System Builder Marathon: Mid-Cost System
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System Builder Marathon, March 2008: The Articles
Here's a list of the System Builder Marathon (SBM) articles in this five day series.
- Day 1: The Low-Cost PC
- Day 2: The Mid-Cost PC
- Day 3: The High-Cost PC
- Day 4: All Three SBM PCs Overclocked
- Day 5: Summary - The Price/Performance Winner
Today, we double the budget of yesterday's low-cost PC to assemble a sweet midrange system. While the low-cost PC is a good all-round system, the mid-range PC should perform strongly at pretty much anything we throw at it.
While twice the budget rarely results in twice the performance, a mid-range system is desirable because it can provide tangible benefits in speed of applications and high-resolution graphics. Also, the extra money spent should give us a highly overclockable system. Our low-cost system isn't going to be anywhere near as overclockable as the mid-range system.
First, a quick overview of our chosen components, then a justification of our choices.
| Current SBM Mid-Range PC Component Cost | ||
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 | 540 |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler master HyperTX 2 | 25 |
| Motherboard | Asus P5N-T Deluxe | 250 |
| RAM | Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 PC2-6400 - 4 GB | 128 |
| Graphics | EVGA GeForce 8800GTX, 768 MB | 415 |
| Hard Drive | 1x Western Digital Raptor 150 GB
170 1x Western Digital Caviar 500 GB |
95 |
| Sound | Integrated SoundMax High-Definition Audio | 0 |
| Case | Antec Nine Hundred | 120 |
| Power | PC Power & Cooling Silencer S75Q 750W | 160 |
| DVD-RW | 2x Sony Optiarc DVD-RW | 28 |
| Total Price | $1,931 | |
- Card Alternative from the System Builder Marathon Article [Graphic & Displays]
- Have the winners of the system builders marathon been announced [Tom's Guide]
- System Builder Marathon [Homebuilt Systems]
- System Builder Marathon, May '09: $1,300 Enthusiast PC [Homebuilt Systems]
- WEIGH IN: $1200 AMD system for Sept. System Builder Marathon [Homebuilt Systems]
Questions? Ask Tom's community!
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Why wouldn't you put 1066MHz (PC2-8500) memory on this machine?
I assume they are using Cas 4 memory, which you are not going to find in this price range at PC2-8500.
This build is identical to my current rig, except I chose an 8800GT, and the Q6600 oc'd to 2.88. It plows through AVCHD editing, and Oblivion.
I spent weeks researching the best price points. Good job guys.