Published on March 31st, 2015 | by Bob
PC Build Guide – March 2015
Welcome to the March 2015 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 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.
The Starter
| CPU | Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($104.95 @ SuperBiiz) |
|---|---|
| Motherboard | MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.89 @ OutletPC) |
| Memory | G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg) |
| Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.49 @ OutletPC) |
| Video Card | MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB HAWK Video Card ($153.98 @ Newegg) |
| Case | Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($21.99 @ Micro Center) |
| Power Supply | EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ NCIX US) |
| Total | $499.28 |
The Sweet Spot
| CPU | Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($227.99 @ SuperBiiz) |
|---|---|
| Motherboard | MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($100.98 @ Newegg) |
| Memory | G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg) |
| Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.49 @ OutletPC) |
| Video Card | Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($309.99 @ Amazon) |
| Case | NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($31.98 @ Newegg) |
| Power Supply | EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ NCIX US) |
| Total | $799.41 |
The Enthusiast
| CPU | Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.99 @ SuperBiiz) |
|---|---|
| CPU Cooler | NZXT Kraken X31 69.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($72.99 @ SuperBiiz) |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Micro Center) |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($119.54 @ Amazon) |
| Storage | Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5″ Solid State Drive ($99.95 @ Amazon) |
| Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.75 @ OutletPC) |
| Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($338.99 @ NCIX US) |
| Case | NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ Micro Center) |
| Power Supply | Corsair RM 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($106.00 @ Newegg) |
| Total | $1295.19 |
The Professional
| CPU | Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($372.95 @ SuperBiiz) |
|---|---|
| CPU Cooler | NZXT Kraken X31 69.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($72.99 @ SuperBiiz) |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-X99-UD3 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($187.98 @ Newegg) |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($189.99 @ Amazon) |
| Storage | Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5″ Solid State Drive ($110.98 @ Newegg) |
| Storage | Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5″ 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($114.99 @ Best Buy) |
| Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($529.99 @ Newegg) |
| Case | NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($104.50 @ Directron) |
| Power Supply | Corsair RM 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($106.00 @ Newegg) |
| Total | $1790.37 |
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