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Putting together an all-purpose rig under a strict budget is the best way to keep a PC builder on his or her toes
Building expensive, over-the-top machines is easy. It’s when you dip below the $1,000 mark that it gets difficult. This month, I undertook the challenge of building the best all-around PC I could for less than $850. To me, that meant a machine good at multithreaded tasks as well as gaming. We’ve said it before, and we’ll stick to our guns: Intel’s Core i5-2500K is the sweet spot for price/performance. Unfortunately, that price is too high for this configuration. That left me pondering whether to do yet another Core i3 box or another AMD box.
Readers have been ragging on us about what fantastic deals Phenom II procs currently are. I looked high and low and, surprisingly, I did find some e-tailers selling Phenom IIs way below the list price. For just $139, you can net a 3.5GHz Phenom II X4 970. That gives you four cores, a much larger cache, and a fully unlocked part for not much more than the Athlon II X4 has been going for. The Phenom II X4 isn’t always a clear-cut winner against its Intel counterpart, the 3.3GHz Core i3-2120, but it does hold its own in multithreading tasks and game-related chores, which are all about the GPU.
Picking the Other Parts
I initially picked Nvidia’s GeForce 560 Ti card for this build, but later decided to swing ATI because our motherboard, a Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3, only offers CrossFireX support. To get SLI on an AMD board, you need to pony up for a 990FX chipset, which would have broken my budget. The best deal seems to be the Radeon HD 6950 card. The 6950 is a cut-down Radeon HD 6970 made to rain on the GeForce 560 Ti’s parade. Gigabyte’s GV-R695UD was about the cheapest I could find at the time, and it features enhanced cooling over a stock card.
When it came to the other components, I had one thing working for me and another against me. Working for me was system RAM. RAM is so cheap that building a rig with even 32GB is doable (provided you have eight DIMM slots). However, 4GB is about all you really need in a budget box—and all I could afford. Yes, 8GB would have been nice, but I had to save pennies for something really out of control: the hard drive.
Here's how dire things are right now: In August 2011, we built a $667 PC that had a 1TB WD Caviar Blue drive for $60. This year, I was happy to get a bare 500GB Western Digital Blue drive for $99. In fact, the drive I snagged for this build had already risen 30 percent in price by the time I finished building my rig. The same hard drive six months ago sold for $34!
I’m still sticking to the $99 price, as that was the price when I originally configured the machine, but by the time you read this, the hard drive could be $500, and we’ll be living in a dystopian world where people are scrounging e-waste dumps looking for 32MB USB keys discarded in 2003. I’ll pull up in my busted‑up $830 PC and some dirty, toothless PC mechanic will marvel at the “last of the 500GB Interceptors! A piece of history!”
To keep things easy, I installed the Phenom II X4 970 with the board out of the case. First, drain any built-up static electricity by touching a large metal object. Unlock the AM3+ socket by lifting up the arm. Match the gold triangle in the CPU’s corner with the white corner marker on the motherboard.
Gently lower the chip into the socket until it rests flush with the socket. Now lock the arm in place, and you’ve just installed your CPU.
I went with the amazingly cheap ($20!) Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus. It offers far more performance than the stock fan. To install it, first remove the stock mounting bracket from the motherboard by using a Phillips‑head screwdriver to remove both of the plastic brackets on top.
The metallic backplate on the back should now pop off. Reassemble the bracket and place this in your motherboard box in case you need it in the future. Now place a small dab of thermal paste on the CPU heat spreader. You can use a plastic bag as a makeshift glove to spread the paste on the heat spreader’s surface.
The Hyper 212 Plus comes with a backplate, which you will have to hold in place while you install the bracket. With the bracket in place, install four of the nut‑and‑screw assemblies to hold the bracket in place. Now use the included tool to lightly torque the screws in place.
Don’t over tighten, as it could chew into the motherboard. Remove the fan from the cooler, and spread the X-shaped bracket through the base of the cooler. Now, using a screwdriver, attach the x-bracket to the four exposed nuts with the four spring screws.
