I'm planning my first custom desktop after my 2020 MSI GL65 Leopard failed following an intense gaming and streaming session. My maximum budget is €2,000, though I'd prefer to spend less by buying components during worthwhile promotions from reliable EU retailers, ideally in France. There's no urgent deadline, so I can wait for strong deals.
The PC needs to handle recent AAA games and competitive titles at 1080p, with smooth high frame rates for a 240 Hz monitor. I'd like to play around medium-to-high settings while streaming without major performance drops. My usage is roughly 30% gaming, 40% streaming or multistreaming through OBS, TikTok Live Studio, and Twitch, and 30% creative or productivity work using After Effects, Premiere, Photoshop, Illustrator, Vegas Pro, Blender, and Cinema 4D.
Multitasking performance, thermal stability, reliability, and value are more important than appearance. I don't want RGB or a glass case, and I prefer a dependable air cooler over liquid cooling. The system should ideally remain useful for at least seven years and allow a future monitor upgrade beyond 1080p.
I already own 500 GB and 1 TB NVMe SSDs that I plan to reuse, so additional storage is not immediately necessary. I also have 16 GB of DDR4 from my old laptop, although I assume it won't work with a modern DDR5 platform. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are required, with Wi-Fi 6 being sufficient. I'll assemble the PC myself or with help from family members. What parts or overall platform would you recommend, and which components are worth waiting for deals on?
1 Answer
Since you already stream consistently, it makes sense to build around it rather than treating streaming as a hypothetical requirement. A system aimed at strong gaming performance with a modern hardware video encoder should handle streaming efficiently without placing all the work on the CPU. The same extra CPU and memory headroom will also benefit Premiere, After Effects, and other creative applications. I’d focus the budget on a current DDR5 platform, plenty of fast memory, a capable GPU with a good encoder, and a reliable high-airflow case and power supply. You can save money by reusing the two NVMe drives and skipping unnecessary aesthetics or liquid cooling.
I’ve been streaming for over a year and usually have around 10–15 viewers, mainly through TikTok Live Studio. It’s still casual and not something I expect to make a living from, but I’ve built a small community and it motivates me to play games I might otherwise ignore. The streaming hardware also overlaps with what I need for my editing and Adobe work, which is part of my profession, so I’m comfortable spending some of the budget on that extra capability.