Build Guides

Published on May 8th, 2014 | by Brandon

12

PC Build Guide – May 2014

Welcome to the May 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.

After a two-month hiatus, the build guide is back and better than ever! We haven’t really seen any major changes in the past couple of months, but memory prices remain high, forcing us to make compromises like using a single 8GB stick in our Starter build. Things get more exciting next month, as Intel’s “Devil’s Canyon” Haswell refresh is due out any day now and will no doubt shake things up a bit.

The Starter ($500 maximum)

Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3Gwry

• CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 ($113.98 @ SuperBiiz)
• Motherboard: Asus Z77-A ATX LGA1155 ($79.99 @ Newegg)
• Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (1x8GB) DDR3-1600 ($59.99 @ Newegg)
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($54.43 @ OutletPC)
• Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB ($109.99 @ Newegg)
• Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($32.99 @ Micro Center)
• Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W ($39.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $491.36

The Sweet Spot ($800 maximum)

Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3GdsT

• CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K ($229.99 @ NCIX US)
• CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO ($29.94 @ OutletPC)
• Motherboard: MSI Z87-G43 ATX LGA1150 ($108.89 @ Newegg)
• Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 ($74.99 @ Newegg)
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($54.43 @ OutletPC)
• Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB TWIN FROZR ($199.99 @ TigerDirect)
• Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($47.99 @ Micro Center)
• Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W ($49.99 @ NCIX US)

Total: $796.21

The Enthusiast ($1300 maximum)

Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3GxuC

• CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K ($319.99 @ Amazon)
• CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO ($29.94 @ OutletPC)
• Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer ATX LGA1150 ($124.02 @ Newegg)
• Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 ($69.99 @ Newegg)
• Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5″ SSD  ($79.99 @ Micro Center)
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($54.43 @ OutletPC)
• Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Dual FTW ACX ($415.66 @ Newegg)
• Case: NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($100.98 @ Amazon)
• Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750W ($104.95 @ Amazon)

Total: $1299.95

The Professional ($1800 maximum)

Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3GwOC

• CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K ($319.99 @ Amazon)
• CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i ($99.99 @ Newegg)
• Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer ATX LGA1150 ($124.02 @ Newegg)
• Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3-1600 ($134.99 @ Newegg)
• Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5″ SSD ($139.00 @ Amazon)
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($54.43 @ OutletPC)
• Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Superclocked ACX ($714.99 @ Micro Center)
• Case: NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($100.98 @ Amazon)
• Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 850W ($118.56 @ Newegg)

Total: $1789.95

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vol1tion

Brandon

Brandon 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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