High-End Gaming PCs v3.5
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Is this the right type of PC for me?
If you’re looking for a high-end Gaming PC, capable of handling any video game maxed out at very high resolutions, in 3D and/or on multiple monitors, you’re at the right place. Otherwise, check out our other Computer Systems or The Best Laptops For Your Money instead.
The Noctua NH-D14, the CPU Cooler for all Tiers of the High-End Gaming PCs.
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- Recommended parts summary
- Recommended parts in details
- Budget/Mainstream Gaming PCs
About Hardware Revolution’s High-End Gaming Computers:
Extreme Performance and Reliability!
1. Our high-end gaming computers feature parts that were not only chosen for the best performance possible at a given price but also for their reliability.
2. All of the Tiers are equipped with SSDs (Solid State Drives), which makes your PC feel more responsive and make Windows/games/programs launch much faster than before.
3. Equipped with powerful video cards, to let you play pretty much any game maxed out at 1920 x 1080, 2560 x 1600 or even on multiple monitors and/or with 3D monitors.
4. All Tiers feature a safe and reliable power supply, a case with proper ventilation and an after-market CPU Cooler, so that your PC will not overheat and will last you many years.
Choose Your Tier:
There are five tiers in this article. The Tiers are color coded as such:
Tier 8 (Identified by a Green color): $1759
This Tier features a video card with one of the fastest GPU on the market: The Radeon HD 7970. This Tier can handle pretty much every game with maximum details at 1920 x 1080. Features a 256GB SSD.
Tier 9 (Identified by an Orange color): $1929
Tier 9 takes performance up by a few notches compared to Tier 8, by featuring two Radeon HD 7950 in Crossfire. This Tier will handle any game maxed out at 1920 x 1080 and most games at 2560 x 1600 or on two/three monitors side-by-side. Features a 256GB SSD.
Tier 10 (Identified by a Red color): $2294
Tier 10 brings up performance by featuring two Radeon HD 7970 in Crossfire and an Intel Core i7-3820.
Tier 11 (Identified by a Fuchsia color): $2747
Tier 11 takes CPU performance up, by featuring the Intel Core i7-3930K six-core CPU.
Tier 12 (Identified by a Dark Red color): $4165
Simply put, this is our most powerful Gaming PC Tier available, with two Geforce GTX TITAN in SLI. Also features a larger 512GB SSD.
Need a Tier recommendation for a specific video game?
Ask us on the forums: Tell us about the video game, the level of details that you want (i.e. medium, high or ultra details) and finally the resolution (e.g. 1920 x 1080. NOT the size) of the monitor or HDTV that you’ll use.
Recommended Parts Summary:
Main recommendations, upgrades and alternatives:
1. Recommended Components are in Bold, with one or more color(s) for the Tier(s).
2. Suggested Alternatives and Upgrades are in Italic. You can upgrade as many parts as you want to, including parts from higher Tiers.
3. All Parts are interchangeable/compatible with each other, except for the Intel LGA1155 CPUs/motherboards that aren’t compatible with the Intel LGA2011 CPUs/motherboards. Also, the ASUS P9X79 motherboard requires a case that supports SSI CEB motherboards.
Recommendations in details:
Motherboard:
Tier 8 and 9:
$220 – GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H-WB LGA1155 SATA6Gb/s 4xUSB3.0 FW BT E-SATA WiFi
Only compatible with LGA1155 CPUs, not compatible with LGA2011 CPUs. In other words, you can’t upgrade to Tier 10-11-12 CPUs on this motherboard, if you want such CPUs, you’ll have to upgrade to a LGA2011 motherboard, recommended for Tier 10 and higher.
Why did I pick this motherboard for Tiers 8 and 9:
In my opinion, the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H-WB has the best set of features available on the LGA1155 socket motherboards, many of which that I consider very important for the High-End Gaming PCs:
- Two slots worth of space between the two main PCI-Express 16x slots, which gives the top video card some space to “breath” in order to stay at a reasonable temperature.
- A PCI-Express 1x slot that is located above the top PCI-Express 16x slot, allowing for a dedicated sound card without reducing the airflow to the top video card.
- Five fan connectors (One four pins for the CPU and four 4 pins for other fans)
- Three USB 3.0 header and four USB 3.0 ports on the back of the motherboard. You also get an included 3.5″ 2x USB 3.0 bracket that can be installed on the front of your case to get two additional USB 3.0 ports. In total, you get eight USB 3.0 ports (four on the back, two with the bracket and two with the case)
- Large variety of connectors on the back: Dual LAN, 4x USB 3.o, 2x USB 2.0, FireWire, E-SATA
A m-SATA connector on the board, allowing you to connect a SSD for example - An included PCI-Express 1x Wifi 802.11 b/g/n & Bluetooth 4.0 adapter, allowing you to connect to a wireless network without needing to buy a separate adapter. It’s fairly short too, so it shouldn’t block much airflow to the video card(s). I’d install it in the 3rd PCI-Express 1x slot (the one above the 2nd PCI-Express 16x slot).
- Power and Reset buttons on the motherboard, allowing you to easily test your PC outside your case.
- Solid Power delivery components and solid cooling for them, ensuring that the motherboard won’t bottleneck your CPU overclocking.
Dual BIOS, with a physical switch on the board, allowing you to easily switch from one BIOS to another.
Ports, expansion slots, features, what’s included in the box, etc.
- Ports on the back: 2x USB 2.0, 4x USB 3.0, FireWire, E-SATA, two 10/100/1000 Mbps RJ-45 LAN, 5 audi0 ports (for 7.1 sound), VGA, DVI, HDMI and Displayport outputs and an Optical S/PDIF Out.
- Expansion slots: Three PCI-Express 3.0 16x slots (single at 16x, dual at 8x/8x and triple at 8x/8x/4x), three PCI-Express 1x and one PCI slots.
- Other connectors/features on the motherboard: Five fan connectors (Five 4 pins), five SATA 6.0Gb/s, four SATA 3.0Gb/s, one mSATA, Clear CMOS, power and reset buttons, SATA power connector (OC-PEG, located above the SATA ports) connector for additional power for the PCI-Express slots, three USB 3.0 header (to be used with included bracket and case USB 3.0 header), two USB 2.0 headers (for up to four USB 2.0 ports coming from the headers in total), FireWire header, LED debug, BIOS switch, TPM header, SLI/Crossfire support (obviously) and support for LGA1155/LGA1156 CPU Coolers.
- Included in the box: Motherboard, four SATA cables, SLI dongle, USB 3.0 3.5″ bracket WiFi/Bluetooth 4.0 PCI-Express 1x card, two WiFi antennas, I/O backplate, manual and two CDs.
Socket: LGA1155
Ivy Bridge CPUs (Core ix-3xxx) use the LGA 1155 socket and the following chipsets:
7 series Chipsets: For Ivy Bridge CPUs, you have the H77, Z75 and Z77 chipsets.
- H77 supports the integrated GPU found in the CPU and thus allow for video output without a discrete video card. However, they do not support CPU overclocking.
- Z75 does support the integrated GPU found in the CPU, as well as CPU overclocking. However, it does not support Intel SRT (SSD caching), which I don’t recommend anyway (see note below).
- Z77 is the high-end chipset. It supports the integrated GPU and overclocking just like Z75. It also support Intel SRT (SSD caching).
While some older LGA1155 motherboard, based on the H61, H67, P67 and Z68 chipsets do support Ivy Bridge after a BIOS/UEFI update, this is not the case of all of them.
Also, the 7-series chipset equipped motherboards bring native USB 3.0 support, with greater performance and thus are recommended if you build a PC with a new Ivy Bridge CPU, so that way, you get the best performance and are sure that it will work with your Ivy Bridge CPU.
CPU Coolers compatibility: CPU Coolers that are compatible with the LGA1156 socket are also compatible with the LGA 1155 socket. Some LGA1155 motherboards support LGA 775 CPU Coolers too.
