Build Your Own: Tom's Hardware's BestConfigs, Updated!

[Shin-san]

I think they should add another category: a PC that can game decently at 720p at the cost of a console with a hard drive ($299 right now). Include both OS and non-OS builds.

 

[neiroatopelcc]

[citation][nom]Shin-san[/nom]I think they should add another category: a PC that can game decently at 720p at the cost of a console with a hard drive ($299 right now). Include both OS and non-OS builds.[/citation]
buy a used c2d with a g80 or g92 chip ... costs next to nothing and does the job

 

[Guest]

assuming that the links to the $700, $1300, and $2500 builds have actually been updated, im rather disappointed to see how bad those builds are for their respective price ranges. the really sad thing is that a 17 year old, and a 14 year old have compiled a parts list which shits all over the $2500 and $1300 builds, and soon, a professional hardware reviewer from Neoseeker will beat the $700 build. you want proof? here is the thread i created:

http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/17/t1496843-toms-hardware-700-1300-2500-builds-time-for-neoseeker-critisism/3.htm

the first two builds are on page 2

 

[KT_WASP]

[citation][nom]JonnyDough[/nom]If it's a "GAMING" build then you forgot one important thing. Windows 7.[/citation]

Ummm... I was going by the format that Tom's used, which is a box with no OS... as their $901 "budget" gaming PC had no OS either. Not to mention, they did not add shipping costs to their build either. My build was $442.42 shipped. Theirs, with OS included, would have been well over $1,000.

Also, if you took the time to read my post, I said that you can game on decent settings for $450-$550...meaning, $450 w/o the OS, $550 with. Maybe I should have been more clear in that statement, but I figured MOST people were smart enough to figure that out on their own.

My whole point of my post was to show that these "budget" builds on this site have been becoming more expensive over time, while forgetting the whole point of budget building in the first place.

You do not need to spend $1,000 to get into PC gaming. Someone can spend $450-$550 and still be able to join their friends online and play PC games.. Sure, they might not have the best system out there, but they will still be able to have a good time and play today's titles on decent settings.

 

[neiroatopelcc]

[citation][nom]hiigaran[/nom]assuming that the links to the $700, $1300, and $2500 builds have actually been updated, im rather disappointed to see how bad those builds are for their respective price ranges. the really sad thing is that a 17 year old, and a 14 year old have compiled a parts list which shits all over the $2500 and $1300 builds, and soon, a professional hardware reviewer from Neoseeker will beat the $700 build. you want proof? here is the thread i created:http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/17 [...] sism/3.htmthe first two builds are on page 2[/citation]

Should it worry anyone that there is no 1300 and 2500 build I can spot?

I decided to help you out there by copy pasting the build prices.

$463 AMD-Based Office PC Configuration
$499 Intel-Based Office PC Configuration
$4524 High-End Workstation Configuration
$917 Budget Intel-Based Gaming PC Configuration
$901 Budget AMD-Based Gaming PC Configuration
$710 Home Theater PC Configuration
$1030 MicroATX Gaming Build Configuration
$1848 High-End Intel Gaming PC Configuration
$1865 High-End AMD Gaming PC Configuration

ps. you're lucky! I usually don't read posts from newcommers (not credible in my mind)

 

[chadz]

[citation][nom]neiroatopelcc[/nom]Should it worry anyone that there is no 1300 and 2500 build I can spot?[/citation]

Yes, it should. Read what was said after the link, haha (the "first two builds are on page 2"). I think he meant this post: http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/17/t1496843-toms-hardware-700-1300-2500-builds-time-for-neoseeker-critisism/2.htm#24 for the $2500 build, and this post: http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/17/t1496843-toms-hardware-700-1300-2500-builds-time-for-neoseeker-critisism/2.htm#27 for the $1300 build. ^___^

 

[Onus]

hiigaran, you and your buddies over there miss a vital point about the SBM. They are almost always intended to test something perhaps a little off the wall. Very often, something about any of the builds merits a solid FAIL, but that's ok, because the purpose was to confirm something old or learn something new. I don't remember when I last saw a SBM and said "wow, I'm going to build THAT," but I've gotten ideas (or lost some!) from every one of them.

