How to Build a $600 Gaming PC for 2025!

Metatube

► Buy my PC builds: https://zttbuilds.com  ► Free PC Building Help: https://zttbuildhelp.com  ► Check out the extended benchmark run for this build over on the @zttextras channel: https://youtu.be/RDs0tFit2PU  ► Livestream VOD for full building guide: https://youtube.com/live/Ql9nDe5pqQQ  In this video, we build a $600 gaming PC featuring a Ryzen 5 5600, RTX 2070, and 32GB of RAM, proving you don’t need to break the bank for great performance. Watch as we assemble the rig, run benchmarks on modern games like Marvel Rivals and Delta Force, and explore whether this retro GPU still holds up in 2025!  Affiliate Links: (I may earn a small commission at no extra charge to you)  CPU: https://geni.us/gnuhVB Mobo: https://geni.us/P2gunT RAM: https://geni.us/aucHYaB GPU: https://geni.us/uOYZtsv SSD: https://geni.us/n7B1H PSU: https://geni.us/ExJlcLm Case: https://geni.us/9nB1s Extensions: https://geni.us/xuZ32 Cooler: https://geni.us/n89a  Alternative Parts:  Case: https://geni.us/ahuCs Cooler: https://geni.us/3FCcFD  Zach’s Peripherals: Monitor: https://geni.us/oDm1O Mouse: https://zeromouse.co/products/v35 Keyboard: https://geni.us/QoZd Headset: https://geni.us/nZ1QL Mousepad: https://geni.us/g0m7  ━━━━━━━━━━ Support ZTT!  🖥️ Buy ZTT Gaming PCs ➔ https://zttbuilds.com 💰 YouTube Membership ➔ https://www.youtube.com/zachstechturf/join 👕 ZTT Merch ➔ https://zachstechturf.com/merch 🎥 Production Gear ➔ https://zachstechturf.com/gear  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Follow ZTT!  📲 TIKTOK ➔ https://tiktok.com/@zachstechturf 🎙 TWITCH ➔ https://twitch.tv/zachstechturf 📱 DISCORD ➔ https://discord.gg/m72uv72 🐦 TWITTER ➔ https://twitter.com/zachstechturf 📷 INSTAGRAM ➔ https://www.instagram.com/zachstechturf/ 📧 EMAIL ➔ zach@zachstechturf.com 📽 VIDEOGRAPHER/EDITOR: https://www.youtube.com/user/TINSELTOWNINC  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Time Stamps  0:00 Intro 0:31 Parts List 7:35 Benchmarks 8:34 Conclusion  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ #PCGaming #PCBuild #GamingPC

Transcript

00:00Oh man, today we're using a throwback GPU in more ways than one, and I can't wait to show you how

00:05it performs inside our gaming PC. Today's build totaled up to just under the $600 mark, and I'm

00:10going to be showing you all the parts inside of here in case you want to copy it for yourself,

00:14and even if you don't, we'll at least go down memory lane a bit with this GPU.

00:17After that, we're of course going to benchmark it to see what this slightly older hardware is

00:21still capable of in 2025, but first, I gotta get this thing assembled over on my Twitch livestream.

00:26Twitch.tv slash Zach's Tech Drift is where I livestream all of my PC builds by the way,

00:30it's the place to be. So starting with the CPU, we got none other than the Ryzen 5 5600,

00:34and at this sub $600 price total, there really is just no other choice unless you buy used.

00:39Some parts inside this build are indeed used, but for the CPU, I snagged this off AliExpress for a

00:44too good to pass up price of just $74. That's some unreal value for this monster 6-core and

00:5012-threaded chip, because as we know, the 5600 still pairs really nicely with the mid-range

00:54graphics cards. The motherboard I'm plugging this into is the first used component of the day,

00:59and this is the MSI B550 Gaming Gen 3 that I picked up on eBay for $80. Typically when I'm

01:04buying used motherboards, I like to snag them off Amazon Resale since they've been pretty reliable

01:08and have an easy Amazon return policy, but lately, that well seems to have been dried up.

