What Hardware Should I Buy? - Oct 2008 - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 2nd Oct 2008, 09:44

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...october-2008/1

Want to upgrade your system or build a PC this month and don't know what parts to get? We've put together a range of components which the bit-tech staff personally recommend to take the stress out of upgrading or system building that should suit any budget.

Please Digg to share - thanks for your support!

LeMaltor · 2nd Oct 2008, 09:55

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/128047

The cheap mobo aint available

Tim S · 2nd Oct 2008, 10:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeMaltor

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/128047

The cheap mobo aint available

thanks it was in stock earlier this morning when I was doing the final edit - I've updated with another retailer.

Matticus · 2nd Oct 2008, 10:16

Very nice article, I assume a lot of people will find that helpful and if anyone asks me questions in the new few weeks I will think them here. I already have one friend who wants me to "find him a motherboard and graphics card"

Valver · 2nd Oct 2008, 10:47

I'd swap out the Blu Ray drive you list and replace is with an LG "GGC-H20L" £65 inc VAT (@Aria.co.uk for example) and it does Blu Ray *AND* HD-DVD playback. Along with the usual DVD and CD writing functions. With the current fire sale of HD-DVD films you can pick up a lot of 1080p content for peanuts!

LeMaltor · 2nd Oct 2008, 10:48

Yeah I've read the rest of this and it's great, well done

steveo_mcg · 2nd Oct 2008, 10:49

Good idea guys, will come in very handy no doubt.

BigD79 · 2nd Oct 2008, 10:51

Great article, just the sort of thing amateurs like me will find invaluable!

Bladestorm · 2nd Oct 2008, 11:01

Quote:

We looked at this card just last week, and for just over £121, it’s fantastic value too, so we had to squeeze it in here. While there are cheaper HD 4850 cards out there, they all come with the frankly rubbish stock cooler, which means we literally have to remove the card from our test system with oven gloves after use.

Scan have a Palit 4850 with a different cooler design for £103.40 http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=883439

And a Palit 9800GT with different cooler for £83.41 come to that. http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=863106

Mentai · 2nd Oct 2008, 11:08

This is fantastic, while I manage to keep on top of the gpu and cpu market, I rarely know what to buy when it comes to mobo's or cases. This monthly feature really boosts bit-tech in my eyes

Tyrmot · 2nd Oct 2008, 11:21

+1
Great new feature, and makes comparing all the various options for competing products/upgrades much easier! Thanks guys!

yakyb · 2nd Oct 2008, 11:22

you cant get much better than the sharkoon rebel series for the price in terms of cases i have a rebel 12 for my home server and rebel 9 for my development pc

1ad7 · 2nd Oct 2008, 11:39

Very good

these are always handy btw hd dvd is only 1080i not p but hes right the movies are hella cheap

notatoad · 2nd Oct 2008, 11:46

is this a new thing you're going to be doing monthly, or have you been doing it for a while and i've missed it? either way, great guide. should save a few people from having to ask these questions in the forums.

Valver · 2nd Oct 2008, 11:49

er, retail HD-DVDs are all 1080p, what are you on about?

Valver · 2nd Oct 2008, 11:51

and just to back that up:

"All movie titles released so far have had the feature encoded in 1080p, with most supplements in 480i or 480p. Almost all titles are encoded with VC-1..."

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_DVD#Video

plus, I have 35 HD-DVDs that all play at 1080p

Tim S · 2nd Oct 2008, 11:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by supertoad

is this a new thing you're going to be doing monthly, or have you been doing it for a while and i've missed it? either way, great guide. should save a few people from having to ask these questions in the forums.

It's the first time we've done it and the plan is to re-release an updated version every month. We're already thinking of adding a bit more into it as well but we're keen to hear suggestions from the community on that front.

proxess · 2nd Oct 2008, 12:05

Maybe you could have sub-categories, like, hardware for media centres, hardware for gaming, hardware for serving, and the different price ranges in them. Also bit-tech could push into a high-end server market and get some adepts from that area.

Xtrafresh · 2nd Oct 2008, 12:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim S

It's the first time we've done it and the plan is to re-release an updated version every month. We're already thinking of adding a bit more into it as well but we're keen to hear suggestions from the community on that front.

I really really like this feature

I have a few suggestions:

Make a connection between these articles and the hardware reviews. "will the new xxx from xxx make it into our budget-gaming build?" That kinda thing.
I'd like to see one last page that lists the three builds in an overview. Just a simple table with which piece goes in each build that you could copy-paste to the people asking for advice you mentioned on the first page. It would be a true premium if you could build a table that lists and totals the price for each build with those nice pricelinks you use everywhere.
Drop the fixed budget, and instead focus on what the numbers represent: Budget, high-end and power user. That way, the numbers will not become silly over time like they did in the Best Buy Guide that your Dutch friends from Tweakers.net compile every two months, and you won't have to make silly choices just to fit a fictional budget.
keep doing this!

Daniel114 · 2nd Oct 2008, 12:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xtrafresh

I really really like this feature

agreed, what a great idea

2nd Oct 2008, 09:44	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	What Hardware Should I Buy? - Oct 2008 http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...october-2008/1 Want to upgrade your system or build a PC this month and don't know what parts to get? We've put together a range of components which the bit-tech staff personally recommend to take the stress out of upgrading or system building that should suit any budget. Please Digg to share - thanks for your support! __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

2nd Oct 2008, 09:55	#2
LeMaltor >^_^< Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: No. Posts: 1,396	http://www.ebuyer.com/product/128047 The cheap mobo aint available __________________ Welcoming the riff-raff since February 2009.

