New Year, new PC? If you are looking for a new pre-built gaming PC but aren’t sure what to pick, this guide will help you choose what is right for you.
Just about every gamer wants to play new games with all the settings turned up to max, but that often means having the latest technology equipped in your PC gaming rig. What if you don’t have the time, skills, or tools to build your own PC from scratch? Well, luckily, there are a number of high-quality prebuilt PCs available.
For those who are not confident in their building skills, or who are baffled by the bewildering array of numbers and names for things like graphics cards and CPUs, this guide lays out the options available, covering a range of price points and capabilities to help you come to the right decision on what PC is the right choice.
The best all-round prebuilt gaming PC: Maingear MG1
Key Specs
- CPU: Intel Core i9-13900K
- Ram: Kingston Fury RGB DDR5-5600MHz
- GPU: Nvidia RTX 4080 Founders Edition
- Storage: 2TB Solidigm P44 M.2 NVMe SSD
- Operating System: Windows 11 Home
The Maingear MG1 carries a minimalistic look yet has a gorgeous design. The Shroud-branded MG-1 PC comes with a magnetic front panel, allowing you to swap the design if you get bored quickly.
While Maingear gives you the option to configure your preferred specs onto their chassis, the pre-built MG1 already comes in various configurations with up to Intel Core i9-13900K, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, DDR5 Motherboard, 32GB DDR5 RAM, 2TB P44 M.2 NVMe SSD, Windows 11 Home and RGB Lighting Kit & RGB Performance Fans. You also get a 1-year warranty.
In our review of the Maingear MG1, we found the build quality of this machine to be top-notch and ideal for those less technically minded. The PC could easily offer 178FPS on a 1440p monitor in Cyberpunk 2077, while at 4K, it averaged an impressive 113fps.
Though it will be slightly more expensive than putting together a PC yourself, the Maingear MG-1 is among the best options available for the price, quality, and warranty.
Best value prebuilt gaming PC: CyberPower Extreme Gamer VR
Key Specs
- CPU: Intel Core i9-13900KF
- Ram: 16GB DDR5
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti (12GB)
- Storage: 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Operating System: Windows 11 Home
The CyberPower Extreme Gamer VR is a great-looking PC with excellent value for money. As the name suggests, this PC can run VR apps and games out of the box.
It can be configured with a competent pair of RTX 4070 Ti and an Intel Core i9 13900KF, resulting in incredible computing power and smoothly running gaming titles at 2K with high frame rates.
Regarding other specifications, it has 1 TB of SSD storage, with 16GB of DDR5 RAM. If you feel that 16GB is insufficient, you can easily swap it with an additional kit to increase the onboard memory capacity.
The CyberPower Extreme Gamer VR PC has a 3-piece panoramic tempered glass panel with custom RGB case lighting, allowing for a more personal touch. You get one year warranty on parts and labor and a wired mouse and keyboard combo bundled with the PC.
The best prebuilt ITX gaming PC: Corsair One i300
Key Specs
- CPU: Intel Core i9-12900K
- Ram: Up to 64GB DDR5
- GPU: Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti
- Storage: 2TB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Operating System: Windows 11 Pro
The Corsair One i300 packs impressive hardware specifications, with all the variants packed with the Core i9-12900K. This gaming PC can be configured with up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, 2TB PCIe NVMe SSD, and 64GB DDR5 – making it sufficiently powerful to run any game efficiently. Though, you do miss out on current-gen parts.
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This compact PC is so powerful that it can run 4K games at a high frame rate without jitters. Corsair has ensured high airflow and liquid cooling for the CPU and GPU to keep the thermals in check.
While the mini-PC form factor could be preferred by many, it doesn’t leave you with much space to upgrade the components. It has a unique design where the side panels do not get detached from the case, making it difficult to tinker with the PC.
That said, the Corsair One i300 is a mighty gaming PC that is ideal for people who prefer form factor over function.
Best budget prebuilt gaming PC: iBuyPower SlateMesh
Key Specs
- CPU: Up to Intel Core i7-12700KF
- Ram: 16GB DDR4
- GPU: Up to RTX 3070
- Storage: up to 500GB PCIe 4.0 SSD
- Operating System: Windows 11 Home
iBuyPower is known for making affordable gaming PCs without compromising performance, and the SlateMesh isn’t an exception. For around $1150, the SlateMesh offers an Intel 12th Gen Core i7 processor with an Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card.
This CPU-GPU combo can efficiently run games at full HD resolution. Tuning down some graphics settings can even let you enjoy 1440p gaming. While the PC ships with 16GB of RAM and 500GB of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage, these can be upgraded to 124 GB and 1TB, respectively, giving you more than enough freedom to multitask and install more games.
The iBuyPower SlateMesh is a perfect mix of affordability and upgradeability. It even ships with a gaming mouse and keyboard, too.
What is the best prebuilt PC?
Prebuilt gaming PCs come with drool-worthy designs, making your gaming setup look incredibly premium. Various brands use custom chassis, which aren’t available in the market. This unique design factor, coupled with handpicked top-of-the-line specs, makes a pre-built gaming PC a thing of desire.
Moreover, most prebuilt PC sellers have trained staff onboard, those who are knowledgeable and care deeply about the tech industry or customer service. It would be best if you weren’t too concerned with where you get it, as almost every brand mentioned will build, package, and ship your PC correctly.
What specs are suitable for a prebuilt PC?
Depending on whether you’re going in for a prebuilt PC to have an easy base to upgrade from or want an easy machine to have ready to go, you’ll still need to keep an eye on the specs.
If you go for AMD or Intel, the motherboard inside will be the thing to look out for. Intel still supports DDR4 RAM, but as we’re on DDR5 now, older motherboards won’t support the next-generation RAM. While your CPU and GPU will be fine, an upgrade could be much more intense than anticipated.
You also don’t want to get ‘conned’ either. Not that you won’t receive your PC, but in terms of getting an older spec machine. Some nasty devices are lingering from a few years back, which we highly recommend you steer clear of.
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