Once the cooler is firmly attached, snap the fan back in place and hook up the fan to a fan header. For my configuration, I set the fan to blow air through the cooler where it would be exhausted through the case’s rear fan.
While the board is out, you might as well install the RAM by matching up the notches in the RAM with the notches in the slots. On this board, I installed the pair of 2GB modules in the two blue slots.
If you’re not using this board, you should consult your manual to see how to install the RAM for dual-channel mode.
Comments are closed on this article
QuadraQ
March 23, 2012 at 1:59pm
Just to demonstrate how fast things move in the PC world, I put together a list of parts that builds a cheaper and better (except for the GPU which is arguable)PC that has MUCH better upgrade potential for the future.
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=23664747
illusionslayer
March 24, 2012 at 7:08am
That's not arguable. The 6950 is a lot faster than the 7770.
Also, why the expensive ram?
QuadraQ
March 26, 2012 at 11:40am
The price difference for the different types of DDR3 RAM is very small. When it costs so little to get faster RAM you might as well use it. Since this build is well below budget, you could probably replace the 7770 with one of the 68xx cards and still be under $850. Another option would be to do two 7750's in CrossFire which has been shown to benchmark surprisingly well.
JaxJaguar
March 23, 2012 at 9:15am
Gordon,
Did you ever give any thoughts to having a low cost SSD in place of a traditional HD? Thanks
sdcat
March 22, 2012 at 5:53pm
I actually like the inverted design of a case, regardless of the size.
Outlaw isn't a bad one, but kid of out dated. I would really like to see a makeover of a inverted case using today's concept.
The case might be a lot cooler.
wrldqueeek
March 22, 2012 at 10:17am
I like it.
It's funny, I read these articles all the time, (well, whenever they come out) but I've noticed lately that after I see the parts list, I usually just skip to the benchmarks, as a basic system build is pretty much the same every time.
One thing I would like to see (in an article or a video, what happened to those?) is a more in depth system build that goes into the specifics of things like cable routing and such. I haven't seen a real tutorial on that topic.
yu119995
March 22, 2012 at 8:29am
Another great build Gordon. Thanks again.
Some questions though. Would it be worth it to shell out another $30 to get a 1TB WD Black over the 500gb blue?
One more thing, would the Antec One be a better case option over the Bitfenix Outlaw? Roughly the same price but Antec build quality and impressive cable management options for the price.
I'm currently building two machines for friends (no labour charge of course...I love doing it) :)
swingking03
March 22, 2012 at 6:33am
Love these articles about building machines at different prce points. You should do it more often.
sdcat
March 21, 2012 at 10:51pm
price...people always talks about it.
the price maxpc gave always gota be average price, but on the cheaper side if possible. They have explained about this years ago.
the other thing is that by the time we read this article online, the price they checked was probably 2 to 3 month ago/old.
Ghost XFX
March 21, 2012 at 6:49pm
This just proves you don't have to spend a crap load of money to have a decent rig. If you're really savvy, you'll go used and save loads of money that way. Only thing you should worry about being new then is the HD and CPU. Both of my GPUs are used, two XFX HD 6870s. Bought for roughly 220 bucks after shipping. I have the same 970 used here and it's a good performer despite what Intel boy thinks about it. I managed to get my hands on an Asus Crosshair V Formula as an open box item. Roughly $170 with free shipping. Memory is dirt cheap, so I have 8GB at my disposal. You just have to look for deals and know what you're looking for. The only thing I'm missing right now is the after market cooler and after that, I should still come in at around $670. No need for a case when I still have a good Lian-Li V1200 II at my disposal. But a Corsair Graphite 600T would be a nice choice...
