The Ultimate Gaming PC Build: A Competitive Edge without Breaking the Bank

When it comes to building a gaming PC, one of the most important considerations is the choice of components that will give you the edge you need to compete with the best. In this article, we'll take a look at how to build a competitive gaming PC on a budget of $926.

The Brain of the Operation: Choosing the Right CPU

We start by choosing the brain of our operation, the central processing unit (CPU). For this build, we've opted for an Intel Core i7-6700K processor. This 4th generation Core series is known for its high clock speeds and multi-threading capabilities, making it a great choice for gaming and content creation. The i7-6700K also boasts a relatively low power consumption of 95W, making it easy to cool with a standard air cooler.

A Power Supply Worthy of the Task

Next, we need a power supply that can handle the power requirements of our system. We've chosen an EVGA Supernova 750 watt 80+ Bronze certified power supply, which not only meets but exceeds the recommended power draw for this build. The Bronze certification ensures that the PSU is at least 80% efficient, saving you money on your power bill in the long run.

RAM: A Crucial Component for Performance

When it comes to RAM, we've opted for a DDR4 2666 MHz kit with 8GB of capacity. While this may seem like a relatively modest amount of memory compared to some of the newer systems out there, we believe that it's sufficient for most modern games and content creation applications. Additionally, the law of diminishing returns applies to RAM, meaning that increasing the amount of RAM beyond a certain point will only yield marginal increases in performance.

Storage: Where Data Lives

Next up is storage, where our data lives. We've chosen an Intel 530S 5 series SSD for our boot drive and operating system. This SSD packs quite a punch, boasting sequential reading speeds of 540MB/s and writing speeds of 490MB/s. For general storage, we've opted for a Seagate Barracuda 1TB hard disk drive, which provides ample space for your files and applications.

Graphics: The Heart of Gaming

The graphics card is arguably the most important component in any gaming PC build. We've chosen the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970, which boasts roughly 4GB of VRAM and an overclocked core speed of 1253MHz. This Beast of a card will run most titles at 1080p with smooth frame rates approaching 80-100 FPS. With its semi-modular design and low power draw of around 310W under load, we believe that this is the perfect compromise between performance and cost.

Case: The Final Touch

Finally, we need to choose a case that complements our build and provides adequate airflow for cooling. We've opted for the NZXT Source 210 black in color, which features a nice window on its side allowing you to peek at all your components. This case is an ATX mid-tower size or above, supporting full ATX motherboards, and has reasonable air flow to keep things cool.

