My first PC build!

Hey everyone! This is my very first time building a PC, so I wanted to reach out and ask for some advice, warnings, or anything else you might have for me.

Here’s the parts list I'm looking at:
Intel Core i5-9600K (it was supposed to be $567 at Links, but they're sold out—lowest price is $2000 right now)
RX5700xt ( I originally wanted the Powercolor Red Dragon, but Home Depot is out of stock and Links doesn't have it either.
ASUS Prime (
500Gb SSD(
16Gb RAM (
650W Power Supply(
ANTEC NX100 Gray (
Do any of you have experience with these specific parts that you could share?
Also, does anyone know where I might find these components a bit cheaper? Keep in mind, if you happen to know a place that offers financing, that would be amazing. I know how messy shipping and warehouse stock can be lately, but if you can help, please do!

Thanks in advance!

Unfortunately, you picked the absolute worst time to be shopping.

The Intel Core i5-9600K used to sit under $500, and the 2700X was a solid budget alternative for about 1200-1300.
Now, with Black Friday hitting, retailers are just dumping old stock. When I went to pick up a 2700X, the guy told me they still had them, but the wholesale cost jumped, so they're clearing out. They're basically flushing the inventory.

A new wave of CPUs and GPUs just dropped, but the mid-range stuff hasn't hit the shelves yet, so prices are still inflated. Honestly, it’s a waste of cash to drop $567 on an Intel Core i5-9600K right now when the Intel Core i5-12400 should be landing in a month or two for around $667, and that thing is in a completely different league.

It's the same story with the 5700XT cards. You can't find an RTX 3070 for less than $1667 at the moment, though it should eventually settle around $500-$550. An RTX 3060Ti is sitting a bit above $1333. Both of those crush the 5700XT. It's the same deal as the processor—if things were selling at MSRP, you'd be getting close to an Intel Core i5-12600K and a 3060Ti, but that's not reality.

My advice? Wait until February to buy anything. Things should stabilize by then. What's your budget?
You could probably pick better parts for the rest of the build too, but that's just splitting hairs.

I know, right? It’s honestly such a bummer. Back when I could actually manage my own builds, I could put everything together for about $2.25, but now we're looking at basically 8000. I really kicked myself for not grabbing anything during Black Friday.
I was originally thinking about picking up an Intel Core i5-12400, but the price has jumped to around 2800; besides, the Intel Core i5-9600K isn't much of a bottleneck if I pair it with one of those RTX 30 series cards anyway.
I noticed Best Buy has an NVIDIA RTX 3060 for 4400 here:
I'm just a little suspicious, though, because I haven't heard much about Palit. I've just noticed that their stuff is always the first to sell out whenever something new drops.
My total budget is 8000.

Whether you run into a bottleneck really depends on your resolution and what kind of games you're playing. An Intel Core i5-9600K isn't going to hold you back much, but honestly, why pay full price $567 when the Intel Core i5-12400 is dropping in a month or two for around $667? That chip is a couple generations ahead of the 9600K. I reckon an NVIDIA RTX 3060 and an Intel Core i5-12400 would fit your budget once prices chill out in a few months. Are you in a rush?

Too bad you didn't snag a CPU during Black Friday. My brother picked up a 2700X—it's a bit weaker than the Intel Core i5-9600K for gaming, but for $400 it works fine. He’ll probably upgrade to something like a 3060Ti later when he can afford it.

To be honest, I'm aiming for 1080p at 60Hz—though I might upgrade to 144Hz once I save up enough. 1440p is definitely a long-term goal. My current rig is honestly a headache; it keeps shutting down and acting up, plus it's getting pretty old.
Yeah, you're right. Comparing a 2700X to an Intel Core i5-9600K... there's maybe a 5fps difference? Man, I really messed that one up! I was fully expecting prices to drop even lower for Black Friday and stuff.
I'm not sure if you could recommend any other ways to cut costs from my list, besides what you already mentioned regarding the CPU and GPU.

What’s actually in your rig right now? What GPU are you running?
It would be ideal if you didn't have to overhaul everything all at once.

By the way, Best Buy has a used 2060 Super with a two-year warranty—not a bad call.

https://www.bestbuy.com/graphics-card-example

Personally, I'd stick with an Intel Core i5-7500 AF
For $300, it's still a killer deal. You'll hit 60FPS without breaking a sweat, and you'll get even more in lighter games where the GPU isn't the bottleneck. Save that cash now so you can grab a beefier card later. You can always drop an Intel 12th Gen chip into the same board down the road.
You could even aim for a 3060Ti right now. It's pricey, but for $1333, you won't find anything stronger since it performs similarly to a 2080 Super, which goes for over $2000.

https://www.newegg.com/cpu-example

I honestly don't think there's any point in chasing the Intel Core i5-9600K anymore; they've started getting way too $667 expensive. If you're building right now, aiming for an Intel Core i5-10400F is definitely the way to go. Prices have been hovering around $383 lately, or roughly $433 these days. Pair it with a solid B460 motherboard—just steer clear of AsRock on the LGA1200 socket—and grab some 3000MHz 2x8GB RAM. You can find decent boards for about 800-$300; the main thing is ensuring you can run faster RAM and that if you ever decide to upgrade to an i7 or i9 down the road, you won't melt the board 😁 and actually get the performance boost you need.

