I'm building my first PC and would like advice on getting the best value for a maximum budget of about €3,000. The main use will be 1440p gaming, but I may also do video editing and streaming later. I'm undecided between AMD and NVIDIA because I've heard AMD drivers can be less reliable, while NVIDIA offers more software and encoding features. I'm located in the Netherlands, don't need peripherals, and would like a system that stays capable for several years.
3 Answers
With this budget, I’d aim for a Ryzen 7 9800X3D, RTX 5080, fast 2TB TLC NVMe SSD, and either 32GB or 64GB of DDR5. In the Netherlands, 32GB memory with the RTX 5080 should keep the build around €2,850, leaving room for a better SSD or extra case fans. Another option is keeping 64GB and stepping down to an RTX 5070 Ti, which is still very capable at 1440p. Check German retailers too, since prices and selection may be better, but compare warranty and shipping carefully.
For mostly gaming, I’d choose the RTX 5080 and 32GB. It offers roughly 15% more graphics performance, and you can add another memory kit later if your editing workload really needs it.
A strong starting point would be a Ryzen 7 9800X3D, GeForce RTX 5080, and 32GB of DDR5-6000 with low latency, such as CL30. That combination is excellent for 1440p gaming and gives NVIDIA’s streaming and video-editing features as well. You could expand to 64GB later if your editing projects become demanding.
NVIDIA is the safer choice if streaming and video editing are likely because its hardware encoders and software support are widely used. AMD drivers are generally fine these days, so it isn’t an automatic reason to avoid AMD, but NVIDIA’s feature set can make the extra cost worthwhile. Whichever graphics card you choose, use a reputable TLC-based 2TB SSD rather than selecting purely by brand or capacity, and an 850W quality power supply should be enough for the lower-power configuration; use a higher-rated unit if you want comfortable headroom for an RTX 5080.
Would you prioritize the RTX 5080 with 32GB of memory, or the RTX 5070 Ti with 64GB for editing?