The ULTIMATE yet REASONABLE All AMD Gaming PC Build

Today is somewhat different. Let's build a PC! Well before anything, let's give you a little bit of context. Back when the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D launched, some of us weren't in Singapore. But even so, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is so interesting that we wanted to take a look at it. Since other reviewers have already published their findings on the chip itself, we thought.... why not build a PC? So here we are!

Thanks to our friends and partners, this is going to be one heck of a PC build that we think will not only look good, perform well but is actually quite reasonable as well! But before we get to the building portion, let's quickly go through the parts we selected!

Parts List

The most important would be the CPU and of course, we're going with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. This is a CPU that packs 8 cores and 16 threads with a 120W TDP. Plenty of cores to work with and a surprisingly low TDP that's easy to tame. The main reason for getting this CPU however is definitely that 3D V-Cache which is going to help quite a fair bit when it comes to gaming.

As for our motherboard of choice, we have the ASUS TUF Gaming B650M-Plus WiFi mATX motherboard. We do however highly suggest that, in light of recent events, to not go with AM5 Asus motherboards for the time being, especially if you're thinking of pairing it with a Ryzen 7000 Series X3D CPU. Throughout our testing, we didn't experience any major issues of the sort but definitely err on the side of caution and avoid Asus for the time being. At least until they get things right.

In any case however, this is a motherboard that does marry the best features you can get without lightening your wallet all too much. B650 is awesome and possibly provides the best bang for your buck.

As for the GPU, we do actually have two options that are priced rather similarly. The Radeon RX 7900 XTX as well as the Strix GeForce RTX 4070 Ti OC. For this build however, we're going with the former and there are two main reasons as to why. The first is that, well, an all AMD PC is going to be really awesome and the 7900 XTX is certainly the AMD flagship as of now. The second is a more practical reason.

We actually could not find our 12-pin to 8-pin adapter. Which means the RTX 4070 Ti wouldn't run even if it fit into the case. Such a a shame. But it also goes to show that the standard 8-pin just makes sense.

To cool the CPU, we do have the Strix LC II 360 AiO Liquid Cooler. This is definitely a little overkill given the mere 120W TDP of the 7800X3D but it's what we had lying around. Additionally, it would definitely clean up the look of the PC for sure and we like that. However again, this is not necessary. Any decent air cooler will do the job, such as the Fuma Scythe, the Peerless Assassin, anything from Noctua or even just a Hyper 212 and you'll be off to the races.

As for the RAM, we do have pretty standard 32GB HyperX Fury DDR5 at 6,000MT/s with support for AMD EXPO. The SSD of choice is the 1TB Strix SQ7, a NVMe PCIe Gen 4 SSD. Power supply is pretty standard as we opted to snag the one from our test bench, which a Cooler Master V850 80+ Gold. More than enough for everything here.

To wrap everything up nicely, we have the star of the show. The Asus Prime AP201 is a fantastic case unlike any other and it has loads going for it. It's mATX size for one, which increases compatibility a fair bit. It does support a 360mm radiator and a full ATX PSU. It's able to fit even the Strix RTX 4070 Ti OC. All that, for a very decent price. With our build, it's going to look so clean.

And so without further ado, let's get into the build!

The Build... Watch The Video!

Annnnd... It's done! Well, if you want to take a look at the full build and check out the performance and more, do check out the full video up above!

But now, let us share some thoughts with regards to this build.

The Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a phenomenal CPU and we highly suggest that if anyone is looking to primarily game on their PC, this is the CPU to get. It just performs great and all fronts and supports all the latest tech and features. As for the GPU, the RX 7800 XTX certainly performs and the reference design by AMD themselves certainly has that industrial look going for it. In terms of overall system performance, this PC is quite the beast.

Quirks To Note

But there are a couple quirks to take note of and it has everything to do with the Prime AP201 case itself.

This is an amazing case, no doubt. But with a fully mesh design does come some drawbacks. The first of which is dust management. With our build, we have the 360mm AiO exhausting air out the top. Including the rear fan which is also set to exhaust, this particular build has a negative air pressure setup. Unfortunately however, Asus has only decided to provide a single dust filter and that's on the bottom. There's none for the top and not even one for the front where the PSU is.

With a case like this, do expect to do some maintenance much more often as compared to any other PC case.

The second drawback would be noise. With an all mesh design, it can get pretty noisy should you be placing the PC on the desk. Even with our fans set to just 1,000RPM and the pump to just 50% speed, our build measured in around 42dB at idle from a standard working distance of about 70cm. The noise jumps to about 54dB while gaming.

In short, it certainly is noticeable and can get loud.

The advantage however is superior airflow, ensuring that both the CPU and GPU temperature are well under control. In fact, our CPU never really exceed 65°C and our GPU never exceed 80°C which is quite phenomenal.

All in all however, we paid roughly US$3,000 or S$4,000 for this particular build and while it might still be a tough pill to swallow for most, this is arguably quite the value considering today's environment. Should you want to save a little however, you can opt to drop the PSU down to 750W and even considering getting the Ryzen 5 7600X instead and/or go with a more affordable GPU such as the RX 7900 XT or even last-generation AMD Radeon 6000-series.

Why no love for NVIDIA, you might ask? Well, price just don't work in their favour this generation.

We Love Building PCs.

We really had fun with particular PC build and we hope we've done some interesting this time around. Hopefully we can do more of such videos in the future! Honestly, if only we could bring this PC home...