If you want to compete at the highest level, you need the best tools available. With so many moving parts inside a PC, it's crucial to limit the impact it has on performance.
Building the best gaming PC is crucial for success in today's esports landscape. It's more than picking the most expensive, and the highest-powered parts, however.
Different pieces of hardware, from different manufacturers, are created differently. Gaming performance is more than FPS, Input-lag and Frame-timing are more important.
Follow this guide to find the best synergies and the best parts for the overall best gaming PC. We will break it down to each component, as well as how to bring it all together to complete the package.
In this guide, you will learn the following
- What are the best Gaming PC components?
- Why are components important for competitive gaming?
- How to put all the components together
What is the ultimate gaming PC?
What's the best Motherboard?
Use a model with Intel NIC for the best network performance.
The option to set HPET is desirable.
Ability to set XMP
What's the best Cooling?
Use an air-cooler for reliability.
Enough cooling is important to allow your hardware to run at full speed with performance hits.
AIO water cooling can look impressive but there is always a risk of failure thanks to the added moving parts inside.
Often referred to as DC power.
Stuttering may occur when the temperature rises, and the fans are not updating fast enough. This can cause throttling and crippled performance in a worst-case scenario.
How To Build the Ultimate Gaming PC?
The Best CPU For Gaming
In 2021 Intel is still the recommended brand for High Refresh rate gaming.
We recommend at least 6 cores for modern games and remember to disable Hyper-Threading.
K-series SKUs come with the highest clock frequency for high FPS gaming.
For 240Hz (FPS) and above close to or above 5 GHz is recommended.
Core i9 has the best available hardware from the factory and are handpicked for their performance.
i9 also has the highest frequency out of all CPUs.
i7 are usually damaged chips with disabled cores which may add latency thanks to re-routing inside the unit.
The Best Gaming PC Motherboard
Intel networking on the motherboard is preferred thanks to its proven record for performance.
Asus is our recommended brand because of its long tradition of stability and support.
Driver and firmware support is crucial to avoid problems down the line.
(Avoid RGB and brand-specific software suits with unnecessary features).
Sound is important if you want to use the onboard audio for your headphones.
The Best RAM
XMP-enabled DDR4.
Always use dual-channel memory by making sure you buy a kit of 2x RAM modules.
Samsung is the best manufacturer of RAM chips and can provide performance.
Find the RAM with the lowest CAS latency specification while using XMP.
16 GB RAM is currently our recommendation for pure gaming.
B-dye selection of memory is the best option.
Graphics Card (GPU)
We recommend Nvidia GPUs for the best performance and most advanced features for competitive gaming.
Newer games rely more on the GPU to produce higher resolution textures while older games played at high FPS are still more reliant on the CPU.
Pick a GPU with Reflex support to assist with reduced Input-lag in newer titles such as Valorant.
Cooling
Set fans to constant speed to avoid heat spikes and lag because of throttling.
Use an air-cooler for reliability.
We currently recommend Noctua as our premium pick while Cooler Master is the more affordable option.
Avoid RGB-functionality on fans which is a bad option and will introduce more cable clutter inside the case.