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Build a PC with the Best Bang for the Buck

extremetech.com — These days it's pretty easy to put together your own Windows PC, but which parts should you get for the most performance for your money? This article tells you.

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  • jaganm, on 10/11/2007, -130/+2for what it's worth, I'm first!!!
    • gulpy, on 10/11/2007, -104/+27For what it's worth... your a dumbass.
    • ThePixelator, on 10/11/2007, -34/+120@gulpy

      for what its worth....you misspelled you're
    • ijustam, on 10/11/2007, -10/+175@thepixelator,

      For what it's worth, "it's" is a contraction made up of "it" and "is."
    • sonick, on 10/11/2007, -13/+117@ijustam,

      For what it's worth... you have good grammar.
    • ziki, on 10/11/2007, -5/+167was all that worth it?
    • oxandrolone, on 10/11/2007, -42/+3For what it's worth, you ruined it!
    • elnerdo, on 10/11/2007, -24/+9Isn't that by Buffalo Springfield?

      Good song.
    • davidrools, on 10/11/2007, -22/+6I think it's worth about $0.02 per comment.
    • Hayes, on 10/11/2007, -29/+8@thepixelator
      For what it's worth, the period goes outside of the quotation marks.
    • grubwort, on 10/11/2007, -18/+6@hayes
      Unless you get a quotation mark with wings.
    • anagoge, on 10/11/2007, -18/+1For what it's worth, I love you.
    • xXKobaXx, on 10/11/2007, -17/+5Digg me down, comment has already been said...
    • stupergenius, on 10/11/2007, -15/+3@sonick

      For what it's worth, your usage of the ellipse is incorrect.
    • arbulus, on 10/11/2007, -13/+4for what it's worth, we don't do that here.
    • Aliarse, on 10/11/2007, -13/+1@jaganm (#7144567)
      For what it's worth, i think you should stop now.
    • netdawg, on 10/11/2007, -22/+4@ijustam
      For what its worth, thepixelator used the _possessive_ form "its" which is an _exception_ to the rule and he used it correctly.
    • Tonyisbad, on 10/11/2007, -10/+3Anyway can anyone find that new G35 mouse they have listed there, with the added 2nd thumb button. I've always wanted the g35 original but i live and die by my 2 thumb buttons on my current mouse in FPS. So i never bought the G35 because it only had 1. If someone finds it for me i'll buy them one as well!
    • crgnetworks, on 10/11/2007, -12/+3I love these kind of grammar Nazi comment threads.
    • spudnic, on 10/11/2007, -6/+12@netdawg

      So he meant to say 'for what worth belonging to it' rather than 'for what it is worth'?
      Yeah. Because that makes perfect sense.
    • AlphaPrime, on 10/11/2007, -7/+1For what it's worth, I don't know how to install a CPU. Have any DIYs covering that? I have done everything else its just that the motherboards I used came with the CPU and heatsink already installed.
    • jasonliman, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/05/11/system_builder_marathon/page9.html

      tomshardware did the similar experience not too long ago.
      they compare low end, mid range and high end hardware.
      the link is the result of the comparison.
    • Smills, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1I am personally going to wait till the AMD Phenoms come out. That way you get even better bang for buck (hopefully) and also, I am very interested in a Phenom FX assuming they aren't too expensive. Also, by the time they are out ATI will have their good 2000 series cards out (again, hopefully) if they don't beat the 8800 ultra then I guess I will have to go crossfire or SLI. It seems to me worth the wait of a few months though.

      Though my current computer is in serious need of replacement (AMD X2 3800+, 2GB DDR RAM, X1800 XT) I would prefer to support AMD as they are struggling to survive at the moment, but if their product isn't up to scratch then Intel it is.
    • john570, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Elnerdo wrote

      Isn't that by Buffalo Springfield?

      Good song.

      Great song!
    • yoblin, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Best bang for your buck: Get one of the 30% - 40% off coupons from dell and buy one of their dimensions for 700 dollars after the coupon, and then sell the parts (videocard etc) and upgrade them with ones purchased from deals on slickdeals/fatwallet

      You can get a mean system for a little over a grand with this method

      anyone else agree?
    • returnofajedi, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2boo, sony optical drives. let's pay $60 when we can get a quality lite-on drive for half the price.
  • lordtyros, on 10/11/2007, -4/+50e6700 was a poor choice.
    • keyboardduder, on 10/11/2007, -41/+1I bet that can beat the hell out of 90% of every processor that hits this site. And probably yours too.

      Oh, and Logitech? They are horrible.
    • borninda818, on 10/11/2007, -1/+39it was a poor choice. Ge the next step down for half the money and overclock it 400 mhz with almost no change in temperature. I also think the sound card was unnecessary.

