{"video_id":"hTuitzW8IBI","title":"The $1600 All-MSRP Gaming PC","channel":"Linus Tech Tips","show":"Linus Tech Tips","published_at":"2025-12-05T14:53:29Z","duration_s":860,"segments":[{"start_s":0.4,"end_s":7.68,"text":"PC gamers have been outright lied to for nearly a decade now. A new GPU gets","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":5.68,"end_s":12.0,"text":"announced. We get super excited about the prospect of finally getting a decent","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":9.679,"end_s":16.48,"text":"deal on a gaming upgrade. And then the actual price on store shelves turns out","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":13.92,"end_s":22.32,"text":"to be hundreds or even thousands of dollars more than we were promised.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":18.4,"end_s":24.88,"text":"Well, I say no more. PC gamers deserve","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":22.32,"end_s":29.039,"text":"fair pricing. And starting with this strongly worded email, I am going to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":27.039,"end_s":33.84,"text":"work tirelessly to convince industry leaders that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":31.76,"end_s":40.8,"text":"it's done. Great, Scott. You're right. You can","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":37.52,"end_s":44.8,"text":"finally buy a GPU for MSRP. Who needs","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":40.8,"end_s":47.36,"text":"this anymore? In fact, we got all of the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":44.8,"end_s":53.199,"text":"components of this system at or below MSRP, making now the best time to build","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":50.32,"end_s":59.84,"text":"or upgrade your gaming PC in what feels like forever. We are still talking about","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":56.559,"end_s":63.199,"text":"$1600 for this build, but guys, this is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":59.84,"end_s":64.879,"text":"a 4K capable gaming monster. So, if your","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":63.199,"end_s":69.84,"text":"budget is a little bit tighter, we're going to have a couple of lighter weight options in our parts list to save you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":67.92,"end_s":75.92,"text":"some money without [music] sacrificing on quality. Now, here's a lighterw","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":71.84,"end_s":78.479,"text":"weight segue to our sponsor","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":75.92,"end_s":82.96,"text":"FROM OUR SPONSOR, WAR THUNDER. A GAME THAT MAKES ME FEEL ALIVE even as I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":80.96,"end_s":87.6,"text":"deliver death to my enemies with over 2500 tanks, planes, helicopters, and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":85.04,"end_s":93.439,"text":"ships. AND IN MYSELF, EVENTUALLY SENT SCREAMING TO THE PIT, only to rise again","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":90.88,"end_s":98.439,"text":"AND SEEK MY REVENGE ON PC, CONSOLES, OR MOBILE FOR FREE BECAUSE IT'S WAR","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":95.439,"end_s":98.439,"text":"THUNDER.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":98.64,"end_s":106.479,"text":"It was GPU prices that inspired this build, but we're going to start with our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":102.799,"end_s":108.88,"text":"CPU. We picked the Ryzen 9600X because","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":106.479,"end_s":113.92,"text":"AMD has been on fire [music] lately. Both in terms of performance, this thing","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":110.88,"end_s":117.52,"text":"has six Zen 5 cores and boosts up to 5.4","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":113.92,"end_s":120.96,"text":"GHz and in terms of value. With a street","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":117.52,"end_s":124.24,"text":"price of anywhere from $190 to $220,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":120.96,"end_s":127.36,"text":"this thing is way below the $280 launch","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":124.24,"end_s":131.36,"text":"MSRP, which already made Intel blue.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":127.36,"end_s":134.56,"text":"Well, even bluer. We also like the Ryzen","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":131.36,"end_s":136.56,"text":"9700X for about $20 more if you do some","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":134.56,"end_s":140.64,"text":"content creation on the side or if you want to future proof a little bit. But","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":138.72,"end_s":146.08,"text":"most gamers are not going to be held back by just six cores. And besides, we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":144.4,"end_s":151.44,"text":"needed to save some money for our motherboard. Modern boards may cost a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":149.28,"end_s":156.72,"text":"little more than they used to, but even this reasonably