2nd Oct 2008, 10:16	#4
Matticus Do me a favour, plug me into a Sega Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Peterborough Posts: 1,398	Very nice article, I assume a lot of people will find that helpful and if anyone asks me questions in the new few weeks I will think them here. I already have one friend who wants me to "find him a motherboard and graphics card" __________________ \|\|\|E8200@3.4ghz\|\|\|GA-P35-DS3L\|\|\|4GB OCZ/Corsair DDR2 800\|\|\|8800GT 512mb\|\|\|VX450w\|\|\|Under Water\|\|\|

2nd Oct 2008, 10:48	#6
LeMaltor >^_^< Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: No. Posts: 1,396	Yeah I've read the rest of this and it's great, well done __________________ Welcoming the riff-raff since February 2009.

2nd Oct 2008, 10:49	#7
steveo_mcg What owl? Join Date: May 2005 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 3,979	Good idea guys, will come in very handy no doubt. __________________ No boom today, boom tomorrow... there's always a boom tomorrow.

2nd Oct 2008, 10:47	#5
Valver What's a Dremel? Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 9	I'd swap out the Blu Ray drive you list and replace is with an LG "GGC-H20L" £65 inc VAT (@Aria.co.uk for example) and it does Blu Ray AND HD-DVD playback. Along with the usual DVD and CD writing functions. With the current fire sale of HD-DVD films you can pick up a lot of 1080p content for peanuts!

2nd Oct 2008, 10:51	#8
BigD79 Gadding about... Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Cleckhuddersfax Posts: 437	Great article, just the sort of thing amateurs like me will find invaluable! __________________ -=BigD=- PSN "BigD-UK-"

2nd Oct 2008, 11:08	#10
Mentai Supermodder Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: New Zealand Posts: 492	This is fantastic, while I manage to keep on top of the gpu and cpu market, I rarely know what to buy when it comes to mobo's or cases. This monthly feature really boosts bit-tech in my eyes

2nd Oct 2008, 11:21	#11
Tyrmot Multimodder Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: London Posts: 204	+1 Great new feature, and makes comparing all the various options for competing products/upgrades much easier! Thanks guys!

2nd Oct 2008, 11:22	#12
yakyb CK is God!!! Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 1,066	you cant get much better than the sharkoon rebel series for the price in terms of cases i have a rebel 12 for my home server and rebel 9 for my development pc __________________ Gaming Box:: q6600 @3.0 :: 9800gtx :: Abit IP35 :: 4gb :: 1.4TB :: akasa eclipse :: Win7 Development:: PhenomII 955BE @3.2 :: 4200 :: asus M4A785 M Evo :: 1.25TB ::Win7 Media Centre :: q6600 @3.0 :: x1950pro :: asus p35 epu :: 8gb :: 320 GB :: Lc17B :: Win7 server:: I7 860 :: p55 gd65 :: 3450 :: 8 TB :: 8gb :: Rebel 12 :: server 2008 R2

2nd Oct 2008, 11:39	#13
1ad7 Multimodder Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Texas, United States Posts: 187	Very good these are always handy btw hd dvd is only 1080i not p but hes right the movies are hella cheap __________________ E8500@ 4.3ghz on air->ASUS P5Q-E->4gb of OCZ DDR2 @1069-> 4890 @ 958 1080 ->ASUS Xonar D2->Win7 Ultimate 42" Polaroid LCD @ 1920x1080

2nd Oct 2008, 11:46	#14
notatoad pretty fing wonderful Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: alberta, canada Special:very Posts: 3,180	is this a new thing you're going to be doing monthly, or have you been doing it for a while and i've missed it? either way, great guide. should save a few people from having to ask these questions in the forums. __________________ the old: gigabyte P35, e4300@2.8GHz, 4GB DDR3-1333, 8800gts 512, win7 the new: DFI M3H5 Jr, phenom 810, 4GB DDR-1600, OCZ Vertex, debian notatoad.net fdo eff

2nd Oct 2008, 11:49	#15
Valver What's a Dremel? Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 9	er, retail HD-DVDs are all 1080p, what are you on about?

2nd Oct 2008, 11:51	#16
Valver What's a Dremel? Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 9	and just to back that up: "All movie titles released so far have had the feature encoded in 1080p, with most supplements in 480i or 480p. Almost all titles are encoded with VC-1..." from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_DVD#Video plus, I have 35 HD-DVDs that all play at 1080p

2nd Oct 2008, 12:05	#18
proxess Victim of AdvancedModernCapitalism Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: The town of Love, Funchal Posts: 598	Maybe you could have sub-categories, like, hardware for media centres, hardware for gaming, hardware for serving, and the different price ranges in them. Also bit-tech could push into a high-end server market and get some adepts from that area. __________________ Netbook: Asus eeePC 901; 12Gb SDD; Custom Ubuntu 9.04 Minimal Compiz Standalone. Laptop: Intel Centrino Duo T5500 1.66ghz; 2048mb RAM; ATI Mobility Radeon x2300; Hitachi 120gb iPod Classic 120GB; Maxtor 160GB External; Ubuntu 9.10 x64 and Windows 7 x64.