You often don’t see a perfectly executed combination of performance and aesthetics with an ultra low budget build, but here’s a perfect example of how to do it. Staring the Ryzen 5 1600AF and GTX 1060 inside a Montech Air 100, this is a perfect starter gaming PC prebuilt for anyone looking to jump into PC gaming without breaking the bank.
Favorite Features
- 1600AF + 1060 – This CPU and GPU combination is well known throughout the PC building community and it continues to be a staple over these past few years. The Ryzen 5 1600AF is similar in performance to a 2600, and the GTX 1060 allows you to play most titles in 1080p when you’re first getting started. Lots of room to upgrade here as well. Quick note: There’s an EVGA GTX 1080 cooler on the GTX 1060, this isn’t an actual GTX 1080.
- Color Scheme – This is a very unique color scheme that takes advantage of all black parts inside an RGB-loaded Montech Air 100 case, and then some cable extensions as the cherry on top. The orange Funtin extensions really make the build pop out from the white lights and the overall aesthetics makes the build look more expensive than what it actually is.
- Quick Upgrades – I love that we’re starting to see more sellers add in upgrade options right on top of their postings like this one. Underneath the System Specs you can see that the seller is willing to upgrade the PC before shipping it out, perfect if you wanted to increase your NVMe storage size, add a bigger SATA SSD for a game library, or even a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth adapter. You have the options!
Price to Performance Value
This is definitely a build where you need to include the aesthetics into the value and not just the performance. There are other builds on our platform right now with a GTX 1060 for around the same price, but if this is the color design you’re looking for then it’s a no brainer. If all you care about is FPS per dollar though, then keep your eyes peeled for other GTX 1060 builds from PC Lab LLC, Sakido, and even Gaming Workstations & Services has more options than just this one as well.
First Upgrades
There’s a lot you can do with a build like this, it’s completely up to the buyer’s needs and desires. I would personally recommend hanging on how it is currently until you truly want a better gaming experience, and then overhauling multiple parts at once such as the CPU and Motherboard. The MSI A320M PFO VH motherboard is a bit limiting, so if you want a better CPU I would include a new motherboard in your plan as well. For GPU upgrading, you can go as high as you want as long as 500W is enough, otherwise you’ll need to upgrade along with it.
Conclusion
Budget aesthetics is my speciality and builds like this always get my attention. Again, there’s multiple options around $550 for a low budget 1080p gaming PC on our platform now, but if you like the aesthetics of this one, pull the trigger. This is a great starter gaming PC for anyone looking to jump in right now.
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