Premium Intel gaming PC guide: The best parts for a high-end Intel-based build

Despite the launch of AMD's new Ryzen 7000 CPUs, Intel is managing to keep up and offer enticing options for the entire PC market. While Intel's high-end Core i9-13900K and Core i7-13700K are certainly fast CPUs and are great for top-end PCs, they're not really required to make a PC that's worthy of being called premium. In this guide, I'll show you what kind of components you're going to want when building an Intel gaming PC using the company's latest 13th-generation hardware.

We also have an AMD version of this build that uses a Ryzen CPU, and ends up costing about the same with a very similar level of performance. If you think $1,500 is a little too much to spend on a PC, we also have a $1,000 mainstream build guide that uses both AMD and Intel parts, a $1,000 AMD build guide, and a $1,000 Intel build guide too.

When it comes to gaming, you actually don't need the best possible CPU, and this is because higher-end CPUs tend to offer greater amounts of things that simply don't increase performance in games. Instead of getting a Core i9-13900K or even a Core i7-13700K, I recommend the Core i5-13600KF (the 13600K also works, it's just more expensive).

At about $300, it's a great value CPU that provides at least 90% of the performance of the 13900K in most games while also offering good multicore performance. The 13600KF comes with six P-cores, eight E-cores, and 44MB of combined L2 and L3 cache. It's also identical to the regular 13600K but has its integrated graphics disabled; in a gaming PC, you won't ever use the integrated graphics, so I recommend the KF model since it's about $20 cheaper than the K model. Compared to its 12th-generation Alder Lake predecessor the Core i5-12600K(F), it has the same number of P-cores but four more E-cores as well as significantly more cache.

In games, the 13600KF trails the 13900K by about 10% in most titles, which puts the 13600KF almost on the same level as last generation's flagship, the Core i9-12900K. And that's assuming you're playing at 200 FPS or more; at lower frame rates, you might not even be able to tell the difference between a 13600KF and a 13900K. In single-threaded applications (which are increasingly rare these days), the 13600KF is just as fast as the 12900K but is somewhat slower in anything that's multi-threaded.

The 13600K(F) is Intel's third-fastest CPU, but realistically there's not too much of a point in buying the 13700K or the 13900K since they provide barely any additional performance in the vast majority of games. You may decide that paying a hundred dollars or so extra is worth it, but it's pretty unlikely you'll dislike the performance of the 13600KF.

With the completion of the RX 7000 series, AMD has finally launched an upper midrange GPU that's ideal for a $1,500 build: the $500 RX 7800 XT (assuming you get a model for the base price). This GPU is really just a 6800 XT with better efficiency, so it's not exactly breaking new ground despite using ostensibly newer technology, but I would have recommended the 6800 XT if the 7800 XT didn't exist anyway, so it's not a bad card to go with.

Within the RX 7000 series, the 7800 XT is technically in the middle of the pack, but that's really only because AMD simply decided not to launch any low-end GPUs. The 7800 XT is really an upper midrange card that performs below the 7900 XT, with 60 Compute Units (or CUs) to the 7900 XT's 84, and 16GB of VRAM to the 7900 XT's 20GB. The 7800 XT is also built using the same chiplet technology the 7900 XT and 7900 XTX use, the only difference is that the graphics chip is swapped out for a smaller model and the 7800 XT uses fewer memory-cache chips.

The 7800 XT is essentially a souped-up 6800 XT when it comes to performance. This also puts the 7800 XT on par with the RTX 4070, which is $100 more expensive. However, the 7800 XT does lose in power efficiency by a decent margin, and its features (like FSR and ray tracing performance) just aren't quite as good as what you'd get with the 4070 (namely DLSS). However, the 7800 XT does have 4GB more VRAM than the 4070, and it also compares very favorably to the $500 RTX 4060 Ti 16GB, which is just outclassed by the 7800 XT.

At a $500 base price, the RX 7800 XT isn't really moving the needle since the RX 6800 XT is already retailing for $500. I definitely don't recommend replacing the 7800 XT with the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB, it's so much slower that even DLSS can't make it equivalent to the 7800 XT. The 4070 is a more palatable alternative and does have some positives to it (though its VRAM disadvantage isn't great), but it costs $100 more and would make this $1,500 build more like $1,600. If you want to stretch your budget to get the 4070 though, it's not a terrible idea.

