Best budget gaming PC under $500 2024 – Build a cheap gaming PC

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Best gaming PC under $500

Building a gaming PC for under $500 can be fairly challenging as you need to squeeze every last dollar out of your budget to reach an acceptable level of performance. First-time custom PC builders can find the entire process a little intimidating, don’t worry, however, we’ve created this easy-to-follow guide to the best gaming PC under $500. It will ensure you have all the components you need to create the perfect entry-level gaming rig to suit your needs. We made sure that with this affordable build, you’ll still be able to enjoy a wide selection of games in 1080p.

$500 can go a long way these days. Long gone are the days of console-only options and APUs, you can now get a PC for under $500 featuring a dedicated GPU. While a lot of components that make up this computer are considered entry-level and from previous generations, we still think they hold up well today, however, don’t expect the world out of this little entry-level machine.

You can also check out our budget gaming PC page for recommendations on builds that suit a variety of lower budgets. Whilst these PCs won’t be running Cyberpunk at 4k, they do offer an excellent price-to-performance ratio.

$500 Gaming PC build of the month

This is the best $500 build you can get right now, we’re pretty sure of that, we’ve analyzed the market and pulled together a list of components along with a dedicated GPU for the low price of $500. You can expect incredible 1080p performance even in the most intensive games with a few graphical tweaks, the RX 6600 can hold its own when it comes to frame rendering. The Core i3-12100F gives you all the budget performance you need for everyday tasks, and the 4.50 GHz single-core speed gives it an edge in lighter gaming workloads.

The reason we have chosen to go with Intel for this build is we feel that Intel processors have better future-proofing opportunities and slightly better budget gaming performance. AMD is in a little bit of a weird position right now for budget gamers, as opting for AM4 will leave a hefty upgrade price for future you to worry about, but AM5 is far too expensive for the price.

How we test

We build our custom gaming PCs from scratch to make sure all the parts we recommend work well together and fit into our PC case of choice. We take all the hard work out of the equation so you get the best performance possible for the price range.

Most of the PCs we build are used in our office for everyday work, so they are subject to rigorous testing daily. While we test, we also run benchmarks to see how well our builds perform, making sure temperature levels are stable and performance is as it should be.

 

The WePC experts that worked on this build

Contributing Writer
Jack Goodall

Jack Goodall

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As a Junior Staff Writer, Jack is involved in writing and maintaining a bunch of hardware guides & reviews. With an interest in PC gaming, he now focuses on writing about monitors, headsets, and more.

Custom Build Specialist
Team Shaun

Shaun Conroy

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Shaun is a gaming enthusiast and computer science graduate who has been working with computers for the last 15 years. He took a shine to competitive FPS back in the mid-2000s and hasn’t looked back since.

Best prebuilt gaming PC under $500

So, you might have gotten this far and are worried that the PC building aspect might be a little too involved for you, maybe you don’t have the time, nor the patience, well there is a solution. Buy a prebuilt gaming PC.

Prebuilts are plug-and-play and ready to go. The issue with a prebuilt, as many will already know, is you pay a premium for the luxury of not having to assemble the parts yourself. So, ideally, you’d want to build an affordable gaming PC yourself and save money in the process (or get better value for your hard-earned cash).

However, if you really aren’t comfortable even trying to build your gaming PC, which is perfectly fine by the way, we have selected a best-prebuilt option for under $500, the STGAubron Gaming PC with RTX 2060 GPU.

The components are a few generations old and not quite as modern as our custom build, but it is of course ready to plug in and play and is suitable for entry-level 1080p gaming.

Best gaming PC under $500 component details

  • Last Updated - Feb 23, 2024

If you want a good gaming PC for under $500, you’re in the right place. Now, let’s hop into the belly of this beast.

Coolermaster Masterbox Q300L case

Our $500 custom gaming PC build

Our cheap custom-built gaming PC for under $500 is one of the best for those looking for a more affordable gaming experience. While the components in this build are considered entry-level, they still provide excellent levels of performance for the price. And at this price point, every bit of performance matters.

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Intel’s 12th gen series is no longer the newest, best CPU generation, but they still make use of current the latest LGA 1700 socket, giving PC builders a solid entry-level option. The Core I3-12100F is our pick here.

This processor boasts 4 cores and 8 threads, clocked at a base speed of 3.3GHz, and can be boosted to 4.3GHz. The 12100F has decent single-core performance, making it ideal for an entry-level gaming PC. The multi-threaded nature of this CPU also makes it better equipped for when it comes to general computing tasks.

