Are These Components Well Balanced for a New Gaming PC?
Asked by
MellowBirch47
I'm planning a new gaming PC and would appreciate some advice on the parts I've selected. The current build is an MSI AM5 B850 GAMING PLUS motherboard, Ryzen 7 9700X, GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 5070 WINDFORCE OC, 32GB of Patriot Viper Venom DDR5-6000 CL30 memory with AMD EXPO, a 2TB Kingston NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, a DeepCool Gamerstorm PN750-M 750W 80 Plus Gold power supply, an Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360mm AIO, and a DeepCool CG530 4F case.
My main questions are about the SSD and memory. Is the Kingston NV3 good enough for gaming, or would it be worth spending €70–80 more on something like the Samsung 990 EVO Plus or Kingston Fury Renegade? The Patriot kit is DDR5-6000 CL30 with EXPO, while a cheaper G.Skill Ripjaws kit is CL36 and uses Intel XMP. Would it make more sense to save about €40 on the RAM and put that money toward a better SSD, or are my current choices already sensible?
I'm also unsure about the CPU. The Ryzen 7 9600X costs about €220 where I live, the Ryzen 7 7700X is €245, and the Ryzen 7 9700X is €275. I initially preferred an eight-core processor for better longevity, but I'm open to choosing the 9600X if it offers better value. Finally, I'm considering an RX 9070 XT, which costs around €800 compared with €850 for the RTX 5070. I'm familiar with NVIDIA's DLSS features but don't have much experience with AMD graphics cards.
Answers
The 9700X seems a little unnecessary for a dedicated gaming build unless you also do CPU-heavy work. The 9600X is a strong value option and the €55 savings could be put toward the graphics card or a better SSD. Six modern cores are generally enough for gaming, while the 9700X makes more sense if you want extra multicore performance or plan to keep the system for a very long time.
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For gaming, the NV3 should be fast enough in normal use, and a more expensive SSD usually won’t improve frame rates or loading times in a noticeable way. I would prioritize a reliable model with TLC NAND if the price difference is small, but you don’t need a premium drive just for gaming. The Patriot DDR5-6000 CL30 EXPO kit is a very good match for an AMD system. A CL36 XMP kit will probably work too, but the real-world difference is tiny—often only around one or two percent—so either choice is reasonable based on pricing.
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A 360mm liquid cooler is overkill for these CPUs. A good air cooler such as a Thermalright Peerless Assassin or Phantom Spirit, or a smaller 240mm AIO if you specifically want liquid cooling, should be plenty. A tower cooler will usually cost less and avoids pump failure as a potential issue.
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I would take another look at the SSD model before ordering. The NV3 is inexpensive and should perform adequately for games, but there have been concerns about consistency and the history of earlier drives in that product line. Check similarly priced alternatives such as the UD90, NQ790, or SN5100, depending on availability. Also compare the RX 9070 or 9070 XT with the RTX 5070: if the 9070 XT is €50 cheaper, has more VRAM, and is faster in standard rendering, it may offer better value. NVIDIA still has advantages in DLSS, ray tracing, and software familiarity, so your preference for those features is a valid reason to stay with the RTX 5070.
MellowBirch47: The RX 9070 XT is about €800 here, while the RTX 5070 is around €850. I’m used to NVIDIA’s DLSS features and have always used NVIDIA cards, so I’ll compare the performance and features more carefully before deciding.
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SilverKite63: I originally leaned toward eight cores because I thought they would age better, but at those prices the 9600X seems much easier to justify. The money saved could probably have a bigger effect elsewhere in the build.