Video games are an art form. They bring us stories and experiences entirely out of this world and far from mundane everyday life. But there is a catch: to experience any other form of art, one simply needs to look, pick up and read, and observe. Video games need your direct input-your constant attention and action.
To do this, one needs a gaming rig. Whether that’s a console or something wholly your own, video games are a medium experienced by proxy. This personal article describes another art form that exists as an extension of gaming: PC building. Some call them rigs; others say battle stations. I call it my pride and joy that enables me to live many lives, hear many stories, and write many chapters.
What we will cover in this article:
- A brief history and evolution of the PC-building sphere.
- Deep details of all individual parts of my personal rig.
- The peripherals that I use day-to-day.
- …and much more!
The Art of PC Building
Personal Computers, or PCs for short, have been around for decades. However, they only grew into a popular tool for video games in the 21st century, slowly but surely overtaking the consoles. No one ever thought that PCs would ever dominate the video game market, let alone that they would turn into a complete form of art.
Players worldwide build gaming PCs to look and play precisely as they want them to. Manufacturers of all kinds equally prioritize aesthetics and performance, the combination of which can lead to perfect products. While more importance lies with what’s under the hood, exterior looks are vital to keeping things tidy and slick.
No one wants an old, white, boxy PC case that gets yellow after a month of use. Unless you want to build a sleeper rig, but that’s another story. Most of us want flashy lights, something that looks like an alien race brought it down and tells us immediately that it runs fast.
I myself have always loved all aspects of building a PC. I want it to look good and play well, and I devoted an insane number of hours to studying the craft. For a decade now, I’ve been invested in PC building as a whole, and finally, I can declare my pride in what I’ve built.
It is a particular joy to bask in the glory of your creation, even if it’s just an amalgamation of others’ designs and products. PC building is, in that sense, like LEGOs-you take pre-fabricated parts and combine them into the ultimate being that is your personal computer. So, without getting too sentimental about PCs, let’s look at what exactly is my gaming rig.
The Motherboard
MSI MAG X570S
Every PC build has to start somewhere. While most people would first speak of their Graphics Cards (GPUs), I’d like to begin with the most important part of any given PC. The Motherboard serves as the foundation for everything else that comes along. Every single part connects to the Motherboard, and she gives life to the entire rig.
My Motherboard is an MSI X570S Tomahawk WI-FI equipped with almost anything you can think of. It comes with several GPU slots that can house the most oversized graphics cards or even several cards if one would like. Space is a big emphasis of this board, and I barely made it fit in my case (which will come later).
The CPU socket is AM4, tailored for the masters at AMD and their fantastic processors that I absolutely adore. However, we are still on the topic of the Motherboard, so that will also have to wait a bit. There are several slots for SSDs and HDDs, including two NVMe slots for the fastest storage performance. Naturally, since it is a new board, it comes with PCIe 4.0 technology that amplifies the overall speed of data transfers.
It can handle up to 256GB of RAM with speeds up to around 4000MHz, near the top percentile of all motherboards. Only the heaviest hitters, like the insane, thousand-dollar ASUS motherboards, can top this capacity with DDR4. Memory management is this board’s highlight, as it consistently keeps everything at top speeds without any issues.
The board’s cooling is also pristine, with temperatures remaining consistently low. Even under heaviest loads when other parts are melting hot, the Motherboard proper doesn’t heat up and keeps nice and tidy during all gaming sessions.
Overall, this is one of the best motherboards I’ve ever owned, and I expected as much from MSI. They are a fantastic manufacturer, and I also own another part of theirs. The Tomahawk lineup of motherboards is particularly of good renown, with stellar reviews and performance across the board (no pun intended).
The CPU
AMD Ryzen™ 7 5800X3D
The next most important part of a computer is, well—the computing unit. CPUs are underrated, and people keep misunderstanding their role in a gaming rig. Everything is constantly accredited to the GPU, which is just a lump of lard without an adequate CPU. One cannot go without the other unless you want to throw yourself into a bottlenecking situation.
My CPU is a Ryzen 7 5800X3D, the top-tier gaming AMD CPU of their previous generation. Despite being from the previous generation, it trades blows with AMD and Intel’s latest releases. This is especially true in video games, which this CPU prioritizes over work environments. I don’t do rendering or particularly care about multimedia workloads, so I just took what was best for my games.
The 5800X3D is an offshoot of the mainline 5800X processor, with which it shares a lot. It has eight cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.4GHz. The clock speeds boost up to 4.5GHz under heavy loads (which seldom happens), which is a fixed value. Both the base clock and the boost clock are locked and cannot be overclocked, which is seen as a significant downside of this CPU.