priced MSI Pro B650A is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":154.879,"end_s":162.0,"text":"loaded with pretty much every feature that we really need. I'm talking DDR5","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":159.36,"end_s":167.12,"text":"memory, PCIe Gen 4, both for our slots and our M.2 storage, ample cooling, and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":164.959,"end_s":172.48,"text":"even some stuff that we don't need, like ripping fast networking. To be clear, we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":170.08,"end_s":177.599,"text":"did make some compromises. If you were to spend, say, another 30 bucks on a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":174.959,"end_s":182.879,"text":"board that has PCIe Gen 5 support, you might eek out another 1% more","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":180.48,"end_s":187.519,"text":"performance with a modern GPU, but really that's more likely to be a factor","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":184.959,"end_s":191.28,"text":"with a future upgrade. So, we didn't worry about it for today. We also didn't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":189.76,"end_s":196.72,"text":"worry about spending a fortune on memory. [music] DDR5 was expensive back","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":194.48,"end_s":200.959,"text":"when it launched, and industry insiders actually predict that it's going to get","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":198.319,"end_s":205.36,"text":"more expensive soon. But hey, that's past and future Lionus' problems.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":203.36,"end_s":210.799,"text":">> Oh my god, IT'S ALREADY HAPPENING. IT'S HAPPENING.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":208.08,"end_s":216.56,"text":">> This 32 gig kit of Team Group memory was under $100 and it hits that 6,000 mega","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":214.48,"end_s":221.599,"text":"transfer per second sweet spot that is just so sweet. You know, being a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":220.08,"end_s":226.4,"text":"commodity product, RAM pricing fluctuates so much that it's kind of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":223.599,"end_s":230.799,"text":"hard to nail down an MSRP for it. But this is faster than what was available","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":228.159,"end_s":235.36,"text":"at launch and is only a third of the price. So, I think I'm just going to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":232.48,"end_s":241.439,"text":"declare victory and move on to another part that's cheap today, but expected to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":237.92,"end_s":244.4,"text":"rocket tomorrow. Now, we know this 2 TB","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":241.439,"end_s":250.4,"text":"GM7000 is hot because the first unit we ordered got stolen.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":247.36,"end_s":252.64,"text":"Really? Really? We got empty box","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":250.4,"end_s":257.359,"text":"scammed. I mean, I can hardly blame the thief. They probably wanted the two gigs","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":255.36,"end_s":261.519,"text":"of onboard cash for himself so he wouldn't have to rely on system memory","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":258.88,"end_s":267.199,"text":"for caching which can add latency. Anywh who, it cost us $120 and we didn't have","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":264.88,"end_s":270.72,"text":"to buy it twice. Uh thank you Amazon for taking the L on that empty box and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":269.199,"end_s":276.0,"text":"sending us a new one. It's worth noting, by the way, that our B650A motherboard","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":272.8,"end_s":277.84,"text":"has three M.2 slots, one of which is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":276.0,"end_s":281.52,"text":"routed through the motherboard chipset. We're going to be avoiding that one for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":279.36,"end_s":286.24,"text":"now and using one of these two slots which are routed directly to the CPU.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":283.919,"end_s":289.919,"text":"Remember guys, if you're ever unsure of which slot to use for your storage, it's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":288.479,"end_s":295.44,"text":"probably in that manual that you were trying to avoid by clicking on this video. Something you won't find in your","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":293.28,"end_s":300.8,"text":"manual is what to do if your SSD includes a heat sink or a really thick","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":298.16,"end_s":304.8,"text":"sticker that prevents you from putting the motherboard's built-in cooler back","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":302.56,"end_s":308.4,"text":"on. In all seriousness, I have no idea if this voids my warranty right now, but","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":306.479,"end_s":312.16,"text":"I