The Near Best Budget Gaming PC

BY RAHUL TUDMILLA

There is a vast variety of gaming PCs and parts for them. But how much performance can you squeeze out of your PC? From graphics cards to Power supply’s, it is essential to understand the parts in a PC.

The processor is the first place to start. The Ryzen 3 3100 is a decent processor capable of handling most of the games on the market right now. It also comes with a cooler with thermal paste pre-applied so you don’t need to worry about overheating. This processor also pairs well with the GTX graphics card.

The GTX 1660. The GTX 1660 is a more high-end graphics card. This will allow you to get better framerates and have a better gaming experience. The Asus Tuf model is also compact, cost-efficient, and has two fans which allows for better cooling.

The SSD is a cheap option for a very solid SSD (Solid State Drive). It has 512 Gigabytes of Storage which should be all you need really. SSD are way better than hard drives so if you want to upgrade your PC in the future, use a SSD. It is important to use two sticks of 8 gigabyte RAM because that is the standard for most budget gaming PCs. The speed may not be the best but it will make hardly any difference.

Since the estimated wattage is pretty low, a power supply that doesn’t need to be amazing is workable. The EVGA 500W is a power supply that does the job and works well. For the case, the Phanteks Eclipse is great for storing the gaming rig. It is a micro ATX form case which should fit the recommended motherboard and its components. It has good ventilation and a fan which will provide proper air flow. Air flow is important because it makes the system cooler which is important for your PCs estimated life. 

You also need an operating system to run the computer properly. You can get Windows 10 for free if you don’t use the activated version. The only major downside is that there is a permanent background, but that is the alternative to paying an additional $110 for the activated version.  Tutorials are easily searchable to help with installation. You will need an empty flash drive with 16 gigabytes of space for the installation.

Currently there are no components which have RGB lighting (components that light up in different colors). If you want RGB in your case, you can buy and install LED fans or light strips. There are plenty of videos on Youtube covering the assembly of how to build a PC by people who are much more qualified than me. If you need help on the parts or the assembly, you might want to visit an electronics shop such as Microcenter, ABT, or Newegg. If you built the PC correctly, you should have a fully working computer. This is assuming that you already have a monitor. If you don’t already have a monitor, you can buy a decent monitor for around $100-130. If your computer still doesn’t work, I suggest you have someone at an electronics shop diagnose the issue. The complete list of parts is listed at the bottom of this article.


CPU: AMD RYZEN 3 3100
Motherboard: MSI A320M-A PRO MAX
RAM: ADATA XPG Z1 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000
SSD: Team GX2 512 GB 2.5"
Graphics Card: ASUS GEOFORCE GTX 1660 6 GB TUF
Power Supply: EVGA 500 W 80+
PC Case: Phanteks Eclipse P300A
Link if needed: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kF3V68 

Sources: https://pcpartpicker.com