Hexus Monthly PC Build Guide September 2011

Un-official HEXUS Buyers guide SEPTEMBER 2011

Intro Stuff and other shenigans

It seems that the next quarter will be interesting times for PC hardware. AMD's Bulldozer based CPUs are set to debut,Intel is releasing its new enthusiast socket 2011 range and AMD is rumoured to introduce its new 28NM HD7000 series GPUs. SSDs are already reaching the magical £1/GB level too.

The guide and even more milarky

I finally have got around to doing this!! A new feature from the Moose(apart from vehicular associated plummeting),which will attempt to formulate a number of builds at certain price-points.

This buyers guide will be in seven parts:

• The £750 Bigger Budget Gamer Build
• The £550 Gamer Orientated Build
• The £350 General Purpose Build
• The £550 HTPC Build
• The £550 SFF LAN Build
• Peripherals
• Summing Up

The builds only encompass the base unit including a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit OEM(that was a mouth-full,phew!).

Monitors and other peripheral suggestions are on the third page of the guide.

This guide is not necessarily the only correct path available and is dependent on what components are available at the time it is formulated. These will change from time to time,as will the cost.
If any parts are not available,drop a line on the hardware forum(not literally!) and I am sure a friendly forum member will help you out. If you do happen to come across one who is not friendly a mod will soon be around to, ahem, beach them.

The guide is more geared towards decent quality components and upgradeability and is not necessarily the cheapest. Beware of the suggestions which place short term performance over long term reliability.

Component suggestions and price ranges are taken from Scan.com,Ebuyer.com,Dabs.com and Aria.com only.

Postage and special offers

Ebuyer offers free slow postage on orders over £49.99 and Dabs do the same for orders over £99. However,Scan offers free next day postage on orders over £20 excluding VAT for forum members with 20 constructive posts:

http://forums.hexus.net/scan-care-he...-delivery.html

Scan also has daily and weekly offers too:

Scan Today Only

Scan Shop Offers

As usual do shop around and check for the best prices.


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Bigger Budget Gamer Build

The Bigger Budget Gamer as the name implies is for the user who has a decent budget and wants high performance gaming at a reasonable price. It should run most games at 1920X1200 or 1920X1080 and even BF3(gasp,horror!) at reasonable settings if the Alpha results are any indication.

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/s...tember2011.png

The case of choice this month is the ThermalTake Dokker(link). It has support for graphics cards upto 12.5" in length and has the advantage of an integral HDD dock. It even supports a 200mm top fan for those who like their cases windy! The alternate case this month is the Coolermaster CM690 II Lite(also known as the Basic) which can support graphics cards upto 11.9" in length(link).

The Antec TruePower New is a semi-modular Bronze rated PSU based on a reliable Seasonic design. With 4 PCI-E power connectors it is ready for SLI and Crossfire setups. The cheaper Bronze rated XFX PRO 650W is not modular but has cabling for two cards too and is also based on a Seasonic platform. For those of you wondering why I keep mentioning "bronze" rated it means the PSU is between 81% to 85% at most common loads.

The Samsung F3 range is based on 500GB platters and offers an ideal mix of performance,noise and price compared to many competing models.

The GPU choice this month is split between the GTX560TI and HD6950 1GB. Both offer comparable performance in many games;the HD6950 1GB supports multi-monitor gaming using one card and the GTX560TI fights back with better 3D support.

The CPU choice this month is the Core i5 2500K offering blistering performance at stock speeds and decent overclocking headroom. However,remember overclocking is variable between different batches of CPUs so don't get worried if you don't hit the magical speeds seen on xtremesystems.com! OTH,they probably do push a gazillion volts through them(not good).

If you are worried about overclocking or simply CBA, remember a Core i5 2500K is as fast in games as the previous generation uber expensive Core i7 975 Extreme Edition(it's true). It means you still have a CPU faster than most of the gaming PCs in the world.

The P67 based MSI P67A-GD53 is my recommendation for this month. Its combination of price,overclocking ability and support for PCI-E 2.0 8X/8X Crossfire and SLI is hard to beat.
The alternative motherboards this month are based on the Z68 chipset which offers SSD caching and Quick Sync support. They both offer USB3.0 and SATA3.0 support.

Both the Corsair A50 and Gelid Tranquillo air coolers are the coolers recommended this month. If you intend not to overclock my advice would be to get a Core i5 2500 and use the stock cooler.

Optional Components

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SSDs improve general responsive and loading time of the OS and applications. With the latest firmware,the Crucial M4 is my recommendation this month and offers a mix of decent read speeds and reliability. The SandForce SF2200 series SSDs have not been recommended this month due to firmware issues which have affected many implementations. However,these hopefully will be fully solved in the next few months meaning they will probably appear in the guide.

A sound card might be of use of those looking to improve the quality sound output from their PC and reduce the load on their CPU.

If you want to take advantage of the current low RAM prices, as little as £35 will get you 8GB of branded 1600MHZ DDR3.


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Gamer Orientated Build

Gaming orientated builds need to consider a pair of upgrade cycles,namely the CPU and the GPU and hence a balance needs to be found between each other. An essential part of this mantra is having a decent motherboard.