01:13If you're buying from eBay, you'll want to make sure you only buy from a trusted and reputable

01:17seller, and for $80, this is unfortunately some good value in 2025. Even on B450 or any AM4

01:23platform, ATX-sized motherboards are still quite expensive, so this $80 price tag was actually

01:28kinda good. This board has a pretty clean all-black design with probably decent enough VRMs, but not

01:33too many other bells and whistles. It's no longer super useful in 2025, but there is indeed a BIOS

01:38flash button here which can sometimes come in handy, and although I haven't tested it myself,

01:42I would say that this is probably good enough to handle a 5700X3D upgrade later on down the line

01:48Next up we have the RAM, and this kit is the Clevvolt X 2x16GB DDR4 kit clocked at 3200MHz

01:55with a CL16 rating. Other than ultra-budget builds, I honestly think gone are the days of

01:59using 16GB of RAM because we're finally at a time period where I think this is the new sweet spot.

02:05The price difference these days on DDR4 going from 16GB to 32GB is usually less than $15,

02:10and since more and more games are actually utilizing more than 16GB, it's becoming an

02:14easy choice. Now granted, if you are still building a sub $500 PC, you probably still

02:19want to start at 16GB, but for builds like this, I'm gonna start going with 32GB from here on out.

02:23Another thing I'll continue to use from here on out, or at least in some builds,

02:27which is also from Clev, which is their Crass C910 1TB NVMe. This is a Gen 4 model with some

02:32pretty decent read and write speeds, but the main reason I selected this one was because it was one

02:37of the cheapest available 1TB Gen 4 drives. If you want to spend more money for a faster drive

02:41then feel free, but personally, with this kind of build budget, I'd rather save that money for

02:45the more performance impacting components like the CPU, GPU, and 32GB of RAM.

02:50Before we talk about that throwback GPU though, next up is the power supply,

02:53and this is the MSI Mag A550BN. Once again, this is a tier C non-modular unit,

02:58but that's all I personally need in a build like this. Well, actually, I do need one more thing,

03:02but chances are you actually don't. I'm plugging in these Okuno 16-gauge all-black extensions,

03:07and that's just because I'm still operating with the aesthetics over everything mindset.

03:11You absolutely do not need to copy these for your own build, even if the stock cables are all black,

03:15I still just personally prefer this braided and super clean cable design versus the plastic-y

03:20shielded ones that come with the power supply. Using black extensions is always a questionable

03:24move, and if you don't agree with me doing it, then just take 17 bucks off the total

03:27build price and yours will be cheaper than mine. Now one part I definitely don't actually

03:31recommend you copy, at least not anymore, is the case, and this is the Sama V-Mesh.

03:35For some context, I've used a ton of Sama products in the past, including recently in my $1,000

03:41Intel build video, but this specific model just didn't quite hit the mark like they usually do.

03:45When I was livestreaming this build, I noticed that this gap up here towards the top that's

03:49used for routing your 4 plus 4 CPU power cable wasn't actually big enough or positioned good

03:54enough when the motherboard is installed. When it's installed, there's just a tiny gap here,

03:58which means you have to route your power cable up and through the case before you install the

04:02motherboard. This may not seem like a huge deal to some of you, and in reality, it actually isn't,

04:06but from a perspective like mine, this is just completely unacceptable. I remember we used to

04:10deal with issues like this 5-10 years ago with some of the budget case brands, but I thought

04:15we completely moved past this being a thing. Like I said, I've enjoyed a ton of Sama case

04:19models recently, but this one, they kinda took a few steps backwards. On top of that,

04:23this case does absolutely nothing to help you with cable management in the back. For $75,

04:27with 3 pre-installed ARGB fans, this already isn't the best deal to be had. I much prefer

04:32going with something like the Montech XR, which is actually usually a bit cheaper.

04:35And speaking of the Montech XR, that's actually the number one case I recommended for my brand

04:39new build guide templates over on ZTTBuildHelp.com. There's a new category called NVIDIA Gaming,

04:44which are pure performance builds, but with an NVIDIA GPU. They have all the descriptions,

04:48links, and even alternatives you need for different price ranges. ZTTBuildHelp.com

04:53is always linked down in the description. Back to today's build though. Next up,

04:55we have the CPU cooler, and this is probably the only part that requires any sort of asterisks.

