Thread 725055321

$1700 for something that will last for 1-2 years, $2500 for 3+ years.

>tfw you invested in quality PC parts 10 years ago that you're still using
Should have boughted when you had the chance

>yet another consolenigger artificially inflating prices
Sad!

>>725055321 (OP)
how long are gpu peddlers going to keep up the scam of releasing newer tiers with virtually no observably benefit?

>>725055554
RAM + GPU alone will cost you $1200.

>>725055321 (OP)
>that will last for 1-2 years
It can last a decade if you won't play shit UE5 games.

>>725055648
Ram is like $60 for a 32gb ddr5 kit these days bro just stop

>>725055718
>just don't play half the games being released

>>725055776
Well yeah. Do you really NEED to play Stalker 2 when you can play modded Stalker for free instead? Most "new" games has better old version. Innovation is dead.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/TnzNKq

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($396.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B650M Pro RS Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Pro Overclocking 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($180.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte WINDFORCE SFF GeForce RTX 5080 16 GB Video Card ($999.99 @ B&H)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Cooler Master MWE GOLD 750 V2 FULL MODULAR 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1966.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-11-05 16:40 EST-0500

>>725055765
Check the prices Anon, shit is fucked.

>>725055765
>he doesn't know

That same RAM is $200 now. You can thank AIbros for that.

>>725055321 (OP)
>rbg rainbow shit
do people need that much gay reinforcement all the time

>>725055321 (OP)
>only 1-2 years
sounds like a you problem

>>725055321 (OP)
I don't care. I got 5070 Ti and 9800X3D that will last me 5-6 years.

I spent like $1300 ten years ago and still going strong. Meanwhile consolecucks pay for a new inferior computer every few years, and a subscription to play online rofl

>>725056478
So thats as much as a PS5 and 8 years of PS plus, which isnt required by the way, and you Pc cattle are still fucked out of GTA 6.

>>725056559
10 years*

>>725056328
You're welcome

>>725056478
>it still works
is that your bar for a gaming PC ?

>>725056478
damn i got 4 PS5s since release day and only one pc upgrade and dont even have a steam account.

If it's gotta be done, do it right

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kL8MLc

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D 4.3 GHz 16-Core Processor ($679.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler ($153.08 @ Newegg Sellers)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X870 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 ATX AM5 Motherboard ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6800 CL34 Memory ($314.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital WD_Black SN850X 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($285.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital WD_Black SN850X 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($285.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte WINDFORCE GeForce RTX 5090 32 GB Video Card ($1999.99 @ Best Buy - OOS)
Case: Fractal Design Define 7 ATX Mid Tower Case ($194.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: SeaSonic PRIME PX-1300 1300 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($731.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $4864.03
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-11-05 16:50 EST-0500

>>725056559
I don't want 1080p 30fps gaming.

>>725056478
I upgrade my GPU every GPU cycle and CPU every 1.5-2 cycles
I upgrade my console every performance update

>Went with a Ryzen 7700 instead of 7800X3D

Did I fuck monumentally or am I good?

>>725056887
Name one PS5 game that runs at 1080p at 30fps. Its running Cawadooty at 120fps alone

>>725056559
bro you spent at least 1200$
most of that just access the internet
lmao

>>725056887
my gt7 is 120fps 8k

>>725056980
Depends on your GPU.

>>725056886
>Ryzen
>6800 CL34 memory

Retard.

>>725056821
it definitely is the bar for consoles

>>725057096
Paired it with a 5060 ti 16gb. Am I screwed?

>>725057046
That's for 10 years of games without hackers, and without having to tweak anything and it comes with 36 games every year. 80 bucks a year.

>>725056980
Depends what are you going to play and what GPU do you have.
Price difference is only 90€ at least in Yourope.

>>725056886
Why would you buy your shit on Amazon and other retail stores like what the fuck is "Best Buy"? Find a proper tech store and buy all your shit from there, likely they have a built-in rig simulator on their website to pick all the components that fit together with proper reviews.

