Planning Your $500 Gaming PC Build Console Killer:
If you are even planning on building the cheapest possible gaming pc that will be better than purchasing a gaming console, then you should at least try to aim for standard HD performance capabilities, as you'd want to at least feel you are building something worthwhile and able to play standard pc games at 1080p resolutions with well over 30 frames per second at low to medium settings (minimally). Otherwise, you could just opt for a gaming console of some sorts.
Why would you even consider building a pc before simply purchasing a console? I'm only going to briefly touch on this and it will wholeheartedly be some of personal judgement, but there are plenty of factual reasons. By going with a PC, whether more expensive or similarly priced as a console, is simply a much more versatile machine that you can virtually do anything from gaming, using any software you want, you can learn how to program any software you want, or you could write a crappy college essay on that Shakespeare play you just read. It really isn't hard to build your own pc (basically just plugging a bunch of pieces of hardware together and following some instructions). And once you 've built your PC you can upgrade it in the future or re-use old hardware pieces again in a future build. Trust me, it's way more worth it than purchasing a gaming console -- and if you're simply gaming on console because that's where your buds are, then simply send this article and get them building as well.
Getting Started with Planning a Cheap Under $500 Gaming PC Console Killer
So now you're wondering, so now what? Well, it really comes down to finding the cheapest possible hardware that is compatible, the best value for what you spend and what's easiest to come by. The easiest way, in my opinion, is to simply start with trying to find the hardware that can minimally accomplish our goal of having a capable gaming PC that actually plays games. That is a gaming pc that is capable of very minimally 30+FPS at 1080p on low to medium settings in most of all games on the market. You could do some benchmark research and find that there is still hardware that isn't currently available new, but you could buy used and this is a viable strategy (eBay is a good source of used CPUs, GPUs and other hardware), however, in this case, we are going to be looking at only new hardware.
Under $500 Gaming PC Console Killer (that includes a monitor, keyboard & mouse)
Performance: Game at 1080p resolutions with low-medium presets
This extremely affordable gaming pc build comes in well under $500 and includes all the hardware you need to get up and running with PC gaming at standard HD resolutions, with plenty of upgrade room to make this into an even better gaming pc when you can afford to.
*This PC Build is powered by the AMD Ryzen 3 2200G APU | Hardware Link | Price | Image |
|---|
| Processor | | $98.89 |  |
| Cooler | *Included: The CPU comes with a Wraith Stealth Cooler | -Included | |
| Motherboard | GIGABYTE GA-AB350M-Gaming 3 (AMD Ryzen AM4/ B350/ Smart Fan 5/ HDMI/M.2/ SATA/USB 3.1 Type-A/Micro ATX/ DDR4/ Motherboard) | $74.99 |  |
| Graphics Card | *this pc build uses the onboard graphics on the AMD Ryzen 3 2200G, for better performance you can add a discrete graphics card now or later | - Included | |
| RAM | | $94.14 |  |
| SSD | Kingston A400 SSD 120GB SATA 3 2.5" Solid State Drive SA400S37/120G - Increase Performance | $28.99 |  |
| Power Supply | EVGA 450 BT, 80+ Bronze 450W, 3 Year Warranty, Power Supply 100-BT-0450-K1 | $29.99 |  |
| Computer Case | Rosewill Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case, Steel and plastic computer case with 1 x 80mm rear fan, Top I/O ports: 1x USB3.0, 2x USB 2.0 and Audio In/Out ports (SRM-01) | $26.99 |  |
| Mouse | M602A-RGB Griffin by Redragon | $14.99 |  |
| Keyboard | AmazonBasics Gaming Keyboard | $19.22 |  |
| Monitor | BenQ GW2270 21.5" 1080p LED Monitor,Low Blue Light Mode, True 8-bit Color Performance, VESA Mountable, D-Sub DVI-D | $89.00 |  |
| Estimated Price: | $477 |
Overview | Yes it's possible to build a cheap under $500 Gaming PC with a keyboard, mouse, and monitor
