The Best $5000 Dream Machine Gaming PC Build – November 2022
Build the Gaming System of your Dreams!
If you want to build a dream gaming system, but can’t stand the idea of having another huge desktop by your side, stop dreaming and jump into a new reality! This build has all the power you could want, packed into an awesome high-end chassis that performs as great as it looks. It’s everything you want in a killer gaming PC!
This Month’s Build, Powered by Intel and Nvidia!
For November 2022, the $5,000 Dream Machine Gaming PC Build gets a massive upgrade! Intel and Nvidia have both outdone themselves with new offerings, and this build takes advantage of only the best! You get the Intel Core i9-13900KF 24-core, 32-thread CPU, a fire-breather if there ever were one. Capable of pulling more power than most graphics cards, it is not for the faint of heart. But don’t worry, we’ll set you up to get the most out of it! And you will be driving it to the max with the insane Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 24GB, which is a shocking 60% faster than Nvidia’s prior best, the 3090 Ti.
But that’s not all! This build is packing 32GB of ultra-fast DDR5-6400 RAM and a 4TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD, offering plenty of blazing-fast storage for a huge game collection (keeping in mind that modern games take up hundreds of gigabytes of space!). To keep things cool, this system uses an awesome Corsair 360mm liquid CPU cooler with integrated LCD display, which provides immense cooling capacity along with unlimited customization options. Powering the system is a quiet and ultra-efficient 1500W Titanium-rated power supply. Finally, the system comes together in the best-looking ATX chassis ever released, the glass-enclosed Lian Li 011 Dynamic Evo, which will allow you to truly show off this build!
Parting Thoughts
We list all of our top picks to accessorize your Dream Machine in the optional products section later in this guide, although feel free to check out our dedicated Monitor Buyer’s Guide, Keyboard & Mouse Buyer’s Guide, and Headset Buyer’s Guide. To support continued development of this guide, please use the links we provide in the guide. For readers in the US, we list either Amazon links, which will auto-convert for readers in Canada, the UK, and parts of the EU, with automated substitutions made by region where necessary.
The DIY Build
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CPU –Intel Core i9-13900KF
$739The Guru’s TipThe 13900KF, based on the cutting-edge Raptor Lake architecture, takes everything to the next level. It packs in 8 Hyperthreaded performance cores that can boost up to 5.8GHz, along with an incredible 16 efficiency cores, for a total of 32 threads. It’s simultaneously the world’s fastest gaming processor, and an elite-level multi-tasking monster. Simply put, it’s what you want in a killer PC!This CPU is hot and power-hungry, so take our PSU and cooler recommendations later in this guide seriously. You cannot toy around with this processor, it's the most power-hungry CPU ever released!
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Motherboard –ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Hero @Newegg
$630The Guru’s TipIf you’re going to be running an ultra-high-end Intel CPU, you don’t want to mess around. Go for a board that can dish out the power, because that CPU is going to need it. The ROG Maximus Z790 Hero from Asus follows in the footsteps of legends. It offers up 20+1 teamed power stages rated for 90 A, meaning it is a true premium solution. You also get dual PCIe x16 Gen 5 expansion slots, a PCIe x4 Gen 4 slot, an incredible 5 M.2 slots (one being Gen 5 via the bundled riser card), along with 12 USB ports (1 being Type-C and two being full Thunderbolt 4 ports). You also get the cutting-edge ROG SupremeFX 7.1 Surround Sound High Definition Audio CODEC ALC4082 with ESS ES9218 QUAD DAC, 2.5Gbps Intel Ethernet, and WiFi 6E. Basically, this thing is stacked!This board will guarantee incredible stability no matter how hard you push the CPU and RAM!
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Video Card –MSI GeForce RTX 4090 24GB Gaming X Trio
$2350The Guru’s TipHail to the king! The absolutely mind-blowing RTX 4090 24GB goes beyond extreme, beating the RTX 3090 Ti by 60%, an insane gen-on-gen leap in performance. And this model from MSI offers amazing cooling, featuring the latest Tri Frozr 3 cooler, building on MSI’s reputation for designing the very best GPU coolers in the business!This card can draw over 450W on its own, so we equip this build with a seriously-high wattage PSU!
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Memory –G.Skill 2x16GB Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6400 CL32
$220The Guru’s TipFor the ultimate in speed, you must go with DDR5 RAM, but not just any DDR5 RAM, because you need high-frequency DDR5 to blow past DDR4 RAM performance. And that’s what you get with G.Skill’s TridentZ5 kit running at DDR5-6400 with timings of 32-39-39-102 at 1.40V. This is the real deal when it comes to DDR5 performance!To get DDR5 to run this fast, you can't use just any motherboard, and the one we picked is a proven RAM overclocking monster!