      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115003
    • toppgun, on 10/11/2007, -1/+31the e6600 is the way to go. best bang for the buck.

      borninda818: thats the same cpu I have and I love it. rock on.
    • slythfox, on 10/11/2007, -4/+17How is that the E6700 the best "bang for your buck." I think it's a poor choice, too.

      Imo, I think the AMD x2 3600+ (65nm core) processor has the best performance/price ratio... given also that it overclocks nicely.
    • NadeChaser, on 10/11/2007, -1/+23@keyboardduder
      I tend to disagree, my experiences with Logitech's products place them significantly above industry average. Sure, you can buy better, but their products don't "suck."
    • swordedge, on 10/11/2007, -0/+14Lets see, newegg

      E6300 1.86GHz $164
      E6320 1.86GHz $165.50 get this over last, 4M L2 cache vs 2M L2 cache for a buck and a half
      E6420 2.17GHz $186 A buck cheaper then the 00 model that has only 2M L2 cache
      E6600 2.40GHz $223.90
      E6700 2.66GHz $317

      You guys have a point on the $90. And for most of us, we'd be hard pressed to notice any real speed difference. I would, however, spend the buck fifty if I were doing that sight budget PC as it uses the E6300.

      As for what constitutes bang for the buck; that depends on the person doing the spending. Me, I am seriously thinking about replacing an Athlon 2200+ 333 FSB, 133 memory bus with E6420 and 2G of 6400 ram
    • Genma, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13with picks like that these people have no business telling anyone what to buy. there's no bigger bang than the e6420, or the e6600 if you got an extra $30 for the higher multiplier. hyperX is another horrible pick if you want to stretch your money, there are so many other choices with better timings and ICs for the same price; Crucial, Corsair, G-Skill, OCZ, Patriot, etc. all 800mhz c4 for $130 or less. $20 extra for the Sony burner at the same specs of everyone else without LS is also questionable. if I didn't have adblock I'm guessing I would see Intel, Kingston, and Sony ads everywhere.
    • encognito, on 10/11/2007, -4/+6CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
      “Eventually, we'll go quad with the Bang for the Buck PC, but the price at this point just isn't right.”
      *** Mid July Q6600 for $266.00 here I come!

      Motherboard: Gigabyte P35-DS3R
      *** I plan on getting the Gigabyte P35C which does support DDR3 memory but essentially it’s the same motherboard.

      Memory: 2GB Kingston HyperX PC2-6400 plus 2GB ReadyBoost
      *** Same memory type, same speed, same price except I plan on getting 4GB from Corsair. As for ReadyBoost, forget it, my PC will almost always be on.

      Graphics: PNY XLR8 8800 GTS 320MB
      *** Same card here but hopefully by the end of the year, an 8850 or 8900 with 512MB will be out? A guy can dream can’t he?

      Sound: SoundBlaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
      *** Same card here but do I really need a sound card? Is there a difference in sound quality via headphones in games and music versus onboard sound? Will a soundcard take the sound processing strain off a motherboard or CPU allowing the latter components to run cooler? Will a soundcard result in faster FPS?

      Keyboard and Mouse: Microsoft 4000, Logitech G5
      *** I will stick with my old keyboard but buy a Cyber Snipa™ Game Pad V2 for gaming. Same mouse as reviewed.

      Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB
      *** Same HDD here although I was tempted to RAID0 some 160GB drives but the one second saved loading a game level isn’t worth the extra money and backup aggravation.

      Optical Drive: Sony DRU-830A 18x DVD+/-RW DL
      *** I plan on getting the Sony NEC Optiarc 7170 SATA model for $34 bucks but the specs are the same.

      Case and Power Supply: Antec Sonata III & Included 500W PSU
      ***I went with a different case AND a separate PSU (PC Power and Cooling 610W) but tastes in cases are quite subjective. Months from now when I plan to build my own rig I might even choose a different case.

      Monitor and Speakers: Samsung 226BW, Logitech X-240
      “Even if you already have a monitor, and especially if it's a CRT, you should really check this one out.”
      *** Why? Is it brighter or faster with deeper blacks than a CRT? No? I will stick with my CRT. As for the speakers, I already have a 2.1 system and I plan on using some SENNHEISER PC 155 headphones for gaming.

      Card Reader: Ultra Products MD2
      *** I don’t really need a card reader right now but that eSATA port looks tempting.

      Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
      *** Same OS but hopefully SP1 will be out along with better graphic card drivers.
    • jeriqo, on 10/11/2007, -5/+3by toppgun
      "borninda818: thats the same cpu I have and I love it. rock on."

      You love your CPU.
      Right.
      Like you'd notice a difference between that one and another one with same speed.
    • GhostCow, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1"Is there a difference in sound quality via headphones in games and music versus onboard sound? Will a soundcard take the sound processing strain off a motherboard or CPU allowing the latter components to run cooler? Will a soundcard result in faster FPS?"

