Build Guides

Published on July 15th, 2014 | by Brandon

13

PC Build Guide – July 2014

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.

Simply put, we have some monster builds this month: DDR-2133 memory across the board. Killer video cards at every price point. A new Haswell CPU in the Starter and Devil’s Canyon upgrades for the rest. Thanks to a myriad of combo deals and mail-in rebates, right now is a great time to pull the trigger on a brand new build!

The Starter ($500 maximum)

Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9c7pzy

• CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 ($119.97 @ OutletPC)
• Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Pro3 ATX LGA1150 ($89.99 @ Newegg)
• Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-2133 ($76.50 @ Newegg)
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($52.91 @ OutletPC)
• Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 260X 2GB ($99.99 @ Newegg)
• Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($27.99 @ Newegg)
• Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W ($29.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $497.34

The Sweet Spot ($800 maximum)

Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/44hmmG

• CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K ($229.99 @ NCIX US)
• CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO ($25.98 @ Newegg)
• Motherboard: MSI Z97-G55 SLI ATX LGA1150 ($118.99 @ Newegg)
• Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-2133 ($76.50 @ Newegg)
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($52.91 @ OutletPC)
• Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 270X 2GB DirectCU II ($192.98 @ SuperBiiz)
• Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
• Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W ($44.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $792.33

The Enthusiast ($1300 maximum)

Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3c7pzy

• CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K ($339.99 @ Newegg)
• CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO ($25.98 @ Newegg)
• Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 ($143.99 @ Newegg)
• Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-2133 ($76.50 @ Newegg)
• Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5″ SSD ($72.00 @ Amazon)
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($52.91 @ OutletPC)
• Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Dual Classified ACX ($409.99 @ Newegg)
• Case: NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
• Power Supply: Corsair RM 750W ($89.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $1291.34

The Professional ($1800 maximum)

Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bfjNxr

• CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K ($339.99 @ Newegg)
• CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i ($97.16 @ Amazon)
• Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 ($143.99 @ Newegg)
• Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3-2133 ($156.99 @ Newegg)
• Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5″ SSD ($114.99 @ Amazon)
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($52.91 @ OutletPC)
• Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Dual Classified ACX ($699.99 @ Newegg)
• Case: NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
• Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 850W ($109.99 @ NCIX US)

Total: $1796.00

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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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