Build a PC / heavy gaming
$6,500 4K gaming PC, part by part
An AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D with the GeForce RTX 5090, and the 6 parts around them that fit it: $6,498 all in.
One of the three heavy targets at a time, and the result says which: 4K high settings by default, with ray tracing or 240 Hz at 1440p as the alternatives the same class of card serves. Every part here was checked against every other for fit, and picked for the strongest graphics card the budget allows. 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 7 9850X3D and the GeForce RTX 5090 are well matched at 4K.
Flagship
$6,498 of $6,500
Build order
Eight steps, the way a builder works through the case. $6,498 all in.
- Gigabyte X870 Aorus Elite WiFi7 on the tray
- Ryzen 7 9850X3D in the socket
- Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 on top
- 2 sticks of memory
- Samsung 9100 Pro 2TB on the board
- RTX 5090 in the x16 slot
- 1000 W supply in the basement
- Panel on, power on
Highest heavy gaming score the budget allows next to this card: 8 cores, boosts to 5.6 GHz.
2 swaps that still fit
- AMD Ryzen 9 9900X-$134, -18 ptsBuy on Amazon
- AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D-$35, -4 ptsBuy on Amazon
X870 board for the AM5 socket, DDR5, 3 M.2 slots, Wi-Fi.
2 swaps that still fit
- ASUS ROG Strix B850-F Gaming WiFi-$20, -2 ptsBuy on Amazon
- ASUS ROG Strix B850-A Gaming WiFisame price, -1 ptsBuy on Amazon
48 GB DDR5 at 6000 MT/s CL30; 32 GB or more is the floor for heavy gaming.
32 GB of video memory, index 100 at 4K; tuned for the strongest graphics card the budget allows.
2 swaps that still fit
- ASUS Prime GeForce RTX 5080 16GB White OC-$3,150, -30 ptsBuy on Amazon
- MSI GeForce RTX 5080 16G Gaming Trio OC White-$3,130, -30 ptsBuy on Amazon
Rated 330 W for a chip that turbos to 162 W.
2 swaps that still fit
1000 W, 80 Plus gold; this build draws about 1000 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.
2 swaps that still fit
- Corsair RM1000e Whitesame price, -6 ptsBuy on Amazon
- Corsair RM1000esame price, -6 ptsBuy on Amazon
5 fans in the box, 4 is the least 737 W of parts needs behind a mesh front. Takes EATX/ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 461 mm.
2 swaps that still fit
- Montech King 95 Pro-$56, -4 ptsBuy on Amazon
- Fractal Design Torrent Whitesame price, same scoreBuy on Amazon
2 TB PCIe 5.0 NVMe, 14,700 MB/s reads, with cache.
2 swaps that still fit
- Crucial T705 2TBsame price, -1 ptsBuy on Amazon
- WD Black SN8100 2TBsame price, same scoreBuy on Amazon
The same list, more or less money
$6,500 spent on a different job
The same money buys a different machine when the work changes.