Custom Gaming PC Builders Ranked Worst To Best
PC gaming is a huge industry, with an estimated 1.75 billion gamers worldwide playing everything from indie hits and AAA titles to free-to-play MOBAs and online FPS games. Unlike consoles, a gaming PC's usefulness isn't limited to games, as it can power through professional tasks with ease thanks to the high-powered components. The snag is that while consoles are a one-and-done purchase, PC gamers have to figure out what will fill their needs, then work out compatibility issues and track down where to buy the individual components from.
That makes building your own PC a rewarding, although often frustrating, experience, but there is a compelling argument to be made for paying a company to do it for you. Warranty issues are simplified, and you won't have to do as much research or be left entirely at the whims of stock issues regarding CPUs and GPUs. Instead of buying a pre-built configuration or doing it yourself, a growing number of gaming PC builders will make a PC to your customized specifications.
It's worth noting that this list is in no way exhaustive, as there are far more than ten custom gaming PC builders on the market. The custom builders on this list are perhaps the most notable, and all of them are worth ordering from — it's just that some are simply more premium than others.
10. CyberPowerPC
CyberPowerPC is one of the best places to get preconfigured affordable gaming PCs, with desktops starting from $925. The company also does laptops and creator-focused desktops, but the real fun starts in the custom PC section.
That's where you can customize your gaming PC in every way imaginable. Start with a preconfigured starting point or use the EZPC tool to put in a budget, gaming, and hardware preferences, then switch up any component desired. Choices include the latest AMD and Intel processors alongside motherboards to suit any budget or use case. Gamers can then choose between Nvidia, AMD, and Intel graphics cards to fit into a wide selection of cases.
The builder has options for air, AIO water-cooling, and custom water cooling. Expect to drain your bank account once custom water-cooling is in the equation, with fully-specced out builds coming close to $10,000. There are also options to add peripherals so you don't have to go elsewhere to get input devices, gaming routers, or chairs.
The company offers a one-year parts warranty and three years of labor on all computers. A small upcharge of $20 covers the cost of shipping both ways if you need warranty service, which could prove to be well worth the price.
9. iBuyPower
iBuyPower has been around since 1999, building custom gaming PC builds for almost a quarter century. That's nearly forever in the PC hardware market, giving the company a wealth of experience in building custom desktops.
While the builder has a wide range of laptops, prebuilt desktops, and custom gaming PCs, it has one item that no other builder offers. That's Snowblind, its self-designed range of PC cases with a transparent display on the side panel. The display works best with all-white components and can show videos, other media, or handy statistics about your build's temperature and performance.
Expect to pay upwards of $1,000 for an entry-level gaming PC, $4,000 or so for high-end hardware in a nice case, and as much as $10,000 for a fully-loaded, custom water-cooled build. Intel, AMD, and Nvidia hardware are all offered, as are a limited selection of accessories and monitors, and you can also buy some hardware on its own, like cases or storage.
The company offers the standard one-year parts, three years labor warranty, and a small upsell that gets you free return shipping if you need to avail yourself of that warranty.
8. Corsair
Corsair is one of the biggest names in PC gaming, with a wide range of peripherals, components, and accessories. The company also builds custom gaming PCs with its own branding and that of another company, Origin PC, which it purchased in 2019.
The company's website also has an in-depth PC Builder configuration tool that walks you through choosing a graphics card, then narrows down the compatible choices as it goes along, accounting for size, power requirements, and more. It's all presented in a card-based graphical interface that's easy to navigate before funneling you to Corsair's range of cases, cooling, memory, storage, power supplies, and fans.
Corsair's gaming PCs start at $1,600 for a mid-spec configuration, with the top-tier configurations costing $5,000. They are all inside the company's own cases, with its own RAM, system memory, power supplies, AIO water CPU coolers, and other components that are part of Corsair's range.
All Corsair One, Vengeance PC, and Voyager a1600 laptops come with a two-year hardware warranty for the original purchaser, putting them ahead of many other builders. A three-year extended warranty that provides up to two full replacements can be purchased at the time of sale for $300 if you prefer the extra peace of mind.
7. BLD by NZXT
NZXT is another industry stalwart that is well-known for its minimalist approach to design, whether that's its PC cases, fans, motherboards, or AIO CPU coolers. However, that minimalistic approach does not seem to extend to the company's love of ARGB lighting, which is slathered everywhere to light up the blank canvasses of its accessories and components.
It also has one of the most stylish custom gaming PC configurators around in BLD by NZXT, which asks if you want AMD or Intel for your CPU and then provides options to customize the whole PC. Hardware from many of the main manufacturers is on offer, from G.Skill RAM to WD storage, with one caveat -– the build has to go into one of NZXT's signature PC cases.
BLD by NZXT starts from $1,300 for a low-to-mid specification gaming PC, with fully specced-out builds approaching $4,000. Intel and AMD CPUs are on offer, as are AMD and Nvidia graphics cards, with a limited selection of motherboards from low, mid, and high-end brackets. You can also add one of NZXT's gaming monitors or one from a couple of other brands, as well as accessories like audio, even more ARGB lighting, microphones, capture cards, and mice.
NZXT offers a two-year warranty on all of its custom gaming PCs, with an option to expedite shipping so you don't have to wait so long to get fragging.
6. Micro Center
Micro Center is one of the few remaining components-focused big box stores, housing everything from PC hardware to 3D printing equipment within its geeky walls. The staff is knowledgeable and will help you choose your components to make a workable gaming PC.
The website has an in-depth custom PC-building tool covering every component, peripheral, and accessory the retailer carries. The cool thing here is that you don't have to wait for the company to ship your new gaming PC to your house –- you can go pick it up. Give them four hours before closing and the selected parts will all be ready to go.
