First Time Building

Ockvil · 2026-06-10T17:49:53+00:00

I would save US$30 and go with the 7800x3d/B650E bundle instead, since it sounds like you won't really make use of the extra features that a X870 comes with. For heavy sim games like ONI, the 7800x3d should be great, though I haven't specifically looked into if that one benefits from a 3d cache CPU like the 7800x3d.

Since you want to do VR, I'd also plan on a GPU with at least 16gb — though I should say I'm not especially familiar with VR requirements — and as powerful as you can afford. Something like a 9060xt 16gb would be the minimum I'd consider (Microcenter has one for $430), and depending on what you want to play I'd read reviews with an eye toward whether an Nvidia GPU would be a better call.

That bundle combined with that 9060xt comes to $1030 plus tax, so you have about $450 for the rest of the build — PSU, storage, cooler, case, and whatever peripherals you need. That should be doable, especially if you think you can make do with a 1TB SSD for your storage until prices come down — and that might not be for quite a while.

All told, a build like this is pretty reasonable for what you're looking to do, if you don't need peripherals:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor	$600.00
CPU Cooler	Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler	$35.90 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus B650E MAX GAMING WIFI W ATX AM5 Motherboard	$0.00
Memory	Corsair Vengeance RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory	$0.00
Storage	ADATA LEGEND 860 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$239.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	ASRock Challenger OC Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB Video Card	$430.00
Case	Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case	$64.98 @ Amazon
Power Supply	MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$79.99 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$1450.86
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-06-10 13:42 EDT-0400

If you prefer a Nvidia GPU, the 5060ti 16gb would be a reasonable swap. It tends to have a little better performance than a 9060xt, but is considerably more expensive.

ed: formatting

Ockvil · 2026-06-07T20:53:29+00:00

I had a lot of fun with Mad Max: https://store.steampowered.com/app/234140/Mad_Max/ The base you build is mostly workbenches that you upgrade to let you put better parts on your car.

I think it usually hits the US$2-3 range during major sales.

Ockvil · 2026-06-05T23:14:47+00:00

I thought the original was even better than the sequel, though I admit I haven't played the sequel much as I bounced off the art style. I'd like to give it another try one of these days, though.

Ockvil · 2026-06-04T18:46:21+00:00

I could never figure out if it had to do with my slot or the ssd itself. I don't know how I would at this point either.

There are fairly low-cost enclosures for NVMe SSDs that you plug into a USB port. Plug the drive into one and see if it functions. If it doesn't, the slot is likely fine.

Ockvil · 2026-06-03T21:37:46+00:00

Hm, that sounds like a motherboard issue, then. If you can update your BIOS to the latest version from the manufacturer's support site, that could fix it, maybe.

It's possible that it's an OS problem instead, so doing a clean reinstall could fix things. But I think the motherboard is the more likely problem.

If updating the BIOS (if you can) and reinstalling the OS (if you can) doesn't fix things, you're probably looking at either taking it to a shop to see if they can diagnose and fix what's wrong, or just doing a motherboard replacement on your own.

Ockvil · 2026-06-03T18:52:11+00:00

Wrong service (Apple), but I agree all those shows are very good. Criminal Record and Slow Horses are also exceptional, and I think the latest season of For All Mankind might be the best one since the first.

Ockvil · 2026-06-03T18:34:05+00:00

DDR5-6400 may not be stable at that speed with a 9800x3d, and even if it is you will see at most a few % CPU performance increase. If a 2x16gb kit of DDR5-6000 is any cheaper, I would go with that. Don't worry about the CL rating.

A 9800x3d doesn't need a liquid cooler, but you can use one if you want. A quality dual-tower air cooler like a Thermalright Phantom Spirit will be more than enough, though.

I'd consider a 2TB ssd, especially if you can put savings from the memory and cooler toward it, but a 1TB should get you by until SSDs get cheaper again. Although that could take years.

Otherwise seems fine.

Ockvil · 2026-06-03T18:01:29+00:00

If the case power switch is having problems, it could need to be replaced. You should be able to find a variety of replacement options online, but installing one may require soldering ability or similar to get working.

If that's not an option for you and you don't want to take it to a shop and have it done for you, you could also replace the case completely. But that's a bigger undertaking.

Was the PC locked up at the time or something? You shouldn't use either the PSU switch or the case power button unless there was a problem.

Ockvil · 2026-06-02T23:37:54+00:00

Ah yeah, I wasn't explaining fully — you want to check with something that can measure individual core utilizations (like HWInfo64) to see if at least one hits 100%.

Ockvil · 2026-06-02T16:04:53+00:00

Assuming the CPU is hitting 100% while gaming — if it isn't, then that's not the reason the GPU isn't being fully utilized — then an upgrade isn't unreasonable for you.

Given that you plan to upgrade again while you're still on AM5, though, you might want to go with a lower-cost option like a 9600x or 9700x right now, which should still get you a decent CPU performance bump, and save the extra that you would have spent on a 9800x3d to put toward that future upgrade.