      Yes, yes, and yes.
  • postal21, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13Good read, I need to replace this 3700AMD soon... next gen gaming kicks my non dual-core ass.
    • swordedge, on 10/11/2007, -7/+2yours is fast compared to mine, I have an Athlon 2200+ FSB 333 memory runs at 133.
    • robuk24, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Dito. AMD 3500 here and new games are starting to load very slowly!
  • desistere, on 10/11/2007, -5/+24Sweet. Now all I have to do to save money is save $1866.
    • slythfox, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1My E6600 build costed me $900 at the beginning of this year. The same build now is worth ~$700.

      This guide is stupid.
  • Insomniac33, on 10/11/2007, -2/+44e6700 is a bad choice. e6600 is only a tad slower, $90 cheaper, and can OC with the best of them. And you can get much better ram than that Kingston HyperX for probably cheaper (i.e. 2GB of DDR2-1000 Ballistix for under $100). And I won't even get into the PSU/Case/motherboard choices.

    Buried for inaccuracy, you can build a much better PC for cheaper. But at least it's still loads cheaper than a pre-built Dell piece of *****.
    • tehpwnrate, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6Yeah, when I heard "bang for buck," I figured they would have something like my PC. But it's nothing like my PC. Granted, I was very limited in my budget, but I feel my performance comes close to that computer's performance (if I look at CPU and VGA charts), and I spent way less than that for my computer. Like less than half that much.
    • NadeChaser, on 10/11/2007, -1/+18Agreed, almost every item on that list was a poor choice for a budget PC. You can build a computer with similar specs for a little over half that price. And if you were intent on laying down $1800, a little shopping around would get your hands on an amazing system. I wish I had that much to spend...
    • dijital, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Actually, it's not a 'budget pc' they were building... The idea was to build a 'bang-for-the-buck' pc... There's a difference.

      Also, it's funny to me how many people are like 'that totally sucks' but how few actually put any sort of details as to why and even fewer that offer alternatives.
  • zdiggler, on 10/11/2007, -2/+20I built a 5600+ AMD on Asus MB with 2 gig of ram with 7900GT for ~500 bucks. and run all game so far with everything maxed out without loosening FPS.
    • EmperorAwesome, on 10/11/2007, -8/+7All games? I'm willing to bet you get pretty bad jitters when you're fighting a couple enemies in Oblivion.
    • devindotcom, on 10/11/2007, -3/+12loosening? >:(?
    • numb, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4Which motherboard did you use?
    • EmperorAwesome, on 10/11/2007, -2/+11No seriously, I'm speaking from experience. A single 7900GT will drop below 30 fps when you're fighting a few monsters in oblivion with all the settings cranked up, it's particularly bad if there're some magic effects.
    • nikeairj, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3@ devindotcom
      I think he meant tighten up the graphics
    • Homunculiheaded, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8I built a very similar system for about the same price, yes it doesn't run oblivion perfect, but it runs it pretty damn well, and it isn't worth $1000+ to get oblivion to run smoothly (on a 'bang for your buck' system at least). I have no problem with people who want a top of line system but the 8800GTX is simply not in the bang-for-buck price range (neither is the cpu they mention). I can run every game out there very well, and my system cost over a thousand dollars less than this one.The 'bang-for-your-buck' system should cost less than 1k.
    • zdiggler, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7ASUS M2N SLI Deluex
      EVGA 7900GT
      Some cheap memeory.
      5600+
      Some cheap case with 500W PSU.

      Went back to NewEgg and damn,, I could have gotten them for much cheaper today!
    • zdiggler, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2It was like upgrade and I donated my old parts to highschool kid who wants to build his own system. He got him self a 3200+ with 1 gig of mem on a GigaByte some K8N MB with Side Windowed Diabolic case and 6600GT. All he needed was a HDD and a DVD-RW drive to complete the system. It was a bang for the buck system i build also.
    • numb, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1@zdiggler

      Cool. That's basically the same one I'm planning on using. The M2N32-SLI. Not sure what the differences are but it looks like a nice motherboard for the money.
    • fuzzynyanko, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1There's settings for Oblivion that makes the Geforce 8800 GTX go below 30 fps.
  • Jeffrey903, on 10/11/2007, -21/+10Actually, the best "bang for your buck" PC would be the cheapest possible one you could buy. It almost always costs more than twice as much money to get 2x the performance, hence, the best PC on a performance to cost ratio would be something that gets very bad performance (but still gets >1 performance units), but costs next to nothing. However, this PC would still be a POS.
    • drummer1189, on 10/11/2007, -3/+14what a nerd :)
    • toppgun, on 10/11/2007, -12/+3nerds! I HATE NERDS!

