It’s no surprise that Call of Duty: Warzone is constantly among the top 5 most played games in the world. In 2021, almost a year since its release, the battle royale extravaganza attracts more players than ever. Coincidentally, the interest in PC gaming has seen a meteoric rise during the past year. Since the covid-19 pandemic caused the majority of the human race to enter a year-long hibernation in their homes, a lot more people were spending time indoors playing video games. 

The sales figures speak for themselves. Consumers spent over $4 billion in 2020 on PC hardware alone. Which is exactly why we recommend you buy a prebuilt gaming machine right now. 

You may be wondering; why should I buy a prebuilt system when I can build my own? If you ask this question on any one of the PC building subreddits or forums, you would be bombarded by many varying opinions. While many arguments against buying prebuilt gaming PCs held some weight before, the computer hardware market is wildly different now than it was even a few months ago. 

The Coronavirus pandemic has caused the biggest hardware supply shortage in a decade. To make things worse, what followed was the largest ever silicon shortage that the electronics industry has ever experienced. As of March 2021, every PC hardware store shelf is reminiscent of an empty post-apocalyptic wasteland. Whenever a restock of shiny new Ryzen processors or RTX 30 series graphics cards arrive (usually with much higher prices, mind you), they are sold out immediately.  

The only party that was least unaffected by the Great Silicon Crisis were the various system integrators. Surprisingly, buying a prebuilt PC in 2021 will actually cost less than building your own. This has made the idea of buying a prebuilt go from being only for people who couldn’t be bothered building their own, to pretty much the only option to get a gaming system in your hands without having to pay an extreme tax. Besides, unless you’re really into PC building, casual gamers are always better off buying a prebuilt. 

So, if you’ve been wanting to begin your Warzone journey and have been eager to join the glorious PC Masterrace, look no further! Below we have compiled the ultimate guide to choosing your new gaming system. Whatever budget you’re shopping in, we’ve got you covered.

We’ve split this buyer’s guide into four main performance tiers that most PC gamers fall under. The graphics settings are mostly set to medium, high or very high presets accordingly, with motion blur turned off. Happy shopping!

Best Prebuilts for Warzone – Our Recommendations

1080p at Medium to High Settings

This is the most affordable stage of PC gaming. 1080p at 60FPS is the most inexpensive and easily accessible monitor resolution. At the time of writing, over 67% of PC gamers play at 1080p.

If you’re a gamer on a budget under $1000, the prebuilt gaming PCs listed below are your best bet. They are sold by reputable brands and system builders that are trusted by gamers for their good price to performance, build quality and support. 

Do keep in mind that all the prices listed below are subject to change slightly. 

Other than the single channel 8GB system memory found in all three systems, there’s little you’ll have to complain about. You can always add another stick of 8GB RAM later on when you can scrounge up the cash for it (which we highly recommend you do).

1.Dell G5 Gaming Desktop

Our first and cheapest prebuilt PC is the Dell G5 Gaming Desktop. At $700, this is quite the compelling deal. The 10^th Gen Intel Core i3-10100 processor with 4 cores and 8 threads is evenly matched with Nvidia’s GTX 1650 Super, a stellar graphics card at 1080p (given that you’re willing to turn down some of the creature comfort graphical settings). 

The rest of the specs include a 1TB hard drive as its only storage option (we highly recommend getting an SSD with your system, although it will cost $50 more) and 8GB of memory at 2666MHz. The only questionable aspect of this otherwise extremely well-built PC is the power supply. At just 360W, you won’t have room for any future upgrades. And given the fact that Dell is notorious for having proprietary power supplies and motherboards, upgrading almost any meaningful component will sadly be unavailable to you. Also, a pro tip: Dell is notorious for bogging down their systems with useless warranties and other extra cost-adding measures, so ensure that you aren’t charged extra for things you don’t want.

2. iBUYPOWER Gaming RDY TMRIIRG206

If you’re more inclined to buy something with more upgradability, iBUYPOWER has got you covered. The Zen 2 based AMD Ryzen 3 3100 that powers the system isn’t the most powerful of processors. But with 4 cores and 8 threads along with its unlocked core multiplier makes this a very capable gaming CPU. Not to mention the inclusion of 8GB of fast 3000MHz RAM. The GTX 1650 Super makes an appearance again, and rightfully so.

iBUYPOWER ‘s choice of storage is a respectable 500GB SATA SSD. The entire system is powered by a standard ATX 500-Watt power supply, so you won’t have to worry about being power limited in the instance you decide to upgrade in the future. 

In fact, iBUYPOWER has used off the shelf products for each and every component. This makes upgrading any part of this system extremely painless. For $729, the Gaming RDY is an offering that’s hard to beat.

3. HP OMEN Desktop GT12-0240m

At $829, while costing slightly more, the HP OMEN GT12-0240m offers a very compelling system for the price. With an AMD Ryzen 5 3500 processor and a GTX 1660 Super, it’s by far the most powerful gaming PC out of the three. You can confidently turn up the graphics settings up a notch at 1080p and still enjoy smooth 60 fps gaming. The rest of the system is on par with what you can expect for a system at this price point, with a single stick of fast 3200MHz 8GB memory and a blazing fast 256GB M.2 SSD along with a competent 500W power supply. 

HP’s OMEN brand of gaming PCs has been constantly well-reviewed by users for their price to performance and excellent customer support.

1080p at Very High Settings

If you’ve got a little more cash at hand, you can enjoy the benefits of high refresh rate gaming. In recent years, cheap 1080p monitors with refresh rates with over 100Hz have become increasingly frequent. High refresh rate gaming is an absolute pleasure to experience, and it also provides a distinct competitive advantage in first person shooters such as Warzone.

