First-Ever PC Build - Planning a PS5 Pro Equivalent Gaming Station on a Budget

TommyLove · November 14

Budget (including currency): $1500 max, excluding monitor

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Gaming - (patient gamer)

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): Upgrading from my PS4, only a few existing peripherals (mouse, keyboard, headphones)

Hey everyone,

I’m planning my first-ever PC build and aiming to match or slightly surpass the PS5 Pro’s performance without going significantly overboard. After seeing the $800 price tag for the PS5 Pro with disc drive and stand included, I figured for a little more up front, say a budget of $1200 to $1500, I would break even after the cost of online subscriptions is considered over lifetime of components.

As a self proclaimed noob, I threw this list of parts together with good intentions and duct tape. So if there’s any parts I am needlessly spendy on or vice versa can get a noticeable boost for a little extra dough please let me know!

I’d appreciate any advice and guidance on both the PC components and peripheral setup (monitor) to make sure I'm not missing anything essential!

PC Build Goals:

Performance: Equal to or better than PS5 Pro, aiming for smooth 4K gaming at a reasonable price.
Budget: Keeping this as cost-effective as possible while balancing high performance.

Current PC Build Plan:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
Motherboard: MSI B550-A PRO ATX AM4
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 1TB NVMe SSD
Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G5, 80 Plus Gold 650W
Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition
Operating System: Windows 11 Home

Total Cost: Around $1,280

Peripheral Goals:

Monitor: LG C2 Series 42-Inch OLED TV – $846.95 – I want to make sure I am upgrading to a true 4K gaming experience, doesn’t have to be super high frame rate, I have only ever gamed previously at 60-120 fps. (not counting this towards my build budget since this is a necessary purchase even if I stuck to the console budget)
BT Mouse and Keyboard I already have covered from my 9-5 job.
Speakers/Microphone – Plan on using my Bose QC Ultra headphones

Cyber Monday Plans:

Since this is my first build, I’m hoping to catch some Cyber Monday deals to bring down costs. Again, any recommendations for similar products or brands to watch for that could fit my needs would be awesome, even alternatives if these go out of stock!

Thanks for any tips or guidance to make this first build a success!

okkee · November 14

2 hours ago, TommyLove said:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X

GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT

Motherboard: MSI B550-A PRO ATX AM4

I think spending ~200 more for a 7700x/b650 board would honestly be the best way to go. There's the performance uplift but still room to upgrade to new am5 cpus as they release. But if that's too far out the budget, I would at least consider getting a 5700x3d/5800x3d if gaming is the main focus. Those chips are probably the best gaming CPUs at the ~200 range.

Somerandomtechyboi · November 14

2 hours ago, TommyLove said:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X

GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT

Motherboard: MSI B550-A PRO ATX AM4

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200

Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 1TB NVMe SSD

Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G5, 80 Plus Gold 650W

Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition

Operating System: Windows 11 Home

how do you manage to pay 1200$ for such outdated specs? it looks like its straight out of 2021 aka very outdated (7800xt = 6800xt in perf btw)

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/bw9P6Q

i just so happen to have a list from another thread and it fits perfectly here as dropping in a new 7900 gre will get you at that 1200$ pricepoint though id advise against doing that as used 6950xt are 400-450$ and has similar performance to the 4070ti super

2 hours ago, TommyLove said:

Monitor: LG C2 Series 42-Inch OLED TV – $846.95 – I want to make sure I am upgrading to a true 4K gaming experience, doesn’t have to be super high frame rate, I have only ever gamed previously at 60-120 fps. (not counting this towards my build budget since this is a necessary purchase even if I stuck to the console budget)

most oled tvs are 120hz but afaik some are 144hz so probably wanna look for those, not sure if theres any real diff between oled panels so cheaper = better if there isnt any diff between panels other than QD oleds

good luck with your build just make sure to consult a forum first before buying as it will definitely save you from getting ripped off on overpriced outdated hardware

edit : forgot to mention that the 9700x is part of a microcenter bundle

TommyLove · November 14

21 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

how do you manage to pay 1200$ for such outdated specs? it looks like its straight out of 2021 aka very outdated (7800xt = 6800xt in perf btw)

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/bw9P6Q

i just so happen to have a list from another thread and it fits perfectly here as dropping in a new 7900 gre will get you at that 1200$ pricepoint though id advise against doing that as used 6950xt are 400-450$ and has similar performance to the 4070ti super

most oled tvs are 120hz but afaik some are 144hz so probably wanna look for those, not sure if theres any real diff between oled panels so cheaper = better if there isnt any diff between panels other than QD oleds

good luck with your build just make sure to consult a forum first before buying as it will definitely save you from getting ripped off on overpriced outdated hardware

edit : forgot to mention that the 9700x is part of a microcenter bundle

Wait you are dead on! I just realized I have been fine tuning my build using chatgbt to lookup parts and it’s probably pulling info that is from 2021 to at least a couple years old. I’ll take a look at that list. That explains a lot!

I appreciate the help I will also give the video a watch tomorrow morning, but it sounds like you’re saying you recommend a 6950xt as the best bang for my buck given my build choices and budget? Sorry I am just diving into gpu’s and need to do more research. Thank you for setting me down the right path!

Somerandomtechyboi · November 14

13 minutes ago, TommyLove said:

Wait you are dead on! I just realized I have been fine tuning my build using chatgbt to lookup parts and it’s probably pulling info that is from 2021 to at least a couple years old. I’ll take a look at that list. That explains a lot!

I appreciate the help I will also give the video a watch tomorrow morning, but it sounds like you’re saying you recommend a 6950xt as the best bang for my buck given my build choices and budget? Sorry I am just diving into gpu’s and need to do more research. Thank you for setting me down the right path!

huh

i guess thats where all these outdated 2021 era builds come from

6950xt for best bang for buck but if power consumption is a worry then the 7900gre is a valid choice albiet undervolting exists