Gamers who are looking to buy a new PC in 2022 for under $2,000 should make sure they have the proper hardware for current and future games. There are several driving factors around gaming that are pushing the limits of hardware technology. Gamers will need to make sure their graphics card can handle Unreal Engine 5. The need for multiple displays and 4K-8K resolutions are also among top needs for gamers. Processors, storage, memory, and network bandwidth will have to keep pace.
The challenge for gaming PCs under $2,000 in 2022 will be the continuing shortage of graphics cards, processors, and other hardware. Hardware resources, like graphics cards have been hard to come by in 2021. The low supply and high demand will result in higher prices. The shortage is a result of demand from crypto-mining, the auto industry, competition over rare earth metals, and of course the logistics nightmare from the pandemic. All of these factors will make it difficult for gamers to find a good gaming PC for under $2,000 especially given rising inflation.
Before diving into the top 5 best gaming PCs under $2,000, some of the system requirements for the latest games should be reviewed. Unreal Engine 5 is the latest and greatest gaming and graphics engine. There are several games that will run Unreal Engine 5 in the next five years. Even games that don’t run Unreal Engine 5 will soon be using updated Engines of their own, like Cry Engine (Far Cry), FrostBite (Battlefield 2042), IW (Call of Duty) or proprietary Engines like those that Blizzard uses for their games.
At the time of this article, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is the only game running Unreal Engine 5 who have announced their system requirements.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Recommended System Requirements:
- OS Version: Windows 10 / Windows 11
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X / Intel Core i7-9700K
- Memory: 16 GB
- Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 8GB / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8GB / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB
- Disc space: 150 GB SSD
Battlefield 2042 Recommended System Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows 10/11 – Latest Update
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X or Intel Core i7 4790
- Memory: 16 GB
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT
- Disc space: 100 GB SSD
Call of Duty: Vanguard Recommended System Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows 10/11 – Latest Update
- Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
- Memory: 12 GB
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 580
- Disc space: 60 GB
There are other highly anticipated gaming titles coming out in 2022 that have not announced their system requirements. Games like Diablo IV, God of War: Ragnorok, Warhammer 3: Total War and others will be coming out that will demand high performance from PC hardware.
The list below represents gaming PC’s that can play games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, Battlefield 2042, and Call of Duty Vanguard. All for under $2,000. They will all meet the minimum system requirements for these games but not the recommended system requirements for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.
The best gaming PC for under $2,000 out there is the MSI Aegis RS Gaming Desktop. With an Intel i7 and Radeon RX 6700, this gaming PC exceeds the recommended hardware requirements of any game out there. The Intel i7 has 8 cores and 16 threads with up to 5.1 Ghz making it ideal for not only playing the game but also streaming. You can expect to play games at 1440p and may even reach 4K as the Radeon RX 6700 is rated for it.
This PC also sports 16GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD and 1TB HDD. The extra storage can be used for slower applications or a backup target. This PC also has liquid cooling, so you don’t need to worry about overheating your processor.
| Standing screen display size | 1 Inches |
| Processor | 3.8 core_i7 |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4 |
| Memory Speed | 2933 MHz |
| Hard Drive | 1 TB SSD |
| Chipset Brand | AMD |
| Card Description | Dedicated |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 12 GB |
| Wireless Type | 5 GHz Radio Frequency, 802.11ab, 2.4 GHz Radio Frequency |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 2 |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 5 |
The Skytech Chronos Gaming PC with its colorful design and power-house hardware make it the number one contender for the top PC under $2,000. This PC has an 8 core, 16 thread Ryzen 7 processor. The Ryzen processor is unlocked (as all Ryzen processors are) which allows you to overclock. Unfortunately, this does not have liquid cooling, so if you plan on doing any overclocking, you will want to add that as an accessory. The Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML120L RGB V2 could be a good liquid cooler option for this processor.
The Skytech Chronos also has a GeForce RTX 3070 8GB GDDR6. While it doesn’t meet the recommended requirements for S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2, you should be able to play this game at 1080p no problem, as well as potentially 1440p. If you want to play it in 4K or 8K, then you will need to look for a PC in the $3,000-$4,000 range.