really don't want this on here. Sure, there's a logic behind that, but I'd","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":310.16,"end_s":317.44,"text":"rather have this now to put these puppies in their cage. Wait, that's a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":315.919,"end_s":324.8,"text":"terrible metaphor. Who'd want to put puppies in a cage? But if they did, for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":321.28,"end_s":326.88,"text":"just $90, the Fantex XT Pro Ultra is a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":324.8,"end_s":330.72,"text":"very fine looking cage with ample cooling for your puppies, a large side","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":328.88,"end_s":336.4,"text":"panel window through which you can see your puppies, and plenty of space to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":333.44,"end_s":340.639,"text":"manage cables or show off your distinct lack of cables if you happen to have a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":338.479,"end_s":346.4,"text":"backto-front motherboard. We don't. Fantex is such a cool company.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":343.759,"end_s":350.639,"text":"They could pay wall features like this little nubbin that holds my motherboard","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":348.24,"end_s":356.32,"text":"in place while I screw it in, but they don't. They even have plenty of room at","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":352.72,"end_s":358.8,"text":"the top for a 360 mm radiator, which is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":356.32,"end_s":366.24,"text":"good because when I saw the price of the Thermal Rate Frozen, not 360, I had to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":362.639,"end_s":368.319,"text":"have it. $55.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":366.24,"end_s":376.56,"text":"How can they even afford to have decent packaging for $55, let alone a 360","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":373.759,"end_s":385.28,"text":"millimeter all-in-one? Like, I've paid more than $55 for just a 360 mm","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":380.88,"end_s":388.479,"text":"radiator. Never mind fans, pump, copper","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":385.28,"end_s":391.84,"text":"plate. What is the catch? Just this. It","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":388.479,"end_s":394.72,"text":"turns out it kind of catches here before","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":391.84,"end_s":398.8,"text":"sliding into position. And even that can be easily rectified by simply moving","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":396.88,"end_s":402.319,"text":"down this back fan and screwing it back in with your trusty screwdriver from","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":400.319,"end_s":406.639,"text":"ltstore.com. This unit keeps our CPU remarkably cool","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":404.56,"end_s":410.96,"text":"under load. Installs easily thanks to its use of the stock AMD mounting","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":408.8,"end_s":416.479,"text":"bracket and even includes extras like RGB lighting and a tube of TF7 thermal","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":413.759,"end_s":419.68,"text":"paste which retails for $12.99. That's it. Thermal right. You have","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":417.84,"end_s":424.96,"text":"single-handedly irrelevant the rest of the category. Congrats. Moving on to our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":422.88,"end_s":432.4,"text":"power supply, we've opted for the CIC Focus GX750 ATX3.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":428.319,"end_s":434.8,"text":"At $140, it's not cheap, but it's 80","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":432.4,"end_s":438.56,"text":"plus gold. It's fully modular, and it came highly recommended by our Labs","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":436.72,"end_s":442.88,"text":"team. If you have some extra room in your budget, we also really like the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":440.0,"end_s":446.479,"text":"Superflower Lead X300 W. For about the price of a sandwich, that upgrade is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":444.639,"end_s":451.599,"text":"going to last long enough to see both your kids' first steps and their first","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":448.4,"end_s":453.759,"text":"PC running GTA 7. Now, the moment you've","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":451.599,"end_s":459.68,"text":"all been waiting for. The GPU you can buy at MSRP is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":456.479,"end_s":462.72,"text":"Damn it. Didn't drop it. The Asus Prime","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":459.68,"end_s":465.28,"text":"RTX 5070Ti.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":462.72,"end_s":471.28,"text":"What? NVIDIA? I know, right? But the rules clearly","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":468.24,"end_s":474.8,"text":"state that the GPU has to be at MSRP.