PC Build and Multi-Monitor Desk Accessories Under 100 Dollars

Three of these are for inside the case, one is for the desk, and only one of the four is optional depending on what you already own. Here's what's actually worth buying if you're building or upgrading a PC on a budget under 100 dollars per part.

The power supply is the one you don't skimp on

The MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 750W Fully Modular Power Supply, 80+ Gold, ATX 3.1 is $62.99. A 750-watt 80+ Gold rating covers most single-GPU gaming builds with headroom for a mid-range graphics card, and ATX 3.1 compliance means it has the connector standard current-generation cards expect, including native PCIe 5.0 power delivery. Fully modular means you only plug in the cables your build actually uses, which matters more than it sounds like once you're routing cables behind a tempered-glass side panel. At this price, a 750W 80+ Gold unit from a name brand is a legitimately good buy: PSUs are the one component where "cheap and unbranded" causes real damage if it fails, so this is not the part to save money on by going generic.

Cooling: only buy this if you're not already watercooled

The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Spectrum V3 ARGB CPU Air Cooler is $20.99, and the Hyper 212 line has been the default budget air cooler for over a decade for a reason: it handles mid-range CPUs without throttling and the V3 Spectrum revision adds ARGB lighting without changing the thermal performance that made the original popular. At under 21 dollars, it's cheap enough that there's no real argument for a worse cooler at a similar price. The catch: if your CPU is a higher-end chip pulling serious wattage under sustained load, a single-tower air cooler like this one is not going to keep up the way a 240mm or 280mm AIO liquid cooler would. For anything below flagship-tier CPUs, it's the correct call.

Running two or four machines off one monitor

The 4K@144Hz DisplayPort KVM Switch, 4 Computers 1 Monitor, DP 1.4 with IR Remote is $86.99. This is the odd one out here, since it's not a build component, it's a desk tool: it lets one monitor, one keyboard, and one mouse serve up to four separate computers, switching between them with the included IR remote instead of physically swapping cables. DisplayPort 1.4 support means it passes through 4K at 144Hz, which matters if your build includes a high-refresh 4K monitor and you don't want the KVM to be the bottleneck. This only earns its price if you actually run multiple machines: a gaming PC and a work laptop, or a build PC next to a NAS. If you have exactly one computer, skip it entirely.

The network piece people forget to budget for

The NETGEAR Nighthawk C7000 Cable Modem and WiFi Router Combo, AC1900 is $69.99. AC1900 tops out lower than newer WiFi 6 hardware, so if you're chasing the fastest possible wireless speeds for competitive online gaming, this isn't that. What it is: a combined modem-and-router unit that replaces two separate rental fees from your cable provider, which on most plans pays for itself within a few months. For a new build where the internet connection is wired directly via ethernet anyway, the WiFi spec matters less than the modem doing its job reliably.

Where the money actually goes on a budget build

Add the PSU and cooler together and you're already committing real money before the case, motherboard, CPU, RAM, or GPU are even in the picture: worth knowing before you set a total budget, since these two "supporting" parts eat more of it than most first-time builders expect. A 750W 80+ Gold unit and a proven air cooler are not the parts to cut corners on to free up cash for the GPU; a failed PSU can take other components down with it, and a cooler that can't keep up throttles the CPU you just paid for.

What to actually buy first

If you're building from scratch: PSU and cooler are not optional, buy both. The KVM switch and the router are situational, buy the KVM only if multiple computers are sharing a desk, buy the router only if you're currently renting equipment from your ISP or replacing dying hardware. Skipping the situational half of this list and reinvesting that money into a better GPU or more RAM is a reasonable call for most single-PC builds.

One more thing worth flagging: the KVM switch and the router solve different problems and buyers sometimes conflate them. The Nighthawk C7000 gets your internet connection into the house and onto your network. The DisplayPort KVM switch does nothing for internet speed, it only lets one screen and one set of peripherals serve multiple already-networked machines. Neither substitutes for the other.

Have a specific build in mind? Reach out and we can confirm current stock before you order.