Building My Own Gaming PC - Newbie

LHoges64 on 16/06/2025 - 15:41
Last edited 17/06/2025 - 08:56

Hi all, Long time listener, first time caller….

Just wanted some advice as I'm very green to this area, I'm looking at building a mid-high level gaming PC for best bang-for-buck for a golfing simulator, as well as "future-proof" gaming. I've selected some parts, was looking for any conflict issues etc with the following;

CPU - AMD Ryzen 9800x3D - $817.28
Motherboard - MSI PRO X870-P WIFI AM5 - $398.77
GPU - ASUS GeForce RTX 5070 Ti TUF Gaming OC GDDR7 16GB - $1,795.00
Storage - Western Digital Black 2TB SN8100 NVMe SSD - $429.00
RAM - Corsair Dominator Platinum 64GB (2x32GB) 6600MHz CL32 DDR5 - $489.00
Power Supply - Be Quiet! Straight Power 12 Platinum Modular 1200W - $399.00
Cooling - Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360mm AIO Liquid CPU Cooler - $219
Case - ???? Not sure on the case, would be open to any suggestions, doesn't need fancy RGB or anything stupid like that, it'll be in a cupboard and not seen.

Without a case I'm looking at a hair under $4,550.

Decent value?
Anything a little overkill?
Any conflicts / incompatibilities?

Thanks in advance for any help….
Hoges

Computing Computer Desktop Computer

Comments

  • skid on 16/06/2025 - 15:52
    +1

    That's a very nice machine. I went with something similar but a 850W Corsair PSU $168. My RAM is the standard 6000mhz, but 6600Mhz is not overkill. Make sure the RAM is compatible with the motherboard. The first time you boot up, wait 20mins for the memory training to complete. It'll be stuck on a black screen with an orange light on the mobo for those 20mins. Don't panic. For the case, I went with a Lian Li O11 Dynamic Evo which makes installation of the components (especially the radiator) a cinch. See if you can get the GPU for a cheaper price than that.

    • Hoges64 on 16/06/2025 - 16:27

      Thank you for that, I'm damn sure I would've freaked out had that happened!!! :-D

      I've searched high and low and that one seems to be the best "bang for buck" of the Ti's, unless I'm missing something?

      • Dr Phil on 17/06/2025 - 08:01
        -2

        Have fun!

  • Hybroid on 16/06/2025 - 15:53
    +1

    What are the recommended specs of the golfing simulator software? Can’t really comment whether overkill or not without knowing that.

    • Hoges64 on 16/06/2025 - 16:32
      +1

      There's a couple of different software's I'll be running, but for 4K the minimum for the majority seems to RTX 3080, 32GB RAM, i7 / Ryzen 7 as the main points…

      Which means I could probably get away with minimum spec for mid $2K's, but I'd very much rather future-proof it better than that.

  • JownehFixIT on 16/06/2025 - 16:01
    +3

    I may be biased, as I've ordered a few Nebula PCs over the last year and a bit, but I would probably lean towards this with some customisations to add anything from your requirements that is missing from the build: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/910573

    Main benefits would be return to base warranty of 3 years standard, very good customer support (I have utilised this a few times even with queries after I added my own WiFi card that it turned out was causing an issue they helped me resolve), and best bang for buck. These builds are often cheaper than us normies can buy the individual components for, and they build it for you. Bonus.

    They're also often happy to do custom configurations, but you can check out their configurator and customise components yourself also.