>>725055321 (OP)
I spent $950 on a laptop with a 4060 and Ryzen 9 recently and it runs everything just fine.

>>725057423
Add a couple of RAM sticks and it's a beast. My brother has a Lenovo Legion 5 with a 4060, all it needed to fuck some shit up was more RAM. I think the CPU is AMD too, not sure about that, but yeah for less than 1000€ he has a decent machine.

my pc cpu is being fucky
sometimes it idles hot and sometimes not
decided to undervolt and nothing seems to have changed at idle
dont know what the fuck to do

>>725055321 (OP)
>$1700 for something that will last for 1-2 years,
What do you mean by that? Are peecee hardware going to rot after 2 years or something? Or are you alluding to consoom those triple A slop - chasing the endless realism rtx realistik tehnulugy and try to play your sloppa in the highest resolution render as possible with the highest 300 or plus fps something with ai slop frame generation and yadda yadda like that?

>>725057709
This is why people buy consoles

>>725055321 (OP)
Mine was 1000 dollars in 2019 and it still runs everything...

>>725057709
if its amd it just does that

this is the designated retarded pc questions thread i guess
ask all of you retarded questions and i, pc master, will answer them

>>725057804
No it's not what are you talking about? "Red Ring/Light of Death" remember?
>>725057709
What OS? Did you put the CPU yourself if so did you fuck up the thermal paste application, etc? Many reasons. If you ruled out a software issue you might want to open that bitch up.

>>725056328
>AIbros
you think retards on twitter are the ones building data centers?

>>725055321 (OP)
Im gonna spend around 3800 this week on a build, but my PCs last me years. My last pc lasted me 12 ish years and it was like 1800.

>>725055321 (OP)
i built mine in 2019 for 800 bucks which re-used my gtx 980 i bought in 2015 for 600 and then exchanged that in 2023 for a 3080 which was about 450
so in short, youre wrong

>>725057709
It's not idle then.
Just for your information if you have mouse with high polling rate just moving your cursor on the desktop will make your CPU boost all the way.

>>725057946
>for those who dare

>>725056236
+700 tax

can any nerd rank the following for me? I'm tryna build one

CPU/GPU

intel+intel
intel+nvidia
intel+amd
amd+amd
amd+intel
amd+nvidia

>>725057946
My LGBT lights stopped glowing what do

>>725055321 (OP)
>$1700 for something that will last for 1-2 years
The fuck are you talking about you dumb ape

>>725056236
>Video Card: Gigabyte WINDFORCE SFF GeForce
>Gigabyte
yikes

>>725058157
intel cpu are dead, nvidia gpu are expensive, intel gpu are dead too.
so ...

>>725058157
intel makes shit cpus and gpus
amd makes good cpus and shit gpus
nvidia makes overpriced (but good) gpus

>>725056236
>RTX 5080
Absolutely fucking retarded considering that a 5070 ti gives you 97% of the performance for much lower price.
But even more retarded than that is pairing with a 750W PSU
That machine is going to shutdown under load because the PSU simply can't handle both the CPU+GPU power spikes

Amd makes good cpus but has shit qc so your cpu might literally explode one day out of the blue

>>725057991
20 years ago?

>>725057562
Yeah my dad actually sent me a check for my birthday and told me to get more RAM as my birthday gift I just haven't gotten around to it yet because I've mostly been playing older stuff recently. I'll probably get some between Black Friday/Christmas when I see a decent sale. But yeah I've been impressed with it so far.

>>725058157
For gaming
AMD CPUs I hear are better than Intel, but Intel is just more reliable and versatile.
Nvidia GPUs are the indisputed GOATs. You might want to go AMD if you're a poorfag, a retard, or a contrarian, they're okay but you're gonna run into problems one way or another. Intel GPUs forget about it, it's for work.
They are all cross-compatible.

>>725058157
It doesn't really matter, AMD, nVidia and Intel are all compatible with eachother. Go for the best deal you can find instead of worrying about that. I'm Intel + AMD for the past 8 years and I've never had any issues.

