The Best $5000 Dream Machine Gaming PC Build – May 2025
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 AMD and Nvidia!
After a six month hiatus, the $5,000 Dream Machine Gaming PC Build is back for May 2025, with the greatest gaming gear you can get! It starts with AMD’s game-conquering Ryzen 7 9800X3D 8-core, 16-thread CPU, which has Intel busy playing dead. And you’ll make use of all of its power, because this system will be pushing out a massive number of frames thanks to the insane Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 32GB, which is a shocking 30% faster than the already absurd RTX 4090, and draws the power to prove it – 575W, more than most full gaming PCs!
But that’s not all… this build is packing premium gear everywhere else! 64GB of fast DDR5-6000 RAM will assure the CPU has plenty of bandwidth and room to perform. For storage, this system gives you 4TB of blazing-fast storage. To keep things cool, this system uses a high-powered 360mm liquid CPU cooler. Feeding the system is a quiet and ultra-efficient 1300W Platinum-rated power supply. Finally, the system comes together in the sleek and cutting-edge MSI Prospect 700R case, with built-in 4.3″ touchscreen display!
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 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 –AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
$472The Guru’s TipAMD’s 7800 X3D was impressive enough, easily beating every other CPU ever released in gaming. And despite it still holding the crown after the release of many other CPUs, AMD went and did it again, giving gamers the 9800X3D with enhanced 3D cache technology, redesigned to allow higher clockspeeds and manual overclocking. This CPU is the ultimate gaming processor, regardless of price.While there are chips that can beat this one in productivity, this 8-core gem is a gamer's dream chip!
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Motherboard –Asus ROG Strix X870E-E
$478The Guru’s TipThis X870E board from Asus allows you to tap into the full potential of AMD’s cutting-edge AM5 platform. You get a potent 18+2+2 power design with 110A Smart Power Stage , a PCIe Gen 5 video card slot plus an additional PCIe slot, five M.2 slots (three being Gen 5, two being Gen 4), and built-in WiFi 7. On the back you have 13 USB ports, including two cutting-edge USB 4 (40Gbps) ports. It also has great aesthetics, making this an all-around premium choice!This model has all the bells and whistles, without going completely overboard!
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Video Card –Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5090 Gaming OC 32GB
$2920The Guru’s TipHail to the king! The absolutely mind-blowing RTX 5090 32GB goes beyond extreme, beating the legendary RTX 4090 by 30%, an incredible gen-on-gen leap in performance. And this model from Gigabyte offers great cooling thanks to the massive yet attractive triple-slot, triple-fan cooler and flow-through fin-stack!After months of being scalped at 50% above MSRP, the 5090 has settled into a retail price that's 50% above MSRP. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em - but at least you know you are getting genuine product as opposed to a box full of peanuts!
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Memory –G.Skill 2x32GB Trident Z5 Neo RGB DDR5-6000 CL28 EXPO
$250The Guru’s TipTo get the most out of AMD’s latest CPUs, you want fast RAM, and DDR5-6000 is the sweetspot not only in terms of price, but in terms of making the most of the AM5 platform. It allows for the highest overall performance thanks to running in 1:1 sync with the memory controller. And this 64GB Trident Z5 Neo kit from G.Skill is specially designed for AM5, thanks to the extraordinary 28-36-36-96 AMD EXPO timings. It offers tremendous capacity and speed in a single package!64GB is honestly all you'll ever need, even in a Dream Machine!
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Solid-State Drive –Samsung 990 Pro 4TB
$300The Guru’s TipFor serious storage, you don’t just want high-end, you want ultra-high-end, and that means going for the 990 Pro PCIe 4.0. It offers mind-blowing performance, up to 7,450MB/s read and 6,900MB/s, plus blistering random speeds that no other drive can touch. The 990 Pro will go down in history as the drive that truly maxed out the PCIe Gen 4 bus.In terms of a "gaming" drive, you really can't do better than this model - it offers a tremendous amount of capacity for your extended game collection!
