MID-RANGE BUILD

Our recommended build for playing the latest games

X370 SLI Plus

MSI $130 MSI’s X370 SLI Plus is identical to the gaming series motherboard that costs not a lot more, so why waste money?

Ryzen 5 1400

AMD $155 Four cores, eight threads, and half the price of the Intel equivalent. Gaming performance is solid, and streaming capability is robust.

GTX 1070 SC Gaming ACX

EVGA $459 Trying to balance prices, we’ve opted to drop down to an SC Gaming card. Don’t worry, you only lose out on a very minor overclock.

Kraken X31

NZXT $80 To get the most out of a good CPU you need a cooler to match. The Kraken X31 is powerful, quiet, and great for overclocks.

Fury 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 - 2666

HyperX $189 Ryzen demands high-spec memory, and you can’t get better than adding a dash of HyperX to your build.

RMx 650W

Corsair $90 Nothing like having a quality power supply. Get a decent cable kit for this one, and you can easily spice up your rig.

850 EVO 250GB

Samsung $99 Samsung retains its top spot on the SSD pile with the fantastically priced, very speedy 850 EVO. Still the best price/performance.

Caviar Blue 1TB 7200RPM

Western Digital $46 SSDs are great, but they’re still far from cheap. This 1TB HDD will hold as many games as you can handle.

Eclipse P400S TG

Phanteks $98 The clean lines, intuitive build features, and fantastic price cements the Eclipse as our midrange case of choice.

Q2778VQE

AOC $250 This entry-level 1440p monitor is perfect for those looking to upgrade from 1080p. It’s cheap and still looks sleek.

Alloy FPS Cherry MX Blue

HyperX $100 This crisp keyboard from HyperX ticks all the right boxes. It may lack RGB, but those clicky keys will keep you happy for years.

Castor

Mionix $55 Mionix’s Castor is a dream to use, supportive like a glove. With clutter-free software and an optical sensor, it’s hard to go wrong.

TOTAL $1,751