05:00It's the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Halo Black, and for $30, this is indeed a solid product,

05:05and I don't think you'll have any issues with it. But being 100% transparent,

05:09the only reason I'm using it is because I have a stack of them here at the office.

05:12At some point in time, Newegg was giving these out for free with a certain CPU purchase that

05:16we use for ZTTBuilds.com, so I got a bunch of them, and I wouldn't have used this originally

05:20because of the different RGB style. I'm not a huge fan of mix and matching different RGB styles,

05:25such as how this one has the Halo rings, and the case fans are just traditional RGB fan blades.

05:30It's not a huge deal, and the whole thing still looks pretty clean, but I would have gone with a

05:33cooler like the VITRO V5 if I didn't already have this. And finally, the last component,

05:37which is indeed the entire theme and motivation behind this build, is not just the RTX 2070,

05:43but the EVGA XC Gaming RTX 2070. Huge shout out and rip to EVGA graphics cards, because I know

05:49we've all been missing them for a bit now, but I figured I would do my part and shine some light

05:53back to what used to be one of the best GPU options. This card looks super clean and minimal,

05:58and I love just how that simple text on the side can match the entire build color scheme,

06:02and it's not too flashy or over the top. Now, the reason why I'm going with an RTX 2070 was

06:06completely unintentional. I was answering a comment for one of my YouTube shorts about

06:10someone asking me about the RTX 2070 performing in 2025, and during the process of me researching,

06:16I discovered that this is actually a hidden gem right now in terms of value. You can find these

06:20cards for around $150 to $190 used, and I grabbed this for $175 off of eBay. I do think there were

06:25a couple options available for a bit cheaper than this one, but I was willing to pay a little extra

06:29so I could revitalize EVGA in this video. If you go to ZTTBuildHelp.com and look at the 1080p

06:34Ultra GPU comparison charts, here you can see that the 2070 is just a bit better than the RX 6600,

06:39and right in between the RX 5700 and 5700 XT. For $175, that's actually pretty good considering a

06:45brand new RX 6600 is $200, and every GPU that I just mentioned is really good in terms of FPS

06:51per dollar value, but the 2070 is the only Nvidia option. If you're hunting for a sub $200 GPU or

06:56even a sub $175, this very well might be one of the best possible options if you prefer to stick

07:01to Nvidia. We won't get the absolute latest GPU technology like we do with the RTX 40 series and

07:06the upcoming 50 series cards, but there are still a few benefits. Before we get into that GPU

07:11performance though, here's what the final parts list is looking like, and I was actually able to

07:14keep this whole thing under $600. That's only possible because of the AliExpress CPU and used

07:19motherboard and graphics card, so keep that in mind. However, you probably won't spend $17 on

07:24black extensions. We are taking a little bit extra of a risk with the used parts, but when that plays

07:28out like it did today, we're saving a few hundred dollars compared to a brand new build with all

07:33new parts, but similar performance. And speaking of performance, let's jump into some games real

07:37quickly, and first up we have Starfield, which is one that I've recently been back into, and in 1080p

07:41we did get over that 60 FPS mark, but we had to put the settings down to low. That's not all bad

07:46though, because this is still a very demanding game and runs better on AMD, so I consider that a

07:50dub getting over 60. Next up is the new Delta Force, and here we got to crank up the settings

07:54up to 1080p high, and we got a solid 140 average FPS. For another new title, here's Marvel Rivals,

08:00and the FPS didn't get quite up to that higher refresh rate gaming level. In 1080p high we got

08:0575 FPS, but we of course could drop those settings to boost it up a bit. And finally, we have Fortnite

08:09because most people still want to know how that performs, and in 1080p with pro settings, this

08:14Ryzen 5 5600 and RTX 2070 build cranked out a pretty impressive 212 average FPS. And for all the

08:20other games, here are the results, and most of them are looking pretty good around that 1080p high

08:24level of range, but if you want to see what they actually look like, we also uploaded a dedicated

08:28benchmarking video for this build over on the ZTT Extras channel. But yeah, hopefully you all enjoyed

08:32this throwback with the EVGA RTX 2070. If you want to see a completely different way to build a PC

08:38around this price range, then feel free to click the video that's on the screen now.

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