Build the Best Gaming PC Build for Fortnite this 2018!
Updated: October 2018
Jump to: Basic Gaming PC Build for Fortnite • Best Gaming PC Build for Fortnite
Introduction: Building the Best Gaming PC for Fortnite
Fortnite is a co-op battle royale survival game developed by Epic Games, Fortnite is more popular than ever and is currently one of the biggest games of 2018. The game has created such a phenomenon that spans those of all ages and is streaming widely through services such as YouTube Gaming and Twitch.
With this vast popularity comes those who want to play the game as efficiently as possible or those who are wanting to get into the gaming pc build market in order to get the most budget-friendly high performing Fortnite system. The PC builds you’ll find in this article are geared for those that want to max out the game for the best cost possible there is also a basic pc build geared for those that are simply wanting a good bang for your buck pc build that will just get the job done.
Fortnite PC System Requirements
Minimum specifications: (epicgames.com)
The minimum requirements for Fortnite are really not that robust, so even if you are playing on an older PC with integrated graphics, it looks like the game will at least be playable, which is great news! You should be able to play Fortnite with pretty much any PC built in the last five years or more.
If you were going to actually play with these minimum specifications, you can probably expect to play Fortnite at around 30 frames per second at 720p resolutions on the lowest setting — not the most ideal, but it goes to show you don’t ned a ton to play this game.
However, if you are looking to see what you already have in terms of a pc or hardware laying around your house, it must at least look something like this:
- Intel HD 4000
- Core i3 2.4 Ghz
- 4 GB RAM
- Windows 7/8/10 64-bit + Mac OSX Sierra
Recommended specifications (epicgames.com):
Now for the recommended requirement are mostly here for reference, but again the requirements really are not that high, especially compared to other popular pc games, which goes to show that the popularity around Fortnite probably also comes from its massive accessibility.
If you go with just the recommended specifications for Fortnite, then you should expect to get something like 60 frames per second at 1080p at Medium graphics settings.
- Nvidia GTX 660 or AMD Radeon HD 7870 equivalent DX11 GPU
- 2 GB VRAM
- Core i5 2.8 Ghz
- 8 GB RAM
- Windows 7/8/10 64-bit
Basic Gaming PC for Fortnite – $650
For Playing Fortnite on Medium-High Settings at 1080p with >60FPS
The assumption with this build is that it should support decent PC gameplay in Fortnite at Medium (and High with calibrating) settings at 1920×1080 with an average of 60FPS. Most standard gamers with a basic 1080P monitor (or below) with a refresh rate of say 60hz, should choose this build. You can play Fortnite on lesser performing hardware, but this should be a great starting point if you are building a shiny brand new pc build.
The beauty about Fortnite is that it’s a game that doesn’t necessarily need to be cranked all the way to full graphical settings, sure it may look flashier, but ultimately it most likely won’t give you a massive tactical advantage.
Capability: Game with Medium settings at 1920X1080
| Hardware Link | Price | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Estimated Price: | $646 | ||
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Processor with Wraith Stealth Cooler | $149.99 |  |
| Motherboard | GIGABYTE GA-AB350-Gaming 3 (AMD RYZEN AM4/ B350/ RGB Fusion/Smart Fan 5/ HDMI1.4/ M.2/ SATA 6Gbps/ USB 3.1 Type-A/ATX/ DDR4/ Motherboard) | $84.99 |  |
| Graphics Card | GTX 1050 Ti: EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti SC GAMING, 4GB GDDR5, DX12 OSD Support (PXOC) Graphics Card 04G-P4-6253-KR | $186.00 |  |
| RAM | Kingston HyperX FURY Black 8GB Kit (2x4GB) 2133MHz DDR4 Non-ECC CL14 DIMM Desktop Memory (HX421C14FBK2/8) | $83.99 |  |
| SSD | Kingston Digital, Inc. 120GB A400 SATA 3 2.5 Solid State Drive | $27.99 |  |
| Power Supply | Corsair CX Series, CX500, 500 Watt (500W) Power Supply, 80+ Bronze Certified | $57.74 |  |
| Computer Case | Corsair Carbide Series 100R Mid Tower Case | $54.99 |  |
Overview: $600 Gaming PC for Fortnite
In order to run Fortnite on Medium to High settings with over 60 frames per second, we can go with the GTX 1050 Ti graphics card as it achieves well over 60FPS on medium presets in Fortnite, just take a look at the Fortnite benchmarks from PCGAMER below where it gets around 97.8 FPS on average.
