TL;DR: $300 $400 $500 $600 $700 $800 $900 $1000 $1100 $1200 $1300 $1400 $1500 $1600 $1700 $1800 $1900 $2000 $2100 $2200

DISCLAIMER: Prices accurate as of 2/12/16

This list will likely be split into multiple posts due to the character limit on reddit posts.

Many builds have no completed Augmentations section, I'll work on filling those out over the weekend.

$300

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmentations: Add a GPU. See $400 build.

Notes: Please don't buy this. It will make me cry.

$400

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmentations: Beyond adding more RAM, there isn't much that can be done to this build.

Notes: This should be ok for some light gaming. Minecraft, LOL, CS:GO. Anything more intensive will kill this computer, and even the listed games would be pushing it. It also has very little upgradeability, owing to the age of the components.

$500

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmentations: I recommend adding a cooler, as the CPU needs overclocking, and the stock cooler is insufficient. See coolers used in other builds in list.

Notes: A true entry-level PC. Powerful enough to handle light games at a decent resolution. Modern games are still far out of reach, but CS:GO, Factorio and DOTA 2 will all run very well on this. The G3258 is an overclockers dream, so make sure you pair it with a nice CPU cooler.

$600

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmentations:

Notes: The best low-budget build in the list. The GTX 950 will handle most low-end games you throw at it, but don't expect to run Crysis on this. You'll need to spend a bit more. The G3258 overclocks very well, but it is still a very old CPU paired with an equally old Motherboard, so upgrading this will be more expensive than the higher-end builds.

$700

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmentations:

Notes: This PC pairs an i3-6100 with a RX 460. Both are entry level modern parts, so this PC is easier to upgrade down the track. This will actually handle some more modern games, but will still struggle with Witcher 3 and other graphically intensive games.

$800

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmentations:

Notes: This will do everything the $700 build does, but better, thanks to the RX470.

$900

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmentations:

Notes: Things just got serious. This PC will be able to handle all but the most intensive games at 1080/60/Medium settings. The 6GB 1060 has enough VRAM to handle high-resolution games, but at lowered settings. My pick for best bang-per-buck.

$100

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmentations:

Notes: Admittedly the upgrades here might seem a bit pointless, but an SSD, as long as it can fit as OS, will be a massive boost to your computer. Not in games, but in boot time. The 16GB RAM might seem excessive, but it is an excellent future-proofer, as programs are demanding more and more each year.

$1100

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmentations: Remove RAM, add 16GB G.Skill Ripjaw V

Notes: Upgrading to an i5-6500 in this build means that the computer will no longer be CPU-limited, but GPU-limited. To come under budget I was forced to downgrade the RAM for this build, but I definitely recommend spending the extra and getting the 16GB G.Skill Ripjaw V seen in many of my partlists.

$1200

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmentations: Consider buying an even larger SSD.

Notes: This is the $1100 build with better RAM and a larger SSD, for OS and Steam games.

$1300

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmenations: Pick a more attractive CPU cooler.

Notes: Our first dance with non-stock coolers. Unfortunately the Cooler Master 212 Evo is no longer sold in Australia, so the prices on it are exorbitant. This is even more GPU-limited than the last build, but this is a very good work/gaming PC.

$1400

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmentations:

Notes: This build does away with the i5-6600K, instead opting for an i5-6500. This saving allows for a GTX 1070. You know what this does. It slaughters consoles and shits in their disc drives.

$1500

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmentations:

Notes: This is the sort of PC that will handle just about everything you throw at it. From here, part upgrades are expensive and offer diminishing returns. This PC will outperform consoles for a decade, no joke. If your budget allows this, this is a very solid build.

$1600

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmenations: Get an i5-6600K or an i7-6700K

Notes: This PC utilises a non-K i7-6700. Most people would be opposed to this, as an overclocked i5-6600K outperforms it in games. If you are a fan of video editing, you will definitely benefit from the i7, but you might be better off with an overclockable CPU instead. To be honest, I only did this to fit the budget. There are better options than this one.

$1700

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmentations: A more attractive Motherboard

Notes: This PC makes the expensive jump to an ATX form factor. This means that the PC is considerably bigger than the previous builds, so if small PCs are a necessity for you, check out the $1500 build. The jump to ATX offers no real benefit over the $1500 PC, but it was necessary to accomodate a GTX 1080 in later builds. This PC does benefit from a larger GTX 1070, offering better cooling.

$1800

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmenations:

Notes: The jump to a GTX 1080 was inevitable as my budget increased, and I decided to make the leap quite quickly. This unfortunately means that several other parts suffered. The GTX 1080 cannot reach its full potential in this build, except in heavily GPU-dependent games.

$1900

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmentations: Change the CPU cooler to the liquid cooler seen in the highest end builds.

Notes: Fuck. Yeah. This right here is a GTX 1080 paired with an i5-6600K. This PC will max out everything at 1080p, most things at 1440p, and it'll make a cracking effort at 2160p. This is a great PC for browsing reddit, watching cat videos, and playing CS:GO.

$2000

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Augmentations: Bigger SSD

Notes: You're still reading? Damn, you must be serious about this. Either that, or your parents give you lots of money. Either way, this is a simple SSD and CPU Cooler upgrade on the $1900 build. Slight performance upgrade here, the potential more more Steam games on your SSD, and an overall better aesthetic than the last ones. Admittedly, the SSD sticks out like a sore thumb, so consider a different SSD.

Looks like I ran out of space, so check out Part 2