Build Advice Help with a planned gaming build ?

[Jawzzzzz]

I'm not super knowledgeable with this kind of stuff but I built a PC for myself almost 2 years ago and while I did a ton of research back then, the PC world seems to move quite fast as I'm not familiar with the changes in todays market.

I'm now looking to help a friend build a gaming PC and would like some input from you guys to see if there's anything I'm missing or anything I should improve. His build budget is $2500 USD (without monitor) and in terms of how good of a setup he wants, lets say a 10 would be the most top of the line parts out there and a 5 would be a mid range build, I think if we can get a build around 7.5-8 that would be the goal.

This is what I'm thinking of so far:

CPU: Ryzen 9 5900X - when this first came out, it used to be 1 tier down from the top but now with the 7000 series out, I'm wondering if this is still a good option? Or would you suggest something in the 7000's instead?

VIDEO CARD: Gigabyte Gaming OC 4070 TI - is this a good option? Going 4080 or higher is quite a price jump. Any thoughts on this would be great.

MOBO: ASUS AMD AM4 ROG X570 Crosshair VIII Hero - Is this too much mobo for this build?

RAM: 32 GB Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 3600 DDR4 - Is this enough? I think we'll be fine with the 32gb for now but not sure if 3600 DDR4 is good.


These are the main parts I need some help with. I'm not sure if they're all a good fit or if some specs should be higher. The rest of the parts I can figure out so any suggestions or help regarding these ones I would greatly appreciate!

 

[Darkbreeze]

What resolution, how many displays and what kind of expectation in regard to in game quality settings is desired? Also, what are the typical types of games they are inclined to play mostly?

Do they need a Windows license too?

Honestly, right now, with that kind of budget, it makes ZERO sense to look at Zen3/5000 series Ryzen. I would look ONLY at 7000 series Ryzen or 13th/14th series Intel. And I would definitely look at only DDR5 options, otherwise you'll be buying memory again the next time you upgrade the platform since DDR4 is essentially dead now.

 

[Jawzzzzz]

What resolution, how many displays and what kind of expectation in regard to in game quality settings is desired? Also, what are the typical types of games they are inclined to play mostly?

Do they need a Windows license too?

Honestly, right now, with that kind of budget, it makes ZERO sense to look at Zen3/5000 series Ryzen. I would look ONLY at 7000 series Ryzen or 13th/14th series Intel. And I would definitely look at only DDR5 options, otherwise you'll be buying memory again the next time you upgrade the platform since DDR4 is essentially dead now.

1 display and he'd want to be able to play on high-max settings. He plays mostly shooters right now so like Apex Legends and stuff.
Yes to windows, how does that affect the build?
For a 7000 series, would a 7800X3D with a 4070 TI work well? I've been debating going this route too but it will cost a bit more. That budget is also something he hopes he doesn't have to hit lol. Staying under is good too.

 

[Darkbreeze]

What resolution monitor will he be using and just as importantly is there any plan or expectation of upgrading to a higher resolution monitor anytime in the near future?

Windows affects the build, because if you already have a license that can be moved to this machine with a digital entitlement attached to a Microsoft account you don't have to buy a new license, otherwise, you do, and of course, that costs money too.

For games like Apex legends (And stuff) an RTX 4070 ti is probably MORE than sufficient, but it also matters what resolution you plan to game at.

 

[Jawzzzzz]

What resolution monitor will he be using and just as importantly is there any plan or expectation of upgrading to a higher resolution monitor anytime in the near future?

Windows affects the build, because if you already have a license that can be moved to this machine with a digital entitlement attached to a Microsoft account you don't have to buy a new license, otherwise, you do, and of course, that costs money too.

For games like Apex legends (And stuff) an RTX 4070 ti is probably MORE than sufficient, but it also matters what resolution you plan to game at.

He's going to buy a new monitor. I assume it'll be a gaming monitor probably 27-28" 240hz. Once he gets this, no expectation to upgrade to a higher reso monitor in the near future.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ok, but what resolution?

1080p, 1440p, 4k? It makes a difference, because the higher the resolution the more powerful the graphics card needs to be to maintain an acceptable frame rate at a given quality setting.