Common components

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The case of choice this month again is the ThermalTake Dokker. As mentioned before it has support for graphics cards upto 12.5" in length and has the advantage of an integral HDD dock and supports a 200mm top fan. The alternative this month is the very white Xigmatek Midgard White Knight Case(link) which is based on the Cooler Master 690 range. The alternative alternate case this month is the very black Casecom K5-9388(link) which is an Ebuyer exclusive. For some reason the black version of the Xigmatek Midgard is twice the price.

The XFX Pro 550W PSU is based on a tried and tested Seasonic platform and has the advantage of a 5 year UK limited warranty. The Antec HCG 520 is also Seasonic based and is more widely available. The OCZ ZS 550W is relatively new but has received decent reviews.

The Samsung F3 range is based on 500GB platters and offers an ideal mix of performance,noise and price compared to many competing models.

The GPU choice was a close one this month. Both the HD6870 1GB and GTX560 1GB have very similar performance in games. However,the HD6870 1GB wins this month as it is available for as little as £130(link),has lower power consumption and currently many come with a copy of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I would be careful about confusing the slower GTX560 with the faster GTX560TI.

Core Components

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This month we have split the core components list between an AMD based one and an Intel based one. The Phenom II X4 955BE quad core offers decent performance in multi-threaded games and has an unlocked multiplier for easy overclocking although an aftermarket heatsink will be required. It also comes with a copy of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The Asus motherboard is also compatible with the upcoming Bulldozer CPUs.

The Core i3 2100 has very strong single threaded performance meaning it will be excellent choice especially for lightly threaded games like StarCraft II. However,it cannot be overclocked but the MSI motherboards offer an upgrade path to the Core i5 2500k and possibly Ivy Bridge. Both the AMD and Intel motherboards offer USB3.0 and SATA3.0 ports.

Optional components

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The Corsair A50 is the choice for this months guide,followed by the Coolermaster Hyper 212 for those of a more budget inclination.

An SSD improves general responsive and loading time of applications. With latest firmware,the Crucial M4 is my recommendation this month and offers a mix of decent read speeds and reliability. The Kingston V+100 trades speed for capacity. However,even a relatively slow SSD will be a big improvement over a fast hard drive such as the Samsung F3.


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General Purpose Build

The general purpose build is a budget build which is capable of light gaming as well as decent performance in a range of applications.

Common components

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The case of choice this month is the Casecom 5288 which is an Ebuyer exclusive. For the price it offers features seen in much more expensive cases such as a top mounted PSU,120MM fan attachments and tool-less drive bays.

The XFX 450W is based on a reliable Seasonic design and is my recommendation this month. The Antec EA380 is the alternate choice which is based on a similar platform.

The F3 500GB uses a single platter meaning lower noise and higher performance. The alternative is the tried and tested Western Digital Caviar Blue which is a slower design.

The HD5670 GDDR5 is the graphics card choice for this month. The similarly priced GT440 GDDR5 is around 10% to 15% slower on average and consumes more power. If you are running Linux I would get a Nvidia card though.

Core components

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This month's recommendation is for the Athlon II X3 450 or 455. It combines reasonable single threaded performance with decent performance in multi-threaded applications such as video encoding and many modern games. The Pentium G840 is the Intel alternative which has strong performance in image editing applications and lightly threaded games such as StarCraft II.

The AMD motherboards mentioned this month are based on the older 760G chipset;the 800 and 900 series motherboards have not reached this price level yet. They are both AM3+ which means Bulldozer is supported however the full picture will not be clear until it is released(only the 900 series are guaranteed to fully work with Bulldozer). Both motherboards work with 125W TDP CPUs and the Asus supports USB3.0 too. The Intel alternative motherboards are based on the H61 chipset meaning they are limited to only two RAM slots. None of these motherboards are really orientated for overclocking.

HTPC Build

This build is primarily for media playback and recording purposes.

Common Components

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The case chosen this month is the Silverstone Milo ML03B which offers an excellent blend of size,cost and looks for a lower end case. The alternative is the slightly bigger Silverstone GD05 which has three 120MM fans included as well(how nice of them).

Both PSUs suggested are 80+ Bronze which means excellent efficiency. The Samsung F4 is well regarded for its low noise and low power consumption. The Western Digital Caviar Green is a similarly priced if not slower and hotter running alternative. The Hauppauge WinTV Nova-TD 500 has dual tuners and is a popular choice among HTPC enthusiasts. The Enermax T.B.Silence VR have twister bearings(a ball bearing variant) for a longer lifespan than cheaper sleeve bearing fans and have an integral fan controller.

Of course another important component in an HTPC is a proper keyboard. This month I have chosen the Rii mini wireless keyboard which can be had from LinITX.com for around £41 delivered(link).

http://www2.multithread.co.uk/linitx...ox_product.jpg

Another alternative keyboard is the Xenta PKB-1720 for around £20 delivered(link).

http://image.ebuyer.com/UK/w0250233_newpage.jpg


Core components

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The 35W G620T was chosen for its very low power consumption and very low profile stock cooler. Most of the CPU decoding is handled by the HD6450 graphics card with its UVD3 decode block. The alternative this month is the A6-3500 which offers superior video encoding performance over a G620T and faster graphics card and better video decode perfomance over an HD6450 in a 65W TDP.

