PC Build for Next Generation of Games!

The new generation of consoles are not even a month away and they promise a lot of improvements in terms of graphics, resolution and framerate. But what if you want a PC instead or alongside one of these shiny new consoles that can go toe to toe or outperform them? Well, this little guide should help you. Keep in mind that this isn’t a budget build neither a MAXIMUM POWER build. These are recommendations for a good build that can do 1440p at high refresh rates which will give you a very enjoyable experience. Some of this is coming from personal experience with these products and gaming at 1440p. So without further ado, let’s begin this guide.

Motherboard: MSI MAG B550M Mortar

For the motherboard, we’re going with an MSI MAG B550M Mortar. Since we’re going with an AMD CPU, this motherboard right here has everything you’ll need for the next few years. It supports both 3rd Gen Ryzen and 5th Gen Ryzen meaning that you can go with either of those CPUs depending on your requirements(more on this in the next part). It also has PCIe Gen 4 support. This means that the new NVMe SSDs will run at blazing fast speeds AND also making your PC Microsoft DirectStorage (More on this in the Storage Section). With plenty of ports, good VRM and a premium design, you’re going to love this motherboard.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3700X

For the CPU we recommend a Ryzen 7 3700X. It’s phenomenally priced and is a performance beast. With 8 cores and 16 threads, this CPU will breeze through games and also give great performance when it comes to content creation. With the new 5th Generation lineup also around the corner, getting a 5600X or 5800X is also something that you can do depending on your budget.

While the 3rd gen offers more cores and threads per price, the 5th generation is priced slightly higher but offers faster per-core performance. The good thing is, both these products will be available to you so you can easily make a decision based on whether you prefer more cores or faster single-thread performance for the same price. For gaming, you can’t go wrong with any of the 3 CPUs mentioned. The 3700X will give zero troubles even at 1440p based on our experience with it while gaming and streaming.

GPU: RX 5700XT or Big Navi | RTX 2070S or 3070

For the GPU we’ve got options from Team Red and Team Green. AMD’s RX 5700XT has a great price to performance ratio which competes against the RTX 2070 Super. It’s got enough juice to easily play games at 1440p60fps on High Settings with a bit of headroom. Now if you want to wait for a bit, you can also get the upcoming Big Navi GPU from AMD which will be part of the RX 6000 Series that aims to take on the RTX 3080. And given the performance of the RX 5700XT, the Big Navi GPU is bound to easily do 1440p and maybe even 4K.

For Team Green we’ve got the RTX 2070 Super which performs similarly to the RX 5700XT in most titles. However, the one advantage that RTX cards have besides Ray Tracing is DLSS. So if you’re someone who is keen on RT and DLSS, Team Green might be the one for you in the GPU segment, especially with the 3070 or 3060 which are quite powerful and will also do 1440p with ease. However, we do know that the consoles feature Ray Tracing so Big Navi might also have its own version of it.

RAM: 16GB DDR4 3200Mhz

For RAM we’re not going to recommend any specific brand because there’s a lot of options depending on your region and availability. However, I will recommend getting 8GBx2 dual channel 3200Mhz at the bare minimum to get the most out of your Ryzen CPU. This will also allow you to add an additional 16GB of RAM in the future giving you a total of 32GB.

PSU: Corsair TX750M

I will forever drill into people’s heads to NEVER, EVER cheap out on a PSU. It’s one of those components that if you skimp out, can ruin your whole PC. It’s also one of those components that can be used on a new build if you ever decide to get a new build or upgrade. This is why we’re recommending a Corsair TX750M. It’s Semi-Modular, Gold rated, and is in Tier A of the recommended PSU Tier List. It’ll also have enough juice for the newer GPUs which are a bit more power-hungry.

Storage: 1TB NvmE SSD

When it comes to Storage I highly recommend a Gen 4 1TB NVMe SSD as your main drive. Windows will boot incredibly fast and the overall system usage will be smoother. The biggest advantage of having a Gen 4 NVMe is DirectStorage. If you’ve seen the new consoles, you’ve seen how fast their load times are. Imagine that but on PC. That’s what DirectStorage aims to do and for that, you will need PCIe Gen 4 and a compatible SSD. So get ready to say goodbye to load times in videogames.

Later on if you need more space you can add more storage with SSDs and HDDs but going with a 1TB or 512GB NVMe to start is heavily recommended.

Case: Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic | Your Pick

For the case, my personal recommendation is the Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic. This case has ample of space, looks beautiful and allows you to do all sorts of different things with the case. Want to stick action figures in there? Easy. Want to add a ton of RGB Fans? Can do. It really is a dynamic case. You can also pick your own case depending on the looks because everyone has a different taste but the key thing to keep in mind will be airflow and space. So if you do decide to pick your own case, keep those two things in mind.

Conclusion

And that’s our handy-dandy guide that should set you in the right direction. Building your perfect PC can be confusing and daunting but hopefully this should help out. Especially if you’re aiming for 1440p which in my opinion the best resolution for gaming right now. It’s a great time to be a PC Gamer right now (besides the lack of stock but that’s temporary).