To be transparent: I’ve had the Best Gaming PC Under $1000 for about 24 hours and will be getting a $10 Amazon card for reviewing, but I’m going to be honest about this. I’ll also say this is my first PC, so I’m not coming from an experienced perspective. The last PC I used was in my parent’s family room in the 90s.
In summary: I like this PC- I think it’s a pretty solid starter PC with some decent-mid range specs/hardware and plenty of potential for upgrades. I think $950 is a bit overpriced, and I’m pretty sure this PC used to be only $750 (with the GPU market what it is right now, I guess price increases are to be expected). Based on my research, I decided to immediately swap some components to extend the lifespan of my PC. I think with those changes, I’ll have a reliable machine for some time. HOWEVER, I don’t think you should need to make part swaps OUT OF THE BOX when you pay almost $1k for a PC. Get it cheaper if you can, and spend that extra money on new RAM and a CPU cooler. If you pay what I did, accept that you’re paying that price to have it NOW.
Also, this is a small thing, but the thumb screws for the side panels were WAY over tightened, which killed a bit of the initial unboxing joy.
Once I rechecked all the connections, swapped the parts I planned to swap, and rechecked connections again, I booted it up. It started up and jumped into Windows set up immediately with zero problems. I installed Steam and MSI Afterburner and played some games DOOM 2016, Horizon Zero Dawn, both of which my laptop struggled with. It wasn’t an extended gaming session, but temps stayed reasonable and games looked great compared to my laptop, which had an MX150. I’m looking forward to a good few years with this PC. I’m thinking I’ll eventually upgrade the GPU, CPU, and motherboard down the line. Which I can do, because there are no proprietary parts!
More nitty-gritty stuff that I would have like to see in a review while doing my research. This CPU/motherboard combo (i5) is capped at 2666hz, so keep that in mind when getting replacement RAM. The side panel is glass (I was expecting acrylic). It looks like they made some improvements to this case based on my research. The front panel is mesh and has 3 intake fans. It apparently used to just have slits for intake, so I’m glad they made this change. There’s also open mesh on the top with a magnetic dust filter and non-magnetic Mach on the bottom for the power supply. This product is not in a discreet box, try to be home when It’s supposed to be delivered so no one snatches it. A lot of reviews say their PCs just up and died a few months after they got it. My guess is that this could be in part due to overheating. I’m not an expert, so take it with a grain of salt, but given how many teardown videos mention horrible temps. How many people don’t change the stock fans or even a review by a person who used their PC when the fans weren’t working (?!), I think it could be a connection. My replacement CPU fan cost $30, and I think that’s worth the peace of mind. I’ve never done anything more than a RAM swap before (in a laptop no less), so I was nervous about replacing the CPU cooler, but it was pretty simple. I got a Cooler Master Hyper 212 and was able to put it in it without having to remove the motherboard from the case. Watch a YouTube video or two and you’ll be fine. There isn’t an obvious spot to anchor an additional SSD. There seems to be a bay in the basement, but no sleds. I have mine sitting loose in the basement right now, but I’m hoping I can find a better solution. There are two included SATA data cables in the box, which was nice. The GPU was an MSI, but it looks like that may change based on what’s available. I reseated the GPU before booting up after reading several reviews that had issues with it on start up and to make it easier to move around the case while replacing the CPU cooler. It is anchored by a screw on the chassis, so be sure to remove that first.
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Intel i5-10400F 2.9GHz Processor: The 10th generation Intel Core i5-10400F processor provides the power needed for intensive gaming and multitasking. With a clock speed of 2.9GHz, users can expect fast and responsive performance.
GeForce GTX 1660 Super 6 GB Graphics Card: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super graphics card provides stunning graphics and smooth performance for demanding games. With 6 GB of GDDR6 memory, users can enjoy high-resolution gaming with high frame rates.
8 GB DDR4 RAM: The 8 GB of DDR4 RAM provides plenty of memory for running multiple applications and games simultaneously. DDR4 is faster and more efficient than previous generations, making it ideal for demanding gaming and productivity tasks.
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In conclusion, the Best Gaming PC Under $1000 is a powerful and feature-packed gaming computer that provides an immersive gaming experience. With its fast processor, powerful graphics card, ample memory and storage, and Wi-Fi connectivity, this computer is an excellent choice for gamers looking for a high-performance gaming machine.
Pros
No proprietary parts, which means the system can be upgraded by the user over time. This is something you don’t get with prebuilds from companies like HP, Dell, etc.
Large case means future upgrading will be easier.
Shipped quickly, and was packaged well within the box.
Looks pretty slick.
Decent ventilation.
Cons
Single channel RAM out of the box and only 8gb.
Stock intel CPU fan is kind of a joke, especially considering how many reviews mention problems with temps.
Case fans are 3 pins and are connected directly to the power supply, meaning they go full speed 100% of the time, which creates a lot of unnecessary noise and can shorten the lifespan of the fans. On start up, this PC was as load as my laptop under a heavy load in a warm room. On the upside, it’s a nice white noise machine if you’re into that kind of thing.
Cable management was very tight in some areas and put extra tension off several connections. This was solved by pulling some slack from the basement, so not really a huge deal but still a pain.
