P28K Budget APU Gaming PC
Target budget ₱28,000 · parts re-picked daily from live Shopee and Lazada prices
This is the classic Filipino starter build. Instead of paying for a graphics card, it leans on a Ryzen APU with Vega graphics, which is enough for the esports titles most of us actually play. Valorant, Dota 2, CS2 at low settings, Roblox, and Mobile Legends on an emulator all run comfortably at 1080p.
Parts list
Each slot shows the cheapest part that fits this build today. Prices are canvassed live from Shopee and Lazada.
| Component | Part | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | ₱8,495 | |
| CPU Cooler | ₱964 | |
| Motherboard |  Gigabyte A520M K V2 AMD A520 · Micro ATX | ₱2,829 |
| RAM |  Klevv BOLT X 16 GB 3200 DDR4 · 2×8 GB · CL16 | ₱7,450 |
| Storage |  HIKSEMI Wave(P) NVMe · 512 GB | ₱4,260 |
| PSU |  Darkflash GS550 550 W · 80+ Bronze | ₱1,670 |
| Case |  darkFlash M305 Mesh MicroATX Mini Tower | ₱1,140 |
| Case Fan |  YGT Cyber-120IFB ARGB Kit 3-in-1 120 mm · 3-pack | ₱522 |
| Total | ₱27,330₱670 under budget | |
Why these parts
- CPU
- The Ryzen 5 5600G puts Vega graphics on the chip, so it plays Valorant, Dota 2, and CS2 at 1080p with no separate graphics card. That is the whole trick to hitting this budget.
- CPU Cooler
- A cheap single-tower Thermalright runs the 65W chip quieter and cooler than the boxed cooler for a couple hundred pesos, and it carries over when you upgrade the CPU.
- Motherboard
- A B550 board, not the cheaper A520, is deliberate: it accepts a graphics card and a Ryzen 7 5700X3D later, so the platform is the upgrade path rather than a dead end.
- RAM
- 16GB in two sticks runs dual-channel, which matters more here than on any other build. The Vega iGPU has no memory of its own and leans on system RAM for bandwidth, so a single stick would visibly cost frames.
- Storage
- A PCIe Gen3 NVMe drive is the correct pick, not a cost cut: the 5600G has Gen3 lanes only, so a pricier Gen4 drive would run at Gen3 speeds anyway.
- PSU
- The 550W supply is sized past what the APU draws so you can drop in an RTX 3050-class card later without buying a new one. That headroom is the point of this build.
Who this build is for
Students and first-time builders who want a real desktop now and plan to add a graphics card later. The B550 board and 550W power supply leave a clean upgrade path.
Upgrade path
Drop in a used or budget GPU (RTX 3050 class) later and this becomes a full 1080p gaming rig. The CPU can also be swapped up to a Ryzen 7 5700X3D on the same board.
More build guides
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around ₱45,000Forty-five thousand pesos is where a real graphics card enters the build in 2026. The Ryzen 5 5600 is still the budget king of AM4, and paired with an RTX 3050 8GB (or an RTX 5050 when it lands cheaper) it turns 1080p esports into a locked high-refresh experience while opening the door to AAA titles at medium settings.
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