We’ve walked you through building your own computer before. In this post—which we’ll update periodically as prices and components change—we’ll walk you through the hardware we’ll need for three different system builds: a budget workstation, a powerful all-purpose PC, and an enthusiast’s system for gamers and professionals.
While some consider the desktop a dead platform, there are still plenty of us who use them as much as or in addition to laptops or tablets, love to play PC games, or just enjoy getting our hands dirty and building our own systems. Before we go any further, we should point out that these PC builds are designed to optimize your all-around computing experience, with some emphasis on PC gaming. The components that give you the best bang for your buck depend heavily on what you’re planning to do with the system: Your parts will be different if you’re building an HTPC on the same budget, or a super-speedy file server for your home network.
We’ve talked about our own experiences building a system, why it’s important, and some awesome tips for first-timers already. If you’re ready to set out on the task of building your own computer, here are the components you’ll need to build the best system you can get for your money.
http://lifehacker.com/6-essential-tips-for-first-time-pc-builders-1458484291
Update - December 2016
: Again, it’s been too long since our last update. Storage, RAM, and other component prices have dipped a bit, but GPUs are the odd part out, both AMD and NVIDIA are holding firm on pricing, at least until AMD unveils its latest and greatest in Q1 2017. If you’re an AMD fan, or just want to try and get a bargain on a GPU, you may want to hang tight until those AMD cards hit the market and NVIDIA adjusts to match—because they absolutely will, as AMD tries to play leapfrog with its next generation of GPUs. That alone may make you want to wait.
That said, other component pricing isn’t likely to shift much just yet, and there are plenty of deals to be had, especially heading during the holiday shopping season. We’re continually surprised with how much power you can get for such little money—our $300 build this time around is still a strong MicroATX performer, so much so that we brought the same form factor to our $600 build, while changing out the innards. The money we saved by going MicroATX in these cases went to other perks, like SSDs in all builds and more RAM. Keep in mind that you should use these guides as a template—they won’t be perfect for all use cases, but they’re good general PCs with some focus on gaming (however they’re not explicitly gaming PCs.)
As usual, we’re using
PCPartPicker
to put together our builds. We love it, and think you should use it too—it gives you more flexibility in your part buying, helps you eliminate possibly incompatible components. Plus it makes sure you get he best prices for the items you plan to buy, even if it means you have to buy them from different retailers. If you have your own PCPartPicker builds you want to show off, make sure to link them up in the discussions below!
As always, keep in mind that prices change all the time, so if you’re checking this and the prices have changed, just head back to PCPartPicker and see if you can find a better price.
Build Versus Buy
The old debate over whether you should build your own system or buy a pre-built one is an old, long-standing argument that will never be easily washed away. However, there are some benefits to building your own system that can’t be weighed in terms of dollars and cents. You may be happier with your own hand-built system, or you may be able to score bargains and rebates that lead to a more powerful computer stuffed with higher quality components than a manufacturer would use.
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-save-money-when-you-build-your-own-pc-511195742
Building your own PC also gives you complete and full control over that system’s components and extendability. Unlike buying an OEM PC, assembling your own gives you the ability to make decisions about when and how you’ll upgrade that system in the long run as opposed to simply taking what the manufacturer sells you. For example, you can buy into a new motherboard chipset early and wait to spend money on the next generation of graphics card later, giving yourself a timely upgrade when the moment-or your budget-is right.
Ultimately, while it may be easier to just pull out a credit card and buy whatever’s on sale from your preferred OEM, there’s something about assembling the components of a system that you’ve selected for your needs, powering it up, installing your favorite OS, and using it every day that’s’ incredibly rewarding. We’ve talked about this in more detail here, if you’re curious.
http://lifehacker.com/is-building-a-pc-really-cheaper-than-buying-one-1443171781
Choosing The Right Parts
There was a time when building a PC was all about buying the most expensive and most powerful components you could on the budget you had. While some of that is still true, even budget components can be remarkably powerful, and if all you’re planning on doing with your system is word processing, surfing the web, and some light entertainment like streaming video or listening to music, almost any system build will work for you.
