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TechSpot's PC Buying Guide - A Major Revamp

Discussion in 'Articles and Reviews Comments' started by Julio Franco, Dec 21, 2009.

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Page 4 of 6

  1. Julio Franco TechSpot Editor Posts: 6,055   +121

    Thanks for the feedback...

    There might be instances where this doesn't hold to be true, but I'd say that 95% of the time adding more price points in-between is not going to do any good. Just take the entry level system and slap a faster videocard or mix it up with other components of the enthusiast build and you get a middle priced system with an emphasis where you find it convenient, be it a larger monitor, faster CPU or GPU, etc.
    Julio Franco, Jul 1, 2010
    #61

  2. arkantos Newcomer, in training Posts: 51

    there should be an intel specification for "budget box" because that amd core unlocking is too "technical" to consider. it may put alot of risk on someone's system; to do the overclocking as something that they look forward to.
    arkantos, Jul 7, 2010
    #62

  3. Julio Franco TechSpot Editor Posts: 6,055   +121

    Julio Franco, Jul 7, 2010
    #63

  4. Guest

    Arkantos, if you are building your own system, it shouldn't be to hard to unlock a couple cores.

    Also, if you guys can aquire many graphics cards for free, inter card but intra range shootouts would be a good idea for the more popular cards (e.g. 5850/460) so we can tell which manufacturers' cards are the best bang for buck. It would help make your guide much more comprehensive, at least to my mind. Hopefully that made sense.

    Thanks
    Guest, Jul 21, 2010
    #64

  5. Julio Franco TechSpot Editor Posts: 6,055   +121

    Julio Franco, Jul 22, 2010
    #65

  6. Guest

    Why not include a buying guide for a straight up gaming PC? With two proven and easy to interface graphics cards, a decent core 2 duo or i3 and a good mobo with sli or crossfire support. Maybe add a link to an overclocking guide and a newegg link with some good offers on it? Awesome suggestions though. Im going to be more creative with my case and buy a solid white case and draw a ton of mac haterspeech on it around my sharpied on apple symbol. Also add a guide to a ventilation guide since thats a real touchy issue especially in do it yourself systems.
    Guest, Jul 22, 2010
    #66
     

  7. Matthew TechSpot Staff Posts: 5,893   +53

    Our system recommendations are slanted toward gaming -- all the way down to the Budget Box. Granted, it's missing a discrete graphics card by default, but the rest of the components are chosen to be sufficient for gaming and other demanding tasks with the addition of a budget GPU.
    Matthew, Jul 22, 2010
    #67

  8. Guest

    Julio,

    I should clarify what I meant earlier: for the most popular cards, you should have manufacturer shootouts - like 6 to 10 of the cards here: http://tinyurl.com/TS5850. This allows viewers to choose their level of performance within a certain card range. You (probably) would find some spectacular deals, or uncover some rip-offs. Of course, this wouldn't be viable for every card, but for the most mainstream it would be suitable.

    I have a feeling these sort of comments sound very rude, and I'd just like to say I really appreciate the care you take of this site and the level of detail in every review that you do.

    Thanks a lot.
    Guest, Jul 23, 2010
    #68

  9. Julio Franco TechSpot Editor Posts: 6,055   +121

    I get it now, you want a graphics manufacturer shootout... similar to what we've done a few times lately with motherboards using the same chipset. However there is a significant difference, and the reason we haven't really done anything like this on the GPU front.

    I'd say 90+% of the time graphics manufacturers don't bother to customize and opt to use Nvidia's and ATI's reference designs, which means there is no tangible difference between them in terms of features or performance. Because of this we concentrate on the GPUs themselves to highlight where your money is better spent.

    We don't blame manufacturers because price competition is fierce and margins are slim enough already. Ultimately the customer benefits with lower prices when you have two competing GPUs in the same range, but differentiation beyond some kind of software bundle and manufacturer warranty is hard to come by otherwise.
    Julio Franco, Jul 25, 2010
    #69

  10. Guest

    Just wondering, did you think about adding/mentioning the Intel X-25V? For a boot drive it seems the perfect fit, at least for the Enthusiast Box. You could even splash out on a better graphics card or processor or case or whatever you think is best.