1. Cyberpower Syber C Pro 250

Cyberpower’s Syber C Pro 250 is a delectable offering in the often-crowded prebuilt market. It packs a ton of performance for a very reasonable price. At $1324, the Syber C Pro offers an Intel Core i5 10400F 6 core, 12 thread processor that can handle any gaming load thrown at it. The highlight of this system is the Nvidia RTX 3060 that provides next-gen performance at 1080p. In a market where it’s nearly impossible to find an Ampere GPU, this is a noteworthy offering. 

The Syber also packs 16GB of RAM (2x8GB) at 3200MHz, along with a 500GB M.2 SSD. The 650W Silverstone power supply is a welcome sight to see, which leaves more than enough spare room for upgrades. Cyberpower also uses conventional components, so rest assured you will have no trouble replacing any of the components in the future.

2. HP OMEN Desktop GT12-0240m

The HP OMEN makes its second appearance on our list, with a few key differences. We have upgraded to a 6c/12t AMD Ryzen 5 3600 processor. This extremely cost-efficient CPU is unanimously regarded as the best all-rounder currently in the market. With strong multi-core performance and respectable single core numbers, this processor pairs nicely with the AMD RX 5700XT. Team Red’s offering provides excellent 1080p performance and is even playable at 1440p. 

The system memory has been bumped up to two sticks of 16GB memory at 3200MHz. the storage also sees a welcome upgrade with a 512GB M.2 SSD and a 1TB hard drive. The still very capable 500-Watt power supply remains. With all of the above specs for $1269, the HP OMEN is an absolute killer deal.

3. Dell G5 Gaming Desktop

The Dell G5 returns with a different configuration that manages to compete in the 1080p high refresh rate gaming category. Our recommended $1350 setup packs an Intel Core i7 10700F 8 core processor with the Nvidia RTX 2060 Super. This quite brawny combination handles any game you throw at it at 1080p, and you will have no trouble running most titles at very high settings at a juicy 100+ fps.

The rest of the system specs include 2 sticks of 8GB 2933MHz RAM for a total of 16GB, and a 128GB M.2 SSD and a 1TB hard drive. The unimpressive proprietary 500W power supply makes a return, but for this configuration, you won’t be needing to make any big changes for quite some time. 

1440p at Very High Settings 

2560×1440 resolution is widely regarded as the ultimate sweet spot when it comes to PC gaming. If you’ve got more than $1500 US Dollars to spend, 1440p is where you’ll want to look. Each of the systems listed below contains 16GB of RAM running in dual channel configuration at a speed of 3200MHz for best performance.

1. Alienware Aurora R11 

Alienware, Dell’s premium gaming line comes out swinging with the Aurora R11. This striking gaming PC packs quite a punch. The amalgamation of the Intel Core i7 10700F with 8 cores and the GeForce RTX 3060Ti will easily handle 1440p gaming at very high framerates.

For storage, Alienware has included a 256GB M.2 NVMe SSD for blazing fast speed. It also comes with a perfectly adequate 500W power supply. For just $1569, you will easily get north of 100fps in Warzone at a crispy 1440p resolution with this sweet deal of a gaming rig. 

2. iBUYPOWER Element 

iBUYPOWER takes the 1440p performance tier by storm with this absolute killer bargain. The highlight of this system is the Nvidia RTX 3070. Paired with the AMD Ryzen 5 3600, the next gen Ampere card is able to dominate games at 1440p without even breaking a sweat. 

Along with a 500GB M.2 SSD and a respectable 650-Watt power supply, iBUYPOWER’s offering is one of the best prebuilt PCs we’ve seen in a long time. At only $1679 US Dollars, this could very well be your next Warzone gaming champion.

3. Cyberpower Gamer Ultra

Starting at $1729, the Cyberpower Gamer Ultra offers the 8 core i7 10700F and the RTX 3060Ti at a competitive price bracket. While not as compelling a deal as the iBUYPOWER counterpart, the Gamer Ultra is still a great choice and a strong 1440p performer. The system comes enclosed in an attractive RGB chassis with a great 600W EVGA power supply at 80 Plus Gold Efficiency. Cyberpower has also provided plenty of storage, with a 500GB NVMe SSD and a 3TB hard drive.

4K at Very High Settings

And finally, we arrive at the apex of PC gaming. This is an exclusive club that not many gamers have had the pleasure of experiencing. So, if money is of no issue to you, read on to see our recommendations for the 3 best prebuilts for Warzone at astonishing levels of detail and tons of FPS to boot.

1. Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R10

Alienware has made a name for itself by catering to the high-end PC gaming market. With the Aurora R10 Ryzen Edition, they’re cementing themselves as the go-to brand for the ultimate performance gaming PCs. Equipped with the Ryzen 7 5800X 8c/16t powerhouse, the R10 means serious business. The Nvidia RTX 3080 is able to handle any title at 4K resolution, so you can easily enjoy Warzone in the ultimate quality with tons of FPS to give you a competitive edge. With 32GB of fast 3200MHz system memory, a 1TB M.2 SSD and a 1000W power supply, the Aurora R10 gives you all the performance you will ever need for its premium price tag of $2669. 

2. iBUYPOWER Creator RDY LCIIBR201

The iBUYPOWER Creator PC is catered towards enthusiasts of Team Red. The AMD RX 6900XT combined with the Ryzen 7 5800X makes this a robust system. It gives best in class performance and handles AAA gaming titles effortlessly at 4K. 

The Creator also comes with 32GB of 3200MHz memory in dual channel and offers you plenty of storage with its 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD, paired with a 2TB hard drive. All of its off the shelf components are powered by an 80 Plus Gold rated 1050-Watt power supply. At $2919, the iBUYPOWER Creator RDY will serve you well as an absolute beast of a gaming machine.

