Intel’s new 22nm “tick” brings native USB 3.0, PCIe 3.0, and twice the integrated graphics performance (not that we’ll need it) to Socket LGA1155

THE MISSION Intel’s Ivy Bridge CPUs (and the corresponding Z77 Panther Point chipset) finally dropped in late April, and Ivy Bridge brings more than just the expected thermal and power improvements over Sandy Bridge. You can read an in-depth report on Sandy Bridge in the June 2012 issue of Maximum PC, but for our purposes, it’s enough to know that the Ivy Bridge Core i7-3770K is the successor to the Sandy Bridge Core i7-2600K. It has a slightly faster clock speed than the 2600K, but it requires less power and delivers more performance per clock than its predecessor.
It doesn’t make sense to upgrade from a Sandy Bridge to an Ivy Bridge processor or motherboard, but if you’re building a new PC, Ivy Bridge is the way to go.

This month’s project, then, is simple: Build a new gaming PC with an Ivy Bridge motherboard and CPU. I’ll also be using Nvidia’s GTX 680 GPU and Western Digital’s new 1TB VelociRaptor, just for kicks.

Oh, microATX. You’re the awkward middle child of motherboard form factors: neither as fully powered as a regular ATX board nor as compact as Mini-ITX. On the other hand, it’s possible to build a hell of a rig with microATX in a relatively small footprint without compromising power, and I’ve been intending to do so for a while. I took a shine to the X79-powered microATX mobo Gordon Mah Ung reviewed in the April 2012 issue, and when the sky angels slipped a Kepler GPU into my rucksack, I knew what I had to do.

It’s not going to be easy fitting all these high-powered parts into a minuscule chassis, but if you want easy, build a full-size machine. When I’m done, I’ll have a box just 14.5 inches tall, 15.2 inches deep, and 8.25 inches wide—one that kicks a disproportionate amount of ass, no matter how tricky we have to get with the zip ties.