Holiday 2013 Buyer's Guide - Full Components List

[LinusTech]

Well our first ever "Buyer's Guide" for systems at a variety of different price points is here. I'd love to hear your comments on the video as well as our hardware choices.

 

 

Video link to come soon

 

 

"Just Game" ~$500 System (Great PC gaming on t3h cheap)

 

CPU: Athlon X4 750K -  http://geni.us/3UKW7

Cooling: Stock cooler - FREE

Motherboard: FM2A55M-DGS R2.0 - NCIX, http://geni.us/AmHqi

Case: Cheapo Apex Case - NCIX,http://geni.us/tUHv6E

Video Card: Radeon HD 7850 2GB - NCIX, http://geni.us/Ix7qac

RAM: 8GB "whatever" DDR3 - NCIX, http://geni.us/xYwA

Hard Drive: WD 1TB Blue - NCIX, http://geni.us/3NSGh

Power Supply: Antec Basiq 350W - NCIX, http://geni.us/htiJVAM

 

Optional Stuff:

OS: Windows 8.1 - NCIX, http://geni.us/6ChyJH

Less Expensive Video Card (optional): Radeon HD 7770 1GB - NCIX, http://geni.us/CAQ0is

SSD instead of HDD (optional): Kingston V300 120GB - NCIX, http://geni.us/WdKVjPB

 

 

"Game Now" ~$1000 System (Optimal bang for the buck right now)

 

CPU: Intel Core i5 3330 -  NCIX, http://geni.us/JRxcff

Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper 212+ - NCIX, http://geni.us/jR0cYE1

SSD: Kingston V300 120GB - NCIX, http://geni.us/ZQXGtp

Hard Drive: Seagate 2TB - NCIX, http://geni.us/opZuX

Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Pro 3/4 - NCIX, http://geni.us/MCeDB2Q

Case: Corsair Carbide 200R - NCIX, http://geni.us/ANB1A

Video Card: GeForce GTX 770 - NCIX, http://geni.us/Sfj0GTh

RAM: 8GB "whatever" DDR3 - NCIX, http://geni.us/qd2fVy

Power Supply: Seasonic 620W - NCIX, http://geni.us/cubDa

 

Optional Stuff:

NVIDIA Shield - This will be available from most reputable retailers for $200 with your GTX 770. You may also need a better router to go with it.

OS: Windows 8.1 - NCIX, http://geni.us/6ChyJH

 

 

"Game On" ~$1700 System (Luxurious & more "futureproof)

 

CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K -  NCIX, http://geni.us/NhL4w

Cooling: Noctua NH-U12S - NCIX, http://geni.us/3k5OEDC

SSD: Samsung 840 Evo 250GB - NCIX, http://geni.us/GOtJj

Hard Drive: WD Red 3TB - NCIX, http://geni.us/nsFex

Motherboard: ASUS Z87 Pro - NCIX, http://geni.us/BoKZlRs

Case: Fractal Design Define R4 Window - NCIX, http://geni.us/ZhLvFKM

Video Card: Radeon R9 290 - NCIX, http://geni.us/fBxRt

RAM: 16GB Corsair DDR3 1866 - NCIX, http://geni.us/MDSsODx

Power Supply: Corsair TXM 750W - NCIX, http://geni.us/VfbBIiM

Optional Stuff:

Video Card: GeForce GTX 780 - NCIX, http://geni.us/o6Oa17

NVIDIA Shield - This will be available from most reputable retailers for $200 with your GTX 770. You may also need a better router to go with it.

OS: Windows 8.1 - NCIX, http://geni.us/6ChyJH

[GamerGuy]

Thx Linus, this might help me a bit when I get my PC

[thedigitalmilk]

I Like how future proof is in quotation marks , This guide is pretty usefull.

[Str_Mape]

"Just Game" ~$500 System (Great PC gaming on t3h cheap)

 

CPU: Athlon X4 750K -  Amazon CA, Amazon US

Cooling: Stock cooler - FREE

Motherboard: FM2A55M-DGS R2.0 - NCIX, Amazon US

Case: Cheapo Apex Case - NCIX, Amazon

Video Card: Radeon HD 7850 2GB - NCIX, Amazon

RAM: 8GB "whatever" DDR3 - NCIX, Amazon

Hard Drive: 8GB "whatever" DDR3 - NCIX, Amazon

Power Supply: Antec Basiq 350W - NCIX, Amazon

That 8GB "Hard Drive".

[Night]

That 8GB "Hard Drive".

Yes! Ill be able to install my OS and Minecraft with this.

[Str_Mape]

Yes! Ill be able to install my OS and Minecraft with this.

If you've got XP sure.

[JAKEBAB]

linus for the $1000 build why didnt u go with an 8350 and an amd gpu?

[Valhallatier]

350w for an HD7850 is a little over the borderline before blowing up that power supply or atleast it wouldn't last long :mellow: .... maybe 400w minimum for that card?

