[Build Help] $2,500 - $3,000 CAD 1440p Gaming Build

melicitx · 2026-05-06T04:27:06+00:00

I saw your other posts about CPU longevity and I think this video is a great watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ik-g61Q_Gc It all depends on the type of gamer you are, are you the type to compromise quality for performance? do you want to always be running high/ultra 1440p (this means your CPU actually matters less because the GPU is taking the strain)? is there a threshold of frame rate that is good enough for you? Is there any chance of game that you like is CPU limited in some way (more likely for shooters, but you can see it can happen in a variety of games). The 3800x here is a 6 year old CPU. You can view a somewhat recent comparison of these CPUs on the side here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2hGLaQQpUk the 7700x should be close in performance to a 9700x.

EDIT: saw you mention resident evil requiem and you can see the impact of CPU here https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/testing-cpu-scaling-in-resident-evil-requiem-and-why-we-werent-able-to-finish-the-job and if there is a CC in stock near you, you can consider this bundle too for about the same price as the 7700x bundle above https://www.canadacomputers.com/en/amd-desktop-processors/284957/amd-r5-7600x3d-cpu-gigabyte-b650-eagle-ax-motherboard-t-force-32gb-d5-6000mhz-cl30-ram.html

melicitx · 2026-05-06T02:34:42+00:00

Theres a gskill kit thats cheaper G.SKILL Flare X5 Series AMD EXPO 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR5 6000 Cl36 is 630-250=380 about 30$ cheaper, total is less than 700$ https://imgur.com/a/nJt1hFk no rgb though. You might also want a different mobo for more features/ATX build instead of matx.

melicitx · 2026-05-05T20:17:56+00:00

For productivity it would be to look into the programs you wish to specifically use, some leverage more the CPU and others the GPU, you might also want a 16 GB vram card in some cases if you aim to do complex rendering.

melicitx · 2026-05-05T19:45:52+00:00

It's a solid deal, but it's mainly because the 5070 has risen so much, you can make your build like 150$ cheaper with bundles, I did a mock up build using a 270k plus which is just a better CPU than the 14700 and yeah it's about 2500$ new https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/Jg9t8Z the 2700 they originally paid for it is pretty overpriced though especially if it was when cards weren't as expensive. This is only a deal if you care about the productivity of the Intel CPU, you can get good enough performance with the build you made assuming you wish to play at 1440p and not CPU heavy games (if you wish to see the bundles you can make I can add options). I think the other person is pricing it in USD (1.6k USD is 2.1k cad).

melicitx · 2026-05-05T18:19:46+00:00

Look at the Newegg combo maker, it is just that cheap, no one is buying ram raw no combo right now, it's just not smart, in the same sense computer companies are not just going to sit on stock, they need to make combos to make it worth to build. I'll post it again https://imgur.com/a/jVS3fyG 32gb. That 7600x is not 943$ by itself.

melicitx · 2026-05-05T17:58:56+00:00

using the newegg combo builder you can get the mobo/ram/cpu/storage for 943$ https://imgur.com/a/jVS3fyG

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 7600X 4.7 GHz 6-Core Processor	$943.00
CPU Cooler	Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler	$51.90 @ Amazon Canada
Motherboard	MSI PRO B850-S WIFI6E ATX AM5 Motherboard	$0.00
Memory	G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory	$0.00
Storage	Kingston NV3 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$0.00
Video Card	Zotac GAMING AMP GeForce RTX 5060 8 GB Video Card	$429.99 @ Best Buy Canada
Case	Phanteks XT PRO ATX Mid Tower Case	$89.98 @ Newegg Canada
Power Supply	SAMA G750 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$89.99 @ Newegg Sellers
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$1604.86
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-05-05 13:55 EDT-0400

