PC Design Guide: Under $1500

A guide to purchasing the best machine for under $1500AUD

Building a new system can become tedious very quickly. Choosing suitable parts requires a fair amount of research, or there's the option of buying a pre-built OEM machine. Building a PC yourself can save a fair bit of money whilst ensuring maximum performance per dollar. Below is a build for under $1500AUD which is suitable for most home users, including gamers. Prices are from StaticICE, where the first 10 results (minus outliers) are averaged for the final price. The build does not include external peripherals or an OS.

CPU: Intel C2D E8500 3.16GHz - $254
Motherboard: Gigabyte EP45-UD3P - $183
RAM: 2 x 2GB Kingston 1066MHz DDR2 - $92
GPU: 1GB XFX HD4890 - $317
HDD: Western Digital 1TB - $116
DVD-RW: Pioneer DVR-217BK 20x - $42
Case: Cooler Master HAF 922 - $171
PSU: Corsair HX 620 - $171
Cooler: Thermalright Ultra eXtreme 120 (775) + Scythe Ultra Kaze 2000 - $75 + $23

Total: $1444

This system includes the popular E8500 CPU which is famous for its overclocking ability. With the Thermalright Ultra eXtreme attached, this CPU should hit a generous 4GHz after some tweaking. Regardless, even at stock speeds, it's not a slouch!

4GB of high speed DDR2 RAM is included to ensure that there's enough memory for memory intensive applications. The higher clock speed provides headroom when overclocking the CPU/FSB.

XFX's HD4890 is ATI's latest card, and boasts a 1GHz+ core speed on a 55nm manufacturing process. It's an overclockers delight! Whatever gaming desires you may have, this card will allow you to experience it with crisp detail whilst keeping a smooth frame rate.

For those who have a large collection of files and media to store, the Western Digital 1TB (1000GB) hard disk drive is essential. It's also quite the performer. As for the optical drive, Pioneer have been producing high quality products for years. The DV-217 is no exception to this, it's quiet, reliable and fast!

The Cooler Master HAF 922 is a favourite among enthusiasts. HAF stands for 'High Air Flow' which, as you may have guessed, means a cooler system. Fortunately it also runs quiet! In addition to the case is a high quality PSU, the Corsair HX-620. This beastly PSU is 80PLUS certified, and is dead quiet to boot!

For under $1500, you're going to be very impressed with this machine. A beastly rig without the bloated price tag. :)