Hardware Building the most powerfull PC I can for gaming

[C-Kronos]

Get at least 3 GTX TITANs then I'll be moderately impressed >.> Honestly, you don't need the most expensive stuff or most powerful stuff on the market, when some cheaper stuff will max every game out and most games that are going to come out, and when taking the advancement of computer technology into consideration, it's probably best to hold off on such an expensive build and build with upgradability in mind so you can at least upgrade the GPU and such when needed.

Unless you're obscenely wealthy and your profession demands the most powerful rig you can get your hands on, just get what will do what you want for at least a few years then upgrade if you need to.. I've been playing everything I personally want on acceptable graphics settings (various tweaks of course) with an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 OC'd to 3.6 GHz, 4 GB of RAM, and a GTX 285.. Given that I mainly play Planetside 2, it isn't a big deal to me, but yeah. Whenever I care enough to build a new rig, I'll probably grab one of the best Intel CPUs at the time and a TITAN or whatever is considered one of the more badass GPUs that nVidia has to offer.

Note: To anyone wanting to make fun of my rig, well lulz to you. xD I'm just waiting for the release of nvidia GPUs to slow down a bit since ever since the 400 series came out, they've been making a new series of GPUs way too fast when compared to the days when having a 7900 or 8800 was considered acceptable. I still remember when the 9800 GTX+ was a badass GPU to have, then I upgraded to a GTX 260 then the 285, and it's worked for me ever since. Then again, I'm one of those guys and mainly enjoys older games when the exception of a few newer titles, but gameplay, story, features, etc beats graphics in my opinion any day.

I can still play games like Skyrim maxed out just fine, Sleeping Dogs, Civ5, Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, etc etc.

 

[Wisenheimer]

There are some basic rules I have followed when building PC's, things that I have learned through experience.

1) Don't skimp on warranties. A product with a lifetime warranty is usually a better bargain than a product with a 5 year warranty, which is better than a product with a 1 year warranty. This is especially true for things like power supplies that you might be keeping for 10 years or more. It is worth paying a little more for a company that will stand behind its product. That being said, true lifetime warranties on certain parts, like GPU's, are hard to come by these days.

2) Always have an idea of what the performance/price ratio is for a product and try to buy something near the top. For graphics cards, this is usually in the $100-300 range. Anything cheaper, and it becomes obsolete too quickly. Anything more expensive, and you get too little performance for your dollar. A good midrange card will usually run you less than $200 and you can throw it into SLI in a year or two for an extra $100 or so. It should also last you about 5 years without becoming too long in the tooth. On the other hand, a top of the line graphics card will run you about $600-5000 and you are still going to be looking to upgrade in 5-10 years. Unless you have some obsession about having the fastest thing out there, go for the high performance side of high value, not cutting edge.

3) Always WAIT for major new technologies that are just around the corner. If there is a major new technology such as a new CPU socket standard or a new RAM standard, it is best to just hold off for six months to a year. You don't want to get DDR3 when DDR4 is just around the corner. And, when you do get new tech (like DDR4), don't go crazy. Get what you need and wait for the price to fall before you upgrade. A single 8 GB chip of DDR4 might be enough to tide you over until you can pick them up for cheap in 24 months.

When it comes to stuff you can upgrade, like USB3, I don't see any point in waiting. But when it comes to stuff that is permanent, like processor sockets and RAM standards, waiting is always better.

 

[ILuvGames]

An i7-4770k can be had for around the same price (within a few pounds).