I'm putting together a new gaming PC for my boyfriend and would really appreciate some advice on the parts. I used to get help with PC building from my uncle, who passed away, so I'm not very confident judging whether this build is balanced.
He mainly plays modded Minecraft, Rocket League, automation and resource-management games, Helldivers, and would like to play heavily modded ARK. His current computer struggles with modded ARK and BO3, and Rocket League stutters fairly often. I'd like to keep the total under $4,000, although I don't need to spend the entire budget. He prefers a natural-looking setup and doesn't specifically need RGB.
I'm also considering replacing his loud, clicky keyboard. He might prefer a quieter, smoother "creamy" or "thocky" sound. We're buying everything in the United States, and he already has a good microphone and headset. What parts would you change, particularly the graphics card, motherboard, cooling, and keyboard?
5 Answers
There’s no need to force the budget up to $4,000. A system around $2,500 can already be extremely powerful for these games. Prioritize the graphics card over cosmetic upgrades and brand premiums, and make sure the memory pricing is reasonable—32GB of DDR5-6000 CL30 or CL32 is plenty for now. Consider 64GB only if he runs very large modpacks or lots of other applications while gaming.
For a quieter, smoother keyboard, look for tactile or linear switches instead of clicky switches. Jupiter Brown switches are one option that keeps some tactile feel while being much less sharp and noisy. A Monsgeek M1 V5 TMR is a higher-end choice with adjustable actuation and a solid aluminum case; the Attack Shark 85HE is a more affordable alternative. The final sound will also depend heavily on the keycaps, case, plate, and foam, so reviews with sound tests are useful.
Don’t spend extra on an expensive all-in-one liquid cooler unless you specifically want the appearance. A Thermalright Phantom Spirit, Peerless Assassin, or similar dual-tower air cooler is more than sufficient for the 9800X3D, especially in an airflow-friendly case like the Fractal Design North. The savings can go toward the GPU or a larger SSD.
The biggest improvement would be upgrading the graphics card. A Radeon RX 9070 XT offers a large performance jump over an RTX 5060 Ti and can even compete closely with or outperform an RTX 5070 Ti in traditional rasterized gaming, while generally offering excellent value. It should be a great fit for modded Minecraft, ARK, Helldivers, and similar games. A Ryzen 7 9800X3D is also an excellent choice for simulation-heavy and CPU-sensitive games.
A balanced version could use the 9800X3D, 32GB of DDR5-6000 memory, a 2TB NVMe SSD, the RX 9070 XT, and a quality 750W or 850W Gold power supply. That should stay comfortably below the stated budget.
The newest motherboard is not essential for this build. A good B650 board can save money without reducing gaming performance, provided it has the connectivity and BIOS support you need.
A higher-end Nvidia option such as an RTX 5080 could fit within the budget, but it’s unnecessary for the listed games unless he wants very high-resolution gaming, heavy ray tracing, or specific Nvidia features. The RX 9070 XT is the more sensible value choice, while an RTX 5070 or 5070 Ti is worth considering only if Nvidia’s feature set is a priority.
If features such as ray tracing, CUDA, or DLSS are especially important, an Nvidia card may still make sense. Otherwise, the Radeon card gives considerably more gaming performance for the money here.