    Thanks.
    Guest, Aug 2, 2010
    #70

  11. gonzy3 Newcomer, in training Posts: 38

    alienware?
    gonzy3, Aug 3, 2010
    #71

  12. Matthew TechSpot Staff Posts: 5,893   +53

    What about Alienware gonzy?

    As for the 40GB SSD, I don't think it's worth buying over an 80GB+ drive because it's simply too restrictive for anything beyond the OS and a few apps. That said, it certainly could be mentioned as an option. I'll try to include something on the next update (this week).
    Matthew, Aug 3, 2010
    #72

  13. Omnislip Newcomer, in training Posts: 96

    Matthew,

    There is also an 80GB model reportedly coming out in Q4, which would really make for some difficult choices.

    An interesting featuer to run would be the differences between running an X25V versus an X25M as the boot drive and for running games, apps etc. Furthermore, I'm sure many people would appreciate a guide on how to remove as much junk as possible from their SSD (i.e. user files etc.)

    Thanks.

    Oops, also forgot to suggest putting an antec 902 case on the enthusiast spec as well. It's only $20 difference.
    Omnislip, Aug 4, 2010
    #73

  14. gonzy3 Newcomer, in training Posts: 38

    what about alienware's Area-51 ALX desktop? is it too costly? does it not pose a threat to other high end desktops?
    gonzy3, Aug 4, 2010
    #74

  15. Matthew TechSpot Staff Posts: 5,893   +53

    Maximize SSD Performance with the SSD Tweak Utility

    Buying an Enthusiast PC: DIY vs. OEM
    Matthew, Aug 4, 2010
    #75

  16. Omnislip Newcomer, in training Posts: 96

    Just a thought - wouldn't 1600MHz RAM be more suitable for the enthusiast build to match the overclockability of the i5 750?
    Also a SLI compatable motherboard to reflect the change in GPU.
    Omnislip, Aug 9, 2010
    #76

  17. Guest

    It is a very comprehensive list, but I am one of those poor souls who is thinking of using two 460 cards and it seems that the ASRock P55 Pro doesn't support SLI, so is it possible for anyone to mention any good, but relatively cheap, P55 boards that are SLI enabled? And, maybe, with the next update for the buying guide, that consideration is taken into account for those individuals who don't want to make use of Crossfire, but SLI instead.
    Guest, Aug 19, 2010
    #77

  18. Omnislip Newcomer, in training Posts: 96

    Guest,

    I've done the research for that and the best motherboard at that kind of price range seems to be the MSI P55-GD65. There's also another Asus board but I cant remember the name. The MSI board looks nicer (imo) and comes with a better package of cables (e.g. bridges for crossfire and sli included), although old BIOS versions didnt read the voltages right, although this might be fixed by now. Sorry if this is a bit late though :-S.
    Omnislip, Aug 29, 2010
    #78

  19. ebolamonkey3 Newcomer, in training Posts: 66

    For the ultimate build, why the P6T? The Gigabyte UD3R offers everything it does for cheaper at $210. And why an i7 960? The i7 950 is the same thing for almost half the price, you even wrote in one of your own articles not to buy the 960!

    Also, for the ultimate workstation, you might as well fork over some more dough and get the i7 970 for six cores. Those will help a lot for video editing.
    ebolamonkey3, Sep 19, 2010
    #79

  20. Matthew TechSpot Staff Posts: 5,893   +53

    Good call on the i7-950. Not sure how that slipped through. As for the P6T, the price difference is negligible at that bracket and we've reviewed the board so we feel more comfortable recommending it. The UD3R could be mentioned as an alternative though.

    Thanks again everyone for the feedback! It's much appreciated :).
    Matthew, Sep 20, 2010
    #80
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