Hardware What Hardware Should I Buy? - January 2010

Not really, i unlocked my 550 on a Gigabyte Nforce 720US3 AM2+ mobo for just £55...

 

any thoughts on the Fortress FT02?

 

'Last month's'* builds/This month's builds;

1. £401/£425 = +£24
2. £652/£713 = +£61
3. £855/£913 = +£58, despite a 'downgrade' from 1366 to 1156
4. £1,296/£1,663 = +£367
5. £709/£775 = +£66

Looks like prices are on the rise. Isn't tech supposed to get cheaper as it gets older?!

*November was the last 'What Should I Buy'...

 

also the Fenrir does not seem to be avaiable in the netherlands... any alternatives?

 

"any thoughts on the Fortress FT02? "

I mean more than just a mention... is there a review in the works?

 

Yeah...lashings of mayonnaise on your chips works a treat...

 

Good to know, I'll remove it.

Uhh sooooon.

Nope. a) Tax increase b) retailers are making more margin on many products (if you read my tweets) c) we chose an "average" cheap price to the nearest £5, not the absolute cheapest we could find. We also rounded up the totals.

 

Well done! For many people, 785/790 is the most likely route to extra cores. Either or, the 550 is well worth a look IMO providing you're aware of the surrounding issues and pricing.

Bindi, I don't intend to sign up to Twitter because my ******** quota is high enough already, with Facebook!! Would you care to just explain a bit about margins? Have manufacturers found a way to enforce margins, or is this from distribution?

 

If only I could get a halfway decently priced 5850 anywhere in DE/AT. Otherwise shipping costs explode.

Core i5 750 + board + 8 GB is planned already, just waiting for funds + availability.

 

You don't need to sign up to twitter to read the twitter feed.

 

I was going to wait a couple of months into the new year to see what prices do. It's probably going to cost more judgeing by the past couple of months prices and possible ram shortages.

I should just buy now shouldn't I

 

think the exhange rate is getting you

 

In our research for parts this month a lot of products have gone up in price over the 2.5% extra that VAT added, and new products are commanding a considerable premium over MSRP. WE keep getting contacted by manufacturers of products saying "the price as reviewed is wrong, it should be this much so your score is wrong" then they click the link and its 20-30% more than they suggest. Takes the piss tbh.

 

Any ideas for a case?

I have a i7 950 with a Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme Rev.C cooler and 2 5870's.

I had to remove the fan holders (also acted as one MASSIVE dust filter) on the side panel of my CM Stacker 832 as the CPU cooler wouldn't fit with it in place, now, there is quite a lot of dust getting through.

Does anyone have good recommendations for a TALL and Wide case? I was thinking of the Antec 1200 or the Lian Li P80R (ATI Spider Special Edition), will these be good?

Thanks for the help.

 

It's good that other cpu's are getting a look in, is anything ever going to surpass the 920 do ??

 

Fascinating. In my experience, it's usually manufacturers and distribution wanting to preserve margin, while etailers steadily slash it in a big game of one-upmanship to remain competitive.

You're quite right - if etailers are loading it, that fully does take the piss. After all, technically speaking manufacturers have no control over pricing. It's definitely the right way to go to review things based on the price they can be bought for, rather than than MSRPs.

 

the 860 seems to be out performing the 920 in tests and overclocking better (bit-tech failed to reach 4ghz - engineering sample?) which makes me thing twice about the x58 route.

on the graphics card side of things and the high prices of the 58 series cards I'm thinking of either getting 2x250's or a 5770 and then having seen what fermi does either upgrading to that (or whatever ati offers) and swapping one old card into my other system (currently has a 8800gtx)

thoughts?

 

If you've already got an 88 - wait til March. Simple. Don't waste money when your existing card is adequate.

 

I liked the way it was done in Jan 10 mag with cheap gaming, cheap media. Would that along with a progression tree ie. gaming PC:-
[min cost of i5 build] [min cost i7 build]
cheap mid high
processor : athlon => phenomII 550 i5 i7 920 => infinity

There will be overlap within the systems (gaming, media) but it shows the natural progression and allows users to see when is the best time to adopt i5 over athlon/phenom etc. Undoubtely i5 is better to adopt as soon as you hit that price point, unless your looking for more cores aka the a media computer

3, 2, 1..........tare suggestion to shreds!!

 

like many I have a few systems and tend to pass old parts down the chain...

want to upgrade now (old system struggling) but want to wait on fermi (ok it probably sucks but...) and want smooth 'high' graphics now (1680x1050) and the chance upgrade monitor and graphics card in the summer for 3d (of one form or another)