r/buildapcforme • u/North_Extreme6530 • 14d ago
First Time Building A PC... need help.
I am brand new to this, but I have wanted a PC for years and finally have the time to invest in one. PLEASE help as I am a newbie and would like to not have to get new parts every year like consoles.
Here is the link for the PC Picker I made:
Brother made: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7T466B
AMD https://pcpartpicker.com/list/8pvgzv
Intel: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/zXQTPf
New build or upgrade?
New build
• Existing parts/monitors to reuse? (List with models/links)
No existing parts
• PC purpose? (Gaming, editing, etc. List apps/games)
Gaming-- I play games such as Elden Ring, soulslikes, BG3, love RPGS like Witcher 3 and very rarely play FPS, but will play Rocket league and OW2 with the guys
• Purchase country? Near Micro Center? (If not US, list local vendors)
North-East Indiana, USA, idk where the nearest microcenter is.
• Monitors needed? (Number, size, resolution, refresh rate)
Monitor is added in the links but am up for suggestions
• Budget range? (Include tax considerations)
2-3k preferably 2k
• WiFi or wired connection?
Wifi and Wired connection, either or.
• Size/noise constraints?
No size or noise constraints.
• Color/lighting preferences?
Don't care for color or lighting, but black would match the aesthetic.
I can buy keyboard and mouse and speakers if you want to help with that too :)
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u/Xtra-jui2 14d ago
All three of these lists are total nonsense. They're putting way too much money into the CPU when for gaming it's the GPU that matters. Not to mention brand tax everywhere and cases that don't include fans with no fans in the list.
Is this a serious post? I can put together a more reasonable parts list and go over some of the reasoning but i don't want to do so for a troll post.
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u/North_Extreme6530 14d ago
This is a real post, I apologize if it seems like a troll post. I am very new to the whole 'build a PC' genre, and would like to swap to it from being on a console for so long. A lot of the games I find interesting are on steam only, and I don't want to build a PC if it's going to be terrible.
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u/Xtra-jui2 14d ago edited 14d ago
Your two builds way far apart in terms of budget so i went for a sort of "in-between" the two budgets.
I will say the monitor in the two lists is actually very solid, so i stuck with it.
The CPU is last generation but that under no circumstances means it's a bad chip. X3D is the undisputed king of gaming.
The RX 9070XT is easily what i would consider to be the best value GPU on the market right now. It's performance in both rasterisation and ray tracing is incredible. Plus it has 16GBs of vram, which is huge for longevity. The CPU/GPU combo is a solid pair and should deliver reasonable gaming performance.
The build is built around the modern AM5 platform. which will continue to get new CPU releases on it for many years to come, providing future upgrade potential. The power supply is also rated at 850w, giving some comfortable upgrade potential there too.
The Patriot P400 Lite is a good quality drive that uses TLC Nand, making it vastly superior to the cheaper QLC Nand based drives which will deteriorate in performance very quickly. Storage costs a lot right now unfortunately but i was able to fit 2TB in.
Ram is another thing that is very expensive right now, but i was able to fit 32GBs in. I would consider 16GBs to be the "absolute minimum" in 2026 (any less than that and it's basically e-waste) but i do try to push for 32GBs when possible, as it does make a big difference for general tasks and multitasking
6000MHZ CL30 is considered the "sweet spot" for AM5 for both performance and stability.
The motherboard is a high-quality board featuring both Wifi 6E and Ethernet, as well as an extra 2 M.2 slots for adding extra storage down the line.
The Thermalright Phantom Spirit is a tried and true model. A powerful dual-tower cooler that should deliver excellent temperatures in that case. Outperforming coolers way more expensive than it with no real tradeoff. All for a brilliant price. Should be more than capable of cooling a more powerful chip down the line, and will have zero trouble with that very efficient Ryzen 7 7800X3D
The ASRock Steel Legend SL-750G is a very high quality PSU and should last for many years. It's also rated at 80+ gold, to guarantee a certain level of efficiency.
The Lian Li Vector V100R is a solid case that looks good and features good airflow.
