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AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT review: pulling an otherwise knockout, midrange punch
12:10 am | September 9, 2023

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Tags: , , , | Comments: Off

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT: Two-minute review

To say I've been looking forward to the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT for over a year is an understatement, and if I were to judge this card on its merits, I have to say that this is easily one of the best graphics card releases we've gotten out of this generation. My heart, though, knows that it should have been even better, so I can't help but feel slightly disappointed.

Released right on the heels of Labor Day here in the US, getting this card properly tested was obviously going to be a heavy lift, so when my preliminary benchmark numbers showed it edging out the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 by about 2% overall (while not getting as badly crushed by Nvidia's midrange rival in ray-tracing performance as during the previous generation), I figured this card was going to be an easy one to review.

Coming in at $499.99 (about £380/AU$725) compared to the RTX 4070's MSRP of $599.99 (about £460/AU$870), that roughly 17% price difference in AMD's favor is going to make a world of difference for a lot of gamers out there looking to upgrade to a current-gen midrange card.

In addition to fantastic 1440p gaming performance and even very respectable 4K gaming performance (thanks in no small part to the 16GB VRAM and 256-bit memory bus), ray tracing performance has gotten better as AMD's ray accelerators have improved and a host of new anti-latency and upscaling features make this pretty much the best 1440p graphics card on the market, hands down.

An AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT on a table

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

So why does my heart ache having done a very intense week's worth of testing on this card?

Well, the single biggest negative in this card's column is that there is very little gen-on-gen improvement in terms of its rasterization performance over the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. 

Now the RX 7800 XT does have things that the RX 6800 XT doesn't have, namely AI accelerator cores that can power more advanced AI workloads like upscaling and other generative AI processes, and the 7800 XT does feature much better ray tracing performance than its predecessor, so calling these cards essentially the same would be factually and substantively wrong.

But rasterization is AMD Radeon's bread-and-butter, and by that metric, you only really get about 12% and 5% better gaming performance at 1080p and 1440p, respectively, and there's essentially no difference at 4K. If you don't care about ray tracing or running Stable Diffusion-like AI models (which you're likely to use Nvidia hardware for anyway), then this card is going to feel much more like a refresh of the RX 6800 XT, or even the RX 6850 XT that we didn't get a year ago.

And for that, the RX 7800 XT leaves me somewhat disappointed. If you aren't upgrading from an RX 6800 XT (which you shouldn't be doing even if this card was a true gen-on-gen successor like the fantastic AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is to the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT), then none of this is really going to matter to you. 

I'd still tell you to buy the RX 7800 XT over the RX 6800 XT and even the RTX 4070, without question, but there's no getting around the fact that the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT misses its shot at being truly magnificent.

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT: Price & availability

An AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT on a table

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
  • How much does it cost? $499.99 (about £380/AU$725)
  • When is it available? Available September 6, 2023
  • Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is available on September 6, 2023, starting at $499.99 (about £380/AU$725), which puts it about 23% cheaper than the RX 6800 XT was when it launched in 2020, and $100 cheaper than direct competitor the Nvidia RTX 4070.

It's also just $50 more expensive than the RX 7700 XT that it launched alongside, so anyone looking at the RX 7700 XT might be better served by buying the RX 7800 XT instead since you'll get better performance and extra VRAM without spending a whole lot more money.

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT: Specs

An AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT on a table

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT: Design

Unlike the RX 7700 XT, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT does have a reference card, and it'll look familiar to anyone who's been looking at AMD cards this generation. Opting for a two-fan cooling solution, this dual-slot card looks a lot like the AMD Radeon RX 7600 would if you stretched the card lengthwise. 

It's not a long card either, measuring 267mm, or about 10.5 inches, so you shouldn't have any issues getting this card to fit inside a mid-tower case or larger. You might even be able to squeeze it into some tighter-fitting cases as well, but that'll depend on the case itself and what version of the RX 7800 XT you end up getting (third-party versions will vary in size and will likely be longer).

An AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT on a table

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

The reference model of the card features three DisplayPort 2.1 outputs along with an HDMI 2.1 port, so it'll be more than capable of powering the best 4K monitors with ease, along with the various sizes and resolutions of the best gaming monitors on the market.

What it doesn't have, however, is a USB-C output, so if you have one of the best USB-C monitors (which is common in creative industries), youi'll likely need to pick up an adapter if you plan on slotting this card into a workstation.

An AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT on a table

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

You'll also only need two free 8-pin power connectors, so no 12HPWR cable like Nvidia's competing cards. The card is fairly solid with a decent amount of weight, so you'll definitely need a support bracket if you're slotting this directly into a motherboard's PCIe slot.

Overall, the appearance is the same no-fuss, no-bling aesthetic we've gotten from AMD's RDNA 3 reference cards this generation, so if you want that RGB look, you're better off with a third-party card, but otherwise it's a lovely card to look at and won't be the shame of anyone's PC case.

An AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT on a table

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT: Chipset & features

The Navi 32 GPU in the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is the full version of the chip compared to the slightly trimmed-down GPU powering the RX 7700 XT, with an additional 6 compute units over the RX 7700 XT's 54, giving the RX 7800 XT an additional 384 shaders, 6 ray accelerators, and 12 AI accelerators.

The RX 7800 XT has a fairly low base clock of 1,295 MHz, compared to the RX 7700 XT's 1,700 MHz, but the RX 7800 XT's boost clock runs as high as 2,430 MHz (compared to the RX 7700 XT's 2,544 MHz).

This means that even though the RX 7800 XT has slightly more compute units, everything is running slightly slower, which goes a long way to explaining the relatively close levels of performance between the two GPUs.

The RX 7800 XT does feature 16GB VRAM with a large 256-bit memory bus, with a memory clock of 2,425 MHz for an effective 19.4 Gbps. This is slower than the RTX 4070's 21 Gbps effective memory speed, but the wider bus and larger frame buffer offered by the additional 4GB VRAM with the RX 7800 XT really highlights where Nvidia went wrong with lower VRAM and tighter buses this generation, compared to AMD who generally got the memory question on their cards right.

Finally, the TGP on the RX 7800 XT is a rather high 263W, compared to the 200W RTX 4070, but this is still less than the RX 6800 XT's 300W TGP, so there's progress at least.

An AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT on a table

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT: Performance

And here is where the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT impresses the most, even as it breaks my heart: performance.

I'll start with the good news for AMD here, which is that it by and large scores even with the RTX 4070 in terms of synthetic tests and gameplay performance while faltering rather badly against the RTX 4070 in creative workloads, which is pretty much expected given the Nvidia CUDA instruction set's dominance in all things creative.

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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)

On the synthetic side, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT outperforms the RTX 4070 by about 2% overall, with rasterization workloads being its breakout strength, while Nvidia's ray tracing capabilities continue to outperform AMD's. Though it's worth noting that the RX 7800 XT does a lot to close the gap here, so Nvidia's advantage is only about 15% at best during 3DMark Speedway and just 6% better in Port Royal. 

Meanwhile, the RX 7800 XT manages to score 25% better in 3DMark Firestrike Ultra, showing it to be a much better 4K card than the RTX 4070 thanks to the additional VRAM, a level of performance that is replicated in our gaming tests.

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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmarking results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmarking results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmarking results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmarking results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmarking results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmarking results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmarking results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmarking results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)
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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / Infogram)

When not using any upscaling tech, on average, the RX 7800 XT performs 15% better without ray tracing than the RTX 4070 (and just 4% worse with ray tracing at max settings) at 1080p, 6% better on average at 1440p (16% worse when ray tracing on max settings), and 17% better at 4K (though about 25% worse at 4K when ray tracing).

