Best Price to Perfomance Ratio PC for Summer 2011

This build is for people who want a good quality system but do not want to research the components themselves. There is nothing taken into consideration for future upgrades. This is a PC for 2 to 3 years that will perform well and play games decently.

I have decided to pick an Intel CPU since for most purposes it outperforms AMD and I like Z68 chipset features. As you may notice there is a small SSD drive on this build. This will allow you to use Smart Response Technology (aka SSD caching). It will speed up your system automatically without having to deal with all the nuisance of small SSD maintenance or SSDs in general.

I want to provide an overall great experience so I still want good quality on all components. There are plenty of areas where money can be saved like input devices but they make PC usage more enjoyable. Most people skimp on a good UPS but I strongly recommend getting one especially for areas with a lot of thunderstorms. It helps and increases your components’ lifetime. The whole enchilada comes down to about $1450.

Components list after the break:
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Upgrade to socket 1156 or 1364?

What do you think is the better upgrade is there is any difference?

1156 Update ~633
Motherboard: ~190 EVGA P55 SLI 132-LF-E655-KR LGA1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard – Retail

CPU: ~280  Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I7860 – Retail

RAM ~163: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMP4GX3M2C1600C7 – Retail

1366 Update ~700

Motherboard: ~240  EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX X58 SLI LE Intel Motherboard – Retail

CPU :~295 Intel Core i7-930 2.8GHz LGA 1366 Quad-Core Desktop Processor Model BX80601930 – Retail

RAM :~163  CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMP4GX3M2C1600C7 – Retail

Continue reading “Upgrade to socket 1156 or 1364?”