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About Intel’s QuickSync and SSD Caching:
All 7-series chipsets allows you to access the IGP from the CPU, which allows you to take advantage of Intel’s QuickSync, a technology that lets you use the IGP in your CPU to accelerate video conversion (amongst other things), allowing you to convert video faster than with just a CPU.
However, the drawback is that the quality of converted videos is lower than if they are converted with a CPU. This is subjective though, so the loss in quality might be an acceptable drawback for you, if you value the time than you gain.
As for SSD Caching, AnandTech has two excellent articles on the subject. They are on the Z68 chipset, but SSD caching is the same on Z77:
- Intel Z68 Chipset & Smart Response Technology (SSD Caching) Review
- Z68 SSD Caching with Corsair’s F40 SandForce SSD
In short, while SSD caching is an interesting technology, you’re better off using your SSD as your boot drive and manually managing where your applications and games get installed (SSD or HDD), if you want the best performance possible, all the time.
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Alternative motherboards for Tier 8 or 9:
- $240 – ASUS Sabertooth LGA 1155 Z77 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 5yrs war.
– Featuring ASUS’s “TUF” design and a 5 years warranty, this is a great alternative.
- $252 – ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE LGA 1155 Z77 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 Wifi
– (Currently on sale, usually goes for $280+) The ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe offer similar ports to the recommended Gigabyte, including the WiFi + BLuetooth 4.0, the difference being that the WiFi/bluetooth is integrated on the board and doesn’t take a PCI-Express 1x slot. It also offers excellent performance, I’m quoting AnanTech’s review here: “The P8Z77-V Deluxe utilizes MultiCore Enhancement, a ‘feature’ on ASUS motherboards to boost multi-threaded performance. Combine this with what seem like a few tweaks native to the board and we have a product which single handedly takes the top position in almost every throughput benchmark we have, and comes near the top in ones that it does not.”
Tier 10, 11 and 12:
$220 – ASRock Extreme6 LGA2011 X79 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 8xDIMM
Only compatible with LGA2011 CPUs, not compatible with LGA1155 CPUs. In other words, you can’t go with the Tier 8-9 CPU on this motherboard, if you want such a CPU, you’ll have to go with a LGA1155 motherboard, recommended for Tier 8 and 9.
Why did I pick this motherboard for Tiers 10, 11 and 12:
Simply put, it is unmatched when you consider the features that it offers and its relatively low price for a LGA2011 motherboard.
For $220, you get eight RAM slots, solid CPU power delivery, four USB 3.0 ports, E-SATA and FireWire on the back of the motherboard + two more USB 3.0 ports via the USB 3.0 header, a bundled 2x USB 3.0 ports panel that can be installed either in a 3.5″ bracket on the front of your case or via a PCI bracket on a PCI slot on your case.
The ASRock X79 Extreme 6 has two slots of space between the two main PCI-Express 16x slots, allowing the top video card (for Crossfire/SLI setups) to have enough room to “breathe” and run at safe temperatures.
All of these reasons are why I’m recommending it for Tier 10, 11 and 12.
Features:
- Two slots worth of space between the two main PCI-Express 16x slots, which gives the top video card some space to “breath” in order to stay at a reasonable temperature.
- Nothing short of six fan connectors (Two 4 pins, four 3 pins)
- A USB 3.0 header to plug in the case’s front USB 3.0 ports.
- PS/2, FireWire, E-SATA and USB 3.0 ports, as well as a Clear CMOS button, are all located on the back of the motherboard. The Clear CMOS button alone is hugely useful when you overclock and need to clear the CMOS. No more need to move a jumper, which is a pain compared to using a simple button.
- Power and Reset buttons on the motherboard, allowing you to easily test your PC outside your case.
- Solid Power delivery components and solid cooling for them, ensuring that the motherboard won’t bottleneck your CPU overclocking.
Ports, expansion slots, features, what’s included in the box, etc.
- Ports on the back: 2x PS/2, 4x USB 2.0, 4x USB 3.0 (Two more on the front of the case with the USB 3.0 header), FireWire, E-SATA, 10/100/1000 Mbps RJ-45 LAN, 5 audi0 ports (for 7.1 sound), Coaxial + Optical S/PDIF Out and finally, a Clear CMOS button.
- Expansion slots: Three PCI-Express 3.0 16x slots (16x, 16x, 8x), two PCI-Express 1x and two PCI slots.
- Other connectors/features on the motherboard: Six fan connectors (Two 4 pins, four 3 pins), five SATA 6.0Gb/s, four SATA 3.0Gb/s, power and reset buttons, 4-pin Molex connector for additional power for the PCI-Express slots, USB 3.0 header (to be used with included bracket), two USB 2.0 headers (for up to four USB 2.0 ports coming from the headers in total), FireWire header, LED debug and SLI/Crossfire support.
- Included in the box: Motherboard, four SATA cables, two-way and three-way SLI dongles, I/O backplate, manual and CD.
CPU Coolers compatibility: Only LGA2011 CPU Coolers are supported. Many LGA1155/1156/1366 can be made compatible using an additional adapter.
Alternative
- $338 – ASUS SABERTOOTH X79 LGA2011 USB 3.0 SATA III 8xDIMM
– The ASUS Sabertooth X79 features a ceramic-coating on its heatsinks, to provide better heat dissipation, “TUF” Capacitors, Chokes and MOSFETS, which are certified by military standard to ensure greater durability and best of all, a 5 years warranty.
- $380 – ASUS P9X79 WS LGA 2011 X79 SSI CEB
– Note that this is NOT an ATX motherboard and that you’ll need a case that supports E-ATX or SSI CEB form factor motherboards to use it. With six PCI-Express 16x slots, including four of them that can run at PCI-Express 3.0 8x/8x/8x/8x, dual Intel LAN controllers and much more, the ASUS P9X79 WS is truly an high-end motherboard. Note that the recommended case for Tier 10, 11 and 12 does support this motherboard.
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CPU:
Tier 8 and 9:
$322 – Intel Core i7-3770K LGA1155 3.5-3.9GHz Turbo Unlocked Multiplier 77W
Based on Intel’s 3rd generation Core CPUs, Ivy Bridge:
Performance:
Intel third generation of Core CPUs, known under the codename Ivy Bridge (IB from here on) is here.
Replacing Intel’s LGA1155 Sandy Bridge (SB from here on, known as Core ix 2xxx) CPUs, the LGA1155 based IB CPUs (Known as Core ix 3xxx) bring in on average a 7%-15% performance improvement compared to the previous-generation of LGA1155 SB CPUs.
The higher performance is due to improved IPC (instructions per clock, aka performance at a given frequency), improved Turbo and slightly higher frequencies.
Needless to say, if it’s slightly faster than Sandy Bridge, which had no problem outperforming AMD’s Bulldozer/Llano CPUs, Ivy Bridge has no problem outperforming the competition (AMD’s Piledriver/Trinity) in nearly all situations.
Improved Turbo:
- On Sandy Bridge, Turbo increases the frequency by 100, 200, 300 or 400MHz, with 4, 3, 2 or 1 core(s) active respectively.
- On Ivy Bridge, Turbo increases the frequency by 200, 300, 400 or 400MHz, with 4, 3, 2 or 1 core(s) active respectively.
On top of that, Ivy Bridge runs at Turbo frequencies more often and for longer than Sandy Bridge.
Power consumption:
IB consumes about 17-18W less at load compared to SB and if you consider to it completes workloads faster than SB, it’s quite a bit more power efficient than SB. Idle power consumption is pretty much identical between IB and SB.
Overclocking:
Back in the Core 2 Duo/Core 2 Quad days and with previous generations of Intel CPUs, to overclock, all you had to do was to raise the BCLK (baseclock) or FSB frequency, until you reach the limit of your CPU and/or motherboard and/or cooling solution.
