12 Best Budget PCs for Streaming in 2023 – Under $1500, $1200, $1000, & $800

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People would laugh at you for buying a pre-built gaming PC in years past. Everyone would tell you to build it yourself and save money.

However, due to what manufacturers charge for GPUs and also due to how good some PC manufacturers have become, now it can be easier and similarly priced to buy a pre-built rather than building a PC yourself.

Today we’re going to take a look at the 12 best budget PCs for streaming in 2023 across various budgets–Under $1500, $1200, $1000, and $800.

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Best Budget PCs for Streaming Under $1500

Best Budget PCs for Streaming Under $1200

Best Budget PCs for Streaming Under $1000

Best Budget PCs for Streaming Under $800

Best Budget PCs for Streaming Under $1500

In this budget category, you can expect to find high-end performance with some budget components to cut down on costs. Not everything will be top-tier, but the CPU and GPU of each computer will be some of the best on the market. Just be prepared for some discount RAM, fans, or SSDs.

The table below will give you a quick look at our selections for the 3 best PCs for streaming under $1500 currently available on the market. To read a full review, simply click on ‘review>>’ in the respective row.

Product	Image	Rating
1. SkyTech Blaze 3.0 ''Best PC for Streaming Under $1500''		9.8	Check Price review>>
2. SkyTech Shiva ''Best PC for Streaming Under $1500 Runner-up''		9.7	Check Price review>>
3. SkyTech Shadow 3.0 ''Honorable Mention''		9.6	Check Price review>>

1. SkyTech Blaze 3.0

”Best PC for Streaming Under $1500 Overall”

REASONS TO BUY

Quality build and clean cable management
Great airflow
Three RGB fans pre-installed
Amazing performance for gaming and streaming
The best graphics card in this price range
Hexa-core CPU
80 Plus Gold power supply
16GB of fast RAM

REASONS TO AVOID

Only 500GB of storage
Older generation CPU

Our Rating: 9.8/10

To kick off our list, we’ve got the SkyTech Blaze 3.0. It is aptly named because everything operates at blazing speed. It comes equipped with a 10th Gen Intel CPU, an RTX 3060 Ti graphics card (the best GPU at this price point), and essentially everything you need for high-end streaming.

It can play all the latest games on high settings at 1080p but with limitations if you’re playing at 1440p or 4k. With everything this PC offers, it’s the perfect choice for streamers looking to up their game.

Inside the packaging is the Skytech Blaze 3.0 gaming PC, its power cable, a gaming keyboard and mouse bundle, two antennas for the WiFi adapter, and a folder with the user and warranty information. The keyboard and mouse aren’t the best in terms of quality but will do the job if this is your first PC.

Keep in mind that not all Skytech Blaze 3.0 pre-built gaming PCs are identical, as they will build a system with what they have in stock. You are guaranteed certain specs and components but not brands. This means your GPU could be an EVGA, Gigabyte, Zotac, etc. The same thing goes for everything else except the CPU and case.

At the heart of the Blaze is an Intel Core i5-10400 processor cooled by a stock cooler. It has six hyper-threaded cores, which result in 12 logical cores. The i5 has a base clock of 2.9GHz with a max boost speed of 4.3GHz using Intel’s Turbo Boost feature in the BIOS settings. This gives you plenty of processing power for all your games and streaming software to run smoothly and efficiently.

Furthermore, it comes with 16GB (2x 8GB sticks) of DDR4 RAM with a base clock speed of 3200MHz. 16GB of RAM is a perfect amount for a streaming setup to start with and can always be upgraded in the future if you need to.

Next, let’s talk about the GPU. This PC comes with an RTX 3060 Ti with 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM. It has ray tracing technology that simulates actual light particles and emulates real-time scattering and reflections. The RTX 3060 Ti will be able to do some entry-level 4K gaming but is best for 1440p or 1080p gaming and will stream literally everything without any issues.

Additionally, the Blaze 3.0 comes with an SSD mounted behind the access panel. It is not an NVMe, which is a little disappointing. What’s more, it’s only 500GB which is also a big letdown. For a gaming/streaming PC, 500GB of storage can fill up quickly. Games like Call of Duty can take up a lot of space. COD: Modern Warfare and its free-to-play battle royale mode–Warzone, are over 130GB; that’s over a fifth of your storage space already.

As for I/O ports, there is no way to know exactly how many you will get. But SkyTech guarantees a minimum of one HDMI port, one DisplayPort on the GPU, but typically RTX 3060 Ti’s come with two or more of each. And you can expect around six USB-A ports with a mix of 2.0, 3.0, and 3.2 variants.

SkyTech uses the Phanteks Metallic Gear Neo Air ATX mid-tower case, which offers excellent airflow and has plenty of room for a custom water-cooling system. It comes with three RGB Ring fans that look excellent, and two buttons control the RGB on the top of the case. One will cycle through lighting patterns, and the other is for brightness.

Lastly, SkyTech offers a one-year warranty on parts and labor. It will cover DOA and premature failures of components. It is up to SkyTech’s discrepancy if any damage is covered, and you will have to pay all shipping and handling costs.

Overall, the SkyTech Blaze 3.0 is currently the best-performing pre-built PC available for under $1500. The Hexa-core CPU will easily handle any level of streaming and multi-tasking, while with the RTX 3060 Ti, you’ll be able to run and stream any game without issues. For less than $1500, we highly recommend you to look more into this PC–It currently offers the best performance per dollar.

