So monster hunter wild is coming out febuary 28, after this weekends beta i need to upgrade big time. so i pretty much have my pc plan on what to get. I have about 3 months (canada) to get all the parts and i know black friday, cyber monday, boxing day are coming up. But i aslo see sales going on now for like 10-20% off.

My question is what % sale should i be like hmm maybe I'll wait for something better vs gotta get it now knowing that 3 big sale days are coming in the next 2 months.

for example the LIAN LI O11 VISION CHROME ATX MI TOWER Case is 20$ off which is about 10% vs LIAN LI SP850W power supply is 40$ off ~20% which feels better but since I'm flexible on power supplies as long as they have CPIE 5.0 im like should i wait or get this one?

is there an easy way to look at deals or just check the top 3 websites like newegg, amazon, canada computer etc and if so what % per price should i be looking for? i know its all pretty subjectives, just wana try to get good deals without risking waiting to long and miss something or getting something early and seeing way better deals later. espesially for the gpu/cpu/motherboard since they get real pricey.

pc part picket is great for lots of things but i noticed they don't really have up to date prices or the best ones.

Hi I’m new to this and i want to build a pc of my own but I really need some advice about when i should buy the pc parts, should i wait for Black Friday so the parts are on sale or is it not worth the wait

THIS GUIDE IS OUT OF DATE, PLEASE GO TO THE FRONT PAGE OF R/BUILDAPCFORME FOR THE MOST UP TO DATE GUIDE

Please note that due to the dwindling supplies of RTX 4000 cards, you're now almost always better off getting the AMD equivalent instead!

• RTX 3060/3050 = RX 6600(XT) / RX 6650XT

• RTX 4060 = RX 7600XT

• RTX 4060 Ti = RX 7700 XT

• RTX 4070 Super = RX 7800XT

• RTX 4070 Ti Super = RX 7900XT

• RTX 4080 Super = RX 7900XTX

• RTX 4090/5080/5090 = You're out of luck, come back in a few months.

As it's been asked a lot over DM's: If you want to buy me a coffee, you're more than welcome to. These guides will ALWAYS stay free for everyone, and I will never directly ask for any payment. PayPal or BuyMeACoffee are both possible.

Hi everyone, and welcome to the completely revisioned PC Parts Lists guide for the end of 2024 and early 2025!

All lists have been remade from the ground up, as the market has been shifting and seeing new releases. I want to preface by saying that I will update the lists retroactively when new hardware will be released, such as the upcoming Intel Arc B580 GPU, the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D when it gets better stocked/priced, and of course the upcoming Nvidia RTX 5080/5090 when they get announced early January. I say "I", but I would like to announce that I've been getting help from frequent contributor of the subreddit: u/justaboss101.

Before proceeding/commenting, please read the following:

• I have been getting a lot of comments of people being confused what the lists are actually for, and how the parametric selections work on PCPartpicker.com . Please use the flowchart below to guide you through the website before commenting some frequently ask questions

• I want to reiterate that these lists are here to give you an indication on what you can expect for a certain budget; what kind of value you can get for your money with that budget. That does not only mean pure performance, but also features, expandability, and future upgradability. Some of these are hard to quantify in words, but I have tried my best through my own judgment to make some weighted decisions on each list.

  • To give you an example, in the $1200 list I might recommend a Ryzen 7600(X) with an RTX 4070 Super, 32GB RAM, paired with a 1TB SSD, and a relatively value-oriented case, cooler & motherboard. This is my vision of the best 'value' PC you can get, but if you have a different PC with a high end case with RGB, expensive cooler, and 2TB SSD, that is 100%, utterly and completely, fine! I just want you to have a reference point.

Here are some of the major changes in this iteration of the PC Best Buy Guide compared to the previous version.

1. I have removed having multiple lists for a single pricepoint. This caused more confusion than clarity.

2. Reduced the budget threshold to where WiFi/Bluetooth connectivity is a requisite.

3. More AMD RX 6000 GPUs have been replaced by RX 7000 successors.

4. Started preferring Nvidia at the high end. With current pricing I think the 4070 Ti Super and 4080 Super offer a better package than the 7900XT and 7900XTX in my opinion. That being said, the 7900XT(X) are still great GPUs. AMD still offers the best value with the 7600, 7600XT, 7700XT, 7800XT, and 7900 GRE.

