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ScoutSpecs

Build a PC / light gaming

$3,500 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: $3,910 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
87Fit for the job

Enthusiast

$3,910 of $3,500

PartScore for the jobPriceBuy
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
$475Amazon US, Oct 25
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardASUS ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming WiFi

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

2 swaps that still fit
96
$400Amazon US, Oct 25
Buy on Amazon
MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6400 CL32

32 GB DDR5 at 6400 MT/s CL32; 16 GB or more is the floor for light gaming.

4 swaps that still fit
85
$590Amazon US, Oct 25
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
$900Amazon US, Oct 25
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
$70Amazon US, Oct 25
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
$140Amazon US, Oct 25
Buy on Amazon
CaseLian Li O11 Dynamic Evo RGB

7 fans in the box, 7 of them lit, 4 is the least 466 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
$295Amazon US, Oct 25
Buy on Amazon
StorageSamsung 9100 Pro 2TB

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

3 swaps that still fit
97
$406Amazon US, Oct 25
Buy on Amazon
Second driveCrucial T705 4TB

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

98
$634Amazon US, Oct 25
Buy on Amazon
Total9 parts, every price read on Amazon US$3,910

The same list, more or less money

$3,000 budget gaming PCWhat $500 less buys, and which parts change.$4,000 budget gaming PCWhat $500 more buys, and where it goes.

$3,500 spent on a different job

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