I've double checked and while I think it's still perfectly reasonable, it would be more something between $700 and $800. I've made two mistakes: I slightly overestimated the conversion rate from CAD to USD and I didn't factor in the fact that I didn't have to buy a pc case and a power supply.

Ryzen 5 ($140) on amazon

Radeon 6650xt ($229) on canadacomputers

Msi B550-A Pro ($111) on canadacomputers

T-Force Vulcan [8gb x 4] ($80) one pair on amazon another one on canadacomputers

I checked quickly and I was able to fit the rest (SSD, case, power supply) for something around $760ish.

The cpu and the gpu were bought during a Christmas sale and the rest was bought later. This was bought about two years ago (a bit after the time gpus were insanely overpriced).

[–] LoamImprovement 1 points 8 months ago

I'm going to second this, with a couple asterisks. $800 for the computer is probably about where you get the most bang for your buck in terms of AA/AAA gaming, but you will still need peripherals - keyboard/mouse, speakers/headset, and a monitor, that can tack another $1-200 on the price (notwithstanding that even if the controllers come with the console, you still need a TV.) Logical Increments puts their "good" tier at about $761, suitable for 1080p 60FPS with medium settings.

Arguably the bigger value here is not being locked into a platform - if you find yourself with a little more budget down the road, you can piecemeal out your old PC with newer parts for a lower cost than a new console (with the possible exception of the GPU) and you can get more utility out of a PC than a console.