The Best $5000 Dream Machine Gaming PC Build – August 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 awesomely-compact high-end chassis. It’s everything you want in a killer gaming PC!
This Month’s Build, Powered by Intel and Nvidia!
For August 2022, the $5,000 Dream Machine Gaming PC Build offers the best of the best… what else would you expect?!? In fact, it’s received multiple upgrades this month while staying below our target $5000 budget, thanks to price cuts on numerous components. It all starts with the insanely-powerful Intel Core i9-12900KS, a 16-core, 24-thread CPU that puts everything AMD offers to shame. Simply put, it’s the fastest processor ever released. The 12900KS is joined by a liquid-cooled Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti 24GB GPU for extreme gaming potential. It doesn’t hurt that this particular GPU received a $600 pricecut this month!!!
This build is also packing 32GB of ultra-fast DDR5-6400 RAM, plus a 4TB PCIe Gen 4 drive, offering plenty of blazing-fast storage. 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 i9-12900KS
$735The Guru’s TipIntel already claimed the top spot among gaming CPUs with the 12900K, based on the 12th-Gen “Alder Lake” architecture. But that clearly wasn’t good enough, because now it’s gone and outdone itself with the special “KS” model, which increases speed by nearly 10% thanks to a much more advanced boost algorithm. With its 8 multi-threaded performance cores plus 8 efficiency cores, it’s also a beast for content creation or multi-tasking!This CPU draws a ton of power, so the 360mm liquid cooler we recommend for this build will not go to waste!
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Motherboard –MSI MEG Z690 ACE
$540The Guru’s TipStep into extreme performance and features with the Z690 ACE from MSI! It offers up mind-blowing specs: a 19+1+2 phase power design, quintuple M.2 slots (four being full PCIe Gen 4 x4), dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, WiFi 6E networking, dual Intel 2.5Gbps LAN ports, and just for fun, genuine 24K-gold foil heatsink wraps!This board will guarantee incredible stability no matter how hard you push the CPU and RAM!
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Video Card –ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 Ti ROG Strix LC
$1499The Guru’s TipHail to the king! The absolutely mind-blowing RTX 3090 Ti 24GB goes beyond extreme, beating the original 3090 by 10% thanks to an increase in CUDA cores and faster VRAM. And this model from Asus turns the dial on the 3090 Ti to 11, thanks to the included 240mm liquid cooler. No other 3090 Ti will clock higher, run cooler, or game faster!With this card, you are stepping up to the best of the best, at a price far below what vanilla 3090s were selling for just a few months ago! Note that you'll be mounting the radiator as an exhaust to the side panel of our recommended case.
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Memory –G.Skill 2x16GB Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6400 CL32
$370The 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 –Sabrent 4TB Rocket 4 Plus PCIe 4.0
$700The Guru’s TipTake your I/O to the next level with this bleeding-edge 2nd-Gen PCIe 4.0-based 4TB SSD, featuring transfer speeds of over 7,000MB/s! It’s the biggest, fastest M.2 SSD on the market!While you don't really need a drive this fast for gaming, for the dream machine, nothing else will do!
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Case –Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic Evo
$206The 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
$71The 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
$415The 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.This PSU will have more than enough power for you to easily run all the gear in this system to the max, with headroom to spare for power-hungry next-gen gear!
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CPU Cooler –Corsair iCUE H150i Elite LCD CPU Cooler
$284The 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 12th-Gen CPU!
Optional Products
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The Ultimate Gaming Keyboard –Corsair K100 RGB Optical-Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
$193 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
$139 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
$1797 The Guru’s TipThe best gaming PC deserves the best gaming monitor!
Total Cost: $4959
The DIY Build
- CPU – Intel Core i9-12900KS ($735)
- Motherboard – MSI MEG Z690 ACE ($540)
- Video Card – ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 Ti ROG Strix LC ($1499)
- Memory – G.Skill 2x16GB Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6400 CL32 ($370)
- Solid-State Drive – Sabrent 4TB Rocket 4 Plus PCIe 4.0 ($700)
- Case – Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic Evo ($206)
- ARGB Fan – Corsair iCUE SP120 RGB Elite 3-Pack ($71)
- Power Supply – be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 1500W ($415)
- CPU Cooler – Corsair iCUE H150i Elite LCD CPU Cooler ($284)
- Operating System – Windows 11 Home USB ($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!