Nvidia’s Ampere release presentation on 1^st September sent hype levels stratospheric. Not only are they releasing the RTX 3070 at just $499 whilst claiming that it out-performs the $1200 RTX 2080 Ti, but they previewed their new fastest ever GPU.

Cheekily codenamed the ‘BFGPU’ the RTX 3090 is the absolute new king of the hill. Sporting 24GB VRAM and 10496 shader cores, there will be nothing that can touch this graphics card. Indeed ‘graphics card’ doesn’t really do it justice: This is a supercomputer on a PCIe slot, and creative industries and researchers will find it unrivalled in generating 3D effects, machine learning and computational power. That said Nvidia was happy to demonstrate it to a clutch of streamers showing 8K gameplay. This is a GPU which can leverage advanced AI technologies such as ‘DLSS’ to render game footage at incredible detail without harming frame rates. Be under no illusions, if you want the best and have $1499 to spare this GPU will set the gold standard in graphics performance for the foreseeable future.

To take advantage of this GPU you’ll need an absolutely top-flight PC with no weaknesses. You’ll also need a high-performance 4K monitor to put the power of this GPU on display. In this article, we’ll demonstrate PremiumBuild’s Ultimate RTX 3090 Intel-based Gaming PC for 2021

Best Intel RTX 3090 Gaming Build – The Parts List

CPU

The Intel Core i9-10900K CPU reigns supreme at present with gaming performance that bests anything AMD Zen 2 has to offer. It’s a 10-core part with hyperthreading making it an excellent all-rounder. Whether you’re looking to stream, multi-task or produce videos this CPU has your workload covered. It uses Intel’s ‘Thermal Velocity Boost’ algorithms to push clock speeds as high as 5.3GHz where temperature and power supply allows. With the RTX 3090 capable of extremely high frame rates even at 4K you’ll want the best possible CPU to underpin your system’s performance and as of now, the i9-10900K is it.

CPU Cooler

The i9-10900K is a notoriously power-hungry chip and all; that energy needs to be dissipated by your cooler. That’s why we’ve opted for a 360 MM AIO with the Asus ROG STRIX LC 360 RGB. This closed-loop cooler uses a pump, liquid coolant and a large radiator to carry heat away from the CPU. The ASUS ROG branded pump head matches the motherboard whilst the RGB fans can be controlled via Aura sync, Asus’s control software. With a huge surface area and three fans there’s ample cooling capacity and noise can be kept to a minimum. This is a simple to fit and highly capable cooler in keeping with the theme of the overall PC build.

Motherboard

The motherboard forms the core of the system and the i9-10900K warrants a premium option. The Asus ROG Maximus XII Hero is a Z490-chipset board packed full of features. It has one of the most robust voltage delivery systems available meaning you’ll be able to run your CPU at full capacity without worrying about the thermal impact on your components. This takes the form of a 14+2 phase power stage utilising 60Amp FETs for huge power capacity.  There’s a host of overclocking features including on board reset and power switches, debugging code display, and dual EPS connectors to supply power to the CPU. It has three M.2 slots and a host of connectivity options including Dual LAN (1Gb and 5Gb) and Wifi 6 and Bluetooth, as well as the usual adornment of the various specification of USB ports. The audio solution is very high end using the S1220 codec chip and ROG Supreme FX 7.1 sound. Aesthetically the board is on point with M.2 drive covers and a slick discreet anodised finish and a prominent ROG logo. This board gives you all the functionality and connectivity you need to allow the rest of the components shine.

RAM

We’ll admit to a slight weakness for a stack of four sticks of RAM with synchronised RGB: G.Skill Trident Z DDR4 3200Mhz Cl16 ram is Asus AuraSync-compatible and has addressable RGB to really set the build off. It has high speeds enabled via an XMP profile, and importantly it is validated on ASUS’s motherboard compatibility list so you’re ensured to run at rated speeds. Intel doesn’t gain significant performance benefits from faster ram and since prices increase greatly for 32Gb ram at faster timings, this is component where we’re balancing price with performance and looks.

Storage

A premium gaming rig deserves top-end storage but we’re not just specifying the most expensive option here: The Adata SX8200 Pro is a very well regarded SSD with speeds indistinguishable from the more expensive offerings like the Samsung 970 Evo. PCIe 4.0 doesn’t carry benefits to gaming (at least not any that outweigh the benefit of higher core speeds on an intel CPU) and so this drive hits the sweet spot of 2 TB of very high-performance NVME SSD space. All your games can be ‘on the fast drive’ for reduced loading times and stutter-free streaming of textures and data in the game world.

Case

The case defines the outwards look of your PC and for this build, we’ve opted for something showy. InWin has a long history of ‘out there’ PC cases including their yearly works of art, PC cases costing thousands, at E3. We haven’t pushed things quite this far here: the InWin 925 is a relatively conventional mid-ATX tower but uses lush 4mm brushed aluminium and thick tempered glass to define its robust industrial look. It supports multiple cooling options with routing and radiator configurations aplenty, and this cooling flexibility means you’ll have no issues keeping the GPU and CPU cool. You can vertically mount your GPU – although we’d only recommend that if you use a custom water block to keep it cool as it can stifle airflow to the GPU. It’ll hold GPU’s up to 420mm long and has 8 PCIe slot depth, so you have absolutely no worries about even the monstrous RTX 3090 fitting inside. Even the RGB Inwin logo is Asus Aura Sync compatible meaning there’s no additional bloatware just to control and integrate your RGB lighting. Fear not, if this case isn’t up your street you can select any full tower ATX case that you prefer, but do pay close attention to the dimensions for the graphics card and it’s cooling capability. Those are the two features that lead us to recommend this case from InWin. 

Power Supply

For this build we’re pairing one of the most power-hungry CPU’s currently available alongside the most powerful GPU available. The PSU needs to be up to task. The BeQuiet StraightPower 11 is a Platinum-rated PSU with 1000W output capability. It’s fully modular so that you can specify custom cables to really make the build stand out. This PSU has six PCIe power connectors so there will be no issues feeding the RTX 3090’s 350W TDP, and of course, being a BeQuiet it uses a quiet 135mm fan for minimal noise output. Construction uses all Japanese 105C rated capacitors and DC-DC conversion for maximum stability and efficiency. This is a PSU that offers the performance and stability that the highest end components demand and you can be confident it’ll power your whole system with ease. 

Monitor

Finally, we come to the monitor: The RTX 3090 is nothing without a display to show off its unrivalled abilities. This is a GPU capable of 4K output at high FPS and few monitors are equipped to display that. The Acer Predator X27 stands out as the best of them. This 27” 4K panel has a 144Hz refresh rate and G-Sync to match up the monitor refresh to the GPU frames output rate. The IPS panel is bright with vibrant colours and has fast response rates. It’s HDR-enabled and shows one of the best implementations of this technology currently available using 384 backlight zones to brighten and dim the image locally where required. Ultimately when you’re looking for a 4K 144Hz monitor there are very few options capable of displaying the RTX 3090’s capabilities in all their glory: The Acer Predator X27 is the best of them.

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Intel has once again established their position at the top of the performance tree. The Core i9-10900K is a 10 core CPU with exceptional gaming performance and solid productivity capability. To get the most out of it you need to pair it with high-quality RAM. In this article, I’ll describe the attributes of RAM that make a meaningful difference to your PC’s performance and run you through our selections of the best ram for a number of common scenarios. 