A card that is just good enough for 144fps at 1080p isn't going to cut it for 4k, and maybe not even at 1440p.

 

[Jawzzzzz]

Ok, but what resolution?

1080p, 1440p, 4k? It makes a difference, because the higher the resolution the more powerful the graphics card needs to be to maintain an acceptable frame rate at a given quality setting.

Oh sorry lol. He doesn't really know. What resolution is best for gaming? If I had to guess, maybe 1440p?

 

[Darkbreeze]

See, that makes a difference because at 1440p you generally are looking at about half the the performance demand you'd be needing for a 4k system.

Is he going to need a new case, CPU cooler, etc?

If yes, does he already have a case model he knows he wants to use? Are there specific features he wants such as tempered glass side panel, specific color of motherboard, case, graphics card, etc? Other required features? Or just wants hardware that's capable enough of doing the job without problems?

 

[Jawzzzzz]

See, that makes a difference because at 1440p you generally are looking at about half the the performance demand you'd be needing for a 4k system.

Is he going to need a new case, CPU cooler, etc?

If yes, does he already have a case model he knows he wants to use? Are there specific features he wants such as tempered glass side panel, specific color of motherboard, case, graphics card, etc? Other required features? Or just wants hardware that's capable enough of doing the job without problems?

He'll need everything for a complete build on the pc. He doesn't care about RGB and the parts matching a color scheme or what not. Case he's probably looking at a Lian Li Lancool 215 type of case. Doesn't require any other specific features really.
We want to avoid a liquid cooler so probably something like a Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4 250W for cooling. A 1000W power supply.

 

[Why_Me]

Replace the 140mm rear exhaust fan that's included with that case with the 140mm ARGB fan down below.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($359.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: *Deepcool LS720 85.85 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: *MSI MAG B650 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($194.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: *G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($117.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: *Western Digital Black SN850X 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($114.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: *MSI VENTUS 3X OC GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card ($1074.99 @ Newegg)
Case: *Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.99 @ Newegg Sellers)
Power Supply: *MSI A1000G PCIE5 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: *Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: *Lian Li UNI FAN SL V2 77.6 CFM 140 mm Fan ($22.00 @ B&H)
Total: $2328.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-22 16:28 EST-0500

A better look at those components.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-B650-TOMAHAWK-WIFI

https://www.amd.com/en/products/apu/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d

https://us.deepcool.com/products/Co...m-Liquid-CPU-Cooler-1700-AM5/2022/15855.shtml

https://www.gskill.com/product/165/390/1661410135/F5-6000J3038F16GX2-TZ5NR

https://www.westerndigital.com/products/internal-drives/wd-black-sn850x-nvme-ssd?sku=WDS200T2X0E

https://www.msi.com/Graphics-Card/GeForce-RTX-4080-16GB-VENTUS-3X-OC

https://www.msi.com/Power-Supply/MPG-A1000G-PCIE5

https://lian-li.com/product/lancool-216/

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmpaN61OISA

 

[Zerk2012]

1 display and he'd want to be able to play on high-max settings. He plays mostly shooters right now so like Apex Legends and stuff.
Yes to windows, how does that affect the build?
For a 7000 series, would a 7800X3D with a 4070 TI work well? I've been debating going this route too but it will cost a bit more. That budget is also something he hopes he doesn't have to hit lol. Staying under is good too.

Probably a 8.5 or so on this no RGB.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XFYYL9

 

[Jawzzzzz]

Replace the 140mm rear exhaust fan that's included with that case with the 140mm ARGB fan down below.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($359.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: *Deepcool LS720 85.85 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: *MSI MAG B650 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($194.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: *G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($117.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: *Western Digital Black SN850X 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($114.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: *MSI VENTUS 3X OC GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card ($1074.99 @ Newegg)
Case: *Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.99 @ Newegg Sellers)
Power Supply: *MSI A1000G PCIE5 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: *Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: *Lian Li UNI FAN SL V2 77.6 CFM 140 mm Fan ($22.00 @ B&H)
Total: $2328.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-22 16:28 EST-0500

