Best Desktop PCs Under $800: Where to Put the Money
Under $800, a bit less raw processing power paired with a dedicated graphics card usually beats an oversized CPU running on integrated graphics.
Build it yourself or buy prebuilt?
At this budget, the question genuinely matters. Building your own PC usually gets you better performance per dollar, since you skip a manufacturer's markup and assembly cost and decide exactly where every dollar goes. A prebuilt system, on the other hand, offers a simple overall warranty and avoids compatibility mistakes for someone who's never opened a case before. If you're comfortable following a build guide, assembling it yourself is generally the better-value choice under $800.
Where to prioritize spend based on use
For office work and browsing, the CPU and RAM matter more than the graphics card — integrated graphics are plenty. For light gaming at this budget, the priority flips: even a modest entry-level dedicated graphics card improves the experience far more than a pricier CPU paired with integrated graphics. For productivity work (light editing, heavy multitasking), it's RAM capacity and storage speed (an SSD over a traditional hard drive) that make the day-to-day difference, more than raw CPU power.
Avoid mismatched combos
At this budget tier, the classic trap is pairing a decent graphics card with a CPU that's too old or too weak, which artificially caps overall performance — or the reverse, a great CPU paired with a token graphics card. The better approach is to look at complete builds that have already been tested together rather than assembling the best individual component in each category, since the best parts picked separately don't always add up to the best combination for a given budget.
Integrated graphics vs. a dedicated card: the real tradeoff
Modern integrated graphics have improved a lot and are genuinely fine for office work, video streaming, and even some undemanding games. But the moment you're aiming at newer games or creative work (photo editing, light video editing), a dedicated graphics card — even an entry-level one — changes the experience dramatically and also frees up the CPU, which no longer has to handle display duties on top of everything else. Under $800, the choice between the two should come down to actual intended use, not whichever spec looks more complete on paper.
To compare the most interesting builds at this budget, check our ranking of the best budget desktop PCs.