New PC Build (Opinions wanted)

[scanlanjr]

Budget (including currency): around $USD 1700 (or R30000) don't wish to go over that amount.

Country: South Africa

Flatscreen Games: 

• Cyberpunk 2077
• Ready or Not
• Way of the Hunter
• STALKER 2
• Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• X4 Foundations
• Skyrim Modded

 

VR Games:

• Half-Life Alyx
• Into the Radius 2
• Blade and Sorcery Modded
• Skyrim VR Modded
• Elite Dangerous
• DCS
• Project Wingman
• Walking Dead Saints and Sinners
• Microsoft Flight simulator

 

Other details: 

I'm upgrading from a gaming laptop, specifically the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 with the RTX 4060, I9 13900HX, 16GB DDR5 + 16GB DDR5 (Upgraded myself), 1TB SSD + 1TB SSD (Upgraded myself).

I'm not so worried about peripherals except for the monitor but I can use one of my older monitors until I get a new one. Preferably 1080p as I do not care for higher res but I would like 120hz+ with great colour

This is the current build I have in my amazon order. This is working around pricing, whether they ship to my country or not and availability. Hoping someone can guide me to maybe a better system for cheaper or whether the build is fine, all thoughts appreciated.
 

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/scanlanjr/saved/mbQm3C

[Dr. Will0hlep]

6 minutes ago, scanlanjr said:

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/scanlanjr/saved/mbQm3C

The link is set to private

[scanlanjr]

3 minutes ago, will0hlep said:

The link is set to private

My apologies, should be fixed.

[KidKid]

1 hour ago, scanlanjr said:

Budget (including currency): around $USD 1700 (or R30000) don't wish to go over that amount.

Country: South Africa

Flatscreen Games: 

• Cyberpunk 2077
• Ready or Not
• Way of the Hunter
• STALKER 2
• Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• X4 Foundations
• Skyrim Modded

 

VR Games:

• Half-Life Alyx
• Into the Radius 2
• Blade and Sorcery Modded
• Skyrim VR Modded
• Elite Dangerous
• DCS
• Project Wingman
• Walking Dead Saints and Sinners
• Microsoft Flight simulator

 

Other details: 

I'm upgrading from a gaming laptop, specifically the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 with the RTX 4060, I9 13900HX, 16GB DDR5 + 16GB DDR5 (Upgraded myself), 1TB SSD + 1TB SSD (Upgraded myself).

I'm not so worried about peripherals except for the monitor but I can use one of my older monitors until I get a new one. Preferably 1080p as I do not care for higher res but I would like 120hz+ with great colour

This is the current build I have in my amazon order. This is working around pricing, whether they ship to my country or not and availability. Hoping someone can guide me to maybe a better system for cheaper or whether the build is fine, all thoughts appreciated.
 

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/scanlanjr/saved/mbQm3C

Get a cheaper cooler and get a Ryzen 7 9700X. If in budget, go with the X3D variant. The RAM's latency is quite high - try to get CL30 RAM instead of CL36. If you will not do ray tracing or AI or FSR, this GPU is fine, otherwise get the RX 9070.

[Why_Me]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: *Gigabyte B850 GAMING X WIFI6E ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($179.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: *Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($87.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: *TEAMGROUP MP44L 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($107.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: *MSI SHADOW 2X OC GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB Video Card  ($599.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.98 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.97 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1410.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-06-24 20:31 EDT-0400

 

[scanlanjr]

9 hours ago, KidKid said:

Get a cheaper cooler and get a Ryzen 7 9700X.

Thanks for suggesting the 9700x seems like its price is good and it at least ships, as for the cooler I am now going with the Thermalright Peerless SE.

 

Quote

The RAM's latency is quite high - try to get CL30 RAM instead of CL36.

I found that prices between the 2 are pretty much the same, at least for the RAM that ships.

 

Quote

otherwise get the RX 9070.

