My current gaming PC is around six years old and has a Ryzen 7 3700X, ASUS ROG Strix B450-F motherboard, 16GB of G.Skill Trident 3200MHz RAM, a 500GB Crucial M.2 drive, a Samsung 970 SSD, and an ASUS Strix RTX 2070 Super. It is cooled with an AIO water cooler.
I mainly play at 1440p on a 240Hz monitor and want to build a completely new system this time. I also really like RGB, so I would prefer a full RGB/ARGB setup where the lighting works together cleanly. My ideal budget is roughly £2,500–£3,000, although spending less would be even better. My previous build cost more than it needed to because I paid a premium for Strix-branded parts, so I would appreciate good-value recommendations.
I have seen suggestions that a current AMD graphics card may offer better value than an equivalent NVIDIA card, but I am not up to date with the latest hardware. What parts and overall build would you recommend for this budget and resolution?
2 Answers
A Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with a Radeon RX 9070 XT would be an excellent combination for 1440p high-refresh-rate gaming. A build around those parts can come in under £1,900, leaving plenty of room for more storage, extra RAM, cosmetic upgrades, or whichever RGB components you prefer. The RX 9070 XT generally offers better value than moving to a similarly performing NVIDIA card, unless you specifically need NVIDIA features such as CUDA or particular ray-tracing performance.
A fishtank-style case with several included ARGB fans and a lighting hub can give you the full RGB look without paying a premium for every component. A reasonably priced ARGB AIO from a reputable brand would complete the setup. You could also reuse your existing storage initially to reduce the cost, provided its condition and capacity are still suitable.
Another sensible option is a solid 9800X3D and RX 9070 XT build with a total cost around £2,100. That gives you excellent gaming performance while staying comfortably below your maximum budget, and you can spend the remaining money on appearance and quality-of-life upgrades rather than paying extra just for premium branding.
The build looks great. One question: does the AIO's LCD let you add or customize whatever image or information you want?
For the ARGB setup, is there a particular brand you would recommend? I would prefer to keep everything compatible and control the lighting through one piece of software, similar to a Corsair setup.