Build Your Dream XI... and Your Dream PC
Lennon Byatt
The FIFA World Cup 2026 is in full swing, and between screaming at the TV, arguing with mates about formations, and watching Germany dismantle Curacao 7-1, we reckon there's another lineup worth building. Your dream gaming PC.
Every great football team needs the right player in the right position. And every great gaming PC needs the right component doing the right job. So we've matched the two up, here's your Dream XI, AWD-IT style.
The Lineup
Goalkeeper — The Power Supply Unit (PSU)
The goalkeeper is your last line of defence. You barely notice them when things are going well, but when they have a bad day, the whole team collapses. Your PSU is exactly the same. A quality 80+ Gold or Platinum rated PSU quietly delivers stable, clean power to every component. Cheap out here, and you risk taking down your whole build. Don't be that manager.
AWD-IT pick: 750W–850W 80+ Gold PSU, reliable, quiet, and built to last.
Right Back — The PC Case
Solid, dependable, does the dirty work without demanding the spotlight. A good case keeps everything cool, cable-managed, and protected. It won't win you matches on its own, but poor airflow or a cramped chassis will absolutely cost you performance when it matters most.
AWD-IT pick: Mid-tower ATX case with mesh front panel for strong airflow.
104
Matches to watch
39
Days of football
48
Nations competing
16
Host cities
Pick Your Tier
We've named each tier after a tournament stage, because let's be honest, that's exactly the kind of thing we'd do. Find your budget and dive in.
Group Stage
Round of 32
Quarter Final
World Cup Final
Centre Back (1) — The Motherboard
One of your two commanding centre backs. The motherboard is the foundation everything else plugs into. It determines which CPUs you can run, how much RAM you can fit, and how many components you can support. Get a quality board with good VRMs and you'll have a rock-solid base to build on.
AWD-IT pick: AMD B650 or X670 for Ryzen builds, great value and expandability.
Don't Skimp on the Monitor
Here's the one thing people always get wrong: they'll spend £1,200 on a cracking PC and then plonk a £120 monitor in front of it. For watching football, your display might actually be the most important piece of the puzzle. A high frame rate match feed on a 60Hz screen looks noticeably worse than the same feed on a 144Hz panel — even when you're not gaming.
Motion clarity for live sport is all about refresh rate and response time working together. Here's where to put your money at each tier:
| Minimum (30 FPS) |
Recommended
|
|
|
CPU
|
Intel Core i3-6300 / AMD FX-4350
|
Intel Core i5-3570K / AMD Ryzen 5
|
|
GPU
|
NVIDIA GTX 950 / AMD Radeon HD 7790
|
NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD R9 290
|
|
RAM
|
6GB
|
8GB
|
|
Storage
|
75GB HDD
|
SSD recommended
|
Centre Back (2) — The CPU Cooler
The second centre back, equally important, often underrated. A proper CPU cooler keeps your processor running at full speed without thermal throttling. Just like a CB who lets the striker do their job, a good cooler lets your CPU perform at its peak without intervention.
AWD-IT pick: 240mm or 360mm AIO liquid cooler for high-end builds.
Left Back — The RAM
The left back, fast, athletic, contributes all over the pitch. 32GB of DDR5 at 6000MHz gives your system the bandwidth to multitask, stream, and game without breaking a sweat. Slow or insufficient RAM is the gaming equivalent of a left back who can't get up and down the flank.
AWD-IT pick: 32GB DDR5-6000, the sweet spot for 2026 gaming builds
A good cooler lets your CPU perform at its peak
Best Sim Racing Setup for Beginners: Start With the Essentials
You don’t need a full cockpit immediately. A well‑chosen beginner setup helps you develop skills faster and keeps costs under control.
1. Steering Wheel and Pedals (Top Priority)
Your wheel and pedals are the most important part of any sim racing rig. Force feedback allows you to feel grip changes, kerbs, and steering resistance—crucial for learning car control.
Beginner tip: Focus on force feedback quality rather than raw power.
Your wheel and pedals are the most important part of any sim racing rig. Force feedback allows you to feel grip changes, kerbs, and steering resistance—crucial for learning car control.
Central Midfielder (1) — The NVMe SSD
The engine of the team. A fast NVMe SSD keeps everything moving — loading games in seconds, booting Windows instantly, and transferring files at blistering speed. This is your Declan Rice: always there, always reliable, makes everything around it better.
AWD-IT pick: 1TB–2TB Gen4 NVMe SSD — lightning fast, future-proof.
