High End Parts List / Basic Rig Building Tips #2

codemonkey

codemonkey

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The majority of the tips and all the original parts were compiled by Kc102. This thread is an up-to-date remake of it and was approved by Kc102.

This thread's purpose is to people figure out what parts they should get for high end computer builds.

Rules of Rig Building
  1. Do not skimp on the power supply.
  2. DO NOT SKIMP ON THE POWER SUPPLY.
  3. Just because it looks good, doesn't mean it's any good.
  4. When building a rig, dirt cheap is generally too good to be true.
  5. Make sure your site is a good one, don't buy from a crappy one.
  6. If your processor says Intel, you need an Intel motherboard.
  7. If your motherboard says AMD, you need an AMD processor.
  8. UPS is known for terrible shipping, all boxes are subject to a six foot drop. Go with Fedex for fragile parts (harddrive, motherboard).

AMD Processor Socket types:
  • AM2 - Supports single core, and most dual core processors. Does not support any quad core.
  • AM2+ - Supports all AM2 processors, as well as quad core processors. AM2+ supports AM3 processors.
  • AM3 - AMDs latest generation of cores, improved over AM2+. Supports dual, triple, quad and six cores.

Intel Processor Socket types:
  • LGA 775 - Duals to quads.
  • LGA 1156 (i3, i5, i7) - The newest generation of Intel processors. Some have multi-threading.
  • LGA 1366 (i7) - All quad/six cores with multi-threading.

Extra Information
  • Multi Threading - When a single processor core can process two threads at once, adding 1 virtual processor per physical core. Also known as hyper threading.
  • Why does Intel cost so much more then AMD? - As far as I can tell, because they can.
  • What is PCI-E? - PCI-E, or PCI Express, is the current standard for video cards and other super fast devices. You need two to run a dual video card setup, and so on.
  • What are all those numbers after the RAM? 5-5-5-15? - Those are the RAM timings. Generally, the lower the better. Higher RAM speeds are better though, which is what makes DDR3 worthwhile.
  • ATI or nVidia? - It's more a matter of personal preference. Both have amazing video cards, but generally nVidia has the strongest single GPU cards on the market while ATI is for the budget builder and recently has had the best GPUs overall.
  • How many watts do I need? What Power Supply? - Wattage Calculator or Read Me.
  • 32 or 64 bit? 64 hands down. 32 bit does not support more than 4GB of memory. (with a few exceptions)
  • What's a Solid State Drive? A solid state drive (or SSD) is a type of hard drive which is incredibly fast and has no moving parts. Unfortunately they're also incredibly costly. SSDs are a type of Flash Drive. Solid State Drives are mostly 2.5" (laptop sized) instead of regular desktop harddrives which are 3.5" - however they will still work with desktops.

CPU (Central Processing Unit, Processor)
For a list of all the high end processors listed in order click here.
Intel

AMD


Motherboards

Intel

AMD

RAM


Video Cards
For up-to-date video card rankings click here or here.
NVIDIA cards support 3D with some accessories required.
*The "best" is based upon its performance, it does not take into account power usage or heat dissipation.

Hard Drives
Standard
For a list of the fastest 7200RPM harddrives, click here.
Highend
Solid State Drives
The read and write speeds are the maximum possible. SSDs wear down over time and get slower speeds. All of the listed SSDs have TRIM support.


Power Supplies
pricelessp.gif

For a list of tiered power supply models, click here.


Operating Systems

Windows
With Windows you have two types of operating systems: OEM and Retail. OEM is significantly cheaper than Retail. The downside? You can only install OEM on one computer and do not get any support with OEM. All of these are 64 bit.

To see the different features of the different versions of Windows 7 click here.

Linux
Linux comes with a wide range of distributions. Here are some of the popular free Linux distros. Make sure you get the 64 bit versions so you can fully utilize all of your RAM.


If there's anything you'd like to add to the list, feel free to post.
 
Romek

Romek

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> (Best Single GPU Card in the world)
The 5870 is better, in my opinion. Better performance in about the same number of games as it has slightly worse performance in, and it's not a toaster in the case.

This is a good list, in any case. I was always under the impression that there was a newer, improved version of the P6T Deluxe V2 out there though. :confused:
 
Romek

Romek

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> The 5870 is worse, see http://www.overclock.net/graphics-ca...time-last.html
I can't argue with that. :p
Though calling it the 'best' is quite opinionated, especially considering the amount of power it needs, and the ridiculous amount of heat it produces. The difference in speed isn't anything major apparently, either.
 
codemonkey

codemonkey

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Slapshot136 said:
add these links

PSU brands
tom's cpu chart
tom's gpu cart

also add that you should be getting a x64 system if you want it to be high-end
Click to expand...

