I'm building a gaming PC with a budget of roughly $2,000 USD, although importing parts to Colombia adds a 19% tax. I found an ASUS RX 9070 XT 16GB for $852.92 after taxes, which seemed like a strong deal compared with local prices of around $1,178, so I bought the graphics card before finalizing the rest of the system.
For the CPU, I'm considering a Ryzen 7 7700X for about $291 after tax. The main use will be gaming, but I'd also like to do some 3D work, occasional streaming, and video editing. I'm wondering whether the 7700X is a good match for the 9070 XT or whether I should choose something else for better overall performance and value.
The rest of the planned build currently includes a Gigabyte B850M AORUS motherboard, DDR5-6000 memory, and an NZXT C850 Gold ATX 3.1 850W fully modular power supply. I'm buying through Amazon because it offers more reliable shipping and warranty support to Colombia, while local prices are significantly higher. Suggestions for improving the parts list or finding better alternatives are welcome.
2 Answers
A Core i5-14600K with 32GB of DDR4 could be another route if the platform and memory are significantly cheaper, but it would mean giving up the newer AM5 upgrade path. Since you already plan to use DDR5 and want the system to last, the 7700X-based build is the more sensible option unless the Intel parts are dramatically cheaper.
The Ryzen 7 7700X is a perfectly reasonable pairing for the RX 9070 XT, especially for high-resolution gaming. Eight cores are also enough for streaming and general 3D or video work. That said, check whether Intel’s Core Ultra 7 270K is available to you, since it has occasionally gone on very aggressive sales and can be considerably faster than the 7700X in both productivity and some gaming workloads.
The 270K doesn’t appear to be available for delivery to Colombia. Import tax here is 19%, so I’m mostly limited to parts that Amazon will ship reliably.