Fortnite Benchmarks – PCGAMER
The CPU included is an AMD Ryzen 5 2600, which is an overall amazing gaming cpu for its cost and can be easily overclocked for further potential. This CPU also comes with a stock Wraith cpu cooler, which is all you’ll need to run Fornite with this pc smoothly.
The motherboard chosen for this Fornite gaming pc is the GIGABYTE GA-AB350-Gaming 3, a perfect combination for the Ryzen cpu as it leaves room for overclock and has plenty of features including (see here for a quick overclock tutorial from gigabyte themselves):
- Supports AMD Ryzen™ & 7th Generation A-series / Athlon™ Processors
- Dual Channel Non-ECC Unbuffered DDR4, 4 DIMMs
- Fast 2 USB 3.1 Gen 2 with USB Type-A
- 2-Way CrossFire™ Multi-Graphics Support with Ultra Durable™ Metal Shielding over PCIe Slots
- Ultra-Fast PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2 with PCIe NVMe & SATA mode support
- ALC1220 120dB SNR HD Audio with Smart Headphone Amp
- Realtek® Gigabit LAN with cFosSpeed Internet Accelerator Software
- USB DAC-UP 2 & 2 Front USB 3.0 Ports with Adjustable Voltage
- RGB FUSION with Multi-Zone LED Light Show design
- Swappable Overlay for Accent LED
- Smart Fan 5 features 6 Temperature Sensors and 5 Hybrid Fan Headers
- GIGABYTE™ UEFI DualBIOS™
- APP Center Including EasyTune™ and Cloud Station™ Utilities
The RAM included is a kit of Kingsten HyperX Fury 8GB kit. This should be enough RAM to efficiently run Fortnite as 8GB is recommended and 4GB is the minimum.
The storage included is a Kingston Digital 120GB solid state drive SSD. This is a great start in terms of storage speed and capacity, however, if you do think you’ll need more storage right away, you could consider a 256Gb or larger SSD as well.
The power supply included is the affordable Corsair CX Series, CX500, with enough juice to power this build and for a good cost.
And finally, the pc case included this month is Corsair Carbide Series 100R, which is a case that does it’s job perfectly, fit the pc hardware you need to power the games you want to play and at a very affordable price. PC Gamer and cases vary, so do look at options that would better suite you if you want to shop around, otherwise the 100R will do the trick.
Alternatives / Upgrades to the Basic Gaming PC for Fortnite
The build above reflects one that matches just above the recommended requirements to play Fortnite on the PC and at Medium to High settings at 1920×1080 resolutions. However, if you want to pump more FPS (specifically the minimum fps expected) or make double sure your PC can play Fortnite and more games then these are some of the suggestions I would have over and above the ones in the base build.
For a great pump in FPS you could consider the same graphics card as in the below best Fortnite pc build, but this version has less memory coming in at 3GB — that is the GTX 1060 3GB graphics card. Or if you want a beefier CPU, you could consider swapping the included CPU for a Ryzen 5 2600X.
 GTX 1060 3GBGigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 Windforce OC 3GB GDDR5 Graphics Card (GV-N1060WF2OC-3GD) ($199.99) |
 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Processor with Wraith Spire Cooler ($209.99) |
Best Gaming PC for Fortnite – $1000
For the very best value per dollar spent to play Fortnite on EPIC Settings at 1080p with >60FPS
The Best Fortnite PC Build can push the performance limits of Fortnite to over 60+FPS at resolutions of 1080p. That being said, this build can also play Fortnite at 1440p resolutions, but don’t expect quite 60+ FPS all the time.
If you are going to be playing at 1440p with this build, you should set settings to High rather than EPIC, or you may need to upgrade to something like a GTX 1070 to GTX 1080 graphics card to compensate.
