Computer Build 2025

It has been 6 years since the Threadripper build, and you know what this means: Another computer build is in order. I followed the recommendations by my trusted experts, the C’t Computer Magazine team, for their 2025 high-end gaming PC.

I like their build recommendations because they make sure that

• the components are compatible and fit together mechanically
• they strike a good balance between performance, power consumption, and noise, and err on the quiet side
• the thermal design works, i.e. it is neither overengineered nor does it overheat

I have had very good successes with these builds in the past. After all, my last one ran without a hitch for 5 years straight.

All the pieces

My component order for this year’s build:

tem	Description	Price	Source
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-U14S	$79.99	Ebay
Mainboard	Asus Prime X870-P WIFI (90MB1IS0-M0EAY0)	$209.99	Newegg
RAM	4 × Crucial Pro 32GB DDR5 5600 (PC5 44800) CP2K32G56C46U5	$269.98	Newegg
SSD	Samsung SSD 990 PRO 2TB (MZ-V9P2T0BW)	$169.99	Newegg
Case	Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact Black Solid (FD-C-MES2C-01)	$159.99	Newegg
Power Supply	Be quiet Pure Power 12 M 650W ATX 3.0 (BN503)	$89.90	Amazon
Graphics	Asus Prime GeForce RTX 4070 OC Edition 12GB GDDR6X	$799.99	Ebay
Processor	Ryzen 9 9950X (100-100001277WOF)	$560.94	Newegg
Total	w/o tax	$2,340.77

I deviated from the recommendations in 4 places:

1. Their recommended GPU was a lot more expensive that what they quoted – the TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER was listed in the article for 730 €. I could not even get close to this price. This card cost well over $1,000 on Newegg, EBay, or Amazon. So I took the cheaper but also less capable RTX 4070 OC Edition (5888 vs 7168 shaders, and a 13% lower frame rate).
2. I could not find the 550W version of the Be quiet power supply and ordered the 650W version. Aside from the power rating, the only difference that I noticed is a second P8 connector (for the CPU power on the motherboard). Alas, it came with only 1 P8 cable, so I could not actually connect them both. The board runs fine with with just the primary P8 cable connected.
   Also, the 4070 SUPER needs a PCIe 5.0 12VHPWR connection from the power supply. My 4070 OC makes due with an regular 6+2 connection, which leaves the 12VHPWR unused. But should I ever decide to upgrade the GPU, I can readily do that.
3. I could not get the very same case (FD-C-MES2C-01) and went instead with the FD-C-MES2A-03. It has similar specs but a glass side wall, which I like (even though there are no components with LED lights in this build – maybe another future upgrade).
4. I ordered four Crucial 32GB memory modules for a total of 128GB – a custom build with 32GB just does not cut it anymore. I develop with WSL in remote containers and have sometimes half a dozen containers running, so more RAM is definitely better.

The prices in the table above are the prices paid, which are close enough to what the authors of the article paid (2,266 €)

The build process

I prefer to not list all the steps here, they are sufficiently documented. I did run into a few potential issues that caused me to go back and do some googling, though:

1. The Asus X870-P only ships with a quick-start guide and not the full manual. I did not download the manual until late in the process, at which point I had already made some assumptions (that turned out to be fine).
2. The power cables are not clearly labeled and it took some guessing as to which goes where. The MB P8 cable can be mistakenly attached to the GPU – except that the little tab that clips in is too wide. I went back and forth about this for half an hour and had to pull the PSU back out a few more times, because the connectors are not accessible when it is in the case.
3. The fans can either be connected directly to the motherboard or to the case’s PWM hub that connects to the CPU fan port on the X870-P. I went with the 2nd option, because (a) the cables from the front fans were too short. and (b) it is visually cleaner, but it means that the fan speed cannot be controlled individually. I am ok with that.

The issue with the X870-P

When I turned on the computer for a quick test before final assembly, it did not boot. No POST (power-on-self-test), no beeps, and a black monitor. The power LED was lit and the fans where spinning, but that was it. I don’t recall ever building a computer that did nothing when turned on, so this was a bit disheartening.

C’t published an update about their build project in issue 5/2025. Had I seen it prior to embarking on this project, it would have saved me a lot of time.

Instead, I had to follow the classical approach of eliminating potential causes: removing and swapping out memory modules, and removing the GPU. Nothing changed. The manual of the Asus X870-P does not explain POST diagnostic steps and does not have a troubleshooting section, which I found annoying. My RAM modules were not on the list of supported components, but there was little I could do – I had no other ones to try.

After reading many forum posts about issues with this board, I decided to attempt a BIOS update, which can be done via Bios Flashback, i.e. without booting.

On first try, there was no improvement with the latest BIOS, so I decided to one more time pull all the RAM modules but one, et voilà, it booted into the BIOS screen. I was able to add all the RAM and GPU and it still worked.

Bottom line – no not even attempt to get this board working without first doing a BIOS update. There seem to be many compatibility issues and fixes being released rapidly.

Up and running

Overall, I am happy with the build and the components. The case and the main board are both good quality but no-frills baseline models. I wish there was something that lights up, like in my old machine.

The subjective performance is good, definitely a step up from the 2019 Ryzen 16 core build. The machine boots up from hibernation almost instantly, and everything runs very fast. I did encounter the issue with the TPM being disabled that is mentioned in the C’t FAQ – the Windows 11 install failed initially with the message that the hardware is not compatible. It sort of did resolve itself at the 2nd try, though. Windows appears to have turned it on itself.

The machine is very quiet, even under load, like the 3DMark Nomad test.

So we are off to a good start and another 5 years of event-free computing with this new machine.