With Ivy Bridge, just like with SandyBridge, this is no longer the case: the 6 and 7-series chipsets integrate the clock generator. What once was a component on the motherboard, the PLL is now on the 6/7-series chipset die. The integrated PLL feeds a source clock to many other controllers (e.g. SATA) to the CPU itself.
The problem will that is if you if you raise the BCLK frequency, you will also raise the frequency of many other controllers and that will cause your PC to crash after raising the BLCK by more than 5-7%. So forget overclocking via the BCLK if you’re serious about overclocking.
To overclock, you’ll want to raise the CPU multiplier. How much you can raise it depends on your CPU:
- If you have a CPU that offers no Turbo mode (e.g. Celeron/Pentium/Core i3), then you can’t raise the multiplier at all and thus can’t overclock. In short: Your CPU is completely locked.
- If you have a CPU with Turbo modes (e.g. Core i5-3550), you can overclock, but just a bit, using a motherboard equipped with a Z chipset. You are limited to an overclock of 4 processor bins above and beyond the highest turbo frequency.
Let’s use a Core i5-3550, which runs at 3.3GHz by default, as an example:
- When one or two cores are active, the chip can turbo up to 3.7GHz. You can change that turbo state to go as high as 4.1GHz.
- When three cores are active, the chip can turbo up to 3.6GHz. You can change that turbo state to go as high as 4.0GHz.
- When four cores are active, the chip can turbo up to 3.5GHz. You can change that turbo state to go as high as 3.9GHz.
Overclocking the non-K Core i5/i7 chips relies entirely on turbo however. In the case above, the fastest your chip will run is 4.1GHz but with only one core or two cores active. If you have four cores active the fastest your chip can run is 3.9GHz. Makes sense?
- Finally, there’s the K-series of CPUs, with the Core i5-3570K and Core i7-3770K currently available. These chips are fully unlocked and will let you overclock them as far as the CPU and/or your cooling can sustain.
Dynamic overclocking:
One of the cool new features of Ivy Bridge is dynamic overclocking, which allows users to change the CPU/IGP multipliers within Windows without rebooting. It works flawlessly with Intel’s Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU).
Ivy Bridge running hot when overclocked?
You may have heard reports that Ivy Bridge runs hot, much hotter than Sandy Bridge, when overclocked. There’s some truth to this, so let me explain it to you.
Simply put, Ivy Bridge doesn’t react well to highly increased voltage. Past 1.30-1.35V temperatures greatly increase, so I recommend that if you use air-cooling, even high-end air-cooling, stay in the 1.20V-1.25V range.
Of course, make sure to monitor your temperatures. Ivy Bridge maximum temperature before it starts throttling its frequency down to protect itself from damage is 105C, 5C higher than Sandy Bridge’s 100C. However, for 24/7 usage, I recommend not exceeding 85C, to keep your CPU safe.
The good news is that most chips shouldn’t have any problems hitting 4.5-4.7GHz with 1.20V or less, which is great for the average overclocker, but scaling gets progressively worse as you go above these levels.
In other words, Ivy Bridge is great for the average overclocker and if you intend on really pushing it to its limits, be warned that you’ll need a serious after-market cooling solution.
Does that mean that you should get a Sandy Bridge CPU instead, if you intend to overclock?
In my opinion, no. Even if you’re able to get an extra 100-300MHz with a Sandy Bridge CPU vs an Ivy Bridge CPU, it won’t be enough to overcome Ivy Bridge architecture improvements, so you’ll end with either lower or similar performance and higher power consumption with an overclocked Sandy Bridge CPU vs an overclocked Ivy Bridge CPU.
That said, if you already have a Sandy Bridge CPU, there’s no point upgrading to Ivy Bridge, except perhaps getting PCI-Express 3.0 if you run or intend to run two high-end video cards in Crossfire or SLI and don’t want to be bottlenecked by PCI-Express 2.0.
Tier 10
$297 – Intel Core i7-3820 LGA2011 Quad-Core 10MB L3 3.6-3.9GHz
The Core i7-3820 is the quad-core variant of the LGA2011 Sandy Bridge-E architecture.
Those who take their overclocking seriously will be better served with a Core i7-3820. It might be a little slower clock-per-clock, and consume more power, but it offers more overclocking potential, runs cooler when overclocked, and there’s a clear upgrade path to Ivy Bridge-E down the road (Late 2013 or Early 2014). For the LGA1155 platform, Ivy Bridge is the end of the road since Haswell is going use the LGA1150 socket.
Overclocking:
The Core i7-3820 is a partly unlocked CPU. What does this mean? Well, it means that its multiplier is limited to 43x, so overclocking the chip relies either on:
A- Turbo, in which case the Core i7-3820, you can raise the frequency by 400MHz, or four Turbo bins. This means that the fastest your chip will run is 4.3GHz but with only one core active. If you have four cores active the fastest your chip can run is 4.0GHz.
B- Raising the bclk: Unlike Sandy Bridge LGA1155 CPUs, Sandy Bridge-E LGA2011 CPUs can be overclocked by raising the bclk without any problem.
If you want a fully unlocked LGA2011 CPU to make overclocking easier, via the multiplier, you’ll need to get either the K-series Core i7-3930K, recommended below for Tier 11-12, or alternatively the Extreme Edition Core i7-3970X.
Tier 11 and 12:
$540 – Intel Core i7-3930K LGA2011 Six-Core 3.2-3.8GHz Turbo Unlocked Multiplier
Why am I recommending the Core i7-3930K over the Core i7-3820/i7-3770k for Tier 11 and 12?
Gaming performance wise, the Core i7-3770k usually has a slight edge (5-10%) over the Core i7-3930K, thanks to the Ivy Bridge CPu architecture improvements, although some games run just as well on the Core i7-3930K, if not even better in a few cases.
Because there’s more than just gaming:
I also realize that most people dropping this kind of cash on a PC are PC enthusiasts and do more than gaming on their system.
Outside of gaming, the Core i7-3930K offer substantially more performance over the Core i7-3770K in many applications, thanks to its six cores with Hyper-Threading. You can see how the Core i7-3930K and the Core i7-3770K compare here on AnandTech.
Do note that the Core i7-3930K does not include an Intel stock CPU Cooler, which doesn’t matter mind you, since I recommend an after-market CPU Cooler, for low-noise and overclocking potential.
Alternative
- $1050 – Intel Core i7-3970X LGA2011 Six-Core 15MB L3 3.5-4.0GHz Unlocked
– The best of the best. The Intel Core i7-3970X “Extreme Edition” is the fastest consumer CPU that money can get you. Compared to the Core i7-3930K, you get an additional 3MB of L3 cache, 300MHz higher base frequency and 200MHz higher Turbo frequency. You don’t buy this CPU because it offers a great bang for your buck, you buy it because you want THE fastest CPU available and/or as a bragging right. When nothing but THE best will do, the Core i7-3970X is the way to go.
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Video Card:
A few important recommendations and notes regarding video cards:
- Get the latest version of the video card drivers directly from AMD or Nvidia. That way, you’ll be sure to get the latest bug fixes as well as the best performance possible from your video card(s).
- To confirm whether Crossfire or SLI is working or not, use GPU-Z which will show that information to you in the last field at the bottom of the program.
- SLI Guide: How to enable SLI, check if SLI is enabled, actually working in your game and what to do if it’s not is a great guide from the Notebook Review forums. If you know of a similar guide that covers Crossfire, let me know, I’ll make sure to add it to the article.
- When using two or more video cards in Crossfire or SLI, you want to connect your monitors into the top video card, i.e. the video card that is the closest to the CPU.
- Most video cards require one or two PCI-Express 6 or 8 pin power connector(s) to be plugged into them to function properly. Make sure that your power supply comes equipped with enough 6 and/or 8 pin connectors for your video cards. I mention this requirement in the power supply section. Of course, I double-checked that already for the recommendations in this article, I simply mention it if you decide to modify a Tier.
