Build a PC / light gaming
$1,000 budget gaming PC, part by part
An AMD Ryzen 5 5500 with the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Challenger 12GB OC, and the 6 parts around them that fit it: $1,126 all in.
Esports and indie titles at 1080p, high settings, well past 60 FPS. Every part here was checked against every other for fit, and picked for 1080p frame rates per dollar. A price marked Amazon US is ScoutPrices' reading of the listing its button opens, dated; the rest are typical prices. Not a checkout total: no operating system, shipping, tax, screen, keyboard or mouse.
The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Challenger 12GB OC are well matched at 1080p.
Capable
$1,126 of $1,000
Highest light gaming score the budget allows next to this card: 6 cores, boosts to 4.2 GHz.
1 swap that still fit
- AMD Ryzen 5 4500+$11, -7 ptsBuy on Amazon
B550 board for the AM4 socket, DDR4, 2 M.2 slots, Wi-Fi.
1 swap that still fit
- ASRock B550M Pro4-$26, -12 ptsBuy on Amazon
16 GB DDR4 at 3600 MT/s CL18; 16 GB or more is the floor for light gaming.
12 GB of video memory, index 35 at 1080p; tuned for 1080p frame rates per dollar.
Rated 260 W for a chip that turbos to 88 W.
3 swaps that still fit
750 W, 80 Plus gold; this build draws about 450 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.
4 swaps that still fit
- Corsair CX650-$3, -27 ptsBuy on Amazon
- MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5same price, same scoreBuy on Amazon
- Corsair RM750e+$10, -2 ptsBuy on Amazon
- Corsair RM750e White+$10, -2 ptsBuy on Amazon
3 fans in the box, 3 is the least 278 W of parts needs behind a mesh front. Takes EATX/ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 410 mm.
2 swaps that still fit
- Montech XR White-$13, -14 ptsBuy on Amazon
- Montech XR-$13, -14 ptsBuy on Amazon
1 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe, 7,300 MB/s reads, with cache.
1 swap that still fit
- Kingston NV3 1TB-$91, -28 ptsBuy on Amazon
The same list, more or less money
$1,000 spent on a different job
The same money buys a different machine when the work changes.