Hardware PC Hardware Buyer's Guide May 2011

Our monthly guide to getting the best components for your PC build, whatever your budget.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/buyers-guide/2011/05/10/pc-hardware-buyer-s-guide-may-2011/1

 

GTX 590 most powerful card?
i thought that was the HD 6990....

 

I wouldn't pick up a C300 nowadays, especially with the Crucial M4, the Intel 510 and the immense OCZ Vertex 3 available at similar price points.

 

Erm........... gtx590? Id say its an even coin toss between that and the 6990, wouldnt you? Otherwise, nice lists of kit made.

 

Hd6990>Gtx590

Why you ask?

I prefer my computer not to explode when given something challenging to do...

 

Surprised you didn't opt for a 5850 Xtreme @ £100 over a 460 GTX!

 

if I wanted a photo- editing machine(multi-tasker, some film editing - no gaming) with tons of storage should I look at the set up for the Gaming Workhorse or the All Rounder?

 

Thanks Bit-Tech and respect to not recommending a new part until you get your hands on it, such as the Crucial M4 SSD 64GB which is $30 more expensive than the C300.
Not optimistic about the SIlverstone Raven 03 when the reviews come out.
GTX590 is hard to find. I'd change the motherboard to Pro (2 pci-e2.0 x 8), and go for HD6950 2GB CF.
I would recommend the Asus Proart 24" 1920x1200 ips display.

 

You guys seriously need to review the OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS SSD. I think that you should choose it for premium player rig.

 

Phew, my system is still current despite being bought in January. Was expecting it to be obsolete by now...

Glad to see the R3 is available in the US now too!

 

One more thing about the cooler. You haven't mentioned Thermalright's SIlver Arrow, nor Noctua's NHD14 & NHC14, so I'm not sure what you guys make of them compared to the Dark Rock, unless you haven't reviewed them yet. Thanks as always!

 

LOL the 6990 fanbois start it off again. It has no place on this elite list.

 

probably has been stated before, but can we add speakers, headsets and monitors to those lists? I'm sure you've already got a stack of decent recommendations and they wouldn't change month to month....plzthanks

 

560Ti over a 480GTX? You can get a standard 480GTX for same price as this 560Ti or pay a little more and get a Gigabyte SOC addition which will give you near on 580GTX performance...

 

monitor: Dell U2711


Bit-tech concluded with 590 being faster than 6990, they are obviously not going to do a U-turn in a hardware recommendation article.

 

With the Z68 motherboards coming out tomorrow if I understand correctly I would have thought the best thing to do right now is wait a few days (I am about to do a partial build and that's what I am planning to do).

 

The Crucial M4 is generally ~£40-£60 cheaper than the other two drives, which are roughly the same price.

 

I was wondering how quickly this would be brought up. First post, no less! You have to remember that in the BT tests, the 590 fared well against the 6990 and was comparatively quiet.

Not true. Most other sites have the 6990 beating the 590.

Damn good point! Though they haven't reviewed it yet...

The 480 would require a more powerful PSU (extra money right there) and a stock version would be louder than a 560.

 

Trouble with the motherboard you've chosen is the lack of any possibility of crossfire/sli because the second slot is only X4 electrically. That really limits the possibility of making a gaming powerhouse by using two more buget minded overclockable cards.

For instance my current system a Foxconn X38a chipset mobo socket 775 has two pciex16 2.0 both of which are x16 electrically even when both populated......I'm using an sli patch as the mobo chipset doesn't normally support sli and have two palit 2gb gtx460's sli'ed together and OCed to 820MHz from the stock of 675MHz.....matched with a Q6600 @3.5GH and 8Gb DDR2 this would shame all but your most expensive build in gpu limited gaming scenarios.

It really does play Crysis.......at max settings and 1920X1200.

 

+1 on the crossfire issue. I just bought the Asus P8P67 Deluxe as it has its own optimised PLX crossfire engine embedded into the mobo for more performance.