After gaming on a laptop for about six years, I'm planning to build my first desktop PC. The most demanding game I expect to play is DCS World in VR with a 128GB Meta Quest 3S, along with Assetto Corsa and ACC. I have a friend who can help with assembly, and I've checked compatibility using PC-building tools, but I'd like practical feedback before buying.
My current parts list is:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D — €277.25
- CPU cooler: Corsair Nautilus 240 RS LCD — €60
- GPU: Gigabyte RTX 5070 Eagle OC 12GB GDDR7 — €621.43
- Motherboard: MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WiFi — €180
- RAM: Goodram IRDM 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 — €415
- SSD: Lexar NM790 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe — €244.21
- PSU: Corsair RM850e — €120
- Fans: Corsair RS120 PWM triple pack — €30
- Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow — €92.10
The total comes to about €2,040. I expect to sell my current MSI gaming laptop, which has an i7-9750H, 16GB of DDR4-2666 memory, and a GTX 1650 4GB, for roughly €400–450. That would put my effective cost near €1,650. Are there any parts I should replace or any better-value alternatives, especially for VR performance?
3 Answers
You could potentially save money on the memory by choosing a cheaper 32GB kit, such as DDR5-5200 or DDR5-6000 with looser timings, and put the difference toward another component. That said, DDR5-6000 CL30 is widely considered a very good match for Ryzen, and the performance difference can matter if the price premium is small. Just double-check the memory and SSD pricing, since those seem unusually high compared with typical prices.
The 4000D Airflow is decent, but it often isn’t the best value because some similarly priced cases include more fans. It’s worth comparing alternatives before buying. An RX 9070 XT could also be a strong option: it generally offers performance around the RTX 5070 Ti for only a little more than an RTX 5070, depending on local prices. The non-XT RX 9070 may be closer in price to the 5070 while still offering more raw performance and VRAM.
I did find a good deal on an RX 9070 XT. My hesitation is VR compatibility, since I’ve heard Nvidia tends to be more reliable for VR even though AMD has improved significantly over the years.
The build is generally solid, although the power supply may be a little expensive for what it offers. You could also compare similarly priced B850 boards, though the current motherboard is still perfectly reasonable. For the graphics card, an RX 9070 is worth considering if you prioritize traditional rendering performance and extra VRAM over Nvidia’s features and software ecosystem.
That’s what I was unsure about too, but I chose DDR5-6000 CL30 because it’s commonly recommended as the ideal memory speed and latency for this processor.