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Case –MSI MEG Prospect 700R
$380The Guru’s TipArguably the most advanced case ever made, the Prospect 700R from MSI is simply astonishing. With dual hinged tempered glass doors on both sides and four 140mm ARGB fans and a mesh front panel for extreme airflow, it already has most cases beat for looks and performance. But what really sets this case apart from everything that has come before it is the built-in 4.3″ touchscreen control panel on top, allowing you to monitor and control practically every aspect of your PC’s performance!You can get bigger cases than the 700R, but you cannot get a better case!
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Power Supply –SilverStone HELA 1300R Platinum
$245The Guru’s TipA power supply is about so much more than just a wattage rating, and with SilverStone’s HELA 1300R, you get it all. Of course it has an incredible 1300W of capacity, but it also offers an impressive Platinum efficiency certification, a fully-modular design, all Japanese electrolytic capacitors, and an ultra-silent 120mm FDB fan with semi-fanless function. It’s also ultra-compact, at just 140mm deep, meaning it offers the most wattage per liter of any power supply on the market! But perhaps most important, and what really sets this unit apart, is the Gen5 12VHPWR PCIe connector, meeting Intel ATX 3.0 specification standard. It means no adapters required when paired with the latest power-hungry GPUs from Nvidia!This system will pull about 750W at maximum load, so this PSU will have plenty of headroom to spare. And the truth is that future CPUs and GPUs (which we expect you'll eventually upgrade to) will almost certainly draw much more power, so you'll be prepared with this unit!
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CPU Cooler –SilverStone IceMyst 360
$170The Guru’s TipThere has been tremendous innovation in the AIO liquid cooler market over the past few years, and the IceMyst 360 is the perfect example of this. Not only does its advanced pump, radiator, and fan design provide a tremendous leap over previous-generation coolers on a noise-normalized basis (which is what counts!), you also have the option of adding up to three 70mm accessory fans to the pump to cool RAM, VRMs, or SSDs. This is a truly unique feature that sets the IceMyst apart and makes it the clear choice among 360mm AIOs!Mount this radiator to the top of the chassis as an exhaust.
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Operating System –Windows 11 Home (USB) @Newegg
$139The Guru’s TipWindows 11 built on everything people loved about Windows 10, and then took 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! Note that we’re linking to Newegg, because Amazon long ago stopped selling this physical USB version of Windows, which is the most convenient one to use.This is absolutely the OS you want on your system to take full advantage of the advanced platform.
Optional Products
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The Ultimate Gaming Keyboard –SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3
$240 The Guru’s TipThis keyboard is almost infinitely configurable!
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The Ultralight Gaming Mouse –Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro Wireless
$95 The Guru’s TipThis mouse will keep up with the most fast-twitch games!
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The 32-inch 4K OLED Gaming Monitor –ASUS ROG Swift 32” 4K OLED
$1200 The Guru’s TipA dream machine PC deserves a dream monitor!
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The Ultimate Gaming Headset –SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless
$364 The Guru’s TipThis isn't just a wireless headset, it's a full wireless audio system!
Total Cost: $5603
The DIY Build
- CPU – AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D ($472)
- Motherboard – Asus ROG Strix X870E-E ($478)
- Video Card – Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5090 Gaming OC 32GB ($2920)
- Memory – G.Skill 2x32GB Trident Z5 Neo RGB DDR5-6000 CL28 EXPO ($250)
- Solid-State Drive – Samsung 990 Pro 4TB ($300)
- Case – MSI MEG Prospect 700R ($380)
- Power Supply – SilverStone HELA 1300R Platinum ($245)
- CPU Cooler – SilverStone IceMyst 360 ($170)
- Operating System – Windows 11 Home (USB) @Newegg ($139)
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The TBG DIY PC Build Guides
View all of TBG’s DIY PC Build Guides! This is where you’ll find all the best PC builds on the ‘net, from ultra-compact home office PCs to massive gaming towers.
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The Monitor Buyer's Guide
Find your dream gaming monitor to pair with your new PC in our comprehensive guide!
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The Speaker and Headset Buyer's Guide
Upgrade your audio experience with one of our top-rated picks among speakers and headsets!
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The Wireless Networking Buyer's Guide
Don't let your games lag due to tired old networking... upgrade to the best today!