The Optimal Gaming PC for God of War: Ragnarök

AMD Ryzen 5 7500F is a six-core processor on the completely new Zen 4 microarchitecture, which is in fact one of the most affordable chips from the Raphael family. Unlike its predecessors, it is designed for the AMD AM5 hardware platform, works only with DDR5 standard RAM and supports the PCI-E 5.0 data bus. Well, its availability is justified by the use of the OEM version with the video card disabled.

The Ryzen 5 7500F chip is based on 6 physical cores of the Zen 4 series, which operate at a nominal frequency of 3.7 GHz and, if necessary, can be overclocked with a turbo boost to 5 GHz. Thanks to the transition to a new architecture, AMD engineers were also able to increase the volume of the third-level cache to 32 MB. The standard heat dissipation is declared at 65 W, but under a noticeable load, the chip heats up noticeably and requires more powerful cooling than the stock fan can offer.

One of the key features of the transition to the new architecture was a significant increase in specific performance per core. Depending on the type of load, the advantage over Ryzen 5 chips of previous generations is on average 25%, in some cases the gap can reach a more impressive 40%. And with due desire and good cooling, the Ryzen 5 7500F can be easily overclocked to the level of the older Ryzen 5 7600 model.

The Cougar MX600 RGB Full Tower case can be a very interesting choice for those who want to combine functionality and style in their gaming PC. The key feature of the case is the combination of RGB lighting and thoughtful ventilation, a simplified installation system and an impressive case capacity.

The standard configuration of the Cougar MX600 RGB case includes 4 pre-installed fans : three massive 140 mm fans are located behind the front panel, one smaller one is installed at the back, blowing on the components from the back. In total, there are 9 places for fans and 4 platforms for liquid cooling systems with a maximum length of up to 360 mm inside the case. Well, so that hot air does not linger inside the case for a long time, the front and top panels have a mesh design, and there is additional perforation on the rear panel and on the lower tier for the power supply.

The installation process is also simplified to the extreme: the top, front and side panels are removed independently, and the tempered glass viewing window is attached with magnets rather than screws. The front filter lifts up, and the rim for mounting the front fans can be removed and turned around, so that only the top cover needs to be unscrewed. At the same time, the motherboard tray will fit even large E-ATX variants, the video card length is practically unlimited (maximum 40 cm), and the maximum height of a tower cooler can reach 180 mm.

When it comes to a powerful graphics card for gaming, in most cases the recommendations will include either the regular GeForce RTX 4070 or its modifications with the Ti and SUPER prefixes. However, given that AMD recently introduced a new version of the FSR 3.1 upscaler with an improved frame generation system, in terms of price-performance ratio the Radeon RX 7800 XT now looks more attractive.

Like its green competitors, the Radeon RX 7800 XT has a solid performance reserve for 2K gaming, and is also suitable for 4K. Overall, its performance level matches the more expensive GeForce RTX 4070 Super, which also has 16 GB of memory, and the price is at the level of the base model of the GeForce RTX 4070 with 12 GB of memory. In fact, the Radeon model is inferior to its competitors only in terms of ray tracing, but this is a long-known problem for the red ones.

Regarding the specific model, the choice fell on a simpler variation of the Radeon RX 7800 XT in the Asus Dual version, which, despite the presence of two fans, does not overheat even under heavy load and is not particularly noisy in the process. It is also suitable for installation in old cases with power supplies without support for the ATX 3.0 standard. Plus, the Asus Radeon RX 7800 XT Dual OC turned out to be far from the most bulky (length 28 cm, thickness 2.5 slots) and will easily fit even in a small case.

Compact solid-state drives have long since moved from the "sci-fi" section to the "fiction" shelves, have overcome most of their growing pains, and have become significantly cheaper. Therefore, when assembling a modern gaming PC, there is no particular sense in saving on the storage capacity, and it is better to stock up on two TB instead of one. And it is not only about the price, the same new products from the Call Of Duty series, Baldur's Gate 3, Starfield and God Of War Ragnarok have taught us that 150 - 200 GB for a game is completely normal. Well, and among all the possible candidates for the title of the best SSD, our choice fell on the Kingston KC3000.

Despite its venerable age, the KC3000 has an unquestionable reputation and has not left the top positions in the bestseller lists for three years. In fact, it is almost an ideal example of how to make SSD drives on the PCI-E 4.0 bus: it uses 176-layer memory from Micron instead of 96-layer memory as a basis, the drive is operated by the proven Phison E18 controller, and the use of a full-fledged DRAM buffer allows it to feel like a fish in water when transferring large arrays of files.

In reality, the Kingston KC3000 confidently maintains the declared speeds of around 7000 MB/s under load, 2 GB of buffer memory allow copying large amounts of data back and forth without worrying about a decrease in performance, and thermal throttling monitors the SSD temperature and reduces the speed in case of overheating. Encryption of personal data and automatic TRIM cleaning are also implemented. As a result, the two-terabyte Kingston KC3000 can boast a solid rewriting resource of 1600 TB and a five-year warranty.

