What Is PC Tiers and What Does It Offer?

Updated

PC Tiers (pctiers.com) is a gaming PC build reference site that organizes complete parts lists into logical performance tiers, from extreme budget to high-end. It's aimed at people who want a ready-made build recipe rather than assembling a parts list from scratch. The site currently covers gaming PC builds, workstation builds, laptops, and monitors, and it pairs each build with a target resolution, an approximate total price, and a component-by-component breakdown.

What the site actually provides

The core offering is tiered build lists. Each tier is a full parts list with specific models, key specs, and a price for every component, plus a note on what performance to expect.

From the page evidence, the tiers are structured like this:

Tier Target Approx. total Example CPU Example GPU
Tier 1 – Budget Entry 1080p mid-high ~$650 Ryzen 5 5500 Intel Arc B580 12GB
Tier 2 – Performance Entry 1440p mid / 1080p high ~$930 Ryzen 5 7600X Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB

Each build entry includes the same component categories: CPU, GPU, motherboard, RAM, SSD, PSU, cooler, and case, with model names, specs, and individual prices. That consistency is the point — you can compare tiers line by line instead of guessing what changed between them.

Beyond gaming builds

The site's navigation lists four main sections:

  • Gaming PC Builds — the tiered builds described above
  • GPUs and Market Prices — GPU pricing context, which matters because the builds are price-sensitive
  • Workstation Builds — builds oriented toward non-gaming workloads
  • Laptops and Monitors — separate categories for those who aren't building a desktop

So it isn't only a build list. It also tries to give market context for the parts that swing most in price.

The current caveat: memory and SSD pricing

The site's own notice is worth reading before you use any build. It states that memory (RAM) and SSD prices have risen sharply — described as 5–7x more expensive than toward the end of 2025 — because AI companies are buying up memory supply. The author recommends waiting until it settles and says the builds won't be updated much during this period because the volatile pricing throws off the totals.

Practical implication: treat the listed prices as a snapshot, not a quote. The build structure (which CPU pairs with which GPU, what wattage PSU, etc.) is still usable, but the totals may not reflect what you'd pay today.

How to use it

  1. Pick the tier matching your target resolution and budget.
  2. Read the notes under each build — they flag realistic expectations. For example, the Tier 1 note says "next-gen" titles like Starfield or Unreal Engine 5 games should be expected at 1080p low/medium, not high.
  3. Check the price guidance. The Tier 1 note explicitly says not to buy the Arc B580 above MSRP, and not to pay more than $260 for it.
  4. Cross-check current prices yourself, given the pricing notice.

Who it's for

It suits first-time builders or anyone who wants a sanity-checked starting point and is willing to verify prices before buying. It's less suited to someone who wants live, always-current pricing, since the site itself says it's holding off on updates during the memory pricing situation.