$1000 Budget PC Buyer's Guide - October 2009

Posted 10/29/2009 at 9:00pm | by Florence Ion

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It’s been a while since we’ve posted a Parts and Price Guide on the site—okay, it’s been a long time. Now we’re back and better than ever, and so are the system specs we’re pairing you up with this month. We’re starting you off with a $1000 PC, which is a happy mid-way price point between the $700 recession special and $1500 budget surplus found in this year's Dream Machine roundup. $1000 may not seem like a steal for the truly frugal, but in a world of fluctuating economies and ever-changing technologies, getting the most “bang for your buck” is more important than getting rock bottom prices at the expense of performance. And in the time since we last posted a buyer's guide, new awesome technologies like Intel's Core i5 and ATI's Evergreen series of GPUs (which powers the Radeon 5870) have redefined our expectations of budget PC performance. With these computing advances in mind, we've carefully pieced together a sub-$1000 spec that doesn't break the bank or compromise performance.

Follow along for the secret to a hearty, healthy computer, for only a grand!

*All prices are as of October 29th and do not include rebates, sales, clearance, or whatever else makes computer parts really cheap these days.

Motherboard

Asus P7P55D LE

$129,  www.asus.com

Sometimes a cost-effective motherboard is a better long-term investment than a ridiculously pricey one. In this case, the Asus P7P55D, with Quad-GPU CrossfireX and DDR3 200 support, is like banking on Google's IPO. The board supports both Core i7 and i5 processors, though it’s Socket 1156 board, which means it's only compatible with the latest Lynnfield-based CPUs. Still, you have numerous upgrade options, since Intel is committed to the Socket 1156 platform for the next few years. A more expensive Socket 1366 board only makes sense if you want the jump on Intel's future hexa-core and octa-core processors, but X58 boards are still prohibitively expensive for budget builders.

The P7P55D doesn't skimp on features, though. It sports seven PCI slots (two PCI Express x1, two PCIe 2.0 x16 and three regular PCI slot) and four memory slots that max out at 16GB of memory. Memory can only be run in dual channel configuration using the appropriate slots. The I/O ports on the rear of the motherboard include 2 PS/2, 8 USB 2.0, 6 audio ports, one eSATA, and an S/PDIF incase, y’know, you ever want to start mixing some tunes and pursuing your dream of becoming a DJ someday.

CPU

Core i5-750

$200, www.intel.com

Intel’s latest series of CPUs are sure to please budget users everywhere -- they effectively bring Nehalem to the masses. The new socket and infrastructure are nothing to be afraid of, and we certainly weren’t disappointed in our benchmarks. Our recommendation, the Core i6-750, is the cheapest in the Lynnfield family, but we were able to take the processor from 2.66GHz to a very stable 3.5GHZ without any strain (though the motherboard we paired you with may not be able to overclock as high). But even at stock speed, the 750 is far superior to any Core 2 chip and even a higher-clocked Phenom II X4. The lack of hyperthreading (a limitation of Lynnfield) doesn't affect the majority of applications, including games. 

Memory

Corsair XMS3 4GB DDR3/1600

$81, www.corsair.com

No surprise here. Simply drop in this pair of affordable, lightening fast sticks of memory to your motherboard. And remember that since DDR3 memory is so cheap these days, you can always grab an extra pair of 2GB DIMMs later to double your RAM. Corsair's XMS sticks are rock solid, but any name brand manufacturer (Crucial, OCZ, Patriot) will be just are reliable. 

Videocard

Sapphire Radeon HD 5770

$160, www.sapphire.com

Here's where the story gets interesting. This entry-level card will get you amazing performance for under $200. Its specs are on par with the last generation's flagship HD 4870, but the new architecture is much more power efficient. Following the golden path of the Everygreen lineup, the HD 5770 is DirectX11 compatible, sports 1GB of DDR5 video memory (which clocks in at 1.2 GHz) and has a core clock speed of 850MHz running on a TeraScale 2 Unified Processing Architecture. The HD 5770 is also equipped with an HDMI port and two DVI ports, and supports a maximum resolution of 2560 x 1600. Case in point, this GPU is the right stuff for the right price.

