I haven’t built a gaming PC for over fifteen years; I defected to PlayStation in '08 when the constant upgrading got too expensive to really justify, but now I’m looking to come crawling back.
I am finding it easy enough to find build ideas for very capable (and expensive) machines but I am that out of touch with “what’s good” that I no longer have any idea of what would be “good enough” (to play most modern games at “high” settings and at 60fps).
Basically, I would like help in avoiding an attempt at going back to my old ways and building some kind of pie in the sky setup like this:
CPU AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
CPU fan NZXT Kraken 360 RGB
MB Asus Prime X670E-Pro WiFi 6E
GPU Gigabyte Aero GeForce RTX 4090 24GB
RAM G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB Series 64GB DDR5-6000
SSD Samsung 990 Pro 2TB
PSU Corsair RM1000x Shift 1000 W
Perhaps the could serve as a starting point - what could you cut from the above build and what would you substitute?
First, you want to play on high/60fps but at what resolution? Paying over 1700$CAD for a RTX4090 GPU seems overkill while a RX6800 or a RX7700/7800 would let you play at 1080p/1440p at high settings at a fraction of the price.
SSD is fine.
PSU could be reduced to 850W.
64GB RAM is overkill for gaming right now but potentially useful in the upcoming years.
Bottom line, you could save here and there and still have a capable AM5 machine.
If you want value for your buck, build yourself an AM4 machine. Yes, AM5 is out now but your rig could still last you many many years with the right AM4 components.
Agreed with the above, especially need to pay attention to your resolution to figure out GPU needs. To add to this, you would probably be fine with a 7800X3D, unless you really need the extra CPU cores for non-gaming related tasks.
For reference, I have a 5800X3D, 32GB RAM, 970 1TB SSD, and a 6700XT, and I’m playing 60+ FPS on high on most games at 3840x1600. Nowhere near the budget you’re looking at. That being said, AM4 socket is EOL’d, so stick with the Ryzen 7000 series if you want AMD.
Sorry, I should have specified; I already have the 4K monitor that I would like to use.
Yeah that changes things a bit. What type of games do you plan on playing? 4K or not, if you’re playing eSports or strategy games, it still will be overkill. My wife’s rig is a 5800X (not 3D), and a GTX 1070, and she plays SIMS 4 and Diablo IV at 4K 60+ FPS.
Another data point: I have a Ryzen 5900x and an RTX 3080. In BG3 I average 80-90 fps with 1% lows over 60fps on a 4k screen with ultra settings and DLSS quality setting.
I’ve got my eyes on AC Mirage.
The samsung 990 is fine, but a bit overpriced. Something like this sabernt is also a high quailty gen 4 drive, and running under $100 for 2TB with a heatsink.
Id actually recommend going for the 4TB of that same model for $210. By far the most bang for your buck.