Looking for a PC Gaming Starter Kit? I've assembled an excellent budget gaming computer and monitor combo for only $800 using these early Black Friday deals
PC gaming can be an expensive hobby. If you're looking for a budget starter set-up for yourself or a loved one, this combination is the best bang for your money.
You can get a great budget PC gaming system, a 27" display, and a keyboard and a mouse for a little under $800. This is a starter kit that includes everything you need.
We've curated the best Black Friday gaming laptop offers right here
We are always on the lookout for the best deals, not only in the sales but throughout the year. I spend a good portion of my work week searching for deals like these. Even though Black Friday is just around the corner, I am confident that these two hardware choices offer a great value for money.
Let's see what $800 can get you today, shall we?
- iBuypower Scale RTX 4060 gaming PC | $700 at Best Buy
- $100 at Newegg
A budget gaming computer with bite
You'll need a PC that is well-specced, and built by a reputable manufacturer. This iBuypower Scale ticks all the boxes and is a pretty amazing amount of hardware at $700 from Best Buy.
It's a 10-core (six Performance, four Efficient) little beastie with a max boost clock of 4.7 GHz, making for a great balance between price and gaming performance. It's a 10-core beastie (six Performance and four Efficient), with a maximum boost clock of 4.7GHz. This is a great compromise between price, performance, and price.
It's paired with 16 GB of nice and speedy DDR5. Although the minimum gaming RAM requirement is moving towards 32 GB, this 16 GB option is more than enough for most games and can be easily upgraded in the future. Two screws and a few clips are all you need to finish the job. This is a great PC for learning how to upgrade in the future.
You'll also need a good gaming graphics card. This is where the price of a single component can be high. The RTX-4060 is the star of this list. It's not a super-fast GPU but it has the distinct advantage of being able use DLSS 3 Upscaling and frame generation to chuck out pixels in modern games at a significant rate.
The final piece of the puzzle is a 1TB SSD. This should be enough space to install Windows 11 and play a lot of games. It's easy to upgrade the storage by using the spare M.2 slot. You can also find bargains for these, so check out our Black Friday SSD deals for ideas.
It's a great gaming PC, but you won't get much out of it unless you have the extras. It comes with a mouse and keyboard. These aren't going to be the most advanced models, but they're good enough to start with.
We're still not done. If you want a starter set, you will need a high-quality monitor to make the games pop. I have another bargain for you.
A 27-inch monitor with speedy performance
ASRock is a favorite around here during busy shopping seasons. These screens are always on sale, and the one we have used ( Read our ReviewThey're also a good value for money. This 165Hz panel is priced at just under $100, so you can't complain." data-widget-type="deal" data-render-type="editorial">
It's amazing that you can buy a modern IPS display with a high refresh rate for less than $100. You can find VA panels at this price, but I would choose an IPS display to avoid some of VA's limitations if I had money to spend. This one is the same price as an affordable VA panel, so there's no need to worry!
Monitors can be a confusing array of specs, figures and features. Since this is just a beginner's guide, I will give you the cliff-notes: This is a fast panel with good color reproduction and FreeSync support to ensure smooth frame rate/refresh rates syncing. It comes from a manufacturer that is known for making excellent budget screens.
It only has a 1080p display, which may sound low to some. It's not surprising that 1080p is the most popular display resolution. It puts less strain on the graphics cards and maintains good image quality. The RTX 4060 GPU is best suited for this resolution and with a 27-inch screen size, your games will still look great.
If you're looking to play competitive multiplayer games such as Counter Strike 2 or Valorant, the 165 Hz refresh rates should allow for a smooth display of these less demanding titles. It comes with both an HDMI and DisplayPort cord, so you can plug it straight into the PC above.
You can plug any wired headphones that you own into the aux port. You can also pick up a Black Friday bargain on a gaming headphone if you're willing to spend a little more money.
Ta da, voilà, and bon appetite. This is a great starter kit that's affordable and has very few downsides. I'll try to beat this set-up over the entire Black Friday period but I think I will have my work cut out. I don't think it gets any better for the money.
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