The above build features all the hardware you need to get up and running in an affordable, cheap gaming pc build. The processor is an
AMD Ryzen 3 2200G, which is a light and nimble APU that is a "good option for a budget gaming pc build" - pcgamer What's an "APU"? -- aka the "AMD Accelerated Processing Unit is a processor designed to act as a central processing unit (CPU) as well as a graphics accelerator (GPU). You get a combined piece of hardware. In this build, we get to save on purchasing a discrete or separate graphics card as we technically don't need one. One advantage of this is that we save some cash, and when you save for a better graphics card in the future you still have the option of adding one! I double any console is capable of such things? The motherboard being used is a
MicroATX GIGABYTE GA-AB350M-Gaming 3, an affordable B350 chipset motherboard that supports the APU in this build. Yes this is a MicroATX sized motherboard, so it is more compact in size, so we will have a case to fit. The GIGABYTE GA-AB350M-Gaming 3 is a budget, nimble board that most likely does everything you need and has the following specifications (see full specifications at gigabyte.com):
- 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
- Ultra-Fast PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2 with PCIe NVMe & SATA mode support
- High-Quality Audio Capacitors and Audio Noise Guard with LED Trace Path Lighting
- Realtek® Gigabit LAN with cFosSpeed Internet Accelerator Software
- Smart Fan 5 features 5 Temperature Sensors and 3 Hybrid Fan Headers
- GIGABYTE UEFI DualBIOS™
- APP Center Including EasyTune™ and Cloud Station™ Utilities
This cheap pc build comes with a standard kit of 8Gb of RAM -- a package of two 4GB sticks of
8GB Kingston Technology HyperX Fury to be exact. 8Gb is plenty for most of what this builds will do, so there really is no reason to upgrade this unless you find you need to later on.
Did you know that you can overclock the AMD Ryzen 3 2200G APU? Here's a guide to do so with the included motherboard by Gigabyte.
There is 120Gb of included storage with the
Kingston A400 SSD -- 120GB not enough you say? Well for under $30 it sure is! And if you need more either add another later or simply choose a larger size. The
EVGA - BT 450W 80+ Bronze Certified is nothing too special, but it is a decent budget box that will do the job for cheap and is a reputable PSU. For a pc case, we have to choose a MicroATX compatible case since the motherboard we chose is that size (you could purchase a larger case, but no reason to in my opinion). The case chosen is a
Rosewill - SRM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case. This is a super compact, very basic pc case that is a mini tower -- taking up only as much space as it needs too.
The Peripherals included in the under $500 cheap gaming pc build
Yes, that's right, this whole article boasts that it is possible to get ALL THE HARDWARE you need for that gaming pc build for under $500. This includes: A very affordable Gaming Mouse, a
Griffin by Redragon that has everything you need to get gaming with a mouse. Including programmable buttons, 7200 dpi and a colourful gamer look. You can get slightly cheaper, but do try to aim for around 7200dpi or higher. The keyboard is a simple "
AmazonBasics Gaming Keyboard" -- yes an Amazon Basics piece of hardware. This is an affordable gaming keyboard that actually looks great Now this is a mechanical like keyboard, so it isn't legitimately mechanical, but feels like it and is a little quieter. This Amazon Basics gaming keyboard has versatile lighting, anti-ghosting, and even programmable macros -- not too shabby for a budget gaming keyboard. And finally, we have a budget 1080p monitor for well under $100 -- the BenQ GW2270, a 21.5" monitor at standard HD resolutions, it's all you need to get up and running. Looking to save on a monitor or get something larger? You could also connect to a TV, or look in local classified for individuals getting rid of their old monitors, but this really is all you need.
Based on original article: https://newbcomputerbuild.com/newb-computer-build/build-a-gaming-pc-with-monitor-keyboard-and-mouse-under-500/
