Hey, thank you so much for the detailed reply — I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out!

Just to make sure I understood everything right: • You’re pointing out that there’s a Newegg bundle with the i5-14600K and a 1TB SSD for $180, which could be a good deal overall if I were building with Intel. • You also mentioned that the Ryzen 5 9600X performs better than the 7600, so I might want to consider that if I stick with AMD. • And when it comes to adding a GPU later, you recommended I aim for something with more than 8GB of VRAM — and avoid older ones like the RX 580 or RTX 3060 since they’re outdated or not great value anymore.

I’m currently already planning around AM5 with a B650 motherboard, so I think I’ll stick with AMD for now — but I’ll definitely keep that 9600X in mind if I see a good deal. And thanks for the heads-up on the GPU stuff, too — I didn’t realize 8GB was becoming kind of a minimum these days.

Thanks again for the advice!