CPU
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
8C/16T · 96MB 3D V-Cache
Still the fastest gaming CPU you can buy — enormous 1% low uplift.
AMD$150
2026 hardware · RTX 50 · Zen 5 X3D
BuildYourDreamGaming Setup
Choose your budget and instantly receive the best gaming PC, monitor, peripherals, and accessories with the latest hardware recommendations.
8
Budget tiers
40+
Components
9
Games benchmarked
2026
Latest hardware
Budget selector
Pick your budget
Filter by use case
Prioritises 3D V-Cache CPUs, high-refresh panels and maximum GPU allocation.
2026 PC Build
X3D Ascend
The 9800X3D arrives — 1% lows go vertical.
GPU
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB
RDNA 4 · FSR 4
Beats far more expensive cards at 1440p and holds up at 4K with FSR 4.
AMD$310
Motherboard
X870E ATX
Dual USB4 · PCIe 5.0 x16 + x4
X870E gives full Gen5 lanes to both GPU and primary SSD.
AMD$110
Memory
48GB DDR5-6400 CL30
2x24GB EXPO
Higher clocks feed the X3D cache without breaking fabric sync.
Neutral$70
Storage
4TB PCIe Gen5 NVMe
~14,900 MB/s
4TB Gen5 — install everything and never manage space again.
Neutral$105
Cooling
360mm AIO
LCD · 2500rpm fans
X3D chips run cool; this AIO keeps them near-silent.
Neutral$55
Power Supply
1000W ATX 3.1 80+ Platinum
PCIe 5.1
Platinum efficiency pays back over years of use.
Neutral$60
Case
Flagship Dual-Chamber RGB
9x ARGB fans
Fan hub, ARGB controller and immaculate cable channels included.
Neutral$65
Component Database
Every CPU & GPU worth buying
Search by name, brand or model number and filter by silicon vendor.
IntelCPUIntel Core i5-14600K
Excellent mid-range gaming chip with strong single-core clocks and easy overclocking.
14C / 20T 181W 1080p – 1440p
Gaming82
Productivity74
Value88
Est. price$219
IntelCPUIntel Core i7-14700K
20 cores of raw throughput — a great blend of high-fps gaming and heavy multitasking.
20C / 28T 253W 1440p
Gaming87
Productivity86
Value82
Est. price$349
IntelCPUIntel Core i9-14900K
Flagship Raptor Lake refresh boosting to 6.0 GHz for creators who also game hard.
24C / 32T 253W 1440p – 4K
Gaming90
Productivity93
Value70
Est. price$469
IntelCPUIntel Core Ultra 5 245K
Arrow Lake entry with a built-in NPU and far lower power draw than the 14th gen.
14C / 14T 159W 1080p – 1440p
Gaming79
Productivity76
Value78
Est. price$279
IntelCPUIntel Core Ultra 7 265K
Efficient 20-core Arrow Lake with strong productivity and AI acceleration on-die.
20C / 20T 250W 1440p
Gaming84
Productivity88
Value80
Est. price$379
IntelCPUIntel Core Ultra 9 285K
Intel's halo desktop CPU — 24 cores, huge render throughput, cooler than 14900K.
24C / 24T 250W 1440p – 4K
Gaming88
Productivity96
Value66
Est. price$589
AMDCPUAMD Ryzen 5 7600
Budget AM5 hero — cool, efficient and paired with a long upgrade runway.
6C / 12T 88W 1080p
Gaming76
Productivity66
Value93
Est. price$189
AMDCPUAMD Ryzen 7 7700X
Eight Zen 4 cores at high clocks — a balanced pick for gaming plus light creation.
8C / 16T 105W 1080p – 1440p
Gaming81
Productivity78
Value85
Est. price$259
AMDCPUAMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
The 3D V-Cache legend: massive 1% lows at very low power draw.
8C / 16T 120W 1080p – 1440p
Gaming93
Productivity74
Value90
Est. price$339
AMDCPUAMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
Fastest gaming CPU you can buy — second-gen 3D V-Cache with full overclocking.
8C / 16T 120W 1440p – 4K
Gaming100
Productivity82
Value87
Est. price$479
AMDCPUAMD Ryzen 9 9900X
Twelve Zen 5 cores for streaming, compiling and rendering without losing fps.
12C / 24T 120W 1440p
Gaming86
Productivity91
Value79
Est. price$429
AMDCPUAMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
The do-everything flagship: 16 Zen 5 cores plus 3D V-Cache gaming performance.
