Most People Are Overspending on Gaming PCs

More often than not, people end up buying or building a gaming PC that's totally overkill. This is a mistake beginners and experts alike make.

I know I made that mistake with my last build. I spent thousands of dollars and dozens of hours researching the best PC I could buy for the buck. Got the high-end GPU and CPU, tons of RAM, and when I finally finished it? I booted up Minecraft.

I was not realistic about what performance I actually needed. But the Minecraft frames were crazy lol.

Here's the thing — I genuinely thought I was going to play more demanding stuff. I had Cyberpunk in my Steam library. I had Baldur's Gate 3 wishlisted. I told myself the GPU was for "future-proofing." And then I'd actually sit down to game and somehow end up back in Minecraft, or CS2, or some indie roguelike that runs on a potato. The same thing kept happening over and over and I kept ignoring it because I'd already convinced myself I needed the high-end build.

If you look at the most-played games on Steam at any given time, almost none of them require a flagship GPU. Counter-Strike, DOTA 2, League, Valorant, Minecraft, Roblox, Stardew Valley — these are massive titles, played by tens of millions of people, and they all run on hardware that's two or three generations old. The honest question to ask yourself isn't "what's the best PC I can afford" — it's "what did I actually play this week?"

Once you've answered that honestly, you can shop for the right tier. Find a build lets you pick the GPU and CPU you actually need and shows prebuilts at that performance level — no more, no less.

The "future-proofing" argument also sounds better in your head than it works in practice. GPUs depreciate fast. The card you buy today to be ready for games coming out in three years will, in three years, be a midrange card you could've bought for half the price. You're not future-proofing — you're prepaying for tomorrow's midrange at today's high-end markup.

You can find great deals in our catalog, but the ultimate way you're going to save money is to be realistic about what you actually need.