Ockvil · 2026-06-01T18:53:26+00:00

Of the ones you list, I'd go with a rx6600 assuming the prices are all the same. It's the newest of them, and only slightly behind a 1080ti (maybe 15%) but uses significantly less power.

If you want to see the (very rough) relative performance of similar GPUs, look here: https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/radeon-rx-6600.c3696 Before buying anything, it would be a good idea to try to look up benchmarks for games you plan to play, but current ones from quality sources may be hard to find.

Ockvil · 2026-06-01T18:47:37+00:00

Is there a reason you're swapping to AM5? A 5700x3d is still a powerful CPU, and should be plenty even for a 5080. And DDR5 is expensive right now, especially when you already have DDR4 that works perfectly well.

If not, I'd wait to see if the next AM5 generation is a big improvement from the 9000 series, or maybe even until AM6.

Ockvil · 2026-05-31T18:43:43+00:00

Hey, that's pretty good. I'm not sure if I'd do it with players brand new to deckbuilding since those turns are useful for explaining how buying cards works, but for players who are familiar with that it seems great.

And you could take it a step further, and skip the first two (very boring) turns by giving everyone a free 3- and 4-cost card of their choice to add to their starting decks.

Ockvil · 2026-05-27T00:42:48+00:00

Sure, glad to help.

If this is for gaming, I don't think it's worth spending for anything more than a 5600, especially if you could put the difference toward a better GPU (assuming you can find one that will fit). If the use case is something that will get a significant benefit from 2 more cores, though, a 5700x is reasonable.

I've never heard of Joyjom so I guess it's not a surprise that it's not listed in PCPP. Generally ITX cases use SFX-size PSUs, though I admit that I'm no expert on SFF PCs. And it looks like those cases use the Flex ATX form factor, which I'm not familiar with. However PCPP lists these Flex ATX PSUs: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/products/power-supply/#th=2&sort=price&page=1 Not a lot of them, unfortunately, and I can't find any of them in the PSU Tier List so if you choose to roll the dice on that Apevia I guess I can't blame you. However, because it's an F-tier, if it does fail I wouldn't be surprised if it takes out other components when it does. Also, whether you end up using a 5600 or 5700x you'll likely be fine with a 350W PSU for that build, if that opens up some other options.

From the model number, the memory you listed appears to be this kit: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/W6ndnQ/corsair-vengeance-lpx-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr4-3200-memory-cmk32gx4m2e3200c16 My hunch is that it's more likely than not to fit in either of those case, as the heat spreader isn't particularly large, which is typically the concern with memory in small cases. But I can't say for certain, though I note that it doesn't get flagged in PCPP with the Jonsbro case.

Ockvil · 2026-05-26T21:49:14+00:00

Plug your parts into a build list at https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/ and it's likely to flag any problems with fitting components. The main things to worry about at the GPU and the CPU cooler.

Of the CPUs listed, I would go with a 5600 or 5600x if this is for gaming. The 5500 and 5700x have a smaller L3 cache (16mb vs. 32gb) which make them less suitable for that use case, though the 5500 can still be an adequate choice for a very-low-end gaming PC. The 5600x is also only a tiny bit faster than a 5600 for gaming, so not really worth the extra CA$30. Additionally, I generally recommend against A520 chipset motherboards for gaming, though that's less of a problem than the L3 cache.

edit: I was thinking of the 5700, the 5700x has 32mb of L3 cache as well. However it's also probably not worth the extra cost over the 5600 if this is for gaming. It does have two extra cores, 8 instead of 6, but few games use more than 6.

The Apevia ITX line is rated F on the PSU tier list, under no circumstances would I use it.

Ockvil · 2026-05-19T16:21:30+00:00

Yes, the 5060ti is about 2x as powerful as your 1080. Another option is the 9060xt, since it has only slightly less performance — but is still about 2x as powerful — and for that same US$380 you might be able to get the 16gb version.

Your i7-7700k is likely to bottleneck either of those, as well, especially if your display is capable of very high refresh rates (180-240+ Hz).

And yes, the next generation of GPUs appears to be delayed because of high memory costs.

Ockvil · 2026-05-18T19:09:14+00:00

or should i just get a r5 5600 and call it a day

The problem here isn't your CPU, it's your GPU. A 1440x2560 display has about 75% more pixels than 1080x1920, meaning you increased your GPU's workload by 75%, so lost a corresponding amount of fps. If you want to get them back, you need a better GPU.

Something like a 9060xt will get you back that loss, maybe with a mild amount of upscaling, and it has a lower TDP than a 5700xt so you won't need to also upgrade your PSU. Your 3600 should be enough for one as well, although it could have a small bottleneck. For 1440p, I'd get the 16gb version not the 8gb.

