Looking to build the best gaming PC possible for around or under $1000? This might just be it. Featuring an unlocked Kaby Lake i5 7600k, an 6GB GTX 1070, an MSI Z270 motherboard, and 1.275TB of storage, you’ll be comfortably gaming for a very long time to come!

With a budget of $1000, you can pretty much guarantee that the computer you build can handle 1080p and should also be capable of putting out 1440p if you don’t mind lower fps. 1080p is not even an issue. It is basically a perfectly balanced price-point for building your own gaming PC, it’s enough to get you amazing hardware while still maintaining a reasonable budget.

That all said, if you’re looking for a build running an AMD Ryzen processor then you might want to check this $1000 Ryzen build out instead.

I hope you enjoy this build guide, and without any more delays, here’s the build!

Have a question? Ask me in the comment section!

Although not entirely necessary, some add ons like optical drives can sometimes improve your experience. If you’re installing your operating system from a disc opposed to a USB flash drive, then you’ll definitely need an optical drive.

This $1000 gaming PC build is going to absolutely dominate anything you throw at it in 1080p and will even let you step into some 1440p gaming as well! If ultra settings in 1080p @ 60fps is what you’re aiming for, then you’ve definitely found the right gaming PC build!

Keep in mind that the price above is for the core components only, you will still need an operating system, and any other peripherals you don’t currently have.

Corsair’s Carbide case is absolutely awesome, it’s my highest recommended case because it’s inexpensive, it looks great, and it functions well. It has lots of fan mounts for customizing your air flow, plenty of space for mounting hardware & cable management, and it looks awesome on top of everything. With that said, cases are subjective and you should definitely browse around for another ATX mid-tower case that will fit the graphics card (90% of them will).

The MSI Z270-A Pro motherboard is a solid choice for both overclocking and general stability. It comes loaded with 6 USB ports, integrated 7.1 audio, a built-in ethernet controller, 6 SATA 6GB ports, and more than enough on-board fan headers for this build.

Intel’s Kaby Lake i5 7600k is well within reach with a build at this level, and that’s exactly what’s loaded into this build. That said, having a CPU that can be overclocked is nothing without a motherboard that also supports it with the proper chipset. That said, the Z270 chipset mobo I just mentioned is definitely what you’re looking for when it comes to fully supporting all of your new Kaby Laky CPU’s features.

If you wanted to do any kind of overclocking, then you’re going to need an aftermarket CPU cooler like the Cryorig H7 or Hyper 212 EVO. Not only that, but the i5 7600k does not come with a stock cooler – I guess Intel caught on that the stock coolers in their unlocked processors usually got tossed anyways. There are other options available also, a closed water loop like the Corsair H80i would be a great upgrade in the cooling dept.

The 6GB GTX 1060 is a powerhouse when it comes to rendering 1080p and even 1440p in some games. It can (almost) max anything out in 1080p and performs very similarly in 1440p across less demanding titles like CS:GO. Zotac’s GTX 1060 AMP Edition comes with great cooling, customizable RGB lighting and 5 display outputs. It’ll easily support VR headsets and will deliver 60fps+ performance in pretty much any game out there.

8GB of 2400MHz RAM, in a dual channel setup, from Corsair’s Vengeance LPX line is really all you really need to game with great performance. That said, if you tend to do a lot of multitasking like I do, you might want to consider upgrading to 16GB of RAM instead.

EVGA’s 650 G1 power supply is a high-tier gold-rated unit that will not let you down. As evidence of that, EVGA includes a 10-year warranty with all G1 power supplies just to show you how much they believe in their product, and to show you that you should too. It can hit efficiency levels of 90% or better under typical usage scenarios, comes with its own self-tester, and offers a fully modular form factor that makes cable management easy.

With 1.25GB of internal storage split between an SSD and an HDD, you shouldn’t run short anytime soon. You should definitely install your operating system on your SSD, as well as any games you plan on playing regularly, everything else can go on your HDD without problem.

If you’re on a budget of $1000, you’re in luck, because that’s the perfect amount to spend on a DIY gaming PC build. If you were to go to Best Buy and pick a prefab PC up for $1000, you wouldn’t get anything near the level of this beast.

When it comes down to picking an operating system for this build, you have a couple of options. One is free, the other is about $100.

The best choice if you want access to the widest array of compatible programs & games is going to be Windows. There are a few different versions available, but the one you’ll want to look at is Windows 10 – especially if you want to take advantage of DirectX 12, and you do.

Your free option would be to grab yourself a copy of Ubuntu and run that. It’s a solid Linux-based OS which is widely supported by most Windows based programs and games, although you might have to run some in a program called Wine.

When it comes to actually installing your OS, you basically have 2 choices. You can either do it the old fashioned way by using the retail DVD, or you could create your own bootable flash drive. If you’re planning to use Linux you can also burn an installation DVD. For instructions on how to create your own bootable flash drive, check here.

If you don’t already have things like a monitor, mouse, keyboard, and some kind of audio, you might want to take a look at some of my suggestions. They’re hand-picked to match this budget level, and they’re all great peripherals.

For around $1000, this gaming PC build will last you well into the future of modern games and continue to give you a seriously incredible gaming experience. If you need to game on the highest settings then you’ve found the right build because I’ve set you up with a rig that is definitely delivering a lot of bang for your hard-earned bucks.

It’ll handle basically any game you can throw at it in 1440p on high settings or better without breaking a sweat. In 1080p, you could easily max anything out and get 60fps or better.

If you have any questions, comments, concerns or otherwise, feel free to leave them in the comment section and I’ll answer them ASAP!