Latest Computer Componentss

[DaveMurphy]

Just something I havent seen on here for a while... or not at all...

 

What's the highest spec computer components now? motherboards, ram, hdds, cpus etc

 

but what's the cheapest online site that you use?

 

 

 

Just wondering... want to build a beast pc.

[mac_shinobi]

I normally use CCL Computers - Awarded Best Online Retailer 2008 for PC, PC Components, Laptops, Notebook, Computer Components, Intel Servers, Hard Drives, PC Memory

 

or

 

Aria PC - Computer Hardware, Components, Monitors.. at lowest prices

Edited October 15, 2009 by mac_shinobi

[synaesthesia]

Lot's of kit around, depends what you're doing with it.

 

For performance, you're looking at nothing other than the Intel Core i7 processors and X58 based motherboards, but you will pay quite a price. High end memory (DDR3) has come down in price, and the better stuff is "Triple Channel" - so typically comes in 3's - 6gb being the usual starting point for high performance.

Graphics wise - are you gaming? Sweet spot really is the ATI 4890 range, although they have a new range (5xxx series) already here for a large premium. However, the 5xxx series has huge improvements in power consumption especially when idle, so your PC won't be making your electric meter do the quickstep when it's sitting there whilst you're only browsing Edugeek

Hard drives : bit of a minefield. The "sweet spot" here is a smaller SSD hard drive for your OS, with a second large harddrive (1 - 2tb) for file storage etc.

 

Pricewise that all adds up fairly quickly, especially when you start looking at SSDs, and you can chop around those specifications to tailor to your needs as before. Just going for a single drive will lower dependability but remove at least £120 from the price. A 4890 will set you back £150 although the 5xxx high end cards will be nearer double that - but could you save that in electricity bills if you're constantly hammering it?

 

You can also get yourself a beast of a system by chopping and changing the base of the system - the AMD Phenom kit is by no means bad, especially for the price - but you do need to be picky with the mainboard and the exact processor. Some of them are better than the others, some of them can be overclocked to a better specification and you won't be dissapointed either way.

 

Personally, I tend to use a mixture of suppliers : Ebuyer have always been good price-wise but I'm not a fan of their reliability and customer service.

 

Dabs recently have been oddly good with their prices so are getting more of my business these days.

Another thumbs up for CCL though

[dhicks]

want to build a beast pc.

 

As has been said, get a solid-state harddrive for the OS - there's a piece about them here:

 

Coding Horror: The State of Solid State Hard Drives

 

For storage, get two 1TB+ drives and mirror them as RAID-1. I have a Stardom RAID box:

 

STARDOM STORAGE SOLUTONS - SOHORAID FEATURE

 

--

David Hicks