Build a Gaming PC for $1500 - March 2012
# Comprehensive Guide to Building a High-End Gaming PC: A Step-by-Step Breakdown
## Introduction
Welcome to an in-depth guide on constructing a high-end gaming PC, as demonstrated by Austin in his video. This article will walk you through each component of the build, providing detailed insights and recommendations to ensure you understand every aspect of creating your own powerful gaming machine.
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## Central Processing Unit (CPU)
**Intel Core i5 2500K CPU**
Austin begins with the Intel Core i5 2500K CPU. While some might question why not go for an i7, he explains that the i5 is sufficient for gaming and everyday use. The i5 offers four physical cores, which are more than enough for gaming performance, as most games struggle to utilize eight virtual cores from hyperthreading in the i7. However, the i5 still delivers impressive overclocking capabilities, often exceeding 4 GHz, making it a robust choice for under $230.
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## Cooling Solution
**Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler**
Next up is the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus cooler. While sufficient at base clock speeds, this cooler excels with overclocking, allowing high temperatures without damage. Priced around $25, it's a worthwhile investment for serious users seeking to push their CPUs further.
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## Motherboard
**Gigabyte GA-Z68 UD3**
The Gigabyte GA-Z68 UD3 motherboard is highlighted for its reliability and features. It supports overclocking, boasts a sleek black PCB, and includes USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 ports. Austin praises its build quality, making it a solid choice at $155.
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## Graphics Card
**Sapphire Radeon HD7950**
Austin selects the Sapphire Radeon HD7950 for its top-tier performance, capable of handling games like Battlefield 3 on Ultra settings. With 3GB GDDR5 memory, this card offers excellent value despite its high price ($480). It's ideal for those seeking single-GPU excellence without the need for CrossFire configurations.
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## Memory
**Corsair Vengeance DDR3 RAM (16GB)**
The build includes 16GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR3 RAM clocked at 1600MHz. While Austin admits this is overkill for gaming, he notes that extra RAM can be handy. The low-profile heat sink ensures compatibility with other components like the CPU cooler.
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## Storage
**Samsung 830 SSD and Western Digital Caviar Green HDD**
For storage, Austin opts for a 128GB Samsung 830 SSD for fast performance (over 500MB/s read speeds) and reliability. It's paired with a 2TB Western Digital Caviar Green drive for additional storage, ideal for non-critical files. The SSD comes with free software, including Batman: Arkham City and Norton Ghost, adding value.
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## Power Supply
**Corsair TX750W Modular**
The Corsair TX750W modular PSU provides ample power (750W) with room for future upgrades. While a non-modular version or lower wattage could suffice, the modular design offers flexibility and is worth the investment at $115.
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## Case
**Antec 3002**
The Antec 3002 case is chosen for its spacious layout and efficient cooling. It supports multiple hard drives and large GPUs while maintaining a sleek appearance. Available at $70, it's a great balance of aesthetics and functionality.
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## Optional Component
**ASUS DVD Burner**
Austin includes an optional ASUS DVD burner for those needing optical drive functionality. While many modern users rely on digital media, this $20 addition can be useful for installing software or games.
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## Final Assembly and Pricing
Assembling all components results in a total cost of $1,496 (as of filming). Prices fluctuate, so it's wise to check current market rates. Austin provides links to each part in the video description for your convenience.
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## Conclusion
This build exemplifies a high-end gaming PC that balances performance and value. Each component is carefully selected to deliver top-tier gaming experiences, with room for future upgrades. Whether you're a seasoned builder or new to PC assembly, this guide offers a comprehensive approach to crafting your ultimate gaming rig.
Thank you for reading! If you found this article helpful, don't forget to subscribe for more tech content and leave a thumbs up if you enjoyed the video. Happy building!
WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys this is Austin and today I'm here with my next computer build video so it's been a couple months since I did my last one in the meantime I've got a lot of requests to do a really high-end awesome gaming PC so that's what I'm going to be doing today with a PC that comes in at the $1,500 price point to start our build off with we'll be using an Intel Core i5 2500 kcpu now I know you guys are probably all on your keyboards right now saying Core i5 why not use the core i7 the major difference between the I5 and the i7 is that the i7 has hyperthreading which allows Windows to see it as eight cores as opposed to four while that's great if you do a lot of heavily threaded tasks such as video editing and that kind of stuff for games most of the time they struggle to use up four cores so that eight virtual cores really isn't going to give you a lot of performance benefit beyond that it's very similar to the i7 you're still going to be able to overclock it into the Stratosphere in most cases well over 4 GHz and it's still going to be an absolutely Rock Solid CPU for now like gaming for just day-to-day use going to have absolutely tons and tons of power for about 230 bucks this is a great way to start a build next we're going to be using a Cooler Master hyper 212 plus CPU Cooler now the I5 is going to have a cooler just like this and while this is fine if you're going to be sitting at base clock speeds all day if you want to do some major overclocking the hyper 212 plus is a great way to go dissipates way more heat and it allows you to get some really high overclocks without catching your CPU on fire so this one's going to run you about 25 bucks or so and in my opinion it's going to be well worth it next up we'll be using the gigabyte GA z68 ud3 motherboard this is the same one that I've been using in my computer for almost a year now and I got to say it's a great motherboard now that does it look awesome it's got a black PCB which I love those things beats the blue and all the kind of ridiculous colors that really don't belong in a gaming case but on top of that it's got all the major features that you need since it's a z68 board that means you're going to be able to overclock your CPU as high as you want and on top of that it's got all the major features that you want so it's got sata 3 it's got USB 3 and it's built really well so it's got nice thick board it's not like going to be really be flexing when you get big gpus in there so overall it's a great board for about 155 bucks now comes the fun part for a GPU we're going to be using the Sapphire Radeon hd7950 now as many of you guys know this is a brand new card from AMD and it is one of the most powerful single GPU cards that you can buy the 7950 is a great card and on top of that you can actually overclock it so in some cases you can actually get it up to the same level of the 7970 with 3 GB of gddr5 memory this thing is absolutely going to demolish any game you throw at including Battlefield 3 on Ultra that's pretty much going to be your reaction now it do expensive it's going to run you about $480 so it's by far the most expensive thing in this entire build however if you want the absolute best performance you can get without having to go with Crossfire or a dual GPU card this is going to be the way to go for memory we're going to be going with 16 GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR3 RAM now this stuff's clo at 1600 MHz and I'll be the first to admit 16 GB of RAM is overkill on a gaming machine you never know when that extra might come in handy this is the same Ram I have in my computer however the difference is this has a lowprofile heat sink so while mine looks great it's got a very tall heat sink and it makes it impossible to add a second fan to my hyper 212 Plus for better CPU cooling so it's better idea if if my opinion to go with this lower profile stuff it should perform just the same and for about 100 bucks or so it's going to be a great way to go since this is a high-end gaming machine you got to use an SSD in this case we're going to be using a 128 GB Samsung 830 drive now this is one of my favorites for a couple of reasons for one it's reliable sure you can spend a lot more and get an Intel Drive which may be slightly more reliable however it's going to be very close and beat a lot of the other ssds on the market on the flip side you're going to get great performance again maybe not quite as good as some of the sand Force drives on the market but it's going to be very close with over 500 megabytes per second read speeds so you put that together you get really good reliability get really good price and of course you get that great performance this is going to be a great way to go great huh that was bad but anyway it does come with a copy of Batman Arkham City as well as Norton Ghost so get a couple freebies in there for 180 bucks it's a great way to go 128 GB really isn't going to be enough though so we're going to add a 2 TB Western Digital Caviar Green Drive now this is a very simple drive I have a pair of them in my computer they work really well they may not be the fastest thing in the world but of course the things that you really got to get at your OS your major programs that kind of stuff will go on the SSD and for the main hard drive you can put you know music movies pictures maybe a couple Steam games that kind of stuff that you're not going to need the super fast access to it's going to be great going have plenty of storage and it's going to be a good drive for about 130 bucks for power we have the Corsair TX 750 W modular power supply now you actually have some choices here so the