Best Prebuilt Gaming PCs to Buy for Under $1500

Suggested Article: Best Prebuilt Gaming PCs to Buy Under $3000

The Best Prebuilts Under $1500 in Our Testing Roundup

Skytech Gaming Nebula

iBuyPower Gaming RDY SLMBG221

ADMI ‎AWD-134F-47-100RV

NZXT Player Two

1. Skytech Gaming Nebula

The Skytech Gaming Nebula is a great build for the price, even if certain aspects of it aren’t as high-end as its other competitors in this roundup. For example, its use of a previous-gen i5 CPU is certainly a strike against it, however the powerful RTX 4070 graphics card which is included will certainly help balance out the performance of the rig. Whilst far from the best-performing PC below $1500, it does certainly provide the consumer with plenty of performance for the price.

Key Specs	Skytech Gaming Nebula
CPU	Intel Core i5 12400F
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master Hyper H410R
Graphics Card	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070
RAM	16GB DDR4-3200MHz
Storage	1TB PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD
Motherboard Chipset	B660
PSU	650W, 80 Plus Gold
Case	Nebula Black

The 12400F at the heart of the Skytech Gaming Nebula is by far the slowest CPU of all the various Intel and AMD SKUs found throughout this roundup. Especially at higher resolutions, this downgrade may become very noticeable.

The 650W PSU included with this PC is certainly limiting for any future upgrades to the PC. While it should be enough for the RTX 4070 given it’s phenomenal power efficiency, any additional upgrades to the PC made in the future, especially in terms of the graphics card, will also involve the purchase of a more powerful power supply.

Where to Buy

Buy the Skytech Gaming Nebula on:

2. iBuyPower Gaming RDY SLMBG221

The iBuyPower Gaming RDY SLMBG221 is another fantastic prebuilt for under $1500. However, there is one very clear distinction between it and many other systems at this price-point, and that is its focus on a higher-end and fast CPU, over a more powerful graphics card. Whilst this does hurt performance, especially at higher resolutions, it can certainly appeal to consumers looking to utilise this PC for CPU-bound tasks.

What’s more, the processor’s performance will only be further bolstered by the use of DDR5 memory, one of the few prebuilt systems at this price-point to utilise this new standard. This, alongside good overall focus on other quality-of-live changes, does still give this system a value of its own.

Key Specs	iBuyPower Gaming RDY SLMBG221
CPU	Intel Core i7 13700F
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master Hyper H410R
Graphics Card	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti
RAM	16GB DDR5-5200MHz
Storage	1TB PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD
Motherboard Chipset	B760
PSU	700W, 80 Plus Gold
Case	iBuyPower Slate MONO MR Tempered Glass ARGB

Unlike all other PCs in this article, which managed to find the budget for the RTX 4070, the iBuyPower Gaming RDY SLMBG221 does use the slower RTX 4060 Ti instead. Not only does it include a less-capable, GPU, but it also features 8GB of VRAM instead of 12, greatly limiting its performance.

Despite using by far the fastest, and hottest CPU, of any prebuilt in this roundup, the RDY SLMBG221 still makes use of a very budget tower cooler which will be at it’s limit during the most demanding of CPU-bound tasks. What’s more, it’s naturally louder than more advance cooling solutions such as large AIO liquid solutions.

Where to Buy

Buy the iBuyPower Gaming RDY SLMBG221 on:

3. ADMI ‎AWD-134F-47-100RV

Pure performance is often the most important factor in a PC, even if other areas might suffer as a result. There are a vast range of retailers and manufacturers in the prebuilt gaming PC space that offer excellent options when it comes to component choices at this price range. As such, for consumers after the best possible performance for under $1500, this ADMI system might be the best option in our roundup.

Despite coming from a lesser-known manufacturer, the ADMI ‎AWD-134F-47-100RV can certainly compete against other vendors. With a current-gen i5 CPU and an RTX 4070, it is by far the best-performing PC in this roundup. What’s more, it even features 32GB of memory, almost unheard of at this price-point. Naturally, it isn’t without compromise, and many consumers might have a more difficult time trusting this smaller system integrator over larger, more well-known names. Potential customers shouldn’t ignore this offering, as the performance it offers is very difficult to beat at this price-point.

Key Specs

Key Specs	ADMI ‎AWD-134F-47-100RV
CPU	Intel Core i5 13400F
CPU Cooler	Intel Laminar RM1
Graphics Card	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070
RAM	32GB DDR4-3200MHz
Storage	1TB PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD
Motherboard Chipset	B660
PSU	700W, 80 Plus Bronze
Case	MSI 100R

With a stock Intel CPU cooler providing the cooling for the 13400F, consumers can expect the cooling to be adequate, but nothing more. Especially under heavy loads, the cooler will also produce more noise than might be acceptable in a PC that costs almost $1500.

With ADMI being a smaller manufacturer, primarily working through sites such as Amazon, consumer shouldn’t expect the same high attention to detail or amount of pre or post-sale support like with larger, more well-known system integrators.

Where to Buy

Buy the ADMI ‎AWD-134F-47-100RV on:

4. NZXT Player Two

NZXT prebuilt PCs have become highly popular, due to their signature quality and attention to details. Recently, they have reimagined their series of prebuilts to better reflect the market and make it easier to understand for consumers. From this, we now have the NZXT Player Two.

This PC offers amazing performance, thanks to the included Ryzen 5600X and RTX 4070. Despite the CPU being last-gen, it still features plenty of performance for a six-core CPU.

Naturally as NZXT manufacture many PC components already, consumers can expect many of them to find their way into this PC. As such, unlike many other prebuilt systems which simply use whichever components can be sourced cheaply at large volumes, often leading to a very muddied look in the interior of the build, here every component matches in perfect harmony.

Key Specs

Key Specs	NZXT Player Two
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
CPU Cooler	NZXT Kraken 120
Graphics Card	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070
RAM	16GB DDR4-3200MHz
Storage	1TB PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD
Motherboard Chipset	B550
PSU	650W, 80 Plus Bronze
Case	NXZT H5 Elite

The NZXT H5 Elite already features very limited airflow, due to the solid glass front. To alleviate this somewhat, NZXT did include a small filtered intake at the side of the front chamber, however it’s no replacement for a truly breathable front panel. What’s more, this prebuilt doesn’t include any additional fans on the top mounting slots, further limiting the airflow of the case.

With a mere 650W, bronze-rated unit, the power supply on the NZXT Player Two is by far its weakest element. A bare minimum for the powerful RTX 4070, it also greatly limits future expansion options without first upgrading the PSU.

Where to Buy

Buy the NZXT Player Two on:

Are Prebuilt PCs Worth it Over Building One Yourself?

How Much Performance Can You Expect for Sub-$1500?

Despite the very large changes in the expectations in terms of what performance one can expect at each price-point in the last few years, in 2023 consumers can still get surprisingly great PCs for $1500 or less. A mid-range to high-end graphics card such as the RTX 4070 has become a staple of this price range. A fast, current-gen graphics card with a total of 12GB of VRAM, it will offer fantastic performance at 1080p, 1440p, and even at 4K in all but the most demanding of games. With video memory requirements especially getting much higher in recent years, the 12GB present on this model is perfect for ensuring the PC continues to deliver great and stable performance even in a few years time. AMD variants at a similar price-point may feature even more VRAM, and also feature comparable performance in games.

How We Tested the Best Prebuilt PCs Under $1500

In order to test and evaluate the best prebuilt PCs under $1500 there are a number of factors that we take into account, these are:

• Component Choices
• Performance
• Configuration Synergy
• Build Quality
• Aesthetic
• Value for Money

Frequently Asked Questions