TechSpot PC Buying Guide: 2011 Kick Off

I'm getting pretty much the luxury PC, with a few changes (more RAM for instance, and I already have all the peripherals so I won't be getting any of those). My question is this: besides the OS, what else do I need to buy to actually put this PC together? I've got a case, a mobo, processor, hard drives, disc drives, GPU, RAM, and power supply. Most of them the ones right here on this page. What else do I need to get? Any cables, thermal compound, etc? I've never built a PC before, but I'm pretty competent with them (I've upgraded video cards, power supplies, and RAM in several of my past PC's and even swapped out hard drives).
 
Cables are included with the motherboard (2 x SATA 3Gb, 2x SATA 6Gb). You only need one of each for the harddrives and one each for the optical drives (hdd's and optical drives usually ship with cables also unless they are OEM). The M4E also includes cable ties for chassis cable management
Thermal compound (TIM) is pre-applied to the Intel stock cooler and most aftermarket coolers usually include a syringe of TIM in the package.

For a stock build you shouldn't need to add anything else to the list unless you're modding (cable sleeving, shrinkwrap tubing, motherboard slot protectors etc...)
 
Thanks! I thought so, but I wanted to be absolutely certain.

The only real changes I made to the system were upgrading the RAM and the PSU, which I upgraded to 16 GB (4x4) (I do a lot of heavy duty music work, and trust me, 16 GB is not too much for the work I do) and 1000W respectively. Since I didn't have to get a monitor or peripherals or anything, the increase in price was negligible and was a bit below $3,000. I'll still have to get an OS, but that won't be so bad.
 
The Sandy Bridge has been recalled, as have all motherboards supporting it. You may want to update this article to replace the processor and motherboard, for the sake of people that want to buy a PC *now*.

Bonus points if everything else on the list is compatible with it, though.
 
Guest said:
The Sandy Bridge has been recalled, as have all motherboards supporting it. You may want to update this article to replace the processor and motherboard, for the sake of people that want to buy a PC *now*.

Bonus points if everything else on the list is compatible with it, though.
Click to expand...

LOL nice try :p
 
I'm surprised you guys are listing the RealSSD C300 series as the SSD in the luxury system, considering the current releases of the SF-2000 based SSDs and the new marvell controller with double the read/writhe speeds of the last gen drives :)

While they do cost a bit more, i recon that if your spending 500$ on an SSD you want the best, and paying 100$ for double the performance is not going to trouble you!
 
Oh, this one is about a month old.. duh! Sorta explains the outdatedness on the SSD thing :)
 
You're right -- thanks for the note. We've added the Intel 510 Series to the Luxury system and will likely swap it out for the Vertex 3 when it starts shipping.
 
EDIT: Actually nevermind. Although I noticed that you guys suggested an Asus motherboard in the Enthusiast section, and it looks like the P8P67 PRO Rev 3 is pretty much identical to the MSI board currently posted, if brand really makes a difference.
 
with the MSI P67A-GD55 motherboard currently unavailable what would you recommend?
 
I have a question... The 5.1 Logitech Z-5500 speakers in my homeland cost around U$S1000 dollars... (yeah... freaking expensive) for that kind of money I can go and buy Sony Muteki HT-DDW5500 of 1510W (vs. Logitech's 500W).
Well, what does the logitech has that could possibly exceed Sony's HT? I've already asked the fellows of mercadolibre why they have it so damn expensive... Thanks!
 
Luxury system sounds good after a little (game) tuning:

i5 2500k $225 (i7 overkill)
OCZ Vertex 3 120 GB $300 (A little data management won't hurt)
HD 6950 CF $600 HIS IceQ Turbo 880mhz, or MSI Twin Frozr III 850mhz, Asus Direct CUII 810mhz.
Asus Sabertooth P67 $250 (Asus revolution only if you want 3 or more cards, UD7 layout is a fail)
Silverstone Raven 03 case $150 (a prediction)
Seasonic X Series 850W for $220
Noctua NHC14 heatsink $120 (quietest)
G.skill sniper low voltage1600 RAM $100
Cheaper IPS panel that wouldn't tax your video card, Asus 1920x1200 Pro Art $500
 
Disagree with setup as is, one 580 is not enough for 2560x1600.