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":471.28,"end_s":477.52,"text":"And while AMD's Radeon 9070 XT started","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":474.8,"end_s":484.319,"text":"at $599, which would have been a perfect choice for this build, most listings for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":479.84,"end_s":486.4,"text":"it today are still $100 to $150 more","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":484.319,"end_s":492.319,"text":"than that. And as much as I love to give NVIDIA flak for their MSRPs being too","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":488.639,"end_s":494.8,"text":"high, at these prices, AMD sits with","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":492.319,"end_s":499.28,"text":"both a technology and value disadvantage, unless you're a Linux","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":497.039,"end_s":503.68,"text":"gamer. Now, you're probably wondering at this point, Lionus, what's the deal with","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":501.599,"end_s":512.64,"text":"street pricing deviating so much from MSRP? Well, Jerry, let me tell you, the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":507.52,"end_s":514.8,"text":"S in MSRP stands for suggested, and that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":512.64,"end_s":519.919,"text":"S has been doing some pretty heavy lifting. Coming from the retail side, in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":517.12,"end_s":523.919,"text":"my past life, it is kind of hard to blame the board makers and retailers for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":522.159,"end_s":528.8,"text":"taking some margin when they finally get an opportunity to. The GPU market has","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":526.48,"end_s":533.6,"text":"historically been notoriously tight to the point where EVGA's exit from the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":531.36,"end_s":539.2,"text":"market was driven at least partially by low profitability. But with all that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":536.56,"end_s":546.48,"text":"said, frankly, I feel like they've taken enough lately. And it seems like they","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":543.04,"end_s":548.64,"text":"finally agree. Or realistically, it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":546.48,"end_s":552.56,"text":"probably has more to do with competition finally heating up a little bit in the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":550.16,"end_s":558.88,"text":"GPU space. There are a number of options right now for 570 Ti at $750. And we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":556.24,"end_s":565.04,"text":"like this card for its 16 gigs of VRAM and its strong 1440p performance with","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":562.24,"end_s":569.92,"text":"the capability to step up to 4K if we're willing to compromise on the details a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":566.72,"end_s":572.72,"text":"little bit or use frame generation. But","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":569.92,"end_s":580.08,"text":"what's even more exciting than this card is that we found Intel ARC B580s, RTX","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":575.76,"end_s":581.68,"text":"5060 series, and even RTX 5080s all at","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":580.08,"end_s":586.32,"text":"MSRP. [music] 5090s are still way more, but given how","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":585.04,"end_s":591.6,"text":"many people are using those things for AI, that doesn't really surprise me. All","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":589.2,"end_s":595.68,"text":"in, the MSRP of our system is nearly $1,750.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":593.36,"end_s":599.2,"text":"But we are deep in the product refresh cycle now and it's holiday shopping","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":597.76,"end_s":603.6,"text":"season which allowed us to pick up all these parts for just under $1,600.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":602.32,"end_s":607.839,"text":"We're going to have all those links down below. Man,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":605.76,"end_s":612.399,"text":"how good does it feel to build a $1,500ish","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":609.36,"end_s":614.24,"text":"gaming PC, you know, like we used to,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":612.399,"end_s":621.44,"text":"but not have to cut a bunch of corners because of ludicrous GPU pricing. Like,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":618.24,"end_s":623.36,"text":"it's still high, but it's not ludicrous","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":621.44,"end_s":628.959,"text":"anymore. It looks great, right? Huh? We even got","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":626.88,"end_s":633.279,"text":"RGB on all the things. Didn't even pay a premium for it.