Components
GPUs
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB
Flagship RDNA 4 GPU — 16GB and stronger raster than the RTX 5070, the high-end tier's AMD alternative.
Intel Arc B580 12GB
Battlemage mid-range GPU — 12GB of VRAM under the RTX 5060 price, the budget tier's Intel alternative.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 16GB
Second-fastest Blackwell GPU — 16GB GDDR7 at a third of the RTX 5090's price, the 1% tier's fallback card.
AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB
Mid-range RDNA 4 GPU — 1440p-capable with 16GB VRAM and FSR 4, the AMD alternative to the RTX 5060 Ti.
Intel Arc A580 8GB
Cheapest new discrete GPU that still clears the minimum spec — last-gen Alchemist, 8GB, for a barely-qualifies budget.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 32GB
The fastest consumer GPU — 32GB GDDR7 Blackwell flagship for no-compromise 4K and DLSS 4.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 8GB
Budget Blackwell GPU — solid 1080p performance with DLSS 4 and 8GB VRAM.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB
Mid-range Blackwell GPU — 1440p capable with 16GB VRAM for future-proofing.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 12GB
High-end Blackwell GPU — 4K gaming with DLSS 4 and 12GB GDDR7.
Motherboards
ASRock B650M PG Riptide WiFi
Budget-plus mATX AM5 motherboard with WiFi 6E, dual M.2 (one PCIe 5.0), and a stronger 12+2+1 VRM than the bare-bones boards.
ASUS ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming WiFi
Premium ATX AM5 board — 18+2 power stages, PCIe 5.0, 4x M.2, WiFi 6E for a no-compromise flagship build.
ASUS TUF Gaming B650-PLUS WiFi
Reliable ATX AM5 motherboard with WiFi 6, PCIe 5.0 M.2, and TUF durability.
Gigabyte B650M DS3H
Budget mATX AM5 motherboard — bare essentials for a Ryzen 5 build.
MSI MAG B650 TOMAHAWK WiFi
Mid-range ATX AM5 motherboard with WiFi 6E, strong VRMs, and 4 RAM slots.
Cases
Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO
Premium dual-chamber ATX/E-ATX case — showcase glass, huge radiator and GPU clearance for a flagship build.
Fractal Design North
Premium ATX mid-tower with walnut mesh front panel and excellent airflow.
Fractal Design Pop Mini Air
Compact mATX case with excellent airflow and clean aesthetics.
Thermaltake S100 TG
Budget mATX case with tempered glass side panel and good airflow.
CPU Coolers
Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360
360mm AIO liquid cooler — tames a 170W Ryzen 9 9950X3D under sustained 4K gaming and rendering loads.
Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120
Budget dual-tower cooler — handles the Ryzen 7 9800X3D at 120W TDP with room to spare.
CPUs
AMD Ryzen 5 7500F
Cheapest AM5 gaming CPU — 6 Zen 4 cores without integrated graphics, ideal for a discrete-GPU recession build.
AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
The flagship gaming + productivity CPU — 16 Zen 5 cores with 3D V-Cache for the highest framerates available.
AMD Ryzen 5 7600
6-core AM5 gaming CPU — the best budget option for 2026 builds.
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
8-core AM5 gaming CPU with 3D V-Cache — the fastest gaming processor for 2026.
Power Supplies
Corsair RM1200x Shift 1200W 80+ Gold
Fully modular 1200W ATX 3.1 PSU with a native 12V-2x6 connector — clean power and transient headroom for an RTX 5090.
Corsair CX550M 550W 80+ Bronze
Budget semi-modular PSU — enough for a Ryzen 5 + RTX 5060 build.
Corsair RM650e 650W 80+ Gold
Mid-range fully modular PSU — quiet and efficient for RTX 5060 Ti builds.
Corsair RM750e 750W 80+ Gold
High-end fully modular PSU — headroom for RTX 5070 and future upgrades.
RAM
G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 64GB DDR5-6000 (2x32GB)
High-capacity 64GB DDR5-6000 CL36 kit — overkill headroom for gaming, streaming, and heavy multitasking.
G.Skill Flare X5 16GB DDR5-6000 (2x8GB)
Budget DDR5 kit optimized for AMD AM5 — 16GB at DDR5-6000 CL30.
G.Skill Flare X5 32GB DDR5-6000 (2x16GB)
32GB DDR5 kit optimized for AMD AM5 — headroom for UE5 games and multitasking.
Storage
Patriot P300 256GB NVMe SSD
Smallest SSD that still holds a 150GB+ AAA install — the technically-qualifies storage floor during the NAND spike.
Samsung 990 Pro 4TB NVMe SSD
Flagship 4TB Gen4 NVMe — room for a whole library of 100GB+ installs at top speeds.
Kingston NV2 1TB NVMe SSD
Budget 1TB NVMe SSD — good enough for game installs at a low price.
Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB NVMe SSD
Fast 1TB NVMe SSD with PCIe 5.0 support — excellent for game loading.
Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB NVMe SSD
Fast 2TB NVMe SSD — room for multiple AAA installs without compromise.