How to Pick your Computer Parts

How to Pick your Computer Parts

Feel free to PM me if you need an informed descision, but please read this as it will help you get an idea of what you need / want.
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Processor

What you want in your processor is DUAL-CORE, not quad-core. The reason being is, games and programs will never take advantage of the extra 2 cores for another 3-4 years. Only if you’re rendering huge 2160PP files do you need quad-core, sometimes more.

What you don’t want is to get a Q6600, but rather an E8400 if you’re playing games, quad core may look convincing but again, you will not use the extra 2 cores and end up getting performance up to an E6600 or a bit more depending on if you overclock it or not.

However, if you’re into breaking 3Dmark records or just like wasting your money, go get a QX****.

If you just play runescape and listen to music and do other simple tasks, like I stated above don't get a Core 2 Quad just to show off I can't stress enough that you're only going to be running on 2 cores that will be clocked SLOWER.

AMD processors are very far behind, you should avoid them…for now, intel’s budget offering is on par with AMD also.

Price/Performance Chart for Mid-Performing(150$-400$)
E8400 (210$ MSRP)
E6850 (190$ MSRP, same performance as an E8400 but higher temps and power usage, lower OC capabilities, but thats about it)
E7200 (170$ MSRP)
Q6600 (240$ MSRP)
Q9450 (385$ MSRP)

Videocards

There is no better ones, ATI or Nvidia, both of the companies have times of ups and downs. If you’re not sure about which one to get, you should really read reviews instead of asking an extremely biased forum like nexopia.

To this date, you should wait for the 4xxxx to fully come out to see which ones you appreciate, if you can’t wait, get the nvidia 9xxx series, they both get the job done.

A Price/Performance chart for 100-300$ from best to worst
4850 (200$ MSRP)
9600GT (120-180$ MSRP)
8800GT (150-210$ MSRP)
3870 (180-220$ MSRP)
8800GTS rev.2 (250$ MSRP)
9800GTX (300$ MSRP but you can find them for around 250-270$)

Videocards onwards in my opinion is sort of a waste of money as they offer little performance gains i.e GTX280.

Budget videocards however, are ruled by ATI including onboards.

Crossfire/SLi is a waste, stop right there.

Soundcards

Once you hear an onboard against a stand alone, you’ll realize what you’re missing out on. Your bass goes lower and your treble goes higher.

The best card right now is the Auzentech Prelude followed by the Asus Xonar. What you want to avoid right now is a creative card, as they have terrible support….in general.
If you’re low on money, an HT Omega Striker works fine too or the dumbed down Asus Xonar (DX).

Motherboards (Intel)

Unless you’re planning to go hardcore crossfire, a P35 will do the job fine. An X38 is what you want if you’re going crossfire, if you want DDR3 for the sake of your e-peen, X48. Asus has nice shiny heatsinks and all but I do try to avoid them, as their motherboards are notorious for just not working on the spot…about 10-15% of them? From my experience, I’ve owned 3 and all of them have either died or just didnt work from the RMA. If you’re just building something budget, motherboards really don’t matter, just be sure its from a good retailing brand and its not too cheap, try to get a G35 chipset.

Motherboards (AMD)

Though AMD does not have the firepower, they do have a consistent power to do what they need to do. The 780G chipset is what you want as its mainstream and offers the same performance as the 790FXGTFOWTFBBQ, and its not as bugged. A 680G will do the job fine if you’re building something like a HTPC.

RAM

DDR3 prices are dropping, the time is near for us to change, though DDR2 is even cheaper and offers performance a bit better, the motherboards are cheaper too. The best performing RAM is in the PC2-8500 range, as its faster and sometimes using better chips then the 6400’s. Their sometimes in the 100’s too, even the PC2-9200’s.

Hard drive

Harddrives are so cheap its ridiculous, a 500GB is mearly 70$ while a 250gb is around 50$. All harddrives are standard 7200RPM while the speedier ones are 10k raptors (74gb and 150GB). Though 15k raptors are coming out.
do not cheap out on harddrives, the lowest you should ever go is for a 250GB.

Power Supplies

Power Supplies are the lifeline of your computer, if they die, your computer usually dies with it if its cheap, so don’t even think about buying a super expensive computer, then buying a 50$ 1000 watt’er. It usually works like this, the more you spend on your computer, the more you need to spend on your power supply, the need for power greatly increases when parts are upgraded.

Great Power Supplies
Seasonic
Enermax
PC Power & Cooling (OCZ)
Silverstone
Corsair

Mainstream
Antec
Coolermaster
FSP (Fortron)

AVOID THERMALTAKE POWER SUPPLIES

They are terribad… and blow up…literally

Cases

These are for your own preference, most people choose antec because they come with a powersupply, alot of people choose Lian-li for their luxurious looks, modders choose easy access cases like mountain mods or the torture rack. I can’t choose cases for you, you choose it yourself.

General Advice

Really, this is common sense, the cheaper it is, the easier it is for it to break, alot of brands may be expensive also but read the reviews first, sometimes you’re glad you did.

 

nice guide 8/10, even though you have links it would be helpful to also upload some pics to make your guide a more professional look.

 

All Socket 778 processors look virtually the same, as do ATX motherboards. and video card's look different depending on the manufacturer, even if they have the same chipset. so pictures? nawww.

 

you could post some pictures of cases, the appearance of them can be very different for each brand etc.