09-03-2009, 06:08 AM
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#1 (permalink) |
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Experienced Anime Fan
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Finland, Province of Oulu, Kajaani
Age: 19
Posts: 663
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Hardware FAQ
Updated 9 October 2009
Introduction Read this first and ask after that advices from THIS thread if you need any help ! I will try update this regularly when it is needed so components should be up to date. Some products have links to reviews and at the end are a few system units made ready for you. At the very ending of this first post should be a list of price follow-up websites. This thread's meaning is to reduce those threads where people keep asking what to buy next or is their selected components compatible and a good choice. Reading and thinking takes only a little moment and after reading you will know what to choose and even if you have something to ask after that, ASK! Prices maybe are not up to date, or actually most likely they are not. The example system units should be fine. Any tips or ways to improve this thread are welcomed! Content:
Motherboard: Choosing right motherboard is very important. This component is the very back bone of your system and you should pay a lot attention when choosing this. Do you need CrossfireX or SLI feature, how many memory slots, which socket. As for new PC buyers I suggest from AMD's side AM3 or Intel's P55 motherboards for future upgrades. P55: (LGA 1156) Intel's latest chip, Core i3 processors are meant to replace LGA775 family processors and Core i5 is new general purpose processor model when Core i7 processors are meant for "heavy" duty (servers, folding, rendering etc). NOTE! PCI-E works in crossfire as 2x8! NOT 2x16 as in X58 motherboards!
X58: (LGA 1366)
AM2+: 'Eats' cheap DDR2 memory chips, supports Phenom II processors
AM3: AM3 motherboards support DDR2 and DDR3 memory dims but DOES NOT SUPPORT AM+2 processors
m-ITX/ATX
Processor: If you're planning to buy a high-end computer, you should look for AMD Phenom II 9-series processors or with bigger budget you maybe should consider Intel Core i7. With small budget an AMD Phenom II 550 is a good choice. INTEL: Quad-core (physical)
Here is a link for Intel's quad core processor test: Intel's quad-core test AMD: Dual-core
Important note: You should invest to AM3 motherboard instead AM2+ motherboard because AM3 motherboards have longer life by upgrade capability. Also get DDR3 AM3 motherboard instead DDR2 because DDR2 and DDR3 price is not so far from each other anymore and DDR3 will have longer upgrade capability again than DDR2. Graphic card: Remember that manufacturer doesn't matter at all. Choose the cheapest! If the more expensive one has a better cooler then higher price is acceptable if you don't want your system unit sound like a vacuum cleaner. SLI and CrossfireX are a bit problematic systems. Some games don't support both technologies so efficiently. As an example: "One nvidia and one ATI graphic cards are equal with single card. With two nvidia and two ATI graphic cards a game has better support for SLI. (Meant to be Played "nVidia" - brand often)". So it is wiser to get one more powerful graphic card than get a dual chip, SLI or CrossfireX systems. ATI/AMD
nVidia
Memory: You have to purchase atleast 4GB memory to any computer. Get it even if you had 32bit operating system, even though it won't be able to use all memory. For serious picture editing 8GB might be a good idea. DDR2
DDR3 AMD systems are only able to use DUAL-CHANNEL DDR3. INTEL CORE i7 SYSTEMS USE TRIPLE-CHANNEL!
Hard disks: Hard disks are the slowest component of your system. Old Hard Disk Drives are vulnerable to shocks and have moving parts that generate noise. The slowest part of the HDD is the read/write head. Well now we have Solid State Disks also on the market. They don't have any moving parts and makes them sturdier than HDD's and much faster. S-ATA II bus soon doesn't have any enough bandwidth. They are only at this moment much more expensive than normal HDDs but with a few years they should become more popular and price should drop closer to normal HDD prices.
Chassis / Case: Choosing a chassis is important. It has to look good, it needs to have good air flow so components stay cool and probably you want to experience easy installation also. More expensive cases have cable management too where you can most of the cables behind the motherboard. ATX:
E-ATX
Power Supply Unit: Do NOT buy too big power supply unit! Why? Well of course because it won't be running with the best efficiency anymore and makes your electricity bill to grow. When the continuous power draw is about 60-70% of the PSU's max output, it will work with the best efficiency it can offer. Well of course it might be logical to think about upgradeability too. Well I can tell you this: The power consumption of new components is not going to any higher in future. So don't buy those 1kW powers without real need. Modular: (Removable cables, no extra cables running inside the case anymore)
Solid cables:
Optical drives: Remember to take Serial ATA model! Anything else but NOT Samsung SH-S223F model! (has firmware problems). Bulks are ok if they have Nero program with them. Just remember to buy correct color so that is matches your chassis
Operating System: I suggest Windows 7 RC 64bit, because you can use it for free still year 2010 then it stops working and you need to buy it. If you have access to MSDN service you can download Windows 7 for free. Linux operating systems are free too. Ubuntu is maybe the best for beginners.