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2. SkyTech Shiva

”Best PC for Streaming Under $1500 Runner-up”

REASONS TO BUY

High-quality case
650W 80 Plus Gold power supply
Excellent performance for the money
Fast RAM
Hexa-core CPU
Lots of fast storage
Comes with three RGB fans
Visually pleasing

REASONS TO AVOID

Airflow is not ideal
Older generation CPU

Our Rating: 9.7/10

The Skytech Shiva gaming PC is an impressive pre-built that will cost just about the same as if you built it yourself. It features some of the newest hardware on the market, and the components are selected to offer you the best bang for your buck. Thanks to an RTX GPU and 11th Gen Intel processor, it can game hard and stream smoothly.

Inside the packaging, the Skytech Shiva gaming PC is wrapped in a cloth pouch and protected by foam. In smaller boxes are a gaming keyboard and mouse. Additionally, all the product and warranty information are neatly tucked in a folder. The keyboard and mouse are cheap and would be classified in the “better than nothing” category.

Again, Skytech is a company that builds gaming PCs using whatever brands are available at the time. With that being said, they guarantee your PC will have an Intel Core i5 11400F. This CPU has a base clock speed of 2.6GHz and can be boosted to a max of 4.4GHz using Intel’s Turbo Boost feature.

Besides that, it has six hyper-threaded cores totaling a whopping 12 logical cores. What does this mean for you and your streaming venture? It means the i5 11400F will be able to multitask and handle virtually anything you can throw at it as a streamer.

This version of the Skytech Shiva offers 16GB (2 x 8GB sticks) of DDR4 RAM with a rated speed of 3200MHz. This speed is a perfect amount without being overkill for a good gaming PC and will work fine for streaming. And should you want to upgrade, the motherboard has two extra slots for adding more RAM and can support up to 128GB.

While Skytech can not guarantee which brand of GPU you will receive in your pre-built PC, they guarantee it will have an RTX 3060 with 12GB of VRAM. With a 3060, you will be able to play any games at 1080p, even in VR, on ultra settings and stream it to your fans with no issues. It’s slightly slower in comparison to the 3060 Ti you get with the Blaze 3.0; however, the difference is literally a couple of FPS.

Additionally, Skytech guarantees the GPU will have at least one HDMI and one Display port, but RTX cards typically will have two or more of each type.

This budget pre-built gaming PC comes with 1TB NVMe m.2 SSD for data storage. These storage modules fasten straight into the motherboard and offer the fastest data communication to the CPU than their solid-state drive or HDD counterparts.

Games will load incredibly fast, and it should take you a while to fill a terabyte, so upgrading isn’t an immediate issue. Should you want to, however, the case offers three SSD mounts behind the side access panel in the cable management compartment and two 2.5” trays located at the top inside the case near the front.

The overall quality and cable management of the Shiva gaming PC by Skytech are impressive. They use the white version of an In Win 101 gaming case. The In Win 101 is an all-metal mATX mid-tower chassis with a tempered glass panel for showing off the goods and has a minimal gamer aesthetic as a whole.

In addition, the case comes pre-installed with three RGB fans, two on the side and one on the rear. They are connected to a small fan controller with a remote to change lighting modes. The two on the side draw air into the case through stylized slots cut into the side access panel.

This, in our opinion, isn’t the best design as far as airflow is concerned, and the air being drawn through the vents makes these fans somewhat noisy. There are three additional fan mount locations with a dust screen on the bottom of the case that are compatible with standard 120mm fans if you want to install more, which might be a good idea.

As usual, Skytech covers their pre-built gaming PCs with a one-year warranty on parts and labor. The warranty will not cover any damage caused by components or software not supplied by Skytech.

With all things considered in today’s DIY PC market, the pre-built gaming PC is a pretty good deal costing just over $1,300. 3000-series graphics cards are sometimes hard to find and cost a lot. RTX 3060 cards, for example, go for around $400-$500. So, if you’re looking for a great budget PC for streaming for less than $1500, the Shiva is a great choice and could be a fantastic pickup if you manage to find it on sale.

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3. SkyTech Shadow 3.0

”Honorable Mention”

REASONS TO BUY

Excellent build quality
Fantastic performance for the money
RTX 3060 12GB GPU
Great airflow
80 Plus Gold power supply
Enough storage and RAM for streaming
Aesthetically pleasing

REASONS TO AVOID

SSD is not guaranteed to be NVMe
Previous gen CPU

Our Rating: 9.6/10

The SkyTech Shadow 3.0 gaming PC is currently one of the best you’ll be able to get your hands on for under $1500. It’s fast, utilizes the most up-to-date gaming technology, and is more than capable of streaming your favorite games.

Inside the box, there is the Skytech Shadow 3.0 gaming PC. Inside their own boxes are a gaming keyboard and mouse. They are pretty cheap but get the job done. You will also find a troubleshooting guide, user information and other paperwork, and two Wi-Fi adapter antennas.

SkyTech uses what components they have in stock at the time of assembly. What this means for you is that they guarantee this PC will have an RTX 3060, but the brand will vary. It may be an EVGA, or it might be a PNY. The same goes for everything else except the processor and case, which we go over below.

This pre-built gaming PC utilizes an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 processor. It has six cores (12 threads) and a base clock speed of 3.5GHz with a maximum speed of 4.2GHz. This processor has plenty of power to play the newest and most popular games today.

In addition, you will receive 16GB (2 x 8GB sticks) of DDR4 3000MHz RAM. This is a perfect amount to start your streaming adventure. Due to the varying parts used, we can’t say for sure what kind you’ll get, and the same goes for the motherboard, but it should be able to support up to 64GB at the least.

The Shadow 3.0 by SkyTech has an RTX 3060 GPU with 12GB of GDDR6 VRAM. The RTX 3000 series are one of the best GPUs available to the public as of today and will continue to be viable for many years. Thanks to the impressive power of the RTX 3060, you’ll be able to game and stream everything you play with absolutely no issues. Skytech guarantees at least one HDMI and one Display port, but RTX 3060s will usually have two or more of each.