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":631.2,"end_s":638.88,"text":"You love to see it. Let's start with a game that's going to push our GPU pretty","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":635.2,"end_s":641.6,"text":"hard. Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K. I've got my","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":638.88,"end_s":646.079,"text":"details turned up a little bit higher than I would generally recommend on a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":643.279,"end_s":650.72,"text":"5070 Ti, but we can also cheat a little bit using DLSS. So, even though we're","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":648.88,"end_s":654.88,"text":"outputting at 4K, we're rendering at a lower resolution, then using machine","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":652.16,"end_s":658.079,"text":"learning to upscale. And wow, [music] I mean, especially if you were coming from","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":656.0,"end_s":664.24,"text":"a console or something, this is a very playable experience with averages about","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":660.56,"end_s":667.76,"text":"50 to 55 frames per second and minimums","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":664.24,"end_s":669.36,"text":"in the 45 frames per second range. Sure,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":667.76,"end_s":674.079,"text":"we're not getting the most out of our 240 Hz monitor or anything like that,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":671.839,"end_s":678.48,"text":"but this is an extremely playable experience. I would think this was a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":676.079,"end_s":682.48,"text":"Christmas miracle a couple of years ago at the price. And what's really","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":680.56,"end_s":688.48,"text":"remarkable is I still don't feel like we gave anything up. Like I can hear the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":684.64,"end_s":691.2,"text":"fans. They're obviously moving some air,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":688.48,"end_s":698.0,"text":"but it's not loud. It's not annoying. And","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":692.72,"end_s":699.2,"text":"my GPU is at 65° with my CPU under 65°","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":698.0,"end_s":708.16,"text":"as well, while it casually [music] turbos to 5.25 GHz. What a great system,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":704.32,"end_s":710.32,"text":"you know, the way it used to be. So, why","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":708.16,"end_s":716.079,"text":"did it take so long for pricing to normalize? Well, it's easy to blame","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":713.36,"end_s":720.079,"text":"retailers and blame board partners, and they did [music] participate in their","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":717.68,"end_s":724.88,"text":"own share of price hikes, but what it boils down to is NVIDIA. They can","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":723.279,"end_s":729.04,"text":"enforce pricing controls with their partners. I know this because I have","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":727.04,"end_s":733.12,"text":"personally sat across from a boardroom table and watched them threaten to cut","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":731.44,"end_s":738.079,"text":"my allocation if I don't adhere to their pricing. They could also reduce the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":736.32,"end_s":742.399,"text":"pricing for their board partners who make their cards. And finally, they","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":740.48,"end_s":748.48,"text":"could allocate more production to their gaming cards, but instead they're","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":745.519,"end_s":753.44,"text":"prioritizing AI, which I guess makes sense because otherwise, how would I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":750.24,"end_s":756.32,"text":"figure out if there's a seahorse emoji?","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":753.44,"end_s":760.24,"text":"And how else could I find out this segue to our sponsor? Tired of dinky little","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":758.639,"end_s":763.76,"text":"war games that look like this? Frustrated by in-game vehicle models","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":762.48,"end_s":767.76,"text":"that can't decide whether they're an SU25K ground attack aircraft or a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":766.0,"end_s":772.48,"text":"ZSU234B anti-aircraft vehicle? Ah, then you need","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":770.32,"end_s":777.04,"text":"to install War Thunder, the most comprehensive vehicle combat game ever","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":774.56,"end_s":782.399,"text":"with over 2500 meticulously detailed tanks, planes, ships, and [music] don't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":779.36,"end_s":784.399,"text":"forget the warly birds. Hey, I'm