http://www.maximumpc.com | APR 08 | MAXIMUMPC 19

With the right parts and a little bit of

elbow grease, you can have yourself

an affordable DIY rig that does it all!

A

ny fool can spec out the ultimate Dream

Machine. Just open up your wallet, pull

out the Visa card, and tell the web store

to overnight its most expensive parts to you.

Voila! You’ve got the makings of a badass rig.

It’s an entirely different story when you’re

building a machine on a budget. You’ve got to

carefully weigh your options, consider every

possible combination of parts, and make

choices you know you can live with—because,

typically, you will make some sacrifi ces. To be

honest, the whole process can be downright

painful. When we built our $1,500 PC last year

(February 2007), we had to break so many of

our own minimum spec guidelines that no one

was truly satisfi ed with the results.

But this year is different. We found the job

of building a $1,500 rig actually pleasurable—

with minimal trade-offs. In fact, we’re tickled

pink with the quality of the hardware we got

into this box. So much so, we can unabash-

edly say that this PC can stand up to damn

near any task. Read on to fi nd out what parts

we picked, why we picked them, and why

there’s never been a better time to assemble

your own no-compromises PC on a budget.

BY GORDON MAH UNG

BUIL D

NO-COMPROMISES

$1,500 PC

YOUR OWN