Building a budget gaming PC inevitably comes with compromises; my objective for the build in question is to make only the right ones. That means avoiding AM4, so that there's a legitimate upgrade path for the future. It also means GPUs with 8GB of VRAM are out of the running, which increases the price of this "budget" build, but that's where we are right now. I'm also avoiding components of questionable quality that might come back to bite you later.

CPU and GPU

No outdated hardware here

Restricting myself to a modern platform, the only real choice is building on AM5. Intel's current crop of CPUs isn't attractive enough, whether in terms of pricing or competitive performance. So, I picked the Ryzen 5 7600X as the foundation for this build. Despite being a "last-gen" processor, this 6-core chip can go toe-to-toe with the Ryzen 5 9600X. AMD's Zen 5 lineup was mostly a refresh over Zen 4, so you're not losing anything by opting for the 7600X.

With the CPU in place, we need a strong graphics card capable of 1440p gaming in 2026. I didn't want to spend over $300 on the GPU, but that doesn't leave me with any decent option. The Arc B580, RTX 5060, and RX 9060 XT 8GB are priced around $300 each, but the Intel card loses out in performance, and the Nvidia and AMD options lack enough VRAM.

So, the only remaining option was the RX 9060 XT 16GB, the $380 variant from AMD that has both performance and VRAM on its side. It's almost a $400 GPU, but in 2025, budget graphics cards don't mean the same thing they used to. With this GPU, your budget PC catapults from a 1080p rig to one that can easily push over 80 FPS in 1440p gaming.

Motherboard, RAM, and SSD

No compromise on performance

With nearly $600 allocated to the CPU and graphics card, we're not left with much room for the rest of the components. I could have picked an mATX motherboard, but then I found an ATX motherboard for a fantastic price. The ASRock B650 Pro RS might not have onboard Wi-Fi, but it has pretty much everything else you need on a DDR5 gaming PC — Gen5 M.2 support, three M.2 slots, excellent VRMs, 2.5Gb Ethernet, USB-C, and BIOS flashback, all for less than $130.

ASRock's motherboards regularly top the charts for the best thermals, and the B650 Pro RS is no different. It'll easily handle any high-end AM5 CPUs you upgrade to in the future. For memory, I picked the trusted Crucial Pro Overclocking DDR5-6000 kit. It combines great performance, a stylish design, and a fantastic price. You don't really need a faster kit to get the most out of your AM5 gaming PC.

For storage, I didn't want to pick a smaller 500GB drive, so I chose an affordable 1TB Gen4 NVMe SSD: the Silicon Power UD90. It offers generous Gen4 speeds without costing a lot. A pricier DRAM SSD will have some extra benefits, but it will perform mostly the same as this DRAM-less drive in gaming.

PSU, case, and cooler

Safety over limitless upgradability

The power supply, case, and cooler are the usual suspects when it comes to saving a few bucks on a budget PC. I've made some necessary compromises here, too, but nothing that will risk the safety of the PC. Starting with the PSU, this build only requires a 450W unit, but some buffer is always recommended. Hence, I picked the Thermaltake Toughpower GX2 600W, a Gold-rated unit that can easily handle anything this build will throw at it.

This PSU is non-modular, but that's one of the things you need to be okay with on a budget build. You can opt for a modular PSU with higher wattage if you have around $40 more to spare. Next, the case I've chosen is the Gamdias Aura GC2, an inexpensive model with a white design, four ARGB fans, and decent airflow. It's an ATX case that can accommodate the graphics card and the cooler.

Talking about the cooler, the Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE makes another appearance, thanks to its insane value for money. It'll cool the Ryzen 5 7600X without breaking a sweat, and handle almost any other CPU you switch to in the future.

A legitimate 1440p gaming PC for under $1,000

This "budget" gaming PC costs about $960 at the time of writing, but that could change to $1,000+ if some existing deals expire. If you keep an eye on the prices, though, you can easily build this PC for under $1,000, considering most of the components I've picked go on frequent sales. For around $950, this build might stretch the definition of a budget build, but in 2025, the old definitions don't apply anymore. This build still smokes any $800 gaming PC you can put together.