Originally Posted by Abhorsen On your medium range monitor will it actually allow me to play consoles on it? "It even ships with an HDMI for connectivity to a next-gen console or other high definition source.".
As i thought a T.V not just a Monitor was required for consoles?
any monitor with HDMI can plan PS3 and Xbox360 on it, any monitor with component will be able to do Wii (i think you can also get an adaptor to get component to VGA)
eg, my Samsung T240 can play my friend's PS3 effortlessly (although all games looks like crap comparing to PC version)
I've found that the component to VGA adapters aren't as compatible across monitors as vga signals from a PC. However, the distinction between a TV and a monitor has become blurry. A lot of TVs now come with VGA inputs, so they can be used as PC monitors, and some monitors (like my Gateway XHD3000) come with extra inputs (hdmi, component, s-video, and composite), allowing game consoles, dvd players, etc. to be connected directly to them.
Originally Posted by Abhorsen On your medium range monitor will it actually allow me to play consoles on it? "It even ships with an HDMI for connectivity to a next-gen console or other high definition source.".
As i thought a T.V not just a Monitor was required for consoles?
any monitor with HDMI can plan PS3 and Xbox360 on it, any monitor with component will be able to do Wii (i think you can also get an adaptor to get component to VGA)
eg, my Samsung T240 can play my friend's PS3 effortlessly (although all games looks like crap comparing to PC version)
er.... HDMI to DVI.... my PS3 works fine on my Samsung 215TW
in your mid-range system graphics card statement, you mention that the recommended mobo supports crossfire but not sli. actually, the ud3r supports neither, the ud3p supports crossfire.
And yeah, the text boxes are pretty awful this month.. Seems like someone just made an error though, the horrible brighter purple is usually gray, I think.
Originally Posted by Gremlin Am i the only person here how thinks the design and overall quality of the buyers guide has severely gone down hill from the first few?
No offence to the new people on the Bit-Tech team from CPC etc but im yet to see an article written by any of you guys come close (and that's being generous) to the quality of the articles written by the pre CPC Bit-Tech staff...
it seems like your more interested in just cranking out boring articles berfeft of anything in them worth reading, like its more about quantity over quality :S
Not having a dig at you guys, but come on!
maybe a little...harsh...lol...but some definite truth to that. and being from the states, when i see most of the guide covering both sides of the ocean until the monitor review...seems lazy. o well...
i also question your recommendation of the 4870 x2. i know it's easy to get excited about price cuts but why would you recommend that card over 2 / gtx 260's? don't tell me power consumption, because both 260's take less total than the 4870 x2. don't tell me connections because it's the premium player system, and the recommended psu can handle it...and dont tell me performance, because the sli setup outperforms the 4870x2 more times than not and we all know about folding on ati...heck, i'd take 2 4870's in crossfire almost before that x2...
I've been faithfully following this article series since around November and I have followed this site for years. However, I feel this is the poorest implementation of this article to date.
I think it should be OBVIOUS to anyone who has eye-balls that that table coloring is horrid. It doesn't even play into any colors on the website layout itself. (Please, change the table, not the website! Dear god!)
Also, when you linked from various retailers, I always got the feeling that the article was well researched and unbiased. I would MUCH rather see the table, with the cheapest quoted price from whatever site had it (Tiger, NewEgg, etc) and then at the bottom "Or buy the whole DYI kit / complete PC from Scan!" (Or... whoever this CCL is... ((I would trust Scan because you guys associated them with you and tied them close to you-- I really really hope CCL is more credible then the previous posters make it seem, it would be very disheartening to see you guys shoot yourself in the foot like that.))
So far this is the only article/series I have seen degrade in this way. The game reviews are still spot on, the news articles are up-to-date and relevant. Though I may be wrong, I don't see quite as much case-modding on here and while its not something I do, it was cool to read about and I know it was a big draw for most of the people here.
More how-to guides would be awesome. I loved the how-to-make-your-own-server one, and would love one on HTPC's or anything else people can think of.