The problem is, from what I've seen in a few cases, half of what's listed online isn't actually in stock (specifically at places like Best Buy or Micro Center). Giving advice feels pretty futile when we don't know what's actually on the shelves; they don't update their sites and end up suggesting weird alternatives to customers. For example, they claim to have an MSI B460 in stock, but then you show up and it's nowhere to be found...

Also, by saving some cash on the CPU, you'll have enough left over for an NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti. I've noticed Palit cards pop up on Links for $1300 every couple of days, maybe just a few units at a time. I know several people who've snagged one (both here on the forums and in real life), so just keep a close eye on their page and order the second you see it. Though, if you're planning on sticking to 1080p at 60Hz, you probably won't even need it.

Just jumping in on what @Kimberly Gomez34 was saying...

Seriously, just double-check everything you order online....

1. You check a shop—it says they have the RAM "in stock." So I buy it, pay for it... then the next day they hit me up saying it's actually out of stock and they're refunding my money.
2. Then, because that first shop messed up, I try ordering a case from another place that supposedly has it "in stock," choosing cash on delivery. They call me and drag it out for up to two weeks.
3. Since I couldn't find the motherboard I wanted locally, I started looking at places in Germany. Everything looked good there. But after buying the memory, it said "arriving by end of day," then suddenly switched to "available Dec 7th," and now it finally says "available. Order placed Nov 24th."

Honestly, if I get everything by Dec 20th, I’ll consider it a win.

Check out Links too. From the time I bought stuff online to when I actually picked up a power supply from them, I think about 10 days passed.

To be honest, this PC is about 8 years old now. And if I’m being even more blunt, I don't actually know which GPU or motherboard is in here. But yeah, it's definitely an old socket. I did some digging into the Intel Core i5-10400F and honestly, it looks pretty solid. There are minor frequency differences, sure, but the performance feels just as good, if not better. Personally, I’d rather grab an NVIDIA RTX 3060 to slightly overkill my resolution for now, just so I have the headroom to upgrade to a better monitor later—which is exactly what I'm planning to do. My only real question is about the motherboard. I'm no tech genius, but I was wondering: wouldn't it be smarter to go with a B550 (like this one: https://www.homedepot.com/ma...-s2h/product/))? It's a newer socket and all. I'm just not sure about the supported frequencies. Generally speaking, I wouldn't mind building a setup with an Intel Core i5-10400F and an NVIDIA RTX 3060, paired with 16GB of 3200MHz RAM, so that's why I'm asking.

Also, thanks for the info on the stores! I'll try to pick things up in person at a local shop as much as possible.

That’s an AM4 motherboard designed for Ryzen CPUs
This one seems fine

Are we strictly talking about Intel here?
It’s not bad, though it feels a bit pricey; I might consider it.
I was doing a little digging myself—maybe one of these would work?

Thanks!

From what I know, B460 boards only support RAM up to 2933MHz, and if you're stuck with a locked CPU, it might only hit 2666MHz or something like that. Honestly, buying faster RAM feels like a waste of money there.
Personally, I’d lean toward a B450 board paired with an Intel Core i5-7500 because the upgrade path is way better—you can eventually drop an Intel 12th Gen chip in there.
B450 boards are actually pretty affordable and solid pieces of gear.
https://www.nabava.net/search.php?q=b450+steel+legend
https://www.nabava.net/maticne-ploce...-ddr4-92791051

With Intel, you get a slightly better processor right now (Intel Core i5-10400F), but your only real upgrade option later is an Intel Core i7-10700 or similar, which always ends up being overpriced on the used market.

P.S.

Yeah, the AM4 socket is strictly for Ryzen. As far as I recall, Intel is using LGA1200 now for the 10th and 11th generations.

boldharbor7 said:Are we strictly talking about Intel here?
It’s not bad, though it feels a bit pricey; I might consider it.
I was doing a little digging myself—maybe one of these would work?

Thanks!

Personally, I'd grab the MSI and just go with Intel.

I’d probably pair it with the Intel Core i3-10100F too—it's actually 18% faster and about 20% cheaper.

Sam Diaz2 said:Personally, I'd grab the MSI and just go with Intel.

I’d probably pair it with the Intel Core i3-10100F too—it's actually 18% faster and about 20% cheaper.