CPU coolers: Mostly your processor is supplied with stock cooler. Well sad reality is the stock cooler is very noisy and is barely able to keep your CPU somewhat cool. If you want more silent PC then buy better CPU cooler.
Xigmatek and OCZ are almost copies of each other but these both have poor Socket 775 tap fastening. Bolt Thru kit solves the problem, it costs about 12€ GPU coolers: Remember to check compatibility from manufacturers website! Warranty voided often when you change cooler for your graphic card! GPU cooler is designed to offer more cooling power than stock cooler. Sometimes GPU coolers are really noisy under heavy load.
Coolers for ATI/AMD HD 4xxx cards need a proper power supply coolers otherwise you will need to say goodbyes to your card. None of the GPU coolers have a power supply's cooler heat sink, so it needs to be bought otherwise the card will burn itself.
nVidia G92 and G94 (8800GT/GTS) and 9xxx cards can manage without card's power supply coolers but they need atleast a fan to blow air for them. For Accelero doesn't have fans with it so you need to purchase them.
Case fans: Chassis needs always case coolers if it wasn't supplied with them. This things keep your whole system unit cool when they transfer hot air from inside to outside.
Screens: You maybe should take 24" screen, because price difference is very low. 24" TN-panel screen costs about 200€ and 22" TN-panel screen costs about 150€. TN-Panel is not good for editing but for gaming and general use it is good because it is cheap and big. T-IPS is a way better than TN but costs about twice more than TN panel. TN-panel
MVA-panel
H-IPS-panel
Shops & price watch websites: Price watches: Shops: USA: UK: EU: Germany: Finland: Assembly: Don't pay extra money for computer assembly when you can do it by yourself! The internet has tons of guides for assembling a PC. Youtube has many quality videos too about how to assemble your computer. If you find any good and up to date guide, please send a link. Examples: Gaming PC
Really powerful PC
Cheap dual-core
Cheapest Net PC
This FAQ is based on Muropaketti.com's readers and articles comments and reviews of the components. Original MuroBBS thread can be found from here: Murokone (finnish) Archive: Here you may view older versions of this FAQ. Files are made with Microsoft Office Word 2007. Index of Hardware FAQ's Archive
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   Member of OPCC Paladin of the APUCC Last edited by FireFlower; 10-09-2009 at 11:40 AM. |
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09-16-2009, 11:16 AM
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#2 (permalink) |
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Narumon Z
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: South Carolina
Age: 20
Posts: 10
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Re: Hardware FAQ
I wish I had stumble across this thread BEFORE I ordered parts for my new PC about a month ago.
It ended up being Intel 2.66 Ghz Quad Core 4 GB DDR2 RAM 750 GB Wester Digital HD Nvidia 9800 1GB Video Card Windows Vista 64bit Premium |
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09-16-2009, 11:44 AM
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#3 (permalink) | |
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Narumon Z
Join Date: Aug 2009
Age: 18
Posts: 87
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Re: Hardware FAQ
Quote:
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09-17-2009, 11:28 AM
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Experienced Anime Fan
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Finland, Province of Oulu, Kajaani
Age: 19
Posts: 663
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Re: Hardware FAQ
Quote:
I have not yet updated to Core i5 processors yet because I'm waiting for more models to come out. It is not wise to buy them yet I think. Quote:
Fanboys are not approved. Simply just get a rig that offers most perfonmance and fits your budget Edit: Hopefully you will use SEPARATE discussion thread. I hope this will stay clean from "oh this is great, oh it sucks, i have similar computer etc". Post here links to reviews that you think are good, shops that are really great. Also remember to add why do you recommend this shop. A wide selection of components, good service, low/reasonable prices etc. FF
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09-20-2009, 03:41 PM
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#5 (permalink) | |
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Narumon Z
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Southwest, US
Age: 28
Posts: 18
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Re: Hardware FAQ
Quote:
DDR-II ram - Double channel DDR-III ram - triple channel. at t he moment intel's current i7 line up already far exceeds anything AMD can throw at it but as a warning, i5 is coming and 1 or 2 of it chips are little faster then the first two i7 chip line up. i5 chips are non-hyperthreading capable, i7 is, and the upcoming i9 is a 6 core CPU based on the 1366 LGA (Land Grid Array [Socket T]) Forewarning that their will be 1156 LGA processor from intel with the i3, i5, i7 badge. i3 - Entry - to replace Celeron lineup. i5 - Mid-range - i7 - High End i9 - Extreme End - note may come smaller.
