Poll: What is a midrange price for a build?

[Ombudsman]

I'm compiling a quick survey of every "rate my build" and "this is my build" thread for the past year or two. I also wanted to put up a direct poll. This will be up for only a few weeks.

If you were building a midrange system, about how much would you spend? This is not a spending "cap".

This price does not include monitor, or OS. Just parts cost.

 

[DevNulland]

My short answer is 1200-1500, but a more detailed non-numerical answer is below.

I take the existence of this poll as a sign that a lot of loyal THG readers were as confused as I was about a mid-range system that uses a $540 cpu!

I'm still thinking that I must be confused about the aim of this build guide. It must be substantially different from past build guides that were done to advise the non-billionaire computer enthusiast as to what certain price points will get you. Low cost systems were always good for office work and some minor gaming needs, mid-range systems would satisfy all gaming needs, and high-price systems were only for those who didn't mind spending huge amounts to be on the bleeding edge.

But with an old AMD X2 4200 being able to run TF2 and BF2 very well indeed, why would anyone pay $540 for a mid-range cpu? I'm all for advocating Intel dual-cores, but this is a bit crazy. Perhaps the 'mid-range' moniker doesn't refer to cost/performance sweet spots, but rather to performance-only.

Regardless, this situation has me questioning for the first time what is going on with these guides. THG has always been a great place for reviews, so don't get me wrong there. I'm just trying to figure out how to view these new guide-standards vis-a-vis past ones and all the other ones out there in the tech community.

 

[Shadow703793]

I say 1000-1200.

 

[boonality]

Ya I would consider cheap to be 500 to 700, midrange to be 700 to 900, really good to be 900 to 1100, and 1100 to 1500 being out right gaming goodness, and 1500+ in the watercooled and extreme GFX range. So I consider the top end of midrage to be $900 which so I vote $950 since it's the closest to "my opinion" of midrange

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Well to do that, I'd have to define the range....so

Case - $200
PSU - $300
MoBo - $300
CPU - $1000
4 GB DDR3 1600 - $900
Twin Vid Cards - $900
Twin 1 TB HD's - $500
Cooling - $150
Floppy / Card Reader - $40
Twin Optical Drives - $70

So round that out to say $4500.....for dream machines.

So given that, I'd put the hi end at about $2,800 - $3,200

That would put the mid range at about $$1,500 - $1850

And budget at about $900 - $1200

I wouldn't bother building below $900.

 

[Onus]

Based on performance, $1250. Depending on where you spend it, there's quite a bit of flexibility there. Someone also interested in aesthetics, e.g. a really nice case, may need to go $1400.

 

[kad]

I say 1850$
For a Futureproof decent one with 4g DDR2 1066+Asus Formula Rampage Mobo+E8500 Proc+Cooling+3870X2+850W PSU

 

[guanyu210379]

I think the meaning of midrange system is a best buy system. Not too weak, not too expensive but best buy.
For example : I think the mid range CPU are E8400, and Xeon E3110, etc.
If youpay more, it is than only natural if you get more.
Get it?

 

[Shadow703793]

I say 1850$
For a Futureproof decent one with 4g DDR2 1066+Asus Formula Rampage Mobo+E8500 Proc+Cooling+3870X2+850W PSU

over kill. esp. since Nehalm will be out end of yer/mid next year.

 

[guanyu210379]

To : Shadow703793
Agreed! and $1850 seems already a high cost system to me.

 

[Crashman]

Look at the broader market. You guys are all "cheap", probably because you build it yourself rather than paying someone else to build it.

Mid-priced systems are around $1k-$2k. High-end systems are $2k and above. Add up the parts and see for yourself, a Q6600, 2GB of good RAM, a high-quality (not super-high end) motherboard such as the Gigabyte EP35-DS4, a 750GB drive, $80 case, $70 power supply, $200 graphics card, etc.

 

[JoeRoss578]

If you spend time to look in the right places, and are patient enough to wait for a good deal to pop up, you can save a lot of money in building a midrange PC. For me, the PC I'm building will cost around $950 or so, and it should last me a number of years before I will need to look into any upgrades.

 

[guanyu210379]

If you spend time to look in the right places, and are patient enough to wait for a good deal to pop up, you can save a lot of money in building a midrange PC. For me, the PC I'm building will cost around $950 or so, and it should last me a number of years before I will need to look into any upgrades.

Agreed

 

[Shadow703793]

If you spend time to look in the right places, and are patient enough to wait for a good deal to pop up, you can save a lot of money in building a midrange PC. For me, the PC I'm building will cost around $950 or so, and it should last me a number of years before I will need to look into any upgrades.

Agreed. Also factoring in OCing also saves money, esp. on the CPU.

