Ok since a lot of people are buying systems now due to the Intel price drop coming up and the fact parts are at a very good price, I have decided to post a list of things people should be looking at when building a system.
First you must identify the primary use for the computer. Will it be for gaming, overclocking, day-to-day usage, graphic/video editing, etc... This will help you decide where you should be putting the bulk of you money into and what corners you can cut. Another thing you should consider is whether or not you want to upgrade as you go along, or just keep the system for a period of time then build a whole new one. This topic is going to mainly aimed at people who game, overclock, or use it day-to-day but want a nice system to call their own.
So let us begin... first thing i will talk about are chipsets. Right now, i think the P35 chipset is the one to buy. It has some longevity in it, allowing for a Intel Penryn upgrade if the person so desires it. If you didn't know already the Penryn is the new 45nm CPU being released by Intel. The reason the P35 chipset can support this is because it has a voltage mod applied to it to allow for the new CPU's (in short). The P35 is the successor to the P965 chipset by Intel. Up and coming is the X38 chipset. This should be released in a matter of months. It supports 2 16x PCIe slots and allows for better overclocking. If you are a serious gamer and you must have crossfire, then holding out for the X38 chipset is probably your best bet. Also if you are a crazy overclocker, then waiting for the X38 will be beneficial. However the P35 is already an excellent overclocker. Ok now to discuss the gamers who must have SLI. Unfortunately SLI is NOT yet comfirmed for the X38, so you are best off going with the nVidia 680 chipset. IMO, SLI and crossfire are a waste of money, but hey that's just my opinion.
P35 w/o Crossfire:
Ok so let's start looking at motherboards for the P35 chipset. I am a big fan of Gigabyte motherboards. They offer a large range in the P35 category, they are very well made, stable, and their warranty services are now partnered with ASUS. So if you are looking for something that will perform well, and you are on a budget, then i would recommend the GA-P35-DS3R. It is a very basic board, but it does perform very well. It doesn't have crossfire, but the P35 can only support a second 4x PCIe slot anyways. If you want the crazy heat-pipes without crossfire then go with the GA-P35-DS4. If you want a more entusiast oriented board because you want to overclock you CPU a lot (and i mean a lot), then go for the ASUS P5K Vanilla. Everyone knows ASUS make very good boards, and this one is no exception. So to sum this up a little, if you're on a budget go for the GA-P35-DS3R, if you want massive overclocking potential, then go for the ASUS P5K Vanilla. I will talk about the combo boards in the memory section.
P35 w/ Crossfire:
Right now there are only 2 boards in this category, the GA-P35-DQ6 and the ASUS P5K Deluxe. I own a GA-P35-DQ6, which i love. The board has a great set of heatpipes, which does kind of restrict the size of heatsink you want to mount. It is very stable, overclocks exceptionally well, has plently of SATA ports, and has a great layout. It currently retails for about $220 US. At that price it isn't really a steal, but nevertheless if you get this board you won't be disappointed. The second board to look at in this category is the ASUS P5K Deluxe. This is also an excellent board. To my understanding it has slightly better overclocking abilities than the DQ6. I have heard of some problems with the board, but apparently they are fixed now with the latest bios.
nVidia 680:
I don't know too much about this chipset. I don't think it is really worth getting unless you must have SLI. The ASUS boards with this chipset have a good reputation. I am unsure if the Gigabyte version was ever released.
Some things to keep in mind: I have kept this section fairly basic, but there are many other companies out there. The ABIT P35 board seems to be very good, along with the MSI board. I don't really like the layout of the MSI Platinum, but hey that's just my opinion. For the money, I think the Gigabyte variations are the best. You could try going for something on the cheaper side with a board made by Foxconn or Biostar. Since the GA-P35-DS3R is so reasonably priced, this is the one i usually recommend because of the great stability gigabyte offers. There are some older chipsets that could be looked at. Mainly the P965 and the 975x. Right now, with the current price of a P35 chipset, and the fact that they are excellent performers, i don't really recommend the 965 or 975x anymore, although, they are both great chipsets.
Ok, on to CPU's...
