Introduction
Many gamers are after a good gaming PC build for under $600, which is a reasonable budget that can get you a very decent gaming machine.
In this article we’ll provide you with the parts list that will construct a formidable gaming PC which has been custom-optimized for the $600 price range.
Every part has been selected to get you the optimal bang-for-buck in terms of graphics quality and chug-free processing.
If you’re interested in this gaming build, be sure to read our commentary on the individual parts and why we think each of these is a good fit in this build.
We’ll also touch on optional extras, expected performance of this PC (including which games you should be able to comfortably run), and also give a run-down on the upgradability of the recommended hardware, so you’re all set for now as well as the future.
We really feel this particular build beats most gaming PC builds under $600, which often tend to sacrifice a good processor for graphics card (at the loss of game speed) but judge for yourself – without any further ado, here is our $600 gaming PC build:
Parts List
Last Updated: July 2016
| Component | Description | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graphics Card |  |
MSI GTX 960 2GD5T OC edition | Check on Amazon |
| CPU |  |
Intel Core i5-6500 | Check on Amazon |
| Memory |  |
Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB | Check on Amazon |
| Motherboard |  |
Gigabyte GA-H110M-A | Check on Amazon |
| Storage |   |
1TB Western Digital Blue | Check on Amazon |
| Case |  |
VIVO Gaming PC CASE-V06 | Check on Amazon |
| Power Supply |  |
EVGA 500 W1 | Check on Amazon |
| Buy this system on Amazon » |
Graphics CardObviously one of the most important parts in terms of performance for a gaming system is the Graphics card. We’ve picked the MSI GTX 960 2GD5T |
CPUOne of the CPU’s most important jobs in a gaming machine is to send instructions to the graphics card in a timely fashion! Well, we may have oversimplified that a bit.. but rest-assured that this 3.2GHz, Quad-core Intel i5-6500 CPU has got what it takes. These are a fantastic processor and make a great addition to our gaming build. This is a quad core CPU based on the latest Skylake architecture with a base speed of 3.2GHz and an Intel Turbo Boost speed of 3.6Ghz. The higher clock speed and 4 cores means this CPU is more than capable of serving the requests of modern games. These i5 processors are widely used by system builders for their performance and value for money.
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MemoryThe motherboard we’ve gone with in this build only supports DDR4 RAM, so we’ve gone with the Corsair Vengence 1x8GB stick. The benefit of DDR4 is that you’ll get similar performance to DDR3 RAM but with a slightly lower power consumption, which also means less heat inside your case. DDR4 also offers a higher clock speed for a comparatively lower price.
While the latency and speed of memory is not particularly important in a gaming build, it’s still nice to have some quality RAM installed. Installing a single 8GB stick instead of two 4GB sticks means you have room to install more memory later if you ever find you need it. |
MotherboardAgain, this Motherboard is another one of our popular choices. The Gigabyte GA-H110M-A board is reliable, has a solid feature set and is excellent value. This motherboard provides the basic connectivity you’ll need to support all of your components in this build and also has a super easy to use UEFI BIOS. In fact, it has two which means you have a backup BIOS if anything goes wrong with the first.
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Hard DriveWith the budget in mind, we’ve gone for a 1TB Western Digital Blue SATA hard disk. These Western Digital Blues have basically become the standard choice for system builders everywhere and with good reason.
While these speeds are no where near a modern SSD, the impact to in-game performance is minimal. See our Hard Drive section for more information on this!
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Case
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Power supplyFinally, to power all of your gear we’ve included an EVGA 500W power supply. This offers plenty of power for your new system with enough capacity to support futur
 e additions and other extras.
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OC 
Buy this system on Amazon »
Optional Extras
In our budget builds we typically don’t include optical drives – e.g. DVD / BluRay drives. These days, many people install their operating system (usually Windows) via a USB drive and games via digital download (e.g. Steam). We have a guide up in our blog here showing how. If you’d rather use an optical drive or just find them handy to have we’ve included an option below which will suit most builds.
Blu-Ray – LG Electronics 14x Internal BDXL Blu-Ray Burner
DVD – Lite-On 24X SATA Internal DVD+/-RW Drive
Case Fans – Cooler Master SickleFlow 120
Add some extra airflow to your case, especially if you live in a hot area. These Cooler Master fans are a good balance between airflow, noise and price. They also come in a choice of several colors so you can match the preinstalled fans that come with the case we’ve selected.
Is there a guide to building this specific set? If not, then a guide to building a pc in general? I’m interested but don’t know where to start. Thanks.
Hi Arturo,
Thanks for the comment. We’re in the process of writing up an easy to follow guide for our builds so stay tuned for that.
If it’s your first PC build then the whole process may seem daunting at first but as long as you have access to the right helpful resources then it’s really not too difficult. We try to help by guiding people in the right direction in terms of the parts they chose and are always happy to help guide you through the build process if necessary.
For a short guide which covers the essentials of putting together a PC, check out this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bUghCx9iso
For a longer, more in depth walkthrough I like to refer people to this excellent video from Newegg which covers the entire process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIF43-0mDk4
Feel free to post back here with any questions of the process and any help you need along the way, We’ll help wherever we can. If you do chose to put together your own PC be sure to post some pictures of your build!
It is my first build so it’s a bit intimidating. I’m looking forward to your guide hopefully I can find it once its put up. And I will post pics should I decided to build one. Thank you.
Hey, this is exactly what I was looking for. What do you think about the AMD 380 or 280X instead of the GTX 960?
Hi Kevin,
Both of those cards are solid choices however just keep in mind a few points. While the 280x can be slightly faster than the 960 in some games it also consumes more power and generates more heat so you’ll need to consider those factors. The 380 will also use a little more power than the 960 but doesn’t perform as well as the 280x.
Depending on where you live, the 960 can often be quite a bit cheaper than the 380 and 280x which is a major reason why it made it into this $600 build.
If you can afford a little more and prefer an AMD card, I’d take a look at the R9 380X
which is a much new release and seems very promising.