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Reading Time: 7 minutesIf you’re looking for a high-end gaming PC that doesn’t break the bank, it all comes down to strategic configuration.
At this price point, the general rule of thumb is: One tick below the absolutely best gets you the most for your money. Want the performance of an RTX 3090, but don’t want to pay its heavy asking price? A 3080 gets you 90% of the way there (or more) for half the cost.
Like we mentioned in our entry and mid-range gaming PC buying guide, buying a pre-built PC comes with some significant perks. These include complete umbrella warranties, one point of contact for customer support on all your components and the time saved by not putting it together yourself. Sometimes you can even find better prices than if you opt for the custom route.
To help you out, we’ve come up with a few excellent choices for the best high-end gaming PCs out there. For this list, we cofuces on PCs that will give you the best bang for your buck. Additionally, all of our picks can easily handle 4K gaming and are from companies that will allow you to further tailor your system to your specific needs.
What to Look for in a High-End Gaming PC
For high-end PCs, you want something that can chew through 4K gaming without breaking a sweat. This means choosing a system with good CPU to GPU pairing to ensure neither component is a bottleneck for the other—there are no Core i5 CPUs with RTX 3080s here!
We also specifically picked systems that have RTX GPUs. There’s one simple reason for this: DLSS. NVIDIA’s AI-powered Deep Learning Super Sampling is a feature we think all systems should have. Not only does it let you game at much higher resolutions, but you can do so without sacrificing frame rates.
Now in version 2.0, DLSS also delivers images that look better than native 4K. This is a major feature lacking from AMD GPUs, and one we think is a game-changer for gamers.
Storage also plays a crucial part in high-end systems. Only fast NVMe will suffice in the builds we’ve selected, and all are focused on minimizing load times and maximizing playtime.
Before we get into our top picks, note that we used the ASUS ROG Swift PG27UQ, a 144Hz 4K monitor that supports G-SYNC Ultimate with HDR. The PG27UQ is the cream of the crop when it comes to ultra fast high-resolution gaming displays. Plus, it has all the latest display technologies like Quantum Dot and DisplayHDR 1000.
RELATED: How to Pick the Perfect Computer Monitor for Gaming
The Best High-end Gaming PCs
MAINGEAR TURBO
Credit: MAINGEAR
- Price: $4,000-$5,000
- Best for: Uncompromising, ultra-small, custom loop gaming PC
If you’re looking for the ultimate ultra-small high-end gaming PC with zero compromises, look no further than the MAINGEAR TURBO. Packed in a custom chassis that’s truly compact, the TURBO can be configured with everything a gamer could want: an AMD 3950X CPU, an NVIDIA RTX 3080 GPU, 32GB and fast NVMe storage.
All of that is custom liquid cooled with MAINGEAR’s Apex cooling. This means you’re not only getting the best thermal performance, but the TURBO stays dead silent in the heat of the game.
Shop Configurations at MAINGEAR
MAINGEAR didn’t just go with off-the-shelf all-in-one cooling here. It actually custom designed and manufactured its own cooling blocks for both the CPU and the GPU. We haven’t seen any other builder make a system quite like the TURBO. It’s entirely in its own class.
Gamers interested in the TURBO can also configure the internal design of the Apex cooling system. Don’t like green coolant? Fine, choose milk white. All components are bespoke to the TURBO, and MAINGEAR left no rock unturned when it comes to the details.
NZXT Creator PC
Credit: NZXT
- Price: $3,499
- Best for: Streamers and creators
Budding streamers or YouTubers searching for a great system for gaming and creating videos will want to look at NZXT’s aptly named Creator PC. This system is well configured and balanced for the best experience in both production and play.
Coming standard with an Intel Core i9 9900K, an RTX 3090 and 64GB of system RAM, there’s plenty of room and power for chewing through large video encodes or streaming while playing on the same system. Best of all, you’re getting the whole package in NZXT’s excellent H510 Elite chassis, which is extremely popular with streamers and creators for its clean design.
NZXT also configured its Creator PC with 4TB of NVMe storage, which is exceptionally large. Even if you don’t encode that much, there’s plenty of space for all your favorite game installs without having to resort to a slower mechanical hard drive.
Our sample included a specifically chosen Asus RTX 3090 TUF with dual HDMI 2.1 slots, which is a smart pick by NZXT for creator-related tasks. However, you can call into NZXT customer service and get it swapped out to a new RTX 3070 for an even better price, or configure it with an RTX 3080 or 3090. Less money, more performance, what’s not to like?
CyberPower PC Hyper Liquid Elite
Credit: cyberpowerpc
- Sale Price: $3,345 | Reg. Price: $3,495
- Best for: Speed
For raw gaming responsiveness and frame rates, CyberPower PC’s Gamer Elite system dishes out pure gaming bliss with the highest frame rates. The company has configured this system with Intel’s Core i9 10900k, which is the fastest gaming CPU available, and NVIDIA’s monster RTX 3090.
