Buying advice: High-Performance Desktop PC

Published by Marc Büchel on 27.08.12

The following buying advice is targeted at consumer who are looking for a high-performance desktop PC. All the products we mention we would buy ourselves. This buyers advice will be updated on a regular basis.








System components

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H 145.- CHF est. 121.- EUR
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770 315.- CHF est. 263.- EUR
Memory: 2 x 4 GByte Kingston Value RAM46.- CHFest. 38.- EUR
Graphics card: ASUS GTX 660 Ti DirectCU II 349.- CHF est. 291.- EUR
Solid State Disk: Samsung PM 830 128 Gigabyte SSD 129.- CHF est. 108.- EUR
Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7.2k rpm 159.- CHF est. 133.- EUR
DVD/CD burner: LG GH22NS 27.- CHF est. 23.- EUR

Subtotal:   1'170.-  CHF est. 975.- EUR

Brief description

Regarding motherboard, processor and memory we recommend Intels most recent socket 1155 combined with 2 x 4 GByte of DDR3 memory. Paired up with an Intel Core i7-3770 CPU there is plenty of performance for realtime video streaming, gaming, graphics design or any other application. To allow very smooth working we recommend a quick SSD. The ASUS graphics card comes with a big cooler that offers silent cooling even under load. Furthermore this card also offers good connectivity and the performance level is reasonable for a system like this.

Case, Power Supply, Cooling

Case: Lian Li PC-7FN 116.- CHF 97.- EUR
CPU cooler: Alpenföhn Matterhorn 63.- CHF 53.- EUR
Power Supply: Corsair AX650 Gold 153.- CHF 128.- EUR

Subtotal:   322.- CHF 268.- EUR

Brief description

With the Lian Li PC-7FN we recommend a compact ATX case that is very well build, ergonomic and comes with a nice design. There is enough space to put all the components in it. Regarding the power supply we chose a Corsair AX650 Gold. This thing offers 650 Watts and it has been 80 PLUS Gold certified. According to 80plus.org this block comes with an average efficiency of 90 percent which really is excellent and it definitely have a positive impact on your electricity bill.

Dispaly and Peripherals

Display: HP ZR2240w, 22'' 259.- CHF 216.- EUR
Keyboard and Mouse: Logitech Illuminated and Logitech Performance Mouse MX Cordless 174.- CHF 145.- EUR
Mousepad: SteelSeries 9HD 45.- CHF 38.- EUR

Subtotal:   478.- CHF 398.- EUR

Brief description

Concerning the display we recommend an HP 22 inch TFT with native FullHD resolution and LED background light. Tanks to the LEDs the display comes with good brightness and it is energy efficient. Furthermore the display comes with an IPS panel, which offers excellent image quality. Mouse and keyboard come from Logitech. In our opinion a high quality mouse pad is needed because it allows a user to use its mouse as precisely as possible. It's not a rare thing that the addition of a good mouspad makes a bigger difference than buying a new mouse. 
If you should be thinking about buying this entire configuration you'd have to pay CHF 1'986.- (est. EUR 1'655.-). The price is without obligation.
Total:   1'970.00 CHF 1'642.- EUR


Pleas feel free to use the comment system below or our Forums to tell us what you think about this configuration. If you have ideas for improvement(s) we'd happily read them. Please always consider that the price should stay withing the given borders.

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Buying advice: High-Performance Desktop PC - Buying advice > 2012 - Reviews - ocaholic