Building a replacement PC

brad_mcbraggin · June 20, 2025

Budget (including currency): roughly up to/around 1800€, though I could spend more or less if it seems justified, certainly not set in stone.

Country: Estonia.

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Playing games in general. A variety of CPU (Mount & Blade, Darktide, Factorio) and GPU heavy games - balanced. Maybe a little video editing on the side.

I agree with future proofing being an inoptimal concern, but I managed to cruise 6 years with this build, hoping the next one lasts quite a few years as well before I have to start making compromises.

Why are you upgrading?: I've been feeling the noose tightening around my neck - many games I'd love to play struggle to some extent, whether CPU or GPU bound. I would love to get back to the point where I can just run a game comfortably (60+fps@1440) without having to spend an inordinate amount of time in settings. I don't have a strong interest in using either raytracing or playing at 4K.

Also hoping to keep the current PC intact, and have it serve a different purpose for someone else.

Monitors: Two monitor setup - A 1440p Dell @59Hz + an old 1080p side monitor. I might eventually upgrade to a 1440p monitor with higher refresh rate as well, though I'm not sure if that factors in.

Current build to give an idea:
Gigabyte GTX 1070ti
Ryzen 3700x paired with Cooler Master Hyper 212 cooler
32GB of 4x corsair DDR4 3200MHz sticks
a fresh Samsung NVMe 990 EVO Plus (don't need to include any hard drives, I've a 4TB HDD on the side as well)
NZXT E650 PSU
MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX

Honestly I've been eyeing a certain Gigabyte Aorus Elite 9070XT at 800 euros - buying only the card, undervolting it and upgrading rest of the PC a little later down the line. How terrible of an idea is that?
One thing I'm not a fan of is the power draw of the card, but I figured I'd keep it permanently undervolted to some extent. I've considered 9070 and 5070 as well, but didn't find them compelling enough - maybe I'm just being greedy.

As a side note: I know nothing of motherboards - but one pet peeve I had was my headphones sounding a lot better on other computers, is it the sound card? I would spend a little extra to get crispier sounds.

I did create a mock build for argumentative purposes, changed prices according to what we have here: https://fi.pcpartpicker.com/user/brad_mcbraggin/saved/jLk223
Keep in mind that it's finnish, prices do vary a little here in Estonia. There's a site (hinnavaatlus.ee) that gives a very good idea of what a component usually goes for.
For PSU I've chosen this one: https://www.hinnavaatlus.ee/4262039/seasonic-focus-gx-80-plus-gold-modular/

Any kind of feedback I appreciate - let me know if the pcpartpicker link is visible as well. Thank you!

Edit: used old link with pcpartpicker

Dedayog · June 20, 2025

3 minutes ago, brad_mcbraggin said:

Budget (including currency): roughly up to/around 1800€, though I could spend more or less if it seems justified, certainly not set in stone.

Country: Estonia.

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Playing games in general. A variety of CPU (Mount & Blade, Darktide, Factorio) and GPU heavy games - balanced. Maybe a little video editing on the side.

I agree with future proofing being an inoptimal concern, but I managed to cruise 6 years with this build, hoping the next one lasts quite a few years as well before I have to start making compromises.

Why are you upgrading?: I've been feeling the noose tightening around my neck - many games I'd love to play struggle to some extent, whether CPU or GPU bound. I would love to get back to the point where I can just run a game comfortably (60+fps@1440) without having to spend an inordinate amount of time in settings. I don't have a strong interest in using either raytracing or playing at 4K.

Also hoping to keep the current PC intact, and have it serve a different purpose for someone else.

Monitors: Two monitor setup - A 1440p Dell @59Hz + an old 1080p side monitor. I might eventually upgrade to a 1440p monitor with higher refresh rate as well, though I'm not sure if that factors in.

Current build to give an idea:
Gigabyte GTX 1070ti
Ryzen 3700x paired with Cooler Master Hyper 212 cooler
32GB of 4x corsair DDR4 3200MHz sticks
a fresh Samsung NVMe 990 EVO Plus (don't need to include any hard drives, I've a 4TB HDD on the side as well)
NZXT E650 PSU
MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX

Honestly I've been eyeing a certain Gigabyte Aorus Elite 9070XT at 800 euros - buying only the card, undervolting it and upgrading rest of the PC a little later down the line. How terrible of an idea is that?
One thing I'm not a fan of is the power draw of the card, but I figured I'd keep it permanently undervolted to some extent. I've considered 9070 and 5070 as well, but didn't find them compelling enough - maybe I'm just being greedy.

