Vince_ThePhoenix Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 (edited) Desktop Computers PSU(Power Supply Unit)Questions The PSU is arguably the most important component in your computer. It provides power to your computer, and a cheap one can fry components, cause instability, and many other problems. 1) Good Quality PSUs (Cost more!) -Corsair (HX Series) -Seasonic -Antec -Enermax -PC Power & Cooling -OCZ GamerXtreme -Nexus 2) Good Value PSUs (Still good quality) -Akasa -Tagan -Fortran Source (FSP) -Thermaltake NEVER BUY A Q-TECH PSU. EVER. 3) How powerful should my PSU be? This changes with what is being run, but generally a budget computer should be running a quality 350W PSU, 400W for a mid range computer, and 450W for a higher end computer. Computers running SLI should be at least 500W. It should be said that quality of power output is more important than quanitity. So a Good 360W PSU is better than a cheap 500W PSU. Generic PSU's that come free with cases should be avoided - the exception being the Antec range of cases. 4) The best PSUs for a quiet system are ranked below in order from best (left) to next best alternative (right). 330W - 600W: Seasonic S12 or Corsair's HX range> Antec NeoHE> Nexus> Tagan 5) I want a silent PSU, what should I get? -Antec Phantom 500 (careful system airflow consideration is required for a passive PSU) Processor Questions 1) I am building a gaming computer. What should I get? -For a new build the Intel Core2Duo and Core2Quad processors offer the best price/performance ratio for gaming. They also overclock extremely well. -AMD's X2 dual-core processors are slower than the Core2Duo by a fair bit, however they still offer good value if you have a s939 or AM2-based system already. 2) I am building a computer for video editing and such, but also like to play games. -Again, the Core2Duo or Core2Quad CPU's are an excellent choice for video editing/light gaming. Whether you go for AMD or Intel, though, just make sure you're getting at least a dual-core processor if you're planning on doing any serious video editing. 3) I am building a computer for video editing, and have no interest in playing games. -An inexpensive video editing box would have a Core2Duo processor. However, Intel has also released a low price quad-core processor, the Core2Quad Q6600. At around £160 it is far cheaper than the old line of Quad Cores, and it will start to have a serious advantage over the regular Core2Duo line, especially as more programs are written to take advantage of the 4 cores. Motherboard Questions 1) I am getting a Socket939 Athlon 64 processor, what motherboard is the best? - Pretty much any NF3 or NF4 motherboard is going to be ok, but here are the ones to considerr: AGP -Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939 -MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum PCI-E -Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 -DFI LANPART UT nF4 Ultra-D(For overclocking) PCI-E SLI -Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI -DFI LANPART UT nF4 SLI(For overclocking) -DFI LANPART UT nF4 SLI-D/DR(For overclocking and more features) 2) I am getting an Intel Pentium class processor(socket 775), what motherboard is best? - Anything with an intel chipset is pretty safe, but here are the ones of good value: AGP: Asus P5P800 (DDR1) PCI-E: Asus P5GD1 (DDR2) 3) I am getting an Intel Core2Duo class processor(socket 775), what motherboard is best? AGP: ASRock 4CoreDUAL-VSTA (Versatile mobo, gives AGP and PCI-E graphics slots, as well as DDR and DDR2 memory slots, not the best overclocker, but great for people upgrading to Core2Duo/Quad over time) PCI-E: Gigabyte P35 DS3/DS4 Gigabyte X38 DS5 ASUS P5K (series) (P35) MSI P7N Platinum 750i ASUS P5E (X38) ASUS Maximus Formula (X38) EVGA nForce 680i MSI P7N Diamond 780i ABIT IP35 Pro (P35) RAM Questions 1) I dont overclock. What RAM should I get? -If you dont overclock, there is little difference(about 5%??) between different sticks of RAM. Good ram for the price: DDR (For Athlon 64) Geil Value, Corsair Value Select, OCZ Value, Kingston Value, Micron... DDR (For socket 775 P4/Core2, on an AGP Board) Geil Value, Corsair Value Select, OCZ Value, Kingston Value, Micron... DDR2 (For socket 775 P4/Core2/AM2, on an PCI-E Board) Corsair XMS2, Geil Ultra Low Latency, OCZ 2) I do overclock. What RAM should I get? DDR(for Athlon 64) Corsair (XMS, XL) Geil (Ultra-X, Ultra) OCZ (Platinum & Gold), G.Skill and Crucial Ballistix DDR (For socket 775 P4/Core2, on an AGP Board) Corsair (XMS, XL) Geil (Ultra-X, Ultra) OCZ (Platinum & Gold), G.Skill DDR2(For socket 775 P4/Core2/AM2) Corsair XMS2, Geil Ultra Low Latency, OCZ Video Cards 1) I want to play games. What video card should I get? -A lot will depend on the compatibility with your motherboard. PCI-Express is the standard for graphics cards, with AGP cards becoming fewer and more expensive. AGP Graphics cards: (from best to worst) HD3850Pro x1950Pro 7800GS 7600GT x1650Pro 7600GS x1600Pro 6600GT NOTE: I have omitted cards which are no longer in production (x850XT PE, 6800GT, ect) PCI-e Graphics Cards: (From best to worst) nVidia has released their new 88** series, which are DirectX10 compatible. They are also the fastest DX9 cards avalible. 