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by Mr. Kool 10/22/2011, 11:08pm PDT |
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Mischief Maker wrote:
Is Asus still the gold standard for motherboards? Are solid state hard drives worth it? What's the best non-CRT option for monitors that render motion with minimal blur? Anything else new and exciting I should be aware of?
Any and all suggestions welcome.
I can't give much in the way of specifics, but here is a decent outline. Suggestions vary depending on your budget.
Tower: Can't go terribly wrong with any Antec. The 300 is basic and the 900 series is huge.
Power supply: Again, I like Antec. They don't fail often in my experience. I'd go for 800 watts to "future-proof" your rig. 550 will suffice for most one video card builds.
Mobo: I've used Asus and XfX and had no problems, lots of bells and whistles. I never got around to fully utilizing their ability to easily overclock chips in the BIOS, so extra money not worth it. The key factor will be the chipset depending on your CPU. I got a cheapo MSI for my HTPC build, works fine.
Look for the following: Chipset that supports PCI-E 3.0, USB 3.0, SATA 6 (or III). Some fancy boards blend the use of a SSD with an HDD for the marriage of speed and performance. I'd go with the MSI Z68A-GD80 with...
CPU: Intel's i5-2500, $10 more gets you the K variant that overclocks. From what I've read (Tom's Hardware), your extra money is better spent on a GFX card over a pricey Core i7.
SSD&HDD: Go for a SSD for your OS and basic software. Don't let Steam keep your games there, 128 GB can go fast. Slave a regular 1 or 2 TB SATA for storage and programs/games. My brother is doing this with good results.
ODD: Blu-Ray readers are less than $60 and still burn/read DVDs and CDs. Worth it.
RAM: Can't really go horribly wrong here. I pick Mushkin, Corsair, Crucial, etc. and then let my budget determine how much I get. 8 GB is a good for $55.
GFX: ATI wins the budget battle for $/frame. Tom's Hardware pegged the 6870 and the 6950 for $170 and $240. If you can swing two GTX 460s, that would work.
Monitor: Unless you're going apeshit with the Eyefinity or 3D stuff, can't help you there. The millisecond response times are very low on most monitors. I always pick Samsung, good quality and long warranty.
As for new and exciting, Eyefinity and 3D is neat and kinda gimmicky. Its ability to provide great results is entirely dependent the cycle of on game developers supporting it, then ATI or nVidia supporting new drivers for the game (see: RAGE). I forsee headaches down that path. SSDs are worth it. I put one in my crappy netbook for my other job and a got a good boost in speed and a decent boost in battery life. Other things like SATA 6 and PCI-E 3.0 are just faster versions of their legacies.
Mr. Kool
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Help me build my new computer by Mischief Maker 10/22/2011, 7:20pm PDT 
Re: Help me build my new computer by Mr. Kool 10/22/2011, 11:08pm PDT
Re: Help me build my new computer by Jerry Whorebach 10/22/2011, 11:59pm PDT
You're not going to like this answer, but.. by Mysterio 10/23/2011, 6:01am PDT
Re: You're not going to like this answer, but.. by jeep 10/24/2011, 9:10pm PDT
Sword of the Stars 2 comes out at the end of November. HOPE YOU'RE READY. NT by WITTGENSTEIN 10/23/2011, 9:28am PDT
Cautiously Pessimistic. by Mischief Maker 10/23/2011, 2:48pm PDT
Also: by Mischief Maker 10/24/2011, 9:45pm PDT
DoW2 was better than 1 in every way =( NT by fabio 10/25/2011, 1:25pm PDT
