Much time has passed since the last time we updated our Best Configs feature. We put so much effort into benchmarking and reviewing the latest hardware (and creating our own comparisons with features like the System Builder Marathon) that it’s tough for our editorial team to maintain the community-driven guides. However, that’s what we’re looking to refresh today!
So, Best Configs is making its return, again driven by forum-based suggestions for 10 different PCs.
In case you aren’t already familiar with Best Configs, the feature first surfaced on Tom’s Hardware FR, consisting of monthly updates to 13 different builds with parts picked by the staff. We introduced a similar feature on Tom’s Hardware US and ran through a couple of different iterations. The next version of Best Configs instead drew from the substantial number of reader builds posted to our forums. And although it was sometimes difficult to pick a winning combination of hardware for all 10 of our use cases, the resulting recommendations were well-received. So, we’re going to try that approach again.
Here’s how it works: we have nine sticky threads going in the forums, under the New Build category. If you see a configuration to which you’d like to contribute, we invite you to submit it. If you’d like to add a completely new configuration, feel free to post your idea here, and we’ll consider it for the next update we do.
At the end of three weeks, we’ll pick our five favorite recommendations in each thread and let you vote on them. The top build will become that quarter’s Best Config. We’ll lay it out on a new section featured on the front page of Tom’s Hardware, give you credit for the build, and make sure it’s accessible until our next update goes live.
In this way, Best Configs will be powered by our knowledgeable community. We’ll make sure to add system classifications that are currently missing, and I’ll get to work more closely with you.
The following are direct links to each of the existing nine builds:
Budget Intel-Based Gaming PC
Budget AMD-Based Gaming PC
High-End Intel Gaming PC
Intel-Based Office PC
High-End AMD Gaming PC
MicroATX Gaming Build
Home Theater PC
High-End Workstation
AMD-Based Office PC
NAS PC
See you in the forums!
Chris Angelini
Worldwide Editor-in-Chief, Tom’s Hardware