Tier 8:
$410 – Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Boost Dual Fans
I now recommend the Radeon HD 7970 over the Geforce GTX 680 for three reasons:
- AMD introduced performance improvements that lowered the average latency in their newer driver, resulting in the Radeon HD 7970 being pretty much on par performance wise with the GTX 680.
- The price of the Radeon HD 7970 went down and is lower than the GTX 680.
- You get free Crysis 3 & BioShock game coupons with purchase of a Radeon HD 7970 card.
Tier 9:
$580 – TwoSapphire Radeon HD 7950 Boost 3GB GHz Dual Fans in Crossfire
If you want higher performance than what the fastest video card offers, what do you do?
You team up two video cards together!
For $600, you get two Radeon HD 7950 Boost in Crossfire, which have no problem outperforming a single Radeon HD 7970 or GTX 680.
Upgrade for Ultra High-End 3D Gaming Performance
If you desire even more performance for 3D Gaming at higher resolutions (i.e 3840 x 1080 or 5760 x 1080), or if you want to be a bit more future-proof, I recommend that you go with Tier 10, 11 or Tier 12 video cards recommendations.
Also do note that if you upgrade your video cards, you’ll most likely have to upgrade your power supply too. See the power supply section for more information on this.
Tier 10:
$820 – Two Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Boost Dual Fans in Crossfire
Upside: A lot of performance for $820
Offering higher performance overall than the Geforce GTX Titan, while costing roughly $300 less, two Radeon HD 7970 in Crossfire are a force to be reckoned with.
The downside: Power consumption, heat, noise and Crossfire profiles
Two Radeon 7970 in Crossfire will consume a lot of power, emit a lot of heat and consequently, a lot of noise.
You also will have to deal with Crossfire profiles, updates and games that sometimes need an update to perform properly.
Is it worth saving $200 vs the $1000 Geforce GTX Titan?
If all you care about is raw performance, sure. If you care about power consumption, heat, noise and possible game issues due to Crossfire (this happens with Nvidia SLI too), the Geforce GTX Titan might be the better option. Also, you can add a second Geforce GTX Titan if you want even more performance!
Tier 11:
$1100 – GeForce GTX TITAN 6GB
Simply put, this card features the fastest single-GPU on the market.
If you want the fastest video card without messing with Crossfire, SLI or dual-GPU video card setups, this is the way to go.
While some may complain that it’s very highly priced, keep in mind that it offers a 45%-55% performance improvement over the GTX 680, the sort of performance improvement that you usually see when you jump from one generation of GPUs to the next one.
It’s also by far the fastest single-GPU solution and as such, has no direct competition from AMD, allowing Nvidia to charge pretty much whatever they want at this point.
So, is it a good deal, from a performance/price point of view? Far from it. But if you want THE fastest single-GPU video for a micro-shutter free experience, this is the price to pay to get it.
Tier 12:
$2200 – Two GeForce GTX TITAN 6GB in SLI
If you want the best performance possible, without consideration for anything else, two Geforce Titan in SLI are the way to go.
If you want to play video games on multiple monitors and/or
If you want to future-proof your PC and/or
If you want to play games with texture games that can use more than 2GB of VRAM (e.g. Skyrim)
This is as good as it gets, without messing with Triple/Quad SLI (diminishing returns, very high power consumption and noise, not worth it in my opinion)
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RAM:
Tiers 8-9:
$103 – Corsair 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1600MHz
Tier 8 and 9 feature dual-channel motherboards, so I’m recommending a dual-channel kit with two RAM sticks, leaving two free RAM slots on your motherboard if you want to add RAM in the future.
If you’re like me and like switching back (Alt-Tab or Alt-Esc) to your desktop to check something while pausing your game and keeping it open, along with a bunch of open programs, 16GB will further improve the responsiveness of your PC compared to 8GB.
Also, if you intend on keeping this Gaming PC for more than say, 1-2 years, 16GB is worth it.
That way, you know that you’ll be future-proof for a while and that you can alt-tab out of your games with minimal lag.
Tier 10-11-12:
$115 – Corsair 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1600MHz
Tier 10, 11 and 12 feature quad-channel motherboards, so I’m recommending a quad-channel kit with four RAM sticks. Note that depending on the motherboard that you pick, you’ll either fill up all four RAM slots if you have four RAM slots or you’ll have four free RAM slots on your motherboard if you pick a motherboard with eight RAM slots.
Maximum amount of RAM: LGA1155 motherboards in this guide support four sticks of RAM, for a maximum of 32GB (4x8GB) of RAM. The LGA2011 motherboards in this guide supports either four sticks of RAM, for a maximum of 32GB (4x8GB) of RAM or eight sticks of RAM, for a maximum of 64GB (8x8GB) of RAM.
Upgrades:
- If you want 32GB of RAM on four RAM sticks, I recommend the: $262 – G.SKILL 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3 1600MHz 1.5v
- If you want 64GB of RAM on eight RAM sticks (make sure to get a motherboard with eight RAM slots), get the: $440 – G.SKILL 64GB (8 x 8GB) DDR3 1333MHz 1.5v
Heatsinks and CPU cooler clearance:
Every kit that I recommend in this guide feature either no heatsinks or not too tall heatsinks that don’t raise too much above the RAM sticks.
Why?
- Because RAM heatsinks barely make any difference when it comes to RAM temperatures. Besides, even if you overclock it/raise the voltage (at your own risk), RAM temperatures aren’t a problem as long as you have decent airflow in your case.
- Tall RAM heatsinks can get in the way of larger aftermarket CPU Coolers, preventing you from installing your aftermarket CPU Cooler!
Important: RAM can require manual configuration within the BIOS to reach its full potential or function properly!
By default, some RAM kits will boot at lower frequencies than they are rated for. This is perfectly normal, it does not mean that your RAM is defective.
You simply have to go within the BIOS/UEFI (The first thing that you see when your PC starts) and enable XMP, for your RAM to function at its rated speed. If XMP is not available or doesn’t work for some reason, you can adjust the RAM settings manually, such as frequency (In MHz, usually linked to the CPU, look for a CPU:RAM ratio) and timings (a series of numbers, such as 9-9-9-24). Refer to your motherboard manual and your RAM specifications for more information.
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Storage:
- Quick tip: Get the most performance out of your SSD, by selecting AHCI in your BIOS/EFI options. Unless you use two SSD or HDD in RAID 0 or 1 that is, in which case you want to select RAID.
SSD FAQ:
If you wondering “Who are SSDs for?”, if you want a quick recap on what a SSD is, wonder about reports of SSDs slowing down over time or want to learn more about TRIM and/or TRIM with RAID, I invite you to read our SSD FAQ.
I also invite you to read this article of mine, updated monthly, for other recommendations: The Best SSDs and HDDs For Your Money.
Tier 8, 9, 10 and 11:
$226 – SAMSUNG 840 Pro 256GB SATA III Solid State Drive (SSD)
Of course, with an High-End Gaming PC, you have the right to expect an high-end storage solution. A long time ago, I asked you in a poll what would be the minimum acceptable capacity for a SSD for you in a build. The majority of you said 160GB.
Now that the prices of SSDs are going down and that their reliability is going up, I feel comfortable with recommending them for the high-end Gaming PCs.
With nothing short of 256GB, this SSD is above the minimum acceptable capacity for a SSD that most of you want and is enough to handle Windows and many games.
Best of all? The Samsung 840 Pro series is one of the fastest, if not THE fastest and most reliable SSD on the market!
Less expensive alternative:
If you don’t mind sacrificing some performance, the $169 – SAMSUNG 840 250GB SATA III Solid State Drive (SSD)
Tier 12:
$449 – SAMSUNG 840 Pro 512GB SATA III Solid State Drive (SSD)
For Tier 12, we’re bumping the total SSD storage capacity to 512GB.
The Samsung 840 Pro series is one of the fastest, if not THE fastest and most reliable SSD on the market!
