Processor

We Recommend the AMD Ryzen 5 7600, as its a wallet-friendly CPU from the Ryzen 7000 series, delivering reliable gaming and production performance. It holds its own against the pricier Ryzen 5 7600X in gaming tests while maintaining power efficiency with a 65W TDP. Although it might not claim the top spot in all scenarios, its affordability, overclocking potential, and well-rounded performance make it an attractive pick for budget-conscious gamers and content creators. Those in search of a cost-effective CPU with versatile capabilities will find the Ryzen 5 7600 to be a compelling choice.

Motherboard

We recommend the MSI Pro X670-P ProSeries. You might ask yourself, why do we recommend an X670 over a B650 in a ‘budget’ build even though the X670 is more expensive? Simple. The has overclocking capabilities when compared to the B650, which does not. This means by getting an AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Unlocked, and combining it with an X670 board, you can overclock your system and get huge performance gains while on a budget. It may cost you more, however your build will be able to hold its own for a longer time than a stock Ryzen 5 7600 with a B650.

Keep in mind, when overclocking the CPU you will need better cooling. The Ryzen 5 7600 includes a cooler which will not be able to cool it if overclocked. If choosing an X670 motherboard option because you are expecting to overclock, expect to spend a little extra on a better cooler as well.

Graphics Card

We definitely recommend for this build an RTX card especially with more and more games starting to support DLSS. We also recommend spending a little more money on a better GPU if you can, as the GPU is always the first component to show its age in the long run.

We recommend the NVIDIA RTX 4060 or the 4060 Ti (if it’s within your budget). We do not recommend going any lower than an RTX 4060 as at that point we wouldn’t even consider it a Gaming PC, even if it were capable of gaming.

Power Supply

Our pick for Power Supply in this build is the 700W EVGA 700 GD, 80+ Gold. 700 Watts will be more than enough for this build even overclocked and will also leave space for future upgrades. We recommend at least 700, as the price difference between wattages is not massive and the higher wattage the more upgradable and overclockable it will be for the future. What is important to consider with power supplies is the efficiency rating. At a minimum, we recommend 80+ Gold on Gaming PCs (although you could see Bronze options as well if Gold send you over budget).

Memory

This build requires DDR5 memory, while more expensive than DDR4, it is much better and DDR4 does not work with the Ryzen 7000 series or any B650 or X670 motherboards.

Our suggestion for this build is the AMD Expo G.Skill Flare X5 Series DDR5. The way games and PC builds are going, we suggest at least 32GBs of RAM, as it’s basically the new standard when it comes to DDR5.

CPU Cooler

If you don’t intend to overclock your build, we recommend sticking with the cooler included with your CPU to save money. If you are going to overclock your build, you absolutely need to change the cooler. We recommend a 240mm AIO. Considering price vs cooling capability, we recommend the ID-COOLING Forstflow 240mm. It does not offer the best cooling, however the price vs performance value is there, especially when paired with a Ryzen 5 7600.

M.2 NVMe SSD

Our recommendation, and almost a necessity with any gaming pc these days is to get a 1TB drive at minimum. In the past, you could get away with 500GB only. These days, and for the future, at a minimum you will most likely need at least 1TB total storage. We recommend the Samsung 970 Evo M.2 NVMe. With dropping NVMe SSD prices, the 1TB model can be found for $60 and sometimes as low as $40 on sale, and the 2TB model can be found for $80. This will reduce the need for purchasing another drive (unless you absolutely need it). It offers good performance at a decent price point.

Operating System

Of course, we recommend getting Windows 11 or Windows 10. We recommend getting it directly from Microsoft and activating it. Windows 11 can be found for $150, and windows 10 can be found for $110. we never recommend just downloading Windows 11 or 10 for free and leaving it deactivated which costs you nothing and you don’t lose any key gaming features…😉

About this Build

This build is perfect if you are looking to get on the AM5 platform but also trying to save some money and keep your build somewhat future-capable. This build has no other bells and whistles such as RGB, crazy fan cooling, RGB ram, extra storage, a fancy case, etc. This PC is intended to be functional for gaming, not a piece of art on your desk.

Some additions to this build could be extra storage, more RAM, nicer case fans, a better AIO, or even going up to a Ryzen 5 7600X or an RTX 4060 Ti if it’s within your budget.

Gaming Performance

This build is more than capable of gaming at 1080p on most modern games on high settings. When playing on 1440p, you may need to lower some graphics, however you will be able to play. At 4K, you will most likely have a bad experience as it’s not powerful enough to give consistent frames.

Workstation Performance

This build will be capable of all school work and most workstation tasks. This includes Software Development, Data Science, Game Development, Photoshop, and similar. This build may struggle on complex 3D animations, advanced CAD development, and CGI video rendering. It will also struggle with rendering AI.

Future Proof?

This build is most definitely not future proof, however it is future capable. As of now, it can comfortably play new games on high settings at 1080p and can play most games at medium settings at 1440p. In the future as games develop, you may need to turn down the graphics but it will still be able to play. The 700W PSU should be more than enough to upgrade this PC way down the line.

Build Components