Up For Debate – What is your price limit on a new PC build?

Comments

PC gaming as a hobby can be as expensive or as cheap as you’ll like. While consoles are often pointed to as the cheap and cheerful options, it’s certainly possible to buy or build a PC for $250 and have access to a library of thousands of classics stretching across decades of gaming history. If you want to play the latest AAA blockbusters there are clearly going to be some extra costs involved but in terms of getting in and getting a PC up and running, PC gaming can be dirt cheap.

On the flip-side, there really is no upper limit on how insane you want your PC build to be. The only barrier between you and near-unlimited performance is the size of your wallet. Admittedly, that’s quite a problematic barrier but it’s this level of flexibility and choice what makes PC gaming what it is. To borrow an over-used idiom, you get what you pay for.

From using integrated graphics to experience the wonder of Baldur’s Gate, Half-Life, or Mass Effect, through to cramming in four GeForce RTX 2080 Ti’s with a 16-core CPU and enjoying Resident Evil 2 Remake at 5K, the choice really is yours.

But, whether you have deep pockets or not, we’ve probably all got our limits in terms of how much we’re willing to spend. Basically, how much it’s worth to us to keep pushing for higher frame rates and higher resolutions. Everyone’s got a point where they’ll think ‘ehh, I’m not spending more than $400 on a graphics card”, or gaming beyond 1440p just isn’t worth the extra cost.

So, and I know this is pretty difficult considering different global currencies and price fluctuations and whatnot, but if you were to do a new PC build, what is the upper limit you’d be comfortable with? The point at which any extra spending feels unnecessary.

For me, I sort of cap out at around £1400 including tax ($1698) although that’s right on the edge. Ideally, I’d be looking at £1000-1200, prioritising the CPU as that’s the component I’d hope would be on their longest. 

Over to you then, what’s the upper price you’d be willing to splash out on a brand new PC build? Get voting and let us know why below!