Storage-wise, the PC comes equipped with a 1TB SSD which will be plenty of room for all your games and programs. Sadly this is not guaranteed to be an m.2 NVMe. Also, SkyTech will pre-install the Windows 10 Home 64-Bit operating system and nothing else.

The Shadow 3.0 uses Thermaltake’s H200 TG RGB Chasis. It’s a mid-tower ATX case with stylish RGB on the front and excellent airflow. It has fan mounts on the front, top, and rear of the case and comes pre-installed with three 120mm fans, all of which have RGB.

This case is roomy enough for water cooling if you want to add a custom loop or just an AiO. It can take a radiator up to 280mm and supports 120mm or 140mm fans. Another cool feature is the glass panel opens like a glass cabinet rather than the slide-and-remove style many other cases use. And all the RGB is controlled on the top with the RGB button.

Lastly, SkyTech covers their PCs with a one-year warranty for parts and labor. It will cover dead on arrivals and premature failures. SkyTech has excellent customer service and tries its best to satisfy every customer.

Overall, the SkyTech Shadow 3.0 is an excellent desktop for streamers on a budget. For the money, it offers excellent performance, quality build, and beautiful aesthetics. You can obviously do better with a higher budget, but for around $1500, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything noticeably better.

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Best Budget PCs for Streaming Under $1200

Dropping it down a notch, we will look at the best budget PCs for streaming under $1200. These pre-built computers will have many higher-end qualities we like to see in gaming PCs but will have a few drawbacks to help cut down on costs for the end-user.

As far as streaming, you’ll be able to stream the majority of the popular games; however, you’ll be limited to 1080p gameplay. Some of these computers are capable of 1440p gameplay, but we’d not recommend that in combination with streaming.

The table below will give you a quick look at our selections for the 3 Best PCs for Streaming under $1200 currently available on the market. To read a full review, simply click on ‘review>>’ in the respective row.

Product	Image	Rating
1. Allied Gaming Patriot ''Best PC for Streaming Under $1200 Overall''		9.7	Check Price review>>
2. SkyTech Chronos Mini ''Best PC for Streaming Under $1200 Runner-up''		9.6	Check Price review>>
3. SkyTech Archangel ''Honorable Mention''		9.5	Check Price review>>

1. Allied Gaming Patriot

”Best PC for Streaming Under $1200 Overall”

REASONS TO BUY

Exceptional value for the money
Adequate performance for all levels of streaming
Clean cable management
Quality case
Comes with 4 120mm fans pre-installed
AMD RX 6600XT graphics card
750W power supply
16GB of fast RAM

REASONS TO AVOID

WiFi USB dongle
No peripherals included
Less storage

Our Rating: 9.7/10

Allied Gaming has put together a fantastic PC here. The Patriot has an impressive CPU, super-fast RAM, and a graphics card with ray tracing, which is surprising to see in this price bracket. There isn’t much negative to say about this PC other than the WiFi dongle, which is easily remedied.

In the packaging, you will find the Allied Gaming Patriot PC, the power cable, and a WiFi USB dongle. Unfortunately, there is no keyboard and mouse included, which is a bit surprising considering nearly every other seller will include peripherals.

Performance-wise, the Patriot uses a Ryzen 5 3600 processor with a base clock speed of 3.6GHz, boosted to a max of 4.2GHz, and 6 cores (12 threads). This means that the Patriot can play CPU-intensive games while streaming, and it’ll have the processing power to spare.

In addition to that, with 16GB DDR4 RAM and at 3200MHz, you get an optimal amount for almost all situations, especially high-intensity gaming and streaming.

This pre-built gaming PC comes with an AMD XFX RX 6600XT 8GB graphics card that is capable of ray tracing. With this card, you will be able to play the most popular games (even VR) and stream them effortlessly.

Unfortunately, this PC only comes with a 512GB SSD. Most games are 50-60GB or more, so your data storage will fill up quickly with only a few games downloaded. Luckily the case has room for two more SSDs when the time comes to add more.

Connectivity-wise, the PC has six USB 3.1 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, an RJ-45 ethernet port, and 7.1 audio jacks. The GPU will have one HDMI and three DisplayPorts and will be more than capable of a multiscreen setup.

Construction-wise, the case is impressive overall. It’s a mid-tower case and has four 120mm case fans installed, three of which are mounted on the front and RGB. You can add two more fans on the top to provide even more airflow, which we do recommend if you plan on pushing the PC to the limit.

Besides that, the case has RGB strips lining the interior and helps accent the components within. As for controlling these lights and the RGB on the fans, there is a button on the top, making it easy to cycle through lighting modes.

Instead of using a PCIe expansion slot for a WiFi card, Allied Gaming decided to provide you with a USB WiFi dongle. This was to keep the price down, but even though it says “WiFi Ready”, nowhere do they explicitly state that this uses a wireless USB dongle.

While they are technically correct, it feels a little underhanded. Not only does it require a dongle, the one they include is an 802.11n (WiFi 4) adapter which is seriously outdated, seeing as WiFi 5 went public in 2014. Thankfully, more capable adapters are available for pretty cheap.

And finally, the Patriot gaming PC is covered by a one-year limited warranty covering parts and labor. Additionally, this PC comes with free tech support from experts here in the USA.

Overall, the Allied Gaming Patriot PC currently offers the best performance in this price range. The drawbacks are pretty minor, with the biggest one being the absence of a keyboard and mouse combo, which is pretty standard these days. If you already have your peripherals and looking for the most capable PC in the sub-$1200 category, this is your best bet.

