I will building a new rig right before the launch of S42 in order to get the latest and greatest hardware and not miss out on the campaign launch... I assume I am not alone in this thinking! At the moment the date I have in mind is roughly mid 2015, however this may change as CIG reveal more.

I have not built a PC before and would say I'm 'adept' in my knowledge but no professional. My current plans are outlined below (will update based on feedback and as more info becomes available) – Note also I am in Australia so prices are higher than USA:


Overclocking: Very undecided on this point, some say only OC if you are happy to risk hardware… I am not. Some say new builds don’t need OC, others say OC is easy and worthwhile… please help me decide!

Display: This will be single 27" 1080p, but I plan on using the consumer Oculus Rift once that is available (so I want to be sure the PC will run OR effortlessly)


CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($419.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Note: I will update this to Skylake if available in time.

CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X31 69.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($85.00 @ CPL Online)
Note: I am not sure if this is needed if I decide not to OC, will I still need a normal heat sink?

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-GAMING 7 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($215.00 @ CPL Online)
Note: I know nothing about motherboards… feel free to suggest better ones for SC!

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($217.00 @ CPL Online)

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($269.00 @ CPL Online)
Note: I plan to run SC and core components of the SSD, I will have a normal hard drive for data.

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX Video Card ($479.00 @ CPL Online)
Note: Planning on updating this to the next gen when they come out (early 2015?)

Case: NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($158.00 @ CPL Online)

Power Supply: Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($189.00 @ CPL Online)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($115.00 @ CPL Online)
Note: I really hope Windows 10 is out and is actually worthwhile…

Total: $2146.00 (my aim is $1500-2000)