[wng_kingsley7]

Yes! Ill be able to install my OS and Minecraft with this.

>:3

[Bentheguy]

The hard drive is wrong!

"Hard Drive: 8GB "whatever" DDR3 - NCIX, Amazon"

The links are stuffed and it doesn't make sense.

A DDR3 8GB hard drive?!

LOL

[thedigitalmilk]

linus for the $1000 build why didnt u go with an 8350 and an amd gpu?

These are just for guidance, I dont know his reasoning for it but I would assume you are meant to reffer to the guide and not adhere to the exact specifacations. Its most likely just to keep people on the right track and not to overspend:)

[Bentheguy]

Less Expensive Video Card (optional): Radeon HD 7770 1GB - NCIX, Amazon

The amazon link is wrong.

[JAKEBAB]

These are just for guidance, I dont know his reasoning for it but I would assume you are meant to reffer to the guide and not adhere to the exact specifacations. Its most likely just to keep people on the right track and not to overspend:)

be he says "(Optimal bang for the buck right now)" when that really isnt the optimal bang for the buck unless he knows something we dont.

[LinusTech]

linus for the $1000 build why didnt u go with an 8350 and an amd gpu?

 

I guess you'll have to watch the video eh?

 

As for the folks who double checked my affiliate links, thank you. I've corrected them.

 

Linus

[Hazy125]

I think I would still go for an AMD CPU/APU for a $1000 price point, I think the extra rendering performance would be useful for "optimal" price vs performance. But if these are just gaming PC's than I can see why you went for the Intel combo

[voaz]

Isn't the i5 4670k a better deal than the Intel Core i5 3330? It's not that more expensive.

[Drunk Muffin]

350w for an HD7850 is a little over the borderline before blowing up that power supply or atleast it wouldn't last long :mellow: .... maybe 400w minimum for that card?

350w is more than enough

[johnnyx1991]

If I go with something along the lines of the 1000$ system, should I go with a monitor for 1440p gaming, since the 770 can handle present games fairly well at 1440p, or stay with a 1080p because it will be too weak for "next gen" games at 1440p?

[kokiman]

For Build #2 and #3 your PSUs are way too oversized. Build #2 should be fine with a 500W PSU and Build #3 with a 550- 600W PSU.

 

 

350w for an HD7850 is a little over the borderline before blowing up that power supply or atleast it wouldn't last long  :mellow: .... maybe 400w minimum for that card?

 

No the GPU needs around 110W, the CPU would consume 100W at max (which is extremely inefficient I think) 

[thedigitalmilk]

be he says "(Optimal bang for the buck right now)" when that really isnt the optimal bang for the buck unless he knows something we dont.

Linus knows a lot that we don't *bows head at my Linus shrine*

[maxofsteam]

hey linus, in the video you said asus z87-pro but the editor put a picture of a sabertooth z87 on the screen and in the 1700$ build you mispelled 780

[Kiwiandapple]

Linus, the "Game on" part.

You grab blue ram to match the motherboard. As you say in the video, then at the motherboard. You say the Asus Z87 pro, wich is a gold motherboard. But the picture is the Z87 Sabertooth! Corsair does have the gold corsair vengeance pro! You need to get some sleep. And again, I will keep asking for it, let the forum have a look over the builds you trow out. 

 

For 1700$. I can get a 780 Ti into it. Again, I don't know how your prices work but you say that you look for the cheapest avaible ram you could find for the "just game" system. So I assume you don't just use the pricing from NCIX. Sure the value off the 780 Ti is absolutely gone, but it's the best gaming card out there right now. 
I kept most things that you say in the video for this build in there. The i7, 250gb SSD, noctua cooler (a better one! *cough*) I went down to a 2tb drive because. For gamers, unless you really do recording and video editing and what not. 2 TB is enough. I had to go down to 8gb off ram because for games, this is enough now and if it won't be enough anymore. You have the ability to go to 16GB, wich will be more then enough till DDR4 is out and you need to upgrade the system again. I even included some Linus edition corsair fans in there just for you. 

 

Aswell a really important point I wished you would have said in the 290 vs 780 comparison. You kinda said it, that the 290 is loud and hot. But that's very likely going to be solved with aftermarket coolers. Currently the 290(x) have reference coolers, where the 780 has the aftermarket ones. 

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2agUV

 

Overall great video and the 500/1000$ builds. Wich is I suppose the route most people will go for. 

[robinkanters]

If anyone's wondering, I picked the parts on a PcPartPicker-like website. The prices in The Netherlands for the systems are about €500, €950 and €1500 (all including Windows). (I upped the PSU for the $/€500 system to a Corsair CX430 Bronze because 80+).

[TheRuke]

I think the Game Now should have a i5-3570K

[Keystone Nyan Cat]

I don't mean to complain but why is there no listing of peripherals for each budget? It would be interesting to see the recommended combos for each price range.