The Enthusiast Build

So we're finally here. The Megatron. The 'end all' build, for lack of a better descriptive phrase. Here, your aim is high refresh rate 1440p gaming, or full 4k gaming at 60 FPS locked. Nothing else will do. And yes, we'll discuss HEDT a few paragraphs below.

CPU - Intel Core i7 8700k or AMD Ryzen R7 2700X

Whereas the last version of this guide featured only the 8700k as a CPU option, I feel like AMD's Pinnacle Ridge based 2700X offers enough of a catch up to be worth considering. Anyway, 8700k first.

Intel's flagship packs 6 cores, 12 threads, and the potential to overclock north of 5Ghz, it is the new performance king for gaming, bar none. We loved the 8600k, and - further to that - you can read our review of its dad right here. There really isn't much I can say about the 8700k. It's fantastic for gaming, excellent for entry-ish level content creation, and will last for years to come if treated right.

What about, however, the 2700X? Well, clock for clock the IPC offered by 2nd generation Ryzen really is nearly caught up to Intel, which means that when gaming at GPU limited resolutions (e.g. 1440p for the most part, and 4k), the two chips will largely be very close. Decrease the resolution and put more strain on the CPU, and yes, the 8700k will open up a lead. However, let's be realistic and talk about the benefits of Ryzen, just briefly.

It is an up to 2020 supported platform, offers 8 cores/16 threads of excellent performance at a compelling price, and can easily turn your gaming system into an entry level workstation if you so choose. It's also an excellent choice for potential streamers or just power users who want to put their PC through the multi-tasking ring. Our review of the 2700X is here, and both are fantastic choices for a build of this caliber. You will not be disappointed in either. However, with all of that potential, how do you cool it, and how do you power it? Well, that brings us onto...

CPU Cooling - 280/360mm AIO, or BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro 4/Noctua NH-D15

The all-in-one cooler market is a busy one, and as such it is fairly difficult to recommend a single unit. If, however, you had to twist our arms...

• NZXT Kraken X72 - 360mm triple fan AIO.
• Fractal Celsius S36 - Silence orientated AIO
• Corsair H115i - 280mm dual 140 AIO.

All of the coolers above impressed us in our reviews of them, and really should be among your shortlist for cooling your $300+ CPU.

However, are you not interested in liquid cooling? Fair enough, but what air cooler should you go with? Noctua's behemoth NH-D15 twin tower cooler, review linked here. It is big, bulky, but is near unmatched in terms of silence and cooling performance. Please note, if you are choosing RAM with an especially tall profile, then please consider the NH-D15S unit instead.

There are, to be clear, are a fair few other behemoth dual tower air coolers out there, and if the Noctua unit isn't to your liking, I have linked Guru3D's list of cooler reviews earlier in this guide. BeQuiet!'s Dark Rock Pro 4 is another excellent unit, and I recommended its little brother in 'The mainstream' build. Our review of the DRP4 is here. We feel as though it's a very comparable unit, all whilst being objectively much more attractive (aesthetically) to more end users.

GPU - Nvidia GTX 1080Ti or Nvidia Titan X(p) Pascal

This remains unchanged since Spring. The Titan Xp is terrible value for money, but it is the ultimate gaming GPU, so it's on here. Nvidia's flagship 'mainstream' GPU, the GTX 1080 Ti, is still ludicrously fast, able to drive most modern games (even AAA ones) at 4K 60 FPS, even with IQ at 'ultra/very high.' It is a beast, with a price to match.

We have reviewed many iterations of the 1080 Ti at Guru3D, but the same advice applies now as it did in previous builds. Naturally, you are at liberty to choose whatever card you want, and - where the 1080Ti is concerned - I would actively recommend a model with a beefy heatsink and cooling solution, as any flagship GPU is going to both draw in a lot of power and kick out a lot of heat! Please consider looking at our list of GPU reviews here, and look for 1080Ti articles. We particularly liked the Zotac AMP! Extreme 1080Ti (Review), Aorus Xtreme 1080Ti (Review), and the MSI Lighting 1080Ti (Review).