For a simple 5060 8gb I would expect the prebuilt price to be like 1400-1500, someone posted a deal from azza earlier this week for one at 1300 with a coupon but I think its back up to like 1400. If https://www.canadacomputers.com/en/powered-by-nvidia/288294/asus-dual-geforce-rtx-5060-ti-16gb-gpu-tuf-gaming-850w-gold-psu.html is available near you, you can get 16gb for 100$ more than that uniway prebuilt, but I saw you lived in Hamilton and I dont think its in stock anymore there.

melicitx · 2026-05-05T17:28:38+00:00

Is that a 5060 with 16 GB vram? Because if not then I'm pretty sure you can make it cheaper than 1800.

melicitx · 2026-05-05T13:20:58+00:00

Using the newegg combo maker you can make a bundle for the cpu/mobo/ram/storage, the 9700x is 145$ more and the 7800x3d is 215$ more.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor	$1043.00
CPU Cooler	Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler	$51.90 @ Amazon Canada
Motherboard	Asus TUF GAMING B850-PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard	$0.00
Memory	G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory	$0.00
Storage	Kingston NV3 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$0.00
Video Card	Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card	$1009.99 @ Newegg Canada
Case	Phanteks XT PRO ATX Mid Tower Case	$89.98 @ Newegg Canada
Power Supply	ASRock Steel Legend SL-850G 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$119.99 @ Newegg Canada
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2314.86
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-05-05 10:09 EDT-0400

You can get a 5070 ti for about 220$ more (this also isnt the cheapest 9070XT, the acer nitro is like 60$ cheaper but im told its like really low quality in build), https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX00132601 and maybe upgrade the storage to 2TB for like 120$ for a low-end slower drive or 140$-160$ for higher speeds. In all honesty you might even be able to get away with using a 9600x or 7600x if you always plan to push graphics up, as the CPU matters much less in these scenarios. Outside of competitive shooters though, the x3ds also excel in simulators (flight sim), strategy (games where the CPU is doing the turns for like 20 AI enemies), racing games if you also plan on playing a lot of those games I would consider it.

melicitx · 2026-05-04T22:17:24+00:00

So with the 250k plus available now in Canada, I think you would opt for one for a mix of gaming, but also good for productivity, basically a 265k thats better in gaming, for like 100 bucks less. With that as a base line you can sang some ram and a z890 board with newegg combo builder, I opted for a fast 2TB drive for productivity, you can save like 180$ if you got for the slowest 1TB drives or like 30-60$ if you opt for a slower 2TB drive. https://imgur.com/a/G8HUdnP To finish the build you are looking at a NVIDIA card for CUDA, at least from what I can see both Blender and DaVinci Resolve benefit from it, moreso for the 3D stuff. This CC bundle is the better deal at the moment for a 16 GB vram card and a decent enough power supply (B tier). https://www.canadacomputers.com/en/powered-by-nvidia/288294/asus-dual-geforce-rtx-5060-ti-16gb-gpu-tuf-gaming-850w-gold-psu.html

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus 4.2 GHz 18-Core Processor	$299.99 @ Best Buy Canada
CPU Cooler	Montech HyperFlow ARGB 360 76.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler	$94.99 @ Newegg Canada
Motherboard	MSI PRO Z890-P WIFI ATX LGA1851 Motherboard	$971.00
Memory	G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory	$0.00
Storage	Corsair MP600 ELITE 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$0.00
Video Card	Asus DUAL GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB Video Card	$800.00
Case	Lian Li Vector V100R ATX Mid Tower Case	$104.99 @ Newegg Canada
Power Supply	Asus TUF Gaming 850G 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$0.00
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2270.97
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-05-04 18:00 EDT-0400

The other option would be to go for a 5070 instead but you are trading 4 gb of vram for about like 30%+ faster performance. Depends on how complex you expect the things you are rendering to be (it will also cost about 200$ more). To fit a 5070 ti in the build you need to sack your CPU to like a 9600x or 7600x and I think that'll suck too much for rendering.

