With an RX 7600 graphics card, 16GB of RAM, and an AMD Ryzen 5 5600 processor, this $700 gaming PC build will handle any game you throw on it on higher settings.
Would you like to max out games on a 1080P or 1440P monitor with no problems? Do you want a gaming PC that will give you the room to upgrade to a higher-end system that can handle higher-resolution gaming in the future? Do you want to get into tethered virtual-reality gaming?
Well, for just $700 you can build the perfect mid-range gaming computer that will have no trouble playing games (even Starfield) on a 1080P or 1440P, will meet the minimum requirements of the best tethered VR-headsets on the market, and that will give you the ability to easily upgrade to a system down the road that will be able to handle high-end 4K gaming.
But, you have to be willing to assemble the system yourself. Sure, you could opt for a $700 prebuilt gaming PC, but it won’t come with the same levels of performance that the parts listed in this guide will offer. Fortunately, building a PC is easy. Check out our step-by-step build guide to get a feel for what the process is like.
Below, we’ve given you a list of components that you can use to build a $700 gaming computer that can accomplish everything listed above.
Table of Contents
For more affordable gaming PC builds at various price points, check out our Budget Gaming PC Build guide.
Part List for $700 PC Build
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| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 5600 | |
| MOBO | ASRock B550 | |
| GPU | XFX RX 7600 | |
| RAM | TEAMGROUP 16GB | |
| SSD | Crucial 1TB | |
| CASE | Montech AIR 903 | |
| PSU | MSI 650W |
Grand Total: $670-$730
*Component prices fluctuate daily. Click ‘Price on Amazon’ to see the most-up-to-date price.
**You’ll need an operating system. Windows 11 is free to download but a license costs ~$125. However, you can still install Windows for free and it will work indefinitely without activating it—there will just be a watermark at the bottom left of your desktop asking you to activate it.
Next Option: $800 Gaming PC Build »
$700 PC Build Overview
Thanks to an upgraded CPU and GPU, this $700 build will provide a decent performance jump over our $600 PC build.
This $700 gaming computer comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600 processor, an XFX Radeon RX 7600 video card, 16GB of 3600MHz DDR4 memory, a Crucial 1TB Gen 4 NVME SATA SSD, a roomy mid tower case, and a 650-watt power supply.
Performance
The combination of the Ryzen 5 5600 and the RX 7600 will allow you to run any game on max settings at at least ~100 FPS or higher on a 1080P display. For more demanding titles, like Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, or PUBG, this build should deliver 100+ FPS on max settings. For non-demanding games like Valorant, Roblox, Apex Legends, League of Legends, and Rocket League, this build will easily be able to handle them on max settings and average over ~200+ FPS.
The specs in this system make it a VR-ready PC build, too. So, if you want to pair it up with a Valve Index or an HTC Vive Pro 2 you can definitely do so.
Check out the benchmarks below and the FAQ section for a better idea of what this build is capable of.
Gold-Rated PSU & RGB Case
For the case, we chose the Montech AIR 903 MAX. This mid tower chassis features a tempered glass side panel, a grilled front panel (for optimal airflow), and a full-length PSU shroud. But, perhaps the best feature of the Nova Mesh is the fact that it comes with four preinstalled 140mm fans—three of which are RGB. Most cases in this price range only come with a single non-RGB fan presinstalled. Since RGB fans start at around ~$15 a piece, you’re getting your money’s worth with the AIR 903 MAX, not only in out-of-the-box airflow, but in RGB lighting as well.
Also Read: Which PC Case Size is Best for Your Next Build?
We’ve also chosen a Tier B 650-watt 80PLUS Gold-rated power supply from MSI. This fully-modular PSU will make cable management for this build a lot easier.
The bottom line is that, if you’re looking for a powerful system to run all of your favorite games on higher settings, this $700 PC build will do the trick for you.
*NOTE: If you’re not up for building your own computer, click the “Shop Pre-Builts” button above to see a similarly priced pre-built gaming computer.
Ryzen 5 5600 + RX 7600 Benchmark
Build FAQ
The list above is our choice for the best gaming PC builder under $700. However, there are different routes you can go with this build. And, in fact, at the time of writing this guide, the list of parts in this build actually come in a bit lower than $700. So, there is flexibility in what you can do with this build and how you can maximize your budget.
We’ll discuss all of the other options you have for this build below, as well as what kind of performance you can expect, how to avoid the high cost of buying Windows, and what upgrade paths this system will offer you.
FAQ
1. How Do I Build This PC?
You will need to assemble all of the individual components you have purchased into a working PC. Fortunately, this process is not difficult! And, it’s a lot of fun. If you’ve never built a PC before, use our Step-by-Step PC building guide to walk you through the process.
