Question Build help - gaming PC

[Jussinen]

Hi!

I'd ask for help with a new gaming PC build, which I'm thinking of buying around August - October. I'll be buying all the parts from Finland (preferably at Jimm's for a small discount, but other shops are okay too). Price range is around 2000 euros, but closer to 1500 euros would be better for sure as I need to get a monitor too. Sadly the component prices seem to be getting higher and higher here every year so that might be difficult... I'd appreciate some alternatives for the components, this would make it easier to search for good deals.

CPU: Arrow Lake vs Raptor Lake? Ryzen 7000-series or 9000-series?
Motherboard: Worth spending ~250-300 for a premium board for better performance and thermals? Wifi + BT are a must, latest gen. preferable.
GPU: Probably don't want to spend more than 600 at the moment, so it is RX 9070 or RTX 5070 (or something lower?) Next step up costs around 200 more.
RAM: How much and how fast?

https://fi.pcpartpicker.com/list/KpmNmC

This is something that I came up by myself, but it's definitely closer to 2000 than 1500. Some of those parts seem way overpriced (like PSU).

 

[Lutfij]

The Tomahawk is a fully featured and robust motherboard without breaking the bank. Ram is also on par with the platform's capability. Cooler is best you can pick up for the price(performance wise). If you can go for the RX 9070 XT. I have my reservations about getting PCIe5.0x2 SSD's.

I'd appreciate some alternatives for the components, this would make it easier to search for good deals.
You should've stylized your thread with info asked of in this thread;

*How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice*

How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice First off, respect where respect is due - this is an adaptation of the Animal's *How To Ask For New Build Advice* Sticky. I created this because there's a lot of posts nowadays asking for upgrade advice both on here and on the CPU forums, and I feel...

forums.tomshardware.com

that way we're given context to your build, and the community will chime in with worthwhile suggestions.

Build looks good, IMHO as is.

Here's my submission, albeit slightly over 2000 Euros;
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor (€332.80 @ Multitronic.fi)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (€37.90 @ Datatronic)
Motherboard: MSI MAG B850 TOMAHAWK MAX WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (€264.78 @ Proshop)
Memory: Crucial Pro Overclocking 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory (€102.90 @ Datatronic)
Storage: Crucial P3 Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€51.13 @ Proshop)
Storage: Crucial P3 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€127.90 @ Datatronic)
Video Card: XFX Swift Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card (€749.00 @ Datatronic)
Case: Fractal Design Define 7 Compact ATX Mid Tower Case (€123.80 @ Multitronic.fi)
Power Supply: MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 II 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€115.90 @ Datatronic)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Home Retail - USB 64-bit (€136.90 @ Datatronic)
Total: €2043.01
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-08-01 19:41 EEST+0300
Smaller capacity drive is for the OS, apps and launchers. Larger drive will act as game library. DDR-6000Hz is the sweet spot. Went with the Fractal Define 7 case since the front I/O is loaded with ports. Not set in stone but merely a template to tweak.

 

[Why_Me]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core OEM/Tray Processor (€394.90 @ Proshop)
CPU Cooler: *Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (€37.90 @ Datatronic)
Motherboard: *Asus ROG STRIX B650E-F GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (€204.90 @ Jimm's)
Memory: *TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€119.90 @ Proshop)
Storage: *MSI SPATIUM M480 PRO 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€143.90 @ Datatronic)
Video Card: *Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card (€749.90 @ Jimm's)
Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case (€65.90 @ Jimm's)
Power Supply: *Montech CENTURY II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€108.90 @ Proshop)
Total: €1826.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-08-01 21:12 EEST+0300

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/windows/windows-11-free-or-cheap

ROG STRIX B650E-F GAMING WIFI | Motherboards | ROG United States

The ROG Strix B650E-F Gaming WiFi takes you to the future with 12 + 2 power stages, hyperspeed DDR5 memory, and next-gen PCIe® 5.0 connectivity. It is equipped with three M.2 slots with heatsinks, a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port, WiFi 6E, AI Networking, Two-Way AI Noise Cancelation, and Aura Sync RGB...

rog.asus.com

https://www.msi.com/Storage/SPATIUM-M480-PRO-PCIe-4.0-NVMe-M.2

https://www.montechpc.com/century-ii-850w

https://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/montech_century_ii_850w_psu_review,7.html

https://www.montechpc.com/air-903-base

Montech Air 903 Base Review

The Montech Air 903 Base diminishes the barrier of entry even more compared to the already incredibly affordable Max variant. All the while, it delivers everything you anticipate from a contemporary, airflow-centric enclosure. To the extent that this case essentially competes only with its own...

www.techpowerup.com

Montech AIR 903 Base and Max Review - KitGuru

If you saw KitGuru's coverage of Computex 2023 you will have probably stumbled across Leo’s rundown

www.kitguru.net

 

[Jussinen]

The Tomahawk is a fully featured and robust motherboard without breaking the bank. Ram is also on par with the platform's capability. Cooler is best you can pick up for the price(performance wise). If you can go for the RX 9070 XT. I have my reservations about getting PCIe5.0x2 SSD's.