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Solid-State Drive –Corsair MP600 Pro XT 4TB
$566The Guru’s TipCorsair leverages the most advanced controller and NAND flash in the business with its MP600 Pro XT to hit 7,100MB/sec sequential read and 6,800MB/sec sequential write speeds. All this and the drive offers a whopping 4TB of capacity, putting it in very rare company indeed! And by the way, the chunky heatsink isn’t just for show, it’s required because it would otherwise overheat when hitting those massive transfer speeds!While you don't really need a drive this fast for gaming, for the dream machine, nothing else will do! And the truth is, you'll quickly see the benefit of the huge capacity if you have a large game collection.
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Case –Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic Evo
$270The Guru’s TipLian Li put itself back on the enthusiast map after years of relative anonymity when it launched the immensely-stylish 011 Dynamic, which offered glass panels arranged to provide an unparalleled view of the interior of the system. The 011 Dynamic Evo is a further refinement of the design, with a larger interior volume plus classy integrated RGB effects on the front panel. And with radiator and fan mounts on the bottom, top, rear, and sides, it’s also an airflow champ!The layout of this chassis is truly unique, and we suggest the best fan and radiator placement for each component throughout this guide.
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ARGB Fan –Corsair iCUE SP120 RGB Elite 3-Pack
$70The Guru’s TipAdd a ton of airflow and style to your system with Corsair’s 3-pack of SP120 RGB Elite fans!Mount these fans to the bottom of the chassis, with the frames pointing upwards. This will provide a huge rush of air that pushes up and out of the case.
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Power Supply –be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 1500W
$449The Guru’s TipThis cutting-edge Titanium-rated power supply offers amazing efficiency (up to 94.9%) to go along with its gargantuan 1500W power output. And being a be quiet!, it’s packed with innovation, including full digital control (PFC, LLC, SR/12V) and full bridge topology. It even uses a patented frameless Silent Wings fan with an air-channeling funnel for virtually inaudible operation at low loads. Another cool feature is an overclocking key that switches between six 12V rails and one massive 12V rail.While 1500W is overkill for most systems, it's honestly the sweetspot for this system, because the CPU and GPU together consume about 700W at stock settings, and if you push them, that will go way up. This PSU will take it all in stride!
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CPU Cooler –Corsair iCUE H150i Elite LCD CPU Cooler
$240The Guru’s TipCorsair’s H150i Elite LCD offers more performance and features than any other 360mm cooler. Its big radiator is equipped with triple ML120 RGB Elite fans, which offer a great balance of performance and noise, and its pump has an awesome built-in LCD display, allowing you to monitor just about anything in your PC using the Corsair iCUE software.Mount this radiator to the top of the chassis as an exhaust. Note that this cooler includes the Socket 1700 adapter required for use in this system, as well as an advanced 6-fan hub that will control the fans on the cooler along with the case fans we recommend.
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Operating System –Windows 11 Home USB
$139The Guru’s TipWindows 11 take everything people loved about Windows 10, and then takes it to 11! It adds significant under-the-hood changes to make it faster and more secure, and of course, the interface is sleek too!This is absolutely the OS you want on your system to take full advantage of the Intel 13th-Gen CPU and its advanced hybrid architecture!
Optional Products
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The Ultimate Gaming Keyboard –Corsair K100 RGB Optical-Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
$199 The Guru’s TipYou can even sync this keyboard's lighting with the lighting inside the case!
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The Ultralight Gaming Mouse –Logitech G Pro X Superlight
$144 The Guru’s TipThere are a lot of ultra-light mice on the market, but combining that light weight with wireless connectivity unleashes total freedom!
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The Deluxe PC Headset –Corsair Virtuoso Wireless Headset
$180 The Guru’s TipThis is the headset we use every day for hours at a time, and it never lets us down!
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The Ultimate Gaming Monitor –Samsung Odyssey Neo G9
$1800 The Guru’s TipThe best gaming PC deserves the best gaming monitor!
Total Cost: $4983
The DIY Build
- CPU – Intel Core i9-13900KF ($739)
- Motherboard – ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Hero @Newegg ($630)
- Video Card – MSI GeForce RTX 4090 24GB Gaming X Trio ($2350)
- Memory – G.Skill 2x16GB Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6400 CL32 ($220)
- Solid-State Drive – Corsair MP600 Pro XT 4TB ($566)
- Case – Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic Evo ($270)
- ARGB Fan – Corsair iCUE SP120 RGB Elite 3-Pack ($70)
- Power Supply – be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 1500W ($449)
- CPU Cooler – Corsair iCUE H150i Elite LCD CPU Cooler ($240)
- Operating System – Windows 11 Home USB ($139)
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The TBG DIY PC Build Guides
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The Monitor Buyer's Guide
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The Speaker and Headset Buyer's Guide
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The Wireless Networking Buyer's Guide
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