CyberPower has also carefully chosen components that serious gamers will find attractive, such as Lian Li’s PC-O11 Dynamic. This chassis is an enthusiast collaboration between Lian Li and Der8auer, who just so happens to be considered one of the best professional overclockers in the world. But what this means for you is flexibility between custom liquid cooling options, as well as air-cooled configurations.
Coming with 32GB of G-Skill RAM and Intel P665 3TB NVMe SSD, CyberPower has configured the Gamer Elite for pure gaming.
CORSAIR ONE a100
Credit: CORSAIR
- Sale Price: $3,699 | Reg. Price: $3,999
- Best for: Small form factor gaming
CORSAIR ONE a100 is a unique proposition: Let one company completely custom manufacture everything for you in the smallest footprint possible, and pack it with powerful components that go toe-to-toe with the best of them.
CORSAIR designed its ONE PC from the ground up. This means every component has been developed completely in-house for a unique look you absolutely cannot build yourself. CORSAIR does not sell the ONE chassis on its own since so many components need to be made just for it.
This didn’t stop the company from fully packing the ONE a100 to the gills, though. Inside a chassis that’s no larger than the new Xbox Series X is an AMD 3950X 16-core CPU with an NVIDIA RTX 2080, 32GB of RAM, 1TB of NVMe storage and a 2TB HDD.
CORSAIR manages to pack everything into such a tight package by utilizing two custom made AIO liquid coolers—one for the GPU and one for the CPU. The singular 140mm fan at the top takes cool air in from both radiators and exhausts hot air through the top.
While the CORSAIR ONE has always commanded a premium price for its entirely custom design, the a100 is currently at its lowest price ever, making it a great time to buy.
Xidax X-6
Credit: Xidax
- Price: $3,084
- Best for: Premium warranty
If you want peace of mind, take a look at any PC from Xidax. All of them come with a lifetime warranty on parts. This makes Xidax unique in the pre-built space, as no other builder can match the offer. While its prices aren’t the absolute lowest, for many, the warranty alone covers the slight increase in price many times over.
The X-6 from Xidax has the same lifetime warranty as all of Xidax’s other systems, and comes configured to be a beast. Equipped with an Intel Core i9 10900K and an Asus RTX 3080 TUF, there’s no game this system won’t be able to handle for years to come. In fact, the Asus TUF is one of the best RTX 3080s we tested. It ran the coolest, stayed exceptionally quiet under load and is all metal in construction.
Honorable Mentions
Origin PC Neuron
Credit: Origin PC
Price: $4,000
Origin PC is another system builder with a top-notch reputation for excellent quality and support. The company’s Neuron PC focuses on the essentials only: best-in-class CPU for gaming and workload, and the latest GPU for 4K gaming.
The high-end Neuron configuration that we recommend for the best discounts comes with AMD’s 16-core 3950X and NVIDIA’s RTX 3080 by way of an EVGA XC3, which is basically the only RTX 3080 that fits into the Neuron. The system isn’t as large as a mid-tower PC, but it isn’t a small form factor PC either. The Neuron has just enough space for a few other PCIe expansion cards. If you’re thinking of upgrading to a 3090, however, it just won’t fit in the Corsair 220T. But that’s all fine because with an RTX 3080, you’re essentially getting the best price-performance ratio.
Shop Configurations at Origin PC
Other system notables include a semi-custom loop care of Corsair’s HydroX cooling system, which integrates a pump and reservoir into one and syncs with Corsair’s iCue lighting system.
iBUYPOWER Ryzen Gaming Plus
Credit: iBUYPOWER
Sale Price: $1,989 | Reg. Price: $2,501
iBUYPOWER’s Ryzen Gaming Plus receives a big honorable mention primarily because of the huge price drop currently available. Despite the low price, iBUYPOWER still configures its Ryzen Gaming Plus system to best even an RTX 2080 Ti system costing well over $2,200. (Yes, you can still get RTX 2080 Ti systems.)
Equipped with an AMD Ryzen 3900X and an NVIDIA RTX 3070, the Ryzen Gaming Plus easily handles 4K gaming. Ideally, we would have liked to see an increase in RAM from 16GB to 32GB. But for pure gaming, 16GB is just enough.
We would have also liked to have seen the inclusion of NVMe storage rather than a SATA-based SSD, but this is how iBUYPOWER has kept the price so low while still delivering excellent gaming performance.
Once you’re ready to buy, be sure to set a Deal Alert to make sure you don’t miss a discount or sale on your favorite gaming PC.
Tuan Nguyen
Tuan's been in the tech industry for over 20 years. He was previously Editor-in-Chief of Maximum PC, Head of Hardware at PC Gamer and ran a host of other websites you may have read. He loves a good deal but only on the very best gear. He also swears by custom-built PCs but only uses Macs—bizarre! Tuan loves all things audio and video and gets nerdy with cars.