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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: $2,293 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. 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 Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB are well matched at 1080p.

Change the budget or the job
86Fit for the job

Enthusiast

$2,293 of $2,500

Lian Li Lancool 216Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB1000 W

Build order

Eight steps, the way a builder works through the case. $2,293 all in.

  1. ASUS ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming WiFi on the tray
  2. Ryzen 7 9850X3D in the socket
  3. Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 on top
  4. 2 sticks of memory
  5. Crucial T705 1TB on the board
  6. Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB in the x16 slot
  7. 1000 W supply in the basement
  8. Panel on, power on
PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorAMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D

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

4 swaps that still fit
94
$484
Buy on Amazon
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
Buy on Amazon
MemoryCorsair Vengeance 48GB (2x24GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 White

48 GB DDR5 at 6000 MT/s CL30; 16 GB or more is the floor for light gaming.

2 swaps that still fit
81
$139
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardSapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB

16 GB of video memory, index 77 at 1080p; tuned for 1080p frame rates per dollar.

4 swaps that still fit
77
$720
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerArctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360

Rated 330 W for a chip that turbos to 162 W.

4 swaps that still fit
96
$70
Buy on Amazon
Power supplySuper Flower Leadex VII XG 1000W

1000 W, 80 Plus gold; this build draws about 650 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.

4 swaps that still fit
92
$140
Buy on Amazon
CaseLian Li Lancool 216

3 fans in the box, 3 is the least 466 W of parts needs behind a mesh front. Takes EATX/ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 392 mm.

4 swaps that still fit
90
$99
Buy on Amazon
StorageCrucial T705 1TB

1 TB PCIe 5.0 NVMe, 13,600 MB/s reads, with cache.

4 swaps that still fit
92
$250
Buy on Amazon
Total, typical prices8 parts$2,293

The same list, more or less money

$2,000 budget gaming PCWhat $500 less buys, and which parts change.$3,000 budget gaming PCWhat $500 more buys, and where it goes.

$2,500 spent on a different job

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