However, I don’t care much as it delivers stellar performance out of the box and doesn’t need any tweaking to make it good. The same cannot be said for most other AMD CPUs.
Where this CPU really shines is the L3 cache. It has a whopping 96MB of L3 cache, meaning it can store an insane amount of information it can freely access at any time. For the uninitiated, stuff will load insanely fast beyond the initial process, as the CPU doesn’t have to reload older assets constantly.
There’s much more to this, but let’s not get too technical. It’s a great, cheap, and fantastic CPU that carries my gaming experience on its back. It is so well optimized that it actually reduces its own clock even under load. It’s so challenging to bring this CPU to its breaking point, which only helps to ensure its longevity. I love it, and I cannot recommend it more.
The Cooling
CORSAIR iCUE H150i
Before moving on to other primary parts, I’d like to discuss my cooling system. Without it, the CPU I just spoke of would be capable of nothing. Proper cooling is crucial for a functional gaming system or any system for that matter. Ever wonder why those massive servers need sub-zero temperatures to operate?
Anyhow, my cooling system of choice is the Corsair iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX liquid cooling system. It was a bit expensive for my taste, but I had to take it due to its sheer performance. It keeps my CPU at a stable 45 degrees Celsius under heavy load, which is just absurd. For comparison, my previous Ryzen 7 2700x was at around 70 degrees Celsius with the factory Wraith RGB cooler.
In my case, the triple fan system was a bit difficult to handle and install, but once I got the hang of it, everything went smoothly. Since it is an AIO cooling system, it cools both the PC and the CPU. This is all thanks to those big fans that attach to the radiator that is thick and big enough to function as a building brick.
The GPU
MSI Gaming Radeon RX 6900 XT
The crown jewel of any PC build comes right in the middle. Graphics Cards are likely the most talked about PC part of them all, especially in this day and age with cryptocurrency mining and whatnot. They are most people’s biggest pride and joy since they determine the raw power of your whole rig. Computing power, memory, and all that stuff is crucial for a functioning system but think of it like this: all that stuff is the skeleton and the brain, but the graphics card is raw muscle.
My GPU is a beefy, oversized piece of tech made by MSI. It’s an MSI RX 6900XT, designed by the masterminds at AMD for premium performance. MSI’s signature Gaming Trio X fans keep the board cool and consistent in its work. While it’s not as cool as I’d like, primarily because I live in a warm country, it’s good enough not to throttle and reach melting points.
AMD cards run hot anyways, so I’m not too bothered by the temperatures, especially when they’re not anywhere near critical levels. About 75 degrees Celsius is the usual average temperature, with the junction nearing 100 degrees. This may sound like a lot, but junctions are produced to run at a maximum of about 120 degrees Celsius, and they get hot–really hot.
The AMD 6900XT was AMD’s flagship card of their 6000 series. It was the best, just behind the 6950XT, a barebones upgrade over the 6900XT that wasn’t worth the extra cost, in my opinion. It has some additional overclocking room and pushes a few more frames, but not nearly enough to warrant paying more.
The card is usually compared with the Nvidia 3080 Ti and 3090 graphics cards, and it usually lies somewhere in the middle between those two. Depending on the game, it can outperform both but is usually overshadowed by the 3090 but not by a wide margin. The primary reason I got this card was the price; compared to the 3090, it was a far cry in value.
The 3090 retailed for around $1500 and pushed 5 to 10 frames more than the 6900XT, which came in at $700. Now you be the judge and tell me if a few more frames and a primitive RTX technology are worth an extra $800. I say they aren’t but to each their own.
This powerful graphics card pushes almost all new titles at 4K 60FPS. I don’t play games at 4K, though I do set the resolution scaling to the highest possible level as long as the FPS doesn’t dip under a constant 60. Sometimes I occasionally fire up games on my 4K TV, but that’s a rarity and only happens when I get friends over. I prefer PCs to any console, so we game on that.
The combination of an AMD CPU and GPU allows me to use the RDNA 2 technology, improving communication between these computer parts and boosting performance. I’ve noticed a significant improvement in some games, closing the gap between my and Nvidia’s graphics card even more (making that $800 premium much more absurd).
At any rate, this is a mighty graphics card capable of pulling any game at the highest possible settings with zero issues. I’ve even seen it push Doom Eternal at 8K 60 FPS, so that should tell you everything you need to know.
The Memory
Corsair VENGEANCE
This was the most challenging part to choose, as there are plenty of good manufacturers to choose from. Not only that, but the quantity was difficult to calculate, as the ideal amount can change on a whim. Eventually, I settled and purchased a RAM kit from Corsair, my overall favorite tech manufacturer, that I can’t get enough of.
