Grim Views

Time for me to start building a PC again! I don't want to spend more than $1,500, and it'll be used for a lot for school for graphics art and game design. Gaming is an obvious, of course.

Been eyeballing tigerdirect and newegg, but haven't made much of a consolidated list. I'm of the understanding that Intel is still the heavy hitter with their i7 chipset, yeah? Who is winning out in regards to video cards; ATI or NVIDIA? Is DDR3 1600MHz still the best bang for my buck, with keeping me under $100 for 12GB?

Below is just what I've got so far, going through tigerdirect. Haven't compared prices yet with Newegg or anything like that, so it's generic... for now!

Or you COULD read Ars:

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/guides/2 ... dition.ars

Their setups are pretty good, I have a rig based off an older build which is not bad at all. Also, they hit all the price points.

Good call. I wonder what graphics cards are between their Hot Rod and God computers, though. Unfortunately, I haven't kept up on graphics cards and the way they actually chart their shit doesn't make sense anymore.

I know I want two of them, though! MOAR POWER!

Also mmo-champ's Setup of the Month

It all comes down to opinion. If you get a computer with an AMD chip and you're an Intel fanboy (like myself) then the the tiniest CPU problem will piss you off 10x worse.

I have the entry level i7 (920 I think, I have to look later) and I can literally run Crysis, Doom3 and WoW at the same time as several background applications while only using about 20% of my CPU. In other words the i7 series is simply amazing and the only thing that can utilize mine is folding.

As for graphic cards I would definitely say that NVIDIA > ATI. If you are on a tight budget then go with ATI, if you're a hardware NAZI then you will almost always choose NVIDIA over ATI. The drivers are very easy and it seems like they work closer with game developers on optimization than ATI. Also NVIDIA usually plays a lot nicer with Intel than AMD. That last part is more theory than fact. EVGA offers lifetime warranties if you register the card. It's hard to beat a lifetime warranty on a graphics card that is meant to be overclocked. Just ask Dem ;)

DDR3 1600 is what I'm using and I must admit that I do wish my memory was a bit faster. I have 6gb of RAM and it works for everything I need including high end, high production video games but when you look at the performance monitor you can tell that the really memory hogging applications could use more but run fine with what it has.

Disclaimer: This was all said with zero research and is subject to change upon further education.

When did graphic cards makers stop making their own graphics cards and had outside manufacturer's do it? Looking up NVIDIA and AMD comes up with a shitload of graphic cards from companies I've never heard from.

I've had opposite of you, Ash. I've had shit NVIDIA cards... but I've never had an issue with my ATI... which is now AMD since 2006. Surprise!

Uhhh, around the same time they stopped making Voodoos :)

All of the third party cards have their own bells and whistles. Usually they'll provide a bit of worthless software too. In the case of EVGA they provide overclocking tools and interfaces so Dem and I love their cards. Dem may have to correct me on this but I think he has had problems with their motherboards in the past. I'm surprised you've had problems with NVIDIA before. The only one I had a problem with was because I was doing it wrong (placement and lack of maintenance caused overheating, pure user error).

I do know this one guy who prefers ATI to NVIDIA and he become a console fanboy. Coincidence? Maybe... by the way, why the hell do you want such a MegaRig? Unless you're doing animations or CGI won't you mostly be dealing with very very large static 'images'? If that is the case then you can cut your specs in half, right? Also, a big thing for every computer arts guy I've ever met in my life is dual screen ability. Make sure that your graphic cards have 2 DVI ports if you want to use 2 monitors (or HDMI if you're a fruit loop).

Or DP if you're cool and hip. Also, if he is going into design or programming 12 GB is fine. Me, I wish I had more so I could run multiple VMs.

DP? Dual port? Dual processor? Damn Plenty?

The only thing I use VM for is compatibility :)

I'm a simple man

I've only had problems with those crap Nvidia FTW boards. I'm on my third replacement; first two had their SATA ports go bad. I just need to break down and upgrade, really.


Display Port

Edit: Oh, and your 920 is beast, btw. First off the line and one of the most sought after processors in the line-up for a long time.

Pincus wrote:Or you COULD read Ars:

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/guides/2 ... dition.ars

Their setups are pretty good, I have a rig based off an older build which is not bad at all. Also, they hit all the price points.

Ars +1

DDR 3 1600 is the best ram choice just make sure to get at least 8 gig. Bear in mind that shouldn't cost you much, I have seen newegg specials where you could have gotten 16 gig of g skill ddr3 for like 150 bucks.

Graphics card? Nvidia, the end. No one with any real knowledge will tell you ATI is the better graphics card. They are cheaper, sure, but they are not the most powerful and I hear from my friends who use them all the time about how buggy they are. Go for a mid range one though, a 560 will destroy anything you are likely to use it for and is a reasonable price, if you feel it is still too much go for a 460 which is what I use. Very good price and beastly performance at the cost. As for manufacturer go for MSI, EVGA, or Asus. None of the three have ever done me wrong.

Processor? Core i7, sandy bridge if you can afford it. That is all there really is to say about that.

Motherboard. By far your most important component. Again I advise something made by EVGA, MSI, or Asus. Try to get a board that has been out for some time too. That way any kinks have been worked out by the current production version.

I know it's well past the point, since Abric's parts are coming in, but I love my ASUS mobos. Only time I've had issues with them was when I fried my previous board when I replaced some RAM... all because I missed a mount screw and shorted it onto the case. Lesson learned!

Hrm ... you know one thing I didn't really think about is a wireless adapator. I wonder if buying one would be less effort than going out and buying 25'-35' of ethernet cable.