Help choosing parts

[Cornet_1]

Budget (including currency): Around $3000 USD

Country: U.S

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Modded Minecraft, Fortnite, Cyberpunk, Elden Ring, Terraria, etc

- potentially matlab and other engineering software, but college computers will be able to do that just fine. 

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): please list a good oled monitor, currently doing 1080p 200+ Hz ( forgot exact). No existing parts.  I will probably buy in a couple months so I know prices will fluctuate, just getting an idea of what parts I would need.

 

[RONOTHAN##]

1 minute ago, Cornet_1 said:

I will probably buy in a couple months so I know prices will fluctuate

Then ask again in a couple months, the prices fluctuate enough that whatever recommendation we make will be irrelevant within about a week, let alone a month, especially with how crazy RAM/storage prices have been. 

 

3 minutes ago, Cornet_1 said:

just getting an idea of what parts I would need.

If you just want to get an idea, search on here and find one of the other similar posts to find rough build guides. They won't be specific to you, but it will at least give you the idea. 

[Why_Me]

On 3/28/2026 at 10:36 PM, Cornet_1 said:

Budget (including currency): Around $3000 USD

Country: U.S

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Modded Minecraft, Fortnite, Cyberpunk, Elden Ring, Terraria, etc

- potentially matlab and other engineering software, but college computers will be able to do that just fine. 

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): please list a good oled monitor, currently doing 1080p 200+ Hz ( forgot exact). No existing parts.  I will probably buy in a couple months so I know prices will fluctuate, just getting an idea of what parts I would need.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 4.7 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($419.95 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: *Thermalright Royal Pretor 130 81.88 CFM CPU Cooler  ($37.72 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: *Asus TUF GAMING B850-PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($189.00 @ Amazon) 
Memory: *Silicon Power XPOWER Pulse Gaming 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($841.97 @ Silicon Power) 
Storage: *Crucial P310 w/ Acronis Data Recovery 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($214.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: *MSI SHADOW 3X OC GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card  ($949.99 @ Best Buy) 
Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case  ($65.00 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: *ASRock Steel Legend SL-850G 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $2808.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-03-29 09:33 EDT-0400

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-ryzen-7-9800x3d/18.html  

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/intel-core-ultra-7-270k-plus/ 

 

https://edgeup.asus.com/2025/deep-dive-a-close-look-at-the-tuf-gaming-b850-plus-wifi-motherboard/

 

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/air-cooling/thermalright-royal-pretor-130-review  

 

https://www.crucial.com/ssd/p310/ct2000p310ssd8

 

https://www.msi.com/Graphics-Card/GeForce-RTX-5070-Ti-16G-SHADOW-3X-OC

 

https://www.asrock.com/Power-Supply/SteelLegend/SL-850G/ 

https://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/asrock-steel-legend-sl-850g-psu-review/all/1/ 

 

https://www.montechpc.com/air-903-base 

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/montech-air-903-base/

 

https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/find-windows-product-key

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus 3.7 GHz 24-Core Processor  ($349.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: *Thermalright Royal Pretor 130 81.88 CFM CPU Cooler  ($37.72 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: *Gigabyte Z890 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 ATX LGA1851 Motherboard  ($199.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: *Silicon Power XPOWER Pulse Gaming 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($841.97 @ Silicon Power) 
Storage: *Crucial P310 w/ Acronis Data Recovery 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($229.31 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: *MSI SHADOW 3X OC GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card  ($949.99 @ Best Buy) 
Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case  ($65.00 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: *ASRock Steel Legend SL-850G 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $2763.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-03-29 10:08 EDT-0400

[Seamus X]

If productivity software is a priority, ultra 7 270K plus bundle from microcenter is no doubt the best choice.

if gaming is a priority, then go with 9800X3D bundle.

use the rest of the money for a case, cooler, PSU, and SSD you like.

[Why_Me]

PCPartPicker Part List

Monitor: *AOC Agon PRO AG276QZD2 26.7" 2560 x 1440 240 Hz Monitor  ($449.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $449.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-03-29 20:43 EDT-0400

[KidKid]

On 3/29/2026 at 2:36 AM, Cornet_1 said:

Budget (including currency): Around $3000 USD

Country: U.S

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Modded Minecraft, Fortnite, Cyberpunk, Elden Ring, Terraria, etc

- potentially matlab and other engineering software, but college computers will be able to do that just fine. 

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): please list a good oled monitor, currently doing 1080p 200+ Hz ( forgot exact). No existing parts.  I will probably buy in a couple months so I know prices will fluctuate, just getting an idea of what parts I would need.

 

Nice PC build for under your budget - https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Likid-Computers/saved/cHjCFT
You could get a 5080... but at $500 more for 5-15% more performance... it isn't worth it unless you plan a lot of AI and heavy ray tracing.