You don’t need to spend a grand on high-end gaming components if you’re putting together a system for your friend who doesn’t know or care what graphics card is going into the box. At the same time, that doesn’t mean they’re doomed to a computer full of sub-standard components. We’ve explained before that you should carefully assess your need before rushing off to start pricing out components, and that advice is still true today.
http://lifehacker.com/5684015/crafting-the-perfect-computer-spec-list
Ultimately, there’s no reason for you to rush out and buy the most expensive components you can afford unless you’re an enthusiast and want the most top-of-the-line system you can afford. Don’t be fooled by brand names, either. Here we’ll detail two separate builds, a high-end system for enthusiasts and power-hungry users, and a mid-range build that will cost about half as much but still pack a punch.
http://lifehacker.com/does-brand-matter-when-i-buy-computer-parts-718131802
The $300 Budget System
The first few times we did this guide, a few people noted that $600 and $1200 were more than enough to spend on high-powered PCs, but a good machine at around or less than $400 would be a great project. Well, here you go—not only is it possible to come in under $400, we opted for $300, and the system we put together on that budget is no slouch.
The Parts
This parts list assumes that you’ll need basic components: a case, a motherboard, processor, memory, storage, graphics card of some type, and a power supply. We’re going to assume you have a perfectly good USB keyboard, mouse, and display you can use with your new system. Before you blindly buy what we’re about to suggest, take a moment and look at our Lifehacker Night School article on choosing PC components, where we discuss some of the things you should think about before buying your components. For example, our $300 PC here is made for economy and general use, not necessarily high-end gaming or video editing. Remember to consider what you’ll use the system for before buying.
That said, here are the parts for our budget-friendly PC:
The case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mini Tower Case - This MicroATX case is compact, good looking on top of or underneath a desk, space-saving, and of course, roomy enough to work in easily. It’s lightweight, one of the most popular MicroATX cases on the market, sports front-side USB 2.0, 3.0, and audio ports, has two pre-installed fans (with room for five) for great airflow, and is well regarded among PC enthusiasts. If you want another cheaper MicroATX option, consider the $35 Thermaltake Versa H15, a cheap, clean looking case without many compromises, and includes front-side USB 3.0. A bit more and you can grab the $60 Fractal Design Core 1500, with a super clean look, emphasis on quiet running, and the ports and features you need. If you need more room, step up to a mid-size ATX tower like the $50 NZXT Source 210 Elite, or the even more popular $65 NZXT S340 for even more options (and even color options, so you can pick one that suits. For the money and the size though, this’ll do just fine.
The power supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply - This build won’t take a ton of horsepower. We used PCPartPicker’s calculator to estimate the total wattage our final build would draw (~170W) and this 500W EVGA 80+ Bronze Certified power supply will handle that with juice to spare. It’ll also fit in our mini tower nicely. Keep in mind though that this power supply is a budget model designed for budget builds. It’s not modular, and it’s not fancy. It does, however, have a good rep as a solid, quiet, and cheap PSU. As always, just make sure you do the math on the wattage your system will likely pull down before you select a power supply, and try to buy from someone with good reviews and a solid track record of quality. If you’re not using PCPartPicker, try the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator.
The motherboard: Asus A88XM-A Micro ATX FM2+ MicroATX Motherboard - Yet again, our budget build is an AMD-based system, and just as well—at this price point, AMD offers incredible performance bang for the buck. This board will give you six USB 2.0 ports, four USB 3.0 ports, six SATA III ports, gigabit Ethernet, supports up to 64GB of RAM, and 8-channel on-board audio. It packs on-board video-out (DVI, VGA, and HDMI), and since the AMD processor that we’re about to slap into it is an APU, it’ll handle graphics for us, and you can even upgrade and add a GPU later if you wa. It’s a pretty solid board for the money.
