Tom's Hardware challenged gaming system building companies Alienware, AVADirect, and Cyberpower to go head to head in a challenge to build the best custom systems possible around the Intel Core i7 processor with a budget cap of $2,500. Extensive benchmarks were then conducted comparing the three systems. CPU speed vs. GPU speed design considerations taken into account by each of the three companies lead to no clear frontrunner (in my opinion); which vendor you choose very much depends on the intended primary use of the system.
In the market to buy one of these systems? Please note that this System Builds blog has links to Alienware, AVADirect, Cyberpower, and many more custom system building companies at the top right of the page!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tom's Hardware: Best Graphics Cards For The Money: March '09
Tom's Hardware has posted their March 2009 GPU comparison guide.
Best PCIe Card for ~$70:
Best PCIe Card for ~$70:
- ATI Radeon HD 4670
- Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT
- ATI Radeon HD 4830
- Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT /9800 GT
- ATI Radeon HD 4850
- Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX+
- Nvidia GeForce GTS 250
- ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 (Core 216)
- Radeon HD 4850 X2 1 GB
- 2x Radeon 4850 in Crossfire Configuration
- 2x GeForce 9800 GTX+ in SLI configuration
- 2x GeForce GTS 250 in SLI configuration
- 2x Radeon HD 4870 512 MB in CrossFire Configuration
- 2x Radeon HD 4870 1 GB in CrossFire Configuration
- Radeon HD 4870 X2
- 2x GeForce GTX 260 (Core 216) cards in SLI Configuration
- GeForce GTX 295
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
090309 - eWeek - Building a Virtualized Test Bed on the Cheap
A multi-part article at eWeek covers building a FrankenBox and FrankenNAS to be used as a virtualization test bed.
"The recession is putting pressure on IT administrators to cut costs at the same time that demands from the business side continue to grow. Using mostly free software and a collection of out-of-date hardware lying around, eWEEK Labs built a flexible (albeit somewhat underpowered) virtual machine test bed. Below, we offer the steps we took to build an OpenFiler iSCSI NAS server and a VMware ESXi bare metal virtualization instance, plus the settings to get the two working together."
- Part I: Hardware and Layout
- Part II: OpenFiler Installation
- Part III: OpenFiler Configuration
- Part IV: ESXi Installation on a USB Flash Drive
- Part V: Configure ESXi
Enjoy!
Monday, March 9, 2009
090305 - ExtremeTech - Build a Home Theater PC
ExtremeTech has published a guide to building an HTPC capable of Bluray, HDDVD, and DVD playback via HDMI. Considering Digital OTA (over the air, or antennae) HD? Looking to cancel your monthly Satellite TV or Cable TV fees with Internet a-la-carte programming? This might be the article for you.
For just under $1,900, Loyd Case has assembled a very capable HTPC system. Personally, I still can't decide between an XBox360 or a new gaming rig, but I should note that this HTPC build is probably not what you'll want if you are a serious PC gamer.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
090210 - Tom's Hardware Guide - $625 Gaming PC
Tom's Hardware posted a new guide:
It's interesting to see what can be done with $625 dollars, but this isn't a system I would ever consider buying, as it would quickly be a $600+ dollar obsolete waste! From the article's conclusions: "The E5200 failed to keep up with the HD 4870 in two of our games, and in World in Conflict, the frame rates made the title unplayable. In Crysis and Supreme Commander, performance jumped quite a bit, but it still took overclocking to approach playable frame rates.". If I am reading the article correctly, even with overclocking, this system would not play games that are nearly a full year old with full eye-candy enabled. What's the point?
My non-scientific conclusion is that the cheapest price point for a gaming system that I would be happy with it still somewhere between $1,250 and $1,700, a conclusion that hasn't changed since early 2007. I expect at least 2 to 3 years out of any system that I build, and I want to be able to play any new game that comes out during that time period without upgrading. I don't have $600+ to waste. Why not buy a Wii AND and an XBox360 and stick to your old system for surfing the web and running office apps?