RAM – Configuration and speeds for optimal performance

RAM is the temporary working space where your PC holds data as it’s being accessed by your CPU – any ‘live’ program will be held in RAM as it’s the lowest latency and highest bandwidth memory space available to your CPU. A number of characteristics dictate exactly how responsive RAM is to request for access by the CPU and these can dramatically improve your PC’s performance. Capacity is key and you’ll need enough RAM to complete the tasks you’re envisaging using your PC for. If you are strictly gaming then 16Gb is adequate although some demanding games and simulators do benefit from 32Gb. For video and music production 32Gb should be considered a minimum although big projects and high resolutions will use 64Gb. Finally, if you have a specialist usage case such as scientific modelling, machine learning or other highly data-intensive applications you may find that a full 128Gb is necessary.  The i9-10900K has a dual-channel memory controller meaning that in all cases you require a matched pair or matched set of four RAM sticks to obtain optimum performance. In this configuration, the CPU memory controller can access each stick via a parallel memory channel and this dramatically increases bandwidth over a single stick and single-channel configuration. 

The features that deserve most attention are: Frequency and CAS latencies. 

Frequency is the clock frequency that the RAM is rated to run at. DDR ram means ‘Double Data Rate’ and RAM of this type can be accessed on the rise and fall of the clock cycle – the faster the frequency the quicker the next read or write widow comes around, and the lower the access time. It’s worth noting that some diagnostic tools report the base frequency of RAM, but it’s always marketed using the doubled ‘DDR’ frequency. Ram rated at 3200MHz will, in fact, have a 1600MHz base frequency, accessible twice in each cycle.

CAS latency is a rating in clock cycles that indicates the time to response of a request to the RAM. There are a number of different requests that a CPU memory controller will make of the RAM, to move data, read, write and clear memory. The CAS latency ratings give an indication of the overall responsiveness of the RAM and lower numbers are better. 

By combining these two characteristics, how often the RAM can be accessed and how quickly it responds to requests, we arrive at ‘First Word Latency’. This is a value in nanoseconds of how quickly after a request is made the ‘first byte’ of information arrives at the CPU and can be used for a calculation. The memory controller requests information in order from most to least critical so that the CPU gets to work as soon as possible. A lower first-word latency means more CPU time spent calculating, and less time waiting for input. 

How does this information help you in your search for RAM? The questions you need to ask yourself are: How much capacity will I need, what performance am I looking for, and what other features do I want it to have?

In all cases for the i9-10900k, we’ve opted for at least 32Gb of RAM. It makes no sense to buy the top tier Intel CPU but limit its versatility through inadequate RAM capacity and 32Gb is adequate for a wide variety of tasks. Whilst speeds are important it’s not worth paying over the odds for the highest speed RAM unless you’re an enthusiast overclocker: You won’t see any performance benefit worth the increased cost beyond speeds of 3600MHz CAS 16. For that reason, in most cases, we’ve chosen 3200MHz speeds with CAS latencies of 16 or lower to ensure good performance without spending excessively. Here are our RAM recommendations by usage case for the i9-10900K.

Best RAM for Intel Core i9-10900K Builds – Our Recommendations

Award	Design	Model
Best RAM for i9-10900K Gaming PC Builds		Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16
Best RGB RAM for i9-10900K Builds		G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16
Best RAM for i9-10900K Show Builds		G.Skill Trident Z Royal 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16
Best RAM for i9-10900K Extreme Overclocking Builds		Kingston Hyper X 16Gb DDR4-4800 CL19
Best 64GB RAM for i9-10900K Productivity Builds		Kingston HyperX Fury 64Gb (4 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16
Best 128GB RAM for i9-10900K High Capacity Builds		G.Skill Ripjaws V 128Gb (4x32Gb) DDR4-3200 CL16

Best RAM for i9-10900K Gaming PC Builds

Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory

If you’re on the lookout for RAM for a gaming build Corsair have you covered. This kit includes RGB with an attractive heat spreader design. Speeds of 3200MHz and CL16 latency mean fantastic performance can be obtained by the embedded XMP profile. It will integrate using Corsairs iCue software for integrated lighting effects across any other Corsair RGB peripherals including fans and lighting strips but it’s also compatible with MSI, Gigabyte and Asus RGB software so you can minimise the number of applications you need to control your lighting. 32Gb of memory is ample for all current games even if you mod them heavily or if you’re streaming and using background applications such as OBS or Discord.

Best RGB RAM for i9-10900K Builds

RGB – G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory

RGB ram adds an attractive glow to your ranks of memory and the ideal configuration for looks is to fill all four slots with RAM sticks with addressable RGB. This kit from G.Skill has fast 3200MHz speeds and low CAS Latency of 16. It can be controlled from all the main motherboard manufacturers lighting software – Asus Aura Sync, Gigabyte RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Sync and ASRock Polychrome sync. This gives you a free choice of compatible motherboards and prevents you from having to install additional proprietary software just to control your RGB. G.Skill have an established position with the result that their ram appears widely on QVL lists meaning compatibility at the rated speeds across a wide range of motherboards is assured.

Best RAM for i9-10900K Show Builds

G.Skill Trident Z Royal 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory

If you want the showiest of RAM for a feature build then you need to check out the G.Skill Trident Z Royal line up. G.Skill have looked to all things bling for its latest heat spreader design and these RAM kits wouldn’t look out of place in a Rodeo Drive jewellers.  It is available with gold or silver heat spreaders so you can match it to water loop fittings, motherboard heat sinks or any other highlight themes in your build. The RGB light spreaders have an attractive crystalline pattern which set off the lighting effects very well. It’s available in a range of speeds from 2666MHz to 4800MHz depending on your goals and budget but for the maximum show, the 4 stick kit of 3200MHz ram is an excellent choice and has the go-to match the show.

Best RAM for i9-10900K Extreme Overclocking Builds

Kingston Hyper X 16Gb 4800MHz CL19 Memory

If you’re looking for the ultimate performance from your RAM then this outrageous kit from Kingston should be high on your list. It appears on the Qualified Vendor Lists (QVL) of premium overclocking Z490 motherboards the Gigabyte Aorus Elite and the MSI MEG ACE. A pair of 8Gb single rank DIMMs place the least strain on the CPU memory controller enabling you to push the boundaries of overclocking speeds. Rated at a sky-high 4800MHz with CL19 CAS latency, it’s amongst the fastest performance you can buy with an ‘XMP’ profile making a one-click overclock possible. These speeds require 1.5V, at the normal 1.35V standard you will still obtain 4000MHz CL19 speeds. The only problem? The price. As is always the case if you’re looking for the highest performance you’re competing against enthusiasts with deep pockets to pursue their hobby: You’ll be paying around $500 for this RAM kit.

Best 64GB RAM for i9-10900K Productivity Builds

Kingston HyperX Fury 64Gb (4×16 Gb) DDR4 3200MHz CL16 Memory

If you’re looking at the Intel i9-10900K for use in a productivity build, a 64Gb RAM kit may well be justified. Task such as video editing, music production, compiling code, CAD work or 3D rendering can all utilise this capacity. The low key looks of this RAM kit will blend well into a workstation PC whilst good speed of 3200MHz and CL16 ensure you’re getting excellent performance. Single rank 16Gb DIMM kits places less load on the CPU memory controller meaning more stable and higher speed operation, vs 32Gb Dual rank kits. The no-frills nature of the kit gets you maximum value for money letting you focus your budget on other important components of the PC.

Best 128GB RAM for i9-10900K High Capacity Builds

G.Skill 128Gb (4x32Gb) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory

If you’re a power user who needs to maximise the RAM capacity of their PC this kit is the most cost-effective way to get 128Gb RAM on an Intel 10^th gen platform. The kit uses a matched quartet of 32Gb G.Skill 3200MHz sticks and will fully populate the 4 slots on any Z490 chipset board: If you need more RAM than this you’ll be raising a purchase order for an Intel or Ryzen HEDT system and spending thousands more on the system as a whole. The 3200Mhz speed and timings are good but it is worth noting that controlling 4 dual-rank DIMMs places a heavy load on the CPU memory controller. For that reason, it’s sensible to remain conservative with speeds for the sake of stability and reliability. G.Skill back this kit with a lifetime warranty so your investment is secure if you do encounter any issues although that’s exceedingly unlikely. 

