Although Diablo III does not really demand any sort of bleeding-edge PC specification, its release earlier this month has rallied gamers not just in the US, but all around the world to computer boutiques and assemble the best PC's that their money can buy. And with this emerges the endless debate as to what gaming PC setup is the best. If you are confused as to what kind of setup you should go for or if you are looking for supporting arguments or opinions for the setup that you have in mind, then you are at the right place.
First of all this setup does not consider budget, so it may not be for everybody. But if you've got a need for speed, this build is sure to satisfy.
The Processor
For the processor, I would strongly recommend getting the Intel i5 2500k. For many gamers, this is the prime choice, and the same goes for me. Why? Compared to the newer i7, $80 is not reasonable for a 100 MHz clockspeed difference. Sure I said that this build is not concerned with the price, but going for the i7 is unreasonable if you are building a gaming build. 100 MHz is negligible and the only real advantage that i7 has is hyperthreading, which games do not utilize.
Graphics Processor
Together with the debate about which PC setup is the best is the debate as to which graphics processor is the best. Currently the battle is being fought by the two graphics processor giants, as it always was, NVidia and AMD. On one side is the NVidia GeForce GTX 680 while on the other is AMD Radeon HD 7970. Generally, GeForce GTX 680's Kepler architecture's boost clockspeed gives it an edge against Radeon HD 7970 with the exception of Metro and Crysis 2 in 2560x1600. However, when switched to 1080p, GTX 680 gets another lead in terms of frame rate. Since you will be using 1080p resolution most of the time, NVidia's GeForce GTX 680 is the best choice.
Motherboard
Since we are done with the processor and the GPU, it is time to proceed to the motherboard. Our main components are already predetermined so our selection of motherboard has already been greatly narrowed down. All we have to consider is what features we are looking for in a motherboard. The answer is simple; we are looking for one that will allow us to pack the most power in a given space. With this criterion, I select ASUS LGA 1155-Z68 P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3. The main reason I have chosen this motherboard is its dual PCIe slot and NVidia quad-core based GPU SLI support. This means we can pack some punch into this mean monster by combining two NVidia GeForce GTX 680's. Aside from this, ASUS LGA 1155-Z68 P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 also throws in some bonus features like,
-16-Phase Power Digital power phase
-1 x Gb LAN featuring the latest Intel chipset
-Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR
-4 x USB 3.0
-BT GO
-UEFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) BIOS
Internet Connection
With most competitive games being online, you'll surely want the best internet connection available. So far, Verizon FiOS offers the best with 150/34 Mbps (downspeed/upspeed). This can be quite costly like all of the parts you'll need. However, discounts by
Fly Guy can do something about this.
After selecting the main components, the rest of the setup is easy as you will just have to pack as much 2GB RAM and SSD memory that your money can handle (don't forget the cooling system). Overall, the setup should look something like this:
-Intel i5 2500k processor
-NVidia GeForce GTX 680 GPU (x2)
-ASUS LGA 1155-Z68 P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 motherboard
-2 GB RAM (x4)
-100 GB SSD (proper partitioning required to utilize; the more the better)
-1 TB HDD
-Any XL CPU case with decent cooling system
-Verizon FiOS Internet 150/35 Mbps