5. Due to the volatility of the Ryzen 7800X3D and 9800X3D CPU pricing, the 7700X and 9700X will often be used as substitutes in gaming PCs.

6. Due to the RTX 4090 now being almost completely out of stock or ridiculously expensive at $2300+ I've opted to leave out the mega expensive PC parts lists until the RTX 5080/5090 have released, and the 9800X3D has gone down in price.

7. Removed the NZXT themed build and many part selections due to ongoing consumer unfriendly practices.

The Lists: Gaming PCs

Workstation PCs

THIS GUIDE IS OUT OF DATE, PLEASE VISIT THE MOST UP TO DATE ONE ON THE FRONT PAGE!

As it's been asked a lot over DM's: If you want to buy me a coffee, you're more than welcome to. These guides will ALWAYS stay free for everyone, and I will never directly ask for any payment. PayPal or BuyMeACoffee are both possible.

Hi everyone, it's been a while! Welcome to the Summer 2025 PC best buy guide!

I've been out of the running due to injury on my arm, but the fast few months also haven't been great for those wanting to buy a PC - or a GPU in particular. As prices have been slowly going and stock going up, I'm hesitantly optimistic on making a new guide. Although it's far from where prices were, and with tarriffs going left and right, there's no telling where things will go, the Winter 2025 guide is now so out of date it warrants replacement.

Before commenting, please read the following:

• I have been getting a lot of comments of people being confused what the lists are actually for, and how the parametric selections work on PCPartpicker.com . Please use this flowchart to guide you through the website before commenting some frequently ask questions

• I want to reiterate that these lists are here to give you an indication on what you can expect for a certain budget; what kind of value you can get for your money with that budget. That does not only mean pure performance, but also features, expandability, and future upgradability. Some of these are hard to quantify in words, but I have tried my best through my own judgment to make some weighted decisions on each list.

• To give you an example, in the $1100 list I might recommend a Ryzen 7600(X) with an RTX 5060 Ti, 32GB RAM, paired with a 1TB SSD, and a relatively value-oriented case, cooler & motherboard. This is my vision of the best 'value' PC you can get, but if you have a different PC with a high end case with RGB, expensive cooler, and 2TB SSD, that is 100%, utterly and completely, fine! I just want you to have a reference point.

Gaming PCs

Workstations

I'm not in a huge rush to build a PC but if building it on Prime Day means better components at a better price, I'm in! Would love to keep the price between $1,200-$1,400.

I've been using a gaming laptop for a few years (MSI Raider GE76) and it's done fine but I am certainly ready to upgrade to a full pc build. My primary use is photography editing and organization via the adobe suite. Primarily using lightroom and photo shop. I definitely do some gaming (Madden/NCAA, Diablo, maybe a little Apex but not seriously).

Like I said, i'm not in a huge rush to build the PC so if there is a better time to wait for I will, thanks yall!!!

OUTDATED.

Introduction:

Hello, members of the PCMR, or people wishing to join the PCMR. It's been a while, hasn't it? Quite a bit has changed in the tech space since the last one of my posts, the biggest problem, of course, being Intel's newfound shittiness. So with that, and Black Friday being right around the corner, I figured I might as well read up on what CPU is king of the hill (9800x3D) and what GPU is still overpriced (4090) and get a post up so I can disappear until 50 series launches.

For those of you who don't know how these work, I basically make a bunch of lists for every single budget, and these lists are parametric, so they change over time to always find the cheapest part that fits the criteria.

In the previous posts, builds generally used to switch between all-AMD and Intel/Nvidia, so essentially between ideal gaming, value for money, raw performance builds, which is what AMD does best, and more features and ease of use builds, which is what Intel/Nvidia do. I've mostly kept to the same template this time as well, but there are a few AMD/Nvidia builds, as Nvidia has reduced prices as they reach the end of the 40-series, so there are some decent deals to be found if you want DLSS3 and AI stuff.

As always, I will not be able to help you with peripherals like keyboards and mice, as those are always down to personal preference. The keyboards that I like might not suit you. I can give you target resolutions and frame rates for monitors, but any research beyond that for what particular display you want is up to you. Also, please try not to ask me for tech support or help if the PC isn't working, you can check out r/computerhelp or r/buildapc for that instead.

With that, let's get into it!