Everyone is aware of the July 22nd price cuts coming from Intel. This is the main reason I have not been recommending any AMD chipsets. AMD does have great value for the sub $200 category for a CPU. Even with that in mind, i still think a Core 2 CPU should be what people are looking for. Clock for clock, they are much better than the ATI's and they are reasonably priced. I am definitely not an AMD hater, i used to own a 3800+ when i thought AMD was the best thing to get. I loved using it, and it did it's job very well. You could wait and see how the Phenom's will perform before building a new system, but this guide is mainly for people who want to build one within 2 months.
This is the point where you will need to decide what the primary use of the computer will be. If you are a gamer, then you should be looking for something with a high clock speed, not necessarily the amount of cores. If you are big into editing or encoding, then cores are very important. If you want to overclock, then you are mainly interested in value with the potential for overclocking (unless you have a large budget, then it's all about the max overclock baby!!!). If you are looking for a day-to-day use with some performance, then you are looking for the middle range CPU. Ok so with the price cut coming up, i think the CPU's to look out for are the Q6600, E6850, and the E6750. Granted you don't necessarily need the 1333mhz strap, so you could look for a 1066mhz CPU. Right now, I think the best CPU to buy is the e6600 or the e6420. They overclock well, and are very well priced. Ok one thing to keep in mind for overclocking, if you want a big time overclocker, then you must get something with G0 stepping. This is greatly help in your quest for extra clock speed. Everyone seems to want to get the Q6600, but I don't think they realize that 2 cores will most likely be wasted. Also they are hard to overclock because they generate tonnes of heat. If you want to overclock one, then you will need a very good heat sink (will discuss heatsinks further down) or watercooling (or phase change, LN2, etc.. but if you have one of those then you probably don't need to read this guide). A lot of people I see want to game and they want a quad core. This is a poor approach. Since most games aren't even maximized for 2 cores, why do you need 4? It is better to get a CPU with higher clock speed so that it will not be the limiting factor when it comes to games.
Video Cards:
Right now the best card is the 8800GTX (The ultra is just a waste of money). If you must have a DX10 card and you game a lot, then this is the card for you. Alternatively, if you game a bit and want something on the cheaper side, then the 8800GTS 640mb and the 2900XT may be for you. The 8800GTS 640MB seems to go on sale quite frequently now, and for about $320 it is excellent value for this card. The 2900XT is starting to become quite a good performer with the new driver updates, however if it isn't on sale for about $350, i don't think it is worth it. It generates a lot of heat and the fan is quite loud. The company who makes the cards shouldn't really matter, it is the chipset of the card that counts. Traditionally eVGA, ASUS, XFX, BFG, Sapphire, Leadtek and HIS all make good cards. If you don't really need a DX10 card, then you are better going with something from the nVidia 7 series or the x1k series from ATI. The x1900xt and x1900xtx are both excellent cards for the price. I personally use a x1900xt overclocked, and it can handle a lot of games running at 1900x1200 at max settings. You could buy a holdover card until the new cards are released with the GPU die shrink. The new cards will dissapate less heat and will have higher clocks than the current ones. Not to mention any DX10 bugs that exist will probably be ironed out. Personally I would wait for the die shrink before getting a new video card.
Memory:
Ok if you haven't noticed already I have recommended all DDR2 boards. Right now DDR2 is the best value. The performance difference between it and DDR3 is minimal, and the cost is way below that of DDR3. If you must have DDR3 right now, then ASUS and Gigabyte both offer boards supporting it. Keep in mind the P35 chipset is the only chipset to date supporting DDR3. If you want something with DDR2 and DDR3 capabillities, then you could get something like the GA-P35C-DS3R or the MSI P35 combo board. This will allow for some futureproofing when DDR3 speeds get higher and the timings get lower. You can then easily switch over.
I am now going to recommend some DDR2 modules. I am a big fan of Crucial Ballistix ram. Right now they are amazingly priced on Newegg and mwave. The PC2-6400 DDR2-800 is an amazing deal at about $75 after MIR. If you want a lot of overhead for FSB then you could go for something like the PC2-8500 DDR2-1066. The main reason I like these two sets by Crucial is because they use Micron D9 chips. If you want to overclock or if you want super tight timings, then Micron D9's are a must. Promos does make a decent chip, and they are available in a lot of DDR2-800 modules. I know for a fact the Corsair 6400C4 v2.1 uses Promos chips and the Gskill F2-6400CL4D-2GBHK. Mushkin, Geil, Corsair, OCZ, Gskill, Patriot, Crucial and many other brands all make very good memory. When you are looking at memory there are a couple things to look at: How must voltage is required for the listed timings, what chips they use, and what the warranty covers in terms of max voltage. Goto this website to check what chips are used with different kinds of ram.
