Forum Discussion

Awothur's avatar
Awothur
Brass Contributor
Jun 02, 2026

First PC: Help me finish it please

I’ve had gaming laptops for the past 10 years and I’m finally looking to build my first tower.

I have 3 non-negotiables;

  1. a 9800 X3D CPU;
  2. a 5070 Ti (I was originally going to just go for a 5080 but my friend nudged me towards the cheaper 5070Ti for a relatively low loss in performance; and
  3. I’d like to be under £2500 so less than $3000

Firstly, I’d like to know about GPU brands. The retailer I’m looking at has Palit, PNY, GeForce and ASUs 5070Ti models (with the ASUs being the most expensive)

Should I just go for the ASUS assuming it’s more expensive because it’s “tweaked” better? Any comments on those other models?

Is there a MB, RAM and PSU recommendation to go with my CPU and GPU? Or can I free-ball.

I mostly play MMOs so that’s why I’m set on the 9800X3D so I’m really trying to build around the processor. Don’t know if this is a backwards way to do it.

2 Replies

  • Ronanfu's avatar
    Ronanfu
    Copper Contributor

    Look for a motherboard compatible with the AMD 9800 X3D, ideally a B550 or X570 chipset. Brands like ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, or ASRock are reliable. For gaming, prioritize features like good VRMs (for CPU stability), PCIe 4.0 support, and enough M.2 slots.

  • Atllas's avatar
    Atllas
    Copper Contributor

    Coming from gaming laptops, building your first tower with a 9800X3D and a 5070 Ti is a fantastic plan. You've picked an amazing CPU that's basically the king for MMOs , and targeting a £2500 budget gives you plenty of room for a top-tier build.