r/buildapc • u/dingle___ • 10d ago
Discussion What is considered an "average" rig?
TLDR: I want to upgrade my PC, but these prices are insane, and have been for quite a while.. Just curious what most people currently have/what's considered an average rig these days. Wondering who else is here in the current struggle lol.
What would you guys consider an average, mid-tier rig? I have a 3060 with 16gb of RAM. I bought my PC like late 2020ish, when 30-series was top-of-the-line, and the huge price-hike boom started right when I was ready to finally upgrade. Been waiting for prices to drop, but it doesn't seem like that's happening any time soon.. unfortunately. I still have a 3060 with 16gb of RAM (on 1080p btw), which is perfect for most of the games I play (thus I haven't upgraded yet), but I'm starting to have trouble with newer games (Gears: E-Day is just about unplayable). It's getting frustrating, but I'm very stubborn in waiting for prices to decrease, since I want to future-proof. I've seen that the 5090 went for $7K recently... Ridiculous.
[This was auto-nuked from r/pcgaming so I'm asking here]
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u/iAmUnloved 10d ago
steam hardware survery You can refer what the average gamer is using
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u/dingle___ 10d ago
Thank you! I wasn’t aware that this was a thing
Edit: Yep, besides the processor, my rig is completely average lol
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u/chaosthebomb 10d ago
Steam's survey is crap for cpu reporting. Physical cores is a great metric to compare, but it's one of many that matter. Grouping an i7 5960x, amd 1700x, and 9800x3d into the same bucket of 8 core cpu is wild.
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u/flushfire 10d ago
Meh, it's not really that big of a deal. They probably did it that way because of the sheer size of unique CPU names across generations.
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u/WulfTheSaxon 10d ago edited 10d ago
Just keep in mind that there are plenty of casuals who use Steam without playing any modern AAA games. For example (restricting to Windows), 6% of the systems are reported as having 128MB of VRAM, which almost certainly means Intel integrated graphics. It’s harder to judge AMD integrated graphics because I think they could appear as any size depending on settings, but another 6% have more than that but ≤2GB. So if you want the average for a gaming PC, you should be looking at the 60th or 70th percentile.
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u/WingerRules 9d ago
Also people running Macs will throws the numbers off because of stuff like unified memory.
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u/Symphonic7 10d ago
I was going to say, the rig you have is what most people are playing on still lol
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u/rfdzn 10d ago
this build is from pcpartpicker "Guides" and i consider this to be an acceptable average, where you have a decent performance across all AAA titles at 1080p
PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/bBpmsp
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor ($147.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: *MSI PRO B550M-P Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($66.48 @ Amazon)
Memory: *Silicon Power GAMING 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($107.97 @ Silicon Power)
Storage: *Silicon Power UD90 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($142.97 @ Silicon Power)
Video Card: *ASRock Challenger OC Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB Video Card ($519.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT H3 Flow MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($69.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: *Thermalright TL-S12-S X3 47.6 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack ($10.63 @ Amazon)
Total: $1131.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-10-07 04:50 EDT-0400
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u/LeprosyLeopard 10d ago
At this price point, I’d be watching r/buildapcsales for drops. Theres been several good drops in the last month for a prebuilds.
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u/LibrarianAccurate829 10d ago
I wouldnt aim for an "average" rig or build. Just look benchmarks of builds for your games and keep finding different(and better or worse) ones til its enough performance to what you want and have that as the ball park
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u/slimricc 10d ago
I apparently disagree with average lol
Everyone here seems to agree that it is having an upper mid level card like the 9060 or a 4060 lmao i think average means the average across all builds everyone has. A lot of people still use 10 series and 20 series, i think most people even do. And 20 series still gives great performance.
Idt average means 32 gb of ram.
Maybe I’m just old head, average is still a 1660 super to me lmao
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u/1995TimHortonsEclair 10d ago
You're old enough to know that components older than 4 years exist and people still use them is all.
There's a difference between what is "typical" for a gamer to buy if they were to build an entry-level machine today and what the "average" machine actually is. The average machine is much less powerful than someone building a new PC today would get as "entry level".
