If the impending release of Diablo 3 is not enough evidence that PC gaming is still thriving, then I don’t know what is. More and more people are buying computers to play games on them and not just for Farmville.
However, something that always irks me is why buy a PC when you can build one yourself? The easiest way to save money is to just build a computer. Not only is it cheaper to build, but it is also easier to upgrade. If you don’t know where to begin, let Just Push Start help you. I’ve prepared 4 builds each named after a difficulty level in Diablo 3 (I thought it was neat). You start at the entry level and work your way up to the ultimate PC.
BUDGET PC BUILD
| Component | Normal | Nightmare |
|---|---|---|
| Case | NZXT GAMMA Classic – $39 | NZXT GAMMA Classic – $39 |
| Power Supply | Raidmax 530W – $39 | OCZ ZS Series 550W – $70 |
| CPU | AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition– $109 | Intel i3-2100 – $115 |
| Heatsink | Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus – $30 | Corsair Air Series A70 – $35 |
| Motherboard | AASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ – $84 | Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H – $120 |
| Memory | Corsair XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory – $21 | 8GB G.Skill DDR3 12800 – $56 |
| Graphics Card | XFX Radeon HD 6870 1GB – $139 | XFX 6870 or EVGA GTX 560 – $184 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital Scorpio Black 250GB – $59 | Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB – $120 |
| DVD | Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW – $17 | Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW – $17 |
| Total | $544 | $756 |
HIGH END PC BUILD
| Component | Hell | Inferno |
|---|---|---|
| Case | Cooler Master HAF 912 – $60 | Cooler Master HAF932 – $130 |
| Power Supply | Corsair 650TX V2 – $90 | Corsair 750HX – $139 |
| CPU | Intel i5-3570K – $240 | Intel i7-3770K – $360 |
| Heatsink | Thermaltake Frio – $48 | Noctua 6 NH-D14 – $83 |
| Motherboard | ASUS P8Z77-V LK – $154 | ASUS P8Z77-V – $200 |
| Memory | 8GB G.Skill DDR3 12800 – $56 | 8GB G.Skill DDR3 12800 – $56 |
| Graphics Card | ASUS 7850 OR MSI GTX 560 Ti 448– $299 | Sapphire 7970 OC 3GB – $480 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black – $120 | Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black – $120 |
| SSD | Crucial 128 GB m4– $125 | Intel 510 Series 120 GB – $210 |
| DVD | Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW – $18 | Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW – $18 |
| Total | $1210 | $1796 |
Kaizin514
May 13, 2012 at 1:19 AMIf you are going to spend $1700 for a PC, might as well slurge a little more for a Blu-Ray drive :P
Overall, pretty fair builds, good thing about PC is that you don’t HAVE to go with that specific build, can tailor to what you like.
kain
May 13, 2012 at 3:21 AMnvidia 670 gtx by asus cool quiet cheaper better performance than 7970 and oced on par with 680 check the reviews!!!
Brent
May 13, 2012 at 10:59 AMBetter more specific D3 build 438$, Phenom2 callisto 3.3, xfx 6670, msi 760Gm E51, earthwatt 430w psu, 6gb crucial 1333mhz mem, crucial iii 64gb ssd, HEC 6T mini series case. Will play D3 max settings at 28-39fps 1920×1080. Took me some time, but this is exactly what’s needed for good D3 play.