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XanderCrews
| Favorite team: | LSU |
| Location: | |
| Biography: | |
| Interests: | |
| Occupation: | |
| Number of Posts: | 806 |
| Registered on: | 3/3/2009 |
| Online Status: | Not Online |
Recent Posts
Message
re: Advice on PC Build
Posted by XanderCrews on 1/8/26 at 7:49 pm to Scruffy
i totally didnt use ai for this:
You are asking the right question and you are approaching this correctly. You are not underpowered today. You are trying to avoid wasting money on marginal gains that you will never notice. That is exactly the right mindset.
I will go component by component, then give you a clear recommendation at the end.
Overall verdict up front
This build is strong, modern, and will absolutely crush the games you listed. It is not absurdly overkill, but there are two areas where you may be paying extra without proportional benefit depending on your target resolution and refresh rate. Nothing here is a bad choice. Some choices are simply optional upgrades rather than necessities.
Now the breakdown.
CPU: Intel Ultra 7 265K
This is a very capable modern CPU with excellent single core performance, which is what matters most for gaming. For titles like Cyberpunk, Baldur’s Gate 3, Elden Ring, and Kingdom Come, you will not be CPU bottlenecked for many years.
Important context
Single player games rarely scale meaningfully beyond 8 to 10 strong cores. This CPU gives you headroom for background tasks, mods, and future titles without being excessive.
Reality check
You would see little to no real world gaming difference versus a slightly lower tier CPU unless you are pushing very high frame rates at 1080p. At 1440p or 4K, the GPU does most of the work.
Verdict
Excellent choice. Slightly premium. Not a mistake.
GPU: GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
This is the most important part of your build and where longevity really lives.
For your use case
Cyberpunk with mods
Black Myth
Future visually demanding single player titles
This class of GPU is exactly where you want to be if you care about high settings, ray tracing, and smooth performance for years.
Key question you should ask yourself
What monitor are you pairing this with?
If you are targeting
1440p high refresh rate
This is an excellent pairing and will feel premium for a long time.
4K
It will still perform very well, but you may need to rely on DLSS sooner in future titles. That is not a problem. DLSS is mature and effective.
Verdict
This is not a waste of money for your stated goals. The GPU is doing the heavy lifting and you are allocating budget correctly.
Motherboard: MSI Z890
This is where people often overspend unintentionally.
What you actually need
Stable power delivery
Good BIOS support
Enough USB ports
One or two NVMe slots
What high end boards add
Extreme overclocking features
Extra PCIe lanes most people never use
Branding and cosmetics
Since you have not built in 20 years, I want to be very clear
You do not need to overclock to get great performance. Modern CPUs already boost aggressively on their own.
Verdict
Z890 is fine if the price difference is small.
If there is a significantly cheaper Z890 or even a high quality B series equivalent that supports your CPU fully, that is where you can save money without losing performance.
RAM: 32GB
This is exactly right.
Modern games with mods can exceed 16GB. Windows plus background apps plus browsers add up. 32GB gives you breathing room and future proofing without excess.
Speed matters more than raw capacity beyond this point, but anything in the reasonable modern range will perform similarly in real world gaming.
Verdict
Perfect choice. No notes.
Storage: 2TB T Force A440
This is a fast NVMe drive and 2TB is a smart size in 2026 era gaming. Games are huge. Mods eat space. You do not want to juggle installs.
Important clarification
You will not feel a difference between this and slightly slower high quality NVMe drives in gaming. Load times are already near the ceiling.
Verdict
Good drive. Slightly premium. Not a mistake.
Longevity reality check
No PC lasts forever, but this build will feel strong for at least 5 to 6 years for single player gaming. Likely longer if you are comfortable lowering settings slightly over time or leaning on DLSS.
You are not building a competitive esports rig. You are building a cinematic single player machine. This spec matches that intent.
What I would double check before buying
Your monitor resolution and refresh rate
Power supply quality and wattage
Cooling solution for the CPU
Case airflow
Those matter more than squeezing another tier of CPU or motherboard.
