Comments on: Building A Better Computer.

By: omgrobots

omgrobots — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 06:20:09 +0000

A new system means one of the first things you’ll want to decide is the platform. You could go the AMD route but I’d suggest doing a lot of research beforehand to make sure your getting the performance you want. Your safest bet would be going with Intel’s new Z77 chipset since I imagine that you will not want to be upgrading for a few years.With the Z77 chipset you have two options: either an IvyBridge CPU or a SandyBridge CPU. You’ll save $10-30 (at least here in Canada) going the SandyBridge route and you won’t see a huge difference in performance compared to IvyBridge. That said, if you drop a SandyBridge chip into a Z77 motherboard you won’t be able to use the new features that Z77 offers; not that these are real game changers though. I recently built and overclocked an i5-3570k system and have had zero issues with the new IvyBridge chip or the Z77 chipset nor have I heard much in the way of defects or issues with the new chipset.

If you have any interest in overclocking your Intel CPU then you’ll want to pick up a ‘K’ series CPU which offers an unlocked multiplier. Otherwise you can save some more cash and do without. You’ll want to save as much as you can in this area in order to pick up something like a GeForce 660/560 ti.

Memory is dirt cheap at the moment but, on a budget like yours, I wouldn’t bother with 16GB unless you know you’ll use more than 8GB.

Given the power efficiency of Z77 and even current graphics cards you could probably get away with keeping your 500W PSU. There are calculators online that can better guide you in this area (e.g. http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp). As noted earlier, however, a quality PSU is always a good purchase and if your lucky will last you many years.

One last thought regarding parts: SSD’s are relatively cheap right now, especially older models such as the vertex 3 (have two, no problems and fighting not to buy another), so if you squeeze one in now or in the future you won’t be disappointed.

Just in case you don’t know, anandtech.com and tomshardware.com are two excellent sources for part reviews and parts recommendations based on varying budgets.

Cheers!

By: psihiuspsih

psihiuspsih — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 12:33:24 +0000

Find a 2GB+ card for the love of god – I have a GeForce 560 Ti with 1GB ram and I already see via nvidia inspector that my video RAM tends to get full, and I don’t run in FullHD because I have old CPU (Q6600) and it limits my card. Your minimum card should be 560 Ti or better 660 Ti – anything less is not worth it in your case.
Also, 500W PSU should be swapped for a 600W one with 80%+ efficiency – you will probably end up with a Quad Core CPU that at peak performance will use quite a lot, plus a GPU – and you may end up using more that 500W PSU can provide (not to say that many Chinese PSU’s can deliver 2/3 of the declared power at best). Good PSU will last long, so it’s a good investment.
DDR3 ram is very cheap, so think about adding 16GB for the future (I know you can buy 8Gb and stick other 8GB later. But I recently updated my PC from 2GB RAM to 4GB RAM and I had to through out my old 2GB KIT because it was incompatible with new 4GB kit – I wanted to have 6GB). With 16GB your file system will preform much better (my 8GB work PC preforms much better than with 4GB)

By: jiiiiim

jiiiiim — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 23:17:19 +0000

unfortunately there aren’t any aldiputers going free, I suggest you put off all upgrades for that.

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 21:19:01 +0000

I actually didn’t know SSDs were as cheap as they are, and it’s looking very attractive as an upgrade for six months time. Right now it’s pushing my budget just a little bit too far.

By: Godot

Godot — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 14:05:44 +0000

If you can stretch to a SSD, even just a small one to stick Windows on, the performance jump is pretty obscene. Genuinely one of the things that will make the biggest improvement to general PC performance.

I know one guy mentioned problems, but honestly I’ve had none.

By: innokenti

innokenti — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 12:50:21 +0000

Nope. Looks good.

What Tom said basically. That’s roughtly what I’d go with, but with AMD instead of nVidia.

As a slightly cheaper motherboard alternative – MSI Z77A-G43. A little cheaper but still very good.

Also, check out the recent(ish) RPS columns on hardware. I believe they say the same thing though.

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 12:25:03 +0000

That’s not something I ever tried (although I did try damn near everything else) but I suspect it’s something of a moot point now; I’ll soon be rid of it anyway, and two bad cards in a row has been enough to turn me off of ATI for a decade or two. Not that nVidia are going to be any better, but that’s how the free market is supposed to work, isn’t it?

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 12:21:18 +0000

560 Ti seems to be a popular nVidia card, anyone care to disagree?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 11:28:19 +0000

I had lots of problems with an ATI card causing an occasional blue screen – it froze and went into a sound loop, then bluescreened. Turning Catalyst AI OFF fixed the problem completely.

By: Smurf

Smurf — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 11:21:42 +0000

Ah, no. In that case I have no advice and am utterly useless!