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Build a PC / gaming

$9,500 gaming PC, part by part

An AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D with the GeForce RTX 5090, and the 6 parts around them that fit it: $7,779 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.

Everything past this costs far more than the speed it adds, so the build stops at $7,779 rather than spend the rest of the budget on a bigger number. $1,721 is left for a screen, a keyboard and a mouse.

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and the GeForce RTX 5090 are well matched at 1440p.

97Fit for the job

Flagship

$7,779 of $9,500

Lian Li O11 Dynamic Evo RGBRTX 50901500 W

Build order

Eight steps, the way a builder works through the case. $7,779 all in.

  1. ASUS ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming WiFi on the tray
  2. Ryzen 9 9950X3D in the socket
  3. Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 on top
  4. 2 sticks of memory
  5. Two drives on the board
  6. RTX 5090 in the x16 slot
  7. 1500 W supply in the basement
  8. Panel on, power on
PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorAMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D

Highest gaming score the budget allows next to this card: 16 cores, boosts to 5.7 GHz.

3 swaps that still fit
96
$669
MotherboardASUS ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming WiFi

X870E board for the AM5 socket, DDR5, 5 M.2 slots, Wi-Fi.

4 swaps that still fit
96
$391
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.

2 swaps that still fit
84
$139
Graphics cardGeForce RTX 5090

32 GB of video memory, index 100 at 1440p; tuned for 1440p frame rates, with a CPU that will not hold the card back.

2 swaps that still fit
100
$4,830
Power supplyCorsair HX1500i (2023)

1500 W, 80 Plus platinum; this build draws about 1050 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.

2 swaps that still fit
98
$350
CaseLian Li O11 Dynamic Evo RGB

7 fans in the box, 7 of them lit, 5 is the least 805 W of parts needs behind a closed front. Takes EATX/ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 422 mm.

4 swaps that still fit
93
$270
StorageSamsung 9100 Pro 2TB

2 TB PCIe 5.0 NVMe, 14,700 MB/s reads, with cache.

4 swaps that still fit
97
$400
Second driveWD Black SN8100 4TB

4 TB for games, footage or models; the budget had room once every other slot was at its best.

99
$660
Total, typical prices9 parts$7,779

The same list, more or less money

$9,500 spent on a different job

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