Final honest assessment
You are not getting shafted.
You are not blindly buying expensive parts just because they are expensive.
Your biggest spend is in the GPU, which is exactly where it should be for your games.
You are asking the right question and you are approaching this correctly. You are not underpowered today. You are trying to avoid wasting money on marginal gains that you will never notice. That is exactly the right mindset.
I will go component by component, then give you a clear recommendation at the end.
Overall verdict up front
This build is strong, modern, and will absolutely crush the games you listed. It is not absurdly overkill, but there are two areas where you may be paying extra without proportional benefit depending on your target resolution and refresh rate. Nothing here is a bad choice. Some choices are simply optional upgrades rather than necessities.
Now the breakdown.
CPU: Intel Ultra 7 265K
This is a very capable modern CPU with excellent single core performance, which is what matters most for gaming. For titles like Cyberpunk, Baldur’s Gate 3, Elden Ring, and Kingdom Come, you will not be CPU bottlenecked for many years.
Important context
Single player games rarely scale meaningfully beyond 8 to 10 strong cores. This CPU gives you headroom for background tasks, mods, and future titles without being excessive.
Reality check
You would see little to no real world gaming difference versus a slightly lower tier CPU unless you are pushing very high frame rates at 1080p. At 1440p or 4K, the GPU does most of the work.
Verdict
Excellent choice. Slightly premium. Not a mistake.
GPU: GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
This is the most important part of your build and where longevity really lives.
For your use case
Cyberpunk with mods
Black Myth
Future visually demanding single player titles
This class of GPU is exactly where you want to be if you care about high settings, ray tracing, and smooth performance for years.
Key question you should ask yourself
What monitor are you pairing this with?
If you are targeting
1440p high refresh rate
This is an excellent pairing and will feel premium for a long time.
4K
It will still perform very well, but you may need to rely on DLSS sooner in future titles. That is not a problem. DLSS is mature and effective.
Verdict
This is not a waste of money for your stated goals. The GPU is doing the heavy lifting and you are allocating budget correctly.
Motherboard: MSI Z890
This is where people often overspend unintentionally.
What you actually need
Stable power delivery
Good BIOS support
Enough USB ports
One or two NVMe slots
What high end boards add
Extreme overclocking features
Extra PCIe lanes most people never use
Branding and cosmetics
Since you have not built in 20 years, I want to be very clear
You do not need to overclock to get great performance. Modern CPUs already boost aggressively on their own.
Verdict
Z890 is fine if the price difference is small.
If there is a significantly cheaper Z890 or even a high quality B series equivalent that supports your CPU fully, that is where you can save money without losing performance.
RAM: 32GB
This is exactly right.
Modern games with mods can exceed 16GB. Windows plus background apps plus browsers add up. 32GB gives you breathing room and future proofing without excess.
Speed matters more than raw capacity beyond this point, but anything in the reasonable modern range will perform similarly in real world gaming.
Verdict
Perfect choice. No notes.
Storage: 2TB T Force A440
This is a fast NVMe drive and 2TB is a smart size in 2026 era gaming. Games are huge. Mods eat space. You do not want to juggle installs.
Important clarification
You will not feel a difference between this and slightly slower high quality NVMe drives in gaming. Load times are already near the ceiling.
Verdict
Good drive. Slightly premium. Not a mistake.
Longevity reality check
No PC lasts forever, but this build will feel strong for at least 5 to 6 years for single player gaming. Likely longer if you are comfortable lowering settings slightly over time or leaning on DLSS.
You are not building a competitive esports rig. You are building a cinematic single player machine. This spec matches that intent.
What I would double check before buying
Your monitor resolution and refresh rate
Power supply quality and wattage
Cooling solution for the CPU
Case airflow
Those matter more than squeezing another tier of CPU or motherboard.
Final honest assessment
You are not getting shafted.
You are not blindly buying expensive parts just because they are expensive.
Your biggest spend is in the GPU, which is exactly where it should be for your games.
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I concur. I doubt you could find another BT speaker out there at twice the price that sounds this good. Thanks for the heads up!!
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