18% faster than what? The Intel Core i5-7500?
Maybe in games where you aren't even hitting your FPS ceiling. Once the heavy hitters arrive, you're going to feel those missing cores (the 10100F is just a quad-core). We saw this exact same thing happen with non-hyperthreaded quads about a year ago. There's no reason to settle for a quad when you can step up to 6-core (whether it's an Intel Core i5-10400F or an Intel Core i5-7500).

Example: Cyberpunk 2077 hits 80% CPU usage on the Intel Core i5-9600K (with decent performance), so a quad-core would just be choking.

For 1080p gaming, the Intel Core i3-10100F is a solid choice, and you can always upgrade to an Intel Core i7-10700 later on. If you're looking at higher resolutions, maybe look into an Intel Core i5-12400 or something similar, depending on what your budget allows.

wiredotter14 said:18% faster than what? The Intel Core i5-7500?
Maybe in games where you aren't even hitting your FPS ceiling. Once the heavy hitters arrive, you're going to feel those missing cores (the 10100F is just a quad-core). We saw this exact same thing happen with non-hyperthreaded quads about a year ago. There's no reason to settle for a quad when you can step up to 6-core (whether it's an Intel Core i5-10400F or an Intel Core i5-7500).

Example: Cyberpunk 2077 hits 80% CPU usage on the Intel Core i5-9600K (with decent performance), so a quad-core would just be choking.

If we're talking price, then the i5 and the R5 are 100% more expensive (and not even in the same league). If we aren't talking savings, then there's that $333 difference on the processor. In a year or two, you could just swap in a new chip. The socket is fresh, so it’ll definitely support at least one more generation.
On YouTube benchmarks, the i3 actually pulls a better average FPS than the R5 2600.

The Intel Core i3-10100 has hyperthreading.

A few years back, people used to recommend the Intel Pentium G4650 for budget builds because it was so good that its price quickly climbed to nearly 80-100% of what was actually recommended. I'm worried they did the same thing with the Intel Core i5-9600K, driving the price way up. I think back in the summer, it topped out around $500.

Throughout my whole component picking process, I was certain I'd go with AMD. They were better, had better tech, and were affordable... until recently. Honestly, once you bundle a solid motherboard and a processor together, I don't think the price is a best value for money anymore. Just my humble opinion.

Personally, if I'm gaming heavily and want to stay current, I'd rather invest in a Z490 board now. For $567, I'd have a CPU and mobo setup ready for the future instead of dropping $567 just for an Intel Core i5-9600K.

Sam Diaz2 said:If we're talking price, then the i5 and the R5 are 100% more expensive (and not even in the same league). If we aren't talking savings, then there's that $333 difference on the processor. In a year or two, you could just swap in a new chip. The socket is fresh, so it’ll definitely support at least one more generation.
On YouTube benchmarks, the i3 actually pulls a better average FPS than the R5 2600.

The Intel Core i3-10100 has hyperthreading.

A few years back, people used to recommend the Intel Pentium G4650 for budget builds because it was so good that its price quickly climbed to nearly 80-100% of what was actually recommended. I'm worried they did the same thing with the Intel Core i5-9600K, driving the price way up. I think back in the summer, it topped out around $500.

Throughout my whole component picking process, I was certain I'd go with AMD. They were better, had better tech, and were affordable... until recently. Honestly, once you bundle a solid motherboard and a processor together, I don't think the price is a best value for money anymore. Just my humble opinion.

Personally, if I'm gaming heavily and want to stay current, I'd rather invest in a Z490 board now. For $567, I'd have a CPU and mobo setup ready for the future instead of dropping $567 just for an Intel Core i5-9600K.

1) Nobody on this thread recommended the Intel Core i5-9600K just because the price spiked.
2) Sure, the i3 10100 has HT, but it’s the same situation as those quad cores without HT from a few years ago—demands are just rising.
3) The i3 10100 is basically on par with the R5 2600. A few FPS better on average, maybe a few worse on the minimums. The Intel Core i5-7500 is right there too. The Intel Core i5-10400F is significantly better.

4) The i3 10100 is great value because the prices are ridiculous, no question. What's questionable is the futureproofing and the upgrade path.
5) The Intel Core i5-7500 offers a much better upgrade path for not much more cash + you can run 3200MHz RAM on a B450 board. You can't do that on B460.
6) The i3 10100F performs well, but the futureproofing sucks. If new games like Cyberpunk 2077 push the limits of the Intel Core i5-9600K, how will a quad-core handle it? The i3 has a mediocre upgrade path since used Intel chips are historically way overpriced (for example, a couple-year-old quad core costs the same as an i3 10100 now).
7) The Intel Core i5-10400F has solid performance and a good price—the current sweet spot. It doesn't have a great upgrade path, but you probably won't need one.
8) I’d go with the Intel Core i5-7500 if I planned a decent upgrade in a year, or the Intel Core i5-10400F if I wanted to just leave it alone. I wouldn't touch the i3 10100 with this budget because it'll eventually bottleneck a card like the NVIDIA RTX 3060, especially once you upgrade the monitor.