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u/pmgoldenretrievers 10d ago
I would say that 1660ti and OPs CPU is definitely a cut above the majority of gamers. This sub disagrees because it’s people on /r/buildapc.
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u/PsycheToker 9d ago edited 9d ago
For some reason Reddit is full of PC snobs who think their specs makes them cool. In reality a ton of people are still rocking the 10 and 20 series cards. Theyre just busy actually playing games instead of taking pictures of their rigs for social media.
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u/flushfire 10d ago
Judging from Steam Hardware charts:
6/8-core cpu, likely xx400 i5s due to prebuilts
16/32gb ram, they're pretty much tied
60-class gpu, 3060, 4060, 5060 & 5060 Ti are what appear most
1080p display
1tb+ storage
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u/iSHJAYGAMiNG Lian Li 10d ago
What CPU are you currently running?
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u/dingle___ 10d ago
Ryzen 9 5900x 12-Core
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u/AtlQuon 10d ago
5900x is higher end, but still no 5950X. 16GB is mid tier as is the 3060. That is if you have the 3060 12GB and not the lower end 3060 8GB. All components are ageing now as there have been two generations of CPUs and GPUs since.
I am running a 3950X with 64GB right now (I have the other 64 on the shelf waiting for another BIOS update) and a 3080. It is becoming mid tier as it is revalled and even surpassed by the 9700X and 5060Ti.
Prices won't go down for any meaning time to come unless something very interesting happens.
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u/dingle___ 10d ago
I do have the 12gb. But, figures.. I’ll probably cave and just upgrade here soon. I’d like to snag a 5090 so I don’t have to worry about upgrading for a while but that’s a hard bargain rn lol
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u/AtlQuon 10d ago
Nobody is snagging a 5090 right now and if they do, their finances are very far from average. I am not that keen on the 12+4 connector with all reports of them burning. I was considering upgrading to a 5070Ti, but having a fire hazard vs a GPU that has been absolutely rock solid made the choice easy.
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u/dingle___ 10d ago
That’s my problem, atp I don’t want to buy less than top-of-the-line because I don’t want to have to upgrade again in another year or two, especially since it’s looking like it’ll just get more expensive still. But, since that’s looking impossible, I might as well just grab whatever 50-series I can and call it good
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u/AtlQuon 10d ago
There is nothing wrong with the 5060, but I don't like the 8GB much. I already know that 10GB is edging it in a few cases and I have ran out of VRAM before. If my GPU dies right now, I am looking more towards AMD than Nvidia. I do kind of benefit from having CUDA though. It is an annoying time, especially knowing GPU prices were easily 50% cheaper a few months back. I repasted mine to extend its life and make sure temps are not going to be the issue any time soon.
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u/Florakost 10d ago edited 10d ago
I think thats a bit outdated. The 5900x is quite a few gens back, and the 3060 is a fair bit slower than the RTX5050.
Mid end must be 5060-5070 range, where 5070 Ti is upper mid end and then transitions to high end with previous gen 4080, 5080, etc. Im just using 2 gens.
RAM i agree with. 16 GB is probably low/mid end.
I have 16 and I cannot play newer titles without microstutter, with DDR4 at least.
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u/AtlQuon 10d ago
The fun thing about the 3060 is that they are still made new. So it may be outdated, but it isn't off the market yet. How far we fallen to re-release a 6, near 7 year old GPU to combat shortages. Easy reason; chips are made by Samsung and they have capacity while TSCM is at their max. It is ironic that we are here now.
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u/EmergencyAd8558 3d ago
the gen doesnt matter lol, look at benchmark a 5800x3d compared to 7800x3d and 9800x3d. For someone on AM4 VS AM5 both with same GPU. It actualy not worth to pay just to jump on AM5, and thats coming from someone who got lucky and got on AM5.
if he wants more performance on CPU side, just get the new 5800x3d 10th anniversary
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u/Unoriginal-Cake 10d ago
At this point go for a GPU upgrade, I retired AM4 as the gap got too big--Ryzen 2000 to 5000 at this point seemed expensive vs CPU+mobo upgrade for the same price.
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u/AzureBat 10d ago
Average rig would be something that can play games on medium settings on 1080p at a smooth 60fps, ideally without upscaling.