      /revenge of the nerds
    • geekee, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17That's actually not true. There usually is a sweet spot in the price/performance curve for processors, and price/size for memory and hard drives that is not the slowest/smallest. There's a certain amount of overhead you need to pay for a component that is non-zero even if the component has zero performance/size.
    • selrahc, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5Actually, I wouldn't say that bang for the buck implies the absolute cheapest equipment you can buy. $1800 is still a good price if everything else cost $3000 or so for similar performance(disclaimer: I don't know much about these computer parts and whether or not they really are a good deal.)

      I know people hate car analogies, but the Corvette is a good example of bang for the buck. It is by no means a cheap car, but it offers performance similar to cars that cost 2 or 3 times as much.
    • joemommasfat, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10he's right.

      I got a 433mhz, 128MB sittin around here that I'll let anyone have for free if they want it.

      That's a bang/buck ratio of infinity!!!!
    • spudnic, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6"That's actually not true. There usually is a sweet spot in the price/performance curve for processors....etc"

      Not to mention the fact that if you're planning on gaming with it, as this article clearly states, then you certainly wont get the best bang for buck with the cheapest crap you can find, because it wouldn't play games at all. Hence no bang.
  • Anthracene, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6Make sure you have a quality mobo. With all the varieties out there, it can be difficult to decide....CPU's are fairly simple to pick: faster, bigger cache-usually better. There are not as many indepth reviews on mobo's as other parts as well.
    • zdiggler, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1I had upgrade some ram on a system. soldering was so bad when I remove the old memory frigging memory slot came off from the MB..

      I think I was like ECS or something that like that. Good thing I had a MB that work with his stuff.
  • chrisgeleven, on 10/11/2007, -4/+71Is it me or does $1800 seem a tad expensive for best "bang for you buck" PC?

    I would consider a bang for your buck PC to be ~$1000.

    Who the heck considers a $300 video card "bang for your buck"?
    • vince916, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13I agree completely. After taxes it'll be over $2000.
    • Juaquin, on 10/11/2007, -8/+4What they mean by best bang for the buck is the best price/performance ratio. For $1000, let's say your PC performs some value "1". However, a $1500 PC will perform at about 1.6. So although it costs 50% more, you get 60% more performance, meaning it's the best bang for the buck. Honestly, that guide really does come up with the best combination right now for a mid-range gaming machine, with a few exceptions (CPU especially). Graphic card is good though.
    • gorac369, on 10/11/2007, -0/+14you think $300 for that video card is bad, they selected a $60 dvd-rw with light scribe. The last optical drive i bought also had light scribe and it was half the price. How bout that for bang for the buck. Also $1800 isnt a bang for the buck its more of a mid range game rig if anything.
    • cecil_t, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Yeah, exactly, I skimmed the article down to the component list and then said "***** that" - I can build a very competitive machine to that for way less than $1800. It's the little things that add up - why would you spend $300 on a video card or $315 for a monitor or $40 for a mouse or $60 for an optical drive or $109 for a case for a "bang for your buck PC" - those prices are all at least double what I would consider "bang for my buck". Oh yeah, and ready boost is useless. You want bang for your buck don't even build an ATX size machine - go microATX and spend $45 on a motherboard that performs the same as the $175 one. It's not like they were doing RAID or anything.

      Also, one-page print version:
      http://www.extremetech.com/print_article2/0,1217,a=209399,00.asp
      Please don't link to the paged version of extremetech articles, print version on one page is much nicer.
    • spudnic, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6That graphics card is a bit of a special case, it's extremely cheap for what you get.

      Think of it like this... $100 graphics card is 10 units of speediness, $10 per unit
      top of the range card is $700 and 50 units of speediness, $23 a unit
      this one is $300 and 40 units, $7.50 a unit
      Therefore easily the best bang for buck

      Pulling the numbers out of my ass, but you see my point, it's not about building a budget PC, it's about picking the best cost/performance ratio
    • zdiggler, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Who need Light scribe.. Bang for the bucks people use Sharpies!
      $1800 is not bang for the bucks, because price go drop on expensive parts so fast!

      How I build is to get Good MB (Future Proof, Got jinxed on PCI-E 2 builds ago!), CPU and GPU, you can skimp on Memory and HDD they won't give you too much of noticeable differences, you can upgrade them later when you get more $$$.
    • encognito, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5@ gorac369 & zdiggler

      FTA: “This 18x monster from Sony doesn't include LightScribe,…” So, they spent $58 bucks and it doesn’t have LightScribe? LOL! You can get the Sony 7170 with the same specs for half the money! Or better yet maybe LiteOn.

      @ cecil

      RTA. The $109 dollar case comes with a 500W PSU. That’s like $30 bucks for a case and $80 bucks for a PSU. If that isn’t bang for the buck, then what is?
    • returnofajedi, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1@zdiggler

      The addition of good memory and hard drive depends on what your doing. Most gamers are gonna need fast RAM and a hard drive (especially because of Windows page file used for games). I went out and got the Raptor a few months ago, and I've gotten the fastest boot times, game load times, and any other times possible in Windows. I've had it for about 6 months and wouldn't go back to a 7200 RPM drive. Highly recommended.
  • Caps, on 10/11/2007, -8/+3http://duggmirror.com/hardware/Build_a_PC_with_the_Best_Bang_for_the_Buck_5/
  • Millsee, on 10/11/2007, -48/+4get a mac and start enjoying life :-)
    • reddfox321, on 10/11/2007, -7/+44Get a mac and get cornered into the same hardware configuration forever...