 

[billroidis]

A system I'm currently thinking of building (here in greece):
(already owned)
90 euros psu zalman 600w
80 euros thermaltake case
45 euros zalman fan controler
50 euros optical drives

(possible buys- estimated prices)
150e intel 8200
145e asus p5k wifi deluxe
260e MSI 8800gts stock O/c
60e RAM 800Mhz 4-4-4-12
60e HDD sata 250-320GB

so far it's up to 940 euros (about 1500$)

the zalman fan controler is optional of course (saves 45e =70$)
U could save 120e (190-200$) if you go for a 9600GT
and 45e (70$) if you switch to a simple P35+ICH9R board
so about 1150$ is the sweet spot (a build I'd recommend to friends BUT NOT 4 ME!!!)

 

[robertito]

I just built a rig for $1200 including a new 20" monitor and I even managed to snag a E8400, so I'd say $900 - $1200 for midrange depending on what you already have. Such as a monitor or good case etc.

 

[two bit hit]

I said 1550, I presume that's in USD, you should make it a little more clear.

 

[kad]

over kill. esp. since Nehalm will be out end of yer/mid next year.

Agreed shadows
Thats why I stopped any attempt to build new system
and decided to wait for Nehalem
If I'm going to spend 1850$ on 775 rig
better to spend it on Nehalem one
Though my 5 years old rig still running very well
Asus P4G8X Delux mobo
2G DDR memory
Radeon X850XT Platinum Edition (AGP8X Graphic CARD)
Crysis Ran OK on Med. settings and no AA
COD4 Ran OK
HL2 Ran OK
Doom3 OK
Fear OK
Battlefield 2142 OK
UT3 Did not try
Bioshock Did not run
What more I need ??
I can wait for 2009
Not in a hurry

 

[EXT64]

I assume you mean a midrange gaming system. In that case, I'd say 1100-1200 USD. If not gaming, I'm building an excellent HTPC for $400.

 

[DXRick]

Here is my future PC build. It lacks a case and fans, because i will use an old one. I will likely go to 4G memory.

[fixed]GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4 Rev. 2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35 $170.00
E8400 $210.00
Crucial Ballistic 2GB $99.00
WD Raptor $164.00
SAPPHIRE Toxic Radeon HD 3870 $193.00
SB X-Fi $61.00
PHILIPS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner $33.00
Antec Earthwatts 500W PS $80.00
Anti-virus for Vista TBD
TOTAL $1,010.00[/fixed]

 

[lunyone]

Budget build: $400-$600
Mid build: $600-$800
High build: $800-$1200

For the most part this would include a single GPU solution over any SLI/Xfire setup. If you get around a 19" monitor 1440x900 resolution you really don't need SLI/Xfire, IMHO. My Mid-range build above would have a $70-$125 CPU (plenty for most), $150-$200 GPU, $60-90 PSU (quality one), $50-$75 Case, $35-80 (2gb - 4gb's CAS 4 stuff), $70-$100 Mobo, & $35 DVD Burner. This would put it just under $600 before any shipping/taxes (if you have taxes). Here's the example:

CPU - $70 Easily OC'd later to 2.8-3 gHz on stock cooling!
Intel Pentium E2160 Allendale 1.8GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116036

Mobo - $97 shipped. Can be found for less, but just using Newegg for example.
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

Memory - $29!!! Best CAS 4 DDR2 800mHz!
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565

GPU - $177 - $20 MIR = $157!! Not the cheapest 9600gt, but definately a good GPU!
EVGA 512-P3-N861-AR GeForce 9600GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130334

Case/PSU combo - $120 - $30 MIR = $90!! Not the greatest, but definately no slouch. Has 34A on 12V rails Earthwatts PSU!
Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024

DVD Burner - $37 shipped! Retail version, so will have all of the software included!!
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106057

Total for Mid ranged build ~$545.13 - $75 = $470.13!!! Now just add another $100 for a 8800gts and you have a NICE Mid build for $570!!! I'm sure that this build would do as good if not better than the $1k build that TH just did for their budget build!!

 

[JackNaylorPE]

If high end builds are going to be under a grand, where does that put the $2,800 box, the $3,500 box, the $4,500 box ?

 

[lunyone]

In most cases I'd say your paying too much for the build, unless you are doing SLI/Xfire builds. My point is that you shouldn't have to pay $2k for a high end build (single GPU). I would be willing to bet if you spend $1k on a system now and in 1 year you spend $1k on another, the 2nd $1k system will be better overall than a $2k build now (assuming your just using a single GPU solution). You could even spend $500-$700 on faster GPU/CPU combo in 1 year and still be better off over the $2k build now. Just my whole thought on it. Yes if your spending $2k-$3k on a build your doing SLI/Xfire or something like that. I don't see the point to doing that, so 95% of people are going to go with a $1k build now and upgrade in 1-2 years anyway. Their gaming experience isn't going to be bad and the $1k-$2k in savings isn't going to hurt either.

 

[Sundog]

Personally I think for a home built box:

Low= under 600
Mid= 600-1200
High= 1200-2000
Ultra High= over 2000

(and anything over 3,000 better be for specialized use or else it's a waste of money...)

 

[Crashman]

Ah, Tom's Hardware Guide Forum fights inflation!