Recommended Custom Gaming Builds
October 2014 Budget Builds
If you need help choosing the right parts for your own cost-effective custom gaming PC build, our custom build examples are here to help. The painstaking research has been done for you and we have carefully selected the best bang for your buck components on the market right now to make up 4 builds in 4 different price ranges to suit any type of budget.
Each of the following custom build examples are capable of handling current games that can be demanding on your system. The builds continually stay updated each month to keep up with any notable changes in the fast changing PC hardware industry that would lead to better performance for the money. Also keep in mind that all the builds are customizable so you can mix and match parts to fit your particular needs and budget if you need to.
We recommend Amazon as the place to buy your parts because they tend to have the most competitive prices online and they are a very reliable place to buy from. Just keep in mind that the prices quoted below may change from day to day. So without further ado here are the builds, starting off with the Budget Gaming PC which will suit casual gamers and/or those on a tight budget:
Budget Gaming PC Build
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P
($70)
CPU
AMD FX-6300 6-Core
($100)
RAM
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz
($75)
Video Card
EVGA GeForce GTX 660 SuperClocked 2GB
($198)
Hard Drive
WD Blue 1 TB
($55)
Optical Drive
Asus 24x DVD Burner
($21)
Case
Rosewill Challenger ATX Mid Tower
($50)
Power Supply
Corsair Builder Series CX 500 Watt
($50)
Total Cost: $619 (USD)

October 2014 Budget Gaming Build
Budget Build Summary
This is a great example of a highly capable gaming computer build at a very affordable price. You will find it to be a strong enough build to take on any of the latest games quite well and it could easily outperform many pre-built computers in stores today that go for twice the price or even more.
Building your own system really is the only way to truly get the most bang for your buck. Ok, let's take a closer look at each component chosen for this particular build and why they made the cut. Remember you can either use this build exactly as is, or use it as a base for your own build and make modifications to suit your budget and needs.
The Components
Firstly there is the Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P Motherboard which is an excellent value board and has everything you need for a budget build. Paired up with the AMD FX-6300 Six Core Processor, which is arguably the best bang for your buck budget CPU for gaming right now, and you have an excellent affordable base for your build.
In our opinion AMD is the way to go for those on a tight budget to squeeze out the most performance for your money. Intel may hold the crown for the high end chips, but for those building a cheap gaming rig you can't go past AMD. The FX-6300 has an exceptional price to performance ratio so you really can't go wrong with it, and it's good enough to easily handle the latest games nice and smoothly.
The RAM/memory included for this build is the Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM simply because it is fast memory at a good price from a reputable company (Crucial is renown for producing quality memory). These days 8GB is the minimum amount of RAM we recommend you include in a gaming build. To be honest you could opt for 4GB instead and you wouldn't really notice a difference when it comes to gaming, but since RAM is so cheap you might as well go with 8GB from the get go so you won't have to upgrade later down the track.
Now to the graphics card which is the single most important component in any gaming rig (in other words if you have more to spend on a custom build, consider upgrading the graphics card first and foremost). The EVGA GeForce GTX 660 SuperClocked 2GB is your best bet right now for a card under $200 and is capable of playing even the most visually-demanding games quite well.
The suggested hard drive is the Western Digital Blue 1TB. 1 terabyte of storage is a huge amount and is more than enough for most people, and Western Digital have always been one of the most trusted brands for reliable drives.
It can be tough finding a cheap yet high quality case, but the Rosewill Challenger ATX Mid Tower fits the bill. It's excellent value at under 50 dollars and has everything you'd expect from a good quality case. It looks great, has plenty of room to work with, good built-in cooling, and fairly decent cable management. If you want to substitute for a different case that's fine, any standard size ATX case (mid-tower or larger) will work fine with the budget build's components, just be sure to check consumer and/or technical reviews to ensure it's worth your money and it has the features you require.
Next up is the often overlooked power supply and the Corsair Builder Series CX 500 Watt is a solid unit that will serve your build well. Corsair have a knack for producing reliable PSUs and this model is no exception. 500 watts is more than enough power for this particular build, and will also cover most typical upgrades that you may wish to make in the future.
Finally, there is the Asus 24x DVD Burner which is great for the price and does everything you would need it to do including reading and writing of many DVD and CD formats at good speeds.
So that makes up the core system for the budget gaming desktop build. All you need for a working system is a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and operating system software (our recommendations for these are at the bottom of this page). You may have noticed a dedicated sound card was not included for this build as the integrated audio provided by the motherboard is good enough to please most gamers.
Ok, let's now take a look at the mid range build which will appeal to those with a slightly larger budget for even faster gaming performance and longer lastability.
Mid-Range Gaming PC Build
Motherboard
Asus Z97-A
($140)
CPU
Intel Core i5-4690K
($236)
RAM
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz
($75)
Video Card
EVGA GeForce GTX 760 SuperClocked 2GB
($250)
Hard Drive
WD Blue 1 TB
($55)
Optical Drive
Asus 24x DVD Burner
($21)
Case
Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower
($72)
Power Supply
XFX 550 Watts
($62)
Total Cost: $911 (USD)

