Can you get a computer ready to play games or do stuff for less than 600 dollars?
Can you get a computer ready to play games or do stuff for less than 600 dollars?
Hey guys. I decided to wait until I can help my little sister build her own PC first. Please comment on any build ideas if someone just wants to play games at 1080p resolution. We're trying to keep the build price under $600. She got all A's in school so I told her I would match whatever money she has. This will be my first time building a PC, but I also want to show her how it all looks like so we can learn together lol. Oh, and she loves the RGB stuff, so let's go for more colors! Any advice is super helpful too, and thanks so much from me. Here is the build I made so far, just know that I'm new to this, but we could definitely make it better! https://pcpartpicker.com/user/3rikmichae...iew=LWzdxr
Looks good here. Think about this CPU: a AMD Ryzen 5 5600 that runs at 3.5 GHz and has 6 cores for $128. You can find it on Amazon for the same price, plus shipping, taxes, and discounts when they happen. The best part is you picked these parts based on their lowest prices from a computer list called PCPartPicker. This page was made by them on April 2nd, 2025 at 10:44 PM EDT.
Actually, it's saying something is wrong with how things match up when I pick this one. 😟
Good call ^^ Here is the list of parts for our PC. The CPU we picked is an Intel Core i5-12400F, a 6-core processor that runs at 2.5 GHz and costs $110.49 on Amazon. We chose these items from their pricing tools to get the best deal. Our motherboard is an ASRock B660M Pro RS Micro ATX that fits our CPU and also costs $109.99 on Amazon. When we add everything up, the total cost for all parts comes out to $220.48. The prices listed here already include shipping, taxes, and any discounts that were available when we made this choice. This list was created by PCPartPicker back on April 2nd, 2025 at 1:09 PM EDT.
The setup looks okay right now, but if I had to change anything in your list, it would look like this: CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 running at 3.5 GHz with a 6-core processor ($128.00 on Amazon) Cooler: Thermalright Assassin X Refined SE RGB V2 cooling fan providing 66.17 CFM airflow ($18.69 on Amazon) Motherboard: MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI Micro ATX AM4 board ($99.99 on Amazon) RAM: Silicon Power GAMING 16 GB (two blocks of 8 GB) DDR4-3600 with low latency CL18 sticks ($27.97 from Newegg sellers) Storage: Klevv CRAS C910 500 GB M.2 NVMe drive for fast data speeds ($34.99 on Amazon) Storage: Klevv CRAS C910 2 TB M.2 NVMe drive to store your big games ($94.99 on Amazon) Graphics card: ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6600 with 8GB of video memory ($209.99 from Newegg) Case: Zalman T3 PLUS Micro ATX tower case that fits in a smaller box ($38.90 from Newegg sellers) Power supply: MSI MAG A650GL 650 Watt power unit with gold certification for safety and reliability ($79.98 on Amazon) Total cost comes to $733.50 after shipping, taxes, and any special deals you might get. This whole thing was made using PCPartPicker back in April 2025 at 1:00 PM EDT today. The small SSD holds your operating system, apps, and game launchers. The big drive is where all your games live. You're looking at a great deal for the Ryzen platform with this dual-channel RAM stick because it has low latency and runs smooth. I added a stronger power supply to make sure you can upgrade later if needed and used a case that's compact so things fit well together. I think putting a Micro ATX board in an ATX tower looks weird, but that was just my opinion. On the BIOS issue from PCPartPicker, check this link for more details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYL88wjbmbI while you look at the flashing button on your motherboard back. For motherboards specifically, do you really need PCI slots on the VRM board? If not, skip that part and grab a VDH instead since it has PCIe lanes. Finally, to finish up the build, I recommend getting a better power supply so you have room for future upgrades like extra GPU cards or more RAM down the road. This post moved from the "Opinions" section to the "Systems" section as requested.
I would definitely check out the LGA 1700 platform if you want a budget choice. Even though I love the AM4 socket, it doesn't have as much room for upgrades in the future like LGA 1700 does. I upgraded your base setup and tweaked the motherboard, ram, ssd, and psu options. It costs about $20 more, but it has 32GB of better quality RAM that runs faster, a better ssd, a bigger power supply, and a slightly better motherboard. The cpu is basically the same though; both the 12400F and Ryzen 5 5600X are pretty similar. It is also definitely stretching the $600 mark, but you could get a motherboard with no wifi, drop down to 16GB RAM, and spend about $40 less. I don't recommend that, but it saves money now and you would always upgrade the ram later, and hardwire or pick up a cheap wifi card.
Thanks a million, everyone. I'm still not sure which one to pick, but I'll talk to my sister and figure it out from there. Since we're just getting started, your help makes us feel super welcome and appreciated!