How to Split Your PC Budget: How Much to Spend on Each Part
By David Lopez · Published
The parts that decide how fast your games run are the graphics card and the CPU. Spend too little on either and the other waits on it (a bottleneck). Spend too much on the rest and there is less left for the two that matter. Here is how balanced gaming builds split their money in October 2026, so you can see at a glance whether yours is in the right range.
The short answer
- Graphics card: about a third of the budget, rising toward 45% on bigger builds. This is where gaming speed comes from.
- CPU: about 15 to 20%. Pair it with the graphics card: a fast card on a slow CPU wastes money in many games.
- Motherboard: about 8 to 12% on most builds, less on big ones. Pay for the features you need (socket, Wi-Fi, M.2 slots), not looks.
- RAM: 10 to 20% this year, which is higher than usual because of the memory shortage. 32GB is today's gaming standard.
- Storage: 5 to 15%. A 1TB to 2TB NVMe SSD covers most players.
- Power supply, case and cooler: together roughly 10 to 15%. Buy a good-quality power supply with enough watts; don't skimp there.
Recommended split by budget
Share of the tower's price (no monitor, Windows or peripherals), RAM included. Ranges cover the balanced builds in the sources below plus the PC Atlas Wizard's own picks.
- About $800:
- 30–40%
- About $1,500:
- 32–45%
- $2,500 and up:
- 34–47%
- About $800:
- 12–20%
- About $1,500:
- 14–18%
- $2,500 and up:
- 15–21%
- About $800:
- 9–13%
- About $1,500:
- 8–12%
- $2,500 and up:
- 4–9%
- About $800:
- 15–22%
- About $1,500:
- 9–16%
- $2,500 and up:
- 8–20%
- About $800:
- 7–17%
- About $1,500:
- 7–15%
- $2,500 and up:
- 5–17%
- About $800:
- 5–8%
- About $1,500:
- 3–6%
- $2,500 and up:
- 3–6%
- About $800:
- 4–7%
- About $1,500:
- 3–6%
- $2,500 and up:
- 2–6%
- About $800:
- 0–4%
- About $1,500:
- 2–6%
- $2,500 and up:
- 1–5%
| Part | About $800 | About $1,500 | $2,500 and up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graphics card | 30–40% | 32–45% | 34–47% |
| CPU | 12–20% | 14–18% | 15–21% |
| Motherboard | 9–13% | 8–12% | 4–9% |
| RAM | 15–22% | 9–16% | 8–20% |
| Storage | 7–17% | 7–15% | 5–17% |
| Power supply | 5–8% | 3–6% | 3–6% |
| Case | 4–7% | 3–6% | 2–6% |
| CPU cooler | 0–4% | 2–6% | 1–5% |
Build a PC shows "Your split" in the summary once you pick a CPU and a graphics card, so you can see how your build compares to these ranges.
Where the numbers come from
We added up the part prices in three sets of balanced gaming builds and worked out each part's share. RAM was included even where the source left it out of its total, because you have to buy it.
- Tower total:
- $1,182
- GPU:
- 29%
- CPU:
- 19%
- RAM:
- 22%
- Tower total:
- $1,452
- GPU:
- 34%
- CPU:
- 16%
- RAM:
- 14%
- Tower total:
- $2,189
- GPU:
- 36%
- CPU:
- 15%
- RAM:
- 22%
- Tower total:
- $2,505
- GPU:
- 34%
- CPU:
- 18%
- RAM:
- 15%
- Tower total:
- $4,695
- GPU:
- 35%
- CPU:
- 19%
- RAM:
- 11%
- Tower total:
- $1,223
- GPU:
- 31%
- CPU:
- 15%
- RAM:
- 20%
- Tower total:
- $1,691
- GPU:
- 31%
- CPU:
- 16%
- RAM:
- 15%
- Tower total:
- $3,388
- GPU:
- 47%
- CPU:
- 13%
- RAM:
- 8%
- Tower total:
- $1,491
- GPU:
- 47%
- CPU:
- 16%
- RAM:
- 9%
- Tower total:
- $2,356
- GPU:
- 35%
- CPU:
- 21%
- RAM:
- 23%
| Build | Tower total | GPU | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom's Hardware budget | $1,182 | 29% | 19% | 22% |
| Tom's Hardware midrange | $1,452 | 34% | 16% | 14% |
| Tom's Hardware upper midrange | $2,189 | 36% | 15% | 22% |
| Tom's Hardware high-end | $2,505 | 34% | 18% | 15% |
| Tom's Hardware extreme | $4,695 | 35% | 19% | 11% |
| PC Gamer budget (tower only) | $1,223 | 31% | 15% | 20% |
| PC Gamer mid-range (tower only) | $1,691 | 31% | 16% | 15% |
| PC Gamer high-end (tower only) | $3,388 | 47% | 13% | 8% |
| PC Atlas Wizard, Cyberpunk 2077 at $1,500 | $1,491 | 47% | 16% | 9% |
| PC Atlas Wizard, Call of Duty at $2,500 | $2,356 | 35% | 21% | 23% |
Two things stand out. The graphics card share stays between about a third and a half at every budget, and the CPU stays between about 13% and 21%. The RAM share is unusually wide this year because of the memory shortage (Tom's Hardware saw 32GB DDR4 kits go from $60–$90 in October 2025 to $150–$180 by January 2026), so on a budget build RAM can take a fifth of the money.
Streaming, video editing and other work
- Streaming while you play: move about 5 points from the graphics card to the CPU (8 cores or more) and plan on 32GB of RAM. NVIDIA and recent AMD cards can encode the stream themselves, so you don't need a second PC.
- Video editing: the CPU and RAM matter more. Aim for 20 to 25% on the CPU, 64GB of RAM if you edit 4K, and 2TB+ of fast storage, taken mostly from the graphics card.
- 3D and local AI: the graphics card's video memory (VRAM) matters most, so the graphics card share can go past 45%.
- Esports at very high frame rates (Valorant, CS2): these games lean on the CPU. A CPU share near the top of the range, especially an X3D chip, helps more than a bigger graphics card.
When to break the rules
- You're reusing parts: if you keep your RAM, SSD or case, put the savings into the graphics card.
- Prices jump around: a graphics card on sale can push its share past the range. That's fine if the CPU still keeps up with it (the Wizard and Build a PC flag a CPU that will hold a card back).
- Small cases cost more: a mini (ITX) build spends more on the case, board and power supply, so the graphics card share drops a few points.
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