PC Build Guide – January 2016
Welcome to the January 2016 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.
The Starter
| CPU | Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor | $121.99 @ Newegg |
| Motherboard | ASRock Z97 PRO3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $80.98 @ Newegg |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $34.99 @ Amazon |
| Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $45.88 @ OutletPC |
| Video Card | Zotac GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card | $104.99 @ Amazon |
| Case | Cooler Master N300 ATX Mid Tower Case | $37.99 @ Newegg |
| Power Supply | Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $34.99 @ Newegg |
| Total | $463.80 | |
The Sweet Spot
| CPU | Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor | $227.99 @ SuperBiiz |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | $24.88 @ OutletPC |
| Motherboard | ASRock Z97 PRO3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $80.98 @ NewEgg |
| Memory | Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $64.99 @ Amazon |
| Storage | Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5″ Solid State Drive | $69.95 @ SuperBiiz |
| Storage | Hitachi Ultrastar 2TB 3.5″ 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $64.90 @ Amazon |
| Video Card | Asus GeForce GTX 960 4GB Video Card | $192.99 @ Newegg |
| Case | Cooler Master N300 ATX Mid Tower Case | $37.99 @ Newegg |
| Power Supply | Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $34.99 @ Newegg |
| Total | $799.66 | |
The Enthusiast
| CPU | Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor | $314.99 @ SuperBiiz |
| CPU Cooler | Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $103.98 @ Amazon |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $108.75 @ OutletPC |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory | $82.88 @ OutletPC |
| Storage | Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5″ Solid State Drive | $69.95@ SuperBiiz |
| Storage | Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5″ 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $119.75 @ OutletPC |
| Video Card | MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card | $304.99 @ SuperBiiz |
| Case | Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case | $119.99 @ Newegg |
| Power Supply | Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $34.99 @ Newegg |
| Total | $1260.27 | |
The Professional
| CPU | Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor | $374.99 @ SuperBiiz |
| CPU Cooler | Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $103.98 @ Amazon |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-X99-SLI ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard | $179.99 @ Micro Center |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $99.99 @ Amazon |
| Storage | Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5″ Solid State Drive | $69.95 @ SuperBiiz |
| Storage | Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5″ 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $119.75 @ OutletPC |
| Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+ Video Card | $617.99 @ NCIX US |
| Case | Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case | $119.99 @ Newegg |
| Power Supply | Corsair RM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $106.24 @ B&H |
| Total | $1792.87 | |
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