The best celebrity PC gaming rigs: how the other half plays the best PC games

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PC gaming makes up around 24 percent of the overall video game market. Compared to the 30 percent home consoles from the likes of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo a gaming desktop is a significantly more expensive investment. Helps that everything from the Playstation 5 to Switch even uses mid-tier PC components. In an age where most multi-platform AAA games are also some of the best PC games, it’s essentially the best way to game. During the 2020 stay-at-home orders due to the covid-19 lockdown, it was said that the PC gaming market was set to increase 16 percent. By the time 2024 comes along, the market is set to rise by yet another 25%.

Though video games have become a pop culture mainstay due to more accessible technology, PC gaming is still a niche market with a high barrier of entry. Those who care about high resolutions, visual fidelity and frame-rates don’t mind taking time putting the perfect rig together or spending thousands on one of the best gaming PCs This includes many popular notable individuals with expendable cash. For PC Gaming Week, we look into famous people and their rigs.

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1. Henry Cavill

Case: Fractal Define R6
Motherboard: ASUS ROG Crosshair 8 Hero
CPU: Ryzen 9 3900X
GPU: ASUS ROG Strix RTX 2080Ti OC
RAM: Trident Z 32GB(16x2)
Storage: 2x 1TB Samsung 970 Pro NVMe SSD
PSU: Seasonic Prime PX Platinum
Cooler: NZXT Z73 360mm AIO

When Henry Cavill isn’t portraying Superman and Geralt of Rivia by day, he spends a large majority of his time gaming. Most importantly, he’s a huge advocate for PC gaming. Keeping things in perspective, he played so much World of Warcraft that he missed a phone call from Zack Snyder informing him that he landed the Man of Steel role. Speaking with GQ, Cavill said “At home, I get to sit playing games for ridiculous amounts of hours and escape there, because going outside has the opposite effect.”

2. Terry Crews

Case: InWin Tou 2.0 Case Custom Powder Coated Red/Silver - Glass Etch Work by GeForce Garage
Motherboard: ASUS WS-E/10G
CPU: Intel Core i7-6950X (Overclocked to conservative 4GHz)
GPU: NVIDIA GTX Titan Xp SLI
RAM: 32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum SE
Storage: PATRIOT Hellfire 480GB m.2 NVME SSD - PATRIOT Ignite 960GB SATA SSD - WD Black 2TB HDD
PSU: InWin 1065w Modular PSU - Custom Sleeved Cables by Senpai Studios
Cooler: (2x) EKWB Coolstream 360 Radiators - EKWB Supremacy Evo CPU Block - EKWB GTX Titan Xp Waterblocks - EKWB XRES Pump Combo - Primochill Revolver Rigid Tubing Fittings - Primochill PETG Rigid Tubing (13mm)

In late April, no one was surprised to hear football player turned actor Terry Crews demand Nintendo release a localized version of Mother 3. Between appearances in popular video game franchises like Saint’s Row and Crackdown, Crews went so far as performing a mock audition for a voice over role in Overwatch. Comparing PC gaming builds to HAM radios, his induction to PC gaming came through bonding with his son, who is an avid gamer. He even built one himself that also featured an HTC Vive for VR capability.

As one of the spokesmen for Old Spice deodorant, he was later gifted a rig with a custom case inspired by the brand that features some impressive specs in 2017. Nearly four years later, the specs are still fairly impressive. This includes an Intel i7 overclocked to 4GHz, still ultra powerful NVIDIA GTX Titan Xp SLI, 32GB of RAM and liquid cooling.

3. Karl-Anthony Towns

Case: InWin Tou 2.0 Case Custom Powder Coated Red/Silver - Glass Etch Work by GeForce Garage
Motherboard: ASUS WS-E/10G
CPU: Intel Core i7-6950X (Overclocked to conservative 4GHz)
GPU: NVIDIA GTX Titan Xp SLI
RAM: 32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum SE
Storage: PATRIOT Hellfire 480GB m.2 NVME SSD - PATRIOT Ignite 960GB SATA SSD - WD Black 2TB HDD
PSU: InWin 1065w Modular PSU - Custom Sleeved Cables by Senpai Studios
Cooler: (2x) EKWB Coolstream 360 Radiators - EKWB Supremacy Evo CPU Block - EKWB GTX Titan Xp Waterblocks - EKWB XRES Pump Combo - Primochill Revolver Rigid Tubing Fittings - Primochill PETG Rigid Tubing (13mm)

Minnesota Timberwolves Powerforward Karl-Anthony Towns may be the most hardcore gamers within the NBA. Not only is he an avid Call of Duty player but enjoys PUBG as well. Speaking with ESPN, Towns said that video games also help him connect with fellow Timberwolves players during the off-season.

This couldn’t be any truer when Microsoft, in promotion of GamePass for PC, created one of the wildest custom designed rigs imaginable. Having the latest AMD CPU , Nvidia GPU, 32GB of RAM, 1TB SSD and liquid cooling is more than impressive enough on its own. Past the high level PC gaming, the rotating basketball case is jaw dropping to look at. More than any other custom case on this list, Thomas’ rig is literally a work of art.