Most of us aren't mad at this article per se-- we're upset at the perceived lack of effort and quality/polish and unbiased nature usually associated with this series. By narrowing it down to one company, you are closing your eyes to potential bargains. Most of us are thrifty as hell and fickle to boot.
I'm sure I speak for us all when we say: We love this site. Please don't start to change what worked for months/years on here! So many blogs I know have died, so many sell-out or change to become unrecognizable. I would hate to see this site, with how close its staff seems to its posters, suffer the same fate.
maybe i'm nit-picking here, but someone else brought up a good point. why recommend the 4770 when it cant be found?
i'll even go a step further. sure the 4770 has strong performance in both power consumption and thermal dynamics over the gts 250 (which obviously isnt too big a part of your criteria if you chose a card like the 4870 x2). but have you paid attention to the price vs performance based on your game benches? other than far cry 2, which from what i've been reading, who really plays that anyway...the gts spanks the 4770 beating it by 30-45% and for a whole $10 more (or 10%). oh, and its in stock everywhere.
:O omg the navigation on the CCL site is horrid... speced up nearly the exact same system with scan, in matter of a couple of mins... scan search rox... system = £407.49 (inc free delivery)...
Only difference is brand of Ram (Corsair) and GFX (Sapphire)
So if you really wanna go use scan, then here is the LN quick codes...
While waiting for the 4770 to resurface somewhere on the net, I want to know is there any difference 4gb ram vs 8gb ram?
I notice in the premium segment, the Ram is 6gb. I know vista (up to 4gb) and win7 (unlimited) has that USB support thing which you can use your usb flash drives to increase performance. Kind of like nitros in NFS. Will you see any difference going up to 8gb over 4gb? Its cheaper to buy all the Rams you need when building a pc rather than decide to buy it 3 years down the road. Its more expansive and it may not be the same type as you have.
I just noticed something after building the pc. The antec 300 does not have a front suction fan for the HD. Since I'm like 24/7 on Bittorrent, is that fine? Aside from that, the case is actually quite good.
I am a bit confused about your choice of processor for the Gaming Workhorse. The processor linked to is actually more expensive than the i7 920, and whilst it may perform better when overclocked, you can overclock the i7 too!
I know that you have to take the whole platform cost into consideration, but there is only £55 difference and you could probably get away with a cheaper motherboard and RAM.
Originally Posted by docodine Yeah, the performance difference between the Q9550 and the Q9650 is almost nil, with a $50 price difference.
Well, as we said in the copy, that's the advantage of the P45/LGA775 based system - you can vary the processor as and how you see fit. For us, the extra overclocking you'll get from the Q650 makes it worth the slight price premium.
As for the other comments about partnering with CCL: no retailer is going to have a 100% record of satisfying every single customer they serve, but CCL consistently does well in *reader* surveys run by Dennis, i.e. surveys where tens of thouands of readers get to vote on different shopping sites, so we were happy to partner with them. I've bought kit from the myself and always had a good experience but you're free to buy from elsewhere though, of course!
seeing all these comments i started doubting the expertise of this guide... So i did a bit of a comparison of my own.
Here are the Gaming Workhorse builds from may (Harry/Bit-Tech) and June (Alex/CPC):
Code:
April (Bit-Tech) May (CPC)
CPU Palit GTX 275 Palit GTX 275
GPU AMD Phenom II X4 940 Q9650 +
MOBO Asus M3A79T Deluxe Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R
RAM 4GB DDR2-8500 CL5 4GB DDR2-8500 CL5
CASE Akasa Omega Antec Twelve Hundred -
PSU Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 650W OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W --
COOLER Titan Fenrir Titan Fenrir
ODD LG Blue-Ray/HD DVD combo LG Sata DVD burner --
HDD Samsung F1 1TB Samsung F1 1TB
Both machines cost about the same at the time of publication. That means that with a month of pricereductions worth of headstart CPC's machine:
Uses a lower-power PSU, hurting the upgradability (and even overclockability) in a big way.
