PC Build Guide – April 2013
Welcome to the April version of our PC build guides. As with before, 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 article 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.
This month, the big story is the surge in memory prices across the board, which keeps the us from being able to do much to improve the rest of our components. However, we did manage to get a GTX 660 Ti back in our $800 build, which continues to exhibit a truly extraordinary value for a machine under $1000.
The Starter ($500 maximum)
Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PTxL
- CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 ($113.99 @ NCIX US)
- Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G41 ATX LGA1155 ($89.99 @ Newegg)
- Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1866 ($62.68 @ NCIX US)
- Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($69.98 @ Outlet PC)
- Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB ($109.98 @ Newegg)
- Case: Apex SK-393-C ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
- Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 500W ($27.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $499.61
The Sweet Spot ($800 maximum)
Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PTwV
- CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K ($219.98 @ Outlet PC)
- CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus ($19.99 @ Newegg)
- Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 ($104.99 @ Microcenter)
- Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1866 ($62.68 @ NCIX US)
- Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($69.98 @ Outlet PC)
- Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB ($259.99 @ Newegg)
- Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
- Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 600W ($29.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $797.60
The Enthusiast ($1300 maximum)
Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PTBv
- CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K ($309.99 @ Amazon)
- CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus ($19.99 @ Newegg)
- Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 ($134.98 @ SuperBiiz)
- Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1866 ($62.68 @ NCIX US)
- Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5″ SSD ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
- Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($69.98 @ Outlet PC)
- Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB ($369.99 @ NCIX US)
- Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)
- Power Supply: Corsair Professional 650W ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1296.59
The Professional ($1800 maximum)
Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PTEC
- CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K ($318.99 @ NCIX US)
- CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus ($19.99 @ Newegg)
- Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 ($134.98 @ SuperBiiz)
- Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3-1866 ($115.06 @ NCIX US)
- Storage: Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5″ SSD ($159.99 @ Newegg)
- Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
- Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB – 2-Way SLI ($369.99 @ NCIX US)
- Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB – 2-Way SLI ($369.99 @ NCIX US)
- Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)
- Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1798.96
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vol1tion
BrandonBrandon started his PC gaming days playing Doom II (IDDQD/IDKFA for life) and has been hooked on online gaming since the original Starsiege: Tribes. The way to his heart is through proper grammar, corn dogs, and cookie cake.
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