System Builder Marathon: TH's $2000 Hand-Picked Build
Case And Power
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 600T
One of the most extravagant expenses in our original $2000 PC, its $250 case was chosen for purported excellent ventilation and low noise. Our minimum requirement was far less elaborate, as any well-designed case with two 120 mm or a single 180 mm intake fan would do the job (even Antec’s low-cost Three Hundred Illusion). Half-way between our minimum requirements and the excesses of luxury is Corsair’s 600T.
Read Customer Reviews of Corsair's Graphite-Series 600T
The 600T has several design and construction similarities with the high-end office cases of yesteryear, but costs roughly twice as much. It’s also bigger and better-ventilated, with two 200 mm fans and support for six hard drives. Its most unusual design feature—a face panel that vaguely resembles the grille of a 1958 Edsel—has an inner panel dimensionally similar to that of a traditional mid-tower’s face.
Power: Seasonic SS-850HT 850 W
We indulged ourselves in a modular power supply in our original $2000 build, noting that the indulgence comes at a $30 price premium. The basis for that comparison is Seasonic’s high-quality, non-modular SS-850HT.
Read Customer Reviews of Seasonic's SS-850HT
Few manufacturers can compete with Seasonic’s reputation for quality and stability, so we were happy to find an 80 PLUS Silver-rated 850 W model for only $120. Our non-windowed case can help to hide any leftover cables and, as a bonus, has built in cable stowage.
Current page: Case And Power
Prev Page Graphics And Memory Next Page Motherboard, CPU, And CPU CoolerStay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware Newsletter
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
-
dogman_1234 Can't Wait untill Bulldozer and Sandy Brodge Editions come out. I know it sounds cliche but...Reply -
A price table for the new build would be nice too, so i can see how much would it cost when i remove the BD and Case.Reply
-
gti88 Tamz_mscThis is probably the best way of spending 2000$ for a PC.I don't think so, considering that cheaper and less power-hungry Sandy Bridge is coming.Reply -
scook9 gti88I don't think so, considering that cheaper and less power-hungry Sandy Bridge is coming.You forgot weaker ;)Reply -
scrumworks Decent review but it seems that in nvidia setups, even the same CPUs can somehow overclock better. And the speed of RAM has negligible or no effect on overall system performance so no point tuning that component.Reply -
Luay "Familiarity in overclocking and a third PCIe x16 graphics card slot that operates in x8 mode when occupied are two reasons why we chose the X58A-UD3R over the similarly-priced Asus Sabertooth X58."Reply
Ok, fine. Wouldn't hurt to familiarize anew with a better board and that 3rd slot wasn't used anyways. Megahalems over Noctua? Seasonic over Corsair AX? :(
Or was it last minute budget cuts to make it less than $2000? -
nerrawg scrumworksDecent review but it seems that in nvidia setups, even the same CPUs can somehow overclock better. And the speed of RAM has negligible or no effect on overall system performance so no point tuning that component.Reply
What do you mean, this was the same model processor but not the same one. They got a new one for this build - so how does that show that the graphics have anything to do with the overclock? If anything it says exactly what is stated in the article, that the overclockability of the i7 950 varies between each sample quite a margin.
NVidia or for that matter AMD graphics have no effect on the CPU overclock.
-
-Fran- How does a Core i5 @~4.3Ghz or a Phenom II X6 @~4Ghz stack up against the Core i7? Well, that's using the same other components, 'cept RAM and MoBo :PReply
I'd like to know that.
Cheers!