With 512GB to play with on your SSD and 2TB on the hard drive, I doubt that you’ll run out of space anytime soon. 
Less expensive alternative:
If you don’t mind sacrificing some of performance, the $329 – SAMSUNG 840 500GB SATA III Solid State Drive (SSD)
For other options and more information on SSDs, I recommend that you read our own The Best HDDs and SSDs For Your Money article.
Hard Drives:
All Tiers:
$117 – Western Digital Caviar Red 2TB SATA III
Designed for 24/7 usage, the Western Digital Red hard drive is one of the, if not THE most reliable hard drive currently on the market.
It also offers top-notch performance, while being fairly quiet and offering low consumption for a hard drive. It also comes with a solid three years warranty.
The reason that I recommend this hard drive is because it’s relatively affordable and it’s the most reliable 2TB hard drive currently available on the market.
Besides, you’ll have a 256GB or 512GB SSD to store the OS and programs/games that need the extra performance.
Want a high performance 3TB or 4TB hard drive?
Then I recommend either the $158 – Western Digital Caviar Red 3TB SATA III
SATA II 3.0Gb/s vs SATA III 6.0Gb/s: No performance difference for hard drives!
SATA 3.0 Gb/s (SATA II) and SATA 6.0Gb/s (SATA III) refer to the speed of the connection between the drive and the motherboard.
However, the best hard drives reach about 200MB/s (or 1.60Gb/s) in best scenarios. SATA 3.0Gb/s is plenty enough to handle that and for hard drives, SATA 6.0Gb/s does not offer any performance advantage, since the hard drives can’t even max out a SATA II 3.0Gb/s connection.
Only SSDs take advantage of SATA 6.0Gb/s due to their higher transfer rates.
In other words, if you take two otherwise identical hard drives, the SATA III model will not be faster than the SATA II model. SATA III for hard drives is just a marketing scheme 
Reliability/Backup
Keep in mind that no matter how reliable they can be, all hard drives and all SSDs are still prone to failure though, which is why you should Have a Backup System that you can rely on!
SATA Cables: Make sure you have enough!
Just make sure that you have enough SATA cables: The two main recommendations for the motherboards in this guide include four SATA cables. Keep in mind that you’ll need one SATA cable for your optical drive, one for the hard drive and one for your SSD too. Also, all SATA cables can handle SATA III 6.0Gb/s, there are no such thing as a SATA III 6.0Gb/s cable.
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Optical Drive:
Tier All Tiers:
$18 – Lite-On SATA 24X DVD Burner
This drive is able to read and burn CDs and DVDs. Relatively silent (it obviously makes some noise when reading/burning at high speed), compatible with all major formats including DVD-RAM.
The motherboard includes four SATA cables, of which one will be used for the hard drive, one for the SSD (Tier 4 to 7) and one for this DVD Burner, so there’s no need to worry about cables.
Upgrades:
If you want the ability to burn Blu-Ray disks, then the $65 – Pioneer Black 15X SATA Blu-Ray/CD/DVD Burner
Regarding Blu-Ray playback:
As far as I know, you still require a specific software to playback Blu-Ray disks on a PC.
Based on various reviews and feedback on various forums, PowerDVD 12 3D Ultra is the software that I recommend to you. You’ll want at least the professional version for Blu-ray playback.
It is fully compatible with Windows 7/8 and shouldn’t give you any problems.
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Case:
Tier 8 and 9:
$110 – Antec P280
For Tier 8 and 9, I went with the Antec P280, a case loved by a lot of people for its looks, features and price.
- Cooling wise, this case includes three 120mm case fans, insuring proper cooling for your Gaming PC. Best of all? They come with speed switches, allowing you to between high cooling performance and low noise.
Features wise, you get:
- 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, Audio out, MIC in at the top of the front of the case
- Case feet stands, for additional stability.
- An hole on the back panel, to easily install after-market CPU Cooler without having to remove the motherboard from the case.
- Various holes and space to route and hide your wires.
- Dual-layer 0.8 mm SECC / polycarbonate side panels absorb noise for sound dampening
- Sound-proofing foam on the front down, which cuts down on the noise that the fans emits.
- Built-in PSU intake & front air filters
Tier 10, 11 and 12:
$180 – Corsair Obsidian 650D
For Tier 10, 11 and 12, I picked the Corsair Obsidian 650D, a case crafted with brushed aluminium for an unique look that shows that this IS an high-end PC.
Cooling wise, this case includes two 200mm and one 120mm case fans.
Features wise, you get:
- 2x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, FireWire, Audio out, MIC in at the top
- Fan controller that can handle up to four fans
- An hole on the back panel, to easily install after-market CPU Cooler without having to remove the motherboard from the case.
- Various holes and space to route and hide your wires.
- Dust filters
- External hot-swappable SATA3 dock
- 5 years warranty
Alternatives
Pretty much any of these cases can be used as alternatives. If you do go with a dual video cards setup though, make sure to pick a case with plenty of airflow, to ensure proper cooling for your video cards. Feel free to double-check with us on the forums if you’re not sure.
- $66 – COUGAR Challenger Orange
- $120 – NZXT Phantom Black
- $130 – NZXT Phantom White
- $120 – NZXT Phantom Black/Orange
- $120 – NZXT Phantom White/Red
- $100 – NZXT Phantom Black/Green
- $120 – NZXT Phantom Black
- $160 – COOLER MASTER HAF 932
- $130 – Rosewill Thor V2
- $140 – Rosewill Thor V2 White
- $140 – Corsair Graphite 600T Black
- $110 – Antec P280
- $144 – Silverstone RV03B-W Matte Black
- $144 – Silverstone RV03B-WA Black/Gray
- $140 – Azza HURRICAN 2000 Blue LEDs
- $170 – Azza HURRICAN 2000 Red LEDs
- $145 – BitFenix Colossus Venom Green
- $145 – BitFenix Colossus Venom White w/ Blue LED
- $180 – BitFenix Colossus Venom Blue
- $173 – Corsair Graphite 600T White
- $165 – Antec Twelve Hundred V3
- $170 – NZXT Switch 810 Black
- $170 – NZXT Switch 810 White
- $194 – Corsair Obsidian Series 650D 1x120mm 2x200mm
- $210 – CM HAF X Blue LEDs 1x140mm 1x200mm 2x240mm + GPU Duct
- $190 – Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra
- $240 – Thermaltake Level 10 GT
- $274 – Corsair Obsidian Series 800D 3x140mm
- $281 – Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition
- $305 – Cooler Master Cosmos II
- $330 – SilverStone TJ10-B Nvidia Edition
- $470 – LIAN LI PC-V2120X All Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower
- $660 – SILVERSTONE Temjin Series TJ11B-W Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower
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Power Supply:
Tier 8, 9 and 11:
$110 – XFX PRO850W XXX 850W Semi-Modular 80PLUS Silver
This power supply is capable of delivering up to 850W, not that you should rely on this information only as I often point in posts such as Warning: 6 Surefire Ways of Blowing Up Your Computer Due to an Inadequate Power Supply, but more importantly 70A on the 12V line, the most important factor when it comes to choosing a power supply for a gaming computer.
It is 80 Plus Silver certified, to insure fairly good efficiency, a lower power bill, less heat and noise, compared to a less efficient and/or lower quality power supply.
It’s also “semi-modular” meaning that all cables except for the ones that are always required like the 24-pin and 4/8 pin are modular.
Of course, it’s based on a reliable design, to ensure that it will last you many years.
80 PLUS?
80 PLUS refers to a certification from an independant group that a PSU meets their requirements for the specified level of efficiency. Here’s a chart that shows the different required levels of efficiency depending on the specific 80 PLUS certification:
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_PLUS
Modular power supply?
A modular power supply is one that allows you to only plug in and only use the power cables that you actually need, instead of being stuck with a bunch of unused power cables that you need to hide somewhere in your case, that are resulting in less of a cable mess.
