Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

I made an entire PC build for the price of one Nvidia GPU

Nvidia makes some of the best graphics cards, but most of them are ridiculously expensive. In fact, some of them are so pricey that you could build a whole gaming PC for the price of one GPU. This is where AMD has an edge — it doesn’t just have more affordable graphics cards, but it also makes processors to match.

By choosing AMD, you might be able to get more bang for your buck than if you were to pick an Intel CPU and an Nvidia GPU. So I did it, picking out all the components for a build you could go out and build today for the price of a single GPU.

Recommended Videos

Why AMD is a better choice

AMD RX 7800 XT graphics card on an orange background.
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Now that both AMD and Nvidia have plenty of hardware up for grabs, it’s a good time to build a PC. Both manufacturers have seen some hefty price cuts on their GPUs, and AMD CPUs are cheaper than ever. However, including Nvidia and/or Intel in your build almost always means having to pay more. If you just want a PC that can play AAA games, that’s not always going to be a necessity.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming
Check your inbox!

Just a few months ago, things weren’t so simple. AMD’s graphics lineup was pretty bare, with only the flagship RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT, as well as the budget RX 7600. When building a PC for 1440p, you’d be restricted to one of the top cards or to an older RDNA 2 GPU. Now, with the RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT finally here, AMD GPUs can fit into any PC build, regardless of your budget.

Nvidia GPUs have one edge over AMD — they have Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS 3). While on paper AMD is often around the same level, Nvidia’s frame generation can boost the RTX 4070 to run faster than an RTX 4090, and that’s saying something. However nice DLSS 3 is, it might not be worth going over budget for; it’s not available in that many games, and many people hardly ever use it. If you’re willing to forego buying Nvidia and put up with the lack of DLSS and inferior ray tracing — which, let’s be real, is not a necessity for most gamers — then you can save a lot of money by going down the AMD route.

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D installed in a motherboard.
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

While it’s hard to deny that Nvidia still dominates the GPU sphere, AMD is doing far better in its battle against Intel. In an AMD versus Intel scenario, I would recommend using an AMD CPU for gaming almost every time. Intel processors, be it the 13th generation or its recent 14th-gen refresh, are often better for productivity. Thanks to the increase in core counts, your PC is simply more versatile with Intel.

If you’re into streaming or content creation, Intel is often considered a must. However, if you’re mostly using your PC for games, even if that means simultaneously watching a Twitch stream or using Discord, you’ll be just fine with AMD. The increase in L3 cache versus Intel options has been proven to work time and time again, which is why AMD now makes the best processors for gaming.

Performance aside, money is always a factor. Nvidia’s top-tier GPU has been getting pricier lately, so the RTX 4090 would cost you around $1,700 or more right now. Even the terrible-value RTX 4080 is around $1,050 to $1,100. With a budget that falls in that range, you can already get yourself a solid gaming PC for the price of a single Nvidia graphics card.

Here’s one such build, along with ideas on how to modify it to fit your needs and your budget.

Your AMD gaming PC under $1,500

Component Price
CPU $238
GPU $520
Cooling $75
Motherboard $190
Memory $100
Storage $45
Case $105
Power supply $90
Total $1,365

Here it is — a PC build that falls right between the price of the RTX 4080 and the RTX 4090. At $1,365, you’re getting a midrange PC suited for gaming at 1440p. Let’s go over the components and any potential changes you could make in this build.

CPU

For starters, the CPU. At this budget, the Ryzen 5 7600X is a solid choice for gaming purposes. It only has six cores, but it’s an affordable CPU that can hit clock speeds reaching up to 5.3GHz in boost mode, and that’s on top of a 4.7GHz base clock. More importantly, it belongs to AMD’s AM5 platform, which means future-proofing, as AMD will keep supporting this platform until at least the end of 2025.

What upgrades could you make? You could swap to the next CPU in line, meaning the Ryzen 7 7700 or 7700X, but that’s going to cost you extra (up to $310). At that stage, you could spend even more and get the $370 Ryzen 7 7800X3D, which is the fastest CPU for gaming right now. However, these upgrades will require further changes to the build. The Ryzen 7 7700X should be fine with the Be Quiet! cooler I picked out here, but for the 7800X3D, I’d recommend a liquid cooler, as it can run pretty hot. The will fit this case and barely ups the cost of the build, although, of course, better all-in-one (AIO) coolers also exist.

If you want to save a few dollars, you can swap the CPU out for the Ryzen 5 7600. It has slightly lower clock speeds, but it’s more power efficient and generates less heat.

GPU

AMD’s recent RX 7800 XT is a logical choice for any build at this price point right now. Although it’s not significantly faster than its predecessor, it costs about the same and is a current-gen card. The is a cheaper alternative, but due to its performance-to-price ratio, it’s just not as good a deal as the RX 7800 XT.

For savings, there’s always the , which will mark a downgrade in performance, but it’ll save you $100 to $120. If you want something better, the is an option at around $610. In that case, though, you should upgrade the power supply to a 750-watt model (or higher), such as the .

