I change my setup regularly, so would be hard to put everything in order.....
PSU
Cooling
CPU/RAM
Graphics
Case (I agree about getting a decent case).
The rest.
In Order of most to least
Case - Gotta look good and fit things comfortably. Not to mention has to fit within the environment where you intend to put it.
PSU - Heart of the system
Mobo - If the PSU is the heart, then this is the brains that co-ordinates the rest of the system. You can put a good system in a crappy mobo and cause hours of headaches.
Vid Card - Get the right video card these days and the rest of your system is what holds things back. Get the wrong one and no matter how much you spend on a processor things just don't display promptly. Not to mention lately CPU's have been changing faster than GFx cards!
RAM - More RAM is almost always better (OS limited) and getting the right type can be equally important
Heatsink - More important than the CPU, with the right heatsink you can get more performance out of your CPU and it improves stability.
CPU - Perhaps surprisingly low, but nowadays with the abilty to overclock many processors means this is an area you can skimp on if your budget is looking short. Many times when I've been looking at my new system I've wondered why I don't just get an E4300. In the end though my answer was simple. Excel, only damn thing that seems to improve with more cache on the chip.
HDD - All that matters to me is I get a hard drive that's reliable and relatively quiet.
Fans - Cooling is important, but there's not a lot of variance in terms of prices when it comes to decent fans. I wouldn't consider this a great deal
Optical Drive - Nifty features aside, I just want to read discs and backup my files every now and then. Nothing more.
surprised that sound is such a low priority throughout this thread
onboard is good enough for most when it comesto sound
PSU
Mobo
Case + Fans
HSF
RAM
CPU
GFX
HDD
Optical
Sound
Try to make each and every day the best it can be.
I think that building a PC is more about matching you components than prioritising.
What it comes down to, is the 'weakest link' concept; whatever your weakest link is, will hold up you're better bits.
With that in mind, certain things like PSU and mobo do tend to come highly in most people's lists as if they are under specced, they will affect everything.
This is in contrast to something like GFX where, although it will effect your pc performance unless you game a lot, you're unlikley to notice.
Make sure the components compliment each other, and apart from certain examples, try to make sure they are all of a similar age and relative spec.
Obviously you have certain things you look for when buying, and that will depend on what you want to do on the pc.
What I'm trying to say is that there is no point getting a 768MB 8800XTS or whatever it's called, if you're only going to get 512MB RAM.
Don't specificallty get a 7.1 sound card if you only use headphones!
Don't get a Scythe Infiinity if you have a shuttle case!!!
(Exceptions may include keeping old IDE drives etc, but getting new SATA ones too)
because of the large onboard ram on the 8800gtx the system ram will not have a major effect on the performance when wrking with a 19" screen it would though if you had a 8800gts 320mb as then there is a very small buffer zone
I'm really suprised by how low down cases come in everyones choices.
its not all looks....its about airflow & cooling, ease of access, quietness, build quality and frankly a good case for me outlasts 5 motherboards, 7 cpu's, 3 PSU's and I dare not think how many video cards.
Sound is also important, but that can change as often as the video card or mobo I think, whereas a good case and good PSU last a long long time.
Originally Posted by Advice Trinity by Knoxville
It's true that you should be looking for decent air flow etc..
But at the same time it's more important to me that the components can look after themselves..keep themselves quiet and cool.
If you make sure you do this then the case can add make a good situation better.
Relying on the case to provide sufficent cooling would be bad practice in my opinion.
yes..but cheap cases have bad airflow no matter how many fans you have. I see lots of people with £20 cases that are just dire....apart from the cuts and gashes you get from working in them, the airflow potential is zero. 2 fans on the back plate, nothing front at all, PSU's with arse about face fans that pressurise the case.....
I do not suggest leaving a case to fend for itself but a good case is a good case.
Originally Posted by Advice Trinity by Knoxville
cheap cases are great if you want to mod them then you don't have to worry about cooling you can make it work
I'm not disagreeing with you one bit. I would never buy a cheap nasty case unless I literally had no money but the major components have to come first.
In order of importance for me:
Keyboard / Mouse / Monitor / Headphones - Ergonomics of these can actually affect your bodily health with RSI / posture / tinitus etc
PSU
CPU / Mobo / Ram - look at all these as one component
HDD
Case / Fans (general cooling - Water)
GFX
Sound
Opticals - Used rarely
Kind of difficulty to say really. All the core component parts of a PC are as important as the next piece in my view, but generally speaking when building the base unit from scratch it goes something like this.
PSU
Mobo
CPU
RAM
HDD
GPU
Sound/speakers
Cooling
Optical Drives
Case
Generally though I aim to get the best that my budget will allow for. These days you can build a decent base unit for 6-800 quid
Last edited by Dorza; 04-06-2007 at 05:42 PM.
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