In the next few weeks,the A4 dual core CPUs will be released with an HD6450 level IGP meaning the G620T might not last long as my recommendation.


Optional components

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For the more discerning HTPC enthusiast a more powerful decode card might be of use. The GT440 DDR3 and HD6570 DDR3 will be ideal for such usage due to their increased shader power and memory bandwidth.

Note

There has been noise about the Hi10 encoded anime needing a very fast CPU. ATM,until I have done more research on this I cannot verify this claim. OTH,it could have been some people trying to win the contest of the worlds most overpowered HTPC??

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SFF LAN Build

An important aspect of an SFF build is to choose components with lower power consumption and heat production.

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The case chosen this month is the relatively svelte Silverstone SG05. However,despite its small dimensions it packs a 450W PSU and can accept a reasonably long graphics card. The CPU choice for this month is the Core i3 2100 which has decent performance in games despite its 65W TDP and comes complete with a low profile cooler. The CPU is coupled with the latest H67 mini-ITX motherboards from both Asus and Gigabyte which offer USB3.0 and SATA3.0 ports. The Sapphire HD6870 1GB gets another nod this month down to its lower cost and lower power consumption when compared to the GTX560. It also a dual slot cooler with no heatpipe extensions out of the top of the shroud meaning it should fit the SG05 relatively easily.

However,quietness and performance components in an SFF system are not an ideal long term partnership,so make sure you keep the system cool by ramping up the fans when it is under load.


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Fans?

As you have noticed I have not talked about what fans to use in any of the builds. Many of the cases do come with pre-installed fans already but there might be cases(groan) where you just need more cooling!

Here is an informative post on fans and fan contollers by Pob255:

http://forums.hexus.net/2121100-post47.html

This mini-review of the NZXT Sentry 2(one of the cheapest touchscreen fan controllers) by ExHail is worth a read:

http://forums.hexus.net/2121139-post67.html

Peripherals


To go in hand with the PC builds suggested previously, this section deals with peripherals for the systems. This section is not an all out guide for every single peripheral in every class. It serves as more of a "helpful" start(hopefully) for getting your PC into a working state.

Note

Apart from the four retailers mentioned before I would definitely check pcbuyit as they are one of the cheapest places for monitors(link).


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Monitors

A decent monitor is essential for a gaming or media system. It is also often one of the longest serving components of any desktop PC.

Now for the techno-BLURB!

The monitors listed have panels of two types namely IPS and TN type. IPS panels have the advantage of darker blacks,more vibrant colours and much greater viewing angles than their TN counterparts. This means for image editing IPS panels tend to be better when calibrated.

OTH,TN panels tend to be better for fast moving action and usually show less motion blur. However,more IPS expensive screens have RTC technology which helps boost responsiveness. Does this mean that monitors with non-RTC IPS panels are terrible for gaming - NO! It only means the RTC enabled IPS panels and TN panels are better for gaming!

Now,lets look at some monitors(groan)!

Bigger Budget monitors - £200 to £300

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/s...itorList-2.png

*These lack RTC AFAIK,so might not be as good as more expensive monitors for gaming.
(1)Check manufacturer's website for confirmation.


In our bigger budget monitor range the recommendations this month go for the Dell U2412M and the BenQ XL2410T. For gaming the BenQ just edges the Dell due to its 120HZ refresh rate and support for 3D games.

If you want monitors which perform well in games and are decent for image editing the Dell U2412M and Asus PA238Q seem the best bet. However,all of the listed monitors will perform well in a range of tasks. None of them are bad,so to say.


Budget monitors - £100 to £200

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/s...itorList-2.png

*These lack RTC AFAIK,so might not be as good as more expensive monitors for gaming.
(1)Check manufacturer's website for confirmation.


Of our budget monitors, the Samsung SM2233RZ and LG W2363D-PF are my recommendations for gaming use due to their 120HZ refresh rate and 3D gaming support. For monitors more comfortable with image editing and gaming,the Dell U2212HM and Asus ML239H are better compromises. The LG monitors listed lacked RTC so are not the best for gaming but have good image quality for image editing and general usage. The BenQ G2222HDL despite being the cheapest monitor is a good compromise between gaming and general usage if image editing is not a concern.


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Gaming Mice

An accurate mouse is important for playing FPS games. An important factor is comfort so there are no recommendations for which one is the "best" of all. Technically they all are great mice but I would look at the shape carefully before committing to one.

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/s.../MouseList.png


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Gaming Keyboards

Gaming keyboards are useful for the extra functionality that they can give hardcore gamers. The keyboards listed differ from normal keyboards in the amount of gamer specific optimisation they offer. Mechnical keyboards offer better key response and longevity over normal keyboards but at the expense of noise and higher initial purchase price. All the keyboards listed here are technically meant to be great.

However,in most cases a standard keyboard will suffice and typing comfort is the most important factor to consider. So again like with the mice,you should see which one suits you the best.