16C / 32T 170W 4K
Gaming99
Productivity98
Value72
Est. price$699
NVIDIAGPUNVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060
Efficient 1080p card with DLSS 3 frame generation and very low power draw.
8GB GDDR6 115W 1080p
Gaming62
Productivity58
Value84
Est. price$289
NVIDIAGPUNVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti
A step up for high-refresh 1080p and entry 1440p with solid ray tracing.
8GB / 16GB GDDR6 160W 1080p – 1440p
Gaming68
Productivity64
Value74
Est. price$379
NVIDIAGPUNVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super
The 1440p sweet spot — strong RT performance and great creator acceleration.
12GB GDDR6X 220W 1440p
Gaming78
Productivity80
Value83
Est. price$549
NVIDIAGPUNVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070
Blackwell mid-ranger with DLSS 4 multi frame generation for smooth 1440p RT.
12GB GDDR7 250W 1440p
Gaming81
Productivity82
Value85
Est. price$579
NVIDIAGPUNVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
16GB of GDDR7 makes this the value 4K-with-DLSS card of the generation.
16GB GDDR7 300W 1440p – 4K
Gaming87
Productivity87
Value82
Est. price$779
NVIDIAGPUNVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080
Serious 4K ray tracing with headroom for high-refresh OLED panels.
16GB GDDR7 360W 4K
Gaming92
Productivity92
Value71
Est. price$1,099
NVIDIAGPUNVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
No-compromise halo GPU — 32GB GDDR7 for 4K path tracing and AI workloads.
32GB GDDR7 575W 4K – 8K
Gaming100
Productivity100
Value60
Est. price$1,999
AMDGPUAMD Radeon RX 7700 XT
12GB of VRAM at a mid-range price — great raster value for 1440p.
12GB GDDR6 245W 1080p – 1440p
Gaming70
Productivity62
Value82
Est. price$379
AMDGPUAMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
The classic 1440p raster champion with 16GB for texture-heavy titles.
16GB GDDR6 263W 1440p
Gaming76
Productivity68
Value88
Est. price$469
AMDGPUAMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE
Overclocks well and sits right between the 7800 XT and 7900 XT in raster.
16GB GDDR6 260W 1440p – 4K
Gaming80
Productivity72
Value84
Est. price$549
AMDGPUAMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
RDNA 3 flagship with 24GB — huge raster throughput for high-refresh 4K.
24GB GDDR6 355W 4K
Gaming88
Productivity80
Value76
Est. price$899
AMDGPUAMD Radeon RX 9070
RDNA 4 brings a massive ray tracing uplift and FSR 4 upscaling to 1440p.
16GB GDDR6 220W 1440p
Gaming82
Productivity78
Value89
Est. price$549
AMDGPUAMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
The value king of 2026 — near 5070 Ti raster with 16GB and FSR 4.
16GB GDDR6 304W 1440p – 4K
Gaming86
Productivity82
Value92
Est. price$649
Display
Matched monitor
The panel is chosen to match exactly what your GPU can drive — no wasted pixels, no wasted frames.
27" QD-OLED 1440p 360Hz
Per-pixel black levels and near-instant response — the most impactful upgrade at this budget.
- Resolution
- 1440p
- Panel
- QD-OLED
- Refresh rate
- 360Hz
- Response time
- 0.03ms GtG
- HDR rating
- DisplayHDR True Black 400
- Adaptive sync
- G-SYNC Compatible
Pros
- Perfect blacks
- 0.03ms response
- Stunning HDR highlights
Cons
- Burn-in care needed
- Lower full-screen brightness
$225
Peripherals
The gear around the box
Every accessory scaled to your budget — with honest pros and cons for each pick.
Keyboard$40Magnetic Hall-Effect 8K Keyboard
Analog hall-effect switches with rapid trigger and 8000Hz polling.
- Rapid trigger
- Per-key actuation
- Aluminium frame
- Premium price
Mouse$25Flagship Wireless 8K Esports Mouse
Pro-tier 49g wireless mouse used across tier-1 esports.
- 49g
- 8K wireless
- Pro-validated shape
- Minimal extra buttons
Headset$30Hi-Fi Wireless Headset + DAC
Planar-adjacent drivers with a desktop DAC/amp base station.
- Reference imaging
- DAC included
- Bulky base station
Microphone$25XLR Broadcast Mic + Interface
Broadcast dynamic mic paired with a clean-gain USB interface.
- Broadcast quality
- Expandable
- Needs an arm and setup
Mousepad$10Pro Control Glass Pad
Tempered glass surface with an ultra-consistent, humidity-proof glide.