FSR 2 can't hold a candle to DLSS 3 when ray tracing, but in non-RT gameplay, FSR 2 and the RX 7800 XT actually comes out way ahead across all resolutions when FSR 2 and DLSS 3 are set to balanced, with the RX 7800 XT getting 53%, 21%, 19% better performance at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, respectively. 

Turning on ray tracing prety much reverses the case and the RTX 4070 gets as much as 47%, 16%, and 12% better performance at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions, respectively.

In short, if you're planning on gaming without ray tracing, there is no question that between the RX 7800 XT and RTX 4070, the RX 7800 XT is the card you'll want to buy. 

Here, as well, the RX 7800 XT manages to perform better than the RX 6800 XT, by about 15%, which isn't awful, but gamers hoping for a much larger improvement on the RX 6800 XT (such as myself) will be disappointed. Getting 15% better FPS on average when talking about the RX 7600 is one thing. 

Given the price and the class of card in question, 15% is pretty much all you're going to get, but for a nearly $500 graphics card, I'd have liked to see 25% to 33%, if I'm being honest, and that's where this card ultimately should have landed in a perfect world. 

But ours is a fallen land, and we're not comparing this card against a Platonic ideal projecting onto a cave wall, we're comparing it to the cards on the shelf that you have to pick between for your next upgrade. 

If you can find the RX 6800 XT for more than 15% less than the RX 7800 XT, that might make the last-gen card the better buy. If that's not an option though, and you're like most gamers looking at the RTX 4070 vs. RX 7800 XT, the vast majority are going to get a better experience from the RX 7800 XT, especially when they have an extra $100 to buy themselves something else that's nice, as a treat.

An AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT on a table

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Should you buy the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT?

Buy it if...

You want to play at 4K
This card has serious 4K gaming chops thanks to its 16GB VRAM and wide memory bus.

You don't want to completely sacrifice ray tracing
AMD is finally getting to the point where you can have both great rasterization and decent ray tracing performance.

Don't buy it if...

You want the best ray tracing and upscaling possible
If ray tracing and upscaling are your bag, then the RTX 4070 is going to be the better buy here.

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT: Also consider

If my AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT review has you considering other options, here are two more graphics cards to consider.

How I tested the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT

  • I spent about a week with the RX 7800 XT
  • I focused mostly on gaming, since that is what AMD Radeon graphics cards are primarily used for
  • I used our standard battery of benchmark tests and personal gameplay experience
Test System Specs

These are the specs for the test system used for this review:

CPU: Intel Core i9-13900K
CPU Cooler:
Cougar Poseidon GT 360 AIO Cooler
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z790E Tomahawk Wifi
Memory:
64GB Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR5-6000
SSD: Samsung 990 Pro
PSU: Thermaltake PF3 1050W ATX 3.0
Case: Praxis Wetbench

I spent about a week extensively testing the RX 7800 XT, both in a test bench and as my personal gaming card at home.

I ran our standard battery of performance benchmarks, including 3DMark tests and various in-game gaming benchmarks, on the RX 7800 XT and various competing graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia to get a slate of comparable figures.

In addition to my extensive computer science education and years as a tech product reviewer, I've been a PC gamer my whole life, so I know what to look for and what to expect from a graphics card at this price point.

We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained - regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it's on our radar.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed September 2023

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT review: worth the wait, but its price is iffy
4:00 pm | September 6, 2023

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Tags: , , , | Comments: Off

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT: One-minute review

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is a very solid 1440p graphics card with a lot going for it, but its price isn't one of them, and that ultimately holds it back from scoring a major upset for Team Red.

That isn't to say that the RX 7700 XT isn't a card worth buying, but it is one that comes with a pretty big caveat, namely its bigger sibling, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT that launches alongside it on September 6, 2023. At $449.99 (about £350/AU$660), this puts it exactly $50 cheaper than the RX 7800 XT. Now, there are caveats around that as well, since the RX 7800 XT's performance is better, but not so much as to make it the best graphics card to buy between the two. 

