So this is meant to be a general build guide/guideline for building your own PC. I put together 3 PC's at different price area's ($500, $1000, and I have to much money lying around).
!THIS IS MEANT TO BE A GUIDE NOT A BE ALL END ALL FOR YOUR PC!
in all honesty i did do this a little half ass'd. i wanted to do one but dont have much time right now, so i did one fast. ill look everything over and make a better one later at home.
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Intel i7 950 @ 4ghz | Asus Rampage iii Formula | 12Gb Gskill Ripjaw @ 1600Mhz
2x Ati 5870 in CF | 120Gb Intel SSD | 1.5TB Storage | Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler | Corsair HX1050W PSU
@OP
The i3-2100 you have for the budget pc is a better gaming processor than the Phenom II X4 that you have listed for the mid-range machine. It is a more efficient design than the Phenom II and has hyperthreading to make up for having 2 fewer cores. The Phenom II would be better for heavily multi-threaded applications, which most games aren't.
!THIS IS MEANT TO BE A GUIDE NOT A BE ALL END ALL FOR YOUR PC!
Budget PC
CPU-$124.99
Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078
MOBO-$69.99
ASUS P8H61-M
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131724
RAM-$34.99
Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104206
PSU-$44.99
Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033
HDD-$69.99
Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283
CASE-$39.99
COOLER MASTER Elite 360
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119195
GPU-$47.99
HIS H645H1G Radeon HD 6450 1GB
(optional, there is video out on the motherboard)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161376
Total
$390
$430(with gpu)
MID range PC
CPU-$129.99
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727
MOBO-$199.99
ASUS Crosshair IV Formula
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131644
RAM-$77.99
CORSAIR XMS 8GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145340
GPU-$159.99
MSI N460GTX Hawk GeForce GTX 460
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127518
PSU-$159
CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX650 650W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139035
CASE-$59.99
COOLER MASTER HAF 912
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233
HDD-$59.99 + $64.99
Primary
Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136795
Secondary
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALX 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136767
CPU COOLER-$39
COOLER MASTER Hyper N
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103057
total = $940
HIGH Performance PC
CPU-$259
ntel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211
MOBO-$379
GIGABYTE G1.Assassin
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128472
RAM-$189
G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series 12GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231465
CPU COOLER-$85
Noctua NH-D14
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018
GPU-$594
MSI N580GTX Lightning Xtreme Edition GeForce GTX 580
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127589
PSU-$189
CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX850 850W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139015
CASE-$179
COOLER MASTER HAF X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225
HDD-$278 + $149
Primary
Intel 510 Series 120GB SATA III
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167042
Secondary
Western Digital Caviar Black WD2002FAEX 2TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136792
Total = $2300
2x Ati 5870 in CF | 120Gb Intel SSD | 1.5TB Storage | Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler | Corsair HX1050W PSU
2x Ati 5870 in CF | 120Gb Intel SSD | 1.5TB Storage | Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler | Corsair HX1050W PSU
2x Ati 5870 in CF | 120Gb Intel SSD | 1.5TB Storage | Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler | Corsair HX1050W PSU
2x Ati 5870 in CF | 120Gb Intel SSD | 1.5TB Storage | Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler | Corsair HX1050W PSU
2x Ati 5870 in CF | 120Gb Intel SSD | 1.5TB Storage | Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler | Corsair HX1050W PSU
Its definitely not cheaper.
No.
It never has been and never will be. Building one is always the best option considering how cheap it is.
The i3-2100 you have for the budget pc is a better gaming processor than the Phenom II X4 that you have listed for the mid-range machine. It is a more efficient design than the Phenom II and has hyperthreading to make up for having 2 fewer cores. The Phenom II would be better for heavily multi-threaded applications, which most games aren't.