Intel-Based Home Office PC
Six Intel-Based Home Office PCs squared off in this quarter’s BestConfigs.
The reader poll ended in a tie between nix327’s Build and the Gold Intel Office Rig, with each build receiving eleven votes.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Gold Intel Office Rig | nix327's Build |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Core i3-3220 | Core i3-3225 |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3V | ASRock H77M |
| Memory | 4 GB Crucial DDR3-1600 | 8 GB Corsair DDR3-1333 |
| SSD | 256 GB Samsung 840 | 64 GB Crucial m4 |
| Hard Drive | Row 4 - Cell 1 | 1 TB Seagate Barracuda Green |
| Power Supply | Seasonic 360W Gold | Corsair CX430 |
| Case | Rosewill FBM-02 | Corsair 200R |
| Optical Drive | Samsung 24x DVD Burner | Asus 24x DVD Burner |
| Approximate MSRP | $486 | $476.73 |
In this scenario, a single editorial vote acts as a tie-breaker. We voted for nix327’s Build because of the better processor, extra memory, separate hard drive for user data, and higher-quality case. While we give big props go to the Gold Intel Office Rig for doubling as a hackintosh (if desired), nix327’s Build is simply more hardware for the same price.
Congratulations to forum member nix327 for having his recommended build picked by the Tom's Hardware community this quarter!
This year’s Intel-based Home Office PC is a lot more geared towards the office than the home. With no discrete graphics, the HD Graphics 4000-packing Core i3-3225 is Intel’s only logical offering at this price point.
The ASRock H77M keeps it all together while offering modern options like 6 Gb/s SATA, gigabit Ethernet, HDMI output, and USB 3.0.
The Core i3 is matched up to a whopping 8 GB of DDR3-1333, rather than just 4 GB of the pricier, yet performance-neutral, DDR3-1600 modules.
And you can seriously kick productivity into high gear thanks to Crucial’s 64 GB M4 SSD acting as the system drive, while a 1 TB Seagate Barracuda Green provides plenty of low-power storage.
Corsair’s CX430 makes a second appearance in this year’s BestConfigs to power nix327’s Build with 430 W of 80 PLUS Bronze-certified juice.
The sub-$500 masterpiece is wrapped up in Corsair’s exquisitely stately Carbide Series 200R mid-tower. Asus' DRW-24B3ST fills in as the obligatory optical drive.
The total build price when originally configured by nix327 was $476.73. The current prices of nix327’s Build can be found in the BestConfigs shopping tables.