    • Hoges64 on 16/06/2025 - 16:19
      +1

      Thank you, I've been trying to keep an eye on their sales too… Closest I can get to my build of their current stock is this;

      Case: MSI MAG FORGE AIRFLOW 321R ATX - Black [MSI-321R-ATX-BLK]
      CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D | 8 Cores | 4.7 GHz (Max 5.2 GHz) [AMD-R7-9800X3D-T]
      MOTHERBOARD: MSI PRO X870-P WIFI7 ATX - DDR5 [MSI-PRO-X870-P-WIFI]
      RAM: Predator Vesta II RGB 64GB (2x32GB) 6000MHz CL30 DDR5 - Black [PREDATOR-VESTA-II-RGB-2X32GB-CL30-DDR5]
      PRIMARY SSD: 2TB Samsung 990 PRO Gen4 M.2 (R: 7450MB/s | W: 6900MB/s) [SAM-990-2TB-M2]
      GPU: MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VENTUS 3X OC - 16GB [MSI-5070-TI-VENTUS-3X-OC-16GB]
      POWER SUPPLY: Inwin P105II 1050W 80+ Platinum - Modular [INW-P105II-PLT]
      CPU COOLING SYSTEM: MSI MAG M360 360mm Liquid Cooler ARGB [MSI-MAG-M360-ARGB-BLK]
      THERMAL COMPOUND: Thermal Grizzly - Kryonaut [TGRIZZLY-KRYONAUT]
      Case Fans: 3x Corsair Light Loop ARGB 120mm Fans [3X-CORSAIR-LL120]

      With their current Discount code OZB_EOFY_$500OFF (-$500.00) gets me to $4,418 shipped. Not sure how things line up quality wise but I believe the SSD, RAM, Power Supply and GPU are inferior to the ones in my build?

      The "convenience" of having it built for you though, I suppose….

      • JownehFixIT on 16/06/2025 - 23:06
        +1

        Yeah depends on what you prioritise more. I definitely appreciated the build and warranty which are services you don't get when building yourself. And the standard parts they select will never be the premium options, so they can offer maximum savings I guess.

  • scrimshaw on 16/06/2025 - 16:02
    +1

    Lancool 207 is a top performer on Gamers Nexus charts

    It's also quite affordable at just $129 and will accommodate 360mm radiator on top

    The 1200w power supply looks overkill, and I think unless you were to stick in 2 graphics cards (and multi-GPU setups are a thing of a past, SLi support is no more) and run a 16-core processor, you're not going to use anywhere near 1200 watts.

    I'd drop that down to a Platinum or Gold Rated 800w PSU to save a bit, and 800w is already plenty of headroom (like 25% more than what is really needed) to power a RTX 5070 and a 8-core CPU.

    • Hoges64 on 16/06/2025 - 16:22

      Thanks for the case recommendation, much appreciated.

      I did think the PSU was a bit of a candidate for overkill, I could drop that down to a "Be Quiet! Power Zone 2 Platinum Modular 850W Power Supply" for $259 and save some dollars there, cheers.

    • Hoges64 on 16/06/2025 - 16:33

      Is AMD not the better CPU for gaming?

      • Tech5 on 16/06/2025 - 16:40
        +1

        Disregard the poster. They seem to be a 18yr old die hard fan boy. Prob spending his time arguing about Xbox vs PS5 lol

        Personally I reckon AMD CPU (particularly the X3D versions) and Nvidia/AMD GPU is fine.

        Your PC will run hot through, particularly in a cupboard. If it wasn't for the AIO, I would have suggested something like a fractal torrent for airflow, if your cupboard has gaps. Any particular reason for the AIO? Main benefit is that it looks cleaner, but that doesn't matter for your case. Just don't like the idea of liquid in my PC, even if they are much more reliable these days

        • Hoges64 on 16/06/2025 - 17:06

          Thank you.

          If there's a different / better way to cool it I'm all ears, bud….

          • Tech5 on 16/06/2025 - 18:15

            @Hoges64: I prefer just an air cooler. Noctua NH-D15 is highly rated and on par if not better than some AIO. Just ugly AF. Pair that with a fractal torrent case and you will never have airflow/cooling issues

          • Tech5 on 16/06/2025 - 18:23
            +4

            @Nitrollparty: You have not given any reasoning as to why Intel is better than AMD in this use case. That is why your opinion is worthless. Head to head, 9800x3D is miles ahead in gaming but slower in productivity. OP wants a gaming computer.

