We’re looking at the make-up of an esports gaming PC.
Gaming PCs are brilliant for being able to tailor your hardware to suit your exact needs. With so many components available, you have near complete freedom to engineer the best PC for you. (Budget providing, of course.) As great as that sounds, it does open the can of worms – exactly, what hardware do you need for an esports gaming PC? In this article, we’re going to virtually build an esports gaming PC, detailing why we’ve picked each component and even suggesting a few high-speed peripherals to go with it.
What do You Need for an Esports Gaming PC?
First, what is an esports gaming PC? Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin; a gaming PC that has been engineered with competitive esports gaming in mind. They need high-speed components, plenty of RAM to keep latency low, and a cheeky SSD or two for the gaming library is always a bonus! All this will add up to giving you that competitive edge when you play against others.
The beauty of popular esports titles is that they don’t have particularly demanding system requirements. League of Legends can be run on integrated Intel graphics, Counter-Strike 2 only needs a four-core CPU, and Apex Legends recommends an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 GPU. These entirely accessible specs make it so that near anyone can play an esports title, and thus call their PC an esports computer. Even if it’s gathered more than a little dust.
It’s only if you want to get competitive that the high-performance components come into play. Naturally, we want to get competitive.
Our Esports PC Spec
For this esports gaming PC, we’re going to balance performance and budget. As demonstrated, you don’t need an RTX 4090 to run your favourite esports titles, but you can still dominate with the right selection of mainstream-tier components.
| Component | Specification |
|---|---|
| Motherboard | ASUS TUF Gaming B650-Plus (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 7700X CPU |
| Graphics Card | MSI RTX 4070 Super VENTUS 3X OC Graphics Card |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance RGB EXPO 32GB DDR5 RAM |
| Storage | Crucial T500 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD |
| Power Supply | Seasonic VERTEX GX-850 850W 80 PLUS Gold PSU |
| Cooling | Kolink Umbra Void Pro 120mm ARGB PWM Fab Kolink Umbra Void AIO 240mm Performance ARGB CPU Water Cooler |
| PC Case | Kolink Unity Peak ARGB Mid-Tower PC Case |
The Motherboard: ASUS TUF Gaming B650-Plus ATX Motherboard
The ASUS TUF Gaming B650-Plus ATX Motherboard forms the perfect foundation for an esports gaming PC. Utilising the AMD AM5 platform, it will fully support an AMD Ryzen 7000 Series CPU (or the Ryzen 8000 / 9000 Series if you ever want to upgrade!). Plus, with DDR5 and PCIe 4.0, this motherboard is well set to facilitate high-speed performance for years to come.
The CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X CPU
AMD Ryzen 7000 Series’ Zen 4 architecture was built on a five-star platform, supporting DDR5, AM5, 5.0GHz+ boost speeds, and more. The Ryzen 7 7700X CPU features all that tech innovation at an accessible mid-range point. Featuring eight cores and sixteen threads, this processor can effortlessly handle running your favourite esports title, Discord (so you can keep in touch with the squad), and streaming your session – even all at once!
The GPU: MSI RTX 4070 Super VENTUS 3X OC Graphics Card
The MSI RTX 4070 Super VENTUS 3X GPU packs all the performance you need to dominate in the likes of Overwatch 2, DOTA 2, and more. Featuring 7168 CUDA cores, boost speeds up to 2520MHz, and 12GB GDDR6X memory, this graphics card has been optimised to deliver silky smooth frame rates and beautiful graphical detail. Better yet, it is fully supported by MSI Afterburner, an easy-to-use overclocking software that is great for beginners and veterans, alike. Get the most out of your graphics card!
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB EXPO 32GB DDR5 RAM
16GB may be the sweet spot for memory when it comes to gaming memory, but opting for 32GB gives you that little bit extra wiggle room. We picked the Corsair Vengeance RGB Dual-Channel DDR5 Memory Kit for its 6000MHz speed and AMD EXPO support. This nifty piece of software is fine-tuned to work with AMD Ryzen 7000 Series, allowing you to easily overclock your memory to get the best possible performance. As a result, you can game with lower latency and tight timings.
Storage: Crucial T500 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD
SSD storage has revolutionised our gaming PCs. Thanks to their lack of moving parts, we can store our gaming libraries on devices with ultra-fast read and write speeds. Gone are the days of waiting for your HDDs to whir into action! We picked the Crucial T500 1TB SSD for that is an ideal capacity to support your operating system, games, and files, while the PCIe Gen 4.0 NVMe interface delivers 7300MB/s read and 6800MB/s write speeds. Plus, it features an integrated heatsink to keep the drive at optimum temperatures, even when under load.
