5 Skylake gaming PCs guaranteed to make you drool
Introduction
Intel's Skylake processor has swooped into view, and it'll soon be nestling its new architecture into the innards of powerful gaming PCs.
If Skylake's promise of increased performance, wireless charging, DDR4 memory and Thunderbolt 3 haven't got your licking your lips, these frame-busting builds by Intel's partners will.
On display at Gamescom 2015, they include a range of prototype systems and ones that you'll be able to buy with real hard-earned cash from September.
- Check out our review of Intel's Core i7-6700K
1. Asus Z710-Deluxe build
Designed to be housed inside a Phobya WaCoolT Cube 1 case, this eye-catching build from Asus uses the company's Z170-Deluxe motherboard twinned with Intel's six-generation Core i7 chip. It features a five-way optimisation feature that lets you optimize the entire system in a single click thanks to a dedicated water-pump header on board.
It also packs KLEVV DDR4 RAM, a Kingston HyperX SSD and an Asus Rog GTX 980 Poseidon video card to chew through frames.
2. HP Envy Phoenix
HP's high-end Envy Phoenix desktop has never skimped in the power department, and its upcoming Skylake build looks set to continue the trend. Packing a six-generation Intel Core i7 chip paired with Nvidia's still-pretty-neat GTX 970, HP has slotted in 8GB of DDR4 memory to ensure everything keeps ticking over smoothly. A pair of neon lights illuminate the centre of the casing, which probably represents a Phoenix, or something.
3. MSI 717OA Gaming M7 build
MSI's build features a Dragon Casemod as the chassis, and its rally-car-roof chic stands out to say the least. The system places MSI's Z170A gaming M7 motherboard at its heart. That mobo is Skylake-friendly Socket 1151, of course, which has also allowed MSI to slip in 16GB of DDR4 memory. If you could buy one of these - which you can't - this build's dual MSI GTX 980 TI Gaming 4G cards would ensure some tasty 4K gaming. Still, there'd be nothing stopping you putting one together yourself.
4. Alienware X51
Alienware has introduced a Skylake-equipped version of its Alienware X51 PC. Set to go on sale later this year, it combines fairly powerful components with a console-like chassis. Packing a sixth-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of DDR4 RAM and a GTX 960, the X51 has a trick hidden up its sleeve in that it can connected to Alienware's Graphics Amplifier, allowing you to ramp up the juice by adding a compatible desktop graphics card.
5. Scan SXS Systems build
Housed inside a fairly unassuming Corsair Carbide 100R Mid Tower case is a six-generation Intel Core i5 6600K processor. Scan has paired it with an EVGA GTX 980 Superclocked ACX video card and 8GB of Corsair Vengeance 3000MHz RAM.
Scan picked an Asus Z170 motherboard and opted for a 400GB Intel 750 PCI-E SSD.