High-End Gaming PCs v3.1
Updated on December 20th 2011.
Is this the right type of PC for me?
If you’re looking for a high-end Gaming PC, capable of handling the latest video games maxed out at very high resolutions, or even in 3D and/or on multiple monitors, you’re at the right place. Otherwise, check out our other Do-It-Yourself Computer Systems or The Best Laptops For Your Money instead.
The Cooler Master Storm Trooper case, recommended for Tier 8 to 10 of the High-End Gaming PCs.
Click on a section to jump to it:
- Five Tiers to choose from
- Recommended parts summary
- Computer Builds FAQs
- Recommended parts in details
- Budget/Mainstream Gaming PCs
- Mainstream/High-End SFF Gaming PCs
About Hardware Revolution’s High-End Gaming Computers:
Extreme Performance at a High-End cost
- Our high-end gaming computers feature parts that were hand-picked to offer the maximum bang for your buck or in other words: the best performance possible at a reasonable price.
- All of the Tiers are equipped with SSDs (Solid State Drives), to ensure that your PC boots under twenty seconds, feels more responsive and that your games/programs load much faster than any PC equipped with a mechanical hard drive.
- Equipped with a variety of 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, depending on the Tier and selected video cards.
Designed with reliability in mind
All builds feature hand-picked parts that were not only chosen for the best performance possible at a reasonable price but also for their reliability.
All builds feature a safe, reliable and efficient power supply, a case with several case fans and an after-market CPU Cooler, so that your PC will not overheat and to ensure that it will last you many years.
After all, what’s the point of good performance, if your PC crashes all the time due to a major design flaw, right?
Choose Your Tier:
There are five tiers in this article. The Tiers are color coded as such:
Tier 8 (Identified by a Green color): $1968
This Tier features a video card with the fastest GPU on the market: The Geforce GTX 580. This Tier can handle pretty much every game with maximum details at 1920 x 1080. Features a 180GB SSD to load Windows, your apps and your games extremely fast, as well as a 1TB hard drive to store all your media content.
Tier 9 (Identified by an Orange color): $2262
Tier 9 takes performance up by a few notches compared to Tier 8, by featuring two Radeon HD 6970 2GB 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 240GB SSD.
Tier 10 (Identified by a Red color): $2673
Tier 10 takes performance up a notch by featuring the new Intel Core i7-3930K, so that your applications and your games will run even faster than before, as well as 16GB of RAM, a 256GB Samsung 830 series SSD and a 1TB hard drive to store all your media content.
Tier 11 (Identified by a Fuchsia color): $3121
Tier 11 takes performance to the next level compared to Tier 10, by having two of the fastest video cards (GTX 580) in SLI.
Tier 12 (Identified by a Dark Red color): $3709
Simply put, this is our most powerful Gaming PC Tier available, with two EVGA Geforce GTX 580 3GB SuperClocked in SLI. Featuring a larger 512GB Samsung 830 series 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.
Building this System, Got a Question, Need Help?
Computer Builds FAQs:
I often get questions such as:
- Who are you to tell me which parts to choose?
- Can you suggest me a step by step guide to build a computer?
- Why should I build a PC instead of buying one in a store?
- And many more…
1. You will find the answers to all of these questions and more in this article: FAQ: How to Build Your Own Computer
2. Is this your first build? Here are 10 Quick Tips for 1st Time Builders to get you started.
3. Newly built computer won’t start? I invite you to read Help me: Why won’t my newly assembled PC start or boot?
4. Visit our forums here, where you can join our helpful community and ask questions.
Recommended step-by-step guides to build your PC:
1. Arstechnica Outstanding Guide for Hardware (Building the PC)
2. Arstechnica Outstanding Guide for Software (EFI/BIOS, Windows, etc.)
Free Assistance
If you have any question(s) about the build, simply head over to the forums and our community will be there to assist you.
No worries, there are no stupid questions here on Hardware Revolution. We all started from scratch and learned through our mistakes. We’ll just help you make sure to avoid those mistakes 
If you want to have your final build double-checked and get my opinion on it before ordering, or for anything else, don’t be shy, just post a thread on the forums.
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Recommendations in details:
Motherboard:
Tier 8 and 9:
$150 – ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
Why did I pick this motherboard for Tiers 8 and 9:
In my opinion, the ASRock P67 Extreme4 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.
- Nothing short of six fan connectors (Two 4 pins, four 3 pins)
- A USB 3.0 header and an included 2 x USB 3.0 bracket that can installed in an external 3.5″ bay or on a free PCI bracket.
- 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, 6x USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.0 (Two more are included with the USB 3.0 header + 2 x USB 3.0 bracket), 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: Two PCI-Express 3.0 16x slots (single at 16x or dual at 8x/8x), one PCI-Express 16x 2.0 (running at 4x), two PCI-Express 1x and two PCI slots.
