Building a high-end gaming desktop

For people who take their games seriously or just want to make long-term investments in hardware

This is the third of a four-part series on building gaming-capable PCs for various budgets and uses. This part focuses on people who use their desktops mainly for everyday gaming. The first part can be read here and the second part can be read here.

So you're serious about gaming and want to explore all avenues it can offer? From vast worlds to smaller, personal experiences - or perhaps you would like to get into the world of game streaming and try to get into the field to make a living?

For serious gaming, you will need a powerful PC and we are offering a guide to building a gaming desktop for exactly that: Gaming which will let you tackle most anything from eSports games to massive, photorealistic games - and even allow you to show off your skills to the world.

As with our previous guides, there are four potential avenues to pick from when it comes to the CPU and GPU: an AMD/ AMD combination, an Intel/ AMD combination, an AMD/ Nvidia combination and an Intel/ Nvidia combination. The target cost does not exist for a category such as this because it is a no man's land - but we'll do our best to ensure you get the best for your money.

First, the AMD CPU/ AMD GPU combination: For this build, we are going with the Ryzen 7 2700 CPU. The 2700 is an 8-core/16-thread processor built on the Zen microarchitecture. It is very well-positioned as an all-around competent CPU that can not only game, but also stream and help in content creation for an incredibly affordable price for a product of its class. For the GPU, we are going with the Vega 56 which features 8 GB of video memory - it's a bit of a power hog, but it's nothing a little undervolting can't fix, just make sure you check a good guide before you go messing with the voltages or clocks.

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor	₹26478.00
Motherboard	Gigabyte - X470 AORUS ULTRA GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard	₹14950.00
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory	₹12564.76
Storage	Samsung - 970 Evo 250 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	₹8590.00
Storage	Seagate - FireCuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive	₹8490.00
Video Card	Asus - Radeon RX VEGA 56 8 GB ROG STRIX Video Card	₹52207.18
Case	NZXT - Phantom 410 (Gunmetal/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case	₹6815.20
Power Supply	Corsair - TXM Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply	₹8795.00
	Total	₹138890.94

For the AMD CPU/Nvidia GPU combination, we are going once again with the Ryzen 7 2700 - but we're pairing it with the latest Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics processors. This build features the RTX 2070 with, as usual, 8 GB of video memory. It features the latest Turing architecture and supports real-time ray-tracing for more realistic light rendering in games alongside traditional rendering performance.

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor	₹26478.00
Motherboard	Gigabyte - X470 AORUS ULTRA GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard	₹14950.00
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory	₹12564.76
Storage	Samsung - 970 Evo 250 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	₹8590.00
Storage	Seagate - FireCuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive	₹8490.00
Video Card	Asus - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Video Card	₹60593.87
Case	NZXT - Phantom 410 (Gunmetal/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case	₹6815.20
Power Supply	Corsair - TXM Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply	₹8795.00
	Total	₹133276.83

For the Intel CPU/AMD GPU combination, we're sticking to the 8th generation Intel Core i7 8700K CPU, the reason being the 9th generation offers little on the table to justify the significantly higher asking price. Intel's CPUs have become costlier of late because of an alleged slowdown in the company's manufacturing arm and the newer CPUs run generally hotter than their AMD counterparts - leading us to introduce a dedicated CPU cooler for the first time. For the GPU, we're sticking to the Vega 56 for the same reasons as the AMD build.

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor	₹39250.00
CPU Cooler	Corsair - H60 (2018) 57.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler	₹6099.00
Motherboard	MSI - Z370 SLI PLUS ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	₹15870.00
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	₹13762.34
Storage	Samsung - 970 Evo 250 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	₹8590.00
Storage	Seagate - FireCuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive	₹8490.00
Video Card	Asus - Radeon RX VEGA 56 8 GB ROG STRIX Video Card	₹64700.00
Case	Corsair - 750D Airflow Edition ATX Full Tower Case	₹14500.00
	Total	₹171261.34

For the final build, we're sticking with the 8700K CPU and the corresponding cooler for it. The GPU is the GeForce RTX 2070.

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor	₹39250.00
CPU Cooler	Corsair - H60 (2018) 57.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler	₹6099.00
Motherboard	MSI - Z370 SLI PLUS ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	₹15870.00
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	₹13762.34
Storage	Samsung - 970 Evo 250 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	₹8590.00
Storage	Seagate - FireCuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive	₹8490.00
Video Card	Asus - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Video Card	₹60593.87
Case	Corsair - 750D Airflow Edition ATX Full Tower Case	₹14500.00
	Total	₹167155.21

Note: This build guide is meant to be used as a general guideline for what to go for when building a gaming PC for high-speed and high-fidelity. When possible, go to your local retailer; you could potentially get better prices than you would on online markets. Windows licences in India can cost upwards of Rs. 10,000 and as such we have not included it in the part lists; we recommend checking out your local retailers and online marketplaces for the best deals on them.

For a build of this class, we recommend purchasing a monitor with a resolution of 1920x1080 and a refresh rate between 90 Hertz-144 Hertz or a higher resolution monitor upto 120 Hertz. We also recommend that you never skimp on the power supply. It might be cheaper to begin with. However, a cheap 'local' power supply may not be reliable and could fail anytime. Moreover, if the power regulation is not good, the computer parts might get damaged.