I hope this article has given you the guidance to choose the RAM to pair with your i9-10900K to give you the optimal solution for your PC build.

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Intel has risen to the challenge of AMD’s onslaught on the CPU market. They have long since boasted of producing the ‘best gaming CPUs’ and so the new flagship CPU, the i9-10900K, pulls out all the stops to retain that accolade. This CPU has 10 cores and 20 threads with hyperthreading enabled. It boasts new technologies in the form of Thermal Velocity Boost and Turbo Boost Max 3.0 to enable peak core speeds of 5.3Ghz. Turbo Boost max acts to identify the highest quality cores in your CPU and ensure they are utilised in the most demanding tasks. On top of this ‘Thermal Velocity Boost’ acts to add 100mhz clock speed boost where the CPU temperature is under 70C and power delivery allows it. Intel is still stuck on the now ageing 14nm ‘core’ architecture so it takes this kind of optimisation to eke out their advantage – similar technologies have been deployed by AMD in the form of Precision Boost Overdrive and eXtreme Frequency Range to ensure that the end-user gets the best out of their CPU with minimal effort. 

There is a downside to forcing a 10-core CPU on a 14nm architecture to run this fast and that’s power draw and consequently heat: This is not an efficient CPU. Whilst it’s listed as 125 Watt thermal power design that refers to the continuous power load. When conditions demand it, different power limits are defined by intel and implemented by the motherboard manufacturers, and of course, if you’re an enthusiast overclocker you can throw those limits in the trash and draw as much as you want. The CPU will happily draw 180W in the high demand ‘PL2’ state, whilst if you’re looking for an all-core overclock approaching 5.3Ghz then testing indicates the CPU alone can draw well over 300W in total. Those are huge numbers and indicate the need for an excellent cooling solution as well as a motherboard and Power Supply with capacious power delivery limits. Indeed looking at the high-end motherboard options in the compatible Z490 chipset it’s evident that the manufacturers have heeded the demands of this generation of Intel CPUs. You’ll see them adorned with power stages that wouldn’t be out of place in a power grid distribution facility with ranks of 14 and 16-phase voltage regulation MOSFETs with up to 90 amp capacity. 

So what does this mean for our build? Well, to obtain the maximum benefit from this class-leading CPU, we’ll need to ensure that cooling and power delivery are up to scratch. We’ll also need a class-leading GPU to ensure that we’re generating as many frames as possible with current technology, and supporting parts that demonstrate the current cutting edge of technology and leave the CPU free to perform optimally. 

So let’s take a look at the PremiumBuilds ultimate i9-10900K gaming & productivity build, showcasing the best parts currently on offer and maximising the potential of this class-defining CPU.

10900K Liquid Cooled All-Rounder Build

Component	Selection	Design	Price
CPU	Intel Core i9-10900K		$529
CPU Cooler	EVGA CLC 360		$142
Motherboard	MSI MEG Z490 ACE		$389
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-4000 CL18		$552
Storage	ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 2TB NVMe SSD		$259
Graphics Card	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming		$1575
PC Case	Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic		$150
Power Supply	Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 PE 850W 80+ Gold		$160
		Total	$3756

Motherboard

As outlined above the motherboard is critical to unlocking the performance of the i9 CPU. This high-end offering from MSI, the MEG Z490 Ace, straddles the line between extreme overclocking and all-round enthusiast performance. The power stages are a best in class 16 phase 90 AMP set up ensuring the CPU never wants for clean voltage, whilst MSI’s heritage boasts of extreme memory overclocking results. It has an understated and classy aesthetic, with heavy heatsinking and a bracing backplate strengthening the board. I/O is good, with dual 2.5G LAN and Intel Gigabit LAN and Wifi 6 integrated to the board as well as a host of high-speed USB connectivity and 3 M.2 slots of which we will populate just one: that makes future upgrades easy. A high current CPU pump header, CPU fan header, and 6 additional PWM chassis fan headers give the full control over the cooling solution.

CPU Cooler

The i9-10900K needs a top tier cooling solution to deal with its prodigious heat output: here we’ve taken advantage of the 360mm radiator capacity of the Lian-Li case to fit the EVGA CLC 360 all in one cooler. Three fans provide a 75 cubic feet/minute throughput to pull heat out of the coolant and keep the CPU performing at its best, and testing shows the EVGA CLC 360 performing equal to or better than counterparts like the Corsair H115i and NZXT X72. The neat branding matches the GPU and RGB helps set the look of this build. The fans can be swapped for RGB fans if desired, depending on if you want to turn the Lian Li Case into an RGB showcase or keep it discreet and functional.

RAM

For a high-end gaming system capable of streaming, gaming, and productivity work, 32Gb RAM ensures this all-rounder 10900K build can tackle it all. We’ve opted for 4 matched sticks of G.Skill Trident Z RAM with RGB to really highlight the build. This kit uses SK Hynix produced RAM and is listed on the QVL compatibility chart of the MSI Z490 MEG Ace motherboard meaning it’s guaranteed to run at the rated speeds, and enabling the overclock is no more trouble than selecting the XMP profile in BIOS and the motherboard handles the rest.

Storage

For storage we’ve opted for one f the eager competitors to Samsung’s throne: The Adata SX8200 Pro 2TB is a high-performance NVME drive using PCIe x4 lanes for read speeds in excess of 3,000Mb/s. The Silicon Motion SM2262EN 8-channel controller handles all tests with ease and despite the attractive pricing this drive performs alongside the very best available. The use of TLC nand means there’s no concern over longevity: This drive has a 1,280 Terabyte write endurance and a 5-year warranty. 2Tb gives ample space for the Operating system, day to day programmes, and a host of AAA titles to show the systems full potential.

Graphics Card

When you’ve opted for the highest performing gaming CPU available, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. the only other component holding you back is your choice of GPU: This is still the component that makes the most impact on gaming performance. For that reason, we’ve brought out the big guns: the EVGA RTX 2080ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming.

With SLI officially dead in the water circa 2020, a single top tier GPU is the path to gaming bliss. This GPU uses the Turing TU102 GPU die with an unrivalled 4352 CUDA cores acting in parallel to provide the most rendering performance ever packed into a consumer graphics card, whilst opting for the FTW3 gets you a binned GPU that will hit a higher overclock. Whilst EVGA state that the boost clock is 1755Mhz on this card, that’s conservative: We’ll place money on you not being able to find an FTW3 card that won’t hold 2Ghz stable with an OC Scanner derived overclock curve. EVGA uses a gigantic 3 -slot, 3-fan cooler to keep this GPU cool (and like the CPU it can pull over 300W when overclocked) whilst ICX technology carefully manages fan speeds to ensure it never sounds unruly.

This aftermarket RTX 2080 Ti card is backed by an industry-leading 3-year warranty, extendable to 5, meaning you can enjoy this GPUs’ power for years to come. It’s also part of EVGA’s ‘step up’ programme, so if they release a superior GPU within 90 days you can part-exchange this card against whatever is waiting in the wings. That peace of mind means you can get to gaming right away and still own cutting edge technology as soon as it’s released.

PC Case

The Lian Li O11 Dynamic is fast becoming the favourite high-end PC case of the discerning builder. Few cases can boast a layout as well thought out as this: The PSU sits behind the motherboard in a separate compartment whilst the Motherboard and components sit in a glass houses showcase. A 360mm Radiator mount point acts as a partition between the halves, ensuring that exhaust air is carried directly away from the GPU and CPU. Cable management is a dream with an entire compartment to work within, whilst fan and radiator options are multitudinous: You can use AIO radiators as we have here, build full custom loops with discreet radiators for CPU and GPU, in short, let your mind run free with innovative cooling options to support whatever components and overclocking regime you choose.

