*Guide to Choosing Parts*

[smithereen]

 

[randomizer]

Fixed some broken BBCode.

 

[Proximon]

Danke!

 

[drunknmunkys]

You could add a quick section on HDDs briefly explaining cache and platters. Seems like it's hard for people to believe that a 640GB drive is a better deal than their generic 1 tb drive.

 

[Proximon]

Had to split it in two.

Added sections on HDs and optical drives.

 

[btbr]

Given your preference for the value in the AMD CPU's (for gaming) and going the socket AM3 route, what are your feelings about the new AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor ($100) ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680 )
as opposed to a 720 ($140) or 940 ($180)? And which motherboard and videocard (not going to be going Crossfire in the future) would you pair with the CPU? Thanks!

 

[Proximon]

While a good question, I try to keep specifics out of this thread. Much depends on your personal usage and budget, as well as how long you think you will keep the system.

If you start a new thread and send me a PM with the link, I will try to get to it.

 

[Proximon]

I added a title in the message text to make it more Google friendly.

 

[iholly]

Just wanted to say thank you for the great guide. Was very helpful.

 

[nowenstein]

See, it's stuff like this that makes me not want to do SLI at all right now:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mainboards/display/20081006232752_Analyst_Expects_Nvidia_to_Leave_Chipset_Business_Next_Year.html

Lol nvidia is not going to quit pfff

 

[pij]

This person has done some good work:

computer-builder.com

Hello...

great read.

This link no longer works man..

Cheers

 

[pcgamer12]

Good guide. I read through it all. Maybe add some suggestions for a good sound card if one wanted one. Like, buy your speakers and use the integrated audio, then buy a sound card if the sound is not good enough for you. Then suggest a few sound cards.

Overall, a very good guide. Would recommend people to read this through when building a new PC.

 

[Proximon]

I try to keep specific parts recommendations out of this guide, but really the section on sound doesn't do much guiding, does it? Maybe I can find a bit more to say 😉

 

[tomo22]

My only question that seems missing from this guide.

The effect of ambient tempreture and humidity.

I live in Thailand so for example yeaterday was 38c with RH48%

Everything running cool except hard disks 51c

 

[Proximon]

Maybe a general section on cooling with subsections on CPU, air, water, etc.

Then again maybe I should just write a book

Added a few links on assembly. If you don't like any of them or have better, speak up.

 

[tomo22]

Please not ment as a criticm of what you have done. I think this guide is fantastic and all your other work here. I like so many other people have learnt a lot.

Actualy I should not have posted this here it is a general critic of hardware reviews.

Why not write a book with regular electronic apdates. Your quality of information is well worth it.

Thanks for all your hard work it is more than appreciated.

 

[Proximon]

I didn't take it as criticism, I just can't quite fit it into the scope of this guide.

I think someone must have heard your request just today however

http://www.boloji.com/computing/032.htm


On another subject, I must have close to 6000 posts here. If these posts averaged just 20 words each, that would be 120,000 words, the size of your average novel.

 

[dan7532]

Would you mind including a link or write-up to demonstrate/explain how to overclock?

 

[Proximon]

We have a whole forum section dedicated to overclocking 😉

 

[OvrClkr]

Nice n refreshing but I would have to disagree on the chipset info....

I build and mod rigs for fun and to tell ya the truth comparing the i7 and 955 (naked eye) I could barely see a difference in performance when it comes to gaming (Crysis, Farcry etc.)

Of course as far as numbers the i7 kills the 955 in a hearbeat. We all know this, but is it really worth the cost and bragging rights?

I own 3 systems: An i7 920 Build, an AMD 955BE build and my sons mid-range x2 550BE build and after all the money, research and time I have come to the conclusion that the i7 is by far the fastest of all 3 systems by a long run (don't get me wrong), but when it comes to real-world apps and benchmarks I kinda feel i'm getting ripped off by Intel. Not so much when it comes to the 920 because paying 279.99 for a chip is really not that much and much less knowing you getting a very fast chip. But knowing that if you go with an AM3 platform as far as bang for buck/price to performance ratio you wont be able to beat the AM3/DDR3 platform. I really don't know, for some odd reason it is more challenging for me to overclock my sons system compared to the i7. Its so easy to overclock and once your done there is nothing else to do... Maybe i'm old who knows but I thank you for posting this...found out many things i thought i knew.....

I guess the real reason I am posting this is due to the fact that I thought Id be blown away when i fired up my i7 rig for the first time and didn't really see a significant difference when comparing to my AM3 rig. Yes in all benchmarks the i7 was the clear winner but not by a margin that was expected.

 

[OvrClkr]

Don't pay attention to the reply above, my Dad is just bummed out and old. I love both AMD and Intel and as far as I am concerned, If it works and its overclockable then count me in....

 

[kubes]

[edit: removed statement]

So: Developers/Code Slingers (aka hackers), Photo stuff, Movie Stuff ect, multi tasking, ect... will expose the power of the i7 much further than games. Another thing is the i7 also holds a high advantage of preformance gain when scaling graphics cards. So SLI and CF will shine with an i7 as well.

Don't get me wrong the AM3 is by no means a bad cpu. When it comes to strickly gaming AM3 is probally a better bang for your buck cpu, but if your in a situation noted above, the i7's extra in price might warrent itself. I also forsee as time ticks applications/games will be written to take advantage of multiple cores vs higher clock speeds as well. We have started seeing apps and games start scaling by taking advantage of mulitple cores and threads already. This change in the developing community might not have fully taken place yet but it might happen in the lifespan of the i7 which again increases the value and longevity of this particular cpu.

 

[machack]

I decided to build my First PC recently and these are the parts I choose:

Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 case
Cooler Master UCP RS900 watt power supply
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 motherboard (core i7 chipset X58)
EVGA Nvidia GeForce 9800GTX+ 512 MB 16 lane video card
Intel Core i7 920 2.66 Ghz CPU
Seagate ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM disk drive (SATA)
Pioneer 203 BKS BluRay burner (SATA)
Pioneer 216D CD/DVD Burner (SATA)
12 GB OCZ Triple Channel XMP Ready Series DDR3 1600 RAM (2x6)
Corsair Hydro H50 water cooler

I have also downloaded Windows 7 RC to run on this box.

machack

 

[OvrClkr]

Not bad at all.......Hope you have fun with your new pc!

 

[smithereen]

I think its important to note that the i7 will shine mostly in everyday type applications ...

Excellent points, but I don't like the use of the word 'everyday applications'. Not only is it vague, but it implies websurfing, MSN'ing, word processing, etc., for which an Athlon/Pentium would be sufficiant.