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