I'm planning to spend about £2,015 on my first gaming PC and would appreciate some advice before ordering. The build includes a Ryzen 7 9800X3D, Gigabyte B850 Eagle WiFi 6E motherboard, Radeon RX 9070 XT, 32GB DDR5 memory, a 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, an 850W Corsair RMx power supply, a 240mm AIO cooler, and Windows 11 Home. I don't know much about PC hardware, so I'm mainly wondering whether the parts are well matched, whether anything is overpriced or unnecessary, and if there are any changes I should make for better performance or reliability. The current memory selection is one 32GB DDR5-5600 CL40 stick, although I'm considering switching to a 2x16GB DDR5-6000 CL30 kit. The system also includes trial versions of Microsoft 365 and Norton 360, and I'd like to know whether those should be removed and if Windows will work normally without them.
3 Answers
The core parts are very strong for gaming, but definitely change the memory to a matched 2x16GB kit. One 32GB stick runs in single-channel mode, which can noticeably hurt performance. DDR5-6000 with tighter timings, such as CL30, is a much better match for this platform. You could also save some money by dropping the RGB lighting if you don't care about it; it won't affect performance.
The processor and graphics card should handle high-refresh-rate gaming very well, and the 850W power supply gives you plenty of headroom. The 240mm liquid cooler is workable, although a good air cooler could be cheaper and simpler to maintain. The main change I'd prioritize is the dual-stick 6000MT/s memory kit; after that, compare the prebuilt price against buying the same parts separately, since the warranty and assembly service may account for some of the extra cost.
The Norton and Microsoft 365 trials aren't needed for the PC to work. Windows will run normally without either one. I'd skip Norton in particular and just use the built-in Windows Security, which is generally sufficient for normal use. You can also uninstall the trial software after setup to reduce clutter and avoid renewal prompts. The browser and Windows recovery options are separate from those trials.
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