More efficient power supply:
If you want an even more efficient power supply, to further lower power consumption, heat and noise, the $150 – KingWin LZP-850 Modular 850 Watts 80 PLUS Platinum 
Tier 10:
$180 – KingWin LZP-1000 Modular 1000 Watts 80 PLUS Platinum
Capable of delivering 1000W and 83A on the 12V line.
This Power Supply is 80 PLUS Platinum certified, to ensure that it doesn’t exhaust much heat and that it’s fairly silent too.
This is a modular power supply, allowing you to only plug in and only use the cables that you actually need, resulting in less of a cable mess.
HardOCP reviewed it and had this to say about it:
The Kingwin LZP-1000 is another in what has become a string of excellent products from Kingwin. From top to bottom, the LZP-1000 is a contender with the best 1000W power supplies we have seen to date. The LZP-1000 features excellent voltage regulation, excellent efficiency, outstanding DC Output Quality, is very quiet, and has very good build quality.
Really, this unit, (…), hits just about all of the right buttons. (…) Users looking for a true high end 1000W enthusiast power supply should give serious consideration to the Kingwin LZP-1000 when they see it at their favorite etailer or retailer as this unit is perhaps the best deal when it comes to an outstanding 1000W power supply we have seen to date.
Tier 12:
$205 – Seasonic X-Series X-1050 1050W Modular 80 Plus Gold
Capable of delivering 1050W and 87A on the 12V line.
This Power Supply is 80 PLUS GOLD certified, to ensure that it doesn’t exhaust much heat and that it’s fairly silent too.
This is a modular power supply, allowing you to only plug in and only use the cables that you actually need, resulting in less of a cable mess.
The Seasonic X-1050W was reviewed by TweakTown here, who gave it a 95% score and had this to say about it:
Seasonic has once again proven why it is often the choice of enthusiasts. The X-1050 performed nearly flawlessly on our test bench through all of our tests. The voltage regulation is at 1% or less across all three rails which is almost unheard of and rarely seen. DC output quality was almost amazing, staying under 30mV of ripple under full load. Topping it off, the unit excels past the minimum for 80Plus Gold certification.
Performance aside, the Seasonic X-1050 has the rest of the package as well. The full modular design coupled with short and long cables ensure that you only have the cables you need in your system. Seasonic backs the unit with a five year warranty and when you add in the price of the unit, it becomes a no-brainer. The X-1050 gives you a win-win no matter how you look at it.
Alternatives
- $255 – Seasonic X-Series X-1250 1250W Modular 80 Plus Gold
- $316 – ENERMAX MAXREVO 1350W 80 PLUS GOLD Modular
– If you want a power supply that can handle pretty much any setup and/or want to future-proof for a long time for pretty much any upgrade, this will do it.
Power Consumption:
How to calculate power consumption:
I recommend using the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator. Here are the settings that I used:
- For Tier 8-9: Core i7-3770K overclocked to 4.5GHz, 1.25v Vcore voltage (fairly realistic and safe), 90% TDP
- For Tier 10: Core i7-3820 overclocked to 4.5GHz, 1.35v Vcore voltage (fairly realistic and safe), 90% TDP
- For Tier 11-12: Core i7-3930K overclocked to 4.3GHz, 1.35v Vcore voltage, 90% TDP
- Motherboard: High-End Desktop
- Video Cards depends on the Tier, make sure to select Crossfire or SLI
- Four sticks of DDR3 (for 8 sticks, add 15W)
- Two regular SATA hard drives + 2 Flash SSD
- 1 DVD-RW/DVD+RW Drive
- Sound Blaster PCI Card (which represents the dedicated sound card)
- 8 USB Devices
- Fan Controller
- 2 x 120mm regular fans, 6 x 120mm LED fans
- System Load: 90%
- Capacitor Aging: 20%
A quick note about the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator:
While this is the main tool that I use to estimate power consumption, do note that my recommendations also take into account my personnal experience (over 11 years) and some additional research on my own to verify these numbers. This is why you may notice that the numbers that I give below may or may not match what the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator gives you. When in doubt, stick with my numbers or ask us on the forums.
Give your power supply some overhead:
While you can match a 650W PSU with a 630W requirement, it is good practice to add at least 100W of overhead, so that your PSU doesn’t run at full capacity all the time, as that will reduce its lifespan, increase its chance of failure, increase its heat output and its noise output.
Estimated Power Consumption, per Tier:
According to the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator, with the settings that I described above and my own research, it is estimated that this system will require at load (peak usage), the following numbers. The minimum requirements are in Italic, while my recommendations (including overhead) are in Bold:
- 600W/700W with the Core i7 3770K (4.5GHz/1.2v) and the Radeon HD 7970 (Tier 8).
- 670W/800W with the Core i7 3770K (4.5GHz/1.2v) and two Radeon HD 7950 in Crossfire (Tier 9).
- 800W/900W with the Core i7 3820 (4.5GHz/1.30v) and two Radeon HD 7970 in Crossfire (Tier 10)
- 720W/850W with the Core i7 3930K (4.3GHz/1.35v) and a Geforce GTX Titan. (Tier 11)
- 930W/1050W with the Core i7 3930K (4.3GHz/1.35v) and two Geforce GTX Titan in SLI. (Tier 12)
Overclocking your video cards?
Add 30W per card if you don’t touch the voltage of the video cards, 75W per card if you do raise the voltage. Keep in mind that overclocking your video cards will raise their temperatures, even more so if you increase the voltage, so make sure to monitor your video cards temperatures! You want to keep the temperatures below 90C for long-term reliability. Note that if the video cards are factory-overclocked, I already considered this in my calculations, only add wattage if you indeed to overclock them further more.
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Cooling:
CPU Cooler:
Tiers 8 and 9:
$83 – Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler
- Inexpensive? Nope.
- Light? Nope.
- Small? Nope.
So why am I recommending this big, heavy and relatively expensive CPU cooler?
Because it excels at one thing:
It offers outstanding cooling performance, while making not much noise.
The Noctua NH-D14 is considered one of the, if not THE best CPU Cooler on the market, outside of $250+ custom water-cooling setups.
While the Corsair/NZXT/Antec All in one water cooling kits offers ever so slightly better cooling performance, they do so that at the expense of noise, being way more noisy than the Noctua NH-D14.
That’s right: Not only does the Noctua NH-D14 offers top-notch cooling performance, but it does that while being pretty quiet.
As far as I’m concerned, you’re better off with an extra 1-3C but much lower noise levels.
VS the previously recommended Thermalright Silver Arrow:
Performance and noise wise, the Noctua NH-D14 and the Thermalright Silver Arrow trade blows, but the Noctua NH-D14 is far easier to install than the Silver Arrow, hence why I now recommend the Noctua NH-D14.
Compatibility:
This specific model is compatible with LGA1155 platforms, hence why it’s only recommended for Tiers 8 and 9. There’s a similar model, for LGA2011 platforms, that I recommend below for Tier 10, 11 and 12
Tier 10-11-12:
I recommend the $81 – Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 CPU Cooler
Why not go with a liquid-cooling CPU Cooler, such as the Corsair H100?
There are a few reasons not to go with a liquid-cooling CPU Cooler:
- Similar cooling performance, but with a much higher noise level, compared to high-end air CPU coolers.
- Higher cost ($110 for Corsair H100 vs ~$90 for high-end air CPU Cooler)
- More possible points of failure (pump, tubing and fans vs only fans)
- Risk of a leak, which can damage many other components!
In the end, a high-end air CPU Cooler is less likely to fail, cannot possibly leak liquid/damage other components, offers similar cooling performance with less noise and costs less.
Thermal Compound
The Noctua NH-D14 comes with high-quality and high-performance thermal compound, so you don’t need to buy any thermal compound separately.
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Fan Controller:
$28 – Sunbeamtech Fan Controller, 6 Channels, Up to 30W each
For any Tier, the $28 – Sunbeamtech Fan Controller, 6 Channels, Up to 30W each
This fan controller is capable of handling six channels (with several fans by channel if you daisy-chain them), with 30W (2.5A at 12V) available per channel.
