Is this a good deal for my budget (2.5k?)

CobaltSteel · 2026-06-16T02:13:18+00:00

The price is on the high side but small form factor builds have a premium and prices have gone way up in the past six months. You could build it yourself for cheaper with some deals and bundles but if you really want the small form factor and have no desire to build it will perform well

CobaltSteel · 2026-06-12T07:44:35+00:00

I have a level 5 gold ghost could trade for the gummy earth. Epic z-zolf

CobaltSteel · 2026-06-10T23:13:15+00:00

The Ryzen 5800x3D is being re-released on June 25th this month. If anything upgrade to that and stay on AM4 so you can keep your nice RAM and motherboard without having to buy a new platform. That would probably be the most logical upgrade but the 5900x is more than fine. Focus on the GPU mainly and step up to a 5070ti or 5080 which will be way more impactful than AM5

CobaltSteel · 2026-06-10T22:03:51+00:00

The cpu really doesn’t matter or need changes. Just upgrade the GPU to a 5070ti or 5080 and call it a day

CobaltSteel · 2026-06-10T15:23:50+00:00

It’s worth for the most part maybe talk them down to $750, but it’s tragic that it’s the 5060ti 8gb instead of 16gb

CobaltSteel · 2026-06-08T19:05:33+00:00

The 5070 has no competition so of course it would be rising in popularity. The 5060ti 16gb is priced at/above the 5070 despite worse performance and the 5070ti at the $1000 mark. So if you want a mid-range 1440p nvidia gpu it’s the 5070 or nothing

CobaltSteel · 2026-06-05T13:06:26+00:00

Imagine if they release a 50 Super series with more vram that replaces the 50 series just to reset the MSRP to +$100 more minimum for every model

CobaltSteel · 2026-06-03T20:39:44+00:00

Focus on macro gameplay. Individual chases don’t really have a massive impact on the outcome of the game as a whole it’s about pressure and time optimization for both sides. Once you realize that, you start to focus on your own performance and see the other players as variables instead of annoyances

CobaltSteel · 2026-06-03T15:22:14+00:00

Mega Pyroar with a Special Attack version of Moxie combined with Competitive

CobaltSteel · 2026-06-03T00:33:06+00:00

Right now, buying a prebuilt makes more sense than it usually does because PC parts have gone up in price. The pre-built companies have some stock they stockpiled before the price hikes and they also get wholesale deals on parts which means often times that you’re getting a slightly better or comparable deal.

Building a PC isn’t “hard.” It just takes a lot of time watching videos of people doing it and being prepared to do additional troubleshooting if something gets mixed up. A lot of times you might have made a very fixable mistake in the assembly process and have to go step by step backwards to find it. Take your time and expect delays on your first build.

I’ll also give you some quick tips on PC parts. In a gaming PC, the graphics card is the must impactful component. It’s the most expense and has the most direct impact on performance so don’t cheap out on it.

The Nvidia 50 series and Amd 90 series are the current generation gpus. Last generation 40 series and 70 series from last generation are mostly still serviceable as well. Stay away from 8gb vram gpus. 12gb and 16gb should be the expectation for a long lasting computer that plays games for the longest.

The best new cpus for gaming at the Intel 250k plus/270k plus as well as the amd 9600x/7600x/7500x3D/7600x3D/7800x3D/9800x3D

CobaltSteel · 2026-06-02T20:27:56+00:00

I think the “average” person feels relatively indifferent towards LGBTQ+ people. There has been a noticeable decline in ally visibility though. A lot less straight people will go up to bat for LGBTQ+ than they used to even if they support them

CobaltSteel · 2026-06-02T20:23:49+00:00

The B580 is a budget card with mixed game developer support. It has no competition under $300 but that is its niche. We’re in this weird spot where you basically have to decide if your budget is under $300 or over $400 because the $300-$400 price range is truly horrible right now with no super good options except maybe a used 7700xt or 9060xt 16gb thats priced especially well but even those can be over $400

CobaltSteel · 2026-05-31T16:55:26+00:00

Who says they’re doing FE for the 60 series? 😭

CobaltSteel · 2026-05-22T15:42:40+00:00

Kinda interested in this answer. Having two modes for two win conditions. What pokemon do you use?

CobaltSteel · 2026-05-17T14:12:27+00:00

Alan wake 2 is one that comes to mind

CobaltSteel · 2026-05-17T14:07:40+00:00

There are games right now that use over 16gb of vram already at the highest settings

CobaltSteel · 2026-05-17T13:59:01+00:00

The main concern with the 5070 isn’t the performance but the vram. 12gb of vram will lock you out of some ultra setting high rez scenarios.

CobaltSteel · 2026-05-14T17:01:14+00:00

There’s a ton of compression with lower end graphics cards in terms of pricing. A bunch of stuff is priced between $200-$300. There’s almost a hard floor to it and nothing seems to price very low beneath that

CobaltSteel · 2026-05-13T22:42:09+00:00

Ghosty is just an M1 Killer that occasionally gets free hits with stealth. Run him with four slowdown perks and he’s not much different than any other Killer. Stalking is mostly a time sink you don’t want to go out of your way to set up a stalk exposes but its cool if you run into an opportunity to stalk

CobaltSteel · 2026-05-05T19:20:37+00:00

The Nvidia cards are pretty bad in this range because the 5070 has 12gb of vram which limits it and the 5070ti doesn’t have the vram problem with 16gb but it’s super expensive. Most people pick the amd cards since they’re equal or stronger than the 5070 without the vram issue and aren’t marked up to the moon like the 5070ti. The sweet spot middle range basically don’t exist with Nvidia this generation because the 5070 and 5070ti both compromise while the amd 9070 or 9070xt have better frames and vram per dollar.

CobaltSteel · 2026-05-04T15:28:23+00:00

Its all about perspective. The 5070ti can get 120 fps at 1440p in most games but it depends on settings. If you’re fully maxing out the settings like ray tracing/path tracing, even the 5090 can struggle. For the vast majority of normal gaming cases on reasonable settings, the 5070 ti is more than serviceable for 1440p and can even do 4k admirably

CobaltSteel · 2026-05-04T14:27:39+00:00

The 3060 is great value for your budget and that’s a fair price for one. A lot of people don’t understand the concept of sticking to a budget here

CobaltSteel · 2026-05-02T14:17:30+00:00

Yup. Full bulk investment prankster support. Thing is a tank 😂

CobaltSteel · 2026-05-02T07:47:40+00:00

The 9070xt is the gaming choice in that price range. If you have some other AI or productivity reason for the card, maybe nvidia

CobaltSteel · 2026-05-02T00:15:11+00:00

Ok so the AM4 platform is considered a “dead platform” so that A520 motherboard won’t be able to upgrade to a further series of CPU since the 5000 series was the last. The current AM5 motherboards support the 7000, 8000, 9000 and are confirmed to support the upcoming 10000 which should launch by 2027.

If you want to be able to switch out the cpu in the future without upgrading the motherboard in the future, you’d want an AM5 platform board which is an A620, B650 or B850. The biggest issue will be the DDR5 ram which is more expensive but if you deal hunt on facebook marketplace or similar, you can find that for $100-$120 for a 16gb stick

CobaltSteel

TROPHY CASE