The company also offers custom building services for when you don't want to do it yourself. This costs $150 for building an air-cooled PC or the most-common AIO install, which is $250 and comes with an OS and drivers installed. The prices go up to $400 for a fully water-cooled build using soft tubing and $800 for a custom hardline water-cooled build — on top of all desired components, of course.
Micro Center also offers a wide range of warranty services, with the Custom Build Protection Plan giving two or three years of coverage from the day you pick up your new custom gaming PC and additional options for accidental damage. The PC build protection plan covers parts and labor for those years, priority repairs, and no deductibles or other charges.
5. Xidax
Xidax might not have the name recognition as some of the other custom PC builders on this list, but it has one thing that no other company does — an indefinite, lifetime warranty on parts and services for all desktop purchases from the site.
That's insane, meaning that the core parts of the gaming PC will be replaced at no cost and with no additional service costs to the consumer. Your i9-13900K will be replaced with a comparable CPU years later, as will your framerate-pushing GeForce RTX 4090 or any other component you choose to order. The only costs borne by the user are shipping costs to Xidax in the first year or costs to and from Xidax in the years after that.
Gaming laptops start at $1,370, with a fully specced-out Intel i9-13900HX and mobile Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 coming in at around $4,250, depending on accessories. Budget custom gaming PCs start from $922, with full custom water-cooled PCs fully specced to the max, including custom powdercoating on the case tipping the scales at $14,000.
Only some of the desktop PCs are covered by the lifetime warranty for parts and service. All others are covered by a lifetime warranty for labor or service charges and three years parts warranty. There's also the choice to drop to a lower warranty tier to save a few bucks, if that is a better option for you.
4. Origin PC
Origin PC was founded in 2009 by a trio of ex-Alienware executives who thought they could do things better. The company makes customized gaming laptops, desktops, rackmounts, and workstations, all housed in custom-designed Origin cases. These range from tiny PCs built around M-ITX motherboards to some true behemoths of PC gaming stuffed with the latest hardware.
It has a history of making crazy systems, like the Big O, which stuffed a gaming PC and either an Xbox One S All-Digital Edition or a PlayStation 4 Pro into a portable case. Custom gaming PCs can be configured with Intel and AMD CPUs and AMD and Nvidia graphics cards and start from $1,702. A fully specced out, no-holds-spared water-cooled build will run you $10,000 or more, depending on which add-ons are chosen.
Every Origin PC is shipped in a wooden shipping crate, with the unboxing being part of the experience of ownership. That crate should be kept in storage because Origin PC will handle any hardware upgrades in the future, thanks to the guaranteed free labor.
The boutique feel carries on with how customizable the systems are. The tempered glass side panels can have custom laser etching or a UV-printed custom design. Watercooling is an option and you get lifetime 24-hour, 7-day-a-week support. In addition, the company guarantees all its PCs with a lifetime service warranty and a one-year parts warranty.
3. Maingear
Maingear has been around for over two decades and has established a good reputation for building quality, well-designed systems. Its prices are higher, but quality workmanship always costs more.
Gaming PCs can be customized from initial starter builds, which could take a couple of weeks to get to the customer depending on which customizations are selected. That includes the option of custom graphics on some case panels — including the option to add your owned NFTs if crypto is your thing. There are also pre-configured systems that ship substantially faster, with Maingear getting them to doorsteps in one or two business days.
Custom gaming PCs start from $1,475 with the R1 Razer Edition, which was created in partnership with Razer and is full of Chroma RGB. A fully water-cooled, top-spec gaming PC with a distro plate and automotive paint on the case will cost $8,900 or more, depending on other accessories and warranty terms.
The company offers a one-year warranty on all gaming PCs, with an option to increase that to two or three years at purchase. Maingear can also ship internationally, which is somewhat of a rarity in the custom PC market, and have live chat assistance even before becoming a customer.
2. Puget Systems
Puget Systems is the least-flashy custom PC builder on this list, but its name is synonymous with reliability. They mainly supply workstations for professional artists, game creators, musicians, engineers, and scientists, but also have several options geared at live streaming games or playing in virtual reality.
Thanks to partnerships with big-name creators like Corridor Digital, Puget knows what professionals expect from their machines and how to give them the power they need. As they are aimed at professionals, the build quality (and the cost) is higher than most consumer-level PC builders. Expect a gaming or live streaming workstation to start from $2,710, while top-flight systems can easily breach the $15,000 mark.
Every PC has a one-year warranty with the option to increase that during purchase. Puget also includes lifetime labor and hardware support, which also covers any future upgrades that you might buy through the company. Shipping back to them for warranty service is covered for the first thirty days. After that, the customer is responsible.
1. Falcon Northwest
Falcon Northwest has one big claim to fame in the custom PC building market -– it's been there to see it all happen. The company was founded in 1992, before the existence of the Internet as we know it, with a powerful PC that ran on MS-DOS.
Now it offers four desktop-class systems, three for gamers and one in rackmount configuration for businesses and professionals who work with audio. The FragBox is an M-ITX portable gaming PC with a carrying handle that costs $3,500 and up. Then there's Talon, a mid-tower that starts from $4,000. The svelte slimline Tiki packs full-size GPUs into a console-sized box, starting at $3,700. It also has two customizable laptops, the 17" DRX, which starts from $3,700, and the 15.6" TLX, which starts at $2,500.
That may seem like a lot of cash, but a fully-loaded Tiki can cost over $13,000 when professional workstation Nvidia graphics cards are selected. Meanwhile, a fully-loaded Talon with unique UV-printed panels comes with a $31,000 price tag.
Desktops get three years of warranty and one year of overnight shipping for any repairs, while laptops come with a one-year warranty and a year of overnight shipping.