Here's January's winner of the PC Gamer Best PC Build contest
And the winner is....
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Building a PC is usually a balancing act between price and performance. There will always be sacrifices made to make sure you’re within your budget. Nowadays, thanks to competition from bots, crypto miners, and cell phone manufacturers, there is the added challenge of making sure your parts are in stock and available at a reasonable price. It can be a bit intimidating picking out components with so many variables and choices, especially if you’re a first time builder.
Sometimes then it’s better to seek others' expertise when assembling a parts list, which is why we have asked the PC Gamer Community to share their Best PC Builds in our latest competition. Periodically, we put our readers and forum users to the test, showing off their PC building skills in a friendly competition designed to distill their vast knowledge into various budget categories.
Our community has a natural talent for finding the best PC games and the best quality components at the lowest prices, and this competition was no exception. We asked for the community to submit the best Cyberpunk 2077 builds under $1,500, and you all delivered.
Most of your submissions would make for a great PC, but there can be only one best PC build.
This is why we’re proud to announce MaddMann, and their Cyber Slasher build as the winner of this Best PC Build Competition. Congratulations MaddMann! As the winner of this Best Cyberpunk 2077 Build, MaddMann will be getting a GeForce RTX 3080 GAMING X TRIO 10G courtesy of our friends at MSI. In case you want to build the Cyber Slasher, we’ve included the parts list below and a little explanation of the thought process behind the build, courtesy of MaddMann himself.
Build Name: The Cyber Slasher
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Amazon)
- CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X53 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($129.99 @ Amazon)
- Motherboard: MSI MAG B550M MORTAR Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($154.99 @ Amazon)
- Memory: Team T-Force Delta RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($139.99 @ Amazon)
- Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($139.99 @ Amazon)
- Video Card: PNY GeForce RTX 3070 8 GB XLR8 Gaming REVEL EPIC-X RGB Video Card ($539.99 @ Adorama)
- Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case ($61.99 @ Amazon)
- Power Supply: Gigabyte P GM 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
- Total: $1476.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-12-28 22:15 EST-0500
“Thank you so much! I've loved being a part of the PC Gamer Community. My thoughts behind this build were thinking practically about what is available right now. My approach to this was if a friend asked me to build this computer tomorrow, I could make it happen. It showcases how high tier performance rigs are actually more available than ever; you have to look for the right parts. Of course, there was a healthy amount of "will it run Cyberpunk" running in my head, which is what inspired the name.”
Want to take part in the next Best PC Build Contest? Join our forums and stay tuned! We plan to host these competitions throughout the year.

