PC under 1500 as a broke college student
Posted by ellarw@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 11 comments
I’ve recently started learning about PCs because I’ve always wanted to get into PC gaming, but it seems like 2026 is a pretty rough time to buy parts since prices are so high right now. I’m trying to either buy or build my first PC with a budget of around $1500.
These are the specs someone helped me put together last year:
CPU: Ryzen 5 7600X
GPU: ASRock Challenger RX 9070
Motherboard: ASUS TUF B650E-Plus WiFi
Cooler: MONTECH HyperFlow ARGB 360
RAM: T-Force Delta RGB 32GB
Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 2TB Gen4 NVMe
PSU: MONTECH Century II 850W
Case: NZXT H6 Flow
Fans: not sure yet
I’m still really new to this, so I’m not sure if an AIO/liquid cooler is actually worth it, or if I’d be better off going with an air cooler and putting more money toward performance elsewhere.
The main games I’d play are:
Valorant
RDR2
Stardew Valley
Roblox
Dead by Daylight
Hogwarts Legacy
Detroit: Become Human
Does this build still make sense for the price, or would you guys change anything?
n3k0___@reddit
That ram and storage combo is like 75% of your budget find ddr4 used and some lesser brand nvme
Odd_Crazy_1390@reddit
Get a peerless assassin 120 mine keeps my pc at 49 during games and it’s like 50 bucks
TallLocal@reddit
for the games you play you really don’t need a 9070 or a 990 pro
Bichaelcycle@reddit
Unfortunately am5 ram is like $390 for 32gb so i went with am4. This is still a good system though.
PCPartPicker Part List
Destructo-Bear@reddit
Ddr5 is only $250 used. Ppl gotta stop paying crazy prices on these new parts
Bichaelcycle@reddit
Still a stupid amount of money. Before all this you could get 32gb for 110
Destructo-Bear@reddit
Yeah my rig has 32 gigs I paid $99 for.
But the price is the price and for the current market I would never buy new RAM or new SSD
Destructo-Bear@reddit
Get used RAM and a used SSD and roll those savings into a 9070xt!
Used CPU and motherboard would be ok too. Facebook marketplace has tons of great options
Disastrous-Pin-7268@reddit
Nah no need for an AIO a double tower aircooler is all u need as cheaper and more riable as only the fans can break which is a easy fix.
Otherwise it looks nice would prob cheap out on the SSD and get smth cheaper if there is.
And maybe pump some of the money saved on those parts into a some what better cpu 7800x3d or 7500x3d par example if it could fit into the budget.
aragorn18@reddit
What country are you in?
BrandonXYX@reddit
that pc doesn't need liquid cooling a proper air pushing system will be 100% fine