To save the most amount of money (and get the highest FPS Per Dollar value) then I’d recommend purchasing from Ali Express. Make sure to only buy from a trusted seller with a lot of 5 star reviews, and a seller that has sold at least 50 (ideally 100+) of the CPU you’re looking for. Ali Express usually takes 2-3 weeks for shipping to the United States, but it’s free. CPUs from Ali Express will usually not come with a CPU cooler.

If you rather purchase on Newegg or Amazon, that’s completely fine. You’ll just need to add an additional $20-$40 into your budget.

The Ryzen 5 5600 is the META play for more budget to mid ranged gaming PCs under around $700 right now. If you don’t want to buy from Ali Express, and you want to stick to a tigher budget, then a new Ryzen 5 5500 from Newegg or Amazon would be OK to use as well. Just note that it performs worse than the 5600, but still pretty well.

By being on the AM4 platform, it allows us to spend less money on a cheaper AM4 motherboard, and DDR4 RAM. This gives us more money for the GPU, which is the ultimate factor in higher FPS numbers.

The Ryzen 5 5600 is capable of pairing with GPUs better than the RX 5600 XT, so there’s a good chance that it’ll last through the next GPU upgrade. Always verify with benchmarks that it won’t be a bottleneck though.

If you buy the CPU from Ali Express, then you’ll most likely need a separate cooler because they usually don’t come with one. If you buy the Ryzen 5 5600 from Amazon or Newegg, then you can definitely consider just using the stock cooler that it comes with.

The Vetroo V5 has been around for a long time and it’s one of the most reliable sub $30 options that includes an ARGB fan. I believe the V5 got a refresh not too long ago, so it definitely includes all of the hardware you’ll need and it’s still a top performing unit in this price range.

Budget AM4 motherboards have been REALLY difficult to find as of the last 3-4 months. My usual favorites like the Gigabyte B450M DS3H WiFi and ASRock B450M AC/R2.0 have been nowhere to be found. This ASUS Prime B450M-A II has been one of the most reliable budget boards to find, and it’s usually in stock at either Best Buy, or on eBay (still sold by Best Buy brand new). This motherboard doesn’t have any bells or whistles, and should only be used if you’re looking for the cheapest possible option that won’t hurt performance, which isn’t a bad idea for this low budget of a build.

Important features of this motherboard:

Actually in stock

4 RAM slots for upgradeability

BIOS FlashBack button

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This GSkill Ripjaws V has consistently been one of the cheapest DDR4 2x16GB 3200MHz CL16 kits available for several months now. That should be your search filter, and almost any brand/kit will work

The GPU selection got very weird for this project which you hopefully saw in the video. With a $500 build price you should be aiming to spend about $100-$130 for the GPU, and the best possible outcome is usually an RX 5700 XT. I couldn’t find any of those for this video, so I settled on the RX 5600 XT.

As I explained in the video though, we actually received a 5700 XT that just had a 5600 XT cooler on top of it. Both cards will definitely work, but if at all possible I would shoot for a 5700 XT. It has 2GB more of VRAM and performs better in every game.

My recommendation would be to search on eBay using this search criteria, sort by “Buy it Now” and snipe any card that’s fully working for under $130. If you want to spend a few extra dollars to get a 5700 XT, that would be worth it.

For completely different alternatives, I would also search for used RTX 2060’s, 2060 Supers, or even GTX 1660 Supers if you want to save a little bit of money. Always consult the GPU Comparison Charts on ZTT Build Help to determine the value of GPUs against each other. If you can find a better card for less money, then go for that.

The Teamgroup MP33 is a great budget option, and for a Pure Performance style of gaming PC we don’t want to spend any more money here than we have to. A better and faster SSD can be beneficial, but it doesn’t move the needle in terms of FPS numbers which is what the priority was for this build. I would recommend searching for the cheapest 1TB NVMe Gen 3 (or 4) drive, and consult the SSD Tier List for all of the information you need.

The MSI MAG A550BN has consistently been one of the best Tier C budget units on the market for the better part of a year now. It’s not modular, but for budget builds like this the only important metric is the Tier Rating.

If you didn’t already see, there’s a brand new PSU Tier List that’s a much more updated version compared to the previous Cultists list. For budget builds like this, I wouldn’t go any lower than Tier C.

For alternatives, always consult the PSU Tier List and I’d recommend getting a 550W+ Tier C, B, or A model. The Apevia Prestige 600W is usually available at a similar price. If you can’t find the A550BN, then the A650BN is usually available for only a few dollars more. MSI also makes the MAG A650BE which is a semi modular unit and also Tier C.

The case is always the most subjective option in a gaming PC, and you absolutely do not need to go with the one I used in the video. If you choose an alternative, you may need to make some tweaks to the cooling solution, as well as the motherboard size.

The case I used for the video was the the DIYPC ARGB-R1-BK. It’s a mATX sized case, and also comes with 4 preinstalled fans. This means that if you go with something else, I’d recommend choosing a mATX sized alternative, and preferably one that includes 3 or 4 fans. Otherwise you’ll have to add extra fans to your shopping list.

The reason why I like this case a lot is simply the price. For $52 it’s packing a ton of value with the fans, design, and even a USB C port on the front. You won’t be able to use it with a budget B450 motherboard unless you buy a USB 2/3 adapter, but there’s still a ton of value outside of just that. I actually just bought a bunch of these for an upcoming Limited Edition Build on ZTTBuilds. 🤫