First, thanks to you both for the build advice!

I'd have probably chosen the DeepCool AK620 cooler for CPU but it doesn't seem to be available in Finland anymore. I admit that I had forgot entirely to check the PCIe-version of those SSDs, but other than PCIe5.0 being maybe overkill, there aren't any problems with those either? I guess the SSD could be something where I could save a bit of money and go for a better GPU, but if I understand Tom's Hardware's GPU benchmark hierarchy correct, 7900 and 7900 XT are very close to one another in performance?

Corsair PSU is very widely recommended, or at least was a year ago, but the price seems inflated (same with many other PSUs too).

9600X CPU would save a 100 euros too.

 

[LordVile]

I wouldn’t but a retail windows copy, you get get a key code for significantly less

 

[LOGAN54321]

In my opinion 110 euro more for 2 extra cores(9600x vs 9700x) is a terrible value. The hope of course is that 9000 series prices will go down, so if you need it in the future (sell this one) buy it then. Had a second ssd (1 TB), but removed it, the 1 TB are bad value compared to 2 TB. Again - when the need arises, then buy it !(don't waste money now - SSDs are still more expensive than they should be)

PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X 3.9 GHz 6-Core Processor (€219.90 @ Proshop)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (€41.90 @ Jimm's)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B650M-PLUS WIFI Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard (€143.98 @ Proshop)
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€119.90 @ Proshop)
Storage: MSI SPATIUM M480 PRO 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€144.90 @ Datatronic)
Video Card: PowerColor Reaper Radeon RX 9070 16 GB Video Card (€619.90 @ Jimm's)
Case: Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case (€65.90 @ Jimm's)
Power Supply: Montech CENTURY II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€108.90 @ Proshop)
Total: €1465.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-08-02 18:54 EEST+0300

 

[Jussinen]

In my opinion 110 euro more for 2 extra cores(9600x vs 9700x) is a terrible value. The hope of course is that 9000 series prices will go down, so if you need it in the future (sell this one) buy it then. Had a second ssd (1 TB), but removed it, the 1 TB are bad value compared to 2 TB. Again - when the need arises, then buy it !(don't waste money now - SSDs are still more expensive than they should be)

PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X 3.9 GHz 6-Core Processor (€219.90 @ Proshop)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (€41.90 @ Jimm's)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B650M-PLUS WIFI Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard (€143.98 @ Proshop)
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€119.90 @ Proshop)
Storage: MSI SPATIUM M480 PRO 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€144.90 @ Datatronic)
Video Card: PowerColor Reaper Radeon RX 9070 16 GB Video Card (€619.90 @ Jimm's)
Case: Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case (€65.90 @ Jimm's)
Power Supply: Montech CENTURY II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€108.90 @ Proshop)
Total: €1465.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-08-02 18:54 EEST+0300

I'm pretty sure that Ryzen 5 is enough for me, it's definitely something that I've been considering at least.
What comes to one SSD only, I guess that'd work aswell. Some people seem to think that having OS on its own SSD is a good idea. Hence the two SSDs. I have no experience in this.

I wouldn’t but a retail windows copy, you get get a key code for significantly less

Good tip. I'll definitely look into that.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

In my opinion 110 euro more for 2 extra cores(9600x vs 9700x) is a terrible value

You have a point as such. However, for quite a few AAA games right now, perform better with 8 or more cores. I'd rather go in overcooked, than undercooked. The 9600x is a great little gamer. But add in anything like game streaming or maxing out AAA games, as I mentioned, and the 9600x maxes out pretty quickly.

If you're after a pure gaming machine, the @Why_Me 's build will yield the most FPS . Plus it has the 8 cores, which you really need going forward.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

I'm pretty sure that Ryzen 5 is enough for me, it's definitely something that I've been considering at least.
What comes to one SSD only, I guess that'd work aswell. Some people seem to think that having OS on its own SSD is a good idea. Hence the two SSDs. I have no experience in this.

Good tip. I'll definitely look into that.

IMO, you'd make a mistake with the 6 core R5. You will regret it almost immediately.

