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Cases
Choosing a case :
Picking a case reflects what you are looking for, and your personal tastes. Note that some cases might not be able to fit taller rifle coolers, like the Noctua NH-14, or a ThermalRight Silver Arrow and/or longer video cards like the 6990/GTX 580
Basic Options :
R300-R500
R600-R1200
R1300-R2400
____________________________________________
Processors
Current Mainstream Sockets:
Intel: LGA1155/2011
AMD: AM3/AM3+
CPU Benchmarks :
PerformanceTest Benchmarks
Anandtech Benchmarks
This should help with deciding which processor to choose, take note though that some tasks work better on one setup than another or favour one setup to another
Overclocking:
Is it safe? Mostly. Computer parts are pretty damn durable and there are a ton of safeguards in place to auto throttle down a CPU, increase fan speed, and even shut down before any harm happens.
How hot is too hot? In general it is wanted to keep temperatures under 65C using a CPU stress program, such as Intel Burn Test and Prime 95 (see utilities), but most processors will run at temperatures up to 110C before safeguards come into play/hardware failure . Idle temperatures are not that important and are often reported inaccurately. Temperature variation across cores are normal.
My CPU is not fast as others It happens. Every person is not going to get the exact same clocks from the exact same type processor.
____________________________________________
Motherboards
What to look for in a Motherboard
- Socket Type : Make sure the motherboard compatible with the CPU you are buying.
- Chipset : Different chipsets will be able to make use of the CPU in different ways, such as overclocking and integrated graphics
- Memory : Does it use DDR2 or DDR3? 1.5V or 1.65V? Most use 1.5V DDR3 today
- Expansion Slots : How many expansion slots are needed?
- Connectors/Features : Do you need HDMI out? USB 3.0 ports? On board digital out?
- Form-factor : Your case will have room for a certain formfactor of motherboard e.g. uATX/micro ATX, ATX, XL-ATX, HPTX
- Brand : Is there a specific band that you prefer, or not sure to buy from
- Quality : Higher end boards will also have more power regulations, use less power, and keep voltage in check more than cheaper boards
- Overclock-ability : Usually nearly equal across the board. If you want a slightly higher overclock, you can pay more for a motherboard with better power regulation
- Price : Always try to find the best bang for your buck, never buy a motherboard with features that you will never use
Points to follow when buying a motherboard
1. Determine the platform (Chipset / Socket)
2. Determine what functions you deem necessary for the motherboard to have
3. Make a shortlist of all motherboards that have your demands
4. Pick the board that has good reviews and has the best price
____________________________________________
GPU
When in a market for a GPU/Graphics Card there are 2 main manufacturers AMD & Nvidia, but there are many OEM's with far different versions/models of the GPU. Here are some tips how to choose the rights one.
GPU Benchmarks :
PerformanceTest Benchmark
AnandTech Benchmark
This should help with deciding which GPU to choose, take note though that some tasks work better on one setup than another or favour one setup to another
OEM Classification
Right now there are basically three classifications of cards to choose from. These classifications generally only exist in the top 4 or 5 best performers from either AMD or Nvidia. For budget type cards, there may be only a few non-reference designs if any at all. For clarity, we will be using an EVGA line of GTX 580's to compare the different models
The first is standard reference design. These are built to Nvidia’s spec with the standard design cooler on it. In the past, this was a good thing as when manufacturers deviated from reference, it was to add in sub-par capacitors and parts to make the card less expensive. Currently, the only solid reasons to buy a reference card is because you just simply can not wait for the non-reference designs to come out, or you want ease of compatibility for after market coolers and water blocks.
The current trend on reference coolers is a ‘blower’ design where the fan sucks air in from the front of the case, pushes it over the heatsink, and exits out of the back of the case. Though it tends to cause higher noise levels and a reduced cooling capacity over many non-reference cards, it has the added benefit of keeping the hot air created by your video card out of your case. This type of card can also sometime include factory overclocks applied, which to be honest, is almost always a complete waste of money. The settings are at levels that are easily achieved in thirty minutes of your own tweaking in programs like MSI Afterburner or Sapphire TriXX (see utilities)
The second class is the non-reference designs. Each third party manufacturer generally has their own proprietary cooler which requires a specific PCB (Printed Circuit Board – the silicon portion of the card) making aftermarket coolers and water blocks generally incompatible. Depending on the brand and quality of the cooler though, this is a minor drawback. Almost all of the non-reference coolers handily outperform the reference coolers.