- Zero break-in
- Never degrades
- Wears skates faster
Controller$20Elite Wireless Controller
Adjustable-tension sticks, trigger stops and a carry case.
- Fully tunable
- Premium build
- Expensive
Webcam$204K HDR Studio Cam
Large-sensor 4K webcam with true depth-of-field falloff.
- 4K HDR
- Great low light
- Big and heavy
Chair$65Flagship Ergonomic Task Chair
12-year warranty ergonomic chair with adaptive posture support.
- Best-in-class comfort
- 12-year warranty
- Very expensive
Desk$45RGB Electric Battlestation Desk
160cm sit/stand desk with integrated RGB, hub and cable trays.
- Integrated RGB + hub
- Huge surface
- Needs two people to build
Monitor Arm$15Premium Dual Aluminium Arm
Machined aluminium arm with internal cable routing.
- Ultra rigid
- Hidden cables
- Heavy clamp
FPS Estimator
Estimated frames per second
Modelled from this build's GPU and CPU class at competitive settings, with upscaling off.
Valorant392 FPS
Counter-Strike 2347 FPS
Fortnite201 FPS
GTA VI (Estimated)74 FPS
Cyberpunk 2077109 FPS
Black Ops 7193 FPS
Minecraft RTX110 FPS
Marvel Rivals194 FPS
Apex Legends213 FPS
Estimates only. DLSS 4 or FSR 4 frame generation can raise these figures substantially.
Build summary
Everything at a glance
Costs, scores and longevity for the complete setup — PC, display and peripherals.
Total cost
$1,445
Remaining budget
$55
Power consumption
540W peak
Estimated lifespan
5–6 years
92
Gaming80
Productivity85
Streaming84
Future proof86
RGB ratingWhy this build?
Every choice, explained
No mystery parts list — here is the reasoning behind each component and what it means long term.
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
CPUStill the fastest gaming CPU you can buy — enormous 1% low uplift.
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB
GPUBeats far more expensive cards at 1440p and holds up at 4K with FSR 4.
X870E ATX
MotherboardX870E gives full Gen5 lanes to both GPU and primary SSD.
48GB DDR5-6400 CL30
MemoryHigher clocks feed the X3D cache without breaking fabric sync.
4TB PCIe Gen5 NVMe
Storage4TB Gen5 — install everything and never manage space again.
360mm AIO
CoolingX3D chips run cool; this AIO keeps them near-silent.
1000W ATX 3.1 80+ Platinum
Power SupplyPlatinum efficiency pays back over years of use.
Flagship Dual-Chamber RGB
CaseFan hub, ARGB controller and immaculate cable channels included.
Future upgrades
- GPU jump to 5080-class
- 64GB memory for heavy editing
- Add a second QD-OLED
Potential bottlenecks
- Essentially GPU-bound at 4K — exactly where you want to be
Power efficiency
- ~540W peak; Platinum PSU keeps wall draw and heat output low.
Cooling performance
- 3D V-Cache runs cool by design — expect low-60s under gaming load.
Comparison tool
See what more money buys
Put your build head to head with any other tier before you spend a thing.
Your build
X3D Ascend
$1,500 tier
CPU
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
GPU
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB
Memory
48GB DDR5-6400 CL30
Storage
4TB PCIe Gen5 NVMe
Monitor
27" QD-OLED 1440p 360Hz
Total
$1,445
Gaming score
92/100
Power
540W
Lifespan
5–6 years
CPU
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
GPU
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 16GB
Memory
64GB DDR5-6400 CL30
Storage
4TB PCIe Gen5 NVMe
Monitor
27" QD-OLED 1440p 360Hz
Total
$1,940
Gaming score
95/100
Power
620W
Lifespan
6 years
Features
Built for 2026 and beyond
Every recommendation is filtered through these eight non-negotiables.
Latest Hardware
RTX 50 Blackwell, RDNA 4 and Zen 5 X3D — nothing older than this generation.
Future Proof
AM5 and Z890 platforms with PCIe 5.0 lanes and real upgrade paths left open.
Streaming Ready
Encoder headroom, capture inputs and an audio chain that survives a live audience.
AI Ready
Enough VRAM and system memory to run local models alongside your game.
Ray Tracing
Every GPU here handles hardware RT — the higher tiers handle full path tracing.
DLSS 4
Multi frame generation and transformer-model upscaling on all NVIDIA builds.
FSR 4
Machine-learning upscaling on RDNA 4 cards, open across the whole library.
Upgradeable
Oversized PSUs, spare M.2 slots and radiator clearance for whatever comes next.