4. T-Pain

Case: ORIGIN PC MILLENNIUM with HD UV Print
Motherboard: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS XII EXTREME
CPU: Intel Core i9-10900KF 10-Core 3.7GHz (5.3GHz Turbo Boost)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB
RAM: 32GB CORSAIR DOMINATOR PLATINUM 3200MHz (2x16GB)
Cooling: CORSAIR Hydro X Stage lII Hardline
Storage: 1TB Seagate FireCuda NVMe M.2 SSD , 6TB Western Digital Red
Power: 1000 Watt CORSAIR RM1000X RMx SERIES 80 PLUS GOLD

Multi-platinum recording artist/producer T-Pain spent a large majority of the 2000s releasing some of the greatest auto-tuned hits of the era. Now, the “Rappa Ternt Sanga” spends a large majority of his time gaming on Twitch. Over the past five years, viewers can watch him play everything from Doom and Rainbow Six: Siege to Overwatch. Most recently, T-Pain mercilessly slaughtered a group of gamers hurling racial slurs at him during a game of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.

The “Buy U A Drank” artist also has a sponsorship deal with ORIGIN, which includes a fairly killer set-up. This includes a 10-core Intel Core i9-10900KF CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, 32GB of Corsair RAM and 1TB Seagate SSD with an extra 6TB HDD.

5. Soulja Boy

Case: Custom NZXT SOD case
Motherboard: Unknown
CPU: Unknown
GPU: Unknown
RAM: Unknown
Storage: Unknown
Cooler: Unknown

Beyond changing the music industry as we know it before turning 18-years-old, Soulja Boy’s history as a gamer has been well documented. From his hilarious review of popular indie title Braid to online videos of him playing Grand Theft Auto Online with Chief Keef, DeAndre Way really has a passion for gaming. His love for the culture is so much that he has even spent the past several years unsuccessfully trying to break into the console hardware business.

Like many hyper materialistic rappers of the modern age, Young Draco loves to flaunt his gaming setup just as much as he does his expensive foreign cars and apparel. This includes his NZXT SOD case featured gaming rig. Though the actual specs are unknown, Soulja proclaims that the set-up cost around $30,000.

6. Ilhan Omar

Case: NZXT H510i case
Motherboard: not specified
CPU: Intel Core i7-10700K
GPU: Zotac GeForce RTX 2060 Super
RAM: G.Skill TridentZ RGB 32GB
Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB M.2 NVMe 6TB SSD storage
Cooler: Corsair iCUE H100i AIO

While many elected representatives of the United States government have used video games as a scapegoat for societal ills, Congresswomen IIhan Omar (D-MN) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) made history by holding a live stream of popular social deduction game Among Us. The event was created in order to drive voter engagement during the 2020 presidential election. Over 400,000 people watched the live stream, which was definitely unprecedented at the time. When someone asked Rep. Omar for her PC specs on Twitter, she obliged.

More than enough power to run Among Us, her rig is respectable for games with higher system requirements. Besides having an Intel Core i7, RTX 2060 Super and 32GB of RAM, the storage is more than plenty with a collective 7TB worth of SSDs.

7. Post Malone

Case: Beerbongs and Bentleys Custom PC Case
Motherboard: X299 Rampage Extreme
CPU: I9-7940X
GPU: Titan XP SLI
RAM: 32GB DDR4 3000MHz Sniper X
Storage: 2x XPG SX8200 960GB M.2 NVME
PSU: 1000W P2 PSU
Cooler: All Water cooling Products including custom Curly Maple block covers to match the custom head

Multi-Platinum recording artist Post Malone is an avid gamer. Besides having his own Twitch channel displaying his Call of Duty and PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds skills, he also has branding sponsorships with the likes of HyperX. Last year, he even took an equity share in Dallas-based eSports organization Envy Gaming.

In promotion of his 2018 album Beerbongs & Bentleys, featuring the chart topping “Rockstar” with 21 Savage, Malone was given an impressive rig. With a case inspired by an acoustic guitar, the specs are powerful including the uber expensive Nvidia Titan XP SLI GPU. Everything else from the Intel I9 and 32GB of RAM to dual 960 GB NVME SSD for storage is more than enough to play games at high resolutions and framerates.

8. Murs

Case: NZXT H440
CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99-UD3 ATX
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB M.2-2280

It’s safe to say that before rappers started taking up game streaming as a side-hobby, West Coast Hip Hop’s most well connected emcee Murs was well ahead of the curve. Let’s not forget he’s cemented himself in gaming history by providing the main theme for Tony Hawk’s Underground decades ago.

When he’s not literally freestyling on Twitch for hours on end, the 3:16 rapper is playing everything from Overwatch to Rocket League regularly. It helps that he’s also sponsored by Astro gaming. He has a modest build for those titles including a Intel Core i7-5820K, MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti, 16GB of DDR4-2400 and 250GB SSD.

Welcome to TechRadar’s PC Gaming Week 2021, our celebration of the greatest gaming platform on Earth. Despite the global pandemic and ongoing GPU shortages, PC gaming has never been more vibrant and exciting, and throughout the week we’ll be reflecting this with a selection of in-depth articles, interviews and essential buying guides.

Ural Garrett is an Inglewood, CA-based journalist and content curator. His byline has been featured in outlets including CNN, MTVNews, Complex, TechRadar, BET, The Hollywood Reporter and more.