The CPU: AMD A6-6400K 3.9GHz Dual-Core Processor with Radeon GPU - AMD’s A-Series APUs are still amazing at the budget end. They can handle more than you might think, and they’re a staple in our home theater PC builds. Because it’s a combination CPU and GPU, this also means we don’t need to add a stand-alone graphics card in our build. This A6 looks like a step down from the A10 we had in the last version of this build, but it’s a new Richland APU, and performs much better even though it’s a dual core. It’ll still handle everyday duties easily, and video at 1080p on a wide-screen display without blinking an eye. You can even fire up many games, some even at 1080p, with good performance and framerates (as long as you adjust your graphics settings appropriately.) If you don’t do any gaming at all though, the A6 gives you a reliable processor that can get stuff done. If you have a little more money, you could upgrade to a beefier $120 AMD A10-6800K Quad-Core , but we’re already blowing our budget here.
The memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (PC3 12800) - We would normally consider getting two sticks for dual channel, but by buying one 8GB stick, you leave yourself an easy upgrade path to 16GB down the line if you need it. The board can support up to 64GB, so if you want more RAM, you can always upgrade, and this 8GB will be more than enough to get this build up and running.
The storage: ADATA Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive and Western Digital 7200RPM 1TB Hard Drive - We just couldn’t excuse even a low-level build without an SSD anymore. Let’s be honest, the benefit of having one, even in a budget machine, is significant, and even though we’re certainly over budget at this point, it’s worthwhile from a usability perspective. This ADATA SSD isn’t the fastest or anything, but it’s well-reviewed and servicable, and large enough to hold your OS and applications. Then the 1TB WD drive is perfect for your data. This model is a standard, well-loved and reliable, speedy at 7200RPM, sports a 64MB cache, and is very affordable. If you have a different brand allegiance when it comes to drives, try this Seagate 1TB drive instead. Whichever you choose, make sure you make note of the warranty, and, of course, keep your data backed up. Every hard drive fails, it’s just a matter of when.
The total: $333.31 ($355.42 before Discounts, Rebates, and Shipping)
The $600 Workhorse PC
Long gone are the days where you have to spend a grand for a decent self-built system. Unless you absolutely have to have a top of the line PC, this mid-range system will power through everyday tasks, handle 1080p PC gaming, streaming movies and music from the web, and even those bigger projects like ripping your music collection or editing home movies.
The Parts
Again, we’re going to assume you have a perfectly good USB keyboard, mouse, and display you can repurpose for use with your new system. Our $600 PC here is made with bang-for-the-buck in mind, something that will earn you high performance without breaking the bank—not necessarily silent operation (although there are ways to get a quieter budget PC if you want one) or expansion. We can’t stress this enough: We crammed some decent power in here, but it comes with tradeoffs, like expandability or overclocking. Remember to consider what you’ll use the system for before buying. You will likely want to tweak some of the components we suggest below.
Here are the parts for our $600 workhorse:
The case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case - Our $600 build is sticking with the microATX from our last update, and from the $300 build. Don’t get us wrong, there’s nothing wrong with a full ATX build—and many of you might prefer it—but building with a smaller form factor allowed us to upgrade some other components and get more power where it counts. You’ll have less room for upgrading down the line, but you’ll have a great PC right from the start that should last you quite nicely. Plus, this case is pretty damned nice for the money: Slots for cable management, five fans for superior airflow and cooling, dust grilles for easy cleaning, plenty of room to work, a recessed motherboard space, and space for huge GPUs. Not to mention it’s fairly quiet, and well—it’s just a nicely designed case. You also get front-side audio and USB 3.0 ports. Plus, it just looks good—it’s modest without being garish, and it’s small enough to slide under a desk or live on top for all to see.
