Update, 10/26/18, 8:15am PT: The submission period for our Best PC Builds is over, which means the vote is now under way. Before you vote, check out all the Best PC Build submissions in our Systems forums. There are five different budget categories, ranging from $500 all the way up to $5,000. We had tons of great submissions this go around, so thanks to everyone who participated. You can vote on all five Best PC Builds in each budget category thread or by following this link.
Welcome to the 2018 Best PC Builds Competition! For over two decades Tom's Hardware has brought you news and reviews of the latest in PC hardware, while the famous forum has grown to more than 2 million members. Because of their expertise and the constant requests for help with PC builds, our members have developed a talent for finding the best prices and putting together the best system builds.
For this edition of Best PC Builds were asking the Community for their optimal component choices in five different budget categories:
$1,500 Streaming and Gaming PC
$2,000 High End Content Creation and Gaming Rig
$5,000 Ultimate Everything RGB Build
Computer Builders had a turbulent 2018. Inflated prices for RAM and Storage coupled with unpredictable costs for GPUs made this year one of the toughest for users wanting to upgrade their PC or build an entirely new one. One healthy development was the continued resurgence of AMD and the Ryzen CPU platform. Competition between Intel and AMD, the stabilization of GPU prices and affordable SSDs makes Q4 2018 one of the best environments to build or upgrade your rig.
Here are the ground rules for this edition of PC Builds:
- Do not go over budget.
- Use only Amazon OR Newegg to source parts.
- Use list prices only: coupons, rebates, bundles or any other limited-time offers will not be accepted.
- Do not include shipping or tax in your final budget.
- Do not include the Operating System, Monitor or VR Headset, Keyboard, Mouse or Gamepad.
- All builds must have a name.
- Do not put your forum handle in the name of your build, and avoid odd capitalizations & symbols.
- Provide links to the Amazon or Newegg product pages of each component — we encourage users to use PCPartPicker's System Build for speedy construction. Do not post a link to your build, but rather please be sure to export as BBCode for a quick copy/paste to the forums.
Once all of the builds have enough submissions, we’ll close the threads and our Community team will filter the submissions for adherence to the ground rules. Next, our Editorial team will filter the builds for compatibility issues (e.g. PSU won’t fit together with graphics card in case). The remaining rigs will be put up for public vote in the forums, and the top builds in each thread will go on to become our Best PC Builds!
Throw your rig in the ring and give us your best PC build. Good luck!
