Attention Mid-Range System Builders - Updated 08/01/2015

[T_Yamamoto]

Upupup

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Sending it to the top

 

[mfenn]

New update, mainly price changes and switching to IVB processor.

 

[mfenn]

New update, mostly the same caliber of parts, but reduced the price by $50.

 

[WT]

Its amazing to see the prices of this hardware drop. I remember upgrading my 386SX/20 back in 1992 and paying $270 to double my system RAM from 1mb to 2mb. My how times have changed.

 

[mfenn]

Its amazing to see the prices of this hardware drop. I remember upgrading my 386SX/20 back in 1992 and paying $270 to double my system RAM from 1mb to 2mb. My how times have changed.

Yeah, seriously. I remember my family paying $2K for a Pentium 120Mhz and 32MB of RAM. I thought Windows 95 was so awesome because previously we just had DOS.

 

[Skott]

My first pc had the new Pentium 66 cpu. 2Mb video card and a 512Mb hdd. Forget the speed of the of the CD-ROM drive. Along with a 15" monitor. Windows 3.11. That was back in 93/94? $3500. Wife thought I was nuts. So did my friends. LOL

 

[mfenn]

New update, mainly chasing deals. I did switch the Crucial M4 128GB to the higher performing Samsung 830 128GB for only $5 more. We'll miss you M4, you were the part that had been in every build since the beginning. :rose:

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Upupup

 

[Skott]

New update, mainly chasing deals. I did switch the Crucial M4 128GB to the higher performing Samsung 830 128GB for only $5 more. We'll miss you M4, you were the part that had been in every build since the beginning. :rose:

Personally I would forgo the SSD and put the money towards a better GPU but that is just me. I'm still not on the SDD bandwagon. I do understand why people want them though. Nice update.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Personally I would forgo the SSD and put the money towards a better GPU but that is just me. I'm still not on the SDD bandwagon. I do understand why people want them though. Nice update.

Ssds are a staple

 

[lehtv]

It's meant to be a midrange build of general purpose computing and gaming, not a pure frames-per-second build. Gamers do all sorts of stuff on PCs that don't have anything to do with graphics performance and that do have much to do with benefitting from an SSD. But if frames per second was far more important than anything else, I would also drop the SSD and upgrade to GTX670.

 

[mfenn]

It's meant to be a midrange build of general purpose computing and gaming, not a pure frames-per-second build. Gamers do all sorts of stuff on PCs that don't have anything to do with graphics performance and that do have much to do with benefitting from an SSD. But if frames per second was far more important than anything else, I would also drop the SSD and upgrade to GTX670.

Agree, the SSD is somewhat out of place for pure gaming performance. There's no way in hell that I would build a $1000 machine without one because of the enormous general usage benefit, and my recommendations reflect that.

 

[mfenn]

Aaaaand the M4 is back because the 830 jumped $15 in price over the last week.

By the way, this build is now officially Elite Member approved.

 

[lehtv]

Why the move away from XFX 650W, is it just to have all components priced from newegg? It's still $80 ($65 AR) on NCIX with free shipping .

 

[mfenn]

Why the move away from XFX 650W, is it just to have all components priced from newegg? It's still $80 ($65 AR) on NCIX with free shipping .

Yeah, pretty much. I've added the NCIX link as an alternative.

 

[Madmick]

TTT. That Antec case is out of stock at NewEgg, but it's only $55 at Amazon with free shipping. I live in CA, so for non-sensitive hardware, I prefer Amazon to NewEgg since I don't pay tax:
http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Three-Hu.../dp/B000GQMHBI

*Edit*
I was wrong. This is the Antec Three Hundred, not the Three Hundred Two. Nevertheless, the Three Hundred is still very current in that it has two front USB 3.0 ports and a bottom-mounted 2.5" Internal SSD bay. Like the Three Hundred Two, It comes with 2 fans and can be expanded to a total of 5. The main differences are that the Three Hundred Two has two dedicated 2.5" bays, one more expansion slot (eight instead of seven), and a water cooling grommet. It's a bit bigger and can hold a max size 12.5" GPU compared to the Three Hundred's max 11.0".

*Re-Edit*
Hmmm...I"m a bit confused. According to Antec's website, the Three Hundred has those two front USB 3.0 ports and the bottom-mounted 2.5" bay. According to NewEgg and Antec's Demo Page, though, the USB are only 2.0 and there is no mention of the 2.5" bay. IMO, avoid the Three Hundred and shell out the extra $10 in shipping for the Three Hundred Two.

 

[mfenn]

TTT. That Antec case is out of stock at NewEgg, but it's only $55 at Amazon with free shipping. I live in CA, so for non-sensitive hardware, I prefer Amazon to NewEgg since I don't pay tax:
http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Three-Hu.../dp/B000GQMHBI

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[007ELmO]

is it possible to make this thread a sticky, it is a superior post.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

is it possible to make this thread a sticky, it is a superior post.

We've tried

 

[mfenn]

New build posted, sorted out OOS parts mostly.

 

[Madmick]

Added edit to my link in post #267 above. I linked the wrong Antec case.

 

[lehtv]

The case still links to Antec 302. Also, Sapphire 7850 is in stock for $250, definitely worth $10 over a puny PowerColor IMO...

 

[007ELmO]

LehTV, can you rank the different brand/models of 7850s?

 

[mfenn]

Added edit to my link in post #267 above. I linked the wrong Antec case.

The case still links to Antec 302. Also, Sapphire 7850 is in stock for $250, definitely worth $10 over a puny PowerColor IMO...

Fixed and edited