- Other connectors/features on the motherboard: Six fan connectors (Two 4 pins, four 3 pins), four SATA 6.0Gb/s, four SATA 3.0Gb/s, FDD, 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), three USB 2.0 headers (for up to six USB 2.0 ports coming from the headers in total), FireWire header, LED debug, SLI/Crossfire support (obviously) and support for LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156 CPU Coolers.
- Included in the box: Motherboard, four SATA cables, two Molex to SATA power cables, SLI dongle, USB 3.0 3.5″ bracket (as well as an included PCI bracket, if you prefer to put the USB 3.0 ports in a free PCI bracket.), FDD cable, I/O backplate, manual and CD.
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.
Chipsets: Currently available for the LGA1155 socket are the H61, H67, P67 and Z68 chipsets.
- H61 and H67 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.
- P67 does not support the integrated GPU found in the CPU, but does support CPU overclocking.
- Z68 brings the best of both worlds. It supports the integrated GPU (for QuickSync) and overclocking at the same time. It also support “SSD Caching”. It’s not without its faults though, more on this below.
Z68: About Intel’s QuickSync and SSD Caching:
Z68 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:
- 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.
For a Gaming PC: P67 or Z68?
From a performance point of view, both P67 and Z68 offers identical performance.
The exception to this is when you use a Z68 motherboard in tandem with Virtu (a program that intercepts the dedicated GPU and the IGP calls, to direct the calls to the right GPU (depending on whether you’re gaming with the dedicated GPU or converting videos with the IGP) which actually decrease performance within video games, by 5-10%. Note that if you don’t use Virtu, performance is not affected.
If Virtu is not used, performance is identical on both platforms, but then you’re not using the IGP to convert videos, making P67 just as good as Z68.
On top of that, most Z68 motherboards feature video outputs ports (VGA, DVI and/or HDMI), which take space that could be used for additional USB, FireWire, E-SATA and other actual useful ports that are present on P67.
In short:
- If you absolutely want to use Intel’s Quick Sync to convert videos, despite the lower quality of converted videos and that you don’t mind the performance hit (5-10%) in video games, go with a Z68 motherboard.
- If you don’t care about Quick Sync, don’t intend to use SSD Caching (which as I explained above, you don’t want to use anyway) and would rather have the extra ports, go either with a P67 motherboard or a Z68 motherboard without the extra ports, unless you can get a good deal on a Z68 motherboard.
Z68 Alternative motherboard:
- $186 – MSI Z68A-GD65 Z68 PCI-E 3.0 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 UEFI
– If you want a Z68 motherboard for Tier 8 to 9, this is my recommendation. Note that unless you want any of the Z68 feature, you’re better off with the P67 chipset, as I explained above.
Tier 10, 11 and 12:
$235 – ASRock X79 Extreme4 LGA2011 X79 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 4xDIMM
Why did I pick this motherboard for Tiers 10, 11 and 12:
Let’s see…MSI, EVGA and ASUS LGA 2011 boards are plagued with various issues (take a look at customer reviews on Newegg if you don’t believe me), so they are to avoid for now. Intel boards offer few overclocking options, so to avoid too.
On the GIGABYTE GA-X79-UD3 and the GA-X79-UD5 boards, the 2nd PCI-Express 16x slot is only separated by one slot PCI-Express 1x from the first PCI-Express 16x slot, resulting in much higher video card temperatures. On top of that, the UD5 model is an E-ATX board, meaning that it only fits in larger cases, so both boards are to avoid as well.
The ASRock X79 Extreme 4 has two slots of space between the two main PCI-Express 16x slots and is getting good reviews so far, making it look good from a reliability point and it’s also well priced. 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.
- A PCI-Express 1x slot that is located completely at the bottom of the board, allowing for a dedicated sound card without reducing the airflow to the video cards.
- 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, 6x USB 2.0, 2x 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
- $345 – ASRock X79 Extreme9 LGA2011 X79 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 8xDIMM
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CPU:
Tier 8 and 9:
$315- Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4-3.8GHz Turbo HT Unlocked Multiplier
For the High-End Gaming PCs, I recommend the best CPU available on the market, when it comes to performance in video games and in most scenarios.
It only gets outperformed in a few very well multi-threaded programs by the six-core Core i7 990X, which costs over three times more and which performs no where as well within video games.
Isn’t the Core i7-2700K faster?
Yes, it is. It is basically a Core i7-2600K with a 100MHz speed bump and oh, a $55 price bump too. I do not recommend it, considering that you could simply bump the multiplier up on the Core i7-2600K and save yourself a cool $55. Besides, it’s out of stock at Newegg and Amazon.
