The Ultimate 4K Gaming PC Build for $2000 in 2018

Playing games at 4K hasn't been entirely possible on a single graphics card up until just recently. Thanks to the new RTX 2080, this custom build won't have any troubles in 4K gaming!

Packing an RTX 2080, a brand new i7 9700K, 16GB of DDR4 RAM and 1TB of pure SSD storage, this build is a 4K gaming BEAST! It's easily capable of playing most AAA games on great settings in 4K at 60fps without a problem.

If you have any questions about this build, feel free to ask me in the comment section! 

*Hardware prices change daily, sometimes multiple times in a single day. Therefore, the price listed above should only be considered a rough estimate.

Below you’ll find some suggested add-ons for this build, some I’ll mention more in-depth further down this page, but some are pretty self-explanatory like optical (DVD/CD) drives. Although not entirely necessary, optical drives can sometimes come in handy and I strongly recommended having one; if you have an old PC kicking around, its optical drive will more than likely work for you and you won’t need to buy a new one.

This is the ultimate single GPU 4K gaming PC build, without a doubt. It hasn't been until the release of the GTX 1080 Ti that a single card 4K build was even really possible without lowering the settings so low that gaming wouldn't be enjoyable anyways.

Keep in mind that the price listed above is just for the core components and you will still need to add anything that you don't already have; mouse, keyboard, audio, those kinds of things.

Case: The case in this build is an awesome one from Corsair's Crystal lineup. The 570X is a mid-tower ATX case that has tons of room for everything in this build and any future upgrades you might want to add. It comes with 3x 120mm RGB fans from the factory, but you can always upgrade those as you see fit. As far as cable management goes, the 570X is awesome and offers a good amount of options as well as rubber grommets for all cable-routing holes.

Motherboard: The ASUS Z370-A is a top-rated motherboard that's perfectly suited for this build. It has all of the ports, headers and slots you'll need for everything in this build and then some. Along with the basics, this board also boasts integrated RGB lighting, amazing 8-channel audio, reinforced PCIe slots, 3D-printing mounts and tons of other features.

Processor (CPU): Intel's brand new 8 core/8 thread i7 9700K is a complete and utter beast when it comes to pretty much anything. It's unlocked, so you can overclock it if you wish, but you won't have to because it readily blows the old i7 8700K out of the water and is an all-around incredible CPU regardless of what you're using it for. When it comes down to it, the i7 9700K is undeniably the best CPU you can use for gaming.

Since the i7 9700K does not come with a stock CPU cooler, I've added on a CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO CPU cooler to keep you covered. It's an awesome air CPU cooler and will keep your 9700K cool, even while lightly overclocked. If you would prefer a closed loop liquid cooler instead, I'd suggest checking out something like the NZXT Kraken X52!

Graphics Card (GPU): The RTX 2080 is a complete and utter powerhouse when it comes to gaming. It completely blows away the last generation GTX 1080 Ti as well as its little brother the GTX 1080. Simply put, the RTX 2080 is one the best cards you could buy right now in terms of price vs performance. EVGA's RTX 2080 XC Gaming is particularly good due to the high-quality materials used throughout.

System Memory (RAM): 16GB of DDR4 RAM is more than enough for most dedicated gaming PCs, even those that are aiming for 4K. That being said, I picked you a dual channel pair so you can easily upgrade to 24 or 32GB if you wanted to by simply adding more sticks of the same 3200MHz speed. If you're feeling flashy, there's also RAM available with RGB lighting - something to keep in mind!

Power Supply (PSU): EVGA's 650 G3 is an absolutely amazing power supply that offers a platinum level of efficiency for the cost of a gold-rated supply. It offers 90% efficiency or higher under typical loads, an amazing 7-year warranty, and it also comes with a self-tester so you can test it for faults on the off chance there is one. I use a G3 unit and I really think you should to!

Storage: As far as storage goes, 1TB of pure SSD storage is quite exceptional. There's also a reason for the two drives, the faster NVMe SSD is meant to be your primary boot drive (where Windows and your primary programs are installed) and maybe a couple of your more load-intensive games. Then, the SATA SSD is meant to be used as a mass storage drive (for the bulk of your games, etc); this will ultimately make your PC perform better than having everything on a single drive.

This build is completely capable of playing AAA games in 4K at 60fps, less intensive games will run at much higher frame rates and you might even hit 144+ depending on the game!

When it comes to picking out an operating system, you pretty much have two options.

Windows, or Linux.

Windows is the better of the two when it comes to out-of-the-box compatibility with programs and games; but Linux is favored by more advanced PC users for its heightened security and its ability to be heavily modified.

The choice comes down to which one you prefer. Generally speaking, I'd recommend going the Windows 10 route unless you're already familiar with Linux. 

If this is your very first PC, chances are you're lacking things like a mouse, keyboard, monitor and some kind of audio peripheral. If that's the case, take a look through the items listed below for some of my recomendations.

WiFi is never the ideal solution for a gaming PC's internet connection. Just due to the nature of how WiFi works, it will almost always be inferior to a wired connection. That said, if you absolutely need/want to use a WiFi connection, you're going to need a WiFi adapter.

This is the ultimate single card 4K gaming PC build this far into 2018. It'll handle AAA games at 4K resolutions while putting out 60fps or better, less intensive games are going to run at significantly higher fps and you'll exceed 144fps in quite a few.

If you came here looking for an awesome build for $2000, or you want the best single card 4K build you can find, this one is it, without a doubt.

If you have any questions about the build or the suggested peripherals, feel free to ask me in the comment section!