February PC Fabrication!

By Vito Cassisi
12:35 Feb 11, 2009 | 11 Comments
Tags: PC | system | building

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The Budget Beast: <$1500

Strapped for cash? Then this is the build for you!

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz - $290

RAM: 4GB 1066MHz DDR2 RAM - $103

HDD: Western Digital 640GB - $105

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R - $202

GPU: MSI 1GB HD4870 - $462

Optical Drive: Pioneer DVR-216BK 20x - $30

Case: Cooler Master CM690 - $140

PSU: Antec Earthwatts 500W - $119

Total: $ 1451

Similar to the budget box, this build incorporates an Intel E8500 and Western Digital HDD. What makes this system stand out is its improved GPU, with double the available memory and higher core clocks. The RAM is rated at the higher 1066MHz speed, which is particularly good for overclocking headroom. The included optical drive is the best on the market, fast and reliable, as all Pioneer drives have been of late. The case and PSU have also been upgraded for extra power, airflow, and style.

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11 Comments

nizmow Feb 11, 2009 1:39 PM	I love roundups like this. Perhaps you should make it a monthly thing? Maybe even quarterly would be frequent enough.
orcone Feb 11, 2009 1:42 PM	This will come in handy. Allow me to enter whoever wrote this plz.
kikz Feb 11, 2009 1:56 PM	nice. except the prices is misleading. sure, I understand not everyone runs windows, but most do...
Argotha Feb 11, 2009 5:18 PM	I'll second Nizmow
.:Cyb3rGlitch:. Feb 11, 2009 7:13 PM	Thanks for the feedback. :) kikz, I considered adding in the OS but decided not to. As you said, some people use Linux, others Vista, XP or even the Windows 7 beta (to name a few). It's personal preference much like peripherals. A couple of those systems are a fair amount under their given price limit, so the extra money can go towards the OS; i.e. the <$2000 and <$3000 builds. Since the prices were an average of the top ten StaticICE search results, there's no reason why you couldn't get the systems even cheaper. I hope that clarifies things. :)
pb111 Feb 11, 2009 8:17 PM	Just thought i'd suggest, maybe in the 3000 and up systems, could also put it say, some decent water cooling systems / parts, as im sure people with that kinda system would use that kind of cooling, or even add in the Coolermaster V10 into the last bit! Overall, great work!!
c0nc0n Feb 11, 2009 8:26 PM	All systems above 1500 are missing aftermarket cooling :(
.:Cyb3rGlitch:. Feb 11, 2009 9:04 PM	The extra cooling is on the last page c0nc0n. The selected cases should cope well with stock clock speeds.
azn_warez Feb 12, 2009 1:56 PM	You know what's funny. The latest edition of atomic had really low prices as compared to market value... wonder if that's because it was written a while back? I think they had a 2 x 2gb team-xtreem dark ram DDR2 1066 listed at $60+
Loops Feb 17, 2009 12:38 PM	On the 'budget beast' if you went for a SonataIII you get the earthwatts 500W supply included and save enough to buy a good cpu cooler.
Rory K Apr 22, 2009 2:43 PM	Pfft. I can make a better system than the $7000 one. By using, for example, 2000MHz CL8 RAM.

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