Why am I recommending the Core i7-2600K over the Core i5-2500K?
- The Core i7-2600K runs 100MHz faster both at its base frequency and in Turbo modes, than the Core i5-2500K
- The Core i7-2600K comes with Hyper-Threading, unlike the Core i5-2500K. While Hyper-Threading does not improve performance in the vast majority of games, it helps with your system responsiveness and it clearly improves performance in multi-threaded programs, such as video conversion, 3D rendering, etc.
- Finally, the Core i7-2600K comes with 8MB of L3 cache, compared to the 6MB of L3 cache for the Core i5-2500K. It’s not a big difference, but cache size do affect performance in some video games, in a significant way in some cases. This is a case of more is better.
A recap on SandyBridge:
Intel current generation of CPUs, known under the codename SandyBridge (SB from here on) is here. Replacing Intel’s LGA1156 Clarkdale (Known as Core i3/i5/i7 3xx, 5xx and 8xx) CPUs, the LGA1155 based SB CPUs (Known as Core i3/i5/i7 i21xx, i23xx, i24xx, i25xx and i26xx) bring in a 10%-50% performance improvement and lower power consumption, compared to the previous-generation of LGA1156 Clarkdale CPUs.
Socket: LGA1155
Sandy Bridge CPUs use the socket LGA 1155 and thus is incompatible with older motherboards based on LGA1156 or LGA775 sockets.
CPU Coolers compatibility:
However, 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. The recommended ASRock Z68 Extreme 4 does support LGA775 CPU Coolers.
Chipsets:
Currently available are the H61, H67, the P67 and the Z68 chipsets.
- H61/H67 supports the integrated GPU found in the CPU and thus allow for video output without a discrete video card. However, it does not support overclocking via the CPU multiplier (more on this later).
- P67 does not support the integrated GPU found in the CPU, but does support overclocking via the CPU multiplier.
- Z68 brings the best of both worlds. It supports the integrated GPU (for QuickSync) and overclocking at the same time.
Overclocking: Get the most performance out of your PC!
The Core i7-2600K is fairly easy to overclock and I actually recommend that you overclock it, in order to unleash the full power of your PC.
With the previous generations of Intel CPUs, to overclock, all you had to do was to raise the BCLK (baseclock) or FSB frequency, until you reached the limit of your CPU and/or motherboard and/or cooling solution.
With SandyBridge, this is no longer the case: the 6-series chipsets integrate the clock generator. What once was a component on the motherboard, the PLL is now on the 6-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. So forget overclocking via the BCLK.
To overclock, you’ll want to raise the CPU multiplier. Here’s an excellent guide on how to overclock the Core i7-2600K (It was written with the P67 chipset in mind, but the process is the same with the Z68 chipset).
The Core i7-2600K vs the competition:
Now that I’ve quickly explained SandyBridge (See AnandTech full review of SandyBridge for more details) to you, let’s compare the Core i7-2600K to the competition.
Compared to the competition:
AMD’s most powerful offering now is the FX-8150. I went with the Core i7-2600 for the following reasons:
- The Core i7-2600 wins the majority of test and is particularly outstanding in video game tests, according to AnandTech.
- The Core i7-2600 uses close to 75W less at load, according to AnandTech.
V.S. the previous generation: Curious to see how Sandybridge performs compared the previous generations of CPUs from Intel and AMD? Check out those charts from AnandTech:
- Core i5-760 V.S. Core i5-2500
- Core i7-870 V.S. Core i7-2600
- Phenom II X4 980BE V.S. Core i5-2500
- Phenom II X4 980BE V.S. Core i7-2600
- Phenom II X6 1100T BE V.S. Core i5-2500
- Phenom II X6 1100T BE V.S. Core i7-2600
Tier 10, 11 and 12:
$600 – 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 i7-2600K for Tier 10, 11 and 12?
While most games will not benefit from six cores, most of them will benefit from the larger 12MB L3 cache (8MB on the i7-2600).
Mind you, video card bound performance will not see much, if any of a performance boost, but games that are CPU bound will see a nice performance boost. In those cases, you can expect an additional 5-10% additional performance compared to the Core i5-2500/i7-2600.
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 substantally more performance over the Core i7-2600K in many applications, thanks to its six cores with Hyper-Threading. The fact that the X79 platform offers quad-channel memory support and full speed PCI-Express 3.0 at 16x/16x doesn’t hurt either.
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.
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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:
$510 – EVGA Geforce GTX 580 1536MB SuperClocked Lifetime Warranty
Simply put, this card features the fastest single-GPU on the market.
If you want one of the fastest video card solution without messing with Crossfire, SLI or dual-GPU video card setups, this is the way to go.
EVGA offers a lifetime warranty on their cards.