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/s...yboardList.png


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Speakers

A decent set of speakers for your gaming setup will help bring your games alive. The models listed here are not the cheapest but are among the best in their respective classes. Another alternative is to connect your computer to your existing hifi setup.

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/s...akerList-1.png

The 5 channel systems will be great for reproducing the surround sound effects in many modern games. The two channel systems OTH will be easier to accommodate.

Finally.....!

Remember, when you are assembling your new bundle of joy - don't panic!!

More importantly keep the Cat away and any random Moose who may wander into the room.

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/s.../122113311.jpg

See you next month in October's guide!!

Well done Cat. Nice to see all (well some at least!) of your expertise being put down and consoldated to help our fellow Hexites.

Nice to see a deptarture from "Bit-tech say this" etc, and you putting your own version down. +rep....

Ooops wrong forum. I mean "Thanks"

:)

Nice one. Keep up the good work. I know from my stats that I do in the Distributed computed part how long it takes...

Cracking post CAT, nice work :)

I have added HTPC and SFF PC builds. Hopefully the HTPC build looks fine and this guide will be of use to others!! :)

Very well done buddy. I think it would be easy at this stage to start commenting / criticising components XYZ, however overall you have done a sterling job, and anyone who disagrees about something is free to simply make their own guide!
Kudos!

Cat, your gamer build needs more CPU horsepower for games like The Witcher 2. An upgrade to the i5 2500k is more important than spending money on an upgraded CPU cooler. Yours is a great budget gaming build, but the requests I've had for gaming builds have allowed a little more.

Cracking job Cat. If you don't mind though, I do have one suggestion. Since the build specs are graphics, users can't copy 'n' paste model numbers for research purposes. I know the CODE tags don't allow for the styling you've used but at least the content would be accessible.

Cat why are you not a mod here yet? great post chap :)

How the hell have you, of all people, managed to write this guide without suggesting or even mentioning a Llano APU?! :p

Llano would slot nicely into HTPC and general purpose builds.

Thanks everyone for the thanks!! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kalniel

Cat, your gamer build needs more CPU horsepower for games like The Witcher 2. An upgrade to the i5 2500k is more important than spending money on an upgraded CPU cooler. Yours is a great budget gaming build, but the requests I've had for gaming builds have allowed a little more.

---

I did mention upgrade paths in the guide but maybe I should make it a bit more clearer.

If you need a faster CPU,then up the budget by £60 to £70 to get a better CPU or add another £16 to £25 if you want to overclock the CPU in the case of the Phenom II.

The problem is that if you start going that path,add another £60 for the CPU here,then lets add another £50 for the GPU,etc before you know it is a £700 build. I may just add in a higher spec machine to cover bases then at a £700 to £750 price point.

However,loads of people realistically don't want to spend more than £500 on a base unit from my experience. I am around 10% over budget TBH!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pauldarkside

Cracking job Cat. If you don't mind though, I do have one suggestion. Since the build specs are graphics, users can't copy 'n' paste model numbers for research purposes. I know the CODE tags don't allow for the styling you've used but at least the content would be accessible.

---

I will have a look at that too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bagnaj97

How the hell have you, of all people, managed to write this guide without suggesting or even mentioning a Llano APU?! :p

Llano would slot nicely into HTPC and general purpose builds.

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As I mentioned in the guide the 65W Llano CPUs have not been released yet. Once they have they shall be making an appearance!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

As I mentioned in the guide the 65W Llano CPUs have not been released yet. Once they have they shall be making an appearance!

---

I believe Aria are doing a 65W Llano triple-core.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Terbinator

I believe Aria are doing a 65W Llano triple-core.

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By Jove!! You are right man!!

+1 many Moo-chous gratious multiple Zathras inspired thankings!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Terbinator

I believe Aria are doing a 65W Llano triple-core.

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They're also in stock on scan.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bagnaj97

They're also in stock on scan.

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By Jove!! You are also right man!!

+1 many Moo-chous gratious multiple Zathras inspired thankings!!

I see an update to the HTPC build coming.

Out of interest will a decent Seasonic based 650W PSU be capable of running a pair of HD6950 or GTX560TI cards and an overclocked Core i5 2500K?? I think it should be fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

However,loads of people realistically don't want to spend more than £500 on a base unit from my experience.

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And loads of gamers do in my experience.

As I mentioned, you've done a great job on creating a budget gaming rig, but if you're not specifically designing a budget build then a gaming rig needs to be able to play games that are currently out and near releases, and play them well. Budget gaming rigs can concentrate on older games or dropping the settings.

minimum level should be more like:

i5 2500k
p67 motherboard
overclocked 560
4gb ram

or if we're assuming a 1080p display then the GPU might need to go even higher. Wait for battlefield 3 benchmarks for another good test.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

Out of interest will a decent Seasonic based 650W PSU be capable of running a pair of HD6950 or GTX560TI cards and an overclocked Core i5 2500K?? I think it should be fine.

---

Yes. See the specs on the left - ran two 460's and an overclocked i7 870 and the air coming out of the back was warm at worst. :)

Righty-ho!

I have added a more expensive build for the less budget minded! ;)

The HTPC setup has also been modified too.

