I'm building my first PC and I'm not very experienced with all the components. I'm considering an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X for my CPU and an RX 7900 XT for my GPU. Would this combination be good for gaming on ultra settings with decent FPS and graphics, including ray tracing? Additionally, I'll be using the PC for moderate to heavy video and music production.
5 Answers
The Ryzen 9 7950X has 16 cores, which is awesome for rendering, but for gaming, it's not necessary. A 7800X3D or 9800X3D is more suited for that purpose since they pack a lot of cache. If you can find a second-hand 7950X3D, it could be the perfect balance for both gaming and production work! And make sure to get a 2x RAM kit instead of 4x since AMD’s performance can struggle with fully populated slots.
Honestly, the 7950X is overkill for gaming. You'd be better off with an AMD 7800X3D or 7900X3D; they still provide great performance but are more game-focused. For ray tracing, look into NVIDIA’s 40 or 50 series cards or the RX 9070 series. Those will deliver much better results than the 7900 XT when it comes to ray tracing.
Since I'll also be doing mild to heavy video and music production, should I stick with the 7800X3D?
If ray tracing is a must for you, definitely go for the 9070XT. I have it, and it outperforms my cousin’s 7900XT in every way.
I’d recommend the 7800X3D for gaming. If you can snag a 9070XT or a 5070Ti for the GPU, that would be a good fit for your budget. The 7800X3D is cheaper and performs excellently in games, plus it's efficient for production tasks too.
Still curious if the 7800X3D is the best for music production tasks.
For a solid setup, I'd recommend the 7800X3D or 9800X3D for gaming. Pair it with either a B650 or X670 motherboard (stay away from ASRock right now), and go for 32GB of 6000 CL30 memory. For cooling, check out Thermalright or Arctic; they're budget-friendly and effective. Grab 1-2 PCIe 4 NVMe drives for speed, and don't forget a power supply that's at least 850W ATX 3.0 or 3.1 certified. As for the GPU, the 9070XT is a solid choice for ray tracing.
Could the 7800X3D still be good for heavy music production?
I'm also into music production – would the 7800X3D handle that well?