The Best PCs You Can Build for $600 and $1200

A few months back we took you to night school and walked you through building your own computer from scratch. What we didn't do at the time is give you a suggest parts list for that new computer. In this post—which we'll update regularly as prices and components change—we'll walk you through the parts and hardware we'll need for the best of two different system builds: a mid-range PC for those on a budget, and an enthusiast's system for gamers and media professionals.

While some consider the desktop a dead platform, there are still plenty of us who use them as much as or in addition to laptops or tablets, love to play PC games, or just enjoy getting our hands dirty and building our own systems from scratch. Before we go any further, we should point out that these PC builds are designed to optimize your all-around computing experience, with special emphasis on PC gaming. What components give you the best bang for your buck depend heavily on what you're planning to do with the system: your parts may be different if you're building an HTPC on the same budget, or a super-speedy file server for your home network.
We've talked about our own experiences building a system and why it's important already. If you're ready to set out on the task of building your own computer, here are the components you'll need to build the best system you can get for your money.
Photo by Roxanne Ready.

Update - November 2011: The holiday shopping season has started and prices are beginning to come down across the board on PC components. Some manufacturers have already phased out their spring and summer products, and other prices are dropping because new versions are on the way. A few components in our previous $600/$1200 builds have been discontinued, most notably the case and the RAM for our $1200 enthusiast PC, and the version of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 that we suggested earlier. We've updated those components.
Also, sadly, the biggest change we've had to make in our builds is to downgrade the hard drives to stay in line with our budgets. The tragic flooding in Thailand means that hard drive prices are through the roof, and a 1TB drive that was $89.99 in September is $219 and out of stock today. Keep this overall price hike and drive shortage in mind if you're building a PC now, and consider SSDs in your new build—you may be able to find a bargain there.

Build Versus Buy

The old debate over whether you should build your own system or buy a pre-built one is an old, long-standing argument that will never be easily washed away. However, there are some benefits to building your own system that can't be weighed in terms of dollars and cents. You may be happier with your own hand-built system, or you may be able to score bargains and rebates that lead to a more powerful computer stuffed with higher quality components than a manufacturer would use.
Building your own PC also gives you complete and full control over that system's components and extendability. Unlike buying an OEM PC, assembling your own gives you the ability to make decisions about when and how you'll upgrade that system in the long run as opposed to simply taking what the manufacturer sells you. For example, you can buy into a new motherboard chipset early and wait to spend money on the next generation of graphics card later, giving yourself a timely upgrade when the moment-or your budget-is right.
Photo by Adam Snyder.
Ultimately, while it may be easier to just pull out a credit card and buy whatever's on sale from your preferred OEM, there's something about assembling the components of a system that you've selected for your needs, powering it up, installing your favorite OS, and using it every day that's' incredibly rewarding.

Choosing The Right Parts

There was a time when building a PC was all about buying the most expensive and most powerful components you could on the budget you had. While some of that is still true, even budget components can be remarkably powerful, and if all you're planning on doing with your system is word processing, surfing the web, and some light entertainment like streaming video or listening to music, almost any system build will work for you.
You don't need to spend a grand on high-end gaming components if you're putting together a system for your friend who doesn't know or care what graphics card is going into the box. At the same time, that doesn't mean they're doomed to a computer full of sub-standard components. We explained a few months ago that you should carefully assess your need before rushing off to start pricing out components, and that advice is still true today.
Ultimately, there's no reason for you to rush out and buy the most expensive components you can afford unless you're an enthusiast and want the most top-of-the-line system you can afford. Here we'll detail two separate builds, a high-end system for enthusiasts and power-hungry users, and a mid-range build that will cost about half as much but still pack a punch.
Photo by Edmund Tse.

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The Sub-$600 Budget System

Long gone are the days where you should immediately budget at least a grand for a decent self-built system. Unless you absolutely have to have a top of the line PC, this budget system will serve you well for most everyday tasks, some gaming, streaming movies and music from the web, and even those bigger projects like organizing the family photos or editing home movies.

The parts

This parts list assumes that you'll need the basic components: a case, a motherboard, processor, memory, storage, graphics card of some type, power supply, and an optical drive. We're going to assume you have a perfectly good USB keyboard, mouse, and display you can repurpose for use with your new system. Before you blindly buy what we're about to suggest, take a moment and look at our Lifehacker Night School article on choosing PC components, where we discuss some of the things you should think about before buying your components. For example, our $600 PC here is made with bang-for-the-buck in mind, not necessarily silent operation or tons of expansion bays. Remember to consider what you'll use the system for before buying.
Here are the parts for our mid-range PC, complete with prices:

• The case: Antec One Hundred Black ATX Mid Tower - $49.99 The Antec One Hundred is a tried and true mid-sized case that, with luck and care, will last you for more than just one system build. It's large enough to accommodate all but the largest components, and roomy enough to move your hands around inside without too much of a squeeze. Front-side audio and USB ports are a nice bonus in this budget case.
  