Now I need to add the peripherals section!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

Now I need to add the peripherals section!!

---

That's easy. Logitech.

Also with RAM prices being so low atm I think the bigger budget gamer build should have 8GB. Otherwise keep up the good work!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bagnaj97

That's easy. Logitech.

Also with RAM prices being so low atm I think the bigger budget gamer build should have 8GB.

---

Are there any games now or in the near future that show a noticeable improvement with 8GB? I like Cat's thinking that you don't buy something just because you can, but because it gives an actual improvement. That will hopefully set these guides apart from the generic stuff other sites put out.

Well,I could add 8GB into the optional upgrades section but I am trying to keep as close to the set budgets as possible. ATM,4GB seems fine for gaming. However,for some reason the allure of 8GB for my system is getting bigger and bigger....!! Flipping upgradetitus!!

Still trying to look though 160 monitors to see which ones look the best!! :( I am dazzled by the choice!! :p

I've not seen any better than the LG IPS panel you were recommending a while back tbh!

I am making a list of monitors upto £300. It won't be an extensive one but hopefully I can whittle it down to a much smaller number.

Monitor section is now up. I might have missed a few but it would take too long to check reviews for every monitor. I have not listed whether the IPS panels are 6 bit or 8 bit ATM. I will leave that for another day.

Now for keyboards,mice and speakers!:help:

Hexus should employ you to write this as a regular article to be quite honest mate. Cracking stuff that you wont find anywhere else.

Great post, I shall be recommending people read one of these before they decide to buy a new rig.

One thing I find odd is that the Seagate Momentus XT can't be found anywhere... I would of thought that was a good compromise for budget builds since the reviews about it show a great performance boost over conventional hard drives and not that much slower than an SSD to warrant the trouble of maintaining a separate Windows hard drive from application/games/storage hard drive.

Also could you please add a column in the Monitor grid for VESA mounting, my next monitor has to have it because I plan on getting one of these> MDM05 Multi Screen Desk Mount Bracket

IIRC,the Seagate Momentus XT has had some issues regarding reliability. It is also not that cheap. Scan has the 500GB version for around £84. The problem is that they also sell a Crucial M4 64GB for around £74 and a Samsung F3 500GB for around £31. Some of the older 60GB SSDs are dropping towards the £60 mark too.

Regarding the VESA mounts,if I have the time I will try to add this to the table.

the momentus XT is a pretty big waste of money TBQH. I have 3 of them and whilst they are ok (as i got them on special offer) they dont offer a lot over a standard hard drive and pretty much nothing close to SSD performance.
A lot of people have had problems with their aggressive power management features aswell which has resulted in the updated firmware all but removing it making them quite inefficient.
Have a look at the seagate forums... inact i think i will to see they they have released another update :)

I finished putting up the other sections now.

THOU SHALL NOT REST!

Headsets please :p Although I guess headsets are a bit more subjective, especially with regards to comfort because peoples heads are different. That said I'll vouch for the Plantronics Gamecom 367/377. Cheap (~£20), very comfortable IMHO (but tight, not good for big headed people) and decent sound quality - although I'm no audiophile!

Headset are going to be tricky!!

I should also add a section on fans and mouse surfaces too but the testing methods for these are quite variable.

I might add a section for thermal compounds.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

Headset are going to be tricky!!

I should also add a section on fans and mouse surfaces too but the testing methods for these are quite variable.

I might add a section for thermal compounds.

---

I was being facetious with my headset suggestion. The thread title says it's a build guide, not a general buyers guide; if you add too much stuff you wont be able to keep it all up to date... unless you want a challenge :juggle:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bagnaj97

I was being facetious with my headset suggestion. The thread title says it's a build guide, not a general buyers guide; if you add too much stuff you wont be able to keep it all up to date... unless you want a challenge :juggle:

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TBH,I was not sure I CBA to add the other sections!!:p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ExHail

Also could you please add a column in the Monitor grid for VESA mounting, my next monitor has to have it because I plan on getting one of these> MDM05 Multi Screen Desk Mount Bracket

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I added a column to the monitor list. I would do some additional checking in case you need some additional kit for the VESA mount as I only had a very quick look at the manufacturer's websites.

I am adding some more information regarding panel type and colour depth to the monitor section.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

I am adding some more information regarding panel type and colour depth to the monitor section.

---

The monitor/peripherals section is confusing me - it's gone from being a recommendation for a particular price bracket/purpose to a sort of mass spec listing. I can get the latter from any number of comparison sites, the value of this guide is in selecting one or two for a particular purpose and explaining why.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kalniel

The monitor/peripherals section is confusing me - it's gone from being a recommendation for a particular price bracket/purpose to a sort of mass spec listing. I can get the latter from any number of comparison sites, the value of this guide is in selecting one or two for a particular purpose and explaining why.

---

I have still not finished the section fully yet(still need to add a bit more description and details in hindsite). The monitors are put into wide price brackets listing relevant features. Out of at least 160 monitors I looked at those are the best rated;I did not just list them for the lolz. I looked through every monitor upto £300 on Scan and Ebuyer and I still have missed one or two models. I have looked carefully at multiple reviews from multiple websites and forum threads to get to the list. Loads of the cheaper monitors have no reviews at all or are have quite old reviews meaning it is hard to say if the rating is still valid in comparison to newer competition. Your comparison sites will not show these at all.

