Official "System Builders" Thread

[Sylar_dl]

Hey im not sure if this is the right place but im looking for some advice, my friend is selling his intel dp35dp motherboard with 6gb ram and the core 2 quad cpu that comes with it, im not exactly sure what the cpu specs are but i will find out soon, here's a link to the motherboard ark.intel.com/products/50380/Intel-Desktop-Board-DP35DP#infosectionessentials, can anyone advise me if i should be interested at all and if so how much should i offer to take it off his hands, i plan to use it while i wait for haswell, i think it might be cheaper than to buy a cheap ivy bridge set up which u can price at about R2000 for motherboard cpu and ram

[Wesley]

The price depends on the quad in question, but I'd settle for around R1000 - R1200. Negotiate for R900 because if you go look online at places like Gumtree, people normally let mid-range LGA775 boards and quads go for around R450 - R500 each. You'll be bottlenecked by the RAM before anything else, but it'll be a nice system to play with while you wait for Haswell.

[Wesley]

Intel plans an exit strategy for its motherboard lineup

For as long as I can remember, Intel's been selling its branded motherboards as a standards-setter, something which all the other third-party manufacturers ought to mimic if they want to make the lives of system builders, enthusiasts and network admins/engineers easier. Over the years Intel has made many, many average boards that high reliability ratios, occasionally highlighted with some very good ones that gamers or power users have appreciated. Intel's boards are sought-after by network admins eager to standardise their workstation setups, the benefit being to have one vendor doing driver updates that they can test and roll out without worrying about incompatibilities or design alterations. After the launch of Haswell, Intel intends to shut down their motherboard manufacturing arm for consumers and enthusiasts.

Linky

[Sylar_dl]

The price depends on the quad in question, but I'd settle for around R1000 - R1200. Negotiate for R900 because if you go look online at places like Gumtree, people normally let mid-range LGA775 boards and quads go for around R450 - R500 each. You'll be bottlenecked by the RAM before anything else, but it'll be a nice system to play with while you wait for Haswell.

Ok he says the quad in question is a Q8660, i think it may be wrong cause a quick Google shows nothing up on intels website, also looking at the list of intel core 2 quads on there website and it didn't show up there either, but i did see it mentioned on a few forums, both giving different speeds (2.3 and 2.2ghz)

[Sylar_dl]

Just a report back, i picked up the motherboard ram cpu combo from my friend for R500, he wasn't interested in selling it but his parents insisted lol

[Wesley]

Just a report back, i picked up the motherboard ram cpu combo from my friend for R500, he wasn't interested in selling it but his parents insisted lol

Damn good deal, I'd say. Nicely done.

[Soulmantle]

Can anyone point me to a local supplier who wont rip me off on the AMD FX-8350?

[Wesley]

Unfortunately, stock on the FX-8350 is pretty strained and you'll have to keep hopping on price engines and each retailer to see if the prices change to the level you'd like. Landmark and Sybaritic both have it for R2507. Those are the cheapest I've seen.

Personally, I'd rather get the FX-8320 for a lot cheaper, use the extra cash to put more money towards a good water or air cooler and clock it up to the same level as the FX-8350.

[Wesley]

System Builder's Guide: February R4000 to R8000

Welcome to the System Builders guide once again, boys and girls. We're well into 2013 and four months away from June. June is going to be all abut Computex and the new announcements hardware vendors are going to make and the new promises they're going to hope to keep. For now, prices are dropping on a few items and making it a very good time to pick up that PC you were thinking about. Follow our advice after the jump!

Linky

Edit: I've updated the guide now with two cards from PowerColor. Both builds are now much better value than before.

[Wesley]

Dell is now a privately-owned company

Earlier last year rumours surfaced that founder and CEO, Michael Dell, was looking to take back his company into private hands in the looming shadow of a declining desktop PC market, citing that not having to pander to Wall Street's expectations along with the demands of investors will allow the company to be more nimble with the way it handles itself. Micheal Dell offered up a large portion of the $24.4 billion needed, along with sizeable investments from Silverlake, a private equity firm, as well as Microsoft, chippiing in $2 billion in exchange for Dell's continued support for Windows, fearing that the company may consider Linux support for its future products. The deal closed up yesterday and Dell is now off the stock market after 25 years since it first entered NASDAQ. What this means for the Alienware, Inspiron, Latitude, Precision, Vostro and XPS product families is anyone's guess.