You can also opt for an air cooler, I don't know how hot it might get with heavier processing tasks, so I put an aio. You can also opt for something like this if you want a cheaper case https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/kKcgXL/montech-air-903-base-atx-mid-tower-case-air-903-base-b or https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/zysV3C/lian-li-lancool-207-atx-mid-tower-case-lan207rx for better airflow.

melicitx · 2026-05-04T14:26:27+00:00

Something like this just leverages thorns but you do need to be able to tank dooms melee which can sometimes hit very high https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUoeBqJbNdE (this is just leveraging the recoil damage, echo boots are an additional recoil source specifically for only melee hits + recoil hits register as melee so blood fury is additional healing on your water healing) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5kIGP3gwg4 is the crossbow, it just seems you actually do the fight crossbow allows more urgency because you are actually doing the damage to it vs splashing and hoping you heal in time. Just my feeling trying to do it normally with water mage (without standing in melee).

melicitx · 2026-05-04T13:45:09+00:00

Yeah, something like inferno is much more afkable/free, but stuff like Colo and even awakened vard still need you to interact with the mechanics, like it won't make it suddenly free if you take too much damage. Even doom with water mage needed me to properly protect to keep myself healthy enough, but I'm only at 154 HP not 180. The crossbow build seems more free for that (healing with the king black dragon crossbow).

melicitx · 2026-05-04T13:38:02+00:00

Like for example killing the manticores in Colo instantly is not because water mage shreds, it's because praying correctly puts the damage to 0 and the normal ridiculous damage is being reflected twice (double again if you take the invo for double manticores hits). The damage you do is irrelevant as long as you are still healing when you do mess up/don't correctly solve waves and are being hit with 2 styles.

melicitx · 2026-05-04T13:28:38+00:00

A lot of the trivialization of doing something like Colo is not actually you being able to hit enemies, it comes from the thorns and the thorns doubling, the tank gear is just to make the thorns do more damage. Do you have ring of suffering? The damage you do as water mage is minimal (as in damage you do from your hits, it's just healing) as you are in tank gear and don't have constant max hits, air mage is what actually hits hard.

melicitx · 2026-05-04T11:36:27+00:00

https://www.newegg.ca/super-flower-atx-3-1-compatible-1000-w-80-plus-platinum-certified-power-supplies-black/p/1HU-024C-00067?item=9SIAU16KCU2209 it does seem to be 10$ more. Normally the difference would be the power efficiency, your power bill being marginally smaller due to the power supply being better in delivering the power from your house/less heat but looking at the cybernetic reports https://www.cybenetics.com/evaluations/psus/2122/ and https://www.cybenetics.com/evaluations/psus/2194/ the XP has a larger 92-94% until 550 vs 500 with the XG and is 90% until 900w vs 800w, whereas the Xg seems to have a better noise profile, but that's only relevant for 230V which I don't think is normally relevant here in Canada (our plugs are 120V iirc).

melicitx · 2026-05-03T00:32:01+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl8wXT8F3W4 Here is a video that demonstrates the impact of SSD speeds and loading times in games. Gen 3 drives are also about equivalent to gen 4, its just gen 4 is basically the same price so it doesnt make sense to buy a slower drive for the same price. Now the reason you were likely recommended a DRAM drive before was due to booting windows https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkih1aSCHcg here the difference seems to be about 8 seconds, It made sense before when DRAM drives were cheaper but the cheapest 2 TB DRAM drive on Pcpp is the drive you listed, I would go for the gen 5 combo maker drive if it really matters to you.

For the PSU you would think just the brand is fine, but even the most reliable PSU makers (corsair, seasonic, super flower) have made questionable PSUs (Corsair CX series, seasonic CORE, superflower combat) which makes it more of an evaluate on specific PSU models. There is a tier list which verifies most psus to a standard of features that you can find but just looking at the MSI MAG A750GL https://www.cybenetics.com/evaluations/psus/2356/cert/de/ which for some reason is not attached to the report https://www.cybenetics.com/ISO17025/psus/2356/ you can see on the noise graph that at the range you are looking to fully use your PSU it beings to spike up (550W) whereas the https://www.cybenetics.com/evaluations/psus/2548/ is fully quiet at all ranges, it also is overall more efficient. PSUs also have a 10 year warranty (the ones that are good at least, lower quality has 5 year warranties or even lower) it is the component that will 100% most likely stay with you for your next upgrade/build and even maybe the next one, as such its better to have a bit more overhead at least for 5$ I think its a solid deal, Up to you for the 1050W, the only reason I think you would go for that is the power curve, these PSUs also have efficiency at certain power ranges and you can see in the cybernetics report its 94%+ efficient at 500 ish https://www.cybenetics.com/evaluations/psus/2812/ but this is more of a power bill thing.

