The following two 2500$ gaming PC builds, as part of our PC build series, belong to people who are into the enthusiast market and people who always want to have the very best that the consumer market has to offer. These two builds concentrate on performance; if you are also into great looks or want to spice up your expensive system, look into cable managing methods, RGB and custom loop water cooling.
There are two CPU choices for this price bracket, the Core i9 9900K and the Ryzen 9 3900X. Both are amazing CPUs that are very similar in price and have a good specialty; the 3900X is featuring 4 more cores and 8 more threads than the 9900K thus making it a gaming and workstation beast, beating the 9900K by as much as 50% in rendering/editing/streaming tasks all while consuming less power and producing less heat thanks to its superior 7nm production process. The 9900K though has a small edge in gaming performance that holds even if we overclock both CPUs to the max. That small edge of gaming performance is around 7% at 1080p and goes down rapidly as you increase resolution to 1440p and 4K because the gaming load heavily transfers to the GPU as you go up in quality; thus, gaming performance difference between the two CPUs at 1440p is as little as 4% and 0% respectively.
Because of the facts stated above, you need to consider what’s best for you:
- Do you want to have the absolute best gaming performance on the market? Get the build with the Core i9 9900K.
- Do you want to be at a very close margin to the best gaming performance while crushing any other tasks with much better performance? Get the Ryzen 9 3900X.
Regardless of your CPU decision, if you spend $2500 on a PC build, you will want to get the current best consumer GPU on the market which is the Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti. No other graphics card out there will sustain this kind of performance. Even though its pretty expensive and other less performing cards crush it in value per dollar, the 2080 Ti will always have a market because its the best you can get. Any gaming task from max settings gameplay – at any resolution – to the highest of framerates becomes possible with the RTX 2080 Ti.
The Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti is a very powerful card and demands a very carefully planned out build quality in order to function properly in any load. This is why big companies such as MSI/EVGA/Gigabyte/ASUS compete neck and neck in order to provide quality, reliability, great looks and performance to the consumers. There’s no issue if you get a Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti from a different brand other than the one we featured; we just recommend that you watch the popular channels on YouTube that do reviews in order for you to get a better picture of what you’re spending $1000+ on. If you don’t want to experiment a lot with your build, get your components based on availability and pricing but keep the component models close to this list. We also have a guide on the best RTX 2080 Ti aftermarket models here.
We’ve split this $2500 build bracket in two because its important to know what your focus for the build is. The main difference between the two is the CPU/Motherboard combination. The first build features the Ryzen 9 3900X and a top of the range X570 motherboard; the other one integrates a 9900K (or KS) on one of the best Z390 motherboards. If you’re unsure which configuration to get, there’s a simple way of putting things; the 9900K/Z390 build has a small edge in gaming performance over the 3900X/X570 build and that edge is within 5% FPS difference. The Ryzen 9 3900X build on the other hand has a large advantage over the Core i9 9900K thanks to its additional 4 cores and 8 threads; because of this, editing, rendering, streaming and general multi tasking of the system will be much better on the Ryzen 9 3900X PC by factors of even 50%.
Best Ryzen 9 3900X Gaming PC Build for $2500 – The Parts List
| Component | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | $469 |
| CPU Cooler | Noctua NH-U12A | $99 |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte X570 AORUS Pro WiFi | $259 |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2x16 GB) DDR4-3200 | $119 |
| Boot Drive | Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500 GB | $99 |
| Storage | Crucial MX500 1 TB 2.5" SSD | $107 |
| Video Card | MSI RTX 2080 Ti Ventus OC | $1059 |
| PC Case | Fractal Design Meshify C | $89 |
| Power Supply | EVGA Supernova G3 750W 80+ Gold | $129 |
| Total | $2429 |
CPU
For this $2500 build we chose the Ryzen 9 3900X thanks to its great consistency across all workloads; be it gaming or workstation tasks, this CPU is a monster at getting everything done fast and smooth. Keep in mind that you are sacrificing a few FPS for much better multi core performance and if you’re fine with that, this 3900X/X570 CPU-motherboard combo is best for you, a power user.
Graphics Card
What’s a $2500 build without the best enthusiast GPU currently available? The 2080Ti in this build brings the best attainable performance to the table and will drive anything 1440p high refresh rate and 4K in Ultra and native details. Even though its coming at a hefty price point, its easily future proof and is the best card for getting into high performance ray tracing in games.
Motherboard
The Gigabyte X570 Aorus Pro Wifi is everything a high-end motherboard should be. Its I/O is hardly matched by any other motherboard out there, VRMs are great and allow for even the most extreme over clocks on 12 and 16 core CPUs and it also looks and feels great. A $2500 build deserves this central piece.
CPU Cooler
Noctua doesn’t really need any introduction in their cooling prowess. One of their newest products, the NH-U12A sits at the very top of many reviewers’ lists in the market and it fairly does so. Exceptional cooling performance, noise levels, ease of mounting and longevity are just some qualities for why its such a recommended air cooler for the 3900X.