It was their Corsair Vengeance 32GB RAM kit with RGB lighting powered by iCUE. At 3600MHz, the ultrafast memory helps me maintain top speeds in all my workloads, gaming or not. Those 32GB also come in very handy, allowing me to multitask as much as I want without worrying about dwindling performance.
Over the past few years, I upgraded my RAM several times. First, I had 8, then 16, and finally, 32GB. This advance in the amount of RAM clearly shows how power-hungry games and operating systems got over these past few years. Lag was a significant issue for me even at 16, and now nothing of the sort ever happens.
There’s not much more to say about RAM-it’s built well, works well, and Corsair made damn sure for it to look good.
The Storage
Samsung 970 Pro NVMe
For storage, I prioritized speed over capacity. I like to keep many games downloaded simultaneously since my internet speed isn’t always top-quality. However, I also hate when games take ages to load (especially when poorly optimized), and thus I went for speed over greed. I bought an HDD for extra space, but it died on me a couple of months ago.
My system drive is a Samsung 970 Pro NVMe SSD with 1TB of storage. It features incredibly fast read and write speeds at 3.5GB/s and 2.7GB/s, respectively. A good amount of cache means that those top speeds won’t immediately go down, and the SSD has served me quite well so far. I’ve had zero issues loading in even the most demanding of titles.
Western Digital Black SN850X
But even that pales compared to my gaming drive, the Western Digital Black SN850X SSD. Read and write speeds of up to 7.3GB/s and 6.3GB/s allow me to load any game out there in the blink of an eye. Not even the most unoptimized, unpolished, and even broken titles can be slow on this drive.
These two drives are enough for me to satisfy all capacity needs. The Hard Drive mentioned above died for no particular reason, and it had 3TB of space (largely unused). Thankfully no data was lost, and I’m looking for a replacement soon. But until then, these two behemoths are enough for both speed and space, especially the second one.
The Power
Corsair RM850X
Naturally, none of these parts can run without a power source, and this PSU of mine is particularly good. Made by industry veterans Corsair, which features a lot on this list, it is a fantastic power supply capable of withstanding the most power-hungry parts. One such part is the AMD GPU that can guzzle up to 450w of power under heavy load. It usually doesn’t, but it can.
My PSU is the Corsair RM850X, an 850W 80 Plus Gold-certified PSU. It has impressive power efficiency and doesn’t draw too much from my wall socket. This power optimization also helps reduce my monthly electricity bills, which would be much worse if I chose anything else. I could have gone with a Platinum or Titanium-certified PSU but found them too expensive to justify doing so.
Corsair is a reliable brand; reliability is the most crucial factor in choosing a power supply. One bad wire and everything can go up in flames, and Corsair would never allow such mishaps in their products. So far, I’ve had no problems running at high or low loads or changing voltages on my parts. Everything is stable and smooth, and I have only Corsair to thank.
The Case
Cooler Master TD500 Mesh
And last but not least, all of that had to fit somewhere. Enter the Case. My case is made by Cooler Master, one of the best premium case-manufacturing brands. They manufacture all sorts of things, but their PC cases are among the best. Their prices are also something to note since they offer everything they produce at a competitive cost.
The case in question is Cooler Master TD500 Mesh, an older model but in no way outdated. It’s a mid-tower case, meaning it isn’t too large but spacious enough for larger PC parts such as the AMD 6900XT. I barely made it fit in there, as it’s over 40cm long.
The case features beautiful options for cable management, several slots for HDDs, and all that jazz, and it can host a wide variety of PC solutions. Whether it be ATX, ITX, or other form factors, the TD500 Mesh can house them all. The spaciousness of this case allows for additional airflow, giving me better temperatures and overall performance. The added Mesh on the front, top, and back minimizes dust intake and keeps the inside nice and clean.
It’s also very cheap compared to most gaming cases, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone.
The Peripherals
Naturally, one could have the best PC out there, but without proper peripherals, it’s just a hunk of steel and silicon incapable of doing anything. As this glorified blog post is already dragging on for too long, I’ll try to summarize these parts in as few sentences as possible. I wanted to keep the rig as a highlight, while the peripherals are an often-changing side of things that I don’t usually bring up.
At any rate, they’re essential to the overall battle station, so here they are.
The Monitor
Alienware’s AW2518HF
As someone very much invested in the FPS genre of video games, I focused on performance over picture quality with my monitor of choice. However, I managed to strike gold and picked up one that does both perfectly and equally well. The monitor in question is none other than Alienware’s AW2518HF. It’s a 25-inch, 240Hz high-performance gaming monitor tailored for fast-paced gameplay.