Central Midfielder (2) — The CPU
Your playmaker. The CPU orchestrates everything, it processes game logic, handles AI, manages your OS, and feeds data to the GPU. A great CPU like the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is your Jude Bellingham: technically brilliant, impossible to ignore, capable of winning matches on its own.
AWD-IT pick: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, the best gaming CPU money can buy right now.
Attacking Midfielder — The GPU (Supporting Role)
The number ten. Creative, technically gifted, links the midfield to the attack. A mid-tier GPU like the RTX 5060 Ti handles 1080p and 1440p gaming beautifully, and when paired with a stronger GPU up top, this is a genuinely complete system.
AWD-IT pick: NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti, brilliant value for 1080p/1440p gaming.
The CPU orchestrates everything, it processes game logic, handles AI, manages your OS, and feeds data to the GPU
Right Winger — Case Fans / Airflow
The right winger: explosive, direct, and makes everything flow. Quality case fans push cool air in and hot air out, keeping thermals low across the whole build. Underestimated by many builders, good airflow is what separates a system that throttles under load from one that maintains peak performance for hours.
AWD-IT pick: 3–4 x 120mm/140mm ARGB fans, front intake / rear-top exhaust.
live-streaming simultaneously without breaking a sweat
Left Winger — Wi-Fi 6E / Ethernet
The left winger who's always making runs behind the defence. Your network connection is invisible until it lets you down, and then it's catastrophic. A wired Ethernet connection or Wi-Fi 6E card keeps ping low, downloads fast, and your World Cup streams buffer-free.
AWD-IT pick: Wired Gigabit Ethernet first choice; Wi-Fi 6E as backup.
Striker — The GPU (Main)
The striker. The one who wins you the game. The GPU does the heavy lifting, rendering every frame, every shadow, every particle effect. The NVIDIA RTX 5080 is your Harry Kane: clinical, powerful, and world-class. Put a top GPU in your build and everything else follows.
AWD-IT pick: NVIDIA RTX 5080, for 4K gaming, ray tracing, and maxing out every title.
High-End: Best PC for Apex — Maximum FPS & Future-Proofing (£1,000+)
For players chasing every possible competitive edge, or those who stream their Apex gameplay and play other demanding titles alongside it, this tier leaves nothing on the table.
What to look for:
- AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D or Intel Core i7-14700K
- NVIDIA RTX 5070 or AMD RX 9070 XT
- 32GB DDR5 dual-channel RAM
- 1TB NVMe SSD
With a Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RTX 5070, you're looking at well over 200 FPS at 1080p even on ultra settings and significantly more on competitive low settings. This build also handles 4K gaming, content creation, and streaming without compromise.
Browse AWD-IT's high-end gaming PCs
For players chasing every possible competitive edge
What Monitor Should You Pair With Your Apex PC?
Apex rewards high frame rates more than most shooters — so your monitor choice matters just as much as your PC.
- 144Hz at 1080p — The competitive baseline. A massive step up from 60Hz, and well matched with a budget AWD-IT build. Great for most players.
- 240Hz at 1080p — The standard for serious Apex players. Tracking fast legends and landing shots on the move feels noticeably cleaner at 240Hz.
- 1440p at 144Hz — A good middle ground if you play other visually rich games alongside Apex and want a sharper image without needing 240+ FPS.
- 360Hz at 1080p — For the most competitive players chasing every millisecond of responsiveness. Requires a high-end PC to feed it consistently.
Most competitive Apex players prioritise refresh rate over resolution — the extra frames make movement tracking and gunfights noticeably more responsive.
Browse AWD-IT gaming monitors
How to Unlock FPS Above 144 in Apex Legends
By default, Apex caps at 144 FPS. To remove this cap:
- Open the EA App or Steam
- Right-click Apex Legends and go to Game Properties (EA App) or Properties (Steam)
- In the Advanced Launch Options or Launch Options field, type: +FPS_max unlimted
- Save and launch the game
You can also set a specific cap – for example – to match your monitor's refresh rate without going fully uncapped.
Our Pick at AWD-IT
AWD-IT stocks a range of gaming chairs from trusted brands including Corsair. Whether you're looking for an entry-level seat or a premium setup, you can browse our full gaming chair range here.
• Shape: This is personal. Some players prefer ambidextrous shapes; others, ergonomic right-handed designs. Your grip style (palm, claw, fingertip) should influence which shape you choose.
• Click latency: How fast the mouse registers a click input. High-end optical switches (like those in Razer mice) have virtually zero debounce delay, which matters in fast-paced competitive play.
