The best prebuilt gaming PCs of 2023 under $1,000

The best gaming PCs can cost a fortune, but gamers on a $1,000 budget can still get plenty of power.

With the price of PC components crashing hard in 2022, the start of the new year is an excellent time to pick up a complete system. However, it can be tough dropping more than a thousand bucks on a gaming PC. Gamers who would rather get an all-in-one rather than pick out individual budget parts have plenty of choices, but it can be difficult to tell when you’re getting a good deal.   

This HP Pavilion offers amazing bang for your buck

HP isn’t the first company gamers think of when it comes to strong PCs, but the massive computer manufacturer is one of the only vendors to offer RTX 3060 GPUs at this price level. It may not have the flashiest appearance of the other options on our list, but HP somehow offers one of the best gaming-focused prebuilt PCs in the $1,000 price bracket.

In terms of specs, this configuration is squarely aimed at dedicated gamers. This Pavilion is powered by an Intel i5 10400F, giving it six cores of processing power at up to 4.3 gigahertz. It may not the absolute best CPU possible at this price point, but this prebuilt does stand out for its RTX 3060. That’s basically the best GPU in a gaming PC under the $1,000 price point. It currently clocks in under our budget at $863, but its normal $1,010 price tag barely passes our limit. Eight gigs of RAM is plenty for gaming at 1920 x 1080, and 512 gigabytes of SSD space is enough to keep a few games downloaded at any given time.

This prebuilt gaming PC is best for someone with a $1,000 budget who doesn’t mind a lack of utility features. The RAM and storage aren’t great, but the actual powerhouse of the computer is among the best available at this price point. In terms of gaming performance, it’s difficult to find an equivalent, even with a slightly higher budget. HP Pavilion may not be as exciting as dedicated gaming brands, but it’s hard to match it on power per dollar. 

Lenovo makes one of the best all-rounder $1,000 gaming PCs

The Lenovo IdeaCentre Gaming 5i is a much more balanced gaming rig that combines gaming power and practical utility. At $989, this setup rewards reaching the peak of our price range with an upgraded CPU and triple the storage of the above option. If you plan to use your computer for more CPU-intensive tasks, Lenovo has you covered.

This configuration comes equipped with an RTX 3050 graphics card and an Intel i5 12400 as its core hardware. The 3050 is more than enough to take on popular titles like Call of Duty Warzone 2.0 and Valorant. The 12400 is a dual-threaded hexcore with 7.5 megabytes of L2 cache and a relatively low max power consumption of 117 watts. Other specs include a 512 gig SSD and two terabytes of HDD space, which content creators and students can take full advantage of. It also comes with a complimentary mouse, keyboard, and three months of Xbox Game Pass, which budget gamers will definitely appreciate.

The IdeaCentre Gaming 5i is a more balanced option for a 2023 gaming PC with a great pairing of GPU and CPU along with one of the best storage solutions available for under $1,000. The aftermarket cooler is icing on top, making this as futureproof as a budget gaming rig can be. Someone who plans not to upgrade for several years can pick this up with confidence to run nearly every title with just a few graphics settings turned off.

$800 is enough for a great ASUS ROG prebuilt

$1,000 is a serious chunk of change, and new gamers may be forgetting about other crucial elements like a monitor, peripherals, or even a desk. If you need to go even lower, ASUS ROG has you covered with the Strix GL10. While not quite as powerful as the options above, this particular setup lets you join the Republic of Gamers for just $800. 

It’s not slacking in the power department, either. The Ryzen 5 3600X is still ready to tackle nearly all popular gaming titles at decent settings, especially when paired with a GTX 1660 Ti. Six gigabytes of GDDR6 VRAM and a max clock speed of 1,845 megahertz let it keep up with the big boys. In fact, the 120 max wattage makes it do so even quieter and cooler than some of its competitors. The RAM and storage are nothing special, but those are also two of the cheapest areas to upgrade if you do end up needing more.

The considerably cheaper price tag is what makes this computer stand out to us, so if $1,000 is too much to spend on just the computer, it’s a great option to get a midrange gaming experience. It ticks all the boxes for a new gaming PC in 2023, with a solid processor and GPU and even some RGB on the case to boot. It’s the cheapest way to get into the same weight class as the computers mentioned above, and the gaming-oriented aesthetic may especially appeal to some gamers.