System Builder Marathon, Q2 2013: $1300 Enthusiast PC

Features
By Don Woligroski
published

Memory, Hard Drives, And Optical Drive

Memory: G.Skill RipjawsX Series 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3-1866 Memory Kit

Although we're limited in some ways, our larger budget does create room for high-speed, low-latency RAM. G.Skill's RipjawsX kit gives us 8 GB of DDR3 (spread across two channels) and operating at 1866 MT/s with 8-9-9-24 timings. Priced at $78 on Newegg, this isn't the most affordable kit around. But it receives great feedback, so we're excited to give it a shot.

Read Customer Reviews of G.Skill RipjawsX Series 8 GB Kit

System Drive: Adata XPG SX900 64 GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD

Our $1300 budget also creates some room for an SSD. Although 64 GB isn't enough to install every application you own on, it's enough for Windows and some of your most performance-sensitive software, at least. Priced at $80 on Newegg, it's easily assimilated into our budget, too.

Read Customer Reviews of Adata's XPG SX900 64 GB SSD

Hard Drive: Western Digital Black 1 TB 7200 RPM Hard Drive

Western Digital's Black drives have an excellent reputation for high performance. It's a shame that we couldn't get a larger SSD into this system. But we're at least happy that this disk drive gives our mini-ITX build a solid compromise between capacity and speed for just under $100.

Read Customer Reviews of Western Digital's Black 1 TB Hard Drive

Optical Drive: Lite-on iHAS124-04 DVD Burner

With our budget already pushing the $1300 limit, I picked the lowest-priced DVD burner I could find when it came time to place my order. We've used Lite-on's iHAS124 drive before and it's a reliable choice. There's not much for us to complain about given an $18 price tag.

Read Customer Reviews of Lite-on's iHAS124-04

Don Woligroski
91 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Madn3ss795
    I'm against using Corsair CX PSU in a mid-end build. You also admitted that 750w is overkill. 90$ can get you a SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze with much better components.

    Additionally, Samsung 840 120gb only costs 20$ more than the Adata XPG SX900 64.
    Reply
  • itzsnypah
    Anymore these days all SBM gives me is a good laugh. Maybe it's because I've gone more elitist as my component knowledge increases or mabye that SBM builders don't have free reign on what brands they can buy.

    Did you know that a 250gb Samsung 840 has been holding at ~$180 for months and that a 750w PSU in a mITX system makes you look unintelligent? Or that 2133 ram costs the same as 1866?

    I think it's time you guys start building machines you would actually own and not ones that tops the charts but are horridly flawed.
    Reply
  • tomate2
    its nice to see Toms trying something new like a mini itx build on the system builder marathon
    Reply
  • Someone Somewhere
    So, ways I think this is dumb:
    ■DDR3-1866. Save $20 and get -1600.
    ■WD Black as a storage drive. I'd consider it overpriced as a boot drive. Save $35.
    ■Geven the 770 and 680 are basically the same card (in fact the 770 may be slightly better), save $30 and get the 770.
    ■More than $1 per GB on an SSD. For $10 more you can get a 120GB 840.
    ■750W PSU. You're trolling me. That could run two of them.
    And yeah, title on page 3 refers to a non-existent Sapphire 680.
    Reply
  • vmem
    Awesome idea picking the mini ITX theme btw, we're long overdue for one :)

    just a thought, while we're on themes, maybe a pure number cruncher/work-horse for the next SBM? could be fun for the "all work and no play" folks out there :P
    Reply
  • agnickolov
    Personally I'd save money on the HDD with a cheaper 1TB for $60 and use the money for a larger 128GB SSD. Considering you can get one for as low as $90-$100, that would even balance the budget...
    Reply
  • cangelini
    10997565 said:
    So, ways I think this is dumb:
    * DDR3-1866. Save $20 and get -1600.
    * WD Black as a storage drive. I'd consider it overpriced as a boot drive. Save $35.
    * Geven the 770 and 680 are basically the same card (in fact the 770 may be slightly better), save $30 and get the 770.
    * More than $1 per GB on an SSD. For $10 more you can get a 120GB 840.
    * 750W PSU. You're trolling me. That could run two of them.

    And yeah, title on page 3 refers to a non-existent Sapphire 680.

    GTX 770 wasn't an option when Don placed his order--says so right on the same page three where you found the Sapphire typo ;-)

    Don will have to defend his other component choices (against you guys *and* Paul/Thomas).
    Reply
  • agnickolov
    A question on the Visual Studio benchmark - is it run from the SSD for this build? That would explain the significant performance delta at stock clocks...
    Reply
  • CaptainTom
    This build is a total joke. So much could be done better. A 680 really? That card has been a joke since the 670 and 7970 GHz, but now the 770 has made it completely irrelevant...
    Reply
  • Crashman
    10997500 said:
    Did you know that a 250gb Samsung 840 has been holding at ~$180 for months and that a 750w PSU in a mITX system makes you look unintelligent? Or that 2133 ram costs the same as 1866?
    Did you know that the $180 SSD would have blown his system even farther out of budget, that readers have spoken out against both DDR3-1866 AND DDR3-2133 as unimportant to real-world performance, or that power supply size is dictated by components and not case size? What were you saying about intelligence?
    10997861 said:
    This build is a total joke. So much could be done better. A 680 really? That card has been a joke since the 670 and 7970 GHz, but now the 770 has made it completely irrelevant...
    While I probably would have gone with a 7970 or 670 to save money, the 680 isn't really that bad by comparison. And the 770? I'm surprised you didn't read any of the previous comments. These systems were ordered in April. As an experienced commenter you knew these articles take weeks to prepare, but you opened up about parts that weren't available weeks ago anyway? For shame Captain, I expected so much more from you...

    To the both of you: I'm a little rough on Don for not pushing his RAM even though it doesn't make much performance difference, but only because he's a competitor. And his power supply might be over-rated, but he's probably just trying to dodge the complaints of other readers who demand excessive capacity. All in all he's only wasted what, 10% of his budget? I'm sure most of you would find some other way to waste 10% of your budgets.

    BTW, if you hate his power supply for being ridiculously over-capacity and somewhat middle-quality, you're going to have a love/hate relationship with mine :)
    Reply