About time :). Been waiting a long while for this. Was one of the reasons I came to the site in the first place. I still think you should do it quarterly and not monthly though.
Originally Posted by GeorgeK In the Gaming Workhorse, do you mean Asus Xonar DX for the soundcard? I thought the DS was PCI and that board doesn't have any PCI slots!...
Well spotted GeorgeK. I've updated the system to now include the DX.
Good to see it back. Now tell me to ****** off if you like, but how about an additional category for htpc since there's a lot of it about, frequent questions on recommendations and most people would be looking for sff with a different emphasis?
Originally Posted by Carrie Good to see it back. Now tell me to ****** off if you like, but how about an additional category for htpc since there's a lot of it about and most people would be looking for sff with a different emphasis?
It is something we've been considering but we'll need to get some HTPC-specific gear through our lab first in order to make some recommendations. I'd be interested to hear what's people's budget for such a system is too - the bare minimum to handle 1080p content, Netflix and BBC iPlayer HD, or something a little fancier?
Originally Posted by Carrie Good to see it back. Now tell me to ****** off if you like, but how about an additional category for htpc since there's a lot of it about, frequent questions on recommendations and most people would be looking for sff with a different emphasis?
Originally Posted by Combatus It is something we've been considering but we'll need to get some HTPC-specific gear through our lab first in order to make some recommendations. I'd be interested to hear what's people's budget for such a system is too - the bare minimum to handle 1080p content, Netflix and BBC iPlayer HD, or something a little fancier?
So go get it! :D How about 2 versions - an entry level and premium? Since components/functionality would be listed people can then simply pick and choose to meet their requirements.
Yay!
Amazed by the impact that some price changes have had.
The amount of processing power you can get for not a huge amount is great.
£300 basically gets you top level processing power, and with SSd's being so cheap the total system prices are really coming into budget.
Motherboards are still difficult to recommend because the prices are higher than they used to be, and the features you need are so individual, but overall a great selection.
Originally Posted by Combatus Well spotted GeorgeK. I've updated the system to now include the DX.
Not the DGX? I assume because you haven't had one in for testing?
I was also somewhat surprised by the 3770K in the premium player, I was expecting an X79 system.
It was a tricky decision but in the end we felt that an X79 system would only be significantly faster in a very select few tasks. In fact even the Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition is actually slower in several key tests than the 3770K - not really what you want to hear when you're spending £600 more on a CPU and nearly £100 more on a motherboard. We'll add more info on this decision next time but we felt it was more important to consider the PC for general usage rather than just for rendering and video editing where it's extra cores come into play.
Ooo, while I think about it, the gaming workhorse and premium player both have the same motherboard listed (the maximus gene V) but at different prices.
Is it the same motherboard and the prices are wrong, or is there a typo and its a different model mobo?
I'm about due for that Gaming Workhorse. I really don't need it since most of the games I play are still running great at 1080p on my 4 year old hardware, but it's been a while since there's been such a really great cpu + gpu combo.
Originally Posted by mikkig Have we got to the point now that there isn't a need for a Highpoint card to run the SDD and hard drives off at 6gps?
The Intel SATA 6Gbps ports included in the p67, z68 and 77 chipsets are actually faster than the high-point card, so yes. And 6gbps HDDs are pointless, as they don't even approach the speed limit of SATA 3Gbps.
If you type in to Google, "Bit Te", the 2nd option recommended is the Buyer's Guide, after the site itself of course. I think that shows how popular this is, glad to see it back! And please put out one every month!! :D
what in the crazy world do you need 1200 watts of power for in the premium player overkill is not the word id use.
most new mobos have native 6gbs ports that are faster than the high point card that was needed in the pre sandybridge days.
SSDs in most systems is nice to see wont be longer before its every system i feel now
I can see we won't get away with this ;) so I've revised the PSU option to the 850W model. We haven't tested the exact model but we have tested its big brother so we'll relent (we haven't tested anything above 750W for a while). The 1200W model was a left over from our recommendation to buy the GTX 590 3GB which was a monster.
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ReplyWell spotted GeorgeK. I've updated the system to now include the DX.
And - as cookie and 3lusive - awesome to see this feature back :D
It is something we've been considering but we'll need to get some HTPC-specific gear through our lab first in order to make some recommendations. I'd be interested to hear what's people's budget for such a system is too - the bare minimum to handle 1080p content, Netflix and BBC iPlayer HD, or something a little fancier?
+1 I'm going to be building one soon myself.
+1
Typo on the Gaming workhorse page, 2nd paragraph "out list" should read "our list".
So go get it! :D How about 2 versions - an entry level and premium? Since components/functionality would be listed people can then simply pick and choose to meet their requirements.
I was also somewhat surprised by the 3770K in the premium player, I was expecting an X79 system.
Amazed by the impact that some price changes have had.
The amount of processing power you can get for not a huge amount is great.
£300 basically gets you top level processing power, and with SSd's being so cheap the total system prices are really coming into budget.
Motherboards are still difficult to recommend because the prices are higher than they used to be, and the features you need are so individual, but overall a great selection.
It was a tricky decision but in the end we felt that an X79 system would only be significantly faster in a very select few tasks. In fact even the Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition is actually slower in several key tests than the 3770K - not really what you want to hear when you're spending £600 more on a CPU and nearly £100 more on a motherboard. We'll add more info on this decision next time but we felt it was more important to consider the PC for general usage rather than just for rendering and video editing where it's extra cores come into play.
Is it the same motherboard and the prices are wrong, or is there a typo and its a different model mobo?
I would have thought a decent 850w would have been more than enough to even use for SLI.
Anway, glad to see it back - I know it is such a handy resource that many people find useful... ;)
Anyway, I'm glad that this article is back.
what in the crazy world do you need 1200 watts of power for in the premium player overkill is not the word id use.
most new mobos have native 6gbs ports that are faster than the high point card that was needed in the pre sandybridge days.
SSDs in most systems is nice to see wont be longer before its every system i feel now
The Intel SATA 6Gbps ports included in the p67, z68 and 77 chipsets are actually faster than the high-point card, so yes. And 6gbps HDDs are pointless, as they don't even approach the speed limit of SATA 3Gbps.
I can see we won't get away with this ;) so I've revised the PSU option to the 850W model. We haven't tested the exact model but we have tested its big brother so we'll relent (we haven't tested anything above 750W for a while). The 1200W model was a left over from our recommendation to buy the GTX 590 3GB which was a monster.
THE POWER!
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