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The Ryzen 9 5900X is still one of the strongest CPUs for gaming and productivity thanks to its 12 cores and 24 threads on the Zen 3 architecture.
With such massive potential and the low barrier of entry of the AM4 platform, it is easy to build a highly capable machine with this chip no matter the budget.
In this guide I will show you 3 PC builds for different budgets to prove this point. Starting first with a value PC for around $1000, then a mid-range for around $1500 and lastly a powerful gaming pc for around $2200.
Best Value Ryzen 9 5900x PC Build
CPU: AMD RYZEN 9 5900X
Motherboard – MSI B550-A PRO
RAM – Silicon Power GAMING 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16
CPU Cooler – Noctua NH-U9S
SSD – Sabrent Rocket 4.0 1 TB
Graphics Card – PowerColor Fighter Radeon RX 6700 XT
Power Supply – Corsair RM750e (2023)
PC Case – Montech X3 Mesh
One of the best times to invest in a platform is during its end because you get the best value for money. For a budget of $1000, I wanted to build a PC that can play games in 1440p and have enough horsepower for professional-grade 4K video editing.
Starting with the motherboard, I went with an MSI B550-A PRO. In simple words, it is a decent board at a very low price that gets the job done. It didn’t impress me much overall, but for around $100, it is hard to pick up anything else for the AM4 platform. It has 4 DIMM slots, decent enough PCIe slots, and a good rear I/O.
Do keep in mind though that you will need to update the BIOS since the 5900X was released after this motherboard.
Another point regarding AM4 is DDR4 RAM prices. It is really easy to get a lot of RAM these days for very little money. I could’ve gone with a 16 GB kit of DDR4 RAM and called it a day, but since our budget could easily fit more, I went with a 32 GB kit by Silicon Power under $60, which comes with 2 sticks of 16 GB DDR4 clocked at 3200 MHz at a CAS Latency of 16 ns.
And just like RAM, SSD prices are also in a great spot these days. I went with the Sabrent Rocket 4.0 1 TB. It is a fast PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD with fast reads and writes.
For the GPU, it was a no-brainer to go with the RX 6700 XT; it is the reason why this build turned out so great in the first place. I chose the PowerColor FIghter 6700 XT, but you can go with any variant of the 6700 XT as they are all great. It is an excellent 1080p GPU with room for 1440p gaming as well.
The total power draw of this system will be between 250 to 300 Watts total so any 500 Watt PSU would be enough. However, it is always a good idea to upsize your PSU and get the best possible unit so I went with the Corsair RM750e.
Other than the PSU, the case is another part that will outlast any PC. Typically, for a budget build, it is easy to reach out towards the cheapest case. However, all of these components will go in the Montech X3 Mesh. At just $60, it is the lowest priced case with a lot of airflow and it even comes preinstalled with 6 fans. It feels way too overkill especially for an ultra-budget case, but there is no denying that the components have no trouble staying cool in it.
In conclusion, if you want to build a PC with high-end parts for as little money as possible, then it is hard to deny the value of the AM4 platform.
With very strong single and multithreaded performance, the 5900X is a powerhouse and with a PC build like this for around $1000, it is a worthy investment. The same type of a PC on the AM5 platform would be significantly more expensive, although it would have a better upgrade path. So if value for money is what matters above this PC will not disappoint you.
Best Mid-Range Ryzen 9 5900x PC Build
CPU: AMD RYZEN 9 5900X
Motherboard – MSI MEG X570 UNIFY
RAM – Silicon Power GAMING 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16
Cooler – Noctua NH-U9S
SSD – Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB
Graphics Card – Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 7800 XT
Power Supply – Corsair RM850e (2023)
Case – Corsair 4000D Airflow
As explained before, the Ryzen 9 5900X is a rather powerful CPU that can get some serious work done and still play all the latest games in 4K. With that in mind, I decided to put together a mid-range PC that lets the 5900X really stretch its muscles.
For the motherboard, I went with one of the best AM4 boards – the MSI MEG X570 UNIFY. It has everything that one could ask for in a motherboard from a strong 12-phase VRM to a perfect rear I/O. I know that is a bold claim, but in my opinion this is exactly what every motherboard should strive towards.
It has both CMOS clear and BIOS flash buttons for easy debugging and troubleshooting. It has a pair of USB 2.0 type-A ports for peripherals that leaves the rest of the USB 3.2 ports free. It even has a complete array of audio jack which includes an optical S/PDIF port.
If you decide to aircool the 5900X, the Noctua NH-U9S stands out as a great option. Even if it looks a tad old-fashioned, I went with it because it can easily cool the 5900X even with an aggressive overclock at fairly low RPMs making it virtually silent.
The U9S also has a lot of clearance for tall RAM sticks, but for now, I went with a 32 GB kit by Silicon Power clocked at 3200 MHz at a CAS Latency of 16 ns. It has a moderate height that doesn’t budge into the heatsink. 32 GB is a lot of RAM for any type of system and you can always add more if needed, however, it’s crucial to have ample storage; therefore, I went with a 2 TB Samsung 980 Pro.
The graphics card was a tough decision for me as I wasn’t sure whether to go with AMD or Nvidia. On one hand, Nvidia GPUs are great especially for really targeting scenarios where it is necessary to have CUDA. Some apps need CUDA to run and it would make a lot of sense for a workstation to have an Nvidia card.