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Sound Card:
Sound card:
All Tiers:
$40 – ASUS XONAR DGX 5.1 PCI-Express 1x
While integrated audio has improved a lot over the years, it’s still no match for the sound quality of a sound card, especially when you use headphones, thanks to the headphone amplifier on the ASUS Xonar DGX.
Considering that audio is a big part of your Gaming PC experience, I believe that $40, or a small % of your total budget, is entirely worth it to improve your PC audio quality, whether it’s for gaming, music or other entertainment purposes.
Notes:
1- I recommend getting a PCi-Express 1x sound card, that can be inserted in the top PCI-Express 1x slot for Tier 8-9 or the bottom PCI-Express 16x slot for Tier 10-11-12, to avoid clearance issues with video cards. Alternatively, you can get the ASUS U3 USB sound card below, which plugs into an USB port and eliminates that issue altogether.
2- I recommend avoiding Creative Labs sound cards, as they have many driver issues and just aren’t as good for the price as the competition.
Alternatives:
- $85 – ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 PCI-Express 1x
– If you want 7.1 sound.
- $43 – ASUS Xonar U3 USB Sound Card
– Plugs into an USB port and also has an integrated headphone amplifier. You can also use it with a laptop.
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Speakers:
While I do not include speakers in the Tiers budgets, seeing as you may already own some or simply do not want any, here are some recommendations for great speakers at various price points:
Note that the power output is in RMS Watts, a more accurate measurement.
2.0 speakers: 2 satellites and no sub-woofer:
- $31 – Logitech X-140 2.0 5W
- $47 – Creative Inspire T12 2.0 18W
- $82 – Creative Gigaworks T20 Series II 2.0 28W
2.1 speakers: 2 satellites and a sub-woofer:
- $30 – Creative A220 2.1 9W
- $44 – Logitech Z313 2.1 25W
- $60 – Logitech Z323 2.1 30W
- $75 – Logitech Z523 2.1 40W
- $124 – Logitech Z623 2.1 200W
- $230 – Corsair SP2500 2.1 232W
5.1 speakers: 5 satellites and a sub-woofer:
Headphones/Earphones
I do not include headphones nor earphones in the Tiers budgets, seeing as you may already own a pair or simply do not want any.
Also keep in mind that sound quality is subjective, so while these are some great recommendations, in my opinion, at their respective price points, those recommendations are based on my own research, not yours. I do recommend that you do your own research, to figure out the best headphones for your needs, based on the type of music that you listen to and the games that you play.
Open Design Headphones:
As the name implies, an open hear headphone means that it doesn’t cover or seal off the ear from hearing outside noises.
Pros: Enough airflow to keep your ears cool. On average lighter than closed design headphones. Resonance is significantly reduced providing better audio quality and a better audio experience.
Cons: You hear outside noises, so they can’t be used in noisy environments. They leak out sound, so they provide no privacy and can bother people that are close to you.
- $16 – Koss KSC75 Clip on headphones
- $32 – Koss PortaPro
- $53 – Superlux HD668B
- $79 – Grado SR-60i
- $99 – Grado SR-80i
- $100 – Audio Technica ATH-AD700
- $200 – Grado SR225i
- $249 – Sennheiser HD 598
- $295 – Grado SR325is
Closed Design Headphones:
These are the opposite of open design headphones. These headsets usually have larger ear cups that isolate the user’s ears from his surroundings and its design is typically meant to block out outside sounds.
Pros: 1- Closed ear cups that seal off the ear from the outside world so you can expect sounds not to leak in and out of the headphones.
2- You can enjoy exclusive audio entertainment particularly in a typically noisy environment.
Cons: 1- Due to the closed ear design, airflow is greatly minimized or prevented, producing more resonance and this can negatively affect the quality of sound.
2- Due to how they isolate you from outside noise, it makes you more vulnerable to accidents.
- $17 – Koss UR-20
- $36 – Panasonic RP-HTX7 (Available in Black, Red, White, Pink and Green)
– I’ve been using these headphones for a few days and let me tell this: For $35, they are a steal. They sound more like $60-$80 headphones in my opinion. Best of all? You have five colors to pick from!
- $37 – Audio-Technica ATH-M30
- $90 – Shure SRH440
- $130 – Audio Technica ATH-A700
– Usually $150+, currently at a great price.
- $114 – Audio Technica ATH-M50S (Straight Cable)
– There’s also the $119 – Audio-Technica ATH-M50 (Coiled Cable)
, non-S version, which comes with a coiled cable. I personally ordered myself a pair of the ATH-M50 a few months ago and I love them, they sound better than any other ~$100 headphones that I tried before and isolate fairly well from the outside noise. They are tight at first, so you need to “flex” them a bit. Of course, as in with any good pair of headphones/earphones/speakers, having a good source of source makes all the difference in the world. I use them on the laptop with an ASUS Xonar U3 and they are a great combo.
- $200 – Sennheiser HD25-1 II
In-Ear Headphones:
Simply put, these are headphones that you insert straight into your ear, to create a seal between the headphones and your ears.
Important: Make sure to take your time to properly test the different size of included tips, to find the ones that best fit your ears. This will make all the difference between a poor sounding pair and a good sounding one.
Microphone:
If you want a dedicated microphone, to talk to your teammates online or for any other purpose, I recommend the $9 – Syba 3.5mm microphone with stand, which is an excellent low-cost option with perfectly fine audio quality and build quality (Well, unless you have an habit of throwing your microphone around after losing a game…
).
Personally, I recommend going for a pair of headphone with this dedicated microphone versus going with a headset that has a microphone, for two reasons:
1- The sound quality is on average superior with a dedicated pair of headphones and a dedicated microphone vs a headset at comparable price points.
2- If the microphone on the headset breaks down (and they do more often than not…), you’ll be stuck without your headset if you get it replaced, or either getting a new headset ($$) or a separated microphone. If either the headphones or the microphone breaks down, you still have the other that you don’t have to replace.
However, if you do high quality broadcasts such as podcasts, or you record music I recommend the $70 – Blue Microphones Snowball USB Microphone
Headsets:
Headsets are basically headphones with an integrated microphone.
If you go with an headset, make sure to check them all out, since they vary considerably in design.
- $16 – Yapster TM-YP100A
- $31 – Koss SB-45
- $37 – Corsair Vengeance 1100
- $48 – Sennheiser PC 151
- $58 – Razer Moray Plus
- $50 – ARCTIC Sound P531
- $90 – SteelSeries Siberia V2
- $90 – Logitech G35
- $120 – Creative Sound Blaster Tactic 3D Wrath Wireless
- $98 – Logitech G930
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Network:
All Tiers:
Ethernet RJ-45 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN: Integrated on the motherboard
Integrated with the motherboard, the Ethernet RJ-45 network adapter will allow you to access your local network and Internet, using a standard LAN cable.
Wireless Networking:
Tier 8-9: WiFi 802.11b/g/n included with the ASUS P8Z77-V motherboard
Note that the GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H-WB motherboard recommended for Tier 8 and 9 comes with a WiFi 802.11b/g/n wireless adapter. Some but not all alternative motherboards also include a wireless adapter.
If a LAN network is not an option or if a wireless network is preferable for you, know this before you use wireless for a Gaming PC:
The problem with wireless is that:
- It’s not as reliable as LAN, with signals dropping out, interference and the like.
- It induces additional latency compared to LAN, which is the last thing that you want when you’re playing online, especially with first-person shooters.
In short, for reliability and getting a low ping, LAN is simply superior (and cheaper!).