      Oh wait, I forgot you can put more RAM in, right? *chuckles*
    • Anthracene, on 10/11/2007, -18/+2When I put together my Mac using Sonnet, I like to use the Quadro cards in my Xeon workstation as BANG...
      But I like to put it all into a used Dell server case for effect.
    • Anthracene, on 10/11/2007, -15/+3Oh yeah, I usually run Window's Vista on it as well.
    • Daniel591992, on 10/11/2007, -1/+26yeah...cause we all know how cheap Macs are...
    • arbulus, on 10/11/2007, -3/+17I'm a mac user, but I have to say parent's comment here is unnecessary.

      Wrong place man. Just makes you look like a troll.
  • NadeChaser, on 10/11/2007, -3/+9That is well out of my budget... so I fail to see how it can fall into the "best bang for your buck" category.
    • illegalamigo, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3The author also assumes that you have nothing--most digg readers probably don't need a PSU, a case, a monitor, UI devices, etc...
  • Pestilence, on 10/11/2007, -16/+4"These days it's pretty easy to put together your own Windows PC, but which parts should you get for the most performance for your money?"

    Here's a tip: Dump Windows for Ubuntu and double the ram with the money you save.
    • Zarxrax, on 10/11/2007, -4/+11Assuming anyone actually pays for windows?
    • aaronm67, on 10/11/2007, -3/+10Why the hell would you dump Windows and get a better video card? This is a site catered toward gamers, which means the only reason they want a nice video card would be to play games, which (for the most part) neither OSX or Linux run.
    • reddfox321, on 10/11/2007, -6/+4You must mean "neither OSX or Linux run NATIVELY"
    • aaronm67, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4@reddfox321

      Some games can run through CXOffice/Wine or Cedega. For the most part, they run like hell, and if it's even a reasonably modern game, it probably wont run at all. Hell...rather then run your games in OSX/Linux non-natively, save yourself $1700 bucks and buy a $100 computer running windows...because that's the performance you'll be getting.
    • xspinkickx, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I would of claimed the same as the op but reading their explanation it makes sense why they picked it, for gaming and since you have a dx10 card vista is the obvious choice over xp.
  • toppgun, on 10/11/2007, -8/+19why the hell would he use vista? I cannot even get my games to play on it and had to go back to xp.

    worst. driver. support. ever.
    • Joga5000, on 10/11/2007, -4/+11I just installed Vista on my gaming rig, and from my personal experience the performance hit is minimal. With my x1800xt and the latest Catalyst 7.5 drivers, my 3DMark06 score dropped a whole 100 points (4971 instead of 5074, oh noez!!!) and my average in the FEAR benchmark (max settings @ 1680x1050) dropped from 48 to 47. A little speed bump to my GPU core put me back up to XP-level performance. Other than that I haven't had any problems with stability or getting my games to run.

      There were problems early on, but the drivers have improved dramatically in recent months (at least for ATI, I don't know what the situation is with Nvidia). If I were building a machine like the one in the article, I'd put Vista on it. DX10 games are beginning to trickle out (Company of Heroes DX10 patch was recently released), so you might as well put Vista on it to take full advantage of that 8800. :)
    • numb, on 10/11/2007, -4/+6It appears that the drivers are getting better for GeForce 6 and up. GeForce 5 series has no future driver updates planned last I looked :( Why did I switch? I need to support Vista now--that's just the direction things are going. I'd still recommend sticking with XP Pro for most people at this point though. Driver support is going to suck for the first year.
    • numb, on 10/11/2007, -5/+7I have no idea why I'm being dugg down for that comment. It's accurate and responds to Joga's comment mentioning he wasn't sure about nVidia drivers for Vista. wtf? Unless I'm being dugg down for having to support customers that use Vista--that seems even more ridiculous.

      By the way, here's a reference from nVidia's website:

      http://www.nvidia.com/page/technology_vista_downloads.html

      Read the footnote: "* At this time NVIDIA does not plan to provide drivers updates for the GeForce FX series GPUs on Windows Vista." FX series being the 5 series.
  • shadowmoose, on 10/11/2007, -6/+18Bang for buck? That comps fricken expensive as hell. Vista? wtf to this article.
  • blacktaco, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6I just built a PC and while I agree with some, [I have the monitor, hdd and video card] I can't agree with much else.