This particular card from EVGA comes factory overclocked:
- Up from 772MHz to 797MHz for the Core frequency
- Up from 1544MHz to 1594MHz for the Shader frequency
- Up from 4008MHz to 4050MHz for the memory frequency
Alternative
- $570 – EVGA Geforce GTX 580 3072MB Lifetime Warranty
– This is a slightly slower card, not being factory-overclocked, but it comes with 3GB of VRAM. Most games won’t benefit from that much VRAM yet, unless you game at 2560 x 1600 or on multiple displays, but it does make the card more future-proof.
Tier 9 and 10:
$680 – Two XFX Radeon HD 6970 2GB in Crossfire
Offering performance close to two Geforce GTX 580 in SLI, while consuming close to 250W less at load, two Radeon HD 6970 in Crossfire are an excellent alternative to two Geforce GTX 580 in SLI.
Best of all? Two Radeon HD 6970 will set you back $680, compared to $1000+ for two Geforce GTX 580 in SLI.
Their downside is that if you want to play in 3D (with glasses and all), AMD requires you to buy a third party software for 3D gaming, with so-so support.
Best performance on multiple displays (3840 x 1080 or 5670 x 1080)
$680 – Two XFX Radeon HD 6970 2GB in Crossfire
Hence why if you intend to game at 5760 x 1080, without 3D, $680 – Two XFX Radeon HD 6970 2GB in Crossfire
Alternative for Gaming on a single 3D monitor:
When it comes to 3D Gaming, Nvidia currently has a much better solution than AMD, hence why I recommend $620 – Two MSI Geforce GTX 560 Ti 448 Twin Frozr III PE/OC in SLI
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 12 video cards.
Do note that if you intend to play at very high resolutions (i.e 5760 x 1080), but not in 3D, going with $680 – Two XFX Radeon HD 6970 2GB in Crossfire is a better option, as they offer higher performance at such high resolutions.
Also do note that while the Tier 10 PSU can handle the upgrade to two Geforce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores in SLI, you’ll need to upgrade the PSU if you decide to upgrade to two GTX 580, as recommended for Tier 11 and 12.
Tier 11:
$1020 – Two EVGA Geforce GTX 580 1536MB SuperClocked in SLI
If you want the best performance possible, without consideration for anything else, while still getting some value, two Geforce GTX 580 in SLI are the way to go.
Also, these particular EVGA Superclocked come heavily factory-overclocked, making them even more powerful than standard Geforce GTX 580 1.5GB video cards.
Tier 12:
$1140 – Two EVGA Geforce GTX 580 3072MB in SLI
If you want the best performance possible, without consideration for literally anything else, these two Geforce GTX 580 3GB in SLI are the way to go.
The difference between these cards and the cards above? It’s simple: These cards are equipped with 3072MB (3GB) of VRAM, as opposed to 1536MB, making them more future-proof, seeing as games are already starting to use more than 1.5GB of VRAM.
Also, while these particular EVGA Geforce GTX 580 3GB don’t come factory-overclocked, you can always overclock them yourself.
If you want to play in 3D on multiple monitors, this is what you want.
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RAM:
Tier 8 and 9:
$42 – Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600MHz 1.5v
Games are starting to take advantage of more than 4GB of RAM.
This trend will only continue in the future.
This explains why Tier 8 and 9 come with 8GB of RAM.
Tier 10, 11 and 12:
$83 – Corsair 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1600MHz
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 greatly improve the responsiveness of your PC.
Also, if you intend on keeping this Gaming PC for more than say, 1-2 years, 16GB is worth it, especially now, considering that RAM prices have been dropping and haven’t been this low in a long time.
Heck, 16GB of RAM now costs less than $100, which used to be the price for 4GB about a year ago or so, so take advantage of those low prices to stock up on RAM
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.
Maximum amount of RAM: Most motherboards in this guide support four sticks of RAM, for a maximum of 32GB (4x8GB) of RAM. However, the ASRock X79 Extreme9 supports eight sticks of RAM, for a maximum of 64GB (8x8GB) of RAM.
Upgrades:
- If you want 32GB of RAM on a motherboard with four RAM slots, I recommend the: $280 – G.SKILL 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3 1333 1.5v
- If you want 32GB of RAM on a motherboard with eight RAM slots, get the: $170 – G.SKILL 32GB (8 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 1.5v
- If you want 64GB of RAM, you’ll need the ASRock X79 Extreme9 motherboard and this kit: $600 – G.SKILL 64GB (8 x 8GB) DDR3 1333 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.
Tier 8:
$305 – Corsair Force GT 180GB SATA 6.0Gb/s SSD
Replacing the OCZ Agility 2 180GB SSD, the Corsair Force GT 180GB offers superior performance as well as superior reliability, for a similar price, making it very easy to recommend it over the OCZ Agility 2.
