Best Entry Level PC Gaming Build for Early 2021: AMD Edition

Are you looking for an entry-level AMD build and need advice on parts to pick? We offer our suggestions here.

Question by Everyone from United States | Answered by in Computer Systems on

What's the best value entry-level PC for gaming in early 2021 based on an AMD CPU?

With our initial build guide out in the wild, it's time to switch from Intel to AMD. With these build guides, I'm trying to keep with the latest socket for each platform, and with AMD, that gives us a ton of room since AM4 has been the mainstream platform for years.

Best Entry Level PC Gaming Build for Early 2021: AMD Edition 1

With that said, I'm going to stick with 500 series chipsets because we want to take advantage of all the features, including PCIe 4.0, which gives the best possible upgrade path for AMD users currently. Let's get to it!!

I'm going with the Ryzen 3 3100 as 4C 8T is likely the lowest core count you would want to go with to start this build. This CPU usually sells around $100US, so it's a great place to start your gaming build on a budget. The motherboard has several choices, but I'm going with the B550 chipset to save some coin, and the ASRock B550 PG 4 is currently going for $114 US making it a fantastic piece for our build.

AMD can be a bit picky with memory, and to get the best performance, we want to stay between 3200MHz and 3600MHz for our build. With this in mind, I think we can swing a 2x4GB kit of 3200MHz CL16 Viper Steel from Patriot, currently showing up for $43.99. You can also find Ripjaw V the same capacity, speed, and price if you want a secondary option.

GPU is going to take some patience, just like we found with our Intel build. We are again looking in the area of the GeForce 1660/Ti or Radeon RX 5500/5600 XT. I've chosen the ASRock Challenger RX 5500 XT for this guide, but I would look for the higher 5600XT/ GeForce 1660 on a deal if possible.

Rounding out this guide, we pick up the Samsung 860 EVO 1TB SSD, Corsair CX 450W Bronze rated PSU, and Cooler Master MB600 for our chassis giving us a final price of $860 for this build.

TLDR: The Build

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