Memory
This is a bee’s knees build and we won’t cut corners in such an important department: memory speed and capacity! Getting 2x16GB of fast 3200MHz memory will provide the backbone of your build whether you’re heavy gaming, multitasking, browsing (looking at you, Chrome tabs) or using your build as a workstation for heavy production and rendering. Fast RAM for Ryzen improves access times and the big capacity will allow your system to keep more information in RAM rather than go back to the SSD/M2 to get it – this drastically improves your build’s quality of life factor.
Getting dual channel memory for your builds (two identical RAM modules) is always a wise option and we cannot stress this enough!
Storage
We chose a dual setup for the storage in this build. The boot drive is a Samsung 970 Evo Plus which currently provides the best in class consistency and sustained speed. This 500GB M2 drive is complemented by a high end SATA SSD with cache in the form of the 1Tb Crucial MX500.
PC Case
For this list, we can afford our favorite mid-tower PC case on the market – accompanies with one of the slickest air flow solutions, thanks to its cleverly placed vents and mesh front side. The Fractal Design Meshify C has enough internal capacity to even fit the bigger AIB components out there and easily manage high-end cooling solutions such as water cooling & large radiators.
Power Supply
The EVGA Supernova G3 750W is another first tier PSU that has enough capacity to drive the power hungry 2080Ti in any intensive title as well as the CPU with any over clocks on these two builds. Featuring full modularity, cables for extensive cooling solutions and EVGA’s great track record and amazing customer support, this is a hard to beat component in its class.
Best Intel i9-9900K Gaming PC Build for $2500 – The Parts List
| Component | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i9-9900K | $479 |
| CPU Cooler | Noctua NH-U12A | $99 |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte Z390 AORUS Ultra | $249 |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2x16 GB) DDR4-3200 | $119 |
| Boot Drive | Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500 GB | $99 |
| Storage | Crucial MX500 1 TB 2.5" SSD | $107 |
| Video Card | MSI RTX 2080 Ti Ventus OC | $1059 |
| PC Case | Fractal Design Meshify C | $89 |
| Power Supply | EVGA Supernova G3 750W 80+ Gold | $129 |
| Total | $2429 |
CPU
For this gaming oriented $2500 build we chose the Intel Core i9 9900K (or KS) thanks to its gaming performance that is currently matched by no other consumer CPU on the market. Its lead is not big over its direct competitor the 3900X, but if you’re just focusing on the best gaming performance the 9900K represents the best option. It comes at a very high price though and its power consumption levels/temperatures are very poor but that can be remedied with some undervolting and tweaking.
Graphics Card
We’ll use the same Nvidia RTX 2080Ti GPU in this enthusiast build as in the Ryzen 9 3900X one. It makes sense to get the best enthusiast GPU in a $2500 build. The card is able to handle even the roughest and most intensive games at high framerates and high resolutions at the same time; it also has the bandwidth for it! Its price point will shy away many buyers but AMD is preparing some great competition this year; even if that happens, the card is future proof enough to get with peace of mind for the next 3-4 years. Be careful at the power consumption of this beast though the PSU we used is enough for it.
Motherboard
The Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Ultra is again, everything a high-end motherboard should be. Its I/O and features are top of the line, VRMs are great and allow for even the most extreme over clocks on the 8 core 16 thread Core i9 9900K CPU and it also looks and feels great. A $2500 gaming oriented build deserves this central piece.
CPU Cooler
Noctua are arguably at the top of their game when it comes to air cooling solutions, and really doesn’t need any sort of introduction. One of their newest products, the NH-U12A sits at the very top of reviewers benchmarks in the air cooling market – with exceptional cooling performance, quiet under load, ease of installation are just some qualities for why its such a recommended air cooler for the i9-9900K.
Memory
We’re going to use the same memory modules as in the Ryzen 9 3900X build because both motherboards for these CPUs are trained and mature enough to make the best out of the performance the RAM sticks offer. They are supported and recommended in a very similar way and like in Ryzen’s case, fast RAM also helps Intel CPUs to stretch their legs and provide a new level of smoothness during game play and stability during rendering. Dual channel memory was used in every single one of the cheaper builds so there’s no excuse to have it here as well!
Storage
We picked the same dual setup for storage on this Intel-based PC as on the Ryzen $2500 build. The speed of the Samsung 970 Evo Plus paired with the capacity and stability of the great Crucial MX500 SSD is a great pair for a snappy operating system, fast load times and enough storage for your gaming library. You can even choose to add more capacity if you feel like shelling a little bit more money but speed is definitely far on the enthusiast side.
PC Case
For this list, we will get the same Fractal Design Meshify C as in the Ryzen 9 3900X build; this case has one of the best air flow setups on the market thanks to its mesh front that facilitates air intake; it also looks amazing and feels very premium! The case has enough space for the components to snugly fit alongside any other case mods you’d like (like water cooling or custom tubing); it even supports 240mm radiators.
Power Supply
The EVGA Supernova G3 750W is an even more mandatory fit in this build because of the added power consumption of the Intel Core i9 9900K when compared to the Ryzen 9 3900X. Full modularity, great cables and EVGA’s amazing warranty will definitely find you impressed. One of the best PSU’s for the i9-9900K, hands down.