I last fully rebuilt my main gaming rig back in 2017 and while I continue to have an internal debate about migrating to AMD Ryzen completely, what I have installed continues to perform above expectations thanks to wiggle room for overclocking. Should you be looking at a PC build that doesn't cost a fortune but offers incredible performance, my setup may inspire you to pick similar components for an enjoyable experience.
Powerful specs
Bear in mind that this is a system that was built over the course of a year — the two Western Digital drives being the latest additions. The price of GPUs at the moment makes it impossible for me to recommend you purchase a GTX 1070 for more than $1,000. If you're looking for a new GPU, be sure to keep a watchful eye on our deal round-up that may bag you a bargain.
| Category | Component | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10 | $92.99 |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-6600K | $234 |
| Cooler | Custom water-cooling loop | ~$300 |
| RAM | 16GB Viper DDR4 | $189 |
| Motherboard | ASUS PRO GAMING Z170 | $138.98 |
| GPU | ZOTAC AMP! Extreme GTX 1070 | Why you should avoid GPUs |
| Storage | 256GB Samsung 850 Pro SSD 1TB Western Digital Blue SSD 4TB Western Digital Blue HDD | $119.99 $249.99 $98.99 |
| PSU | EVGA 750 G2 | $119.99 |
| Row 8 - Cell 0 | Total: | $1,543.93 |
When it comes to peripherals, I'm currently rocking the following:
- HAVIT HV-KB390L keyboard - $59.99.
- SteelSeries Rival 610 mouse - $79.99.
- SteelSeries Arctis Pro headset - $329.99
- Sennheiser HD1 headphones - $399.95.
Overclocked performance
Thanks to the custom water-cooling loop, which sports a 480mm radiator dedicated to the CPU with four fans, I've managed to bump up the CPU to a stable 4.5GHz, achieving a further 28 percent performance. It's possible to go higher (and I've read through various reports of people even hitting 4.8GHz and 5.0GHz) but I don't wish to push the system too far and cause unnecessary damage to the processor.
Even more demanding games like Ark: Survival Evolved and The Witcher 3 run perfectly fine at a stable FPS on highest settings with both the Core i5 CPU and GTX 1070 GPU working in unity. G-Sync simply completes the puzzle. Do I need to further upgrade the system? No, not really. Though an AMD Ryzen processor and motherboard (with faster RAM) would provide better performance, it's not really require right now, not until games make another leap that leaves mid-tier PCs like mine in the dust.
How to build your own gaming PC
Your PC builds
You've heard enough about my build, so how about you show off yours in the comments? Let us know what you're gaming on!
