PC Build Recommendations
I am often asked by friends and colleagues to make hardware recommendations for a new PC. PC Building has long been a hobby of mine, and something I think I will always love. I love keeping up with the latest that the hardware manufacturers have to offer, even if I’m not in the market to build a machine.
Even though I’m no AanandTech or Tom’s Hardware with hardware manufacturers sending me awesome gadgets to benchmark and make build recommendations off of, I decided to put together a few recommended builds for my readers. I will “spec out” 7 different machines for you:
All of the entries should be fairly self explanatory, however I want to explain that the “Bare-Bones Budget” build will be just that – what I feel is the cheapest possible, usable, modern computer one could get away with at the time of writing.
These builds are simply for the computer only. I’m not including Monitors or any peripherals such as Keyboards and Mice. I’m also not including the OS or any software. These are all very personal choices and thing you are all educated enough to choose what best meets your needs in these areas.
First things first, let’s start with the drool educing “Intel Power Build”
So, let’s get started with the Intel Power Build. This is not a collection of the higest end of the highest end parts available (if so, I’d have the new Hexacore chip on here). This is a machine that is as affordable as possible, and a machine that will provide excellent performance to a power user such as a Musician, Videographer, Photographer or Developer. This is a balanced machine that will not only be fast, quiet and stable as well.
CPU
Intel Core i7 930 (2.8GHz Stock Speed)
I chose the 930 simply because it’s a nice little speed bump above the very popular 920. It’s a fairly new CPU and will provide a touch better raw CPU performance for those who choose not to overclock. Also, be sure to pick up a XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler and it’s Core i5/i7 Bracket Kit for optimal cooling, and best Turbo Boost performance
Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD5
I have long been a fan of Gigabyte motherboards, although I’ve had good experiences with ASUS as well. Honestly, I tend to lean towards Gigabyte for Intel Builds, and ASUS for AMD builds. As for this board, it’s a solid board built on the 5th Generation Gigabyte Ultra-Durable design and has USB3.0 and SATA 3.0 (6Gbps).
Memory
Patriot Extreme Performance Viper Series 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
I really only included memory here for completeness – honestly, memory prices change so rapidly, please simply research and find yourself the best 12GB kit with 1.5V and a low CAS rating. This is CAS 7 at 1.5V and rated at DDR3 1333. I have had good experiences with Patriot memory in the past, and have no problems recommending this kit.
Boot Drive
WD SiliconEdge Blue 128GB
Honestly, I almost didn’t even include an SSD, simply because I still don’t quite feel that the technology has fully matured. Honestly, you could keep this off if you needed to save $450, and add one later as the technology matures more. SSD’s are a very complicated technology, and there are lots of variables that affect performance. I recently read a nice review on these WD devices on Anandtech (who has the best SSD articles on the web) and it seemed like a solid, and safe pick. Another good option would be one of the OCZ devices or the Intel drives. Your mileage may vary depending on your usage patterns. Option 2 for me would be a 300GB WD VelociRaptor 10,000RPM HDD.
Storage Drives
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb (x2/RAID-1)
This is the latest incarnation of Western Digital’s awesome Caviar Black series drives. You still get the awesome performance from the dual controllers, plus it’s been upgraded to SATA 3.0 and 64MB of Cache. For ultimate stability, substitute this drive with the Western Digital RE3 WD1002FBYS 1TB – slightly lower performance, but it’s designed for RAID use.
Optical Drive
LG Black 10X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Disc Combo Model UH10LS20
Any modern system at least needs the ability to read Blu-ray disks. This is an excellent LD drive with a 4MB cache buffer and also serves as DVD/R-RW drive. You may double for extra pleasure (some folks prefer 2 optical drives, although I would just go for one personally).
Graphics Adapter
GIGABYTE GV-R577UD-1GD Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0
Although this isn’t a “gaming” system, it still needs a decent card – something that would handle casual gaming as well as excel in HD video playback. The ATI 5770 GPU gives everything you would need, and it’s Gigabyte since the Mobo was Gigabyte and I’m anal retentive about stuff like that
Power Supply
CORSAIR CMPSU-750HX 750W Modular PSU
Corsair makes an Awesome PSU, however you can’t go wrong with Antec, PC Power & Cooling as well as several other brands. This guy has a peak output of 750W, a massive 60A 12V Rail (Single Rail) and is modular. Personally, I prefer a beefy single 12V rail over multiple rails. Just remember, this is often a rookie mistake, never skimp or cheap-out on your PSU.
Case
Antec P183
Computer cases are kind of a personal choice – everyone has different tastes. You can’t go wrong with almost anything from Antec, their enclosures are always of highest quality – across all price points. The P183 is a nice mainstream tower with is well designed, easy to work with, quiet and will provide ample cooling.
And there you have it. Priced out on NewEgg.com at the time of writing this, the machine above would run you $2259 before shipping. This would be an excellent development box, digital audio workstation, as well as a graphics or video workstation. Sure there are higher end parts available, however I feel the above is an excellent mix of price and performance without going completely overboard. My only hesitation would be on the SSD drive – I personally might would swap that out for a 300GB VelociRaptor 10K RPM drive and then add a SSD in later, but it’s up to you – it’s your build, enjoy!
Written by jaysonrowe on March 14th, 2010 with no comments.
Read more articles on otherSoftware and Computing and Hardware.