Source: Hexus.net

[Wesley]

System Builders Guide: February R10,000 to R15,000

So here we are with another System Builders guide and today we're looking at rigs in the price range most people set aside for themselves to build a good computer that will play games for a long time to come. According to last year's NAG survey the average spend of most readers on their rig is R13k, which we'll actually have a look at today. Some price changes and new products have changed the value of these builds significantly, so if you're interested, have a peek, if only to drool and day-dream!

Linky

[Ashton :P]

Hey guys :P I am looking for a new PC to do some gaming and other cool stuff. I am looking for quality and parts that will last a long time. I would also like a transparent side panel. It doesn't have to be too big but I would like to see my parts without having to open the whole thing up each time. I got the fans because a lot of people on Newegg say that the one fan the case comes with is really rubbish.

[Wesley]

Everything looks good, no problems there, especially with the case. The only thing I'd change:

PowerColor Radeon HD7950 3GB DDR5 @ R3199

If you're not totally set on the chassis yet, I can also recommend NZXT's Phantom 410 and Cooler Master's CM Scout 2 as well as the Bitfenix Raider. The Raider is my favourite in the R1000 price range.

[charly]

The powercolour card's warranty is shorter by 1 year. Im looking for a new gpu as well. Does this make any difference? Will it last as long?

[Wesley]

They are an AMD partner (TUL Corporation) and they're one of the handful of companies that produce and sell the HD7870 LE and the HD7990. They're much better quality than people give them credit for and I'd happily pick one if it was my money. The shorter warranty shouldn't matter much, chances are you may be upgrading after two or more years anyway.

Edit: For comparison, Tom's Hardware reviewed PowerColor's HD7870 LE and came away impressed.

[charly]

Thanks Wesley

[$CHN!TZ3L]

Hi guys, I'm busy building my first rig. It's kind of a long-term project (not ideal for staying up to date, I know...)

I'm buying all the hardware that won't be outdated anytime soon (ie: Mouse, Case, Keyboard, Speakers etc) now and leaving parts like the motherboard, CPU and GPU for a little bit later. One thing that I've been juggling about quite a bit is which CPU socket to go with. I was initially pulled to LGA2011, then jumped to LGA1155 and now I'm considering waiting for Haswell, but can't really make up my mind. I want to do some overclocking, is there any socket that is superior in that regard?

Here's what I have my head at the moment:

CPU: Intel Core i7 2700K(LGA1155) or Intel Core i7 3820(LGA2011) or just wait for Haswell

GPU: Sapphire HD7970 OC Edition

RAM: G.Skill F3-2400C10D-16GTX

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 OC Formula(LGA1155) or ASRock X79 Extreme4(LGA2011)

PSU: Corsair HX850 Gold

Case: Antec Twelve Hundred V3

Obviously this is going to be quite a high-spec rig and right now I'm expecting the total cost to fall within within 25-30K, so I'm not too worried about high-cost parts. Any recommendations or changes you'd make?

[Legion]

make sure to stress test that gpu before the shop wont let you return it.

[Wesley]

System Builder's Guide: February R18,000 to R28,000

So we're approaching the end of February and we're on our way to March. Tomorrow is the release/announcement of whatever Sony is planning and PC owners couldn't be happier - with a new generation of consoles pushing the boundaries of what's possible, we'll see better use of our hardware and those eight-core processors that AMD's been punting for the last two years. Today we're sort of in the rich segment, with PCs costing as much as a good second-hand car. But these behemoths are for the power-user, the gamer who likes his/her triple-display 3D setup for playing Skyrim with all the swanky mods, or Crysis 3 on ultra. For those of you who like to push the boundaries of what's possible with today's hardware, this section is for you.

Linky

[Legion]

hey guys i'm looking for a few "on the budget" SSD's.