Monitors are not so easy to limit to one suggestion. Each one has specific features,appearance and shape which might appeal to different people. This is why there is a list. On top of this there are multiple alternatives at very similar price-points as monitors can go out of stock for weeks at time.
Basically,the take home message for each list is that for the price range the monitors should be fine for the listed builds.

Mice and keyboards again are even worse in this regard. Recommending one or two mice or keyboards is not going to help. Appearance,shape,size,weight and functionality is different between the models listed. The shape and button placement on a mouse alone can lead to massively varying opinion between different users of the same mouse.

For instance I tend to use Logitech keyboards and mice myself and could easily have just recommended them(especially due to their CS) but TBH that would be rathered biased IMHO.

However,again I have checked loads of reviews and forums on the mice and keyboards listed. They are all technically very good in reviews but since I have no direct experience of each peripheral I cannot determine which models will be the best compromise for everyone. Perhaps I should have stated it, but the intention was for people to check the models I listed and determine which shape and feature mix was the best for them.

Anyway,taking the suggestion from kalniel aboard I will add more blurb to the peripherals section.

An alternative to the ML03B could be GD05. Lacking front USB3 ports (has USB2) but comes with 3 x 120mm fans and supports full height cards. Costs £57-63 or so. Good value case and looks the business.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dbh

An alternative to the ML03B could be GD05. Lacking front USB3 ports (has USB2) but comes with 3 x 120mm fans and supports full height cards. Costs £57-63 or so. Good value case and looks the business.

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I will add it!! Good spot!!:)

Cat here's one for you Xigmatek Midgard White Knight Case can be got for £30 on ebuyer atm
http://www.ebuyer.com/274410-xigmate...-cpc-t55dw-u01
It's basically the original coolermaster 690 with a load of minor tweeks, e.g. holes for cable routing, better hard drive trays, cpu back plate cutout.

For £30 I'd rate it over the casecom or the current cheap cooler master elite series.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pob255

Cat here's one for you Xigmatek Midgard White Knight Case can be got for £30 on ebuyer atm
http://www.ebuyer.com/274410-xigmate...-cpc-t55dw-u01
It's basically the original coolermaster 690 with a load of minor tweeks, e.g. holes for cable routing, better hard drive trays, cpu back plate cutout.

For £30 I'd rate it over the casecom or the current cheap cooler master elite series.

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I did look at that case but was not sure if the white colour would gel with people. OTH,I just checked the black one out and it seems the white one is much cheaper. I will add it to the build.

I need some suggestions for fans. The Enermax ones in the HTPC build seem decent but are not cheap. I am looking for 120MM and 140MM fans which use ball bearings as these will be of use in the other builds.

The same goes with a reasonably priced fan controller.

Do you have any suggestions Pob or indeed anyone else??

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/s...-needs-you.jpg

My general advice would be don't, sleeve bearing fans have become popular because, they are cheaper and they are quieter, although they have a shorter life span.
The other major issue is that they are more fragile, easier to be damaged in transport.
Although not many fans are true sleeve bearing now, because a true sleeve bearing don't use oil/fluid, where as most fans now use a "hydro / Fluid Dynamic" bearing where a sleeve bearing have some grooves cut in it and oil/fluid added.
This means the bearing no longer works by degrading the surface layer into a powder and running on that as a dry lubricant, which means a harder more robust material can be used for the bearing rings, leading to longer life spans and less shock/impact damage.

For low cost + low noise the Bitfenix fans are great http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/...pid-12718.html

Up the cost slightly and the Fractal design http://www.scan.co.uk/products/120mm...ber-fan-mounts and new antec true quiet are good http://www.scan.co.uk/products/120mm...2-speed-switch both also come with added anti-vibration mounts.

For a ball bearing fan the Akasa Amber is still your best bet http://www.scan.co.uk/products/120mm...-and-long-life although you'll need to slow it down to get it really silent.

Fan controller, a simple 3 knob 3.5" bay controller the AKASA AK-FC-06 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/akasa...2-usb-20-ports which also has 2 additional USB2 ports which plug into the usb motherboard header.

Don't forget the good old resistor based reducer Zalman do a 5v one http://www.scan.co.uk/products/zalma...our-3-pin-fan) Sharkoon also do a 9.5v version http://www.scan.co.uk/products/shark...rpm-and-noise) which will slow down a fan but not as much.

I just picked up a Hanns-G HZ281 27.5" monitor for £230 from dabs.

Only just set it up and played some world of tank on it, seems very nice so far for such a cheap monitor and it is MASSIVE. It dwarfs my second monitor which is a 24" Acer X243w.

I will drop back here later with more impressions, but for a gaming monitor so far it seems pretty amazing value.

Thanks for the sugestions Pob,I knew I could rely on you!! :) A user review would be appreciated,G4Z. I did not mention any 27" monitors due to the paucity of reviews. ATM,I am trying to re-organise the wording of the whole guide to make it flow better.

