Official "System Builders" Thread

[Chevron]

I've tried looking for comparisons, but there aren't that many, why do you say I should take the 6770?

So you can play at a higher resolution.

Would you guys recommend the Corsair TX650M?

Yes.

[taku]

So you can play at a higher resolution.

Prophecy just put up listings for the 7750 which is about the same price.

[Chevron]

Prophecy just put up listings for the 7750 which is about the same price.

6770 still performs better.

[charly]

Can you guys recommend me a power supply calculator that you trust? I've tried at least six and all of them either don't have enough options or don't seem accurate.

[Wesley]

Can you guys recommend me a power supply calculator that you trust? I've tried at least six and all of them either don't have enough options or don't seem accurate.

Just ask us how much power you need, why don't you?

[Chevron]

Can you guys recommend me a power supply calculator that you trust? I've tried at least six and all of them either don't have enough options or don't seem accurate.

I use this one:

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

But remeber if you plan to use these stats when buying a supply it needs to be a decent power supply that actually outputs the watts/amps it says on the box. Many don't.

Also add 100watts to be on the safe side.

[charly]

This is not an advert. I'm building PC's for a business an I was wondering if you guys could recommend me a mobo suitable for somebody that doesn't know what a BIOS or overclocking is. If you use the dedicated CPU graphics will it slow the CPU down? If so can you guys recommend me a GPU that is as good or slightly better than an intel CPU onbord GPU.

[Chevron]

This is not an advert. I'm building PC's for a business an I was wondering if you guys could recommend me a mobo suitable for somebody that doesn't know what a BIOS or overclocking is. If you use the dedicated CPU graphics will it slow the CPU down? If so can you guys recommend me a GPU that is as good or slightly better than an intel CPU onbord GPU.

You didn't state whether you want and AMD or Intel motherboard. Any mobo is suitable for someone that doesn't know what a bios is. Just ask them to not press "del" when their PC boots up.

Any GPU is better than an Intel onboard GPU.

[charly]

You didn't state whether you want and AMD or Intel motherboard. Any mobo is suitable for someone that doesn't know what a bios is. Just ask them to not press "del" when their PC boots up.

Any GPU is better than an Intel onboard GPU.

Just ask them to not press "del" when their PC boots up.

I meant somebody that won't over clock or ever change the bios settings. Which is better for office work: intel or AMD?

[Chevron]

I meant somebody that won't over clock or ever change the bios settings. Which is better for office work: intel or AMD?

Well I've noticed from the guys at work that Intel onboard GPUs struggle with things like Visio.

You can either get an AMD CPU with an onboard GPU or get Intel with a separate GPU.

I'd say something like the A6-3500 or if they are doing something more CPU and GPU intensive the A8-3850.

You can really use any FM1 mobo.

[Wesley]

If you use the dedicated CPU graphics will it slow the CPU down?

If you've ever heard this from another techie, its bull****. Even with Intel's CPU-Integrated HD graphics chips, performance is more than fine for office and home computers.

I meant somebody that won't over clock or ever change the bios settings. Which is better for office work: intel or AMD?

For starters, it depends on what office work is going to be done on the PC. Typing, Pastel, internet and so on will be perfectly fine on an AMD processor and it'll be cheaper on the whole, too. If more advanced stuff like photo editing, video compilation and re-coding is required, an Intel chip will be the better bet.

AMD:
Asus F1A75-M LE @ R895
AMD FM1 A6-3500 Triple-core @ R1003
Kingston Hyper-X Blu DDR3-1600 4GB @ R289

Total: R2187

Intel:
GIGABYTE H61M-S2P @ R595
Intel Pentium G840 @ R695
Corsair ValueSelect DDR3-1333 4GB @ R201

Total: R1491

Optional Video card: Club 3D Radeon HD6570 1GB DDR3 @ R680

Until we get APU chips in the budget segment based off Piledriver, Intel will be the better bet for most offices and for maximum productivity especially in the content creation segment. An APU takes up less space in the chassis, uses less power and is quieter on the whole. To get the most out of an Intel chip you really need a discrete GPU, or a Core i3/i5/i7 with QuickSync enabled.

