Thoughts on my first HTPC build? 9800x3D w/ 9070XT/5070Ti
Posted by mindxpert@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 14 comments
I'm trying to build my first PC. It will be a small form factor (kinda mid) that will be used as HTPC just for gaming on my living room. I'll be purchasing from UK and shipping to my country (no Amazon here and local shops are much more expensive).
Initially I wanted to run a console like linux distro like SteamOS or Bazzite, but that I have tried the Xbox Full Screen Experience on Windows with gamebar I think I can manage with Windows and be able to control the device with a controller. I wanted to go with a 9070XT because of Linux, but now that I'm leaning towards Windows I think I'll run a 5070 Ti instead because of better DLSS/FG support in games. My TV supports 4K 120hz but I'm sure the GPU won't handle that with new games so I will be resorting to DLSS/FSR where necessary.
This is what I have so far. I'm open to suggestions where I can reduce the price without a lot of compromise. Have I missed anything on this build? Any pheriferal or part that I should look into? The 5070Ti I'm looking to potentially replace the 9070XT is a MSI VENTUS 3X OC or Gigabyte EAGLE OC SFF which are about $300 more than 9070XT. Not sure yet which way to go.
[PCPartPicker Part List](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/ZGYLPf)
Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 4.7 GHz 8-Core Processor](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/fPyH99/amd-ryzen-7-9800x3d-47-ghz-8-core-processor-100-1000001084wof) | £375.00 @ Overclockers.co.uk
**CPU Cooler** | [Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/CwGhP6/thermalright-phantom-spirit-120-se-6617-cfm-cpu-cooler-ps120se-black) | £33.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk
**Thermal Compound** | [Noctua NT-H2 3.5 g Thermal Paste](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/XYndnQ/noctua-nt-h2-35-g-thermal-paste-nt-h2-35g) | £11.95 @ Amazon UK
**Motherboard** | [Asus ROG STRIX B650E-I GAMING WIFI Mini ITX AM5 Motherboard](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/WQTp99/asus-rog-strix-b650e-i-gaming-wifi-mini-itx-am5-motherboard-rog-strix-b650e-i-gaming-wifi) | £203.20 @ Amazon UK
**Memory** | [Crucial Pro Overclocking 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/QF9wrH/crucial-pro-overclocking-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr5-6000-cl36-memory-cp2k16g60c36u5b) | £349.99 @ Amazon UK
**Storage** | [Crucial T500 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/M8yH99/crucial-t500-2-tb-m2-2280-pcie-40-x4-nvme-solid-state-drive-ct2000t500ssd8) | £276.13 @ Senetic
**Video Card** | [PowerColor Reaper Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/8ZJBD3/powercolor-reaper-radeon-rx-9070-xt-16-gb-video-card-rx9070xt-16g-a) | £609.99 @ Amazon UK
**Case** | [Deepcool CH170 DIGITAL Mini ITX Tower Case](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/WfNYcf/deepcool-ch170-digital-mini-itx-tower-case-r-ch170-whnpi0d-g-1) | £58.94 @ Box Limited
**Power Supply** | [Corsair SF750 (2024) 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/TsTZxr/corsair-sf750-2024-750-w-80-platinum-certified-fully-modular-sfx-power-supply-cp-9020284) | £120.32 @ Amazon UK
**Case Fan** | [be quiet! Pure Wings 3 PWM High-Speed 72.2 CFM 140 mm Fans 3-Pack](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/kxPv6h/be-quiet-pure-wings-3-pwm-high-speed-722-cfm-140-mm-fans-3-pack-bl138) | £27.13 @ Amazon UK
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| **Total** | **£2066.60**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2026-05-05 09:47 BST+0100 |
According_Spare7788@reddit
Ha, the HTPC setup, i have a love and hate relationship with my experience trying to figure out an optimal HTPC setup and i think i've finally finalized it. Open air in a ikea fjallbo tv stand with a 200mm fan as exhaust.
In your case, 5070 ti or 9070 xt are most definitely adequate for driving 4k with DLSS/FSR upscaling. I personally use a 5070 for my HTPC and even that performs solid enough. I'm able to drive 90 -100 fps in most AAA titles, sometimes with RT, with DLSS 4/4,5 Performance and x2 FG boost to smoothless on a 4k 144hz OLED (VRR enabled).
mindxpert@reddit (OP)
I have kids and can't do an open air, but TV cabinet is closed and not easy to replace it anyway. I had asked for some feedback last year here: https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc/comments/1nibex7/looking_to_get_my_first_sffpc_need_thoughts_on/
In the end I decided to have a vertical case next to the couch so that there's room for air, and I'll run a fiber HDMI to the TV (more than 5 meters distance to run through the wall).
I'm leaning towards the 5070 Ti even though it won't have good Linux support if I decide to go back to that. I think I'll settle with Windows, as I'm kinda spending more time tinkering with the setup than actually playing. That's the reason I wanted to go nvidia/windows this time around so that DLSS is better supported and I don't have to worry about optiscaler or swapping DLLs.
