Work & Play - CPU Heavy Simulator Build

[Mofu]

1. Budget & Location

Budget is around 2500 EUR and I am located in Spain, so primary shop would be Amazon.es and pccomponentes.com.

 

2. Aim
The use case for this build will be:
90%: Work, which primarily consists of browser work, with the occasional light video editing, a bit of programming mobile apps, and some file converting. For this, I know that the build is going to be stupidly overkill of course.
10%: Games of course. I spend the majority of my time in Microsoft Flight Sim 24, but I do also spend time in games like Elite Dangerous, Star Citizen (or trying to, am I right..), and games like D4, and New World. I do plan on playing AOC when that finally hits and hopefully is good. 

 

3. Monitors
I have 2 "stations" I sit at. When I work, it's in front of a Gigabyte M32U 4K 144hz display, with 2x generic Philips 60hz 4K 32inces on the sides. I also use the same "station" and M32U display when playing any games that ain't a Flight or Space Sim basically. So any non-sim game will be played on that 4K monitor.

 

When I am Simming, it's in a cockpit where the main display is an ultrawide Alienware 120hz. I believe it's 3880x1440. I am also running two small generic touch screen monitors I use for instruments, as well as a ton of pheripherals such as yoke, thottles, and other very flight sim specific things.

 

4. Peripherals
Need no peripherals. I got too many already.

 

5. Why are you upgrading?
I am currently doing everything on a Razer Blade 15 from 2023. While it's been a great machine, and I am really surprised in it's capabilities, playing stuff like MSFS24 (not well but okay) and D4 smooth 60fps on a 4K monitor with most settings on highest, I do have a few reasons for upgrading.

 

I used to be a bit of an Apple boy - working on a MacBook, using an iPhone with all the things that come with that such as Airpods, Apple Watch etc. Then about 6 months ago, I wanted to try and see if I could work on my Razer Blade, which I bought just for PC gaming, and at the same time swap the iPhone for an Android and ditch all the other Apple products. One of the main reasons was that I could then use one computer for all instead of needing two.

 

Success, I am now working exclusively on Windows, and I can combine Work and Play.

 

The other reason is that while the Razer Blade has been great, it's of course not able to pump out all the lovely FPS I want, and more importantly for me, it's not able to keep up with the insane CPU requirements of MSFS. 

 

Lastly, I bought the Razer Blade instead of a desktop as at the time I was traveling a lot, which I am not doing so much of anymore.

 

With all that said, here's the current build suggestion I have come to on my own, with some AI inspiration and a bit of Reddit help from PCMasterRace.

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
GPU: Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC 16GB
Motherboard: Gigabyte X870 Gaming WIFI6
RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000MHz 64GB (2×32GB) CL30
SSD: WD Black SN850X 2TB NVMe PCIe 4.0
Cooler: Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 (non-RGB version)
Case: NZXT H6 Flow RGB
Fans: Pre-installed: 3× NZXT F120 RGB Core 120mm fans (angled front intake) + 1× NZXT F120 RGB Core 120mm (rear exhaust) + 1× NZXT F280 RGB Core (bottom intake – dual 140mm unit)
PSU: Corsair RM850e ATX 3.1 PCIe 5.1 – 850W – 80+ Gold Modular

 

This adds up to 2399 EUR

 

Any help, feedback etc is very welcome. 

[Mofu]

OBS: I did just spot a potential problem with the Arctic cooler in the H6 Flow. Might hit VRM heatsinks. May have to find a thinner radiator.

[ArnoG]

1 hour ago, Mofu said:

Cooler: Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 (non-RGB version)

I am planning a very similar build, but with a 5070ti. Your choice to go for 9070 XT is definitely the way to go for a 2.5k budget.

 

I assume you mean the “Artic Liquid Freezer III Pro” here?

 

Everything else looks perfect, in my region (also Europe) a Be Quiet 1000 watt platinum PSU could be found for a great deal. Might be worth it buying a PSU based on local discounts, a 1000W PSU also better future proofs your system but is certainly not needed here. 850W is more than enough, I think your build uses 680watts ish.

[Why_Me]

SSD with DRAM cache.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core Ultra 7 265 2.4 GHz 20-Core Processor  (€299.89 @ Amazon Espana) 
CPU Cooler: *ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 77 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (€86.99 @ Amazon Espana) 
Motherboard: *Asus TUF GAMING B860-PLUS WIFI ATX LGA1851 Motherboard  (€194.50 @ LIFE Informatica) 
Memory: *Patriot Venom 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (€187.99 @ Amazon Espana) 
Storage: *MSI SPATIUM M480 PRO 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (€144.87 @ Coolmod) 
Video Card: *MSI SHADOW 3X OC GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card  (€889.00 @ Amazon Espana) 
Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case  (€69.44 @ Amazon Espana) 
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (€100.69 @ Coolmod) 
Total: €1973.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-07-28 01:18 CEST+0200

