Hello!
I would do the following (SFF Mini ITX)
Clean, No RGB, BlackCPU: i7 11700F @ $319
MB: MSI MPG B560I Gaming Edge WiFi Mini ITX @ $199
RAM: Team T-FORCE Dark Za 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 @ $149
STORAGE: (Boot) 500GB M2 Western Digital Black SN850 (PCIE 4.0) @ $105
STORAGE: 1TB M2 Crucial P2 @ $124.00
GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 3070Ti Ventus 3X OC @ $899
CHASSIS: Cooler Master MasterBox NR200P Mini ITX @ $125
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA GM 750W +80 Gold Fully Modular SFX @ $133
OS: Windows 11 (Digital Chill Mart 50% w/ Honey Promo Code) @ $20
COOLING/AIRFLOW: Leave $100.00 for Fan Budget (Low Profiles)
($2173.00)
Potential item substitutes as it's under budget;
CPU: i7 11700F for i9 11900F (About $150 difference)
GPU: RTX 3070Ti for RTX 3080 (About $300 difference)
Chassis: NR200P to HYTE Revolt 3 (About $50 difference, subjective/style)
Storage: Switch out the 1TB M2 Crucial P2 to a 2TB M2 Crucial P2 (About $100 difference)
~ If you did both CPU/GPU, you'd want to upgrade PSU to around 850+ for stable loads and power distribution, which would push you past the $2700.00 max ~
SFF builds can take a bit more patience, but with a friend helping it would be a great project to learn more on PC building, the end result is fantastic and rewarding.
This setup is 1.5TB Storage vs the 2.5TB storage you were seeking, FYI.GL!