Manford","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":782.399,"end_s":788.0,"text":"Manley, but my friends call me Tiger because I meet them. And I'm here to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":786.079,"end_s":791.92,"text":"tell you that War Thunders immersive experience is so good, IT SAVED MY","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":790.24,"end_s":795.2,"text":"RELATIONSHIP WITH MY DAUGHTER. SHE BARELY WANTED TO TALK TO me until we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":793.44,"end_s":799.92,"text":"started playing together. Now she plays the mobile version every chance she","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":796.8,"end_s":802.24,"text":"gets, AND WE'VE NEVER BEEN CLOSER. She","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":799.92,"end_s":807.92,"text":"loves the endless customization options, AND SO DOES TIGER. IF you can't stand","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":805.519,"end_s":812.16,"text":"basic ass games with crude hitboxes and health bars like it's some crypto bros","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":810.0,"end_s":815.44,"text":"vibeccoated weekend PROJECT AND YOU'RE DISAPPOINTED BY A LACK OF ATTENTION to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":813.839,"end_s":819.839,"text":"detail that makes a mockery of your passion for vehicle specifications as an","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":817.36,"end_s":823.2,"text":"enthusiast of military history. Then try War Thunder and revel in its","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":821.44,"end_s":827.2,"text":"sophisticated damage system that calculates how each vehicle's engines,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":825.2,"end_s":830.0,"text":"fuel tanks, weapons, armor, and crew will react to specific types of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":829.04,"end_s":835.68,"text":"projectiles [music] and break that horrific destruction down","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":832.639,"end_s":838.16,"text":"for you with X-rays.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":835.68,"end_s":842.639,"text":"So quit playing games AND START WAGING WAR with over 70 million players in War","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":840.32,"end_s":846.269,"text":"Thunder on PC, console, and mobile for JUST FIVE EASY PAYMENTS OF NOTHING","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":844.72,"end_s":849.76,"text":"BECAUSE IT'S FREE. >> [screaming] >> NOW THAT we have our PC put together,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":848.56,"end_s":856.24,"text":"you might be looking for some inspiration for the rest of your setup. Why not check out how I put together my","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":853.6,"end_s":858.714,"text":"cleanest gaming setup ever? It's easy to find. That's the name of the video.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":857.6,"end_s":860.734,"text":"Also, we'll have it linked down below. [music]","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"PC gamers have been outright lied to for nearly a decade now. A new GPU gets announced. We get super excited about the prospect of finally getting a decent deal on a gaming upgrade. And then the actual price on store shelves turns out to be hundreds or even thousands of dollars more than we were promised. Well, I say no more. PC gamers deserve fair pricing. And starting with this strongly worded email, I am going to work tirelessly to convince industry leaders that it's done. Great, Scott. You're right. You can finally buy a GPU for MSRP. Who needs this anymore? In fact, we got all of the components of this system at or below MSRP, making now the best time to build or upgrade your gaming PC in what feels like forever. We are still talking about $1600 for this build, but guys, this is a 4K capable gaming monster. So, if your budget is a little bit tighter, we're going to have a couple of lighter weight options in our parts list to save you some money without [music] sacrificing on quality. Now, here's a lighterw weight segue to our sponsor FROM OUR SPONSOR, WAR THUNDER. A GAME THAT MAKES ME FEEL ALIVE even as I deliver death to my enemies with over 2500 tanks, planes, helicopters, and ships. AND IN MYSELF, EVENTUALLY SENT SCREAMING TO THE PIT, only to rise again AND SEEK MY REVENGE ON PC, CONSOLES, OR MOBILE FOR FREE BECAUSE IT'S WAR THUNDER. It was GPU prices that inspired this build, but we're going to start with our CPU. We picked the Ryzen 9600X because AMD has been on fire [music] lately. Both in terms of performance, this thing has six Zen 5 cores and boosts up to 5.4 GHz and in terms of value. With a street price of anywhere from $190 to $220, this thing is way below the $280 launch MSRP, which already made Intel blue. Well, even bluer. We also like the Ryzen 9700X for about $20 more if you do some content creation on the side or if you want to future proof a little bit. But most gamers are not going to be held back by just six cores. And besides, we needed to save some money for our motherboard. Modern boards may cost a little more than they used to, but even this reasonably