Although 700 series motherboards came out almost a year ago, for much of 2023 they haven't been able to truly succeed the old 600 series, mostly because the 700 series doesn't really bring anything new to the table and because it's been significantly more expensive. However, 600 series motherboards are finally going out of stock while newer 700 series models are seeing price cuts, making Intel's latest chipsets actually appealing. For this build, I recommend Asus's TUF Gaming Z790-Plus, a performance and budget focused motherboard that punches above its weight.

There are three key features on the TUF Z790-Plus that make it great for this build. Its 16+1 stage VRM is both big enough for overclocking and upgrading to higher-end CPUs, it comes with four M.2 slots so you can add pretty much all the SSDs you could want, and it uses cheap DDR4 RAM rather than more expensive DDR5. While this isn't top-end, it's pretty close to what you'd get with boards that cost twice as much.

Connectivity is also a strong point for the TUF Z790-Plus. The rear I/O features eight USB 3.2 ports (two being Type-C), Intel 2.5 gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 6, and the full array of six audio jacks. There's also a Thunderbolt 4 header on the motherboard, which isn't super important for a gaming PC but it's nice to have anyways. For its price point, this amount of I/O is simply great.

At the current selling price of $230, Asus offers a very compelling motherboard that's priced in the midrange but really looks more like a high-end board, minus all the frills that you don't really need. Technically using DDR4 rather than DDR5 is a compromise, but the performance of DDR5 really doesn't justify spending extra for it, when you could put that money towards far more useful components.

Intel's most recent CPUs have come with higher performance and power consumption, which translates to more heat and hotter temperatures. For the 13600K(F) and higher-end chips, you're going to want a pretty good cooler, and here I'm recommending Thermalright's Peerless Assassin 120 SE, which has recently dethroned pretty much every traditional contender for best air cooler with its super low price of $40. Although Thermalright is a newcomer to CPU air coolers when compared to veteran companies like Noctua and Cooler Master, it's quickly made titans like the NH-D15 totally irrelevant by pricing the Assassin 120 SE so aggressively while also having top-end air cooling performance. Trusted reviewers have found that the Assassin SE is right on par with the NH-D15, which is almost three times the price.

However, the Assassin 120 SE isn't perfect. The main thing you'll notice is that it's huge, making initial installation and maintenance a bit more challenging. Additionally, it's the limit of how far air coolers can go, which means better cooling performance is exclusive to higher-end 360mm and 420mm AIO liquid coolers. The Assassin 120 SE is definitely sufficient for even the 13900K, but you may get slightly higher boost clock speeds out of a liquid cooler. For the 13600K(F) however, this cooler is as good as an AIO.

Although DDR5 is technically better for gaming than DDR4, the performance advantages are only apparent if you tend to play games at higher framerates, and even then we're talking about a 10% or so difference in performance at most. Not only is DDR5 much more expensive per gigabyte, it also starts at 32GB kits, which is overkill for gaming.

Other than capacity, there are two things that you should care about when it comes to RAM: frequency and latency. You want your RAM to have high clock speeds and low latency (measured in CL). The Vengeance RGB Pro is rated at 3200MHz and CL16, which is basically the specs any good kit of DDR4 will have. There are faster models out there, but they're just not cost-effective enough to make sense to purchase over DDR5. By the way, the frequency and the latency are the primary indicators of performance, so if you see another kit of 3200MHz, CL16 RAM that you like more, then feel free to get that kit instead.

However, one thing to note about RAM is that the amount of sticks you have does matter. You either want two or four sticks, so you can get access to dual channel memory. Without dual channel memory, you're almost certainly going to run into performance problems in games, and the potential of the 13600K(F) (or any CPU for that matter) will be wasted. The Asus TUF Gaming Z790-Plus has four slots so either two or four sticks will work.

As a side note, while I recommend the 16GB kit since it costs just $50 and will be sufficient for gaming, you could also get the $100 32GB kit if you feel 16GB isn't enough. Buying the larger kit should only put you a handful of dollars over the budget and it could be a worthwhile upgrade, especially if you plan on sticking with this PC build for a while.

When it comes to gaming, super-fast storage isn't really necessary (even with DirectStorage coming onto the scene), but SSDs are so cheap that even top-end SSDs with 1TB of storage are going for less than $100. Corsair's MP600 Pro NH, an SSD you probably haven't heard of, is a surprising contender for the PCIe 4.0 storage performance crown, and with the 1TB and 2TB models retailing for $65 and $110 respectively, it's hard to not recommend this SSD for a high-end PC.