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2. SkyTech Chronos Mini

”Best PC for Streaming Under $1200 Runner-up”

REASONS TO BUY

Sturdy, quality build
Good value for the money
Excellent setup for 1080p gaming
Plenty of performance for streaming
Nice aesthetics, lots of RGB
Enough RAM for streaming
Compact design
Excellent customer service

REASONS TO AVOID

Doesn’t offer the best performance in this price range
Less storage

Our Rating: 9.6/10

The SkyTech Chronos Mini has everything you need to game and stream at 1080p. The overall design is compact and will take up less space than full-size gaming rigs leaving more room on your desk for other things. The main thing holding this PC back from being the best in class is its performance-to-price ratio.

When you open the box, you will find the SkyTech Chronos Mini, the power cable, a cheap keyboard and mouse bundle, two antennas for the built-in WiFi, and all the accompanying paperwork.

The Chronos Mini uses an mATX motherboard with an Intel Core i5-10400F that has a base clock speed of 2.9GHz and a 4.3GHz max boost. i5-10400F’s have six hyper-threaded cores, resulting in 12 logical cores crunching the numbers. Although it’s three generations behind the newest 13th Gen Raptor Lake processors, the 10400F is still a very capable budget CPU.

It’s good to see that the Chronos Mini comes with 16GB of DDR4 RAM with a base speed of 3000MHz. 16GB is the recommended amount for most games these days and will provide a smooth gaming and streaming experience.

Additionally, SkyTech uses a GTX 1660 Ti with 6GB of GDDR6 VRAM in this pre-built PC. The 1660 Ti has an average benchmark score of +20% compared to the 1660 and is a decent middle ground between the 10 series and 20 series graphics cards from Nvidia. It’s a slightly older card but is an excellent GPU for 1080p gaming and streaming.

Construction-wise, the case is overall well built. It fits only mATX motherboards, therefore is compact and can fit into tight spaces. It comes with three 120mm RGB fans pre-installed and has room for two more on the top. Due to the case’s design, this would be the only suitable location for a 240mm radiator if you decide to upgrade it with water cooling.

All the RGB functions are controlled with a press of a button on top of the case itself. There is no need to worry about a lost controller or opening up the PC when you want to change the lights.

Lastly, SkyTech covers its machines with a one-year warranty on parts and labor. And if you ever need to call them, their customer service is fantastic.

Overall, the SkyTech Chronos Mini is a fantastic budget PC for streaming. It doesn’t quite have the performance of the Patriot; however, it will easily handle all popular games at 1080p. If you’re looking for a compact build for 1080p gaming and streaming, you should definitely consider the Chronos Mini.

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3. SkyTech Archangel

”Honorable Mention”

REASONS TO BUY

Good overall value for the money
Quality case with good airflow
Neat cable management
Comes with RGB on the case and fans
Adequate performance for streaming
Excellent 1080p performance
Great customer service from SkyTech

REASONS TO AVOID

Only 500GB of storage
Only a 500W power supply

Our Rating: 9.5/10

The SkyTech Archangel is another great machine for 1080p gaming and live streaming. Quite often, you’ll be able to find it on some sort of sale, making this an interesting PC to keep an eye on.

Inside the box, you will find the SkyTech Archangel 3.0, its power cable, a gaming keyboard, a gaming mouse, two antennas for the WiFi card, and a folder containing all the product information, quality control certificate, and troubleshooting guide. The Keyboard and mouse are cheap but do the job if you have nothing else.

This pre-built PC comes with a Ryzen 5 3600 processor. The 3600 has six cores (12 threads) with a base clock speed of 3.6GHz and a max boost speed of 4.2GHz. This will enable you to play games and stream efficiently. With all those cores, this processor will barely break a sweat.

To aid the CPU with all the data crunching, the Archangel has 16GB of DDR4 RAM with a base clock speed of 3000 MHz. This amount of RAM is the perfect starting point for gaming and streaming alike. Should you want to upgrade, most gaming motherboards support at least 64GB of RAM, but due to how SkyTech builds their PCs, there’s no way of telling what motherboard you’ll get and what it will support.

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super might be a few generations old, but it is still a beast of a GPU for 1080p gaming and can handle 1440p, but you may need to adjust a few graphics settings. SkyTech builds their PCs with what they have in stock, so your brand will vary, you can expect at least one Display port and one HDMI port, but typically, you will get more.

Your pre-built gaming PC will come with a 500 GB SSD, this isn’t much for a streaming PC, but it will get you started.

In terms of construction, the Archangel uses the Thermaltake H200 TG RGB Snow case, and not only is it a great case, but it also looks excellent. It comes with three RGB Ring fans (two on top and one on the back) and one standard non-RGB fan on the front.

These fans are 120mm, but the case can support 140mm fans as well. The RGB lights on the fans and the case are controlled by buttons on the top of the case itself, making it easy to find the right lighting mode for you.

You’ll be able to use the Archangel anywhere in your house thanks to the WiFi 5 capability built-in. You can also connect via ethernet if a wired connection is an option. Either way, you will be able to stream and game with ease as long as you have a good internet connection.

SkyTech covers their PCs with a one-year warranty on parts and labor. Should you need to contact SkyTech, they have absolutely fantastic customer service and will do their best to make sure you are satisfied.

In conclusion, the SkyTech Archangel is a pretty good gaming PC for just under $1,200 and will be able to stream your gameplay in 1080p without an issue. However, it doesn’t quite offer the same performance as the competition.

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Best Budget PCs for Streaming Under $1000

In the sub-$1000 category, you’ll still be able to get yourself a great starting PC for streaming. However, you won’t be able to stream more graphically demanding games, or you will have to dial the settings back a lot in some cases.