>>725058405
huh my AMD K6-2 266 MHz is still alive

>>725058318
so amd+amd if poor and amd+nvidia if i have money?
i had no idea intel cpus were dead, I haven't been up to date for many years

>shopping for a new computer
>notice multiple computer parts/shopping threads in the same day or two
I can only think of a couple possible explanations for this:
a) These threads always exist and I only notice them when it pertains to me
b) It's around the holidays and more people are shopping for computers because of deals
c) I'm in a truman show-esque situation and everyone in this thread is a federal operative
d) Dead internet theory, based on search history threads are generated to tailor to me

Which is it?

>>725058405
That's mostly the 9800X3D and the first gen ryzen cpus
Almost everything else is pretty solid

I plan on upgrading to a new PC in 2030 with a budget of no more than $1500, although I expect to spend hundreds less than that. I also plan on upgrading my desk, chair, and monitor all under $1000. I'm hoping OLED monitors will be more affordable by then.

>>725058538
yea basically
intel was hanging around for a while but everything they made was more expensive and just generally worse to what amd was offering

>>725058553
>I'm in a truman show-esque situation and everyone in this thread is a federal operative
you weren't suppose to find out
you should have kept it to yourself
it's too late now

>>725058578
>the mayor is younger than me
I guess I’m unironically old now…

>>725058087
Here is the build if anyone cares, its gonna be around 2500. Plan to have it for at least a decade with minor upgrades here and there

CPU: (1) AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Granite Ridge AM5 4.30GHz 16-Core
Motherboard: (1) ASUS X870E-CREATOR ProArt WIFI AMD AM5 ATX Motherboard
RAM: (1) Corsair VENGEANCE 64GB (2 x 32GB) DDR5-6000 PC5-48000 CL30 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit
Graphics Card GPU: (1) Sapphire Technology AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT PULSE Triple Fan 16GB GDDR6 PCIe 5.0 Graphics Card
M.2 / NVMe SSD: (2) Samsung 990 PRO 4TB Samsung V NAND TLC NAND PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe M.2 Internal SSD
M.2 / NVMe SSD: (2) Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB Samsung V NAND TLC NAND (V8) PCIe Gen 5 x4 and PCIe Gen 5 x4 NVMe M.2
Power Supply PSU: (1) Seasonic USA Vertex GX-1200 1200 Watt 80 Plus Gold ATX Fully Modular Power Supply - ATX 3.0 Compatible
Water Cooling Kits: (1) ASUS Prime LC 360 ARGB 360mm All in One Liquid CPU Cooling Kit

Should I upgrade my video card now due to memory price increase ?

>>725058578
>2030 with a budget of no more than $1500
$1500 will be worth less than $500 of today's money by 2030

>>725055321 (OP)
>1-2 years
in what fucking world

>>725057709
My old pc couldn't get out of sleep mode. I tried everything and it never fixed itself. It was fine otherwise and it never bothered me that much i gues.

If you're paying more for just the GPU than almost all the other parts combined you fucked up your build and need to stop being a retard.

>>725058553
all of the above

>>725055321 (OP)
>24/7 bait threads because no games
PlayStation is dead.

>>725058707
>build supercomputer
>cheap out on gpu because he’s a retarded amdrone
Seeing a 9070xt in a build makes me laugh every time

>>725055321 (OP)
My first gaming PC was a prebuilt for $1,099 and it lasted me 6 years

>>725055575
I hate how they have to put in cuda cores and frame ai chips and whatever else but can't get us basic raster performance uplifts.

>>725055321 (OP)
I spent £900 on this last year and it's been solid

Case: Jonsbo C6 £50
Mobo: MSI PRO B760M-A WIFI DDR5 £95
CPU: i3-13100F skt 1700 Raptor Lake £115 (free)
RAM: Corsair DDR5 Vengence PC5-44800 (5600) CMK32GX5M2B5600C40 £96
SSD1: Crucial P5 Plus 500GB £47
SSD2: Corsair MP600 CORE XT 2TB £110
PSU: Corsair SF750 £110
GPU: Zotac 4060 Solo 38mm high (MAX 44mm), 1x power £290
Cooler: Noctua NH-L12S £60
Fans:
-1x 140mm Silent Wings 4 £29
-1x 120mm Silent Wings 4 £28

>>725058850
Is the 9070xt a joke?
Is the 5070 just better?

