For years, Intel held a virtual monopoly on gaming performance, but AMD’s 2017 release of the has completely shifted the landscape.

: Intel remains the king of raw gaming speed due to superior single-core performance. The Intel Core i7-7700K Go to product viewer dialog for this item.

Gaming PC Buying Guide 2017: Building the Ultimate Rig The year 2017 has been one of the most transformative periods for PC hardware in over a decade. With the arrival of groundbreaking new architectures, gamers now have more choices than ever across all price points. Whether you are aiming for 1080p dominance or a 4K powerhouse, this guide covers everything you need to know to build or buy the perfect gaming PC this year. 1. The CPU Revolution: Intel vs. AMD Ryzen

is widely considered the best overall value for gamers, offering 6 cores and 12 threads that excel at both gaming and multitasking like streaming.

The GPU remains the most critical component for frame rates. 2017 sees a fierce battle between Nvidia's 10-series and AMD's RX 500 series. The Best CPU & GPU Purchases of 2017 : r/intel

has become a legendary budget pick, offering dual-core performance with hyper-threading that punches far above its weight class for entry-level builds. 2. Graphics Cards: The Heart of the Machine

: These processors have revitalized AMD's image by offering high core and thread counts at competitive prices. The Ryzen 5 1600 Go to product viewer dialog for this item.

is the premier choice for high-refresh-rate gaming, capable of pushing over 5GHz when overclocked. : The Intel Pentium G4560 Go to product viewer dialog for this item.