What’s more, the ASUS TUF Gaming B650-Plus motherboard features a total of three M.2 slots and four SATA ports, meaning you can add secondary and tertiary storage drives (and beyond!) as you need them. The SATA ports are fantastic for connecting high-capacity HDDs, where you can store the bulk of your files and media without clogging up your SSD. Plus, secondary small capacity SSDs – around the 240GB mark – are great for storing your operating system. It’s giving f l e x i b i l i t y.
The PSU: Seasonic VERTEX GX-850 850W 80 PLUS Gold PSU
There are two important things to consider with your PSU: the wattage and the 80 PLUS rating. You need to make sure your power supply unity will, well, supply enough power, and do it efficiently. For gaming, 80 PLUS Gold is the rating sweet spot that balances excellent efficiency with accessible pricing. The wattage, however, depends on your equipment. We have both a guide and a PSU calculator to help you with working out your required wattage. Popping these specs into our calculator, it recommends a PSU between 700W and 1000W.
So, we’ve opted for the Seasonic VERTEX GX-850 850W PSU. 850W will provide both ample power and headroom, allowing for any surges or upgrades. Plus, as a modular PSU, you only need to plug in the cables you’re actively using, which will reduce clutter and promote better airflow!
Cooling: Kolink Umbra Void Pro Fans and Umbra Void AIO
When you start using higher powered components, you’ll also start generating some excess heat. Especially if you’re going to start overclocking. Our chosen PC case comes with four Kolink Umbra Void Pro ARGB/PWM 120mm fans, mounted on the side and back panels. These promote and boost airflow through the chassis, and you can even adjust the fan speed, between 800 and 1800RPM, to suit the current workflow. If four fans isn’t enough cooling power for you, there are additional fan mounts on the PSU shroud and top panel.
Alternatively, you can integrate a dedicated AIO CPU cooler, perhaps the Kolink Umbra Void AIO. The 240 model has enough cooling potential to keep up with the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X CPU and will easily mount onto our chosen PC case’s top panel. The pump operates at up to 2600RPM and, once again, you have control over the fan speeds so you can prioritise quieter performance as needed.
PC Case: Kolink Unity Peak ARGB Mid-Tower PC Case
We chose the Kolink Unity Peak for a range of reasons. First, it’s got all the clearance, mounting points, and support for all the hardware we listed. Everything fits – hallelujah! More importantly, it has tempered glass panelling for both the front and side, creating a seamless view of all the hardware inside. I didn’t painstakingly select all these components to not admire my handiwork afterwards! Plus, the side glass panel slides in and out of place, making it super easy to access the internals as and when you need to upgrade.
Paired with Peripherals
Now we have the gaming PC down, you need some peripherals that can keep up. The key to esports gaming is responsiveness, especially if you want to do it competitively. Every millisecond counts! As such, we recommend a high refresh rate gaming monitor, a mechanical keyboard with short, linear switches, and a gaming mouse with an 8K polling rate. We’ve picked out three here, but you can browse our extended collections if these don’t fit your esports vibes.
Gigabyte 24″ G24F-2 IPS 165Hz Gaming Monitor
- 24″ widescreen gaming monitor
- IPS panel technology
- 165Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time
- 1920 x 1080 resolution
- FreeSync compatibility
Ducky Mecha Mini 60% RGB USB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
- Mini (60%) mechanical keyboard
- Rapid, linear Cherry MX Speed Silver Switches
- Vibrant RGB lighting
- Anti-ghosting and N-Key rollover
- USB connectivity
Endgame Gear OP1 8K USB Optical Gaming Mouse
- Wired optical gaming mouse
- 8,000Hz polling rate
- Kailh GX mechanical switches
- Pixart PAW3395 sensor up to 26,000 CPI
- Hybrid skate design
Not Ready to DIY?
If building your own gaming PC seems a little outside your skill set, don’t worry. At Overclockers UK, we have an exciting range of gaming PCs ready for you to explore. We have our fully pre-built models, which are tested and ready to ship, or our configurable computers, where you can adjust the base spec to better suit your needs. We even have a category dedicated to PCs perfect for esports! Just doing what we can to make your life easier.
Great Esports Games
Looking for some popular esports games to play? The Overclockers UK blog has got you!
What’s in Your Esports Build?
What do you make of our esports PC spec? What would you (or have you!) put in yours? Let us know in the comments below!
- 9 min read
Emily Haylock
Author
Emily is a board and cosy gamer, keyboard obsessive, and content copywriter for Overclockers UK. She has been with Overclockers UK since 2020, writing about everything from noblechairs to 8Pack PCs. She writes from within her desk nest with a foster pup at her feet. (What, a desk duvet is a totally normal thing!) In her downtime, she likes to play board games, farming sims, and old-school Final Fantasy. IX to be specific. It is the best, and that is a hill she will die on.
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