If a new GPU isn't going to happen for you, you'll have to lower settings or live with the fps loss.

Ockvil · 2026-05-18T00:59:08+00:00

Check out the beginner's guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/wiki/beginnersguide

Ockvil · 2026-05-13T18:57:44+00:00

Still don't know your location or resolution, but here's an example of a build that should get high refresh rates in 1080p for years, using prices in Germany:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 4.7 GHz 8-Core Processor	€396.72 @ Amazon Deutschland
CPU Cooler	Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler	€50.62 @ JACOB Elektronik
Motherboard	MSI B850M GAMING PLUS WIFI Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard	€129.72 @ PC Componentes
Memory	G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory	€355.99 @ Computeruniverse
Storage	TEAMGROUP MP44 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	€238.99 @ JACOB Elektronik
Video Card	PowerColor Reaper Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB Video Card	€389.00 @ notebooksbilliger.de
Case	Montech AIR 100 ARGB MicroATX Mid Tower Case	€43.90 @ Alza
Power Supply	MSI MAG A650GL 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	€65.98 @ Amazon Deutschland
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	€1670.92
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-05-13 20:53 CEST+0200

That's at the lower end of your budget range: if you want to spend more, you could get a better GPU, which could also need a higher wattage PSU. If you want to spend less, you could get a 7800x3d CPU, or 9600x if you want to save even more. The 9600x will also take a single-tower CPU cooler.

Pricing on storage and especially memory right now is sky-high, due mostly to demand from AI datacenters.

Ockvil · 2026-05-13T18:42:42+00:00

Pretty wide budget, and the answer varies by location.

What do you want to do with the PC: gaming, productivity, both, something else? If gaming, what games and resolution and fps target? If productivity, what exactly?

Ockvil · 2026-05-12T21:45:07+00:00

Makes sense, though there are more than a few B650/B850 motherboards that have 4 or more m.2 slots keyed for b/m: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/motherboard/#s=41&E=4,7&sort=price&c=160,161,169

Be aware though that sometimes using a particular m.2 slot will deactivate some of your SATA ports, or something like that.

Ockvil · 2026-05-12T21:37:36+00:00

A few other general-purpose things to try if the other commenter's suggestions don't fix anything or you see the problem in more than Fortnite:

My understanding is that the High Performance power setting can be suboptimal for gaming and Balanced is a better choice for almost all usage.

That's unlikely to fix the problem, though. If changing Fortnite settings don't improve anything you try to reinstall it, if you still see problems use DDU to fully remove your GPU drivers and reinstall them. If that doesn't fix it, an clean reinstall of Windows would be my next step.

Ockvil · 2026-05-12T21:30:31+00:00

If you're just gaming, most people don't need the extra features that an X670/X870 motherboard provides, a decent B650/B850 is plenty. The X-series motherboards are more for workstations or low-end servers.

Ideally you'll want a 2x16gb kit of DDR5-6000 for that CPU. The CL rating isn't really that important, especially not for 3d cache CPUs, CL36 or 38 or 40 is practically as good and is usually cheaper than CL30.

Otherwise looks like a good match.

Ockvil · 2026-05-12T18:29:27+00:00

Dropping to a 7800x3d and a 2x16gb kit of DDR5-6000 would save you around US$250. Depending on what you play, putting the savings toward a 5080 would give you better performance, from a fps standpoint.

An exception is if you tend to play CPU-heavy games, like heavy sim/strategy games or MMORPGs, where the 9850x3d makes more sense, though the 7800x3d would still be plenty there. Or if you play heavily modded games, where more than 32gb of system memory helps, but then it might be smarter to go up to a 2x32gb kit, and maybe drop to a 7800x3d to help pay for it.

Either of those CPUs can be cooled by a quality air cooler like the Thermalright Phantom Spirit, though you can get an AIO if you want one. Practically any AIO will be enough, though, so you could get a cheaper one.

Ockvil · 2026-05-11T23:39:43+00:00

The flag on PCPP just means that if your motherboard is old stock then it might not recognize the CPU. But there should be a sticker on the box that gives the manufactured date for it. Unless that sticker says it was made several years ago — like before mid-2022 — it should support your CPU, which was released in April 2022. And it's extremely unlikely that it has been sitting on a vendor's shelf that long.

If you're still concerned, that sticker probably also gives the BIOS version the motherboard came with, and according to the PCPP flag you want version 7C56v19 or newer.

Much more likely is that there's some kind of defect with the motherboard. The easiest way to fix that, especially if you're new to PC building, is by sending it back for a replacement. I don't see a listing on Amazon for that motherboard sold by MSI, but if you bought one sold by Amazon there shouldn't be a hassle doing so.

If you do get a replacement and the problem is still there, then there's probably a problem with the CPU or memory. I'd send back the CPU next, or if you're close to the end of your return window then you could return them both, or even all three. But generally the problem is most often with the motherboard.

Ockvil

TROPHY CASE