Price Guides - Intel

High-End

Case: Cooler Master Stacker 830 - $279.00
Motherboard: XFX NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI - $249.99
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 - $339.99
Video: eVGA NVIDIA GeForce 9800GX2 - $489.99
Sound: Auzentech X-Fi Prelude - $174.99
Memory: Corsair Dominator 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 8500 - $157.00
Power: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 860w - $249.99
Storage: Western Digital Raptor 150GB - $169.99
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB - $109.99
Optical: Lite-ON 20x DVD+R Sata - $23.99
Total: $2244.92

High end system typically demand larger enclosures due to the excessive length of video cards nowadays. The decision to stick with a DDR2 based system is due to the negligible performance difference and the absurdly high price. In the future when Nehalem has arrived the situation may be different, but as of now it’s prudent, especially if you’re considering overclocking. Intel’s 45nm presence along with eVGA’s 9800GX2 can be expected to take on any game on the market today, especially on larger monitors at high resolutions with maximum eye candy enabled. Opting for a Creative-based solution for audio at the moment may be unpopular, but the software suite is more mature than what the ASUS Xonar line offers at the moment.

With the increase in power consumption from video cards, the power supply was upped in order to accommodate possible future SLI use. With Western Digital announcing a possible 20k RPM Raptor in the works, RAID might be wise to hold off on, but if you’re apt for extreme everything you can certainly add another, otherwise a good balance of speed and storage supplemented by the Seagate drive should be enough to hold you over. Since our last update, Blu-ray has become the next generation disc standard, but the prices have remained high and the technology hasn’t progressed fast enough to recommend it.

Medium-Range

Case: Antec P182 - $139.99
Motherboard: GigaByte GA-EP35-DS3L Intel P35 - $89.99
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 - $209.99
Video: Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB - $339.99
Sound: ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 - $99.99
Memory: G.Skill 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 PC2 6400 - $139.99
Power: Corsair 620HX - $164.99
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB - $109.99
Optical: Lite-ON 20x DVD+R Sata - $23.99
Total: $1318.91

Our midrange lineup is designed to offer an excellent gaming experience with a great price that will resonate with our readers. Antec’s beloved P182 makes a return along with the newest version of the Gigabyte P35 classic. Coupled with an Intel Q6600 and ATI 3870 X2, this system offers massive performance that’ll handle any game well except Crysis. Integrated sound still sucks, so the choice to opt for an ASUS-based sound solution is made easily especially with the PCI-Express connection. If you’re intention is to overclock, G.Skill presents a good solution that’s tended to overclock well for most. Everything is rounded up by a now absurdly cheap Seagate 750GB drive and a cable-management friendly power supply via Corsair.

Entry-Level

Case: Antec Sonata III 500 with PSU - $129.95
Motherboard: GigaByte GA-EP35-DS3L Intel P35 - $89.99
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 - $189.99
Video: BFG Tech NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB - $259.99
Memory: Corsair XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 PC2 6400 - $48.00
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB - $109.99
Optical: Lite-ON 20x DVD+R Sata - $23.99
Total: $851.90

Our entry level system isn’t low end by any means. It retains an impressive price versus performance ratio while staying as far under $1000 as possible. You’ll note most of the components remain the same from other builds with the exception of the Antec case which comes with a solid PSU and the exclusion of a sound card. Sacrifices can be made and opting for a slightly lower end video card may allow you to add a sound card, but it’s all a matter of preference. This system offers great overclockability with the extremely impressive Intel E8400. This system will certainly be no slouch even in newer games to come.

As always we welcome critique and your own suggestions so don’t forget to leave your comments below!

Popularity: 3% [?]