A better look at those components.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-B650-TOMAHAWK-WIFI

https://www.amd.com/en/products/apu/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d

https://us.deepcool.com/products/Co...m-Liquid-CPU-Cooler-1700-AM5/2022/15855.shtml

https://www.gskill.com/product/165/390/1661410135/F5-6000J3038F16GX2-TZ5NR

https://www.westerndigital.com/products/internal-drives/wd-black-sn850x-nvme-ssd?sku=WDS200T2X0E

https://www.msi.com/Graphics-Card/GeForce-RTX-4080-16GB-VENTUS-3X-OC

https://www.msi.com/Power-Supply/MPG-A1000G-PCIE5

https://lian-li.com/product/lancool-216/

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmpaN61OISA

Awesome! Thanks for this. Any reason why you would choose a B650 board over a X670? Also, do you think a 4070 ti is too weak for this build?

 

[Jawzzzzz]

Probably a 8.5 or so on this no RGB.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XFYYL9

Thanks for this! What do you mean 8.5 or so? Are you referring the scale I mentioned in my post?

 

[Why_Me]

Awesome! Thanks for this. Any reason why you would choose a B650 board over a X670? Also, do you think a 4070 ti is too weak for this build?

The B650 board I posted will do just fine. The 4080 is ideal for gaming at 1440P. On the flip side I can cut the cost of that build by going with a dual tower air cooler and no RGB.

 

[Why_Me]

The B650 board I posted comes with all the bells & whistles including a Realtek 4080 audio codec and PCIe 5.0. The 4080 is ideal for gaming at 1440P. On the flip side I can cut the cost of that build by going with a dual tower air cooler and no RGB.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($359.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: *Deepcool AG620 67.88 CFM CPU Cooler ($45.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: *MSI MAG B650 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($194.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: *G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *Western Digital Black SN850X 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($114.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: *MSI VENTUS 3X OC GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card ($1074.99 @ Newegg)
Case: *Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower Case ($86.99 @ Newegg Sellers)
Power Supply: *MSI A1000G PCIE5 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: *Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2226.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-22 16:52 EST-0500

 

[Zerk2012]

Thanks for this! What do you mean 8.5 or so? Are you referring the scale I mentioned in my post?

Yes
500GB drive for the OS and programs, full 2TB for games. I like using separate drives.

 

[Why_Me]

Not to make this thread more confusing but it might be worth waiting for the reviews w/benchmarks along with pricing for these two cards. I'm curious to see the prices and reviews of the RTX 4070 Ti Super.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 will not be 'replaced' with the SUPER version, both models expected to coexist - VideoCardz.com

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 and RTX 4070 SUPER expected to coexist on the market Board Channels, the website and forum managed by people in close contact with board partners, has provided another update. This platform serves as a source for early leaks and rumors regarding upcoming GPU and CPU...

videocardz.com

NVIDIA Halts Production of RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4080 to Make Room for SUPER

NVIDIA has reportedly halted production of GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4080 graphics cards, allowing the market to digest existing inventories of the two products, so it could create room in the channel for its upcoming GeForce RTX 40-series SUPER graphics cards. The company is expected to...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[Darkbreeze]

As always, and you know who you are, let's just sling builds at the wall to see what sticks. It gets very tiring. Nobody wants to look at crap that's been slung at the wall. People want specific recommendations based on details, facts and preferences, which of course, seem to not matter to some people, but which ALWAYS matters to the person doing the build.

Which isn't to say that anything here isn't viable, just that what's viable isn't always the best of available options. And I'm being very nice by relating things in that manner. Especially when the OP has SPECIFICALLY said they don't want an AIO but then we just do that anyhow. But this is nothing new. We waste a lot of people's time around here by not listening.

I might do something like this (Coming later), which of course, AIN'T the be all and end all of recommendations and is completely including the idea that the OP would REALLY prefer to not have to spend anything near the maximum budget if possible. Because if they were totally willing to do that it would be an entirely different recommendation.

