I'm planning to build a reasonably priced PC in about two or three years, mainly targeting 1440p gaming. My current parts list is a Ryzen 5 7500F, FROZN A620 Pro SE cooler, Gigabyte B850 Aorus Elite motherboard, 16GB of DDR5-6000 CL30 memory, Samsung 990 Pro 1TB SSD, Asus Prime OC Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB, MSI MAG A750GL 750W power supply, and a Corsair 4000D case. I'm trying to stay near a $2,000 budget, although the list is already a little over that. I also plan to use the system for drawing, video production, music creation, gaming, and occasional streaming, so I'm concerned about longevity and multitasking performance. I prefer a CPU without integrated graphics because I've had trouble disabling integrated graphics on Linux and on an older laptop. Are these parts compatible and sensible together? What would you change, and am I overlooking anything important?
2 Answers
For your mix of gaming and creative work, the CPU may become the bigger limitation than it would be in a gaming-only system. If you can find a newer six-core or eight-core processor with substantially better productivity performance when you’re ready to buy, compare it against the 7500F. Integrated graphics usually can be disabled or simply ignored on desktop motherboards, so don’t rule out a better CPU solely for that reason; verify the specific board’s firmware options and Linux behavior first. Also remember to budget for an operating system, extra storage, and possibly a second SSD if you’ll be keeping large video and music projects.
The RX 9070 XT is more of a high-end graphics card than a middle-range option, but it makes sense for a strong 1440p setup. The main concern is that 16GB of system RAM may be limiting for video editing, music projects, streaming, and general multitasking. I’d plan on 32GB at minimum, with 64GB being worth considering if your budget allows. A cheaper motherboard and SSD could free up money without noticeably changing gaming performance. You also probably don’t need a premium 990 Pro for this kind of build; a good-value NVMe drive should feel very similar in normal use.
That makes sense. I’m not concerned about appearance, so I’ll prioritize a less expensive motherboard and SSD and put the savings toward more memory.