Graphics card
One of the defining factors for a gaming PC is often the graphics card, and these days, we’ve been spoilt for choice thanks to both Nvidia and AMD duking it out across all price ranges. Here are some popular and powerful graphics cards that we recommend.
Low tier
While not exactly the highest-end GPUs you can find, both of these are quite capable in their own right. They may not be able to play Battlefield 4 on Ultra, but you can rest assured that they’ll still be able to handle most games and have some power to spare.
- MSI AMD R7 260 1 GB – Rs. 9,599
- Zotac Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 – Rs. 13,675
Mid tier
The mid-tier is again a keen contest between AMD and Nvidia as GPUs from both companies are quite capable in this segment. That said, the more recent 290X does have an edge over 2012’s GTX 670 thanks to the relatively newer architecture.
- Sapphire AMD ATI Radeon R9 270X with Boost OC – Rs. 15,890
- Zotac Nvidia AMP edition GTX 670 DC2 – Rs. 32,200
High tier
This is where things get tricky. While the R9 290 is quite a powerful card, it isn’t able to compete with Nvidia’s previously-flagship GPU. However, the difference in pricing is skewed in favour of AMD. Here, the choice of GPU would depend entirely on your budget.
- Sapphire AMD ATI Radeon R9 290 TRI-X OC – Rs. 39,538
- Zotac Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 – Rs. 51,085
Enthusiast
Nvida’s flagship graphics card absolutely wins the enthusiast segment. Sadly enough, we had to go with the 780 Ti since the new version of Nvidia’s Titan isn’t out yet. At this price range, we doubt budget is much of a concern for you, and it’d be difficult not recommending slapping on a couple of 780 Ti cards to your rig.
- Zotac Nvidia GTX 780 Ti – Rs. 58,406
CPU
The heart and soul of a PC, the CPU is often under-appreciated. It’s important to not get a CPU that is too fast or too slow when compared to your graphics cards. One curious thing we noticed while putting this list together was that AMD seemed to be more popular in the lower-priced sections, whereas Intel was dominating the upper and enthusiast tiers.
Low tier
The low tier is where AMD has an absolute advantage over Intel, owing to its high-speed 6-core and 8-core offerings at quite a reasonable price.
- AMD FX 6300 – Rs. 7,791
- AMD FX 8320 – Rs. 10,183
Mid tier
Intel doesn’t have much in the way of competition here on out, and the i3 and i7 line-ups built around Intel’s Haswell architecture are difficult to not recommend.
- Intel i3 4340 – Rs. 11,138
- Intel i7 4770k – Rs. 21,713
High tier
In this one, you might notice that one of the processors we decided to go with is from Intel’s 3rd generation of chips. This is because of how truly powerful the 3930K still is. It’s also relatively simple to overclock, so that certainly helps.
- Intel i7 3930k – Rs. 40,641
- Intel i7 4930k – Rs. 42,305
Enthusiast
What can we even say about the enthusiast tier that you don’t already know? We’ll just leave you with this: we wish we could afford this beast of a processor.
- Intel i7 4960X – Rs. 84,000
Motherboard
The trickiest thing about recommending motherboards is that it completely depends on which processor you opt for. Since different processors require different types of sockets, the choice of a motherboard is more often than not at the mercy of your choice of processor. Here are some of the better-regarded gaming motherboards though, since they have an ample number of slots for any components you might want to stick in there.
Low tier
Both MSI and ASRock have strong offerings in this section. Sadly, it’s quite difficult recommending one motherboard over another here.
- MSI 970A-G46 – Rs. 6,148
- ASRock 970 Extreme 4 – Rs. 8,547
Mid tier
The mid tier is the same story. Both MSI and ASRock have respectable offerings.
- ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Professional – Rs. 14,337
- MSI H87M-G43 – Rs. 15,000
High tier
The high tier is where your options truly start to expand. Both the Crosshair V and Maximus IV from Asus have slightly different features that might appeal to specific tastes.
- Asus Crosshair V Formula – Rs. 19,171
- Asus Maximus IV Extreme – Rs. 24,633
Enthusiast
Seriously, you’re insane for spending this much on building a PC, but we sure do envy you.
- ASRock X79 Extreme 11 – Rs. 47,767
Cabinet
A cabinet is an important part of any gaming PC, unless you prefer leaving your computer’s innards just lying around in the open, and we’re not sure why you would want that. While on the lower spectrum of pricing, any cabinet would work just fine (unless you try to cram a regular motherboard into a mini-ATX cabinet), higher-end builds will need a bigger cabinet to not only house the parts, but also to provide adequate airflow to stop things from blowing up. Here are some reasonably-priced cabinets with good airflow.
Low tier
Yeah, these cabinets aren’t anything worth showing off, but they’re pretty good at their job: letting enough air come in and go out, and keeping your PC parts from spilling out.
- Cooler Master Elite 310 RC-310-BKR4 – Rs. 3932
- NZXT Gamma Mid Tower – Rs. 2499
Mid tier
This is where you’d find the most bang for your buck. Both cabinets are excellent for most gaming PC builds assuming you don’t have a giant motherboard.
- Corsair Carbide Series 300R – Rs. 4569
- Cooler Master Centurion 6 ATX Mid Tower – Rs. 5224
High tier
Want extra room for fans or drives? Here’s where you’ll find it. The cabinets here are some of the best out there, short of a custom-built one.
- Cooler Master SGC-1000-KWN1 Storm – Rs. 7711
- NZXT Phantom 530 Full Tower – Rs. 8562
Enthusiast
This is for those among us who like to show off their PCs, despite not being able to take it very far. It’s sure to fit almost any gaming motherboard you’ll find out there, and airflow should never be an issue.
- Corsair Obsidian Series 800D – Rs. 20,563
Ref : IGN
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