The better coolers have two major benefits, the first being a much quieter card due to increased fan size and cooling performance. The second is increased overclocking headroom. It’s the same principle of buying a big heatsink for your CPU. More volts means more heat, and with an increased ability to dissipate heat, you can achieve higher clocks.
Some manufacturers go a step further in adding improvements like higher quality capacitors and better voltage regulation. This again leads to higher clocks. If you want to get a great performing card, overclock to higher levels, and keep the noise down in an air-cooling build, this is generally the type of card you want.
The third class of card is a heavily modified version of the base card meant entirely for enthusiasts and overclockers. We’ll call these the ‘extreme edition’ cards. The Classified GTX 580 pictured above takes the original PCB and completely throws out the reference design, keeping only the base chip and memory. Everything from the capacitors, it even accepts a third PCI-E power plug to put over 1000W through it to feed voltage levels that would otherwise brick most cards.
Needless to say, these cards have features that generally won’t be taken advantage of by the vast majority of gamers, instead aimed at the overclocking and benching crowd. If you absolutely must have the top of the line card where money is no concern, these can still outperform even the non-reference cards fairly easily even in the hands of an amateur.
Keep in mind, these classifications are generalizations. ASUS’s DCII and MSI’s Twin Frozr cooler designs are also great performers. In some cases the aftermarket coolers can perform worse than the reference design, such as the new XFX R7950 BEDD.
Points to follow when buying a GPU
1. Determine which GPU's and how many of them would be able to run games at your desired resolution
2. Make a shortlist of all the GPU's that will be able to run games at your desired resolution
3. Check performance in Crossfire/SLI in case you need to upgrade in the future
4. Pick the GPU that has good reviews and has the best price/performance ratio
____________________________________________
*For quicker responses click here*
Cases
Choosing a case :
Picking a case reflects what you are looking for, and your personal tastes. Note that some cases might not be able to fit taller rifle coolers, like the Noctua NH-14, or a ThermalRight Silver Arrow and/or longer video cards like the 6990/GTX 580
Basic Options :
R300-R500
- NZXT Source 210
- Gigabyte X8
- Cooler Master HAF 912
- Aerocool X Warrior
- Coolermaster Elite 430
R600-R1200
- Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced
- Aerocool Cyborg X
- Antec Eleven Hundred
- Silverstone RV02W
- Corsair 400R
R1300-R2400
- Corsair Graphite 600T
- NZXT Switch 810
- Corsair 800D
- Coolermaster HAF X
- Coolermaster Storm Trooper
- Antec LanBoy
____________________________________________
Processors
Intel: LGA1155/2011
AMD: AM3/AM3+
CPU Benchmarks :
PerformanceTest Benchmarks
Anandtech Benchmarks
This should help with deciding which processor to choose, take note though that some tasks work better on one setup than another or favour one setup to another
Overclocking:
Is it safe? Mostly. Computer parts are pretty damn durable and there are a ton of safeguards in place to auto throttle down a CPU, increase fan speed, and even shut down before any harm happens.
How hot is too hot? In general it is wanted to keep temperatures under 65C using a CPU stress program, such as Intel Burn Test and Prime 95 (see utilities), but most processors will run at temperatures up to 110C before safeguards come into play/hardware failure . Idle temperatures are not that important and are often reported inaccurately. Temperature variation across cores are normal.
My CPU is not fast as others It happens. Every person is not going to get the exact same clocks from the exact same type processor.
____________________________________________
Motherboards
- Socket Type : Make sure the motherboard compatible with the CPU you are buying.
- Chipset : Different chipsets will be able to make use of the CPU in different ways, such as overclocking and integrated graphics
- Memory : Does it use DDR2 or DDR3? 1.5V or 1.65V? Most use 1.5V DDR3 today
- Expansion Slots : How many expansion slots are needed?
- Connectors/Features : Do you need HDMI out? USB 3.0 ports? On board digital out?