For a custom build at this price range, the MSI Pro H610M-G motherboard is pretty much perfect. It might not be the best motherboard, but it still offers many desirable features and is ready for upgrades when the time comes. You aren’t going to get a better LGA 1700 motherboard at this price range anyway. Motherboards shouldn’t directly affect gaming performance at all, but they still can indirectly. For instance, some motherboards can offer a better power delivery system than others, which supports a higher overclock on the CPU, allowing for better performance.

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No cooler has been selected, as the Core i3-12100F comes with a Stock cooler.

This Teamgroup memory kit offers 16GB of DDR4 RAM, which should be more than enough for most gaming and multitasking workloads. It displays solid value for money and the slight bump in clock speed naturally makes it preferable over a lot of entry-level DDR4 RAM kits you’ll find.

XFX Speedster SWFT 210 RX 6600

XFX Speedster SWFT 210 RX 6600

Core Clock Speed

2491MHz Boost, 1626MHz Base

Stream Processors

1792

Memory Size

8GB GDDR6

Dimensions

241mm x 131mm x 41mm

PSU Required

550W

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XFX Speedster SWFT 210 RX 6600

XFX Speedster SWFT 210 RX 6600

Core Clock Speed

2491MHz Boost, 1626MHz Base

Stream Processors

1792

Memory Size

8GB GDDR6

Dimensions

241mm x 131mm x 41mm

PSU Required

550W

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We can just about squeeze in a dedicated GPU for under $500, and the best GPU for the job has to be the RX 6600. The 6600 is considered an entry-level model but it will net you some decent results when playing in 1080p, no matter the settings. While you should limit your expectations when playing AAA games, this card thrives when playing esports titles – especially if you’re one of those who likes to limit the resolution to squeeze out every drop of FPS possible.

The generous 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM will come in handy when loading in higher resolution textures, and paired with FSR, you can expect to get some surprisingly impressive results for the money. AMD reckons you can get almost 150FPS in the likes of Battlefield 5 and Resident Evil Village with the RX 6600, which makes this GPU one of the best bang-for-the-buck GPUs around in our opinion.

We tested the RX 6600 vigerously in our review, and it stacked up well against when playing games in 1080p. This GPU is truly the pinnicle of budget friendly performance, especially at 1080p.

As with most builds around this budget, compromises have to be made to ensure the performance is up to scratch. With our $500 custom build, the storage capacity has taken a slight hit. We had to opt for the WD Blue SN570 500GB SSD that offers rapid load/boot times. This size will be enough for your operating system and a couple of your favorite modern titles, however, you may want to expand on this soon. You can always shell out an extra $20 or so to secure an M.2 SSD for faster speeds, or a bigger SSD for more storage.

 

The Cooler Master Q300L PC Case is a brilliant example of affordability. Is this going to win any awards? Probably not, however, when it comes to shelves offering reasonable out-of-the-box airflow and a user-friendly design. It’s a pretty rock-solid case that should last you for the foreseeable future with one 120mm case fan pre-installed. It may not be one of our best PC cases, but it certainly offers everything you’d need for this build at an affordable price tag. You may want to buy an additional fan for the rear of the case to support with airflow but it isn’t crucial until you upgrade your GPU.

 

 

Unfortunately, we were unable to equip our $500 build with a modular PSU, however, they simply are not needed for the majority of system builders. This Thermaltake Toughpower GX2 600W PSU will power this machine efficiently for years to come. 600W is more than required but that gives you a nice amount of headroom for quieter operation and future upgrades.

Coolermaster Masterbox Q300L case

Our $500 custom gaming PC build

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Things to consider

Now you’ve taken a look at our selection of components, you should have a pretty good idea of whether or not this build suits your needs. We’ve discussed exactly what this build offers in terms of performance, and have gone into more detail on how each of the hardware choices impacts this build. Now, let’s go over the areas that need to be considered before buying this build.

What you get for your $500

One of the most important areas to consider before any PC purchase is your budget. By that, we mean will you be able to build a PC that meets your performance requirements with the funds you have set aside. $500 is a decent chunk of money, and whilst a $500 gaming PC won’t be powering through 4K at 100FPS, it represents a simpler PC that gives you incredible value for money. If you need more power, it’s always better to save up and shoot for something like a $1000 gaming PC. Buying the parts now and then upgrading later will cost you more in the long run.