I'll pass on this one, Tom and Co. Of course, Tom would call me names and remind me that the point of the article is squeezing as much GPU power as possible out of just over $600.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Playing Catch-Up; Long Time No Post
No new posts here in quite a while! I figured I'd play a bit of catch up, since everyone should be buying new computers they don't really need when the economy is doing so poorly... right? I am just doing my part as an irresponsible American. So let's see. My last post was in July of 2007. I'll work my way forward from there as it is interesting to see how components and prices have changed over time.
I'll start with my favorite; ArsTechnica.com:
I'd promise to keep this up to date, but we all know that is not likely to happen. In any case, enjoy, and have fun building!
I'll start with my favorite; ArsTechnica.com:
- Ars System Guide: January 2008 Edition
- Ars System Guide Special: It's Easy Being Green
- Ars System Guide: Spring Forward and Build a New Badass Rig
- Ars System Guide: HTPC Edition
- Ars System Guide: May 2008 Edition
- Ars System Guide: Summer Gaming Edition
- Ars System Guide: September 2008 Edition
- System Guide: the Ars Ultimate Budget Box
- Ars Ultimate Home Theater PC Guide: 1080p HDMI Edition
- TR's Christmas 2007 System Guide
- How To Build a PC
- TR's February 2008 System Guide
- TR's April 2008 System Guide
- TR's Summer 2008 System Guide
- TR's Back to School System Guide
- TR's Fall 2008 System Guide
- TR's Christmas 2008 System Guide
- TR's February 2009 System Guide
- Holiday Buyer's Guide 2007: Part 1
- The Best Gaming Graphics Cards for the Money: November 2007
- Holiday Buyer's Guide 2007: Part 2
- Holiday Buyer's Guide 2007: Part 3 - Games
- Holiday Buyer's Guide 2007: Part 4
- The Best Gaming Graphics Cards for the Money: January 2008
- The Best Gaming Graphics Cards for the Money: February 2008
- The Best Gaming Graphics Cards for the Money: March 2008
- System Builder Marathon: Low Cost System
- System Builder Marathon: Mid Cost System
- System Builder Marathon: High Cost System
- System Builder Marathon: Overclocking
- System Builder Marathon: Price/Performance
- The Best Gaming Graphics Cards for the Money: April 2008
- Tom's Ultimate RAM Speed Tests
- $500 Gaming PC: Day 1, Component Selection
- $500 Gaming PC: Day 2, Testing & Analysis
- The Best Graphics Cards for the Money: May 2008
- Best Graphics Cards for the Money: June 2008
- System Builder Marathon: Sub-$4000 PC
- System Builder Marathon: Sub-$2000 PC
- System Builder Marathon: Sub-$1000 PC
- System Builder Marathon: Overclocking
- Best Graphics Cards for the Money: July '08
- System Builder Marathon: Price/Performance
- Best Graphics Cards for the Money: August '08
- Best Video Cards for the Money: September '08
- Best Video Cards for the Money: Oct '08
- System Builder Marathon: The $4,500 Super PC
- Tom's SBM: The $1,500 Mainstream PC
- System Builder Marathon: $500 Gaming PC
- System Builder Marathon: Performance & Value
- System Builder Marathon: $625 Gaming PC
- System Builder Marathon: $1,250 Enthusiast PC
- System Builder Marathon: Performance & Value
- System Builder Marathon: $625 Gaming PC
- System Builder Marathon: $1,250 Mid-Range PC
- System Builder Marathon: $2,500 Enthusiast PC
- System Builder Marathon: Performance & Value
- Tom's Intl. $750 Cheap Computing Challenge
- System Builder Marathon: $625 Gaming PC
- System Builder Marathon: $1,250 Enthusiast PC
- System Builder Marathon: The $5,000 Extreme PC
- System Builder Marathon: Performance & Value
- How-To: Build an HTPC (With Windows 7)
- The $750 Computing Challenge: Germany vs. USA
- What Does a $16,000+ PC Look Like, Anyway
- Search of Tom's Hardware for "System Builder"
I'd promise to keep this up to date, but we all know that is not likely to happen. In any case, enjoy, and have fun building!
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