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The AMD Ryzen 3800X is the slightly more powerful variant of the two Ryzen 7s processors. While some would prefer to build a PC with the cheaper 3700X, others prefer the slighly more powerfull 3800X. Therefore, we’ve got an excellent Ryzen 7 3800X PC build below. With this build, you’ll be getting a great performing PC that’s well balanced, future proof, customizable, upgradable, and takes advantage of the latest features such a PCIe 4.0.
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$1700 Ryzen 5 3800X Build
Build Components
CPU: |
Ryzen 7 3800X 
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Motherboard: |
GIGABYTE X570 AORUS Pro Wi-Fi 
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GPU: |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super 
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RAM: |
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB, 3600Mhz) 
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Storage: |
Sabrent Rocket 1TB NVMe PCIe M.2 
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Power Supply: |
EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G3 
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Case: |
Rosewill Cullinan V500 RGB 
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Build Features
- Fantastic for 1080p, great for 1440p gaming
- Great for 720p and 1080p streaming
- Fantastic for content creation, computationally demading applications and tasks, and multitasking: including 4K video editing, photo editing, 3D rendering, programing, and other forms of multimedia
- Customizable, future proof, and great upgrade path
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Build Overview:
CPU: Ryzen 7 3800X
The Ryzen 7 3800X is a very well-balanced CPU that’s made with serious enthusiasts in mind. It comes with eight cores and twelve threads and is an unlocked processor that you can easily overclock. It uses AMD’s AM4 socket and is made on a 7nm FinFET process.
The base frequency is 3.9 GHz, which is excellent. However, even without overclocking, it can easily boost up to 4.5GHz if you need it to. This gives it excellent performance in single-core scenarios. The default TDP is 105W, and the included Wraith Prism cooler with RGB is quite sufficient to keep it cool. The 3800X has support for 3200 MHz DDR4 dual-channel memory, so that’s what we’ll be using in our build.
All things considered, the Ryzen 7 3800X strikes a really good balance between price and performance. Yes, there are cheaper models in the lineup, but if you’re an enthusiast that wants a lot of performance, it’s the way to go.
Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 AORUS Pro Wi-Fi
Gigabyte’s AORUS lineup of motherboards has consistently been a great option for AMD users, thanks to the fact that it always includes all the latest features. The X570 AORUS Pro Wi-Fi is no exception, boasting features such as 4 DIMM slots that support dual-channel ECC and non-ECC memory, as well as an ultra-fast NVMe slot with PCIe Gen4 speeds.
There’s also Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax, as well as a 12 phase IR digital VRM. The included audio card is an ALC1220-VB, and the entire motherboard has an excellent thermal design. If you’re looking for an enthusiast board that checks all the boxes, this is a great option.
GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super
Even though this is a Ryzen 3800X build, the graphics card we’d recommend going for is an Nvidia model. More specifically, it’s their brand new RTX 2070 Super GPU, and it’s a great performer and gives you excellent value. It comes with 8GB of GDDR6 memory, as well as a base clock of 1605 MHz, and a boost clock of 1770 MHz.
While this is not the most powerful GPU in their lineup, it still includes all the high-end features such as ray tracing and tensor cores. If you’re playing something that supports those technologies, you’ll notice excellent visuals in-game. All things considered, an excellent option for a Ryzen 3800X build.
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB
Fast, high-quality memory is key when you’re building an enthusiast system, so we recommend going for Corsair’s Vengeance LPX kit. It’s a dual-channel kit with two 8GB sticks, running at 3600 MHz C18. While there are no fancy RGB lights here, you do get an excellent low-profile aluminum heat spreader. It’s what keeps temps at bay when you’re overclocking the memory – something that’s surprisingly easy, especially with XMP 2.0 support.
The Vengeance LPX kit is also priced really well for such a high-speed, high-performance memory. The fact that each IC is individually screened for performance just gives you a bit more peace of mind, and you’ll be good to go for a good while with this kit.
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 1TB NVMe
With the motherboard of choice supporting PCIe Gen 4, Sabrent’s Rocket SSD is a great fit for this build. Coming in at a 1TB capacity, you can easily store your operating system and a host of games on it, and get incredibly fast loading times.
We’re talking up to 5000 MB/s read speeds and 4400 MB/s write speeds, both impressive numbers especially compared to previous-gen SSDs. There’s also support for SMART and TRIM commands, as well as all the standard features on high-end SSDs – advanced wear-leveling, error correction code, bad block management, and over-provision. If you want the fastest possible storage at the moment, look no further.
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G3
While an enthusiast build often commands a very powerful PSU, our Ryzen 3800X build can actually run really well on 650W. However, you’ll want a high-quality model, so we opted for EVGA’s SuperNOVA G3 PSU, which comes with an 80+ Gold rating.
This is a fully modular PSU, so cable management will be a breeze. Coming with a 130mm hydraulic dynamic bearing fan, you won’t hear the PSU working unless it’s really pushing things hard. It also has all the heavy-duty protections, such as UVP, OVP, OCP, OPP, and SCP, so you can have peace of mind that nothing will go wrong.
Case: Rosewill Cullinan V500
Even though Rosewill may not be the first brand that springs to mind when you’re looking at cases, the Cullinan V500 is a great case for this kind of build. It comes with quite a lot of space for components and excellent airflow, and the tempered glass side panels let you showcase your entire build.
The case comes with four 120mm RGB LED fans, and there’s an included remote control that allows you to switch between three fan speeds, depending on what you’re doing at the moment. There is also support for up to a 360mm radiator on an AiO, which rounds out an excellent case for our Ryzen 3800X build.
See Related Article: AM3+ CPU [Our Reviews and Comparisons]
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Operating System: Windows 10 USB Installer
In the past couple of years, there’s actually little discussion as to which OS you should go with when you’ve got an enthusiast build made for gaming – Windows 10 is the best pick. You can go for either the Home or the Pro variant, as both give you more or less the same feature set, with the Pro having a few more advanced and security-focused features.
Windows 10 is the most compatible OS as far as games, drivers and software go, so you can rest assured knowing that all of the hardware we recommend in the Ryzen 3800x build is supported. We would advise going for a USB installer – this is the fastest way to get things up and running, and you’ll always have the USB in case you need to reinstall the OS for some reason.
Recommended CPU Cooler (optional): NZXT Kraken X62 280mm
True, the included AMD Wraith Prism cooler does a great job at keeping the Ryzen 7 3800X running fairly cool. However, if you’re going to overclock, you will want something that’s more powerful, and NZXT’s Kraken X62 is the way to go. In a 280mm configuration, it comes with two of NZXT’s Aer P140mm fans.
The Kraken X62 also has reinforced extended tubing with nylon sleeves that strengthen the rubber tubing, acting as a layer of protection. The infinity mirror design and RGB lights let you add a splash of color to your build, and you can control the lights from NZXT’s CAM software. The software also lets you make changes to the performance of the cooler and monitor things such as liquid temperature and pump speed.
Read Related Topic: AM3+ CPU [Our Reviews and Comparisons]
Final Take
All things considered, our Ryzen 3800X build is made to satisfy enthusiasts, professionals, gamers, and or anyone else who has a budget in the ~$1700 range. It’s powerful, very well balanced, and gives you room to upgrade in the future should you want to. You can either opt for the whole build, or use it as a baseline and change things up, but nevertheless, it’s an excellent build.
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