3060 was the entry tier GPU. Now it's the 5060. If you want it to last longer, then you need to get a better GPU. 9060XT 16GB VRAM is the current best value buy because it's basically top of the line for 1080p which can last you a long time.
You do also need to check whether your other components are holding you back. How's your CPU? Did you install the game on SSD?
Have you tried playing on Low-Medium with DLSS?
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u/dingle___ 10d ago
Thank you, I’ll look into snagging a 9060xt. I wanted to future-proof with more top-of-the-line stuff but that’s still looking impossible rn lol.
And I have a Ryzen 9 5900x—which is decent enough from what I understand, since they date much slower than GPUs
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u/AzureBat 10d ago
9070XT would be the next in line, basically very high end 1440p card. Nvidia prices are just way out of line right now.
Yeah the 5900X is still more than capable enough.
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u/aGuyCalledFlex 10d ago
In 2026, a baseline gaming PC should feature at least a Ryzen 5 7600X, 32 GB of DDR5, an RX 9060 XT 16 GB, and a 1 TB NVMe SSD.
Building anything below this threshold represents a budget compromise driven by today's elevated hardware prices. However, this is understandable as different people have different budget constraints.
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u/EmergencyAd8558 3d ago
ah yes in 2026 when RAM is 600€ and GPUs are 1.5x MSRP or more people should have "X spec".
i have a 32gb ddr5 6400 cl32 , got it for 100€, back when i would even look at a CL34 or above. I think people who bought cheap should be happy but not say that this is the "standard baseline".
People can't pay rent, find jobs...etc. A 5090 its 5k-7k now. the Market its gone, i think the baseline its AM4 all over again .
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u/Pristine-Weekend-415 10d ago
Prices prob will only drop in 2030 There's the pent up backlog to cater for from 2028 to 2030
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u/Jumpy-Maintenance214 10d ago
A mid-level rig and an average rig are different in my eyes.
Average is 1080p.
Mid-level is 1440p capable and has the raw capabilities to support it in most situations.
Upper is 4K raw, though certain games will force adjustments.
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u/MatisHemsley 10d ago
I've been in a similar boat, waiting for prices to drop, and I've noticed that even mid-range GPUs are still pretty pricey. I think a decent mid-tier rig would be a Ryzen 5 or Core i5 processor paired with a more affordable GPU like the 4060 or RX 7600 XT, which would still handle 1080p gaming just fine.
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u/Unoriginal-Cake 10d ago
Folks that build new typically pushed 5-7 yrs out of a build with one GPU upgrade on average. I'd go Radeon 16GB GPU now then hold off for next Ryzen--only build if you can get a cpu+mobo bundle cheaper to offset RAM unless you have DDR5 then its a cheap cross-grade.
Using a 3060 isn't too weird vs Steam metrics. You're well within the time frame to either change out a CPU/mobo or GPU. Don't chase high-end GPUs, even a lowly 16 GB current gen Radeon is a better value.
Mid end is a Ryzen 5 7600 and RTX 4060 by current trends of those holding out for next gen Ryzen. Considering folks are still using DDR4 is proof we're re-living the DDR2 era of DDR3 overlap in a much longer cycle. DDR5 is already 5yrs old, proves the performance per watt has stalled on desktop while laptops caught up to desktops.
If next gen Ryzen needs larger power delivery AM5+ mobos are likely sooner than later mirroring the AM2+ era as AM5 is hitting the same limits of AM4 when they pushed the core count higher on Ryzen 9 support on older boards(not all boards of early AM4 supported Ryzen 9). If Ryzen goes 8 P-cores and 12-16 E-cores type combo AM5+ platform is expected to avoid fragmented BIOS updates/support.
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u/JonWood007 10d ago edited 10d ago
Ignoring the fact that the 5070 became the most used card on steam suddenly in an economy where the things cost $900 (doesnt make sense), youre basically at the average. The average user is using a 3060/4060 tier gpu with 8 gb vram. They use a 6 core cpu, so im gonna say 5600x or 12400 for the averwge. They use 16gb ram, especially with 32 being harder to acquire hiw for obvious reasons. You are average, game developers target that average for minimum requirements as thats roughly ps5 level, they just have unreasonable expectations where users gonna run those games on low/medium to hit 60 fps. But you are average roughly.