Recommended wireless adapters:
If you understand that and still want to go with wireless, here are my suggestions:
My general recommendation is the $22 – Rosewill 802.11b/g/n 300Mbps Wireless USB2.0 5dBi Antenna
The best solution is the $30 – TRENDnet TEW-684UB Dual Band 802.11b/g/n 450Mbps USB2.0
Recommended wireless routers:
Need a wireless router too? No problem. Here are my recommendations, in an ascending order of performance and price:
- $35 – TP-Link WL TL-WR841N 300Mbps
– A great basic no-frill fairly reliable 300Mbps router.
- $51 – TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND 300Mbps USB
– Similar to the one above, but with an extra antenna and a USB port, to share a printer, storage, etc.
- $65 – D-Link DIR-645 300Mbps USB
– Higher performance than the TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND, hangs out with more expensive routers, but at a lower price.
- $106 – ASUS RT-N56U Dual-Band 600Mbps
– High-performance dual-band router, with great looks too!
- $150 – Buffalo WZR-D1800H AirStation AC1300 / N900 Gigabit Dual Band 1300Mbps 802.11ac
– One of the two routers that offers 802.11ac (the other has poor customer reviews so far), with support for rates up to 1300Mpbs! Unfortunately no wireless adapters support 802.11ac yet, but of course the router is backward compatible with b/g/n adapters and it’s a way to future proof your network.
Recommended operating systems:
The operating system cost, if there’s one, is not included in the total cost. The two reason for this are:
- The budget only considers hardware.
- You may be able re-use a previous license, go with an open-source OS such as Linux or, if you’re so inclined and are aware of what you’re doing, use torrents.
If you decide that you need an OS, here are some recommendations:
Windows 7
Despite Linux gaining more and more support, Windows still is the platform of choice for compatibility at the moment. Considering that you’ll have 4GB of RAM or more, along with a dedicated video that also has memory (512MB or 1GB), you’ll need a 64-bit version, as 32-bit is limited to 4GB of memory for the entire system, which is not enough now, nor in the future if you decide to upgrade.
Windows 7 is by far better than Windows Vista, looks better, more functional, less annoying, consumes less resources and brings DirectX 11 to the table.
Three Available Versions:
- Windows 7 Home Premium: The basic edition, with all the looks, most of the functionality and DirectX 11.
- Windows 7 Professional: If you want the virtual XP mode, you’ll need at least the Professional edition. Also required if you want to backup to a network, using the built-in backup mode in Windows. Also good to know: You’ll need at least the pro version to take advantage of Remote Desktop Connection.
- Windows 7 Ultimate: To help protect data on your PC and portable storage devices against loss or theft with BitLocker and to work and switch between 35 languages.
OEM vs Retail:
The OEM version allows you to only install it once on a computer. You cannot transfer the license to another computer in the future and you do not receive support from Microsoft. It’s the same type of license you get when you get Windows on a desktop or laptop that you buy from Dell, HP and such. It’s less expensive, but gives less flexibility. Ideal if you intend on keeping your computer for many years.
The Retail version is the full version, which allows you to transfer the license to another computer in the future and you can call Microsoft if you need any form of support. Ideal if you intend on upgrading/changing your computer down the road.
Other than that, you get the same features on both, only the license differs. The price between the two differs obviously.
OEM Versions:
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM SP1
– $91
- Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OEM SP1
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit OEM SP1
Retail Versions:
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Retail
– $190
- Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Retail
– $264
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Retail
– $310
Windows 8
Released on October 26th 2012, Windows 8 is Microsoft’s latest version of the popular Windows operating system. While it uses the same core as Windows Vista and Windows 7, visually it is a departure from these two OS, using colourful tiles and a look often referred to as “Metro”.
While you can switch back to the classic desktop look, “Metro” loads up by default. The “Start” button and menu are gone too. While this will irratate some users, it is possible to have the desktop load by default and it is also possible to bring back the start button and menu by installing third parties apps.
The vast majority of applications that ran on Windows Vista and 7 should have no problem running on Windows 8.
For more information on Windows 8, there are countless reviews of it available online that will do a better job than I can fully describing the changes that it brings to the Windows OS.
Let’s address the obvious question:
Should you use Windows 7 or 8 for your gaming PC?
While I welcome novelty and change, gaming performance doesn’t improve on Windows 8 and the “Metro” looks makes it less efficient to multi-task and switch back and forth between various open applications, which is problematic for some of us who use their Gaming PCs for everything.
More importantly, Windows 8 is a brand new OS, while Windows 7 has been around for three years. What this means is that Windows 7 bugs have been nearly all fixed, while Windows 8 is crippled with bugs, as any new operating system usually is.
Considering these two points, I’d sticking with Windows 7 for now. Don’t get me wrong though, Windows 8 definitely brings some good changes to Windows and it has the potential of being a great OS for gaming PCs, but it still needs some time to get its bugs fixed to be reliable enough for a workstation laptop. Perhaps when its first service pack (SP) will be released, Windows 8 will be the OS of choice.
Note that to fully take advantage of all Windows 8 features (such as secure boot) you will need a motherboard that features UEFI. All the recommended and alternatives motherboards in this guide feature UEFI, so no need to worry about that.
To find out more about Windows 8, I invite you to read one of many reviews available online that get deep into what has changed from Windows 7 to WIndows 8.
That said, if you’re interested in Windows 8, there are two versions available:
Linux
A lot of people these days boot more than one OS. Linux is a wonderful choice: powerful, cool, and cheap. Take your pick of distribution and have fun! For Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, Slackware, and Mandriva, try Distrowatch.com, Cheapbytes.com, LinuxQuestions.org or one of the many others.
While Linux does not offer the wide compatibility of Windows with video games, gaming on Linux is still possible, through projects such as Wine, Cedega and Crossover. For more on the topic of Linux Gaming, I invite you to read this excellent article from AnandTech: Linux Gaming: Are we there yet?
What about Word processing, Excel and other Windows-based programs that you need? Linux, being an open platform, has many free alternatives for you. For Word/Excel and such, try LibreOffice.
Cost: Free
Conclusion
What do you think of the latest version of the High-End Gaming PCs?
Let me know if you have any suggestion to improve this article and let me know your opinion by leaving a comment below.
Don’t agree with my choices? Have a better idea?
Feel free to leave a comment. There’s always place for improvement and after some research I may change the part according to your suggestion.
Building this PC?
If you build this system, I invite you to share your experience on how well it runs: What applications do you use, what type of work do you do, how well does this PC performs, is there anything that slows it down? Your feedback will help other people make an informed decision on what to buy for their own needs.
Do you need a guide on how to build a computer, need help or do you have some questions?
- Consult our: FAQ: How to Build Your Own Computer
- Also, if this is your first build, here are 10 Quick Tips for 1st Time Builders to get you started.
- Finally, if your newly built computer won’t start, I invite you to read Help me: Why won’t my newly assembled PC start or boot?
- Need help? Head over to our forums here!
Join us on our forums!
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this article, feel free to leave a comment below and remember, you can join us on our forums to discuss with everyone else the build that you’re planning to build, ask your questions and join our helpful community!
Build your Gaming PC today!
Why should you?
For the same price, you’ll get more performance out of your custom PC, or you’ll save money while getting the same performance compared to a retail PC. Not to mention that retail PCs come with tons of bloatware and limited warranties. Why settle for less?Stop relying on HP, Dell and other companies:
Build your own custom PC today. It’s easier than you think!This Build includes all the parts/cables that you need and it was double-checked to ensure compatibility. Simply order your parts, set aside some time, grab a screwdriver and build your own personal PC. No worries, we’ll (the HR community) be there to assist you if you have questions or need help.
Then you’ll be able to say, “See that computer over there? Yeah, I built that.” Talk about being proud of a job well done.
Want or need a less expensive Gaming PC? No problem.
If you’re looking for a Gaming PC that costs less than these High-End Gaming PCs and that can still handle most of the latest video games at a 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution at or close to their maximum graphic settings, head over to our Mainstream Gaming PCs article.
If you’re looking for a Gaming PC on a tight budget, head over to our Budget Gaming PCs article.
Category: Gaming PC
