New ‘Best PC Build’ Competition Now Underway

[why_wolf]

Rather than unlimited build category might make more sense to have one category with unusual or quirky requirements in it.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

^ yup, like a workstation only category or rgb category or an itx category.

 

[tom.glimpse]

^ yup, like a workstation only category or rgb category or an itx category.

yeah - workstation only would be interesting to have.

 

[ibjeepr]

Given the daily price changes, when is the pricing locked in? The day I post the build to Tom's or on the 13th or 14th?

You can edit your build up until the final posting date.

I guess what I'm getting at is, when is the price checked by Tom's? If my price is $749.00 on 8/30 when I post it, but the day Tom's reviews the build, 9/14(?) the price of all the parts has increased to $755.00; Is my build still valid or is it disqualified?

 

[Jsimenhoff]

Your build would still be valid in that scenario.

 

[wavenight]

Can we have an actual PC building competition next time? This competition is not really fair because it everyone has their own personal tastes. Some want more ram, storage,CPU performance, or GPU power. Some people invest in the quality of the case. Some people spend money on looks. Whose to say they are right or wrong?

Personally. I'd like to see a building contest where we actually build the PCs. We can judge based on looks, price - performance ratio, neatness, and other factors. Benchmarks and thermals would also be required.

Thanks for hearing me out.

 

[shrapnel_indie]

Can we have an actual PC building competition next time? This competition is not really fair because it everyone has their own personal tastes. Some want more ram, storage,CPU performance, or GPU power. Some people invest in the quality of the case. Some people spend money on looks. Whose to say they are right or wrong?

Personally. I'd like to see a building contest where we actually build the PCs. We can judge based on looks, price - performance ratio, neatness, and other factors. Benchmarks and thermals would also be required.

Thanks for hearing me out.

Not everyone can afford to build a PC at the drop of a hat, especially making multiples during the year. For many of us (I believe), we build as if we would be the one owning it anyway. Building to the standards we believe in, as if it were our own money. (It's one reason you don't see fire-hazard PSUs, or severely lopsided builds in most of the entries. Most of us have a set budget, and that budget allows us a major build every so often, and perhaps upgrades in between. That every so often usually equals a few years.

As to fairness: Is it fair to immediately disqualify people just because they don't have the funds to build for every category or even just a single category? I'm pretty sure TH has a checklist that first the builds must meet (i.e. priority one: follow the rules and stay in budget, priority two: a machine that is capable of functioning on some usable level. etc.) TH already has stated that they look for the best bang for the buck or most features/performance. If someone wants to focus on bling over function, well, I guess they missed what this is all about (and what it replaced.)

 

[ibjeepr]

Quick Question:

"Provide links to the Amazon or Newegg product pages of each component — we encourage users to use PCPartPicker's System Build for speedy construction. Do not post a link to your build, but rather please be sure to export as BBCode for a quick copy/paste to the forums."

The links in the BB copy and paste lead to PCPARTPICKER. Am I supposed to replace those links in my post with links directly to Newegg / Amazon or do I leave the BB paste as it is and you got to Newegg/ Amazon by way of PCPARTPICKER or either is fine?

 

[why_wolf]

Quick Question:

"Provide links to the Amazon or Newegg product pages of each component — we encourage users to use PCPartPicker's System Build for speedy construction. Do not post a link to your build, but rather please be sure to export as BBCode for a quick copy/paste to the forums."

The links in the BB copy and paste lead to PCPARTPICKER. Am I supposed to replace those links in my post with links directly to Newegg / Amazon or do I leave the BB paste as it is and you got to Newegg/ Amazon by way of PCPARTPICKER or either is fine?

No just post the pcpartpicker 'BB copy and paste' verbatim. No changes are necessary.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

Any idea when the voting will start and the results will be published? Providing those dates won't affect the results I guess.

 

[why_wolf]

I think it was a week or so later that we did the voting last time. I think its a combination of how many entries there are and how much time the editors have to parse through them first for rule breakers before they do up the voting form.

 

[ibjeepr]

Well, no luck for me on the giveaway. Here's to hoping I do better in the competition.

 

[ibjeepr]

Did I miss the announcement of the winners?

 

[Jsimenhoff]

Did I miss the announcement of the winners?

Not yet. I'm still trying to get in contact with a few of them 😀

 

[ibjeepr]

🙁 I'm guessing that means not me then. Bummer, really thought I nailed the $750.

 

[shrapnel_indie]

🙁 I'm guessing that means not me then. Bummer, really thought I nailed the $750.

From all indication, I missed the $750 AND I missed the one I won last time ($1250).

 

[ibjeepr]

🙁 I'm guessing that means not me then. Bummer, really thought I nailed the $750.

From all indication, I missed the $750 AND I missed the one I won last time ($1250).

I was hoping that they would pick 2 or 3 and have us vote on those, not vote between every qualified build. I think my odds would have been better if Tom's picked the 2 or 3 they thought were best and allowed voting between those. That was too many builds to review for each category when trying to vote. Plus, if you have a bunch of friends you can get to all jump online and vote it becomes a popularity contest. I don't have any geek friends to help me out with that.

 

[Jsimenhoff]

🙁 I'm guessing that means not me then. Bummer, really thought I nailed the $750.

From all indication, I missed the $750 AND I missed the one I won last time ($1250).

I was hoping that they would pick 2 or 3 and have us vote on those, not vote between every qualified build. I think my odds would have been better if Tom's picked the 2 or 3 they thought were best and allowed voting between those. That was too many builds to review for each category when trying to vote. Plus, if you have a bunch of friends you can get to all jump online and vote it becomes a popularity contest. I don't have any geek friends to help me out with that.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll take that under consideration for next time.

 

[ibjeepr]

🙁 I'm guessing that means not me then. Bummer, really thought I nailed the $750.

From all indication, I missed the $750 AND I missed the one I won last time ($1250).

I was hoping that they would pick 2 or 3 and have us vote on those, not vote between every qualified build. I think my odds would have been better if Tom's picked the 2 or 3 they thought were best and allowed voting between those. That was too many builds to review for each category when trying to vote. Plus, if you have a bunch of friends you can get to all jump online and vote it becomes a popularity contest. I don't have any geek friends to help me out with that.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll take that under consideration for next time.

It was must my musings. I enjoyed taking part in the build contest. I must have edited my $750 post 30 times. If my 2 cents is of any help then I'm happy to be of assistance.

 

[why_wolf]

Kind of depends how many entries there are and how many voters there are. The current system is definitely relying on the honor system. The most robust system would be a instant run off voting. Where either we vote on all the entries once and the top 3 then get run off against each other in another round of voting, or use the ranked vote. Where each voter ranks each build. The lowest vote getter gets eliminated one by one and whoever voted for them has their vote transferred to the next build on their list until one build finally breaks the 50% barrier.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

^ yeah, I too feel that having too many choices in each category is gonna be difficult for the voters.

 

[why_wolf]

^ yeah, I too feel that having too many choices in each category is gonna be difficult for the voters.

Yeah. If there was a better way to show them side by side that would help alot.