I'm building my first PC and could really use some guidance. Here are the components I've gathered over the past few weeks: ZOTAC GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Trinity OC 8GB, Intel i5 12600KF, MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk WiFi Motherboard, Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2 TB SSD, MSI MAG A850GL 850W Power Supply, G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32GB DDR5 RAM, and an ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 Cooler. I want to know if these parts are compatible, what kind of case would fit them best, and if I should consider upgrading anything before finalizing my build.
2 Answers
It's hard to say without seeing what you paid, especially for the GPU since it's a bit older and has only 8GB of VRAM. Just keep that in mind for future-proofing purposes.
If you're comfortable with the price you paid and it fits your needs, then go for it! Just keep an eye on how it performs over time.
If you're in the US, I'd guess around an $1,800 budget. I would recommend returning everything except your RAM, PSU, and storage; the other components don't offer the best value. Check out this alternative build: [link] that's more updated and still affordable if you're focused mainly on gaming.
I plan to use it for school and coding too, not just gaming. Is your suggestion really that much better for my needs?
For mixed-use, you want to balance power with value. It may not be a huge leap, but optimize to fit your needs for both work and gaming.
I got everything for just over $900, and only paid full price for the RAM and CPU. So if prices are good for me, should I just stick with it?