My previous pc was a 3050 prebuilt. Pretty weak but I only play esports games like valorant, overwatch and vr chat. I asked two of my friends for recommendations on a new pc and we went back and forth on builds that both of them thought of. Here are the builds, and these are USD prices

Friend 1

$1,751 https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Nrqyqd (5070 + 9700X)

$1,941 https://pcpartpicker.com/list/dNYzFP (9060XT + 9800X3D)

Friend 2

$1,155 https://pcpartpicker.com/list/CyZK2k (9060XT + 7600X)

$1,432 https://pcpartpicker.com/list/L7nJmL (9060XT + 7600X3D)

$1,603 https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Hn9Qfp (9070 + 7600X3D)

$1,832 https://pcpartpicker.com/list/sRCVGk (9070XT + 7800X3D)

I trust friend 1 a bit more since he has a degree in computer science, and friend 2 brought up some points, but I didnt know if they were valid or not. So I ultimately decided to go with friend 1 9060XT build, but im starting to have some second thoughts since spending almost 2k on a pc isnt chump change.

These are some of the points that friend 2 brought up. Are they valid?

1. Recommending the 9800X3D simply for VR is overkill. The 7600X3D is going to do just fine.
2. If you are going to be using VR you're going to see better use from a better GPU such as the 9070 or 9070XT instead of the 9060XT.
3. The 5070 is more expensive then the 9070 and 9070XT while being noticeably weaker than both of them. The only reason to go with the 5070 is if u want Nvidia features, and I know for a fact that u dont care about them.

14600 + 32g ddr4 +9070xt offer best value.

Definitely can be optimized better. I'm not getting a 9800x3d when for the most part the 7800x3d will give the same performance based on your GPU selections. And a 7600x3d is a small step down if you're not using the additional 2 cores of the 7800x3d.

I would skip the 9060xt and get a 9070xt or 9070 depending on prices.

Do u think I should have gone with a build from friend 2? He was pretty surprised when friend 1 brought up a 9060XT build costing close to $2,000. Said that it was overkill and some other stuff.

FYI, a comp sci degree just means he learned how to program/write code. It has nothing to do with computer hardware. Comp sci people are great and very smart, but just because someone learns how to paint a car doesn't automatically mean they understand the engine of the car better.

Yeah, getting a CPU that's almost the same price as your GPU is a bit wild.

Do u think I should have gone with a build from friend 2? I guess im just having some buyers remorse rn.

You seem to be missing storage in all of the builds. Are you planning on transferring your current storage over?

That asides, sounds like your first friend was prioritizing a better CPU since you primarily play competitive games and those are more cpu dependent. However, he’s got a lot of waste with the part selection when it comes to specific models. Your second friend has trimmed the fat and has quality budget friendly models but is skimping on the CPU in favor of the GPU.

Your question should be whether you think you want to prioritize your experience in the games you already play or do you want to fully enhance your experience in new, non-competitive games? If the former, get a 7800X3D or higher and just get a 9060XT 16GB using the same part lists as friend 2 for your PSU, motherboard, RAM. If it’s the latter, go with either the 9060XT build or 9070 if you can swing it. Any extra money you can swing to the 9070XT will be absolutely worth it. The earlier the better before prices go up or stock goes out on these as everyone is buying them over 5070Ti’s.

1. Sort of. "VR" isn't a specific enough use case to judge. Generally you will get a better experience by spending the extra money on a better GPU though, that's why it might make sense to downgrade a Gen on the CPU to reallocate some funds for a better GPU.

2. That's right in most scenarios. Without knowing what VR applications/games you're planning to run it's harder to say this is 100% correct, but most VR games will benefit significantly more from a better GPU.

3. 9070/XT is a perfectly fine choice if budget is a concern.

If you can return them, I would save the cash.

I think for the 7600x3d vs 7800x3d, you'd be paying $100 more for 10% extra frames. Assuming a game runs at 140 frames with 7600x3d, do you really care about 154 frames on the 7800x3d? And if this performance benchmark was ran on a 5090 GPU like most are, your frames might not even increase by 10%.

Ill be honest here with you, as much as building a PC yourself is awesome and fun, it is not the most cost effective way right now.

However to answer your question, Friend 2 has more balanced builds and the 7800X3D + 9070XT being cheaper or more powerful than the two builds from friend 1 alone says a lot. If you dont play demanding games or dont plan on it. Friend 2s first and second PCs are perfect and save money. If you want to venture out into heavier games, Friend 2s 4th build is great (its exactly what I have and its more powerful than the 5070 build and cheaper.)

Can you return the parts you bought? The 9070XT build from friend 2 is better if you're fine with the money, EXCEPT for the PSU. Stay away from Rosewill. Here's an independent list from the community that you can generally follow: https://cultists.network/140/psu-tier-list/

Yea im going to just use the ssd that I have in my current pc. In terms of gaming I guess I just want a good well rounded pc. I play the games that I play rn because of the fact that my pc struggles with a lot of games.

Friend 2 says that if I go with the 9060XT that I would have no real reason to go higher than the 7600X3D. Not because there arent better CPU's, but because they are a good pairing. I did tell them that I wanted to get more into VR though in which case he said that I should go with either a 9070 or 9070XT. In which case I dont think he would stop me from going to a 7800X3D.