Question New to building a pc so wanted some opinions!

[3rikmichael]

Hello! I’m new to the pc building scene here and I have been told that building a pc is worth doing over buying a pre built even though I have no experience. I’ve been chatting with people over on Facebook about this and was told to come here with a build recommended by someone over there. Let me know if this is a good first setup for the price point! I’m trying to game and stream with it and play most stuff at 1440p. Don’t want to pay anymore than $1500. Thank you.
Here’s the build

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/CgCcmC

 

[Lutfij]

The pros and cons of getting a prebuilt have been spoken in ad nauseum over the forums, which can be forund over a search of said forums. One of the pros of building a system yourself is that you know what goes into a build and you're doing so after being fully informed. Prebuilts tend to cut corners with certain parts and only advertise the processor, GPU and ram's generic specs.

As for your build, you have a bad quality PSU for that build. The price for the case doesn't show up, do you own the case or was that put in randomly? Apart from that, the build looks good to go. You're advised to stylize 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

after which the community can chime in with worthwhile suggestions.

Moved thread to Systems section from Opinions and Experiences section

 

[geofelt]

Your parts list looks reasonable.

But, I think you should reconsider the psu for several reasons.
Your processor is a fine one that can push a much stronger graphics card upgrade in the future and would need a stronger psu.
The price increase from 750w to 850w is only $10 for the CX650.
The warranty for the corsair is only 5 years. Quality power supplies will have 7,10 year warranties or more.
Look to Seasonic focus or corsair rm.
Modern graphics cards can have peak power demands well above the nominal draw. A stronger unit can cope better.
A stronger psu will only draw the power demanded of it. As such it will normally operate in the more efficient middle third of it's range.
And be quieter while doing so.

 

[Why_Me]

Hello! I’m new to the pc building scene here and I have been told that building a pc is worth doing over buying a pre built even though I have no experience. I’ve been chatting with people over on Facebook about this and was told to come here with a build recommended by someone over there. Let me know if this is a good first setup for the price point! I’m trying to game and stream with it and play most stuff at 1440p. Don’t want to pay anymore than $1500. Thank you.
Here’s the build

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/CgCcmC

You want a 750W psu for that card.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: *Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: *ADATA XPG Core Reactor II 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($81.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $191.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-03-29 12:29 EDT-0400

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

 

[helper800]

I would Highly suggest trying to get a 9070, 9070XT, 5070, or 5070 Ti. The 7800 XT is not great for the money at 520 dollars imo. Below is a better case, an NVMe drive with a DRAM cache which is important for the OS drive, a better cooler for the sameish cost, Better RAM for cheaper, 9700x over a 7800X3D, 5070 (25% faster) over the 7800 XT, and a top tier PSU. If you can find a 9070 XT, or an MSRP 5070 Ti that would be even better and can nearly fit the budget if you choose a 9600x or 9700x over a 7800X3D.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor ($289.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($35.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI PRO B650-A WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($159.99 @ MSI)
Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Acer Predator GM7000 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($65.98 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI SHADOW 2X OC GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB Video Card ($549.99 @ MSI)
Case: NZXT H5 Flow (2024) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 TT Premium 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($95.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1351.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-03-29 13:33 EDT-0400

 

[Why_Me]

I would Highly suggest trying to get a 9070, 9070XT, 5070, or 5070 Ti. The 7800 XT is not great for the money at 520 dollars imo. Below is a better case, an NVMe drive with a DRAM cache which is important for the OS drive, a better cooler for the sameish cost, Better RAM for cheaper, 9700x over a 7800X3D, 5070 (25% faster) over the 7800 XT, and a top tier PSU. If you can find a 9070 XT, or an MSRP 5070 Ti that would be even better and can nearly fit the budget if you choose a 9600x or 9700x over a 7800X3D.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor ($289.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($35.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI PRO B650-A WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($159.99 @ MSI)
Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Acer Predator GM7000 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($65.98 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI SHADOW 2X OC GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB Video Card ($549.99 @ MSI)
Case: NZXT H5 Flow (2024) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 TT Premium 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($95.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1351.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-03-29 13:33 EDT-0400

Here's a board that supports PCIe 5.0 seeing how that gpu supports PCIe 5.0 and a 2TB SSD.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 7700 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($260.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: *MSI PRO B850-P WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *Acer Predator GM7000 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($112.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI SHADOW 2X OC GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB Video Card ($549.99 @ MSI)
Power Supply: *ADATA XPG Core Reactor II 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($81.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1269.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-03-29 14:15 EDT-0400

 

[helper800]

Here's a board that supports PCIe 5.0 seeing how that gpu supports PCIe 5.0 and a 2TB SSD.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 7700 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($260.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: *MSI PRO B850-P WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *Acer Predator GM7000 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($112.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI SHADOW 2X OC GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB Video Card ($549.99 @ MSI)
Power Supply: *ADATA XPG Core Reactor II 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($81.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1269.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-03-29 14:15 EDT-0400

Good catch for the budget and a 5070, however, I left money on the table so he could try for a 9070, 9070 XT, or 5070 Ti. I was able to get a PNY 5070 Ti for 749.99 on the 27th of March. If he decides on keeping the Graphics card budget in that tier then he mind as well get more storage and a better motherboard. Also that TPU chart is a much older one now.

 

[philzee]

Either of the RX 9070s would be great if you can find them. The problem I'm facing with them is being in stock and the price. The rumor is that AMD is releasing their "budget" 9060 card next month. Once we know all price on that and specs, it might be the way to go to keep @3rikmichael under budget and provide wiggle room for PSU and Ram improvements.

 

[3rikmichael]

The pros and cons of getting a prebuilt have been spoken in ad nauseum over the forums, which can be forund over a search of said forums. One of the pros of building a system yourself is that you know what goes into a build and you're doing so after being fully informed. Prebuilts tend to cut corners with certain parts and only advertise the processor, GPU and ram's generic specs.

As for your build, you have a bad quality PSU for that build. The price for the case doesn't show up, do you own the case or was that put in randomly? Apart from that, the build looks good to go. You're advised to stylize 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

after which the community can chime in with worthwhile suggestions.

Moved thread to Systems section from Opinions and Experiences section

Yeah I’m not buying a prebuilt lol