How to Plan a Gaming PC Build (Without a Spreadsheet)

Every PC build starts the same way: eleven browser tabs, a spreadsheet you’ll abandon by Thursday, and the creeping suspicion that the RAM in tab six doesn’t match the motherboard in tab four. We planned a real 2026 gaming build in a Huntli Stash instead: component by component, prices verified, compatibility tracked, budget running live. This is that build, including the parts where the tooling caught us being wrong.

Two decisions define the build

Everything in a gaming PC orbits the CPU and the GPU. Get those two right and the rest of the list mostly picks itself.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, verified from $419.99

Eight Zen 5 cores under AMD’s 3D V-Cache — the reigning gaming CPU, and the one part of this build we’d call non-negotiable at this tier. It also makes the first compatibility decision for you: you’re now on the AM5 socket, and every motherboard that isn’t AM5 just left the conversation.

GPU: the $300 question

Rather than pretend there’s one right answer, we scored both candidates head-to-head:

• NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti Founders Edition, verified from $699, scored 87. The 1440p-and-beyond pick.
• NVIDIA RTX 5070 Founders Edition, verified from $399, scored 82. Five points of score for $300 of savings: the best trade in the entire build if you game at 1440p with DLSS.

The parts that follow

• Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix B650E-F Gaming WiFi, verified from $139.99. AM5 for the CPU, PCIe 5.0 for the GPU and future storage. B650E is the sweet spot; X870 boards add cost, not frames.
• Memory: G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 32GB (2×16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30, verified from $280. DDR5-6000 CL30 is the known Ryzen sweet spot.
• Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 2TB NVMe, verified from $248.70. Up to 7,450 MB/s reads, and 2TB because modern install sizes made 1TB a running joke.
• Power: Corsair RM850x (2024), verified from $88. 850W, 80 PLUS Gold, fully modular, sized with headroom for the 5070 Ti’s transient spikes, the spec people undersize most often.

What the compatibility tracker caught

This is the part a spreadsheet can’t do, because a spreadsheet only knows what you typed into it. A Build a System Stash tracks the constraints between parts, and this build tripped three of them along the way:

• The socket chain. Choosing the 9800X3D silently rules out every non-AM5 board. The Stash carries that constraint forward, so an incompatible motherboard shows up flagged instead of looking like a bargain.
• The memory-profile trap.DDR5 kits advertise their speed via XMP (Intel) or EXPO (AMD) profiles. An XMP-only kit on an AMD board can boot at slow default timings: the classic “why is my new PC sluggish” mystery. The Trident Z5 Neo is EXPO-certified, which is precisely why it’s the pick.
• The over-specified build. The Stash currently shows a build conflict, and it’s right: two GPUs are sitting in a one-GPU build while we decide between them. The tracker treats the parts list as a claim about a real machine, and it won’t call the build coherent until we commit. Mildly annoying; exactly what you want.

What the completeness check caught

Compatibility asks “do these parts work together?” Completeness asks the sneakier question: “what’s not here?” The Stash’s built-in completeness check flags what a seven-item list still hides: a CPU cooler (the 9800X3D ships without one), a case, and the operating systemeveryone forgets, with case fans and peripherals filed under “recommended” rather than “required.” Budget another $150–200 for a good tower cooler and an airflow case before calling the list final.

The running total

With the 5070 Ti, the seven researched parts come to roughly $1,876 as verified; the 5070 swap brings it near $1,576. Add cooler and case and you land around $2,050 or $1,750. The Stash tracks that arithmetic live against your budget as prices shift, so the total you’re looking at is never Thursday’s total.

The method, reusable

Start a Build a System Stash. Add the two defining parts first. Let every later search inherit their constraints. Run the completeness check before you spend a cent. The spreadsheet dies — and the assembly-day surprises die with it.