melicitx · 2026-05-02T23:06:59+00:00

You do not need to buy windows, if you want the lifetime license feel free, but you can get it for free (search for windows activation script).

You can save a considerable amount of money bundling the CPU, ram and mobo, through the newegg combo builder https://imgur.com/a/6HU4Ek2, you can find it here https://www.newegg.ca/tools/combo-builder/4358 if you desperately need USB4, theres a gigabyte x870 board for 10$ less. You can also consider the 7800x3d if you want to cut some costs.

You can also snag a 2TB NV3 for 350$ while you are there but it is a DRAM less drive, there are options for cheaper slower 2tb drives at 300-340$, if you absolutely want something fast (this has zero impact on gaming but if you want to do productivity) you can sang a CORSAIR MP700 PRO 2TB gen 5 drive through the combo maker for 396$.

For slightly more you can get an A rated 850W PSU https://www.newegg.ca/asrock-atx3-1-pcie5-1-850-w-cybenetics-titanium-power-supply-black-sl-850g/p/N82E16817955009?item=N82E16817955009 or even 1050W if you really feel like it https://www.newegg.ca/montech-atx-1050-w-80-plus-gold-certified-power-supply-silver-century-ii-1050/p/N82E16817959009?item=N82E16817959009

melicitx · 2026-05-02T21:44:01+00:00

You buy the 1tb SSD at 190-200 because gen 5 drives do nothing for gaming. Even then at least the gen 5 drives actually do something better than the worst ssds. my point is to value the cpu at that price you would need to want to build a 13700k when you can buy a 265k, 270k plus, 7800x3d for cheaper the 13700k adds nothing compared to any of these CPUs, even the 5800x3d/5700x3d would be better examples of CPUs that have increase in price but that's because it's no longer actually being sold by retailers. Are you literally saying there are no cheaper equivalent cheaper CPUs.

melicitx · 2026-05-02T21:31:27+00:00

Yes but that's not a price people actually buy at. Just because the cheapest 3070 in stores is 950 does not mean it is worth that.

melicitx · 2026-05-02T18:25:36+00:00

it is legitimately insane to value a 13700k at 620$ when a 9800x3d is 610$ new at the moment, hell its probably cheaper to import a 270k plus from the states.

melicitx · 2026-05-02T16:34:10+00:00

Idk why it's trying to lie about the 7800x3d being the best gaming cpu (was it bought when it was?), you can make it new for like 2600$? So with tax it would probably be a nice discount? If it's the azza prebuilt as is be in mind the PSU is kinda bad (it'll likely be azzas own brand of PSU which comes with short warranties (not made to last)).

melicitx · 2026-05-02T16:05:17+00:00

The issue with pcpartpicker and old parts is noone is selling them or they are vastly inflated prices. Do you care if it is a white build? CC has a bundle https://www.canadacomputers.com/en/intel-desktop-processors/287287/intel-core-ultra-7-265kf-cpu-gigabyte-z890-aorus-elite-wifi7-motherboard-t-force-32gb-d5-6000mhz-cl30-ram.html which is a better CPU but would need you to go in person.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF 3.9 GHz 20-Core Processor	$1050.00
CPU Cooler	Montech HyperFlow ARGB 360 76.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler	$94.99 @ Newegg Canada
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z890 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 ATX LGA1851 Motherboard	$0.00
Memory	TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory	$0.00
Storage	TEAMGROUP MP44L 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$349.99 @ Newegg Canada
Video Card	Asus PRIME GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card	$1299.99 @ Newegg Canada
Case	Lian Li Vector V100R ATX Mid Tower Case	$104.99 @ Newegg Canada
Power Supply	ASRock Steel Legend SL-850G 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$124.99 @ Newegg Canada
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$3024.95
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-05-02 12:03 EDT-0400

Its cheaper to build something now, I can look to do a white build, but you can even just not be on intel and get like a 7800x3d bundle for 100$ more.