The power supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply
- Most PC builders, especially starting off, tend to overestimate how much power their components will actually need. This 500-watt power supply from EVGA should be enough for our build (which will draw around 300W, leaving room for more power draw under load), and EVGA is a trusted name in power supplies. It’s not modular, but this case has plenty of room for cable management, and you can’t beat the price. Even so, pay attention to warranties and return policies as well, but try to make sure you’re getting the right amount of juice for the system you’re building. If you’re upgrading a few of the parts in this build or just want more reliability, consider this 650W 80+ Gold EVGA Supernova for a little more cash. There are some great calculators on the web that will help you determine how big your power supply should really be, like the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator.The CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor - In this build, we’re going back to Intel, and it was a tough decision. The Core i3 is a solid, powerful dual-core processor, but we really wanted to see if we could get a Core i5 in here. Sadly, it just wouldn’t fit without blowing the budget for the balance we want in this build. That said, if you have the cash, absolutely step up and go with a Core i5 (like the popular and powerful Core i5-6600K) and trade off on some of the other stuff here if you prefer. We struggled with this decision a ton, as we always do, but here’s the bottom line: We gave up a little here for a more well-rounded build. So, while you may not have room for dual graphics cards or water cooling in this setup, we thought it was more important to get more useful components into this build like the SSD and more RAM you’ll see later—especially at the $600 price point, which is still considered “budget” for a desktop PC (albeit at the top end of it). This i3 is also locked, which means this isn’t an overclocker’s computer. That’s okay, because this build isn’t designed for overclocking (which also means the stock cooler that comes with this CPU will be fine.) The dual core here and the RAM and GPU below are more than enough for getting work done, and beefy enough to handle almost any game you throw at it. Of course, you could argue that if we were going to go i3, we could have gone back to AMD—and that’s a far argument! We’re looking forward to seeing your alt builds that prove that out in the comments.
The motherboard: MSI H110M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard - Now this board is a budget builder’s gem. It’s super affordable, skimps on the features most people don’t use, but keeps the good stuff. Since we’re not overclocking here, we went with the H-series, but we still get a well-reviewed, affordable motherboard that offers a solid feature list for the price. It packs two memory slots that support a maximum of 32GB of RAM, four SATA III ports, four USB 3.0 ports and one more leads for the ones on your case, two USB 2.0 ports, 7.1-channel audio on-board, and gigabit Ethernet. It even has one full-length PCI slots, but since the only thing we’re slapping in here is our GPU, it’s a nice fit. Want an alternative? A few more bucks more gets you the MSI B150M Mortar, which is $10 more expensive, but adds a higher RAM ceiling with two more slots, more SATA and USB ports, and another PCI-e slot. Props as always to Logical Incriments for helping narrow down our mobo selection in this case.
The memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4 Memory - Let’s get this build started with 8GB in one of the two RAM slots on the motherboard. This 8GB kit from one of our favorite memory manufacturers is fast, and affordable, and even leaves you room for another stick if you want to bump up to 16GB. If you want, grab a second stick, it’s as simple as that.
The storage: Kingston V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive/Western Digital 7200RPM 1TB Hard Drive - Finally, at the cost of a few other parts of the build, we’re getting an SSD into this build. It’s overdue, but the performance and usability gains that come from using an SSD are definitely worth the cost. This Kingston model is speedy, moreso than the ADATA in our budget build above, and 120GB is definitely enough for your OS and critical programs. For everything else, the Western Digital 1TB drive next to it is speedy at 7200RPM, sports a 64MB cache, and is very affordable. If you have a different brand allegiance when it comes to drives, try this Seagate 1TB drive instead. If you have even a few more dollars to spend, maybe bump up the SSD to this 240GB SanDisk model or this 250GB Samsung that are both bigger and faster. Whatever you choose to do, make sure you make note of the warranty, and, of course, keep your data backed up. Every hard drive fails, it’s just a matter of when.
The graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB Video Card - One of the most bang-for-the-buck value video cards of the current generaiton, the GTX 1060 is more than enough to power 1080p gaming without much hassle. Normally we’d offer an AMD alternative at the same tier here, but since NVIDIA and AMD are leapfrogging each other (and AMD will release their next line of GPUs in Q1 of 2017,) this is a pretty clear pick at its price point, and for most people. If your favorite titles are any of this generation’s graphically challenging games, like Battlefield 1, The Witcher 3, or even Overwatch, you’ll be able to turn up the settings good and high. If you have a few more bucks to spend and you’re team Red, maybe an AMD Radeon RX 480 is worth stretching just a little bit. If you aren’t a gamer, you could downgrade to or skip the graphics card altogether and use the on-board video instead, but if you think you might game—or even do light gaming, even the more affordable NVIDIA GeForce 1050 Ti is a solid buy.
