TechSpot PC Buying Guide: Mid-2014 Update

[Steve]

A Luxury PC with only 3gb of vram? heresy I call.

If you are only running one 2560x1600 display you don't need more than 3GB of VRAM. That said we didn't even specify the memory capacity of the video card, we just said GeForce GTX 780 Ti.

 

[captaincranky]

....[ [.... At first glance the Z623 and Promedia 2.1 systems both have 200 watts RMS, but saying they are both 200 watt systems is like saying the nikon D90 and vivitar 12mp are both 12MP cameras.

So the Vivitar is better then?

If you're looking for hands down sound quality in a luxury system, get a set of bookshelf speakers and an amp. Audiophiles laugh at surround sound. A good pair of bookshelf speakers will knock the socks off even the best of 5.1 systems.

Yeah, I only listen to stereo when I'm listening to music. Even when quad was popular, it affixes your listening position too much. And don't get me started about bucket brigade analog delay. The back channels always sounded like someone forgot to shake the toilet handle and the water was running like crazy.

But really, I'm baffled as to where makers summon the hubris to call any of that plastic garbage with the teensy-tiny drivers, "high fidelity", Or how you have the nerve to call a 4" loudspeaker, a "sub woofer".

I do like 5.1 for movies though. Crappy as they are, my JBL "Stadium" (*) towers, (8" x 2 woofers), have plenty of bottom for these old ears. So what do I do with the sub I bought with the surround set? Oh yeah, remind me to dust that off so the cat will have a place to sit.... I guess I don't really have a ear for today's sound.

I do like to downsize on the power supplies so I would recommend something in the range of $40 Antec Earthwatts 380D for the entry level, $50 Rosewill Capstone gold for the enthusiast, and $80 Rosewill Capstone 550m for the luxury.

Yeah, those little Antec greens are great. It's a shame they're not being foot balled around like they were back in the thirty bucks a pop, good old days.

In fact, the last time I looked, thee was an MIR to even get the $40.00 price.

(*) I kinda wish JBL had a sense of irony, and would put the JBL emblem in Chinese characters on their consumer product.

 

[Sanguinarius]

Steve,

In the previous luxury system, the RAM had a lower Cas latency (7) and a lower clock speed as compared to the current luxury system. Why the change? Is it better to go with a lower Cas latency or a higher clock speed?

I believe the RAM from the previous luxury system was: G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C7D-16GTX

 

[Steve]

Steve,

In the previous luxury system, the RAM had a lower Cas latency (7) and a lower clock speed as compared to the current luxury system. Why the change? Is it better to go with a lower Cas latency or a higher clock speed?

I believe the RAM from the previous luxury system was: G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C7D-16GTX

It certainly doesn’t make a world of difference but Intel’s Core range responds better to high memory frequencies than it does low-latency’s. Of course if you can combine the two then that would be the best outcome.

 

[Sanguinarius]

Thanks for the reply! I'm curious to know more: what do you mean "responds better"? Is there an article/benchmark that you can point me towards?

Steve,

In the previous luxury system, the RAM had a lower Cas latency (7) and a lower clock speed as compared to the current luxury system. Why the change? Is it better to go with a lower Cas latency or a higher clock speed?

I believe the RAM from the previous luxury system was: G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C7D-16GTX

It certainly doesn’t make a world of difference but Intel’s Core range responds better to high memory frequencies than it does low-latency’s. Of course if you can combine the two then that would be the best outcome.

 

[Steve]

Thanks for the reply! I'm curious to know more: what do you mean "responds better"? Is there an article/benchmark that you can point me towards?

Here is an article from two and a half years ago...
http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/sandy_bridge_e_memory_performance_guide,1.html

Moving on we also found that memory timings had little impact on performance and it is certainly not worth paying a price premium for low-latency memory.

The next major consideration is frequency and this had by far the greatest impact on performance, particularly application performance.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

I'm still wondering why the luxury system has a power supply suited for triple SLI 780Ti :|.

