April High-end Gaming PC Buyer's Guide

Introduction

In each month's edition of our High End Gaming PC Buyer's Guide, we are given $2500 cash to spend, going to the limit in search of the ultimate high-end gaming machine. However, we do not spend this money frivolously, and our tech savvy and eye for a bargain play a large role in the choices we make. All of the picks we make in this guide are the result of carefully weighing the price to performance ratio of each component, then seeing if they meet our budget limit of $2500. This guide is your median between our Value Buyer's Guide with only a $1000 limit, and our Extreme Buyer's Guide with a massive $4000 budget.

The purpose behind this guide is to give you a general idea of what kind of gaming PC is possible with a budget of $2500. While the individual components we choose are excellent, we take a look at the larger picture, and what components meld together the best to form the best performing, feature-rich gaming PC possible. We recommend configurations for both the Intel and AMD sides of the spectrum, and are not here to promote one platform over the other.

This month there have been reasonable price drops on nearly all products across the board, allowing us to upgrade a number of items significantly. Both the Intel and AMD systems were upgraded with the fastest processors currently available thanks to lower prices on both fronts. Recent hiccups with Intel's 800MHz FSB Pentium 4-3.0C GHz CPUs forced us to hold off on that upgrade for the time being, but there are definitely some nice surprises in store. This month's price levels translate into better, faster hardware on the horizon, and the current generation of hardware representing a better deal than ever.

Case: Lian Li PC-65 w/ Antec TruePower 430W PSU

Current Cost: $234
Months on list: 3
Price Change: -$26

Choosing the right case can be the most time consuming, and personal, choice to make when constructing your own computer. A good case can stay with you long after you have swapped internal parts out multiple times and as enthusiasts, we grow to love, or hate our case based on its internal and external characteristics. However, each month we do our best to find a case that will fit the needs of a high-end gaming PC, and look mighty fine doing so.

There are very few case manufacturers that are almost always among our top picks, with Lian Li, Cooler Master, and Antec being the most constant. This month, like the two before, we chose to go with the Lian Li PC-65 aluminum case. This case is constructed out of aluminum, making it very lightweight, and its design is very pleasing to the eye. Generally found for about $150, this case is certainly not as inexpensive as some of the more popular steel or plastic cases, but is much easier to work with and has a better chance of surviving those long trips to LAN parties. An additional $85 for name brand power supply, and you should be set for years to come.

As most high-end cases do not generally ship with power supplies, be sure to pick a high quality one, and steer clear of bargain bin units, that come complete with outrageous output claims. Antec and Enermax are both top tier brand names and although we're going with the Antec 430X TruePower, you can't go wrong with a 400W or higher model from either company.