Project: First Gaming Build

[Max Scarfino]

Budget (including currency): $1200-1300

Country: United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Games like multiplayer shooters and maybe some older single player story games like resident evil 4

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): 

 

Goal: High-performance 1080p/1440p gaming and future-proofing with the AM5 platform.

The Core (Micro Center Bundle)

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X

• Mobo: ASUS B850-E TUF Gaming WiFi

• RAM: G.Skill Flare X5 16GB DDR5-6000

• View Bundle Link

Graphics & Storage

• GPU: MSI RTX 5060 Ti Shadow 2X OC Plus (16GB)

• SSD: Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB NVMe

Cooling & Power

• Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Spectrum V3

• PSU: Corsair CX750M 750W Bronze Semi-Modular

• Case: Lian Li V1000RX ATX Mid Tower

Please let me know what you guys think Im a freshmen in college trying to fufill my dream of building my own and although the market is very spiked right now I hope my somewhat budget build works, drop any recomendations below

[Dedayog]

14 minutes ago, Max Scarfino said:

Budget (including currency): $1200-1300

Country: United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Games like multiplayer shooters and maybe some older single player story games like resident evil 4

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): 

 

Goal: High-performance 1080p/1440p gaming and future-proofing with the AM5 platform.

The Core (Micro Center Bundle)

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X

• Mobo: ASUS B850-E TUF Gaming WiFi

• RAM: G.Skill Flare X5 16GB DDR5-6000

• View Bundle Link

Graphics & Storage

• GPU: MSI RTX 5060 Ti Shadow 2X OC Plus (16GB)

• SSD: Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB NVMe

Cooling & Power

• Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Spectrum V3

• PSU: Corsair CX750M 750W Bronze Semi-Modular

• Case: Lian Li V1000RX ATX Mid Tower

Please let me know what you guys think Im a freshmen in college trying to fufill my dream of building my own and although the market is very spiked right now I hope my somewhat budget build works, drop any recomendations below

Love the bundle, add another stick of RAM when you can.

 

Personally, I'd bump the cooler to a Peerless Assassin SE or any other 2 fan one.  The Hyper 212 EVO is a star but faded, its time has passed.

 

PSU is fine, though I prefer gold or better for efficiency but won't impact performance.

 

But please tell me why on Earth you're paying $250 for a 1TB SSD?!?!?!  What in the actual hell?!  You pay that for 2TB!

 

 

 

[Why_Me]

37 minutes ago, Max Scarfino said:

Budget (including currency): $1200-1300

Country: United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Games like multiplayer shooters and maybe some older single player story games like resident evil 4

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): 

 

Goal: High-performance 1080p/1440p gaming and future-proofing with the AM5 platform.

The Core (Micro Center Bundle)

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X

• Mobo: ASUS B850-E TUF Gaming WiFi

• RAM: G.Skill Flare X5 16GB DDR5-6000

• View Bundle Link

Graphics & Storage

• GPU: MSI RTX 5060 Ti Shadow 2X OC Plus (16GB)

• SSD: Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB NVMe

Cooling & Power

• Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Spectrum V3

• PSU: Corsair CX750M 750W Bronze Semi-Modular

• Case: Lian Li V1000RX ATX Mid Tower

Please let me know what you guys think Im a freshmen in college trying to fufill my dream of building my own and although the market is very spiked right now I hope my somewhat budget build works, drop any recomendations below

You want an AIO if using a fish tank case due to the fact air coolers don't work well with those cases (basic physics). Better yet get yourself a conventional case (front intake fans) for better airflow / temps. Size up on your SSD, go with a dual tower cpu cooler and find a better quality psu. Down below are some options worth considering.

 

https://pg.asrock.com/Power-Supply/PG-750G/index.asp

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Power Supply: *ASRock Phantom Gaming PG-750G 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($74.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $74.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-04-22 16:52 EDT-0400

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Storage: *Silicon Power UD90 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($234.97 @ Silicon Power) 
Total: $234.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-04-22 16:49 EDT-0400

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Storage: *Crucial P310 w/ Acronis Data Recovery 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($242.48 @ Amazon) 
Total: $242.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-04-22 16:50 EDT-0400

 

https://www.thermalright.com/product/royal-knight-120-se/

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: *Thermalright RK120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  ($27.59 @ Amazon) 
Total: $27.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-04-22 16:47 EDT-0400

 

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

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.98 @ Amazon) 
Total: $64.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-04-22 16:45 EDT-0400

 

https://www.antec.com/product/case/p30-air

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Case: *Antec P30 AIR ATX Mid Tower Case  ($67.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $67.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-04-22 16:43 EDT-0400