The total: $597.48 ($633.50 before Discounts, Rebates, and Shipping)
If you want more options…
You can build a powerful system for $600. That doesn’t mean there isn’t room to improve it, or cut it down a bit if it’s too much. You could get below $500 by going AMD, like in our $300 build. If you want to save even more, pull back on the GPU, especially worthwhile if you don’t play video games—or don’t play current or recent-gen games. Aside from that, even though this build breaks our budget a bit, it’s well-rounded and packs in some solid power.
If you have a few more dollars to spend, we absolutely think you should bump up to an Intel Core i5. The system here is solid, but maybe I personally often feel like the i5 is the builder’s floor (although I know lots of great builders who’ll tell me not to feel bad about suggesting an i3.) That said, in some tasks, like certain games, video editing, and audio encoding that can make use of hyperthreading or the extra two cores in the i5, it’s worth the upgrade. Beyond that, consider a bigger SSD. You run out of space before you know it, and we say some great SSD deals on Black Friday that are sure to come back before the end of the holiday shopping season. Normally we’d shy away from the BX series for the MX series, but the BX is getting great reviews. As always, The Wirecutter has some up-to-date thoughts on the best SSDs, including some very tempting budget options from Crucial, like this 525GB model that hovers close to $100.
The $1200 Powerhouse PC
Now that we’ve covered two systems that can be purchased and assembled on a decent budgets, now it’s time to have some fun. We’re not targeting our upper limit here, we just want to give you an idea of some of the components that would make a good enthusiast’s build. If you’re a fan of PC gaming, have to play the latest releases as soon as they’re out, have multiple high-resolution displays, and want to expand your build with other PCI cards or water cooling, this build is for you.
The Parts
As with the $600 PC above, we’re going to assume you have the basics, like a keyboard, mouse, and display. In this case though, we’re going for the big, pretty, and powerful, but that doesn’t mean spending money recklessly. We will slap in some pricier components that we know would make a noticeable difference in your computing experience if you had them in your system, but try not to spend where it won’t matter for your actual experience.
Again, remember to consider your use case before buying – the people who’ll really love this build will be PC gamers, media professionals, and enthusiasts who want to futureproof themselves or just prefer the top of the line.
Here are the parts for our enthusiast’s PC:
The case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower Case - Replacing the old Corsair Carbide (that we still love) is this new case that’s taken the PC building world by storm—and for good reason. Phanteks designed a lightweight, aluminum case that’s spacious on the inside, hides the power supply, has great cable management, room for plenty of fans (although not a great setup for watercooling, though it’s certainly possible) and is well loved, well reviewed, and very budget-friendly. It has solid airflow to keep your components cool, front-mounted poer, USB 3.0, and audio ports, and if you step up to the P400S (the silent edition), fan control on the front as well. There are even color-changing LEDs on the front that you can tweak (or turn off entirely) with a button on the front of the case. That said, cases are highly personal at this point, so look for one that has the features and look that you want. You could try this Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 sleek, steel case for a little more money, or consider the NZXT S340, which is well loved by other builders and reviewers. Maybe go with the Corsair Carbide 500R we’ve recommended in the past, or step back to the trusty Cooler Master HAF 912 (or the more expensive HAF 922) for great airflow without a ton of money. I’m also a fan of the NZXT H440, for a similar size and shape, but slightly different design, and it even has a light on the back so you can see your ports when you need to. Want even more options? We did a Hive Five on desktop computer cases a while back (although most were a bit more expensive, like the winning HAF X), another Hive Five on small form-factor cases, or alternatively you could spend nothing and repurpose an old case from a previous build.
