Looking to build a strong gaming PC in 2025 without going over £500? With some smart part choices and deals, you can put together a rig capable of smooth 1080p and even 1440p gaming. Here’s our optimised spec list for the best budget-friendly gaming PC build this year.
Building your own PC is a sure fire way to save money, and it only takes around an hour to do once you’ve got the components sorted, so let’s discuss what I think you should be buying as we head towards 2026.
Of course there’s far more options available, these are just some solid suggestions to look out for, or to compare the one you’re looking at against.
🖥 CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X, Ryzen 5 5600X, Intel Core i5-14400F, or Intel Core i7-9700K (~£100)
These CPUs offer incredible value for money. The 3900X provides 12 cores for multitasking, while the 5600X shines in gaming efficiency. Intel’s i5-14400F and i7-9700K are also great choices, balancing performance and price.
🎮 GPU: AMD RX 6600 XT, RX 6700 XT, NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super, RTX 3060 Ti, or RTX 4060 (~£200)
At this price point, these GPUs are unbeatable. The RX 6700 XT and RTX 3060 Ti excel in raw 1440p performance, while the RTX 4060 adds future-ready DLSS 3.0 support.
🧠 RAM: 32GB DDR4 (3000–3600MHz, ~£40)
Thanks to falling DDR4 prices, 32GB kits are now available at budget-friendly rates. Perfect for gaming, streaming, and multitasking.
💾 Storage: 500GB NVMe SSD + 500GB SATA SSD (~£50)
A dual-drive setup gives you 1TB of fast and reliable storage. Use the NVMe for Windows and main games, and the SATA SSD for extra storage.
🪛 Motherboard: Compatible B450 / B550 (AMD) or B460 / B660 (Intel) (~£50)
Budget-friendly motherboards that fit your chosen CPU, with support for fast storage and good upgrade paths.
🔌 PSU: 550W–750W 80+ Bronze (~£40)
Enough reliable power for these mid-range components, with efficiency to spare.
❄️ Cooling: Stock Cooler
All these CPUs can run on stock cooling. If you want quieter operation, aftermarket air coolers are affordable add-ons around £20.
🖥 Case: Budget-Friendly ATX or Micro-ATX (~£30)
You can find plenty of great budget cases on Amazon and other retailers. Look for good airflow and cable management, which most in this price range should offer as standard.
Example Build Price Breakdown (Approximate):
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CPU: £100
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GPU: £200
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RAM: £40
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Storage: £50
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Motherboard: £50
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PSU: £40
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Case: £30
Total: ~£510
Final Thoughts
With the right choices, a £500 budget in 2025 goes much further than in previous years. This build can handle modern AAA games at high settings, push esports titles to high frame rates, and even dabble in light content creation. Used and refurbished components can push performance even further without breaking the bank.
Check out our stock at GPUsed.co.uk for excellent deals on components in your PC build journey!
Published - Max Brocklesby - 24th September 2025