Build Your Own: Introducing Tom's Hardware's BestConfigs!

[shaun5584]

Just a couple ideas, they may have been previusly stated, but would there be a way to better organize this? Maybe allow comments on the specific build's site? Or even better allow comments on a link directly for each equipment "type"... that way people could comment directly to their preferred build or the specific type of hardware they think should be replaced or whatnot. Just an idea. No on the other hand another type of build i think would be fun, as a purely theoretical stand point, to drool over would be a dream build. Basically the ultimate computer possible under a single tower regardless of cost... everyone's dreamed of making one even if you can't afford it EVER! it's still nice to window shop.... make that an option and people will go NUTS lol!

 

[jerreece]

[citation][nom]eklipz330[/nom]...sorry for triple post, but why is budget amd build have a dual core where as the budget intel has a i5??? there is a $100 difference, enough to throw in a phenom II 965...[/citation]

I completely agree with this question, and was glad to see someone else asked it before I did. That just seems like a major oversight. If you're spending $946, why not spend the extra $100 and get a much better overall system?

I think knocking the AMD budget system down to a dual-core is a poor move.

 

[nzprogamer]

Should All Budget Intel or AMD Based Gaming PC Configuration be around US$700?
On the $1000 mark there is mid-range. Should there be some cheap case (Thermaltake M9 w/430w PSU, only 1 mid-high end display card (GTS-250-1GB or 4870-1GB or GTX-260) and a good cheap CPU cooler for overclocking (Arctic Cooling Freezer).

 

[skora]

Hows this sound for setting the budget price point:

Cost of console gaming system + cost of standard productivity PC = Entry level gaming PC budget.

If you can't get a gaming machine for that, then it would be a better gaming and PC experience to buy them separate instead.

 

[nzprogamer]

Hows this sound for setting the budget price point:

Cost of console gaming system + cost of standard productivity PC = Entry level gaming PC budget.

If you can't get a gaming machine for that, then it would be a better gaming and PC experience to buy them separate instead.

Good Point

 

[osse]

Im a liltle shocked of the AMD budget gamer recomandation, to say this in a fine manner, it sucks for a gamerigg at that pricepoint.

With that i meen, there is room for a lot more performance without sacrefising much kvalety, if it been a year ago, then ok.

Phenom II 955
Radeon 5850
Dfi lanparty 790FX - DDR3 16x16 cf support
4 gb of crucial 7-7-7-24
Samsung F3 1 tb
Sesonic 750w strong enough for cf of 5850
Lg dvd burner
Coolermaster Centurion 5

Adds up to $958,53 at Newegg

Only littel drawback compared to that losy build recomend is the case.

Been building AMD rigs , round 100 the last 18 years, and well, Toms recomandation for $946 sucks, period.

 

[gseguin]

Ok, I've got a few sores on this one.

First off: Awesome content! It's a great starting point to get up to date if you've been looking away, and you can then do your own research.

Sore 1 : power users always fall into the crack. In my case (software development), most users wouldn’t know what to do with a 4K$ workstation, and once you get a a bunch of plugins in, your IDE’s compile, deploy and test cycle time is greatly affected by CPU(count and speed), RAM amount and HD speed. Same goes with # crunching analyst which go through data models, or power users which like reactive response times in a wide range of applications.
Sure, the than 50$, excluding the hardware instead, and thus well worth the investment. Corporate boxes also go for motherboards which have remote management tools, longer MTBF values, and as a new trend, spend less electricity, this article is great on all these points, but most of the comments do not reflect this for the office crowd.

Sore 3 : I’d like to see a home server category. Every 6 months or so, I decide I’m going to put up a dedicated server and end up not doing it, nor buying a NAS, because nothing out there seems to be what I’m looking for. To raid or not to raid, good quality basic parts, etc.

 

[arkadi]

I don't know if this section was inspired by my comment from few month ago, Any way I think it can be really helpful. Still I have few comments to add.
One of my responsibilities at my organization is research and purchases of new equipment, such as computers for example.
I know it is hard to cover all the needs and configurations, but some things have common ground.
Office PC:
What I am looking for in office PC? Well low price, reliability, superb service, and required level of performance. In toms recommendations you didn't mention builds from manufactures like Dell, HP, or IBM. That offer superb on site serves and up to 5 years warranty. 1 TB HD for office is way too much, if I had to spend 80 usd on storage two smaller drives in raid 1 will make more sense. Case and PSU way to expansive for Office PC.
High-End Workstation
High-End Workstations are more task dedicated, so it is really hard to make configuration that will work for everyone, but I think POWER office PC can be added to recommendations. With various upgrade options.
Gaming PC
I am not sure that you can find many people that will build computer for pure gaming. And parts vendors are subjective in many cases. I think guide with pointers that will balance Price Chipset\CPU\GPU (single and multiple) will do more good than list of parts.
Same logic can be applied to rest of the segments that was not mentioned.
Also some kind of survey can be used to determine approval of builds.
I can go on and on with this, but I will save some for the next time

 

[cmartin011]

I was curious why doesn't any of the high-end builds Have 8Gb of ram? if there would be one thing i would have in all these builds is 64 bit operating system with 6Gb+ of ram.