Other notable features of this gaming PC include Windows 10 Home Edition, Wireless AC, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and a whopping 1 TB SSD NVMe drive. NVMe storage is the latest and greatest storage protocol for hard disc drives. It is 6 times faster than traditional SSD because it plugs straight into a motherboard PCI slot versus using a cable.
- Processor 3.6 GHz ryzen_7_3700x RAM 16 GB DDR4 Memory Speed 3200 MHz Hard Drive 1 TB SSD Graphics Coprocessor GeForce RTX 3070 8GB GDDR6 Chipset Brand NVIDIA Graphics Card Ram Size 8 GB Wireless Type 802.11ac Number of USB 2.0 Ports 2
The Aegis RS by MSI Gaming Desktop (a different version than the one above) is a strong contender for the number 3 spot of top 5 gaming PC’s under $2,000. At first glance this PC seems like it would take the number 2 spot with a higher GHz processor, 32GB of RAM memory, three hard drives including one 512GB SSD NVMe and two 1 TB HDDs, and more graphics card RAM size.
However, looking at it a little closer you will see that the NVIDIA RTX 3060 graphics card has only 60% of cores compared to the NVIDIA RTX 3070. This is important because these cores control lighting, reflections, and crispness of image. Graphics card memory is not as important. Graphics card memory stores image frames for processing where the cores are actually responsible for transfer rate to the monitor. Games so far are not asking for 12 GB of graphics memory; their preference is more on the transfer rate. You can learn more about it here: Top 5 Graphics Cards for AMD and NVIDIA in 2022. The last really nice thing about this gaming PC is that it is already liquid cooled and unlocked making it ideal for overclocking. Outside of the graphics card, the amount of hardware resources you get with this gaming PC is hard to pass up, making it number two on the list.
| Processor | 3.8 GHz amd_ryzen_7 |
| RAM | 32 GB DDR4 |
| Memory Speed | 3200 MHz |
| Hard Drive | 2512 GB |
| Graphics Coprocessor | NVIDIA Geforce RTX 3060 |
| Chipset Brand | NVIDIA |
| Card Description | Dedicated |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 12.00 |
| Wireless Type | 802.11ac |
The Skytech Blaze 3.0 Gaming PC Desktop is a great value for the price. Although it only has an Intel i5-10400F, it does have the AMD Radeon 6600XT 8GB graphics card. The processor is a 6 core 12 thread processor. It won’t likely meet the recommended hardware for high performance new games in 2022, however you should still be able to play them without a problem using lower graphics settings.
That being said, the Radeon 6600 XT 8GB graphics card alone makes up for the lack of processing power. It is built on the latest RDNA architecture which can deliver excellent FPS on 1080p max settings for games like Battlefield 5 (164FPS), Resident Evil Village (177 FPS), and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (441 FPS).
This PC also comes with 1TB of NVMe storage, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and wireless AC.
| Standing screen display size | 1 |
| Processor | 2.9 GHz core_i5 |
| RAM | 8 GB DDR4 |
| Memory Speed | 3200 MHz |
| Hard Drive | 1 TB SSD |
| Graphics Coprocessor | RX 6600 XT |
| Chipset Brand | AMD |
| Card Description | Dedicated |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 8 GB |
| Wireless Type | 802.11ac |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 1 |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 1 |
This iBUYPOWER Pro Gaming PC comes with a Ryzen 5 processor which is a 6 core 12 thread processor. It’s not the most ideal for newer games coming on the market but it should work fine playing 1080p resolution. You won’t likely be playing while streaming using this PC. Like the model above it also has a AMD Radeon 6600 XT 8GB graphics card, so be prepared for good FPS.
This gaming PC also comes with 480 GB SSD, 16GB DDR RAM, and wireless AC. The SSD is not NVMe and the processor is not liquid cooled. You should be able to upgrade both later on if desired. The Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML120L RGB V2 would be a good liquid cooler option for this processor.
| Standing screen display size | 1 |
| Processor | 3.9 GHz amd_ryzen_5_5600g |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4 |
| Hard Drive | 480 GB SSD |
| Graphics Coprocessor | AMD Radeon RX 6600XT 8GB |
| Chipset Brand | AMD |
| Card Description | Dedicated |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 8 GB |
| Wireless Type | 802.11ac |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 2 |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 4 |
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