Finding the right specs for your gaming and streaming PC can be quite a challenge. Many individuals are often overwhelmed with the number of options they have, not to mention all the brands that offer practically the same products! You may often find yourself running into these questions:
- Am I spending the right amount?
- Am I getting the best bang for my buck?
- How do I know this build is right for me?
- How does more expensive hardware translate into real-life performance?
- And more…
In this guide, I would like to answer some of those questions by presenting a build that I find to offer excellent performance for the budget, alongside a couple of alternatives for some parts.
Budget Streaming PC Part List
CPU |   | AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor | |
Motherboard |   | ASUS PRIME B450M-A/CSM | |
RAM |   | G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory | |
Storage #1 |   | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5” 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | |
Storage #2 |   | Transcend 110S 128 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | |
GPU |   | Sapphire Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB PULSE Video Card | |
Case |   | Cougar MG130-G MicroATX Mini Tower Case | |
Power Supply |   | Gigabyte P-B 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply |
Why These Are The Best Parts For A Budget Build!
The Best Budget CPU For Streaming
The Ryzen 5 2600 offers excellent performance for the money while boasting impressive specs. Despite it being an older generation Ryzen 5 model, it still packs a punch thanks to its 6 cores and its multi-threaded technology that allows it to have 12 threads. The CPU has a base clock of 3.4 GHz with a boost of 3.9 GHz.
This is enough to power through many single-threaded applications (like games) while having extra horsepower left for streaming purposes. Another pro for this CPU is that it is supported on all the newer platforms. It was launched alongside the B450 platform, which supports the latest generation of Ryzen Processors thanks to the great BIOS support that manufacturers offer.
Finally, this CPU comes with a stock cooler that can keep its temperatures in check, eliminating the need for a 3rd party CPU cooler.
The Best Budget Motherboard For A Streaming PC
Our motives for choosing this motherboard are pretty simple: it is cheap, versatile, has numerous upgrade options, and supports future components.
It is not as bad in terms of appearance compared to other boards in the same price range. The board supports CPUs from the first generation of Ryzen Processors, all the way to the newest 5000 processors. It also comes with support for NVMe storage technology and 4 RAM slots for future upgrades. In terms of storage, it comes with 6 SATA 6 Gb/s ports, which allow you to satisfy all your storage needs.
Finally, it comes with all the I/O you may need, 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 connectors at the back, as well as a USB 3.1 Gen 1 front-panel connector. It is also equipped with a gigabit ethernet port and more to satisfy all your needs!
The Best Budget Ram For A Streaming PC
RAM’s choice is quite a simple one; it is a cheap 16 GB kit that provides pretty good performance for the money!
The nice thing about this kit is that it is a 2 x 8 GB kit, which means that you can upgrade to 32 GBs ram in the future by purchasing another kit of the same brand! The kit has a speed of 3000 MHz which is enough for all your gaming and streaming needs.
The Best Budget Storage For A Streaming PC
For storage, we have chosen two different kinds of storage to satisfy all your needs. The first one is the Transcend 110S NVMe SSD. As the name suggests, it supports NVMe technology, enabling it to achieve outstanding performance for all your crucial applications, and mainly, your operating system.
As for your larger storage needs, the WD Caviar Blue 1 TB is a perfect match. It comes with 64 MBs of cache and a rotation speed of 7200 RPM, making it ideal for recording gaming footage and all your more giant games.
The Best Budget GPU For A Streaming PC
Getting to the build’s meat and potatoes, the GPU, arguably being the most essential part of any PC when gaming. For this reason, we have chosen the RX 6700 XT, which is a great performer for its price, especially in AMD optimized games.
It can beat some higher-end NVIDIA cards! The 6700 XT comes with a boost clock of 2581 MHz! It is quite a high boost clock compared to other cards.
To compliment that, it also comes with 12 GBs of GDDR6 memory, which should help you game at resolutions higher than 1080p. As for other features, AMD has shipped the 6700 XT with their own hardware encoder for videos, which translates to a lower performance hit in games when streaming or recording.
The Best Budget Case For A Streaming PC
Our case for this build also has simple reasoning behind choosing it. It is a great budget case, with a reasonable price, front 280mm radiator support, top 240mm radiator support, USB 3.0, USB 2.0, and Audio connectors for the front panel I/O.
The case comes with support for 2 3.5 inch drives and 2 2.5 inch drives. It also comes equipped with exhaust fans and a tempered glass side panel!
The Best Budget Power Supply For A Streaming PC
Our power supply choice for this build stems from the great value this particular unit offers. The Gigabyte P-B 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified comes with the basics you need. Enough power for the build and 80+ Bronze Certification.
Alternative Components For Your Budget PC Build
The final section of our guide is dedicated to some alternative parts and final thoughts and recommendations. This build should be able to fulfill most of your 1080/1440p gaming needs with respectable framerates. As well as being able to game on 144 Hz monitors if you feel like it, especially in E-sport games like CS:GO, Dota, Valorant, or LoL. If you are looking for a 60 Hz 1080p monitor that is a good all-rounder, feel free to check out the HP 22cwa.
If you are interested in 144 Hz monitors, a good budget option would be the Philips 242E1GSJ, a 27” monitor capable of doing 144 Hz! If you fancy replacing one of the components with an alternative, here are a few recommendations:
CPU – Ryzen 5 3600, 3600X
Wrapping Up The Best Budget Streaming Build
Hopefully this has been a helpful guide to building your budget streaming setup and getting kicked off with your first stream. It’s an exciting time! Lately some of these items have been increasing in price dramatically due to high demand, so prices may be a little more expensive than they used to be.
Hopefully over time these prices will start to come down again.