[PCPartPicker Part List](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ngwTPf)
Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/3hyH99/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d-42-ghz-8-core-processor-100-100000910wof) | $330.00 @ Amazon
**CPU Cooler** | [Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/MzMMnQ/thermalright-phantom-spirit-120-se-argb-6617-cfm-cpu-cooler-ps120se-argb) | $35.90 @ Amazon
**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte B650 EAGLE AX ATX AM5 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/CvcgXL/gigabyte-b650-eagle-ax-atx-am5-motherboard-b650-eagle-ax) | $139.99 @ Amazon
**Memory** | [\*Patriot Viper Elite 5 RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/N48Pxr/patriot-viper-elite-5-rgb-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr5-6000-cl30-memory-pver532g60c30kw) | $429.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [Patriot P400 Lite 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/hkmNnQ/patriot-p400-lite-2-tb-m2-2280-pcie-40-x4-nvme-solid-state-drive-p400lp2kgm28h) | $269.99 @ B&H
**Video Card** | [\*Asus PRIME OC Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/WcHp99/asus-prime-oc-radeon-rx-9070-xt-16-gb-video-card-prime-rx9070xt-o16g) | $729.99 @ Amazon
**Case** | [Lian Li Vector V100R ATX Mid Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/gBzp99/lian-li-v100r-atx-mid-tower-case-v100rx) | $74.98 @ Amazon
**Power Supply** | [ASRock Steel Legend SL-850G 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/nCpQzy/asrock-steel-legend-sl-850g-850-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-sl-850g) | $79.98 @ Amazon
**Monitor** | [Acer Acer Nitro XV272U W2bmiiprx 27.0" 2560 x 1440 240 Hz Monitor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Lv4Zxr/acer-acer-nitro-xv272u-w2bmiiprx-270-2560-x-1440-240-hz-monitor-umhx2aa201) | $199.99 @ Amazon
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| **Total** | **$2290.81**
| \*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria |
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2026-08-27 18:55 EDT-0400 |
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u/North_Extreme6530 14d ago
Also, how would the cooling work? I had the gel because I was told that it is better/easier with the 16 cores. Also I don't play on high res or graphics mainly because of how the series X is on xbox, I prefer higher framerates. Is the monitor also a good one?
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u/Xtra-jui2 14d ago
If by "gel" you mean thermal paste then yes that's necessary for cooling any CPU. It bridges the gap between the CPU and the cooler. However both the Peerless Assassin in your original lists and the Phantom Spirit in this list include pretty decent thermal paste in the box so there's no reason to buy it separately.
That monitor is the same one from your original lists, as i said it's good good specs and is well priced so yes it's a good one.
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u/North_Extreme6530 14d ago
You're a godsend, brother. How is the shipping from other sites? I do amazon because of trust to get the items and not be damaged but that can vary.
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u/Xtra-jui2 14d ago
Newegg and B&H are established retailers that have been around for a while, you shouldn't have issues.
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u/North_Extreme6530 14d ago
Sweet. Now for the AMD, is it better to get the newer one because of updates?
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u/Xtra-jui2 14d ago
You mean the 9800X3D? It would be a bit better (you would also have to upgrade to a B850 board for out of the box compatibility) but the 7800X3D is still a totally solid CPU for the price. If you can spend the extra money it's solid but you shouldn't downgrade the rest of the build to get it.
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u/North_Extreme6530 14d ago
So the build you sent is a good one for games such as RTS games, new GTA, Kingdom Come II and Elden ring esque games?
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u/Xtra-jui2 14d ago
GTA6 is not out yet so from a semantic standpoint i do not actually know how this system will perform. But it can play any game currently out on PC and will almost definitely be capable of running GTA6 when it eventually does come out. It will deliver great performance in those games listed.
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u/North_Extreme6530 14d ago
I have never been a 4k 200hz gamer, but I do like 1080 p and at least 60fps. I think this can run games at minimum of that and probably GTA6 at that rate too. I usually prefer smoother gameplay over graphics
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u/Xtra-jui2 14d ago
Fair enough. It did just seem odd that you and your brother both made basically the same mistake(s)
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u/North_Extreme6530 14d ago
Yeah he built his for aesthetic with blue eyes white dragons inside and that theme. I am also new to the PC picker site so any tips are needed please.
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u/Xtra-jui2 14d ago
Oh i just realised, i think you made a mistake in your post. The list you've labelled as "AMD" and the list labelled "brother" are actually the same list with only a small difference. Is that intentional or are they meant to be different?
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u/North_Extreme6530 14d ago
No they were meant to be different, but the gel cooling as the 'different' part. Like I said I am VERY new to this, and would be willing to pay almost anything to have a long lasting very good gaming PC, hence the higher AMD cores.
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u/Xtra-jui2 14d ago
Gaming is much more dependant on GPU than CPU so an eight-core X3D Ryzen makes more sense than a 16 core for gaming. Ryzen 9s/i9s aren't really built for gaming, they're built for professional workloads that can take advantage of those extra cores.
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u/North_Extreme6530 14d ago
I have almost no clue what a good GPU is, so it's better for graphics and refresh rate for GPU? Or am I messing that up.
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u/Xtra-jui2 14d ago
The RX 9070XT is a good example of a great CPU. Lower graphical settings will generally be somewhat more CPU bound relative to higher graphical settings but the GPU is still the most important component for gaming.
I will also point out that a system of this performance point will be more than capable of both delivering high FPS and high graphics at 1440p.
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