The AMD BC250: A PS5-Based Mining Monster That Can Game Too

The AMD BC250 isn’t your typical graphics card. In fact, calling it one is a bit of a stretch. This curious piece of hardware is actually a full-fledged computer, derived from a PlayStation 5, and originally built for cryptocurrency mining. During the mining boom, custom boards like the BC250 were created using console parts. These days, they’re often found on eBay or AliExpress for around $100–$120. Budget-Builds Official’s YouTube channel managed to get their hands on one and turned it into a functional gaming PC running Linux.

Inside the BC250: A Compact Powerhouse

The BC250 is more akin to a mini-server board than a traditional GPU. It comes without a PCIe connector, designed to fit into a rack or a custom enclosure. It has a power button, fan connections, and front panel outputs. The heart of the BC250 is an AMD processor featuring six Zen 2 cores, 12 threads, and a 3.5 GHz clock speed. The integrated RDNA 2 GPU has 24 compute units, making it comparable to the Radeon RX 6500 XT or RX 6600. With 16GB of GDDR6 memory, split between 8GB for system use and 8GB for video memory, the BC250 can handle games, though its performance is modest compared to modern PCs.

Gaming Performance: A Solid Budget Option

Despite being based on console technology, the BC250 can run games decently. In GTA 5 Enhanced Edition at high settings, it delivers around 65 FPS without ray tracing, dipping to 25-30 FPS with it enabled. Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p offers about 40 FPS on mixed settings. It handles Counter-Strike 2 at 130 FPS in 1440p and Mount & Blade II at 80 FPS on very high settings. With an additional SSD and cooling system, the BC250 offers solid budget gaming performance, especially for the price. However, it’s not without quirks, such as occasional stability issues and driver drops on Linux.

In the right setup, the BC250 could make a perfect budget gaming rig or a quirky tech project, giving an old PS5 a second life.