And I'll get back to you with that afterwhile, as I have to go attend my mother's birthday party right now. Rest assured, I WILL get you at LEAST one other really good option that falls well within your budget. Probably even include a very good monitor for that price.

 

[Zerk2012]

Thanks for this! What do you mean 8.5 or so? Are you referring the scale I mentioned in my post?

I would also put this build at the 8.5 area, much less money, water cooling and RGB that should match.
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($359.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Lian Li Galahad II Trinity 89.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($120.99 @ Adorama)
Motherboard: MSI MAG X670E TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($259.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($114.01 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24 GB Video Card ($919.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.99 @ Newegg Sellers)
Power Supply: MSI A1000G PCIE5 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2168.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-22 18:11 EST-0500

 

[Jawzzzzz]

As always, and you know who you are, let's just sling builds at the wall to see what sticks. It gets very tiring. Nobody wants to look at crap that's been slung at the wall. People want specific recommendations based on details, facts and preferences, which of course, seem to not matter to some people, but which ALWAYS matters to the person doing the build.

Which isn't to say that anything here isn't viable, just that what's viable isn't always the best of available options. And I'm being very nice by relating things in that manner. Especially when the OP has SPECIFICALLY said they don't want an AIO but then we just do that anyhow. But this is nothing new. We waste a lot of people's time around here by not listening.

I might do something like this (Coming later), which of course, AIN'T the be all and end all of recommendations and is completely including the idea that the OP would REALLY prefer to not have to spend anything near the maximum budget if possible. Because if they were totally willing to do that it would be an entirely different recommendation.

And I'll get back to you with that afterwhile, as I have to go attend my mother's birthday party right now. Rest assured, I WILL get you at LEAST one other really good option that falls well within your budget. Probably even include a very good monitor for that price.

Thanks for all your help so far!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Are you IN the US? I know you put "USD" but a lot of members do that even when they are from other regions just because they know most of us are in the US, but we can certainly offer much better help if we know the actual region you are in because what is available in one region often is not available in another.

 

[Jawzzzzz]

Are you IN the US? I know you put "USD" but a lot of members do that even when they are from other regions just because they know most of us are in the US, but we can certainly offer much better help if we know the actual region you are in because what is available in one region often is not available in another.

yes, my friend is in the US

 

[Darkbreeze]

Would they prefer a CPU air cooler or an AIO liquid cooler? Personally, I much prefer air, but it does take up a bit more real estate over the motherboard than an AIO block. But they tend to be quieter, cheaper and there is no potential for hardware damaging leaks. But this is not my build so whatever they like.

 

[Darkbreeze]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-13600K 3.5 GHz 14-Core Processor ($270.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Frost Commander 140 BLACK 95.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($47.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($218.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory ($91.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate FireCuda 520 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($35.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX500 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB Video Card ($790.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1848.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-22 23:23 EST-0500
If your friend already has case fans in their current build they can reuse in this build, that would be helpful since this case only comes with a single 120mm front and 120mm rear case fans, and I'd really recommend maybe moving the 120mm front case fan to the TOP rear location as a second exhaust, and putting at least two front 140mm fans, but if they already have fans they could use those in here at least to begin with and worry about additional fans and aesthetics later. Or you could just do this from the start.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-13600K 3.5 GHz 14-Core Processor ($270.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Frost Commander 140 BLACK 95.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($47.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($218.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory ($91.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate FireCuda 520 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($35.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX500 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB Video Card ($790.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: ARCTIC P14 72.8 CFM 140 mm Fan ($11.29 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: ARCTIC P14 72.8 CFM 140 mm Fan ($11.29 @ Amazon)
Total: $1871.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-22 23:30 EST-0500


And if they want to put higher quality fans there we can definitely do that, but of course, it's also going to cost about double the price of those two case fans so it's totally up to you or the owner.

 

[Jawzzzzz]

Would they prefer a CPU air cooler or an AIO liquid cooler? Personally, I much prefer air, but it does take up a bit more real estate over the motherboard than an AIO block. But they tend to be quieter, cheaper and there is no potential for hardware damaging leaks. But this is not my build so whatever they like.

they prefer air cooler