Yes the HannsG monitors are very good for the cost, I've been impressed with them too, got one of the HannsG HL196DBBE at work, it's a 19" 4:3 LED back lit monitor and probably the best 19" 4:3 monitor I've used.

Although the Iiyama monitors are very nice too, esp the hard glass ones.

I recently bought this fan controler> NZXT Sentry2

Can be found here for under £30> http://www.scan.co.uk/products/nzxt-...controller-525

My personal review of the device:

Pros
Touch screen
Turn off the light
Auto fan control based on sensor readings
Ability to turn fans off completely

Cons
Sounds for each touch(can be turned off)
Single fan control only
Limited to 5 fans

The NZXT is a good looking fan controller, it has clean lines and fits neatly into a single 5.25" drive bay; It also has the added benefit of a touch screen so is perfect for use with a case that has a door covering the front. The colour scheme of the screen is well balanced, vivid blue for the spinning fan and and speed indicator bar with a mix of red and brown for outlines and words.

Installing the NZXT Sentry2 is easy enough, getting the sensors in the places you want might be tricky but if you aren't that bothered it could be done within 5 minutes. The holes provided for installing it are good enough for tool-less mounting even though I used screws, just to be sure it was secure because of the touch screen. The touch screen is responsive with each "button" being adequately spaced and well marked. Changing to each fan is a bit annoying but is easily overlooked if you prefer not having mechanical knobs sticking out your case.

If you have set up the sensors properly the "auto" feature works brilliantly. Keeps most fans relatively quiet unless you have really high RPM fans like the Enermax Magma. The ability to control 5 fans is great but I'd like the option to control more even if you only get direct access to 5 of them. Most cases don't offer more than 5 fan slots so I think they hit the sweet spot there.

The sensors come with a sticky tape to attach them to a surface within the case. As long as the positioning is good the tape should hold fine but some awkward sensor positions caused a bit too much force for the tape to handle and came off. The readings the sensors give is more responsive and reliable than software like AIDA64 and can be a good judge of whether your fan setup is optimal.

Over all the device is easy to use, simple to setup and works great. I recommend it to anyone looking for a fan controller, especially if you have a case with a front door.

Just noticed you added some extra stuff and have skipped Gameboards like the Logitech G13 and Razor Nostromo. Since I've gotten the G13 I have not felt more comfortable while gaming and if it broke in the next 15minutes I'd order another instantly.

I have a small Logitech K300 Keyboard for general use and a G500 Mouse with G13 Gameboard for gaming (yes I love Logitech peripherals) and would recommend that type of setup over anything else for the amazing comfort and flexibility it provides.

The peripherals section is not meant to be an all out guide for these sorts of things. It is more of a basic setup thing. There are loads of other things I missed but TBH it would make the guide too long.

honestly i would stick to the system side and leave out the peripherals and other bits. More hassle than its worth and as you can see, everyone thinks they know better.

I finally finished all the sections and thanks to Agent for adding some posts for me. I have rewritten parts of the guide with more humour to avoiding it sounding a tad dry.

I stuck the peripherals onto one page and I have decided not to go into excessive details as it could easily be another guide.

BTW,Pob I linked to your post about fans in the body of the guide. ExHail,I have added a link to your post too.

Oh yes I should of mentioned the NZXT sentry2 Being a touch screen fan controller gives it one major advantage over knob types, case doors.
On some cases with doors, you cannot fit a knob type fan controller correctly as the knobs stop the door from closing, this is one area a touch screen fans controller is really nice for.

PS CAT I'd also stress the gtx560 is the non-ti version on your basic gamer build, personally I'd rate the hyper212+ over the A50 for one main reason, The fan, the a50 fan in not PWM and the blade master fan that comes with the hyper 212+ is very good, not quite as high a quality as the Apache but still very good.
I'd also add the Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 PRO £25 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/arcti...m2-am2plus-am3
the 13 non-Pro is a bit rubbish but the 13 Pro is good, esp for the novice, as it has Arctic Cooling's easy to use mounting system and pre-applied MX3

If you can add any more information to your post Pob it would be great. I have linked directly to it from the guide.

Ok will do.

PS I think you could add in headsets too
I can fully support the speedlink Medusa NXv2 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/speed...adset-with-mic for a stereo headset
At least so far, I've had mine for about 4 months now and I still love them, mike mute, tone and volume control on the wire, very comfy, still going strong and they've not fallen apart.
great for £19

I know there's been some bad reports about the 5.1 version but the stereo one has been great so far.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pob255

PS CAT I'd also stress the gtx560 is the non-ti version on your basic gamer build, personally I'd rate the hyper212+ over the A50 for one main reason, The fan, the a50 fan in not PWM and the blade master fan that comes with the hyper 212+ is very good, not quite as high a quality as the Apache but still very good.
I'd also add the Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 PRO £25 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/arcti...m2-am2plus-am3
the 13 non-Pro is a bit rubbish but the 13 Pro is good, esp for the novice, as it has Arctic Cooling's easy to use mounting system and pre-applied MX3

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Good point about the GTX560 - I will add the blurb to the guide.

