adrianlee
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Updated on 1 September 2011
Please check Price Guides for latest prices
A PC Buyer’s Guide that is everything to everyone is simply not possible. This is a simple guide to putting together a PC with a local flavour. Be sure to read PC Buyer’s Guide from other media.
If you have any questions about why I chose a particular component you may ask in this thread or you could start a new thread.
Bit-tech PC Hardware Buyer's Guide September 2011
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/buyers-guide/2011/09/01/pc-hardware-buyer-s-guide-september-2011/1
Sandy Bridge Buyer’s Guide
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4456/sandy-bridge-buyers-guide
Guru3D PC Buyers Guide Summer 2011
http://www.guru3d.com/article/pcbuyer-guide-summer-2011/
Techreport's Summer 2011 system guide
http://techreport.com/articles.x/21164]
Tomshardware System Builder Marathon, June 2011
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/system-builder-gaming-pc,2961.html
TechSpot's PC Buying Guide
http://www.techspot.com/guides/buying/
Best Graphics Cards For the Money: August 2011
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997.html
VGA Charts Spring 2011
http://www.guru3d.com/article/vga-charts-spring-2011/
Complete Gaming System
Extreme Systems
Intel Core i7-990X Extreme Edition & GIGABYTE G1.Assassin ~ $2088
Intel Core i7-990X Extreme Edition & EVGA X58 3X SLI CLASSIFIED ~ $2057
Corsair DOMINATOR GT CMT6GX3M3A2000C8 DDR3-2000MHz 6GB (3X2GB) Kit~ $408
MSI HD 6990 CrossFireX or MSI GTX 590 Quad SLI or EVGA GTX 580 SLI ~ $1338
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 240GB or Crucial M4 256GB or Intel SSD 510 250GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB for Storage ~ $66
HP dvd1270i SATA 24X DVD Rewriter ~ $37
Corsair Professional Series Gold AX1200 1200W PSU ~ $469
Cooler Master ATCS 840 ~ $400
Total ~ $6XXX
Intel Core i7 2600K & GIGABYTE Z68X-UD7-B3 ~ $935
G.SKILL RipjawsX DDR3-1600MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $136
MSI HD 6990 CrossFireX or MSI GTX 590 Quad SLI or EVGA GTX 580 SLI ~ $1338
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 240GB or Crucial M4 256GB or Intel SSD 510 250GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB for Storage ~ $66
HP dvd1270i SATA 24X DVD Rewriter ~ $37
Seasonic X-850 850W PSU ~ $280 or Corsair HX850 850W PSU ~ $275
Cooler Master ATCS 840 ~ $400
Total ~ $4XXX
High-End Systems
Intel Core i7 2600K & GIGABYTE Z68X-UD7-B3 ~ $935
G.SKILL RipjawsX DDR3-1600MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $136
MSI HD 6990 or MSI GTX 590
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120GB or Crucial M4 128GB or Intel SSD 510 120GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB for Storage ~ $66
HP dvd1270i SATA 24X DVD Rewriter ~ $37
Seasonic X-850 850W PSU ~ $280 or Corsair HX850 850W PSU ~ $275
Cooler Master ATCS 840 ~ $400
Total ~ $3XXX
Intel Core i7 2600K & GIGABYTE Z68X-UD7-B3 ~ $935
G.SKILL RipjawsX DDR3-1600MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $136
PowerColor HD 6950 2GB CrossFireX ~ $758 or Palit GTX 560 Ti 2GB SLI ~ $780
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120GB or Crucial M4 128GB or Intel SSD 510 120GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB for Storage ~ $66
HP dvd1270i SATA 24X DVD Rewriter ~ $37
Seasonic X-850 850W PSU ~ $280 or Corsair HX850 850W PSU ~ $275
Cooler Master ATCS 840 ~ $400
Total ~ $3XXX
Intel Core i7 2600K & GIGABYTE Z68X-UD3P-B3 ~ $721
or AMD Phenom II X6 1100T & ASUS Crosshair V Formula ~ $603
G.SKILL RipjawsX DDR3-1600MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $136
EVGA GTX 580 ~ $669 or Sapphire HD 6970 ~ $460
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120GB or Crucial M4 128GB or Intel SSD 510 120GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB for Storage ~ $66
HP dvd1270i SATA 24X DVD Rewriter ~ $37
FSP Aurum AU-600W ~ $135 or FSP Aurum AU-500W ~ $115
Cooler Master CM690 ~ $129
Total ~ $2XXX
Mid-Range Systems
Intel Core i5 2500K & Gigabyte Z68A-D3-B3 ~ $492
or AMD Phenom II X4 965 & ASUS M5A99X EVO ~ $419
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $56
PowerColor HD 6950 2GB ~ $379 or EVGA GTX 570 Superclocked ~ $449 or Palit GTX 560 Ti 2GB ~ $389
OCZ Vertex 3 120GB or Corsair Force GT 120GB or Crucial M4 120GB or Intel SSD 510 120GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB ~ $66
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
FSP Aurum AU-500W ~ $115
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $16XX
Intel Core i5 2500 & GIGABYTE Z68A-D3-B3 ~ $479
or Intel Core i5 2500 & BIOSTAR TP67B+ ~ $380
or AMD Phenom II X4 955 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $265
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $56
PowerColor HD 6950 2GB ~ $379 or Palit GTX 560 Ti 1GB ~ $300
OCZ Vertex 3 60GB or Crucial M4 64GB or Crucial C300 64GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB ~ $66
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
FSP Aurum AU-500W ~ $115
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $14XX