Powered by the Intel i5 8600K and the GTX 1060 6Gb Graphics Card
| Hardware Link | Price | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Estimated Price: | $976 (2018) | ||
| Processor | Intel BX80684I58400 8th Gen Core i5-8400 Processor
|
$204.00 |  |
| Cooler | Included | ||
| Motherboard | $103.95 |  |
|
| Graphics Card
|
RX 580: XFX Radeon RX 580 GTS Black Edition 1425MHz OC+, 8GB GDDR5, VR Ready, Dual BIOS, 3xDP HDMI DVI, AMD Graphics Card | $259.00 |  |
| RAM | $83.99 | |
|
| SSD | $75.95 |  |
|
| Power Supply | EVGA 650 GQ, 80+ GOLD 650W, Semi Modular, EVGA ECO Mode, 5 Year Warranty, Power Supply 210-GQ-0650-V1 | $74.12 |  |
| Computer Case | $89.99 |  |
Overview: The Best Gaming PC for Fortnite
For the EPIC settings Fortnite gaming pc build, we need to have at last a GTX 1060 6GB graphics card, which is what we previously included in the best foprtnite pc builds article, however we now have a better performing RX 580 for a better cost. See the below benchmarks thanks to PC GAMER, where you can see the GTX 1060 6Gb card rains in an average of 63.6 FPS on EPIC settings, perfect!
To pair with the graphics card, the included processor is an Intel i5 8400, a juicy enough CPU and is, in fact, the top performer in terms of benchmarking outperforming even the Intel i7 8700K in PC GAMERS tests.
For the motherboard included is the MSI Z370-A PRO, which includes (See more at MSI.com):
- Supports 8th Gen Intel® Core™ / Pentium® Celeron® processors for LGA 1151 socket
- Supports DDR4 Memory, up to 4000+(OC) MHz
- DDR4 Boost: Advanced technology provided by MSI OC lab to ensure maximum compatibility for overclocking performance.
- AUDIO BOOST :Reward your ears with studio grade sound quality for the most immersive audio experience
- MULTI-GPU: With Steel Armor PCI-E slots. Supports AMD 2-Way Crossfire™
- Heavy plated heatsinks：Leading heatsink design, for maximum cooling
- EZ Debug LED: Easiest way to troubleshoot
- Turbo M.2: Delivering Speeds Up to 32Gb/s, Intel Optane Memory Ready
- PCI-E Steel Armor：Protecting VGA cards against bending and EMI
- X-Boost: Great tool to boost your USB & Storage performance
- Double ESD Protection: Double layer grounding motherboard mounting holes
- Military Class 5, Guard-Pro: Latest evolution in high-quality components for best protection and efficiency
- Click BIOS 5: Award-winning BIOS with the high-resolution scalable font, favorites and search function
- VR Ready: Best virtual reality game experience without latency, reduces motion sickness
The RAM included is the affordable kit of Kingston HyperX Fury 8Gb kit, which is enough memory for this build and to play Fortnite efficiently, but there is room to add more in the future should you want to.
For this gaming pc builds storage, we have an SK Hynix 256GB SSD, which is a great value SSD. Should you want more than the 250GB, then you have that option as well.
The included power supply unit is the EVGA 650 GQ, 80+ GOLD, which has a similar quality, however, it is only semi-modular, which means some of the cords are permanently attached to the PSU (rather than detachable). If you can find the EVGA G1 for a similar or lesser cost then my suggestion would be to go with that.
The PC case included is a newer Corsair Carbide SPEC-06 RGB model, which provides solid quality and a superb look. Depending on your taste, you may be able to save some bucks on a cheaper case, however, I believe the quality of the SPEC belongs here for the cost and quality of this build.
Alternatives / Upgrades to the Best Fortnite Gaming PC Build
If you have more cash to spend, then you could consider one of the following pieces of hardware below. You can pump up your FPS in Fortnite even further by getting a better graphics card, such as the GTX 1070.
Or you could consider bumping up your RAM, while it most likely will not have very much of an effect on Fortnite performance, it may be beneficial for other tasks, so included is a 16GB kit of the Corsair LPX DDR4 ram.
GTX 1070
16GB DDR4 RAM: Final Words – Building the Gaming PC for Fortnite
When choosing the best gaming pc build for Fortnite it really depends on what your performance goals are. If you are simply building a gaming pc to just get up and playing the game, then all you need is a very basic build which can save you some dollars. However, if you do want to pump as much performance as possible, then you will have to splurge a little to get there, but again it’s nothing too crazy.