9800GX2 HD3870X2 8800Ultra 8800GTX / 9800GTX 8800GTS 512 (G92) 8800GT (G92) 9600GT / HD3870XT 8800GTS (G80) / 2900XT HD3850Pro / 2900Pro x1950XTX x1900XTX 7900GTX x1900XT 7950GT 7950GX2 7900GT x1950Pro 7900GS The placement of these cards is debatable, of course, as some will do better in some benchmark than others, and vice-versa. However, all of these cards will play most games out right now at max settings at resolutions of 1280x1024 and up. Lower-end PCI-e cards: 8600GTS 2600XT 8600GT 2600Pro 7600GT x1600XT 7600GS x1650Pro 2) I dont play video games. What video card should I get? -Any new low-end graphics card will suffice here. NVidia offer the 8400 and 7300 series, and ATI has the 2400 and x1300 series. These cards will be MS Vista Premium-compatible (that is, they will display the Aero effect just fine). Just make sure you are getting the right card for your motherboard(AGP or PCI-E HD(Hard Drive) Questions 1) How big and what type of a HD should I get? - Windows and programs needed require a minimum Ideally) of around 20GB. The smallest you cany buy will be nearer 40GB, but the price change is small with big increases in capacity. For example a 40GB will be only a few £/$ less than an 80GB - be led by your budget when choosing size. - 500GB is currently regarded as the optimal for price/performance. - Spend what you feel is worth it. Remeber, you can always add another HD later if you want. - Hard drives come in 2 connection types nowadays. ATA and Serial-ATA (A-ATA). Performance levels between the 2 formats are small, but SATA is the newer technology, and should be adopted as such. Do consider some older boards wont support S-ATA and some (few) newer boards do not support the older ATA. Add-in cards can be purchased for the PCI slot to add SATA functionality to older systems. - If performance is desired, Western Digital's Raptor is one of the fastest drives (16MB Cache, 10 000 rpm), but these are limited to 74GB & 150GB. Other fast drives will all be 16MB Cache and spin at 7200rpm. If maximum storage is required, a standard 2MB cache, 5400rpm drive will suffice, and will be cheaper. It is reccomended that the operating system, or games, be installed on the fastest drive in the system - as these rely on the hard drive read speed the most. 2) What brand of HD should I get? -Well, here is where nobody can offer you much help. Opinions here are based mostly on personal preference, not on facts. Here are some of this boards prefered HD brands: -Western Digital -Samsung -Seagate -Maxtor -Regardless of which brand you buy DO buy a good brand, as most will offer at least 2 years warranty on replacements for faulty drives. Budget drives do not have this luxury. 3) Is a RAID array right for me? -In games, a RAID array wont really help much at all. If you want a boost in speed, Western Digitals SATA Raptor drive may be your answer. - RAID arrays are also ideal for data safety. Using RAID1 (2 HDDs) you have an identical, (and always current) image of your drive stored on a second drive, with which to recover the entire disc from. CD/DVD Drive Questions **Some programs and games now come on DVD as these offer more space. A DVD-ROM drive is a recommended minimum, however with the prices of DVDRW drives so low there's no real reason to buy anything less** 1) I just want to be able to read my discs. What should I get? -Pretty much any DVD drive will work, some better than others. Here are a few of the better brands. - Any device will work fine 2) I want to be able to burn CD's. What should I get? -Here are a few brands that work well -LiteOn -Optowrite -BTC -Plextor - Most any CDRW drive will be adequate nowadays, although the price between these and DVD-RWs is negligible. 3) I want to be able to burn DVD's and CD's. What should I get? -Here are a few brands that work well -NEC -LG -Pioneer -Plextor -LiteOn -Samsung Computer Cooling Questions A high-end PC system must have case fans to allow an exchange of hot air for cooler air - this allows the components to operate within in acceptable limits, but preferably these limits should not even be approached, and good cooling will allow you to squeeze out more performance and prolong the life of components. A simple way to help with case cooling is to tidy all of your wires so as to minismise the obstruction in airflow, and add either a few 80mm fans or a single (or multiple) 120mm in a push-pull arrangement. If noise is an issue, Nexus fans are rated to be amongst the quietest available. For air cooling of processors: Budget: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (775) - Great value for money heatsink, well worth getting over the stock cooler. High End (in no order): Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme Thermalright IFX-14 Scythe Ninja+ Rev.B Scythe Infinity Tuniq Tower Zalman CNPS 9500 Zalman CNPS 9700 Noctua NH-U12F Titan Amanda The best aftermarket thermal paste is Arctic Silver 5. However, don't just slather it on; use this guide from Arctic Silver's website. Please note: OCZ Ultra 5+ Premium Silver Compound is manufactured by Arctic Silver and uses the same formula as AS5. So if you see it for a lower price, go for it. Water cooling is more difficult to advise on, and it is not for beginners. Testing has proved that most complete water cooling "kits" made by some manufacturers is just as effective as the ThermalRight XP heatsinks and a whole lot more expensive. If you need advise on water cooling, it is best to start your own thread. Cases The case or Enclosure is of