By offering better ray tracing performance, a significant performance gain over its predecessor, and doing so at a cheaper price point to boot makes the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT an easy card to recommend for anyone looking for the best 1440p graphics card without breaking the bank.

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: AMD)

Given the end of the summer holiday (in the Northern Hemisphere, at least), I'm still in the process of wrapping up testing on the RX 7800 XT, but it looks to be about 10% to 15% faster than the RX 7700 XT, so the price isn't that far out of pocket on either card, but that does leave you with two cards occupying a very similar niche.

In terms of the RX 7700 XT, its ostensible competition is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, and broadly speaking it wipes the floor with the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB variant when you're not using ray tracing at 1440p and 1080p.

There are times when the RX 7700 XT even gives the Nvidia RTX 4070 some competition, even though that card is supposed to be squaring up against the RX 7800 XT, and it's against our current top pick for the best graphics card overall that really pushes the RX 7700 XT above all the caveats and make it a card worth buying.

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT: Price & availability

An AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT on a table

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
  • How much does it cost? $449.99 (about £350/AU$660)
  • When is it available? Available September 6, 2023
  • Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is available on September 6, 2023 starting at $449.99 (about £350/AU$660).

This puts the RX 7700 XT about $30 cheaper than the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT it replaces (which launched at $479.99), which is great, and it puts it dead center between the two RTX 4060 Ti variants in terms of price, so we'll go ahead and call it a wash on that front.

If there's an issue here really it's that the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is also just $50 more ($499.99, about £385/AU$725). As mentioned before, I'm still wrapping up our AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT review, but that card looks to give you about 10% to 15% better performance for an 11% premium, it might be the better value for those who want a midrange card with marginally better performance.

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT: Specs

An AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT on a table

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT: Design

In terms of design, there's not much to say about the AMD RX 7700 XT other than to check with the third-party manufacturers of the card you want to buy, since there is no reference card for the RX 7700 XT.

One thing to note though is that no matter which card you go with, to my knowledge no AMD RX 7700 XT card will require a 12HPWR cable to power it, so two 8-pin cables should be all you need.

An AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT on a table

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT: Chipset & features

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, along with the RX 7800 XT, finally brings AMD's Navi 32 GPU to the desktop market after nearly a year of waiting, and overall I can say it's been worth the wait.

The RX 7700 XT features a slightly cut-down version of the GPU than the one used in the RX 7800 XT, so there's not too much difference between the two. The biggest though will be what's not on the GPU die itself, namely the amount of VRAM.

The RX 7700 XT features 12GB, which is the bare minimum for effective 1440p gameplay, and unlike the largely disappointing RTX 4060 Ti, AMD at least made sure to include enough VRAM to be effective and gave the card a wide enough memory bus to give it the texture bandwidth necessary to play at this level without needing to rely on the assistance of upscaling tech.

Speaking of upscaling tech, along with the announcement of the RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT, AMD unveiled FSR 3 which should definitely help AMD level the playing field with Nvidia, but since that's a software-driven tool, rather than being tied to the driver and the RDNA 3 hardware itself, I'll save a deep dive into that for another time, but just know that you should be able to start leveraging that tech soon as well.

If there's a knock on the RX 7700 XT here, it's its power consumption. At 245W, its rated power draw is high for a 1440p card, especially when Nvidia is able to make do with 200W for the RTX 4070 and 160W for the RTX 4060 Ti.

An AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT slotted into a test bench

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT: Performance

In terms of performance, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is pretty much what we want to see in the gen-on-gen performance increase of a midrange card.

Starting with synthetic benchmarks, the RX 7700 XT scored about 28% better in 1080p performance than the RX 6700 XT, about 35% better in 1440p performance, and about 29% better in terms of 4K performance, or about 30% better than the RX 6700 XT overall.

Against the Nvidia RTX 4070, meanwhile, the RX 7700 XT only scored about 7.25% lower overall in synthetic performance while costing about 25% less, making it a very compelling challenger to Nvidia's best midrange offering.