3. Origin PC Millennium

One does not simply talk about enthusiast-grade prebuilts without mentioning Origin PC. The Corsair-owned system integrator has a wide range of awe-inspiring gaming machines. With their Millennium prebuilt gaming systems, they offer first-class performance, if you can afford it. Our configuration comes with an Intel Core i9 10900K, a monstrous processor with 10 cores that boost up to 5.3GHz that’s complemented nicely with the Nvidia RTX 3080.

The Millennium also comes with 32GB of speedy 3000MHz RAM, and a combo of a 250GB M.2 SSD and a mechanical 2TB drive for storage. Everything is adequately powered by a corsair RM850x power supply rated at 80 Plus Gold efficiency. For a price of $3447, you’re guaranteed to get the best of what PC gaming has to offer. 

Origin PC is renowned for their incredible customer service and build quality, with each system arriving in a rugged wooden crate for maximum shipping protection. 

Conclusion

There you have it, our definitive buyers guide for the best prebuilt gaming systems that can run Call of Duty: Warzone. Rest assured, you will be able to have a very enjoyable experience in Verdansk using any of our above selections. And with all these different options, you’re very likely to get your hands on a baller gaming rig without having to break the bank. 

The post Best Prebuilt Gaming PCs for Call of Duty: Warzone appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

With the current focus on pre-built or custom-built PCs, including here at PremiumBuilds where we’ve written about the reasons to build yourself or to buy a prebuilt rig, many buyers are asking the first question when choosing a pre-built PC: who should I have build it?

Part of the reason you are letting a professional build your new battlestation is because you want to make sure it’s done right! You want a builder that knows exactly what he’s doing, but that still offers competitive pricing and good support in case things go wrong. Like any choice, there are advantages and disadvantages to each of the major producers. Depending on what is most important to you, we want to make sure you have a chance to choose the right builder of your next baby. There are probably hundreds of PC builders selling on places like Amazon/eBay, but we chose four of the most well-known and largest to compare. Most of them sell through their own website, but often also through retailers like Best Buy or Amazon if you prefer buying from one of them (or have a gift card from the holiday season!).

Each offers a slightly different experience, so let’s take a look at the four major pre-builders: CyberpowerPC, iBUYPOWER, ORIGIN PC, and BLD by NZXT:

Related:

• Prebuilt vs Custom Gaming PC: Which is best for you?
• Best Prebuilt Gaming PCs under $500
• Best Prebuilt Gaming PCs under $800
• Best Prebuilt Gaming PCs under $1000
• Best Prebuilt Gaming PCs under $1500
• Best ITX Gaming Prebuilts for 2021

Custom PC Builder Comparison

1. CYBERPOWERPC

We are starting with one of best known and probably largest pre-building company: CyberpowerPC. CyberpowerPC has been around for years, building first on its own and then expanding into retailers like Amazon and Best Buy. The site maintains a somewhat unwieldy configurator, but nothing too bad, that contains more options than any but the most hardcore specialist could need. We absolutely love the large selection of parts, the competitive pricing, and the rotating sales that can help save a little extra cash. Even better, despite the shortage of GPUs and CPUs that seem to have struck the DIY market, CyberpowerPC has managed to keep a decent stock level of all parts and has shipped plenty of recent systems with Ampere series GPUs, no mean feat! 

We would like to see a better tech support and faster shipping, but if you are patient, the PC is well-built when it arrives. The warranty offering is adequate (1-year parts, 3 years labor) but nothing to write home about. Overall, if you enjoy doing some research and finding a great deal, CyberPowerPC offers a great selection of very customizable builds that can get very close to DIY level pricing. For an enthusiast gamer looking for a particular pre-built, that’s just about perfect.

2. IBUYPOWER

Sometimes seen as the little brother to CyberpowerPC, iBUYPOWER is probably the second-largest prebuilder, after its ‘big bro’. Similar in many ways to CyberpowerPC, iBUYPOWER is an established custom builder that sells through its own site as well as retailers like Amazon and Best Buy and has a reputation for solidly built PCs.. The two are in many ways the same, but still have slight differences to set them apart. Where CyberPowerPC really offers the whole range of parts, iBUYPOWER seems to have a slight focus on budget and mid-tier builds, offering some very strong options in those price ranges with still plenty of customizability. Perhaps due to its slightly lower popularity, shipping times are faster than its main competitor, which is great for people looking to get their new PC as quickly as possible. On a somewhat subjective note, we also like the configurator better on the actual website, it feels easier to navigate and understand. However, this could also be in part due to the fact that there are a few less customization options.

Much like the advantages are similar, the disadvantages of iBUYPOWER are similar as well. The warranty is the same mediocre 1-year parts/3 years labor that is not particularly great, and the focus on budget/mid-tier means that the fewer high-end offerings seem to be more expensive than necessary. There are fewer rotating deals (although still some!) which can be nice in that you don’t have to check back every day, but also means there are fewer opportunities for savings for a patient buyer. Overall, iBUYPOWER is really very similar to CyberpowerPC and when choosing between the two, it should come down to who has the build you want at a better price and in stock. Once you have that information, the rest is relatively unimportant.

3. ORIGIN PC

Our next prebuilder starts to move in the opposite direction of iBUYPOWER and CyberpowerPC. Still a well-established company with a strong reputation, Origin PC has chosen to move toward the mid-tier and higher-end offerings and away from budget builds. Origin was started by some former Alienware employees in 2009, so this focus on higher-end shouldn’t be a surprise considering the market segment Alienware focused on. This means that some of their more expensive builds can be very interesting, but if you are looking to spend under $1000, one of the first two is likely a better choice. Origin has also gone for a more curated strategy, offering few configurations and rotating deals in favor of strong archetypes for each build format (SFF, ATX, mATX, laptops, etc.). Within those archetypes are some custom options, but not to the extent of CyberpowerPC or iBUYPOWER. We also appreciate the lifetime tech support, which tends to be a bit better than some of the other competitors.

