I'm planning a gaming PC for roughly €1,400. I use a 1440p 360Hz monitor and mainly play CS2 and Valorant competitively—CS2 at 4:3 low settings and Valorant at 1440p low settings. I'll also play some AAA games at 1440p.
The current parts list is:
- Ryzen 5 7500F
- Sapphire RX 9060 XT Pulse 16GB
- Gigabyte B850 Gaming WIFI6 motherboard
- 16GB Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5-6000 CL30 as a single stick
- Acer Predator GM7 1TB SSD
- MSI MAG A750GL PCIe 5 750W 80+ Gold power supply
- Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO cooler
- MSI MAG Forge 120A Airflow case
The total comes to about €1,400. Memory prices are unusually high, so I'm considering starting with one 16GB stick even though I know single-channel memory is not ideal. A 32GB dual-channel kit costs about €50 more but has slightly looser timings, around CL36 instead of CL30.
I like the Phantom Spirit cooler and would prefer to keep it, even though cheaper options are available. Would you make any changes to this build, and is it powerful enough to make good use of a 360Hz monitor in CS2 and Valorant?
4 Answers
For CS2 and Valorant at low settings, the Ryzen 5 7500F should be capable of very high frame rates, but holding close to 360 FPS consistently depends on the map, fights, settings, and background processes. The graphics card should be more than adequate for those games and suitable for 1440p AAA gaming. Just don’t judge the system only by average FPS—make sure the memory setup gives you strong 1% lows.
The biggest concern is the single 16GB memory stick. Even if the average FPS difference is small in some games, single-channel memory can hurt minimum FPS and frame-time consistency, which matters a lot for competitive gaming. I’d prioritize a 2x16GB kit, even if it means accepting slightly slower timings such as DDR5-6000 CL36 or saving money elsewhere.
Look for easy places to reduce the budget before sacrificing dual-channel RAM. The case already seems reasonably priced and includes several RGB fans, but you could compare less expensive air coolers or check whether the boxed CPU includes a usable cooler. Put those savings toward 32GB in a 2x16GB configuration.
The case is around €55 and already includes six RGB fans, so there isn’t much to save there. I may still compare cooler prices, although I really like the Phantom Spirit’s appearance.
A different platform or a higher-tier graphics card could be considered, but moving to a more expensive CPU and GPU combination may push the build well beyond the budget. For a new AM5 system, the current CPU is a sensible choice. I’d keep the general platform and spend the next €50 on dual-channel memory rather than changing everything.
That makes sense. The dual-channel kit is about €50 more, and I’m still weighing that against the tighter CL30 timings. Testing I’ve seen suggests the difference varies by game, but I agree that smoother lows are probably more important for competitive play.