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What Hardware Should I Buy? - Sept 2009

Comments 26 to 47 of 47

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glenster 15th September 2009, 18:43 Quote
For the high end chassis, the Silverstone Raven RV02 is cheaper and supposed to be better.
B1GBUD 15th September 2009, 19:01 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bindibadgi

Are you in the UK? You can buy Issue 74 of CustomPC in the next week or so - there's a full review.

Do people still buy PC mags? I generally flick through looking at stuff that's atleast a month old that hasn't been poured over on the interwebs... then shudder when the mag is priced at over £5

Or am I just tight wad?
Aterius Gmork 15th September 2009, 19:02 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by glenster
For the high end chassis, the Silverstone Raven RV02 is cheaper and supposed to be better.

Maybe, but it looks worse.
Skiddywinks 15th September 2009, 20:41 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by B1GBUD
Do people still buy PC mags? I generally flick through looking at stuff that's atleast a month old that hasn't been poured over on the interwebs... then shudder when the mag is priced at over £5

Or am I just tight wad?

No, I'm the same. Nothing beats the internet for up-to-the-date news and free information.
lankyn 15th September 2009, 21:01 Quote
So you'd recommend buying the i7 920 over the i5 because it overclocks more? Am I the only gamer who doesn't o/c cause I prefer stability and quiet? Guess I must be, as the i5 seems a much better option all round - its at least £50 cheaper, has cheaper motherboards and performs better or equally as well in most tests. Am I missing something here? And should we expect a price drop anytime soon?
Bindibadgi 15th September 2009, 21:55 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by lankyn
So you'd recommend buying the i7 920 over the i5 because it overclocks more? Am I the only gamer who doesn't o/c cause I prefer stability and quiet? Guess I must be, as the i5 seems a much better option all round - its at least £50 cheaper, has cheaper motherboards and performs better or equally as well in most tests. Am I missing something here? And should we expect a price drop anytime soon?

One button overclocking? A lot of boards have BIOS' that have some variant of this.
bumfluff 15th September 2009, 22:10 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by wuyanxu
Ripjaw looks to be really good, but you keep recommending cas9 kits, does timing not matter in i5 systems? which gives more performance in Nehalem, tight timing or higher memory speed?

fantastic recommendations. i can't help but wonder what would be gaming rig if DDR3 dual channel wasn't so expensive, and p55 motherboards are 20% cheaper.

I would like to know too. Please answer Bindi.
haddow64 15th September 2009, 23:39 Quote
Hmm glad I went i7 (920) then instead of holding out :D
mrplow 16th September 2009, 01:53 Quote
as a perpetual mid-range buyer personally I would go for, and indeed did go for, a 4770.

it even brought my PC's power consumption down nicely, which might be important for some other people too
trig 16th September 2009, 03:04 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrplow
as a perpetual mid-range buyer personally I would go for, and indeed did go for, a 4770.

it even brought my PC's power consumption down nicely, which might be important for some other people too

amen brother plow...preach it!
Mathmarauder 16th September 2009, 05:11 Quote
Could I get away with using the Corsair VX450 power supply in the enthusiast overclocker rig? The amp ratings appear very close, 33amps on 1 +12v rail versus the Modstream's 36 amps across 2 +12v rails. The reason I ask is that I already own the VX450 so that would save me buying a power supply.
trig 16th September 2009, 05:41 Quote
not sure how many amps the 4870 or 4890 needs, but i would think if 36 amps can run it, 33 ought to work. try searching for amperage requirements to be sure.
Bindibadgi 16th September 2009, 08:17 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by bumfluff
I would like to know too. Please answer Bindi.

Next month it will be ;)
00se7en 16th September 2009, 10:15 Quote
Graphics card prices are pretty much all over the place at the moment. Managed to grab myself a Powercolor 4850 512mb for £71 which should do nicely I reckon until there are sufficient titles out there which actually make use of DX11. Even a 4650 is about £50 so don't reckon I can lose out too much with this. HDMI socket means it can be put out to pasture in an HTPC at some point.

Thought long and hard about the 4770, but reckon my PSU can handle it so will take the free speed boost.

Last ATI card I had was a Sapphire X1950 (reference design) which kept crashing out due to overheating VRMs at standard clocks. That was promptly RMA'd and replaced with a 7900GTO. Don't let me down this time ATI!
Xir 16th September 2009, 14:06 Quote
Quote:
Private copying is not excepted in the UK or Ireland (but is everywhere else in the EU)

Not quite:
You're allowed to make a copy, but not to circumvent any copyprotection to do so...that's the EU for you
Mathmarauder 16th September 2009, 15:40 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by trig
not sure how many amps the 4870 or 4890 needs, but i would think if 36 amps can run it, 33 ought to work. try searching for amperage requirements to be sure.

Thats the thing I believe that card requires 34 amps, does 1 amp really make that much of a difference?
Claave 16th September 2009, 20:16 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by WildThing
Quote:
Originally Posted by Claave
Buy the Core i7-920 now! We have no idea when Intel will pull it from retail, but judging by the prices of LGA1156 Core i7, it could be any minute...

I too have been thinking about getting the 920 (the OEM is only £194.99 on Ebuyer) but I was planning on upgrading for my birthday in October. Will that be too late do you think?

Tbh, I don't know - if Skiddywinks is correct you might be OK, but then again, if Intel changes its mind for whatever reason (poor LGA1156 Core i7 sales?), you'll have missed out.

I tried to wheedle the info out of Intel the other night, but they were tight-lipped. If I were you, I'd place an order sooner rather than later, because there's no telling when it'll go.

Oh, just bear in mind that OEM CPUs have only a 1yr warranty rather than the multiple years of retail versions - might be worth considering.
Claave 16th September 2009, 20:20 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by B1GBUD
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bindibadgi

Are you in the UK? You can buy Issue 74 of CustomPC in the next week or so - there's a full review.

Do people still buy PC mags? I generally flick through looking at stuff that's atleast a month old that hasn't been poured over on the interwebs... then shudder when the mag is priced at over £5

Or am I just tight wad?

Custom PC is £4.50! :D
mrplow 17th September 2009, 01:51 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathmarauder
Thats the thing I believe that card requires 34 amps, does 1 amp really make that much of a difference?

Well yeh, it makes the difference between working and not. :D
Star*Dagger 19th September 2009, 11:31 Quote
I always appreciate your hard work in putting these out every month!

I am not sure anyone will be building a new rig this month with the Win7 / DX11 era almost upon us!!

Yours in Eyefinity Plasma,
Star*Dagger

P.S. The day Eyefinity monitors from Samsung go retail, i am ordering it next day express!!
Jokaz 2nd October 2009, 09:50 Quote
Just followed the link for 6GB CL8 memory and its now running at around £125 or approx £30 more than printed - quite a jump on a tight budget
Jetfire 4th October 2009, 22:35 Quote
This article opened my eyes quite a bit. The affordable all-rounder is at least twice as powerful as my PC at half the price I thought it would be and you say it'll still play all the latest games at a good resolution?. I've been out of the loop for such a long time and I think my original budget for a new PC was a bit overkill. Still, I do need something quite powerful for what I want to do.
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