If you happen to exceed the capacity of one PSU, there’s space for a second meaning you can feed GPU’s and CPU from separate power sources if you desire. The front panel boasts a USB 3.1 Type C connection and the case benefits from dust filters throughout, to keep that impressive interior clean. The case is built from steel with brushed aluminium accents to complete the premium look. Given its unrivalled specification, it’s clear to see why this case is so popular with those building high-end systems.

Power Supply

The PSU market has suffered more turmoil than almost any other over the last 6 months, making choosing a PSU harder than ever. Many of the industry stalwarts are out of stock or selling at hyper-inflated prices, but that doesn’t mean you can’t build your PC: There’s plenty of excellent options so long as you’re prepared to step away from the usual suspects. For this 10900K, build we’ve selected the Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 850W. This is a Gold efficiency rated fully modular power supply with specifications that match those from the likes of Corsair, EVGA and Seasonic, but it has the advantage that’ it’s actually available for purchase. It operates in zero fan mode for silence at idle but exhibits clean and consistent power delivery even under extreme load. The 850W rated output provides ample headroom for our 300W a piece CPU and GPU combination. The unit is backed with a 10-year warranty to give peace of mind.

Monitor Recommendations

The system we’ve created is capable of driving modern games to very high framerates whilst generating gorgeous visuals. To do it justice you need a worthy monitor. We’re proposing two options depending on your preference: 1440p 16:9 or else 1440p 21:9 ultrawide.

27” WQHD: ASUS ROG Swift PG279QZ 

The ROG Swift PG279QZ is the update to the hugely popular PG279Q. This 27” 1440p 165hz monitor has an IPS panel for the best balance of colour vibrance and response times, whilst G-Sync ensures that you’re getting the very best adaptive sync technology to match frame rates to the panels refresh rate. Reviews highlight excellent panel quality and low input lag. The resolution is well within the GPU’s capability to drive it to high refresh rates, giving you the competitive advantage in online gaming.

34” Ultrawide: LG 34GK950F-B

Meanwhile, if you want a more immersive experience with a curved ultrawide monitor, the LG 34GK950F-B has your needs met. This 21:9 aspect display won’t reach the heady refresh rate highs of a 16:9 monitor, but does offer more workspace for productivity and works fantastically well with AAA titles and sim games with the additional screen space filling your peripheral vision. A 144hz refresh rate pairs with Freesync 2 technology (now compatible with the Nvidia GPU) to smooth out framerates and deliver a stutter-free gaming experience.

So, in this article, we hope that we’ve demonstrated a cost-effective and very high-performance gaming PC build that will allow you to get the most out of Intel’s new flagship gaming CPU, the i9-10900K.

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So you’ve decided to get the newly released Intel Core i7 10700K CPU which is both cheaper and faster than the previous flagship, the Intel Core i9 9900K; they did a good job optimizing the 10700K’s thermals, power consumption and overclocking headroom even if it’s on an old 14nm process. Besides the usual CPU cooler debate and other parts for the build, we still need to have the talk of what GPU to pair it with and that’s more complicated than you think. If you have a limited budget and want to get the best GPU for you, we need to carefully consider what you’ll be using your system for.

Do you want to exclusively game on your PC? If yes, at what resolutions and refresh rates? Do you want a productivity build that will tear through 3D render applications or software programming? Or maybe you like VR and want to try it?

We are trying to address all these questions during this article in which we will analyze and recommend a GPU to pair with the i7 10700K in 10 different categories. We already have some 10700K builds up on our website, be sure to check them out!

This article will help you find the best GPU + CPU pairing based on your budget and build focus in categories such as VR, productivity and various gaming resolutions.

1. NVIDIA GTX 1660 Super

The workstation user who’s an occasional 1080p/1440p gamer or one that needs GPU acceleration in his work tasks. GPU of choice: GeForce GTX 1660 Super

This first category is more popular than you think. Do you use your home system to work extra on different hobbies or as a secondary workstation besides your job? Do you like to sometimes lean back and enjoy some quality time with your other gamer friends or have a kid that you want to entertain once you finish your work? Then this is the category for you!

The solution to this category is rather simple. You clearly don’t need an enthusiast grade GPU that will just take a lot of money out of your pocket and make your system needlessly power hungry. You need to pay only for the performance that you will use. At first, it would make sense to recommend a good value GPU out of the low/mid range market which would take our minds to something like an RX 580 8GB which has both the necessary power to deliver good FPS in games @ 1080p resolutions and comes in cheap at around $150-180.

The thing is though that the majority of people who want to use their system as a workstation, like graphic designers or just people who love entertainment such as movies will most likely use a 1440p or higher display. The RX 580 we talked about earlier is not a right fit for that resolution because it will feel rather slow in many games that you may be desiring to play. This is why we opted for a different graphics card, one that is a good performer even at 1440p and still comes with a very good value.

Introducing the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super which is a great buy at around the $230 price mark. This efficient Turing card comes with 6GB of GDDR6 memory and its performance levels are on par with the previous generation GTX 1070. A great 1080p performer at any refresh rate and capable of driving a 1440p monitor in the majority of games. This is a great choice for the occasional gamer who doesn’t want to pay for performance they’re not going to use.

On the other side, if you can use GPU acceleration in the applications you work with, the GTX 1660 Super is an inexpensive contender. Software like the Adobe Suite, 3DS Max, Maya and other similar productivity apps can make use of the GPU by leveraging the CUDA capabilities of the graphics card. This way, part of that load that would be previously handled by the CPU alone can be transferred to the CUDA cores and this way the CPU & GPU can work together and more responsive.

Regarding which specific card to buy, you can’t really go wrong with the majority of GTX 1660 Super implementations. This is mainly due to the fact that its not a power hungry card and doesn’t demand a beefy cooler in order to function properly. Normally, we would just recommend getting the cheapest GTX 1660 Super that you like the aesthetic of but at Premium Builds we’re not leaving anything uncovered; here are some of our recommendations for AIB GTX 15660 Super’s based on user experience:

• The Asus GTX 1660 Super TUF is one of the most inexpensive models and with a rather small footprint, it will fit in even the smallest of cases; it does the job right and comes at a good price.
• The MSI Ventus XS OC is $10 more expensive and comes with a better-looking fan shroud, better VRMs and slightly increased factory clock speeds.
• At another additional $10, you can also get the Gigabyte GTX 1660 Super Gaming OC which is a triple fan design; rather overkill for this class of GPU but it looks good and its dead silent during any overclocked load. It’s your decision from here on!

GPU Series	Recommended Aftermarket Card	Design	Price
GTX 1660 Super	ASUS TUF Gaming OC		$229
GTX 1660 Super	MSI Ventus XS OC		$239
GTX 1660 Super	Gigabyte Gaming OC		$249

2. AMD Radeon RX 5700XT

The workstation user who finds pleasure in gaming or the one who wants to try VR in his free time. GPU of choice: Radeon RX 5700XT

Like the previous category, this one is popular as well. There are many consumers out there who may work from home or have jobs that allow them to have daily time for gaming. I know that because I myself am one of them! For such a person, the GPU of choice really depends on the performance levels he’s expecting but we have a good recommendation for you if you’re expecting smooth performance in a large collection of current games. We don’t know what you’re playing but we sure know that you’re going to love this categories’ graphics card.