priced MSI Pro B650A is loaded with pretty much every feature that we really need. I'm talking DDR5 memory, PCIe Gen 4, both for our slots and our M.2 storage, ample cooling, and even some stuff that we don't need, like ripping fast networking. To be clear, we did make some compromises. If you were to spend, say, another 30 bucks on a board that has PCIe Gen 5 support, you might eek out another 1% more performance with a modern GPU, but really that's more likely to be a factor with a future upgrade. So, we didn't worry about it for today. We also didn't worry about spending a fortune on memory. [music] DDR5 was expensive back when it launched, and industry insiders actually predict that it's going to get more expensive soon. But hey, that's past and future Lionus' problems. >> Oh my god, IT'S ALREADY HAPPENING. IT'S HAPPENING. >> This 32 gig kit of Team Group memory was under $100 and it hits that 6,000 mega transfer per second sweet spot that is just so sweet. You know, being a commodity product, RAM pricing fluctuates so much that it's kind of hard to nail down an MSRP for it. But this is faster than what was available at launch and is only a third of the price. So, I think I'm just going to declare victory and move on to another part that's cheap today, but expected to rocket tomorrow. Now, we know this 2 TB GM7000 is hot because the first unit we ordered got stolen. Really? Really? We got empty box scammed. I mean, I can hardly blame the thief. They probably wanted the two gigs of onboard cash for himself so he wouldn't have to rely on system memory for caching which can add latency. Anywh who, it cost us $120 and we didn't have to buy it twice. Uh thank you Amazon for taking the L on that empty box and sending us a new one. It's worth noting, by the way, that our B650A motherboard has three M.2 slots, one of which is routed through the motherboard chipset. We're going to be avoiding that one for now and using one of these two slots which are routed directly to the CPU. Remember guys, if you're ever unsure of which slot to use for your storage, it's probably in that manual that you were trying to avoid by clicking on this video. Something you won't find in your manual is what to do if your SSD includes a heat sink or a really thick sticker that prevents you from putting the motherboard's built-in cooler back on. In all seriousness, I have no idea if this voids my warranty right now, but I really don't want this on here. Sure, there's a logic behind that, but I'd rather have this now to put these puppies in their cage. Wait, that's a terrible metaphor. Who'd want to put puppies in a cage? But if they did, for just $90, the Fantex XT Pro Ultra is a very fine looking cage with ample cooling for your puppies, a large side panel window through which you can see your puppies, and plenty of space to manage cables or show off your distinct lack of cables if you happen to have a backto-front motherboard. We don't. Fantex is such a cool company. They could pay wall features like this little nubbin that holds my motherboard in place while I screw it in, but they don't. They even have plenty of room at the top for a 360 mm radiator, which is good because when I saw the price of the Thermal Rate Frozen, not 360, I had to have it. $55. How can they even afford to have decent packaging for $55, let alone a 360 millimeter all-in-one? Like, I've paid more than $55 for just a 360 mm radiator. Never mind fans, pump, copper plate. What is the catch? Just this. It turns out it kind of catches here before sliding into position. And even that can be easily rectified by simply moving down this back fan and screwing it back in with your trusty screwdriver from ltstore.com. This unit keeps our CPU remarkably cool under load. Installs easily thanks to its use of the stock AMD mounting bracket and even includes extras like RGB lighting and a tube of TF7 thermal paste which retails for $12.99. That's it. Thermal right. You have single-handedly irrelevant the rest of the category. Congrats. Moving on to our power supply, we've opted for the CIC Focus GX750 ATX3. At $140, it's not cheap, but it's 80 plus gold. It's fully modular, and it came highly recommended by our Labs team. If you have some extra room in your budget, we also really like the Superflower Lead X300 W. For about the price of a sandwich, that upgrade is going to last long enough to see both your kids' first steps and their first PC running GTA 7. Now, the moment you've all been waiting for. The GPU you can buy at MSRP is Damn it. Didn't drop it. The Asus Prime RTX 5070Ti. What? NVIDIA? I know, right? But the rules clearly state that the GPU has to be at MSRP. And while AMD's Radeon 9070 XT started at $599, which would have been a perfect choice for this build, most listings for it today are still $100 to $150 more than that. And as much as I love to give NVIDIA flak for their MSRPs being too high, at these prices, AMD sits with both a technology and value disadvantage, unless you're a Linux gamer. Now, you're probably wondering at this point, Lionus, what's the deal with street pricing deviating so much from MSRP? Well, Jerry, let me tell you, the S in MSRP stands for suggested, and that S has been doing some pretty heavy lifting. Coming from the retail side, in my past