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Hardware PC Hardware Buyer's Guide March 2011

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by arcticstoat, 10 Mar 2011.

  1. arcticstoat

    arcticstoat Minimodder

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  2. soviet_

    soviet_ Bantros

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    Some truly awful looking cases picked this month, especially the Coolermaster HAF 912 Plus
     
  3. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

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    Raven RV2 and Fortress FT02 are brilliant picks. not awful.

    when i saw FT03, i thought it's going into the Premium player build :(
     
  4. soviet_

    soviet_ Bantros

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    When you are used to looking at the beauty of a P182, these cases looked like they've been molested with the ugly stick
     
  5. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

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    i am used to the look if P182, it's housing my setup now!

    but still can't get the look of FT03 out of my head, it's so elegant, so different and so well designed.
     
  6. soviet_

    soviet_ Bantros

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    Yeah the FT03 is quite nice actually but they didn't choose it for any of the set ups. And it's micro-ATX, bummer
     
    wyx087 likes this.
  7. Snips

    Snips I can do dat, giz a job

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    You could put to gether a sweet sandy bridge system using a mATX board but everything else could be top notch. You won't be sacrificing any of the performance.
     
  8. xaser04

    xaser04 Ba Ba Ba BANANA!

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    Once again (and for the exact same reasons I have commented on before) the Affordable all rounder needs revisting:

    CPU - The i3 540 is available for only a tenner more than the hard-to-find G6950 yet offers better clock for clock performance.

    GPU - 1GB models of the GTX460 are available for under £140. There is no reason to reccommend a 768mb model when the prices are so close. £140 can easily get you a HD6850 as well.

    Memory - 4GB DDR3 PC12800 is available for well under £40. Given the couple of quid difference between it and PC10666 there is no reason to go for the latter.

    Alternative suggestions for the CPU and MB would also be nice. AMD offer some excellent boards around £70 that have I/O conenctively that the GB intel board is missing (USB 3.0 & SATAIII).

    Links:

    GTX 460 1GB
    HD6850
    4GB PC12800 DDR3 (TWO)
     
  9. Ross1

    Ross1 What's a Dremel?

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    My current main pc takes up far too many expansion slots for a mATX build. 5850 with accelero twin turbo: 3 slots, tv tuners: 2 slots, esata card: 1 slot, raid card: 1 slot. Its lucky I decided to go with an external sound card (0404 UBS).
     
  10. CAT-THE-FIFTH

    CAT-THE-FIFTH What's a Dremel?

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    Last edited: 10 Mar 2011
  11. t5kcannon

    t5kcannon Minimodder

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    On the gaming workhorse list, why is there no mention of the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 Ti SUPER OC 1GB? It's an excellent version of the 560 and better than the MSI. On dabs.com for only £209.98 too.

    On the premium list, I'm not sure I buy the explanation regarding why a Sandy Bridge based system was not recommended. Sure the i7 950 is very nice, but a i7 2600K is superior. How components fair over time, and the performance they offer over time seems to me key. Got think of how upgradable things are.

    Awesome premium case recommendation, SilverStone FT02B.
     
  12. Snips

    Snips I can do dat, giz a job

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    That's all well and good if you are a fan of AMD but tests on the G6950 show it to be the better option allround.
     
  13. leveller

    leveller Yeti Sports 2 - 2011 Champion!

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    Shouldn't the premium player have an ATi 6990 if you are doing single card solutions, although for a premium player, possibly 2x 6990's?

    Added: I just re-read what was written about the 6990 in the article. The problem is, what is the definition of the premium player? You have 3 other categories catering for everyone else, surely premium should be the best money can buy? In which case, until next month, that is the 6990?
     
  14. microsoftPerson

    microsoftPerson What's a Dremel?

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    I love checking back here to see almost my exact system configuration recommended... just makes you feel, well, good... you know?
     
  15. carpetmonster

    carpetmonster What's a Dremel?

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    The P182 has all the cooling ability of a hot water bottle. I went from a P182, with the tricools on med or high to a Haf922 and my temps dropped considerably across the board. The biggest issue with the P182 is the side is not perforated. Might look nice, but cooling wise, it's crap.
     
  16. Fingers66

    Fingers66 Kiwi in London

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    On your first point, I would suggest that it is because they haven't tested it. Bit-tech have only tested the MSI. I asked about other tests and the reply I got was "we'll test them when we get them". If bit-tech don't get the cards for review, they can't recommend them.

    On your second point, I respectfully refer you to the guide itself:

    On your third point, I have to agree, it is a lovely case. It is a shame that it is simply too big for me.
     
  17. CAT-THE-FIFTH

    CAT-THE-FIFTH What's a Dremel?

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    The main reason given was because the MSI 770-C45 was not made any more. The MSI 870-C45 is virtually the same motherboard and is at a similar price.

    The G6950 recommendation is based on overclocking potential which is not guaranteed. Even one of my mates managed to unlock their Athlon II X3 435 to a Phenom II X4 with 6MB L3 cache but again like overclocking it is not a given.

    Also,not all people overclock or unlock even if they assemble their own systems. At least in the past Bit-tech used to specify a range of options at each price point.

    On top of this both the X3 450 and X2 555BE are not slower than the G6950 for gaming:

    http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/123?vs=189

    http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/123?vs=120

    http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-ii-x2-555,2540-8.html

    http://www.techspot.com/review/273-budget-cpu-roundup/page9.html

    Even in Call of Duty Black Ops the Athlon II X3 and Phenom II X2 are much faster:

    http://www.techspot.com/review/336-cod-black-ops-performance/page8.html

    Like a previous poster said the Core i3 530 is a better choice for a socket 1156 based build. It has more L3 cache,runs at a higher default clockspeed and has HT too.

    At least when OcUK used to sell the G6950 for around £58 it was decent value but it is around £70 now and a Core i3 can be had for around £75 to £80.
     
    Last edited: 10 Mar 2011
  18. Landy_Ed

    Landy_Ed Combat Novice

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    P182 in action
    http://www.cpcff.co.uk/phpBB2/download/file.php?id=347&mode=view

    I put it to you that you did something wrong, or chose/built the wrong combination of components. Or you ran it with the door shut & the fans switched to their lowest possible settings. P182 cooling capabilities are fine, you just need to use them all.
     
  19. prisoner369118

    prisoner369118 What's a Dremel?

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    Actually, you can get the Fractal case in the US. I have a Fractal Define R3 right now.
     
  20. Redsnake77

    Redsnake77 Useless Idiot

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    Isn't Z68 due in May? Why not hold off recommendations until you've tested the new new 1155 boards?
     
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