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: $6,500 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. A price marked Amazon US is ScoutPrices' reading of the listing its button opens, dated; the rest are typical prices. Not a 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
$6,500 of $6,500
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-$147, -18 ptsBuy on Amazon
- AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D-$31, -4 ptsBuy on Amazon
32 GB DDR5 at 6000 MT/s CL30; 32 GB or more is the floor for heavy gaming.
1 swap that still fit
32 GB of video memory, index 100 at 4K; tuned for the strongest graphics card the budget allows.
Buying it opens Gigabyte AORUS GeForce RTX 5090 Xtreme WATERFORCE 32G, one of the boards built on this chip.
2 swaps that still fit
- MSI GeForce RTX 5080 16G Gaming Trio OC-$2,344, -30 ptsBuy on Amazon
- ASUS ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080 16GB White OC-$2,680, -30 ptsBuy on Amazon
Rated 260 W for a chip that turbos to 162 W.
3 swaps that still fit
1000 W, 80 Plus gold; this build draws about 1000 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.
4 swaps that still fit
- Corsair RM1000e White-$5, -6 ptsBuy on Amazon
- Corsair RM1000e-$35, -6 ptsBuy on Amazon
- Lian Li Edge 1000W+$15, -2 ptsBuy on Amazon
- Lian Li Edge 1000W White+$16, -2 ptsBuy on Amazon
4 fans in the box, 3 of them lit, 4 is the least 737 W of parts needs behind a mesh front. Takes EATX/ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 400 mm.
1 swap that still fit
- Phanteks XT Pro Ultra+$6, -4 ptsBuy on Amazon
2 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe, 7,400 MB/s reads.
1 swap that still fit
- Kingston NV3 2TB-$52, -16 ptsBuy 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.