I'm putting together a new gaming PC through a local computer retailer and would like opinions before placing the order. My target budget was around $3,000, although the current total is about $3,135 before tax and $3,379 after tax. My previous PC cost roughly $2,000 in 2020.
The build includes a Ryzen 7 9800X3D, ASUS X870E-E motherboard, 32GB of DDR5-6000 memory, a Radeon RX 9070 XT, a 4TB Samsung 990 EVO Plus SSD, an 850W Gold power supply, a 360mm liquid cooler, and Windows 11. The store's custom assembly service adds $250, though I could build it myself and avoid that fee. The graphics card and SSD also increased by around $60 the following day, so I may wait to see whether their prices come back down.
I would prefer to stay with Nvidia, but the RTX 5080 and 5090 are outside what I want to spend. If this were your build, what would you change? I'm also open to dropping the SSD from 4TB to 2TB if that would improve the overall value. The CPU, motherboard, and memory may be part of a bundle, so any replacement motherboard would need to be checked against the bundle pricing.
2 Answers
The motherboard is the biggest place to save. An X870E board at nearly $400 is probably unnecessary for a gaming-focused system. Something like an MSI B850 Tomahawk Max or Gigabyte B850 Aorus Elite should provide the features you need for much less, assuming the bundle pricing still works.
Definitely verify the bundle before paying for that motherboard. Retailers often offer cheaper CPU, board, and memory combinations with the same 9800X3D. The ASUS board is not necessarily bad, but it is hard to justify the premium unless you specifically need its extra expansion, storage, networking, or USB features. I’d also seriously consider assembling the PC yourself, since $250 is a large fee for installation.
The MSI X870E-P Pro would save around $200, while an MSI B850 board could save roughly $250. I’m trying to figure out whether the ASUS features are worth the extra cost or whether I should just choose one of those.
I’ll compare those options, but the CPU, motherboard, and RAM are bundled together. I may have accidentally chosen the most expensive board in the bundle, so I’ll check whether a cheaper option keeps the same discount.