$500 - parts list
A very powerful build for this price point. This is an entry level 1440p / high refresh 1080p machine for a little over $500 pre-tax ($525).
CPU, GPU, RAM, and Motherboard ($215)
Ryzen's AM4 platform is still great for a budget conscious builder who wants to best they can afford right now, and its most appropriate CPU for this build is the Ryzen 5 5500. The Asus A520M board is fairly basic in features but it does come with WIFI built in and the appropriate ARGB header for our case fans to connect to, allowing the fans colors and settings to be controlled directly from the desktop with the Asus software. Our RAM is also the most basic 16GB (2x8) kit of DDR4 at 3200mhz, which hits that nice price to performance balance we are looking for at $750. We want the bulk of our money going to our GPU.
GPU ($200)
This week's deals aren't as great as prior weeks, but we can get a very solid card for the money. Intel's ARC A750 is jut as good as Nvidia's RTX 3060 in most games, and Intel continues to improve their drivers with each new update. This is an incredible card for $200, and you aren't going to find anything even remotely close in terms of value from Team Green or Team Red at this price range.
Storage, PSU, and Case ($110)
The case is the Cooler Master MATX case that has a decent build quality but no frills. It will fit our components and if you want to add fans you can, but we are already over budget for now.
The PSU is a 600w unit that is again very basic, but it has the two necessary PCIE cables for the Intel ARC A750 to be powered up and meets the minimum recommendations for what you'd want for a system like this.
Here is probably where we are making some compromises. SSD prices have been on the rise and are expected to continue. Just a year ago you could get 512GB for about $10 less. We try to leave some room in the budget for sales tax considerations and because of that, we are actually going with a 2.5" SATA III SSD. Most people will not notice the speed difference, but if that extra $10 saved helps clear some headroom in your budget or makes that 7700XT more doable, it is well worth it.
So that's it for this build. Want it, but don't want to build it yourself? We build PCs! We will charge a $50 build fee plus shipping to get it sent out to you. And even better, we offer warranty support (a full two years!), so if something goes wrong, send it back, and we will fix it. Click customs below, and let us know you want this exact build. If the parts are still available, or we have the same ones (or comparable/better substitutes), we will get back to you asap.