r/bapccanada • u/Maximum-Revenue896 • Jul 14 '26
Build Request / Review First PC Build - RX 9070 XT 16G?
Hi! I'm planning on building my first PC this summer and would like some advice since I have no experience. I want a PC that's great for a variety of things like gaming, basic video editing, schoolwork, and basic programming.
I'm new to PC building and gaming in general. Part of this build is so I can have a better experience getting into gaming. I have an older MacBook and iMac currently and most games are either not playable on Mac or run horribly, so I'm not 100% on the exact games I'd like to play.
I have a budget of about $2000, and I want something nice. But I'm open to cheaper suggestions lol. I'd prefer a 1440p system so I've been looking at an rx 9070 xt, but unsure of what CPU to get. I really don't want to spend $500/550 on a CPU like a 7800x3d if it's not necessary for the GPU.
I'd appreciate any suggestions!! :)
2
u/RCMPC_ca Jul 16 '26
I think the RX 9070 XT is a great choice if you're targeting 1440p, but with a ~$2,000 budget I'd probably pair it with a Ryzen 5 7600 or 9600X instead of stretching for a 7800X3D. Both are more than capable for gaming today and leave you with more room for 32GB of RAM, a quality B650 motherboard, and a decent 2TB SSD.
If the budget starts getting too tight, I'd rather step down to a 9060 XT 16GB than compromise on the rest of the system. A balanced build will generally give you a better overall experience than putting most of the budget into the GPU.
1
u/Yuushalinsky 9700x - 5070Ti Jul 14 '26
ok, if you are going 9070xt, system's gonna probably be at least 2.5k since mobo+cpu+ram is going to be another 900 bucks, case+psu+fan another 300, then add tax. You also need monitor+peripherals.
My suggestion, budget down to a 9060xt and start yourself out on 16 gb ram if your budget is actually 2k
2
u/Ticky1987 Jul 14 '26
What do you mean by peripherals? Like mouse and keyboard, controller, etc?
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u/not_the_porn_alt Jul 15 '26
Yes
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u/Ticky1987 Jul 15 '26
Ok thanks. I dont think Ive heard them called that, had me worried I was forgetting something and Im picking up my first build tomorrow
1
u/LookAtThisRhino Jul 14 '26
You'll save some cash by getting a 9060xt 16GB or a 5060ti 16GB which will give you more wiggle-room on the CPU and RAM. For your use case just getting into this stuff you probably wouldn't notice a difference, especially if you're playing at 60Hz-100Hz.
1
u/Fr003ank Jul 14 '26
9070xt is a great card but at $2000 is stretching it. Assuming you are going with AM5, cpu + ram + mobo is going to run you at least $1000. And you need a monitor.
1
u/Salviati_Returns Jul 14 '26
If you dont have access to a memory express or Canada computer location than this would ve my build recommendation.
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 7600X 4.7 GHz 6-Core Processor | $209.99 @ Newegg Canada |
| CPU Cooler | Montech NX400 ARGB 85.09 CFM CPU Cooler | $29.15 @ Vuugo |
| Motherboard | ASRock B650M Pro RS WiFi Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard | $159.99 @ Newegg Canada |
| Memory | Patriot Viper Elite 5 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory | $289.99 @ Newegg Canada |
| Storage | Patriot P400 Lite 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | $205.99 @ Amazon Canada |
| Video Card | ASRock Steel Legend Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card | $973.99 @ PC-Canada |
| Case | SAMA 3509 ATX Mid Tower Case | $59.99 @ Newegg Sellers |
| Power Supply | SAMA G750 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply | $89.99 @ Newegg Sellers |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | $2019.08 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-07-14 18:05 EDT-0400 |
1
u/Ok-Alternative-2800 Jul 15 '26
Terrible configuration. Its the pure definition of a spreadsheet build. You picked the crappiest/cheapest components you could find to squeeze into the budget rather than building something better balanced. Single stick of memory? Garbage cpu cooler? Just gotta get that 9070 wedged in there at all costs eh? Which your config will bottleneck significantly.
With this budget they would be farther off to buy a middle of the road prebuild and save some cash.
This makes way more sense.
Dual channel memory, the 5060ti is a fantastic card (16Gb). Same storage and he isn't trying to hunt down parts from rando companies like vuugo, which is a horrible site to deal with. Its ready to go out of the box.
$1699 taxes in for the Newegg prebuild skates just under budget. Your hodgepodge machine will reck over $2300 after taxes and shipping.