I was looking at the cooling fan rathar than the noise,but I will have a look around at what other alternatives are available. Regarding the Arctic Cooling I have heard that the mounting system was not like by some people??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

I was looking at the cooling fan rathar than the noise,but I will have a look around at what other alternatives are available. Regarding the Arctic Cooling I have heard that the mounting system was not like by some people??

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I love the artic cooling mounting system, really easy for both AMD and Intel. However xbit don't rate it as a cooler:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coo...er-13-pro.html

Lack of PWM on the A50 default fan isn't a biggie as all motherboards in the guide provide variable speed CPU fan headers without needing PWM. But I wasn't very happy with the default fan - quite noisy.

I read something was something about it being flimsy? Maybe I am thinking of the latest version of the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro??

I am such a Moose.

I was going to recommend the Titan Fenrir but it seemed to have vanished.

However,I just had a Google and realised this is the replacement:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/titan...oogle+shopping

I stuck with the Corsair A50 as it seems to be a generally solid cooler and the same goes with the Gelid Tranquillo.

Basically,for the Bigger Budget build the cooler should not cost more than £30 and ideally around £20 to £25.

With the Gamer Build ideally,I want to have at least one under £20 alternative.

So,if people can make some suggestions for coolers I will have a look at them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

I read something was something about it being flimsy? Maybe I am thinking of the latest version of the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro??

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Just fitted one the other day. Installing some of the pre-pins on the Intel version feels a bit flimsy, but it's only temporary, when you slide in the locks it becomes very solid.

Great guide Cat - really useful stuff - Thanks!

I just want to add a note to the GD04/GD05B case for HTPC use. Found there's a simple mod you can do to quiet the case even more than usual. (some find the case fans can be quiet noisy).

If you swap the fan filters from facing inside the case to face out so they touch the case sides it muffles the fan noise by a massive margin. Can barely tell my pc is on now in the living room unless you walk right up and put your ear next to the AV cabinet! Quite chuffed with this as along with sound proofing I've got a virtually silent machine and I didn't need to go fanless :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

I read something was something about it being flimsy? Maybe I am thinking of the latest version of the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro??

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I's down to personal preference, a lot of people don't like the push pins but they are easier to use for some people that a bolt through mounting system.
Personally I suspect that the mounting system doesn't give as much pressure as a blot through does which is why the results are not so good.
It's one of those things where there is no such thing as a blanket "the best" option, as a lot id down to the user, their level of experience and what they find easy to do.

I've seen a couple complaints about the hyper212+ mounting but I didn't have any problems with it and I think it's much better than the basic intel stock cooler, their push pins can require quite a bit of force to lock in correctly, I found a bolt through much easier.

Again on the fan, noise is a key issue for me and non-PWM fans generally cannot go that slowly as under 5volts and they cannot start, dropping a fan to 5volts roughly halves the rpm.
A PWM fan in theory can run any ware between 0-100% (normally a hexadecimal integer so between 0-255 with 0 being off and 255 being full speed) however it's normally limited by the level on control of the motherboard, eg on my MSI P55-GD65 the next lowest after 0% is 12.5%
This is one area where older motherboards are better, by making bios settings "more user friendly" they've dumbed it down and removed control :rant:
On a side note here a lot of US reviewers seem to put up with higher levels of noise than eu or uk reviewers.

Brilliant Job Mate!

great guide. thank you. was looking to build at roughly 350 so this will be a great starting point for me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by UseItNow

Brilliant Job Mate!

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jayfunk

great guide. thank you. was looking to build at roughly 350 so this will be a great starting point for me.

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Thanks!!

BTW,I would avoid the Corsair CX430W and CX500W PSUs. Build quality is not great with these PSUs and this is why they are not in the guide.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

Thanks!!BTW,I would avoid the Corsair CX430W and CX500W PSUs. Build quality is not great with these PSUs and this is why they are not in the guide.

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another bullet dodged! the cx430 was in my initial build thoughts.

thankyou

This guide looks really useful!! I am definitely going to show it to some of my mates.

Some really useful information in here that I may be using in the not too distant future, cheers!

I have updated my review on the NZXT Sentry 2, covered more things about the device and made it a little less personal.

Hope that is OK :)

Nice guide and great info for newbies like myself.

I just noticed the common components list for the HTPC has the core components too. That took me only a few weeks to spot!!:p

It seems the Llano A4 3400 is now available. GPU performance seems in line with an HD6450 DDR3.

this is so helpful! I'm hoping to do a lot of upgrading soon, will refer back to this. thank you

great job. :clapping:

on speakers, is it worth mentioning the creative T40? I know you've put in the T20 but with the extra size the base is dealt with well. They're simply the best 2.0 I've come across and beat a number of 2.1 offerings. Great for small London flats/student rooms with thin walls and multiple neighbours, and more portable with it.

I love this thread¬ Thanks!

Will use information in this thread when i upgrade my computer, soon i think because of the amd phenom 9500 system hangs xD

October's build guide has been up for the last week:

http://forums.hexus.net/pc-hardware/...er-2011-a.html

Updated thread in place, so I have closed and unstickified this one :)