Gaming PC Price: Retail, Deals & Price History

A gaming PC is priced mostly by its graphics card, then by memory, storage and the processor. Two machines that look alike from the outside can sit hundreds apart because of one component. In 2026 that effect has grown, since graphics cards and memory both became more expensive, and that shows in both prebuilt and do it yourself prices.

This page covers prebuilt machines first and then compares them with the cost of buying parts. The figures are list prices from named reviews, not sale prices, which change week to week.

PC Gamer sorts prebuilt machines into three tiers.

The budget tier tops out at about $1,000, the mid-range runs $1,000 – $2,000, and the high end starts at $2,000. The site adds that a top graphics card such as the RTX 5090 costs a lot more than the high-end tier alone suggests.

From Tom's Guide, the Alienware Aurora R16 is $1,799, and the Dell Tower Plus with an RTX 5060 Ti is $1,769. The iBuyPower RDY Element 9 Pro R07 is $2,299.99, and the HP Omen Max 45L is $3,999.

PCWorld found an ABS prebuilt with a Core i7-14700F and an RTX 5060 for $1,179.99 in February 2026.

Tom's Hardware prices parts lists rather than finished machines, and its totals leave out RAM.

Its entry mid-range build, with an RTX 5060 Ti 8GB, totals $1,252. Its higher build, with a Radeon RX 9070 XT, totals $2,136. Both exclude memory, which the source marks as volatile, so add the cost of a RAM kit to compare fairly with a prebuilt that includes it. Building also adds your time, and you need to supply the operating system.

• Graphics card: The single biggest driver. An RTX 5060 Ti machine and an RTX 5080 machine are in different price classes.
• Memory: A 32GB configuration costs more than 16GB, and memory prices have been high.
• Storage: A 2TB drive costs more than 1TB.
• Processor: Higher-end chips add to the total.
• Case and cooling: Liquid cooling and larger cases raise the cost.
• Warranty and support: A prebuilt includes a support channel, which parts do not.

A prebuilt price covers the tower. A monitor, keyboard, mouse and headset are separate unless the listing says otherwise, and so is any extra storage you add later. If you plan to play at a higher resolution, the monitor can become a meaningful part of the total. Budget for these before you compare a gaming PC with a console or with a laptop, and keep the same list of included items on each side of the comparison.

Prebuilt listings often highlight the graphics card and processor and say less about the rest. Look for the power supply rating, the amount and speed of the memory, and whether the drive is PCIe 4.0 or slower. Some prebuilts use older memory standards to hold the price down. A listing that does not name these parts is harder to compare with a list of parts.

Check the return policy and the warranty period too. These do not change the list price, but they affect what the machine costs you if something fails.