Building a capable PC for less than $500 is challenging, especially as memory prices soar. Fortunately, a competitive CPU market means it's possible to get lots of processing power without breaking the bank.

Fast, affordable Ryzen models from AMD forced Intel to improve its dual-core Pentium chips with Hyper-Threading Technology and larger L3 caches. As a result, today's Pentiums look a lot like yesterday's Core i3s. That makes them a big win for budget-oriented builders, particularly when they're paired up with Intel's H370, H310, and B360 chipsets.