400$ - 5700g

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/GpmZxg

At this budget, I never recommend buying new, as you're getting pretty terrible price to performance. The used market will give you much better deals on last gen parts, so consider searching Ebay or FB marketplace. Anyway, if all you want is a simple office PC that will work fine for a while to come, and handle some really light gaming, this should be plenty.

It's got an 8 core CPU that's still reasonably fast for today's standards, and 16gb of RAM. 500gb of storage isn't much these days, but you can always add more in the future if you need to.

550$ - 14600k

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/GTZ7Yd

This is the cheapest build I'd recommend buying new, as the 14600k is a pretty strong CPU for the price, and can easily support any future upgrades you do to the system. This PC doesn't come with a graphics card, but you can easily add one in the future, something like a 4070 should pair nicely and give you great gaming performance.

Otherwise, this is an excellent office PC, and will be just fine for simple day to day use, and even light games. The 14600k is a really strong CPU for productivity tasks, so anything that's heavily CPU based will work well.

650$ - 5700x / 6650xt

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/bzCV3w

An excellent beginner's gaming build, not the newest components, but still more than powerful enough to handle games at reasonably high graphics settings and FPS. You should be able to target 1080p high settings in most games, and will be able to get around 90-100 FPS.

The 5700x is nearly 3 years old, but it's still pretty powerful and will keep up just fine with the 6650xt, which was the best value card of the last generation of GPUs, and remains an absolute steal for the performance it offers.

750$ - 5700x / 6750xt

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Q6jWDj

Not a huge upgrade from the previous build, but just some small improvements for a more future proofed PC. This one has a better GPU with more VRAM, so you can try to play at 1440p, medium settings, around 100 FPS. The other upgrades are going from 16 to 32gb of RAM, and 1tb to 2tb of storage.

850$ - 5700x3D / 7700xt

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/H8zgXR

This build is possibly the best value for money in this list, as it comes with an x3D CPU, which is essentially one of the fastest on the markets for some games. The 7700xt GPU is good enough for 1080p max settings, or 1440p high, at 120+ FPS, which is the ideal resolution for a lot of people. It might struggle in some more demanding games, but nothing unplayable.

900$ - 14400f / 3070

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xLgP3w

This is mostly just an alternative to the above build, in case you want something more suited to productivity tasks like video editing or something. This isn't a bad combo, it's just not great value for money. Make sure that you'd actually use the benefits Intel/Nvidia provides before going for this over the AMD build.

1000$ - 9600x / 7700xt

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/yFxQzP

Honestly, this build's pretty meh, it's going to perform pretty much the same as the earlier 5700x3D build, but it's main advantage is being on a much newer platform that allows for easy upgrades. With this, you can just swap in a 9800x3D and a 7900xt or something and have one of the best gaming builds down the line.

1100$ - 14400f / 4070 super

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/K3Jkdb

This PC gets a decent GPU upgrade, to the 4070 super, which I'd say is the best value card this generation. It's good enough to handle any game at 1440p high settings, and will get impressive FPS due to DLSS 3 as well. The 14400f is a decent CPU, more than capable of keeping up with the 4070s.

This is a solid combination for productivity applications as well, it should handle basic 3d modelling and stuff with ease. A simple upgrade for around 100$ for this build would be to get a 4070ti instead of super, and that'd give you a decent uplift in gaming performance.

1200$ - 9700x / 7800xt

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2cdWDj

Big upgrade in both CPU and GPU, going up tier up. This build gets a 9700x, so that's two more cores than the above, and a 7800xt, which is mostly on par with the 4070 super, but it has a lot of VRAM, so very future proof. Other than that, there's also a few quality of life things like a better case and PSU.

1300$ - 9600x / 7900xt

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/dJPQ74

This build is kinda in an interesting spot between the above few builds, as it has only a 6 core CPU, but one of the fastest GPUs. It's not going to be great for CPU based applications, but it'll be great for games, especially more graphically intensive ones. This is the cheapest build I'd recommend for native 4k gaming.

1400$ - 14700kf / 4070ti

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Ts7Cb2

The closest alternative to the above build, this comes with a faster CPU, with 2 more p-cores and a bunch more e-cores. It'll be much faster for productivity applications, but it's going to be about the same in most games. You do get the benefit of DLSS 3 though.