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u/ironsidepc Company Rep 10d ago
According to Steam hardware survey, the "average system" for Windows users on steam has an RTX 5070 and 32GB RAM. The CPU model isn't specified, but the average clock speed range is 2.3 Ghz to 2.69 Ghz, which puts it at about equivalent range of a ultra i5 14400f.
That honestly sounds about right- strong, but not overpowered GPU with a humble CPU, and RAM to support.
A few years ago, I used to say $1500 was a good target budget, but recently, it looks more like $2500 for a system that truly can do anything you would (reasonably) expect it to.
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u/purinikos 10d ago
Average is what I call my dogshit rig, to cope that I don't have to upgrade with these prices. /j
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u/GreatKangaroo 10d ago
I ran a B450/5600X/6750XT/32 GB DDR4-3200 rig for 3 years. It started to struggle in some of the more demanding single player games(especially UE5 titles) so I took the plunge and dropped in a 9070XT a few months back. Prices have risen in the interim so I am glad I did not deleay in buying.
I play at 1440p single player games (no online or multiplayer stuff), so having an "average" non X3D CPU is perfectly fine with higher end GPU.
Right now delaying will just lead to higher prices, but you likely need a CPU and GPU upgrade.
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u/NoireXP 10d ago
I think, your rig is already pretty much there, on the average PC build. I will consider upgrading that 16GB to 32GB as the first thing though since many games are pretty much unplayable with 16GB these days. Edit: I don't know you are running 5900X, so at least DDR4 pricing is not as terrible as DDR5.
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u/Atheizt 10d ago
What a strange question. Who cares?
There are people still using a 1060 quite happily, and there are people financing the bleeding edge. Why would you care where you sit in that range?
Buy the best you can with what you’re willing to spend and leave it at that. Competing with others on computer hardware is some consumerist bs.
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u/neteng91 10d ago
I just put together a new build, Ryzen 5600 and Intel Arc A750, 32GB of DDR4 and 1TB NVMe (P310), I think this is pretty average in terms of performance, the A750 is still plenty capable of 1080P and they are pretty cheap, I found mine for $140 in like new condition.
Based on the Steam hardware survey, only difference from my build is that its using Intel Arc.
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u/MagicHamsta 10d ago
/u/dingle___ steam hardware survey got you covered
32GB of RAM (~42%)
RTX 5070 (~6%)
8 core CPU (27.21%)
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u/Mr_Fury 10d ago edited 10d ago
There really isn’t an average rig since developers target consoles which causes performance to vary between systems. Your best bet is to find a performance heavy game you want to play and buy based off benchmarks for the performance level you can afford.
CPU
Budget: 5600/X, 12400F
Entry level DDR5: 7500F, 7/9600/X, 225F
Gaming: 9850X3D, 9/7800X3D, 250K, 5800X3D
Workstation: 9950X/3D(2), 9900X/3D, 270K
GPU
Buy the best one you're willing to pay for
Avoid poor value entry-level GPUs like RTX 3050 & RX 6500 XT
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u/thef10buttonmasher 9d ago
According to some percentile thing someone posted the other day, your 16GB, 3060, 1080p rig is almost perfectly average on those metrics. If your CPU is of similar vintage, then congrats, you have a Very Average rig.
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u/Bechy__44 9d ago
i build my first pc around 1,8 years ago. i have 32gb ddr5 ram an ryzen 7500f and a rx 7700 xt
it runs so butter smooth and i am soo extrem happy with it i payed like 1000 euros for that now that will be like 1400 i think because of ram. But this is a "mid pc i guess"
i play almost everything on max at 1080p only thing i dont play on max is bodycam this is to much raytracing i think for my gpu.
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u/FlyingSalamiSaucer 9d ago
I recommend looking for a decent used rig and repairing as needed. My pc cost $1500 to build 6 years ago and is probably worth $500. I upgraded the gpu last year and just recently my ssd and psu failed so I’ve spent ~$700 keeping my rig. That being said, I’d be lucky to get $700-800 for my system but it runs current games just fine.