Additionally, we also recommend adding extra RAM as all of these computers come with only 8GB–While that’s not the end of the world, the extra RAM will help you tremendously with streaming and general productivity.

The table below will give you a quick look at our selections for the 3 Best PCs for Streaming under $1000 currently available on the market. To read a full review, simply click on ‘review>>’ in the respective row.

Product	Image	Rating
1. SkyTech Shadow ''Best PC for Streaming Under $1000 Overall''		9.8	Check Price review>>
2. CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme ''Best PC for Streaming Under $1000 Runner-up''		9.7	Check Price review>>
3. iBUYPOWER Trace 4 ''Honorable Mention''		9.4	Check Price review>>

1. SkyTech Shadow

”Best PC for Streaming Under $1000 Overall”

REASONS TO BUY

Easily the best PC in this price range
Great overall performance
30-series graphics card
Quality, well-ventilated case
Lots of RGB elements
1TB of fast storage
Gold-rated PSU (600W)
Easily upgradeable
Excellent customer service

REASONS TO AVOID

Only one stick of 8GB RAM

Our Rating: 9.8/10

The SkyTech Shadow has almost everything you could want in a budget streaming PC. It is capable of high-quality gaming and VR thanks to its RTX card. It works best for 1080p gaming but can be bumped up to 1440p with some graphic setting tweaks.

Inside the box, you will find the SkyTech Shadow gaming PC, the power cable, two antennas for the built-in WiFi, a cheap gaming keyboard and mouse bundle, and all the accompanying paperwork.

The Shadow gaming PC utilizes an Intel Core i5-10400F CPU with a base clock speed of 2.9GHz and a max of 4.3GHz. This is an excellent mid-tier CPU, and even though it is three generations old, the 10400F is still a top choice for budget PC builders as they offer fantastic performance for an affordable price.

When it comes to gaming PCs, it’s important to have a capable CPU and GPU, but having fast RAM is also essential. Luckily, The Shadow comes with high-speed DDR4 RAM at 3200MHz. Sadly, it’s only one 8GB stick and doesn’t even take advantage of the dual-channel capability of the motherboard like it would with two 4GB sticks. But that’s to be expected with a budget pre-built PC. You can always add another stick of RAM if you want to.

The Graphics card is probably the biggest surprise here. Considering we’re in the sub-$1000 category, you wouldn’t expect a 30-series GPU. It’s the lowest model, the GeForce RTX 3050, but still, probably the best video card you can get in this price range, and highly capable of streaming your favorite games.

A huge plus is the 1TB NVMe m.2 drive. Drives like these are lightning-fast and are the best choice for gaming PCs due to their impressive read/write speeds.

Construction-wise, we have to say the case is very well-built. Of course, it is; it’s the H200 TG RGB. This case has incredible airflow, RGB accents, and a button to control all the RGB settings. It comes equipped with three 120mm RGB Ring fans mounted on the top and rear of the case and one standard 120mm case fan taking up one of the two mounts on the front to provide additional cooling.

Besides that, the H200 is very roomy and would easily accommodate an AiO 240mm radiator or even a small custom loop. Another cool feature that most cases do not possess is that the tempered glass panel opens like a cabinet rather than the slide-to-open style of almost every other case.

The Shadow gaming PC by SkyTech has WiFi 5 built right in, so no fumbling around with tiny USB adapters or running Ethernet cables throughout your house to connect to the internet. But if you wanted a direct connection, this PC has an RJ-45 ethernet port, so no worries there, either.

SkyTech covers their pre-built PCs with a one-year warranty on parts and labor, but you have to pay for shipping. If you ever need to cash in on the warranty, SkyTech has excellent customer service and tries hard to make sure their customers are always happy.

Overall, the SkyTech Shadow is easily the best PC for gaming and streaming available for less than $1000. It offers incredible performance with its 30-series graphics cards, Hexa-core CPU, fast RAM, and surprisingly high amount of storage for this price point. The only thing we recommend is to upgrade the RAM to a full 16GB, and you’ll have an incredible build for quite some time.

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2. CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme

”Best PC for Streaming Under $1000 Runner-up”

REASONS TO BUY

Sturdy, quality build
Excellent performance for the money
Gold-rated power supply
Good airflow
Comes in a bundle with peripherals
RGB fans pre-installed

REASONS TO AVOID

Only 500GB of storage
Only 8GB of RAM
Stock Intel cooler

Our Rating: 9.7/10

When it comes to a gaming PC, you want it to be fast, powerful, and have plenty of space for all your games. The CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme has 2.5 out of 3 of these base criteria. It has a fast CPU, decent RAM, and an RTX graphics card, but it only has enough hard drive space for a hand full of games. Let’s dig a little deeper and see if this PC is suitable for you or not.

When you open the box, you will find the CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme, its power cable, a keyboard and mouse combo, and an antenna for the WiFi built into the motherboard.

Streaming, gaming, and practically anything else you can think of will be done effortlessly by the Intel Core i5-11400F. It has six cores (12 threads) and a base clock rate of 2.6GHZ with a maximum boost speed of 4.4GHz. The short and sweet of it is that the i5-11400F is an excellent budget CPU for gaming and streaming alike.

Thanks to its fast 3200MHz RAM, the entry-level 8GB is less of a sting. Ideally, a streaming PC would have 16GB of fast DDR4 RAM, but cutbacks need to be made as we’re getting lower on the budgeting ladder. But 8GB will be enough memory to play older games in 1080p and stream them to whichever streaming platform you choose. If you need more RAM, you can just add another module.