Chronologist
March 21, 2012 at 7:49pm
Used parts are a great way to save money, provided you have test beds to ensure that the parts are in good working order. I recently built a computer for a friend on a 650 dollar budget. Specs are as following:
-i7 2600k (bumped up to 3.6 on the stock cooler)
-Gigabyte H55 (non b3)*
-EVGA 460GTX 1GB
-Corsair 4gb Vengeance Blue*
-320 gb HDD*
-DVD drive*
-NZXT Gamma Mid Tower case
-Rosewill 500w PSU
-Win8 Consumer Preview(*) items are used/openbox
Barely met budget, but for $650, this rig is packing a lot of firepower.
Eoraptor
March 22, 2012 at 12:26pm
going with last generations (or even two generations ago) technology is always a great way to save sheckles. As in this example of using Phenom's instead of Bulldozers. And usually you can find someone (either eybay or big box) who's got unopened parts for sale on the cheap. Really, very few people need or will make use of those $1500 bleeding edge parts, so going with a 400 series or even a 200 Nvidia card will be just fine for a wide spectrum of users.
Ghost XFX
March 22, 2012 at 8:02am
The difference between the builds here is purpose. If you desired to use a Micro ATX vs a ATX, you've done well.
ray789
March 21, 2012 at 5:41pm
my roomate's aunt makes $83/hr on the laptop. She has been without work for 8 months but last month her pay was $8682 just working on the laptop for a few hours. Read more on this site...Nuttyrich . com
4wsprelude
March 21, 2012 at 5:29pm
I know this site is MAXIMUM-PC and not AVERAGE-PC but you can't expect it to go to the max with what you have here. Its still a 45nm(I think) chip you have that is built off a socket that is overdue for an update. I personally have a phenom 2 965 and it works for my average web browsing and skyrim. Don't have time for much gaming now but always have time for Maximumpc.com
0ly1r3m@1ns
March 21, 2012 at 5:22pm
tisk tisk this build is pretty terrible LMAO this is more a computer cause i need a computer not a gaming computer so ditch M$ Windows and go with a Easy to use Linux distro (my vote is for Ubuntu)
travisp
March 21, 2012 at 5:10pm
I never comment on Max PC but read all the time and after reading this I finally had to make a comment.
Honestly you can build a better system for the same price. I don't know were you guys get your pricing from but in about 10 mins on just NewEgg.com & Microcenter I put together this:
Antec Nine Hundred Black Mid Tower Case w/USB 3.0 - $99.99
RAIDMAX HYBRID 630W Modular Power Supply - $49.99
ASRock P67 PRO3(B3)LGA 1155 P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $99.99
Core i5 2500K LGA 1155 Boxed Processor (Microcenter.com) - $179.99
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus - $29.99
EVGA GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB - $179.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)DDR3 1600 - $29.99
Samsung by Seagate Spinpoint 500GB 7200 RPM SATA HD - $84.99
LG 22X Super-Multi DVD Burner Black SATA - $15.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM - $99.99
Subtotal: 870.90
With a bit more searching you could probably shave off another $50 from that system I just posted and you would have a PC that would tear up the one you posted.
Modred189
March 21, 2012 at 4:46pm
Yea, if there is one thing I have learned about PCs, it's that $50 is not enough for a PSU, unless it's a good sale on a good unit. Offbrand PSUs=fail. It's, arguably, the most important part of the system. I'd rather get a crappy case than skimp on the PSU... inevitable bloody hands and all...