On the other hand, AMD GPUs are hard to ignore as they have caught up with Nvidia in everything except a few 3D modeling apps and are cheaper. I ultimately went with the Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 7800 XT over an RTX 4070. The 7800 XT is currently offering the best price-to-performance of any GPU besides the 6700 XT, and it comes with 16 GB of VRAM instead of 12 GB.
Moving to the psu, with the 5900X and the RX 7800 XT, this PC will need a lot of power to run and can consume almost 400 Watts during intense workloads, that’s why I went with the Corsair RM850e so that there are no issues in providing power to the components. Since it is an ATX 3.0 PSU, it can easily handle an RTX 4090 as well.
Lastly, to house this PC, I played it safe and went with the Corsair 4000D Airflow. It costs just $90 and is guaranteed to fit anything inside it with excellent airflow, which is why it is so popular with PC builders. I have personally gotten bored of this case, but it is near impossible to avoid it and I would easily recommend it to anyone if they cannot decide on a case.
In conclusion, if you need a lot of cores and a lot of RAM, the AM4 platform is your best bet. At $1600, it is easy to put together a PC with a 12-core 5900X and 64 GB of RAM for production-grade applications.
In short, if you have a decent budget, then you can max out everything on the AM4 platform. You can get a PC with one of the best motherboards, 32 GB of RAM, a 2 TB NVMe SSD for around $1500 including an RX 7800 XT and take advantage of a powerful cpu like the Ryzen 9 5900x
Best Premium Ryzen 9 5900x PC Build
CPU: AMD RYZEN 9 5900X
Motherboard – MSI MEG X570 UNIFY
RAM – G.Skill Trident Z RGB 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18
CPU Cooler – Deepcool LT520
SSD – Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB
Graphics Card – Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Power Supply – Corsair RM850e (2023)
PCCase – Fractal Design North
For this PC build, I decided to put together the best possible combination of parts to build a PC with the Ryzen 9 5900x that would be both pleasing to the eyes, as well as be a solid machine for 4K gaming.
For the motherboard, again , I went with the MSI MEG X570 UNIFY since you don’t really need to spend more on more expensive premium boards. It has a powerful 12-phase VRM which is more than enough to push the 5900X to its limits. The rear I/O is perfect; it has every single thing needed from WiFi 6 (some revisions come with WiFi 6E), a complete array of audio jacks including optical S/PDIF, and both CMOS clear and BIOS flash buttons, plus the VRM temperatures are some of the lowest on any AM4 motherboard and perfect for hardcore overclocking.
Despite being a 12-core CPU, the 5900X is relatively easier to cool even when pushing clocks near 5 GHz. AMD’s reported TDP of the 5900X is 105 Watts so a 240 mm AIO will be a perfect match. I went with the DeepCool LT520 as it is one of the best AIOs in terms of price and performance. Although I mostly lean toward the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II for maximizing cooling capability, the LT520 is nearly identical and looks much better.
The LT520 will also leave full clearance for tall RAM sticks so I wanted to fit an RGB kit which made my search much easier. I was able to easily fit a 64 GB kit of G.Skill Trident Z RGB which comes with 2 sticks of 32 GB DDR4 at CL18 3600 MHz. This is way more than any gaming PC would need, but should be just right for a workstation build that needs ample amounts of memory. And with ample memory, it is just as important to fit ample storage so I went with the usual Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB. While the 980 Pro isn’t exactly the fastest SSD when it comes to read and write speeds, it has DRAM cache and unlike the 990 Pro, it has a near-perfect record when it comes to stability.
Speaking of stability, there is nothing more important than a high-quality power supply for stable operations. I went with the Corsair RM850e as it is an ATX 3.0 Gold-rated PSU that is regarded as one of the best power supplies. I feel like that is too high of a praise, but the RM850e is priced so competitively that it’s simply hard to ignore it. The be quiet! Dark Power 12 M is a more well-rounded unit as it can operate silently on bigger loads than the RM850e. However, at the same price as the Dark Power 12 M, the RM850e has headroom for supplying 100 watts more.
At this point, this PC has everything except for the graphics card. If we are going truly premium, then I recommend getting the RX 7900 XTX. It can play any game at 4K and even do well with ray tracing and productivity apps thanks to a massive 24 GB VRAM. The Sapphire Nitro+ is objectively the best variant and will look incredible in the Fractal Design North. Alternatively, with the release of the RTX 4080 SUPER, it is enticing to switch to Nvidia because of better ray tracing and CUDA support. But with much stronger raster performance, the RX 7900 XTX is hard to pass on given the overall better value.
With such high-end parts, it is important to encase them in something that is well-crafted and has a lot of airflow. Just like the LT520, I didn’t choose it purely because it is the best case for airflow. I chose it because it has excellent airflow while maintaining a great aesthetic among a sea of cases that are overflowing with RGB.
The front intake is covered with grills made from real wood which tames the industrial look of most cases. The North will fit better in your living room especially if it has a wooden floor and the glass side panel will show off the rest of the build since all the parts were chosen for their good looks as well.
In short, this PC is good looking and high-performant. It is really economical to get the best parts on the AM4 platform. In fact, at a total cost of $2200 for every component mentioned, the GPU alone is half that much whereas the rest of the parts cost $1100.
At that price, it is extremely easy to put together a combination of some of the best parts available for a true premium PC building experience.
Although for such a big budget, I would lean more towards building a PC on the AM5 platform, AM4 offers a significantly better bang-for-buck and I wanted to build a PC that didn’t have the growing pains of a new platform.
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