PC Build Guide – August 2012

Welcome to the August version of our PC build guides. As with before, we have implemented hard price limits ($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.

Compared to last month, this month sees all three builds strengthened considerably as various components continue to come down in price. The Starter sees a direct upgrade from a MSI Twin Frozr 7850 to a Radeon 7870 of the same model. The Enthusiast and Professional builds virtually mirror each other’s upgrades, as both builds transition to an Ivy Bridge i7-3770K (and, by extension, new Z77 motherboards), most likely saying goodbye to the beloved Sandy Bridge generation for good. To offset the cost of the upgraded processor, both builds also see a minor shift in video card manufacturer from EVGA to MSI. While the stock-clocked MSI model is ever so slightly slower than the EVGA FTW model we prefer, a generous rebate on the MSI cards helps us come in under our self-imposed price points while also upgrading to Ivy Bridge–a trade-off that we believe is well worth making. Lastly, the Professional changes cases (again, for cost reasons) to the NZXT Phantom, a full tower that comes in numerous different flavors.

The Starter ($800 maximum)

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K ($199.99 @ NCIX US)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus ($23.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 ATX LGA1155 ($89.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 ($40.99 @ Newegg)

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($77.99 @ NCIX US)

Video Card: MSI Twin Frozr Radeon HD 7870 2GB ($259.99 @ Newegg)

Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.49 @ SuperBiiz)

Power Supply: Cooler Master 500W ATX12V ($34.99 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)

Total: $795.40

The Enthusiast ($1300 maximum)

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

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K ($329.99 @ Amazon)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus ($23.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G43 ATX LGA1155 ($109.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 ($45.99 @ Newegg)

Hard Drive: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5″ SSD ($103.50 @ Adorama)

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($77.99 @ NCIX US)

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB ($384.99 @ Newegg)

Case: Cooler Master HAF 922 ATX Mid Tower Case ($88.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V ($114.99 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)

Total: $1298.40

The Professional ($1800 maximum)

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

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K ($329.99 @ Amazon)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus ($23.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 ($134.99 @ Microcenter)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3-1600 ($89.99 @ Newegg)

Hard Drive: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5″ SSD ($103.50 @ Adorama)

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($77.99 @ NCIX US)

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB – 2-Way SLI ($384.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB – 2-Way SLI ($384.99 @ Newegg)

Case: NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($113.84 @ Outlet PC)

Power Supply: Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V ($136.98 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)

Total: $1799.23

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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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