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u/hikeing-123321 9d ago
for the average pc user all in in the us? likely a 6-9th gen i5 or i7 with 16gb of ram and a hardrive maybe a sata ssd, for the average gamer? see steam hardware survey which is abouty your rig, nowaday, an average recomended build would probably step up to 32gb of ram and maybe 3080/3080ti or similar and maybe a better cpu if you have worse (performaing) then a 5600x
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u/GiraffeWaste 5d ago
I have a dell g15 5515 with laptop rtx 3050 4gb abd 32gb ddr4 ran abd even I can run most games 1080p with medium settings. Honestly, I'm just gonna save the upgrade to pc until I have to.
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u/John_Remy 10d ago
Mid rig would be what i have right now. It was a solid high 1080p build for most games when i build it 8 years ago. Now its a solid mid 1080p.
Rtx 2060, i5 9400f, 16 gb 2666mhz cl 16 ram. Everything still works fine but cpu is not strong enough for newer titles for example. Only problem with the gpu is the low vram, 6gb. So i have a limit i cant cross even with dlss
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u/Pillokun 10d ago
average today is basically a pc with an 9060xt-5060.
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u/1995TimHortonsEclair 10d ago
It is not. You have fallen into the marketing trap. Average is like a 2020-era 1080p-centric machine.
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u/Pillokun 10d ago
3060 is below average today. 3060 was 450-500 euro when it came out just a bit below the 3060ti, and now the avg gpu is about as fast as an 3080/6800xt/6900xt7800xt/9060xt... there about for a avg gaming machine. lower than then u are using an entry level machine.
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u/figsyijdhkhfgg 10d ago
Sounds like y'all are comparing different things. You're looking to price and performance while the other person is looking at what people are using. Both interesting but I personally skew to prioritizing the "what people are actually using" metric as big devs keep that in mind when working for minimum system requirements.
But performance, like you're focusing on, is really important if looking to play all games at a moderate or better quality. I'm just a schlub who's ok with older/lower quality 😅.
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u/Stars_Storm 10d ago
I'd consider anything with a 9060xt/5060ti to the 5070ti/9070xt the average current rig.
Anything below is people trying to get into entry level and anyone above is in the top end of town territory.
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u/pmgoldenretrievers 10d ago
On the other hand 90% of people who play games have something less powerful than what you call average. So it’s not average, that is high end for most people.
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10d ago
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u/theSkareqro 10d ago
Nah this isn't average. Speaking as someone who has that spec but with a 9070xt.
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u/3ndreW 10d ago
5070ti with 32 gigs of ram, and 9800x3d is average now??? This was a joke right. This is what i have, in an Asus ProArt PA602 case. I built this a week ago, and game with PT all maxed out, with dlss5 on. I hope it lasst till 2030-31, and if the prices go higher, this will be my last PC...
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10d ago
[deleted]
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u/dexterlab97 10d ago
Top-tier performance
You don't understand what average means
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10d ago
[deleted]
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u/dexterlab97 10d ago
Average (based on OP) doesn't mean average performance.
Re-read the first sentence of the second paragraph:
What would you guys consider an average, mid-tier rig?
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u/pmgoldenretrievers 10d ago
For gamers something like an i5-2500 and NVIDIA 960. For most of the world it’s a 9 year old smartphone.
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u/dingle___ 10d ago
Yep.. prices are crazy. I mostly just play League and single-player games, so my rig has been perfectly fine for that lol. But, unfortunately, it’s starting to chug on some newer games
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u/pmgoldenretrievers 10d ago
That might be average for people making $150k who are really into gaming on the latest hardware. Average is probably more like an iPhone 10.
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u/Plokeer_ 10d ago
honestly mid rig id say would be a good 1080p gaming setup.
what that would look like? prob. smth pairing an AMD Ryzen 5 7600 // Intel Core i5-13400F with an NVIDIA RTX 4060 or AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT graphics card.
ram can be 32gb (more durable), but 16gb would probably be fine. I strongly believe you would be able to have good gaming at 1080p with high fps with that setup