Best Prebuilt Gaming PC Under $1000

minigizmoMay 23, 2023

Are you looking for a game PC that costs $1000 and can handle anything you throw at it? Then you can stop looking here.

As a PC fan, I test and review a lot of gaming PCs. I’m going to use all my knowledge to tell you about the best prebuilt gaming PCs under $1000 that are currently on the market.

But wait, it’s not over yet. This piece also has a complete buyer’s guide so that you don’t end up with the wrong PC. You don’t want to have to go through the return process, do you?

In order to make a varied list, the PCs in this roundup are put into different groups. Since I’ve used a lot of prebuilt gaming PCs, I’ve put together a list that players of all types will enjoy.

So, don’t worry. No matter what kind of games you like, there is a pre-built gaming PC ready for you to pick up.

Ready to find the best PC for gaming? I can tell that your excitement is through the roof, so let’s get right to the piece.

In a Rush? These are the best pre-built gaming PCs that cost less than $1000.
I know you want a sneak peek at the prebuilt game PCs that will be reviewed later in the article, so here is a quick look at them.

Best Overall

1. Skytech Shiva II

Core i5-12400F
RTX 3060 12GB
16GB DDR4 RAM
500GB NVMe SSD
Air Cooler

$999 at Amazon

Best Value

2. AVGPC Quiet Series

Core i5-12400F
RTX 3060 12GB
16GB DDR4 RAM
1TB NVMe M.2 SSD
AIO Cooler

$699 at Amazon

3. AVGPC Q-Box Series

Ryzen 5 5600G
RTX 3060 12GB
16GB DDR4 RAM
500GB SSD
AIO Cooler

$589 at Amazon

Best Aesthetics

4. Skytech Blaze II

Ryzen 5 5600G
RTX 3060 12GB
16GB DDR4 RAM
500GB NVMe SSD
Air Cooler

$999 at Amazon

5. iBUYPOWER SlateHako AD420N

Core i5-12600K
RTX 3050 8GB
16GB DDR4 RAM
500GB NVMe SSD
Air Cooler

Before we look at the in-depth reviews of the pre-built game PCs, it doesn’t hurt to learn a bit about how to buy a PC.

Yes, I did say “buying process,” because I think that if we want to buy the best PC for our needs, we have to go through the right steps.

The buyer’s guide will explain the whole process of buying from A to Z and, as the name suggests, help you every step of the way.

Now you can understand how important a buyer’s guide is. Because of this, it should be taken very seriously. So, let’s get started with the buying guide, shall we?

Why Do We Need a Buyer’s Guide?
It would have been easy for me to just list the prebuilt gaming PCs and skip this buyer’s guide, but that would be ignoring the need to teach new gamers how to buy PCs.

When I was new to the business, I also wanted advice on what to look for in a game PC and other similar questions.

So, the buyer’s guide is meant to help new gamers make better decisions.

Why the best option isn’t always the best one.
This is important because I’ve seen a lot of users buy PCs they later come to regret. This happens because the experience you get from each game PC is different. But the problem is that gamers always choose the PC with the best specs on paper instead of looking at the PC as a whole.

Keep in mind that specs are just numbers on paper. The Skytech Blaze II has similar specs to the Skytech Shiva II, which is the best PC on this list. You can play any game you want with these specs. But the Skytech Blaze II doesn’t have enough cooling, so it gets too hot and can’t work as well as it could.

In the same way, depending on how you plan to use it, you might not even need such specs and speed. So, you might be better off with a different game computer that has better features that you like.

The most important thing is to buy a game PC based on your wants and how you plan to use it for gaming. Specs are an important part of choosing which PC to buy, but they shouldn’t be the only thing you think about.

To break up this process, each of my reviews of gaming PCs has a part called “gaming experience” that talks about what it’s like to play games on that PC.

First thing to think about when buying a PC
In the previous part, I told you that you should buy PCs based on your needs and how you plan to use them, not just on their specs. But how do you know what your needs are?

This is a very important question to think about because it sets the stage for all of our other buying choices.

One easy way to figure out what you need is to think about what you will use your PC for. Think about the games you want to play or the jobs you want to do on that gaming PC.

Once you have a general idea of what games you want to play on your PC, look for features and specs that will help you do that.

Once you’ve done that, you’ll know what to look for in a game PC and what to avoid. Just look for a PC that has the most features that will help it meet your needs, and then buy that PC.