Its multiplayer was better, its single player was shittier by WITTGENSTEIN 10/25/2011, 4:59pm PDT
Whoops my bad, IT LAUNCHED TODAY NT by WITTGENSTEIN 10/28/2011, 3:02pm PDT
SOTS1: Too Terrible To Love by talby 10/25/2011, 4:50pm PDT
We've had a conversation about it. Thanks. NT by WITTGENSTEIN 10/25/2011, 4:57pm PDT
SOTS 1 wins by defauls by Mischief Emperor 10/25/2011, 5:19pm PDT
I think the massive scale is still in there by WITTGENSTEIN 10/25/2011, 5:21pm PDT
You were right on the mark about things being complexified by WITTGENSTEIN 10/28/2011, 4:20pm PDT
Whelp, that explains it.... by WITTGENSTEIN 10/28/2011, 4:45pm PDT
Machine I built in July, look at this thread I linked on another site, w/notes by jeep 10/24/2011, 8:57pm PDT
Monitors by Mischief Maker 10/24/2011, 9:43pm PDT
no objections to that monitor but make sure you don't need height adjustment by jeep 10/25/2011, 11:00am PDT
Oh, shit. Didn't realize that was a budget monitor. NT by Mischief Maker 10/25/2011, 11:29am PDT
Dell U2312HM it is! by Mischief Maker 10/25/2011, 2:47pm PDT
I only mentioned it because you talked about LCD shit in the OP by jeep 10/26/2011, 8:56pm PDT
Input lag is my biggest concern. NT by Mischief Shmup Enthusiast 10/30/2011, 12:02pm PDT
problem solved then by jeep 10/30/2011, 4:05pm PDT
No longer viewable by nonmenbers :( NT by Mischief Maker 11/11/2011, 11:58am PST
current parts recommend in this post by jeep 11/18/2011, 1:27am PST
Is there some SA temorary public viewing rule I don't know about? by Mischief Maker 01/11/2012, 8:00am PST
sometimes they block shit by jeep 01/11/2012, 3:12pm PST
Why not buy used? by Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS) 10/29/2011, 12:55am PDT
I forgot to mention by Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS) 10/29/2011, 1:17am PDT
before I just ignore your posts forever: seriously what the fuck is your deal NT by jeep 10/29/2011, 1:59am PDT
What is your malfunction? He asked on building a computer; I suggested buying NT by Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS) 10/29/2011, 7:44am PDT
Holy shit man, an actual blu ray burner, not just a reader? HOOOOOLEEEEEEE SHEEE NT by Eurotrash, mind blown 10/29/2011, 2:39pm PDT
Who do you think I am? Your Grandpa on Welfare? NT by Mischief Maker 10/29/2011, 9:25am PDT
To be fair, your obsession with free games kinda supports his hypothesis. by Jerry Whorebach 10/29/2011, 1:58pm PDT
I was a poor student when I wrote that article. Now I'm obsessed with DRM. NT by Mischief Maker 10/30/2011, 12:10am PDT
One last question by Mischief Maker 01/22/2012, 9:03am PST
I've got one of those and I've never had a problem with overheating by Fullofkittens 01/22/2012, 9:15am PST
Okay, another by Mischief Maker 01/22/2012, 7:00pm PST
Many do. Windows can burn CDs. Imgburn is a good free CD/DVD software NT by Rafiki 01/22/2012, 8:06pm PST
I use CDBurnerXP (which is free) and have never needed anything else. NT by Fullofkittens 01/22/2012, 8:23pm PST
Sweet! What about DVD and Blu-Ray movie player software? NT by Mischief Maker 01/23/2012, 7:29am PST
Re: Sweet! What about DVD and Blu-Ray movie player software? by jeep 01/23/2012, 12:54pm PST
I haven't ordered it yet. Just planning ahead so I have the drivers ready to go NT by MM 01/23/2012, 4:47pm PST
even the oem ones should come with the disc NT by jeep 01/24/2012, 6:57pm PST
It didn't come with SHEEEIT! Is Cyberlink my best bet? by Mischief Maker 01/30/2012, 11:47am PST
Re: It didn't come with SHEEEIT! Is Cyberlink my best bet? by laudablepuss 01/30/2012, 12:32pm PST
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