            For e.g. 9800x3D vs 14900k
            - 14900k is cheaper (which kind of negates your only point of being poor, no?)
            - Gamersnetwork benchmarks- 9800 trashes 14900 in stellaris simulation time by over 30%, FPS by over 19% in some games and over 30% in others
            - 9800x3D doubles 14900k in efficiency measured as MIPS per watt
            - 9800x3D is roughly 10-20% slower in productivity as compared to 14900k. Very important if you are trying to focused on productivity workloads, which OP is not.

            You were saying?

          • ssfps on 16/06/2025 - 21:13
            +3

            @Nitrollparty: started at 16 and you're only 35? no wonder you're inexperienced, you're still relatively young and you were 4 years late to the pc building party when most non-poor gamers were building PCs at 12.

            makes sense you "always went intel", you happened to do your first build just as intel made a comeback with conroe, after AMD had eaten their lunch for a few years, so that was your formative PC build which you haven't grown out of.

          • Bruceflix on 17/06/2025 - 03:00
            +2

            @Nitrollparty: Old man yells at cloud

  • JustinFR on 16/06/2025 - 17:08

    Good overall balance with the performance specs, but I think the models themselves are likely not the best value, a few thoughts:

    • Save $290 on GPU, maybe the Gigabyte variant instead of the ASUS Tuf

    • How are you sourcing a 2TB SN8100 for $279? Seems far too cheap.

    • Save $200 on RAM, drop to a 64GB 6000Mhz Kit

    • Agree with previous comments regarding overkill for a 1200W PSU, but given you'd only be saving yourself $140 and potentially needing to upgrade it next time you change your GPU, not a bad idea to just go with the 1200W now for your "future proofing".

    • Case: We recently built a customer into an Antec Performance 1 FT case and thought it was a great option.

    • Hoges64 on 17/06/2025 - 08:48

      • Is the difference between the Gigabyte and the ASUS TUF so minimal I'd barely notice it? I'm that deep down the rabbit hole now I can't remember, but I thought I'd read the ASUS TUF was pretty good with thermal?

      • Apologies for the 2TB SN8100, friggin' Amazon had somehow gone to USD for the one page I was viewing. >:-\ It would be $429.

      • I'm not going to notice the difference between 6000MHz and 6600MHz?

      • That case looks nice, I'd be happy with that. I'm seeing a lot of cases saying "compatible with 40 series gaming cards", would it always be safe to assume if that's the case it holds true for 50 series cards, and they just haven't updated their descriptions?

      • JustinFR on 17/06/2025 - 09:39
        +2

        All of my thoughts/recommendations come from a high level practicality/value point of view. Other people will deep dive, and get very bogged down in details of parts and builds and then place it on carpet in their humid/dust filled rooms.

        • Performance wise they are practically the same. The TUF are better with thermals and are usually slightly quieter, but when people say "better" we are talking less than a few % respectively. The premium they charge is almost never worth it.

        • Sounds more reasonable, thought you were about to get scammed.

        • Nope, you also open yourself up to RAM instability issues going over about 6400MHz, just be safe and go 6000MHz and save yourself some money and headache. Also, if you were prepared to pay $1,795 for a 5070ti, save yourself on RAM and allocate it back into the GPU to go to a 5080 for an extra $200. The performance difference between 6000Mhz or 6600Mhz compared to a 5070ti or a 5080.

        • The case is fantastic, plenty of space for 50 series cards, we just built that one with a 5090.

  • ssfps on 16/06/2025 - 21:08

    This doesn't seem like a great build if you're looking for "bang for buck" and "future proof" gaming, graphics card is on the lower end, CPU and RAM seem on the high end. Unless your gaming will mostly be CPU-intense simulators - dwarf fortress, factorio, etc.

    • Hoges64 on 17/06/2025 - 09:04

      I'm using "future-proofing" in the most basic of terms, I guess, i.e I just don't want the damn thing completely redundant in 2-3 years time.

      Are you saying I should be looking at a 5080 at a minimum?

