Part of the beauty of a gaming PC is that you can make it look any way you want it to look, and it's pretty much the same process as starting from scratch. It's easy enough to sell on your parts online, as there are always people willing to save some money by buying used parts.
It did mean that I lost a little money by selling my unwanted parts for less than their original price tag, but the damage wasn't too bad.
I also added an "all-in-one" water cooler for my GPU to keep it as cool as possible during long gaming sessions.
If you're interested in checking out the specific parts for my recently updated PC, here they are:
Case: CoolerMaster Master Case Pro 5
Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus VIII HERO
RAM: G.SKILL TridentZ RGB Series 16GB
Fans: Corsair ML140 Pro LED (white)
CPU cooler: bequiet! DARK ROCK 3
GPU cooler: NZXT Kraken X42
Bracket to mount GPU vertically: Ice Wolf Vertical Graphics Card Holder
Keep in mind that this computer is excessively powerful for the average gamer, and it's pretty expensive, too. Also, since I built this about a year ago, there are newer version of certain parts, like the CPU, motherboard, and graphics card.
Case: Fractal Design Define R5
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1 Gaming GA-Z170X 7
CPU: Intel Core i7 6700K
CPU fan: Enermax ETS-T40F-W
CPU water cooler: Corsair H115i Hydro Series
Thermal compound: Arctic Silver 5
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR 4 32GB
Graphics cars: EVGA GeForce GTC 1080 SC
Power supply unit: Corsair RM650 X
WiFi card: Asus PCE-AC56 802.11ac Dual-band Wireless AC3100 PCI-E Adapter.
LED lighting: DeepCool RGB 330
All those parts came to a total of around $2,000. I must add that I had little regard for money on the day I decided to buy these parts, which is incredibly silly. At the same time, this computer will last me a long, long time, and I won't need to buy parts for several years to come. And as I mentioned earlier, I went with quality over value for this particular build.
For the SSD, I went with the Samsung 850 EVO 500GB. You can buy it here.
Surprisingly, few motherboards come with built-in WiFi. At the same time, built-in WiFi probably wouldn't be very good anyway, so you're always better off getting a dedicated WiFi card.
This WiFi card it the Asus PCE-AC56 802.11ac Dual-band Wireless AC1300 PCI-E Adapter. Such a memorable model name. You can buy it here.
The graphics card is the muscle of your machine, as it provides the processing power for super-smooth gameplay and super-high resolutions. For this build, I went with the EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 SC, which you can buy here.
This power supply unit is the Corsair RM650X. You can buy it here.
If the power supply unit was compared to a body part, it would be the heart, as it's pumping power through to all the parts in the computer.
This thermal compound is popular among PC builders, and it's called Arctic Silver 5. You can buy it here.
If there's one thing that CPUs hate, it's heat, so it's a good idea to get a good CPU cooler. I ended up choosing the Enermax ETS-T40F-W — you can buy it here.
This particular cooler is a radiator that sits on top of the CPU and sucks up all the heat into those metal fins in the radiator. Fans on either side of the radiator blow cool air through the fins so it can keep absorbing the heat from the CPU.
It comes pre-assembled the way it's shown above, but you can add another fan on the right side if you want.
All motherboards will come with instructions on how to install them into cases, and it's simple.
You just need to make sure that you're getting the right size motherboard for your case. This motherboard is an ATX size, which fits in mid-size tower cases. You can fit other sizes in mid-size tower cases, like micro ATX and mini ATX, which are pretty much the only motherboard sizes you really need.
One of the reasons I picked the Fractal Define R5 case is because it lets you remove all the drive cages.
Since I'll only be using one SSD for storage, I don't need any of these drive cages, which take up space and block airflow from the fans once the computer is up and running.
This is a roast beef and cheddar sandwich with olive oil mayo and potato bread. Untoasted. I can't guarantee any PC build will work if you deviate from these sandwich specifications.
This case is called the Fractal Design Define R5 — you can buy it here. I opted for a windowed side-panel because I had never used one before, and I wanted to show off the powerful-yet-pricey parts, mostly to myself.
I also went with a white color theme to be a little different, as so many PCs are drab and black.
I got two sticks of the latest DDR4 RAM, with 16GB of RAM each for a total of 32GB of RAM, which is totally unnecessary and excessive. The brand is Corsair and the model name is Vengeance LPX. You can buy it here.
The RAM is a computer's short term memory where it stores all the apps and files you've opened since turning on the computer, which lets you re-open those apps and files quickly. It's as easy as plugging in a USB mouse into your computer.
The clasp is extremely tight on the CPU. I thought I was doing it wrong and it was going to break the chip, but everything was lined up and there was no reason for anything to go wrong.
The CPU is the brain of a computer, as it's coordinating pretty much everything that's going on in the computer.
I bought the Intel Core i7 6700K processor — you can buy it here. It's one of the most powerful CPUs you can get at the moment and it's total overkill for today's gaming needs, as you can run games pretty smoothly with older and less powerful CPUs.
However, I'm planning to make this computer last a long, long time, so I wanted to future-proof it as much as I could with a powerful CPU that'll exceed specifications for several years.
This is the Gigabyte G1 Gaming GA-Z170X 7 motherboard — you can buy it here. It's specifically designed for gaming, as it has some extra features that gamers will appreciate, like better internet performance. Gaming motherboards are also often built at a higher quality than regular motherboards, which means they're often more expensive, too.
To be honest, gaming motherboards are overkill for most gamers, including myself. However, I chose a gaming motherboard because I went for quality over value with this build.
In case you want to build a PC exactly like mine, I'll list each component as they come up. There's also a full list of everything I used at the very bottom of this story.
Saudi Arabia wants China to help fund its struggling $500 billion Neom megaproject. Investors may not be too excited.
I spent $2,000 for 7 nights in a 179-square-foot room on one of the world's largest cruise ships. Take a look inside my cabin.
One of the world's only 5-star airlines seems to be considering asking business-class passengers to bring their own cutlery
Experts warn of rising temperatures in Bengaluru as Phase 2 of Lok Sabha elections draws near
Axis Bank posts net profit of ₹7,129 cr in March quarter
7 Best tourist places to visit in Rishikesh in 2024
Next Story