Published on May 27th, 2015 | by Bob
PC Build Guide – May 2015
Welcome to the May 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 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.
For a full explanation of the builds and in-depth hardware discussion, check out the video above. Big thanks to Jacob Freeman from EVGA for being our guest this month!
The Starter
| CPU | Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz) |
| Motherboard | MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($82.99 @ Newegg) |
| Memory | G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($56.98 @ OutletPC) |
| Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.75 @ OutletPC) |
| Video Card | PowerColor Radeon R9 280 3GB TurboDuo Video Card ($149.99 @ Newegg) |
| Case | Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($22.99 @ Micro Center) |
| Power Supply | EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ NCIX US) |
| Total | $496.68 |
The Sweet Spot
| CPU | Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ SuperBiiz) |
| Motherboard | Asus Z97-E ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz) |
| Memory | G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($56.98 @ OutletPC) |
| Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.75 @ OutletPC) |
| Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($309.30 @ Newegg) |
| Case | NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Micro Center) |
| Power Supply | EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ NCIX US) |
| Total | $794.99 |
The Enthusiast
| CPU | Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($325.99 @ SuperBiiz) |
| CPU Cooler | Thermaltake Water 3.0 Extreme 99.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($93.78 @ Newegg) |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($101.98 @ Newegg) |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($104.99 @ Newegg) |
| Storage | Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB Solid State Drive ($142.89 @ OutletPC) |
| Storage | Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($91.00 @ Newegg) |
| Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($309.30 @ Newegg) |
| Case | NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ Micro Center) |
| Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($77.98 @ NCIX US) |
| Total | $1297.90 |
The Professional
| CPU | Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($362.95 @ SuperBiiz) |
| CPU Cooler | Thermaltake Water 3.0 Extreme 99.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($93.78 @ Newegg) |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-X99-UD3 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($172.98 @ Newegg) |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($174.99 @ Newegg) |
| Storage | Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB Solid State Drive ($142.89 @ OutletPC) |
| Storage | Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($123.99 @ SuperBiiz) |
| Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB FTW ACX 2.0 Video Card ($521.37 @ Newegg) |
| Case | NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ NCIX US) |
| Power Supply | EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ Newegg) |
| Total | $1777.93 |
Guest build
Created by Jacob from EVGA (See the embedded video for the background on this build.)
| CPU | Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($325.99 @ SuperBiiz) |
| CPU Cooler | EVGA ACX mITX 46.5 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($41.99 @ Newegg) |
| Motherboard | EVGA Stinger WiFi Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($159.99) |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($124.95 @ Amazon) |
| Storage | Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.99 @ Amazon) |
| Storage | Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.99 @ Amazon) |
| Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX Titan X 12GB Video Card ($999.99 @ B&H) |
| Case | EVGA Hadron Mini ITX Tower Case w/500W Power Supply ($135.98 @ Newegg) |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($86.98 @ OutletPC) |
| Monitor | Acer XB270HU bprz 144Hz 27.0" Monitor ($738.99 @ Amazon) |
| Total | $2810.84 |
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