 

[nzprogamer]

[citation][nom]arkadi[/nom]Gaming PC I am not sure that you can find many people that will build computer for pure gaming. And parts vendors are subjective in many cases. I think guide with pointers that will balance Price Chipset\CPU\GPU (single and multiple) will do more good than list of parts. Same logic can be applied to rest of the segments that was not mentioned.Also some kind of survey can be used to determine approval of builds.I can go on and on with this, but I will save some for the next time[/citation]

well i am sure i am not the only one who build a pc for just gaming, i use EEE pc for my other needs. about the balanced pc. in AUS PCuser Magazine got a software called perfect pc just put in the $, AMD or INTEL and the use (gaming, all-rounder or video) you will have the best price (price updated 4weekly) of the parts list (cpu,chipset/m-b,ram,gfx,hdd...)

 

[nzprogamer]

[citation][nom]Cmartin011[/nom]I was curious why doesn't any of the high-end builds Have 8Gb of ram? if there would be one thing i would have in all these builds is 64 bit operating system with 6Gb+ of ram.[/citation]

i think its because the most high-end gamer still running XP-pro-32bit or just jump to Win7 and TOMS already showed that more system RAM doest not help gaming much. remember the high end build is for gaming my friend, other than gaming there is a work station, i think people who build the work station will install the system ram as much as they can right?

 

[toxsick]

A couple of things need to be said. As far as the gaming pc's go, a few parts are missing. What about the case fans you will more then likely need especially if you are running sli or crossfire to help keep your components cooler. What about the cup fan you will more then likely add over the stock cooler especially if you are overclocking? Thermal paste?? And if you are doing that, it's a good idea to have a temp display with fan controller. It all adds cost. I can understand why they didn't add an os onto the price as they probably figure you already have an os to install onto it unless you plan on having more then one pc. Then it should be added to the cost. (if you don't pirate or crack one that is).

As far as the gpu being "bottle-necked" by the cpu. For one, the chipset used can have some impact on the numbers. Second, The increase in cpu speed and or architecture will naturally have a positive impact on the fps you will receive. Say for example you are using a 5770 with a i5-750 cpu and at the setting you play at you get 45fps. You then upgrade to a i7-940 and now get 55fps. Of those extra 10fps, how much is due to the cpu and how much is due to less "bottle-necking"??? I have yet to see a program that can actually separate the the two and show how much of a difference the faster cpu actually helps by itself and helps the graphics card due to less bottle-necking. Just my 2 cents.

 

[georgekn3mp]

Here is MY 1900 Intel gaming rig . Actually somewhat more multi-purpose, just bought from Cyberpower this month. It matches a lot of the "Tom's High-End Intel" I customized pretty heavily..and got what I feel is a good rig too with a 26" Asus monitor included! Tom;s rig obviously has better video but I have USB3, SATA6, a serious OC cooling solution (it goes up to 4GHZ at 55C. Plus a 26" monitor. Smaller case though. Funny how it matches up, same hardware in some cases.

My PC Tom's PC
CPU- i7-920 ($300) i5-750 ($200)
COOLING- LCLC120 (Free) Xigmatek HDT-S1284 ($39)
MOBO- Asus P6x58D Premium ($300) MSI P55 ($210)
with USB3/SATA6 and 3PciE
RAM- 6GB A-Data DDR3 1600 ($160) Crucial 4GB 1333 ($210)
VIDEO- 1x Radeon 5850 ($290) 2x Radeon 5870 ($820)
HDD- Hitachi SATA2 1TB ($95) Intel 40gb SSD ($115)
2nd HDD none 2nd Drive 2WD 500gb ($164)
CASE - Thermaltake V3 Black ($60)Lian Li PC-K7B ($90)
PSU- Corsair TX950 ($150) Corsair TX950 ($150)
DVD Lite-On 24X DVD/RW L/S ($30) Plextor DVD/RW with L/S ($39)
My price (no tax or shipping...1908 Tom's Price $1926

Also include a blue cathode case light, keyboard, mouse, 2 extra 120mm fans, and a very high O/C to 4Ghz @ 1.31 volts. 200/20.

 

[orion76]

[citation][nom]lothdk[/nom]If, as you say about the HTPC, you want it to run as quietly as possible, why not go with a fanless 5750 or ditch it in favor an i3 with its IGP.[/citation]

Is there some reason I can't find this article by going via the Build Your Own section?

 

[Guest]

The HTPC configuration seems to have some inconsistencies. The Pentium G6950 has an integrated GPU but DP55WB motherboard doesn't support access to the GPU. The DH55TC motherboard does support the GPU at the cost of the FireWire port. The Core i3-530 is similar to the G6950, but with a faster clock, more cache, hyper threading and a faster GPU clock for only about $25 more.

The graphics card seems redundant unless the machine is also going to be used for gaming. If this is going to be a gaming machine, I'd want a much faster processor and would skip anything with an integrated GPU.

When looking at an all-in-one HTPC, I expect to see a large hard drive for video content and a tuner. These are missing from the configuration. I would also like to be able to write DVDs. Tweaking the configuration in the article, this seems to be a better configuration:

nMEDIAPC HTPC 5000B Micro ATX Media Center Case ($60)
Intel DH55TC motherboard ($100)
Intel Core i3-530 ($125)
Crucial Ballistix Tracer (2x2GB) PC3-10600 ($100)
Hauppage WinTV-HVR-2250 Media Center Kit ($130)
WD Caviar Green WD10EARS 1TB 5400 RPM ($90)
LITE-ON BD-COMBO ihes108-29 ($100)
CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W Power Supply ($70)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM ($105)

$880 ($775 without Win7)

 

[darasen66]

I am unsure how close to $1,000 qualifies as budget. That said Oft times Micro ATX is selected for the lower prices you can find them for and only need/wanting/affording a single GPU. Perhaps a section for tight budget Micro-ATX but still would like to game a bit or at least Play World of Warcraft build?