For example, if all you want to do is light games, you don’t need the best specs and might want a PC that works better and looks better. If you want the best FPS from your Skytech Shiva II, you might be better off with a Skytech Blaze II.

What are the most important parts of a good gaming PC?
Now, let’s put everything we’ve learned so far from the Buyer’s guide together and figure out what a game PC needs to have in order to be considered the best on the market.

Everything Depends on the Game Play
The most important thing a game PC can do is give you a good gaming experience. If it doesn’t do that, there’s no reason to buy it because it has already failed in the most important way.

All of the parts of a gaming experience make up the gaming experience as a whole. For a PC to have a good gaming experience, all of its parts must be good.

What to look for in a gaming PC that costs less than $1000
Even though the most important thing about a gaming PC is how it plays games, we can’t deny how important it is to have the right specs for the price.

Since we’re talking about gaming PCs that cost around $1000, there are certain things that should be in your gaming PC for this price range.

CPU, or “processor,”
First of all, the processor should have 6 cores, which is why most of the PCs on this list have CPUs with 6 cores.

Graphics Processing Unit
For the best speed from your graphics card, you should look at the Nvidia RTX 3060 or the AMD RX 6600XT.

If you can’t get them on the PCs you want, you can use the Nvidia RTX 3050 instead. The Nvidia RTX 3050 is a good match for game PCs that cost less than $1000. But don’t try with a game PC with a GPU that isn’t as good as the RTX 3050.

RAM
The RAM is easy to understand. Either 16GB RAM or nothing, since 8GB is no longer enough for games and should be avoided if at all possible.

Read my post about how much RAM a game PC should have.

Storage
An SSD should be used for the storage. Even though HDDs are cheaper, their slow speed means they can’t be used for games that move quickly.

The AVGPC Quiet Series is a great example of a well-equipped game PC because it has all the best parts, like a Core i5-12400F, RTX 3060 12GB, 16GB RAM, 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD, and AIO cooler.

Can a $1000 gaming PC play 1440p games?
I know a lot of you want to play games at 1440p on your new $1000 gaming PC, and I wish there was an easy one-line answer to this question. Since that’s not the case, a proper explanation is needed for a proper understanding. Let’s look more closely at the subject at hand.

On the surface, yes, you can play games at 1440p on a gaming PC that costs less than $1000, but that’s only in the best case.

As you know, there are a lot of different PCs that cost around $1000, and this means that many of them have different specs. As an example, let’s look at the pre-built game PCs in this piece.

The Skytech Shiva II has an Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card, while the iBUYPOWER SlateHako AD420N has an Nvidia RTX 3050.

The difference in speed between these two graphics cards is about 15%. This means that the iBUYPOWER SlateHako AD420N is up to 15% worse at gaming than the Skytech Shiva II.

Since PCs that cost around $1000 have different levels of speed, the question can’t be answered with a single answer.

So, when we test, we always look at the best case, which in this case is the game performance of the HP Pavilion TG01-2070 because it is the best of the bunch.

So, when we test, we always look for the best possible scenario. For us, that’s the game performance of the Skytech Shiva II and the AVGPC Quiet Series, since they’re the best of our choices.

Taking into account our top picks, I can say for sure that a gaming PC that costs less than $1000 can play games at 1440p. I say this because, even in the most demanding games, this PC got good FPS at 1440p when it was tested.

At 1440p, this is the average frame rate that was seen:

Red Dead Redemption 2 had 72 FPS, Call of Duty: Warzone had 85 FPS, GTA V had 91 FPS, Apex Legends had 132 FPS, Rainbow Six Siege had 177 FPS, and Valorant had 254 FPS.

The numbers show that it is very possible to play games at 1440p resolution on $1000 prebuilt gaming PCs, as long as you have the best gaming PC under $1000 on hand.

Review in Depth
Now that you know how to buy a computer, let’s get into the reviews of the five game PCs that made it into this article.

Every PC we look at has to pass a lot of tests. Not only do we use benchmarks and research in our process, but we also look at how the PC will work in real-world scenarios.

Then, based on the data, the PC gets a score for its average ranking. This time, the following PCs scored the highest out of all the PCs, making them the best in their price range.

