blueprint a part-by-part guide to building a better pc

THIS MONTH’S STREET PRICES...

BUDGET

THIS TIME OF YEAR is the best, and for one reason: hardware launches. And lots of them. We’re being treated not only to a new array of Ryzen 9000 processors, but by the time you read this, Intel’s latest Ultra 200S series processors will have landed, confusing everything with their new nomenclature and odd architectural designs (see news, page 8). It’s not just major change for the two big chip manufacturers either. Yep, we’re updating our trusty steeds. All six of our builds are getting brand new chassis, picked from the very best cases we’ve looked at over the last 12 months (and even one that we’ve not yet featured, it’s impressed us that much).

So, budget build—what are we looking at? First, let’s address the case change. We’re retiring Corsair’s 4000D Airflow for the far more modern Phanteks XT View. There’s nothing particularly wrong with the 4000D—it’s a mighty fine chassis if you have one; bit it’s four years old at this point, and slightly overpriced for what you get. The XT View, in contrast, is a super-affordable dual-compartment, fishbowl-esque chassis, with 360mm AIO support, bottom-mounted fans, integrated RGB, solid cable management, support for BTF, plus a whole host of colorways. Oh, and it’s $10 cheaper. That might not sound much, but $80 for a case of this caliber is epic.