Thoughts of my Intel Core i5 9600K-based gaming PC parts list?

Hello, I am new to the PC market, and I am trying to buy a gaming PC. I have chosen the PC parts that fit my budget. Can you tell me if the parts are good or not?

Hi Abdulaziz,

I can certainly help you with this! First, with questions like these, I need to know your expectations and what resolution you are using with this build. My opinions will also be based on what I can get and in USD.

Starting with the 9600K, with you being new to PCs, do you have plans to overclock your 9600K? With it being a "K" SKU processor, it has an unlocked multiplier, so you should be able to bump it up a few and gain some free performance! If you have no plans to overclock, I'm going to suggest you abandon the 9600K and opt for the 10th Generation Core i5 10500 for the same price.

It offers the same six cores but includes Hyper-Threading with a similar boost clock at 4.5GHz. As for the cooling, I keep a CM Black Edition on the shelf as a backup. It's a fantastic cooler for the money.

Your choice of motherboard is fine. The Z390 Phantom Gaming 4 is your typical entry-level board on the Intel enthusiast platform. It offers plenty of expansion options with PCIe, SATA, and USB 3.2 and can add a Wi-Fi solution if needed. This board should handle mild overclocks reasonably well if you decide to go that route. If you go the 10th Gen route with the Core i5 10500, you can pick up the same motherboard with the Z490 chipset slightly cheaper at $140, whereas the Z390 was a touch over $170. Your choice of memory is perfect, 16GB should be plenty for gaming, etc.

The RTX 2060 Super is a fantastic card and the entry-level to the current RTX series. It is easily capable of handling 1080p 120Hz gaming on some of the most demanding games. Right now, the only caveat is how close to Ampere we are where you can either save money as these cards are discontinued or upgrade to an RTX 3060, which should offer a decent boost in performance for the same money.

As for the last two, storage and PSU. Never skimp on the PSU, it's the baseline for the entire PC. Go for quality over having higher watts. The SSD you have chosen while SATA is one of the better drives on the market, so if you cannot afford to go with an NVMe solution, this drive will work fine for gaming and daily tasks.

Last updated: Nov 3, 2020 at 07:09 pm CST