Trying to build yourself the best budget gaming PC build for $500? Well, this particular build is going to put those dollars to good use! It’s fully-equipped with an AMD R5 2600, a 4GB RX 570, 8GB of RAM, and 240GB of SSD storage!

This budget gaming PC build is packing enough power to handle your favorite games in 1080p without an issue. You won’t be playing GTA:V on ultra settings by any means, but the performance will be comparable to (usually better than) modern consoles like the Xbox One or PS4 so that you can still have a solid gaming experience.

Have a question? Ask me in the comment section or look at our PC build FAQ.

Complete Build Breakdown

This $500 gaming PC build is going to get you into modern games and playing them on mid-high settings pushing 60fps or better in 1080p. Some games are still going to give this build some issues at the highest settings, but it’s still going to outperform (or at least keep up with) next-gen consoles like the Xbox One and PS4!

This build will run games like Apex Legends, PUBG, Fallout 4, GTA:V and pretty much anything else on mid settings or better while getting great performance! Less graphically intensive games like CS:GO, DOTA, LoL, or anything along those lines, will easily run at 60-100fps+.

Case: Holding everything together is the Thermaltake Versa H18 micro-ATX case. It gives you lots of options for expansion in terms of added storage, or a more intensive cooling profile.

The H18 comes with a total of 3x front USB ports as well as 3.5mm headphone and microphone jacks. It’s also boasting a tempered glass side panel and a full PSU shroud. The compromise being it only comes with 1x 120mm fan – 1 is pretty much good enough for this build, but you might want to add 1 more.

CPU & Cooler: AMD’s R5 3600 is a complete beast when it comes to gaming, streaming, and pretty much anything else. With a sub-$200 price tag, the R5 2600 simply cannot be beaten in terms of price vs performance.

Motherboard: The default motherboard, ASRock’s B450M Pro4, is an awesome mATX option for a Ryzen-based build. It gives you support for all of the features we need with room to expand down the line, including 4x SATA3 ports, multiple case fan headers, 8x USB ports, 4 slots for DDR4 RAM, integrated audio, a built-in ethernet controller, and even M.2 NVMe SSD support. 

If you’re going to be running Windows 11, it will be compatible with this motherboard as it’s loaded with a TPM module as all modern motherboards are. 

Graphics Card: The 4GB RX 570 is a budget beast when you take into consideration it’s super-low power requirements and very reasonable price point. PowerColor’s Red Dragon RX 570 4GB is definitely no exception and is a great choice for your dedicated graphics card!

RAM: 8GB of RAM is the perfect amount for a gaming PC at this level. With that in mind, this build is running 2x4GB sticks of Corsair Vengeance LPX at 3000MHz. This leaves you with lots of room for future expansion and if you wanted to run more than 8GB that’s completely possible – when you do upgrade try to stick to the same speed as your RAM will automatically change its speed to match your slowest stick.

Power Supply: EVGA’s 500 BR power supply is a good, reliable, power supply. It’s rated to 80+ bronze and comes with a 3-year warranty + 24/7 technical support from EVGA. As the 500 BR is a non-modular unit, all cables are permanently attached. If you’d prefer a semi-modular supply, I’d suggest checking out the 500 BQ instead – it’s a little more expensive but objectively much better.

Storage: When it comes to storage, there’s a Kingston A400 480GB SSD in this build by default. Beyond that, you can easily add up to 3 more drives based on what the motherboard will support. All you’ll need are extra SATA data cables and the additional drives themselves.

Peripherals

Operating System 

WiFi

Because the vast majority of motherboards do not include WiFi – like the one used in this build – if you have to use WiFi then you’re also going to need a WiFi adapter. 

There’re a plethora of options available when it comes to picking WiFi adapters and it can be a relatively confusing process without first knowing what you need… Which is often just as confusing as picking the adapter in the first place.

To make it simple, you pretty much want an adapter on the AC protocol – it’s backward compatible with the previous protocols and will pretty much work regardless what kind of router you’re running. The speed you should get is based on both the speed of your internet connection and the capabilities of your router; somewhere around AC1300 is usually a safe bet. 

Keep in mind that your router and WiFi adapter won’t speed up your internet connection and going for the highest numbers won’t mean the lowest ping. Even N900 (basic) WiFi adapters and routers are capable of transferring data at much higher rates than the average internet connection requires.

Conclusion

This build is absolutely over-the-top when it comes to spending $500 on your own custom gaming PC. It’s a little more pricey than your average next-gen console, but it’s also way more versatile in terms of what you can do.

When it comes down to it, this budget beast is going to outpace next gen consoles by giving you noticeably higher frame rates and better graphics (more often than not). If you wanted even more gaming potential, your best bet would be upgrading the graphics card to something more powerful like a GTX 1660 or RX 580.

Once your build is all put together, you might find that a little extra customization is in order. Once you’re at that stage, you might want to wander over to my post about 3 of the easiest ways to customize your PC.

All-in-all, you really couldn’t ask for a better build on a $500 budget, it’s going to completely blow your mind when you start loading up your favorite games! 1080p 60fps is well within reach and I think you’ll find that this build has WAY more power than you’d expect!

If you have any questions or comments about this build, don’t hesitate to ask in the comments!