So you’ve got the money (via hard work, or, you lucky fool, through someone’s Christmas generosity). How do you spend nearly $2,600 wisely? The funds are virtually unlimited, but you still want to get the most out of your budget, right?

Computer enthusiast website Tom’s Hardware (TH) recently answered that question, through their latest System Builder Marathon (SBM). A regular feature on the site, the SBM features three gaming PCs built on three different budgets. For the months of December, they were $700 (”Gaming”), $1300 (”Enthusiast”), and $2500 (”Performance”).

While the TH team went over budget for the Performance build, the extra $72 is definitely worth it: “Our current build consumes approximately one third the idle power of our most recent high-end $2,500 build… Full load power is also down significantly, making even our 850W power supply seem like overkill.” The December Performance PC also enjoys a 18% increase in average performance, though at the cost of -4% in efficiency.

The Build

	Component	Item	Price
	CPU	Intel Core i7-860 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor	$280
	CPU Cooler	XIGMATEK HDT-S1284EE 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler	$39
	Memory	2 sets of Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory	$168 ($84 x 2)
	Graphics	2 x DIAMOND Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 5870PE51G Video Card	$860 ($430 x 2)
	Optical Drive	LG Black 8X Blu-ray Burner SATA Model WH08LS20	$170
	Storage	2 x WD Caviar Black WD2001FASS (set up as a RAID 1 array)	$600 ($300 x 2)
	Motherboard	GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P LGA 1156	$185
	Power Supply	CORSAIR CMPSU-850HX 850W Power Supply	$180
	Case	LIAN LI Lancool PC-K7B Black Computer Case	$90
Total			$2,572