Ultimate build based on the Intel Core i9-7900X

The upgrade path for the Intel Core i9 series of processors is still evolving and some things may change before these processors are available. That being said, you can think of this as a hypothetical gaming tower build based on the information currently available.

The system will be based on the Intel core i9-7900X (which brings 10 cores to the table clocked at 3.3 GHz (4.3 Turbo), 13.75 MB level 2 cache, 14 nm manufacturing technology and requires DDR4 RAM clocked at a minimum of 2666 MHz, 4 memory channels, 64 bit, hyper-threading, hardware virtualization, and supports up to 44 PCI lanes. the thermal design is 140 watts. Price at the time of this writing: US$1000.00

So, now that we have that out of the way, the processor somewhat dictates the rest of the build. Since the processor requires a minimum of 2666 MHz DDR4, and we want some room for overclocking and a little future proofing. I've decided on the following RAM for this build:

CORSAIR Vengeance RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 3000 MHz

Price at the time of this writing: US$172.00

This processor requires a motherboard with a 2066 socket, and being a Gigabyte fan, I decided to go with what I've personally had the best luck with:

GIGABYTE AORUS X299 AORUS Gaming 9 (rev. 1.0) ATX Motherboard

Price at the time of this writing: US$670

Now its video card time and given the level of this system, nothing but the best will do. I decided on the EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 gaming card. With 11 GB DDR5 and a memory interface of 352 bit, Core clock of 1569 MHz (1683 Boost) and effective memory clock of 11016 MHz, and I can't see this card breaking a sweat with even the most demanding games.

Price at the time of this writing: US$1060.00

Now with components of this this stature, you need a good power supply to ensure stable DC and adequate cooling. My choice is the Thermaltake Toughpower Grand DPS G RGB Titanium Power Supply:

Price at the time of this writing: $US400

Now with all this gorgeous horsepower, you'll want a case that makes it known that this not your average computer tower and also provides excellent cooling. The case I chose was the Corsair Graphite Series 760T Black Full Tower Windowed Case. It sports 2 140 mm fans up front and 1 140 mm fan in the rear. it comes with 2 2.0 USB ports up front and 2 USB 3.0 ports up front, as well as ports for headphones and microphone. Inside you have room for up to six 3.5" hard drives, and three 5 1/4 in bays, four 2.5" bays.

price at the time of this writing: US$220.00

Now we look at the processor cooler. Given that this processor consumes up to 140 watts, I can assume a significant amount of heat is generated as well. though I don't know this for sure: Erring on the side of caution, and allowing for future overclocking, and since I'm not a fan of liquid cooling, I decided on the Freezer 33 Plus. With 4 copper heat pipes making direct contact with the processor, and a dual fan design, this cooler can handle up to 320 watts of heat dissipation with a nominal 160 watts. More than enough for our processor with room for overclocking. Simple installation makes this the cooler of choice.

Price at the time of this writing: US$50.00

On the hard drive front, no compromises were made. The boot drive will be the OCZ Storage Solutions RevoDrive 350 Series 240GB PCI Express Generation 2 x 8 Solid State Drive

Price at the time of this writing: US$1025.00

The secondary drive will be the Seagate Enterprise Capacity 3.5 4TB spinning at 7200 RPM and a 128 MB cache connected to a 6 Gb/s SATA port.

Price at the time of this writing: $211

For the Blu-Ray burner, I chose the Pioneer 4K UHD Blu-Ray Burner 6X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X (Single) 8X (Dual) BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA.

Price at the time of this writing: US$150.00

Finally to give your build that little extra bling and to quiet things down while watching a movie, I chose the NZXT AC-SEN-3-B1 Sentry 3 5.4'' Touch Screen Fan Controller.

Price at the time of this writing: US$50.00

Total Cost in US$:
Processor: $1000.00
DDR4 RAM: $172.00
Motherboard $640.00
Video card: $1060.00
Power Supply: $440.00
Case: $220.00
Processor Cooler: $50.00
SSD: $1025.00
3.5" 4 TB hard drive $211.00
Optical Drive: $150.00
Fan Controller $50.00
Arctic Silver $8.00
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Total Cost: $5026.00

Getting me to put it together? Priceless.