Guru3D PC Buyers Guide Winter 2015

PC Buyers Guide 38 Page 5 of 5 Published by

teaser

The Megabyte - The Enthusiast Build

The Megabyte Megatron - The Enthusiast Guru3 Build

This system consists of the best of the best components put together. In other words, if Megatron reincarnates as a computer system, this is what he would use to create his own body... there are no price tags and limitations for this build. So yeah, let's call this build Megatron :)


CPU - Intel Core i7-5960X

This is an octa-core CPU with hyper threading so when you open up the Task Manager, you will be grinning from ear to ear to see 16 CPUs in the system ready to obliterate anything you throw at it (Review). Of course, if you don't overclock this beast, you shall be arrested by the OC community for "ignorance" :P


Img_9977

Intel Core i7-5960X - Intels flagship 8-core processor - what else

  
 

CPU Cooler - EK-XLC Predator 360

To squeeze out all the CPU cycles you possibly can, you would have to tweak the voltages. This means that the heat being generated by the CPU will need to be dissipated rapidly in an efficient manner. You can achieve this by using EK Predator 360 (Review) which comes in two versions, the 240 mm and the 360 mm one. The dual/triple 120 mm fans and a 240/360 mm radiator, can be installed in a few minutes. After that, you will tweak the CPU frequencies to your heart's content while keeping temps under control at very low noise levels.

Img_2812

The EK Predator 360 -  an incredible product with the option to add in a GPU liquid cooled (review).  


GPU - GeForce GTX 980 Ti SLI | Radeon R9-295x2 | Radeon R9 Fury X CFX

A two or three-way Nvidia GTX 980 will help you create some of your personal best records and once overclocked, could set some new world records. Now a more hands-on approach would be to set-up your own custom liquid cooling but that requires time and patience... something that Megatron lacks.

 
 

Img_0259

GeForce GTX 980 (or Ti) SLI (review).  

 

We are not going to be brand specific here, but top dog cards come from MSI, Gigabyte, GALAX, Palit and ASUS. Mind you that if you go SLI (Review), the reference cards will be more noisy.
 

Img_9264-png

Thinking outside the box, did you even consider the dual-GPU Radeon R9 295x2 (Review)? It comes with its own liquid cooling AIO kit and is the equivalent of two 390X card in Crossfire yet with 4GB per GPU.


Obviously AMDs Radeon R9 Fury (X) in Crossfire will make a lot of sense as well, but 0-day game release wise with drivers, AMD has a bit of a disadvantage. Anyway, go with your brand preference.


Motherboard - ASUS X99 Rampage V Extreme | MSI X99S XPower AC

With a motherboard built for overclockers by overclockers, you get everything that you ever wanted in an awesome package. If you want to know more just read our articles on ASUS (Review) and MSI (Review).


Img_0083png

MSI X99S XPower AC (review)


System Memory (RAM) - DDR4 64 GB (8x 8 GB) @ 3,000 MHz

This is a complete overkill for RAM but Megatron needs all of that space to plot the next evil plan. However, Megatron's minions can opt for 32 GB or less, depending on how much "thinking" they are doing :P


Storage - A PCIe Based SSD | M.2 Based SSD

Both, the OCZ RevoDrive 350 (Review) and the GSKILL Phoneix Blade PCIe 480 GBs SSD (Review) has a 2 GB/s read and write performance, which ensures that no matter the file size, it will be loaded and ready to use before you can blink! Megatron's minions (depending on motherboard support) can settle for Samsung 950 Pro (Review) which uses the M.2 interface to deliever superfast performance at a resonable price. The catch is that the highest capacity is 512 GB, for now.


Img_9339

OCZ RevoDrive 350 (Review)

 
 

PSU - Corsair AX1500i

Megatron needs to be drunk on power so the best one out there is the Corsair AX1500i (Review) which provides 1,500 Watts with insane efficiency. it is probably the best PSU Guru3D.com has ever tested.


Summation

Due to the shear diversity in the PC components market, there isn't a one-size-fits-all system. This is something that we consider a strong point for the PC market as it drives competition which benefits end users like us. Thus, by using this guide's recommendations as your starting point, go forth and tweak it to fit your needs to get a system that is unique to you. If you want, you can share your build with us in our forums.

Hope you enjoyed reading this guide as much as we have while writing it :)

Share this content
Twitter Facebook Reddit WhatsApp Email Print