Honestly would never have considered this GPU as for some reason in my mind it wasn't as good as the previous generation (why would I have thought that?) but after seeing benchmarks and videos on the subject it seems like the right decision considering its only ~$100 more.

 

Thank you so much for your help I really do appreciate it.

[scanlanjr]

8 hours ago, Why_Me said:

Motherboard: *Gigabyte B850 GAMING X WIFI6E ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($179.99 @ Amazon) 

 

Why should I go for the B850 instead of the B650?

Regarding the other items majority of them don't ship to South Africa including the GPU. I'm sticking with KidKid's suggestion for the Ryzen 7 9700X and the Thermalright Peerless SE I found. Otherwise thanks for spending some time curating a list.

[KidKid]

6 hours ago, scanlanjr said:

 

 

Honestly would never have considered this GPU as for some reason in my mind it wasn't as good as the previous generation (why would I have thought that?) but after seeing benchmarks and videos on the subject it seems like the right decision considering its only ~$100 more.

 

Will you play Ray Tracing in games, or use FSR AI upscaling?

[scanlanjr]

2 hours ago, KidKid said:

Will you play Ray Tracing in games, or use FSR AI upscaling?

Yes for both, if possible Ray Tracing will be turned on but definitely FSR for those more intensive titles.

[KidKid]

40 minutes ago, scanlanjr said:

Yes for both, if possible Ray Tracing will be turned on but definitely FSR for those more intensive titles.

Then the 9070 / 9070XT will be better than the 7800XT. The older AMD cards stink at both.

[scanlanjr]

28 minutes ago, KidKid said:

Then the 9070 / 9070XT will be better than the 7800XT. The older AMD cards stink at both.

Thanks again for your help man I really appreciate it, unfortunately I cant order the parts now as taxes, shipping and duties increased the price so I will need to save for a few months. Hopefully by then some parts will be on sale or cheaper altogether.

 

Also wondering if you can help me decipher why "Why_Me" suggested the B850 Gaming X compared to the B650-Plus and whether it is worthwhile to get it instead.

[KidKid]

31 minutes ago, scanlanjr said:

Thanks again for your help man I really appreciate it, unfortunately I cant order the parts now as taxes, shipping and duties increased the price so I will need to save for a few months. Hopefully by then some parts will be on sale or cheaper altogether.

 

Also wondering if you can help me decipher why "Why_Me" suggested the B850 Gaming X compared to the B650-Plus and whether it is worthwhile to get it instead.

I really don't know why Why_me went with that board. It isn't even cheaper. It is newer, but not any major extra features. They both got PCIE Gen5 and Wifi 6E. Either one should be fine! 

[KidKid]

7 minutes ago, KidKid said:

I really don't know why Why_me went with that board. It isn't even cheaper. It is newer, but not any major extra features. They both got PCIE Gen5 and Wifi 6E. Either one should be fine! 

 

37 minutes ago, scanlanjr said:

Thanks again for your help man I really appreciate it, unfortunately I cant order the parts now as taxes, shipping and duties increased the price so I will need to save for a few months. Hopefully by then some parts will be on sale or cheaper altogether.

 

Also wondering if you can help me decipher why "Why_Me" suggested the B850 Gaming X compared to the B650-Plus and whether it is worthwhile to get it instead.

I did find out that the B850 board had PCIE x16 Gen 5 for the GPU, while the B650- Plus had only PCIE Gen4 x16. That won't hugely affect GPU performance, however.

[scanlanjr]

35 minutes ago, KidKid said:

 

I did find out that the B850 board had PCIE x16 Gen 5 for the GPU, while the B650- Plus had only PCIE Gen4 x16. That won't hugely affect GPU performance, however.

Good to know, I'm not that well versed when it comes to motherboards so this helps.

[KidKid]

5 minutes ago, scanlanjr said:

Good to know, I'm not that well versed when it comes to motherboards so this helps.

Me neither! I'm not great with motherboards. I had to really look deep in places I never would for a motherboard to find that! (I had to go to the motherboard websites for that!)

No problem for the help!