Intel Core i5 2400 & BIOSTAR TP67B+ ~ $360
or Intel Core i5 2300 & BIOSTAR TH67+ ~ $350
or AMD Phenom II X4 955 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $265
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $56
Sapphire HD 6950 1GB ~ $319 or Palit GTX 560 Ti 1GB ~ $300
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB ~ $66
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
FSP Aurum AU-500W ~ $115
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $9XX
Intel Core i5 2300 & BIOSTAR H61MH ~ $314
or AMD Phenom II X4 955 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $265
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $56
EVGA GTX 560 1GB ~ $255 or Sapphire HD 6870 ~ $246 or Sapphire HD 5850 Xtreme ~ $218
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB ~ $52
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
FSP Aurum AU-500W ~ $115
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $8XX
AMD Athlon II X4 640 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $200
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 4GB ~ $28
PowerColor HD5770 1GB ~ $149 or Palit 450 512MB ~ $143
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB ~ $52
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
FSP Aurum AU-400W ~ $95
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $6XX
AMD Athlon II X3 445 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $165
or Intel Pentium E6500 & ASUS P5KPL-AM ~ $186
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 4GB ~ $28
PowerColor HD5770 1GB ~ $149 or Palit 450 512MB ~ $143
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB ~ $52
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
Antec Neo Eco 450W PSU ~ $69
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $5XX
Budget Systems
AMD Athlon II X2 250 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $143
or Intel Pentium E6500 & ASUS P5KPL-AM ~ $186
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 4GB ~ $28
PowerColor HD5750 1GB ~ $135 or Sapphire HD 5670 512MB ~ $120
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB ~ $52
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
Antec Neo Eco 450W PSU ~ $69
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $5XX
Entry Level Systems
AMD Athlon II X2 250 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $143
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 4GB ~ $28
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB ~ $52
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
Antec Neo Eco 450W PSU ~ $69
Casing ~ $40
Total ~ $3XX
Please check Price Guides for latest prices
A PC Buyer’s Guide that is everything to everyone is simply not possible. This is a simple guide to putting together a PC with a local flavour. Be sure to read PC Buyer’s Guide from other media.
If you have any questions about why I chose a particular component you may ask in this thread or you could start a new thread.
Bit-tech PC Hardware Buyer's Guide September 2011
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/buyers-guide/2011/09/01/pc-hardware-buyer-s-guide-september-2011/1
Sandy Bridge Buyer’s Guide
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4456/sandy-bridge-buyers-guide
Guru3D PC Buyers Guide Summer 2011
http://www.guru3d.com/article/pcbuyer-guide-summer-2011/
Techreport's Summer 2011 system guide
http://techreport.com/articles.x/21164]
Tomshardware System Builder Marathon, June 2011
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/system-builder-gaming-pc,2961.html
TechSpot's PC Buying Guide
http://www.techspot.com/guides/buying/
Best Graphics Cards For the Money: August 2011
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997.html
VGA Charts Spring 2011
http://www.guru3d.com/article/vga-charts-spring-2011/
Complete Gaming System
Extreme Systems
Intel Core i7-990X Extreme Edition & GIGABYTE G1.Assassin ~ $2088
Intel Core i7-990X Extreme Edition & EVGA X58 3X SLI CLASSIFIED ~ $2057
Corsair DOMINATOR GT CMT6GX3M3A2000C8 DDR3-2000MHz 6GB (3X2GB) Kit~ $408
MSI HD 6990 CrossFireX or MSI GTX 590 Quad SLI or EVGA GTX 580 SLI ~ $1338
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 240GB or Crucial M4 256GB or Intel SSD 510 250GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB for Storage ~ $66
HP dvd1270i SATA 24X DVD Rewriter ~ $37
Corsair Professional Series Gold AX1200 1200W PSU ~ $469
Cooler Master ATCS 840 ~ $400
Total ~ $6XXX
Intel Core i7 2600K & GIGABYTE Z68X-UD7-B3 ~ $935
G.SKILL RipjawsX DDR3-1600MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $136
MSI HD 6990 CrossFireX or MSI GTX 590 Quad SLI or EVGA GTX 580 SLI ~ $1338
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 240GB or Crucial M4 256GB or Intel SSD 510 250GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB for Storage ~ $66
HP dvd1270i SATA 24X DVD Rewriter ~ $37
Seasonic X-850 850W PSU ~ $280 or Corsair HX850 850W PSU ~ $275
Cooler Master ATCS 840 ~ $400
Total ~ $4XXX
High-End Systems
Intel Core i7 2600K & GIGABYTE Z68X-UD7-B3 ~ $935
G.SKILL RipjawsX DDR3-1600MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $136
MSI HD 6990 or MSI GTX 590