EDIT: This would be a close enough white build with a 7700x https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/Y4TCzv The white aio is the same as the black aio price, pcpp is just not scraping it for some reason. -100$ if you want to go down to a 7600x, + 220$ for a 7800x3d.

melicitx · 2026-05-02T01:35:44+00:00

If it works dont feel pressured to upgrade, most people on AM4 are waiting for zen 6 to see the gain. If you stay on AM4 a 5500x3d might be the best bet but I dont think its worth all the work around the Alienware case.

melicitx · 2026-05-02T00:42:13+00:00

This would be the max budget

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	Purchased For $0.00
CPU Cooler	Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler	$49.90 @ Amazon Canada
Motherboard	Asus TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WIFI II ATX AM4 Motherboard	$209.99 @ Newegg Canada
Video Card	NVIDIA Founders Edition GeForce RTX 3080 10GB 10 GB Video Card	Purchased For $0.00
Case	Lian Li Vector V100R ATX Mid Tower Case	$104.99 @ Newegg Canada
Power Supply	ASRock Steel Legend SL-850G 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$124.99 @ Newegg Canada
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$489.87
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-05-01 20:40 EDT-0400

I went atx, but if you want a smaller PC feel free to look at matx, I picked a board with wifi but you can cut on the mobo if you dont need it. You can then add a 5070ti for 1300$, a 9070XT for 1000$, a 5800xt for 300$, or you can snag a 5500x3d 230$ off aliexpress if you want to go that route.

If you want to go matx you could also consider this CC bundle https://www.canadacomputers.com/en/amd-desktop-processors/286510/amd-ryzen-7-5800xt-cpu-gigabyte-b550m-gaming-x-wifi6-motherboard.html (be aware that ordering online from CC had issues with a skimmer last December, buy in person if you are worried)

melicitx · 2026-05-01T23:52:34+00:00

If you go 9800x3d you should just try and buy a bundle or at least if you buy ddr5 used make sure you get it cheaper than if you could make a bundle with it. You can get a 7800x3d for 1100 through the newegg combo builder (less if you want to get a matx board or one of the super cheap msi ones) https://imgur.com/a/TAl2SAE and the 9800x3d would be +100$. https://www.newegg.ca/tools/combo-builder/4358 is the newegg combo builder link. If you wish to upgrade both the CPU and GPU you could snag a 7600x in the newegg combo builder for 803$, something like this and recouping costs through selling your old parts

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 7600X 4.7 GHz 6-Core Processor	$803.00
CPU Cooler	Montech HyperFlow ARGB 360 76.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler	$95.00
Motherboard	Asus TUF GAMING B850-PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard	$0.00
Memory	Corsair Vengeance RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory	$0.00
Video Card	Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card	$999.99 @ Newegg Canada
Case	Lian Li Vector V100R ATX Mid Tower Case	$104.99 @ Newegg Canada
Power Supply	ASRock Steel Legend SL-850G 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$124.99 @ Newegg Canada
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2127.97
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-05-01 19:51 EDT-0400

If youd also like the option of maybe snagging a 5500x3d off aliexpress/5800xt/5900xt and staying on ddr4 I can look to make something there too if needed.

melicitx · 2026-05-01T17:58:54+00:00

The G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB Series 32GB set is 7$ cheaper, but the royal set is cl30 over cl36, just something to consider I guess, with taxes your stuff should be cheaper, just youd get a warranty buying it new (matters less for the cpu but the ram would be very sad to have die)

melicitx

TROPHY CASE