Based on the same Sandforce 2nd generation controller as the OCZ Vertex 3. I went with the Corsair Force GT 180GB instead of the Vertex 3 180GB due to Corsair’s better reliability and better customer support.
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 180GB, 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.
Who are SSDs for?
SSDs are for you if don’t mind paying more for:
- Much faster OS boot, Shutdown, Sleep and Hibernation
- Much faster program and game loading, meaning that you don’t have to wait as long for your program or your game to load.
SSD vs two hard drives in RAID 0:
Two Barracuda 1TB hard drives can reach sequential reads of close to 400MB/s in RAID, which is not that far off from the 550MB/s of a 2nd generation SandForce SSD, such as the Corsair Force GT. So that must mean that two hard drives in RAID 0 are nearly as good/fast as a SSD, right?
No, not even close. See, sequential reads are best case scenarios, like when you’re copying a file from one hard drive to another (Assuming that you’re not bottlenecked by a USB 2.0 connection here). In that best-scenario case, two HDDs in RAID 0 can match a SSD speed.
However, in real-life, what matters the most are random 4K reads, which represents typical OS loading, program loading, game/game level loading. In those cases, a SSD can easily be fifty times as fast as a single Velociraptor HDD, considered by most as one of the fastest consumer HDD, as the Corsair Force GT scores 39.5MB/s Random 4K Reads, vs 0.68MB/s for the Velociraptor, according to AnandTech. Needless to say, even with top-notch hard drives RAID 0, the figure for the HDDs wouldn’t increase much beyond 1.5-2.0MB/s and would remain far behind SSDs.
That is why two hard drives can seem like a match for a single SSD on paper (due to often advertised sequential transfer rates) and why they really are not match for a SSD in real-life situations (due to the more real-life usefulness of 4K random reads/writes).
For more information on SSDs:
I invite you to read this article of mine: The Best SSDs and HDDs For Your Money.
Tier 9, 10 and 11:
$390 – Samsung 830 Series 256GB SATA 6.0Gb/s SSD
Replacing the Corsair Force Gt 240GB SSD, the Samsung 830 Series 256GB offers similar performance, superior reliability and 16GB more storage capacity, for a similar price, making it very easy to recommend it over the Corsair Force GT 240GB.
For Tier 9, 10 and 11, you gain an extra 76GB of storage capacity over Tier 8.
Tier 12:
$858 – Samsung 830 Series 512GB SATA 6.0Gb/s SSD
For Tier 12, we’re bumping the total SSD storage capacity to 512GB.
For other options and more information on SSDs, I recommend that you read our own The Best HDDs and SSDs For Your Money article.
All Tiers:
$121 – Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm 1TB SATA 6.0Gbps ST1000DM003
The Seagate Barracuda 1TB ST1000DM003 is a top-notch hard drive and what a drive it is!
This is the fastest consumer hard drive currently available on the market, with nothing short of 1TB of storage capacity, plenty to handle your video/music/picture collection.
It is also one of the most reliable hard drive on the market.
Major flooding in Thailand resulting in limited availability and higher prices for hard drives:
If you were not aware of this yet, there has been a horrible flooding in Thailand, which has resulted in:
A- a horrible human tragedy. My thoughts are with the people of Thailand.
B- Western Digital and Seagate (who now pretty much owns Samsung hard drive division) been forced to cut down their production of hard drives due to either factories or suppliers of hard drive parts that were affected by the flooding.
The result of this is lower availability and higher prices for hard drives.
As I’m writing this line, on December 20th, prices have been somewhat stable at their current levels for a few weeks, with the Seagate Barracuda 1TB ST1000DM003 staying around $120. Heck, the Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM001 went down from $190 to $180 today.
No one know exactly when the situation will return to normal, but it will most likely take at least several months, if not a few quarters.
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 160MB/s (or 1.28Gb/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 
1TB isn’t enough for you?
Then I recommend the following drive $180 – Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm 2TB SATA 6.0Gbps ST2000DM001
Reliability
Reliability wise, the Samsung F3 tops the chart, followed closely by the Seagate Barracuda and then the Western Digital Caviar Black is right behind them. The Hitachi drives are the least reliable, with a 3% return rate, all according to an article by Hardware.fr.
All hard drives and all SSDs are 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:
All Tiers:
$20 – ASUS SATA 24X DVD Burner
This drive is able to read and burn CDs and DVDs. Silent, compatible with all major formats including DVD-RAM.
The motherboard includes four SATA cables (One or two will be used for the SSD, one for the hard drive and one for this DVD Burner), so no need to worry about cables, unless you get additional drives.
