Star Citizen 400i - $5,429

Why This Build

This program and community inspired me to do this build! Running a 9950X3D with ASUS Astral 5090 as render card and ASUS Prime 5070 Ti for frame generation, both running at PCIe 5.0x8. Built specifically to saturate my 4K 240Hz OLED display, primarily playing Star Citizen and DCS - both extremely demanding sims that benefit massively from high frame rates and low latency. With adaptive LSFG and 100% Flow, everything hits 4K 240Hz with HDR enabled. This is an absolute no-compromise endgame setup.

Component Choices

CPU & Motherboard: The 9950X3D is the ultimate CPU for simulation games - the extra cache and dual CCD design with 3D V-Cache helps with the complex calculations in Star Citizen and DCS. ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero provides PCIe 5.0x8 for both GPUs without bottlenecking, plus exceptional VRM for the 9950X3D’s power demands.

GPUs: ASUS Astral 5090 as primary renderer because Star Citizen and DCS need every bit of GPU horsepower at 4K. The RTX 5070 Ti handles frame generation - it’s powerful enough to keep up with the 5090’s output at 4K without bottlenecking. Both cards run PCIe 5.0x8 which provides more than enough bandwidth. Originally considered pairing with a 4090 FE, but the combined power draw would be 1050W just for the GPUs, which would require dual PSUs and multiple UPS units.

RAM & Storage: 64GB DDR5 is essential for Star Citizen, which is notoriously RAM-hungry. The Samsung 990 PRO 2TB NVMe handles the massive install sizes and constant asset streaming in these simulation games.

Cooling & Case: Arctic Liquid Freezer II 420mm keeps the 9950X3D cool under sustained loads from these CPU-intensive sims. Fractal Design Define 7 XL has the space for dual flagship GPUs and excellent cable management.

PSU: BeQuiet! 1500W is necessary - the 5090 can pull 575W, the 5070 Ti adds 320W during frame gen, and the 9950X3D pulls significant power under load. You need the headroom for transient spikes. Using dual PSUs with separate UPS units would work too, but 1500W PSUs and UPSs are crazy expensive, and MFG (multi-rail power) isn’t universal yet.

Performance Notes

Currently testing the limits but the setup easily saturates 4K 240Hz OLED with HDR enabled. Running adaptive LSFG with 100% Flow for optimal frame generation. Star Citizen and DCS both run incredibly smooth at settings that would choke most systems. The PCIe 5.0x8 configuration for both GPUs ensures neither card is bandwidth-limited.

Upgrade Path

Honestly, there’s nowhere left to go. The 9950X3D and 5090 are literally the best components available, and the 5070 Ti is powerful enough to handle frame generation at the speeds the 5090 outputs. The only “upgrade” would be more storage - add another 2TB or 4TB NVMe since Star Citizen alone takes up absurd amounts of space with all its patches.

If MFG becomes universal or you find cheaper high-wattage UPS solutions, you could potentially swap the 5070 Ti for a 4090 for even more frame gen power, but you’d need dual PSU setup and robust power backup. Otherwise, this build is complete endgame for 4K high refresh lossless scaling.

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