PC Build 2025

PC Build 2025

Disclaimer

As made clear in my About page, I do not do affiliate marketing or advertising. All products reviewed are purchased by me and all opinions are my own. I hate to see biased reviews as much as you do.

Introduction

I recently picked out the Silverstone RM51 case for my new build, as documented in my Silverstone RM51 Review post. I had been planning an upgrade for a while, with my PC build being almost 6 years old, and I decided to go all out with the new build, with the parts being selected with the intention of being used for at least 5 years. This build is intended primarily as a gaming build, but I also plan to use it as a homelab development environment for my projects, such as running LLM and other AI models. I also wanted this build to be rackmountable, reflecting its intention as part of a homelab setup.

Build Overview

The parts I selected for this build are as follows:

PC Build Parts

Specifications

‎	Name	Description
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D	16C, 32T
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15	chromax.black
Motherboard	Asus ProArt X870-E Creator WiFi
Memory	G.Skill Flare X5 64GB	(2x32GB) 6000 Mhz CL30
GPU	MSI RTX 5090 Gaming Trio OC
Storage 1	Samsung 990 Pro	2TB
PSU	Silverstone Hela 1300R	80+ Platinum
Case	Silverstone RM51

Part Selection

CPU

With a focus on gaming, there are only two real choices for CPUs: 9800X3D or 9950X3D. I went with the latter, as I wanted to future-proof my build and I knew I could make use of the extra cores for development. The price difference between them was acceptable, so I stretched my budget a little to get this upgrade.

CPU Cooler

Reusing my old Noctua NH-D15 cooler was a no-brainer. It is still one of the best air coolers on the market, and I have never believed in using water cooling for my builds, much less for something that can be considered a server. I also added the offset mounting kit to the cooler, which takes advantage of placing the cooler directly over the hottest part of the CPU, which are the cores. This is especially important given the 9950X3D’s 170W TDP.

Motherboard

I chose the Asus ProArt X870-E Creator WiFi motherboard for one main reason: it has 10GbE built-in. While I don’t have, and don’t need 10 GbE at the moment, I am planning a 10GbE network upgrade within the next five years, so this is part of the investment. The motherboard also comes with other nice features, such as PCIe x8/x8 bifurcation, USB 4.0, and a second 2.5 GbE port.

Memory

I went with G.Skill Flare X5 64GB memory kit. I believe it is common knowledge for AM5 that 6000 MHz CL30 is the sweet spot for memory speed. I went with 64GB as I know I can make good use of it in Docker containers and VMs.

GPU

I went with the MSI RTX 5090 Gaming Trio OC GPU. Since the GPU is the most important part of the build for gaming, I decided to go all out and get the best. Although stock availability is still low, I was able to get my hands on one at what I feel is a reasonable price. With the 5090, I can both play games and run decent AI models on it.

Storage

I went with a single Samsung 990 Pro 2TB NVMe SSD. Having already used one in my previous build, I know it is a solid performer. The new PCIe 5.0 SSDs are not worth the price premium at the moment.

PSU

I went with the Silverstone Hela 1300R PSU. With all the power hungry components in the build, I wanted to make sure I had enough power. The 1300W rating is more than enough for my needs, and the 80+ Platinum rating means it is efficient as well. The only shortcoming is that it is only a 5 year warranty, but that just means an excuse to upgrade in 5 years.

Case

I have spoken enough about the Silverstone RM51 case in my previous post, so I will not go into detail here.

Build Process

With just a single chamber, this is much unlike regular consumer cases. The large area provides ample space for the components, and makes it easy to see everything at once. The only downside is that the cable management is not as good as a regular case, but I did manage as much as I could. Since the top is solid anyway, no one will see the cables, or anything else for that matter.

All Parts Installed

Conclusion

With the build complete, I believe this new PC build will be able to last me for at least the next 5 years, if not longer. I believe I have made the right choices for my use cases, and I am looking forward to making good use of it for both work and play, as well as mounting it in a server rack.

nicholaschua@youread.me:~$ exit
logout

References

1. Silverstone RM51
2. Silverstone RMS05-22
3. AMD 9950X3D
4. Noctua NH-D15
5. Noctua Offset Mounting Kit
6. Asus ProArt X870-E Creator WiFi
7. G.Skill Flare X5 64GB
8. MSI RTX 5090 Gaming Trio OC
9. Samsung 990 Pro
10. Silverstone Hela 1300R

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