Bottleneck Calculator and PC Build Compare
Using this Powerful Bottleneck Calculator and PC Build Compare tool, compare and find the best PC Build for your next upgrade. With more than 100,000 benchmarks researched from the web’s most reliable tech enthusiasts, we have developed a database to help classify processors based on their performance in terms of specifications, overclocking, gaming, bottlenecks, streaming, and video editing benchmarks.
CPUAgent has built the best way to compare gaming PC setups. We filter for everything that matters and show which computers will run which games.
You can't buy a more powerful gaming platform than a tricked-out desktop PC. Here's everything you need to know, part by part, to pick the right killer gaming system
Gaming PC Comparison
Looking for cheap computers for Apex Legends, Red Dead Redemption, Fortnite, Minecraft, or even the Sims? Click the options below, narrow your choice and use our charts to find the best PC deal.
The best gaming PCs let you enjoy the latest AAA games the way they were meant to be played, whether you're ripping and tearing through Doom Eternal or scaring yourself silly in Resident Evil 3.
And why wait for the PS5 and Xbox Series X? With the right gaming PC, you can enjoy features such as ray tracing, 4K and 60 fps gaming and fast SSD load times right now. Building a PC is a great option for those who want to tweak things exactly the way they see fit, but there are tons of great pre-built gaming PC options that give you great performance out of the box for a reasonable price.
But while gaming PCs are a great way to enjoy the latest games at blistering settings with minimal hassle, there's plenty you need to know before plunking down upwards of thousands of dollars for one. And with so many models to choose between from the top PC makers, finding the right PC for your budget can get overwhelming.
That's where we come in. We regularly research, test and review the hottest gaming desktops out there to help you find the very best gaming PC for your needs.
Buying yourself the best gaming PC as a prebuilt system can be the best place to start when you're getting into PC gaming, or when you've hit a wall trying to upgrade your current system. Sure, building your own rig can be immensely satisfying, but simply buying a complete gaming PC will take all the stress out of a homebrew project and give you somewhere to turn if, heaven forbid, anything goes wrong.
While part of the innate beauty of the gaming PC is the potential for upgrading components to boost performance, that capacity is finite. There exists a tipping point where it's no longer cost effective to keep upgrading and a rebuild becomes necessary. And that's where buying the best gaming PC you can afford starts to make a lot of sense.
Getting a good deal on a pre-built gaming PC can take just as much research as putting together a great high-end PC build. Some system builders will try to saddle you with a bundle that charges a premium for things you may not need, like overclocking, RGB, a monitor, or a keyboard and mouse. Even if you do need these things, there’s often a good chance that you get something better for less.
A specs-sheet balance of price and performance is our top priority. Ideally, your gaming PC will have one of the best graphics cards and the best CPUs for gaming, though that's not always financially possible. But you can't skimp on one and go overboard on the other; an Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti is only worth having if it's paired with a top-flight processor that can take advantage of its power. Then there's the support. After sale support is where a good system builder becomes a great system builder and is where it can really make sense to buy a pre-built machine.
All power players ponder how to build a gaming PC at some point or another and whether it's worth it. That's great option if choices and DIY don't scare you -- it's sometimes the only way to get the exact configuration you want -- or if you think it'll be fun. But it generally doesn't work out to be a way to save money over an identical ready-to-ship model.
It may be cheaper than getting a premium custom built model from a company like Origin PC, Falcon Northwest, Digital Storm and the like, but the flip side is that it's nice to have someone else do the overclocking iterations, stability testing and burn-in runs. There are few things more frustrating than gearing up and sitting down to play the latest AAA only to have it crap out during the opening cut scene with only yourself to blame.
The other high-level decision you may confront is desktop vs. laptop, especially since 17-inch gaming laptops with desktop-class CPUs and GPUs like the Alienware Area-51m and Acer Predator Helios 700 deliver desktop-level performance with convenience similar to an all-in-one. An all-in-one with a really fast, gaming-optimized display. Though big laptops like these usually support upgrades, its usually not as cheap or easy to do it as it is with even the least-expensive desktop.
Choosing the best PC for your gaming experience is all about trade-offs. Every game uses system resources -- processor (aka CPU), graphics processor (GPU), memory (RAM), storage -- differently, and often horribly inefficiently. You can't even count on resource usage to be consistent across a specific game genre, such as first-person shooter (FPS), platformer or simulation, because optimization levels can vary wildly. Gaming (and content-creation) PCs are the angry toddlers of consumer electronics: They're loud, willful and require constant supervision. And just when you think they're under control, they veer off into crazy-town.
Intel versus AMD CPUs: Unless you're buying a custom build or doing it yourself, you really don't get to choose comparable configurations to mix and match. The manufacturers tend to choose the configurations based on what they think will be popular at given price levels. Pick your preferred graphics card and then see what CPU options are on offer within your budget. AMDs tend to have slower clock speeds -- they have higher base clocks and lower boost clocks -- but better multicore performance for the same money. If your favorite games are old, they probably don't take advantage of more than four cores (if that), and will likely give you the power you need from Intel's fast individual cores. However, AMD's most recent processors have significantly closed the single-core-performance gap with Intel and almost all support overclocking (only Intel's K series do).
Unless you have unlimited funds, the price tag will also play a role in your decision. If you’re looking for a decent computer with basic to mid-level specs, you can expect to pay around $699. If you are willing to spend $1,000 or so, you can certainly find a solid tower with mid-to-high level specs. And if you’re feeling flush and ready to drop $1,500 or more, you’ll be able to buy a very high-end system with top-notch specs like multiple GPUs and a minimum of two drives (either hard or solid state).
Most Popular Desktop CPUs Comparisons
Most Popular Laptop CPUs Comparisons
2019 4C/8T 2.1-3.7GHz $ 288.43
2019 4C/8T 2.1-3.7GHz $ 286.26
2019 4C/8T 1.3-3.9GHz $ 426
2019 4C/8T 2.3-4.1GHz $ 470