Best Overall

1. Skytech Shiva II

PROS

Excellent build quality and attention to detail give the PC a premium look
Can play any game you throw at it on 1080p
The Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU provides excellent framerate
Plenty of features ensure you get a nice user experience
Good connectivity, including USB-C port, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth

CONS

The 500GB SSD storage capacity is insufficient for storing more than 3-4 games.
Having only two USB-A ports on the front limits connectivity

Skytech Shiva II is the best kind of pre-built game PC you can get for around $1000. It has great specs and a lot of tools that players can use to have fun. Another great thing about this game PC is that it has a white colour scheme. Skytech Shiva II isn’t perfect, but it does everything a gamer could want. So, there’s no question that the Skytech Shiva II is the best prebuilt game PC for less than $1000.

How to Play Games
The Skytech Shiva II is a great way to play games because it can play almost any game you throw at it. In addition to being good at what it does, this PC is fast and starts games and programmes quickly and without any lag.

When I tried this PC with different games, it did better than I expected, and the average frame rate in games was as follows.

First were the most difficult PC games, like GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and Elden Ring. On average, this PC got 115, 70, 80, and 86 FPS.

In royal fight games, the Skytech Shiva II did much better. This PC ran Call of Duty: Warzone at 125 FPS, Apex Legends at 171 FPS, Fortnite at 114 FPS, and PUBG: Battlegrounds at 138 FPS. All of the games listed above were played with the best graphics setting and 1080p quality.

This PC couldn’t handle esports games. It ran CS: GO at 360 FPS, Valorant at 342 FPS, Rainbow Six Siege at 324 FPS, and Overwatch 2 at 419 FPS. All of these competition games were played with low settings for graphics and MSA turned off to get the most frames per second.

Specifications
In the $1,000 price range, the Skytech Shiva II has the best specs you can find. An Intel Core i5-12400F processor runs the PC. It has 6 cores and 12 threads. This i5 from the 12th generation is fast enough and has enough power to run any game or app you throw at it.

The Core i5-12400F’s only flaw is that it gives off a lot of heat. But Skytech has taken care of that with a big air cooler. An all-in-one would have been better, but at this price, that’s too much to ask.

The Nvidia RTX 3060 is the best video card. It has 12 GB of VRAM and, based on the version, a boost clock of 1700 or more. The Nvidia RTX 3060 is a good GPU that can play any game you want because it can do a lot of things well.

The 16GB DDR4 RAM that comes with the SkyTech Shiva II is more than enough to play games and do other things at the same time. The 500GB SSD storage space on this PC, on the other hand, doesn’t really convince me.

You won’t be able to store more than 3 or 4 games at once if you only have 500GB of room. This is because games are already getting close to 100GB.

I like that Skytech didn’t cut corners on the power source. This PC comes with a 650W PSU that has a gold rating. This means that the PC will get stable power for many years.

Design of the Case and Connectivity
The Skytech Shiva II’s case doesn’t have anything new to offer. It’s a standard rectangle box with two RGB led lines running parallel on the front. On the left side, there is a glass window that lets you see all of the hardware inside the PC.

Skytech has put a dust screen over the vents at the top of the case. This is a must if you don’t want dust to get into your PC. When it comes to fans, this PC has good vents for cooling. The RGB light strips can also be used as an air grill, which is a nice feature.

The Skytech Shiva II has two USB-A ports, a 1x 3.5mm microphone and headphone jack, a 1x USB-C port, a power button, a reset button, and a led button on the front.

Adding a USB-C port to the front panel is a great idea. Also, the LED button is very useful for quickly changing the colour of the RGB lights. The rest of the ports, like HDMI, DisplayPort, Ethernet LAN, and more USB ports, are on the back of the PC.

How it looks and what makes it stand out
The Skytech Shiva II is very well made and has a lot of attention to detail. Skytech went out of their way to improve the little details that make this game PC look better.

For example, this PC has great wire organisation built in. All of the wires are neatly put away, and there are no loose or hanging cords that could make this PC look messy.

The PC looks high-end and expensive because it has a clean look and a white case. There are a lot of great things about the Skytech Shiva II that add to its charm. First of all, this PC comes with a game keyboard and mouse that you don’t have to pay extra for. This means you can start playing games right away.

This gaming PC also has a one-year warranty and professional help for life. If you are new to PC games, it can be very helpful to be able to ask for help from expert support.

Overall, the Skytech Shiva II is the best game PC you can get for less than $1000. It has everything you need and works pretty well. Because of this, it’s number one on my list.

Best Value