Can You Help Optimize This $2,000 Gaming PC Build?
Asked by
MellowBirch7!
I'm planning to build a gaming PC and want to make the parts list as balanced as possible. My budget is about $2,000 for the PC and another $500 for the monitor, although prices are unusually high where I live and some of these estimates may not be completely accurate. The current parts list is: Antec AX26 case ($50), MSI 750W Gold power supply ($150), Sharkoon A40 RGB cooler ($30), Kingston NV3 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD ($200), Ryzen 5 9600X ($300), Sapphire Radeon RX 9070 GRE Pulse Gaming OC 12GB ($739), Kingston Fury Beast RGB DDR5-6000 CL36 memory ($660 listed for 16GB, though I may have entered the price incorrectly and it could actually be 32GB for around $420), and an MSI B650M Gaming Plus WiFi motherboard ($214). I'm also considering a 27-inch Dell Alienware QHD OLED monitor for $500. After applying an estimated 18% discount to the PC parts but not the monitor, I calculate roughly $1,727 for the PC and $2,230 total. Are there any parts I should replace or rebalance?
Answers
The build looks fairly solid overall, but I’d consider stepping up to a higher-wattage power supply, probably around 850W, especially if you want room for a future graphics card upgrade. The Gold rating is already good; the extra wattage is the main thing to look for. I’d also aim for 32GB of RAM if possible, though memory prices can make that difficult right now.
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Double-check that memory price before buying. $660 for 16GB of DDR5 is extremely high, and even $420 for 32GB would be worth verifying with another local retailer. It sounds like the capacity or price may have been entered incorrectly. If 32GB is available at a reasonable price, that’s the better target for this build.
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MellowBirch7!: I probably listed the RAM price incorrectly. I’m fairly sure the actual option is 32GB for around $420. Prices here are also being pushed up by demand from companies buying memory for AI systems.