Both AMD Radeon RX 5700-series cards are based on the same Navi GPU and are manufactured on TSMC’s 7nm FinFET process and composed of 10.3 billion transistors, these chips occupy a scant 251 mm². The AMD Radeon 5700XT is the top model in AMD’s NAVI lineup. AMD confirmed that Radeon RX 5700 XT employs a fully enabled version of the Navi GPU; no part of the chip is turned off to improve yields or leave room for a more resource-rich model in the future. It exposes 40 RDNA (the NAVI architecture naming) Compute Units, each with 64 Stream processors, totalling 2560 ALUs across the processor. The CUs host four texture units, just as they did in AMD’s Graphics Core Next design, adding up to 160 in a complete Navi GPU that features 64 ROPs.

Enough with the tech talk, the 5700XT is designed to be a great 1440p performer; it’s around 30% faster than the previous GTX 1660 Super and sports 8GB of GDDR6 RAM which allows it to stretch its legs for an amazing performance at both 1080p & 1440p Triple-A or high refresh rate game titles.

Is VR an interest to you? Have you gotten excited about this rather new technology and can’t wait to try it out but you’re not really a gamer? It’s fine, VR will definitely open new realms for your entertainment. The RX 5700XT in this category is a great VR performer that can hold a steady 90+ FPS in the majority of new VR titles. We say 90 FPS because that’s the recommended frame rate by the majority of VR headsets in order for you to avoid getting dizzy or nauseous. Getting a lesser GPU than the RX 5700XT will limit the games you can play because of this 90 FPS sweet spot.

Some of the best implementations for this RX 5700XT graphics card are coming from MSI and Sapphire. Great value comes out of MSI’s Evoke OC and Sapphire’s Pulse lineup which are built with suitable coolers, decent factory OC, backplates and general quality materials; they are also very silent. A tier above them though is the more expensive Sapphire Nitro+ RX 5700XT which is the best RX 5700 XT aftermarket card you can get. Its factory boost clock is the best out of all other implementations, the GPU comes with a triple fan configuration that is very silent and great at cooling even in 100% load.

GPU Series	Recommended Aftermarket Card	Design	Price
AMD RX 5700 XT	MSI Evoke OC		$389
AMD RX 5700 XT	Sapphire Pulse		$399
AMD RX 5700 XT	Sapphire Nitro+		$433

3. RTX 2070 Super

The workstation user who games competitively. GPU of choice: GeForce RTX 2070 Super

Or the workstation user who may want to try Ray Tracing on the cheapest GPU which can do it decently. The RTX 2070 Super is not a big leap forward against the previously mentioned card, the Radeon RX 5700XT. It is just 5-10% faster but that counts a lot, especially if you have a 1440p monitor and try to squeeze those extra frames in order to stay over 144+ FPS.

The GeForce RTX 2070 Super comes with 40 SMs (streaming multiprocessors), and each SM contains 1 Ray Tracing core, 8 Tensor cores, 4 texture units, and 64 CUDA cores. Basically, the 2070 Super is like a trimmed down RTX 2080 at the cost of the RTX 2070. The RTX 2070 Super reference boost clock is 1770MHz, which is higher than even the overclocked 2070 Founders Edition boost clock of 1710MHz. That combined with the additional four SMs means performance is theoretically up to 22% faster than the RTX 2070. But theory and real-world results don’t always agree. Since the 2070 Super has the same memory bandwidth and configuration, in practice the performance improvement often ends up being closer to 10% but that’s still great!

The good news is that any added performance relative to the RTX 2070 comes without an increase in price. Of course, RTX 2070 cards have gone on sale for as little as $450 over the past nine months, but we’ll probably see the Super cards sell for less than the launch price at some point. And the arrival of the 2070 Super also heralds the phasing out of the regular 2070. While Nvidia’s RTX 2070 was similar in performance to AMD’s RX 5700XT but cost $100 more, the RTX 2070 Super is 10% better than the 5700XT at the same $499 price as the RTX 2070; it was a quick answer to the great value the 5700XT had over the RTX 2070 at launch.

You will be able to consistently game at 1080p & 1440p Ultra settings and be able to push very high frame rates at those resolutions if you need them in competitive eSport games. The i7 10700K we’re pairing these GPUs with is surely able to handle them.

Here are some of the best RTX 2070 Super implementations from third party manufacturers.

GPU Series	Recommended Aftermarket Card	Design	Price
RTX 2070 Super	Gigabyte Windforce OC		$499
RTX 2070 Super	MSI Gaming X		$549
RTX 2070 Super	Zotac Mini		$566

The Gigabyte Windforce OC is a great value aftermarket version of the RTX 2070 Super. It retails at MSRP and sports a triple fan design cooler that keeps the card cool during load. The RGB used on it is subtle but well laid out. The MSI RTX 2070 Super Gaming X aims at a more aggressive factory overclock and the cooler performance and noise levels are on par with the previously mentioned Windforce OC card even if it only has two fans. The card is also overall nicer looks-wise. Or maybe you’re looking for a smaller RTX 2070 Super that can fit in a crowded or tighter case. This is where the Zotac RTX 2070 Super MINI comes in. Its small form factor is great and it doesn’t sacrifice performance for it.

Overall, you generally can’t go wrong with any of the RTX 2070 Supers but we would recommend getting one of the above and staying away from the Founder’s Edition version.

4. RTX 2080 Super

Wanting to be able to work but also own a very capable gaming machine? You have to take a look at the high-end GeForce RTX 2080 Super

One of the great things about the RTX 2080 Super is that it slots in at the same price as the superseded RTX 2080. Essentially, if you’re not already an owner of an RTX 2080, the Super version is a good buy if you’re looking for that kind of performance. The GeForce RTX 2080 Super is an improved RTX 2080 with 128 more CUDA cores, a higher base clock / boost clock and better, 15.5 GB/s memory compared to the latter’s 14 GB/s. Its memory bandwidth is also up to 496 GB/s.

This card offers solid shader performance, and for a bit of fun and giggles, you get to play around with RTX/DLSS if you desire. It’s the second best graphics card that handles Ray Tracing in a decent way. While we can still argue DLSS and RTX are not yet polished enough for consumer use, you do need to realize that the industry is at a clipping point, hardware-based ray tracing is coming, whether that is from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel. You are paying a price premium to be that early adopter with a handful of games to actually test it on. But you can’t blame NVIDIA for pioneering with technology. They refreshed the RTX 2080 to be faster and cheaper, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

The RTX 2080 Super’s performance figures are great! Its the first card in this category list that we can comfortably call a 4K card. Its performance is somewhere around 15% better than that of the RTX 2070 Super and that’s enough to propel it into the great 4K performer that it is. Don’t get us wrong, you can use this card at any resolution and get comparable performance gains. You can, for example, play at 1440p and aim for 144 FPS with higher graphics details than you could use on the RTX 2070 Super. It’s overall, a very good card appealing to the high-end users that want exquisite gaming performance at a decent price proposition.

GPU Series	Recommended Aftermarket Card	Design	Price
RTX 2080 Super	Zotac Gaming		$709
RTX 2080 Super	MSI Gaming X Trio		$759
RTX 2080 Super	Gigabyte AORUS		$769

The RTX 2080 Super is a rather beefy card and thus needs adequate implementations in order to perform how it should. One good value card that retails very close to the $699 MSRP is the Zotac RTX 2080 Super GAMING video card; its nothing exciting but the triple cooler design does its job very well to keep the card and its very fast GDDR6 memory under 80 degrees even under heavy load. Its design is rather simple but there are some bells and whistles around in the form of RGB.

Following, we have one of the best performing RTX 2080 Super in the whole lineup, the MSI Gaming X TRIO which is a binned card with a high factory overclock and high overclocking capabilities. Its cooler is excellent and the card has a pleasant aesthetic, the RGB customisation being through the roof.