Origin is an interesting company because of this mix of higher-end focus and more curated builds. For someone that wants a powerful PC and has an idea of what that means, but isn’t interested in doing research on hundreds of parts to find the perfect combination, Origin has a lot going for it. The more directed approach is sometimes nice, especially since one of the main reasons many buyers choose a prebuilt is to save themselves from doing all the legwork. Unlike some of the other builders, Origin also focuses on selling through its own site, so don’t try and find any of their builds on Amazon for example. If you are ok giving up on the rotating deals/sales and don’t need to customize every part of a budget build, Origin PC is a great place to look next.

4. BLD (by NZXT)

At the opposite end of the spectrum from our first two builders and even further along the curated strategy than Origin PC is our fourth building company, BLD. And actually, BLD is actually more than just a building company, they are the prebuilt arm of the components producer NZXT, which is best known for its cases like the H510 or coolers like the Kraken x63 (common choices for custom builders). As you can imagine, this comes with a few advantages and disadvantages. The main advantages to BLD are the backing of a major company like NZXT, which means the customer service and tech support is top notch, and they are backed by a longer 2-year warranty than other builders. We also really like that the first step to a BLD machine is a questionnaire that helps both you and BLD understand exactly what you’re looking for. This is a nice first step, especially for newer PC owners that are looking for some help. The builds themselves are slightly on the pricey side, but they are very high quality and also well-designed with a nice BLD/NZXT aesthetic.

The biggest disadvantage is probably not a surprise to anyone: BLD locks you into certain NZXT parts, like the cases. The customization options are just not there as BLD only sells NZXT components in certain categories. For someone that was already looking at an NZXT case for example, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But for someone that wanted a bit more choice, that can be a dealbreaker. So, if you are already interested in NZXT components or don’t mind using them, and you want a guided prebuild that focuses on quality and customer service, going through BLD by NZXT is definitely a viable option.

Conclusion

As with any decision, an absolute is hard to give (we aren’t Sith after all!). And while these four prebuilders and custom PC sellers are amongst the biggest, there are plenty of other companies that provide a similar service and might have interesting deals from time to time. But if you have decided that going with a custom-built PC or prebuilt is your choice for your next machine, this advantages and disadvantages comparison should help you pick the prebuilder that fits your needs and gets you the next premium build of your dreams. 

Looking to build a PC? View our top PC builds for 2021

If you are looking to do a build, why not check out our fully-vetted, recommended build guides for 2020? We have a range of builds to choose from – depending on budget, form factor, function or specific component-orientated builds!

The post Best Custom PC Builder Websites for 2021 – Compared appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

While most pre-builts come in the classic ATX format, these gaming PC’s require some space! They can be bulky depending on the case, and often are relegated to the floor next to a desk, which can be a shame if you spent money for a nice window with some RGB lighting. In the PC building community, there is a growing push towards SFF (small form factor) mini PC’s that focus on movability and size as well as performance.

Good news for those looking for a pre-built, the custom PC building companies have taken note of this growing demand and are starting to produce some nice pre-built mini-PC options. They often use mATX cases rather than true ITX cases, but often find mini mATX towers that can be smaller than the largest ITX cases. For this guide, we are essentially looking at any mini pre-built gaming PC, which may include the occasional mATX case. If the gaming PC is focused on saving space and minimizing size, we considered it for our recommendations!

The one downside to SFF PC’s is that the same performance as their larger friends often comes at a price premium. Maintaining good thermal performance and finding smaller components can lead to some price increases. So, to help you find the right pre-built mini PC to sit on your desk, we broke them down into price categories and are ready to recommend our favorite for each price range. Let’s take a look at the best pre-built ITX gaming PC’s available today:

Best Mini-ITX Gaming PCs – Our Recommendations

Award	Design	Model	CPU	GPU
Best Prebuilt ITX Gaming PC under $650		Skytech Blaze II Gaming PC	Ryzen 5 2600	GTX 1660
Best Prebuilt ITX Gaming PC under $100		MSI Trident 3 10SI-002US	Intel i5-10400F	GTX 1660 Super
Best Prebuilt ITX Gaming PC under $1200		SkyTech Legacy Mini	Ryzen 7 2700	RTX 2070 Super
Best Prebuilt ITX Gaming PC under $2500		CUK Stratos Mini Gaming PC	Intel i9-10900KF	RTX 3070

Best Prebuilt ITX Gaming PC under $650

Despite most mini pre-builts costing significantly more than their ATX counterparts, there are still some options at even the ultra-budget level. While at this price the new-gen consoles begin to look interesting for pure gaming, the flexibility of a PC is still irreplaceable. At this price point, you can expect 1080p 60 FPS pretty comfortably on high in most games, and our recommendation will do even better and provide 1080p 144FPS in many esports and well-optimized titles with the occasional modified setting. As with all pre-builts, we want a balanced PC that doesn’t over-invest into any one component that would then be bottlenecked by weaker pieces. For the best pre-built ITX that fits those requirements and costs less than $650, we recommend the Skytech Blaze II Gaming PC.

As we mentioned in the intro, finding a true ‘ITX’ mini pre-built at this price is rough, but this offer from Skytech uses an ITX motherboard in a mid-tower mATX case. As a whole, the package is much more compact than what you would get from a regular-sized PC, and the added space actually helps ensure you get the most cooling possible as all cooling is fan-based (rather than liquid which is common in SFF builds). The Ryzen 5 2600 CPU is still a strong gaming processor with 6c/12t and when combined with the Nvidia GTX 1660, provide a great platform for budget gaming. The motherboard and PSU aren’t anything special, but this is a low-power build that doesn’t need anything fancy to provide a stable framerate. At $649 and right within our budget, this mini PC is a great entry-level machine that packs quite a punch for its size and is our recommendation for an under $650 pre-build ITX gaming PC.

