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When making the best gaming computer build under $600, we came up with an awesome treat.
Not only is this build very powerful, it is also very stylish and will definitely impress.
The good thing is, unlike our $500 builds (which are totally awesome by the way), this PC will feature a better CPU and GPU combo that will bring significant increase in performance when gaming. Not to mention, the sleek minimal look that this build has.
If you want to see what we have for our other PC builds as well, check out our master post of gaming PC builds with all the different price points to fit your budget.
At a Glance: Our Top Picks for Gaming Computer Under 600 Dollars
- OUR TOP PICK: NZXT H500 Mid Tower
- Corsair CX 450 Watts
- ASUS ROG Strix RX 570
Comparison of the Best Gaming Computers Under $600
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Why You Should Build a Gaming PC Instead of Buying a Pre-Built One
Honestly, it is easy to understand why people would rather buy a pre-built PC instead of just building their own. It’s super-easy and much less time consuming and in a perfect world, everything would work out just fine. The truth is, however, that when you buy a pre-built PC, you are getting a computer that’s worth much less in parts than you paid for it. Basically, you’re paying a huge price for them to build the PC for you, and maybe that’s fine for most people, but if you are on this site, and are willing to put in some effort, there’s no need to buy one.
That’s not the only reason either, if you’re building your first PC, you will learn that not only will you save money but it also gives a sense of value to the PC that a pre-built PC never can. When you build the PC by yourself, it really does mean something. If you’re still intimidated, just remember, there are lots of resources out there to help you.
How do you build a PC? We put together a step-by-step guide to help you along your way, we included gifs that you can watch on repeat if you're uncertain of a step.
Check out our article on How To Build A PC.
The Best Gaming PC Build Under $600, The Beauty and the Beast
When researching a PC to build for $600, we had two main criteria. A build that was a beauty on the outside, but a beast on the inside. Something with impressive specs that would play even the most demanding games on very high settings, even at such a moderate price. With this build, we believe we have achieved both objectives.
The phrase "Beauty and the Beast" correctly describes this build, and if you do decide to build this, you will know why. You will easily be able to play most games on very high (even ultra on some) games at 1080p 60f ps with this build. If that doesn't get you excited, we don't know what will! If you are thinking of running all those new titles on very high settings with steady 60 fps in games such as Fortnite, GTA 5, and Apex Legends, some of the most popular games out right now, then this is the build for you.
Not only is this build be good for right now, but we also created it with the future in mind! This build should last you for years and will be easily upgradable.
We are super-excited to share this build with you and can't wait to see some of the builds you guys make using this template, so let's jump right in!
The Build
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Build Breakdown
Best Case:
NZXT H500 Mid Tower
The NXZT H500 is not only pleasant to look at, but also very spacious for a compact case, so if you ever do plan on upgrading in the future, there will be nothing to stop you from doing so. Yes, there are better cases out there, but this case went with the theme, looked stylish, and also provided amazing value for what you are getting.
This case also has USB 3.0s, which allow for quicker and more efficient charging. Not to mention, you get two fans with this case, to save even more money in the long run and keep your PC from overheating.
Even if this case seems to be a steal, we understand not everyone has the same taste, so just in case you want to switch to another case, we've included a link below that will take you to other compatible cases for this build. After all, PC building is about making your own choices. We are only here to guide you.
Best Power Supply:
Corsair CX 450 Watts
The power supply for this build is from the reputable CORSAIR. 450 watts is more than enough for this PC set up, but in the future, you will most likely need to get a more powerful one, as the upper-tier video card and CPU consume a lot of power. Other than that, you just need to know that this power supply is good and effective and will last you for years to come.
Best Video Card:
AMD Radeon RX 580 Graphics Card
If you're looking to take your gaming up a notch and experience crazy powerful graphics, the AMD Radeon RX 580 is the card for you. Even though it's reportedly more expensive than its counterparts, users say it's worth it. This card has dual-slot width that fits most CPU cases.
