The Best $5000 Dream Machine Gaming PC Build – August 2023
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!
For August 2023, the $5,000 Dream Machine Gaming PC Build sticks with AMD’s awesome Ryzen 9 7950X3D 16-core, 32-thread CPU, enhanced with 3D V-Cache to blow by Intel’s best in games. 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 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 premium gear everywhere else! 64GB of ultra-fast DDR5-6000 CL30 RAM will make sure the AM5 platform has plenty of bandwidth to perform, and dual 4TB PCIe SSDs, one Gen 5 and one Gen 4, offer a massive 8TB of blazing-fast storage for a huge game collection. To keep things cool, this system uses an awesome Corsair 360mm liquid CPU cooler, which provides immense cooling capacity. Powering the system is a quiet and ultra-efficient 1200W Platinum-rated power supply. Finally, the system comes together in the sleek and cutting-edge MSI Prospect 700R, 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 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 –AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
$659The Guru’s TipAMD has done it again, blasting past Intel in terms of gaming performance thanks to its proprietary, cutting-edge 3D V-Cache technology. By adding this stacked cache on top of one of the two core complexes of the standard 16-core 7950X, the AMD has turned a multi-threaded monster into a true gaming dynamo. It gives you the best of all worlds, along with far greater efficiency and a more advanced platform than Intel.This CPU is efficient, but still needs a great cooler to perform at its best, and we recommend one later in this guide.
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Motherboard –ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E Hero
$670The Guru’s TipThis X670E board from Asus pulls out all the stops, giving you the most advanced platform you could possibly want for years of use and upgrades. It all starts with AMD’s most cutting-edge version of the AM5 platform, using the X670E chipset. That means PCIe Gen 5 support for video cards and SSDs, without needing to cut into one’s bandwidth to feed the other (we’re looking at you, Intel Z790!). You also get a potent 18+2 Phase power solution rated for 110A to support any processor at maximum load. The board has four M.2 slots (two being Gen 5, two being Gen 4), an add-in card supporting a fifth M.2 drive (also Gen 5), plus built-in WiFi 6E. On the back you have a total of 12 USB ports, including two USB 4 Type-C ports and two USB 3 Type-C ports. To top it all off, the Crosshair offers slick programmable Polymo LED lighting across the shroud for custom lightshows. This board simply has it all!The board will give you years of service thanks to its cutting-edge connectivity.
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Video Card –MSI GeForce RTX 4090 Gaming X Trio 24G
$1650The 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 thanks to the massive yet quiet quad-slot, triple-fan cooler!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 2x32GB Trident Z5 Neo RGB DDR5-6000 CL30 EXPO
$205The 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 30-40-40-96 AMD EXPO timings. It offers tremendous capacity and speed in a single package!This is the ideal kit for a serious gaming machine, offering fantastic speed and enough capacity that you'll never hit a bottleneck.
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Solid-State Drive –Crucial T700 4TB PCIe Gen 5
$500The Guru’s TipFor primary storage, you don’t just want high-end, you want ultra-high-end, and that means going with a PCIe Gen 5.0 solid-state drive. And while there were a few early Gen 5 drives based on a hybrid of new and old tech, the Crucial T700 is the real deal, ripping out 12,400MB/s in sequential read and 11,800MB/s in sequential write, making it about 67% faster than any Gen 4 drive. You’ll truly be on the cutting-edge with 4TB of ultra-extreme storage on board!While you don't really need a drive this fast for gaming, for the dream machine, nothing else will do! But assuming you have a huge game collection, you'll want to add the secondary drive below.
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Solid-State Drive –WD_Black SN850X 4TB NVMe
$300The Guru’s TipWith the SN850X 4TB, you’re getting the fastest high-capacity Gen 4 model on the market, with incredible sequential speeds of up to 7,300MB/s. What’s more WD priced it to kill off the competition, with a price lower than most lower-tier 4TB drives.This is just the secondary game storage drive in this system, but what a drive it is!
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Case –MSI MEG Prospect 700R
$350The 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!This case is truly worthy of housing the Dream Machine PC!
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Power Supply –SilverStone HELA 1200R Platinum
$253The Guru’s TipA power supply is about so much more than just a wattage rating, and with SilverStone’s HELA 1200R, you get it all. Of course it has an incredible1200W of capacity, but it also offers an impressive Platinum efficiency certification, a fully-modular design, all Japanese electrolytic capacitors, and an ultra-silent 135mm FDB fan with semi-fanless function. 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!While 1200W is overkill for most systems, it's honestly the sweetspot for this system, because the CPU and GPU together consume about 600W at stock settings, meaning this unit will always be in its sweet spot!
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CPU Cooler –Corsair iCUE H150i Elite Capellix XT
$220The Guru’s TipFor this build, we recommend you go for the amazing H150i Elite Capellix XT from Corsair. It offers up three AF120 RGB Elite fans equipped with AirGuide technology, along with awesome ARGB lighting that can be sync’d directly with the rest of the components spec’d in this build.Mount this radiator to the top of the chassis as an exhaust.
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Operating System –Windows 11 Home (Download)
$130The 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 version can be instantly downloaded and installed from any USB stick with 8GB or more capacity. If you don’t have one handy, we recommend you pick up a fast USB 3.1 thumb drive to install it, which can then be re-purposed for backup or file transfer 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 –Corsair K100 RGB Optical-Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
$210 The Guru’s TipDownload the iCUE software from Corsair to make the most of this feature-packed keyboard.
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The Ultimate Wireless Gaming Mouse –Logitech G502X Plus Lightspeed Wireless
$144 The Guru’s TipLogitech proves with the G502X that it can take the best and make it better!
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The Ultimate Gaming Headset –SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless Headset
$349 The Guru’s TipArctis is the first gaming brand to offer something that is far more than gaming headset!
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The 34" Ultra-wide OLED –Samsung Odyssey G85SB
$1250 The Guru’s TipA dream machine PC deserves a dream monitor!
Total Cost: $5034
The DIY Build
- CPU – AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D ($659)
- Motherboard – ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E Hero ($670)
- Video Card – MSI GeForce RTX 4090 Gaming X Trio 24G ($1650)
- Memory – G.Skill 2x32GB Trident Z5 Neo RGB DDR5-6000 CL30 EXPO ($205)
- Solid-State Drive – Crucial T700 4TB PCIe Gen 5 ($500)
- Solid-State Drive – WD_Black SN850X 4TB NVMe ($300)
- Case – MSI MEG Prospect 700R ($350)
- Power Supply – SilverStone HELA 1200R Platinum ($253)
- CPU Cooler – Corsair iCUE H150i Elite Capellix XT ($220)
- Operating System – Windows 11 Home (Download) ($130)
Optional Products
- The Ultimate Gaming Keyboard – Corsair K100 RGB Optical-Mechanical Gaming Keyboard ($210)
- The Ultimate Wireless Gaming Mouse – Logitech G502X Plus Lightspeed Wireless ($144)
- The Ultimate Gaming Headset – SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless Headset ($349)
- The 34" Ultra-wide OLED – Samsung Odyssey G85SB ($1250)
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The TBG DIY PC Build Guides
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