DIY PC Rig Recommendations For 2026

[kingcarlos]

hi all, any recommendations for PC build with budget around 3.5-4k?
- excluding monitor
cheers

 

[ADBCrusader]

The 4090 is kind of too pricey. Didnt want to spend anymore as a i funneled the difference to moving from a 27inch to a 32inch monitor and a 850watt to a 1k watt psu.

The 4080 "may" not fit into a micro atx case due to the number of slots it takes.

The XTX was sold out everywhere, maybe i didnt look hard enough. So settled for 7900XT. Newegg had some promo so price was gd.

I know that feel, also settled for XT instead of XTX, but i only looked online for it.

 

[dynamojack]

i think i will be going for value/mid-range with tecware fusion, any suggestions for the cooling? Was suggested se214xt but its like the cheapest. Is it the best value?

 

[rerear]

Which is the comparable Intel processor to the AMD Ryzen 5600g?

 

[MrBoxySquare]

Is tradepac not the recommended store anymore? I recall 6 years ago, they were one of the cheapest, just have to be wary of the accessories being taken.

 

[NightRaven49]

hi all, any recommendations for PC build with budget around 3.5-4k?
- excluding monitor
cheers

theres really not a whole lot to do in the gulf between the 3k budget build with the 7900 xt and the 4.6k build with the xtx. u could upgrade the cpu, ram, storage or psu but if all u do is gaming these upgrades wont have as much of a noticeable effect as a gpu upgrade. anyway gpu pricing in this territory onwards does get quite bonkers imo, so better to just stick to 3k as a """sane""" budget.

Was suggested se214xt but its like the cheapest. Is it the best value?

for lower power chips, the box cooler (if included) is generally adequate. but a cheap tower cooler like the 214 will do a far better job, so if u are not planning to oc then it should be fine.

Which is the comparable Intel processor to the AMD Ryzen 5600g?

in terms of cpu performance, the 12100 is quite comparable. in terms of gpu performance, intel doesnt have anything.

Is tradepac not the recommended store anymore? I recall 6 years ago, they were one of the cheapest, just have to be wary of the accessories being taken.

tradepac used to be the cheapest yes, but now their prices are generally quite average; dynacore usually has the cheapest prices but stock is not always guaranteed. tradepac price list (which i used to come up with the list) also does not list prices for many components like ram and gpu, so quite difficult to recommend them.

 

[Steyr69]

For those who intend to just get the CPU + Mobo combo only, do note some shops the pricelist is for full PC bundle. For Dynacore, if you are not getting full PC bundle, the stated CPU + mobo price need to add S$15.

 

[rerear]

Which is the main part that governs Handbrake video encoding speed, CPU or GPU? Any information on whether AMD or Intel is better for that, if it is CPU?

 

[HBK]

Hi there,
Any recommendation for wow to run at max setting preferably using intel chip instead of amd.

thanks in advance

 

[Yongkit]

Which is the main part that governs Handbrake video encoding speed, CPU or GPU? Any information on whether AMD or Intel is better for that, if it is CPU?

https://handbrake.fr/docs/en/1.2.0/...p,offer significant increases in performance.
refering to this document, 8 core cpu is best for the encoding.

I experience with both AMD 5900x (105w) & Intel 11700 (65w) with AIO setup and both are average running 4.4Ghz cpu clock during encoding.

 

[jim889]

nowadays steel got ppl build a custom pc meh..

 

[archtomato]

I know that feel, also settled for XT instead of XTX, but i only looked online for it.

Pc built. Doing great ...

 

[ADBCrusader]

Pc built. Doing great ...

Same here. 7900XT seems to be holding fine for me.

 

[anonym99]

high performance productivity + gaming, total: $3619

core i7-13700kf + msi mag z690m mortar wifi d5	891	dynacore
arctic liquid freezer ii 360mm	158	techdeals
lexar ares 2x 16gb 5200c38 ddr5	219	infinity
wd black sn850x 1tb	181	pc themes
msi rtx 4080 ventus 3x	1868	techdeals
msi mpg a750gf	152	dynacore

Newbie here , Thanks for making the lists.

I want to build similar like above for productivity, mostly to run lot of VMs/docker sometimes for hashing operation, not a gamer (but wanted a decent graphic card that can support current game), currently i'm using dual monitor, samsung 24 1080 and gigabyte 34 2k 144hz.

graphic:
Is there any recommendation for the standard graphic card (maybe the budget around 700-800)? (list above is 4080 i believe for high end gaming).

mobo:
any reason choose msi mag z690m over asus (maybe prime z790 model)?

memory:
will there any issue in the future if i want to use 1x32gb for now, and later in the future plan to upgrade?

TIA

 

[NightRaven49]

Which is the main part that governs Handbrake video encoding speed, CPU or GPU? Any information on whether AMD or Intel is better for that, if it is CPU?

generally cpu. u can use gpu but the implementation is pretty terrible, so most people stick to cpu encode. performance should be proportional to general multi core performance, so the more u have the better.