• The power supply:Antec NEO ECO 520W Power Supply - $54.99 Most PC builders, especially starting off, tend to completely overestimate how much power their components will actually need. At the same time, you don't want to buy a power supply too weak for the components in your build, or buy one from a flaky manufacturer or a no-name brand. Stick with trusted vendors on this one, and spend a little more if you have to. This 520-watt power supply from Antec should be more than enough for our components, and Antec is a trusted name. Pay attention to warranties and return policies as well, but try to make sure you're getting the right amount of juice for the system you're building. There are some great calculators on the web that will help you determine how big your power supply should really be, like the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator.
  
• The motherboard: ASUS P8H61-M LGA 1155 Micro-ATX Intel Motherboard - $67.99 This ASUS motherboard is actually used in a number of corporate desktops, has an easy to configure BIOS, and most importantly is rock-solid. The board sports 6 USB ports, 4 SATA ports, gigabit Ethernet, and on-board sound, so we won't need to pick up a separate sound card. It doesn't have integrated video, so you'll definitely need the video card we'll discuss later. If you're willing to spend a little more, consider this MSI motherboard for $84.99, which is more expensive (and would put us over budget,) but packs on-board video, (so you could ditch video card below and save some more money,) but more importantly has USB 3.0, which is a huge benefit.
  
• The CPU: Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1Ghz Quad Core Processor - $189.99 Yes, we're going Intel with the budget system. No, there's no reason you couldn't sub this out for an AMD processor if you wanted to (in fact, we discussed it at length, and the first version of this build actually carried a AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz Quad Core Processor ($119.99) under the hood) save some more money or stand with a brand allegiance. We're going to ignore those allegiances here and focus on the facts: while the AMD processor offers impressive bang for the buck, the Intel Core i5 is a solid processor that fits in our budget and can be found under the hood of desktops much more expensive than this one from commercial OEMs. The i5 will serve you well.
  
• The memory: G Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333 RAM - $24.99 One of the most important things about buying memory is to make sure you get RAM that's compatible with your build, and that's from a reputable memory manufacturer. Granted, we're spending a little more than we could if we went off-brand-this certainly isn't bargain basement RAM-but G. Skill is well known and makes high quality desktop memory. Our board is dual-channel, so we want to make sure we take advantage of it, and 4GB of RAM is enough for our budget, everyday PC.
  
• The storage: Seagate Pipeline 500GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive - $79.99 Hard drives are so large and affordable (with the caveat of the flooding in Thailand, noted above) at this point that you have plenty of leeway here as well. 1TB is large, and the price is right, so there's no reason to skimp on the storage unless you really want to, or don't plan on using this much space. Also, hard drive manufacturers are another hot topic of debate: there's no reason you couldn't ditch Samsung for this similarly priced Seagate or this Western Digital for the same price if you prefer a different brand. The point is that you want a drive that'll give you the space you want, is a good, fast drive from a reputable manufacturer, comes with a warranty, and doesn't break your budget.
  
• The graphics card: AMD Radeon HD 6750/Nvidia GeForce GTS 450 - $105.99/$109.99 We're offering up two suggestions here to try and stave off the AMD/ATI versus Nvidia battle. Like so many other components, it's easy to get caught up in which brand you prefer, but both of these cards pack enough power for everyday tasks and some casual gaming that they're decent entries to the field. Don't expect to fire up the latest titles with the settings turned up here, but if you have a couple of older titles you can't give up, or if you don't really play PC games at all, these will be just fine.
  
• The optical drive: ASUS 24x CD/DVD Burner - $20.99 There isn't too much to worry about when selecting an optical drive: just get something that works for your need (for example, this ASUS assumes you won't be watching Blu-Ray videos on your PC. If you are, you may want to look at a Blu-Ray drive, like this ASUS Blu-ray drive, which will cost you a bit more but allow you to watch those Blu-ray discs on your system) and select a well-reviewed drive from a reputable manufacturer. If you have an optical drive from a previous build, even better.
  
