Midrange System Buyer's Guide
by Zach Throckmorton on September 11, 2012 12:35 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
- AMD
- Intel
- Ivy Bridge
- Radeon HD 7000
- NVIDIA
Closing Thoughts
All four systems in this guide represent a lot of value in terms of how powerful they are relative to their costs. Two things strike me as particularly noteworthy: the high-mid range gaming system includes the most powerful single-chip GPU available on the market today, and the workstation is extremely well-rounded with top (or nearly) top of the line mainstream components. In other words, a tremendous amount of capability is available to midrange buyers. Spending more than about $1,000 today is mostly necessitated by niche purposes.
Compared to our last midrange guide, the gaming systems outlined here are substantially more capable due to much faster video cards, with better SSDs and overall lower power consumption. The workstation in this guide is about 15% less expensive than last year's workstation, while including a faster CPU and SSD, as well as offering more storage capacity. It will be interesting to see how developments from Intel's upcoming Haswell CPU architecture along with AMD's Piledriver and Trinity architectures affect the midrange market. Trinity in particular appears as though it will shake up at least the lower midrange market segment. AnandTech will, of course, be covering Trinity upon its mainstream retail launch; expect a full Trinity buyer's guide at that time.
The systems in this guide are ready to go as they are outlined, but once you start spending around $1,000 on a computer, you might be interested in more customization—that's the point of doing it yourself. There are a variety of options with pros and cons for any change, and while you're always welcome to ask for help in our article comments, we have other resources avaialble. In particular, our forums are full of computer enthusiasts who can help you research which components are best suited to your purposes. General Hardware is a good place to start, and you can also save money by checking the Hot Deals forum.
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Tech-Curious - Thursday, November 1, 2012 - link
I just stumbled over this article. I laugh because I just got finished ordering parts for a new build that's almost identical to the low-range build in the guide -- but I spent a couple of weeks doing research and/or looking for deals to get there.Wish I'd seen this sooner!
Of course, the tech market is a fickle and cruel mistress: Just two days after I ordered an Intel 330 240GB SSD, I get an email from newegg advertising a massive sale on SSDs. :)
Anyway, I've loved this site for a solid decade. Thanks, and keep up the great work.
LameKuma - Tuesday, November 20, 2012 - link
Can't wait to see what the crew has in store for the Holiday Guides and what they recommend. :)mrw55 - Thursday, November 22, 2012 - link
I found this post after searching for mid-range workstations and couldn't help but throw my 2 cents in,In a previous life; As the former Q.C. tech for the electronics dept. of a company in RTP, I can verify that every manufacturer has defective components/parts.
One can generalize about quality and product intent but sooner or later, regardless of the company, someone is going to have a problem with company X,Y or Z.
All this talk of good product/bad product means one thing to me. What happens after the sale.
Even then it depends on who one talks to come problem time.
Talking to a computer tech recently about motherboards, his company only uses ASUS products as they find ASUS has the best overall performance and support.
Five minutes from now I'll talk to someone else and will be told "Oh god, not ASUS, their products suck" .
Long story short, it all comes down to personal experience and everyone can back up what they say. Problem is, some people are better at statistics than others.
Meaning, the fact that one can only present 1 or 2 example of failure, proves the quality of a product.
Argue away, nothing will ever be settled.
Tech-Curious - Tuesday, December 4, 2012 - link
Your general point is a good one; human beings aren't wired to track statistical trends accurately. We're prone to place too much emphasis on anecdotal experience.So as consumers, we shouldn't put too much stock in negative user reviews, but we also can't ignore reliability entirely. Sites like the following provide good info for prospective buyers of computer hardware, for example:
http://www.behardware.com/articles/881-1/component...
Of particular interest on that site are the listings of specific parts with unusually high return rates. For instance, the OCZ Octane 128 GB SATA II has a reported return rate of 30.85%. It might be fair to defend the OCZ brand on the basis of its ~5% total return rate, but even the most ardent OCZ fanboy ought to avoid the Octane 128GB.
By the same token, OCZ's 5.02% return rate on SSDs doesn't sound all that terrible in isolation, but it's still more than ten times higher than the reported return rate for Intel and Samsung SSDs. Of course, there's still a chance you'll end up with a dud if you order an Intel or a Samsung, but your odds are far better.
pbbob - Saturday, October 12, 2013 - link
I always consult these system buyer's guides before building a new system and this Thanksgiving is my target completion date.Any idea when the 2013 version of this guide will come out?