How much do PC building YouTubers make?
This page looks at the tech & software reviews band ($4–$15 RPM from ads) and applies it to the real view counts of the top 5 videos ranking for "how to build a pc step by step".
David BattersbyData as of The short answer
PC Building channels sit in the Tech & software reviews band, commonly reported at $4–$15 RPM for videos over 8 minutes. That is $4–$15 of ad revenue per 1,000 views, after YouTube's share.
That is the parent category's band, not a PC building-specific figure: YouTube publishes no RPM data, so the honest unit is the commonly reported spread for the category, with the reasons it varies stated below. This is ad revenue only. Sponsorships, affiliates and memberships come on top.
What the top 5 PC building videos would earn from ads
The top 5 videos YouTube ranks for “how to build a pc step by step”, their public view counts, and what the tech & software reviews band would pay for those views if every view were monetized and paid at the band's edges. A hypothetical per video, not what these channels earned.
Top 5 YouTube results for “how to build a pc step by step” · US ·
| # | Video | Length | Views (public) | Ad revenue at $4–$15 RPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🛑 How to Build a PC 🛑 Step By Step Ryzen & Intel 🛑 How To Build a Gaming PCPC Builder | 19:22 | 1.9M | $7,476–$28,035 |
| 2 | How To Build A PC - Step by Step (Full Build Guide)TechSource | 1:05:01 | 18M | $72,095–$270,355 |
| 3 | How to Build a Gaming PC in 2026! 🛠️ [Full Tutorial w/ Assembly, BIOS, Drivers & Windows]GeekaWhat | 32:39 | 985K | $3,941–$14,780 |
| 4 | The Easiest PC Building Guide EverAman | 31:18 | 640K | $2,560–$9,600 |
| 5 | First Person View POV PC BUILD Guide!Linus Tech Tips | 34:54 | 3.9M | $15,758–$59,094 |
View counts are the public figures at snapshot time. The range assumes every view was monetized at the band's low or high edge; real payouts fall inside it, vary by month, and exclude non-ad income.
PC building YouTube earnings calculator
The band is preselected. If you already know your RPM from YouTube Studio, tick the box and use your own figures instead.
Estimated ad revenue
Per month
$400 – $1,500
Per year
$4,800 – $18,000
Based on 100K views/month at an RPM of $4.00 – $15 per 1,000 views (tech & software reviews).
This is a range, on purpose. YouTube publishes no RPM data, so nobody — us included — can tell you what a given video will earn. The same channel routinely sees its RPM double between January and December, and shift again with viewer country, video length and which ad formats are switched on. Any calculator that hands you one exact number is guessing with more confidence than the data supports.
This covers ad revenue only, and only for views on a channel already accepted into the YouTube Partner Program. Sponsorships, affiliate links, memberships, Super Thanks and merch are usually the larger half of a working creator's income and aren't counted here.
Why Shorts are left out of PC building earnings
Videos of 3 minutes or under are treated as Shorts and left out when the top 5 is captured. 5 of the 5 run 8 minutes or longer, the threshold for mid-roll ads.
Shorts are paid from a separate pool at roughly $0.03–$0.15 RPM regardless of niche, so a Short with the same view count as a video above would earn a small fraction of the range shown. Pick "Shorts (any niche)" in the calculator to see it, and read how Shorts monetization works for the mechanics.
Why PC building YouTube earnings vary so much
PC building sits in the tech and software reviews band, the third highest of the thirteen categories, because component makers and retailers advertise heavily against hardware content. The spread inside the band is driven by length and audience.
The top five videos here run from 19 to 65 minutes, which allows many mid-roll placements, and the 65-minute TechSource guide has passed 18 million views. Viewers researching a build are also close to a purchase, which advertisers pay for.
A tutorial channel with mostly beginner traffic from lower-spending regions will land toward the bottom of the range.
How PC building channels reach YouTube monetization faster
YouTube Partner Program thresholds (per YouTube's eligibility page): ad revenue sharing needs 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days. The earlier fan-funding tier needs 500 subscribers, 3 public uploads in 90 days, and 3,000 watch hours or 3 million Shorts views.
The five videos ranking for this query together hold about 25 million views, and the smallest, a 31-minute guide from late 2025, is at about 640,000. Watch time is the easy part in this niche: a 30-minute build video watched to the halfway mark banks fifteen minutes toward the 4,000-hour Partner Program threshold.
The hard part is the reason to click when TechSource and Linus Tech Tips already rank. The comments give you one: nobody finishes the job.
Post-build Windows and driver setup, BIOS updates and a no-POST checklist are the most requested follow-ups. VidHalo shows you the exact video to make to grow toward the threshold faster.
VidHalo shows you the exact video to make to grow toward the threshold faster.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between RPM and CPM?+
CPM is what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions, before YouTube's cut and before videos that showed no ad. RPM is what lands in the creator's account per 1,000 video views, after all of that. RPM is the number that turns views into money, so it's the one used here. It's also why you should never multiply a CPM by your views.
Why can't you tell me an exact figure?+
Because nobody outside YouTube Studio can. RPM varies with viewer country, season (Q4 is often double Q1), video length (mid-rolls need 8+ minutes), which ad formats are on, and advertiser demand on the day. Any page or calculator that gives you one exact number is guessing. We give the commonly reported range for the parent category and show it applied to real view counts, so the arithmetic is transparent.
Does a 65-minute build guide earn more than a 20-minute one?+
Longer videos allow more mid-roll placements, so at the same view count they usually do. The 65-minute video in this set also has the most views by far, which compounds it. Length only helps if viewers stay.
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Free tools for this step
Go deeper
- How to Make Money on YouTube: 9 Strategies That WorkNine ways YouTube channels actually earn — affiliate, sponsorship, ads, memberships and more — ordered by when each one starts working, not by what it eventually pays.
- YouTube Shorts Monetization: How It Works in 2026How YouTube Shorts monetization really works: the pooled revenue share, the 45% split, the views you need to qualify, and why Shorts pay so much less than long-form.
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