      • Mechanist on 17/06/2025 - 10:01
        +2

        What games are you playing. Build a machine for you, not for others. Its great having a 5070ti or 9070xt but recommend you review the games you play and want to play. Also the monitor you are going to have?

      • ssfps on 19/06/2025 - 00:51
        +2

        I'm not saying you need a 5080, but I am saying that compared to most "gamer builds" I see, yours is more CPU and memory heavy and GPU light than the general balance.

        If you're playing at 720p and want 1000fps that makes sense, or if you're playing CPU heavy games, but most people playing most modern games at 1440p or 4K are going to be GPU bound.

  • Aleigh123 on 17/06/2025 - 08:16
    +1

    What do you need 64GB of RAM for? This seems overkill for a gaming machine.
    PSU also seems like overkill.

    I would recommend not putting your PC in a cupboard. Your thermal mass of the water in your 360mm AIO will only delay the inevitable recirculation of hot air within the cupboard. What kinds of games are you looking to play? And what monitor do you use? Depending on your current use-cases, it may be better value to buy a second-hand GPU from the previous generation. If your games are all CPU-bound, there's not much point in getting a 5070 Ti.

    • Hoges64 on 17/06/2025 - 09:22

      Because bigger is better? ;-D

      There's the Corsair DOMINATOR TITANIUM RGB Black 32GB (2x16GB) 7000MHz DDR5 for $277, I guess if you think 64GB is massive overkill for a gaming rig I can drop back to that and save some $$$…

      I don't game as yet, but let say when I start I'll be on the lines of your Red Dead Redemption II's, your GTA 6, that sort of thing. It'll be hooked up to a BenQ Projector predominantly, then switched over to a TV of some description once I figure that part out….

      • CrispyChrispy on 17/06/2025 - 12:59

        I'm not exaggerating, literally 99% of gamers will not need 64GB of RAM. 32GB is definitely the sweet spot. Nothing more, nothing less.

        Even when playing AAA titles, RAM should be the least of your concerns.

        And whilst you're at it, save the cash and drop down to a 1000W PSU… you're only going to need the 1200W if you're gonna drop $6,000+ on the RTX 6090 when it comes out. Given you're going for a 5070 Ti, I doubt that's the case…

        And your CPU is largely overkill too, unless you know for a fact you are playing CPU-intensive titles.

  • ForkSnorter on 17/06/2025 - 09:39

    Do you actually like games that much? I think that's the question you need to be asking. I spent around $2k on my gaming PC, and I now think it was overkill because 95% of the games I've played so far seem like they're designed for mentally challenged 12-year-olds, and I only actually enjoy a handful of them (for about 30 minutes max), and they run extremely smoothly at ridiculously high fps on my 1080p monitor.

  • Mechanist on 17/06/2025 - 09:55
    +3

    I recommend not getting the 9800x3d. It is overkill imo for the machine. You will get like 99% of the performance in games with a 9600x or even a 7700($600 cheaper). Do a bit of research into the games you like playing and seeing if the CPU makes sense or will the GPU be the bottleneck. I regretted getting a 5800x3d myself. You could easily pare back the motherboard too. x870 is basically just an x670. Same for the cooler, replace with an air cooler and you dont really need the thermal paste. You will not notice those 4 degrees cooler it runs. Just my thoughts on having built many a pc and realised I didnt need half of the features. Obviously its your choice and hope you enjoy whatever you end up building.
    Part of future proofing is upgrading down the line and not just spending thousands up front. You can stick a new CPU in it at any point in the future if needed and for cheaper.

  • jk82 on 17/06/2025 - 11:02
    +1

    That's a very expensive build.

