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Build a PC / gaming

$1,500 gaming PC, part by part

An AMD Ryzen 5 9600X with the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB, and the 6 parts around them that fit it: $1,487 all in.

Big titles at 1440p, high settings. Every part here was checked against every other for fit, and picked for 1440p frame rates, with a CPU that will not hold the card back. Typical US prices read on 2026-09-09, not a live checkout total: no operating system, shipping, tax, screen, keyboard or mouse.

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB are well matched at 1440p.

Change the budget or the job
72Fit for the job

Sweet spot

$1,487 of $1,500

Montech XRSapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB750 W

Build order

Eight steps, the way a builder works through the case. $1,487 all in.

  1. ASRock B650M Pro RS WiFi on the tray
  2. Ryzen 5 9600X in the socket
  3. Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE on top
  4. 2 sticks of memory
  5. Kingston NV3 1TB on the board
  6. Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB in the x16 slot
  7. 750 W supply in the basement
  8. Panel on, power on
PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorAMD Ryzen 5 9600X

Highest gaming score the budget allows next to this card: 6 cores, boosts to 5.4 GHz.

4 swaps that still fit
73
$175
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardASRock B650M Pro RS WiFi

B650 board for the AM5 socket, DDR5, 3 M.2 slots, Wi-Fi.

60
$110
Buy on Amazon
MemoryCorsair Vengeance 48GB (2x24GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 White

48 GB DDR5 at 6000 MT/s CL30; 32 GB or more is the floor for gaming.

84
$139
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardSapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB

16 GB of video memory, index 70 at 1440p; tuned for 1440p frame rates, with a CPU that will not hold the card back.

2 swaps that still fit
70
$720
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerThermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE

Rated 260 W for a chip that turbos to 88 W.

2 swaps that still fit
88
$36
Buy on Amazon
Power supplybe quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W

750 W, 80 Plus gold; this build draws about 600 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.

4 swaps that still fit
82
$80
Buy on Amazon
CaseMontech XR

3 fans in the box, 3 is the least 392 W of parts needs behind a mesh front. Takes ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 400 mm.

1 swap that still fit
72
$70
Buy on Amazon
StorageKingston NV3 1TB

1 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe, 6,000 MB/s reads.

1 swap that still fit
58
$157
Buy on Amazon
Total, typical prices8 parts$1,487

The same list, more or less money

$2,000 gaming PCWhat $500 more buys, and where it goes.

$1,500 spent on a different job

The same money buys a different machine when the work changes.