Currently the best bang for the buck PC build is going to be a AMD Ryzen PC. Ryzen zen 2 is on the way with their 3000 series. The numbers may be a bit confusing because it’s now 3000 but it is in fact the second installment of the new Ryzen architecture where the 2000 series was just an improvement of the 1000 series architecture. With Ryzen 3000 chips coming to market sometime in July 2019 it’s older gen CPUs will be getting some great discounts to make way for the new generation.
So with that being said I will hand you off with a solid AMD Ryzen build that you can game, edit, and single PC Twitch stream on for a solid budget to save you some money.
CPU: Ryzen 5 2600x – $179 These all come out to around the same price as the Asus GR8 II but blow it out of the water Spec wise. You can choose whatever case you want to fit your aesthetics. The one that comes closes to the small form factor of the Asus is the portable build one at the bottom of this post. The other two have a standard size tower case, I just picked a random case that I thought was cool and sleek.
Prices subject to change from the date of this post.
Budget $800 Gaming/ Streaming PC
- CPU: Ryzen 5 2600x – $179
- CPU Cooler: Stock
- Motherboard: Gigabyte B450 – 67.99
- Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 3000 – $79
- SSD: Adata – CSilicon Power 512GB – $50
- GPU: Zotac Geforce GTX 1660TI – $280
- ATX mid case: DeepCool MATREXX 55 case – $44.99
- Power Supply: Corsair 650w modular – $50
Before Taxes: $750 and some change.
If you need Windows 10 add on and extra $125 or $20 from other “sources”
If you have a Micro Center Near you I believe they can build it for around $130.
I expect the 2600x and 2600 to drop in price while supplies last when then Ryzen 3000 series gets released, or maybe even just before release. So expect to save between 20 – 100 more dollars if you plan it out just right. You can also go with the plain 2600 if you want to save more, and want to tinker with overclocking a bit.
Why not Intel?
Well Intel will generally cost you more. The performance that a Ryzen chip can give you for streaming and gaming, and content creation is perfect. I myself have not dropped any frames in OBS with a similar first gen Ryzen setup. Intel does have the higher single core performance, but it is give or take a few FPS in gaming which you may not even be missing or notice. Besides you are on a budget, when your stream starts doing really really good, then you can start upgrading to the finer parts in the PC world. And I am very very on board on supporting the underdog who will now be surpassing Intel in desktop PC sales. It isn’t much but I love to see progress and love to see the competition take technology to new heights. By supporting AMD this go around, we will force Intel to do something spectacular in the upcoming years because they are a very prideful company and won’t take this sitting down.