    The E6420 with a better cooler would be a better choice. Also, that Kingston RAM is way overpriced; try geil or gskill imo. The Seagate I agree with [but wish I would have been able to afford more capacity]. The motherboard I can't agree with with but honestly thats personal preference, I prefer ASUS or abit and wont buy anything else. Oh and the case, Antec? srsly? Ever heard of Lian-Li? ok ok brand loyal I guess...
  • moocow1452, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4Dude, Pop sci had an article on how to build a $72 compy, that is bang for the buck if I have ever seen it.
  • p51d007, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2that wasn't even close for a best bang for your buck computer.
  • BigglesPiP, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2I can get very close performance for close to half that cost.
  • manellis, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4I especially like the choice of a built-in power supply, which will make all of those components worthless in a short time when it bites the bullet. No matter how little budget you are working on, you MUST make sure your power supply can handle all of your components in the long run; it is the backbone of any good PC.
    • sikosmurf, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I could not agree more. I've had both a "built in" PSU, and a cheap-o PSU bite the dust. One of them took out the motherboard. The other took out a hard drive. I guess sometimes you just have to learn the hard way :(
  • numb, on 10/11/2007, -4/+3In case anyone is interested: (glad to have any input if any of the hardware I picked out is crap--I haven't bought any of it yet)

    I just went through figuring out what I'd like to build. I haven't built a computer in years so of course everything is a lot different now. I went with what appears to be a pretty hefty processor, but went kinda light on the video card (compared to the other monsters available) because replacing a video card is no big deal later on if I need something faster. Keyboard, mouse, hard drive, dvd burner, and sound card will come out of my existing system. I haven't decided whether to get a new case & power supply. The RAM I picked out is out of stock now, so I'll need to pick that out again: Total $588.98 so far.

    Motherboard: (Socket AM2 & Vista compatible)
    ASUS M2N32-SLI
    $169.99
    http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131011

    Processor: (Dual core 3.0Ghz Athlon 64)
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz Socket AM2
    http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103773
    $229.00

    Video card: (Inexpensive DirectX 10)
    XFX PVT84GUDF3 GeForce 8600GTS 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card
    http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814150228
    $189.99

    Any recommendations for the parts I haven't picked out or alternatives for the ones I have picked out? I'd like to buy everything from NewEgg (or one source if it's not NewEgg) I'm interested in what systems others are building these days (more so than the one in the article.)
  • justinroman, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4This article is so terrible it reads to me like Mark Twain's parody "How I Edited An Agricultural Paper", which can be read here: http://www.twainquotes.com/Galaxy/187007a.html

    For example, I'm totally flummoxed how the author spends many sentences talking about the choice of optical drive, and how paying extra for LightScribe isn't worth it. I happened to be looking at DVD burners earlier today and here's the price difference between the two at newegg: $3. Meanwhile, the choice of CPU and Motherboard are pretty casually glossed over (not to mention the decision to get a separate sound card), but that's a realm where there are enormous price and performance differences that deserve detailed attention.
  • MonGuSE1, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3Buried as inaccurate

    Just an example you could get the e6300 and overclock it slightly to outperform the e6600 but at a cost of only $150 instead of $300 there are similar complaints with the rest of his hardware and the motherboard comes with onboard sound why get another card for bang for buck? Plus don't get me started on the monitor choice and including a floppy.... A decent aluminum case could be had for $50 less which would allow you to get a decent PSU instead of that POS that is included with that case to power a GTS vid card no less. and for the matter why does a bang for buck system need a top of the line GTS vid card? You could shave $150 right there. Then if he wants to get the latest and greatest motherboard and top of the line ram why not wait 2 months a get a DDR3 board and DDR3 ram. This article just sucks.
  • Snarfy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10
    Here's a good one:

    http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200706.ars/2

    "Total price: $741.99, not including shipping and handling (6/10/2007, no OS)"
    • Durinthal, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Yeah, I was going to mention Ars' regular guide as well. They do a good job of it.
  • TehSwat, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6Since when is 1800$ USD cheap? Holy *****.
  • comptr, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1well when they did this article they were looking the best bang for the buck in each category not the best bang for the buck on the whole computer it is for each part. listen to last week and this weeks pod-cast of extreme tech pod-cast.
  • Vicille, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Can anybody recommend a good keyboard? The one on this list looks terrible, and the control key on mine is driving me nuts.
    • phaed, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4If you want the best keyboard for gaming: Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard

      If you don't play games: Logitech diNovo Edge Keyboard
    • zdiggler, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I like my MS4000 Keyboard it, its got leather wrist rests and very comfortable.
    • rebotfc, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I know it sounds lame but the standard Microsoft internet keyboard is great for games, its cheap can take one heck of a beating, the keys are large enough to prevent accidental grenade priming or whatever and can take the odd coke drink spillage.

