Build Advice www.rigadvice.info - interview with Silverstone

Hi guys, I've just started a new facebook page - called Rig Advice where people on Facebook can go to get free and (hopefully intelligent) advice on buying computer parts.

I've also started a website/blog over at www.rigadvice.info where I'll be posting articles on tech. On this page, we have a replacement for Bit Techs much missed recommended system builder, as well as a weekly hardware bargain.

On the main blog, I'm currently doing a series of articles on how to get the best out of the second hand parts market which I thought some of you may be interested in. Below is part 1 on CPUs and I'll continue to post the rest in this thread as they are released as some of you may (or may not!) find them useful.

Read on


Getting The Best From The Second Hand Parts Market

Part 1: CPUs

Why doesn't everyone own a gaming PC? After all, the benefits in control and graphical fidelity are obvious. Two of most often cited barriers to entry are usually the difficulty of figuring out what to buy, and cost. Those of you who have been travelling, or away with work for just a few months will return to find an astonishing array of new models, product names and numbers staring blankly back at you from the virtual shelves of your favourite online store (not helped by the baffling suffixes some of those crafty folks in marketing add to the names of their latest GPU). By doing our best to keep you up to date with all the latest hardware, this part of problem we can help you with. The second part of the problem is harder, but while we can't help you earn the money to pay for your parts, we can most definitely help you save some money, and maximise your bang for buck.

Luckily for the thrifty amongst you computer hardware becomes outdated almost as soon as you buy it, and as such the used parts market is absolutely thriving. A quick look on ebay under the heading 'components' returns nearly a quarter of a million individual items. For those that don't know exactly what they are looking for, it can sometimes be a confusing and potentially costly experience, but for those that do, there are most definitely bargains to be had. Over the next few weeks we are going to guide the budget conscious system builder through buying all the major components within a PC on the second hand parts market.


CPUs
CPU's continue to march to the drumbeat set by Moore's law in 1965. The power currently on offer from the latest chips has arguably outpaced the power required by even hardcore gamers, let alone everybody else. This, combined with the fact that CPUs contain no moving parts, and unless heavily overclocked, very rarely go wrong, mean that they should be a prime target for those looking to play the latest games without breaking the bank. For the exceptionally budget conscious a quad core Athlon X4 can be had for between £40 and £50 and will provide decent gaming performance at 1080p. In this case and others it’s important to remember that at the bottom end of the market, the law of diminishing returns works in reverse, and sometimes a little extra investment can net a large gain in performance. With this in mind, the pick of the bunch here is the Phenom II 955 Black Edition which changes hands for around £70. Its unlocked multiplier means it will happily overclock to 3.8Ghz or more with adequate cooling. Given that upon its release this chip cost over £200 and is still powerful enough to rarely be a bottleneck, savvy buyers should keep their eyes peeled. The intel equivalent, the i5 750 is arguably faster, but P55 motherboards with which to pair the chip are considerably rarer than their AM3 counterparts. This makes the i5 harder to recommend and thus the Phenom II 955 Black Edition is our best buy.

Best buy: Phenom II 955 Black Edition at around £70

 

Keep it up.

 

Keep up the good work Parge!

 

As a bit of constructive criticism. Change the background to something lighter with a dark font. It will make the page easier to read.

I would also consider rejigging the layout. I'm not sure how flexible blogger is but that giant Facebook logo is a waste of space IMHO.

The actual content is great. Keep up the good work.

 

Thanks Jaybles, constructive criticism is very much welcomed!

How about I invert the colours on the back ground image. That might achieve what you suggested whilst keeping the cool image.

The Facebook logo is so large because the blog is really an offshoot of the main Facebook site, and I want drive as much traffic there as possible.

 

That is a huge FB icon.

 

No, this is a huge FB icon:





Oh, and nice idea Parge, I hope you keep it up

 

Will be following this, great work Parge. Advice from the king of bargain rig builders. Will add the Facebook Page and share it with my friends.

 

Thanks guys. The more shares the better. I'm about to invite my entire facebook friends list.