- Form-factor : Your case will have room for a certain formfactor of motherboard e.g. uATX/micro ATX, ATX, XL-ATX, HPTX
- Brand : Is there a specific band that you prefer, or not sure to buy from
- Quality : Higher end boards will also have more power regulations, use less power, and keep voltage in check more than cheaper boards
- Overclock-ability : Usually nearly equal across the board. If you want a slightly higher overclock, you can pay more for a motherboard with better power regulation
- Price : Always try to find the best bang for your buck, never buy a motherboard with features that you will never use
Points to follow when buying a motherboard
1. Determine the platform (Chipset / Socket)
2. Determine what functions you deem necessary for the motherboard to have
3. Make a shortlist of all motherboards that have your demands
4. Pick the board that has good reviews and has the best price
____________________________________________
GPU
When in a market for a GPU/Graphics Card there are 2 main manufacturers AMD & Nvidia, but there are many OEM's with far different versions/models of the GPU. Here are some tips how to choose the rights one.
GPU Benchmarks :
PerformanceTest Benchmark
AnandTech Benchmark
This should help with deciding which GPU to choose, take note though that some tasks work better on one setup than another or favour one setup to another
OEM Classification
Right now there are basically three classifications of cards to choose from. These classifications generally only exist in the top 4 or 5 best performers from either AMD or Nvidia. For budget type cards, there may be only a few non-reference designs if any at all. For clarity, we will be using an EVGA line of GTX 580's to compare the different models
The first is standard reference design. These are built to Nvidia’s spec with the standard design cooler on it. In the past, this was a good thing as when manufacturers deviated from reference, it was to add in sub-par capacitors and parts to make the card less expensive. Currently, the only solid reasons to buy a reference card is because you just simply can not wait for the non-reference designs to come out, or you want ease of compatibility for after market coolers and water blocks.
The current trend on reference coolers is a ‘blower’ design where the fan sucks air in from the front of the case, pushes it over the heatsink, and exits out of the back of the case. Though it tends to cause higher noise levels and a reduced cooling capacity over many non-reference cards, it has the added benefit of keeping the hot air created by your video card out of your case. This type of card can also sometime include factory overclocks applied, which to be honest, is almost always a complete waste of money. The settings are at levels that are easily achieved in thirty minutes of your own tweaking in programs like MSI Afterburner or Sapphire TriXX (see utilities)
The second class is the non-reference designs. Each third party manufacturer generally has their own proprietary cooler which requires a specific PCB (Printed Circuit Board – the silicon portion of the card) making aftermarket coolers and water blocks generally incompatible. Depending on the brand and quality of the cooler though, this is a minor drawback. Almost all of the non-reference coolers handily outperform the reference coolers.
The better coolers have two major benefits, the first being a much quieter card due to increased fan size and cooling performance. The second is increased overclocking headroom. It’s the same principle of buying a big heatsink for your CPU. More volts means more heat, and with an increased ability to dissipate heat, you can achieve higher clocks.
Some manufacturers go a step further in adding improvements like higher quality capacitors and better voltage regulation. This again leads to higher clocks. If you want to get a great performing card, overclock to higher levels, and keep the noise down in an air-cooling build, this is generally the type of card you want.
The third class of card is a heavily modified version of the base card meant entirely for enthusiasts and overclockers. We’ll call these the ‘extreme edition’ cards. The Classified GTX 580 pictured above takes the original PCB and completely throws out the reference design, keeping only the base chip and memory. Everything from the capacitors, it even accepts a third PCI-E power plug to put over 1000W through it to feed voltage levels that would otherwise brick most cards.
Needless to say, these cards have features that generally won’t be taken advantage of by the vast majority of gamers, instead aimed at the overclocking and benching crowd. If you absolutely must have the top of the line card where money is no concern, these can still outperform even the non-reference cards fairly easily even in the hands of an amateur.
Keep in mind, these classifications are generalizations. ASUS’s DCII and MSI’s Twin Frozr cooler designs are also great performers. In some cases the aftermarket coolers can perform worse than the reference design, such as the new XFX R7950 BEDD.
Points to follow when buying a GPU
1. Determine which GPU's and how many of them would be able to run games at your desired resolution
2. Make a shortlist of all the GPU's that will be able to run games at your desired resolution
3. Check performance in Crossfire/SLI in case you need to upgrade in the future
4. Pick the GPU that has good reviews and has the best price/performance ratio
____________________________________________
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