Power Supplies:
Ok I usually only recommend 1 power supply to people, and it is the Corsair 620HX. It is rock solid, has modular cables, and is decently priced. This PSU can handle 2 x 8800GTX's and a Q6600 overclocked. It is truly amazing. In terms of how many watts you actually need, the CPU and video card will be the main factors. Generally about 500W's is needed, but there is no hard in getting something a little higher. If you need a bigger PSU than the 620HX, then you could look at something made by OCZ, Seasonic, or Enermax. The main things for a PSU are: having stable rails (so having something that can hold voltages under load on the 12v, 5v and 3.3V rails), having enough connectors for what you need, and providing enough power to all your components.
DVD Writers:
Ok i'll keep this pretty brief. Go for the Pioneer DVR-212D (sata) or the DVR-112D. Both are excellent. I don't like NEC burners, i had a bad experience with them. Supposedly the BenQ burners are very good. Ultimately it comes down to brand preference, but the Pioneer has an excellent feature set and is very reliable. If you do a lot of burning, then you have to get a Plextor. I have 2 of them along with a DVR-212D. I have burned about 1000 discs on my older 4x plextor, and about 700 on my 716SA. They are amazing and are well worth the money if you do a lot of burning. The new 800 series are out. The PATA one can be bought right now, the 810SA version is on the way. The 755SA burner is also very good. I just like the 716SA because it has an 8MB buffer.
Hard Drives:
Western Digital and Seagate both make excellent drives. Hitachi does currenlty make the biggest HD, however I think Seagate has just released a 1TB drive. I usually recommend the 7200.10 to people because of its 5 year warranty and reasonable pricing. The WDAK series are very good for the money, but the OEM drives only come with 3 years of warranty. In terms of size the 320GB and 500GB are the best priced right now. If you are really looking for performance and must have the best, then you have to get a WD raptor. Make sure that you get a the 74GB or higher capacity versions. The 36GB version uses older technology and isn't quite as fast. The 7200.10 drive is fairly close in terms of performance with the raptor.
Cases:
Ok this usually comes down to personal preference, but I will give you a couple of cases I usually recommend. The Antec P180 is excellent value (just make sure you get the one with the water holes and the cable management cut motherboard tray). For about $140 you can get a large case with excellent airflow. You will only need to add 1 fan at the front of the computer. If you want a crazy case to accommodate watercooling, then the mountain mods UFO case is for you.
Heatsinks:
Currently the best heatsinks to get are the Tuniq Tower and the Thermalright Ultra 120 Lapped. The tuniq tower will out perform the Thermalright unless you get a lapped version. If you want a quad core and want to overclock, then you must get a very good heatsink. I would recommend a Scythe Ninja at the very least, preferably the Tuniq Tower. You will have to pick a fan to mount on one of these heat sinks, i would personally go for something like a Scythe S-FLEX, but you could save some money and get a Yate Loon DSM, or DSH. If you don't really want to overclock then you will be ok with the stock cooler. If you have a quad core and don't want to overclock I would still recommend an aftermarket cooler. If you are interested in watercooling, aigomorla has an excellent guide in the Cases/Cooling section. In terms of thermal paste, you should get Arctic Silver 5 at a minimum. Preferably get something like Shin-Etsu X23-7783D or the Arctic Cooling MX-1. Both are excellent and won't fuse your CPU to your heatsink. Get proper instructions on how to apply the paste before doing so, because it makes a big difference.
Sound Cards:
Ok for most people the onboard sound should be good enough. All those motherboards I previously mentioned some with excellent onboard sound. If you game heavily or are an audiophile, then the Creative X-FI series is for you. Alternatively you could get an Auzentech Card. They have an X-FI based card now, along with a Cmedia based card. Both brands are quite good. I don't know all that much when it comes to this category, so I can't be much of a help.
Ok, I think I have covered all of the main parts of a computer. If there are any suggestions don't be afraid to say so. I am going to be adding to this as time goes by. I will try and update it as things progress in the computer world.