key importance to most computer builders. Noise levels, cooling ability, function and size, looks AND price all come into the equation. Four types of case are detailed below, with an (*) denoting cases favoured by silencing enthusiasts. Performance Tower Cases Akasa Eclipse/Mirage 62 Coolermaster - CM Stacker (*)Antec - P182 Super Mid tower case (*)Antec Sonata III Antec Ninehundred Silverstone - Tejim TJ-06 Thermaltake - Armour Case Lian Li - V1100 Plus Lian Li - PC7 All the above cases do not come with a power Supply, you should purchase this seperately, see the PSU section at the top of this guide. MiniATX Cases These cases are for those who crave a small PC they can guarantee will take up as little space as possible. Cooling suffers in these unis and noise can become a factor when trying to counter the increasing heat. Antec NSK3480 - (Antec 380W PSU included) Aspire - X-Qpac (420W PSU included) Anything by Shuttle (PSU included) Silverstone - Sugo 01 NZXT - Rogue HTPCs Currently very popular are Home Theatre PC's (HTPCs) The cases for these units generally lie horizontally much like old desktop PCs used to. Silverstone are recognised as the market leaders in this field, whilst their cases aren't cheap they certainly beat most of the fledgling brands for price, and are very solidly constructed too. (*)Antec's NSK2480 is well reviewed - quiet with good airflow Budget cases As with everything there is a high end and a low end. If you don't care about what your case looks like, or the system you're going to build is not going to generate much heat, not to mention you are looking to save cash then there are a vast number of cases around to suit you. Aesthetically they vary, its all up to personal taste, whether you are a flashly lights or understated elegance person there will be one out there. These cases often come with power supplies included. Most of these will be of substandard design, and will often not reach the wattage they suggest. Your best bet is to take this PSU out and buy one of the models featured at the top of the page(if you are on a budget the PSU will generally be enough but it should be one of your first items to upgrade if you do so in the future). This can ONLY be done if the PSU you are are moving is a standard ATX power supply, It cannot be done if it is Mini-atx or is actually built into the case. A tip from us is that your case is often recyclable, especially if it is under 3 years old and the possibility of using the case from the machine you've had enough of can be done. Another great indicator of the quality of a case is the brand, a cheap case from any of the following brands should serve you well: Antec Coolermaster Thermaltake Enermax Asus Gigabyte Akasa A good pricemark to start at with budget cases is £30. Antec do case+PSU combos which offer good quality with decent savings. Notebook Computers - Acer make very affordable, reasonable quality laptops. Some are suitable for gaming. -Dell - produces mid-priced laptops with a good build quality. Some models are rather large while some of their slim line models are flimsy. A good choice for a small business or a "power" home user. Certain models game well. -Lenovo (formerly IBM) - currently they sold their laptop division to another company. The current models are top notch and high quality and are priced higher then most laptops. A good choice for large businesses or someone needed a laptop that is VERY durable yet small and powerfull. Not recommended for gamers. -Toshiba - produces powerfull budget laptops. Low to mid price range with a good build quality and decent system specs. Not recommended for gamers -Fujitsu Siemens - most noteable for their ultra-slim range of laptops -Samsung - good range of sleek, attractive laptops Edited April 17, 2008 by vicenzo312 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SyphonPayne Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 Nice thread. I agree with everything except the Asus mobo recommendations. I would suggest Gigabyte or MSI myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince_ThePhoenix Posted April 17, 2008 Author Share Posted April 17, 2008 This topic could be pinned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILovePolarBears Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 Nice write up! Only thing I can think to add is, perhaps a note in regard to Quad core CPUs for gaming; currently, almost without exception, games only use two threads. Given this, and the smaller cache per C2Q core, you generally end up with less real world performance at a higher cost. If someone is building a gaming system, C2D is a superior choice when compared to the C2Q. It is feasible that a couple years down the road more games will make use of quad core CPUs, and as such, it is advisable that when building a new system, a user selects a motherboard whose chipset also supports C2Q (allowing for an incremental CPU upgrade down the road before jumping to an LGA1366 motherboard/CPU). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwards Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 You plagiarized this, you ass. Get out of my forum. http://www.tech-pc.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40729 Thanks to the user who reported this. sysnode.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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