life, it is kind of hard to blame the board makers and retailers for taking some margin when they finally get an opportunity to. The GPU market has historically been notoriously tight to the point where EVGA's exit from the market was driven at least partially by low profitability. But with all that said, frankly, I feel like they've taken enough lately. And it seems like they finally agree. Or realistically, it probably has more to do with competition finally heating up a little bit in the GPU space. There are a number of options right now for 570 Ti at $750. And we like this card for its 16 gigs of VRAM and its strong 1440p performance with the capability to step up to 4K if we're willing to compromise on the details a little bit or use frame generation. But what's even more exciting than this card is that we found Intel ARC B580s, RTX 5060 series, and even RTX 5080s all at MSRP. [music] 5090s are still way more, but given how many people are using those things for AI, that doesn't really surprise me. All in, the MSRP of our system is nearly $1,750. But we are deep in the product refresh cycle now and it's holiday shopping season which allowed us to pick up all these parts for just under $1,600. We're going to have all those links down below. Man, how good does it feel to build a $1,500ish gaming PC, you know, like we used to, but not have to cut a bunch of corners because of ludicrous GPU pricing. Like, it's still high, but it's not ludicrous anymore. It looks great, right? Huh? We even got RGB on all the things. Didn't even pay a premium for it. You love to see it. Let's start with a game that's going to push our GPU pretty hard. Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K. I've got my details turned up a little bit higher than I would generally recommend on a 5070 Ti, but we can also cheat a little bit using DLSS. So, even though we're outputting at 4K, we're rendering at a lower resolution, then using machine learning to upscale. And wow, [music] I mean, especially if you were coming from a console or something, this is a very playable experience with averages about 50 to 55 frames per second and minimums in the 45 frames per second range. Sure, we're not getting the most out of our 240 Hz monitor or anything like that, but this is an extremely playable experience. I would think this was a Christmas miracle a couple of years ago at the price. And what's really remarkable is I still don't feel like we gave anything up. Like I can hear the fans. They're obviously moving some air, but it's not loud. It's not annoying. And my GPU is at 65° with my CPU under 65° as well, while it casually [music] turbos to 5.25 GHz. What a great system, you know, the way it used to be. So, why did it take so long for pricing to normalize? Well, it's easy to blame retailers and blame board partners, and they did [music] participate in their own share of price hikes, but what it boils down to is NVIDIA. They can enforce pricing controls with their partners. I know this because I have personally sat across from a boardroom table and watched them threaten to cut my allocation if I don't adhere to their pricing. They could also reduce the pricing for their board partners who make their cards. And finally, they could allocate more production to their gaming cards, but instead they're prioritizing AI, which I guess makes sense because otherwise, how would I figure out if there's a seahorse emoji? And how else could I find out this segue to our sponsor? Tired of dinky little war games that look like this? Frustrated by in-game vehicle models that can't decide whether they're an SU25K ground attack aircraft or a ZSU234B anti-aircraft vehicle? Ah, then you need to install War Thunder, the most comprehensive vehicle combat game ever with over 2500 meticulously detailed tanks, planes, ships, and [music] don't forget the warly birds. Hey, I'm Manford Manley, but my friends call me Tiger because I meet them. And I'm here to tell you that War Thunders immersive experience is so good, IT SAVED MY RELATIONSHIP WITH MY DAUGHTER. SHE BARELY WANTED TO TALK TO me until we started playing together. Now she plays the mobile version every chance she gets, AND WE'VE NEVER BEEN CLOSER. She loves the endless customization options, AND SO DOES TIGER. IF you can't stand basic ass games with crude hitboxes and health bars like it's some crypto bros vibeccoated weekend PROJECT AND YOU'RE DISAPPOINTED BY A LACK OF ATTENTION to detail that makes a mockery of your passion for vehicle specifications as an enthusiast of military history. Then try War Thunder and revel in its sophisticated damage system that calculates how each vehicle's engines, fuel tanks, weapons, armor, and crew will react to specific types of projectiles [music] and break that horrific destruction down for you with X-rays. So quit playing games AND START WAGING WAR with over 70 million players in War Thunder on PC, console, and mobile for JUST FIVE EASY PAYMENTS OF NOTHING BECAUSE IT'S FREE. >> [screaming] >> NOW THAT we have our PC put together, you might be looking for some inspiration for the rest of your setup. Why not check out how I put together my cleanest gaming setup ever? It's easy to find. That's the name of the video. Also, we'll have it linked down below. [music]"}