The biggest selling point of this PC is the graphics card, hands down. Pre-built computers with the RTX 2060 can easily cost you upwards of $1300, so finding a PC with one for under $1000 was a pleasant surprise–In terms of raw processing power, the RTX 2060 is the absolute best you’ll find for under $1000.

With the NVMe m.2 SSD, all your games and programs will load lightning-fast thanks to its impressive speed. Unfortunately, it’s only 500GB which isn’t much for a gaming PC. With most AAA games being around 60GB, you will fill that m.2 rather quickly. Luckily, you can always add another SSD with SATA connections.

This pre-built gaming PC comes with Windows 11 Home pre-installed. Windows 11 is the newest member of the Windows operating system family. While the overall design has been overhauled and some new features exist, using this PC will still feel familiar.

Spacious yet compact, the case is simple and provides excellent airflow. It has three 120mm RGB Ring fans mounted to the front and one on the rear. There are an additional two mounting locations on the top of the case, which would be an ideal spot for a radiator if you ever wanted to add water cooling to this machine in the future. The case itself doesn’t have any RGB, but all the fan LEDs can be controlled with the included RGB Fusion 2.0 software.

No matter where you are in your house, you’ll be able to stay connected to the internet thanks to the WiFi 5 built into the motherboard; just screw in the antenna, and you’re ready to connect. If you would rather use a wired connection, this pre-built also has an RJ-45 ethernet port.

And finally, this PC has a one-year warranty on parts and labor, and it comes with free lifetime tech support, so no matter what goes wrong, CYBERPOWERPC will help you resolve the issue.

Overall, the CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme PC is an excellent low-budget PC for aspiring streamers, mostly thanks to the impressive capabilities of the RTX 2060 graphics card. It’s not as visually striking as our number one choice, and you’ll most definitely have to upgrade the RAM; however, for less than $1000, this PC is an absolute steal.

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RELATED READING: Best Budget Prebuilt Gaming PCs

3. iBUYPOWER Trace 4

”Honorable Mention”

REASONS TO BUY

Good overall performance
Fast processor
Quality case
Good airflow
Plenty of RGB (including fans)

REASONS TO AVOID

Very little storage
Mediocre RAM speed
Worse performance compared to the competition
Requires upgrades for optimal performance
Only a 500W power supply

Our Rating: 9.4/10

As far as a budget PC goes, the iBUYPOWER Trace 4 is a little hit-and-miss. It has a good budget CPU and an AMD graphics card capable of VR and ray tracing but that’s about where the positives end. The RAM is not optimal for streaming, and the hard drive has so little space you’d be lucky to get four games downloaded before you ran out of room. But ultimately, it’s up to you to decide whether this PC is for you or not.

Inside the box, you will find the Trace 4 PC, its power cable, a ‘free’ mouse and keyboard, two antennas for the WiFi built-in to the motherboard, and all the boring yet helpful paperwork.

Proving to be a favorite among budget PC enthusiasts, the Ryzen 5 3600 processor is an excellent CPU. It has six hyper-threaded cores and a base clock speed of 3.6GHZ with a max speed of 4.2GHz, meaning it can handle multiple applications, gaming, streaming, and more without blinking an eye.

One downfall of the Trace 4 by iBUYPOWER is the RAM. Yeah, we expect to have some cutbacks on things here and there, but at only 2666MHz, the 8GB of DDR4 RAM is noticeable.

With the AMD Radeon RX 5500XT GPU, you’ll be able to play all your favorite games in 1080p and even immerse yourself in VR and stream it all to the world. However, even though this can handle VR, it struggles a little with premium titles on higher settings. But for standard 1080p gameplay and streaming, this GPU is excellent.

The biggest issue we have with this budget PC is the measly 240GB SSD. That’s only four games worth if you take an average of 60GB per game. And that’s not even counting the OS that comes installed. We highly recommend installing an additional drive, preferably a 1TB, unless you don’t mind constantly uninstalling games once you run out of room.

Overall, the case is very nice. It’s a mid-tower ATX chassis, all black with a tempered glass side panel, and has aesthetically pleasing RGB stripes on the front.

It comes with four RGB fans, which can be easily controlled using appropriate software. Depending on which motherboard you get, you can go to their website and download it for free. For example, if you get a Gigabyte board, you would download the RGB Fusion 2.0 software.

With the WiFi 5 built-in capabilities, you can enjoy high-speed internet anywhere in your home. But if you would like a direct connection for reduced latency, the motherboard also has an RJ-45 ethernet port.

The Trace 4 is covered by a one-year warranty on parts and labor. Additionally, iBUYPOWER offers lifetime technical support for free. So even after the warranty period, they will help troubleshoot any problems you may encounter.

At the end of the day, the Trace 4 is an OK computer, but it has some flaws. It has somewhat slow RAM and an almost laughable amount of hard drive space. For just a little bit more, the other two pre-built PCs in this category offer better performance-to-price ratios and have double or quadruple the hard drive space.

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Best Budget PCs for Streaming Under $800

For the most part, prebuilt PCs under $800 will be the bare minimum to start your PC gaming and streaming hobbies. Low-budget PCs such as these are a great introduction to PC building as you get everything you need to get started, and as time goes on, you’ll upgrade your system when you can afford the components you want.

These computers are the perfect way to play and stream games like Fortnite, LoL, CS: GO, Minecraft, and other graphically less intensive games. If you try streaming more advanced games, you’ll most definitely run into issues, or you’ll be forced to upgrade your components rather quickly.

The table below will give you a quick look at our selections for the 3 Best PCs for Streaming under $800 currently available on the market. To read a full review, simply click on ‘review>>’ in the respective row.

