Published on June 30th, 2015 | by Bob
PC Build Guide – June 2015
Welcome to the June 2015 version of our PC build guides. As always, we have implemented hard price limits ($500, $800, $1300, $1800) on ourselves and have had to make tough decisions with each build. Your personal budget will likely be flexible, but we hope this will give you a baseline. You can of course spend more or spend less, but you run into a case of diminishing returns at either end. Please keep in mind that pricing information is immediate and may not necessarily reflect real prices by the time you have read this article.
For a full explanation of the builds and in-depth hardware discussion, check out the video above. Big thanks to our guest this week, Steve at Monoprice (@Steve_OMG)!
The Starter
| CPU | Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor | $108.95 @ SuperBiiz |
| Motherboard | ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $88.24 @ Newegg |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $48.99 @ Newegg |
| Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $46.99 @ NCIX US |
| Video Card | Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB Dual-X Video Card | $149.99 @ Newegg |
| Case | Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case | $24.99 @ Micro Center |
| Power Supply | Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $29.99 @ Newegg |
| Total | $498.14 | |
The Sweet Spot
| CPU | Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor | $229.99 @ NCIX US |
| Motherboard | ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $88.24 @ Newegg |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $48.99 @ Newegg |
| Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $46.99 @ NCIX US |
| Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card | $320.99 @ NCIX US |
| Case | Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case | $32.99 @ NCIX US |
| Power Supply | Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $29.99 @ Newegg |
| Total | $798.18 | |
The Enthusiast
| CPU | Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor | $328.99 @ SuperBiiz |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | $26.98 @ OutletPC |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $95.99 @ SuperBiiz |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $87.99 @ Newegg |
| Storage | Samsung 850 EVO 120GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $79.99 @ Adorama |
| Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $46.99 @ NCIX US |
| Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card | $499.99 @ NCIX US |
| Case | NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | $62.99 @ SuperBiiz |
| Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $64.99 @ NCIX US |
| Total | $1294.90 | |
The Professional
| CPU | Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor | $378.99 @ SuperBiiz |
| CPU Cooler | Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $89.99 @ Newegg |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-X99-UD3 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard | $172.99 @ SuperBiiz |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory | $144.99 @ Newegg |
| Storage | Samsung 850 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $117.99 @ Adorama |
| Storage | Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5″ 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $69.89 @ OutletPC |
| Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card | $649.99 @ B&H |
| Case | NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | $99.99 @ Newegg |
| Power Supply | Corsair RM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $74.99 @ Newegg |
| Total | $1799.81 | |
The Guest Build
Created by Steve at Monoprice (@Steve_OMG)
| CPU | Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor | $378.99 @ SuperBiiz |
| CPU Cooler | Corsair H110i GT 113.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $129.99 @ Mac Mall |
| Motherboard | Asus RAMPAGE V EXTREME EATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard | $475.98 @ Newegg |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $169.99 @ Newegg |
| Storage | Intel 750 Series 400GB PCI-E Solid State Drive | $379.00 @ B&H |
| Video Card | Asus GeForce GTX Titan X 12GB Video Card | $999.99 @ Amazon |
| Case | Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case | $99.99 @ Newegg |
| Power Supply | Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $109.99 @ Micro Center |
| Total | $2743.92 | |
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