First you must identify the primary use for the computer. Will it be for gaming, overclocking, day-to-day usage, graphic/video editing, etc... This will help you decide where you should be putting the bulk of you money into and what corners you can cut. Another thing you should consider is whether or not you want to upgrade as you go along, or just keep the system for a period of time then build a whole new one. This topic is going to mainly aimed at people who game, overclock, or use it day-to-day but want a nice system to call their own.
So let us begin... first thing i will talk about are chipsets. Right now, i think the P35 chipset is the one to buy. It has some longevity in it, allowing for a Intel Penryn upgrade if the person so desires it. If you didn't know already the Penryn is the new 45nm CPU being released by Intel. The reason the P35 chipset can support this is because it has a voltage mod applied to it to allow for the new CPU's (in short). The P35 is the successor to the P965 chipset by Intel. Up and coming is the X38 chipset. This should be released in a matter of months. It supports 2 16x PCIe slots and allows for better overclocking. If you are a serious gamer and you must have crossfire, then holding out for the X38 chipset is probably your best bet. Also if you are a crazy overclocker, then waiting for the X38 will be beneficial. However the P35 is already an excellent overclocker. Ok now to discuss the gamers who must have SLI. Unfortunately SLI is NOT yet comfirmed for the X38, so you are best off going with the nVidia 680 chipset. IMO, SLI and crossfire are a waste of money, but hey that's just my opinion.
P35 w/o Crossfire:
Ok so let's start looking at motherboards for the P35 chipset. I am a big fan of Gigabyte motherboards. They offer a large range in the P35 category, they are very well made, stable, and their warranty services are now partnered with ASUS. So if you are looking for something that will perform well, and you are on a budget, then i would recommend the GA-P35-DS3R. It is a very basic board, but it does perform very well. It doesn't have crossfire, but the P35 can only support a second 4x PCIe slot anyways. If you want the crazy heat-pipes without crossfire then go with the GA-P35-DS4. If you want a more entusiast oriented board because you want to overclock you CPU a lot (and i mean a lot), then go for the ASUS P5K Vanilla. Everyone knows ASUS make very good boards, and this one is no exception. So to sum this up a little, if you're on a budget go for the GA-P35-DS3R, if you want massive overclocking potential, then go for the ASUS P5K Vanilla. I will talk about the combo boards in the memory section.
P35 w/ Crossfire:
Right now there are only 2 boards in this category, the GA-P35-DQ6 and the ASUS P5K Deluxe. I own a GA-P35-DQ6, which i love. The board has a great set of heatpipes, which does kind of restrict the size of heatsink you want to mount. It is very stable, overclocks exceptionally well, has plently of SATA ports, and has a great layout. It currently retails for about $220 US. At that price it isn't really a steal, but nevertheless if you get this board you won't be disappointed. The second board to look at in this category is the ASUS P5K Deluxe. This is also an excellent board. To my understanding it has slightly better overclocking abilities than the DQ6. I have heard of some problems with the board, but apparently they are fixed now with the latest bios.
nVidia 680:
I don't know too much about this chipset. I don't think it is really worth getting unless you must have SLI. The ASUS boards with this chipset have a good reputation. I am unsure if the Gigabyte version was ever released.
Some things to keep in mind: I have kept this section fairly basic, but there are many other companies out there. The ABIT P35 board seems to be very good, along with the MSI board. I don't really like the layout of the MSI Platinum, but hey that's just my opinion. For the money, I think the Gigabyte variations are the best. You could try going for something on the cheaper side with a board made by Foxconn or Biostar. Since the GA-P35-DS3R is so reasonably priced, this is the one i usually recommend because of the great stability gigabyte offers. There are some older chipsets that could be looked at. Mainly the P965 and the 975x. Right now, with the current price of a P35 chipset, and the fact that they are excellent performers, i don't really recommend the 965 or 975x anymore, although, they are both great chipsets.
Ok, on to CPU's...