one I've chosen which is the 750 W Supply with modular capability is great however if you don't really care about having a modular Supply you just want to have all the normal cables and try to Route them around the case you can save a few bucks in fact the non- modular Supply is what I use in my Ray right now however on top of that you can also go down a little bit so 750 wats is a bit overkill for this machine you should be able to get by with 650 so if you want to go ahead and bump the the wattage down a little bit you should be okay however having 750 watts having that little bit of extra envelope for power and whatnot is good for upgrades as well as if you ever decide to rebuild your computer here overall though this is going to run you about 115 bucks and of course less if you decide to get a non- modular Supply or go down to a 650 W Supply moving on to the case in this case we're going to be using a antech 3002 so the 3002 is a fantastic case which allows you to have lots of room for all your kinds of hard drives graphics cards that kind of thing but it also gives you some really nice air flows to keep everything nice and cool now the original anttic 300 was a really really well-loved case it had lots of room and all that kind of stuff and the 3002 is the newer version with USB 3 and some new improvements as far as air flow all that kind of good stuff however this is definitely your choice so the case is the thing that you're going to be looking at you know of course all your parts are in there but as far as the Aesthetics go the case is by far the most important step so if you want a different case with perhaps a window LEDs that kind of stuff absolutely feel free to go for it however if you're looking something a little bit more understated they're still going to get the job done in all other categories the antech 3002 is great for about 70 bucks lastly we have an assus DVD burner now this one's optional I know a lot of you guys really don't use Optical drives anymore however it definitely can come in handy especially if you're installing Windows or programs and all that kind of stuff if you want you can skip this one or you can upgrade to a Blu-ray Drive depending on you know how you use it but overall if you're looking for something really basic for 20 bucks this is a great addition to your build so what's the damage well as of filming this video the entire price of the build is going to come to $1,496 however definitely keep in mind that prices are constantly fluctuating so by the time you watch this video it may have gone up down all that kind of stuff so make sure that you know exactly what it is I'll have links to all the parts in the description of this video anyway guys if you enjoyed definitely be sure to leave this video a thumbs up really helps me out and if you're interested in more videos like this be sure to subscribehey guys this is Austin and today I'm here with my next computer build video so it's been a couple months since I did my last one in the meantime I've got a lot of requests to do a really high-end awesome gaming PC so that's what I'm going to be doing today with a PC that comes in at the $1,500 price point to start our build off with we'll be using an Intel Core i5 2500 kcpu now I know you guys are probably all on your keyboards right now saying Core i5 why not use the core i7 the major difference between the I5 and the i7 is that the i7 has hyperthreading which allows Windows to see it as eight cores as opposed to four while that's great if you do a lot of heavily threaded tasks such as video editing and that kind of stuff for games most of the time they struggle to use up four cores so that eight virtual cores really isn't going to give you a lot of performance benefit beyond that it's very similar to the i7 you're still going to be able to overclock it into the Stratosphere in most cases well over 4 GHz and it's still going to be an absolutely Rock Solid CPU for now like gaming for just day-to-day use going to have absolutely tons and tons of power for about 230 bucks this is a great way to start a build next we're going to be using a Cooler Master hyper 212 plus CPU Cooler now the I5 is going to have a cooler just like this and while this is fine if you're going to be sitting at base clock speeds all day if you want to do some major overclocking the hyper 212 plus is a great way to go dissipates way more heat and it allows you to get some really high overclocks without catching your CPU on fire so this one's going to run you about 25 bucks or so and in my opinion it's going to be well worth it next up we'll be using the gigabyte GA z68 ud3 motherboard this is the same one that I've been using in my computer for almost a year now and I got to say it's a great motherboard now that does it look awesome it's got a black PCB which I love those things beats the blue and all the kind of ridiculous colors that really don't belong in a gaming case but on top of that it's got all the major features that you need since it's a z68 board that means you're going to be able to overclock your CPU as high as you want and on top of that it's got all the major features that you want so it's got sata 3 it's got USB 3 and it's built really well so it's got nice thick board it's not like going to be really be flexing when you get big gpus in there so overall it's a great board for about 155 bucks now comes the fun part for a GPU we're going to be using the Sapphire Radeon hd7950 now as many of you guys know this is a brand new card from AMD and it is one of the most powerful single GPU cards that you can buy the 7950 is a great card and on top of that you can actually overclock it so in some cases you can