P.S.

Regarding what you wrote at the end about $567 for the Z490 and the i3 10100F... I follow similar logic, but I think it's far better to grab the Intel Core i5-7500 and a solid B450 board. That way, you can upgrade to something like an Intel Core i5-12400, which beats almost anything on the LGA1200 platform, and you can pick one up for roughly $667 new (or less as time goes on). With Z490, you're stuck with expensive Intel options, whether new or used.

The price for the Intel Core i5-9600K was sitting around $567 when it first hit the shelves here, and it never actually dropped below $500. Now that it's hovering above $600, there's no way we'll ever see a price cut like the one on the Intel Core i5-12600K dropping from 2900 down to 2000.

wiredotter14 said:1) Nobody on this thread recommended the Intel Core i5-9600K just because the price spiked.
2) Sure, the i3 10100 has HT, but it’s the same situation as those quad cores without HT from a few years ago—demands are just rising.
3) The i3 10100 is basically on par with the R5 2600. A few FPS better on average, maybe a few worse on the minimums. The Intel Core i5-7500 is right there too. The Intel Core i5-10400F is significantly better.

4) The i3 10100 is great value because the prices are ridiculous, no question. What's questionable is the futureproofing and the upgrade path.
5) The Intel Core i5-7500 offers a much better upgrade path for not much more cash + you can run 3200MHz RAM on a B450 board. You can't do that on B460.
6) The i3 10100F performs well, but the futureproofing sucks. If new games like Cyberpunk 2077 push the limits of the Intel Core i5-9600K, how will a quad-core handle it? The i3 has a mediocre upgrade path since used Intel chips are historically way overpriced (for example, a couple-year-old quad core costs the same as an i3 10100 now).
7) The Intel Core i5-10400F has solid performance and a good price—the current sweet spot. It doesn't have a great upgrade path, but you probably won't need one.
8) I’d go with the Intel Core i5-7500 if I planned a decent upgrade in a year, or the Intel Core i5-10400F if I wanted to just leave it alone. I wouldn't touch the i3 10100 with this budget because it'll eventually bottleneck a card like the NVIDIA RTX 3060, especially once you upgrade the monitor.

P.S.

Regarding what you wrote at the end about $567 for the Z490 and the i3 10100F... I follow similar logic, but I think it's far better to grab the Intel Core i5-7500 and a solid B450 board. That way, you can upgrade to something like an Intel Core i5-12400, which beats almost anything on the LGA1200 platform, and you can pick one up for roughly $667 new (or less as time goes on). With Z490, you're stuck with expensive Intel options, whether new or used.

I don't really see it that way. If you're dropping $100+ on a chip from 2017 and a B450 board, there's no guarantee that some future 6th gen Ryzen will even stick to the AM4 platform. Plus, who knows if AMD will even bother innovating now that they've taken the lead? They might just sit there milking their 5th gen by releasing X and XT versions or whatever other junk they come up with, which means those Intel 12th Gen prices might stay high for a while. And once they finally drop in two or three years, how much will a 5 or 6-year-old processor even be worth?

On the flip side, with LGA1200 and Intel's 11th gen trying to hold its own—either through raw power or price—you'd at least have the option to pick up a faster chip or jump to an Intel Core i7-10700 when things get cheaper. An i3 is usually easier to offload too, since it stays relevant longer.

Just to be clear, this is just my take. I'm not trying to act like I've outsmarted anyone 👍 . I'm just looking at it from my own experience of picking a CPU, back when I wasn't even looking at Intel. I ended up spending some time on: https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/ sort by Best value for money

I knew from the jump that if I went with AMD, I'd want a B550 board (for the reasons I mentioned), or LGA1200 if I went Intel. When I compared the prices, the form factors, and the features—having Wi-Fi was a non-negotiable for me—I ultimately went with Intel because of the cost.

Personally, I picked up the 10100F for $203 during Black Friday. I'm not saying it's the smartest move ever made, but it felt like a good deal. Honestly, if I were going to buy an NVIDIA RTX 3060 for $1467, I'd make sure the motherboard, CPU, and cooling all actually made sense in terms of quality and looks. I wouldn't pair a card like that with an i3 or an R3.

Alexander Moore67 said:The price for the Intel Core i5-9600K was sitting around $567 when it first hit the shelves here, and it never actually dropped below $500. Now that it's hovering above $600, there's no way we'll ever see a price cut like the one on the Intel Core i5-12600K dropping from 2900 down to 2000.

If you check Amazon, there's a "lowest price history" feature for every product, and it was actually quite a bit lower than $500 back in the day. People on the forums were recommending it all the time to anyone asking for build advice.