Best Prebuilt ITX Gaming PC under $1000

The next step up in terms of budget brings us into a category of heavy competition amongst PC manufacturers. The $900 price range (which ends up being right around $1000 with tax) is a great buying point, offering 1080p 144 FPS relatively steadily in almost all current titles, including newest games with modified settings. This price point has a lot more to choose from, including a true ‘mini’ PC from a major producer. For the best pre-built ITX gaming PC under $900, we recommend the MSI Trident 3 10SI-002US. 

MSI needs no introduction, and the Trident range of small form factor PC’s is one of the longest standing and best built mini PC lineups. They were among the first large-scale production of a small PC, and maintain their high quality after years of experience. This particular Trident is very interesting because of the CPU it holds and the upgraded GPU compared to our lower-level build. The 1660 Super is a stellar GPU, but the real star is the 10400F Intel CPU that offers amazing gaming performance. The inclusion of both a 512 GB SSD and a 1TB HDD is nice, as is WiFi 6 inclusion. We would have loved to see 16GB RAM instead of 8GB, but that is expandable later on. All in all, this is a great buy at $899 for someone looking for a powerful 1080p ITX machine.

And small bonus! For someone that knows they want more cores and more threads (mainly for productivity workloads), the same build with an Intel 10700F is available for $100 more. For gaming, we don’t think that $100 upgrade makes sense (better to get more RAM and an RTX 2060), but for a mixed workload, the 10700F is a good buy.

Best Prebuilt ITX Gaming PC under $1200

This next price category is where we begin to leave 1080p behind to start dabbling in 1440p at 60 FPS for AAA titles and 144 FPS for esports (with modified settings). Of course, these machines are perfectly capable of 1080p as well and will be for years to come, but you begin to see diminishing returns at 1080p beyond a certain point, typically around the NVIDIA 1660 Super/2060 mark (RADEON RX 5700 for AMD). Even with a mini PC, at this price, we expect a step up in experience from the under $900 build. And luckily, we have that with our choice for best pre-built ITX gaming PC under $1200: the SkyTech Legacy Mini.

From the same builder as our budget option, this mini gaming PC is an interesting one. We finally see the modern standard 16 GB DDR4 RAM and see a major step up with the Nvidia RTX 2070 Super. Even with the 3070 starting to become possible to find in-stock, it’s not everywhere and while pre-builts are starting to have it, small form factor PC’s aren’t yet readily available at this price with Ampere GPU’s. The 2070 Super, however, is still a great card that can push 1440p 144hz in many games, even at high settings. The only oddity in this build is the choice to use a Ryzen 7 2700. There’s nothing wrong with this CPU, in fact, some people prefer it for the 8c/16t nature, but we would have probably rather seen a Ryzen 3600 for a gaming build. In practice, the two are very close in most games and the Ryzen 5 2700 may see some gains in the future if developers optimize for multi-threading/multi-core performance. A B450 motherboard, 500GB SSD/1 TB HDD and a few RGB fans in a windowed IWIN case round out this very compelling build. For $1199, you will be hard-pressed to find better ITX pre-built in this price range.

Best Prebuilt ITX Gaming PC under $2500

We’re getting into the ultra-high-end category here, but we wanted to show just how strong pre-built mini gaming PC’s have gotten. Many will choose to build with this budget to squeeze in a slightly better GPU for the same price, but pre-builts like this one have advantages that are hard to overlook, like stock availability and centralized warranty. We kept this max budget recommendation to $2500 because while there are some of the newest builds out there at $3000 or more, at that price point we would expect most users to go straight for a true custom build rather than an off-the-shelf prebuilt. At this price, we want something that can easily hold 1440p 144hz and even push into some 4K gaming. We expect a decently small form factor, liquid cooling to keep temps reasonable, and no corner cutting when it comes to components. If you want a mini PC that will destroy just about any game you throw at it, we recommend the CUK Stratos Mini Gaming PC.

CUK builds regular sized PC’s as well, but seems to have found a niche with its CUK Stratos Mini line. There are quite a few variations, ranging in price from around $1800 up to $4000 (!) for a build with a new 3090. But this one we’ve selected is interesting because it includes a top of the line Intel 10900KF processor and a new Nvidia RTX 3070. It also comes with 64GB RAM, a 1 TB NVMe SSD and 2 TB HDD, and a Z490 motherboard. The 650W PSU is the only downside to this build, it fits the minimum recommended by Nvidia for the 3070 but we would have liked to see a 750W PSU given the unlocked 10900KF CPU and the amount of power it pulls if overclocked. Given the slight lean towards the CPU with the 10900KF vs the 3070 and the 64GB of RAM, this PC will also perform extremely well in productivity workloads. A pure gaming rig may have chosen to match the 10700KF with a 3080 instead, although there is a pretty serious jump in processing power from the 10700KF to the 10900KF and the 3070 is still able to comfortably push 1440p in nearly all games, and some with RTX ray tracing enabled as well. In any case, for around $2425, this mini PC is more than enough to play even the most demanding of games in a very compact size, making it our choice for an ITX prebuilt under $2500.

Conclusion

No matter your budget, there is a pre-built ITX gaming PC waiting for you. Thanks to the rise in interest in the small form factor gaming community, even mainstream manufacturers are building strong ITX or mini gaming PC’s that combine a smaller footprint with strong performance. Like with any pre-built, you may pay a premium to have it built for you and in this case, a similar premium to have everything shrunk down compared to an ATX sized build, but the decrease in size no longer has to mean a decrease in performance. Whether you want to keep to the budget end of the spectrum or ‘go for broke’ with a high-end build, these recommendations should get you started on the best pre-built ITX gaming PC’s at any price.

