Build Redux aims to make the purchase of a new gaming PC much easier than usual, as any PC gamer will often find themselves frustrated with the pointless name-dumping to see if it supports their favorite games. This system builder offers three main gaming PCs to choose from, and if you're a stickler for detail, you can spend a little more money and configure each gaming PC even more precisely.

You can also select the games you want to play and they will recommend the right system for you. The list of games you can choose from here is not exhaustive, but it is enough to give you an idea of overall performance.

The most affordable of these, labeled simply "Good," starts at $1,305 (open in new tab), with a $99 build fee bringing the entire system to $1,404; "Better" machines start at $1,878 and "Best" at $2,228, built around an Intel Core i7 12700F and Nvidia RTX 3080 (opens in new tab).

Additionally, a fourth build has recently appeared. This "Ultimate" build offers an RTX 4090 (opens in new tab) machine for $3,644. Gokuri.

Back to reality, the machine that Build Redux sent for review is based on the "Good" build, but with one important change. This is a wise move, as it provides much better performance for your hard-earned money and should keep this machine relevant for longer. With this upgrade, the system will cost $1,504 and will be equipped with an Intel Core i5 12400F, 16GB of Patriot DDR4-3200, and a Kingston NV1 500GB NVMe SSD in a large Cooler Master TD500 case adorned with an RGB fan. It will be mounted in a large Cooler Master TD500 case adorned with RGB fans. It's not delicate, but thanks to the mesh case not blocking airflow, it runs cool and doesn't get noisy even under serious load; the lack of a USB Type-C port is a real shame, as it would have been a nice addition to the case.

Unfortunately, shipping the machine across the Atlantic for testing did not go at all smoothly, and the graphics card was damaged in the process; Build Redux tried to prevent such a disaster by using foam packing inside the machine, but it was not as snug as we had hoped It wasn't as snug as it could have been, and it didn't come with brace mounts to keep it from shifting during transport.

The screen flickered when booting up and the entire system crashed when trying to play a game. Obviously unsatisfactory. Re-assembling the card seemed to temporarily improve things, but when the game started up, it crashed.

Luckily, I had an identical Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti FE on hand so I was able to put the machine through its paces and there was no apparent damage elsewhere. Also, shipping across the US shouldn't be too stressful, but the US is a vast land and couriers are not known for being particularly careful with large boxes. Even with a little bad luck here, more packaging would have been desirable, basically.

System Performance

As for system performance benchmarks, there is nothing surprising, except for SSD performance, with the 3DMark Storage Benchmark simulating game loading, Build Redux's "Good" is not exactly impressive. This is in comparison to the by no means stunning SN570 on NZXT machines and iBuyPower rigs in the same price range.

The Core i5 12400F is a competent enough CPU, producing reasonable results in the Cinebench R23 and X264 video encoding benchmarks; if you want more power from your CPU, you'll want to upgrade to the Core i7 found in the iBuyPower machine. However, you will have to make compromises in other areas to do so.

Gaming Benchmarks

The good news is that Build Redux Good is a decent machine when it comes to gaming. The main component is the RTX 3060 Ti, which can handle anything at 1080p, and as you can see from the benchmarks, it is also good enough at 1440p. There are no major differences between this machine and the ABS Master with the same GPU.

Even "Metro Exodus Enhanced," which makes heavy use of ray tracing, is 55 fps at 1440p, and that's at Ultra settings. There should be no need to compromise at all to achieve smooth frame rates in the latest games.

The only slight drawback here is that the NZXT Streaming Plus BLD kit has an RTX 3070 in the same price range. This is simply a more powerful card, and as you can see from the frame rates, in some cases the difference is negligible. In Far Cry 6, the difference is only 3 fps.

The Kingston NV1 SSD's peak read/write speeds of only 2,100 MB/s and 1,700 MB/s are disappointing, but this is a capable gaming system; certainly faster than a SATA drive, but half the speed of a decent PCIe 3.0 SSD and It's only almost a quarter the speed of a high-end PCIe 4.0 SSD; the 500GB capacity is also pretty tight, and I had a hard time getting the entire benchmark suite in here at once.

You can upgrade to a 1TB drive for an additional $30 at the time of purchase. However, it is still a slow drive. You can easily upgrade yourself down the road, and there is plenty of room to upgrade.

It is worth noting that Build Redux has chosen to use an air-cooled cooler for the Core i5 12400F (opens in new tab), specifically the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo. This makes the chips a bit warmer than some machines under load, but not at a dangerous level and never a problem thanks to the airflow throughout the machine. Cable management is also well done and helps in this aspect as well.

Overall, the Build Redux "Good" is a capable gaming machine with strong value for money. The component selection is mostly spot on, and aside from the SSD, it will provide years of reliable gaming enjoyment.