4K gaming isn’t really all it’s hyped up to be. Yeah, it looks nice. And the few games that actually hit 60 FPS–like Halo Reach offer an incredible experience. But the fact remains that we’re just not there yet, in terms of hardware. Even behemoths like the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti don’t reliably turn in 4K/60, especially if ray-tracing effects are enabled. But, if 1080p is passe and you still want that upgrade to fidelity, what should you target?
60 FPS at 1440p is where it’s at, folks. This is the sweet spot in terms of balancing out most bottlenecks you’ll encounter. You won’t run into a CPU bottleneck as almost every modern processor can shell out at least 50-60 frames per sec. You just need a capable graphics card to get you home.
Best CPU for 1440p 60Hz Gaming: Ryzen 5 3600
Price: $194|Rs. 16,496
| Socket | AM4 |
| Cores/Threads | 6/12 |
| Base Clock | 3.6GHz |
| Boost Clock | 4.2GHz |
| L3 Cache | 32MB |
| TDP | 65W |
| Memory Support | DDR4 3200 |
| PCIe Lanes | 16 |
The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is one of the most balanced CPUs on the market. Unless you’re looking to do some heavy Threadripping, it’s the perfect CPU regardless of your workloads.
It’s around ~5% slower than the Core i5-9600K in gaming workloads while inches away from the Core i7-8700K in everything else. For up to 100 FPS in every modern game, it’ll serve you without any issue.
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super
Price: $500|Rs. 39,599
| Cores | 2560 |
| Boost Clock | 1770MHz |
| Memory | 8GB GDDR6 |
| Bus Width | 256-bit |
| Memory Clock | 14 Gbps |
| Power Connector | 8-pin |
| GPU Length | 270 mm |
The GeForce RTX 2070 Super is the best high-end graphics card of this generation, period. While the Radeon RX 5700 XT and the RTX 2060 Super will definitely “get you there,” the 2070 Super tends to deliver 5-10 FPS more in most workloads. Basically what this implies is that the RTX 2070 Super won’t just get you 60 FPS averages, but 60 FPS minimums.
There’s nothing quite as nice as locking your framerate to 60 FPS at 1440p and having it never, ever drop below. Moreover, if you’re ever looking to move up to 4K, the RTX 2070 Super is fast enough to offer a genuinely playable experience with decent settings.
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450 Aorus Pro WiFi
Price: $122|Rs. 12,875
I belong to the motherboards-in-moderation school of thought. High-end motherboards cost disproportionately more than they offer. If you’re after overclocking chops, the fact is that most of your OC capability is determined by the chip quality of your processor. If you lost the silicon lottery and have a crappy chip, not even the greatest X570 motherboard is going to help.
With that in mind, we think the MSI B450 Aorus Pro WiFi makes a compromise between features and performance. You get 4 DIMM slots, making it easy to expand your RAM capacity, onboard WiFi and a decent Alc1220 DAC for onboard audio. (I always recommend getting yourself a dedicated USB DAC, such as the Dragonfly or FiiO E10K. They run circles around even the best onboard audio). VRMs are in a 4+3 phase configuration with a second inductor per phase. This is frugal but means reasonable VRM temperatures and decent OC potential.
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB 3200MHz CL16
1800MHz is the optimal frequency for AMD’s Ryzen 3000 CPUs. This 3200MHz kit gets you quite close for a nominal price. With some mild overclocking, you should be able to get to at least 3400MHz. That’s good enough.
Storage: WD 1TB Blue SATA III M.2 2280
Price: $110|Rs. 11,700
An SSD, even an M.2 SATA drive is much faster than the best HDDs and all that hybrid SSHD crap. Unless you’re a chronic media hoarder, A 1TB drive should be fine for the time being. You can argue opting for an NVMe M.2 drive, but then there’s also the option of choosing a super-fast PCIe 4.0 based drive. I’ll leave that to your discretion.
Power Supply: Thermaltake Smart Pro RGB 750W
Getting a modular PSU under the $100 mark, especially one that’s Bronze rated is hard enough as it is. Luckily, thanks to the holiday-sale, these days it’s not. Thermaltake’s SmartPro RGB makes up for the lack of motherboard LEDs. Granted, it’s not the very best on the market, but it’s Bonze rated and comes with a limited 7-year warranty.
Cabinet: Antec Dark Phantom DP301M
This Antec cabinet is a favorite: you get RGB lighting and ample airflow at a price that won’t break the bank. As a mid-tower, it’s not too big, either. My personal preference is for lower-profile cabinets that just get the job done. This cabinet is exactly that, with an RGB lighting strip for just that added bit of flair.
Monitor Suggestion: Acer V277U
Price: $220
| Resolution | 2560×1440 |
| Size | 27″ |
| Refresh Rate | 75Hz |
| Viewing angle | 178° |
| Display Colors | 1.07 Billion |
| Adaptive Contrast Management (ACM) | 100,000,000:1 |
| Brightness | 350 cd/m2 |
| Panel | IPS |
| Response Time | 4 ms |
| Connectors | HDMI 2x HDMI-in 1x DisplayPort |
| Adaptive Sync Technology | AMD FreeSync |
Summary: Best Budget PC Build for 1440p 60Hz Gaming
| Component | Name | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 | $195|INR 16,496 |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte B450 Aorus Pro WiFi | $122|INR 12,875 |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super | $500|INR 39,599 |
| Memory | G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB 3200MHz CL16 | $70|INR 6,699 |
| Storage | WD 1TB Blue SATA III M.2 2280 | $110|INR 11,700 |
| Power Supply | Thermaltake Smart Pro RGB 750W | $85|INR 8,199 |
| Cabinet | Antec Dark Phantom DP301M | $60|INR 2,890 |
| Total | $1,142|INR 98,458 |