Everyone is aware of the July 22nd price cuts coming from Intel. This is the main reason I have not been recommending any AMD chipsets. AMD does have great value for the sub $200 category for a CPU. Even with that in mind, i still think a Core 2 CPU should be what people are looking for. Clock for clock, they are much better than the ATI's and they are reasonably priced. I am definitely not an AMD hater, i used to own a 3800+ when i thought AMD was the best thing to get. I loved using it, and it did it's job very well. You could wait and see how the Phenom's will perform before building a new system, but this guide is mainly for people who want to build one within 2 months.
This is the point where you will need to decide what the primary use of the computer will be. If you are a gamer, then you should be looking for something with a high clock speed, not necessarily the amount of cores. If you are big into editing or encoding, then cores are very important. If you want to overclock, then you are mainly interested in value with the potential for overclocking (unless you have a large budget, then it's all about the max overclock baby!!!). If you are looking for a day-to-day use with some performance, then you are looking for the middle range CPU. Ok so with the price cut coming up, i think the CPU's to look out for are the Q6600, E6850, and the E6750. Granted you don't necessarily need the 1333mhz strap, so you could look for a 1066mhz CPU. Right now, I think the best CPU to buy is the e6600 or the e6420. They overclock well, and are very well priced. Ok one thing to keep in mind for overclocking, if you want a big time overclocker, then you must get something with G0 stepping. This is greatly help in your quest for extra clock speed. Everyone seems to want to get the Q6600, but I don't think they realize that 2 cores will most likely be wasted. Also they are hard to overclock because they generate tonnes of heat. If you want to overclock one, then you will need a very good heat sink (will discuss heatsinks further down) or watercooling (or phase change, LN2, etc.. but if you have one of those then you probably don't need to read this guide). A lot of people I see want to game and they want a quad core. This is a poor approach. Since most games aren't even maximized for 2 cores, why do you need 4? It is better to get a CPU with higher clock speed so that it will not be the limiting factor when it comes to games.
Video Cards:
Right now the best card is the 8800GTX (The ultra is just a waste of money). If you must have a DX10 card and you game a lot, then this is the card for you. Alternatively, if you game a bit and want something on the cheaper side, then the 8800GTS 640mb and the 2900XT may be for you. The 8800GTS 640MB seems to go on sale quite frequently now, and for about $320 it is excellent value for this card. The 2900XT is starting to become quite a good performer with the new driver updates, however if it isn't on sale for about $350, i don't think it is worth it. It generates a lot of heat and the fan is quite loud. The company who makes the cards shouldn't really matter, it is the chipset of the card that counts. Traditionally eVGA, ASUS, XFX, BFG, Sapphire, Leadtek and HIS all make good cards. If you don't really need a DX10 card, then you are better going with something from the nVidia 7 series or the x1k series from ATI. The x1900xt and x1900xtx are both excellent cards for the price. I personally use a x1900xt overclocked, and it can handle a lot of games running at 1900x1200 at max settings. You could buy a holdover card until the new cards are released with the GPU die shrink. The new cards will dissapate less heat and will have higher clocks than the current ones. Not to mention any DX10 bugs that exist will probably be ironed out. Personally I would wait for the die shrink before getting a new video card.
Memory:
Ok if you haven't noticed already I have recommended all DDR2 boards. Right now DDR2 is the best value. The performance difference between it and DDR3 is minimal, and the cost is way below that of DDR3. If you must have DDR3 right now, then ASUS and Gigabyte both offer boards supporting it. Keep in mind the P35 chipset is the only chipset to date supporting DDR3. If you want something with DDR2 and DDR3 capabillities, then you could get something like the GA-P35C-DS3R or the MSI P35 combo board. This will allow for some futureproofing when DDR3 speeds get higher and the timings get lower. You can then easily switch over.
I am now going to recommend some DDR2 modules. I am a big fan of Crucial Ballistix ram. Right now they are amazingly priced on Newegg and mwave. The PC2-6400 DDR2-800 is an amazing deal at about $75 after MIR. If you want a lot of overhead for FSB then you could go for something like the PC2-8500 DDR2-1066. The main reason I like these two sets by Crucial is because they use Micron D9 chips. If you want to overclock or if you want super tight timings, then Micron D9's are a must. Promos does make a decent chip, and they are available in a lot of DDR2-800 modules. I know for a fact the Corsair 6400C4 v2.1 uses Promos chips and the Gskill F2-6400CL4D-2GBHK. Mushkin, Geil, Corsair, OCZ, Gskill, Patriot, Crucial and many other brands all make very good memory. When you are looking at memory there are a couple things to look at: How must voltage is required for the listed timings, what chips they use, and what the warranty covers in terms of max voltage. Goto this website to check what chips are used with different kinds of ram.
