(Nvidia's dominance not to scale)
Hello ANZ NFans! This ever-evolving guide is designed to help you build a console killing gaming PC. There are many articles and YouTube videos out there that attempt the same, but very few are from people this side of the globe, therefore the cost and availability of parts are often unrealistic for us ANZ gamers.
Now let me address the 10-ton elephant in the room as I've had a lot of feedback on this element of the rig: This build is NOT attempting to match price or performance per dollar with the Xbox One X. Microsoft, by its own admission, is making at most $0 on the console. They might even be losing money on it to get it into your home for $649 AUD. What I am attempting to do is to inform you, the reader, of what it will cost to build a PC that will comfortably beat the One X. I know it costs 3 x as much, I wrote the article remember! You have to weigh all the other benefits of having a PC (that I list at the end) AGAINST the price difference.
“I don’t want to get into all the numbers, but in aggregate you should think about the hardware part of the console business is not the money-making part of the business,” “The money-making part is in selling games.” - Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox (vg247.com)
I'm using PC Case Gear as they have a great website and wishlist system that I can go back and update easily. I'm not a fanboy and I suggest you shop around for better deals from your local PC part wholesaler (esp if you can do away with shipping costs that I'm not factoring into the final price). Some of you may be reading this to help you transition to PC gaming for the first time, and to you most of all I say WELCOME!
Take your time selecting parts that will suit you and your budget, and if you have any questions about parts or how to put together your first build, don't hesitate to ask us me below in the comments.
Update Log:
13/05/17 - The start of the SCORPIO SQUASHED rig
18/07/17 – Edited rig and some wording as we now know it’s the Xbox One X (so stupid!). The price of the GTX 1070 has jumped up due to mining so current build price has shot up to just below $2k
22/07/17 - Some minor edits and included section about not competing agaist Xbox price point
(Microsoft's Project Scorpio a.k.a Xbox One X)
What We're Up Against
I'm basing this build on the specs for the upcoming Xbox One X console that is due out in November 2017. Digital Foundry broke with an exclusive video detailing the following specs in April:
• 16nm FinFET with 7bn Transistors
• CPU: 8 core, 2.3GHz, 4MB L2, DX 12 direct implementation
• GPU: 6 TFlops, 40 compute units at 1172MHzRAM
• 12GB GDDR5 (8GB available for games)
• Storage: 1TB hard disk
• Disc: UHD Blu-ray player
• EB Games are taking pre-orders for $649.95 I’ll assume this is with one standard controller and no games.
The Console Killer
Now the rig I have designed so far is not the absolute cheapest system possible. The reason behind this is simple: We aren’t 100% on the One X’s performance, so we want to build something that is guaranteed to outperform and that has great upgrade options for the future.
GPU: As has been stated, Xbox One X is rocking a 6TFlop capable processor. The GTX 1070 can hit 7.296 TFlops at boost (and I’m assuming that’s the Founders Edition at stock clocks).
AMD vs Intel: This has been the hardest part of the build, as deciding on the best chip and corresponding motherboard/ram combo was not an easy job. I’ve gone with the Ryzen 1600 6/12 chip as I think it might be the best value for money when you consider: a wide array of game benchmarks (not just one or two games), it stacks up well against the 6700K in many games (esp at 4K), the fact that the One X has 8 cores and many newer titles are taking advantage of multi-threading, the stock cooler does a good job and has RGB lighting, the AM4 motherboards are relatively cheap for their specs, and finally, I think optimisation will improve this chip even further in the future. That said, if you have undeniable proof that I’ve made a bad choice with any of these parts, speak up and I’ll look into it!!!
RAM: 16GB (2x8GB) of DDR4 RAM that run at 2400MHz. This leaves you the option of adding another two sticks to have 32GBs in total.
Hard Drives: I’ve gone with a 128GB M.2 and 2TB HDD pairing for the rig so that the OS and one or two choice games can load super-fast off the SSD, while the enormous collection of PC games you amass will be comfortable on a spacious platter drive. This far exceeds the One X’s specs!
The Case and PSU: These will likely change depending on feedback and personal preference but I wanted to move away from case/PSU combos in order to give you more choice for your build. My low bar here is a 700W PSU that is capable of running GTX 1070s in SLI and a sub $100 case as that leaves a plethora of choices while keeping the costs down.
Motherboard: Absolutely go and change this for a cheaper AM4 board to save yourself more cash, but do note you’ll lose SLI capabilities for FUTUREPROOFING YOUR RIG. If you go with this ‘one card forever’ option, you can swap out the PSU for a 500W unit and save a few dollars here as well.
Peripherals: I’ve made the decision to include a half decent keyboard and mouse combo, along with a wireless Xbox One controller as these are essential items for a new rig.
4K Bluray Drive: Well okay, you’ve got me there. These aren’t even available yet for PC here in Australia... but in my defence, who even uses optical discs these days???
The Rig for July 2017 is:
PCCG Version: Total Price: $1976
Wishlist linked: HERE
Videos for Your Consideration:
WHY NOT A CONSOLE?
PCMR golden crown off. Yeah, it's a valid question at this price point. If you're just looking for the cheapest way to play some games in the here and now then sure go grab an Xbox One, PS4 Slim or even a Nintendo Switch. As we get closer to the Xbox One X release, their prices will become even more competitive.
OK, so why build the rig above?
- Steam (enough said! lol)
- You actually need a PC for work/school
- You prefer browsing the internet on a real screen
- You want cheaper games
- You want to escape the new console churn
- You only want to pay for a game once
- You don't want to pay for multiplayer
- You want to play PC exclusives
- You want to learn coding
- You see this rig for what it is... a stepping stone... an expensive, yet easily upgradable system. You could get another SSD and put them in Raid 0 for faster boot times and order a meat lovers pizza. Add a 3TB HDD and install every Steam game you own while chugging a big bottle of Mountain Dew. Swap out that chip for a Ryzen 7 1800X, laugh maniacally while running Cinebench then murder 2 bags of Mission Cheezy Nacho corn chips (cause we all know Doritos are for suckers). Finally, throw down for two GTX 1080 TIs in SLI, full water loop, LED RGB everything, an X34 Predator, and absolutely CRUSH your next game of choice then ride a pod of trained dolphins off into the sunset...
Thank you for taking the time to read through my guide.
Please up-vote this post if it was helpful to you.
Check back monthly as I continue to edit and update this story!
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