Best brands by your experience

**KaerMorhen** · August 16, 2007, 06:24 AM

I'm about build new rig (just want to increase the fund I have) and searching various online shops to compare prices and finally pick what I want to get, but there's lots of various manufactures means lots of possibilities and options.
Which brands you preffer(and why) if you buy new stuff?

CPU - AMD or Intel
Mobo(775) - Asus, BFG, eVGA, XFX
RAM(DDR2)- Corsair, OCZ, GoodRam, Patriot, GEiL
GPU(PCI-E) - ATI or GeForce
HDD - Seagate, Maxtor, Samsung, Hitachi, Toshiba

**Arakorn** · August 16, 2007, 06:36 AM

The GPU brands aren't actually nVidia or ATi, they are Asus, Club3D, MSI, Gigabyte, PNY (Verto), XFX, Gainward, Matrox etc.

And as for CPU's, it's just a matter of choosing best bang for buck, except if you want power cheap, cool or something else. The different GPU releases makes the GPUs a different case though, with different prices, preoverclocking, package contents and advanced features that other companies might not have.

Anyway, I'll have to say Seagate for HD's, as my current one has now lasted 4½ years without breaking, only thing is that it's too small!

I prefer nVidia over Ati also...

**mrmouth** · August 16, 2007, 04:34 PM

Originally Posted by Arakorn-eir

Anyway, I'll have to say Seagate for HD's, as my current one has now lasted 4½ years without breaking, only thing is that it's too small!

Its a great time to go Seagate. The new generation of large (500gb+) and medium (250gb) drives have just been released. The performance is impressive. Still a bit difficult to find the new gen 500gb (7200.11-32mb cache) but if your interested I think I can find one for you.

cpu-intel c2d
mobo- Asus or evga
ram- Plenty of choices, Crucial Ballistix is cheap now.
gpu- geforce is the way to go right now
hdd- seagate

**SonOfCrusader76** · August 16, 2007, 06:33 PM

Do ATI GPUs usually work ok with 'the way it's meant to be played' Nvidia games and vice-versa? I mean I know there'll probably be some difference in performance, but nothing game-killing, right?

**Dick** · August 16, 2007, 07:07 PM

It's nearly 100% advertising. It won't make a difference.

**SonOfCrusader76** · August 16, 2007, 07:09 PM

It's all good, then. Thanks for the replies!

**mrmouth** · August 16, 2007, 07:06 PM

yeah ATI cards will work with games that have that splash screen. It only means that the developers used Nvidia cards while making the game.

I really have no idea if you would see any performance increase using geforce, I doubt it.

**mrmouth** · August 17, 2007, 03:20 PM

Really any 18x drive will do. I have a Sony and its just fine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827152079

**Hadrian** · August 17, 2007, 11:05 PM

Originally Posted by KaerMorhen

I'm about build new rig (just want to increase the fund I have) and searching various online shops to compare prices and finally pick what I want to get, but there's lots of various manufactures means lots of possibilities and options.
Which brands you preffer(and why) if you buy new stuff?

CPU: The Intel Duo Cores are the best processors on the market today but AMD processors are fine too, especially for those of us who want to hang on to our skt 939 mainboards a little longer!

Mobo: I prefer Asus mainboards but if I were building a new system I would get one of the new 680i boards made by the likes of eVGA and XFX as they are well made and specifically designed for highend gaming.

RAM: Corsair is definately the leader in gaming memory but I personally prefer OCZ as it is absolutely some of the highest quality memory on the market today.

GPU: Go for the lifetime warranty and don't look back! If your looking at nVidia chipsets then its XFX, BFG, and eVGA. If your leaning towards an ATI based chipset (usually ATI OEMs don't offer lifetime warranties) then I would suggest Asus or Sapphire.

HD: I most definately prefer Western Digital hard drives myself, especially the Raptor series. They are expensive and limiting in MB volume but are unparalleled in performance and speed. Seagate and Maxtor are the other top sellers.

PSU: The power supply unit is probably the most over looked component in any system and quality here is an absolute must! Stability is key and that only comes from quality. OCZ, Silverstone and PC Power and Cooling are my favorites. Antec also makes a quality product but they don't offer one larger than 600W.

DVD/CD: I prefer Samsung, Asus and Plextor drives. Plextor burners are expensive but their high quality and performance are undeniable. I have had flawless service from my Asus and Samsung drives as well.....

**KaerMorhen** · August 18, 2007, 06:55 AM

Originally Posted by Hadrian

PSU: The power supply unit is probably the most over looked component in any system and quality here is an absolute must! Stability is key and that only comes from quality. OCZ, Silverstone and PC Power and Cooling are my favorites. Antec also makes a quality product.