Product	Image	Rating
1. HP Pavilion Gaming PC ''Best PC for Streaming Under $800 Overall''		9.6	Check Price review>>
2. Acer Nitro 50 ''Best PC for Streaming Under $800 Runner-up''		9.5	Check Price review>>
3. AVGPC Q-Box ''Honorable Mention''		9.3	Check Price review>>

1. HP Pavilion Gaming PC

”Best PC for Streaming Under $800 Overall”

REASONS TO BUY

Excellent performance for the money
Great for beginner streamers
Comes with decent peripherals
Decent amount of fast storage
Sturdy case
Windows 11 pre-installed

REASONS TO AVOID

Airflow
Aesthetics
Not future-proof

Our Rating: 9.6/10

The HP Pavillion (TG01-2040) Gaming PC takes the cake when it comes to price vs. performance in the sub-$800 category. It has an 11th Gen Intel CPU, a dedicated GPU, and an NVMe m.2 drive, making it suitable for strict budget gamers and streamers looking to get the best bang for their buck.

In the box, we find the HP Pavilion Gaming PC, the power cable, a cheap keyboard and mouse, some extra case screws, and all the important paperwork.

Impressive for the price, the Pavilion Gaming PC uses an 11th Gen Intel Core i5-11400F processor. It has six hyper-threaded cores, a base speed of 2.6GHz, and a boost speed of 4.4GHz. i5-11400F CPUs are capable of gaming at high intensity and can multitask like a dream, and is a perfect choice for streamers on a budget.

With only 8GB of DDR4 RAM, it’s good to see it’s at least fast. The RAM installed is a single 8GB module with a speed of 2933MHz. This is plenty fast for gaming and streaming, but if you want to play all your games at high settings, you will probably want to add another 8GB module.

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 will easily handle streaming League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Dota, Fortnite, and similar games. However, since games are becoming more advanced every year and require more and more power to run them, this GPU is not very future-proof. So, while certainly not perfect, it is easily the best video card you can get your hands on in this price range.

At the price we’re talking about here, we’re impressed that this pre-built has an NVMe m.2 SSD installed. It’s only 512GB, but m.2s are super fast and will tremendously reduce lag and load times compared to SATA SSDs and especially a mechanical HDD. If you want to add additional drives, the case can support two more.

Further, this PC comes with Windows 11 Home already installed. Windows 11 is the newest Windows OS and comes with all kinds of new features. Although it’s a mash-up of windows UI and some Apple-style eye candy thrown in there, using this PC will still be pretty familiar to Win10 users.

What’s interesting about this case is the mixture of office style with gamer aesthetics. It has almost all the pots on the front; it’s charcoal grey with a carbon-fiber design and a very bright green light accenting the bottom. This light can be controlled using the HP Omen Gaming software.

The case comes equipped with only one exhaust fan and no mounts for any extras. It has a total of six 3.0 USB-A ports, two 2.0 USB-A, and a 3.0 USB-C port. All in all, the case is decent but has terrible airflow.

Easily connect to your home network anywhere in the house with the built-in WiFi 5. It’s super fast and reliable, so game confidently, knowing the bandwidth you need to game and the stream is available. Connecting via the RJ-45 ethernet will help reduce latency, giving you an edge on the battlefield.

HP Pavilion backs this gaming PC with a one-year limited warranty. So should anything malfunction, you can contact them to discuss a replacement.

All in all, this isn’t your dream gaming/streaming PC; however, for streaming older and less demanding games, it’s a gem in this price range. If aesthetics aren’t important to you, this is by far the best PC you can currently buy for less than $800.

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2. Acer Nitro 50

”Best PC for Streaming Under $800 Runner-up”

REASONS TO BUY

Quality build
Clean cable management
Great performance for the money
One of the best-performing PCs in this price range
Striking gamer aesthetics
Good amount of fast storage
Great connectivity

REASONS TO AVOID

Requires upgrades right off the bat
Only a 500W power supply
Not future-proof
Slower RAM

Our Rating: 9.5/10

The Acer Nitro 50 is an overall decent gaming pc with a sinister look. It comes equipped with an 11th Gen Core i5, a dedicated GTX 1650 graphics card, and offers WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5, which is in line with the HP above and, again, really good for this price range.

When you open the box, you will find the Nitro 50 PC, the power cable, a free but cheap keyboard, and mouse bundle, and all the necessary paperwork.

For the CPU, the Nitro uses an Intel Core i5-11400F. This processor has six cores (12 threads) and a base clock speed of 2.6GHz with a boost speed of 4.4GHz. i5-11400F’s are a common budget CPU due to their low price and high performance.

As with all the other gaming PCs in the lower budgets, the first thing you’ll want to upgrade is the RAM. The Acer Nitro 50 comes with a single 8GB stick of DDR4 RAM. What’s disappointing, however, is the RAM has a clock speed of only 2666MHz. While it’s not devastating, it would have been nice to see gaming speed RAM in a gaming PC.

Thanks to the dedicated GTX 1650 GPU, the Acer Nitro 50 will be able to game in 1080p. It has 4GB of GDDR5 memory and can support two monitors with its DVI-D and HDMI. Sadly, it doesn’t have a DisplayPort that offers more bandwidth and less latency than the HDMI and even more so than the DVI-D port. But considering what we’re working with here, it isn’t that big of a deal.

Even at such a low price, it’s great to see that the Nitro 50 includes an NVMe m.2 SSD. It has 512GB of storage space, which isn’t much but will at least get you started. The case has two drive bays where you can easily install additional 2.5” drives.

Now, the case has a very “gamer aesthetic” look with its all-black with red accent color scheme. Inside it is relatively spacious but has only one case fan for the exhaust. The side is ventilated with a honeycomb mesh pattern that has been laser cut into the access panel and helps keep everything cool.

