I recently decided to build an affordable PC that I can upgrade later on. Here's what I'm considering so far:
- ASUS Prime B550M-A WiFi II AMD Micro ATX Motherboard with PCIe 4.0, WiFi 6, ECC Memory, HDMI 2.1, RGB header.
- Alternatively, MSI B550 GAMING PLUS AMD B550 ATX DDR4 Motherboard.
- AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core, 12-Thread Processor with Wraith Stealth Cooler.
- RX 5700 XT 8GB Graphics Card.
- G.SKILL Trident Z RGB Series DDR4 RAM (16GB, 3200MT/s).
I want to know if this build is good, especially considering upgrades in the future.
4 Answers
Your components are decent, but I recommend swapping the RX 5700 XT for an RX 6700. The price difference isn’t huge, but the performance boost is significant, putting it in the range between the 3060 and 4060—closer to the latter.
Don’t let the "old hardware" concerns get to you too much. There’s still a lot of upgrade potential with AM4. You can get better CPUs like the R5 5600X for a decent price, and while DDR4 might seem pricey, used parts are still pretty affordable. In fact, I built my PC for just $230 with a solid setup including a GTX 1080 and Ryzen 5 1600!
- GTX 1080 (used)
- Ryzen 5 1600
- 16GB DDR4 RAM for $12
- B450 motherboard
Keep an eye out for used parts!
Honestly, the components listed are quite dated and have no real upgrade path. They were probably in the $200-$400 range when they were newer. I’d suggest looking into the current AMD options if you want to future-proof your build.
It sounds like you're aiming for an affordable setup, but I’d advise you to consider that most of the tech you’re looking at is already getting dated. While there might be a few AM4 CPUs still available, they are likely to phase out soon. Plus, prices on DDR4 are on the rise too. If you can stretch your budget a bit, going for an AM5 setup would be a much better long-term option.
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