 

[Nero7]

I'm still wondering why the luxury system has a power supply suited for triple SLI 780Ti :|.

since games that look fairly crappy today (WD, TF) already demand 3gb of vram that huge power supply is so that you can set your 780ti as a dedicated physx card and still got power for a titan black. Luxury demands decadent thinking. Only one 1600p monitor... Only...

 

[pmcardle]

How come every tech site review that has detailed components for building rigs always exclude the price of the OS in their total cost? Is it assumed that you would use a pirated copy? I understand that the actual build-up is purely hardware related but it won't do anything other than post without the operating software. And I can bet that most users of an enthusiast rig will be installing 7 or 8.

No we don’t assume you would use a pirated copy. We assume you can work out what operating system you would want to use all on your lonesome. Some operating systems are free so why put a price on it, there are also a heap of Windows versions so that's a guide in itself. Do you already have a paid copy of Windows, are you upgrading?

When everyone does something there is probably a good reason for it, other than pirating

Yes, I already have several copies of Windows. When I do upgrade, I usually keep at least 50% of the parts list, to me that's what upgrading means. When you build from the ground up, do you throw everything else in the trash / recycle bin except for the OS? I think not. Every rig I built from the ground up had the previous rig donated to a family member or local charity, including the OS because I don't pirate software - apparently some folks do. The only free OS isn't worth the headache so purchasing a new OS copy is the right thing to do and it should be included in the final price tag. IMHO!

 

[captaincranky]

How come every tech site review that has detailed components for building rigs always exclude the price of the OS in their total cost? Is it assumed that you would use a pirated copy? I understand that the actual build-up is purely hardware related but it won't do anything other than post without the operating software. And I can bet that most users of an enthusiast rig will be installing 7 or 8.

No we don’t assume you would use a pirated copy. We assume you can work out what operating system you would want to use all on your lonesome. Some operating systems are free so why put a price on it, there are also a heap of Windows versions so that's a guide in itself. Do you already have a paid copy of Windows, are you upgrading?

When everyone does something there is probably a good reason for it, other than pirating

Yes, I already have several copies of Windows. When I do upgrade, I usually keep at least 50% of the parts list, to me that's what upgrading means. When you build from the ground up, do you throw everything else in the trash / recycle bin except for the OS? I think not. Every rig I built from the ground up had the previous rig donated to a family member or local charity, including the OS because I don't pirate software - apparently some folks do. The only free OS isn't worth the headache so purchasing a new OS copy is the right thing to do and it should be included in the final price tag. IMHO!

Are you starting an argument with yourself? IMHO, it sure appears that way.

All you have to do, is add a "one (1)", to the 3rd column to the left of the decimal point in the hardware manifest/price list, to determine the actual total cost of the system. (Assuming an OEM "home" edition, if you want Win Ultimate, that's on you).

We probably give people that visit Techspot, too much credit in being able to undertake such a complex computation.

 

[misor]

Have any of you tried to use cooler master hyper 212x, the 'updated' version of 212 evo? currently sold for about 1500php-1800php (~43+Philippine peso to 1$ u.s.). retail price for both cpu coolers are almost the same. the other day I just inquired about the 212x and would have bought one had it not been an 'open box'.

 

[Steve]

Have any of you tried to use cooler master hyper 212x, the 'updated' version of 212 evo? currently sold for about 1500php-1800php (~43+Philippine peso to 1$ u.s.). retail price for both cpu coolers are almost the same. the other day I just inquired about the 212x and would have bought one had it not been an 'open box'.

Yeah I have one, good deal. Similar price and performance to the Silverstone cooler we recommend.

 

[Nero7]

Cryteks Ryse is comming to pc and in recommended specs it has 4gb vram. is there going to be a 6gb 780ti? wouldn't the titan be that kind of card? the 780 strix with 6gb wouldn't be the better choice?