I've been putting it all together over the last week or so, but I think I'm just about ready to launch.... well I guess this is the launch, since you all know about it now.

 

That could work. Can always try it and see what happens.

Ahh I see. I think adding a line underneath each of the articles saying "For further advice contact us via our Facebook page" or something would be a good idea.

I will be definitely linking some friends who are looking at budget builds.

 

Looks brilliant. I've liked the page too.

 

By the way parge, just another bit of 2nd hand buyer's advice. GTX 280s can be had for hilariously low prices these days. And they can put up some decent grunt. A cheaper (but hotter) HD6850 alternative if there ever was one.

 

awesome work ill add you now

 

Just a thought. I know you like that image so you could put it in a header or something like this. With a little more finesse though maybe. Again don't know how flexible blogger is but I think that should be possible. Also I think the slightly plainer style looks better.

 

Part 2 is out now! Bit techers can read it below, or on the blog here

Motherboards

Buying a second hand motherboard can be a riskier process. Even when buying new, with every technical specification in front of you, their naming conventions can perplex the experts. What is more, there are numerous things to look out for when searching for a used bargain. Potential buyers should be careful when it comes to refurbished boards, as often these come without accessories, such as the I/O shield. Bent CPU socket pins are another common fault on motherboards, and not easy to see from a blurry picture. If in doubt, ask the seller! At least that way you have some recourse if the board turns up with the pins looking like an old toothbrush.

That said, anything stated as in fully working order, made by Gigabyte, Asus or MSI can usually be relied upon to be adequate for most users needs. Nowadays, even the most basic of boards offer 5.1 channel sound and moderate overclocking abilities. Used AM3 boards are in plentiful supply and can be had for as little as £30. For those looking to future proof themselves, the P67 platform is a clever buy. Intel initially released the 1155 platform in two flavours, P67 and H67. Z68 later amalgamated the features of the two, but many of the features enthusiasts will be using such as overclocking can be found on the P67 line of boards. If you can find a P67 board at good price, don’t feel like you’ll be missing out by not owning Z68.

Best buy: AM3 or P67 Boards from Gigabyte, Asus or MSI

 

Hey guys, Part 3 is out....

Mechanical Hard Drives
Those looking to buy a hard disk over the last year have faced a tricky proposition. On the one hand SSDs still hover around the £1 per GB mark, and are therefore unsuitable for those with large amounts of data to store. On the flipside, mechanical hard drive prices have as much as doubled, making them a tough pill to swallow for those who've watched the prices climb. Happily though, as Western Digital and Seagate slowly rebuild their infrastructure the cost per GB is beginning to return to normal. This, though, means you should think twice about buying second hand drives. Unlike many other components, hard drives contain moving parts in the form of their spinning platters, and this may be part of the reason why they are arguably more susceptible to fault than other components. In addition, should the drive fail, it is likely that all the vital data you have on there will be lost. With second hand 1TB drives selling for upwards of £55, and given the critical nature of their use, you must ask yourself whether coughing up the extra £20 for a new drive would be money well spent.

So which one? Due to fixed deals on bulk pricing, a strange quirk has emerged, whereby external hard drives are now appearing cheaper than their internal counterparts. Easily dissassembled 2TB external drives can be bought brand new for ~£80, while a 2TB internal drive will cost you over £100. What is the catch? You can't always tell who the drive manufacturer is, and the speed it runs at, though a little research can give you a good idea. One way around this it to buy a Western Digital or Hitachi external enclosure which at least gives you the guarantee of a quality drive.

Best buy: A Western Digital or Hitachi external drive running at 7200rpm at around £80

 

By the way, just interviewed Antecs Product Development Manager Han Liu, link also my sig.

(also, part 4 of my guide to buying second hand hardware is live, this week SSDs)

 

Nice read tom

 

Thanks dude, couple of interesting things came out of it, they found case compartmentalisation didn't improve temperatures, that they have a new 240mm (H100 style) all in one watercooler on its way, and OC Link PSUs (which sounds totally unnecessary and thus awesome)

 

Wow this is pretty awesome, good luck to you and keep up the good work