Memory and storage

Using a Ryzen 7000 processor locks you to DDR5 RAM, which makes it a pricier affair, but is also better for future upgrades. I chose a middle-of-the-road kind of kit for this build, although it’s definitely one of the best DDR5 RAM kits on a budget, and it supports AMD EXPO profiles. You could pick something cheaper, but you could also pick something much more expensive with a higher frequency and better timings. Ultimately, it’s not going to make or break your gaming experience, so it’s an easy expense to pass on.

The same goes for the SSD. I decided to forego adding an HDD to this build, but if you need one, there’s plenty of room for extra storage. The SSD could also be upgraded to a 2TB model, and there are faster SSDs out there if you’re willing to spend more money — but be prepared to pay twice as much or more. The is a much pricier pick that’s better across the board.

Motherboard, PSU, and case

While this Gigabyte B650 Gaming X AX is not the cheapest AM5 board you’ll find, it’s often a good idea to allocate a little bit more of your budget toward the motherboard — after all, it’s the spine of your computer. This model is one of the best motherboards at this price range, with a decent VRM and plenty of slots, not to mention Wi-Fi. In all honesty, I wouldn’t change it out for anything here, although the or the are similar options to consider.

As far as the PSU goes, the Seasonic 80+ Gold is a decent option for this build without any upgrades, and will still suffice if you upgrade the CPU as well as a couple of smaller components. It has enough headroom to be just fine with that. However, if you decide to make bigger changes, make sure to pick up a 750W or even 850W option for future-proofing (although that’s pretty overkill). Choose either an 80+ Gold or Platinum PSU, not Bronze, like the I recommended above.

Buying a PC case for any build is always tricky, because it’s not just about airflow and whether everything fits, but also the aesthetic.  I picked the Lian Li Lancool 216 because it has two massive 200mm fans and plenty of airflow, but let me warn you — that airflow stems from the fact that it’s pretty huge. This one also comes in white if you prefer that aesthetic. If you plan on making any changes to the case, check out our lineup of the best PC cases and be very, very careful to make sure all the components will fit inside.

You don’t have to spend too much

A gaming PC with RGB synced lights running Apex Legends.
Kunal Khullar / Digital Trends

The PC gaming world thrives on marketing. We’re always told that this or that new component is the fastest ever, or that it will deliver some kind of insane performance in games. The truth is that a PC is nothing more than a sum of its parts, and if you’re on a tight budget, it makes no sense to spend $1,000 to $1,700 or more of that budget on the graphics card alone. Most users really don’t need that kind of firepower.

Sure, buying a high-end Nvidia GPU would let your computer breeze through 4K, whereas the computer above is more of a 1440p build. Even so, this is a PC that will last you years and will play games on high to ultra settings. For gaming and gaming alone, it’s cost-effective — and the fact that it still costs just $200 more than the RTX 4080 says a lot about Nvidia’s pricing strategy in this generation. After all, the last-gen RTX 3080 launched with a $700 price tag. If the prices stayed the same, the scales might have tipped more in Nvidia’s favor this time around, too.

Monica J. White
Monica is a computing writer at Digital Trends, focusing on PC hardware. Since joining the team in 2021, Monica has written…
Nvidia might dominate the GPU market in January
The RTX 4090 graphics card sitting on a table with a dark green background.

Nvidia, AMD, and Intel are all set to update their lists of the best graphics cards sometime in January. Now, according to HKEPC, a Hong Kong media outlet, we know that the Nvidia RTX 5080 is reportedly set to launch on January 21. Meanwhile, AMD may take more time to ramp up its GPU availability, giving Nvidia the chance to dominate the GPU market in early 2025.

With CES 2025 mere days away, we already know that January is going to be one busy month for PC enthusiasts. Nvidia's got the RTX 50-series, AMD is launching the RX 9000 series, and Intel will add one more GPU to its Battlemage lineup. Only the last one has a confirmed release date of January 16, but it seems that Nvidia will be just one week behind -- if the leak is to be believed.

Read more
CPUs failed PC gamers in 2024
intel core ultra 5 245k review 4

Whenever we have a new generation of processors from AMD and Intel, a lot of things change. Of course, the power balance among the best processors shifts, and there's a seemingly endless number of comparisons to start making between each lineup. This year, however, AMD and Intel barely moved the needle.

That's the despite the fact that both companies debuted entirely new architectures, both of which promised to radically change how our PCs work and perform. Those promises just fell flat, particularly at release. We still saw standout releases like the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, but even with so much hardware flying around, there's been little reason to go out and buy it.

Read more
Nvidia’s new GPUs show up in prebuilts, but the RTX 5090 is missing
iBUYPOWER RTX for AI PCs side view of pre-built on sale hero

Nvidia's upcoming RTX 5080 and RTX 5070 Ti just appeared in several iBUYPOWER gaming PCs. This is the first U.S. retailer to list Nvidia's RTX 50-series in prebuilt systems. The listings are interesting, with performance figures that really don't add up. Still, the biggest question is: Where's the GPU that's bound to beat all the current best graphics cards? Yes, we're talking about RTX 5090.

The listings have already been taken down, but they were preserved by VideoCardz. A total of five systems were listed by iBUYPOWER, but they all contained the same two GPUs -- either the RTX 5080 or the RTX 5070 Ti. Both cards are said to come with 16GB of memory, and we expect them to be announced on January 6 during the CES 2025 keynote held by Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang.

Read more