07/23/2020 $800 Entry Gaming, Auto CAD, and Streaming

CPU: 

AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($139.69 @ Amazon*) 

So we went with the 2600 due to the price. This 6-core 12-thread workhorse is a great value right now while the 1600 (12nm) and the 3100 are out of stock. It is a bit higher than I would like to see it but, It fits nicely into our budget

Motherboard: 

ASRock B450 Steel Legend ATX AM4 Motherboard ($129.74 @ Amazon*) 

This board from ASRock is a neat little board. It has a good amount of RGB on the board. 4 memory slots that will support up to 64GB of DDR4-3466. The B450 Chipset is well matched to the R52600 CPU.

Memory:

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($62.99 @ Amazon*)

I went with this kit for 2 main reasons. First, was the price. Second, the speed maxes out what our board supports ensuring the CPU can run as fast as possible.

Storage: 

Patriot VPN100 256 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon*) 

This drive is going to run amazingly. With its 512MB Cache which is double the Cache you normally see for this SSD size, it will run wicked fast.

Storage: 

Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.00 @ Amazon*) 

This Seagate is a mainstay on my lists. Price to performance and capacity these barracuda HDDs just can’t be beat right now.

Video Card: 

MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB VENTUS XS OC Video Card ($279.99 @ Amazon*)

The 1660ti is a beast of a little GPU. For under $300 you get not only performance just slightly under last generation’s 1070ti but also the Turing NVENC encoder. That encoder has been a game-changer. The Turing NVENC is a separate chip on the Graphics card which takes stream encoding stress off the GPU and CPU allowing you to run your games at max performance while having a nice smooth stream. Furthermore, for you Auto CAD users, NVIDIA's new Studio Driver has changed the game allowing your hardware accelerated programs to better utilize the computing power the GPU provides. You can find the Studio Driver here.

Case: 

Phanteks Eclipse P300A Mesh ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon*)

Phanteks really hit a home run with this case. It’s a nice alternative to my favorite case for new builders, the NZXT H510 which is currently out of stock. This case comes with plenty of options for cable management as well as plenty of room for new builders to organize.

Power Supply: 

Raidmax Thunder RGB 535 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($64.89 @ Amazon*)

I went with this PSU mainly for the cost. It’s an 80+ Bronze rated 535w PSU which is well-reviewed and well-matched to this build.

Total: $835.28**

*Post contains Amazon Associate links.

**Based on the prices and availability at the time of writing. Pricing and availability changes minute by minute.