As you can imagine, putting together the best custom PC build for under $500 was no easy task. Many compromises were made along the way to be able to extract the maximum level of performance out of this build. It is entirely possible to craft a gaming PC with a dedicated GPU at this price point. The performance difference between the $400 and the $500 builds is considerable as you move away from integrated graphics. Around the $500 mark, large M2 SSDs and 16GB of RAM are now achievable.

The case isn’t our favorite on the market, but it’s a great affordable option. Even though the case may not be one of the best, we still opted for one that was user-friendly for first-time builders without sacrificing airflow and the Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L fits this perfectly. It’s incredibly important to us that we select user-friendly components that make building a PC as simple as possible. 

Performance

You can expect this $500 build to handle 1080p/60FPS gaming across a few AAA titles with higher settings. This RX 6600 will also handle a lot of popular esports games with ease, giving you a wide variety of entry-level options. High FPS is obtainable in esports titles with lowered settings, so overall this budget $500 PC is very versatile. We have bolstered performance with the included 16GB of RAM, a solid amount for gaming, and an SSD storage device. You can expect snappy boot times for Windows and your games, along with some future-proofing from the RAM.

Non-gaming performance

Remember, this build isn’t solely designed for gaming, although budget gaming is its main focus. We’ve also taken into consideration its ability to handle stressful workstation tasks and multi-core processes. Thanks to the impressive CPU and RAM pairing this build should be more than sufficient to handle tasks such as live streaming and video editing with minimal interruption.

Of course, browsing and media tasks don’t phase this build, however, where you will start to see diminishing performance is when rendering large video files. If editing is part of this $500 PC’s intended workload, we would recommend upgrading the processor to something a little beefier, like an i5-12600F.

$500 Custom Gaming PC vs $500 Prebuilt

Building your gaming PC is always going to offer more value, however, we understand that not everyone wants to tackle the challenge of a custom gaming PC. Well, this is where a $500 prebuilt gaming PC could be worth your while but there are a few things to consider before you pull the trigger on a prebuild.

The first thing to note is that you are probably never going to get a prebuilt gaming PC that offers the same performance at the same price. If you were to spend your $500 on a prebuilt, you are likely to see a lower-end CPU with fewer cores/threads, possibly smaller capacity RAM and storage, and lesser quality PC cases and supplies. It’s also a given that you’d get a lesser GPU, the main driver behind your gaming performance.

The reason is not because prebuilt manufacturers are crooks, it’s because prebuilt manufacturers are a business, and they make money through prebuilt PCs by adding a markup (labor costs). This is understandable but it can impact the value you get, you probably know all too well that at the lower end, every penny counts.

Financing and purchase options

Nowadays, there is more than one way to pay for your PC, there are several finance options available on most retailers’ websites where you can purchase your parts. you could build a $500 PC and finance an upgrade option, or the whole build entirely, although, we don’t recommend taking out finance on a $500 build, it’s better to spread the cost of a larger purchase.

Note: There are many kinds of finance, some of which have a higher interest rate than others. While some lenders offer 0% interest we aren’t recommending you get into debt, and it is your decision whether or not you wish to get into finance as this comes with risk.

If finance isn’t for you, there’s always a sea of second-hand parts available to purchase. The biggest influx of parts usually occurs when major releases happen, it’s this time that people choose to upgrade and list their used hardware to regain some capital. There is no guarantee that the part you are going to get is working, however, we recommend you pick the part up in person and test it if possible. The only components we do not recommend you purchase second-hand are power supplies and hard drives. SSDs and M.2 drives are much more robust and have a longer life span, so it’s okay to pick those up secondhand.

How to upgrade your $500 gaming PC

Another major factor to consider when building a custom PC is how easily you can upgrade it down the line. We have built this $500 build with upgradability in mind, choosing the LGA 1700 socket means you can upgrade to any CPU up to the Intel Core i9-14900K theoretically – not that’ we’d recommend that on the H610 chipset, as it lacks certain features and seems like a bit of a waste to populate it with such a high-end CPU. Since you’d have to upgrade your Motherboard anyway, you might as well upgrade your motherboard and memory.

We recommend the i5-13600K as the next logical CPU update, it’s up to you if you want to keep the same motherboard and stay on DDR4, or upgrade to a better one for DDR5 and a better chipset. Of course, this will come at a significant cost. But that’s a future problem.

Overclocking on a $500 budget

Overclocking is a way of increasing the performance of your build by manually boosting the clock speed, voltage, and timings of your hardware, this can be done at no extra cost to you. However, not all hardware is geared toward overclocking.

