Computer shopping has its annoyances. For one thing, after five years of not following all the advances in hardware, I suddenly have to decide what's out there, what's decent, and what will meet my needs. I also have to decide how little to spend and where to shop.
This time I decided on DirectCanada.com, a online computer store based in BC. Because they're out of province, I didn't pay provincial sales tax (I imagine that advantage is lost once the harmonized sales tax takes effect soon). Also, shipping is free for orders over $300 so that was another reason to go with them. Finally, I went with them because they had nearly every one of the seven exact items I wanted to purchase.
On to items, stats and rationale...
1. CPU
Tiny CPU with a monster heatsink and fan; the copper is a nice touch.
Meet the AMD Phenom II X4 955, the second fastest desktop CPU available from AMD. I like to keep a chip purchase under $200, and this one fit the bill.
Features:
- 3.2GHz stock speed; this is a "Black Edition" processor, meaning it is unlocked to allow for significant overclocking; with stock cooling I should be able to bring it up to 3.8GHz;
- quad core (useful for software that actually embraces multi-threading);
- 45nm technology (minimum distance between features on a chip); this decreases every couple of years as tweezers, soldering irons and human fingers are made progressively smaller;
- 125W TDP (max power consumption; slightly older chips were only 95W, so this one might be a little less green).
Why? Cheap when bundled with the motherboard I bought. It's the latest socket type for AMD and won't be outdated next month. And I chose AMD because the closest competition from Intel -- the Core i5 750 -- was a fair bit more expensive (and so might have been the corresponding Intel-compatible motherboard).
2. Motherboard
It's a liitle hard to see in this head-on shot, but there's some crazy blue heatsink action on this board.
I got the Asus M4A78T-E motherboard. There was a good deal if buying this with the above CPU. Besides that, whatever I chose had to support an AM3-style CPU, had to be reliable (some brands suck), and had to have certain other features.
Features:
- 790GX + SB750 chipset, which has somewhat more features than some other chipsets;
- integrated video, audio, LAN; I really don't need onboard video, but it's handy in a pinch;
- two PCIe 2.0 slots for video cards;
- supports DDR3 memory.
Why? The two PCIe 2.0 slots are slightly attractive (though I expect to use only one). Has plenty of SATA and USB connectors. Great bundle deal with the CPU, but besides that it's one of the better-priced mobos for AM3 chips. My current mobo is an Asus as well and it's been a pleasant piece of hardware.
3. RAM
What's that? Where's my anti-static mat, you ask? Bleh.
The above motherboard takes DDR3 memory with data rates of 1066, 1333 or 1600 MT/s (megatranfsers/sec); 1600 can apply only when overclocking. I got 4GB of DDR3-1600 (aka PC3-12800) because, well, why not overclock?
Features:
- OCZ brand. Any cheap brand can flake out, but OCZ isn't the worst brand out there.
- 2 sticks of 2GB each; a 32-bit operating system will recognize only 3.2GB of RAM, so to use the whole range I'll need a 64-bit OS.
- low-latency timing (8-8-8); this refers to the access time in nanoseconds; any higher and DDR3 performs no better than its predecessor DDR2;
- because I got the 1600 stuff there may be better overclocking results; if the system is not overclocked, this RAM will simply operate at reduced 1333 speeds.
Why? Good for overclocking. 4GB are better than 2.
4. Graphics card
Nice cooling system on this card; should help when overclocking. Only downside to this card is the lack of an S-video out (to my old-fashioned TV), but I'm running dual monitors already and the card can't handle a third simultaneously. Existing DVI, HDMI and VGA outputs should be adequate for most people.
The motherboard has onboard video, although I didn't buy it for that feature. Any resource-hungry game is going to need some decent rendering power. My previous (low- to mid-range) video card cost me $230 or so, so I was please to find a one I liked for under $140. I got an NVIDIA-based one, a Gigabyte GeForce GTS 250 OC. My previous motherboard had no PCIe slot so I was stuck in the AGP age before now.
Features:
- 1GB of RAM (my old one had only 128MB);
- PCIe 2.0 x16: really really fast; the motherboard has two such slots, so one day I can buy a second similar card and hook them up together to create an even faster video solution; the only slight damper (which I could overlook) is that using both slots bring the speed down to x8 from x16;
- supports DirectX 10, a requirement a lot of games are starting to have;
- this Gigabyte card (various manufacturers sell variations of the same card under their own name) is slightly overclocked from the factory, although the same can be done for this card from any manufacturer; I expect I'll overclock it significantly further with stock cooling;
- the GeForce GTS250 is actually a rebranded 9800GTX+ (which was an overclocked rebranded 8800GTS), but it comes in a 1GB version which is more than its predecessors had.
Why? I'm not much of a gamer, but if I do want to play a game, I'd like for it not be a blocky head-spinning affair. This card should last me a long time, so I consider the expense justified. Why Nvidia and not ATI? Good question, seeing as AMD owns ATI. It's a matter of what's on sale when, what looks appealing in benchmarks I'm reviewing, etc. Nothing against ATI, really.
5. Network card
Yay, more radio waves around my feet. Hey, I could have bought the 3-antenna version.
Because it's time I rolled up some cables around the house, I ordered another wireless card. This is a TP-Link TL-WN851N, whatever that means. It was $27 and looks funny with two antennas sticking out the back, so I thought I'd give it a try. There's even one available with three antennas, but since I've done fine with a single one on my current card I figured two would be plenty.
6. Power supply
PSU comes with an impressive array of cables; I didn't even need half of them.
This was the one item I'd have been happier to buy elsewhere. Very few stores had the PSU I wanted (a Corsair brand), but since it was nice to get everything in one place, I decided on a Thermaltake TRX-750M. Thermaltake is known for cases and cooling products and not power supplies, but I figure at the very least they'll be able to keep this PSU cool.
Features:
- 750 watts, which should be enough for my rig; I've had a PSU blow up before due to overloading, so I want at least 700W for safety's sake; I need to power a handful of hard drives, a DVD drive, and the new CPU and video card which can both suck a lot of juice;
- modular cabling, which means not all the cables are hardwired into the PSU box; rather, unused cables can be unplugged and removed to reduce case clutter and thus improve airflow.
Why? Gave in so that I could order everything from the same store; else it would cost me a trip or a shipping fee.
7. Case
The case has two fans built in and is ready for three more.
Finally the container. I've never wanted transparent sides and flashy lights and whatnot, but it's sometimes hard to find a basic case. I went with the Three Hundred, the second cheapest from Antec's gaming line of cases. It's your regular mid-size case that comes with lots of hardware and a couple of fans.
Features:
- bottom-mounting PSU: it doesn't come with a power supply, but the one you put in yourself goes on the bottom;
- a top-side 120mm fan; comes preinstalled and it quite noiseless; has a switch for lo-mid-hi speed;
- a back-side 100mm fan; comes preinstalled, also noiseless; has a switch for lo-mid-hi speed;
- both sides are easily removeable;
- front cover is removeable and has a washable filter; it also provides access to spots for more fans if desired.
Why? Made by a respectable case manufacturer. It was on sale, and the included silent fans (with adjustable speed) are a nice touch.
...And that's the system. Threw in a couple of existing hard drives to complete the package. I'm waiting on $65 worth of mail-in rebates I just sent out; those are so annoying but worth it... unless you fail to follow the stringent rebate rules or fail to mail them in time!
This post covered the hardware, but perhaps one day I'll post over software issues... like the fact that I now can't use my printer on the 64-bit OS I've now starting using. Oh well, the old laptop serves a function once again.