SLI or crossfire setup is p. much mandatory to get high FPS on this resolution, and by 'high' I do not mean 30fps.

You mention that you used the 5970 last year, which is often faster than a 580gtx so performance in some areas goes down year-to-year. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

inb4
"but 30fps is buttery smooth..."

Yes the 590 is poor value, but so is the 580 compared to the 6970 (performance not that much worse, a lot cheaper has eyefinity/more ram ect). 590 would be a better choice considering this is a system "with virtually no price cap".

~haemoo
 
Just wondering how often this gets updated as I'm looking at building a new system in a few months time, who knows how much things will have changed by then as usual.
 
It's typically updated biweekly unless there's a major product launch.

We chose the GTX 580 because it offers roughly the same performance as the 5970 in a single-GPU configuration. However, in retrospect, I agree that the GPU performance of our highest-end build shouldn't remain static on-year. I'll look into it. Thanks for the feedback.
 
Another month, another update. Problem is, we don't remeber what last month's build was, so we can't tell what was updated.
 
Besides updating prices, minor text adjustments etc. here are some of the more noteworthy changes from from the last two updates:

Entry-Level Rig received Radeon HD 6770 over 5770 (lol).
Enthusiast's PC received 8GB of DDR3 RAM over 4GB.
Enthusiast's PC received text for Z68 chipset and Intel SRT.
Enthusiast's PC received 27" Asus -- previous 27" LG deactivated.
Luxury System received Gigabyte Z68X-UD7 motherboard.
Luxury System received better-valued G.Skill RAM over Corsair.
Luxury System received dual-GTX 570s over single GTX 580.
Luxury System received Corsair HX Series 850W PSU over 750W.
Luxury System received text for Logitech Z906, but Z-5500 remains our pick.
 
In that case, I have a few comments about the luxury system.

If you gave me the $1000 for the UD7 and GTX570 SLI, then I would spend it on a WS Revolution and HD6950 2GB Tri-fire. Same price, enough on the Corsair HX850 PSU and for a resolution higher than 2560x1600.

As for the $1500 for the U3011 30", I would spend it on three Asus Pro art 24" displays.

There are areas where cutting back won't affect performance in any noticeable way for games. $100 less for i5 2500k, $200 less for 120GB SSD or even $400 less for 64GB, and $150 less for a 1TB HDD.

Don't need blu-ray on PC yet. When the software support comes, the quality will go so further up and the prices so further down, you will regret buying it when nothing was going for it. Spend the money on a proper home theater setup. It's a better experience and better for your eyes, ears and back. Another $90 less.
 
Luay said:
In that case, I have a few comments about the luxury system.

If you gave me the $1000 for the UD7 and GTX570 SLI, then I would spend it on a WS Revolution and HD6950 2GB Tri-fire. Same price, enough on the Corsair HX850 PSU and for a resolution higher than 2560x1600.
Click to expand...

Either would work really…

Luay said:
As for the $1500 for the U3011 30", I would spend it on three Asus Pro art 24" displays.
Click to expand...

Personal opinion but I find it hard to believe that anyone would get a Dell U3011 and then decide that three 24” monitors were a better way to go. That said everyone is different…

Luay said:
There are areas where cutting back won't affect performance in any noticeable way for games. $100 less for i5 2500k, $200 less for 120GB SSD or even $400 less for 64GB, and $150 less for a 1TB HDD.
Click to expand...

May not affect performance in a big way but I think the idea was to create more of a well-rounded system and let the readers change the little things to suit their needs, I believe you have already done that ;)

Luay said:
Don't need blu-ray on PC yet. When the software support comes, the quality will go so further up and the prices so further down, you will regret buying it when nothing was going for it. Spend the money on a proper home theater setup. It's a better experience and better for your eyes, ears and back. Another $90 less.
Click to expand...

Again Matt did not write this article just for you, there are plenty of readers who would like this feature and there are plenty that already have it and very much enjoy it :)
 
No PC buyers guide is any good or complete without recommending AMD as an alternative option.

Amd = best price for performance

techspot = incomplete
 
Guest said:
No PC buyers guide is any good or complete without recommending AMD as an alternative option.

Amd = best price for performance

techspot = incomplete
Click to expand...

But the idea is to recommend the best performance/value option available so I cannot see how your point makes sense. Why complicate the guide with a not as good secondary option for everything?
 
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