codyandbecca
March 21, 2012 at 4:25pm
GIGABYTE GA-M68MT-S2 nForce 630a Motherboard - Micro ATX, Socket AM3+, nForce 630a Chipset, 1600MHz DDR3, SATA II (3Gb/s), RAID, 7.1-CH Audio, Gigabit LAN
AMD HDT45TWFGRBOX Phenom II X6 1045T Processor - Six Core, 6MB L3 Cache, 3MB L2 Cache, 2.70GHz, Socket AM3, 95W, Fan, Retail
Lite-On IHAS124-04 Internal DVD Writer - DVD+R 24X, DVD-R 24X, DVD+RW 8X, DVD-RW 6X, DVD+R DL 8X, SATA (OEM)
Corsair CMX4GX3M1A1333C9 XMS3 4GB DDR3 RAM - PC10666, 1333MHz, 4096MB
Corsair CMX4GX3M1A1333C9 XMS3 4GB DDR3 RAM - PC10666, 1333MHz, 4096MB
DiabloTek CPA-0280 Elite ATX Mid Tower Case - ATX, Micro ATX, 450W PSU, 2x Ext 5.25", 1x Ext 3.5", 2x Int 3.5", 2x USB 2.0 Front Ports, Blackhttp://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1883175&CatId=332
$334.99*
Corsair CMPSU-650TXV2 Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 Power Supply - 650 Watts, ATX, 140mm Fan, 80 Plus Bronze, SLI Ready, Active PFC
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7195036&Sku=C13-2800
$69.99*
Sapphire 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 Video Card - 1GB, GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0 (x16), 1x HDMI, 1x Dual-Link DVI, 1x Single-Link DVI, 1x DisplayPort, DirectX 11, Dual-Slot, CrossFireX Ready
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1006280&CatId=3669
$173.99*
OCZ VTX3-25SAT3-120G Vertex 3 Solid State Drive - 120GB, 2.5", SATA III
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=91218&Sku=O261-6380
$149.99*
TOTAL! 728.96 before tax....
.... I guess my my point is that I am never impressed with these articles.
the system you built vs. what I posted, for a cheaper price makes me wonder if you guys ever shop around online retailers for deals....
Army Of One
March 21, 2012 at 5:39pm
728.96.....
1: You didn't include $99. for Windows 7
2: You didn't include $21 for an aftermarket CPU fan for better overclocking.
Your adjusted total = 848.96
3: Your motherboard is not crossfire capable like the one in the article is for a second video card at a later date.
codyandbecca
March 21, 2012 at 7:08pm
the subject was powerful all purpose rig, the average user gives not one fu*k about overclocking and most don't even know what crossfire is.... Adding in windows is b/s because 90% of people who want to build a rig will reuse the windows key they have not pay for it again. (assuming it's their own rig) but even so 99% for an os and more power for the same dollar, still b/s and I did that in five minutes if I had time to think it out I bet I could utterly destroy it. Point is, where is the hey we found this deal that we all can jump on article ?
Army Of One
March 22, 2012 at 6:53am
Lol, no need to get so angry.
If we apply your "logic" for the lack of paying for a fan and OS then we can apply the same "logic" to the build in this article.
Subtract the $120 so we could compare "apples to apples" and the build in this article would total $710.00 which is still cheaper than yours.
Having said that, I would still choose the article build over yours because of the better motherboard that supports CrossfireX
As for your "I put this together in 5 minutes" reply makes no difference to me. I can only give you an opinion on the build you posted just like you can only give an opinion on the build in this article.
vrmlbasic
March 21, 2012 at 3:47pm
How much better is this card than my bargain Radeon 6850 (besides "100" lol)? With all the settings (except FSAA) maxed, my 6850 chokes a bit in Deus Ex: HR (and I can only blame console focused development for so long, though it still annihilates the console version).
Sadly I've come to not care about FPS over 60 as many games I'm playing give me some prodigious tearing when V-sync is off.
I really need to investigate OC'ing my Phenom II 955 BE. Coaxing 600 additional MHz out of a 970 on an inexpensive air cooler gives me hope for my proc. Maybe I can bump my WEI rating up from 7.3 for free?
Also, what is this "hard drive" of which you speak? Oh, you mean a grandpa's SSD?!
The Corrupted One
March 21, 2012 at 4:10pm
I dislike having a processor that is a bit cheap, it will suddenly creep up and bottleneck your games.
My OC'd dual fan 6850 has no problems with DR:HR, probably because I play at a low resolution with a high memory clock.
vrmlbasic
March 21, 2012 at 9:41pm
What would you call a "low resolution"?
