Gaming PC of the Week: Razed’s Gaming Station

This week we have a very special gaming PC to share with you. Our resident PC writer JamalR has a powerful battlestation that is unlike any other setup you've ever seen before, and he's offered to give us a tour.

Let's dive into Razed's Gaming Station and learn why it's something special.

 

GameRevolution: How long have you been building PCs? How did you get started?

Jamal: When I was in my early teens, my friends at the time were avid hardware enthusiasts and inspired me to get into computers. In regards to the hardware aspect of computers, I learned how to do basic tasks such as install RAM or a new GPU, but never quite learned how to build a PC from the ground up until two years ago. A friend of mine taught me a lot of stuff when it came to building a rig and making sure it looks nice and tidy. We built this PC together and the end result reached beyond my expectations.

I'm also really proud of what I learned during the entire process. This is my first custom build and was not pre-built by a manufacturer, unlike what I've used in the past. While I don't have a fancy name for my PC, it was indeed built to serve as a gaming battlestation.

GR: What are the specs of your new PC?

J: Full PCPartPicker Link w/ accessories

Monitor: LG 29EA93-P 29" 60Hz Ultrawide Monitor

Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case

Motherboard: Asus X99-DELUXE ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor

CPU Cooling: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler

PSU: SeaSonic X Series 1250W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

GPU: GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Founders Edition Video Card (2-Way SLI w/ HB Bridge)

RAM: A-Data XPG Z1 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB + Western Digital BLACK SERIES 4TB + Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB + WD Blue 1TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive

Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Zx 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card

Speakers: Audioengine A2+ Red Limited Edition Premium Powered Speakers (Pair)

GR: How did you decide which components to purchase?

J: I worked on the majority of this build in late 2014 and my goal at the time was to create the best possible gaming PC under $4000, which led me to doing a bit of research in order to pick the right parts. Funnily enough, I went with a color coded build and that ended up preventing me from purchasing the "best" hardware on the market, unless I wanted to ruin the aesthetics of my rig. While I initially wanted liquid cooling, I was not experienced enough to properly install it and instead went with the Corsair H100i cooler. I purchased my own fans for the H100i because I prefer a low dBm level. Everything from the RAM, cables, fans, sound card and even the case lighting is colored black or red, which is the theme around my entire setup. The white X99 motherboard I have still bothers me, but I recall it being a mandatory purchase at the time.

At the time, I purchased two GTX 780 graphics cards. This was the first time I ever ran an SLI setup and fell in love with the increase in GPU acceleration. Shortly after I purchased the 780's, the GTX 980 came out and I used the EVGA step-up program to get my hands on two of them. I've ran a GTX 980 SLI setup up until last month, where I decided to sell both cards and upgrade to two GTX 1080 graphics cards. Currently I'm really enjoying my build and all the hardware from 2014 is still holding up firmly. Hopefully I don't need to swap any of my current hardware around for the next year.

GR: What is your favorite part of your PC setup?

J: Honestly, the favorite part about my entire PC setup is the 21:9 aspect ratio monitor. It helps me balance my desktop and get things done quicker due to the additional screen space. I don't have to minimize every single program just to complete a minor task. Certain games are also displayed with a larger field of view and it can be extremely helpful in games such as Dota 2, which does not come with its own adjustable FoV slider. As for my rig, I really like the overall clean build and I think the ambient case lighting helps each piece of hardware stand out. I'm not a fan of messy cables that stick out inside of the case. My old rig was a complete disaster when it came to cable management and I cringe at the thought of it.

GR: What was the first game you played to test your new hardware? Have you run benchmarks?

J: After I received both of my GTX 1080's in the mail, the first game I tested was The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and I was pleasantly surprised by the results. Not only could I max out the game with Hairworks enabled and retain 60fps, I was also able to downsample from 2.00 DSR at 3840×1620 resolution.

In addition to testing The Witcher 3, I ran a few 3DMark tests once receiving the HB SLI bridge. You can see the Firestrike Ultra benchmark here and the Firestrike 1.1 benchmark here. I think the scores are great but I also know they could be improved if I were to overclock my processor.

GR: What is your most anticipated PC game?

J: Currently it's Deux Ex: Mankind Divided for PC. I'm a huge fan of the cyberpunk genre and really enjoy the Deus Ex games in general. There are a lot of great titles coming to PC this year and I'm excited for the majority of them.