Speccing the best gaming PC for under £1,000

There’s a misconception that PC gaming needs to cost the Earth. On the contrary, it’s the platform where games are more affordable, back catalogues are kept intact, and if you’re savvy with your spending, one system can cater for all your computing needs.

Nevertheless, striking the right balance between performance, futureproofing, and budget is a daunting challenge. Building a rig for two, three or four thousand pounds is a relative cinch – it’s when funds are limited that hard choices have to be made.

With that in mind, I set the team at PCSpecialist a challenge: what’s the best gaming PC that can be put together for under a grand in late 2024? There’s been plenty of back and forth as we discussed component selections, and Topaz Pro is the result of our collective reasoning.

PCSpecialist Topaz Pro

£999

Pros

• Great value at £999
• Stellar 1440p gaming
• Supremely quiet
• Runs cool and efficient
• All-round workhorse

Cons

• No USB Type-C
• One M.2 slot

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How we test and review products.

What’s under the hood?

Being a gaming PC first and foremost means the focus needs to be on a stellar graphics card. In a world where flagship GPUs cost more than our entire budget, I wondered if a £999 build could possibly pack the requisite punch.

Well, it certainly can, as we’ve shoehorned an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super that strikes an impeccable balance between price and performance in the current market. Trouble is, such graphics firepower does eat up a sizeable chunk of the budget, meaning we need to pinpoint exactly where to make concessions.

The first comes in the form of AMD Ryzen 5600X. While an entirely capable processor in 2024, even compared to chips that are two generations its junior, there’s a small chance it could introduce a bottleneck alongside RTX 4070 Super at 1080p. Fortunately, our tests show this is negligible depending on the game and instead opens the path to more detail at 1440p with barely a hit to performance. And sure, AM5 would have been nice, but as I say, when funds are tight, you can’t have everything.

Trying to justify latest-generation AM5 or LGA1851 proved nigh-on impossible due to high CPU and platform costs, and it speaks to the maturity of AM4 that six-core, 12-thread 5600X remains such a likeable option. There are upgrade paths, too, in the form of 5800X3D for die-hard gamers, or 16-core, 32-thread 5950X for strenuous work.

Midrange chips are naturally quite savvy with thermals, meaning we can avoid expensive liquid AIO coolers and opt for a trusty air solution. Sticking with a single tower, PCS FrostFlow 100 V3 is as stealthy as they come in both aesthetics and acoustics, saving some pennies being PCSpecialist’s in-house option.

Gigabyte A520M K V2 is arguably the biggest compromise we make in this build due to its lack of USB Type-C and single PCIe 3.0 M.2 slot. Our original plan included modern ports, which you can still opt for if you go over budget, but this felt like the best trade-off to keep the CPU and GPU appropriately beefy for gaming. Rear connectivity includes 1Gb Ethernet and four USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, and given the board’s absent onboard Wi-Fi, PCSpecialist slots in an Intel AX210 PCIe card, adding zippy Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.0 wireless connectivity.

When it comes to memory, capacity trumps speed. Rising system requirements now see some games demand 16GB minimum. This is split across two 8GB DDR4 sticks in a dual-channel configuration rated at 3,200MT/s. Gigabyte supports up to 5,100MT/s should you get the itch to spend more or upgrade later down the line, but it’s the difference between practicality and luxury.

While cost could be trimmed by relying on the four SATA ports available, we prefer to make use of the M.2 slot, filling it with PCSpecialist’s own 1TB model, boasting read speeds of up to 3,500MB/s read and 3,200MB/s write. It won’t break records, but there’s plenty of space for installs and you’ll never be the one holding the lobby up when loading in. Keep in mind that any standard M.2 2280 will fit in its place if you have one spare, and all are backward and forward compatible, with speeds limited by the PCIe 3.0 interface.

There are cheaper chassis and power supplies if you think there’s a worthier sacrifice buried here, but Corsair remains a safe bet for mainstream builds. 3000D Airflow guarantees a good breeze throughout your rig with an attractive perforated front panel and 850W Corsair RM Series has enough juice to support future upgrades while being efficient enough to earn an 80 Plus Gold rating. After all, you don’t want your budget build to end up costing you more in the form of wasted electricity.

Piecing this together in a DIY rig would set you back around £950 with equivalent substitutes for PCSpecialist’s first-party components. The retailer tacks on a minor premium for building Topaz Pro on your behalf, shipping it to you, and covering it with a three-year standard warranty. A small price to pay for the convenience and added peace of mind.

