High End, "Reasonable" Price Late-2026 Build

High End, "Reasonable" Price Late-2026 Build

Built this PC to upgrade from my 2020 build. The Fractal North case was great looking with nice flexibility for installation of fans and my HDD. The downside to the North was pretty much just the CPU power cable routing, being too tight for comfortable work if the CPU cooler is already installed.

The motherboard is fantastic looking, but just as functional as a $200 cheaper motherboard. I sprung for it because I wanted the satisfaction of knowing it matches the case and it's the design I want, fully knowing I will only ever see it when I (RARELY) open the case as my PC is on the floor. However, the BIOS having the wood texture was a super neat feature that surprised me. The IO is laid out weird but it's definitely serviceable, and the connectivity is all I needed. Working with the quick latches for the hard drive covers and retainers was super handy as well.

The ram and GPU were way overpriced for what they are but that's the market these days it seems like. Performance is good but again for how much I paid I feel entitled to expect more.

The power supply is a great deal and suits my needs perfectly. Normally I prefer 80+ Platinum but for the price it's really hard to complain.

The CPU is high performing, giving me plenty of headroom even in hard to run games like GTA or RDR2 at Ultra. I play MSFS 2024 and the performance, especially with DLSS on from the GPU, blew me away. The be quiet! Dark Rock 5 keeps the CPU to good temps, definitely could be colder but the price and size means I got what I expect. My main concern was with RAM clearance and design and I'm extremely happy with both.

The corsair fans run great and quiet and look sleek too. The 360mm fan frame was a super convenient way to install my 3 intake fans and I'm super happy I went that route. It's thin enough to clear my GPU with plenty of room, and the wiring was a breeze.

I spent this much money on my PC so I could game high performance at demanding games for the next several years. Would I recommend this build to everyone? Absolutely not. I spent way more than necessary and the performance is much higher than most average PC gamers need. But I wanted what I got and I got what I wanted.