You need to exercise caution when overclocking your hardware, as pushing your build too far can only lead to overall instability and damage on the extreme end. The Intel chip we have chosen has been pretty well optimized, so extracting any further real-world performance might be a little tricky – but not impossible.

Build a gaming PC by price

Check out some of our price-focused custom PC build guides below.

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Related prebuilt gaming PC guides

Check out some of our related prebuilt PC guides below.

 

 

Upgrade options

  • Last Updated - Feb 23, 2024

Our best gaming PC in the $500 price range is already a formidable machine on its own, but by making a few tweaks and pushing your spending amount ever so slightly you could improve the performance considerably.

NOTE: These components will make the build over budget, these are optional upgrades you can purchase to put a bit of spice into the $500 gaming PC.

CPU

The core i5-13600K is sat among the best CPUs that offer a great price to performance ratio, it’s also on the socket LGA 1700, which matches the current motherboard in the build. The 13600K is a 14-Core, 20-thread CPU with a max performance core frequency of 5.10 GHz, which is much better than the i3 we currently have selected for this $500 build.

GPU

If you have the flexibility to stretch your budget, you may be interested in upgrading your dedicated GPU. We’d go for the Radeon RX 7600 XT as it is the direct generational upgrade to the RX 6600, offering great results for the price. This graphics card can play any title in 1080p and it can even offer some reasonable performance in 1440p, mainly thanks to the advancements in FSR.

NVMe SSD

The SSD that’s in the $500 custom PC build is okay, but you might find yourself wanting more storage or speed. If that is the case, you might want to look into an NVMe SSD. The Samsung 980 Pro offers the fastest read and write speeds (read speeds up to 7,000 MB/s, making it 12 times faster than SATA SSDs), the best reliability and storage in a very small form factor. Not to mention the fact that they don’t need any additional cables to power them. The 980 Pro utilizes the PCIe Gen 4 storage that your LGA 1700 motherboard is capable of.

Our best gaming PC in the $500 price range is already a formidable machine on its own, but by making a few tweaks and pushing your spending amount ever so slightly you could improve the performance considerably.

NOTE: These components will make the build over budget, these are optional upgrades you can purchase to put a bit of spice into the $500 gaming PC.

CPU

The core i5-13600K is sat among the best CPUs that offer a great price to performance ratio, it’s also on the socket LGA 1700, which matches the current motherboard in the build. The 13600K is a 14-Core, 20-thread CPU with a max performance core frequency of 5.10 GHz, which is much better than the i3 we currently have selected for this $500 build.

GPU

If you have the flexibility to stretch your budget, you may be interested in upgrading your dedicated GPU. We’d go for the Radeon RX 7600 XT as it is the direct generational upgrade to the RX 6600, offering great results for the price. This graphics card can play any title in 1080p and it can even offer some reasonable performance in 1440p, mainly thanks to the advancements in FSR.

NVMe SSD

The SSD that’s in the $500 custom PC build is okay, but you might find yourself wanting more storage or speed. If that is the case, you might want to look into an NVMe SSD. The Samsung 980 Pro offers the fastest read and write speeds (read speeds up to 7,000 MB/s, making it 12 times faster than SATA SSDs), the best reliability and storage in a very small form factor. Not to mention the fact that they don’t need any additional cables to power them. The 980 Pro utilizes the PCIe Gen 4 storage that your LGA 1700 motherboard is capable of.

Samsung 980 pro
Samsung Logo

SAMSUNG 980 PRO SSD 1TB

Storage Capacity

1TB PCIe Gen 4.0 x4, NVMe 1.3c

Read Speed

Sequential: 7,000MB/s, Random: 1,000K IOPS

Write Speed

Sequential: 5,000MB/s, Random: 1,000K IOPS

Dimensions

3.15 x 0.87 x 0.09 inches

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Samsung 980 pro
Samsung Logo

SAMSUNG 980 PRO SSD 1TB

Storage Capacity

1TB PCIe Gen 4.0 x4, NVMe 1.3c

Read Speed

Sequential: 7,000MB/s, Random: 1,000K IOPS

Write Speed

Sequential: 5,000MB/s, Random: 1,000K IOPS

Dimensions

3.15 x 0.87 x 0.09 inches

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19 118 416 V01

Intel Core i5-13600K

Cores

14

Threads

20

Base speed

P-cores 3.5 GHz / E-cores 2.6 GHz

Boost speed

P-cores 5.1 GHz / E-cores 3.9 GHz

Cache

20MB

TDP

125 W / 181 W boost.

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19 118 416 V01

Intel Core i5-13600K

Cores

14

Threads

20

Base speed

P-cores 3.5 GHz / E-cores 2.6 GHz

Boost speed

P-cores 5.1 GHz / E-cores 3.9 GHz

Cache

20MB

TDP

125 W / 181 W boost.

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Peripherals & software

Ideally, you’d already have some or all of these things before buying the best gaming computer under $500. Unfortunately, we don’t always live in an ideal world, so we’ve provided this section just in case you need it.