>>725058850
Im gonna dual boot anon, so its amd for linux since nvidia is harder on linux. Im seeing the writing on the wall and im tryinh to jump out of the MS ecosystem and see where Valve takes linux.

>>725058850
For real. Nvidia is a ball of problems but they're on top for a reason. LTT and GN trying to claim the 9070 was fine was just dishonest.

>>725058978
Uhhhh yes you idiot. Diss alone is worth more than any single digit performance increase in one or 2 games

>>725055321 (OP)
ram prices kind of cray right now

>>725058985
>since nvidia is harder on linux
hasn't been true for a few years now

>>725057016
>Its running [rehashed PS4-tier game] at 120fps alone
Wow, what an achievement

>>725058847
>PDS out of nowhere

>>725059026
imagine paying 2x to see some color puddles and fake frames in vidya

>>725059027
this shit happens all the time. something stupid like crypto or ai will cause prices to spike like crazy for a few months / a year and then they go back to normal once the bubble pops and nobody gives a shit anymore
just wait bro™ is the way of life these days

do yourself a favor and stop watching hardware unboxed videos and only watch gamersnexus for case reviews
they are biased as fuck

>>725058503
I actually found a video from a guy who optimised the Nvidia control pannel settings for the best balance between quality and performance, actual optimisation really. Can't remember what it was but I just remember no matter what you hear, don't use the "ultra performance mode" (as advised by almost everyone) which "double-negates" your GPU performance so to speak. It adds two layers of performance which goes overkill when a game has its own performance setting (Reflex or some shit) which actually puts a bigger load on the GPU than if it were normal performance mode.
And all it needed was 32Go of RAM. Reaches 100fps on medium-high settings in Borderlands4 with just 8 gigs of VRAM which I find incredible.

>>725059026
What makes AMD so bad?

>>725058978
Just an Nvidia fanboy. 9070xt is a great gpu

>>725059087
There is a reason Valave went with AMD for Steam Deck

Is it possible to have a gaming PC fully without RGB?

>>725059167
>just wait bro™ is the way of life these days
Wise words, brother.

>>725059225
Bad drivers
Bad software (all they do is play catch up with nvidia and their versions of things are garbage. DlSS? FSR..etc)
Quick to put older cards in maintenance mode (see rdna 2 and 3 drama)

Im almost two years in with my 9600x/4060 and I'm sure as hell I still can play anything at 1080p and didn't cost that

>>725059225
Its not bad. 9X is goat for it price.

Rate my setup?

>>725059271
yeah just buy all rgb stuff and just dont plug in any of the power connectors for the lights
been doing it for a while now

>amdrone buys card that sucks
>complains that it's the games fault he can't run the latest games
every
single
time

>>725059271
you can turn all your rgb off with SignalRGB

>>725058531
Consolniggers shouldn't talk about PC building it just shows you're retarded

If your PC lights up I assume you have HIV.

>>725058318
The b580 is actually insanely good value for budget thougheverbeit

>>725059458
Sodomy is requirement to join the pc master race
The rainbow lights just are a good way to remember and honor that moment

>>725055321 (OP)
thank god I bought 1000w psu, 64gb of ram, and a good motherboard earlier this year. prices are fucked but I just need to buy a new GPU if I want to upgrade

>>725059271
Yeah, mine. Not less expensive, well yes a tad bit, just silent, no parasite signals, because I make music aside from gaming. I put all the LGBT shit on the desk (mouse, keyboard, audio kit). A little bit of LGBT is comfy, just not in the rig.
>>725059423
And watchu gonna do about it huh?