So what about that 'Titan' card? Nvidia 'Titan' cards have always bridged a bit of a blurred line between their mainstream 'GeForce' cards and their professional grade 'Quadro' cards, with the Titan cards often entirely forgoing the 'GeForce' branding altogether. We were blown away by the sheer performance of this $1200 GPU. It's fast, expensive, likes to use power, and is simply the fastest GPU on the planet short of the $3,000 Titan 'V'.

Motherboard - Z370 or...

Whilst it's certainly possible to spend untold amounts of money on a motherboard (almost at any level), the returns you get from doing so are often massively reduced beyond a certain price point. This is why the chosen board is in the comfortable 170-200 EUR range. Premium, but not outrageously expensive. The review to the chosen board is linked here. The board again earned our recommendation. At the time of review, we were unsure about its price at near 200 EUR, but a drop to a more realistic level makes it a much easier recommendation. It is stable, well featured, and lacks nothing that the average home builder in search of a high end PC will find him/herself wanting for!

What about the AMD side of things? A list of our X470 mainboard reviews can be found here, and you'll note they all scored 4 stars. To be entirely honest, picking any one of these high-end boards from Asus, MSI, Aorus, or AsRock will give you a truly excellent user experience and long lasting product, so actually whittling one down to recommend on its own merit is very hard. Pick one, and you'll be a happy buyer. It is certainly with picking a motherboard with a strong VRM array, as doubtless, you will want to be having AMD's top-end R7 2700X. Add the rumors of more cores with Ryzen Generation 3, and it's likely worth spending the money here.

And, yes, if you really wanted to, spending upward of 250-300 EUR on a 'mainstream' (i.e. not X299) motherboard is something you could do. We just wouldn't advise it. This may be the 'End All' build, but there are still commonsense considerations to be had. This applies to both sides, for the record.

System Memory - 16 or 32GB DDR4 @ 3000MHz (and above)

Memory is, luckily, easier to recommend here. Whilst 32GB is entirely unnecessary for modern games (32+ is only really needed for content creators and creative professionals using applications such as Creative Cloud, Da Vinci Resolve, Vegas Pro, CAD, etc.), it's certainly nice to have. Given current memory prices, however, and the grade of components used in the rest of this build, 32GB RAM for a gaming setup is entirely pointless, so a compromise to 16GB will save you to the tune of 100-150 USD/EUR. At this price point, only premium memory (to my mind) will do, so kits such as GSkill Trident Z, Crucial Ballistix Elite, Corsair Vengeance LPX/LED, and Team Dark Pro (and so on) are my personal go to's for high-end PC's. They use high-quality Samsung 'B-Die' memory chips, binned for high clock speeds, and are well built.

Storage - NVMe SSD (Boot), 1+ TB SSD (2.5'', Bulk storage)

Yes, you read that correctly. We have now reached the budgetary level where we can consider traditional 2.5'' SSD's as 'bulk storage.' Truly a great time to be building a high-end PC ;)

As before, our recommendations for M.2 drives will be hard to narrow down here, so please check out our storage reviews page (linked here for more information. The same applies to brand, however, and generally M.2 drives from the likes of Samsung, Adata, Western Digital, and Crucial are solid choices. As for bulk storage, 1TB SSD's from the same companies as above are recommended. If you need true 'bulk' storage that modern SSD's cannot provide at their current price bracket, companies like Western Digital and Seagate do offer 4+ terabyte hard drives for your consideration. Naturally, their speed is well down on even a regular SATA based SSD, but you do get a lot more storage for your money spent.