Also, seeing as DVD Burners often go out of stock, here are a two alternatives that you can use to replace it. All are SATA based.
Upgrades:
If you’d like to watch BluRay movies or TV shows, this $58 – ASUS Black 12X BD-ROM SATA Blu-ray will do the job. However, note that it can only read CDs, DVDs and Bluray disks, not burn any of them.
If you want the ability to burn Blu-Ray disks as well, then the $70 – LITE-ON Burner 12X BD-R 16X DVD 48X CD SATA is what you want.
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 11 3D Ultra is the software that I recommend to you.
It is fully compatible with Windows 7 and shouldn’t give you any problems.
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Case:
Tier 8, 9 and 10:
$190 – Cooler Master Storm Trooper
For Tier 8, 9 and 10, I went with the Cooler Master Storm Trooper, a case that a lot of people like for its striking looks.
- Cooling wise, this case includes one 200mm, one 140mm and two 120mm case fans, insuring proper cooling for your Gaming PC.
Features wise, you get:
- Mesh design with dust filters.
- Two 90 degrees rotatable 4-in-3 HDD cases. I actually recommend that you rotate them, so that the fans on them pulls air in from the front of the case.
- 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, 1x E-SATA, Audio out, MIC in at the top
- An external 2.5” HDD/SSD dock, at the top of the front of the case.
- A fan controller that can handle up to 4 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.
Tier 11 and 12:
$180 – CM HAF X 1x140mm 1x200mm 2x240mm + GPU Duct
I picked the HAF X for Tier 11 and 12 for its GPU duct, which will help keep the two GTX 580 in SLI video cards temperatures under control.
Note that the GPU duct requires a fan: I recommend/include in the budget the $16- Panaflo 120mm x 38mm fan, rated for 103.8 CFM @ 2500 RPM, 41.5 dBA.
Remember that it will be hooked up to a fan controller, allowing you to slow it down for less noise. This GPU duct and the fan in it will help keep the video cards cool, allowing you to reduce their fan speed, allowing for less noise.
Cooling wise, this case includes two 240mm, one 200mm and one 140mm case fans.
Features wise, you get:
- Mesh design with dust filters.
- 2x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, 1x FireWire, 1x eSATA, Audio out, MIC in at the top
- 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.
If you’d prefer a version that comes with fans with blue LEDs instead of red LEDs, get the $200- CM HAF X Blue LEDs 1x140mm 1x200mm 2x240mm + GPU Duct instead.
Alternatives
Any of these cases can be used for Tier 8 and its single video card.
However, Tier 9, 10, 11 and 12 have two video cards and those need some serious cooling. So, if you decide to not go with the Cooler Master HAF X and its GPU duct with a fan, make sure to keep an eye on your video card temperatures and to add additional case fans if necessary. Your goal is to keep your video cards temperatures below 90C for long-term reliability.
- $110 – LIAN LI PC-K9B
- $125 – NZXT Phantom Black
- $125 – NZXT Phantom White
- $125 – NZXT Phantom Black/Orange
- $130 – Rosewill Thor V2
- $140 – Rosewill Thor V2 White
- $125 – NZXT Phantom Red
- $127 – NZXT Phantom Pink
- $125 – NZXT Phantom White/Red
- $125 – NZXT Phantom Black/Green
- $146 – Corsair Graphite 600T Black
- $140 – Antec P280
- $150 – Antec DF-85
- $160 – Corsair Graphite 600T White
- $180 – Corsair Obsidian Series 650D 1x120mm 2x200mm
- $220 – CM HAF X Blue LEDs 1x140mm 1x200mm 2x240mm + GPU Duct
- $220 – Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra
- $240 – SILVERSTONE Fortress FT02S-W Silver
- $274 – Corsair Obsidian Series 800D 3x140mm
- $300 – LIAN LI PC-P80
- $340 – LIAN LI PC-X900B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower
- $350 – SILVERSTONE Temjin Series TJ07-BW Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower
- $400 – LIAN LI PC-P80NB Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower
- $415 – 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:
$160 – Corsair 750AX Professional Series 750W 80 PLUS Gold Modular
This power supply is capable of delivering up to 750W, 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 62A on the 12V line, the most important factor when it comes to choosing a power supply for a gaming computer.
It is 80 Plus Gold certified, to insure good efficiency, a lower power bill, less heat and noise, compared to a less efficient and/or lower quality power supply.
Reviewed by AnandTech, who had this to say about it:
When you open the Corsair PSU you can see a clean Seasonic design with all solid capacitors from Nippon Chemi-Con, a well chosen line filtering stage in the entrance (Delta), and many surface mounted devices on the PCB. A modern Champion IC in combination with an Infineon switcher are a very common picture for high-end PSUs and deliver a proven quality. ZVS and DC-to-DC are the reason for the high efficiency. Corsair is using the best modern technology, and the AX750 delivers.