>>725059335
>am4 in 2025
kinda sad but not too bad otherwise

every 2 years the price doubles and then 2 years later the price gets cut in half
i don't know why you wouldn't already have one
>will last 2 years
i can play bf6 on high at 1440p 144fps and i built this SFF computer 6 years ago for like $1600

>>725059458
When I built my new PC I deliberately didn't get any RGB and was pissed off that my motherboard has an orange strip I can see through the vent holes

>>725059517
same with amd i just dont trust their drivers. im sure they perform fine when they actually work but i just have bad luck with anything that isnt nvidia tee bee aytch

>>725059594
A ps5 pro runs it at 1620p at 120fps though and is only 749

>>725059589
recommend me an am5 motherboard

>>725059271
Just buy a case without a window and stop fucking worrying what the electronics inside the box look like.

>>725056886
>overkill for 1440p or less
>not powerful enough to play ue5 games
why spend this much on a pc

retard here, if i dont give a shit about 1440p, let alone 4k, what's a good gpu that should last me several years?
if i didn't make it clear, I'm 1080p only

>>725060093
a 5090
no i am not kidding
the 5090 will be a 1080p gpu in like 3 years

>>725060093
5090

>>725060161
retard

>>725060093
>>725060161
>>725060167
A 5090 is almost a native 1080p card now

>>725060216
AMD chads keep winning

>>725060216
true, in games like the first descendant i get 25 fps maxed at 4k without dlss and frame gen

>>725060260
amd cards are like 540p bruv

What are you guys even ranning with a 2k + spec pc? What triple A games do benefit from that much power? ITs been years that I dont see anything remotely interesting that cannot be played with a 10 years old rig running windows 7.

>>725060093
5060XT even should be fine

>>725060283
every triple A game is console friendly so should be run fine on a same power PC.

>>725059795
I will agree with you on amd but in my experience the b580 has been reliable as fuck. Most of its issues were worked out within 4 months. I get where you are coming from though. I was skeptical because of youtubers. Got my b580 12gb for 170 on sale & dont regret it at all

>>725060283
pc actually has games so there is no reason to waste your time with AAA games

>>725060093
no meme
A 3060 or above? I could sell you mine for 150 bucks hehe.
For 1080p the 3060 plays several new games on *high* to *ultra*, costs nearly nothing. Push it with Lossless Scaling, would perform above its weight class.

>>725059202
I never use ultra for anything just because I honestly can't even tell the difference between it and high most of the time. Usually as long as I get above 90 frames I'm happy and if I can get more than that by not bothering with ultra that's what I choose.

>>725060216
5090 is the only GPU worth buying. All the rest are shit

>>725055321 (OP)
I spent 600 bucks on a crappy prebuilt, then I spent 60 bucks on 16 gigs of ram and put that in, then I put on 1 terabyte external hardrive, which cost like 80 bucks I think, my pc cant run AAA games but it can do pretty much anything else I wanna do, I mostly play older games anyway.

Graphics haven't improved in the slightest since RDR2, that's a game from 2018. So tell me, why do we keep needing more and more powerful GPUs?

>>725060603
because of shitty optimization and lazy devs

>>725060603
the gpus are made more cheaper and are needing cope frame generation instead
big video game is in on it and requirements cope frames

>>725055479
>Dude you should have built a pc when you were 12 years old maaaan

>>725060483
It should be common knowledge, it's talked about in some videos that came out with the a little while ago, you basically should never play in Ultra because it's just a marketing asset for developpers to show their technical abilities. It pushes the hardware to an arbitrary limit that is just suboptimal. It's a couple of pixels more than High for twice less the framerate.
You're doing good.

>>725060603
Because microsoft wants to run a local A.I. on everyone's computer so they can train it while stressing their own servers and such less.

>>725055321 (OP)
I did this but there are no games worth playing that couldn't be run on a decade old toaster.

>>725055321 (OP)
I spent $1800 for a 4070 TI and i5 last year and I think I'm done for the foreseeable future. There's already too much to play and I already use it for 90% old shit anyways.