In conclusion, building a competitive gaming PC doesn't have to break the bank. By choosing the right components and being mindful of the law of diminishing returns, you can build a system that will give you an edge over your friends and foes alike without sacrificing too much in terms of cost.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey everyone this is Greg with science Studio we have yet again another Intel Skylake build for you only this time we're upping the ante if you're interested in spending a bit more than the I would say bare minimum for an excellent gaming PC then look no further we'll show you here how you can build a gaming PC that can run most titles in 4K Ultra HD for a modest $900 so let's jump right into it at the core of our build is the Intel i56500 a CPU that's a part of the new Skylake line up now right off the bat I know what you're thinking why not out for the 6600k if we're going to stick with quad core CPUs well I came to a crossroad here actually and honestly either path you choose will leave you with an epic gaming PC so you can either go with the locked i56500 like we've done here and throw the extra savings into a better GPU or you can opt to settle on a cheaper graphics card for the pricier unlocked i56600k keep in mind though that if you decide to purchase the 6 600k you will also need to purchase a custom CPU Cooler because Intel doesn't Supply you with one but that makes sense I mean most stock coolers don't do the job anyway when it comes to keeping an overclock CPU cool so maybe a Corsair or NZXT liquid cooling unit will likely also need to be purchased just keep that in mind now in our case because the i56500 that we're opting for is not unlocked its Hefty 3.2 GHz quad core architecture will be cooled with the stock Intel fan no problems there following suit with the locked nature of our build is the motherboard and in this case an LGA 1151 B150 MSI gaming board will do the trick since our GPU is locked and immediate upgrades are likely non-existent considering how much we're going to be spending UPF front for our CPU a locked B150 motherboard which only means that you couldn't overclock the CPU even if you wanted to would do just fine the nice black and red curb appeal of the board is also quite pleasing to the eye so for the ram we've chosen the same ddr4 2666 MHz pan Ram 8 GB kit that we chose for our $600 build the memory speed of our Ram even at this point will only produce marginal returns in the form of frames per second we don't recommend paying a premium for super overclocked Ram until you ventured into i7 territory the law of diminishing returns just plays too great a role here we've gone with an Intel 530 5 series SSD for our boot drive and a Seagate Barracuda 1 TB hard dis drive for General storage the Intel 535 packs quite a punch boasting 540 megabits per second of sequential reading speeds and 490 megabits per second of riding speeds if you're still doubtful about the benefits of switching over to an SSD even at least for the sake of a boot Drive let this graph persuade you otherwise compared here are the Photoshop CS6 and and Adobe Reader 11 opening times on both a 7200 RPM hard disk drive which our Barracuda is and a micro SATA SSD which our Intel 535 is expect your boot and file loading times to be cut in half with this SSD we've chosen for the graphics card the gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 takes our cake sporting roughly 4 GB of vram and an overclocked core speed of 1253 MHz this Beast of a car will run most titles in 4k at a modest 30 FPS if that won't cut it for you downgrade to 1080p gaming and enjoy super fluid FPS rates approaching 80 to 100 FPS for most titles gigabytes windforce edition of this card packs a three fan punch as well for optimal Cooling and quiet gameplay you'll also have access to two DVI ports three display ports and an added HDMI port so just let that sink in for a few want four monitors displayed at once no problem here so in light of our heavy duty graphics card you might be thinking wow I'm going to need a sizable power supply to fuel all of these nice parts right well wrong our Intel 6500 has a load wattage rating of 95 Watts combined with our 970s 310 watt draw underload our system will likely only require around 500 watts of power at Peak demand using my simple power supply calculator equation 500 W time the safety factor of 1.5 equal 750 watts which leads us to the power supply we've chosen an EVGA Supernova 750 watt 80 plus bronze certified power supply not only will its bronze rating save you a few bucks every month on your power bill this version of the PSU supports a semi modular interface meaning that you'll only need to hook up extra cables if you need them nci's deal after a $20 mail and rebate is $64.99 an arguably irrefutable price now as we've said before the case to any build is likely the most subjective piece as well we chose the NZXT Source 210 black in color and sporting a nice window on its side so that you know you can peek at all the goodies any case with reasonable air flow should do as long as it's an ATX mid Tower size or above that supports full ATX motherboards don't worry about finding a case with radiator mounting support as it would be absolutely absurd to liquid cool this loog CPU it just doesn't make sense sense so with all the parts now listed what's our grand total so not including shipping of which the case is likely the only culprit should you desire that free shipping option on the other parts listed in this build the total price for this Competitive Gaming computer is 9266 now we should note there aren't too many extra Corners you can cut here sure you can up for a cheaper graphics card but you'd be doing your quad core processor in Injustice and much in the same way settling for an i3 or AMD FX CPU will likely bottleneck your gtx970 and while you could opt for slightly cheaper Ram we'll make the case that the extra $10 for faster memory is worth the additional 3 to 4 FPS in games so that about wraps things up Black Friday and Cyber Monday are lurking and this series of videos is is meant to inspire you really to build your own PC this holiday season and there's really no better time to purchase the required Parts than now so thanks for sticking around and stay tuned for our high budget gaming PC build featuring the Intel Core i76700 k and a crazy fast GPU but if you're a bit more budget conscious