If you're building a desktop PC and want to balance capability with affordability, Newegg has you covered. For $116, you can pick up a bundle that combines AMD's excellent Ryzen 5 5500 with an ASRock B450M/AC R2.0 motherboard for 25% off the regular price.
The Ryzen 5 5500 is one of the best value desktop CPUs on the market. It ranks No. 3 on Newegg's list of desktop CPU processors, and if that's not enough of a selling point, it's also the best value CPU currently on sale anywhere, among more than 1,000 processors, according to PaskMark.
Built on AMD's Zen 3 architecture, it offers six cores and 12 threads, a base clock of 3.6 GHz, and boost speeds up to 4.2 GHz. With a power rating of 65 W and the included Wraith Stealth cooler, it's ideal for compact or budget-focused systems.
Today's best AMD combo deal
For everyday computing, the Ryzen 5 5500 CPU handles multitasking, productivity apps, and general home use with ease.
It lacks integrated graphics, but that's rarely an issue for entry-level gaming systems where a dedicated GPU is usually planned.
Choose the CPU here, select “Build with it” in the Combo Overview, and then choose ASRock B450M/AC R2.0 from the motherboard list to get the best package.
This B450M/AC R2.0 offers PCIe 3.0 support and features an M.2 slot for NVMe SSD. Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are included, which is a welcome addition as many boards in this price range still require a separate wireless adapter.
Memory support goes up to 128GB of DDR4, which is much more than most budget systems will need.
Storage options include four SATA ports along with the M.2 slot, making it easy to combine fast boot drives with larger, cheaper storage. The Micro ATX form factor also keeps it flexible for smaller cases.
Naturally, there are compromises that must be taken into account. The platform is limited to PCIe 3.0 and uses the older AM4 socket, meaning there is no way to upgrade to new generations of Ryzen without replacing the board. Still, in the case of strict budgets, those trade-offs are easy to justify.
At this price, the combo offers a capable six-core CPU, a Wi-Fi-enabled motherboard, and a standard cooler for not much more than just the processor. That easily makes it one of the best budget PC deals available today.
