PC Build Guide – July 2013
Welcome to the July 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 stays relatively quiet, with the glaring exception of video card changes. The Starter upgrades slightly from a Radeon 7770 GHz Edition to a GTX 650 Ti, while the Sweet Spot sees a big jump up from a Radeon 7870 GHz Edition to Nvidia’s brand new GTX 760. We also swap in a superclocked EVGA GTX 770 to the Enthusiast this month, moving it over to the Nvidia camp as well. Lastly, with 8GB of RAM now sitting well above the $50 mark, we make some memory changes for certain builds as we continue to look for the best deals on high quality brands.
The Starter ($500 maximum)
Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1hwMp
- CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 ($118.99 @ NCIX US)
- Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G41 ATX LGA1155 ($85.99 @ SuperBiiz)
- Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
- Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($62.98 @ Outlet PC)
- Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB ($104.99 @ Newegg)
- Case: Cooler Master Elite 370 ATX Mid Tower Case ($33.78 @ NCIX US)
- Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 500W ($27.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $494.71
The Sweet Spot ($800 maximum)
Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1hvKT
- CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K ($209.99 @ Newegg)
- CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus ($19.99 @ Newegg)
- Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G45 ATX LGA1155 ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
- Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
- Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($62.98 @ Outlet PC)
- Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB ($254.98 @ SuperBiiz)
- Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
- Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 600W ($34.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $797.90
The Enthusiast ($1300 maximum)
Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1hvJb
- CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K ($319.99 @ Newegg)
- CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus ($19.99 @ Newegg)
- Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 ($134.98 @ Amazon)
- Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1866 ($65.70 @ Newegg)
- Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5″ SSD ($92.99 @ NCIX US)
- Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($69.99 @ Newegg)
- Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB ($409.99 @ NCIX US)
- Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Green) ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
- Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1290.61
The Professional ($1800 maximum)
Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1hvGE
- CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K ($334.98 @ Outlet PC)
- CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus ($19.99 @ Newegg)
- Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 ($139.99 @ Newegg)
- Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1866 ($65.70 @ Newegg)
- Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5″ SSD ($164.99 @ NCIX US)
- Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($62.98 @ Outlet PC)
- Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB – 2-Way SLI ($409.99 @ NCIX US)
- Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB – 2-Way SLI ($409.99 @ NCIX US)
- Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Green) ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
- Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1798.59
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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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