My girlfriend is replacing her older PC, and I helped choose the parts, but I'd appreciate a second opinion before we buy everything. We're in Germany and would like to stay under roughly €2,000, although the budget has some flexibility. Component colors and RGB don't matter.
The current parts are:
- Ryzen 5 9600X — about €180
- XFX Radeon RX 7900 XT 20GB — about €769
- ASRock B650 PG Lightning — about €120
- MSI MAG A850GL 850W — about €115
- Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 240 — about €64
- 32GB Patriot Viper Venom DDR5 — listed at about €450, though this may be a pricing issue
- Existing Corsair Carbide 175R case
We already have relatively new M.2 SSDs from the current PC, so those don't need to be replaced. Is it worth upgrading from the RX 7900 XT to a 7900 XTX, or would a newer graphics card such as the RX 9070 XT make more sense? I'd also like advice on the power supply, memory speed and timings, motherboard, cooling, and whether the existing case will cause any compatibility or airflow problems.
4 Answers
The build is generally solid, but I’d seriously consider the RX 9070 XT instead of the RX 7900 XT or XTX if they cost about the same. It’s newer, more power efficient, has stronger ray-tracing performance, and supports newer upscaling features. The 7900 XT’s extra VRAM may still be useful, especially for 4K, so check current benchmarks and prices before deciding.
The B650 motherboard should work, and its VRM is more than sufficient for the 9600X. Its lack of PCIe 5.0 for the graphics-card slot is not a practical problem right now: current GPUs do not need that bandwidth, and a PCIe 4.0 slot will not meaningfully limit performance. Choose a different board only if you specifically want PCIe 5.0 expansion, additional M.2 features, or better connectivity.
I’d replace the MSI power supply with a model that has a stronger reputation and preferably modern ATX 3.1 support. An NZXT C850 Gold Core or Corsair RM850x would be worth considering if the price difference is only around €15. An 850W unit is appropriate for this class of graphics card.
The 240mm liquid cooler is adequate for the Ryzen 5 9600X, although it is more cooling than the processor needs. A 360mm radiator would only make sense if the case supports it, and in this case it generally needs to be front-mounted. A newer case with a mesh front would improve airflow and make installation easier, but keeping the existing case is reasonable if the graphics-card length and radiator clearance work.
The memory deserves a closer look. Aim for a 2x16GB kit, or 2x32GB if the budget allows, running around DDR5-6000 with timings close to CL30. Make sure the kit is actually priced normally; €450 for 32GB sounds unusually high. The Patriot Viper Venom 6000 CL30 kit would be a suitable option if available at a reasonable price.
The listed memory is the 6000 CL30 kit, so the specifications look right. The main thing to verify is whether that €450 price is a temporary listing error or simply an unusually expensive seller.
That clears up the PCIe question. Since the RX 9070 XT is available at a similar price and has been recommended several times, it will probably be the graphics card we choose. The RAM is also the 6000 CL30 kit mentioned above.