Operating system

For the best gaming performance and general compatibility, Windows 10 is your best option. If you already have a retail-bought Windows license on another PC, you should be able to transfer over your installation with little-to-no issues.

If you don’t, however, you’re probably going to have to fork out the cost of a brand-new Windows 10 installation. If that is the case we recommend using the Windows 10 USB Flash Drive. It allows you to install Windows directly from a Flash Drive, rather than needing a DVD drive. If you are looking to protect your system you may want to include an antivirus program too.

Gaming mouse

The Glorius Model O is insanely good value and for that price, you will be getting close to the best lightweight mouse on offer for gaming. This mouse has been designed with gaming and precision in mind, it features more than enough DPI for anyone and boasts a seriously good optical sensor. If you would prefer to cut the cord and go wireless then take a look at some of our wireless recommendations here.

MORE: Best Gaming Mice

Gaming monitor

The ASUS VG278Q is a 144Hz monitor with a very generous 27″ display. It currently features in our best gaming monitors for under $300 article and for good reason. It has everything a gamer would want and comes at an affordable price point, what more could you ask for?

Gaming speakers

Some great speakers to start out with are the Creative Inspire T10.2 Speakers. At just under $50, these provide a high-quality audio experience without breaking the bank. While you’ll still need to buy better speakers for things like surround sound and a subwoofer, the T10 2.0 set will be perfectly fine for getting you started listening to music and watching your films.

51YW1q3PsVL. AC SL1440

Glorious Model O- wired gaming mouse

Sensor

Pixart® PMW-3360 Sensor

DPI

12,000

Weight

59g/2.08oz

Size (H x W x D) mm

120 x 63 x 36 mm)

Buttons

6

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51YW1q3PsVL. AC SL1440

Glorious Model O- wired gaming mouse

Sensor

Pixart® PMW-3360 Sensor

DPI

12,000

Weight

59g/2.08oz

Size (H x W x D) mm

120 x 63 x 36 mm)

Buttons

6

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Custom PC Building Tips

So, finally, you’ve arrived at the section in this article that hosts a whole bunch of helpful building tips if you’re a beginner builder.

We know there are a lot of common mistakes that rookies make when PC building (it’s just part of the learning process) and that’s why we wrote a guide to nip that in the bud. For you to successfully build your $500 gaming PC, you need the right guide to do it correctly and efficiently.

  • Build on a secure surface which is non-conductive such as a wooden table
  • Put together your parts in the easiest order – our how to build a gaming PC guide will help you here
  • Make sure everything is securely in place before you test
  • Follow any provided manuals for guidance. This is especially important for the motherboard, which will provide an easy-to-read diagram for inputs

FAQs

Is it cheaper to build a $500 gaming PC?

Generally, yes. Building a PC is usually cheaper than buying a pre-built one, as manufacturers charge a premium for assembly. That is unless you buy a gaming PC second-hand. This we don’t explicitly recommend as there’s no guarantee as to the condition of the components, but if you find a good deal it can be well worth it.

The only parts we do not recommend you buy secondhand are power supplies and hard drives. SSDs and M.2s are a little better, as they have a much longer lifespan.

How long will a $500 PC last?

Speaking of physical longevity, we’ve seen PCs last 10 years plus if built properly and kept clean, but in terms of relevancy it’s a different story. Since the build is already considered to be at the low end of the scale, the PC can quickly become outdated an no longer able to keep up with the demands of the latest games.

We estimate that a PC comprised of these components will only stay relevant for the next 2 – 4 years, you will be able to get by with tweaking settings here and there, but nobody likes compromising their experience for the sake of usability. We recommend you follow the upgrade path we outlined as soon as you feel the need to.

Closing Thoughts

So, there you have it, our comprehensive guide to the best gaming PC for under $500. If you’re looking for a PC that’s geared up towards 1080p gaming and gives an immersive experience then look no further, this PC does it all. Even though some compromises were made along the way, we think you’ll be more than happy with the performance power of this console killer.

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