It is possible to get a capable gaming PC for under $1,000, and these Prime Day deals prove it

PC gaming is expensive, yes, but contrary to popular belief, it is actually possible to bag yourself a modern, capable gaming PC for under a grand. Is it going to be the biggest and baddest desktop on the planet? No, but it will absolutely provide you with better technical specs than a console would, and more importantly, it’ll futureproof you so you can upgrade later, and create what is undoubtedly one of the best gaming PCs.

That’s especially true while Prime Day PC deals are running. Right now you can get yourself all sorts of discounts on prebuilt machines and hefty gaming components. That being said, it’s very easy to mistake a bad PC deal for a good one – especially since a lot of product names and numbers can be like hieroglyphs for newcomers. For that reason, I’ve taken a walk through the discount aisles at the biggest retailers and tried to find gaming PC deals under a grand that are actually worth investing in.

I’ve got a few other bits of criteria though. Not only do these PCs need to be under $1,000, but they also need to be futureproofed. That means one thing in particular needs to be up to par: The motherboard has to be DDR5 compatible. If the PC has DDR4 RAM in it but does have a DDR5-compatible motherboard, that’s alright. If there’s no futureproofing for the current memory standard and CPUs, I’m not recommending it. Spoilers: None of the best deals are at Amazon.

More Prime Day deals

• Amazon: Builds from Corsair, CyberPower, and Alienware
• Best Buy: CyberPowerPC, iBUYPower, and HP rigs
• Dell: Big savings on Alienware

On the hunt for some Prime Day bargains? Check out some Prime Day PS5 deals, Prime Day Kindle deals, and Prime Day Meta Quest deals.

One of my earliest memories is playing SuperMario64 and wondering why the controller I held had three grips, but I only had two hands. Ever since I’ve been in love with video games and their technology. After graduating from Edinburgh Napier University with a degree in Journalism, I contributed to the Scottish Games Network and completed an Editorial Internship at Expert Reviews. Over the last decade, I’ve been managing my own YouTube channel about my love of games too. These days, I’m one of the resident hardware nerds at GamesRadar+, and I take the lead on our coverage of gaming PCs, VR, controllers, gaming chairs, and content creation gear. Now, I better stop myself here before I get talking about my favourite games like HUNT: Showdown, Dishonored, and Towerfall Ascension.