The third RTX 2080 Super card we can recommend is the Gigabyte RTX 2080 Super AORUS which comes in with a very unique triple fan design. Users that are willing to pay a small premium for good looks are going to love this card. Its also the most silent RTX 2080 Super version out there and performance levels are not far from the MSI Gaming X Trio, when overclocked.

Overall there is good implementation diversity for the RTX 2080 Super, allowing you to find the style and performer you like most.

5. RTX 2080 Ti

Enthusiast gamer that needs top performance or a workstation user that needs the most powerful GPU acceleration and enough fast memory. Or an aspiring VR enthusiast. GPU of choice: The GeForce RTX 2080Ti

Budget isn’t a problem and you don’t really care about value. You only care about having all the performance that you can muster into a 2020 PC build, be it for gaming, workstation acceleration use or VR. Then the RTX 2080Ti is the card that will make your dreams a reality.

The GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is the latest consumer flagship graphics card from NVIDIA and it has been fitted with the TU102 GPU. This GPU has a whopping 4352 active shader processors, which is substantial when compared with the previous generation GeForce GTX 1080 Ti. It sports 11GB GDDR6 graphics memory, and with that 11 GB, you will get a 352-bit wide memory bus. Ray tracing acceleration is performed by a new RT Core processing, the TU102 has 72 of them with 576 tensor cores and 96 ROP units. For clock frequencies, we’re looking at a 1350 MHz base frequency, with Turbo allowance towards 1635 MHz; keeping some margin in mind for the board partner clock frequencies. Even though that boost clock seems low when compared to other Turing GPUs, most AIB RTX 2080Tis with capable VRMs and coolers can be overclocked to around 2GHz.

The RTX 2080Ti is not a card for the masses. It’s not the card that Nvidia sells the most; quite the contrary. But its a gamer’s or workstation’s guru dream. It allows you to play the most demanding games at smooth frame rates, especially when paired with a capable CPU such as the Intel Core i7 10700K. It basically is the pinnacle of consumer GPU performance and will not care about any game that you throw at it, regardless of graphics settings and resolutions; and that is because game studios optimize their games to have peak performance on the best GPU of each generation and that is the GeForce RTX 2080Ti in this case.

Workstation users will be delighted to use the full capabilities of the 4352 CUDA cores together with boosting machine learning tasks with its whopping 576 Tensor cores. Many applications from the likes of Adobe, 3Ds Max or Autodesk are updating their software tree in order to benefit from this GPU’s acceleration features. Getting an RTX 2080Ti means getting the best performance with no compromises and it also means future-proofing your system.

The RTX 2080Ti is also the best graphics card that you can buy for a high-end VR setup. The GPU is able to hold high frame rates in any Virtual Reality game out there meaning that you can explore the worlds with no compromises or headaches. There’s no VR game out there yet that can tank the RTX 2080Ti under 90 FPS; the i7 10700K sure helps that process as well with its incredible performance. Moving on, the following implementations of the RTX 2080Ti have been carefully selected for you. There have been some inadequate examples of cooling solutions stuck to RTX 2080Tis but you’re not going to find them here. Here’s the list.

GPU Series	Recommended Aftermarket Card	Design	Price
RTX 2080 Ti	Gigabyte Gaming OC		$1299
RTX 2080 Ti	MSI Gaming X Trio		$1239
RTX 2080 Ti	Gigabyte AORUS XTREME		$1299

Starting this list we have the close to MSRP offering by Gigabyte, the RTX 2080Ti Gaming OC. It sports a similar cooler design with the one on the RTX 2080 Super but has a thicker heat sink to deal with the heat coming from the 300W and higher power consumption. Overall, nothing exciting but Gigabyte’s implementation has good value and it surely performs well. Next up, we have one of the best performing RTX 2080Tis out there, the MSI Gaming X TRIO. It’s a personal favorite of ours as we are frequently using it in many of our builds. For the price increase of just $10 over the previous card, you are getting a stellar cooler and heat stink combination, together with a sturdy triple fan RGB’ed design. The card comes highly overclocked from the factory but it doesn’t consume much more power than other RTX 2080Tis; this means it’s well binned and can overclock even further. The last choice of ours in this list is the Aorus Xtreme implementation by Gigabyte (again). This card is the top-end product from Gigabyte and gets a futuristic cooler design. Everything is well laid out, built extremely well and very customizable. It also sports a 4-year warranty, proof that they are not fooling around with this design.

Closing Thoughts

As you can see, you don’t necessarily have to pair a high-end CPU like the i7 10700K with the most expensive GPUs out there. There are choices that need to be made based on what you’re going to be using your PC for. As an analogy, think about how it would feel to get a car that sports high horsepower but you’re only able to drive it slow in the city traffic. It would sound good, of course. It will also look nice. But you’ve just paid a lot more for something that gets bad fuel consumption and you’re not going to use to its fullest potential.

This is why it’s important to try and fit yourself in one of the upper categories. What do you need from a GPU? Are you a power user? Which games are you playing? Which resolution would you like to try now or in the future? These are all questions that need answers before deciding what graphics card to buy. We hope that we helped you leap forward in deciding what to pair your high-end CPU with.

Our recommendations should be of help to you regardless of what you decide to use your system for since we tried to cover almost every use a consumer has from a high-end PC, be it gaming or productivity acceleration. Happy building!

The post 5 Best Graphics Cards for the i7-10700K appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

Intel’s recent launch of their 10^th Gen Comet Lake CPUs has reinforced their place at the peak of the gaming CPU market and has even proved to compete admirably in workstation tasks down to the new Core-i5. While they won’t be able to hold out forever as developers learn how to build games that utilize the higher core and thread counts offered by Zen 2 (and beyond), single-threaded performance and clock speed still reign supreme for game performance. Here we arrive at the Core-i9 10900K, Intel’s new gaming CPU champion.

If you’re in the market for the best of the best in games performance, then look no further. Not only has Intel managed to provide marked improvements over the Core-i9 9900K from last-gen, but (while having 2 fewer cores and 4 fewer threads), they even trade blows in productivity benchmarks with the likes of the 12 core/24 thread Ryzen 9 3900X. Such excellent performance is mostly thanks to their new manufacturing techniques for their 14nm (+∞) process. By shrinking the height of the silicon, increasing the thickness of the IHS, and improving the quality of their materials overall, the K-Series Comet Lake CPUs all have impressive thermal performance. These improvements come at a cost, however, with the TDP for the 10900K quickly reaching 250W+ when unrestricted and overclocked. Thus, if you’ve decided to upgrade to the 10900K, you’re going to need to invest in some robust cooling; at minimum, a high-end dual-tower air cooler or 240mm+ AIO. If you’ve already got a beefy cooling solution, rest assured, the new LGA 1200 socket is compatible with all LGA 115X mounting hardware.

With the introduction of the LGA 1200 socket also comes the new Intel motherboard chipset; the Z490. That’s what we’ll be taking a look at today. Here are the 5 best motherboards you can buy to power your new 10900K!