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.
Tier 9 and 10:
$184 – Silverstone ST1000-P 1000W 80 PLUS Silver Modular
Capable of delivering 1000W and 80A on the 12V line.
This Power Supply is 80 PLUS Silver certified, to ensure that it exhaust not much heat and creates as not much noise 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.
TweakTown reviewed it and had this to say about it:
As I stated at the beginning of this article, SilverStone is well known for their quality power supplies. Their ST1000-P is no exception and performs better than any other PSU I’ve tested to date.
It’s good to see a product that stands behind a company’s claims of quality and design. Silverstone has scored big with the ST1000-P.
Want a more efficient power supply?
Go with the $260 – SeaSonic Platinum-1000 1000W 80 PLUS Platinum Modular which is 80 PLUS Platinum Certified, the highest 80 PLUS standard for efficiency.
Tier 11 and 12:
$270 – ENERMAX MAXREVO 1350W 80 PLUS GOLD Modular
Capable of delivering 1350W and 112A on the 12V line.
This Power Supply is 80 PLUS GOLD certified, to ensure that it exhaust as little heat and creates as little noise as possible 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.
At first, I was going to recommend the Enermax Platimax 1200W power supply unit, however after reading the conclusion of this HardOCP review of it, where the author thinks that the Platimax 1200W is pretty much a rebadged 1350W MaxRevo, being tweaked to be 80 PLUS Platinum.
Thing is, the Platimax 1200W is priced at $320, while the ever so slightly less efficient, but more capable 1350W MaxRevo is $270 or even $230 after a mail-in rebate. This made my decision a lot easier to make.
The MaxRevo 1350W was reviewed by HardOCP here , they gave it their gold award and had this to say about it:
The 12v regulation on this unit was generally in line with other 1300W and up units (save for one 12v rail and the Transient Load Tests) as was the noise output which makes the unit generally in the middle pack for this output capacity range. However, the minor rails had very good regulation, the efficiency was the best we have seen from such a powerful unit and the DC Output Quality was overall some of the best we have seen in this range. This unit is easily the best built unit we have seen from Enermax and one of the cleanest units we have seen from any manufacturer to date.
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 i7-2600K overclocked to 4.5GHz, 1.4v Vcore voltage (fairly realistic and safe), 90% TDP
For Tier 10-11-12: 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
- Two regular SATA + 2 Flash Drive
- 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 sometimes, I’ll do 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:
- 650W/750W with the Core i7 2600K (4.5GHz/1.4v) and the factory-overclocked Geforce GTX 580. Requires two PCI-Express 8-pins power connections for the video card.
- 800W/900W with the Core i7 2600K (4.5GHz/1.4v) and two Radeon HD 6970 in Crossfire. Requires two PCI-Express 6-pins and two 8-pins power connections for the video cards.
- 880W/1000W with the Core i7 2600K (4.5GHz/1.4v) and two factory overclocked Geforce GTX 560 Ti 448 in SLI. Requires four PCI-Express 6-pins connections for the video cards.
- 900W/1000W with the Core i7 3930K (4.3GHz/1.35v) and two Radeon HD 6970 in Crossfire. Requires two PCI-Express 6-pins and two 8-pins power connections for the video cards.
- 980W/1100W with the Core i7 3930K (4.3GHz/1.35v) and two factory overclocked Geforce GTX 560 Ti 448 in SLI. Requires four PCI-Express 6-pins connections for the video cards.
- 1070W/1200W with the Core i7 3930K (4.3GHz/1.35v) and two factory-overclocked Geforce GTX 580 in SLI. Requires four PCI-Express 8-pins connections for the video cards.
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:
$90- Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU Cooler
- Cheap? Nope.
- Light? Nope.
- Small and easy to install? Nope.
So why am I recommending this huge, hard to install and expensive CPU cooler?
Because it excels at one thing:
It offers outstanding cooling performance, while making very very little noise.
The Thermalright Silver Arrow is considered one of the, if not THE best CPU Cooler on the market, outside of $250+ custom water-cooling setups.
While the Corsair H100 offers ever so slightly better cooling performance, it does that at the expense of noise, being way more noisy than the Thermalright Silver Arrow.
That’s right: Not only does the Silver Arrow offers top-notch cooling performance, but it does that while being very quiet.
Do note that out of the box, the Thermalright Silver Arrow is not compatible with Tier 10, 11 and 12, which are based on the new LGA2011 socket. With an additional adapter kit, it is compatible though.
Tier 10-11-12:
$80 – Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 LGA2011 compatible CPU Cooler
Seeing as Tier 10, 11 and 12 are based on the new LGA2011 platform, you’ll need a CPU Cooler that’s compatible with the LGA2011 socket.