and concerned about saving money to spend elsewhere check out our previous budget build for $600 a modest price indeed this is science Studio thanks for learning with us ohhey everyone this is Greg with science Studio we have yet again another Intel Skylake build for you only this time we're upping the ante if you're interested in spending a bit more than the I would say bare minimum for an excellent gaming PC then look no further we'll show you here how you can build a gaming PC that can run most titles in 4K Ultra HD for a modest $900 so let's jump right into it at the core of our build is the Intel i56500 a CPU that's a part of the new Skylake line up now right off the bat I know what you're thinking why not out for the 6600k if we're going to stick with quad core CPUs well I came to a crossroad here actually and honestly either path you choose will leave you with an epic gaming PC so you can either go with the locked i56500 like we've done here and throw the extra savings into a better GPU or you can opt to settle on a cheaper graphics card for the pricier unlocked i56600k keep in mind though that if you decide to purchase the 6 600k you will also need to purchase a custom CPU Cooler because Intel doesn't Supply you with one but that makes sense I mean most stock coolers don't do the job anyway when it comes to keeping an overclock CPU cool so maybe a Corsair or NZXT liquid cooling unit will likely also need to be purchased just keep that in mind now in our case because the i56500 that we're opting for is not unlocked its Hefty 3.2 GHz quad core architecture will be cooled with the stock Intel fan no problems there following suit with the locked nature of our build is the motherboard and in this case an LGA 1151 B150 MSI gaming board will do the trick since our GPU is locked and immediate upgrades are likely non-existent considering how much we're going to be spending UPF front for our CPU a locked B150 motherboard which only means that you couldn't overclock the CPU even if you wanted to would do just fine the nice black and red curb appeal of the board is also quite pleasing to the eye so for the ram we've chosen the same ddr4 2666 MHz pan Ram 8 GB kit that we chose for our $600 build the memory speed of our Ram even at this point will only produce marginal returns in the form of frames per second we don't recommend paying a premium for super overclocked Ram until you ventured into i7 territory the law of diminishing returns just plays too great a role here we've gone with an Intel 530 5 series SSD for our boot drive and a Seagate Barracuda 1 TB hard dis drive for General storage the Intel 535 packs quite a punch boasting 540 megabits per second of sequential reading speeds and 490 megabits per second of riding speeds if you're still doubtful about the benefits of switching over to an SSD even at least for the sake of a boot Drive let this graph persuade you otherwise compared here are the Photoshop CS6 and and Adobe Reader 11 opening times on both a 7200 RPM hard disk drive which our Barracuda is and a micro SATA SSD which our Intel 535 is expect your boot and file loading times to be cut in half with this SSD we've chosen for the graphics card the gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 takes our cake sporting roughly 4 GB of vram and an overclocked core speed of 1253 MHz this Beast of a car will run most titles in 4k at a modest 30 FPS if that won't cut it for you downgrade to 1080p gaming and enjoy super fluid FPS rates approaching 80 to 100 FPS for most titles gigabytes windforce edition of this card packs a three fan punch as well for optimal Cooling and quiet gameplay you'll also have access to two DVI ports three display ports and an added HDMI port so just let that sink in for a few want four monitors displayed at once no problem here so in light of our heavy duty graphics card you might be thinking wow I'm going to need a sizable power supply to fuel all of these nice parts right well wrong our Intel 6500 has a load wattage rating of 95 Watts combined with our 970s 310 watt draw underload our system will likely only require around 500 watts of power at Peak demand using my simple power supply calculator equation 500 W time the safety factor of 1.5 equal 750 watts which leads us to the power supply we've chosen an EVGA Supernova 750 watt 80 plus bronze certified power supply not only will its bronze rating save you a few bucks every month on your power bill this version of the PSU supports a semi modular interface meaning that you'll only need to hook up extra cables if you need them nci's deal after a $20 mail and rebate is $64.99 an arguably irrefutable price now as we've said before the case to any build is likely the most subjective piece as well we chose the NZXT Source 210 black in color and sporting a nice window on its side so that you know you can peek at all the goodies any case with reasonable air flow should do as long as it's an ATX mid Tower size or above that supports full ATX motherboards don't worry about finding a case with radiator mounting support as it would be absolutely absurd to liquid cool this loog CPU it just doesn't make sense sense so with all the parts now listed what's our grand total so not including shipping of which the case is likely the only culprit should you desire that free shipping option on the other parts listed in this build the total price for this Competitive Gaming computer is 9266 now we should note there aren't too many extra Corners you can cut here sure you can up for a cheaper graphics card but you'd be doing your quad core processor in Injustice and much in the same way settling for an i3 or AMD FX CPU will likely bottleneck your gtx970 and while you could opt for slightly cheaper Ram we'll make the case that the extra $10 for faster memory is worth the additional 3 to 4 FPS in games so that about wraps things up Black Friday and Cyber Monday are lurking and this series of videos is is meant to inspire you really to build your own PC this holiday season and there's really no better time to purchase the required Parts than now so thanks for sticking around and stay tuned for our high budget gaming PC build featuring the Intel Core i76700 k and a crazy fast GPU but if you're a bit more budget conscious and concerned about saving money to spend elsewhere check out our previous budget build for $600 a modest price indeed this is science Studio thanks for learning with us oh\n"