Your next gaming desktop on budget.
When you are sitting on the budget constraints for building your first gaming desktop, it becomes pretty difficult to shortlist the components. Either you have to make some compromises or have to settle for less than what you were expecting.
Before We Begin
With this build, you can play pretty much any of the games which are out there, most of them with details turned up to high at 1080p resolution with those sweet & smooth 60fps.
So, without spending another moment, lets get into it.
Processor / AMD Ryzen 5 2600
Probably the budget processor with pretty high price-to-performance ratio. You can get away with any tasks you are going to throw at this processor. It has got plenty of threads to handle all your multitasking talent without ever having a hitch. But, we will have to make sure (which we have made), it gets fed with a faster memory¹ to ensure that it crunches all those bits to keep up with your workflow.
Also, you get the AMD Wraith Stealth Cooler in the box, which is very good deal considering you don’t want to spend few more bucks on a cooler. For the most part, the provided cooler keeps the processor cooler. For some context, this video shows how the provided cooler performs under various scenarios. But, I would still suggest you to invest in some third party coolers like the Corsair H80i which can bring drastic improve to the operating tempratures.
Specifications:
- # of cores = 6
- # of threads = 12
- Base Clock Speed = 3.4GHz
- Boost Clock Speed = 3.9GHz
- Rated TDP = 95W
Price: ₹ 13,569 / $115
Motherboard / MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX
To provide an good interface between all your components, selection of the motherboard is pretty straight forward (at least, on the AMD side).
To keep it simple, motherboards with B450 chipset, support all the processors from the Ryzen lineup. But, do keep in mind, there is a need for updating BIOS, if you’re planning to use the new Ryzen 3 series processors.
You will be fine with the cheaper A320 chipset based motherboards, if you are planning to use the 1st generation Ryzen processors like the AMD Ryzen 3 1200. I don’t recommend using this motherboard, if you plan to overclock your processor in the future.
Now, that out of the way. We chose the MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX because it comes with the latest version of BIOS which supports the newer Ryzen 3rd generation processors like the Ryzen 5 3600, right out of the box. So, in case, you’re planning to upgrade in future, you can just insert the new processor into the socket & you’ll be pretty good to go.
Specifications:
- Chipset: AMD B450
- Latest BIOS Version: 7A38vB4
- Maximum Memory Support: 64GB
- Maximum Memory Speed Support: 3466MHz
- # of RAM slots: 4
Price: ₹ 6,998 / $80
RAM / G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
For truly unleashing your Ryzen processor’s potential, you will need a RAM with faster operating speed & though not neccesary, lower CAS Latency. In simple words, unlike the Intel counterparts, Ryzen processors work in a synchronized manner with the system memory due to their architecture design and hence, faster the memory, better the performance.
We have chosen the G.Skill Trident Z RGB with capacity of 16GB, which is more than enough for many tasks you’ll do and there is plenty of room for the future upgrades.
Specifications:
- Operating Speed: 3200MHz
- CAS Latency: 16
- # of Pins: 288
- # of RAM Sticks: 2 x 8GB
- Type of Channel: Dual
Price: ₹ 8,699 / $140
Storage / Western Digital 1TB 7200RPM HDD
Fast storage shouldn’t be a concern when you’re on a budget. We chose the Western Digital 7200RPM 1TB HDD which will be the warehouse for everything from OS to all your games. Still, you have lot of room for upgradation here.
You can also pick up the Western Digital Green 120GB SATA SSD or the Crucial BX500 240GB SATA SSD for storing applications & games which you want to have quicker load times.
Specifications:
- Capacity: 1TB / 1024GB
- Interface: SATA
- Form Factor: 3.5"
- Cache: 64MB
- Speed: 7200RPM
Price: ₹ 2,799 / $45
Graphics Card / MSI | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660
Here comes the interesting part, the GPU selection. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 was the easy choice here. It checks all the boxes for a budget GPU. It basically is a downgraded Nvidia RTX 2060 with disabled ray tracing & few CUDA cores.
The MSI Ventus X OC was chosen due to its compact but quite efficient design to keep it under optimal temperatures under long gaming sessions. Below is a video attached which contains the benchmarks of GTX 1660 when paired with the AMD Ryzen 5 2600, which is the processor we chose for our build.
As one can see, it is pretty capable card for the price you’re paying.
Specifications:
- CUDA Cores: 1408
- Base Clock Speed: 1530MHz
- Boost Clock Speed: 1785MHz
- Memory Configuration: 6GB GDDR5
- Memory Width: 192-bit
- Rated TDP: 120W
Price: ₹ 19,599 / $214
Cabinet / Corsair 100R
The house all the components, we have chosen Corsair 100R because of one reason - its a great deal for the price. Front I/O is solid, you’re getting 2 x USB 3.2 along with the two audio ports.
Internally, there are 4 HDD slots. Don’t expect much cable management facility here. Overall, its a well designed & ventilated case.
Specifications:
- Form Factor: ATX Mid Tower
- Motherboard Support: Micro ATX / Mini ITX / ATX
- Side Panel: Acrylic
Price: ₹ 2,899 / $50
Power Supply / Corsair CX450
The build is almost done & we need a power supply unit [PSU] to keep the juices flowing in all the components. Our build’s estimated power consumption is around 290W. So, we chose the Corsair CX450 80+ Bronze rated efficiency, which is more than enough to handle our system while working efficiently under the hood.
Specifications:
- Wattage: 450W
- Form Factor: ATX
- Efficiency Rating: 80+ Bronze
- # of SATA Connectors: 4
- # of PCIe 6+2-Pin Connectors: 1
- # of EPS Connectors: 1
- # of Molex 4-Pin Connectors: 4
Price: ₹ 3,990 / $55
The monitor, keyboard & mouse are all your choice. You can invest in them according to your budget or even reuse if you already have an old computer. But, nonetheless, I’m providing you with few suggestions for the monitors.
Monitor
1. BenQ GW2270H
BenQ GW2270H is a FHD, 60Hz monitor which is more than enough for everything from gaming to video streaming. BenQ makes some good quality displays. The only downside to this is 5ms response time.
Specifications:
- Resolution: 1920 x 1080
- Refresh Rate: 60Hz
- Response Time: 5ms
- Panel: VA
- Connectivity Options: 2 HDMI, 1 VGA Port
Price: ₹ 6990 / $130
You can purchase one from Amazon.
2. Acer KG221Q
Acer KG221Q is a much better option than the aforementioned, BenQ model. It has 75Hz refresh rate with 1ms response time. Gaming on this monitor will feel more smoother.
Specifications:
- Resolution: 1920 x 1080
- Refresh Rate: 75Hz
- Response Time: 1ms
- Panel: TN
- Connectivity: 1 HDMI, 1 VGA
Price: ₹ 9999 / $95
Wrapping Up
That’s all. We have shortlisted the components for your build. Feel free to modify the list according to your budget & preferences. Below is the list of all the components we have used in this build along with links to purchase them.
- AMD Ryzen 5 2600 - Amazon | Newegg
- MSI B450M PRO VDH MAX - Amazon | Newegg
- G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16GB 3200MHz - Amazon | Newegg
- Western Digital 1TB 7200RPM HDD - Amazon | Newegg
- MSI | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 - Amazon | Newegg
- Corsair 100R - Amazon | Newegg
- Corsair CX450 - Amazon | Newegg
Total price for the build is ₹ 58755 / $ 820.
Footnotes
- Links redirecting to Amazon are affiliate links.
- The prices indicated are subject to changes at any given time.