Power Supply (PSU) - 750-850W, 80+ Gold (or greater)

Somewhat scarily, what I said before still applies here. This PC, even overclocked, would likely be just about ok on a high-quality 550W unit. I certainly wouldn't recommend it, but it's a reflection on the sheer efficiency of modern GPUs and CPUs. Linked here, again, is the PSU review list done by this website. Below are some updated recommendations for units suitable for this PC (taking into account the increased draw from an overclocked 8700k and 1080Ti):

• BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850W (Reviewed).
• Corsair RMx/RMi 750-850W (Reviewed).
• EVGA G3/P3 750-850W.
• Seasonic Focus Plus 750-850W.

You might be wondering why on earth I have upped the target from 650-750 (which was already 'overkill' (for lack of a better word), to just shy of 1Kw? Well, with a PC like this, upgrading the GPU is something you could potentially do, in order to keep playing at those incredible high frame rates or resolutions. A single 1080Ti or Titan Xp is fast, but two is on another level entirely. Now, with two GPUs, you must be made aware of the pitfalls that bring. Increased power draw, noise, heat, and - sadly - an ever increasingly small list of games that support multiple GPUs. Even then, if they do support multiple cards, they must do so well. My advice is to stick to 750W, and use single GPUs for your PCs.

Odds and Ends

With the amount of power and heat that this PC will be both drawing and spitting out, case choice is very important here. Whilst cramming all of this horsepower into a compact chassis like (for example) Fractal Design's Define C or Corsair's new 275R is doable, I would definitely not recommend it. Go for a larger mid tower case, or even a full tower. Compact mid-tower cases are best suited to more mid/mid-high end PCs that (whilst more power hungry than lower end machines) are still not overly heavy on power draw. Again, you can check out our list of chassis reviews here, and make a choice that lists airflow being a positive aspect of the case.

Like last time, a word on monitor choice. So far I have only mentioned traditional 1440p high refresh rate (i.e. 2560 x 1440 at greater than 60 FPS) or regular 4k (4096 x 2160 @ 60 FPS). However, there are many choices of a monitor, and this also includes the increasingly popular world of ultrawide panels! Ultrawide monitors like Acer's Predator X34 (3440 x 1440 @ 60+ FPS) are a very popular choice due to their curved and wide nature giving the player a much greater sense of immersion. Indeed, games that properly support 21:9 monitor resolutions are fairly intoxicating experiences, and I would encourage you to at least look into them!

A small summary

Our predictions for 2017 being a great year for PC hardware came 100% true in the 2016 version of this guide, with the release of AMD Ryzen, Vega, Nvidia's flagship 1080Ti, and Intel's Coffee Lake CPUs. 2018 looks set to carry on that trend, with (potentially) the release of Ryzen 2, Turing, Navi, and Intel Cannonlake.

I understand that many of you may be wondering if it's worth upgrading your system, or - if you're waiting for your first build - just 'waiting for the next release.' If you're in the former camp, then make your decision based on reliable and informed benchmarks. Nothing else. Looking to support any one company isn't smart. Please choose parts based on what you want!

If you are in the latter camp, and are waiting to start your first build... then do it. Just do it. It's rewarding, teaches you a lot about PCs, and is one of the best things I ever chose to do just after the release of Devil's Canyon (i.e. Haswell+). I have never looked back.

An alternative CPU platform?

Now, this wouldn't be an 'ultimate' build without me at least mentioning Intel's and AMD's most recent HEDT (High End Desktop) platforms. Intel brought the X299 chipset to the market just after the summer of 2017, and AMD followed very quickly with (in my opinion) the incredibly named 'Threadripper' that operates on the X399 platform.

Now, I'll say this very clearly. These are not gaming CPUs, and were never intended as such! High-end desktop platforms make very little sense if you are purely buying a gaming setup, as these chips perform either the same (or even slightly worse) than their mainstream desktop counterparts! With that said, here are my recommendations for either an Intel X299 or AMD Threadripper based system.

Intel X299

For our CPU choice, we would recommend the 10 core/20 thread i9 7900X. You can check out our review of this CPU here. Whilst not at the highest end of the X299 platform, it is certainly an HEDT part (which, for the price of $1000, you would certainly hope so). The chip performs exceptionally well in games, multitasking, highly threaded workloads, and productivity. Now... how to cool such a behemoth?

