So, how much should you spend?
The honest answer is:
Spend enough to achieve the experience you want, but don’t spend money on performance you don’t need.
Gaming PCs can range from relatively affordable systems designed for 1080p gaming to high-end machines built for demanding 4K gaming and high refresh rates.
There is no universal price where a gaming PC suddenly becomes “good”.
Your budget should be based on what you want to do with the PC.
£600–£800
At this level, you’re generally looking at an entry-level gaming PC.
A system in this price range can be perfectly capable of 1080p gaming, particularly when sensible settings are used.
However, you should expect some compromises compared with more expensive systems.
This budget is generally better suited to people who don’t need maximum graphical settings or extremely high frame rates in every game.
£800–£1,000
Moving towards £800–£1,000 gives you more room to build a balanced gaming system.
1080p gaming should be comfortably within reach, while 1440p gaming can also be possible, depending on the game and the performance you’re targeting.
This is often where the difference between a budget gaming PC and a more capable all-round system becomes noticeable.
£1,000–£1,500
A budget of £1,000–£1,500 opens up considerably more possibilities.
This is a strong budget range for someone looking for a modern gaming PC capable of handling 1440p gaming.
The additional budget can also allow for higher settings, higher frame rates and better performance in more demanding games.
However, spending £1,500 doesn’t mean every game will run at maximum settings or extremely high frame rates.
Game optimisation varies significantly between titles.
£1,500–£2,000
At £1,500–£2,000, you’re moving into high-performance gaming territory.
This budget can be appropriate for people wanting strong 1440p performance or looking towards 4K gaming.
You also have more flexibility to consider demanding features such as ray tracing, higher refresh rates and more demanding games.
As with every budget, however, the amount of performance you gain for each additional pound eventually becomes smaller.
Spending twice as much does not mean receiving twice the gaming performance.
£2,000+
Once you move beyond £2,000, you’re entering the high-end and enthusiast market.
At this point, you’re generally paying for very high levels of performance rather than simply making games playable.
A high-end gaming PC can be designed around demanding 4K gaming, high refresh rates and advanced graphical settings.
There is also considerably more scope for using the PC for demanding tasks outside gaming, such as video editing, 3D work and other intensive applications.
Does spending more always mean better gaming?
No.
This is one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding gaming PCs.
The relationship between price and performance isn’t linear.
For example, moving from a £700 PC to a £1,000 PC can make a significant difference.
Moving from £1,500 to £2,000 can also provide a meaningful improvement, depending on where the additional money is spent.
But moving from £2,000 to £3,000 doesn’t necessarily provide the same proportional increase in performance.
At the very top end, you’re paying increasingly large amounts for smaller improvements.
Resolution makes a huge difference
Your monitor should be one of the first things you consider when deciding how much to spend.
1080p
1080p is considerably less demanding than higher resolutions and doesn’t require an extremely expensive PC to achieve good gaming performance.
1440p
1440p requires more graphical performance than 1080p and has become an increasingly popular resolution for PC gaming.
It offers a noticeable improvement in image quality without being as demanding as 4K.
4K
4K requires substantially more graphical processing power.
If you want high frame rates at 4K while using demanding graphical settings, your budget will generally need to be considerably higher.
What about FPS?
The frame rate you want also matters.
Someone happy with 60 FPS has different requirements from someone looking for 144 FPS or higher.
Competitive games can often achieve very high frame rates because they aren’t necessarily as demanding as modern graphically intensive games.
A demanding single-player game with advanced lighting and visual effects can require considerably more hardware to achieve the same frame rate.
That’s why simply asking:
“How many FPS will this PC get?”
doesn’t really have one answer.
It depends on the game, resolution, graphical settings and hardware.
What about future-proofing?
No gaming PC is completely future-proof.
Games become more demanding, new technologies are introduced and hardware continues to improve.
However, spending a little more initially can give you additional performance headroom and potentially allow the PC to remain suitable for your needs for longer.
That doesn’t mean you should overspend.
There’s little benefit in paying for performance you’ll never use.
So what’s the ideal budget?
A simple way of looking at it is:
£600–£800
Good starting point for 1080p gaming.
£800–£1,000
More capable 1080p gaming and potentially 1440p depending on requirements.
£1,000–£1,500
A strong range for modern 1440p gaming.
£1,500–£2,000
High-performance gaming and a stronger starting point for 4K.
£2,000+
High-end and enthusiast gaming.
These aren’t strict rules.
The ideal budget depends on you — what games you play, what monitor you use, the performance you expect and how long you want the PC to last.
The bottom line
You don’t need to spend £2,000 to have a great gaming PC.
For many people, somewhere around £1,000–£1,500 can provide an excellent balance between price and performance.
If your requirements are more modest, you can spend less.
If you want high-end 4K gaming and extremely high frame rates, you may need to spend considerably more.
The best gaming PC isn’t necessarily the most expensive one.
It’s the one that provides the performance you actually need.
Sources
-
Valve — Steam Hardware & Software Survey
Current statistics on the hardware being used by Steam users. Steam Hardware & Software Survey -
NVIDIA — GeForce Technology
Information on modern gaming technologies including DLSS and ray tracing. NVIDIA GeForce Technologies -
AMD — Radeon Graphics
Official information about modern Radeon graphics technology. AMD Radeon Graphics -
AMD — Ryzen Processors
Official information about AMD’s current desktop processor technology. AMD Ryzen Processors -
Microsoft — Windows 11 specifications and requirements
Official Windows information relevant to modern PC hardware. Windows 11