The power supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Modular Power Supply - We’re sticking with EVGA here, partially because they make good power supplies, but also because their customer service and warranty policies are good. Similarly, 650 watts of juice is definitely enough to power the rest of this build (which comes in around 400W, leaving room for more draw at load). This power supply is also fully modular, which was a pleasant surprise at the price. It’s also nice and quiet. There are more expensive power supplies out there, and higher wattage ones, but this one gets the job done without being overkill. Plus, if you decide to swap out any of the components here for higher-end ones, you can do so without worrying this PSU won’t be able to handle it.
The CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor - Now here’s where we managed to cram in the Core i5. Sure, you could argue that we should have gone i7 in this build, and many of you will (and we’re looking forward to seeing your competing builds in the comments!), but we wanted to save the money we would have spent on an i7 for some other tidbits here. We think it’ll handle whatever you throw at it pretty handily, whether your PC is going to be a gaming machine, a workhorse, or a video-editing or multimedia powerhouse. Plus, this is the unlocked version (and a complimentary motherboard below), so if you’re interested in overclocking, this is a great setup to try it with. Oh, speaking of overclocking, Intel’s unlocked CPUs don’t come with stock cooling anymore, so you’ll absolutely need an aftermarket cooler. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO is a nice, affordable option that we included in our build, suitable for beginners and veterans alike, but if you’re really game, former Lifehacker EIC Whitson Gordon suggested this Phanteks cooler, which is huge, but heavenly and super quiet. The $1200 build should appeal to enthusiasts, and well, if you’re thinking about overclocking, you’re probably an enthusiast.
The motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard - A good, all around motherboard with great features and a modest price. No unnecessary frills or obnoxious “gaming” branding or tweaks, but you do get one-button overclocking with the option for more advanced tweaks, which is really nice. You also get four RAM slots and support for up to 64GB, two USB 3.0 ports (and two headers for four frontside USB 3.0 ports) and four USB 2.0 ports (with headers for four more), four 6Gb/s SATA III ports, 8-channel audio, gigabit Ethernet, and even on-board video in the form of HDMI. that you’ll likely never use. The board also supports SLI and Crossfire if you want to step up your graphics power, and it’s generally well reviewed. Like all great picks, this one keeps the important features, ditches the excess, and keeps the price down. If it’s not enough for you though, step up to the MSI Z170A Tomahawk, or the ASUS Z170I Pro Gaming version.
The memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 Memory - Ah, sweet 16GB. At this price point, 16GB of RAM is a solid buy, and this kit is good and speedy (although we’ll be the first to tell you more RAM is more important than faster RAM.) If you have the budget to go wild, you could just buy two of these, load up the board and call it a day. If you want to skimp a little bit, step back to the 8GB stick above (which is actually clocked faster, which is good if you’re going with less,) and leave yourself room to upgrade with another stick later on if you want. Besides, let’s be fair—8GB is more than enough for most people. But you’re not most people. You’re an enthusiast.
The storage: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD + Western Digital WD Black 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive - At this point, we probably don’t need to convince you that a Solid State Drive (SSD) is one of the best upgrades you can buy, especially since it’s in all of our builds now. This Samsung is the 250GB version of The Wirecutter’s current pick for the best SSD. It was built to be a speedy, high-capacity, affordable drive, and hits all of those points. If you need more space, step up to the Samsung 850 EVO 500GB. Samsung’s 850 EVO line is pretty on par with Crucial’s well-loved MX series, with that 500GB above matched up with a price-comparable Crucial 525GB. As always, even though we have 500GB for your boot drive, a nice, speedy standard drive for the rest of your files and any applications that don’t need to be on your SSD is a smart buy, and this WD Caviar Black is made for performance. Oh, and do we need to remind you again to keep your data backed up? Good.
The graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card- Like we mentioned above, AMD and NVIDIA fans will fight to the death over which is better, and we have no intention on settling their debate for them. Right now though, GPU pricing is in an odd place (and that’ll obviously change when AMD’s new cards are out early next year), but the current bang-for-the-buck belongs to NVIDIA, and the biggest value play for gamers and enthusiasts is the GTX 1070. Check out this video from LinusTechTips for more on this topic. It can handle anything you throw at it in 1080p or even 1440p with the settings turned up nice and high. Better yet, check how this card performs when benchmarked in your favorite games before you buy. If you have to go AMD here, we’d say just wait until their announcements coming in Q1 2017. You’ll likely like what you see, and then NVIDIA will probably drop prices to either match or compete with whatever they do. Even if you’re powering multiple displays, you shouldn’t have a problem at all. If you’re stepping up to a 4k display for anything but work (full-screen video and gaming will probably challenge these GPUs at that resolution), we have a separate guide for you.
The total: $1266.44 ($1264.46 before Discounts, Rebates, and Shipping)
If you want more options…
Sometimes building an enthusiast’s PC is more difficult than building a budget one because you have budget, but don’t want to go overboard or make decisions that waste money. We hope this sub $1200 build walks the line between spending good money on components that matter without spending too much on the ones that don’t.
If this is too much though, some of the biggest money sinks here are clearly the video card and the processor. You could bump down to an Intel Core i3 like the one in our $600 build, or even a locked Core i5 (and of ditch the aftermarket cooler—and maybe switch to a motherboard that’s not aimed at overclockers) to save some dough, but you can also choose a less powerful video card, like the GeForce GTX 1060 or the Radeon RX 480 we mentioned above—especially since you can upgrade a video card more easily than a processor. All of these titles will play the latest titles on medium to high settings without trouble at 1080p, and with solid framerates.
A Note About Your Operating System
You’ve undoubtedly noticed that we haven’t included the cost of an OS license in this roundup. The reason for that is because first, we don’t want to assume what operating system you’ll install on your build, what version of it (whether you want Windows 7, 8, or 10, for example), and frankly, there are so many ways to get a good OS these days on the cheap (office licenses, student discounts, OEM licenses, sales, etc) that there’s no reason to include stock prices. If you want to go Linux, then your cost is nothing.
If you’d rather install Microsoft Windows, you’ll probably want a license for Windows 10. Licenses of Windows 10 Home are hovering around $100 and Windows 10 Pro are about $140. depending on where you buy.
If you don’t want Windows 10, that’s fine—you can get Windows 8.1 for around $80. If you’re sticking to Windows 7, Home Premium will set you back around $100 and Windows 7 Pro is around $135. But seriously, considering the free upgrade ride to Windows 10 is over, if you’re buying Windows, you should probably just get Windows 10.
At the same time, you can probably score an even cheaper copy with an educational discount if you have one, or through an employee purchase program if your workplace has a enterprise licensing agreement with Microsoft. Finally, since we didn’t include optical drives with these builds (and few builders do anymore,) here’s how to create Windows install media on bootable USB.
Additional Reading
Don’t take our word for these builds. We’re sure you have your own opinions on what should have made it in and what should have been excluded.
One reference that is constantly updated and invaluable for determining exactly how enthusiast you’re being when it comes to the components you’re buying and how much you should be spending on them is the Logical Increments PC Buying Guide. We used it as a reference extensively here, and the site is super user friendly and regularly updated with new pricing. It’s a big help, and can serve as a good sanity check if your build is getting out of hand.
Also, make sure to read up on your most critical components before you buy. Anandtech’s 2016 GPU benchmarks, Tom’s Hardware’s 2016 GPU benchmarks, and the Tom’s Hardware forums are invaluable when looking for benchmarks and opinions on some of the components you may buy before you add them to your cart. The BuildaPC subreddit is also a great place to ask for opinions and guidance if you’re having issues or just want the thoughts of people who have been where you are now.
We’ll come back to this system builder’s guide periodically to make sure it’s updated with the best components for each of our builds. Remember though, take our builds as guidelines for your own research and your own PC-building project. If you have a superior build or noticed an error above, let us know in the discussions below.
Photos by Adam Snyder, and Edmund Tse.