    Here's one I've put together for you which will give you pretty much the same performance - it comes to $3,200 which includes a case.

    https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/7CNnh7

  • Hoges64 on 17/06/2025 - 15:57

    Sounds like I'm a little overkill here from all reports, so I've attempted to scale back;
    CPU - AMD Ryzen 7 7800x3D - $467 - AliExpress
    Motherboard - Gigabyte B650 Eagle AX AM5 ATX - $259 - CentreCom
    GPU - Asus nVidia GeForce PRIME-RTX5070TI-O16G RTX 5070TI 16GB GDDR7 - $1669 - MegaBuy
    Storage - SAMSUNG 990 PRO w/ Heatsink SSD 2TB, PCIe Gen4 M.2 2280 - $276 - Amazon
    RAM - Corsair Dominator Titanium RGB 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5 7000MT/s CL34 - $279 - CentreCom
    Power Supply - Be Quiet! Power Zone 2 Platinum Modular 850W - $249 - Scorptec
    Cooling - Noctua NH-D15 G2 CPU Cooler - $269 - Scorptec
    Case - Still undecided, looking at mesh-sided for better ventilation, and buttons on top or RHS as facing Case (seems hard to find).

    Without case I'm at $3675….

    • jk82 on 17/06/2025 - 16:39
      +1

      Yep that's a much better build. Air cooling is more than enough for the 7800x3d/9800x3d though. A peerless assassin for $65 will suffice and save a couple hundred.

      also for RAM - 6000mhz/CL30 is the sweet spot for zen5 so no need to overspend there. Latency is just as important as speed, so although you're going 7000mhz for more $$$, it's higher latency which has a negative performance on gaming (though you're talking a few frames… but yeah).

      If you're new to building be aware that most "normal" cases are fkn huge. Like monstrous. I got back in the game a few years ago and was surprise how damn big the things are. I've since switched to a matx board and a lian-li Dan A3 case (as it's half way between a fullsize desk and one of those small ITX builds), so measure up the size and if you don't like how big it is, consider an mATX mobo, and a SFX power supply and you should be good to go something like the A3 should that be your preference.

      Edit: oh shit that is an aircooler. fk me that's overpriced haha. you're defo paying for the noctua brand there more than anything else lol

      • Hoges64 on 17/06/2025 - 16:53

        Thanks mate.

        Not sure if you've seen my earlier post where it's going into a cupboard, so I need cooling / ventilation / airflow to be as good as possible. Is the Peerless Assassin still good enough for that?

        OK, I can get the G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5 6000MHz CL36 AMD EXPO for $169 from CentreCom, so there's another $110 off.

        I wasn't aware, thank you. Would a bigger case still be better for ventilation purposes? Happy to look at mATX cases though. That A3 looks nice, but do I need one with inbuilt fans? If you haven't gathered so far, cooling seems to be a concern…!!! :-D

        • jk82 on 17/06/2025 - 17:01
          +1

          that peerless assassin is about the same as that noctua you have there, and if you undervolt your CPU and GPU it'll massively help with cooling. but yes I think a tower air cooler would be better than an AIO as hopefully you can just direct all the air in one direction - fresh air in from the front, hot air pushing out the back.

          that ram is still CL36. this one is the go to and is CL30 for about the same price

          https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/JkfxFT/corsair-vengeance…
          https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0C3RYHZJQ

          yes the cupboard is problematic, you'll definitely need to carefully consider thermals and airflow and plan accordingly. the Dan A3 is great but has a solid front so I'm not sure what your cupboard looks like - measure that up, plan the airflow and then see what cases fit I guess.

  • Elquines on 17/06/2025 - 16:22

    What's the spec of the monitor you have or plan to buy?

    • Hoges64 on 17/06/2025 - 16:39
      +1

      For the Golf Sim it'll run a BenQ AK400ST, for the monitor it'll be a TV of some description, likely a 75" Mini-LED of some type.

  • Squeaker on 18/06/2025 - 19:08
    +1

    Can highly recommend the Thermalright Aircoolers, I'm running the Phantom Spirit with a 7800X3D. They have a new 130mm fan Thermalright Royal Pretor 130.
    The Peerless Assarian, Phantom Spirt, Phantom Spirit Evo, and new Royal Pretor all review very well. Suggest going through Sumole on Amazon AU https://www.amazon.com.au/s?i=merchant-items&me=AXD9OVEUG5NG… on Amazon for best pricing $55-$85 and can beat out Noctua's.