Gaming

The moment you press the power button and put RTX 4070 Super to work, it’s easy to forget Topaz Pro is a system that makes any concessions at all. No matter what I threw at it, be it one of the most demanding open-world RPGs in recent memory or competitive shooters that necessitate higher frame rates, the rig handles them with ease at all resolutions.

Pitting it against our usual run of titles, all using the maximum quality available, the rig sets a mighty high bar at 1080p by reaching nearly 300fps in Rainbow Six Extraction. Since this game runs on an updated version of Ubisoft’s AnvilNext 2.0 engine, this acts as a nice baseline for all competitive games, since CS2, Overwatch 2, and Valorant all feature significantly lower system requirements.

Pro-gamer framerates at a ubiquitous full-HD resolution are a given, despite a minor CPU bottleneck in some titles. Forza Motorsport, for example, paints optimal GPU utilisation at 86% when rendering at 1080p. This ceiling lifts entirely at 1440p, and it’s impressive how Topaz Pro handles higher resolutions.

There’s also plenty of headroom to boost performance, whether it’s lowering settings or activating upscalers. Simply clicking a few buttons and setting Nvidia DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) to Quality in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 nets you up to 25% more frames at any given resolution. Just make sure to also pair it with Nvidia Reflex Low Latency to stave off the extra input lag.

There’s only one Pro

Turning towards 4K performance, Topaz Pro exceeds all my expectations and cements its advantage over the likes of PS5 Pro. Of course, the PC is £300 more, but rapidly closes the gap in value when you consider all elements.

Firstly, it offers better native 4K performance than Sony’s iterative console, alongside a huge advantage in the form of Nvidia DLSS. Hats off to PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) because it does a stellar job of preserving detail when upscaling resolution, but it’s tough for any first-generation tool to compete with Team Green’s third-gen powerhouse, particularly in ray tracing. Nvidia remains the leader in frame generation, alongside super sampling quality, squeezing every last bit of performance out of this system.

PS5 Pro only becomes a viable alternative when considering the second-hand physical games market, which requires the optional £100 disc drive, adding to its overall cost of the device. Meanwhile, all storefronts on PC are free and competition between Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG, Ubisoft Connect, Battle.net, and EA keep prices low with discounts appearing far more frequently. I can’t remember a month where Valve hasn’t held a themed sale in years.

Swiss Army PC

I’d be remiss not to remind you that that Topaz Pro is more than just a gaming machine. It’s a fully-fledged PC that justifies every penny through versatility. This makes it a dab hand at anything you throw at it, from coding to video and photo editing or simply browsing the web. A personal favourite of mine is running a Plex server so I can stream videos offline to my TV via LAN whenever my internet kicks the bucket.

The significance of RTX 4070 Super’s inclusion is reflected in a lofty 3DMark score of over 16k points. Putting that figure into perspective, it’s a whopping 25% faster than a £1,249 gaming PC outfitted with current Ryzen 5 9600X processor and RTX 4060 Ti graphics. There’s a natural temptation to move to the latest CPU platform, however if gaming is the order of the day, it pays to put the onus on GPU potential.

I’m particularly dazzled by how much 2D performance the system pushes at 119W, making it an efficient workhorse for those who work by day and game by night. Combine that with a whisper-quiet 36dBA operation while keeping temperatures tantalisingly low, and it’s easy to see this as a high-calibre device at an affordable price point.

Should you buy PCSpecialist Topaz Pro?

If you’re looking to maximise gaming performance for under £1,000, PCSpecialist Topaz Pro is a stellar choice. It prioritises the essentials, delivering exceptional 1440p frame rates with minimal compromise. While consoles remain a cheaper alternative for casual gamers, Topaz Pro offers superior performance, access to the ongoing PC ecosystem where game compatibility has far more longevity, and the ability to multitask by doing anything you throw at it. Video rendering, photo editing, browsing the web – you name it.

There are many permutations in the sub-£1,000 bracket, yet we are confident in recommending Topaz Pro as a potent gaming rig that won’t break the bank. Whether it’s for student digs or a budding home gamer, there’s a serious amount of firepower able to tackle practically any title you throw at it.

The beauty of gaming PCs is that no one size fits all, and speccing a £999 build serves as a reminder of how a little can go a long way. Sure, there’s always something shiny and new on the horizon – X3D CPUs are all the rage and RTX 50 Series is imminent – but the latest and greatest carry a premium that isn’t for everyone. Topaz Pro offers a brilliant gaming experience in the here and now, pair it with a high-refresh 1440p screen and you’re laughing.