Building a gaming PC for under $800 is absolutely doable in 2025, and the result is far more capable than any console at the same price point. The Ryzen 5 5600X on the AM4 platform gives you access to affordable DDR4 memory and mature, well-priced motherboards.
The Radeon RX 7600 delivers excellent 1080p performance and comes with 8GB of VRAM, which is enough for current games at medium-to-high settings. Pairing it with 16GB of DDR4-3200 keeps the budget tight without bottlenecking performance in any meaningful way.
This build is an ideal first PC or a solid choice for someone who games casually and doesn't need to max out every setting.
Updated for mid-2026: AM4 remains the budget value champion — the Ryzen 5 5600X and 5700X3D are still cheap and plentiful, and DDR4 pricing keeps the total low. The RX 7600 still holds up at 1080p, but the newer RTX 5060 and Intel Arc B580 (12GB) are now strong sub-$300 alternatives worth comparing; the B580's extra VRAM helps in modern texture-heavy titles. The under-$800 target is just as achievable in 2026 as it was at launch.