Build A KickAss Gaming PC Build for Under $1200

Choosing the right hardware can sometimes be difficult for those wanting to build a new PC, so I decided to craft together a KickAss PC that's under a $1200. My philosophy in building computers is that you never want to build a system and skimp on any one component because you don't want a lopsided rig when it comes to performance. The parts I've put together in this build are not only for a person who games, but someone who does a lot of content creation on their computer and wants the most bang for their buck given the price restriction.

-Chris Zele

Processor:

I chose an Intel Haswell i5-4670k as my processor since it's a quad-core part and less expensive than Intel's 4770k by almost $100. The 4670k sports 6mb of L3 cache the same as the 4770k and boasts 4-cores and 4-threads and an unlocked multiplier. The chip can overclock easily to around 4.5GHz and is a great option those looking for a budget performance.

Motherboard:

I went fairly cheap on the motherboard as this ASUS Z87-A board has everything a power user really needs and it's super-duper cheap. The mobo supports SLI, has 2 SATA-III ports along with 4 SATA-II ports, and 4 USB 3.0 ports too. This ASUS board is only $130 and as it offers SLI with both cards running in PCI-Express 3.0 x8 it's definitely a great value for this build.

Heatsink:

Cooling is always very important and it doesn't need to be very expensive as there are many different options for builders to choose from. I went with a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo for this build as it has a great price to performance ratio and it's cost $35 which is a small price to pay for excellent cooling. Maximum PC gave it a 10/10 in their review of it a few years ago which is a rarity as they've only given four 10's ever since their beginnings in the 90's. To read the review of the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo Click here.

RAM:

I chose 8GB of Corsair XMS3 because performance doesn't improve that much if you're using Corsair Vengeance or XMS3. When you're purchasing Vengeance you're paying more for the RAM's fancier heatspeaders than you are for a performance boost. Corsair's XMS3 RAM is usually $10 to $15 cheaper too.

Video Card:

The most important component when you're gaming, editing photos, or using any multimedia program is your video card. I went with an MSI GTX 760 Gaming card as it is overclocked right out of the box and can max out 95% of all current PC games at 1920x1080 while still getting 60FPS.

Case:

I went with a Corsair 200R as it provides adequate cooling with two fans stock and great cable routing along with 2 USB 3.0 ports. Corsairs's 200R is super cheap at $60 and also has awesome cable routing and tool-less drive bays. The 200R is like a Honda Civic, it may not look like much but it will last forever.

Power Supply:

For the power supply I selected a Corsair TX750 750 watt power supply as the price difference over the TX650 was only $30 more. The TX750 is more than enough to handle a 3570k and a 660 Ti, and it can also handle an SLI setup too down the road.

Storage: 

For my SSD I went with a Sandisk Ultra Plus 256GB SSD because it's one of the cheapest fastest SSD to boast sequential read and write speeds of 530MB/s and 445MB/s respectively. The SSD comes with a 3-year warranty. I ditched mechanical storage as it would add to much cost to my build and I wanted to go for performance not practicality on this build.

Optical Drive:

 I went with this ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM optical drive because it received 5 Stars on Newegg from over 4,200 reviews and it was only $20.

OS:

Windows 7 the best OS you can get right now.

All products were selected on Newegg on 07/03/13

Here's a screen cap from Newegg of all the prices of the parts I selected.

Canonical's Ubuntu 13.04 Gets Released

The newest flavor of Ubuntu was released today which according to Maximum PC "benefits for all users because of Canonical's focus on lightweight systems means faster response times in casual use and a reduced memory footprint anyone can appreciate, regardless of system specs." The OS looks like a re-skinned version of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, so the user interface remains the same in 13.04. The OS is 794mb, which means unfortunately you'll have to burn this distro to a DVD if you plan on installing via disc. Another small downer is that 13.04 will only be supported for 9 months which is kind of a bummer. Hopefully soon Ubuntu users will receive another LTS distro, so they can have an OS that will last longer than 3/4 of a year. 
Here's a link to the download page.

-Chris Zele

How To: Get Amazon Instant Videos Working on Ubuntu

Linux is great option for an OS as it's very powerful and great for coding and making applications, but some Internet services don't run it correctly with out some extra steps like Amazon Instant Videos. The reason why it doesn't work correctly is that Amazon's DRM on its streaming service is not Linux friendly by default. There are a few things you need to tweak before getting Amazon Instant Video (AIV) up and running on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. 

See what I mean...

When you First fire up Chrome or Chromium and try to watch Amazon Instant Videos you will be greeted by this page. The error message says that you will tell you need to disable Chrome PPAPI in your Plugin Settings. 

1. 

If you're using Chrome or Chromium the first step is only for those using these browsers. To get your Plugin Settings type in chrome://plugins/ in the address bar. Scroll down the page and disable the Plugin under the Adobe settings (Image below).

2.

The next step pertains to those using Firefox, Chrome, or Chromium browsers. You will now need to install two applications from the Software Center hal & libhal 1. To get these applications from the Software center type in apt-get install libhal1 and apt-get install hal into the Software Center search bar and the applications will pop right up and install them. (Images below)

3. Now you can start your AIV streaming! Here's a list of some of the best Free content on the streaming service which includes 30 Movies, TV shows, and stand up sketches  click here to see them.

EVGA to Launch a Geforce GTX 680 Mac Edition Video Card

EVGA will be launching a Mac Edition Geforce GTX 680 which will be compatible with Apple's Mac Pro desktop. The new video card will support OSX and Micorsoft's Windows 7 and 8 Operating Systems. EVGA's Apple friendly card will sport two dual-link DVI connectors, an HDMI port, and a Display port. The company has not said what the price will it will cost, but it will most likely cost about $150-$200 than a normal Geforce 680.There will most likely be a premium to pay for the new card. Sapphire a maker of AMD video cards released a Mac Edition of their 7950 which retails for $480, while their standard 7950 has a street value of only $330. The new offering from EVGA should be pretty interesting addition to the GPU mix as it will probably be the go to card for those wanting to game on OSX or build a powerful Hackintosh.

Here's a photo of what the card will look like which is essentially a normal 680 with some extra silver pieces attached to its' shroud.