The term "budget gaming PC" was absolutely worthless during the past two years. That's due to PC components (specifically graphics cards) being worth an arm and a leg. However, budget builds are back because prices are FINALLY coming back down to earth!
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - FEBRUARY 22: Internal components of an Asus gaming PC during the League of Legends World Finals on Day Two of the Girl Gamer Esports Festival at Meydan Racecourse on February 22, 2020 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Here at GameNGuide, we've given you three PC build options for mid-2022. But the thing with them is they're all pretty expensive. For this one, we're going to stretch our budget and get the best gaming PC build we can put together, all at a price of under $700 (i.e. what you'd expect to pay for a next-gen console, on average).
Before we start, a DISCLAIMER: this budget gaming PC is not going to include the price of a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and a Windows license. And all prices indicated here are subject to change without prior notice, because most of the hardware here are SECONDHAND, with the exception of a few components.
Now that that's out of the way, let's see just how much gaming performance you can squeeze out for the same price of a PS5 or Series X, shall we?
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 2060 ($200)
A used RTX 2060 is the absolute cheapest "next-gen" GPU you can get these days. We call it next-gen because it has ray tracing and DLSS - two essential technologies that can elevate both visual quality and performance to a whole new level. In a recent budget PC build video on Linus Tech Tips, they also recommended the 2060 for the sheer price-to-performance value it affords as of this moment.
In sites like eBay, a 6GB RTX 2060 can be had for as low as under $180 if you look (or bargain) hard enough. But expect to pay around $200 at most. Please, PLEASE DO NOT go for a 12GB version of this card, because all of that VRAM is useless since this kind of build is only great for 1080p.
CPU: Intel Core i3-12100 ($111)
This is one of the few brand-new parts in this build, but we had to go brand-new for this one. That's because even if a competing Ryzen 3 3100 from AMD can be had for much cheaper at under $100 (Newegg), the entry-level Alder Lake processor's four powerful P cores and 8 threads absolutely BLOW the 3100 out of the water. Here's a comparative benchmark:
According to the ToastyBros on YouTube, even the 12100 alone is enough to trade blows with older 10th gen processors from Intel, and AMD's equivalent-tier Zen 3 Ryzen 5 chips (the 5600X, specifically) is only able to bring around 10% more performance - all while costing $50-$60 more.
To cap things off, Intel's 12th gen platform makes it easy to upgrade to an i5 or i7 down the line. And Intel's upcoming 13th gen Raptor Lake chips have been confirmed to be backwards-compatible with 12th gen boards, meaning you can upgrade to a new-gen CPU without having to change your motherboard. Plus, there's full support for super-fast DDR5 memory and PCIe Gen 5 if you decide to go full next-gen next time you upgrade.
Read Also: How Does RAM Work and Affect Gaming Performance?
Motherboard, RAM, Storage, PSU Combo ($248)
For our next few important components, we're going with reliable basics.
- Board: Gigabyte H619M S2H DDR4 (no DDR5 memory for now, as our budget is limited)
- RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3200MHz
- Storage: WD BLue SN750 500GB NVMe M.2 SSD PCIe gen 3
- Power supply: EVGA 600 BR 600-watt power supply 80 Plus Bronze
Case: Rosewill FBM-06 Micro ATX Mini Tower ($49.99)
To cap things off, the case for our sub-$700 budget gaming PC doesn't have to be extremely fancy. Plus, we're putting relatively low-powered components in here, so we're going with the Rosewill FBM-06 mATX case. No RGB, no bells and whistles here - but it can house our components and get the job done. That's it.
TOTAL: $608.99
Here's a benchmark video showcasing the capabilities of the i3 and the 2060 together. You might notice that the i3 is the 12100F model and not the base 12100, but the ONLY difference between the two is the lack of integrated graphics in the F version. Baseline performance is the same, so don't worry much about it:
All in all, our budget gaming PC build offers MASSIVE bang for the buck as it allows you to play even the most demanding modern games at 1080p 60 FPS. If the game allows it, you can also even experience ray tracing for yourself. Either way, getting next-gen-ish gaming performance for less than a PS5 or Xbox Series X is an insanely good deal.
Just be sure to hunt for those discounts, and DO NOT be afraid of buying secondhand.
Related Article: Gaming PC Build Guide: Best Parts For 1080p 60 FPS Gaming In Mid-2022
This article is posted on GameNGuide
Written by RJ Pierce