• Wireless vs. wired: Modern wireless gaming mice (Razer HyperSpeed, Corsair Slipstream) have zero meaningful latency disadvantage over wired mice. Wireless is now a perfectly legitimate competitive choice.
GTA 6 GPU Comparison Table (RTX 50 Series)
|
GPU Model
|
Performance Tier
|
Best Resolution
|
VRAM (Expected)
|
GTA 6 Settings
|
Ideal User Type
|
|
RTX 5060
|
Entry-Level
|
1080p
|
8–12GB
|
Medium–High
|
Budget gamers looking for smooth GTA 6 gameplay
|
|
RTX 5070
|
Mid-Range
|
1440p
|
12–16GB
|
High–Ultra
|
Best value for most UK gamers
|
|
RTX 5070 Ti
|
Upper Mid-Range
|
1440p / 4K
|
16GB
|
Ultra
|
High FPS + future-proofing
|
|
RTX 5080
|
High-End
|
4K
|
16–20GB
|
Ultra + Ray Tracing
|
Enthusiasts & high-performance gaming builds
|
|
RTX 5090
|
Ultra Enthusiast
|
4K+ / 8K
|
24GB+
|
Max Settings + Full Ray Tracing
|
No-compromise, ultimate GTA 6 experience
|
Does a More Expensive Mouse Make You Better?
Honestly? At a basic level, no. A well-made £40 mouse with a decent sensor will not put you at a measurable disadvantage against someone with a £150 flagship. The fundamentals of aim, consistency, muscle memory, and practice, dwarf any hardware differences at the consumer level.
That said, there are genuine benefits to higher-end mice: better sensor accuracy, lighter weight, improved wireless performance, more comfortable shapes, and longer build quality. If you game seriously and spend hours at your desk, the ergonomics and build quality alone can justify the price.
The point is don't buy a £150 mouse expecting it to fix your aim. Buy it because the weight, shape, and quality will make long gaming sessions more comfortable.
AWD-IT stocks gaming mice from Razer, Corsair, and ASUS at a range of price points. If you're unsure where to start, a mid-range wireless mouse from any of these brands will give you everything you need for competitive gaming.
Getting the most out of your hardware in Apex comes down to a few key settings
Tips to Maximise FPS in Apex Legends
Getting the most out of your hardware in Apex comes down to a few key settings:
- Drop Shadows to Low or Off — The single biggest GPU saving in Apex with minimal visual impact
- Set Texture Streaming Budget to match your VRAM — Mismatched settings can cause stuttering
- Disable V-Sync — Adds input lag and caps your frame rate unnecessarily
- Use Adaptive Resolution wisely — Setting this to 0 (off) gives you a consistent image; setting it higher lets the game dynamically reduce resolution to maintain FPS
- Keep GPU drivers updated — Particularly important for NVIDIA users via GeForce Experience
- Install on an NVMe SSD — Faster loading into matches, especially during the frantic drop phase
- Close background apps — Discord video, browser tabs, and streaming software all compete with Apex for CPU resources
High-End 4K Powerhouse
- RTX 5080 / 5090
- Intel i7-14700K
- 32GB DDR5 RAM
Built for 4K ultra gaming with zero compromises
Who Should Buy in the UK (Clear Advice)
✅ Buy an RTX 5060 if you:
- Game at 1080p
- Want a quiet, efficient PC
- Have a £800–£1,000 budget
- Prefer a brand‑new UK‑built PC
✅ Buy an RTX 5060 Ti if you:
- Use or plan to move to 1440p
- Want longer lifespan
- Play larger AAA titles
❌ Skip both if you:
- Only care about 4K gaming
- Already own a strong RTX 4070‑class GPU
Full Team Sheet
• GK: Power Supply Unit (750W–850W 80+ Gold)
• RB: Mid-Tower ATX Case with mesh front
• CB: AMD B650 / X670 Motherboard
• CB: 240mm–360mm AIO CPU Cooler
• LB: 32GB DDR5-6000 RAM
• CM: 2TB Gen4 NVMe SSD
• CM: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU
• AM: NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti (supporting GPU / budget build option)
• RW: 3–4x Quality Case Fans
• LW: Wired Ethernet / Wi-Fi 6E
• ST: NVIDIA RTX 5080 (main GPU)
AWD-IT builds every single one of these components into our custom rigs. Whether you want a budget build starting from £799 or a full World Cup-winning lineup from £2,500+, we'll put together your Dream XI and get it shipped to your door before the knockout rounds begin.
