Some facts on the CPU: it is currently #24 on PassMark [10,121] cpubenchmark.net. Ahead of it are the Xeon E5-2xxx, the AMD FX-9590, and a few Core i7s (48xxK, 49xxK and 39xxK). A short while ago the 4770K was #17 and selling for ~$350.
The case was an Amazon lightning deal from November, 2012.
The CPU+Motherboard was supposed to be a combination deal for $420, but it ended up $445 because Microcenter is not fully competent. Even on the website, adding the $420 deal to cart ends up as $430. I only noticed that after I had made my in-store purchase.
The video card has a $25 rebate, not counted, since Gigabyte is not very good at fulfilling rebates. The card was installed later, so I’m able to report that the Intel HD Graphics 4000 produces a “Windows Experience” of 6.8/7.9. Not too shabby for built-in graphics. With the video card, this system scores a 7.8/7.9 – the “oh, so close” system. What was the 7.8? The CPU! I assume I could overclock it up to 7.9, but I would never leave it there.
All product links are from the actual vendor.
| Item | Product | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7 4770K 3.5Ghz (3.9GHz Turbo) Socket 1150 84W Four-Core Desktop | $300 |
| RAM | G.SKILL Ripjaws 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 Desktop Memory Model F3-2400C11D-16GXM | $130 |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GZ-Z87X-UD4H LGA 1150 HDMI USB 3.0 | $176 |
| Power Supply | Corsair Enthusiast TX650 Bronze certified | $65 |
| Video | Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort Graphics Card, GV-R795WF3-3GD | $225 |
| Case | Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case (Black) CC-9011014-WW | $55 |
| SD Drive | Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SATA 6GB/s MZ-7PD256BW | $224 |
| HD Drive | Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black WD1002FAEX | $85 |
| BD/DVD/CD | Samsung Optical Drive SH-224DB/BEBE | $21 |
| Keyboard | – | – |
| OS | Windows 7 Professional SP1 64bit | $124 |
| Total | – | $1405 |
| WiFi | TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 N900 Wireless Dual Band PCI Express Adapter | $32 |