AMD’s Radeon RX 580 offers great features and performance for the price. With 4GB GDDR5 memory, it has a robust capacity to handle the most demanding games and applications.
With clock boost speeds of up to 1385 MHz, this graphics processing unit provides even greater power and efficiency in frame rates, processing, and rendering for creative tasks.
The AMD Radeon RX 580 graphics card has fast bandwidths of up to 256 Gbps and is a perfect partner for gaming, streaming, and more. Note that this item includes one video card only, its drivers and software are not built-in but these are available for free download online.
Best Processor:
AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Processor
Ah, the AMD 2600 has to be one of the best processors on a budget to be in so many of our builds. This thing really provides some amazing value, especially when you are trying to max out performance without breaking your wallet. Not only does it have value, but it also has some amazing longevity.
Many people are speculating that in the future, four cores will almost be mandatory in the future and with the AMD 2600 having six cores, you will have nothing to worry about. Honestly, we love this thing for the price and coupled with the AMD Radeon 570, these things will mow right through any game that comes out.
Threading allows the 570's six cores to act as a 12-core CPU. This makes it an absolute beast for things much more CPU-demanding than any Intel CPU it competes against. So, you're really getting something that's a serious workhorse, alongside being an amazing gaming CPU, as well.
Best Motherboard:
ASRock MicroATX Motherboard
While the ASRock B450M isn't a full ATX motherboard, the features that it offers make it one of the very few micro motherboards we can easily recommend.
The B450M is another ASRock board that's high quality at a good price point and will easily last you for years. ASRock is a reputable motherboard maker that we've used in many budget gaming PC builds and there's a reason for it. This board is very easy to install and set up, which is another plus for someone just getting into PC building.
What makes this motherboard even better is the fact that it is compatible with AMD's newly released Ryzen series right out of the box. This alone will save you a lot of time setting things up and grant you more time gaming!
Best RAM:
CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 8GB
For this build, we selected the Corsair Vengeance LPX 8 GBs of RAM. Not only is this RAM (Random Acess Memory) very quick, bit's also overclocked by default, which allows for much faster operation. Not to mention, this RAM completely matches the style of the build.
The reason we chose one 8 GB compared to two 4 GB sticks is because of the upgrade path. Ideally, you can get another 8 GB stick to make 16 GBs of RAM. Eight GBs of RAM works for right now, but one of the first upgrades we recommend for this build is getting an additional 8 GB stick.
Not only is this RAM good value, it's also backed by a good warranty, so if you ever do have any issues, you can just send it back.
Best Hard Drive:
WD Blue 1TB
The Western Digital 1TB hard drive is a mainstay for a budget gaming PC because of its quality and price. With this hard drive you will have all the space you need for games and then some to spare.
If you really want to save some cash you could go with a 500 GB hard drive, but we wouldn't recommend going lower than that due to how big some of these games are getting.
Other than the value, a lot of space, and brand name, there isn't really anything that Western Digital's 1 TB hard drive doesn't have going for it.
(Optional) Optical Drive
The optical drive, a.k.a., CD drive is optional in this build because, for the average person, there is no need for it. CD drives are rarely used anymore, as everything is transitioning to the digital platforms such as Steam.
The only way we recommend an optical drive is if you are seriously going to use it, otherwise what's the point?
If you do decide to get an optical drive, then here is one that is cheap, but still gets the job done.
Conclusion
The “Beauty and the Beast” is probably the most future-proof build you can get while still maintaining a $600 PC budget. All the parts in this build have a clear upgrade path and there really is nothing holding this build back. If you want to upgrade in the future, it will be as easy as switching out one part for another.
The “Beauty and the Beast” also runs games at near perfection and can play all but the most demanding games on ultra. Seriously, this is a build that will last you for a good deal of time and we easily recommend it to any person who is just starting out with PCs.
