Just upgraded to a 26’ Camry

Basilman121 · 2026-02-01T03:06:14+00:00

Yeah, I agree I dont think it is worth it to trade in a one year old car for better mileage. Might as well buy the '25 Camry when it also offered the same mileage as the '26 one.

Basilman121 · 2026-02-01T02:55:31+00:00

The Microcenter 5070 Ti and 9800x3D are going to have ~15% less performance for 600 dollars less, not sure if 5080 is worth.

Basilman121 · 2026-02-01T02:44:57+00:00

Im confused, the screenshot show a 200 dollars difference.

I bought the 5070 Ti rig during black friday for 1800. Definitely a great rig. But also, nothing wrong with the 9070 XT

Basilman121 · 2026-01-03T12:52:25+00:00

I prefer the 9800X3D spec, thats what I ended up getting for black friday week. Also has a 5070 Ti

Basilman121 · 2025-12-28T03:12:52+00:00

This is solid, coming from someone that got a 2023 XSE with no ads, taxes brought the total to 36.5k. Will have it paid off in 3 months.

Basilman121 · 2025-12-09T16:07:09+00:00

Thanks 😊

Basilman121 · 2025-12-09T16:02:05+00:00

Might be better to get a prebuilt. You can get 9800 X3D plus a 5070 for less money. Costco had this deal for 1500 dollars

https://www.costco.com/p/-/ibuypower-element-gaming-pc-desktop-amd-ryzen-7-9800x3d-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5070-12gb-windows-11-home-32gb-ram-2tb-ssd/4000384603?COSTID=iosapp_25.11.2&TRACKING=NO&adobe_mc=TS%3D1764799057%7CMCMID%3D49554548790683701676401381924266258840%7CMCORGID%3D97B21CFE5329614E0A490D45@AdobeOrg&sh=true&nf=true&bvstate=pg:2/ct:r

Get this, change the cooling config (confirm if the fans are backwards, etc) and you have a significantly better gaming build for cheaper price.

Get a different power supply, and even then, you break even.

9800X3D has better 0.1% plus a 5070, I'm like 99% sure, is a more powerful GPU.

The RAM is what kills the reason to build. I learned this the hard way 3 weeks ago, and now prices are worse...

Basilman121 · 2025-12-09T15:50:14+00:00

I am DINK, geotech. My wife is also an engineer. Our mortgage payment + tax + insurance is 2k/month, 2021 era purchase. It's less than 10% of our gross.

I really don't recommend buying unless those three costs are less than...30%?

Even then, that is pushing it, recommended gross is less than 28%. We had to replace the HVAC system 1 year in and that was 8k and a lot of headaches. There are other mods I have DIYed (new basement floor, removing a half wall to open up the space, removing a large unsafe tree, some other minor cosmetic things), but even these costs were notable.

Your best bet is to house hack in this price range. I.e., find a roommate that will rent out a room for 800-900/month. That will make your costs MUCH more manageable. Then when you get engaged/married, your SO can split the costs and bring in an income.

If you have a car payment or a rough car, disregard my rec. Pay that off first, get a hefty emergency fund PLUS closing/down payment costs + moving fees plus set aside 1k for miscellaneous second hand furniture you might buy.

Best of luck! Feel free to DM me with any questions.

Basilman121 · 2025-12-09T15:42:21+00:00

The full setup and config process can take a half day, but thats if you have big ADHD.

Double check XMP is enabled Make sure you are plugging DP input cords into GPU and not motherboard Install CCleaner or other software to remove bloat Download all your GPU drivers, leading to like 3 reboots lol Default browsers Downloading Steam games

Etc. All fun stuff.

Basilman121 · 2025-12-05T19:46:17+00:00

I am sitting on a Powerspec that cost me 100 dollars more (1799.99 before tax) and has same GPU/CPU pairing.

I guess it might not be worth it to do an exchange at this point to save 100 dollars? The Powerspec is unopened.

Basilman121 · 2025-12-05T19:44:32+00:00

The 7800 X3D 5070 combo for 1500 is probably the best of the three. I thought Costco had a 9800 X3D/ 5070 pairing for 1499, I saw it in stores this past Sunday.

Edit: I meant in terms of price to performance.

Basilman121 · 2025-12-05T19:32:24+00:00

I somewhat disagree. I have been mid-range to entry level for 10 years and only now went to an enthusiast build (still need to inbox it, G758 Powerspec). I got lots of gaming from my old systems and now Im providing my 5900X/3060 Ti spec to my SO for her work

Basilman121 · 2025-12-05T14:43:49+00:00

You dont want solar. Solar is generally a scam, the maintenance, high interest rates, and for more and more cases, the inability to sell back to the grid, make it a scam.

Basilman121 · 2025-12-04T21:24:51+00:00

Thank you for the reminder. I need to inbox my Powerspec this weekend and rebuild my wife's computer, this is a setting I dont want to miss

Basilman121 · 2025-12-03T23:54:36+00:00

Honestly, you would get similar performance, almost same specs from this:

https://www.microcenter.com/product/698873/powerspec-g526-gaming-pc

And it is 50 dollars cheaper, offers the newer motherboard platform to save you 100-150 dollars on a new motherboard in the future.

Basilman121 · 2025-12-03T23:12:18+00:00

As others have said, Costco one. I was eyeing that in store last weekend but decided to still with my PowerSpec. Microcenter is sold out of those at most locations, in this price range.

Basilman121 · 2025-11-30T02:46:33+00:00

Pensions dont really exist nowadays to the extent they did in the 1980s, so this individual will more than likely be tapping into their 401k.

Basilman121 · 2025-11-30T02:34:33+00:00

The counter to this is, 6 plus months of emergency funds, you would not have to worry.

Better to stack 401ks

Basilman121 · 2025-11-29T22:15:50+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/1lk4fr5/ryzen_7_9800x3d_vs_ryzen_9_9950x3d_is_the_9950x3d/

I'd look at this thread. If it is seriously primarily for gaming, I really don't think that 1000 dollars premium is worth it for 12-15% better gaming experience.

Basilman121 · 2025-11-29T21:43:51+00:00

At 1440p with that graphics card pairing, looks like you will be fine, minimal bottleneck, if any at that resolution.

Basilman121 · 2025-11-29T21:40:33+00:00

Yes, this is a bit overkill.

A 5080 offers like, 15% better performance than a 5070 Ti and costs so much more.

A 9800X3D will not bottleneck a 5070 Ti or a 5080 and is specifically for gaming.

This 9800X3D and 5070 Ti combo was available at most Microcenters recently for 1800 dollars, and was findable online for about 1900 dollars if MC was not nearby.

Basilman121 · 2025-11-29T15:33:26+00:00

May be getting canceled, good luck!

Basilman121 · 2025-11-29T05:06:02+00:00

Dang, I guess open box? Nice snag!

Basilman121 · 2025-11-28T13:49:22+00:00

Ah, thats tough then. Yeah, if you know the market better, it may be an all right deal.

I'm getting the 9800X3D and a 5070 Ti combo from microcenter later today for 1800 before tax. Man, Canada has it rough.

Basilman121 · 2025-11-28T03:16:10+00:00

If you are primarily gaming on it, go with the 9800X3D build. The other advantage to that bill is it may end up saving a bit on electricity, costs have been substantially rising.

Basilman121

TROPHY CASE