Uses a PSU from a line that Bit-Tech never reccomended
Switches the case to the Antec Twelve Hundred, a case BT never reviewed and was never a big fan of. You do this for reasons of upgradability (RAID, overclocking, bigger GPU) but forget to mention that you'll need to upgrade the PSU aswell if you start doing those things.
Does away with Blue-ray and HD-DVD functionality.
As a redeeming feature for these steps down, the Q9650 is chosen over the PII X4 940. This might indeed be a nice upgrade to make, however, it's not really a smart choice, as it puts the platform cost only 50-ish ponds away from the far more capable i7 platform.
In all, i can only conclude that the Bit-Tech build is a far more sensible machine. This is not to say that the CPC machine is a poor build, but it does very definately not show the expertise that i read these articles for. Together with a colorscheme from hell and a set of far too invasive BUY BUY BUY buttons I must say i'm not overly impressed
I know this may stand in some contrast with my previous post, but i was trying to be nice there, and i do make the same points.
Originally Posted by perplekks45 Vista doesn't have a 4GB RAM limit. 32bit has it, 64bit hasn't.
Explanation? Google or Wiki, I'm too tired. Hint: Addressable space. ;)
I know that. I want to know in 64 bit, 4gb vs 8gb.
Comments 26 to 50 of 70
ReplyI've found that the component to VGA adapters aren't as compatible across monitors as vga signals from a PC. However, the distinction between a TV and a monitor has become blurry. A lot of TVs now come with VGA inputs, so they can be used as PC monitors, and some monitors (like my Gateway XHD3000) come with extra inputs (hdmi, component, s-video, and composite), allowing game consoles, dvd players, etc. to be connected directly to them.
er.... HDMI to DVI.... my PS3 works fine on my Samsung 215TW
Ie, Antec Mini P180, Asus Gene mobo, Core i7 920 etc...
For instance I already have a DVD rw and a HDD so dont need those.
And yeah, the text boxes are pretty awful this month.. Seems like someone just made an error though, the horrible brighter purple is usually gray, I think.
maybe a little...harsh...lol...but some definite truth to that. and being from the states, when i see most of the guide covering both sides of the ocean until the monitor review...seems lazy. o well...
i also question your recommendation of the 4870 x2. i know it's easy to get excited about price cuts but why would you recommend that card over 2 / gtx 260's? don't tell me power consumption, because both 260's take less total than the 4870 x2. don't tell me connections because it's the premium player system, and the recommended psu can handle it...and dont tell me performance, because the sli setup outperforms the 4870x2 more times than not and we all know about folding on ati...heck, i'd take 2 4870's in crossfire almost before that x2...
I think it should be OBVIOUS to anyone who has eye-balls that that table coloring is horrid. It doesn't even play into any colors on the website layout itself. (Please, change the table, not the website! Dear god!)
Also, when you linked from various retailers, I always got the feeling that the article was well researched and unbiased. I would MUCH rather see the table, with the cheapest quoted price from whatever site had it (Tiger, NewEgg, etc) and then at the bottom "Or buy the whole DYI kit / complete PC from Scan!" (Or... whoever this CCL is... ((I would trust Scan because you guys associated them with you and tied them close to you-- I really really hope CCL is more credible then the previous posters make it seem, it would be very disheartening to see you guys shoot yourself in the foot like that.))
So far this is the only article/series I have seen degrade in this way. The game reviews are still spot on, the news articles are up-to-date and relevant. Though I may be wrong, I don't see quite as much case-modding on here and while its not something I do, it was cool to read about and I know it was a big draw for most of the people here.
More how-to guides would be awesome. I loved the how-to-make-your-own-server one, and would love one on HTPC's or anything else people can think of.
Most of us aren't mad at this article per se-- we're upset at the perceived lack of effort and quality/polish and unbiased nature usually associated with this series. By narrowing it down to one company, you are closing your eyes to potential bargains. Most of us are thrifty as hell and fickle to boot.
I'm sure I speak for us all when we say: We love this site. Please don't start to change what worked for months/years on here! So many blogs I know have died, so many sell-out or change to become unrecognizable. I would hate to see this site, with how close its staff seems to its posters, suffer the same fate.