• The total: $598.92

If you have a bit more to spend…
We know that $600 is pushing the limit of "mid-range" for a lot of people, but we wanted to make sure we got quality components into the build that offered a solid all-around build. That doesn't mean there isn't room to improve it, or cut it down a bit if it's too much. You could get below $500 by swapping in a cheaper processor (like the AMD noted above,) or opting for a smaller hard drive. But if you have a little more to spend, you can get some big boosts for not much more money.
We spent a good clip of money on our processor and motherboard to make sure we had room to expand if we wanted to. If you have a few more dollars to spend, you could probably get away with a beefier graphics card than the ones we opted for above. For example, this AMD Radeon HD 6850 is a serious step up from the 6750 in our build, and it's only about $55 more. If you're an NVidia fan, consider GeForce GTX 460, which is the same price. You'll see these cards again later, promise.
Of course, if you have more money to spend and you want a processor uplift, you could consider swapping out the motherboard for the pricier one above, or even for a full ATX board, and the processor for beefier model like the Core i5-2500, but keep in mind how that will effect other parts of the build, especially the memory.

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The Sub-$1200 Enthusiast's PC

Now that we've covered a system that can be purchased and assembled on a decent budget, now it's time to go crazy. First, we're not targeting our upper limit here, we just want to give you an idea of some of the high-end components that would make a good enthusiast's build. If you're a fan of PC gaming, have to play the latest releases as soon as they're out, watch HD video, do video editing or spend a lot of time streaming video from the web in HD, or just want the beefiest box you can afford, this build is for you.

The parts

As with the $600 PC above, we're going to assume you have the basics, like a keyboard, mouse, and display. In this case though, we're going for the big, pretty, and powerful, as opposed to trying to keep the budget down. We won't necessarily aim directly for our high-end, but we will slap in some pricier components that we know would make a noticeable difference in your computing experience if you had them in your system.
Again, remember to consider your use case before buying – the people who'll really love this build will be PC gamers, media professionals, and enthusiasts who want to futureproof themselves or just prefer the top of the line.

• The case: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $54.99 The last iteration of the enthusiast PC had a Cooler Master CM690 II for its chassis, but the CM690 II is getting difficult to come by, so it's time to update it with a newer model. We looked high and low, and decided that the Antec Three Hundred case comes highly recommended, well rated, and offers the space and the look that we're looking for. The Antec Three Hundred is sleek, black, lightweight steel, and has 9 expansion bays and 7 PCI slots on the rear. It has top, rear, and optional front and side case fans to keep your system cool, and a front-side I/O panel for power, USB, and audio. You won't get a power supply with the case, but the Three Hundred is a robust case that will stand the test of time. Warning though: there are some very pretty cases on the market – buy one that has the features and look that you want. If you're willing, you can spend close to $200 on a beauty like the Silverstone Raven RV02, or alternatively save the cash and repurpose an old case from a previous build.
  
• The power supply: Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750M v2.31 750W Modular Power Supply - $129.99 Corsair makes good power supplies, and 750-watts of juice should be enough to power even the most demanding components. This power supply is quiet, comes with a +12V rail for the graphics card we're about to slap into this system, and offers enthusiast-level power output at a solid price. There are more expensive power supplies out there-especially modular ones, which we sorely wish that Corsair would make in more wattages-but this one gets the job done without being overkill.
  
• The motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 LGA 1155 Intel ATX Motherboard - $149.99 It's pricey, but this board packs the ports and features. It has tools for overclockers (although not as many as its more expensive cousin, and supports Intel's latest Core processors. The board also has built-in support for Crossfire (AMD) and SLI (NVidia) for high-end gaming with multiple graphics cards, sports 2 USB 3.0 and 8 USB 2.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, supports on-board RAID, has 8 SATA ports (4 at 6Gb/s and 4 at 3Gb/s) and packs built-in audio and video. It's definitely a high-end board for a system builder who needs the features or isn't concerned about the budget.
  
• The CPU: Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4Ghz Quad Core Processor - $299.99 Intel's Core processors are the market leaders for a reason. They pack incredible power at decent power consumption, and while AMD is definitely a great bang-for-your-buck option, at the high end Intel processors simply blow them away, and there's little that isn't blown away by the Core i7-2600. Let's be clear - you may not see all of the benefit to Intel's top-of-the-line processor in your everyday tasks, but it wouldn't be an enthusiast's PC without one. There's very little that you'll wind up doing that will take advantage of the Core i7's increased firepower over the Core i5 2500k, unless you're doing video conversion or playing the latest high-end games. If you're a little gunshy at spending this much on a processor, step down to the Intel Core i5-2500 for $99 less.
  
• The memory: G Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 RAM - $37.99 Let's be clear, 4GB of RAM is probably sufficient for most systems. Previously we suggested this $29.99 4GB G. Skill kit, but for $8 more, there's no reason to skip this upgrade. (Plus, it doesn't break our budget!) At the same time though, you're only really going to feel the benefit of the extra memory in a few applications, and even though you have the extra memory, there's no guarantee that your general computing experience will be any better. Still, more memory is better than faster memory. Buy with caution, and keep in mind what you're going to be doing with the system.
  