As a side note: I know nothing of motherboards - but one pet peeve I had was my headphones sounding a lot better on other computers, is it the sound card? I would spend a little extra to get crispier sounds.

I did create a mock build for argumentative purposes, changed prices according to what we have here: https://fi.pcpartpicker.com/user/brad_mcbraggin/saved/jLk223
Keep in mind that it's finnish, prices do vary a little here in Estonia. There's a site (hinnavaatlus.ee) that gives a very good idea of what a component usually goes for.
For PSU I've chosen this one: https://www.hinnavaatlus.ee/4262039/seasonic-focus-gx-80-plus-gold-modular/

Any kind of feedback I appreciate - let me know if the pcpartpicker link is visible as well. Thank you!

Edit: used old link with pcpartpicker

A buddy and his wife play with 3700X + 3080 combos, at 1440p. Any and all games, they spend money like water on them. From WoW to Dune to V Rising to Division 2 to Chrono Odysey, etc.

I'd get the 9070 XT and probably a better monitor next. Then look at jumping to a 9700X/9600X setup for AM5, or if you still feel you're getting good performance, wait for AMD/Intel next gen offerings.

jaslion · June 20, 2025

20 minutes ago, brad_mcbraggin said:

Honestly I've been eyeing a certain Gigabyte Aorus Elite 9070XT at 800 euros - buying only the card, undervolting it and upgrading rest of the PC a little later down the line. How terrible of an idea is that?

This + good new psu and maybe a 5700x3d if its cheap and send it. You have a CURRENT GEN high end gaming pc. for 1200 ish

Save money on the seasonic it's pricey

https://www.hinnavaatlus.ee/5406665/lian-li-edge-gold-850w-80-plus/

https://www.hinnavaatlus.ee/2762325/amd-socket-am4-ryzen-7-5700x3d-box/

thats 345 + the gpu and done. current gen high end gaming pc at the ready.

KidKid · June 20, 2025

28 minutes ago, brad_mcbraggin said:

Budget (including currency): roughly up to/around 1800€, though I could spend more or less if it seems justified, certainly not set in stone.

Country: Estonia.

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Playing games in general. A variety of CPU (Mount & Blade, Darktide, Factorio) and GPU heavy games - balanced. Maybe a little video editing on the side.

I agree with future proofing being an inoptimal concern, but I managed to cruise 6 years with this build, hoping the next one lasts quite a few years as well before I have to start making compromises.

Why are you upgrading?: I've been feeling the noose tightening around my neck - many games I'd love to play struggle to some extent, whether CPU or GPU bound. I would love to get back to the point where I can just run a game comfortably (60+fps@1440) without having to spend an inordinate amount of time in settings. I don't have a strong interest in using either raytracing or playing at 4K.

Also hoping to keep the current PC intact, and have it serve a different purpose for someone else.

Monitors: Two monitor setup - A 1440p Dell @59Hz + an old 1080p side monitor. I might eventually upgrade to a 1440p monitor with higher refresh rate as well, though I'm not sure if that factors in.

Current build to give an idea:
Gigabyte GTX 1070ti
Ryzen 3700x paired with Cooler Master Hyper 212 cooler
32GB of 4x corsair DDR4 3200MHz sticks
a fresh Samsung NVMe 990 EVO Plus (don't need to include any hard drives, I've a 4TB HDD on the side as well)
NZXT E650 PSU
MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX

Honestly I've been eyeing a certain Gigabyte Aorus Elite 9070XT at 800 euros - buying only the card, undervolting it and upgrading rest of the PC a little later down the line. How terrible of an idea is that?
One thing I'm not a fan of is the power draw of the card, but I figured I'd keep it permanently undervolted to some extent. I've considered 9070 and 5070 as well, but didn't find them compelling enough - maybe I'm just being greedy.