Best Motherboards for 10900K – Our Recommendations

Award	Motherboard	Design	VRM
Best Entry-Level Z490 for i9-10900K	MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Edge Wi-Fi		14 Phase (12+1+1)
Best Overall Z490 for i9-10900K	MSI MEG Z490 Unify		17 Phase (16+1)
Best High-Performance Z490 for i9-10900K	Asus ROG Maximus XII Apex		16 Phase (8+8)
Best mATX Z490 for i9-10900K	Asus ROG STRIX Z490-G Gaming (Wi-Fi)		14 Phase (12+2)
Best mini-ITX Z490 for i9-10900K	Asus ROG STRIX Z490-I Gaming		10 Phase (4+1 x2)

Best Entry-Level Motherboard for i9-10900K

If you’re spending over $500 on a CPU, then you don’t want to skimp on your platform, period. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to empty your savings. The MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Edge Wi-Fi offers an incredible feature-set for the price: 14 Phase (12+1+1) VRM, Intel AX201 Bluetooth 5.1 + Wi-Fi 6, Realtek 2.5G LAN + ALC 1200-VD1 Audio CODEC, 2x M.2 slots, 6x SATA 6Gb/s ports, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (1 is Type-C), an integrated I/O shield, and RGB. You can’t ask for much more from a motherboard at $200. With power delivery this excellent, you’ll have no trouble overclocking to get as much performance as you’d like out of your 10900K. The weakest aspect of the Z490 Gaming Edge is probably its USB support. Another option to consider, especially if you don’t need or care about integrated Wi-Fi support, is the Asus Prime Z490-A. At $230, you’re trading integrated wireless for 2 more USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, Intel 2.5G LAN, Realtek ALC S1220A Audio CODEC, and Asus’s superior UEFI BIOS interface + proprietary motherboard software. Whichever option you have the budget for, you can’t go wrong either way.

Best Overall Motherboard for i9-10900K

Here we have arguably the most impressive motherboard of the bunch: the MSI MEG Z490 Unify. MSI is providing flagship performance and features at a much lower price than you would expect: $300 flat. Sporting a best-in-class 17 Phase (16+1) VRM, 2x 8-Pin EPS power connections, integrated Intel AX201 Bluetooth 5.1 + Wi-Fi 6, Realtek 2.5G LAN + ALC 1220 Audio CODEC, 3x M.2 slots, 6x SATA 6Gb/s ports, 4x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (1 is Type-C), onboard power, reset, and clear CMOS buttons, and an integrated I/O shield. The Z490 Unify is a bit jaw-dropping and is hands-down the absolute best pick for most people looking to crush performance benchmarks with the 10900K in games and productivity.

Additionally, we have to compliment the overall construction and design of the Unify, as the sleek blacked-out aesthetic is sure to look fantastic in any system!

Best High-Performance Motherboard for i9-10900K

The winner of this category should come as no surprise. The Asus Maximus XII Apex continues its streak from our motherboard roundups for the 10^th Gen Core-i5 and Core-i7 as our choice for the best high-performance Z490. Long live the king. While there are arguments to be made for picking up the Apex with its little brothers, this board truly belongs with the Core-i9. The laundry list of extreme overclocking features alone proves that there is no better option on the market for experienced tweakers and prospective newbies alike.

The Apex’s extreme overclocking features include: a teamed 16 Phase (8+8) VRM, 2x 8-Pin EPS power connections, POST code readout, boot status LED indicators, onboard power, reset, safe boot, and clear CMOS buttons, a toggle to enable LN2 features in the BIOS, condensation detection circuitry, a CPU ratio reduction switch, a pause switch for tweaks mid-benchmark, integrated voltage measurement points, a switch to force all connected fans to their max RPM, and a BIOS switch! With the Apex, your tool belt is nearly full before you ever even touch an Ohmmeter or tube of liquid metal.

In terms of practical features, the Apex is no slouch, either. The Apex also offers integrated Intel AX201 Bluetooth 5.1 + Wi-Fi 6, Intel 2.5G LAN, SupremeFX S1220A Audio CODEC, 4x M.2 slots (1 is DIMM.2 with included riser), 6x SATA 6Gb/s ports, 5x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (1 is Type-C), 5x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, an integrated I/O shield, and RGB. The only potential drawback is the limited memory support due to the inclusion of the DIMM.2 slot, which restricts you to 2x DIMM slots and 64Gb of total system memory, but this seems a worthy sacrifice in the name of speed.

Note: cooling and component selection are critical here. You’ll want to ensure you’re looking at the absolute best CPU coolers and memory kits with the highest speed + lowest latency possible. Good luck in 3DMark!

Best mATX Motherboard for i9-10900K

The mATX form factor is best considered by those looking to build pure gaming rigs. You essentially sacrifice some fan headers and expansion slots for roughly the same overall feature-set of full-sized ATX motherboards, only much more compact. When it comes to the Z490 chipset, your best bet is the Asus ROG STRIX Z490-G Gaming (Wi-Fi). Packaged on the Z490-G: integrated Intel AX201 Bluetooth 5.1 + Wi-Fi 6, Intel 2.5G LAN, SupremeFX S1220A Audio CODEC, 2x M.2 slots, 6x SATA 6Gb/s ports, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (1 is Type-C), 4x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, an integrated I/O shield, and, you guessed it, RGB. When you’ve got the best Intel gaming CPU, you’re going to want the best mATX board to go with it.

If you happen to be looking for a snazzy compact enclosure, check out our guide to the best mATX cases available!

Best mini-ITX Motherboard for i9-10900K

Now, if you want to get absolutely minuscule and still have enough power for the 10900K? We suggest you pick up the Asus ROG STRIX Z490-I Gaming. There aren’t many mini-ITX Z490 options to choose from in the first place, but Asus has a lot of the strongest features here, as well as arguably the best BIOS from all of the major manufacturers. Power delivery on the STRIX Z490-I comes in the form of a teamed 10 Phase (4+1 x2) VRM, which is only slightly worse in thermal performance compared to something like the direct 9 Phase (8+1) VRM on the Gigabyte Z490I Aorus Ultra. It also seems the trade for slightly worse VRM thermals was a much better automatic VCore, and a better internal layout with the addition of a separate PCB module to get your 2^nd M.2 drive off of the back of the board like with most other mini-ITXs. Included with the STRIX Z490-I: integrated Intel AX201 Bluetooth 5.1 + Wi-Fi 6, Intel 2.5G LAN, SupremeFX S1220A Audio CODEC, 2x M.2 slots, 4x SATA 6Gb/s ports, 4x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (1 is Type-C), 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, an integrated I/O shield, and you won’t believe it… RGB.

This little thing is stunning. Coming in at $300, we have another instance of insane price-to-performance considering how fully-featured the STRIX Z490-I is, especially given the competition in the mini-ITX Z490 market. If you plan on building a high-performance SFF gaming PC with the 10900K, you really can’t go wrong here. Also, be sure to check out our guide to the best mini-ITX cases that accommodate a full-sized GPU!

Summary

The Core-i9 10900K may seem unattainable for many users, but those fortunate enough to afford it (or those willing to save) are looking at the top of the proverbial mountain. The 10900K is the ideal gaming CPU. You may not like it, but this is what peak FPS performance looks like… Although it is also what only slightly above average productivity performance looks like.

Best Entry-Level: MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Edge Wi-Fi – A very reasonably priced option to still push high overclocks on the 10900K. Though it slightly lacks in terms of rear I/O, BIOS, and proprietary software compared to the Asus Prime Z490-A, so if you don’t require integrated wireless support, pick that up instead for an additional $30.

Best Overall: MSI MEG Z490 Unify – The motherboard that has the least wordy model name and the best overall feature-set of this bunch. It seriously is the most extraordinary value here and is guaranteed to look awesome in any rig with its super sleek blacked-out design.

Best High-Performance: Asus Maximus XII Apex – Long live the king of extreme overclocking, which gives the Unify a run for its money in terms of value. The Apex has a mind-blowing list of specific extreme overclocking features on top of some excellent practical features also found on other flagship models.

Best mATX: Asus ROG STRIX Z490-G Gaming (Wi-Fi) – If you’re looking to build a more compact machine specifically for gaming that can still handle the 10900K, look no further. The STRIX has excellent power delivery and a well-rounded feature-set overall.

Best mini-ITX: Asus ROG STRIX Z490-I Gaming – An absolute feature powerhouse of a mini-ITX platform that is capable of superb overclocking results with the 10900K in an SFF system. It’s a tough crowd in the ITX Z490 market, but this will make a beautiful home for your new i9.

