I'm putting together a PC for my husband and would appreciate a second opinion before ordering the parts. The main goal is to have a strong foundation for 3D modeling, with enough performance for decent FPS gaming and an easy path to 64GB of memory later. Compatibility and pricing look fine in my parts list, but I want to make sure there aren't any obvious weaknesses.
The planned build is:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900X
- Motherboard: Gigabyte B650E Eagle WiFi 6E
- Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-4800
- GPU: ASRock Challenger Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB
- Case: be quiet! Pure Base 501 Airflow
- Power supply: Corsair RM750e 750W, ATX 3.1
- Storage: Samsung 9100 Pro 1TB PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD
- CPU cooler: Gamdias Aura GL240 V2 240mm AIO
- Additional cooling: Three case fans
He has used SolidWorks before and may explore Blender or other 3D applications later. Are there any parts you would change, particularly for memory capacity, graphics performance, storage, or cooling?
3 Answers
The build is generally well balanced and should leave room for future upgrades. The main thing I’d reconsider is the memory. If you plan to reach 64GB, it’s usually better to buy a 2x32GB kit now, ideally around DDR5-6000 with a reasonable latency, rather than adding another 2x16GB kit later. Four DDR5 sticks can be harder for AM5 systems to run at their rated speed, so the system may need to fall back to a much slower setting.
I’d look at changing the storage before spending money on a PCIe 5.0 1TB drive. The extreme sequential speeds are rarely noticeable in games or typical modeling work, while 1TB can fill quickly with projects and applications. A good 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive would often provide more useful capacity for similar money. The 750W power supply should be sufficient for this setup, assuming the final GPU choice stays in the same general power range.
The best GPU depends heavily on the software. For SolidWorks, the graphics card usually matters less than strong single-thread CPU performance, so the current processor and Radeon card should be reasonable. If he moves into Blender or another application that benefits from CUDA or OptiX, an Nvidia card may provide noticeably better rendering performance. For general gaming and current SolidWorks use, the 9060 XT is still a sensible choice.
He has mainly been using SolidWorks, although he may try Blender later. I’ll check which applications he expects to use most before making a final GPU decision.
That’s helpful to know. I had heard that two memory sticks were better than one for multitasking, but I didn’t realize adding a second kit could reduce stability and speed. I’ll compare the cost of a 2x32GB kit now.