 

[rene641]

As for the CPU, the most music for the least money is the 14600KF. But it has a problem with future upgrades...

Edit: And Intel is not for beginners. Intel needs to be manually set up correctly in the BIOS, otherwise it's not a CPU, it's a toaster...

 

[helper800]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core OEM/Tray Processor (€394.90 @ Proshop)
CPU Cooler: *Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (€37.90 @ Datatronic)
Motherboard: *Asus ROG STRIX B650E-F GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (€204.90 @ Jimm's)
Memory: *TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€119.90 @ Proshop)
Storage: *MSI SPATIUM M480 PRO 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€143.90 @ Datatronic)
Video Card: *Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card (€749.90 @ Jimm's)
Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case (€65.90 @ Jimm's)
Power Supply: *Montech CENTURY II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€108.90 @ Proshop)
Total: €1826.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-08-01 21:12 EEST+0300

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/windows/windows-11-free-or-cheap

ROG STRIX B650E-F GAMING WIFI | Motherboards | ROG United States

The ROG Strix B650E-F Gaming WiFi takes you to the future with 12 + 2 power stages, hyperspeed DDR5 memory, and next-gen PCIe® 5.0 connectivity. It is equipped with three M.2 slots with heatsinks, a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port, WiFi 6E, AI Networking, Two-Way AI Noise Cancelation, and Aura Sync RGB...

rog.asus.com

https://www.msi.com/Storage/SPATIUM-M480-PRO-PCIe-4.0-NVMe-M.2

https://www.montechpc.com/century-ii-850w

https://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/montech_century_ii_850w_psu_review,7.html

https://www.montechpc.com/air-903-base

Montech Air 903 Base Review

The Montech Air 903 Base diminishes the barrier of entry even more compared to the already incredibly affordable Max variant. All the while, it delivers everything you anticipate from a contemporary, airflow-centric enclosure. To the extent that this case essentially competes only with its own...

www.techpowerup.com

Montech AIR 903 Base and Max Review - KitGuru

If you saw KitGuru's coverage of Computex 2023 you will have probably stumbled across Leo’s rundown

www.kitguru.net

I went to make a build and ended up with a nearly identical one lol:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core OEM/Tray Processor (€394.90 @ Proshop)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (€41.90 @ Jimm's)
Motherboard: ASRock B850 Pro-A WiFi ATX AM5 Motherboard (€180.90 @ Datatronic)
Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€111.90 @ Datatronic)
Storage: MSI SPATIUM M480 PRO 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€144.90 @ Datatronic)
Video Card: XFX Swift Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card (€749.00 @ Datatronic)
Case: Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case (€65.90 @ Jimm's)
Power Supply: Montech CENTURY II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€108.90 @ Proshop)
Total: €1798.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-08-02 21:08 EEST+0300

 

[Jussinen]

And there I thought that we had already agreed that Ryzen 5 is enough for me But at least we're settled for AMD here, since I am a beginner (even though I'm going to get help in building the machine).

I'm of course curious to know why so many have recommended MSI Spatium M480 Pro SSD even though the Samsung 990 Evo is actually cheaper and PCIe 5.0.

But while I still have to think about which GPU and CPU to go with, otherwise all the suggestions are more or less the same. There are couple of things that I'd want to know though.

Firstly, what's the optimal RAM memory that I should be aiming for. 6000 mHz?

Secondly, are there any compatibility issues I have to take into consideration when choosing the components? As long as motherboard supports the chosen RAM speed, I should be fine theoretically?

Thirdly, are there any motherboard features that are highly recommended? Like flash bios button or clear cmos button or something like that?

 

[Why_Me]

And there I thought that we had already agreed that Ryzen 5 is enough for me But at least we're settled for AMD here, since I am a beginner (even though I'm going to get help in building the machine).

I'm of course curious to know why so many have recommended MSI Spatium M480 Pro SSD even though the Samsung 990 Evo is actually cheaper and PCIe 5.0.

But while I still have to think about which GPU and CPU to go with, otherwise all the suggestions are more or less the same. There are couple of things that I'd want to know though.

Firstly, what's the optimal RAM memory that I should be aiming for. 6000 mHz?

Secondly, are there any compatibility issues I have to take into consideration when choosing the components? As long as motherboard supports the chosen RAM speed, I should be fine theoretically?

Thirdly, are there any motherboard features that are highly recommended? Like flash bios button or clear cmos button or something like that?

That MSI SSD includes DRAM cache. A single 2TB SSD will suffice just fine.

You want DDR5-6000 CL30 for these AM5 cpu's.

Look for a board that supports PCIe 5.0. Flash bios is a plus ^^