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The Ryzen 5 7600X is a great entry-point CPU for anyone looking to build a gaming PC on the new AM5 platform. In terms of gaming, it can offer the same level of performance as an Intel Core i9 12900K while costing a third of the price.
Now that such performance is so affordable, it is the perfect time to build a PC with enthusiast-level performance at a lower budget.
In this guide I will break down my suggestions for 3 PC builds with the Ryzen 5 7600X at their core. The first one focuses on getting the best performance on a budget, the 2nd one offers exceptional value today and for the future, and the last one is an incredible ITX option that is just as easy to build as any other ATX PC.
Best Budget Ryzen 5 7600x PC Build
- CPU: AMD RYZEN 5 7600X
- Motherboard – MSI PRO B650M-A WIFI
- RAM – Patriot Viper Venom 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR5-5200 CL36
- CPU Cooler – Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
- SSD – Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB
- Graphics Card – PowerColor Fighter Radeon RX 6600
- Power Supply – Corsair RM750e (2023)
- PC Case – Zalman S2
Building a brand new AM5 PC on a tight budget was near impossible a year ago. Thankfully, we have a slew of components that have come crashing down in price and it makes more sense to go with a newer platform. My goal here was to build a sensible PC with the Ryzen 5 7600X that would be perfect for 1080p gaming and would have no trouble lasting the next 4 to 5 years. And all that for a budget of less than $900
For the base of the entire PC, I needed a high-quality motherboard that comes at a good price. The MSI PRO B650M-A WIFI is one of the best budget AM5 boards as it covers all the basics really well which includes 4 RAM slots, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, 2 M.2 slots, and a decently powerful 8-phase VRM that can even power a stock 7950X.
The rear I/O is good eventhough I would’ve liked the inclusion of 2 USB 2.0 type-A ports to prevent wasting fast USB 3 ports for peripherals.
Also do note that this is a micro ATX board which means that it comes with fewer PCIe slots than an ATX board. But this also results in a lower price tag without compromising on anything else.
You could go even cheaper but please stay away from any A620 motherboards since this won’t save you much money and the overall quality of the motherboard is going to be significantly worse.
There are other places where it is much easier to save money and still get a great deal.
For example, for RAM 16 GB DDR5 kits were simply too expensive to justify their price and I have been recommending getting 32 GB as a bare minimum to those building DDR5-based PCs.
Thankfully, now 16 GB kits are becoming more and more affordable and the Patriot Viper Venom 2*8 GB DDR5-5200 CL36 is a great kit for around $65. I would’ve wanted this kit to either have tighter timings at CL32 or CL30 or higher speed at 5600 MT/s or 6000 MT/s, but nonetheless, it’s still a fine kit.
Some would argue that 16 GB is not enough these days for a gaming PC, but I am yet to see a PC that can’t play a game with 16 GB of RAM.
Moving on, SSDs are also getting really good and it is easy to go with any PCIe 4.0 SSD. I ultimately chose the Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB because it is affordable and has a DRAM cache which helps the SSD sustain its performance during intense workloads.
Since this PC is primarily for those who want to focus the least on the GPU for now with intentions to upgrade later, I went with the PowerColor Fighter Radeon RX 6600. For around $200, it can play all the latest AAA titles at 1080p and high settings at 60 FPS. The only significant jump from the RX 6600 is the 6700 XT so you’re not missing out by skipping the 6600 XT or 6650 XT if you have a tight budget.
The RX 6600 is also extremely power efficient and consumes only around 100 Watts of power when pushed to its limits. That means that the total power consumption of this PC will be about 200 Watts or even under during gaming. So while I could get away with a cheaper 500 Watt Bronze power supply, I opted for the Corsair RM750e instead.
It is still an affordable unit that would be plenty if you decide to upgrade this PC later down the line with a more powerful and power-hungry CPU or GPU. Since this is an ATX 3.0 unit with a 12VHPWR connector, it will even run something like an RTX 4090.
And if you do go with a graphics card with a massively beefy cooler, but want to stay on a tight budget, then a PC Case like the Zalman S2 should do the trick.
It has a lot of space for even the longest cards and it even comes with 3 120 mm pre-installed fans. The airflow is excellent for the price and for these components, it should be plenty.
Unlike the non-X Ryzen 5 7600, the Ryzen 5 7600X does not come with a stock cooler so I went with the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE which will be good not just for the Ryzen 5 7600X, but even the 7950X (at stock speeds).
In conclusion the Ryzen 5 7600X offers a great opportunity to get on a platform that is likely to be supported for a long time. AM5 is set to last a decently long time just like AM4, and as PC parts have become more affordable, it has become an obvious choice for many.
At just under $900, it is a little high to be considered a true budget PC, but given the quality of parts and long life of the AM5 platform, it is certainly a well-worth investment.
Best Value Ryzen 5 7600x PC Build
CPU: AMD RYZEN 5 7600X
Motherboard – MSI MAG B650 TOMAHAWK WIFI
RAM – Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30
CPU Cooler – Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
SSD – Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB
Graphics Card – XFX Speedster SWFT 319 Radeon RX 6800
Power Supply – Corsair RM750e (2023)
PC Case – Fractal Design Pop Air
Since the Ryzen 5 7600X can offer the same level of gaming performance as the i9 12900K, it has become a flagship killer. My goal with this PC was to play games at 1440p, and even try some 4K gaming on it by undoing the compromises I would make with a budget PC.
