Theme

This build follows a striking black and white color aesthetics. In light of that, a number of part selection decisions were influenced in pursuit of this aesthetic, while impacting cost and performance as little as possible.

CPU and Cooler

The R7 1700 is an octo-core processor that utilizes AMD SMT technology for a total of sixteen threads. This model has the best price for performance of the R7 CPUs, and like the rest of the R7 CPUs, the 1700 is overclockable. To make the most of the overclockability, we're adding the Deepcool CAPTAIN 240EX WHITE 240mm liquid cooler, which will really let you push the CPU.

Motherboard

We're using a parametric selection of X370 ATX motherboards. This will allow for both SLI or Crossfire graphics card setups. If you only plan to use a single GPU, you may consider looking into B350 motherboards instead – both X370 and B350 support CPU overclocking. The parametric selection will actively choose the best-priced motherboard of the group. Additionally, they all have 4 DDR4 DIMM slots, 6-8 SATA ports, and PCIE/NVME capable m.2 slots. All of the selected motherboards have video outputs but these will only work with the upcoming Ryzen APUs as the R7 processors do not have onboard graphics.

Memory

For memory, we're filtering for the best-priced 2x8GB kit of DDR4 RAM with a heatsink. We've limited it to DDR4-2800 and DDR4-3000 as Ryzen CPUs scale well with higher frequency memory. At the current time, using memory rated over 3000mhz is not advised without doing extra research as DIMM support can be hit or miss. AMD is working on releasing additional BIOS updates to add better compatibility for higher frequency memory. Feel free to click the "From parametric filter" link to see the various options and pick a color that suits your part list.

Storage

We're also using a parametric filter that will actively select the best-priced SSD of roughly 500GB capacity. Additionally, we're including a 3TB mechanical hard drive in a parametric filter for things like storing media and extra games. Everyone's storage needs differs, so feel free to change the capacity to your heart's desire.

GPU

Our GPU is the very popular GeForce GTX 1080 Ti. This is currently one of the fastest single GPU video cards in the market - you may want to look into a 120-144Hz and/or 2560x1440 resolution monitor for this bad boy. The parametric filter is set for the best-priced 1080 Ti available, but feel free to click the "From parametric filter" link to browse our listing of 1080s Tis. For those interested in VR, the GTX 1080 Ti will have no problem playing any and and all applications currently on the market.

Case

All of our parts are housed in the gorgeous white and black Phanteks P400S Tempered Glass edition. This ATX mid tower case features a tempered glass window to show off the starkly contrasted black and white internals. Speaking of white internals, this case has white PSU shroud to hide any unsightly cables, and it conveniently matches our color scheme perfectly. It also features 2 USB 3.0 front panel ports, can fit pretty much any length video card, and has 2x 3.5" and 2x 2.5" bays.

You may also wish to check out the version of this case where the front is white and the PSU shroud is black.

PSU

Powering the build is a sparse selection of some of the most well-reviewed PSUs available - all without breaking the bank. All of them are certified 80+ Gold and fully-modular.

Intel Version

You can find the Intel version of our Enthusiast Gaming Guide here.