My PC’s been upgraded in stages rather than built in one go.
It started as a Ryzen 5 3600, GTX 1080, 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD. Did the job fine at the time. Since then I’ve swapped parts out as needed.
Went up to 32GB RAM in 2022. Swapped the 3600 for a Ryzen 7 5800X3D in 2024 — the extra cache makes it a much better gaming chip. Replaced the 1080 with an RX 7800 in 2025, which finally brought the graphics up to match the rest.
Doing it piecemeal meant each upgrade was a clear improvement on its own, without paying for everything at once. The 5800X3D and 7800 is where it properly came together.