 

[chriscusano]

I love what you guys are doing here. Props. Best PC HW website out there. In line with this idea, why not think about building (or theoretically at least) computers for video editing? I recently tried to design one for a friend and I realized the demands are very different which significantly changes where you spend money, ie:

*4 core @ 2.66 GHZ (significantly?) > 2 core @ 3.33 (i7 out of budget)
*$ toward vid card < $ toward CPU
*+1 to hdd just for scrubbing (+1 = 1 pt; ie important)
*+1 to RAID 0(+1)
*SSD for scrubbing or wd raptor?
*+1 for case with quick release sideways mounted hdds
*+1 for 2(+) dvd burners
*+1 for blueray burner +1
*how important is gpu encoding? how often is it really used
*ati stream > nvidia cuda (not going quadro here)
*what are the sweet spots for price performance (ie gaming machine needs ~650 minimum. less than that you gotta really skimp somewhere and it hurts)
*how do you balance your spending for this type of pc; where do you focus your $ to see the biggest payoffs
*how NOT to get bottle-necked somewhere that you might not know about if you're not accustomed to video editing yourself
*etc

The reason I'm putting this here is (based on my limited gpu encoding research and the difficulties I found in obtaining very useful and recent info) I'm highly suspect that it's difficult to find good information about building a properly balanced and reasonable budged computer for amateur video editing. The reason I say this is I suspect professional editors have large budgets and buy pre-assembled overpriced computers whereas most amateurs are also amateur when it comes to understanding pc hardware, and often use mac's. Whereas gamers are most familiar with pc hardware, its pricing, its bang for the buck, and building a custom computer that will handle the required tasks beautifully at the lowest prices.

Just a thought, and in this day when many people are getting into amateur video editing, it may be a worthwhile consideration for the staff when thinking what type of articles and reviews to do next. Thanks for listening!
-Chris

 

[akula2]

@Chris Angelini

How come you missed i7-860 processor? Or, did i miss it during my fast read?

 

[akula2]

@some ID

Gigabyte P55A are perfect for single GPU, please stop scaring others with nonsense! BTW, they didn't any lane...actually it was a design limitation if you could understand. Thanks.

 

[akula2]

Gigabyte P55A boards are perfect for single GPU and good enough (8x) even with double GPUs. BTW, Gigabyte didn't steal any lane. Please stop scaring others with nonsense!

I've built 21 Workstations based on i7-860 and GA-P55A-UD4P (which run 1 5770 Sapphire) and 2 high end Workstations based i7-860 on GA-P55A-UD6 (which run 2 x 5770 Sapphire Vapor-X).

There is no EDIT feature on this forum, clicked on submit. Huh!

 

[neiroatopelcc]

[citation][nom]chadz[/nom]Yes, it should. Read what was said after the link, haha (the "first two builds are on page 2"). I think he meant this post: http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/17 [...] m/2.htm#24 for the $2500 build, and this post: http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/17 [...] m/2.htm#27 for the $1300 build. ^___^[/citation]

So let me get this straight - he complains that a $1300 build can beat a $900 build? or what exactly is he rambling on about? you can hardly compare builds at different budgets with different uses.

 

[lunyone]

[quoteSee above post. How can you put "OS not included". It's a required component just like everything else. You wouldn't build a gaming PC without a PSU would you? Keyboards can be reused, but if you're going to buy a 5000 series video card you're going to want DX11 capability. I think Tom's ought to start including the operating system in their builds too. It's a fundamental component of a gaming PC, and I'd really like to see it included. It's easier to see it listed and think to yourself "oh yeah, that can come off my total price" than for us to forget about it altogether.[/quote]
If you read my WHOLE post you would see that I included the prices with the OS at the bottom of the post. I always include the details, which I listed, so don't assume anything without reading the whole post.

 

[Guest]

I would love to see config's for a diy NAS and a diy media player.
NAS:
- Openfiler based?
Media player
- Play media from NAS
- Record to NAS (?)

I think most mini motherboards include all needed, but which are the best, how about a case + power supply, and do I really need a disk for the media player if I have a NAS?

If not TomsHardware could do this, who could?

 

[mvlaplante]

For the microATX build, what would you suggest as a decent AMD version CPU/Mobo?