For $80, the Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 offers performance that’s nearly as good as the Thermalright Silver Arrow, while being compatible, out of the box, with the LGA2011 socket.
Thermal Compound
The Thermalright Silver Arrow comes with Thermalright Chill Factor III thermal compound, which according to XbitLabs, outperforms Arctic Silver 5.
The Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 also includes top-notch thermal compound.
In other words, you don’t need to buy thermal compound.
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Fan Controller:
Tiers 11-12
$26 – Sunbeamtech Fan Controller, 6 Channels, Up to 30W each
For Tiers 11 and 12, the $26 – 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.
Tier 8-9-10 feature the Cooler Master Storm Trooper case, which features its own integrated fan controller.
GPU Duct Fan, Tier 11-12 only:
For Tier 11 and 12, you’ll want to use the $16- Panaflo 120mm x 38mm fan for the GPU Duct, to keep the two video cards temperatures (and noise!) under control. Remember to hook it up to the fan controller, in order to slow it down for lower noise and once in a while, if necessary, speed it up to cool down the video cards.
Do note that you don’t need it for Tier 8-9-10 or if you pick a different case.
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Sound Card:
All Tiers:
$80 – Creative X-Fi Titanium 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI-e 1x
While integrated sound cards have gotten much better in the last few years, they are still no match for a dedicated sound card when it comes to delivering the highest sound quality, hence why I recommend a dedicated sound card here.
After all, who wants the best in graphic quality with sub-par sound quality?
Alternatives:
- $120 – Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty PCI-E x1
- $139 – Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion w/ Front Panel
- $79- ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 Channels PCI Express x1
- $292 – ASUS XONAR_XENSE 7.1 + Sennheiser PC350
- $185 – HT OMEGA eClaro 7.1 24-bit 192KHz PCI-E x1
Compatibility wise, since you’ll be using dual video cards setups for Tier 9-10-11-12, I only recommended PCI-Express 1x cards, that will fit above your video cards (with the ASRock P67 Extreme 4 motherboard). PCI sound cards are to avoid, since they’ll get either very close to a video card (resulting in higher GPU temperatures) or because there simply isn’t a PCI slot for them.
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Network:
Ethernet RJ-45 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN: Integrated on the motherboard
Integrated with the motherboard, this network adapter will allow you to access your local network and Internet, using a standard LAN cable.
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!).
If you understand that and still want to go with wireless, here are my suggestions:
I recommend either the $15- Rosewill 802.11b/g 54Mbps USB2.0 Wireless 2dBi Antenna for a simple, inexpensive USB 2.0 Wireless G 54Mbps dongle, which will be fine as long as you are not too far from the router.
If you rather have a faster adapter and/or if you’re pretty far from the router, I’d then recommend the $25- Rosewill RNX-N180UBE Wireless USB 2.0 Dongle 802.11b/g/n w/ 5 dBi Antenna, which also connects in a USB 2.0 port. It comes with a base, so that you can move it away from the PC for better reception and a 5dBi external antenna to improve reception further more. It support 802.11b/g/n, with transfer rates up to 300Mbps.
$50 – TRENDnet TEW-684UB Dual Band 802.11b/g/n 450Mbps USB2.0 – filler
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
– $99
- Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OEM SP1
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit OEM SP1
Retail Versions:
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Retail
– $173
- Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Retail
– $200
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Retail
– $270
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, but that boots and launch games/applications nearly as with a SSD (Solid State Drive) and that can handle most of the latest video games at a 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution at 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.
Want or need a Gaming PC in a much smaller case? No problem.
Tier 4 or Tier 5 of the Mainstream HTPCs (Home-Theater PCs)/SFF (Small Form Factor) Gaming PCs are Gaming PCs that come in a much smaller Mini-ITX case.
Performance wise, Tier 4 of the Mainstream HTPCs/SFF Gaming PCs is equivalent to Tier 1 of the Budget Gaming PCs, while Tier 5 of the Mainstream HTPCs/SFF Gaming PCs is equivalent to Tier 2 of the Budget Gaming PCs.
Do note that they both come with a SSD (Solid State Drive), meaning that they boot and launch games/applications much more quickly than the equivalent Budget Gaming PC.
If you want more power, check out the High-End HTPCs/SFF Gaming PC, which, at its stock settings, offers performance equivalent to about Tier 6 of the Gaming PCs, while still being in a case that is more compact than the usual Gaming PC case.
However, thanks to its outstanding pre-assembled, all-in-one liquid-cooling, it can be overclocked to offer even more performance, without sacrificing reliability nor noisy.
All of those builds being designed to be used in a living room, so you can rest assured that they are very quiet too.
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Category: Computer Builds, Gaming PC