The same goes for gaming performance, which is really what everyone is interested in here. The story is much as you'd expect: AMD performs as well or better in rasterization performance while falling behind when it comes to ray tracing and upscaling performance against competing RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4070 cards.

Most interesting perhaps is the RX 7700 XT's performance vis a vis the RTX 4070, where the RX 7700 XT averaged 103 fps at 1080p, 77 fps at 1440p, and 48 fps at 4K, compared to the RTX 4070's 117 fps, 88 fps, and 52 fps, respectively. These are very close, and for many gamers this will be a practical tie depending on their rigs, so if you're looking for the best cheap graphics card for 1440p and 4K gaming, the RX 7700 XT is definitely one to consider.

A masculine hand holding an AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Should you buy the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT?

Buy it if...

You want a great 1440p graphics card
The RX 7700 XT is a fantastic card for 1440p gaming, especially for the price.

You don't care about ray tracing
As with any AMD graphics card, if you don't really care about ray tracing, you can pretty much skip Nvidia's premium offerings.

Don't buy it if...

You have a bit more room in your budget
If you've got some extra money to spend, the RTX 4070 is still likely to be the best option for 1440p gaming.

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT: Also consider

If my AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT review has you considering other options, here are two more graphics cards to consider.

How I tested the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

  • I spent about a week with the RX 7700 XT
  • I focused mostly on gaming, since that is what AMD Radeon graphics cards are primarily used for
  • I used our standard battery of benchmark tests and personal gameplay experience
Test System Specs

These are the specs for the test system used for this review:

CPU: Intel Core i9-13900K
CPU Cooler:
Cougar Poseidon GT 360 AIO Cooler
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z790E Tomahawk Wifi
Memory:
64GB Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR5-6000
SSD: Samsung 990 Pro
PSU: Thermaltake PF3 1050W ATX 3.0
Case: Praxis Wetbench

I spent about a week with the AM Radeon RX 7700 XT running benchmark tests and playing Baldur's Gate 3 like everyone else is doing right now.

AMD Radeon cards are overwhelmingly used for gaming purposes, so I focused my efforts on determining how good of a gaming graphics card it is.

I've been a PC gamer my whole life and I've spent the past few years extensively benchmarking gaming hardware for a living, so I know how a graphics card at this level is supposed to perform given its price as well as the manufacturer's past product launches.

We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained - regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it's on our radar.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed September 2023

Corsair PC Build Kit review: great PC building starter for those with a bit of cash
8:00 pm | February 16, 2023

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Tags: , , , | Comments: Off

Corsair PC Build Kit: One-minute review

If you don’t know already, Corsair just launched its very first PC Build Kits, so naturally we had to test them out for you. 

Now, I should preface this by saying that the last time I built my own computer was back in college – practically an entire lifetime ago. And, back then, we didn’t really have things like Wi-Fi/Bluetooth cards and these massive graphics cards that look less like cards and more like portable weapons of mass destruction sent from the future. So, essentially, my knowledge of modern PC building is just slightly above that of an average person – and only because I know about all the components that one needs to build it.

Then again, that just makes me the perfect consumer to invest in one of these Corsair PC Build Kits. Those that know their stuff, after all, are more likely to pick out every component and part themselves, which is a big part of the appeal of building your own PC. 

The question is, are the new Corsair PC Build Kits well worth it for lay people, whether its those who have zero experience but want to learn sans the pressure of getting the right parts, or those who simply do not have the time to do the digital legwork? 

The one thing that might discourage potential customers is the price of entry of these gaming PC kits. The cheapest of the three configurations will set you back $1,199.99 (about £995 / AU$1,740), which is admittedly a lot for casual users. However, that isn’t anything different from what you’d expect from Corsair, as the brand does, in its own words, aim to “deliver a great gaming and PC experience with every build. We did not want to sacrifice quality, warranty, and performance” just for the sake of offering budget-friendly options.