In the end, Fortnite isn’t the most demanding game in the world, and given its cartoony graphics, it doesn’t look all that bad when the settings are turned down.
Best of luck building the best gaming pc for Fortnite, feel free to ask questions in the comment section below.
If you are looking for other gaming pc build options, then check out our Best Gaming PC Builds of 2018 page.
Comments 5
Thanks mate, trying to keep spend to a minimum as who knows if the paycheques are going to keep coming in.
Looking at some of the same RAM I used on the original build, I can get 2x4GB for $60 AUD 2nd hand. Doing some research RAM seems like something you can be fairly safe buying 2nd hand? If its a reputable buyer? It would take my system up to 16GB.
Also been looking at some GTX 1060 6GB GPU’s, seem to be able to get one for around 200-225 AUD. This would be an upgrade on my system for not too many $$, does this seem reasonable? Or would you go something better to move across to a new build later? What would be the next step up from a GTX 1060 that my system could handle so I can research the price?
SSD I have been looking at what I can get new in Australia and seems like WD, Crucial, Samsung and Silicon Power somewhere in the range of 175-225 AUD. Would any of these brands be ok?
If I did these three things it would be somewhere in the range of 450-500 and I would be able to play Fortnite at much higher quality?
Thanks for all the help.
Brad
Author
Hi Brad, sorry few day delay on my end. Yeah, second hand RAM is perfectly fine to buy, so go right ahead. And a 1060 might be a bit of an upgrade, but an alternative I’d might suggest would be an RX 590 if possible, but the 1060 would work and should get over 60fps at 1080p without trouble. And for the SSD, I’d say go with WD, or Crucial or Samsung – whichever the cost is better.
Hi there Corey,
A few years ago (probably a couple more than that) you helped with a build. At the time I was mainly concerned with playing diablo 3 and starcraft 2. The computer is still serving me well but looking to upgrade and play fortnite on it if possible.
Couple of things I have been thinking about doing
– Increasing memory, is this worth it? Can I just buy 2 more sticks and add or can you not mix and match?
– Replacing SSD, its small and it is annoying trying to keep it with some spare space, thoughts on upgraded to a 1TB SSD?
I have some problems with the 2nd graphics card I bought, I think the connections are the issue. How do you recommend cleaning?
Is it worth doing these upgrades or is it a waste of money considering how old the computer is?
Thanks Brad
Details of original build
Antec Nine Hundred Tower Gaming Case with side window Black(No PSU)
OCZ ModXstream Pro 700W modular PSU
Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3
OCZ 120G Vertex III Series SSD
Seagate SATA3 2TB 7200RPM Barracuda 64mb Cache
Sapphire HD7850 OC 2G 256Bit GDDR5 PCIE3.0 DVI HDMI 2*MiniDSP
Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H MB, Intel Z77 Chipset, Socket 1155, 4x DDR3,
Intel Core i5 3570K LGA1155 CPU 3.4Ghz 6Mb Cache Ivy Bridge
I bought a 2nd Sapphire HD7850 a few years after for cheap 2nd hand and installed also
Or should i upgrade the graphics card instead? Thanks for any information!
Author
Hi Brad, welcome back! First, you say the build is still serving you well, so I would say why not just upgrade what you have. That is unless you want to play at higher resolutions, graphics settings or a higher demanding game. Increasing memory probably won’t be worth it for purely gaming on your setup, but up to 16GB is cheap in DDR3 and you can mix brands, just try to match similar speed or higher. I would for sure get a 1TB SSD, and there are better SSD’s out there now for a decent price. That way you can put ALL you play on that one SSD, and play you can always bring it over to a new build. If your crossfire graphics cards are still working, I would run with those! If you are 100% itching for a new build, you can def save costs on your psu, case, and storage for re-use and go for something like the recent $1000 or $1500 builds, but I suspect what you have is still good! And lastly, do you have a budget to upgrade? If it were me I would want to be comfortable with being able to storage all my games on one ssd, and getting the performance I want out of the games I play. Hope this helps!