actually get it up to the same level of the 7970 with 3 GB of gddr5 memory this thing is absolutely going to demolish any game you throw at including Battlefield 3 on Ultra that's pretty much going to be your reaction now it do expensive it's going to run you about $480 so it's by far the most expensive thing in this entire build however if you want the absolute best performance you can get without having to go with Crossfire or a dual GPU card this is going to be the way to go for memory we're going to be going with 16 GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR3 RAM now this stuff's clo at 1600 MHz and I'll be the first to admit 16 GB of RAM is overkill on a gaming machine you never know when that extra might come in handy this is the same Ram I have in my computer however the difference is this has a lowprofile heat sink so while mine looks great it's got a very tall heat sink and it makes it impossible to add a second fan to my hyper 212 Plus for better CPU cooling so it's better idea if if my opinion to go with this lower profile stuff it should perform just the same and for about 100 bucks or so it's going to be a great way to go since this is a high-end gaming machine you got to use an SSD in this case we're going to be using a 128 GB Samsung 830 drive now this is one of my favorites for a couple of reasons for one it's reliable sure you can spend a lot more and get an Intel Drive which may be slightly more reliable however it's going to be very close and beat a lot of the other ssds on the market on the flip side you're going to get great performance again maybe not quite as good as some of the sand Force drives on the market but it's going to be very close with over 500 megabytes per second read speeds so you put that together you get really good reliability get really good price and of course you get that great performance this is going to be a great way to go great huh that was bad but anyway it does come with a copy of Batman Arkham City as well as Norton Ghost so get a couple freebies in there for 180 bucks it's a great way to go 128 GB really isn't going to be enough though so we're going to add a 2 TB Western Digital Caviar Green Drive now this is a very simple drive I have a pair of them in my computer they work really well they may not be the fastest thing in the world but of course the things that you really got to get at your OS your major programs that kind of stuff will go on the SSD and for the main hard drive you can put you know music movies pictures maybe a couple Steam games that kind of stuff that you're not going to need the super fast access to it's going to be great going have plenty of storage and it's going to be a good drive for about 130 bucks for power we have the Corsair TX 750 W modular power supply now you actually have some choices here so the one I've chosen which is the 750 W Supply with modular capability is great however if you don't really care about having a modular Supply you just want to have all the normal cables and try to Route them around the case you can save a few bucks in fact the non- modular Supply is what I use in my Ray right now however on top of that you can also go down a little bit so 750 wats is a bit overkill for this machine you should be able to get by with 650 so if you want to go ahead and bump the the wattage down a little bit you should be okay however having 750 watts having that little bit of extra envelope for power and whatnot is good for upgrades as well as if you ever decide to rebuild your computer here overall though this is going to run you about 115 bucks and of course less if you decide to get a non- modular Supply or go down to a 650 W Supply moving on to the case in this case we're going to be using a antech 3002 so the 3002 is a fantastic case which allows you to have lots of room for all your kinds of hard drives graphics cards that kind of thing but it also gives you some really nice air flows to keep everything nice and cool now the original anttic 300 was a really really well-loved case it had lots of room and all that kind of stuff and the 3002 is the newer version with USB 3 and some new improvements as far as air flow all that kind of good stuff however this is definitely your choice so the case is the thing that you're going to be looking at you know of course all your parts are in there but as far as the Aesthetics go the case is by far the most important step so if you want a different case with perhaps a window LEDs that kind of stuff absolutely feel free to go for it however if you're looking something a little bit more understated they're still going to get the job done in all other categories the antech 3002 is great for about 70 bucks lastly we have an assus DVD burner now this one's optional I know a lot of you guys really don't use Optical drives anymore however it definitely can come in handy especially if you're installing Windows or programs and all that kind of stuff if you want you can skip this one or you can upgrade to a Blu-ray Drive depending on you know how you use it but overall if you're looking for something really basic for 20 bucks this is a great addition to your build so what's the damage well as of filming this video the entire price of the build is going to come to $1,496 however definitely keep in mind that prices are constantly fluctuating so by the time you watch this video it may have gone up down all that kind of stuff so make sure that you know exactly what it is I'll have links to all the parts in the description of this video anyway guys if you enjoyed definitely be sure to leave this video a thumbs up really helps me out and if you're interested in more videos like this be sure to subscribe