CPU: Ryzen 5 5600 @ 4.65 GHz; ~86W under load OEM = $90; banger deal. PPT 90W, EDC 120A, TDC 90A, CO 200MHz (basically 5600x)
CPU Cooler: ID-Cooling SE-214-XT ARGB $19; its no peerless assassin but its a great deal still. looks great too
Motherboard: Maxsun B550M Terminator $76; meh, serviceable
RAM: 2x16GB KLLISRE DDR4 @ 3200 MT/S CL18-19-19-39-57 $36; ehhh kinda bad ngl. runs at 3400 mts stable but no observable perfomance benefits there. stock timings are even worse. for the price though cmon
GPU: PowerColor Fighter RX 6600 XT @ 2900MHz $172; literally goated ♥♥♥♥. was aiming for a 6600 non-xt or 6600m from aliexpress until I spotted that holy grail of a deal. runs a little hot @ 1050 mV; 2214 MHz on the memory w/ quick timings; Basically a 6650XT with lower TDP
PSU: be quiet! System Power 10 550W $59; its a psu. it works.
Storage: Goodram PX500 Gen.2 512GB M.2 PCIe 3x4 $36; prolly the worst deal of them all. its fine I guess. 3400 mb/s reads + 3100 mb/s writes
+ Seagate 1TB HDD @ 7200rpm whatever
+ Patriot Burst Elite 240GB 2.5" SATAIII TLC SSD $14; Linux boot drive
Case: Whatever the ♥♥♥♥ the name of this paleosoic era $10 Chieftec case is Chieftec Smart CM-09B actually. literally got that ♥♥♥♥ for free years ago

Total build cost: ≈$503


Previous build:

CPU: Intel Core i5-7400 @ 3.5Ghz
Motherboard: Gigabyte B250M Gaming 3
RAM: 2x8 Kingston Fury DDR4 @ 2400Mhz
GPU: Sapphire Radeon RX470 8Gb GDDR5 NITRO OC
PSU: AEROCOOL VX-500 500W
Storage: Transcend SSD220S 120GB SATAIII SSD
+ Seagate 1TB HDD @ 7200rpm
Case: Same 2011 chieftec case

Monitor: 21.5" LED Acer V226HQ @ 60Hz 1080p
23.8" Acer Nitro XV240Y M3 @ 180hz 1080p
Mouse: Hator Pulsar Essential Black @ PMW3327
Mousepad: Ergo MP-335XL Black Onikuma G3 800x300mm
Keyboard: Ergo KB-930 Mini USB Youhua Blue Switches w/ Hator PBT Monochrome keycaps
Headphones: KZ Ling Long + Sony MDR-ZX110 + Hator Hyреrpunk Truetones
Controller: Xbox One Wireless Controller