The post 5 Best Motherboards for Intel Core i9-10900K Builds appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

If you’ve bought into the hype of Intel’s newest 10^th Generation CPUs, dubbed ‘Comet Lake‘ then you are going to need an LG1200 chipset compatible motherboard: The Z490. With the enhanced RAM compatibility featured by the new 10^th generation processors, including the i3-10100, i5-10600K, i7-10700K and i9-10900K, it is a good opportunity to upgrade/purchase some brand new RAM to go with it.

The quality of RAM is many times overlooked, despite it playing a key roll in the overall quality of the build. The RAM enables the CPU to engage in data transfer, software and gaming applications, as well as prevent any occasional slowdowns, stuttering or system crashes.

There are some specific key aspects of RAM that need to be taken into account when planning a new build. Each component of a PC needs to work in harmonious synchronicity in order to avoid bottlenecking issues between units. You can purchase star components which will have a larger share of the allocated to the setup budget, but if the team is weak, that star will not have the opportunity to shine.

Best Memory Size for Intel 10th Gen Processors (Workstation / Gaming)

The first key component to take into account when purchasing RAM, is the size needed for the intended use. A computer for just desktop applications or video streaming – like an HTPC for example – (for those looking to purchase one of Intel’s new i3 series processors) will need no more than 8 GB of RAM; and even that may be too much. If you are a gaming enthusiast and want to build a PC worthy of the next generation of consoles set to release by the end of the year, then 16 GB of RAM will work out just fine. If you’re worried about this amount of RAM being too low to futureproof your build, worry not, as the announced specifications of the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X show us that these consoles will also feature 16 GB of RAM. Of course, you can always purchase more if you feel the need to later on, though that money would be better allocated to purchasing better quality RAM, rather than quantity. If you are looking to stream in addition to gaming, or perhaps edit and render high resolution videos, then 32 GB would be a sufficient start. Of course, this number goes up depending on the line of work.

Best RAM Speeds for Intel 10th Gen Processors (Workstation / Gaming)

The next key aspect is the speed of the RAM. For workstations, the higher the speed the better, though 3200 MHz should work sufficiently for most applications. The same applies for gaming, as 3000-3200 MHz is more than enough. After 3000 MHz, diminishing effects begin to stack up on each other, and are generally not worth the extra cost. For desktop applications, video streaming, and light gaming use, speeds of 2400-2666 MHz will suffice.

Best CAS Latencies for Intel 10th Gen Processors

The final key aspect, which is many times ignored when purchasing RAM, despite being of almost equal importance to the RAM speeds, is the latency of the memory. The Column Address Signal (CAS) measures the cycles necessary for the unit to access data from a column address; therefore, the lower the CAS, the better. Having high latency RAM will bottleneck its speed and overall performance. Benchmarks show that a 3200 MHz RAM with a CAS of 15 will outperform the same brand model with 3600 MHz and a CAS of 16. For gaming, a CAS 15 will suffice, while for workstations a CAS of 14 would be best. For streaming and desktop use the CAS will not matter, as RAM speeds for such light use will hardly be noticeable.

To help you choose the right RAM for you, we’ve included the best models for: entry-level i3 builds, gaming i5-10600K or i7-10700K builds, and i9-10900K workstation builds; taking in mind all the aforementioned key aspects, and, of course, pricing.

Best RAM for Intel i3-10300, i5-10600K, i7-10700K, i9-10900K – Our Recommendations

Award	Design	Model
Best RAM for Intel 10th Gen i3 Budget Builds		Crucial 8GB DDR4 DDR4-2666 CL19
Best RGB RAM for Intel 10th Gen Gaming Builds		Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16GB DDR4-3000 CL15
Best RAM for Intel 10th Gen Gaming Builds		Crucial Ballistix 16GB DDR4-3000 CL15
Best RAM for Intel 10th Gen Workstation Builds		TeamGroup T-Force Dark Pro 16GB DDR4-3200 CL14

Best RAM for Intel 10th Gen i3 Budget Builds

Crucial is a consumer brand from Micron Technology, an American producer based in Idaho that makes competitive, high quality, memory units and sells them at a fraction of the price of their competitors. For budget i3-10100, i3-10300 or i5-10600K builds, we recommend none other than the Crucial 8GB DDR4 2666 MHz RAM stick.

If you’re looking to build a mini-ITX setup, then you are most likely aware that mITX motherboards RAM slots are quite limited: usually only two slots. Despite Crucial’s $34 price tag, this 8GB of RAM comes in a single rank, so you can always have the option to upgrade further if need be – though 8GB should be more than enough.

Accordingly, the 2666 MHz speeds, and 19 CAS latency are respectable for such builds, as anything more would be overkill for the intended purpose. Another great aspect of this RAM is that it is free of the clunkyness of the heat spreaders of other RAM cards, instead of going for a smaller and thinner design to fit those tightly fit small form factor cases.

It may not have the best latency mark, or any stylish design fluff like RGB lighting, but this RAM is all about functionality, compatibility, and of course, an affordable price; making it a perfect fit for entry-level SFF, and budget, builds featuring the i3-10100 or i3-10300 series Intel CPUs.

Best RAM for Intel 10th Gen Gaming Builds

Here we’ve chosen two different RAM models, as to better suit different types of gaming builds with the i5-10600K, i7-10700K or i9-10900K. If you want a tempered glass panel case to show off your RGB pizzazz, then the Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro is chosen for you, but if you want a silent case, care little about RGB lighting, or would rather save some money from the RAM purchase, then the Crucial Ballistix is better suitable for your Comet Lake setup.

For both these choices, we recommend the 3000 MHz C15 versions, with 16 GB being the smartest size for a first purchase. Both these RAM choices are very similar in their build: they both have respectable heat spreaders, they have the same speeds and similar CAS latencies, and they both come in different variations to choose from in regards to colors and designs.

The main differences are, that the Corsair option has RGB lighting which can be synchronized via Corsair’s iCue software and provide quite an impressive light show, lacking from the Crucial Ballistix, which otherwise has a low-profile suitable for SFF builds, and is considerably cheaper than the aforementioned option.

If the appearance of your system is important for you, then the price difference will cost you close to an extra $30, as the Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro currently costs $95.99. If you care little for appearances, but rather prefer a more practical or silent setup, then you can find Crucial’s Ballistix option for $69.99.

No matter what you choose, both RAM models are great for gaming builds; and are estimable companions for Intel’s i5-10600 or i7-10700 series CPUs.

Best RAM for Intel 10th Gen Workstation Builds

For most consumer-level workstations, nothing will beat TeamGroup’s T-Force Dark Pro RAM.

Team Group is a Taiwanese company founded in 1997, and is, for the most part, a manufacturer of memory units; hence why their products have earned them several awards for their price-quality ratios.

The T-Force Dark Pro features 3200 MHz frequencies, and an ultra-low latency of C14 cycles, with CL timings of 14-14-14-31, rendering it capable of data transfers of 25.6 GB/s. Enhanced by the use of JEDEC RC 2.0: a customized circuit board with an increased distance between power and signal layers, which boosts the transmitting signal by 35%. Additionally, this RAM is optimized for Intel’s XMP technology, allowing you to apply multiple memory settings to different profiles for a quicker change of overclocking settings. To dissipate the resulting heat from the application of such overclocking settings, the T-Force Dark pro has a five-piece heat sink with an aluminum heat spreader. Finally, the chips used are all original integrated circuit chips.

For the quality and specifications of this RAM, the T-Force Dark Pro’s $129 is exceptional – definitely the best price-value ratio available for RAM suitable for an i9-10900K workstation build. This price includes 16 GB (two 8GB ranks) of RAM, so for 32 GB the price will rise to $259, which is still exceptional, and will suffice for the majority of consumer-level workstation, and enthusiast i9-10900K setups.

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