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Last edited by hikaru; 09-20-2009 at 03:45 PM. Reason: update lineup |
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09-21-2009, 02:15 PM
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#6 (permalink) |
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Experienced Anime Fan
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Finland, Province of Oulu, Kajaani
Age: 19
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Re: Hardware FAQ
Updated 21 September 2009
Changes:
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Member of OPCC Paladin of the APUCC Last edited by FireFlower; 09-21-2009 at 03:26 PM. |
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09-21-2009, 08:53 PM
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#7 (permalink) |
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Narumon Z
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Southwest, US
Age: 28
Posts: 18
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Re: Hardware FAQ
At the moment it is not expected that directX 11 capable card will not drive the next generation of sales or gpu. very little is known about direct X 11 or it supported cards, at the very least wait at least 6 months before making any choices. much like when their was 3 revisons of Direct X 9.
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09-21-2009, 09:54 PM
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#8 (permalink) | |
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Narumon Z
Join Date: Aug 2009
Age: 18
Posts: 87
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Re: Hardware FAQ
Quote:
Their quads simply dont prove any better to Intel. If you were going to build a gaming rig you might as well spend a little more and go with intel. That would be like picking an intel videochip set over Nvidia or ati because it's cheaper Sure the phenom's were good when they came out but intel got alot better with their duals and quads. Only good thing from AMD are their single cores. Everything else you stuck in there with it was fine but saying AMD's Quads are just as good is more of a speculation then a fact Also I couldn't help but notice that you forgot to add tigerdirect as a shopping source.
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09-23-2009, 02:35 PM
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#9 (permalink) | |
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Experienced Anime Fan
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Finland, Province of Oulu, Kajaani
Age: 19
Posts: 663
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Re: Hardware FAQ
Quote:
Well it is true AMD came into Quad-core processor game later and their first Phenom series didn't overclock that much and had TPB-bug which caused a problem in rare situations. Phenom II 955BE overclocked to 4GHz is pretty much in same line as Core i7 920 in performance. When watching performance by clock-to-clock intel wins, but AMD costs a lot less than Core i7 systems. Well now Intel released Core i5 systems that are owning them. And nVidia has been the underdog since HD4-series. G200 chip is huge, expensive, not many perfect cores from production line etc. With new HD5xxx series ATI is leading easily single GPU race with 40nm process (nVidia 55nm). When they release "Hemlock" which is HD5870x2 will be outperfonmancing current GTX 295 easily. So what nvidia is coming with to that? New G300 chip? There is a rumor that only small % chips are working currently when coming out production line. Nvidia has released only one DX10.1 card! DX11 cards have to backward compatible with DX10.1 too. Ati has been supporting it many years, ATI has been also supporting tessalation for years and Nvidia has to add it in order to get DX11 card out. So what is nvidias choices? a) Sell a lot cheaper currently very expensive gpu chips? b) Create G300-chip based products, but will it be enough powerful when compared to new HD5 series? If not, what then? Start creating new GPU-chip? nVidia was waiting too long for ATI to catch nvidia. When nvidia kept rebranding their older products, ATI was developing "nvidia-killer" GPU's in silent and with shock they were putting a lot pressure on nvidia. (GTX 280 cost 700€ at release time! HD4 when came out it cost only 290-320€! And performance difference was just a few per cents for nvidia's favor.) Just a couple facts for you too. I just hope AMD/ATI can get enough profit to fully get on their feet.
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09-23-2009, 05:52 PM
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#10 (permalink) |
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Narumon Z
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Southwest, US
Age: 28
Posts: 18
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Re: Hardware FAQ
Intel Core i5 is the mid-level cpu offering and with Core i7 the high level and upcoming Core i9 has the highest level (Extream Edition more or less) and server end. In other words go i5 with 1366 LGA (later release) then get i7 as some point after i9.
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