[taku]

Hey guys, just wanted to say I found a 6850 for about R1500 and I think that's pretty cheap or what your'e getting
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php...oducts_id=5724

[echo]

Ok, if this question has been answered before just shout and maybe shove me in the right direction. Say I have about R15000 to spend on a PC but I need everything. Uses will be mostly gaming so the faster the better and there will be no overclocking. What should I get? (everything from tower, screen, mouse, keyboard etc).

[Wesley]

Ok, if this question has been answered before just shout and maybe shove me in the right direction. Say I have about R15000 to spend on a PC but I need everything. Uses will be mostly gaming so the faster the better and there will be no overclocking. What should I get? (everything from tower, screen, mouse, keyboard etc).

Reserved for recommendation - look back later for what I'd choose, no time now to trawl shopping sites :-P

Edit: Okay, here goes. R15k is surprisingly not a lot of money these days, but we can pile something decent together. I'll be putting two options, AMD or Intel, here, and you can decide which one to go for, but both will be able to play anything you throw at it on high.

Intel:
Intel Core i5-2500K @ R2086
GIGABYTE Z68XP-UD3 @ R1595
Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 8GB @ R676
Sapphire HD6950 FleX 2GB DDR5 @ R2963
Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB @ R1161
OCZ Agility 3 60GB @ R905 @ R905
LITE-ON iHAS524 @ R167
Antec HCG Modular) 620w @ R980
Corsair Carbide 500R @ R1125

AMD:
AMD FX-8120 @ R2036
ASRock 990FX Extreme4 @ R1582 (worth every cent, trust me)
Kingston Hyper-X DDR3-1866 8GB @ R665
Sapphire HD6950 FleX 2GB DDR5 @ R2963
Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB @ R1161
OCZ Agility 3 60GB @ R905 @ R905
LITE-ON iHAS524 @ R167
Antec HCG Modular) 620w @ R980
Corsair Carbide 500R @ R1125

Now here's where it gets fun! Choose what you want here: Eyefinity, or a single, good LCD. Choose wisely, young padawan.

LG E2060T-PN LED x3 @ R2751
LG E2341V-BN @ R1858

Mice and keyboards are totally subjective. I hate recommending a set to anyone on the off-chance they hate it for some reason or other. That said, I've used the mice listed here when I was working in retail. I'm ever-attached to my Logitech G11, so not many keyboards come close, but I do have one or two that I've liked. I also don't recommend spending more than R500 on a mouse, the returns are hugely diminishing, and only result in higher sensitivity and a ****load of buttons.

ROCCAT Kova[+] @ R390
Razer DeathAdder 3500 @ R465
GIGABYTE M8000X @ R473
Razer Arctosa @ R386
ROCCAT Arvo @ R414 (small, nice for LANs with limited space)
GIGABYTE K8100 @ R546

I will say this, though. I cannot live without a backlit keyboard now. Its like trying to forget the colour red - its impossible. The total below represents the most you'll spend if you take a tower with a Eyefinity setup and the most expensive mouse and keyboard.

Total: R15346

[echo]

Reserved for recommendation - look back later for what I'd choose, no time now to trawl shopping sites :-P

Thanks man, really appreciate it. No rush.

[taku]

Do you need an os?

[echo]

I'll just go with Windows 7.

[taku]

Here is what I came up with.
Processor Core i5 2400 @ R1842.13
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 @ R1396.96
RAM Corsair 8gb dual channel kit @ R802.56
GPU GTX 570 @ R4155.76
PSU Corsair GS600 Gaming series @ R822.62
DVD Drive LG oem drive @ R180.58
SSD drive Corsair CSSD F60GB @ R1082.20
HDD Seagate Barracude 1TB @ R1020.76
Chassis Gigabyte sumo alpha @ R832.66
Keyboard Razer Arctosa @ R423.85
Mouse Razer Death Adder @ R505.36
Monitor Samsung B2230 @ R1825.82
Total is R14891.26

[echo]

Thanks man! Will have a look now.

[Wesley]

SYSTEM BUILDERS: MAY R4000 TO R6000