Power Supplies:
Ok I usually only recommend 1 power supply to people, and it is the Corsair 620HX. It is rock solid, has modular cables, and is decently priced. This PSU can handle 2 x 8800GTX's and a Q6600 overclocked. It is truly amazing. In terms of how many watts you actually need, the CPU and video card will be the main factors. Generally about 500W's is needed, but there is no hard in getting something a little higher. If you need a bigger PSU than the 620HX, then you could look at something made by OCZ, Seasonic, or Enermax. The main things for a PSU are: having stable rails (so having something that can hold voltages under load on the 12v, 5v and 3.3V rails), having enough connectors for what you need, and providing enough power to all your components.
DVD Writers:
Ok i'll keep this pretty brief. Go for the Pioneer DVR-212D (sata) or the DVR-112D. Both are excellent. I don't like NEC burners, i had a bad experience with them. Supposedly the BenQ burners are very good. Ultimately it comes down to brand preference, but the Pioneer has an excellent feature set and is very reliable. If you do a lot of burning, then you have to get a Plextor. I have 2 of them along with a DVR-212D. I have burned about 1000 discs on my older 4x plextor, and about 700 on my 716SA. They are amazing and are well worth the money if you do a lot of burning. The new 800 series are out. The PATA one can be bought right now, the 810SA version is on the way. The 755SA burner is also very good. I just like the 716SA because it has an 8MB buffer.
Hard Drives:
Western Digital and Seagate both make excellent drives. Hitachi does currenlty make the biggest HD, however I think Seagate has just released a 1TB drive. I usually recommend the 7200.10 to people because of its 5 year warranty and reasonable pricing. The WDAK series are very good for the money, but the OEM drives only come with 3 years of warranty. In terms of size the 320GB and 500GB are the best priced right now. If you are really looking for performance and must have the best, then you have to get a WD raptor. Make sure that you get a the 74GB or higher capacity versions. The 36GB version uses older technology and isn't quite as fast. The 7200.10 drive is fairly close in terms of performance with the raptor.
Cases:
Ok this usually comes down to personal preference, but I will give you a couple of cases I usually recommend. The Antec P180 is excellent value (just make sure you get the one with the water holes and the cable management cut motherboard tray). For about $140 you can get a large case with excellent airflow. You will only need to add 1 fan at the front of the computer. If you want a crazy case to accommodate watercooling, then the mountain mods UFO case is for you.
Heatsinks:
Currently the best heatsinks to get are the Tuniq Tower and the Thermalright Ultra 120 Lapped. The tuniq tower will out perform the Thermalright unless you get a lapped version. If you want a quad core and want to overclock, then you must get a very good heatsink. I would recommend a Scythe Ninja at the very least, preferably the Tuniq Tower. You will have to pick a fan to mount on one of these heat sinks, i would personally go for something like a Scythe S-FLEX, but you could save some money and get a Yate Loon DSM, or DSH. If you don't really want to overclock then you will be ok with the stock cooler. If you have a quad core and don't want to overclock I would still recommend an aftermarket cooler. If you are interested in watercooling, aigomorla has an excellent guide in the Cases/Cooling section. In terms of thermal paste, you should get Arctic Silver 5 at a minimum. Preferably get something like Shin-Etsu X23-7783D or the Arctic Cooling MX-1. Both are excellent and won't fuse your CPU to your heatsink. Get proper instructions on how to apply the paste before doing so, because it makes a big difference.
Sound Cards:
Ok for most people the onboard sound should be good enough. All those motherboards I previously mentioned some with excellent onboard sound. If you game heavily or are an audiophile, then the Creative X-FI series is for you. Alternatively you could get an Auzentech Card. They have an X-FI based card now, along with a Cmedia based card. Both brands are quite good. I don't know all that much when it comes to this category, so I can't be much of a help.
Ok, I think I have covered all of the main parts of a computer. If there are any suggestions don't be afraid to say so. I am going to be adding to this as time goes by. I will try and update it as things progress in the computer world.