October 2014 Mid-Range Gaming Build
Mid-Range Build Summary
This build will take anything you throw at it with relative ease and you can expect it to play even the most demanding games on high-ultra settings. Just because it's named the 'mid range' build, doesn't mean it can't handle high end gaming. Let's take a closer look at the individual component choices.
The Components
The powerful Intel Core i5-4690K Quad-Core Processor is your best bet in terms of bang for your buck for a mid-range gaming CPU. It runs super fast at stock speeds, and you can easily overclock it to squeeze out even more performance if that's your thing. If you do plan on overclocking (only recommended for intermediate/advanced builders) you'll need to get your hands on an aftermarket CPU cooler such as the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
which is excellent value.
Next is the motherboard and we have chosen the Asus Z97-A which pairs up well with your Core i5 CPU and is very affordable allowing you to focus the majority of your money on what matters most (the processor and graphics of course). But don't be fooled by the price as it's still a top-quality reliable board and has all the features you would need including SLI support if you plan on adding another GeForce 760 video card at a later date for more visual grunt. Asus produce some of best value motherboards out there.
Now to the beast of a video card which is the EVGA GeForce GTX 760 SuperClocked 2GB. The 760 currently offers the best price to performance in the mid-range graphics card market. One of these cards is enough to tackle any of the latest games smoothly on high-ultra settings for a while to come.
The Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid Tower is another well-priced quality case to house your components. It has all the features you need, it's very sturdy and isn't cheaply built as the low price may suggest. Highly recommend for any budget/mid-range build. It's pretty much around the same price as the case included in the previous build, and either case will work just fine with the mid-range build and your choice simply comes down to personal preference as they are both great value cases.
Onto the power supply and this is where many first-time PC builders can go wrong by choosing a cheap, subpar quality unit which spells trouble. The XFX 550 Watt Power Supply is high quality and XFX are one of the very best when it comes to reliable power supplies. 550 watts of power is more than enough for this build also taking into account any common upgrades you may wish to make in the future.
The RAM, hard drive, and optical drive are the same as in the previous build as they are solid picks at good prices. Once again, these are all the core parts you need to make up your actual PC tower, but for a new working build you will also need a monitor, mouse, keyboard, and operating system software. Our own recommendations for these parts can be found at the bottom of this page.
The High-End Gaming Builds
If you have the money to spend on a killer high end machine, take a look at our high end build suggestions for this month. Once again all the parts are carefully selected with maximum gaming performance in mind.
These builds will tear through any game even on ultra settings and super high resolutions, and they'll also obviously have longer lastability allowing you to enjoy flawless gaming for years to come without needing to upgrade. Take a look at the current high end builds for yourself:
October 2014 High-End Gaming Computer Builds.

The October 2014 High-End Gaming Builds
Operating System Software
For a new working build you will also need some operating system software and we recommend either Windows 7 or the recently released Windows 8. Either will work fine with your build and choosing between the two basically comes down to personal preference.
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
($100)
Windows 8 64-Bit
($100)
Recommended Gaming Peripherals
If you're on a tight budget for your build it would be a good idea if you can reuse old peripherals and accessories if you can. But if you plan on getting these parts new here are our current top recommendations in various price ranges for the best value mice, keyboards, speakers, headsets, and monitors.
Best Gaming Mice
E-3lue Mazer Type-R Gaming Mouse
($17)
Anker Programmable Laser Gaming Mouse
($30)
Logitech G400s Gaming Mouse
($60)
Logitech G500s Gaming Mouse
($70)
Best Gaming Keyboards
Inland USB Gaming Keyboard
($18)
Logitech G510s Gaming Keyboard
($85)
Logitech G19s Gaming Keyboard
($163)
Best Gaming Speakers
Logitech Z313 Speaker System
($40)
Logitech Z623 Speaker System
($110)
Corsair Gaming Audio Series SP2500
($230)
Best Gaming Headsets
Plantronics GameCom 380 Gaming Headset
($50)
Logitech G430 Gaming Headset
($80)
Corsair Vengeance 2100 Gaming Headset
($130)
Best Gaming Monitors
ViewSonic VA2246M-LED 22-Inch LED Monitor
($130)
Asus VS248H-P 24-Inch LED Monitor
($170)
ViewSonic VX2703MH-LED 27-Inch LED Monitor
($250)
Putting Your Build Together
If you are building your very first PC you can feel safe that these days it's actually very easy to do and in most cases you don't need any prior experience. The instructions that you receive with the actual components is enough for the majority of first-time builders, and installing each component is a straightforward process.
Basically, if you can build Lego, you can build a computer. If you get stuck check out our installation guides for a helping hand. Good luck with your shiny new gaming machine and long live PC gaming!