1500$ - 9700x / 4070ti super

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NxM3b2

In my opinion, this is the sweet spot. The 9700x is more than enough CPU for just about anyone this side of pro gamers or video editors, and same thing with the 4070ti super. This pair will easily handle any game at 1440p max settings, 120+ FPS. You can also do 4k at high settings without losing much frames.

1650$ - Ultra 7 265k / 4070ti super

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KnqMnp

I'm not entirely sure why you'd get this over the previous build, considering the Ultra 7 is about the same as the 9700x in games and not that much better in productivity apps. Unless there's something specific that you need an Intel CPU for, avoid this one.

Most of the extra price here comes down to the Z890 motherboard, as cheaper ones aren't available yet. The build will update itself when they are.

1800$ - 9800x3D / 7900xtx

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kRkw6Q

Quite possibly the second fastest gaming PC you can buy right now, and definitely all the PC a gamer could ever want. The 9800x3D is the fastest CPU bar none, and the 7900xtx only loses out in terms of raw performance to the 4090, which is 700$ more expensive. It's not the prettiest system, but damn is it fast.

1900$ - 9800x3D / 7900xtx - Black + RGB

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/fCyr6Q

Same basic parts as above, but better looking, and some quality of life improvements. The main changes are RGB everything, an all black aesthetic, and a bigger case with more cooling space. Also, an 850w PSU, but that's not really going to change anything.

2000$ - 9800x3D / 7900xtx - White + RGB

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/wxGYTM

Again, same parts, just white this time around. No other changes.

3800$ - 9800x3D / 4090 - White + RGB

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/DHzdXR

The big daddy of gaming PCs, the fastest you can get. I went with mostly NZXT parts so that it's easy to sync up all the fans to your liking. 4090 is the king of the hill when it comes to any game. If money is no object, this is the way.

4000$ - 9950x / 4090 - Blackout

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KqR9Jn

The productivity beast, for just about any application. The 9950x is just as fast as the Ultra 9, and runs cooler with much less power draw. The 4090 remains constant here, of course. Also, the aesthetic for this build is all black parts with as little RGB as possible. If you're into that look, you can mostly pick those parts for any of the above builds as well.

Conclusion:

And that's the list, people! As always, feel free to ask your doubts about the systems in the comments, I'll try to reply as soon as I can. You can message me directly for queries as well, but I generally am less frequent to respond to those.

If you're one of the regular commentors on this sub, I'd find it greatly helpful if you could go through these lists and see if I've made any glaring mistakes, I'll fix them immediately.

With that, happy building, folks! Send images of your PC when you've built it!

[not a request new build or upgrade? to get around the subreddit rules]

• New build or upgrade? New Build

• Existing parts/monitors to reuse? No

• PC purpose? Gaming: Fortnite, Minecraft, and other common popular games kids play

• Purchase country? Near Micro Center? USA, near micro center

• Monitors needed? Yes just 1, but I guess the specs I need are dependent on the parts I would be recommended?

• Budget range? (Include tax considerations) $800-$900

• WiFi or wired connection? Wifi

• Size/noise constraints? Midtower, quiet if possible

• Color/lighting preferences? No color preference, RGB if possible, but will choose non-RGB if there is a stark price difference in parts

• Any other specific needs? Yes

If possible, I would like this new build to resemble the specs of this pc I built a few months ago: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/DMGvyW

The new build does not have to follow any color theme, so once again color does not matter here. I would like to be able to match a similar price + specs to what my previous build was (at least everything but the ram, since I know that the prices for that are insane right now). I would love to be able to take advantage of Black Friday deals, which is why I am making this post right now!

As it's been asked a lot over DM's: If you want to buy me a coffee, you're more than welcome to. These guides will ALWAYS stay free for everyone, and I will never directly ask for any payment. PayPal or BuyMeACoffee are both possible. If you want some in depth 1-on-1 guidance, shoot me a DM.

$500 - $5000 Automatically updated PCPartPicker.com lists!

Hi everyone, it's time for the Autumn version of the PC Best Buy Guide! Just to let you know: I'm expecting my first child in the next few weeks, so replies might be a bit slow the coming time!

If this is your first time here, here's how this guide works:

• Select a list that fits your budget, and this will take your to PCPartpicker.com.

• At the top right of the screen select your country that you'll be buying from. U.S. will de be default. Changing countries will automatically change the part selection to reflect availability and prices in your country and currency.