Recommended Peripherals
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Recommended Monitor: Acer 1080p 21.5 Inch Monitor
We've used this monitor in most of our other builds for tight budgets and there's a reason to the madness. This monitor has to be the best 1080p monitor you can get on a budget. Not only is the monitor very affordable, it also has a range of customization options that further tailor the monitor for an ideal experience.
You also get deep color contrasts and a very bright display (this can be turned down) both of which help immerse you into whatever game you are playing. There are other 1080p monitors that are better than this, but for the price, this cannot be beaten.
Recommended Keyboard and Mouse: Redragon S101 Keyboard & Mouse Combo
This is an awesome combo set that really helps bring high-level competitive PC gaming to gamers at a cheap price. You get so much for such a low price that even if you weren’t going to build this PC we still recommend this keyboard and mouse combo to you.
You also get the cool factor with this combo, as the keyboard lights up and really does look amazing. There’s so much value here that there really is no reason not to get this combo.
Recommended Headset: EKSA E1000 USB Gaming Headset for PC
EKSA’s E1000 USB Gaming Headset comes in four different color variants–gray, blue, green, and red. So you can choose the one that best suits your personality, style, and mood.
Looking for a quality gaming headset that will give you an edge in your next online battle? This headset features a noise-canceling mic to ensure your commands are heard loud and clear.
Plus, this top-of-the-line gaming headset is connected via USB, so it's easy to plug and play into your desktop PC. Achieve greater heights with the EKSA E1000 headset and game on!
Operating System Options
After getting your PC built and all your peripherals, you still need one more thing before you can start playing those games on your PC. If the title didn't give it away, the thing you're going to need is an operating system.
What is an operating system? An operating system is basically software that is automatically booted up when you turn your system on and, just as the name implies, operates other applications such as games. There are hundreds of operating systems that you could install onto your PC, but in reality, there are only a few that people use and those three are Mac OS, (Ubuntu) Linux, and Windows.
Right off the bat, you can't use Mac OS due to it being a program made exclusively for Macs, so that leaves only Linux and Windows. So we will break down these two operating systems and you can determine which one to go with.
(Ubuntu) Linux
Many of you might not have even heard of Ubuntu Linux, but it's the leading Linux operating system on the market with over 50 million users. There are many reasons why someone might want to use Linux over Windows, but for most people this probably won't be the OS you want.
The biggest advantage that this OS has over Windows is its amazing customization options which, in turn, give you more freedom as to what you want your PC to do. The other major advantage would have to be its free price tag. As soon as you get your PC, you can install Ubuntu Linux and be ready to go.
Those were some of the good things about Ubuntu Linux, but there are still a bunch of issues. Ubuntu's freedom can actually be pretty overwhelming at times, especially for a novice. Since Ubuntu is an open source project, there are a lot more optimization issues compared to Windows that can seriously become annoying. The worst thing from a gamer's perspective about Ubuntu Linux is that many AAA games do not even support it, although this is slowly changing.
Windows
Pretty sure anyone reading this is familiar with the Windows family (Windows 7, Window 8, etc...). Windows has controlled most of the PC market for years and there seem to be no signs of this changing anytime soon. One thing many people don't know is that Windows OS costs a good bit of money.
This becomes an added expense many people may not anticipate.
What Version Of Windows Should I Get?
Something else we get asked all the time is what version of Windows people should get. We recommend going with Windows 10 as of now. Microsoft has ironed out most of the major bugs plaguing the OS and developers are now starting to optimize their games for Windows 10, in particular.
Windows 7 and 8 still work fine, but if you're building a new PC, we don't recommend them over Windows 10. Below, we've included Windows 10 for this build.
The case for this build doesn't feature a disk drive, so we recommend going with the USB version. If you have an external or internal optical drive, you can go with the disk version though.
Conclusion
We really hope this helped and you are now one step closer to building a gaming computer under $600. This gaming PC build is more than capable of running anything out there currently. It's not only capable of running games, it's also capable of running most of them on 1080p, ultra 60 fps, and even the most demanding games will run on very high settings at 1080p. If you are looking for a future-proof build, this is the build to get.
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