Optical Drive

Samsung SH-S223

$31, www.samsung.com

Amazingly, the Samsung SH-S223 has held the throne of top DVD drive for over half a year. This is due to the fact that no burner we've tested since the SH-S223 has come close to its burn speeds. In our DVD burner challenge, this Usain Bolt of burners bested the competition in rip times by several seconds, including Samsung's previous top model (with a firmware update). The drive comes well equipped with 22x DVD+R write speed, as well as rapid speeds for writing to other DVD disc formats. Don't worry if the drive doesn't show up in a search on Samsung's website -- it's still very much in production!

Hard Drive

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB

$110, www.westerndigital.com

Hard drives are also some of the more affordable components when putting together a system, but just as essential as their more expensive case mates. The Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB is as affordable as it is functional. As a WD Black drive (as opposed to Western Digital's Green lineup), its emphasis is on performance over power conservation. And that promise is delivered -- it's one of the faster 3-platter terabyte drives we've tested, delivering truly impressive random access speeds. Sure, you can buy a two-platter terabyte drives these days, but the price premium makes that jump difficult to stomach. With modest specifications and an abundance of storage room for the average computer user, the WD Digital Caviar Black 1TB is totally worth a Benjiman and we’re confident you’ll be greatly pleased with your purchase.

Power Supply

Corsair 650TX

$100, www.corsair.com

Yeah, it’s a power supply, and its main purpose is to power up all of your components to make your system run. This one is 650 watts and is a little more than enough and it won’t run your energy bill too high since it is proven 80% efficient, meaning less waste heat emitting from the supply. The Corsair 650TX can also auto-sense you input voltage from 90Vac to 264Vac, 50/60Hz, which means you don’t have to initiate any sort of voltage selector switches. This power supply comes equipped with 2 extra long PCI-E cables for big cases, as well as 8 SATA connectors, 2 PCI-E and 8 peripheral, and a variable 120 mm fan for whisper-quiet performance. Since our HD 5770 videocard only requires one PCI-E power connection, you'll be able to run the system in Crossfire as well with this PSU. 

Case

Antec 300

$51, www.antec.com

This mid tower case is barebones, with no special lighting effects, no side panel window and no screwless mounting for hard drives and 5.25-inch devices. Regardless of its lack of special effects, its smooth steel chasis comes primed with 120mm and 140mm fans for the motherboard area (with switches!) and a ton of 3.5-inch hard drive bays -- 6, to be exact. Sure, it's not as feature-ladden as the Antec 900 or NZXT Tempest cases, but it's also half the price of those comparable LAN staples. 

Operating System

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition

$107, www.microsoft.com

You know our position on Windows 7: it kicks ass. So much so that we've recommended as a primary OS since Microsoft released the public Release Candidate. But since we can't get away with recommending the RC version anymore, the OEM version is the way to go for your new PC, since it's the cheapest way to get a full copy. If you're truly a penny pincher, you can also just buy an upgrade copy of Windows 7 and run it as a fresh install (Check out how with this guide). We're also recommending the 64-bit edition, so you can utilize all 4GB of memory. 

Price Breakdown

Now that's what we call a balanced machine! Even though we spent more money on the processor than the videocard, they each took up roughly 1/5 of the overall budget. The rest of the major components fell around the $100 price point, which seems to be where you get the most bang for buck. Having to use a tenth of the budget on the operating system doesn't sound like much, but it's a considerable chunk when we're talking about a $1000 PC (and makes us wish for the RC days). Of course, there's room for maneuverability if you want to spend less on one component to bolster another part. For example, you could opt for a cheaper PSU if you want the cash for more hard drive space or memory. 

Total: $987 ($977 after rebates)

Agree with our choices? Have a better configuration for a sub-$1000 PC? Post your thoughts in the comments below!