This thread is solely for high end parts. All the processors listed here support x64. However, I added it to the thread.

For the graphics card link I have a much better link under graphics cards here: http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/502403-graphics-card-ranking-5th-time-last.html

That CPU link is about best deals, not best processors.

I have added the PSU link.
 
Slapshot136

Slapshot136

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codemonkey said:
This thread is solely for high end parts. All the processors listed here support x64. However, I added it to the thread.

For the graphics card link I have a much better link under graphics cards here: http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/502403-graphics-card-ranking-5th-time-last.html

That CPU link is about best deals, not best processors.

I have added the PSU link.
Click to expand...

I meant for the operating system, not the CPU being x64

and I don't like the chart you had (doesn't give you an idea of how much of an improvement one card is over another), also no, the CPU chart is the CPU's ranked by performance - look again, there's no way the i7-980X Extreme comes out on top under "best deal"
 
codemonkey

codemonkey

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Slapshot136 said:
I meant for the operating system, not the CPU being x64

and I don't like the chart you had (doesn't give you an idea of how much of an improvement one card is over another), also no, the CPU chart is the CPU's ranked by performance - look again, there's no way the i7-980X Extreme comes out on top under "best deal"
Click to expand...

The GPU chart I had is updated daily. Yesterday, when the Ares Radeon HD 5870 was released it was on there instantly.

Regarding the CPU chart:

The title of the article:
"Best Graphics Cards For The Money: June 2010"

Excerpt:
"You can use this hierarchy to compare the pricing between two cards, to see which one is a better deal, and also to determine if an upgrade is worthwhile."


___________

Added operating systems and harddrives. Updated motherboards.
 
Slapshot136

Slapshot136

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it has them ranked by performance, not by price, even if what it says is misleading

yours doesn't give a sense of how much better is a card compared to another - that's why I think both should be on the list
 
codemonkey

codemonkey

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Slapshot136 said:
it has them ranked by performance, not by price, even if what it says is misleading

yours doesn't give a sense of how much better is a card compared to another - that's why I think both should be on the list
Click to expand...

Fair enough; I added the GPU link.

My current processor link is more comprehensive by far than the one on tom's hardware.
 
codemonkey

codemonkey

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I will definitely get around to explaining TRIM but most people don't need TRIM support so I'll keep my current list. I'll mark the ones in my list that do.

I'll explain Xeon/Opteron later.
 
Slapshot136

Slapshot136

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one more thing to add is the warranty length - I think this mainly applies to hard-drives, since there I would prefer stability + reliability over performance, and also mention that when SSD's die, they don't lose their information, they simply become read-only
 
codemonkey

codemonkey

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Slapshot136 said:
one more thing to add is the warranty length - I think this mainly applies to hard-drives, since there I would prefer stability + reliability over performance, and also mention that when SSD's die, they don't lose their information, they simply become read-only
Click to expand...

I think people can check warranties themselves. :rolleyes:

I'll add a link to the SSD wikipedia article. :p
 
codemonkey

codemonkey

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Removed Intel Core i7 Extreme 965, also changed the discontinued Phenom II X4 810 to the 925. Also changed the Core i7 950 to 960.
 
PureOwnage

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You need to post the GTX 460. The AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition (Dual Core) isn't bad either. You can turn that processor into a quad core with core unlocking.

You missed an important tip. BUILD OFF OF YOUR MOTHERBOARD!

You might want to add the 80 PLUS awards to the PSU section and how they affect PSU's. Might want to add that some i5's and i7's include integrated graphics cards.

________________
On the other hand: My new computer runs Crysis on 60 FPS gamer settings. :D
 
codemonkey

codemonkey

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PureOwnage said:
You need to post the GTX 460. The AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition (Dual Core) isn't bad either. You can turn that processor into a quad core with core unlocking.

You missed an important tip. BUILD OFF OF YOUR MOTHERBOARD!

You might want to add the 80 PLUS awards to the PSU section and how they affect PSU's. Might want to add that some i5's and i7's include integrated graphics cards.

________________
On the other hand: My new computer runs Crysis on 60 FPS gamer settings. :D
Click to expand...

Replaced the 465 with the 460, since the 460 actually performs better in most games.

I just wouldn't consider the Phenom II X2 terribly high end (though I'm getting it for my new build)

Integrated grapics isn't going to matter on a gaming rig.

Adding 80 PLUS is kind of unnecessary they're all quality PSUs.

I'll add the tip later.
 
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