My LG C4 has a 144hz mode I think but that didn't work in the past with Linux (no HDMI 2.1 support). I'll give it another try with Windows. 120hz is fine enough anyway, and for sure I'll want to max that out with DLSS/FSR.
According_Spare7788@reddit
So true. Tinkering is fun but damn does it get frustrating and eat up time that could have otherwise been spent playing.
Yeah. DLSS support was the main reason for me going with a 5070 as well, although i heavily contemplated the 9070 or pushing for a 9070 xt for the extra 16GB Vram. This was late last year though, when the 5070 could be had for $180 less than the 9070 xt in my region, but this is a secondary build so i was already overspending lol.
You have a very nice looking living room setup btw!
Inner-Ear@reddit
I just went along a similar path. Still kind of on it to a certain extent, but I’ve mostly settled into a build.
Started out with a 5070 on Windows using Steam BPM. Then switched the 5070 to my secondary system and replaced it with a 9070XT. I had so many issues with AMD drivers not playing nice with Steam BPM that I switched to Bazzite and it worked pretty well after a few tweaks to fix some sound crackling issues.
That was a decent setup except for giving up Atmos support and having to deal with setting up optiscaler for every game. Because of those things I decided to switch back to windows and return the 9070 XT for a 5070 Ti and that is where I am now. It’s very nice being able to do everything from the Nvidia app instead of dealing with optiscaler. Plus I’ve been using path tracing where I can and it has been amazing, and something it clearly has over the 9070 XT. I’d say just go for whatever 5070 Ti you can get for cheapest. There’s very little difference in performance between models.
I am going to have to give the Xbox thing a try eventually, but Steam BPM works very well. I even have windows set up to wake up from the controller.
According_Spare7788@reddit
Interesting path. I must say, even though i stuck with the 5070 and windows for Atmos support, i almost never use Atmos because of the latency it creates. Just find it too annoying to deal with.
Inner-Ear@reddit
Latency in the sound or input latency?
According_Spare7788@reddit
latency in sound yeah. it's almost like using wireless bluetooth, that ms delay to sound but this is all with hdmi eARC. i find annoying, especially during dialogue with lip syncing.
mindxpert@reddit (OP)
I run a soundbar (Sonos Beam) through a LG C4 and I do not notice such latency. Could it be something else affecting your setup?
According_Spare7788@reddit
Beats me. 5070 to s90d tv to q990d soundbar. All hdmi 2.1 certified cables.
Oh yeah, the atmos app on windows is terrible as well. i don't know if they've fixed it yet, but i constantly require downgrading to an older version to have it working.
mindxpert@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the feedback! I've been running Bazzite on my made-up setup (Rog Ally X with 6800XT as eGPU) for about a year and a half.
The Game Mode is phenomenal when it comes to couch gaming for a console like experience. But as you mentioned there are downfalls, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, sim racing, DLSS enabler/Optiscaler etc. You end up making compromises and spending time tinkering with the system. It feels easier/better initially but then as time goes on you start to see the downfalls.
I recently added Windows as dual boot to play some anti cheat games like F1 25 and I've found it to be much better than I remembered. I have enabled The Xbox Full Screen Experience using a tool and made Steam Big Picture as the main app. Xbox doesn't load at all. Windows recently added an option to use the controller as a mouse as well via Game Bar and that ticks all my boxes. I'll spend another week or two and then finally decide if I want to dual boot and chose the 9070XT otherwise if its Windows only I'll go with 5070Ti.
This tool allows to enable FSE on non handhelds (I think this is now in Windows Preview): https://github.com/8bit2qubit/XboxFullScreenExperienceTool
This other tool by same developer allows to select Steam BPM to start with FSE: https://github.com/8bit2qubit/OmniConsole
Inner-Ear@reddit
Thanks for the links, and good luck on your journey!
TokageLife@reddit
Really solid core but I would make a few tweaks:
In terms of 9070XT vs 5070ti look at the games you play and how well they are supported by AMD/FSR4. Optiscaler works in a good chunk of games but if you play newer gacha like NTE you can't use it so you're stuck with whatever the devs ship (FSR3). £300 price increase is tough though.
mindxpert@reddit (OP)
Appreciate the suggestions! I'll make the swap to these.
As for the GPU I might go with 5070Ti. Most of the games support DLSS enabler or Optiscaler but I'm kinda bored having to do that on games every time they update. Games generally update with newest DLSS and the RT/PT is better supported (not that I have hopes for that card to play PT).
TokageLife@reddit
Yeah that's a really subjective thing since everyone has different finances and priorities. If I could do it again I would have paid the $200 premium for a 5070ti. I love my 9070XT from a performance perspective but it really sucks being so reliant on Optiscaler working.