I've helped 11 friends build PCs in the last three years. Each one was convinced beforehand that it would be overwhelming. Each one finished their build in 4-6 hours, posted their first POST beep to Instagram, and hasn't shut up about it since. Building a gaming PC in 2025 is accessible in a way it genuinely wasn't a decade ago — and more rewarding than ever.

Budget Tier ($700-$900): The Genuine Sweet Spot

An AMD Ryzen 5 7600 paired with an RTX 4070 Super gives you legitimate 1080p max settings at high framerates and respectable 1440p performance. DDR5 memory is affordable enough now to be the default — a 32GB DDR5-6000 kit from G.Skill runs about $80. A 1TB NVMe SSD is your minimum — games are enormous now, and the price difference between 500GB and 1TB is basically nothing. Total realistic spend: $800-900 for the components, plus whatever you spend on a case, CPU cooler, and power supply.

Mid-Range Tier ($1,400-$1,800): Where Most Enthusiasts Live

An Intel Core i7-14700K or AMD Ryzen 9 7900X paired with an RTX 4080 Super handles 4K gaming at high settings and doubles as a capable content creation workstation. This is the tier where I'd recommend splurging on a good monitor — a 4K 144Hz panel transforms what a system at this price can actually show you. Samsung's Odyssey Neo G8 is the monitor I'd pair with a build like this.

Enthusiast Tier ($3,000+)

The RTX 5090 defines this tier, paired with a Core i9-14900K or Ryzen 9 9950X. At this level you're buying forward — the system will stay relevant for longer, not necessarily perform differently in today's games. Budget for good thermals: a 360mm AIO liquid cooler and a case with strong airflow. The Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic remains my favorite case for builds at this tier.

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