The post 4 Best Prebuilt ITX Gaming PCs for 2021 appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

While $500 might get you into the world of PC gaming, pickings are slim and you are likely not able to find the most recent components. Those PC’s will still provide an experience that rivals or beats most consoles (or at least last-gen consoles), but won’t get you the performance you read about online. But with a bit more funds to spend, we quickly get into the entry-level lineup and start finding some compelling choices. Today, we will be looking at the best pre-built gaming PC’s under $800.

$800 is a nice amount of money, and most of us want to make sure we’re getting something worthwhile for the cost! Luckily, competition is much fiercer at this price point than at the sub-$500 so consumers are able to find true gaming PC’s. And that’s not even considering the possibility of big sales like upcoming Black Friday that often knock even more options into this area.

Given that state of the market, there are some great options out there so let’s take a look at the best pre-built PC’s under $800:

Best Prebuilt Gaming PCs under $800 – Our Recommendations

Award	Design	Model	CPU	GPU	RAM
Best Overall Prebuilt Gaming PC under $800		CyberpowerPC Gaming Xtreme PC	Intel i5-10400F	GTX 1660 Super	8GB DDR4
Best AMD Prebuilt Gaming PC under $800		iBUYPOWER TRACE 4 9310	Ryzen 5 3600	RX 5500 XT	8GB DDR4
Best mATX Prebuilt Gaming PC under $800		Skytech Gaming Chronos Mini	Ryzen 3 3100	GTX 1660	16GB DDR4
Best Prebuilt Gaming Laptop under $500		Dell G3 Gaming Laptop	Intel i5-9300H	GTX 1660 Ti	8GB DDR4

Best Overall Prebuilt Gaming PC under $800

Much like with any price point, the chief components for a gaming PC for $800 are the CPU and GPU, and as always, that’s where we want the majority of the cost of a gaming PC to be spent. Typically, the GPU is even more important, but finding balance is the key to a great gaming PC, but balance with the CPU is important to avoid one component far outpacing the other. So for the pre-built gaming PC that perfectly finds that balance without overly skimping on other components and is our recommendation for best value gaming PC under $800, we choose the CyberpowerPC Gaming Xtreme PC.

In terms of maximizing CPU/GPU power, this PC is about as strong as anyone could ask at the $800 price point. The CPU is the 10400F, a latest-generation value king from Intel that has great single-core clock speed as well as robust multi-core performance (6c/12t) to ensure you are able to run modern applications and futureproof for next-gen development. And to accompany this price-performance marvel of a processor, the GPU is the Nvidia GTX 1660 Super, which is a similarly awesome GPU at the price point. Equivalent to the 1660 Ti in performance, the 1660 Super is the peak of value performance. Together, these two will push 1080p 144hz in nearly all games (with modified settings for newer AAA titles). The 8 GB DDR4 RAM is a bit light, and a 500GB SSD may hold some back, but those are easily expandable later and still serviceable until or if you decide to add-on an upgrade. The RGB fans and nice-looking case are a nice plus and should be more than enough cooling for this non-power-hungry rig. All of those little points aren’t bad, but the GPU/CPU combo are the star of the show and the main reason we recommend the Gaming Xtreme PC from CyberpowerPC as our best overall pre-built gaming PC under $800.

Best Budget AMD Prebuilt Gaming PC under $800

While we try not to take sides and look purely at best performance for price, some people have a distinct preference for AMD products. There’s nothing wrong with Team Red, and their Zen2 release remains one of the best launches for consumers as it forced Intel to respond and lowered prices across the board. But we didn’t want to just recommend something because it’s AMD, so we found the best AMD-based alternative that can also be seen as a best ‘budget’ alternative for someone that really wants to spend a bit less than the pure $800 limit. For someone looking for that kind of pre-built PC, we recommend the iBUYPOWER TRACE 4 9310.

Despite being our ‘budget’ option, this PC packs a serious punch. The beloved Ryzen 5 3600 is the centerpiece, offering one of the absolute best AMD gaming CPU’s available, competing well with the Intel 10400F despite being from one generation earlier. The GPU is not quite as strong as the Nvidia 1660 Super, but the AMD Radeon 5500XT is still a great graphics card that will performance stunningly at 1080p, offering between 60fps and 144fps depending on the game and how much you push the graphics. The case is well-designed and includes a few RGB fans to keep cool, and the same 8GB RAM as above along with a reduced 256GB SSD will get you started and won’t hold you back for most gaming, but can always be expanded later at a relatively low cost. In fact, because this is our ‘budget’ Team Red option, you could add a 500GB SSD and another 8GB of RAM and still stay under the limit. That’s because this 1080p-machine is listed at $700, a great buy for the price and supporting the classic AMD underdog. For all of those reasons, we easily recommend the TRACE 4 9310 as our best AMD budget pre-built gaming PC under $800.

Best mATX Prebuilt Gaming PC under $800

Finding a true ‘mini’ build at this price is difficult, but some are still looking for a slightly reduced footprint on their desktop. For them, we recommend finding a ‘mATX’ pre-built, or micro-ATX. ATX is the standard desktop size for motherboards/cases, and the truly tiny sizes are referred to as ITX, but mATX is the happy medium for space-conscious users. And even by choosing to reduce the dimensions of the PC, that doesn’t necessarily entail cutting performance beyond the additional cost of the slightly rarer parts; most GPUs and almost all CPUs are just as capable of running within an mATX rig as a full-size tower. To find that balance of great performance and size, we recommend the Skytech Gaming Chronos Mini.

Like the two recommendations above, this PC comes from a known and respected custom builder, Skytech (the other two are iBUYPOWER and CyberpowerPC), and balances well the CPU/GPU and other components. Both are one half-step down from the best overall recommendation, with the CPU being the 4c/8t Ryzen 3100 and the GPU the Nvidia GTX 1660. You can expect around 10-15% less performance in-game. On the other hand, this build comes with the modern standard 16GB RAM and 500GB SSD, which are nice upgrades to our overall and budget recommendations, respectively. But in exchange for the slight performance hit, you get the mATX package in a beautiful windowed case with multiple RGB fans. And on top of that, the price is slightly less than our overall recommendation at $750. For anyone looking for a smaller build, the Chronos Mini from Skytech is a very strong choice.

