I've received this long suggestion and i'd like to know what you think
look m8, i know i sound like i'm telling you what to buy, but having obsessed over the hardware during the last six months, i more or less know *exactly* what to get - of course some people would be better off with a diffrent choice of hardware, but those come from rather unique situations.. on good example is the HT function on the 2600k, it slows down the CPU and really works only for applications which require multiple cores.. and by that i mean *more than 4 cores*, so unless you are running a weather simulation software, or other math-intensive application, it's better to have it off. mobos for example , a P67 is about $15-$50 cheaper than a Z68 at most, but the Z68 is worth it, always. P67 will OC better than Z68, but *only* because the BIOS (hermm.. UEFI) steppings are relatively new, later BIOS releases will perform better, and even now we are looking at 100Mhz difference tops.
here is a lovely OC guide http://www.overclock.net/intel-general/ ... -p67a.html - note how simple and easy it is.. and your CPU will most likely give you 4.4Ghz .. minimum.
seriously, press delete, change 3 settings in your UEFI, and you got a 4.4 processor.. that on stock speed, performs better than any Conroe ever has - you are looking at what, 3 times the computing power of a Netburst PER HERTZ.
if you feel you are a n00b, here is a protip : buy a CPU cooler with preattached thermal paste - not only you save another $20 from buying the TIM and cleaners, but you avoid the one step which has given me the most hardships.
PC cases (this is one instance where you get *what you want* instead of *what you need*) : go to your local retailer (not etailer) and look at them - you don't have to buy it from them, just play with it a bit, i'm 100% sure you'll know what you want if you do that.
video card ... this is a painful subject.
generally speaking, (since VGA cards cost money) you want something that plays every game out there for the smallest money; VGAs depreciate both in actual value and in computing power too, so double depreciation - a XT1900 isn't just old, it also lacks SM3.0, DX10, etc.. example.
if (and i stress *if*) you were to buy a 5770, *for example*, ($99) instead of a 570 ($350), you would have enough graphics power to play 1)everything at 1680x1050 high - fro the next 2 years, 2)most titles 1680x1050 ultra high - for the next 2 years, and 3) a few games on high after the 2 years. two years from now you will still be able to play most new games on decent settings, and you could stretch that card's life by up to another 2 years. example, is someone today owns a 8800GTS, they would still be able to play Brink on medium, which looks practically identical to ultra-super-high, less a few2 minor details .. nothing that will make you spit at the screen.
AND all this still leaves you with more than enough money to actually just throw away that 5770 whenever you feel like it and buy THE SAME CARD AT PRICE POINT, BUT TWO YEARS LATER.
if you instead go with a £350 card, that card will also stretch maybe 4 years, but not really any more than that. then you have to spend another $350.
in the end, it's the same as if someone had a 8800GTX and used it until now, and instead someone who bought a 8800GTS (half the price), and then a 370GTX. they are actually better off in the second "two year" section, and they never, ever have any problem getting their games to work flawlessly. the only difference is that having a more expensive video card "actually makes our dick bigger";
smaller VGAs also draw less power .. save anotrher $50 every year.. it all adds up.
and think of the satisfaction of never having to "save for a week" to buy a new piece..
i'm at a loss at finding an adequate comparison, but try to think of it as hunting small game, and wanting a huge caliber gun just for the sake of things.. as long as the bullets are big enough to kill the thing, you can only do worse by getting a "bigger gun".
you might have an argument for buying a large power supply, although i have found in real life experience that PCs never really need more than 500W, and also nowadays power consumptions are going down, instead of up. However, multiple VGA setups will, and since Xfire/SLI scaling is something serious these days (not liek a few years back) then sure, if you want to, go ahead. after all, next year you will be able to buy a 5770 from eBay for like, $40; nice way to double your GPU power. larger power supplies though cost a stupid amount of cash, and they only do so because the market is all "enthusiasts", which reads "morons" in any other language; you can read, for example, this : http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/power-sup ... 32187.html which will tell you that power supplies are actually all made by the same bunch of companies, and what you are paying for is really just branding, so, while it's entirely possible to buy a total piece of **** (beware, don't buy a cheap PSU), it's also possible by careful examination, to buy a high quality PSU unbranded, ending up with the same stuff you get in a Odin 1100W but paying a fraction of the cost for it.
now.. for the bit where we shout and insult each other ...
don't buy a SSD;
if all, wait until the hybrid HDD come out, even though they are just an idea now, i reckon this will be the future of storage .. basically, what you will get is a normal HD, where instead of say, 64MB of cache, you will have 16Gb of cache. yes, they will still have moving parts, and yes, their performance will not be as awesome as a pure SSD, but they will be cheap, and seriously, when was ever a HD the bottleneck in a computer ?? even the ****tiest HD can read 80MB/s, and that's a lot of data for a CPU to crunch.
ok so, Windows, where you have to read a gazzillion microscopic files.. hmm, so, if you buy a SSD, you boot up in 10 seconds instead of 25. wow. and you pay $500 for the privilege, when my PC gets rebooted maybe once a week, no tnx, i'm ok with my normal HDDs.
PC case ..
let me say this again, cases, buy the nicest case you can find - you'll have to live with it, so make sure you love it.
cable management is something i overlooked early on and now i regret it, the insides of my PC are a mess, while a nice, clean looking PC is a beauty to look at.
removable motherboard tray is also something you really, really want, even though you'll maybe use it five times in the life of a PC, when you do, you will be glad you forked out that extra $10.
tell ya, if i were to choose today, i'd get the 600T, and f**k the temps. love it. and maybe get it to the paint shop and have it aerographed with a mean ass stormtrooper. or a rising sun.
thats it, i guess i covered everything a coputer has inside it, so good luck and happy overclocking.
oh yeah one last thing -don't buy a CPU cooler where the fan is held in place by those horrid flimsy metal brackets .. buy one where the fan locks solidly in place to the heatsink; and go 100% with a cooler that has a backplate, they are sooo much better.
AND THIS:
I don't mean to confuse you even more, and I offer this strictly as my opinion because I admittedly haven't researched it fully and many will disagree with me, but if I were building right now I would go with s1366 x58 i7. Even Intel themselves say that x58 is still the choice for enthusiasts. Sandy Bridge was never meant to replace x58 as the enthusiast platform, but rather a step below x58. That is not to say there is anything wrong with SB and it is a great choice for the budget minded, but I still like x58 for high end performance for several reasons. One, it supports triple channel ram. Two, it is tried and true where SB boards still seems to have certain issues including the confusion about certain features being available or not, like VT-d, with certain CPU/board combinations. Three, although the benchmarks show SB beating out x58 for the majority of uses it is only by the smallest margins and for some reason I just don't trust those benchmarks to be absolutely correct in real life situations. Four, I haven't looked thoroughly but it seems SB boards do not support dual x16 PCIe slots, but run in x8 mode with multiple GPU's. Many X58 boards support dual x16 mode. Again, this is my opinion and a bit of a gut feeling.
If I were to go SB I would go Z68. From what I have read about it it so far is supposed to combine the features of H67 and P67 as well as some additional features.
I highly recommend a full tower case. You just can't get the same airflow in a mid tower. And cable management is so much easier in a full tower, which also leads to better airflow. But look to spend at least $100 on a good full tower.
ARE THEY RIGHT? COMMENTS?? I AM CONFUSED NOW!
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