System Builder Marathon, Q3 2013: $1300 Enthusiast PC

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Memory, Hard Drives, And Optical Drive

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3-1600 Memory Kit

With 9-9-9-24 timings at 1600 MT/s, Corsair's Vengeance kit isn't the most aggressive one we've featured in the System Builder Marathon, but we're banking on capable overclocking. This dual-channel, 8 GB set of modules sells for $70 on Newegg.

Read Customer Reviews of Corsair's Vengeance 8 GB Kit

System Drive: Samsung 840 Series 120 GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD

Instead of using a 64 GB SSD, which is barely enough for an operating system and a few applications, we're outfitting this quarter's PC with a more realistic 128 GB repository. Samsung's 840 is a proven performer, and the 120 GB version is reasonably priced at $100 on Newegg.

Read Customer Reviews of Samsung's 840 Series 120 GB SSD

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

With a larger, more expensive SSD storing more of our performance-sensitive software, we'll save a few bucks on user data by swapping out our Caviar Black drive for a slower Caviar Blue model. Specification-wise, we aren't giving anything up with this 1 TB, 7200 RPM model armed with 64 MB of cache. But its $70 price tag is notably lower.

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

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD Burner

With our budget already pushing the $1300 limit, we picked the lowest-priced DVD burner we could find. Surprisingly, the cheapest option was a retail (and not an OEM) package. Samsung's SH-224DB/RSBS fills in nicely.

Read Customer Reviews of Samsung's SH224DB/RSBS

61 Comments Comment from the forums
  • rolli59
    Keep them coming.
    Reply
  • chaospower
    I think this just shows that you don't really need more than a GTX 760 if you play on the most popular resolution of 1080p. Look how small the benefits of an Haswell are, compared to the 650$ build (HALF THE PRICE!) in games that mainly rely on GPU power.
    Overclocking haswell is a waste of money considering the amount of money you need to invest in a good MB and a good cooling, only to reach a rather tame 4.3ghz OC...
    Just buy the cheapest I5 you can buy and pair it with a GTX 760, if you play on 1080p, I doubt you'll be disappointed.
    Reply
  • DelightfulDucklings
    The more I look at these the sadder I am about the overpriced parts I have to pay for in New Zealand :( Nevertheless, another good article, keep it up
    Reply
  • silverblue
    "64 GB of cache"

    I'd have that hard drive for $70 if it was true. :P
    Reply
  • bemused_fred
    11591176 said:
    "64 GB of cache"

    I'd have that hard drive for $70 if it was true. :P

    I thought it was only....32 on the blue models. :p
    Reply
  • cmartin011
    Can't wait to see a new amd gpu in these builds got me all giddy inside!
    Reply
  • Larry Bob
    This is a complete waste of money. You spend way more on the 4670K than you would on a 3570K, and a really expensive motherboard, then you pair it with a crappy CLC where even a 212 Evo or Respire T40 would do better. You then WAY overpay on the graphics card when a 7970 offers exactly the same performance (according to Tom's research) for $60+ less.
    Reply
  • persuse
    the vengence ram Worst chip in all the model and brands !
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313399
    Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB)DDR3 2400 best P/p memory with same price better choice.
    and corsair H50 not is better whan aircooler.
    the Phanteks PH-TC12DX or V6GT with same price range the beat performance.

    for ssd i,m recomend Kingston HyperX 3K 120G with same price and beter speed.
    Reply
  • Novuake
    Good choice in PSU. Odd choice in motherboard. Does not provide THAT much for 200$.
    But most importantly, HORRIBLE choice in cooling. But ok...
    Reply
  • MANOFKRYPTONAK
    This is old tech... We nee some new stuff! Can't wait to see amds new cards, and nvidias response. Also Intel supposedly has an eight core haswell-e coming:)
    Reply