It is no secret that X299 CPUs are power hogs and - by extension - are, therefore, able to spit out an alarming amount of heat. For this reason, we at Guru3D recommend nothing less than a 280mm AIO, or even a 360mm unit. If you would like to look at some AIO reviews, then here is our cooling unit review page. Again, 280mm at the minimum! We liked BeQuiet!'s relatively new Silent Loop 360mm cooler, where we appreciated it's near silent operation at stock speeds (though you should note that the CPU tested in the review was a Haswell era i7 4790k).

What about the motherboard? Well, more cores will - naturally - lead to notably higher power draw, which puts increasing amounts of strain on the board's VRM. For this reason, opting for a 'budget' X299 board isn't a wise idea, unless you are buying toward the lower end of the range (e.g. Kaby Lake-X or the 6 core Skylake-X parts). To that end, we have reviewed many X299 boards at Guru3D, and that list is here. However, we do have some recommendations. These haven't changed from last time, and for good reason. They are the best in their class, and will be entirely capable of taming the heavy power draw of an overclocked 10 core monster.

• Asus ROG Rampage VI Extreme. If this board's ROG branding and... extensive name didn't already tell you, then this board is the king of the hill in the X299 category. 10Gb Ethernet, M.2 DIMMs, AD WiFi, impressive audio, and solid overclocking cement its position as X299's creme de la creme. Would I pair the 7900X with this board? Likely not, as a board worth just over half the value of the CPU perhaps isn't the wisest use of your money. That said, it is 'The Everything' build, and we had to at least mention it.
• Asus ROG Strix X299-E Gaming. Another board from Asus, and - this time - at a much more reasonable price point, especially for a CPU like the 7900X which is certainly not at the very highest end of what the new platform has to offer. It is also more a board suited to those into either stock or 'easy' tweaking, so true enthusiasts looking for a more manual experience may wish to look elsewhere.
• MSI X299 Gaming M7 ACK. An entry from MSI here, but one that we liked very much. Initial BIOS issues aside (though, in fairness, this is an issue that hurt all X299 boards on release, and is very typical of a new platform. Available at a slight premium over the aforementioned Asus board, it is - nonetheless - a high quality and good looking product.

AMD Threadripper 1

Much of what is below will remain the same. AMD Threadripper has seen some fairly major pricing drops in the last few months, ever since the reveal of Threadripper 2 based on the same Pinnacle Ridge Zen+ cores of mainstream Ryzen.

AMD offers three different Threadripper 1 chips. The 8 core/16 thread 1900X (essentially a Ryzen 7 CPU operating on the X399 chipset), the 12 core/24 thread 1920X, and the 'daddy' 1950X, packing 16 cores/32 threads. Keeping things roughly akin in cores/threads to Intel, we are choosing the 16 core 1950X CPU (review available here).

We felt that (matching the 7900X in price), the 1950X was an easier product to justify and understand. It is a true multithreading beast, and whilst gaming performance is sometimes notably weaker than Intel's mainstream chips (and X299, for that matter), you are not buying this CPU for gaming. It's that simple. That aside, the value proposition with Threadripper is through the roof. Furthermore, the full quotient of 64 PCIe lanes is a major avantage of Threadripper over X299.

Cooling? With many cores, and up to 1.4v going to each of those cores (all 16 in the 1950X's case), Threadripper can run hot. It's only natural, but there are some specific words of advice we must offer.

The IHS on Threadripper is simply huge, and most conventional CPU coolers do not do actually cover the entire chip. Due to this, we highly recommend that you purchase Threadripper specific CPU coolers. Noctua offers a line of excellent TR4 specific coolers, with reviews available here. As a caveat, we felt that only the bigger NH-U14 unit was sufficient enough to tame Threadripper, and it is our recommendation unless you are keeping things stock, or form factor - for some reason - stops you.