Although Corsair claims the MP600 Pro NH maxes out at 7,000MB/s in reads and 5000MB/s in writes, in my review I found that this SSD is much faster than that. It even beat out Samsung's popular 990 Pro, which was previously thought to be the fastest (or tied with the fastest) PCIe 4.0 SSD. However, this performance does come at the cost of high power consumption and lots of heat, meaning you'll want to put this drive under a heatsink.

As one of the best M.2 SSDs today, the MP600 Pro NH fits perfectly for this build, and it's not even that expensive. I recommend getting the 2TB model, since games these days can get pretty big. However, if you do opt for the cheaper 1TB model, you can still look forward to the same performance you'd see on the 2TB version. There are also 4TB and 8TB models of the MP600 Pro NH if you want even more storage, but at $400 and $800 respectively, they're not super affordable.

Since Intel CPUs are particularly power-hungry this generation and since GPUs are also trending upwards in power consumption, you're definitely going to want a power supply that can handle potential upgrades you might make in the future. 850 watts is a good power budget to aim for, and I'm recommending Corsair's RM850e PSU for the job. When it comes to a power supply, there's not a ton to consider other than the brand, the power budget, the rating, and whether or not it's modular. Corsair is known for making quality PSUs, so I'm not concerned on that point. 850 watts is also plenty for this kind of PC and with an 80 Plus Gold rating, it'll deliver all of those watts efficiently too. The RM850e is also modular, which is a nice quality-of-life bonus that is a must-have for any kind of build that's supposed to be premium.

At $130, the RM850e is pretty expensive but it's not overpriced and it's definitely worth the money. You might also want to check out competing PSUs from companies like EVGA and Seasonic, which are the other two big names in the power supply industry. Realistically, you can't go wrong with Corsair's RM850e, and it can power your PC for generations to come.

It wouldn't really make sense for your premium PC to not look premium, so you'll want a nice looking case to house your components. There are a ton of options for PC chassis, and it's impossible to say which one is the best. One of my favorites is Fractal Design's Meshify 2 Compact, which is a mid-tower case that's ideal for the kind of PC build we've put together.

Stylistically, the Meshify 2 comes in several flavors, but the main ones are black, gray, and white. Some models come with glass side panels while others have a solid metal one, and there are even multiple kinds of glass side panels that have varying levels of tint. At the moment, however, it's the gray theme with the lightly tinted glass side panel that's cheapest at $115, with other models costing closer to $150.

The Meshify 2 is pretty competent in the airflow department thanks to its meshed front panel for better intake, and it comes with three fans included (two 140mm at the front intake and a 120mm at the back exhaust). The chassis has room for a CPU air cooler up to 169mm in height (which is more than enough for the NH-D15). It also has support for a 240mm radiator in the top and a 360mm radiator at the front if you prefer using an AIO liquid cooler. The Meshify 2 can accommodate a GPU that's 341mm long, which is enough room for almost all GPUs.

If you'd rather choose a different case for this build, I highly recommend getting at least a mid-tower like the Meshify 2 Compact and making sure it has plenty of room for both present components and future upgrades. Cases like the Meshify 2 Compact are great for the long term because of good compatibility and space, the lack of which can become a big problem in a smaller chassis.

Price Summary: A quick breakdown

Here's a quick breakdown of the pricing for this particular build. It goes without saying the prices are subject to change based on the availability of the stocks. It's hard to imagine most of these components getting much cheaper than they already are, so don't bank on this build becoming even cheaper in the coming months. We may see the 7800 XT decline a fair bit but everything else is likely to stay at its current price point, and we may even see the SSD and RAM actually get more expensive eventually.

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Assuming you're able to get all of these parts at the prices I recommend, you can put together a very competent Intel gaming PC for just about $1,500 or so. Although this build doesn't use the highest-end parts, it's certainly upper midrange and can play pretty much any game at a good framerate and with high-quality graphics. I haven't added peripherals to the build here, so you'll have to consider the additional price for those items too.

If you need any help picking peripherals for your setup, be sure to check out our collection of the best monitors, gaming mice, keyboards, gaming headsets, and more. You can also join our XDA Computing Forums to discuss build guides or get more product recommendations from the experts in our community.