      I usually go thru a couple in 6 months, though the WASD keys usually are a little more faded than the rest ;).
    • Felshadow, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Saitek Eclipse....its pretty comfy, good for fpsing (no extra keys tho...i dont like those mice / keyboards) but its lit up with blue lights, pew pew night time gaming :D
  • Lucian0, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2After reading their opinions and the reasons behind them, I too feel that they made a few choices at ExtremeTech that I wouldn't have; probably most notably being the processor. Its interesting that Ars put out a system guide recently too; and, after comparing the two middle of the road boxes from the respective websites, I have to say that though ExtremeTech spent about $300 more, I don't think it was done wisely. I think that they could have maybe split the difference and come up with something better.
    But, that is just my opinion, just as both the ExtremeTech article and the Ars article are opinionated lists.
  • Brasky, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3I spent a third of this my last computer...weaksauce...

    BTW its weaksauce that Digg's spell check doesn't have the word "weaksauce" or "Digg" for that matter.
  • Washizu, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3$1800 for a budget conscious system? Wow, that's a lot. I just built mine for $950 using the Sharkey Extreme value gaming PC as a base.
    http://www.sharkeyextreme.com/guides/MVGSBG/article.php/3678701
    • fuzzynyanko, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I agree. This article seems like "Best Bang for the Buck for the Heavy PC Gamer". For casual gamers, the build is expensive.
  • Novion76, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Best bang for the hole in your wallet maybe. I think the best price/performance lies a heck of a lot lower in price. An appropriate 6300 system with a rock solid board and the rest could be built for under $1000. And still have an excellent sound system.
    • zeejay, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Agree 100%. You can build a damn good rig for under a grand.

      $505 for the CPU+mobo is too much, for starters. You can get an Athlon X2 5000 + a decent PCI-E mobo for $200, total. The difference in framerates for the C2D wouldn't be worth $300, anyway. Also, $90 on a sound card, and then only $40 on speakers? That's back-asswards. If you want bang for the buck, spend $130 on speakers, and just use integrated sound.

      Dugg down for being kinda lame and pandering to advertisers. Ars Technica's system guides are much better.
  • mojaam, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Man I enjoyed reading the first 6 comments including gulpy's misspelling of you're. Made my day. Back to the article, if I should even call that an article with all those other misc garbage everywhere. Really, the page with all the shots was the only page useful which will be outdated in a few months:

    http://www.extremetech.com/slideshow/0,1206,l=209399&s=25680&a=209395,00.asp
  • illegalamigo, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1An article like this is one of the reasons I wish digg had a forum somewhere--anyways, I have a question about SLI/CrossFire and was wondering if anyone could help me out. Am I correct in thinking that having two of the same video card does not equal twice the performance? Thanks.
  • lopla, on 10/11/2007, -11/+2Don't be fooled by cheap PC's you must look at the BIG picture. I used to build my own PC's, did this for about 8yrs probably build around 15 PC's for myself and family. The last few years I've been running a mac. The mac has been 100% zero maintenance, unlike any system I've ever run. I went back and calculated what was involved in building and maintaining a windows PC and it turns out doing this i suffered a net loss of close to $3,500 a year. So, you may want to consider that because what good is a $400 PC that gets slow over time, gets viruses, adware, malware, needs to be rebuild once or twice year, etc. My PC owning days are over, I have better things to do with my time than being a PC doctor.
    • spudnic, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9What sort of frame rates do you get in F.E.A.R or Oblivion on your mac?
      Yeah, that's what I thought.
    • zdiggler, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8You build system and don't know how to keep your system away from virus so you went and got a mac. You must not be in it for hobby, go play with yoru mac.
    • sam991, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10$3,500 a year? Care to qualify that?

      Let's say at worst $400 of upgrades/year, an AVG license and a few other licenses, $100. How you get $3,500 a year boggles the mind.
    • rebotfc, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Time, if you're productive with your time and reasonably well paid time spent building PC's is $$$ Lost.

      Although I guess gamer kidz wouldn't understand that :p.

      /flame
    • sam991, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2@rebotfc: He's on Digg. Timewasting is a given.
  • funkydopeloven, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1for under $2000, i priced out a 2.8 Ghz AMD dual core, 4 GB DDR2 RAM, 2 TB (yes terabytes), dual geforce 8600 gts, and dual 22" widescreens. yes, it WILL be mine
    • funkydopeloven, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1for almost $1000 (~$1024), i priced out 2.8 ghz AMD dual core, 2 gb ddr2, geforce 7600 GT, 22" WS lcd, and 500 GB hdd
  • brianbennett, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7eBay and Newegg... that's how I get cool toys on the cheap.
  • kittybit83, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2could they possibly build a pc under 1k? thats my budget lol. but either way, it was a good read. and just in time for me to start thinking about building a new pc.
    • Johnny1337h4x0r, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Try www.sharkyextreme.com They come out with High, Mid, and Low end gaming PCs.
  • sam991, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Buried for being AWFULLY specced, overpriced and not the best use of your money. As 'bang for buck' goes, i'd say this rig is about $150-200 more than what i'd pay for high mid-end.
  • gzmask, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1the best pc for money sure should belong to the under $100 duel core 65nm 65w AMD one, and with the same motherboard, you are ready for the next gen AMD core 4 cpu too!
  • fkilleen, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1I would not consider this so "bang for the buck." Two grand seems steep for such a set up. If you want a a good system just look on any computer forum and there are countless threads on pc builds. Buried for being useless and having stupid posts in the beginning.
  • RamboJesus, on 10/11/2007, -4/+3CPU

    Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
    $330

    No thank you.
    Atholon 64 X2 6000+ is cheaper and works a hell of alot better.
    • Sep11insidejob, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4the 6000 can only be OCed to less than 3.2 . The e6600 can easily reach 3.6 and 3.4. Some freaks have even reached 4

    • Johnny1337h4x0r, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4I'm sorry, are you comparing ghtz of AMD to Intel?
  • colonelpanic, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4So, let's see what I built here for about 1200$- 4 months ago.
    Asus Commando
    Core 2 E6600 overclocked to 2.93ghtz (cool and stable)
    Thermaltake TMG series cooler
    XFX 7900gs (no need for DX 10 for a while yet)
    2GB DDR 800Mhtz SuperTalent memory (2 x 1GB) (Cheap and lifetime warranty)
    2 x 80gb seagate sata 2 7200 rpm drives in raid 0 (fast, cheap, 5 year warranty)
    Re used Cooler master centurion CAC-T5 case from old pc (replaced low speed fans with better antec fans)
    Re used optical drives from old pc
    Re used card reader from old pc
    Re used logitech x-230's from old pc
    Logitech G5 Mouse (they got somthing right at least)
    Logitech MX5000 keyboard (its not great, but i got it for free.)
    Display, acer 20" standard, not widescreen display- gets the job done for me.

    I would put this pc up against that one any day. This thing can run a FEAR server at a 118+ person lan party (dunno how many were playing the game) while i'm playing it without even trying.
    I was once playing GRAW, and forgot to close out my BF 2142 game, and only realized it after I got out of GRAW.
    I say its a better deal than this.
  • zdiggler, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9Wow, Actual PC related story on front page of Digg.

  • cpac77, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Lol this is by far the worst article ever written regarding building a "best bang for the buck" pc. Vista? Lmao, Vista is nothing but the modern day WinME. It will be gone in under 4 years. The people that wrote this article are MS nuthuggers.
  • Cyber_Akuma, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1If I build a pc, when I turn it on id rather hear it go "beep" not "Bang".
  • Daniel15, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Kinda related...

    For anyone in Australia, http://staticice.com.au/ is a great search site to find things at good prices.
    MSY (http://msy.com.au) usually have the best prices by far :).
  • onemorebaker, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1$1800 dollars...PAAALLLLEEEAAASSSEEE. You can build a computer for right around $600 (if no monitor needed) that would do great for all but extreme gamers and video editors. You don't need a Core 2 Duo at 1066 FSB. The Pentium D 3.0 is about $200 cheaper and runs at 800 FSB. One could do much better than $1800. and an 8800 GTS...who the hell buys a $300 video card...get a 7600 GT and you can run almost any game at near perfect settings...this article was B.S.
    • colonelpanic, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Too bad the Pentium D is a piece of *****. You are kind of right on the video card. Right now I would go with a 7900gs or 8600 gt. The 7600 is way old news.
  • Woknblues, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1bang for your buck is so relative... "gaming rig", "internet/word processor", "multi media"...

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254023 (19"wide screen LCD) $169

    My brother and his GF don't game. I set them up from a POS P3/15"CRT to a nice X2 3800 based system that will keep them in youtube and word processing/DVD burning for years and years. total cost of proc/MB/HD/ram/19"LCD swap out was about $400 The MB comes with decent on board sound. They can add another stick of ram or a cheap 256mb vid card and get another 18 months out of it in 2011.......



  • AshsToAshs, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2This list sucks, also they dont take into account that HUGEEEEE intel price drops are happening in like a month. Youll be able to get a Quad-Core for less than the Dual-Core they have listed.

    Sucky sucky list, and i hope not to many get tricked into believing that its now a good time to build a computer. Wait till July 22nd, youll save $$$

    -Ash-
  • Millsee, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0I'm glad you dug me down. It means there are millions of blind PC users.

    As long as there is Microsoft and they have the monopoly, the focus of viruses and other nightmares will be aimed away from the apple users. All the better for us lot.
    • fuzzynyanko, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Well, the article could apply well to Apple if they let you put Mac OSX on homemade PCs with Apple's consent. The cost between Mac OSX and Vista Home OEM is about $20, so it wouldn't affect the price much.
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