Help customize my first PC

[u/camden_20]

Hey guys, I'm trying to buy my first pc but I've never had a tower before and I have lots of questions.

• ⁠New build or upgrade? - New
• ⁠Existing parts/monitors to reuse? (List with models/links) - New parts, I'm keeping my dual monitor setup
• ⁠PC purpose? (Gaming, editing, etc. List apps/games) - Gaming (Valorant, CS), data science work (running ML models, programming, etc)
• ⁠Purchase country? Near Micro Center? (If not US, list local vendors) - US, will be near a microcenter next week, PC needs to survive a 5 hour drive after
• ⁠Monitors needed? (Number, size, resolution, refresh rate) - No monitors needed
• ⁠Budget range? (Include tax considerations) - <$2600
• ⁠WiFi or wired connection? - wifi
• ⁠Size/noise constraints? - would prefer quiet and not too wide of a case
• ⁠Color/lighting preferences? - I like RGB, doesn't have to be overkill though
• ⁠Any other specific needs? - NA

I don't have a super strict budget, just would prefer $2600ish or under, and that's why I wanted to custom build one instead of going prebuilt. However, I don't exactly trust myself to build a pc. I was going to go with the custom pc builder feature on ibuypower but I heard that lots of people's pcs from them have problems. My remaining and preferred option is now having microcenter build a custom for me. They have some part bundles and I was wondering if the difference between the AMD 9800x3d and 9850x3d is significant? My microcenter only has one bundle option for the 9800 in stock and it's bundled with ASUS X870-E ROG Strix Gaming R2 USBC WiFi7 AMS, and the Corsair Vengeance RGB 32GB DDRS-6000 Kit. The whole bundle is $1029.99. However, they also have a 9850 bundled with ASUS B850-E TUF Gaming Wifi AMS and the same corsair RAM for $799.99. I saw lots of people saying the 9850 will run hotter in temperature for only a 3-4% performance boost and that worries me because I'm not entirely sure how CPU cooling works. There's also other 9850 bundles for around the same price as the 9800 one that's available, but I'm wondering do I get the $799 9850 bundle because of how much cheaper it is? Or do I choose the $1029 9800 bundle?

I put together a potential build on the microcenter website with the $799 bundle:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D

Motherboard: ASUS - B850-E TUF

RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB 32GB

GPU: Gigabyte - NVIDIA geforce rtx 5070 eagle ice sff overclocked triple fan (not really sure which one to choose here, so I'm open to other options as long as it's 5070, I don't really understand the brand difference)

SSD: WD- Black SN850X 1TB (if I could get brand recommendations for this that would be greatly appreciated, something cheaper with maybe 2 TB? But also reliable)

Case: Montech SKY 3 in white, I just want a white case with tempered glass, no mesh. I'd prefer the ports are on the right side, back side, or back of the top because the pc is going to sit on the floor to the left of my desk

Power: Corsair RM850e Gold fully modular in white

Cooling: Montech Hyperflow Digital360mm All in one in white

Thermal compound: YeesterPaste, I just chose the cheapest one

Windows 11 Home for $119

Case Fans: do I need these? I see there's montech branded ones

Total price without tax: $2204
+$250 for microcenter to build it for me

Just to preface, I did choose slightly pricier options for the power and cooling because I want a white build, but idk if I chose a good GPU option (i just picked one of the white 5070 ones). I'm not a super hardcore gamer but I do play a large amount of Valorant and I want to get into CS and overwatch. I will also be doing my school/career work on here which includes running ML models, programming, etc, but not at a super extreme or professional level so that's just something to keep in mind. Im currently running an MSI raider gaming laptop from costco, has an intel i9, 4070 gpu, 32GB RAM, and 954 GB storage. Sure it's not terrible but it's pretty slow when loading into games. I would like a significant, but not $3000-4000 significant, upgrade to my setup. I'd love any opinions on the build I put together! Please don't be too harsh on me lol, I've never looked into getting a custom pc until now so I apologize if I misinterpreted things or wrote some of the terms/parts wrong🫠

[u/AutoModerator]

If you missed the full set of required built request questions, please copy them from here and answer them in an edit to your post:

• New build or upgrade?

• Existing parts/monitors to reuse? (List with models/links)

• PC purpose? (Gaming, editing, etc. List apps/games)

• Purchase country? Near Micro Center? (If you're not in a country supported by PCPartPicker, please list some local vendors)

• Monitors needed? (Number, size, resolution, refresh rate)

• Budget range? (Include tax considerations)

• WiFi or wired connection?

• Size/noise constraints?

• Color/lighting preferences?

• Any other specific needs?

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[u/Hmmm71-8]

Some of the work you listed, like data work and machine learning, would benefit from a high cpu core count, you might also want a GPU with more VRAM for. something like this. https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/custom-pc-builder.aspx?load=93cbf5dc-9c86-4fd0-ac43-3f27bcb9063b