How to Build A Gaming PC: Step-by-Step
2. How Will This Build Perform?
With an RX 7600 graphics card and an AMD Ryzen 5 5600 this system will deliver optimal performance in almost any game on a 1080P monitor:
- For less-demanding games like Rocket League, League of Legends, expect ~200+ frames per second on max settings on a 1080P monitor
- For more demanding games like Elden Ring, Halo Infinite, Tom Raider, God of War, etc. expect ~100+ FPS on high settings on a 1080P monitor
Unless you have a 4K monitor you won’t have to worry about a having a low framerate with this build.
This system should also run most games on a 1440P display with an average framerate of ~60 FPS or higher. This build will run non-demanding titles on a 1440P display with an exceptionally high framerate as well.
3. Why Doesn’t This Build Have an Intel CPU in it?
If you prefer Intel CPUs over AMD CPUs, you can definitely go that route with this build. In the past we have chosen the Intel Core i5-12400 over the Ryzen 5 5600.
However, a Ryzen 5 5600/B550 chipset motherboard combination is currently cheaper than an i5-12400/H610 chipset motherboard combination. And, considering both CPUs will provide similar in-game performance and because a B550 motherboard can utilize faster memory (H610 chipsets are capped at memory speeds of 3200MHz) and can be overclocked, we felt the Ryzen 5 5600 offered the better overall platform to build on.
Either option will work in this build, though, and if you can get the i5-12400 or 12400F and a compatible motherboard for less than you can get a Ryzen 5 5600 and a compatible motherboard, then by all means, go the Intel route.
4. This Build Costs Well Under $700! What Should I Spend the Extra Money On?
In some instances, this build actually comes in at a price that is under $700. If that’s the case for you at the time you read this guide, you can either keep that extra money, or you can upgrade other components in this build.
If there is enough extra money in your budget, upgrading to a higher-end GPU will provide the biggest boost to your in-game experience. You could also spend more money to get a better computer case, or, if you want to future proof it and prepare it for an extreme-level graphics card upgrade in the future, you could opt for a more powerful power supply.
This build also comes with a 1TB SSD to start with. While that should be plenty to get started, modern games are getting really big and so it likely won’t be long before you’ll need more storage. So, one thing you could do with the extra money is to opt for a 2TB (or larger) SSD instead.
Ultimately, though, prices do often fluctuate on any given day and so it is very possible that when you go to read this guide that the total price is actually closer to (or even over) $700.
5. Why Isn’t Windows 11 Included in the Price?
We leave the price of Windows 11 out of our builds because there are different ways to get an operating system for less than the $100 that Windows 11 costs. Not all of these methods are ideal, but we figured we’d let you decide which operating system and/or method for getting a copy of Windows is the best option for you. Here are three alternatives to paying ~$125 for a copy of Windows 11:
First, you could install a free Linux-based operating system. You won’t be able to play certain games that aren’t compatible with Linux, but you will save ~$125.
Second, you could buy a Windows 11 key from a third party marketplace for ~$30. We’ve had good success purchasing Windows keys from Kinguin.net and G2A.com in the past, but there is definitely some risk involved in purchasing a Windows license from a third party source, as it is not technically a method of purchasing Windows that is approved by Microsoft.
Finally, you could just install Windows 11 for free and not activate it with a license key. In our opinion, this is probably the best route to go if you’re working with a tight budget. The $125 that Windows 11 costs could be the difference between running your games at max settings and running them at medium-or-lower settings. Essentially, though, Microsoft allows anyone to install Windows onto their computer without forcing them to activate it. And, for the most part, you can still use Windows normally even when it’s not activated. The only thing you will lose out on is some customization options like setting a custom background for your desktop and you also won’t be able to access Microsoft for support (although this isn’t that big of a deal—I’ve used Windows-based systems for nearly 20 years and I’ve never once called Microsoft to ask them for help with Windows). But, I think in order to save $125, that is not a bad trade-off cost. And, at the very least, you could run the non-activated version of Windows for the time being until you can afford to purchase an activation key for it.
6. How (and When) to Upgrade This Build
The cool thing about this $700 gaming build is that, if your main goal is to play games on higher settings on a 1440P or 1080P monitor, you won’t need to upgrade its graphics card for a long time.
So, in my opinion, your best upgrade path for a system like this would be the following:
- Add more storage
This system comes with a 1TB SSD. While that should be enough storage to hold you over for the time being, in this day and age, it probably won’t be enough for the majority of users over the long run. So, the first thing I’d do with this build is add another SSD. That can be a large SATA SSD for bulk storage, or another NVME SSD. Just note, though, that with the motherboard we’ve chosen can only hold two NVME SSDs max.
While the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 processor will be fine for gaming in 2023 and beyond, you can easily upgrade it to a higher-end Ryzen 7 processor in the future and you won’t have to swap out any other parts. For gaming purposes, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D would be an excellent upgrade option.
Conclusion: For $700, You Get A PC That Will Handle Anything
If you’re a budget-oriented gamer that is in the market for a new gaming computer that can max out any game on a 1080P or 1440P monitor, as well as run a tethered VR headset, then this $700 gaming PC build is exactly what you need. It’s fairly inexpensive and it will easily handle modern games on higher settings.
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