Hi there,
Any recommendation for wow to run at max setting preferably using intel chip instead of amd.

thanks in advance

depends on what resolution u are planning to play at. also which gpu are u running?

graphic:
Is there any recommendation for the standard graphic card (maybe the budget around 700-800)? (list above is 4080 i believe for high end gaming).

u can just pluck the cards i recommended for the 1.5-1.6k build, ie the zotac 3070 for about 800 or asus 6750xt for under 650.

mobo:
any reason choose msi mag z690m over asus (maybe prime z790 model)?

its cheaper when comparing ddr5 boards, and z790 does not offer much more than z690 if u dont use a lot of high speed expansion cards.

memory:
will there any issue in the future if i want to use 1x32gb for now, and later in the future plan to upgrade?

if u plan on upgrading in such a way that all ram slots will be fully populated in the future, u may not be able to run them at high speeds (depends on the speed u target and the quality of the imc in ur specific cpu). if u do memory sensitive apps (including gaming), performance today may also be degraded due to single channel operation.

 

[anonym99]

u can just pluck the cards i recommended for the 1.5-1.6k build, ie the zotac 3070 for about 800 or asus 6750xt for under 650.

its cheaper when comparing ddr5 boards, and z790 does not offer much more than z690 if u dont use a lot of high speed expansion cards.

if u plan on upgrading in such a way that all ram slots will be fully populated in the future, u may not be able to run them at high speeds (depends on the speed u target and the quality of the imc in ur specific cpu). if u do memory sensitive apps (including gaming), performance today may also be degraded due to single channel operation.

gotcha, that's make sense, thank you so much!

 

[sKeLeToN]

I'm looking to build a new PC to play the upcoming Diablo 4...won't be playing much other games or doing any heavy duty productivity work either (no streaming or video editing stuff)....just want to achieve smooth frame rates at at least 1440p....

Can any kind soul gimme some pointers on some recommended specs? My budget is around $2.5k. Have to cater separate budget for monitor and speakers....

Due to desk space constraints, i'm looking to the NZXT H1 as my go-to case. Also hope to include the most current gen gfx cards and processors for future proofing...

Side question - where do you all buy PC parts these days. Is it still Sim Lim, still best all-round pricing/ deals?

As a full disclosure, i'm a noob at PC building but wanna do this as a project for 2023. The last one i built was decades ago. I considered the shortcut route by shopping at Aftershock but the price seems quite steep. I've long been wanting to do this project for the longest time and i think with Diablo 4 coming will be a good motivation for me...

 

[iichigoz]

Hi all, recently my PSU burnt and realised after that 1 of my ram slot picha also. Slot in rams cannot boot up at all. Only working with one. I have been using this desktop for about 5 years and I think its time for a change.

My current build is:
Fractal design define nano S.
MSI H87i + Intel i5-4570
gskill ripjaw 1600 2x4gb ddr3
rtx2060 super
corsair sf750 psu - new
still using ssd. MB no m.2 slots.

I also want to play D4 at 1440p and I do want to run as many instances of bluestack as possible. at times also play path of exile and dota2. Got any recommendations or I can just follow the build on top? I can still use my rtx 2060 right? Is it not recommended to go 7600x now?

Thanks!

 

[NightRaven49]

I'm looking to build a new PC to play the upcoming Diablo 4...won't be playing much other games or doing any heavy duty productivity work either (no streaming or video editing stuff)....just want to achieve smooth frame rates at at least 1440p....

Can any kind soul gimme some pointers on some recommended specs? My budget is around $2.5k. Have to cater separate budget for monitor and speakers....

Due to desk space constraints, i'm looking to the NZXT H1 as my go-to case. Also hope to include the most current gen gfx cards and processors for future proofing...

some serious itx tax that ur gonna pay... going with the h1v1 opposed to the h1v2 as the v2 is a lot more expensive.
all parts from dynacore:

ryzen 7 5800x3d + asrock b550m-itx/ac	697
gskill ripjaws v 2x 8gb 3600mhz ddr4	89
wd black sn770 1tb	134
msi rtx 4070 ti ventus 3x oc	1349
nzxt h1	210

total: 2479

I also want to play D4 at 1440p and I do want to run as many instances of bluestack as possible. at times also play path of exile and dota2. Got any recommendations or I can just follow the build on top? I can still use my rtx 2060 right? Is it not recommended to go 7600x now?

for maxing out bluestacks instances, u might probably want more threads. thus i would suggest u stick to intel and get the 13500f + b660/b760 itx board, offers 20 threads (6p + 8e) compared to 16 of the x3d and 12 of 7600x. u can get the combo with the asrock b660m-itx for as low as 545 for ddr4 or rog strix b760i ddr5 for 694 from dynacore. 7600x with itx boards are at least $50 more expensive and again u get fewer threads, though once the non x arrives it may be suitable if the price is considerably lower. if u find the performance of ur 2060s satisfactory then i dont see any reason to change it.

 

[iichigoz]

for maxing out bluestacks instances, u might probably want more threads. thus i would suggest u stick to intel and get the 13500f + b660/b760 itx board, offers 20 threads (6p + 8e) compared to 16 of the x3d and 12 of 7600x. u can get the combo with the asrock b660m-itx for as low as 545 for ddr4 or rog strix b760i ddr5 for 694 from dynacore. 7600x with itx boards are at least $50 more expensive and again u get fewer threads, though once the non x arrives it may be suitable if the price is considerably lower. if u find the performance of ur 2060s satisfactory then i dont see any reason to change it.

Thanks for the recommendations. Just to clarify, the 13500 doesnt have a F version right? Dont seemed to be able to find that option on dynacore's latest price list. I might go with the asus b760i combo. Hopefully they have it in stock already. Which RAM do you recommend? I'm considering going for 32GB.