I've heard lots of good comments over Zalman's products especially 600W series - excellent performance/noiseless/undeniable working stability
All folks I know they say Zalman is worth it price

I'm slowly convinced to get this set:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Processor 2.4GHz, 1066FSB, LGA775, 8MB cache
EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR nForce 680i SLI Socket 775 1333MHz DDR2-800
EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express Video Card w/Dual-DVI, HDTV-Out
Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB Kit DDR2-800 XMS2-6400
Seagate Barracuda ES ST3400620NS 400GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer
...not decided yet if it comes to case, psu, DVD/CD burners and other stuff.
Some people advised to me that I'd replace EVGA's with XFX or BFG cause they're better performers, but it that true?

**Ummagumma** · August 18, 2007, 07:37 AM

Short note on RAM.. GEIL is superb! The cheap Ultra sticks overclock faster, and with tighter timings than many other brands premium products, at a fraction of the price. The more expensive stuff - though I've got no first hand experience with it - should be even better.

The sticks I have cost less than 1/2 that of the XMS2 'Dominator' stuff by Corsair, yet it clocks further with tighter timings.

**mrmouth** · August 18, 2007, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by KaerMorhen

Seagate Barracuda ES ST3400620NS 400GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer

If your going Seagate I would recommend waiting for the 7200.11 500gb models with the 32mb cache. They are still on special order and so they are around $350, but will drop significanlty once they are released in large numbers.

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/pro...acuda_7200.11/

Also since OCZ bought PC Power and Cooling their prices have dropped. Best PSU's in the business for even cheaper!

The 610w Silencer is now $120, when just last week it was $160. Not as quiet as Corsair but pretty darn quiet.
http://www.pcpower.com/products/view...hp?show=S61EPS

Review:
http://www.pcpower.com/products/revi...610/index.html

**Hadrian** · August 19, 2007, 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by KaerMorhen

I've heard lots of good comments over Zalman's products especially 600W series - excellent performance/noiseless/undeniable working stability
All folks I know they say Zalman is worth it price.

Zalman makes a quality PSU and they also make one of the best CPU coolers with their 9700 model. I personally have a Sunbeam Tuniq Tower 120 and it is just awesome. My processor is OC and it has never gotten over 40c! If your OCing that 6600 then you'll need additional cooling, if not, the stock cooler will do.

Originally Posted by KaerMorhen

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Processor 2.4GHz, 1066FSB, LGA775, 8MB cache
EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR nForce 680i SLI Socket 775 1333MHz DDR2-800
EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express Video Card w/Dual-DVI, HDTV-Out
Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB Kit DDR2-800 XMS2-6400
Seagate Barracuda ES ST3400620NS 400GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer

That would be a very sweet topend system that would last you for several years to come KaerMorhen.

Originally Posted by KaerMorhen

Some people advised to me that I'd replace EVGA's with XFX or BFG cause they're better performers, but it that true?

No, all those nVidia OEMs make virtually identical products because they are all based on the same G80 chipset. The biggest choice you have between them is who has the best warranty (can't stress that enough) and the best customer service.

**KaerMorhen** · August 19, 2007, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by Hadrian

Z
That would be a very sweet topend system that would last you for several years to come KaerMorhen.

Indeed and I think it is also good high-end base set for further upgrades. Do you know what is the REAL difference between 8800GTX over/superclocked cards and Ultra ones - because from what I've known Ultras are just manufacturer overcloked so wtf???

**The White Knight** · August 21, 2007, 04:23 AM

What about 'computer' brands such as HP and acer ... I'm planning to buy a 'complete' computer (i.e. not manually put together - that would be a disaster). Where should I look?

**Hadrian** · August 21, 2007, 11:33 PM

Originally Posted by KaerMorhen

Indeed and I think it is also good high-end base set for further upgrades.

It should be. It's very hard to say for certain the way the computer industry is clicking along here recently. My skt939 based system was the standard, and then "Bam!", 6 months later skt939 development is discontinued and the Conroe emerges as the new bad boy on the block. The software developers don't even seem to be able to keep up.

Originally Posted by KaerMorhen

Do you know what is the REAL difference between 8800GTX over/superclocked cards and Ultra ones - because from what I've known Ultras are just manufacturer overcloked so wtf???

The 8800Ultra model is simply a factory OCed 8800GTX. It was originally forbidden by nVidia for the OEMs to factory OC the G80 chipset, maybe so that the Ultra could be initially marketed without competition from OCed 8800GTXs. Also possibly because there were so many RMAs of factory OCed 7900GTXs that nVidia had to put a halt on factory OCing to figure out what was going on. Obviously, they've by now figured out the G80 chipset is a far more stable OCer than the sensitive G71 chipset so now that the initial release period of the Ultra is over, nVidia is now permitting OEMs to OC the GTXs.