Build Advice First time Desk PC build

[WoodyWanderer]

Hi everyone,

First time DeskPC builder: until now mostly on laptop (Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3) and have come to the realisation that I can get more bang for my buck if I would switch to DeskPC and also the possibility to further customize/change components makes more sense with a DeskPC. So I'm looking for a Mid-Tier build that will last me 2-3 years before upgrading.

Approximate Purchase Date: June/July

Budget Range: 1500€ w/o Monitor and rest of peripherals

System Usage from Most to Least Important: mostly gaming

Are you buying a monitor: Yes

Additional Comments: Looking for a sober, silent build.

After looking around I came to the following components: https://be.pcpartpicker.com/list/krMGRV
CPU: Ryzen 5 9600X
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
Mobo: ASRock X870 Pro RS WiFi
Memory: Kingston FURY Beast 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000
Storage: Lexar NM790 4 TB
GPU: PowerColor RX7800XT 16G
Case: Montech XR
PSU: be quiet! Pure Power 12 750 W (I know it's a bit OP for now but my thinking is to futureproof it)

For a monitor I'm hesitating between a Gigabyte GS27QA 27.0" 2560 x 1440 180Hz and a Asus TUF Gaming VG32WQ3B 31.5" 2560 x 1440 180Hz

What do you guys think?

I also had a question about the motherboard: will i need to do a BIOS update or is that unnecessary? (the 870 should be compatible with the CPU but it's not clear to me if an update is required or optional or unnecessary...).
Also a question about the GPU: I found the Powercolor one to be 70€ cheaper than the Asus TUF 7800XT and 40€ cheaper than the XFX and ASRock one so is it worth it to fork over the extra 70 to get the Asus TUF one or is there not a big difference in quality of the different GPUs?

I'm looking forward to your thoughts and input!

 

[COLGeek]

I doubt that a BIOS update will be necessary for the CPU/motherboard combo. That should be fine.

Regarding the brand of GPU, all of them (7800 XT) will perform similarly. You can safely save a a few sheckles there in terms of performance.

There is a sizable size difference between the two monitors you are considering. Otherwise, I would expect both to perform similarly.

Just a couple notes, make sure the memory you buy supports EXPO (AMD's version of XMP). It will just ease memory setup.

Also, I would not use that particular SSD. I would suggest you consider Samsung or Crucial instead.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I would steer clear of ASRock motherboard's since they've been horrible with their BIOS. You could look into Gigabyte or MSI.

I went slightly over budget but made some tweaks to your initial listing;
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X 3.9 GHz 6-Core Processor (€213.99 @ Amazon Belgium)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (€43.41 @ Amazon Belgium)
Motherboard: MSI MAG B850 TOMAHAWK MAX WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (€248.99 @ Amazon Belgium)
Memory: Crucial Pro 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6400 CL38 Memory (€92.76 @ Amazon Belgium)
Storage: Crucial P3 Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€37.08 @ Amazon Belgium)
Storage: Crucial P3 Plus 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€242.90 @ Azerty)
Video Card: XFX Speedster SWFT 210 Core Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card (€509.00 @ Megekko)
Case: Montech XR ATX Mid Tower Case (€67.98 @ Amazon Belgium)
Power Supply: MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 II 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€99.00 @ Megekko)
Total: €1555.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-06-05 19:57 CEST+0200
2xSSD's, the smaller capacity drive is for the OS, app's and launchers while the larger drive will be your game library drive. Cheaper yet good quality PSU. Swapped out the motherboard for something higher in quality and a B850 chipset. Ram is higher in frequency and has AMD's E.X.P.O profile baked in the ram kit. 64GB's isn't far off, mind you, in terms of pricing.

Nothing is set in stone as such the community will chime in with worthwhile suggestions.

 

[WoodyWanderer]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I would steer clear of ASRock motherboard's since they've been horrible with their BIOS. You could look into Gigabyte or MSI.

I went slightly over budget but made some tweaks to your initial listing;
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X 3.9 GHz 6-Core Processor (€213.99 @ Amazon Belgium)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (€43.41 @ Amazon Belgium)
Motherboard: MSI MAG B850 TOMAHAWK MAX WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (€248.99 @ Amazon Belgium)
Memory: Crucial Pro 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6400 CL38 Memory (€92.76 @ Amazon Belgium)
Storage: Crucial P3 Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€37.08 @ Amazon Belgium)
Storage: Crucial P3 Plus 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€242.90 @ Azerty)
Video Card: XFX Speedster SWFT 210 Core Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card (€509.00 @ Megekko)
Case: Montech XR ATX Mid Tower Case (€67.98 @ Amazon Belgium)
Power Supply: MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 II 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€99.00 @ Megekko)
Total: €1555.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-06-05 19:57 CEST+0200
2xSSD's, the smaller capacity drive is for the OS, app's and launchers while the larger drive will be your game library drive. Cheaper yet good quality PSU. Swapped out the motherboard for something higher in quality and a B850 chipset. Ram is higher in frequency and has AMD's E.X.P.O profile baked in the ram kit. 64GB's isn't far off, mind you, in terms of pricing.

Nothing is set in stone as such the community will chime in with worthwhile suggestions.

Thanks for you reply!
I will for sure take it into account.

A little follow-up question: Do you advice to get extra fans, or are the fans in the Montech XR (2in/1out) sufficient for this GPU/CPU combo?

 

[Teknoman2]

I don't know the quality of the default fans of that case but they should be enough for that build if you don't have very hot weather where you live.

