Further buying information
Peripherals
Monitors
We no longer sell monitors with our PC’s, it is not cost effective for us to do this when we can simply recommend you to go and buy a monitor from a major online retailer such as Amazon. Give us a call or send an email to ask for our advice on monitors suitable for your new PC. Generally we recommend at least 23″ – 34″ ultra-wide, 1ms response time, 1440p or 1080p, 120hz and DP (Display Port) connectivity. Check out the highly reviewed ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQ
Keyboards & Mice
As with monitors, it doesn’t make sense for us to sell these parts at an inflated price when our customers can go and buy them elsewhere and have them delivered in advance of their PC delivery. If you want a basic keyboard and mouse thrown in at no cost then just tell us in the additional notes, we of course want you to be able to fire up your PC on the day of delivery. Check out the ASUS TUF Gaming K1 RGB keyboard & mouse bundle
Speakers/Headphones/Headsets
As with other peripherals, we recommend you purchase these to arrive in advance of your PC delivery from another major retailer such as Amazon. Check out the Trust Gaming GTX 629 Tytan 2.1 speaker system
Streaming Cards
For most streaming requirements, a streaming expansion card is not required, you can simply stream/record your screen using OBS Studio software, however for more serious streamers you might want to consider the Elgato Stream Deck MK.2
Major Components
CPU (Processor)
In this Intel 12th and 13th Gen PC configurator there is a selection of the latest Intel 12 & 13th Generation CPU’s, from the 6-core i5-12400F to the 24-core i9-13900KS, we have you covered. For gaming we recommend the minimum Intel 12th Gen CPU you choose is the i5-12400F, the most popular choice is the 16-core i7-13700K and the choice for those with a larger budget seeking the best performance is the i9-13900K. We recommend the i9-13900KS special edition CPU, for those people who want the ultimate in Intel processing power right now without a budget restriction.
CPU Cooling
This is a complex subject and one we will cover in our blog in more detail, however, every CPU choice in our configurator will function with any of the CPU Coolers in our configurator. The reason you would select the entry-level Hyper 212 tower cooler over the top of the range 360mm AiO liquid cooler, will be down to budget constraints or the lack of understanding of how CPUs function. A CPU generates a lot of heat when in use, if we take the i5-12600K for example, this will draw around 180Watts of power when at around 100% duty, if you weren’t to have a cooler attached at all, then the CPU would reach a pre-determined maximum temperature and it would begin to thermal-throttle, this means it will reduce the performance and core speed as low as it can to keep the temperature below the maximum permitted or shut down immediately, this is normally around 100degrees celcius. If you fit the Hyper 212 EVO CPU cooler to the same i5-12600K, you will find that it will throttle performance but not by very much, whereas with the top-of-the-range 360mm AiO (yes 420mm are available but not enough of a gain to sacrifice case choice) the CPU will be able to easily perform to its maximum performance well below the maximum permitted temperature. Keep in mind that a CPU running at 90 degrees celcius is not a bad thing, it is a target essentially as the CPU will always aim to deliver the best performance first and at the lowest temperature, second.
Motherboard
In this Intel 14th Gen PC configurator, we give you a choice of three top motherboard manufacturers: ASUS, Gigabyte/AORUS and MSI. We also give you a choice of compatible chipsets, these are the B760 and Z790, complete with the LGA1700 socket to support the current generation of Intel 12th, 13th and 14th Generation CPUs. The B760 chipset is suitable for a wide range of applications from a basic home office PC up to a fully-fledged gaming rig, it supports the latest PCIe Gen 5.0 standard which will be included in the latest graphics cards and M.2 NVMe SSD storage drives, currently it is PCIe Gen 4.0 which this motherboard is backwards compatible with. The Z790 chipset will suit all applications and offer higher performance and features for serious gamers who demand the best and want tuning/overclocking capability, along with compatibility with PCIe Gen 5.0.
Memory (RAM)
We cautiously handpick RAM modules that we know to be reliable and stable with the Intel 14th gen platform, we now only offer DDR5, as we feel DDR4 is no longer relevant. Memory clock speeds have increased greatly, 5600MHz in the DDR5 is our most popular choice. Corsair Vengeance/Dominator modules are a great option, they are the best in our opinion closely followed by the XPG modules. The minumum capacity we offer is 16GB across two modules (please do not consider a single module, this is not how the CPU is designed, it is dual-channel), 32gb and 64gb is also available in our configurator and you can easily upgrade to 128gb in the future (or by contacting us first). 16GB is plenty enough for all games currently available to PC, 32GB allows you to run other applications in the background and better support multiple displays, 32GB is also better for Microsoft Flight Simulator, while 64GB is geared up more for video editing and professional workstation use, but can also be used for gaming.