I'm in Canada and want to build my first gaming PC with a budget of roughly 1,600–1,900 CAD. I mainly play single-player RPGs and some competitive games, including demanding titles such as Oblivion Remastered, and I'd like to play most games at 60–70 FPS or better at 1080p or 1440p. I don't need peripherals other than a keyboard, and while I'm somewhat interested in streaming, it isn't a priority. Performance matters more to me than appearance.
My current parts list is a Ryzen 5 9600X with a Thermalright Peerless Assassin cooler, a Gigabyte B650 Eagle AX motherboard, and 16GB of KLEVV Fit V DDR5 memory. These parts are available in a bundle for about 680 CAD. For the graphics card, I'm considering an RX 9060 at around 750 CAD, a 9070 at around 900 CAD, a 9070 GRE at 800–850 CAD, or a 9070 XT at roughly 1,000–1,100 CAD. Nvidia cards seem significantly more expensive here.
I plan to reuse a Crucial 1TB SSD from my gaming laptop, use a Corsair RM850e power supply, and put everything in a Corsair 3500X case. I'd appreciate advice on whether the parts are balanced, whether a different CPU or GPU would make more sense, and whether building a PC at these prices is worthwhile. I'm also wondering whether I can add another 2x8GB kit later to reach 32GB, or whether it would be better to start with a 2x16GB kit.
3 Answers
That’s a sensible starting build. The graphics card will have the biggest impact on gaming performance, so compare benchmarks for the games you actually play. If the pricing works, I’d aim for a 9070 or 9070 XT. A higher-end motherboard generally won’t increase FPS; it mainly provides better connectivity, power delivery, expansion options, and features. A newer chipset could be useful, but it may not be worth paying a large premium.
A 9070 would fit the build well, and a 9070 GRE could be the value option if you need to save money. If the 9070 XT is genuinely only slightly more expensive, it’s probably worth choosing that instead. Given current pricing, waiting may not lead to much lower costs. For memory, start with a matched 2x16GB kit if possible. Adding another 2x8GB kit can work, but four sticks put more strain on the memory controller and may require lower speeds or manual troubleshooting.
The 9070 XT and regular 9070 are sometimes only about 50 CAD apart, so I’m leaning toward the XT. I’ll probably avoid mixing kits and use 2x16GB from the start instead of adding another pair of 8GB sticks later.
If you can fit it into the budget, I’d consider a 7600X3D paired with a 9070-class GPU. The extra gaming performance from the CPU could be useful in CPU-heavy games, although the bundle price on the 9600X may make it the better value. Prioritize the GPU once the rest of the system is balanced.
I’m interested in a stronger gaming CPU, although the 9600X is included in the bundle I was considering. I may still upgrade if the difference is only around 100 CAD, especially since the 9070 and 9070 XT sometimes end up only about 50 CAD apart.
That makes sense. I was mainly wondering whether a newer motherboard would improve performance, but better ports and expansion options are the more realistic benefits. Oblivion Remastered also seems to have some stuttering issues even on powerful hardware, so I’ll make sure to check game-specific benchmarks.