parts list review First desktop PC in 10+ years

[Eana Hufwe]

Budget (including currency): 3000–5000 USD

Country: US (West coast, no Micro Center near by)

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: LLM/AI, compiling mid-to-large software projects, running virtual machines in parallel, a lots of browser tabs (often in 2-3 browsers), gaming/streaming sometimes (4k desktop / VR)

Other details:

Existing parts lists: Dell S2722QC Monitor (27 inch 4K, 60Hz Refresh Rate), keyboard, mouse, Bluetooth headphone, and other peripherals

Whether any peripherals are needed: No

What you're upgrading from: N/A, new PC build from fresh

when you're going to buy: early November hopefully

What resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc: 4k 60Hz (may add another monitor in the future)

 

This is my first time in 10+ years building a PC, I assembled this parts list mostly by combining other parts lists I saw online, so any feedback is appreciated!

 

Here’s some reasons behind my part choices (pls correct me if I’m wrong):

 

• CPU Ryzen 9950X + GPU RTX 4090: Top tier parts, simply want to treat myself
  • 9950X over 9800X3D: I think my use cases are more inclined to productivity over gaming
  • 9950X over Core 9 285K: Reviews and benchmarks look like it’s not as competitive to 9950X
  • RTX 4090 over RTX 5090: 5090 will probably release in January and enter a 3-month long scalper war before I can get it at a sensible price, and I’m not gonna wait 4–6 months for it
• 96–128 GB RAM: My current work PC has a 64 GB RAM and it’s usually 80+% occupied, so I’m looking into getting a bit more

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 4.3 GHz 16-Core Processor	$584.00 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler	$119.95 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI MAG X670E TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard	$214.84 @ Amazon
Memory	Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith Gaming 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory	$159.99 @ Newegg Sellers
Memory	Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith Gaming 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 96 GB (2 x 48 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory	$159.99 @ Newegg Sellers $315.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital WD_Black SN850X 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$289.99 @ B&H
Video Card	Asus TUF GAMING OC GeForce RTX 4090 24 GB Video Card	$1959.99 @ Newegg
Case	Fractal Design Meshify 2 ATX Mid Tower Case	$149.99 @ B&H
Power Supply	be quiet! Dark Power 13 1000 W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$216.90 @ Amazon
Case Fan	Phanteks M25-120 PWM 84.26 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack	$19.98 @ Amazon
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total	$3875.62 $3871.63
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-11-03 18:33 EST-0500 2024-11-03 23:33 EST-0500

Edited November 4 by Eana Hufwe
Updated with suggestions from Tetras

[Tetras]

22 minutes ago, Eana Hufwe said:

• 96–128 GB RAM: My current work PC has a 64 GB RAM and it’s usually 80+% occupied, so I’m looking into getting a bit more

If you haven't already I'd have a real good read around on what people are getting with these CPUs. You might even be better off going with 192GB speed wise, since it is likely that you're going to suffer a very big drop when running 4x dual rank sticks either way.

 

24 minutes ago, Eana Hufwe said:

RTX 4090 over RTX 5090: 5090 will probably release in January and enter a 3-month long scalper war before I can get it at a sensible price, and I’m not gonna wait 4–6 months for it

I'd be surprised if availability was that bad, it isn't crypto boom days anymore, though..., if these are handy for AI then they're going to be sold out fast.

 

I assume you're not interested in USB4 (X670E as opposed to X870E) and don't need a fat LAN?

[Eana Hufwe]

4 hours ago, Tetras said:

If you haven't already I'd have a real good read around on what people are getting with these CPUs. You might even be better off going with 192GB speed wise, since it is likely that you're going to suffer a very big drop when running 4x dual rank sticks either way.

Thanks for the suggestions! I just went thorough the first page of 9950X builds on PCPartsPicker, and I updated my parts list to swap the 2×2×16 GB RAM with a TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 96 GB (2 x 48 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory. I’ll see if 96 GB is enough for me and maybe add another pair later if I have to.

 

4 hours ago, Tetras said:

I'd be surprised if availability was that bad, it isn't crypto boom days anymore, though..., if these are handy for AI then they're going to be sold out fast.

Hopefully it won’t be that bad, but you’re right, the 32GB VRAM’s gonna be popular for LLM usages if the leaks are to be trusted.

 

4 hours ago, Tetras said:

I assume you're not interested in USB4 (X670E as opposed to X870E) and don't need a fat LAN?

I don’t see myself having a need of heavy data transfer (like video editing) through USB or LAN in the near future. In fact the most demanding USB peripheral I have now is a USB 3.2 Gen 2 USB 20 Gbps portable SSD, so I’m pretty satisfied with what X670E has to offer.

[Tetras]

9 hours ago, Eana Hufwe said:

Thanks for the suggestions! I just went thorough the first page of 9950X builds on PCPartsPicker, and I updated my parts list to swap the 2×2×16 GB RAM with a TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 96 GB (2 x 48 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory. I’ll see if 96 GB is enough for me and maybe add another pair later if I have to.

That sounds good! 

 

For reference, Level1Techs did make a video on it, which links the below thread:

https://forum.level1techs.com/t/ddr5-4-dimms-on-am5-whats-working-whats-not/197153

 

I'd also recommend having a look on reddit, with a google query like:

"reddit 9950x 192gb"