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120GB or Crucial M4 128GB or Intel SSD 510 120GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB for Storage ~ $66
HP dvd1270i SATA 24X DVD Rewriter ~ $37
Seasonic X-850 850W PSU ~ $280 or Corsair HX850 850W PSU ~ $275
Cooler Master ATCS 840 ~ $400
Total ~ $3XXX
Intel Core i7 2600K & GIGABYTE Z68X-UD7-B3 ~ $935
G.SKILL RipjawsX DDR3-1600MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $136
PowerColor HD 6950 2GB CrossFireX ~ $758 or Palit GTX 560 Ti 2GB SLI ~ $780
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120GB or Crucial M4 128GB or Intel SSD 510 120GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB for Storage ~ $66
HP dvd1270i SATA 24X DVD Rewriter ~ $37
Seasonic X-850 850W PSU ~ $280 or Corsair HX850 850W PSU ~ $275
Cooler Master ATCS 840 ~ $400
Total ~ $3XXX
Intel Core i7 2600K & GIGABYTE Z68X-UD3P-B3 ~ $721
or AMD Phenom II X6 1100T & ASUS Crosshair V Formula ~ $603
G.SKILL RipjawsX DDR3-1600MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $136
EVGA GTX 580 ~ $669 or Sapphire HD 6970 ~ $460
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120GB or Crucial M4 128GB or Intel SSD 510 120GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB for Storage ~ $66
HP dvd1270i SATA 24X DVD Rewriter ~ $37
FSP Aurum AU-600W ~ $135 or FSP Aurum AU-500W ~ $115
Cooler Master CM690 ~ $129
Total ~ $2XXX
Mid-Range Systems
Intel Core i5 2500K & Gigabyte Z68A-D3-B3 ~ $492
or AMD Phenom II X4 965 & ASUS M5A99X EVO ~ $419
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $56
PowerColor HD 6950 2GB ~ $379 or EVGA GTX 570 Superclocked ~ $449 or Palit GTX 560 Ti 2GB ~ $389
OCZ Vertex 3 120GB or Corsair Force GT 120GB or Crucial M4 120GB or Intel SSD 510 120GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB ~ $66
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
FSP Aurum AU-500W ~ $115
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $16XX
Intel Core i5 2500 & GIGABYTE Z68A-D3-B3 ~ $479
or Intel Core i5 2500 & BIOSTAR TP67B+ ~ $380
or AMD Phenom II X4 955 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $265
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $56
PowerColor HD 6950 2GB ~ $379 or Palit GTX 560 Ti 1GB ~ $300
OCZ Vertex 3 60GB or Crucial M4 64GB or Crucial C300 64GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB ~ $66
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
FSP Aurum AU-500W ~ $115
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $14XX
Intel Core i5 2400 & BIOSTAR TP67B+ ~ $360
or Intel Core i5 2300 & BIOSTAR TH67+ ~ $350
or AMD Phenom II X4 955 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $265
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $56
Sapphire HD 6950 1GB ~ $319 or Palit GTX 560 Ti 1GB ~ $300
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB ~ $66
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
FSP Aurum AU-500W ~ $115
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $9XX
Intel Core i5 2300 & BIOSTAR H61MH ~ $314
or AMD Phenom II X4 955 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $265
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $56
EVGA GTX 560 1GB ~ $255 or Sapphire HD 6870 ~ $246 or Sapphire HD 5850 Xtreme ~ $218
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB ~ $52
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
FSP Aurum AU-500W ~ $115
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $8XX
AMD Athlon II X4 640 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $200
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 4GB ~ $28
PowerColor HD5770 1GB ~ $149 or Palit 450 512MB ~ $143
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB ~ $52
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
FSP Aurum AU-400W ~ $95
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $6XX
AMD Athlon II X3 445 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $165
or Intel Pentium E6500 & ASUS P5KPL-AM ~ $186
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 4GB ~ $28
PowerColor HD5770 1GB ~ $149 or Palit 450 512MB ~ $143
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB ~ $52
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
Antec Neo Eco 450W PSU ~ $69
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $5XX
Budget Systems
AMD Athlon II X2 250 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $143
or Intel Pentium E6500 & ASUS P5KPL-AM ~ $186
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 4GB ~ $28
PowerColor HD5750 1GB ~ $135 or Sapphire HD 5670 512MB ~ $120
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB ~ $52
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
Antec Neo Eco 450W PSU ~ $69
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $5XX
Entry Level Systems
AMD Athlon II X2 250 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $143
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 4GB ~ $28
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB ~ $52
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
Antec Neo Eco 450W PSU ~ $69
Casing ~ $40
Total ~ $3XX
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