On the front, the red visor-like LEDs give it a menacing look and shine into the case, providing a fiery red glow that can be seen through the side panel.

In terms of connectivity, the Acer Nitro 50 has WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5 built into the motherboard. This way, you can enjoy the fastest data transfer rates across all networks and Bluetooth-enabled devices.

Acer covers this PC with a limited one-year warranty which covers hardware defects. It does not cover accidental damage caused by the user or equipment not supplied by Acer.

While it has slightly better airflow than the HP Pavilion, it’s roughly $60 more for the same internals. The main difference is that the Nitro 50 has WiFi 6 and Bluetooth, whereas the Pavilion only has WiFi 5. This will not affect gameplay and performance in any way but can be a quality-of-life enhancer if you plan to use Bluetooth a lot.

At the end of the day, we’re looking for the machine with the best performance for the least amount of money. With that in mind, the Nitro 50 doesn’t provide any more performance than the Pavilion and is not our top pick. You can buy better RAM for the Pavilion and really up your game for the extra money this costs.

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READ ALSO: Best Budget 1440p 144Hz Gaming Monitors

3. AVGPC Q-Box

”Honorable Mention”

REASONS TO BUY

Great overall performance
Excellent streaming starter PC
Fast RAM
Decent amount of storage
Comes with three RGB fans
Water-cooled CPU
Quality case

REASONS TO AVOID

No dedicated GPU
No NVMe drive
Only 8GB of RAM

Our Rating: 9.3/10

If you’re looking for the most affordable yet capable pre-built gaming PC, then the Q-Box 4 by AVGPC is your best option. It is inexpensive, has one of the most recent AMD processors, and is easily upgradeable.

This PC would be best suited for people on a tight budget who want to get into the building hobby. But before you take the plunge, let’s go over the specs and see if it’s the right one for you or not.

Inside the box, you will find the Q-Box, the power cable, antennas for the WiFi card, and the paperwork.

The Q-Box uses a Ryzen 5 5600G APU. An APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) is AMD’s version of a processor with an integrated GPU. The Ryzen 5 5600G has six hyper-threaded cores, a base clock speed of 3.9GHz, and a boosted rate of 4.4GHZ. AMD’s newest Zen 3 architecture has a 19% boost in performance over the older Zen 2 architecture, meaning an overall faster processor.

Additionally, the Ryzen 5 will also act as the GPU for the Q-Box. It utilizes Radeon RX Vega 7 graphics which can handle 1080p for most games at lower settings or 720p for the more demanding games. And thanks to the Zen 3 architecture, it’s all fast and powerful enough for streaming.

For memory, the Q-Box will have 8GB of DDR4 RAM with a clock speed of 3200MHz. This is a great starting point for a low-budget gaming PC. If you would like to add more in the future, the motherboard has an extra slot for just such a reason.

It may not be an m.2, but at least it has a traditional 512GB SSD. We would like to have seen 1TB, but for the low price, we’re not going to complain too much. The case can support another SSD.

The case is very roomy and can accommodate a dual-fan GPU easily. It has fantastic airflow and has three RGB fans already installed, plus a 120mm AiO cooler for the processor. That’s right; the processor is cooled by a Cool Master single fan AiO water-cooler. This will ensure your processor stays super cool, resulting in better all-around performance when compared to an air cooler.

Easily stay connected with the WiFi 5/Bluetooth hybrid expansion card installed on the motherboard. Just screw in the included antennas, and you’re ready to connect wirelessly. You can even connect to your smartphone or other Bluetooth-enabled devices.

Naturally, if you want to connect directly to your modem, the Q-Box also has an RJ-45 ethernet port which will help reduce latency in competitive games.

AVGPC backs the Q-Box with a one-year limited warranty covering faulty equipment and premature failures. They also include lifetime tech support on their website.

So for less than $700, you get a competent PC that has everything you really need to get started. It has one of the latest AMD APUs to date, which harbors a great integrated GPU, and fast RAM, and the processor is even water-cooled.

However, the biggest drawback is that the Q-Box does not have a dedicated graphics card. The Radeon RX 7 iGPU is good but pales in comparison to a GTX 1650, which both other pre-built PCs in this category have.

Without that GPU, this PC lacks the raw power when put up against the Pavilion and Nitro 50 gaming PCs. Because the whole point of these reviews is to find the best product for the price, we can’t recommend this PC as the best, even though it’s the most affordable.

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Final Words

There you go, these were the 12 best budget PCs for streaming available on the market in 2023.

When it comes to buying smart, it’s best to do your research. If you know your price range, it can really help narrow down what you want versus what you can afford. That’s why we divided our reviews into the four most reasonable budgets and sequestered them that way. Now that the hard work is out of the way, all you need to do is decide.

We hope we were able to provide enough information to help you make an informed decision and pick the best PC for your needs. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment down below, and we will be more than happy to help you out. We love hearing from you!

12 Best Budget PCs for Streaming in 2023 – Under $1500, $1200, $1000, & $800

Best Budget PCs for Streaming Under $1500

1. SkyTech Blaze 3.0

2. SkyTech Shiva

3. SkyTech Shadow 3.0

Best Budget PCs for Streaming Under $1200

1. Allied Gaming Patriot

2. SkyTech Chronos Mini

3. SkyTech Archangel

Best Budget PCs for Streaming Under $1000

1. SkyTech Shadow

2. CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme

3. iBUYPOWER Trace 4

Best Budget PCs for Streaming Under $800

1. HP Pavilion Gaming PC

2. Acer Nitro 50

3. AVGPC Q-Box

Final Words

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