I played a ton of Counter-Strike then, and the blazing refresh rate helped me gain an advantage over most players. With this screen, my Elo skyrocketed from about 1500 to over 2000, getting me deep into Faceit’s maximum level 10 rank. Even after I was done with CS a couple of years ago, I kept the monitor, as its picture quality and rich and deep colors were perfect for all sorts of gaming endeavors.
It doesn’t matter if I play a single or multiplayer game-the screen serves amazingly well. I love it and could never go back to a sub-240Hz screen again. That is this monitor’s most significant, and likely only, downside. It’s also stuck at 1920×1080 resolution, but since I never cared much for high resolutions, I don’t see that as a hindrance.
The Mouse
Razer Viper Wireless Gaming Mouse
I picked up my mouse simultaneously as the monitor-during a hyped-up Counter-Strike spree when I genuinely believed in a potential career. Gone are those days, but the mouse remains, and its insane performance and build quality are unparalleled by any other gaming mouse I have ever owned. It was produced by Razer and goes by the name Razer Viper Ultimate.
It is their first iteration of the mouse, and there have been a couple of newer ones in these past few years. I have yet to change my own, as I see no need. It’s responsive, precise, fast, and does everything as well as a mouse. It’s also insanely light and wireless, so it has no weight or pull. This means I can freely move my hand and be pixel-accurate consistently and efficiently.
Razer produces terrific products, which can sometimes be a hit or miss. For example, their mouse lineups are all pretty good. Products like Razer’s Deathadder or the mentioned Viper are critically acclaimed as the best gaming mice you can get. But, they do tend to fall off when it comes to other things like headphones, where the Kraken lineup is known to be faulty and unreliable.
At any rate, I’ll never buy a mouse from any other manufacturer again, as they’ve proved themselves in these past couple of decades as the best in the industry.
The Mouse Pad
QCK+ XL gaming mousepad
While Razer produces excellent mice, they suck at making mouse pads. Any I’ve tried made my mouse either too fast or too slow for comfort, and the usual cloth pads are just plain uncomfortable to use. I satisfy my mousepad needs by courtesy of SteelSeries, another gaming industry veteran. Their QCK+ XL gaming mousepad is just right, allowing my mouse movements to be as consistently accurate as possible.
They are also quite sturdy and able to withstand a lot of strain and mouse movement. This means you won’t need to buy a new one every couple of months due to wear and tear. The QCK mousepad lineup is also straightforward to clean and wash, and there is no risk of damaging them, even if you’re inexperienced in mousepad maintenance.
I love SteelSeries and its products; they certainly shine the most through their mousepad offers.
The Keyboard
Redragon K552 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
The newest addition to my rig is the keyboard, as I’ve finally switched from membrane keyboards to mechanical ones. Redragon produces the keyboard in question, a gaming industry newcomer that has already established itself as a premium and reliable brand. I own their K552 Kumara mechanical keyboard, a ten-key-less wired keyboard that is as good as they get at that price range.
I was never one to spend too much on keyboards as I consider doing so to be silly, not least because it makes no sense. A solid keyboard will perform nearly equally as well as a very expensive one, making those insane premiums not worth it. That’s just my opinion, and if you enjoy your expensive keyboard solutions, that’s on you.
I love my K552 Kumara, but I do have one grievance. The keyboard can be a bit loud, and I’d advise caution if you have paper-thin walls. However, due to its being around $30 on average and considering the overall quality of the product, I have to recommend it to everyone (and I do).
The Headphones
Audio-Technica ATH-M50X
Last but not least in my build is the headphones. As an avid audiophile, it took me months to choose the perfect headphones to accompany my rig. After much consideration, I found a beautiful product by Audio-Technica, one of the most legendary audio equipment manufacturers in history. Their products are used by some of the biggest music names, which was another reason to buy from them.
I own a pair of their legendary M50X headphones, the wired version. While I wanted to buy the wireless solution, I couldn’t find it and had to opt for the wired one. Nevertheless, these headphones are as close to perfection in audio quality as possible. The sound is crisp, clear, and overall fantastic.
They were designed for music monitoring and studio use, meaning that they are additionally tweaked for sound clarity and hearing those tiny details in sound. This is perfect in a gaming environment as it allows you to hear everything the audio engineers put into the game without sacrificing quality.
This heightened audio experience made my gaming sessions much more pleasurable and solo climbs in League of Legends less tedious. Music makes all the difference, and good sound is vital to a good game, so having a pair of solid headphones is genuinely a must. Get yourself a pair; trust me, you won’t regret it.
Final Thoughts
That has been a lengthy, detailed showcase of my current gaming rig. All of this is subject to change as time goes by. Keeping updated with the technology around us is crucial in gaming, and I don’t want to fall behind. If you have a limited budget but want a solid gaming rig, check out our Best Budget PC Builds article for more information.
