The price of being a gamer: how much money do we need to spend to build a gaming PC?

Picodi.com analysts checked the price of computer components and peripherals for PC gamers in 50 countries worldwide and calculated what proportion of the average wage citizens in these countries have to spend on a gaming PC.

The perfect gaming PC

In order to build the perfect gaming set we used Steam’s Hardware Survey to find the most popular PC components in 2022. In New Zealand’s online stores, the prices of individual components are as follows:

• Motherboard – NZ$258
• 6-core CPU – NZ$378
• RTX 3060 graphics card – NZ$709
• 16 GB of RAM – NZ$144
• Power supply – NZ$149
• 1 TB HDD/SSD – NZ$133
• PC case with good ventilation – NZ$176

However, this is not the only expense that aspiring gamers should be prepared for – purchasing an operating system license is the next step. For Microsoft’s system, future gamers will have to pay NZ$178.

In addition to the PC and the operating system, it is also necessary for gamers to purchase a set of peripherals (mouse, keyboard, headset and monitor). Their prices are as follows:

• Ergonomic gaming mouse – NZ$119
• RGB keyboard with wrist rest – NZ$143
• Headset with a microphone – NZ$123
• 24″ monitor with high refresh rate – NZ$332

In total, a New Zealander who wants to become a gamer will have to spend NZ$2,842 on a PC set.

Apart from the one-time expense on hardware, gamers also spend their money on the newest games on a regular basis. Assuming that an average gamer buys one game a month, annually they will spend NZ$1,140.

How expensive is becoming a gamer in different countries?

Among the countries included in the ranking, after conversion to euro, Argentinians have to pay the highest price for the gaming PC and set of peripherals – $4,238. The second most expensive country is India ($2,957), followed by Brazil ($2,919) in the third place. The lowest prices can be enjoyed by gamers from Poland, Germany and the USA. In those countries, the gaming PC and a set of peripherals cost $1,547, $1,552 and $1,562 respectively.

In New Zealand, the price of a gaming PC is NZ$2,842 or 0.6 of an average wage of NZ$4,758 net, which situates NZ in the 9^th place of the ranking in terms of PC price to average wage ratio.

In the price comparison with the average net wage, the most favourable ratio can be found in Switzerland (0.3 of an average wage), the USA (0.4) and Australia (0.4). Citizens of Indonesia, Pakistan and Argentina have to face the least favourable ratio. Gamers from those countries will have to spend 8.7, 10.4 and 12.4 of their wages respectively.

Building the perfect gaming PC can be made cheaper with Picodi. With cashback offered in stores such as Amazon, eBay and Heathcotes you can save money on PC parts and spend it on video games to play on your new gaming PC.

Methodology and sources

In our ranking, we included the average prices of computer components and average prices of gaming peripherals (mouse, keyboard, headset and monitor). The most popular components data was taken from Steam Hardware Survey. To determine the average prices for the peripherals, we used prices of the most popular accessories from the most popular companies. Video game prices used in the report come from Steam. The average wages were taken from the countries’ official statistics office websites or other local institutions. Net wages were calculated with local salary calculators.

For currency conversion, we used the average exchange rate data from Google Finance for November 2022.

The list of all the components and peripherals can be found here.

Public use

Both the infographic as well as the statistical data can be used freely for commercial and non-commercial purposes. We only ask you to credit the author of the research (Picodi.com) with a link to this subpage. In case of any questions, please feel free to contact us at research@picodi.com.