Build a PC / light gaming

$1,500 budget gaming PC, part by part

An Intel Core i5-12600KF with the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB, and the 6 parts around them that fit it: $1,739 all in.

Esports and indie titles at 1080p, high settings, well past 60 FPS. Every part here was checked against every other for fit, and picked for 1080p frame rates per dollar. A price marked Amazon US is ScoutPrices' reading of the listing its button opens, dated; the rest are typical prices. Not a checkout total: no operating system, shipping, tax, screen, keyboard or mouse.

The Intel Core i5-12600KF and the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB are well matched at 1080p.

Change the budget or the job

Fit for the job

Sweet spot

$1,739 of $1,500

The Gigabyte B760M DS3H DDR4 goes onto the NZXT H7 Flow (2024) White's tray: MATX, B760, nine standoffs.

The Intel Core i5-12600KF drops into the LGA1700 socket, lever down: 10 cores, up to 4.9 GHz.

The Thermalright Assassin X 120 Refined SE clamps onto the chip: a tower rated 180 W against the 150 W the chip can pull.

Two sticks of G.Skill Ripjaws V 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 click into the second and fourth slots: 16 GB at 3600 MT/s.

The Kingston NV3 1TB screws into the first M.2 slot under the card.

The Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB slides into the x16 slot and latches: 320 mm in a case that takes 410 mm, 16 GB of memory.

The Corsair CX750 goes into the basement, 750 W for a build that draws about 650 W flat out.

Side panel on, three case fans spinning. Fit for the job: 67 of 100.

Build order

Eight steps, the way a builder works through the case. $1,499 all in.

Gigabyte B760M DS3H DDR4 on the tray
Core i5-12600KF in the socket
Thermalright Assassin X 120 Refined SE on top
2 sticks of memory
Kingston NV3 1TB on the board
Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB in the x16 slot
750 W supply in the basement
Panel on, power on

Illustration built from this build's parts: the case's card and cooler clearances, the board's size, the card's length, the cooler, the memory sticks, the supply. Shapes are generic, not the products' own.

PartScore for the jobPrice

ProcessorIntel Core i5-12600KF

Highest light gaming score the budget allows next to this card: 10 cores, boosts to 4.9 GHz.

2 swaps that still fit