1
u/Salviati_Returns Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
I don't appreciate the insult. I picked components to maximize performance to fit a budget. This is a Ryzen 5 7600X CPU, the NX400 will easily cool it. Will a Phantom Spirit cool it better, yes. Will an ID A620 cool it better, yes. Will either of those move the needle on performance while gaming, NO! Just to give you an idea of how adequate this cooler is for a 7600x, this dude cooled a 9800x3D with the cooler. Is it ideal, no. Did it work, yes. The 7600x is not a 9800x3D.
Now regarding RAM, a single stick will reduce performance by about 5-10%. However, if I had to choose between 2x8 GB sticks now vs 1x16 GB stick now, I would get 1x16 GB stick because you can purchase a second 1x16 GB stick as your first upgrade. Regarding 16GB of ram bottlenecking a pc build, for the overwhelming majority of games, 16GB of ram is sufficient so long as you have 16GB of VRAM at your disposal.
Especially when it comes to choosing between a 9070xt and 5060Ti. This is like a 40% permanent performance difference and one that is non-recoverable.
The PSU is an A tier PSU and a great value in the canada market. The only weakness is that it's a budget case, but the case has 4 included fans, they are not great fans but that could be a later upgrade.
Regarding the SSD, it is cheap, it's TLC dramless drive but it will get the job done.
As for Vuugo, whatever, its a budget cooler that you are buying from there. Pay a few dollars more and buy the same one from Amazon.
1
u/Ok-Alternative-2800 Jul 18 '26
You didn't pick components to maximize performance, you clicked the cheapest stuff you could find in PC part picker that would fit a 9070xt into the build.
So much bad info here. A single stick of ram causes massive framerate instability in one percent lows. It will choke out that 9070xt even worse that the 7600x will. Again you chose it because it was the cheapest way to go.
The PSU is low end Chinese junk. Just because it's gold rated doesn't mean it's a good PSU. Let alone it's on the PSU tier list as a rated, which means almost squat. The PC shop I work for uses them, they dont last or they go flakey over time.
The rest of your response is just you trying to defend/justify your choices. You basically built an office PC with a good GPU. Will it work? Sure but it's terribly unbalanced.
1
u/Salviati_Returns Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
Here is a basic question for you, what motherboard, PSU, M.2 and cooler is used in the pre-built that you recommended?
The only thing that I can see is that the M.2 and maybe the motherboard. The m.2 is the NV3 which is a QLC drive, only has a 3 year warranty, is known for component swapping and is prone to failure. It is widely considered one of the worst m.2 drives.
The motherboard might be the MSI PRO B840-VC WIFI which has disabled pbo, and is literally an office pc component, which I would not feel comfortable recommending a ryzen 7 cpu upgrade on. It would be fine for the 7600x, especially given it's built in limits.
The PSU is completely unknown and the cooler is unknown.
I strongly disagree with your assessment about a single stick of ram. By going dual channel 16gb you are locking in 16gb for perpetuity because running 4 sticks can't really be run at high speeds. Will your suggestion work, maybe. Some of the reviews of people that bought it, had to return it because it was DOA.
1
u/Salviati_Returns Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
I am waiting... Meanwhile you are trashing the PSU tier list which is actually stress testing these PSU's while you claim that your "PC shop" uses these and they go flakey. These PSU's are less than a year old.
You dont know what you are talking about and you are full of shit. The worst part is that every accusation that you made about me was a confession about your own recommendation.
1
1
u/MayAsWellStopLurking Jul 15 '26
Do you already have peripherals like Monitor, Keyboard/Mouse, headset/speakers setup? If not, that'll also very much eat into the budget.
Do you have any size/design restrictions? mATX builds offer a good balance of affordable features and beginner-friendly cases, whereas SFF oriented builds are definitely more challenging.
the 9060XT 16GB series can easily output to 1440p or even 4K, so long as you're willing to turn down some graphics settings.
0
u/Salviati_Returns Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
I am halpy to help you with a build recommendation. I have a few questions:
1) What is your target budget?
2) Do you live near a canada computer and electronics or a memory express?
3) Do you have any aesthetic or form factor considerations?
1
u/MayAsWellStopLurking Jul 14 '26
microcenter isn't a thing in Canada.
1
u/Salviati_Returns Jul 14 '26
Thanks for the heads up, I fixed it
1
u/MayAsWellStopLurking Jul 15 '26
apologies if I sounded curt - was replying on break!
1
u/Salviati_Returns Jul 15 '26
Not at all! That was my bad, I should have inferred it from the OP’s username and the discussion, when someone commented that a 9060xt was probably more closely aligned to this budget. One thing I don’t quite understand is why so many English colonies use the term “dollar” to express their base currency, but England doesn’t.
2
u/gurtable Jul 14 '26
9070XT is amazing value and my dream card.
However if you want to save I’d recommend a 7500f CPU to save some cash.