• Instead of having manually selected parts, the site will always select the cheapest option that satisfies the parametric selection or filter, while also maintaining intercompatibility between all parts.

  • For example, if the list has a parametric filter for RAM that says "2x16GB, 5600-6000 MT/s, 6-10ns", it will choose the cheapest set of RAM that fits this description, considering current availability, country, currency, etcetera.

• These lists are likely not 'perfect'. For example, there might be good deal on a certain product, but it might still be $1 more expensive than the cheapest option, thus it still won't show up in the list. You're always free to ask in the comments or a separate thread if a list can be optimized for your specific needs.

Changed trends:

• Almost all GPUs are now at MSRP (except the 5090), which makes for better overall value PCs, especially in the lower tiers. AMD wins in the lower brackets of GPUs, while Nvidia edges it out in the higher tiers with their 5070 and 5070 ti. The 5080 is in a weird spot, being 40% more expensive than the 5070 ti, but only 10-15% faster. This makes it hard to recommend, as it also doesn't give you any more features.

• With older CPUs like the Ryzen 5600 going up in price, makes it hard to recommend a DDR4 based system currently. DDR5 continues to drop in price, while the slowest DDR5 is faster than the fastest DDR4 RAM. The Ryzen 5500 is currently the only super-budget CPU I would recommend at just $70. Beyond that, up until the Ryzen 5 7600, the i5 12400(F) at $110 is the only CPU for a gaming PC that makes sense.

• With the 5070 ti at MSRP, it doesn't make a TON of sense to get the 9070XT, though they're both great. Nvidia still offers the best overall features, so AMD still needs more raw performance to make up for that.

• The 9060 XT is close to or at MSRP which makes it a fantastic mid-range GPU, greatly helping out with sub-$1000 builds! *600-series of AM5 boards are starting to phase out and being replaced by B850. There's not a a big difference and you're fine with either.

Gaming PCs:

Workstation PCs:

new build or upgrade?

I’ve enabled parametric filters and choices for some sections. A quick note on the motherboard: make sure you get one with solid VRMs. It should be able to handle a potential future 170W+ CPU with 12+ cores(11700x3d or whatever they call it) without breaking a sweat. I'm avoiding asrock for the time being due to high instances of X3Ds burning with no resolution.

For CPUs, the Ryzen 5 9600X / 7600 / 7600X are excellent AM5 starters. They give you a cheap, powerful entry point now while leaving the door open for an eventual upgrade to something like the 11700X3D or 11800X3D. Just don’t miss out on deals like the 5700X3D at $140,that’s the kind of value that disappears fast(just look at the number of people asking if they should get a $250 5700x3d or upgrade to AM5 rn). On the flip side, overspending on a 7800X3D or 9800X3D doesn’t make sense for most people. Modern demanding titles are still GPU-bound, especially once you crank up ray tracing and upscaling. The only exception is if you can snag a heavily discounted 7800X3D at Microcenter, but that doesn’t apply to most.

The Thermalright Royal Pretor is currently one of the best air coolers on the market, and for $45 it’s basically a no brainer. It’s a solid step up from the Phantom Spirit in performance.

On the GPU front, the RX 9070 16GB at $600 is fantastic value. With a little undervolting/overclocking, it can perform close to a 9070XT. If you can stretch your budget, the 5070 Ti is another stellar option at MSRP. DLSS, path-tracing performance, and Frame Generation are often underrated, especially combined with Reflex 2, which massively reduces latency. Just make sure your native framerate sits at 45 FPS or higher before enabling Frame Gen, and you’ll be golden.

For storage, a 2TB Gen4/Gen5 NVMe SSD is the sweet spot. Game load times aren’t sensitive to NVMe speeds, and the handful of DirectStorage titles out there barely show a difference between Gen3 and Gen4 anyway. Grab whichever is the best deal.

Cases are down to personal preference. I’ve picked airflow-focused and well-priced options, but MATX is also a fantastic choice if you want to keep things compact. The Dan A3 didn’t make it into this list, but it’s still one of my personal favorites.

Power supplies are simple: grab an 850W 80+ Gold ATX 3.1 unit with at least a 10-year warranty, Tier B+ or higher. The 750W variants are often just $10-$15 cheaper, so it’s worth stepping up to 850W for peace of mind.

PCPartPicker Part List