I've been waiting about a year for PC component prices to settle, but I'm ready to build now. I'm not very experienced with hardware, so I used an AI tool to create an initial gaming-focused list around a ₹2 lakh budget. Before buying, I'd appreciate a sanity check on compatibility, value, cooling, power delivery, and possible bottlenecks. My current list is: ASUS Dual RTX 5060 Ti OC 8GB – ₹69,999; AMD Ryzen 5 9600X – ₹21,300; MSI B850M Gaming Plus WiFi 6E – ₹16,300; 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 – ₹60,000; WD Black SN7100 1TB Gen4 NVMe SSD – ₹17,400; Deepcool LE520 240mm AIO – ₹5,999; MSI MAG A650BN 650W Bronze PSU – ₹4,849; Deepcool Matrexx 40 3FS Mesh case – ₹3,489. Are there better ways to allocate this budget, especially for 1440p gaming?
4 Answers
The RAM price looks unusually high—₹60,000 for 32GB DDR5 is likely a listing or pricing mistake, so definitely recheck it. If DDR5 pricing is genuinely inflated, an older platform with DDR4 could free up a lot of money for the GPU. A 12th-generation Intel setup can still perform very well for gaming, though moving to DDR5 gives you a newer upgrade path. Either way, 32GB is a sensible target; don’t cut to 16GB unless it is the only way to afford a substantially better graphics card.
At this budget, the graphics card should get priority. A used RTX 3080 or RTX 4070 could make more sense than a ₹70,000 5060 Ti, although you should verify the card’s condition, warranty, and power requirements. A 12GB or 16GB GPU would be a safer choice for modern 1440p games. You could also consider an air cooler such as the Deepcool AG620 instead of the LE520; it should provide good performance without the pump-related failure risk of an AIO.
The RTX 5060 Ti 8GB is very poor value at nearly ₹70,000, and 8GB of VRAM may become limiting at 1440p. Check the RX 9060 XT 16GB or, if pricing allows, an RX 9070 GRE. You give up some Nvidia-specific features, but you get considerably more VRAM and better long-term gaming value. If you specifically need CUDA or Nvidia features for AI, look for a reasonably priced used RTX 40-series card instead.
Nvidia is mainly familiar to me because I’ve used Nvidia GPUs in laptops before, but I’ll compare the 16GB AMD cards and used RTX options before deciding.
You can save in a few other places without hurting performance. A basic motherboard is fine unless you need particular ports or expansion features, and a good tower air cooler is usually better value than a small AIO. Consider a stronger 750W Gold-rated PSU from a reputable platform instead of the A650BN Bronze unit, especially if you upgrade to a more powerful GPU later. Also check the case’s airflow and GPU clearance; inexpensive cases can run hot if their front intake is restricted. For long-term media storage, a separate hard drive can be useful, while the NVMe SSD can remain dedicated to games and applications.
The DDR4 option seems worth considering if it lets me move more of the budget toward the GPU. I’ll compare the total platform cost rather than focusing only on the CPU.