs? Then let’s take a look at the SkyTech ArchAngel, another budget-friendly option that we selected as the highest-quality gaming PC under $600.

Although not everyone will be able to fork out $650 for a gaming PC, especially not college students, the price is pretty decent for what you get, which is why we chose to review the GTX 1050 Ti version. So what’s so great about it? Or more importantly, what makes it so cheap?

In spite of the price, many modern games will run on this thing at medium settings because of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphics card. The processor, on the other hand, isn’t made by Intel, rather it’s an AMD processor with 3.1 GHz base clock speeds that can be pushed to 3.5 GHz for maximum performance.

Alas, this AMD series doesn’t come with integrated graphics, but SkyTech Gaming has upgraded to DDR4 RAM. Nonetheless, you get what you pay for which is a small price to pay compared to our other gaming rigs.

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Pros & Cons

• Value-for-money specs
• Gaming optimized
• Includes a keyboard and mouse

• Lacks USB-C port

Specifications

• CPU: Intel Core i7-8700
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
• Storage: 1TB HDD + 120GB SSD
• RAM: 16GB DDR4

CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR8500A Review

Cyberpower impressed us so much with their value-for-money specs, that we just had to put another one of their prebuilt computers onto our list. This time, a more powerful one, the Xtreme VR GXiVR8500A.

Our best value prebuilt PC, the Cyberpower Xtreme VR GXiVR8060A7, comes with an Intel i5 processor and a GTX 1660 GPU. On the contrary, this version is more powerful, and a tad more expensive as it brags a better CPU (Intel Core i5-9400F 2.9GHz 6-Core) with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 graphics card, once again.

Oh, and much like our value option, it comes with the same keyboard, but a different mouse. It isn’t as good as our best gaming mouse options, though it’s more ergonomic than the one that comes with our value prebuilt PC. Plus, it doesn’t cost a thing, saving you some extra cash for when you need it most.

Gaming PC Buying Guide

Before you take the easy route, you need to understand some important PC components in order to understand what you’re buying.

CPU

A microprocessor known as the central processing unit (CPU) acts as the brains of every computer by working hard to send signals to control other parts of the PC. As it’s the decision-maker, it is a crucial piece of hardware that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Basic computers feature an Intel Celeron microprocessor, one that can handle simple tasks such as browsing the web and sending emails. Some games will run on these PCs, though most modern games require a dual-core i5 CPU. More demanding titles, on the other hand, run best on an Intel i7 quad-core processor made for gaming. However, if you want a great processor on a tight budget, we recommend looking at some of the best AM3+ CPUs available.

Tip: If you’re unsure if you can run a specific game, check its system requirements for minimum and recommended computer specifications. If your CPU isn’t good enough to run that title, maybe you should upgrade to one of the best gaming CPUs available.

GPU

Graphics processing units (GPU) are another essential piece of hardware that shouldn’t go unnoticed. So what exactly does a graphics card do in gaming? Simply put, a GPU displays images and videos required for running games.

For fluid 30-60 FPS gaming, you should aim for a video card with a 2 to 4 GB memory size which comes as standard with GeForce GTX 1060 graphics cards. If you’re into virtual reality systems, VR headsets such as the Vive and Rift require a constant 90 FPS to work. Be aware that only the best graphics cards for gaming will support VR on your PC.

Because of the GPU shortage, getting a prebuilt PC in 2020 might be a better idea than building your own gaming rig. However, experts predict the scarcity to balance out by the end od 2020.

Motherboard

A motherboard, aside from a GPU and CPU, is another vital piece of hardware that allows other components to communicate with each other. As it’s responsible for coordinating everything that happens in your gaming computer, you could say it’s the mother of every PC.

If you’re building your own computer, the motherboard should be purchased after the CPU as motherboards only support specific CPU sockets. If you’re unsure about the motherboard compatibility, take a look at the best gaming motherboards out there, and find out their specifications.

Something you don’t have to worry about with a prebuilt PC. 

Power Supply

As the name suggests, a power supply unit (PSU) supplies power to a PC. How? When a computer is plugged in, the power supply converts the power from the outlet into usable power for the specific parts inside your PC. Because of this, higher-end PCs and hungry hardware require top-notch power supply units with at least 500W.

If power outrages are your concern, take a look at the best surge protectors for gaming PCs and protect your PSU as well as other hardware.

Storage

In our SSD vs. HDD comparison guide, we explained the differences between the two in more detail. If you didn’t manage to read that guide yet—which you should—then here’s a quick comparison.

Solid-state drives for gaming are much faster than hard disk drives (HDD), yet much more expensive. Though for gaming, a hard disk drive works just as well so long as it has enough space to store the games you wish to play.

RAM

Random-access memory, or RAM, is another important form of high-speed computer memory that stores vital information. It is important in gaming as it temporarily stores frequently used data in order to access it faster, allowing games to run smooth.

For casual gamers, 8GB DDR4 is the minimum amount needed, even if you got the best RAM for gaming we’d recommend, while more intensive tasks and games may require around 16GB of RAM. Grand Theft Auto V, for example, requires a minimum of 4GB and a recommended 8GB of RAM, so it really just depends on what you want to play.

Case Size

If you’re building your own PC, case size is important as you want to make sure everything fits inside it, especially the motherboards. While ATX mid to full-tower cases fit standard motherboards, the best mini-ITX cases are best suited for Micro-ITX boards.

Monitor

Now that you’ve picked out a gaming PC, what will you use to display all of your sweet new games? You could use a TV, but a great ultrawide gaming monitor is far superior, especially if you want an immersive experience.

Gaming PC FAQ

How Much Does a Good Gaming PC Cost?

A gaming PC with entry-level specs will come with a price tag of around $700. If, however, you want a higher level gaming rig that offers buttery-smooth gameplay, expect to pay over $1,000.

These higher-end PCs often features a great i5 processor for gaming or even i7, alongside a GTX 1070 or 1080 graphics card.

Another alternative is to optimize your PC for gaming and make it run a tad better until you save up for a new rig.

Are Gaming PCs Worth It?

Absolutely! Unlike a basic PC, you’d find in a school library or your grandmother’s office space, gaming PCs are, well, made for gaming.

What’s the Difference Between a Gaming Computer and a Regular Computer?

To expand on the above question, gaming computers are made specifically for gaming, whereas regular computers were made for basic, everyday tasks such as browsing the web.

Therefore the difference is that gaming computers come with a more powerful GPU and CPU made for gaming, contrasting basic Celeron processors used in most consumer PCs.

Is It Better to Build a PC or Buy One?

If you’re tech-savvy or you’re simply great at following instructions, go ahead and build a gaming PC. It often ends up cheaper than buying a prebuilt one, plus, there’s always a pleasure in building something yourself.

Final Verdict

Prebuilt gaming PCs now come with some of the best hardware right out of the box, so it’s understandable why you’d want to skip the build process and jump right into a game.

If, however, you don’t want to spend any cash but want to better your gaming performance, check out our guide on how to optimize Windows 10 for gaming; it might be just what you need.

Sources:

1. Best Specs for a Gaming PC, Crucial US
2. Custom vs. Prebuilt PC, Razer Forums