Gaming PCs are expensive since they require the best parts from the top brands in order to fulfil the graphics and performance needs of today’s top games. These expensive parts do very well in terms of delivering the performance that is expected from them, but they can also take a major toll on your bank account by draining its cash. In this article, you’ll read about the best configurations for a gaming PC you can get for as little as $500, while still ensuring it will be able to run your games smoothly. This guide is solely dedicated to assembling the Best Gaming PC under 500 Dollars in 2017.

500 Dollars isn’t much for a gaming PC. If assembled correctly by choosing the perfect combination of processor and a graphics card, you can get a 30-60 FPS smooth 1080p gaming experience. As our budget is low, we won’t go for fancy stuff like RGB lights, shining cases, etc. Instead, we’ll select the hardware, which gives the best price to performance ratio. Plus, we’ll also keep this build upgradable, so you can save your next bonus and get a few more FPS. We’ll include a powerful yet cheap processor, suitable motherboard, the best graphics card, decent RAM sticks, sufficient power supply, 1 TB storage, and a good-looking cabinet to hold these gigs. While reading gaming PC reviews is important, it is equally vital to get a better understanding of the components that make a good gaming computer.

Today, it is pertinent to consider a wide variety of factors when attempting to build your own computer. What type of graphics card is needed? How much ram do you need to run the latest computer games? Above all else, you’ll need to figure out precisely what you wish to achieve with your new computer. As a gamer, you’ll need to take things one step further with a high-end graphics card, lightning-fast processor, and plenty of RAM. You’ll also want the biggest and fastest hard drive you can find. Today, most gamers download digital games, so more space is always best. The process will not be easy, but you’ve come to the right place. Below, you’ll learn about the most important components of a gaming computer in 2017.

Enough talking! Let’s start already.

Processor: Intel Core i3-6100 3.70 GHz 3M Cache

When it comes to building a budget PC, the biggest share of that budget is taken by the processor as you gotta buy something which would last long and is compatible with a large set of other components. For this Best Gaming PC under 500 Dollars build, we have selected Intel Core i3 sixth generation skylake 6100 modelled chip. It runs at a base clock speed of 3.57GHz with Two-cores having Hyper-Threading. Its benchmarks show that it gives a Fast single-core performance but lacks while competing in multi-core conditions. Another pro about this processor is that it consumes very low power reducing our overall power usage and making the selected PSU just perfect. As it is an Intel processor so it also comes with Intel HD Graphics 530 integrated GPU. Unlike the similar ranged AMD FX series which has no integrated GPU and needs an external GPU. Talking about temperatures it tends to heat a bit under heavy usage while using the stock cooler but it is what it is (:P), better than AMD though.





Graphics Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 460 Windforce OC 2GB GDDR5

Graphics card is the component which delivers your pixel perfect video and frame rates. They range from a price tag of $25 to $5000+, but as we are on a fixed budget we gotta be careful and select the one which will deliver what we expect from this $500 build. We are expecting 30-60FPS smoothing gaming and for that, we have chosen AMD RX 460 which is a new addition to AMD Radeon graphics cards. It is built upon the latest 4th generation GCN architecture which makes it’s size small and reduces power consumption largely. It has a memory speed of 7000Mhz and 2GB VRAM. Though we cannot cover full benchmarks over here, Avg. fps in Call of Duty: Black Ops III on 1080p High settings were 47, and 38 for Batman Arkham Knight. Not bad at all.

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A LGA-1151 Intel H110 Micro ATX DDR4

Selecting a motherboard is a tough task as it the main part which fits everything in it, we gotta make sure it is compatible with all the other hardware components of our gaming build. First of all, we check its socket type, as out processor requires an LGA 1151 socket so our motherboard should have that socket, likewise, we check for the graphics card slot, RAM slots, SATA ports, PSU ports and so on. After looking up all the conditions we finally selected Gigabyte GA-H110M-A motherboard. It has an LGA 1151 type socket, dual channel DDR4 RAM slots which support up to 32GB system memory, inbuilt integrated video processor, inbuilt Realtek ALC887 audio card, network card, 1x PCI Express x16 slot, 2x PCI Express x1 slots, 4x SATA 6Gb/s connectors, 4 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports, 6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports and all other basic to some advanced level slots and connectors. It also supports modern BIOS and many other features like fastboot, quick recovery, etc.

RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 DRAM 2133MHz

Nothing to say about these as the title itself is self-explanatory. Vengeance LPX RAM provides reliability and speed plus they are supported by the motherboard we have selected. They are made upon the latest DRAM interface specification, DDR4, which runs at a whopping speed of 2133MHz much faster than the older DDR3 memory sticks. We have chosen only 8GB of memory which might seem less but it is just enough to run all games of this generation, plus you have an option to upgrade these up to 32GB thanks to the motherboard we are using.

Power Supply Unit: Corsair CX 500Watt 80+ Bronze Certified

When it comes to selecting the power supply unit we have to measure the total amount of power that all other components in the cabinet are using and then select the one which can handle that. Corsair’s CX500 which supplies a 500Watt of power is enough for this best gaming PC under 500 Dollars build. As told earlier, the CPU and GPU we selected both are low power consuming and with adding only one hard drive this PSU fits right in, plus it also leaves a little power space for if you want to add an SSD later on. It provides all the connectors connected to it in a non-modular fashion. It is 80+ Bronze certified which reduces the chances of short circuit greatly and protects your expensive motherboard, processor and other parts from electrical damages.

HDD: WD Blue 1TB SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache WD10EZEX

Western Digital Blue is one of the best selling hard drives for budget PC for gaming and normal usage. We have chosen the 1 TB model as it is sufficient for holding 3-4 good games and other A-rated stuff. With the latest refreshed model, it now spins at a speed of 7200 RPM transferring data at 6GBPS connection. It has a cache memory of 64 megabytes. Although as seen it takes more time in loading games than the other Black and Red models but here we are considering the price to performance ratio and this one fits in perfectly.

Cabinet: Corsair Carbide Series 100R Mid Tower

Last but not the least, the cabinet. The housing of all the hardware components. NZXT Phantom was our first choice as it provides that gaming rig look and perfect cooling mechanisms but as we are restricted by the budget, we selected Corsair Carbide 100R. It is mid-tower case which also has a great cooling mechanism but lacks that gaming rig looks. All over it is a great cabinet supporting all types of motherboard configuration with PSU placement at the bottom and enough space for housing multiple drives and cable management. It includes 2 USB ports at the front panel with audio and microphone jack, basic stuff.

Final Thoughts

So, this was our Best Gaming PC under 500 Dollars article. We tried our best to provide the best hardware components which are compatible with each other and are upgradable too. We made sure we are not overspending on any particular component and selecting the one which gives us the best price to performance ratio.

Do tell us what do you think about this gaming rig in the comments below and also mention if we fail to add anything required for this article. Also, suggest us improvements and do point out typos if any. Thank You!