As a side note: I know nothing of motherboards - but one pet peeve I had was my headphones sounding a lot better on other computers, is it the sound card? I would spend a little extra to get crispier sounds.

I did create a mock build for argumentative purposes, changed prices according to what we have here: https://fi.pcpartpicker.com/user/brad_mcbraggin/saved/jLk223
Keep in mind that it's finnish, prices do vary a little here in Estonia. There's a site (hinnavaatlus.ee) that gives a very good idea of what a component usually goes for.
For PSU I've chosen this one: https://www.hinnavaatlus.ee/4262039/seasonic-focus-gx-80-plus-gold-modular/

Any kind of feedback I appreciate - let me know if the pcpartpicker link is visible as well. Thank you!

Edit: used old link with pcpartpicker

Looks pretty good. Maybe get a cheaper cooler, such as the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE. I can't blame you on the expensive case; it looks great.

brad_mcbraggin · June 20, 2025

19 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

I'd get the 9070 XT and probably a better monitor next. Then look at jumping to a 9700X/9600X setup for AM5, or if you still feel you're getting good performance, wait for AMD/Intel next gen offerings.

That's solid advice, going step-by-step. I hadn't really considered a monitor upgrade before the rest of PC - the current one (U2713HM, forgot to clarify) feels pretty damn good when it comes to color depth/clarity etc, but I'll start looking at them.

And honestly, despite jaslion giving good advice in just replacing key components, I'm warming up to the idea of skipping a generation.

Thanks to all contributions so far!

Why_Me · June 20, 2025

4 hours ago, brad_mcbraggin said:

Budget (including currency): roughly up to/around 1800€, though I could spend more or less if it seems justified, certainly not set in stone.

Country: Estonia.

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Playing games in general. A variety of CPU (Mount & Blade, Darktide, Factorio) and GPU heavy games - balanced. Maybe a little video editing on the side.

I agree with future proofing being an inoptimal concern, but I managed to cruise 6 years with this build, hoping the next one lasts quite a few years as well before I have to start making compromises.

Why are you upgrading?: I've been feeling the noose tightening around my neck - many games I'd love to play struggle to some extent, whether CPU or GPU bound. I would love to get back to the point where I can just run a game comfortably (60+fps@1440) without having to spend an inordinate amount of time in settings. I don't have a strong interest in using either raytracing or playing at 4K.

Also hoping to keep the current PC intact, and have it serve a different purpose for someone else.

Monitors: Two monitor setup - A 1440p Dell @59Hz + an old 1080p side monitor. I might eventually upgrade to a 1440p monitor with higher refresh rate as well, though I'm not sure if that factors in.

Current build to give an idea:
Gigabyte GTX 1070ti
Ryzen 3700x paired with Cooler Master Hyper 212 cooler
32GB of 4x corsair DDR4 3200MHz sticks
a fresh Samsung NVMe 990 EVO Plus (don't need to include any hard drives, I've a 4TB HDD on the side as well)
NZXT E650 PSU
MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX

Honestly I've been eyeing a certain Gigabyte Aorus Elite 9070XT at 800 euros - buying only the card, undervolting it and upgrading rest of the PC a little later down the line. How terrible of an idea is that?
One thing I'm not a fan of is the power draw of the card, but I figured I'd keep it permanently undervolted to some extent. I've considered 9070 and 5070 as well, but didn't find them compelling enough - maybe I'm just being greedy.

As a side note: I know nothing of motherboards - but one pet peeve I had was my headphones sounding a lot better on other computers, is it the sound card? I would spend a little extra to get crispier sounds.

I did create a mock build for argumentative purposes, changed prices according to what we have here: https://fi.pcpartpicker.com/user/brad_mcbraggin/saved/jLk223
Keep in mind that it's finnish, prices do vary a little here in Estonia. There's a site (hinnavaatlus.ee) that gives a very good idea of what a component usually goes for.
For PSU I've chosen this one: https://www.hinnavaatlus.ee/4262039/seasonic-focus-gx-80-plus-gold-modular/

Any kind of feedback I appreciate - let me know if the pcpartpicker link is visible as well. Thank you!

Edit: used old link with pcpartpicker