Build a PC / light gaming

$2,500 budget gaming PC, part by part

An AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D with the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB, and the 6 parts around them that fit it: $2,686 all in.

Esports and indie titles at 1080p, high settings, well past 60 FPS. Every part here was checked against every other for fit, and picked for 1080p frame rates per dollar. 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 Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB are well matched at 1080p.

Change the budget or the job

Fit for the job

Enthusiast

$2,686 of $2,500

The ASUS ROG Strix B850-A Gaming WiFi goes onto the Lian Li Lancool 216's tray: ATX, B850, nine standoffs.

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D drops into the AM5 socket, lever down: 8 cores, up to 5.6 GHz.

The Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360's block sits on the chip and its 360 mm radiator bolts to the roof; rated 330 W against 162 W.

Two sticks of TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 click into the second and fourth slots: 32 GB at 6000 MT/s.

The Crucial T705 1TB screws into the first M.2 slot under the card.

The Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB slides into the x16 slot and latches: 320 mm in a case that takes 392 mm, 16 GB of memory.

The Super Flower Leadex VII XG 1000W goes into the basement, 1000 W for a build that draws about 650 W flat out.

Side panel on, three case fans spinning. Fit for the job: 85 of 100.

Build order

Eight steps, the way a builder works through the case. $2,497 all in.

ASUS ROG Strix B850-A Gaming WiFi on the tray
Ryzen 7 9850X3D in the socket
Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 on top
2 sticks of memory
Crucial T705 1TB on the board
Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB in the x16 slot
1000 W supply in the basement
Panel on, power on

Illustration built from this build's parts: the case's card and cooler clearances, the board's size, the card's length, the cooler, the memory sticks, the supply. Shapes are generic, not the products' own.

PartScore for the jobPrice

ProcessorAMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D

Highest light gaming score the budget allows next to this card: 8 cores, boosts to 5.6 GHz.

2 swaps that still fit