Should you wish to go liquid, then currently the only TR4 specific AIOs belong to Enermax. Note that whilst you can simply use a non TR4 specific AIO, your temps will be higher as a result.

So what about a mainboard? Well, if you are only interested in Threadripper 1 (i.e. the up to 16 core 1950X), then read on. If, however, you're maybe wanting a Threadripper 2 system, I will cover that below.

When it came to board choice for Threadripper 1, whilst (linked here) is our motherboards review page (where you can find more X399 entries), we really only had two options, with the following products scoring 5/5 in our reviews:

• Gigabyte X399 Aorus Gaming 7. We noted just how good this board looks, and aesthetics are a big seller in the RGB obsessed year we live in. Whilst it lacks 5/10Gb Ethernet, the included Wifi, strong overclocking potential (on both CPU and RAM), and ran very well out of the box. BIOS updates have only served to improve its reliability. As stated in our review of the board, sure, it's not an ROG Zentih... but, then again, it's also a whole lot less money.
• Asus ROG Zenith X399 Extreme. As usual with its 'top of the line' boards, Asus has gone absolutely all out with this product. 10Gb Ethernet, fast WiFi, excellent memory support up to 3600Mhz, and stunning looks all lead to a hearty recommendation. Price is a major hindrance here, granted, but when you're spending this much on a PC and platform, what is a few extra 100's?

I would, however, point out that subject to availability, you really will not feel too hard done by if you went with any of the high-end offerings from the major manufacturers. They're all engineered to be the best they can be, and all of the major mainboard vendors have proven over the years that they can make exceptionally high-quality motherboards.

Threadripper 2?

If you have read this far, it's likely because AMD caught your eye with their reveal of Threadripper 2. Whilst everyone expected there to be a follow up to their first generation of Zen based HEDT CPUs, I think it is safe to say the jump from 16 to 32 cores took most people a little by surprise. Naturally, despite the move from 14 to 12nm, the top of the line 32 core chip will have a 250W TDP at stock. This begs two questions. 1) What do you use to cool such a beast? 2) What heavenly tier motherboard do you want to keep all of that power in check?

The cooler, luckily, is a relatively easy question to answer. If we strongly recommended a TR4 specific cooler for Threadripper 1, we now straight up oblige you into one. Nothing less than full coverage of socket TR4's massive heatspreader will do, and your system temperatures and - ultimately - the longevity of your CPU will thank you for it. AMD did showcase an air cooler (The 'Wraith Ripper') keeping the top end 32 core in check at Computex, so it is safe to say that the top of the line air coolers rocking dual towers, dual fans, and TR4 specific plates will be able to handle the 250W TDP of the 32 core part. If you want liquid cooling, it happens to be even easier. Look for specific TR4 coolers, aim for 280-360mm radiators, and be done with it.

What, with all that said and done, is to your motherboard for such a system? Whilst we have no official word of a new chipset to accompany Threadripper 2, we know that the socket will remain identical. It should, therefore, be possible to slot a Threadripper 2 CPU into a motherboard made and designed for Generation 1 chips. If you are owning a high end motherboard and maybe want to jump to the 'lower' core count Threadripper 2 chips, I say go for it. If, however, you want to get your hands on the top of the line 32 core... please heed our advice. Purchase a motherboard that has been specifically released for Threadripper 2. We have no word of models or product lines yet, but it will be safe to say they will likely have significantly stronger VRMs and VRM cooling. When taming 250W of 32 core horsepower we cannot realistically recommend you do anything else.

And, finally, we are done. This has been a longer guide than normal, but that is what happens when the PC gaming and hardware industry starts to gear up for some major releases. 2017 was a great year for the hardware industry, and I think it is safe to say that the remainder of 2018 and the whole of 2019 will only continue that trend. Whatever may be, however, there are exciting times ahead.

What did you think about this content? Let us know here, enjoy the summer!