I'm putting together a gaming PC for my boyfriend and would really appreciate advice on the parts. I used to get help from my uncle when building computers, but he passed away, so I'm not very confident choosing everything on my own. My boyfriend mainly plays modded Minecraft, Rocket League, resource and automation games, Helldivers, and would love to play heavily modded ARK. His current PC struggles with modded ARK and modded Black Ops 3, and Rocket League stutters fairly often. My budget is up to about $4,000 in the United States, although spending less would be perfectly fine. He prefers a more natural-looking setup and doesn't specifically care about RGB. He already has a good microphone and headset, but I'd also like to replace his loud, clicky keyboard with something quieter that has a smooth, creamy or thocky sound. What parts would you change or recommend?
3 Answers
You probably don’t need to spend anywhere near $4,000 for a high-end gaming machine. I’d avoid paying extra for premium branding when it doesn’t improve performance. The 9800X3D paired with a stronger GPU such as the RX 9070 XT or RTX 5070 Ti would be a much better-balanced build than spending heavily on an RTX 5060 Ti. A B650 motherboard is also sufficient if it has the features you need; the newest chipset isn’t necessary here. For cooling, a Thermalright Phantom Spirit or similar large air cooler should perform well and costs less than a liquid cooler.
For a quieter, smoother keyboard, look for a hot-swappable board with linear switches rather than clicky switches. Jupiter Brown switches are a good option if you want something quieter while keeping a satisfying sound and feel. TMR keyboards such as the Monsgeek M1 V5 TMR are also excellent for gaming because you can adjust the actuation point, though a more affordable Hall-effect or TMR board can work just as well. Foam, stabilizer tuning, and keycaps will affect whether the final sound is more creamy or thocky.
The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is an excellent choice for these games, especially modded Minecraft and other CPU-heavy titles. The graphics card is where the original build could use the biggest improvement. A Radeon RX 9070 XT would be substantially faster than an RTX 5060 Ti and can often be found for less. A 32 GB DDR5-6000 kit, a 2 TB NVMe SSD, and a good 750–850 W power supply would round out the system nicely. This setup should stay well below the $4,000 limit.
Nvidia can be preferable for certain ray-tracing, upscaling, or creator workloads, but for traditional gaming performance per dollar, the 9070 XT is a very strong option and its 16 GB of VRAM is useful for demanding mods.
That makes sense. I hear more about Nvidia cards, so I was wondering what the practical differences are and why someone would choose Radeon instead.