We're a nervous and twitchy lot, I know.
maybe i'm nit-picking here, but someone else brought up a good point. why recommend the 4770 when it cant be found?
i'll even go a step further. sure the 4770 has strong performance in both power consumption and thermal dynamics over the gts 250 (which obviously isnt too big a part of your criteria if you chose a card like the 4870 x2). but have you paid attention to the price vs performance based on your game benches? other than far cry 2, which from what i've been reading, who really plays that anyway...the gts spanks the 4770 beating it by 30-45% and for a whole $10 more (or 10%). oh, and its in stock everywhere.
bah...
Only difference is brand of Ram (Corsair) and GFX (Sapphire)
So if you really wanna go use scan, then here is the LN quick codes...
LN18949
LN21700
LN27322
LN26873
LN24874
LN25380
LN22762
LN23169
LN23991
My eyes!
Sorry, but get rid of that purple. It's awful!
Other than that, the buttons are a bit too big and invasive as mentioned before. The guide itself is as good as ever.
I notice in the premium segment, the Ram is 6gb. I know vista (up to 4gb) and win7 (unlimited) has that USB support thing which you can use your usb flash drives to increase performance. Kind of like nitros in NFS. Will you see any difference going up to 8gb over 4gb? Its cheaper to buy all the Rams you need when building a pc rather than decide to buy it 3 years down the road. Its more expansive and it may not be the same type as you have.
I just noticed something after building the pc. The antec 300 does not have a front suction fan for the HD. Since I'm like 24/7 on Bittorrent, is that fine? Aside from that, the case is actually quite good.
The link you have for US customers: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211390
The link you want: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227388
Pricing needs to be updated as well.
I know that you have to take the whole platform cost into consideration, but there is only £55 difference and you could probably get away with a cheaper motherboard and RAM.
Explanation? Google or Wiki, I'm too tired. Hint: Addressable space. ;)
+1
Yeah, the performance difference between the Q9550 and the Q9650 is almost nil, with a $50 price difference.
Well, as we said in the copy, that's the advantage of the P45/LGA775 based system - you can vary the processor as and how you see fit. For us, the extra overclocking you'll get from the Q650 makes it worth the slight price premium.
As for the other comments about partnering with CCL: no retailer is going to have a 100% record of satisfying every single customer they serve, but CCL consistently does well in *reader* surveys run by Dennis, i.e. surveys where tens of thouands of readers get to vote on different shopping sites, so we were happy to partner with them. I've bought kit from the myself and always had a good experience but you're free to buy from elsewhere though, of course!
linky overclockers
linky scan
You can also grab 2 x 260 GTX for £268 from overclockers linky.
Here are the Gaming Workhorse builds from may (Harry/Bit-Tech) and June (Alex/CPC):
- Uses a lower-power PSU, hurting the upgradability (and even overclockability) in a big way.
- Uses a PSU from a line that Bit-Tech never reccomended
- Switches the case to the Antec Twelve Hundred, a case BT never reviewed and was never a big fan of. You do this for reasons of upgradability (RAID, overclocking, bigger GPU) but forget to mention that you'll need to upgrade the PSU aswell if you start doing those things.
- Does away with Blue-ray and HD-DVD functionality.
As a redeeming feature for these steps down, the Q9650 is chosen over the PII X4 940. This might indeed be a nice upgrade to make, however, it's not really a smart choice, as it puts the platform cost only 50-ish ponds away from the far more capable i7 platform.In all, i can only conclude that the Bit-Tech build is a far more sensible machine. This is not to say that the CPC machine is a poor build, but it does very definately not show the expertise that i read these articles for. Together with a colorscheme from hell and a set of far too invasive BUY BUY BUY buttons I must say i'm not overly impressed
I know this may stand in some contrast with my previous post, but i was trying to be nice there, and i do make the same points.
I know that. I want to know in 64 bit, 4gb vs 8gb.
But you claimed that Vista has a 4GB limit and 7 doesn't have a limit. That's totally wrong.
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