• The storage: Intel 320 Series 80GB SATA II MLC SSD - $139.99 + Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive - $119.99 Now we're ready to spend some money. We've said several times that a Solid State Drive (SSD) is one of the best upgrades you can buy for your computer, but if you're building one from scratch with absolute performance in mind, consider buying an SSD for your OS and applications, and a traditional hard drive for files and data. Still not sold? Let us help: we can assure you SSDs are worth the money. The only trick is picking one that's large enough for your OS and applications. We went with 80GB here, but you can go up to 120GB or even 256GB if you need the extra space. They're pricey though, so make sure you get the best one for your cash.
  Photo by TAKA@P.P.R.S.
  
• The graphics card: AMD Radeon HD 6950 - $239.99 /NVidia GeForce 560 Ti - $234.99 These two cards, aside from being some of the best on the market at the moment, are both good bang-for-your-buck gaming graphics cards according to Anandtech's 2011 GPU Benchmark tests. If you're a PC gamer and you love turning up all of the settings on your games, or you have to play all of the latest releases as soon as they're out, pick your brand allegiance (or better yet, check how each of these two cards performs when benchmarked in your favorite games) and go with one of these. If you need even more power and have the money to buy it, consider the AMD Radeon HD 6970 ($349.99) or the NVidia GeForce GTX 570 ($339.99) for some gorgeous-but-wallet-busting graphical goodness.
  
• The optical drive: ASUS 24x CD/DVD Burner - $20.99 Surprised? We meant it when we said in the budget section that the optical drive that you buy doesn't really matter. Again, if you're planning to watch Blu-ray video on your enthusiast PC, you'll want to spring for the appropriate drive, but if you're not, we can't find a better optical drive and disc burner for the money. Hey, just because there are more expensive ones out there doesn't mean they're better. Just because you're on an enthusiast's budget doesn't mean you have to throw your money away.
  
• The total: $1193.91

If you're on a budget…
Sometimes building an enthusiast's PC is more difficult than building a budget one because you have room in the budget to buy high-end components, but you don't want to go overboard or make decisions that waste your money. We hope this sub $1200 build walks the line between spending good money on components that matter without spending too much on the ones that don't.
If this is too much though, some of the biggest money sinks here are clearly the video card and the processor. While you could bump down to the Intel Core i5-2400 and save about $30, the real savings is in choosing a less powerful and high-end video card, especially since you can upgrade a video card more easily than a processor. Consider the AMD Radeon HD 6870 ($179.99) or the NVidia GeForce GTX 460 ($159.99) if you want a video card that's beefy enough to play the latest titles but you don't want to break the bank.

A Note About Your Operating System

You're undoubtedly noticing that we haven't included the cost of an OS license in this roundup. The reason for that is because we don't want to assume what operating system you'll install on your build. If you want to go Linux, then your cost is basically nothing. If you'd rather install Microsoft Windows-and we assume most of you would-you can pick up any flavor of Windows 7 you like at an array of different prices depending on the version you want and where you get it.
Newegg has OEM versions of Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit for $99.99, which is likely what most of you would buy. At the same time, you can probably score a cheaper copy with an educational discount if you have one, or through an employee purchase program if your workplace has a enterprise licensing agreement with Microsoft. Look around for sales and you'll find a deal on Windows if that's what you want to install.

Additional Reading

Don't take our word for these builds. We're sure you have your own opinions on what should have made it in and what should have been excluded. We also stuck with Newegg for pricing and component information, which you certainly don't have to do-especially if you can find the same components you want elsewhere for less (or better ones for the same price!)
One reference that-at least for now-is constantly updated and invaluable for determining exactly how enthusiast you're being when it comes to the components you're buying and how much you should be spending on them is the Logical Increments PC Buying Guide. It's a big help, and can serve as a good sanity check if your build is getting out of hand.
Also, make sure to read up on your most critical components before you buy. Anandtech's GPU benchmarks and the Tom's Hardware forums are invaluable when looking for benchmarks and opinions on some of the components you may buy before you add them to your cart. The Reddit Build-A-PC board is also a great place to ask for opinions and guidance if you're having issues or just want the thoughts of people who have been where you are now.

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We'll come back to this system builder's guide regularly to make sure it's updated with current pricing information and the best components for each of our builds. Remember though, take our builds as guidelines for your own research and your own PC-building project.
Today's $600 mid-range PC will be tomorrow's $350 bargain basement system after the next CPU industry uplift, and today's $1200 enthusiast's PC will be tomorrow's lame duck when AMD and NVidia introduce their next wave of high-end graphics cards, so buy with that in mind, and come back often to see what's at the top of the heap.
All of that said, what would go in your preferred build? Do you think our $600 PC should have been an AMD system? Should we have made some tradeoffs on the $1200 PC? Have your say in the comments below.