Hardware PC Hardware Buyer's Guide September 2010

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

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/buyers-guide/2010/09/07/pc-hardware-buyer-s-guide-september-2010/1

 

Still firm on single card solutions, eh?

A 460 SLI setup seems very tempting at this point for performance/$(or £)

 

Can you let me know where you got the pricing for the enthusiastic overclooker, I'm in the process of pricing up a similar system, but can not get close to the price you are suggesting includes VAT.

 

"We played with the idea of using the reference CPU cooler for this system to leave us room for a GeForce GTX 460 1GB, but given that we’ll want to overclock that CPU, we needed to invest in a better cooler."

Leftover from last month? You included a GTX 460 this time..

 

Very good article tho I would still like to see a crossfire/SLI board as a side note recommendation for i5 builds. Its a natural upgrade path especially if does venture into multi monitor gaming.

 

no mention of the much cheaper 950?

 

For the all rounder is it not worth spending a few extra £ on an X3 440?

 

Cheers, fixed

 

It's funny how it says August 2010 on every page except for the main one.

 

So, aside from price drops, no real changes? Can't complain, I suppose.

Also no changes to page titles and the drop-down box. They all say August.

 

Hmmm I still reckon that £485 isn't classed as a budget setup. £400 price point would fit it better IMO.

 

"so your next graphics card option is the £280 Radeon HD 5870."


I dont think thats the case at all, Nvidia 470's can now be had for around £220 if you look around.......

 

Yep if you try to build that system its basically 600 gone when you install Windows 7 (waits for people saying but linux is free)

a 400 one would be nice, but it would also be quite under-powered for the majority of our needs of the people who use these forums.

 

+stronger PSU
+MB with 2x PCIe 16
+Power consumption $$$
and maybe even larger case

Single card solution is better for a brand new PC.

 

Surely the fact the i7 950 has dropped to within £20 of the 930 makes it the better choice?

 

£285 for an HD5870 - sounds tempting...What do you guys think?

 

I really wish people would stop with the dual pcie x16 for multi-gpu

x16 x x8 or even x8 x 8x is only 2-5 fps slower at budget resolutions (ie the majority of PC owners with a single monitor under 30"

Ideally yes you would want dual 16x found on the X58s but there are also a few boards with dual x16 that aren't horribly expensive, most are workstation class though.

There are plenty of reviews out there comparing the speeds of PCIe and GPUs and they all point to dual x8 as being sufficient for most applications.

 

The problem is, for LGA1156 to get a dual x8 you need to spend a quite a lot more on a motherboard than just the basic, but excellent overclocking ones we recommend. Even some mid-range ones only have the second slot as x4 to save money on electronic switches.

 

hmmm, Premium player.
I'd have spent the 22 pounds more on the i7 950 over the i7 930...and saved a lot more not using the 5970, but it goes either way I guess.

Gaming Workhorse.
The GTX460 isn't a real alternative over the 5870, at least not at 1920x1080.

Great summary as always guys!

 

Only problem with that is it's a 470