[Mofu]

9 hours ago, Why_Me said:

SSD with DRAM cache.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core Ultra 7 265 2.4 GHz 20-Core Processor  (€299.89 @ Amazon Espana) 
CPU Cooler: *ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 77 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (€86.99 @ Amazon Espana) 
Motherboard: *Asus TUF GAMING B860-PLUS WIFI ATX LGA1851 Motherboard  (€194.50 @ LIFE Informatica) 
Memory: *Patriot Venom 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (€187.99 @ Amazon Espana) 
Storage: *MSI SPATIUM M480 PRO 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (€144.87 @ Coolmod) 
Video Card: *MSI SHADOW 3X OC GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card  (€889.00 @ Amazon Espana) 
Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case  (€69.44 @ Amazon Espana) 
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (€100.69 @ Coolmod) 
Total: €1973.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-07-28 01:18 CEST+0200

Thanks for the build Why_Me! Appreciate it.
I've gone through it and there's one obvs benefit to your build - cost is lower. Then there is the swap to Intel for CPU and Nvidia for GPU - I am not sure that's a benefit. The CPU I'd recon would be a significant downgrade, especially in something like MSFS, but please correct me if wrong. The GPU is perhaps a little bit of a downgrade in raw power, but does allow me to use Nvidias DLSS and general Nvidia tech. However we are also saving money here on a cheaper case that I'd really not want to buy.

 

However all that does highlight the option to run either an INTEL/NVIDIA build, or perhaps just swap GPU to green. Just going green on the GPU probably wont help my bydget though, only end up costing more.

10 hours ago, ArnoG said:

I am planning a very similar build, but with a 5070ti. Your choice to go for 9070 XT is definitely the way to go for a 2.5k budget.

 

I assume you mean the “Artic Liquid Freezer III Pro” here?

 

Everything else looks perfect, in my region (also Europe) a Be Quiet 1000 watt platinum PSU could be found for a great deal. Might be worth it buying a PSU based on local discounts, a 1000W PSU also better future proofs your system but is certainly not needed here. 850W is more than enough, I think your build uses 680watts ish.

Thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it!

I did mean the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360, indeed. 

 

Great point about the PSU - I'll absolutely have a look and see if I can snatch a higher wattage but same or better effeciency for the same or little more.

[Mofu]

I've messed around a bit with it and made a build that runs a slightly lower cost CPU (but still with V-Cache as I think that is a big benefit in MSFS?) and then use that extra money on the RTX 5070 Ti, giving me a bit more raw performance, but perhaps more importantly the benefits that generally come with team green such as DLSS and Ray-Tracing.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 4.7 GHz 8-Core Processor  (€466.00 @ Amazon Espana) 
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken 360 RGB 78.02 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (€193.97 @ PC Componentes) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte X870 GAMING WIFI6 ATX AM5 Motherboard  (€229.79 @ Neobyte) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (€239.95 @ Amazon Espana) 
Storage: Western Digital WD_Black SN850X 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (€144.94 @ Amazon Espana) 
Video Card: Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC SFF GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card  (€896.95 @ Amazon Espana) 
Case: NZXT H6 Flow RGB ATX Mid Tower Case  (€125.40 @ LIFE Informatica) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM850e (2025) 850 W Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (€115.90 @ Amazon Espana) 
Total: €2412.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-07-28 12:09 CEST+0200

[Mofu]

Updated build with a cheaper MOBO and cooler_

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 4.7 GHz 8-Core Processor  (€482.00 @ Amazon Espana) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15S chromax.black 82.51 CFM CPU Cooler  (€109.90 @ Amazon Espana) 
Motherboard: MSI MAG B650 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  (€184.95 @ Amazon Espana) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (€239.95 @ Amazon Espana) 
Storage: Western Digital WD_Black SN850X 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (€144.94 @ Amazon Espana) 
Video Card: Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC SFF GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card  (€500.00 @ Amazon Espana) 
Case: NZXT H6 Flow RGB ATX Mid Tower Case  (€125.40 @ LIFE Informatica) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM850e (2025) 850 W Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (€115.90 @ Amazon Espana) 
Case Fan: NZXT F120 RGB Core 78.86 CFM 120 mm Fan  (€35.32 @ reichelt elektronik) 
Case Fan: NZXT F120 RGB Core 78.86 CFM 120 mm Fan  (€35.32 @ reichelt elektronik) 
Case Fan: NZXT F120 RGB Core 78.86 CFM 120 mm Fan  (€35.32 @ reichelt elektronik) 
Case Fan: NZXT F120 RGB Core 78.86 CFM 120 mm Fan  (€35.32 @ reichelt elektronik) 
Custom: NZXT F280 RGB Core 
Total: €2044.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-07-29 22:44 CEST+0200