My monitor is 1920*1080, and I play all my games at it (at least the ones that support it), and I'd call that a low resolution.
mikeyfree
March 21, 2012 at 3:42pm
Our budget burner doesn’t set any benchmark records. Nor would we expect it to at a mere $830. Even up against our old zero-point system with its 2.6GHz Core i7-920 overclocked to 3.5GHz, the $830 rig didn’t win any battles (mind you, our zero-point cost north of $2,500 when originally constructed).
So, for 1,650.00 bucks more you can get an increase in average of 22% in the benchmarks. For that amount of money I would like 100% or more of an increase. I would rather have the 850 dollar build and with the other 1600.00 bucks I could go on a short vacation.And remember your tests show a i7-920 overclocked, (memory overclocked too) which is supposed to be far superior to the phenom II. I don't see that here, I see a far less expensive build showing that its more logical to not to spend so much for little gains.
illusionslayer
March 24, 2012 at 7:15am
Keep in mind the zero-point is showing it's age now.
A $2,500 machine now will destroy it.
As for computer power scaling linearly with cost, you need to read up on the law of diminishing returns.
stinkypeepers
March 21, 2012 at 3:29pm
I spent about this much on my machine and it plays everything pretty much maxed out no problem. This build actually has the same CPU and VGA except mine is an HIS, plus it has 8GB 1600 instead of 4 1333. Skyrim (which I don't really play anymore), everything is set to High. Battlefield 3 has everything set to High with 4xAA and 4XAF and it runs like butter. All games I play are set to 1920x1080 60Hz and I likey very much.
hmp_goose
March 21, 2012 at 12:52pm
An AMD build? Really?
How much longer is that socket gon'a be in play?
Kinetic
March 21, 2012 at 2:15pm
Knowing AMD and how infrequently they update their sockets, and given that AM3+ sockets will still in all likelihood support AM4 processors, probably a while. What strikes me as a more limiting factor is that while the socket might still be good down the road, we're currently transitioning to pci-e 3.0, and that mobo still only supports 2.0, so you're limiting the performance of current and future upgrades off the bat.
Anyway it's a pretty solid build overall, if all you're using it for is average gaming and don't have to have the biggest/best. I'd love to see how thermals in an inverted setup like that stack up against those from more 'traditional' cases.
praetor_alpha
March 21, 2012 at 12:50pm
That drive is down to $85 now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769
moko
March 21, 2012 at 12:38pm
"last of the 500gb intercepters".....that was great Gordon : )....man,where you get that thing
....apiece here...apiece there....
jaygregz
March 21, 2012 at 12:35pm
To be fair you'd still need to buy an optical drive and you included the price of the OS in your build. So yours is cheaper by about 100 bucks.
jaygregz
March 21, 2012 at 12:31pm
I'd take neweggs 2500k/560ti DIY combo for 20 bucks less and call it a day.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.770956
mikeyfree
March 21, 2012 at 3:56pm
Good luck finding a motherboard w/sata6, usb3 and 2 pci slots for under 130.00 for than cpu.
jaygregz
March 21, 2012 at 5:12pm
That combo comes with a mobo..
GIGABYTE GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
USB 1.1/2.0
4 x USB 2.0USB 3.0
2 x USB 3.0
SATA 6Gb/s
2 x SATA 6Gb/s
PCI Express 2.0 x16
3 (x16, x8, x4)
mattman059
March 21, 2012 at 12:23pm
Just curious why for $50 more you wouldnt go for the X6 3.2 Black version of the Phenom II. Otherwise looks great for a great price
mattman059
March 21, 2012 at 12:56pm
For $20...i could justify going over budget for a superior processor. Besides if it HAD to be < 850 there are a few places to make cutbacks and still achieve an awesome build. And with that drive down to $85 now you'd only be $5 over...not bad.
Eoraptor
March 21, 2012 at 1:15pm
Agreed, you'd get a major boost to the multi-threading apps ( a boon in win 7 and 8 as well as linux) for very little more money. then again, I do mote in paintshop and firefox and word than I do in heavy games (the newest thing I play being City of heroes)