And, you’re also paying for convenience here. The Corsair PC Build Kits essentially takes the amount of painstaking research behind building a PC (and the risks that come with not doing it properly) off your hands and into theirs. So that when you get all the components and parts at your doorstep, you only need to lay them all out and follow the instructions diligently.

I am a massive fan of that, and as someone who is essentially a newbie, the kit that Corsair sent me not only made it easy for me to build my own PC, but it also turned me into a convert. 

Getting a pre-build PC? Please! Where’s the fun in that?!

Corsair PC Build Kit: Price and availability

  • How much does it cost?  $1,199.99, $1,499.99, $1,999.99 
  • When is it available? Available now
  • Where can you get it?  Only available in North America at the time of writing 
Corsair PC Build Kit: SPECS

Here is the Corsair Novice PC Build Kit configuration sent to TechRadar for review:
CPU: Intel Core i5-13400F
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060
RAM: Asus B660-PLUS 16GB DDR4
Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.0
Chassis: Corsair 4000D Airflow
Fans: 2x non-RGB fans
PSU: Corsair CX550M

To make this hobby more accessible, Corsair is not launching one but three different potential builds. The most affordable, which is the one I put together, goes for $1,199.99 and includes a 13th-gen Intel Core i5 CPU, 16GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, a 1TB M.2 SSD and the basic essentials for the rest of the build. 

Moving to the $1,499.99 version means upgrading the GPU to an RTX 3070 as well as getting RGB-equipped liquid cooling and case. Finally, the most expensive build, which goes for $1,999.99, will upgrade that CPU to an Intel Core i9, the RAM to 32GB, and GPU to one of the latest from Nvidia, the GeForce RTX 4070.

As pricey as that may seem, other PC build kits are not necessarily going to give you a better price for the same level of components. For instance, picking the same or similar parts on PCPartPicker resulted in a slightly higher price tag.

  • Value: 4 / 5

Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)

Corsair PC Build Kit: Packaging

  • Neatly packed
  • Not a lot of wasteful packaging materials in the main box

I personally appreciate products that come neatly packaged, and that’s how my Corsair PC Build Kit arrived. Every single component came in its own packaging – apart from the SSD card and the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card, which came in their own plastic bags for some reason (though this might just be for test units) – then piled neatly on top of each other next to the Corsair PC case that occupied half of the box.

Another thing I appreciated is the lack of packing peanuts or styrofoam in this main box. Though Corsair could have chosen to use those to really secure all the individual boxes, it went with packing pillows instead. Less packaging waste, less things to put away.

  • Packaging: 4.5 / 5
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)

Corsair PC Build Kit: Assembly

  • Unpack, organize and build
  • Video tutorial needs improving
  • Instructions missing some bits

One thing to know about Corsair’s PC Build Kits is that you’re not getting that PCPartPicker iBuyPower experience here of picking out every single internal component yourself (you can check out Corsair’s custom PC builder for that too). However, being a building PC newbie who also doesn't have the time to do proper research on things like compatibility, I appreciated the fact that because Corsair already picked out all the stuff for me, all I need to do is build the PC.

Not that that part doesn’t have its share of challenges either. I do feel that building a PC is easier for me as I already know the technical terms and basic foundations like how everything should be connected to the motherboard. I can imagine how getting started might be a bit of a head-scratcher for those who absolutely have zero knowledge of what’s inside a computer, however. 

Before you do get started on building the PC, my biggest advice here is to give yourself a lot of space – space to lay out all the components so that you’ll easily find every single bit you need without needing to dig through piles, and space to do the building. That should ease any stress you might encounter during the process.

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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)

Corsair also really does try to make things more palatable and less challenging for the uninitiated. You don’t need to deal with things like applying thermal paste (it’s pre-applied to the CPU), which is something that some folks find a little daunting. Corsair’s PC cases, which are obviously the PC cases it’s using for these pre-builds, also already come with fans – with Novice kit having the Corsair 4000D Airflow case and the second and third tiers coming with the RGB version – so that’s also less work for you.

