I'm planning to build a gaming PC with a maximum budget of €3,000, including only the tower since I already have peripherals and a monitor. I'm currently using a 1080p MSI MAG 255 E20 display and would like to play demanding games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Baldur's Gate 3, Elden Ring, and Sea of Thieves with high graphics settings and strong FPS. My current laptop struggles with these games and is starting to fail.
An online recommendation suggested an RTX 5080 16GB, Ryzen 7 9800X3D, a B650E or X870 Wi-Fi motherboard, and 32GB of DDR5-6000 CL30 memory. Is this a sensible use of the budget, or would a cheaper graphics card provide better value? I'm also considering AMD cards such as the Radeon 9070 XT. How important are Nvidia features like DLSS, ray tracing, and CUDA for gaming or possible engineering coursework? I can buy parts in France, or from German retailers that ship to France.
3 Answers
At 1080p, an RTX 5080 paired with a 9800X3D is far beyond what you need for the monitor you currently have. A Radeon 9070 XT-class card would generally offer excellent rasterized gaming performance for much less money, while Nvidia is more attractive if you specifically want the best ray tracing, DLSS support, or CUDA compatibility. DLSS can improve performance substantially, although its quality depends on the game and settings.
You could build a very strong system for considerably less than €3,000 and put some of the savings toward a higher-resolution, high-refresh-rate monitor. That would make the extra GPU performance much more noticeable than using an extremely powerful card at 1080p.
For a €3,000 maximum, I would avoid treating the budget as a target that must be completely spent. A balanced build could include a strong gaming CPU, 32GB of DDR5 memory, a reliable B650 or X870 motherboard, a quality power supply, fast NVMe storage, and a high-end GPU while still leaving room for future upgrades.
Choose Nvidia if you value ray tracing, DLSS, video features, or software that specifically requires CUDA. Choose AMD if you mainly want the most gaming performance per euro in traditional rendering and do not need those Nvidia-specific features. Either option can play the games you mentioned; the main difference is how much you pay for extra features and performance at your chosen resolution.
The suggested parts are all high-end and compatible in principle, but the CPU is mostly useful when you want very high frame rates, especially at 1080p or with a powerful GPU. For normal gaming, a slightly cheaper Ryzen processor could free up money without making the system feel slow. Thirty-two gigabytes of DDR5-6000 CL30 is a good starting point; 64GB is optional rather than necessary for the games you listed.
Before choosing the graphics card, decide whether you plan to keep the 1080p monitor. If so, even a much cheaper modern GPU should run your games very well. If you are willing to upgrade to 1440p or ultrawide later, then spending more on the GPU makes more sense.
The monitor is currently 1080p, but I mainly want the PC to give me the fewest possible limitations on graphics settings and FPS. I’m open to upgrading the monitor later if the new hardware would make that worthwhile.
I’m not sure whether I would notice or care about DLSS since I’ve never used it. I may take engineering classes, but CUDA probably won’t be required. Would spending roughly €400 more for Nvidia’s ray tracing and DLSS features be worthwhile, or would it be better to spend that money elsewhere? I’d also like the build to handle essentially any current game without major graphics compromises.