Best Prebuilt Gaming Laptop under $800

Alright, we’re slightly cheating (again) to give you a recommendation that really makes sense if you’re trying to get an entry-level gaming machine! We know that there is still a large market for portable gamers so we are including that age-old alternative to the desktop: a laptop. As we’ve mentioned before, a desktop will always offer better price-to-performance and our first recommendation above is going to give the absolute best experience possible at this price point. But with a desktop comes a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, a desk…etc., so if we say that all that costs around $100 (which is probably a little low!), and put that into a laptop budget which comes with all of those things, we can find a great 1080p portable gaming machine. Following that logic, we recommend for best pre-built gaming laptop PC under $900 the 2019 version Dell G3 Gaming Laptop.

This laptop is a really great buy. Dell is known for building great laptops and the G3 has a great legacy to back it up. This particular laptop sports a graphics card just as powerful as our first recommendation (Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti) and a great low-power Intel laptop processor, the 9300U; these two core components balance well and neither are power-hungry space heaters, which can cause thermal problems in laptops. The same 8 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD that are common at this budget round out the main specs. On the other hand, the display is an FHD (1080p) 15-inch screen that goes up to 144hz (!) that may not be the brightest, but will serve well for indoor gaming and sports a very fast refresh rate that is rare in laptops at this price. While the laptop won’t perform quite as well as our first-choice recommendation from CyberpowerPC due to thermal constraints and the weaker CPU, it will more than power the 1080p 144hz display and offer a great gaming experience. If you are starting from absolute zero and would need to buy all the peripherals that go with a gaming PC anyway, this laptop is absolutely worth considering for your next prebuilt gaming PC under $900. 

Conclusion

The sub-$800 gaming PC realm has many more choices and variety than the $500 budget ballpark. The major manufacturers of custom PC’s like Skytech, CyberpowerPC and iBUYPOWER usually start their entry-level builds at this point, and manage to include a lot of power for a very reasonable price. All of our recommendations will easily play 60FPS at 1080p in nearly all games, and most will be playable at 144 FPS with some modified settings. All three desktops include windowed cases and plenty of RGB, and the laptop is perfect for the gamer on the go. But only you know which qualities you most want in your next pre-built PC, so make sure to consider your needs before considering one of our recommendations for best pre-built gaming PC under $800.

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Today we are going to look at gaming on a budget, and by budget, we mean a budget. Not everyone is in a position or comfortable to go for a flashy gaming build, but still want to get into the world of gaming or at least dip a toe into the gaming world before diving in. Luckily, depending on the games you want to play, there’s still a way to get a worthwhile PC at almost any price point. You might not be able to push 144fps at 1440p, but you should be able to enjoy e-sports or older titles in full HD at between 30 and 60 FPS and play older games without an issue. So, for those people looking to test the gaming waters or get a strong PC for varied use, we will be looking at the best pre-built gaming PC’s under $500.

A couple of things that we should mention before we get started: buying used at this price point is something to consider, there is almost always a sacrifice to be made at this price for new builds, and Black Friday is around the corner so keep an eye out for builds that didn’t fit the sub-500 criteria now but might when on sale. The first point, buying used, will depend on how comfortable you are with second-hand ownership, and the second point we will be sure to highlight in each option below, but the third point is hard to predict the future so keep your eyes open if you are trying to buy in the next couple weeks!

With all that in mind, let’s take a look at the best pre-built PC’s under $500:

Best Prebuilt Gaming PCs under $500 – Our Recommendations

Award	Design	Model	CPU	GPU	RAM
Best Overall Prebuilt Gaming PC under $500		AVGPC MAX III Gaming PC	Ryzen 1200	GTX 1650	8GB DDR4
Best Design-focused Prebuilt Gaming PC under $500		Allied Gaming PC Javelin Mini Desktop	Ryzen 3100	RX 550	8GB DDR4
Best CPU-Focused Prebuilt Gaming PC under $500		Dell Inspiron 3670	Intel i5-9400	Intel UHD 630	12GB DDR4
Best Prebuilt Gaming Laptop under $500		Acer Nitro 5 AN515-54-5812	Intel i5-9300U	GTX 1650	8GB DDR4

Best Overall Prebuilt Gaming PC under $500

The chief components for a gaming PC are the CPU and GPU, and so that’s where we want the majority of the cost of a gaming PC to be spent. Other add-ons are great, like an SSD or higher amounts/faster RAM, but the CPU and GPU are really going to define your ability to game. Typically, the GPU is even more important, but finding balance is the key to a great gaming PC. So, when we were looking for our best overall value gaming PC, we were absolutely thrilled to find an offering that has an SSD, 8 GB DD4 RAM, a modern GPU, and a multi-core Ryzen CPU. Hands-down, as of writing this article, our choice for best value gaming PC under $500 is the AVGPC MAX III Gaming PC.

It’s hard to find a real flaw with this PC for the price. The GPU, an Nvidia GTX 1650, is a superb budget offering that excels at 1080p, producing between 60-144fps depending on settings on which title you are playing. The CPU is the Ryzen 1200, a slightly dated but still modern processor with 4 cores and 4 threads that is also great for a 1080p machine and won’t create any real bottlenecks for the GPU or rest of the machine, allowing all the components to fully stretch their legs. With those two really strong core components, we expected major cuts elsewhere…. but we are happily able to say that’s not the case! The 8GB of DD4 RAM is exactly what you would want for a build like this, and the 500GB SSD is a major plus to help boot and load times. The PC case offers a window to enjoy the insides, including the included LED fans and Cooler Master CPU cooler. The motherboard is an A320 (very basic but totally functional) and while the PSU isn’t specified and likely nothing special, but none of the components draw large amounts of power so it shouldn’t impact the gaming experience. There is even an included Windows 10 Pro license and  WiFi! This specific build doesn’t have any reviews, but other builds from the company (AVGPC) have strong reviews and inspire confidence. The more we look the more we find to like, and at $499, it very easy to recommend this PC as our overall gaming PC pre-built for under $500.