For the rest, you just have to read through and follow the instructions. Just know that Corsair is using an older video tutorial, which seems to be geared towards folk who kind of already know the basics. It’s more of an overview rather than a step-by-step process, so I’m really hoping that Corsair will roll out a new one that’s much easier to follow if you know pretty much nil about PC building.

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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)

Luckily, Corsair’s online instruction manual has instructions specific to each kit. And, while I didn’t take a look at the other two, I can tell you that the instructions for the Novice kit are mostly easy to follow, taking you through every step and even providing images, which prove very useful when you’re figuring out which ports you should be plugging those I/O cables into, for example. It takes you through most things from beginning to end, essentially from which panels of the PC case you should remove to prep it to setting up Windows 11 after your PC’s very first boot.

But fair warning; the instructions are not perfect. There were missing bits here, like where exactly to insert the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card on the motherboard. This wasn’t a big deal to me as I knew where it was supposed to go, but this is also something that a complete novice would definitely not know.

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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
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Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)

The hair-pulling bit for me, trying to follow every single step in the instructions faithfully, is the missing bit about the I/O (input/output) plate. The instructions tell you how to install the motherboard, but it doesn’t remind you to make sure to secure the I/O plate first before you install the motherboard. I also forgot about the plate, having accidentally buried it in all that discarded packaging (this is why you have to almost be meticulously organized when building a PC).

So, what ended up happening was me completing all the steps only to find out that there was a very unattractive gaping hole in the back of the PC. And, trust me, there’s no way that plate was going in there after the motherboard had been secured with screws, which meant that, you guessed it, I had to unplug everything, unscrew the motherboard, put that pesky plate in place, then redo the whole thing again! The second time was a lot faster, since I already knew where everything went, but it was still a time drain.

I admit that I was very apprehensive at first about whether or not I did everything correctly, so much so that when I had everything ready, I literally grabbed a bucket of water and brought it to my desk because I was scared that my build was going to burst into flames and burn the house down. This is why I think that Corsair should roll out kit-specific video guides that really take you through everything.

But, everything worked perfectly the first time I turned the thing on and took me right through the Windows 11 setup, which says a lot about Corsair’s instruction manual.

  • Assembly: 4.5 / 5

Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)

Corsair PC Build Kit: Performance

  • Novice kits delivers good performance at 1440p
  • Doesn’t get too loud or too hot

Don’t expect an Intel Core i5 13400F chip and an Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card to take you very far in gaming, even if you’ve got a 16GB DDR4 memory backing it all up. This is exactly what you’re getting, however, if you go for the Novice kit – the same basic configuration that I received as my “test unit”. Corsair itself recommends this kit to those who are “interested in building their first gaming PC,” which means that it was never going to be kitted out with cutting-edge tech.

Still, Corsair has done a great job of putting these components together. I wouldn’t recommend this kit for 4K gaming, with the middle one being better-suited to meet such demanding gaming needs, but it performs admirably whenever I’m gaming on high or ultra settings at 1440p.

Playing Hogwarts Legacy on it is a favorable experience, even with ray tracing at low, as it delivers a smooth performance with no noticeable lags. I have seen the occasional minor stutter and noticed that the fans tend to get a little louder – though not too loud to be distracting. Same deal with Kena: Bridge of Spirits, which it handles beautifully, giving me smooth gameplay even when I’m battling the bosses.

Of course, setting everything on ultra, including ray tracing, then removing the frame rate cap is a slightly different deal. Both games start to fumble a little with stuttering and lags becoming more apparent and frequent. However, they’re still more than playable and would, in my opinion, satiate most folks out there, especially those who aren’t massive gamers.

  • Performance: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Corsair PC Build Kit?

Corsair PC Build Kit

(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Corsair PC Build Kit: Report card

  • First reviewed February 2023

How I tested the Corsair PC Build Kit

We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained - regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it's on our radar.

Read more about how we test

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