DDR5 RAM has become noticeably cheaper lately, which is good news. Therefore, when assembling gaming PCs with modern monitors, we would recommend not to skimp and instead of one 16 GB bar, immediately take a ready-made 32 GB kit, which will cover all questions regarding system requirements for years to come. Among the many interesting offers from Kingston, Patriot, Corsair, Team and G.Skill, we settled on the latter brand and their Ripjaws S5 kit.

By G.Skill standards, this is not a flagship RAM, but rather a universal product designed for inexpensive gaming systems and workstations without any overclocking (or with very little) and standard voltage. Despite the use of the simplest memory chips from Micron, the manufacturer guarantees full compatibility, high performance: 5600 MHz, CL36, 44800 MB/s, and stability when using motherboards with DDR5 and XMP 3.0 support. Theoretically, even the simplest board with a basic chipset of the AMD A620 level is enough.

At the same time, the Ripjaws S5 memory modules themselves look unusually neat, and the height of the bar together with the radiator does not exceed 33 mm, eliminating any possible conflicts with high tower coolers. Well, the cherry on the cake is the final price of 4000 with a tail hryvnia for 32 GB!

ARCTIC Freezer 36 is a surprisingly inexpensive but high-quality tower cooler with four heat pipes, two active fans and solid efficiency. The main audience for such products is ordinary gamers who are not satisfied with the silence or efficiency of inexpensive stock fans from Intel and AMD.

The key difference between the model and most competitors costing around 1000 hryvnia is two fans that provide high air flow and effective radiator cooling. The fans are equipped with hydrodynamic bearings, which help reduce noise levels and increase the durability of the device. These fans can operate in PWM mode in the range from 200 to 1800 rpm, allowing the user to find the optimal balance between processor heating and noise levels.

The tower cooler design provides easy and convenient installation thanks to a universal mounting system that supports only the most current processor sockets, including LGA 1700, AM4 and AM5. However, old-timers like LGA 1200 are not supported. At the same time, installing the tower does not require additional tools and takes a minimum amount of time.

The Gigabyte B650 EAGLE AX motherboard is a standard-size ATX platform from the Eagle gaming line, which Taiwanese manufacturer Gigabyte announced at the beginning of this decade. In terms of price, it belongs to the middle class, but in terms of equipment, it is ideal for both gaming and high-end work computer configurations using the latest generation of AMD components that support the AM5 socket and DDR5 memory.

Modern technological solutions and a high-quality 16-phase power system make it an ideal choice for gamers looking to build a powerful gaming PC aimed at AAA games of the future. In terms of price, quality and performance, the B650 EAGLE is one of the most attractive options for assemblies with gradually cheaper Ryzen 5 7500/Ryzen 5 7600 processors. Plus, as is typical for Gigabyte, the board is designed with an emphasis on increased reliability, which implies the use of dense textolite, heat-resistant capacitors, convenient EZ-Latch latches and support for Q-Flash Plus technology, which allows you to quickly update or restore firmware from a flash drive.

In terms of connectivity, everything is more or less expected for this price category: the board supports installation of up to four DDR5 RAM modules with a maximum speed of 7600 MHz and a total capacity of up to 192 GB. It also has three M.2 slots for fast NVMe SSDs (note: there are radiators!) and four SATA3 ports for connecting classic HDDs and SSDs. Despite the affordable price, the board is equipped with a module with support for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth v5.3. Thus, the Gigabyte B650 EAGLE AX is ready to solve problems of any complexity right out of the box. Except for extreme overclocking of flagship Ryzen processors, a board with a top-end chipset of the X670 level is better suited for these purposes.

In October 2023, Taiwanese manufacturer Asus introduced a new line of universal Prime power supplies, which will complement the Asus ROG and Asus TUF series. The manufacturer indicates that they are designed for those who want to build an advanced gaming system, but are not ready to overpay for elite high-power power supplies. In our case, the choice fell on a 750-watt model with a gold quality certificate and a solid efficiency of 92%, the power and performance of which is just enough to power a fairly powerful gaming system.

The ASUS ROG Strix is based on the Seasonic platform with large radiators for cooling power elements, heat-resistant Japanese capacitors and a proprietary 135 mm Axial-tech fan on a rolling bearing. The device is certified according to the ATX 3.0 standard and is compatible with video cards equipped with 12 + 4-pin 12VHPWR power connectors. In particular, we are talking about the GeForce RTX 4000 series GPU, the power consumption of which can be an incredible 600 watts. The maximum load on the 12-volt line is 744 watts.

Finally, it is worth noting the unusual approach to design - two halves of the case are painted white, and two sides are black, so the user can play with the choice of colors when placing the power supply at the bottom or top. At the same time, all unnecessary cables can be disconnected. To attract more attention, the manufacturer extended the warranty period to 8 years, although for the "gold" standard, 5 years of warranty are the norm. Unlike the Asus ROG series PSU, there is no backlighting here. But there are all the protective mechanisms on board, including protection against overvoltage, excess current and short circuit.