>>725060678
Why does reddit hit me with the "tell me you dont know shit about gamedev without telling me you dont know shit about gamedev" when I say this?

>>725060824
bro all you have to do is scroll reddit for 3 seconds to see how fucking brain dead the entire website is. I have never seen more wrong information congregated in a single location

>>725058201
I ordered PNY Plus version

I pulled my pc together right as covid was going crazy, though I have replaced the cpu/gpu during good sales since then. Bit scared of what prices must look like doing a whole new build nowadays

>>725060603
The only game I played because I got dragged into fomo by some internet guys was helldivers. I think thats the only game i played in the last 5 years that made me want to buy a new rig.
99% of steam catalogue is absolutely enjoyable with a 1080ti.

There is only one real reason to get an Nvidea GPU lately. And its to run your own AI generation video and image without ass censorship.

>PeDOric gaslighting thread

jeez, maybe should have boughetedthoughever the Switch 2.

anyone knows will memory price spike increase video cards prices or not?

>>725060738
Yeah I just started Control up and on high with no RT I'm getting like 115. I tried switching it to ultra just now just to see if I could tell and I literally can't see any difference at all. Maybe I'm just not perceptive but from my perspective ultra seems like a meme. RT is gay too.

>>725058157
AMD cpu, GPU depends on budget and what you want to do. Don't listen to the retards here, all three companies make good gpus

>>725055321 (OP)
nigger you need 800$ for a mid range pc that'll last you for 5 years.

>>725058978
9070xt outperforms the 5070

>>725061392
RT in Cyberpunk feels good, like seeing reflections in puddles and stuff. Depends on the game. But then Cyberpunk doesn't have Ultra settings, just "none-low / medium / high". But in the Witcher 3 they put an Ultra setting above High that changes almost nothing at all, just literally a few pixels in the grass and shit that dunks on your framerate. Depends.

>>725061548
>$800 is midrange
lol

>>725061325
no it won't, unless china does something stupid

>>725055321 (OP)
I just get myself a laptop every other year I don't care about this autistic shit

>>725061325
The chips are quite different, I believe

>>725061758
I haven't played Cyberpunk yet, not on PC or console. I did buy Witcher 3 when I got the new laptop but I can't remember what settings I was using. I remember I was getting around 100 frames on the DX11 version and it looked a lot nicer than it does on PS4/PS5/Xbox so I felt I more than got my $9 worth. In fact you bringing it up reminds me I really should go back and finish that playthrough. I was in Skellige and got distracted with other games.

>>725061758
I'm pretty sure there were reflections in puddles before you had to buy a $900 gpu

>>725062001
>the only fomo i care about is gta6
>wont even come out to pc for like another 3 years
why even upgrade

>>725062001
I got a decent PC but a lot of the time use an older gaming laptop which is i5-6something and 1050, works fine for playing old stuff. Bought it used 7 years ago.

Is this a good deal? I need to update to AM5.

>>725062325
>I need to update to AM5

Why? What game needs more processor?

i have rx6600 and i probably need like 1/3 of its performance to play what i want and i spent like $120 on it

>>725061548
mid range is like 1400$, anon

>>725055321 (OP)
>$1700 for something that will last for 1-2 years
Yikey! That's only if you're lucky.
A $5000 should last you a good 10 months

6700K GTX 1070 and still going on strong, played Wuchang on it to the end only game I'm holding off on playing is Ronin I really want to upgrade before playing that game but the games just keep on running...

>>725062572
I guess if you wanna play 2006 games
Mid range is at least $3k

>>725063097
it's 5k, brokie

>>725062430
6750XT here.
Even this chink gacha uses my gpu at 100% in 1440p.

>>725062325
dunno about current asus, im still buying asrock only.

>>725055321 (OP)
Dunno how it is now with the tariffs thing, but a super-budget solution that we BRs love is to get a Xeon kit from AliExpress. Think $100 for a CPU+RAM+mobo. Old Xeons pack a decent punch since they have way more cores than regular CPUs.