 

[LOGAN54321]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X 3.9 GHz 6-Core Processor (€213.99 @ Amazon Netherlands)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (€40.90 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B650-E WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (€145.00 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€104.90 @ Alternate)
Storage: Crucial T500 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€149.99 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Video Card: PowerColor Hellhound OC Radeon RX 9070 16 GB Video Card (€669.00 @ Megekko)
Case: Phanteks XT PRO ATX Mid Tower Case (€59.90 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2024) 850 W Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€127.90 @ Alternate)
Total: €1511.58
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-06-06 16:11 CEST+0200

 

[logainofhades]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700 3.6 GHz 8-Core OEM/Tray Processor (€219.55 @ Azerty)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (€48.90 @ Amazon Belgium)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B850 GAMING X WIFI6E ATX AM5 Motherboard (€199.00 @ Azerty)
Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€95.95 @ Amazon Belgium)
Storage: Silicon Power UD90 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€74.98 @ Amazon Belgium)
Storage: Silicon Power UD90 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€239.99 @ Amazon Belgium)
Video Card: PowerColor RX7800XT 16G-P Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card (€469.00 @ bol.)
Case: Montech XR ATX Mid Tower Case (€67.98 @ Amazon Belgium)
Power Supply: MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 II 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€99.00 @ Megekko)
Total: €1514.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-06-06 16:33 CEST+0200

 

[geofelt]

The most likely future update will be a a stronger graphics card.
To that end, buy a much stronger psu than you think necessary. 850w or even 950w.
It will only use the power demanded of it, regardless of the max capability.
Buy only a quality psu with perhaps a 10 year warranty.

As a first time builder, here is
MY build process:

Before anything, while waiting for your parts to be delivered, download
and read, cover to cover your case and motherboard manual.
Buy a long #2 magnetic tip philips screwdriver.
A small led flashlight is also useful.

I find it handy to buy a power switch like this for testing.
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E168121..._switch-_-12-119-009-_-Product&quicklink=true
1. I assemble the critical parts outside of the case.
That lets me test them for functionality easily.
A wood table or cardboard is fine.
2. Plug in only the necessary parts at first. Ram, cpu, cooler, psu.
Do not force anything. Parts fit only one way.
Attach a monitor to the integrated motherboard adapter if you have one, otherwise to the graphics card.
3. If your motherboard does not have a PWR button, momentarily touch the two pwr front panel pins with a flat blade screwdriver.
4. Repeatedly hit F2 or DEL, and that should get you into the bios display.
5. Boot from a cd or usb stick with memtest86 on it. memtest will exercise your ram and cpu functionality.
They boot from a usb stick and do not use windows.
You can download them here:

MemTest86 - Official Site of the x86 Memory Testing Tool

MemTest86 is the original self booting memory testing software for x86 and ARM computers. Supporting both BIOS and UEFI, with options to boot from USB.

www.memtest86.com

Memtest86+ | The Open-Source Memory Testing Tool

Memtest86+ is an advanced, free, open-source, stand-alone memory tester for 32- and 64-bit computers (UEFI & BIOS supported)

www.memtest.org

If you can run a full pass with NO errors, your ram should be ok.

Running several more passes will sometimes uncover an issue, but it takes more time.

Probably not worth it unless you really suspect a ram issue.
Opinions vary on updating the bios.
Normally, one does not update a bios unless there is a fix for something that is impacting you. I violate this rule on a new build and will update to currency up front.
Use the usb option, not the windows option.
If there is a severe problem, the impact is small.


6. Install windows.
7. Install the motherboard cd drivers. Particularly the lan drivers so you can access the internet.
Do not select the easy install option, or you will get a bunch of utilities and trialware that you don't want. Drivers only.
7. Connect to the internet and install an antivirus program. Microsoft defender is free, easy, and unobtrusive.
8. Install your graphics card and driver if you tested with integrated graphics.
You will need to remove the graphics card later to install your motherboard in the case.
As a tip when screwing the motherboard into the posts, give the screw a small counterclockwise turn until you feel a click.
That lets you know that the screw will engage properly.
Make a note of how the graphics card latches into the pcie slot.
The mechanism will be hidden under the card and may be difficult to work if you have not previously checked how.
9. Update windows to currency.
10. Only now do I take apart what I need to and install it in the case.
11. Now is the time to reinstall your graphics card.

 

[WoodyWanderer]

Memory: Crucial Pro 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6400 CL38 Memory (€92.76 @ Amazon Belgium)

Ram is higher in frequency and has AMD's E.X.P.O profile baked in the ram kit. 64GB's isn't far off, mind you, in terms of pricing.

Thanks for the advice about the EXPO profile, though I thought that (almost) all DDR5's have EXPO/XMP option or was I wrong?
I found this Patriot Viper Venom: same frequency but lower CL(32 instead of 38) for a similar pricepoint, on their site they say its "XMP 3.0 overclocking supported". Would this be a better choice because of the lower CL or is the difference negligeable?
When looking at the specs of the MSI MAG B850 Tomahawk there's only mention of "Supports Memory Overclocking and AMD EXPO", only elsewhere I found that "This motherboard supports memory featuring both AMD EXPO and Intel XMP profiles": so I think it should be no problem?

Also can the Ryzen 5 9600X reach the 6400Mhz just by selecting the EXPO or XMP profile or does it need manual tweaking to ensure stability at the higher speed?

Thanks in advance for any further advice!