Best gaming PC under $2,500

How we pick

• Every morning at 4 AM Central we read every gaming desktop at the stores we track. For a budget we put the fastest PC close to it first: estimated speed at your resolution from the graphics card and the CPU (which matters most at 1080p), a little more for 32GB of memory, and, between two about as fast, the better build. The picks come from 85% to 100% of the budget, and one PC up to 15% over it is shown, labeled, when the extra money buys real speed or a clearly better part.
• A graphics card's list is ranked by value instead: performance per dollar, adjusted for how the price compares with other PCs that have the same graphics card and with the PC's own price history since we started tracking it.
• We never pick a PC that costs more than most PCs with the same graphics card and CPU class. A cheaper PC that is nearly as fast shows as a note under the picks.
• We check that the CPU can keep up with the graphics card and mark the builds where it cannot, and we note too little memory or storage.
• Laptops, mini PCs, refurbished and open-box units are left out. When the same PC is sold at more than one store, you see the best price.
• FPS numbers come from Justin's own benchmarks at the highest preset without upscaling. A number is "tested" only for a PC Justin ran himself; every other one is estimated from his benchmarks of that graphics card or the cards closest to it, and labeled so.

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