From now on we will add and update new hardware to the mix as it's released. The guides will be entirely up-to-date on major product launches, and we'll make a biweekly pass over the components and their prices to catch anything in-between. We wholly welcome your support and input to keep this guide as fresh as possible...

TechSpot's PC Buying Guide

The Budget Box ($500)
• Decent performance • Good for everyday computing • Gaming with add-on GPU

The Entry-Level Rig ($800)
• Good performance • Fast for everyday computing • Casual gaming

The Enthusiast's PC ($1,500)
• Excellent performance • Good Multitasker • Perfect for gaming

The Luxury System
• Workstation-like performance • Great for heavy multitasking • Extreme gaming

Great work. It is very difficult to keep tabs on this so the incremental approach of evaluating as new products come out is probably the best possible approach for minimizing amount of work, but also keeping up to date. Thanks guys.

I like it!
Thank You

You guys just keep doing what you do best. We appreciate you more than words can describe...especially a newbie, as it relates to what to buy and the best deals out there.

Keep it up guys... seasoned pros tend to forget how much of a help these posts are.

Thank you.

I also appreciate these quarterly buying guides. I do have a suggestion and its that you may want to look at the use of crossfire to turn a moderate gaming rig into a high performance gamer. a dual PCIE MB can be had for an additional 23-30$ and CF'ing a couple of $99 cards will add a lot of horsepower. also driver support for crossfire has reached a point of maturity and works very well these days. Just my 2 cents worth.

That's why when i upgraded my board i went Xfire and bought 2 $110 cards.

Thanx for the guide,nice to see that my chassis is always in the top spot.

Excellent work - very nice recap. Now I just need to win the lottery. ;)

I have the Antec 900 case (Enthusiast rig), and it's a terrific case - highly recommended. Keep an eye out on sales by TigerDirect and NewEgg - I've seen it for as low as $70 from time-to-time.

BTW - I just received this ad from NewEgg on an extreme system. Interesting to see the comparison:

http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail...l-_-E0-_-Combo

don't forget $130 for Windows 7.

i dont like the PSU recommendations on the $500 and $800 systems also i think the 4870 would be better than the 5750 especially right now when there around the same price.

I love your guides. Makes building PC's so much easier. I built mine more or less of your Entry Level box about a year ago. I tweaked it a bit, but I think my total hit about $500 just for the tower and guts (already had monitor, keyboard, speakers and all that), and I have to say I have no problems tackling most games. Run just about everything at max graphic settings with no problems.
Also, guide helps so much when a friend asked me to suggested a $500 build to him/her :P. caught my self more than once copy+pasting from your PC guying guide :D. Having it up dated more often is just incredible.

Like most PC buying guides, we generally don't factor software into the price -- this includes an operating system.

What don't you like about the power supply recommendations? As for the GPU, your preference is certainly fine, but we believe that it's better to take a slight performance hit to gain access to DX11 -- unless you intend to upgrade your GPU again in the near future anyway.

Wow, I've been waiting for an update to the guide. Thanks a bunch!

So, no Nvidia Cards? Meh.

@BlindObject: It's no secret that AMD currently has an edge on the market. When, and if that changes, the guide will be adjusted accordingly.

There is nothing wrong with those power supply choices and the 5750 is a better option at the same price as the 4870!

Great guide! I'm going to personally be in the market coming early next year (BFBC2!) so it'll be nice to use this as another reference once I start.

Going for a dx11 card for the entry level rig was the right thing to do.

I have quite a few comments, but don't have time for a comprehensive post, so just a comment about one thing which really baffled me: the monitors of the entry vs. enthusiast rigs.

The entry rig has 21.5" 1920x1080 (or 22.5" 1680x1050). The enthusiast rig has a 23" 1920x1080 screen. Price difference: $5. Which is what I don't get. Do entry level buyers prefer physically smaller screens compared to enthusiasts? Why not recommend the same screen if the price difference is so small?

ET3D, the smaller displays we selected have integrated speakers, which compensate for external speakers in the $800 build. The 23" display does not have integrated speakers, and if selected in our $800 build, the system would not have sound . Of course, if someone has their own speakers or headset this is not a concern.