    For cases I always start with checking Gamers Nexus for the best thermal cases, then check the individual reviews and go from there. They recently released reviews on the new Lian Li Lancool 217, and Fractal Design Meshify 3. The Antec Flux Pro rates well. But as mentioned already, cases can be BIG.

    Might not suit what you are wanting, but I always go with Thermals beat aesthetics.

    Last thing, if going the double tower aircooler, check the cooler height and case for compatibility.

  • Hoges64 on 19/06/2025 - 12:58
    +2

    Hi all,

    I want to thank you all for helping out this newbie with a PC build, I want to say that I appreciate everyone's input and thoughts, and my knowledge on this has certainly been enhanced by doing this exercise.

    Ironically after it all, @JownehFixIT has probably hit the nail on the head. While they're not the EXACT components I'd been looking at, MY 9800x3d / 5800 build was going to cost roughly $4800, and MY 7800x3D / 5070TI build roughly $3600, I can get the following builds with warranty from @Nebula PC for cheaper (after their $500 off code) than I can source the parts.

    NebulaPC 9800x3D / 5800 Build - $4,360

    Case: NZXT H5 Flow (2024) ATX Case - White
    CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D | 8 Cores | 4.7 GHz (Max 5.2 GHz)
    MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte B650 AORUS ELITE AX ICE - DDR5
    RAM: G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 32GB (2x16 GB) 6000MHz CL30 DDR5 - Black
    PRIMARY SSD: 2TB Samsung 990 PRO Gen4 M.2 (R: 7450MB/s | W: 6900MB/s)
    GPU: MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 SHADOW OC - 16GB
    POWER SUPPLY: Inwin P85FII 850W 80+ Gold
    WARRANTY: 3 Years Standard Warranty - Pick Up and Return
    CPU COOLING SYSTEM: DeepCool AG400 Air Cooler Black ARGB
    THERMAL COMPOUND: Thermal Grizzly - Kryonaut

    NebulaPC 7800x3D / 5070TI build - $3,690

    Case: NZXT H5 Flow (2024) ATX Case - White
    CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D | 8 Cores | 4.2 GHz (Max 5.0 GHz)
    MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte B650 AORUS ELITE AX ICE - DDR5
    RAM: G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 32GB (2x16 GB) 6000MHz CL30 DDR5 - Black
    PRIMARY SSD: 2TB Samsung 990 PRO Gen4 M.2 (R: 7450MB/s | W: 6900MB/s)
    GPU: MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VENTUS 3X OC - 16GB
    POWER SUPPLY: Gigabyte UD850GM PG5 850W 80+ Gold - Modular
    WARRANTY: 3 Years Standard Warranty - Pick Up and Return
    CPU COOLING SYSTEM: DeepCool AG400 Air Cooler Black ARGB
    THERMAL COMPOUND: Thermal Grizzly - Kryonaut

    While I'm not mad on that case, why on earth would I give up a 3yr warranty and a professional building a PC vs me with no warranty, probably not enough of an idea, and 4-8 hours of frustration when the "better" build is cheaper and the lesser build barely saving anything (and that was with a slightly scary prospect of buying the CPU from AliExpress! :-D )….

    • jk82 on 19/06/2025 - 13:53
      +2

      Yeah good on you mate. Nebula have a great reputation here and do great deals. Defo a good option!

  • 351pwr on 19/06/2025 - 17:38

    Looks like a good build, sorry to hijack the thread. Looking for a new desktop PC to play AAA games, 3D CAD and bulk HDD storage. Haven't built a PC in ~ 15 years. Can you add 3.5" HDD sata drives to these PC's for bulk storage as well?

  • RichardF89 on 10/07/2025 - 11:14

    Hi OP thanks for your information. Nebula PC is in Sydney, do you live in Sydney? if not how can you claim your warranty?

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