The parts I chose for this PC are essentially the most sensible options and the graphics card in particular was the main interest. The Ryzen 5 7600X has enough horsepower to keep up with anything, I did want to go with a RX 7800 XT, but the $400 price tag of the XFX Speedster SWFT 319 Radeon RX 6800 convinced me otherwise.
For budget 1440p gaming, the RX 6800 is still the best option as it not only has graphical horsepower on par with the Xbox Series X, it should also last a very long time thanks to the 16 GB buffer.
Moving on, I did not struggle to choose the RAM and SSD; I went with the Corsair Vengeance 32 GB DDR5-6000 CL30 for the RAM and a 1 TB stick of Crucial P5 Plus. A combination of these two is going to result in an ultra-fast experience.
For the motherboard, I went with the MSI MAG B650 TOMAHAWK WiFi which is simply one of the best value AM5 motherboards.
The most interesting thing is that its VRM is really strong, especially for a B650 board. The 14-phase 80A VRM is on par with budget X670 boards so if you upgrade this PC to a 7950X, you can run it easily with an intense overclock completely stable and it even comes with 2 8-pin CPU ports for higher power delivery just like X670 boards.
The rear I/O is near perfect; everything that I want in a rear I/O is present like plenty of ultra-fast USB 3.2 ports, 2 separate USB 2.0 type-A ports for peripherals, and a complete array of audio jacks. The only thing missing from the rear I/O is the CMOS clear button.
For cooling since the Ryzen 5 7600X’s stock cooler is missing I went with the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE which will keep the cpu under 70 degrees celsius during intense workloads.
For the PC case I went with the Fractal Design Pop Air. It is a medium-sized case with plenty of airflow and the amazing color options give it a lot of personality.
Lastly, to power this PC, I chose the Corsair RM750e, which is an 80-Plus Gold rated ATX 3.0 750 Watt PSU. It will have no issue powering everything even if it had an RTX 4090 as the 12VHPWR connector can drive up to 600 Watts from a single cable.
In conclusion, if you need to build a PC that will last long and be upgraded easily, then the AM5 platform offers that same opportunity as the AM4 platform did. I was able to piece together a very fast 1440p PC for around $1200 with the Ryzen 5 7600X and RX 6800 with the goal of getting the best performance at the lowest possible price.
Best Mini ITX Ryzen 5 7600x PC Build
CPU: AMD RYZEN 5 7600X
Motherboard – MSI MPG B650I EDGE WIFI
RAM – Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30
CPU Cooler – Deepcool AK500 ZERO DARK
SSD – Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB
Graphics Card – XFX Speedster SWFT 319 Radeon RX 6800
Power Supply – Corsair RM850e (2023)
PC Case – Thermaltake Tower 200
I am worried that the ITX PC category may become increasingly less exciting due to the fact that it has become a narrow niche among enthusiasts.
With the ITX Ryzen 5 7600X PC, I challenged myself to build a PC that is repeatable and easy to build just like building an ATX PC. I ended up with what is essentially an ITX version of the best value Ryzen 5 7600X PC and it even costs similar.
The main star of this PC build is the Thermaltake Tower 200 which is a great mini ITX case that comes at a decent price, unlike other ITX cases that tend to charge a hefty premium.
Although it is a mini ITX case, the only real restriction is that it will only accept mini ITX motherboards. Other than that, it can house GPUs of all sizes, tall CPU heatsinks, and even a full-sized ATX PSU so no need to worry about getting an SFX unit.
For the motherboard, I went with the MSI MPG B650I EDGE WIFI as it is a high quality ITX board with an 8-phase VRM config, that can even handle a stock Ryzen 9 7950X. It has a great rear I/O that even includes both Clear CMOS and BIOS flash buttons and plenty of fast USB 3.2 ports.
Besides the MSI MPG B650I EDGE WIFI, I chose the rest of the components as if I was choosing to build an ATX tower PC. I was most excited to go with the Corsair RM850e for the PSU since the case does not need SFX PSUs and 850 Watts is plenty for anything. I would easily recommend this PSU even for an i9 14900K RTX 4090 PC without worries.
Speaking of worries, I was initially worried about cooler support as most ITX cases either only support AIOs or specific low-profile air coolers that are hard to get. Thankfully, I went with the DeepCool AK500 ZERO DARK which has plenty of cooling capacity for the Ryzen 5 7600X and would be great even for much hotter chips.
Other than the CPU cooler, I was concerned about fitting a powerful graphics card because of space limitations. Since there are no such limitations, I went with the XFX Speedster SWFT 319 Radeon RX 6800 as it is an excellent 1440p GPU.
For the RAM and SSD, I went with a Corsair Vengeance 32 GB 6000 MT/s CL30 kit and a 1 TB Crucial P5 Plus. While I normally recommend going with about 64 GB of RAM and 2 to 4 TB of storage in an ITX PC, the Thermaltake Tower 200 is an easy case to work with. You can easily upgrade to more RAM and storage without worrying that you would have to dismantle the entire PC.
In conclusion not everyone wants a large ATX PC but it seems that ITX is still out of reach for many due to high costs and very limited component options. I am glad that Thermaltake and other vendors are taking notice and are bringing out options that would help build ITX PCs with the same convenience as ATX PCs.
This Ryzen 5 7600X PC is a great starting point especially for novices who want to build small form factor PCs without hassle. It is going to last a very long time and as it uses ATX parts except for the motherboard, it will be super easy to upgrade later many years from now. At around $1350, it won’t break the bank as most mini ITX PCs generally tend to cost about $1500 or more.
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