Best Design-focused Prebuilt Gaming PC under $500

If part of the draw to the gaming PC world is the design and flash of a ‘gaming’ computer, the best overall value one might not have enough pizzazz for your taste. While the core components are hard to beat, and the window to the LED fans is a nice touch, the build doesn’t exactly scream “expensive”. Some people don’t mind the ‘sleeper’ style build, but others are looking for a statement piece! And while RGB isn’t everything, a nice quality case with some RGB fans and a side window go a long way in sprucing up a PC. Based on that combination of pleasing aesthetic and still high performance, we recommend the Allied Gaming PC Javelin Mini Desktop.

Allied Gaming is a new producer as far as we can tell, which means it has some risk but also some possibility for success. To be honest, if it weren’t for Amazon’s strong A to Z protection, we would likely be more careful in suggesting this PC. But based on that guarantee and Amazon’s customer service, it’s hard not to really like this PC. The two massive ARGB fans in the front combined with the sleek case and window offer an aesthetic that is very similar to PC’s that cost several hundred dollars more. And to go with that look, the PC offers some pretty strong internal components. The 8GB 3000 MHz RAM, 550W PSU, and A520 motherboard are all serviceable, and a 240 GB SSD will serve nicely as a boot drive and for main applications, but the star of the show is the CPU. The Ryzen 3100 is one of the strongest budget offerings available today, with the same terrific value as other Zen2 AMD offerings in a 4c/8t package that is well suited to modern gaming. The graphics card is slightly underwhelming with the RX550 when compared to the 1650 offered in our overall choice above, but it will still push plenty of frames at 1080p for a budget build. For the same $499, this PC offers a great alternative to someone looking for a little less GPU in exchange for a bit more style in their gaming PC.

Best CPU-Focused Prebuilt Gaming PC under $500

While gaming may be the main focus of the article, some buyers are really using the PC for a lot of things and gaming on the side. For them, the CPU will have a much larger impact on their daily usage than the GPU for basically any regular task other than the actual gaming. While the Ryzen 3100 above is a great CPU and even the Ryzen 1200 in the first recommendation is strong, Intel is still the leader in single-core performance that is most applicable to typical computer usage. For the user that wants the absolute strongest CPU they can find and the ability to game occasionally, we recommend the Dell Inspiron 3670.

This is a bit of a qualified recommendation to be fair, a gaming PC without a dedicated graphics card is really more of a basic desktop. But being able to get an Intel i5-9400, 12 GB of RAM, a 256GB PCIe SSD, Bluetooth + WiFi and Windows already installed for $500 is a great start to a build that needs only the GPU to become a gaming powerhouse. The reason we chose this specific desktop for a CPU-focused gamer is two-fold: finding a 9^th generation CPU at this price is pretty impressive, and Dell is known for PCs that are expandable without too much work. If you’re comfortable opening up the case and slotting in a GPU (something like a 1050Ti or 1030 that pull power directly from the motherboard), you’ve got yourself a gaming PC that is absolutely killer at 1080p. Not everyone would be comfortable with this as it requires a little bit of DIY knowledge and an additional upgrade for the GPU down the road, but if you want a strong CPU for now and the possibility to add a GPU later, this Inspiron 3670 is our choice for you.

Best Prebuilt Gaming Laptop PC (Not-quite) under $500

OK, after the best value above, the RGB alternative, and the CPU beast, there are not a lot of other desktops we would recommend for a potential gamer. So, we are going to cheat our own criteria a bit and provide a different style recommendation for someone looking to get into gaming: a laptop! Typically, a desktop will always offer better price-to-performance and our first recommendation above is going to give the absolute best experience possible at this price point. But with a desktop comes a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, a desk…etc., so if we say that all that costs around $100 (which is probably a little low!), and put that into a laptop budget which comes with all of those things, we can find a nice little gaming machine. With that logic, we can recommend happily for best pre-built gaming laptop PC under $600 the Acer Nitro 5 AN515-54-5812.

This laptop is a steal at $599.With a ninth-gen Intel i5-9300U, a dedicated Nvidia GTX 1650, a full HD IPS display, WiFi 6, 8 GB DDR4 RAM, and a 256 NVMe SSD, this is a really strong offering. Acer is a major manufacturer with a great reputation, so you know the build quality will be professional and any issues have good customer service to find solutions. While the laptop won’t perform quite as well as our first-choice recommendation AVGPC MAX III due to thermal constraints, it will more than power the 1080p 60hz display and offer a great gaming experience. If you are starting from absolute zero and would need to buy all the peripherals that go with a gaming PC anyway, this laptop is absolutely worth considering for your next prebuilt gaming PC. 

Conclusion

The sub-$500 gaming PC realm is filled with bad buys that focus on poorly balanced parts or cutting extreme corners to keep costs down, so be wary of scooping up any old PC. The relative lack of options is why so many people in this budget ballpark look to buy used, which is a can be a great choice depending on your local market. But if you know you are only comfortable buying new, the AVGPC MAX III really is a strongly spec’d machine and by far our favorite product, though the alternative Allied Gaming Javelin and Dell Inspiron 3670 each offer something that is worth the $500 price tag for the right user. And if you are starting new, the Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop may be more than $500, but once you factor in the costs that go along with a desktop vs. laptop, it is also a very attractive option.

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