Buyer's Guide II: Extreme, High-End, Mid-Range, Budget, and Entry Level Systems

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adrianlee

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Updated on 1 September 2011

Please check Price Guides for latest prices

A PC Buyer’s Guide that is everything to everyone is simply not possible. This is a simple guide to putting together a PC with a local flavour. Be sure to read PC Buyer’s Guide from other media.

If you have any questions about why I chose a particular component you may ask in this thread or you could start a new thread.

Bit-tech PC Hardware Buyer's Guide September 2011
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/buyers-guide/2011/09/01/pc-hardware-buyer-s-guide-september-2011/1

Sandy Bridge Buyer’s Guide
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4456/sandy-bridge-buyers-guide

Guru3D PC Buyers Guide Summer 2011
http://www.guru3d.com/article/pcbuyer-guide-summer-2011/

Techreport's Summer 2011 system guide
http://techreport.com/articles.x/21164]

Tomshardware System Builder Marathon, June 2011
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/system-builder-gaming-pc,2961.html

TechSpot's PC Buying Guide
http://www.techspot.com/guides/buying/

Best Graphics Cards For the Money: August 2011
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997.html

VGA Charts Spring 2011
http://www.guru3d.com/article/vga-charts-spring-2011/

Complete Gaming System

Extreme Systems

Intel Core i7-990X Extreme Edition & GIGABYTE G1.Assassin ~ $2088
Intel Core i7-990X Extreme Edition & EVGA X58 3X SLI CLASSIFIED ~ $2057
Corsair DOMINATOR GT CMT6GX3M3A2000C8 DDR3-2000MHz 6GB (3X2GB) Kit~ $408
MSI HD 6990 CrossFireX or MSI GTX 590 Quad SLI or EVGA GTX 580 SLI ~ $1338
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 240GB or Crucial M4 256GB or Intel SSD 510 250GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB for Storage ~ $66
HP dvd1270i SATA 24X DVD Rewriter ~ $37
Corsair Professional Series Gold AX1200 1200W PSU ~ $469
Cooler Master ATCS 840 ~ $400
Total ~ $6XXX

Intel Core i7 2600K & GIGABYTE Z68X-UD7-B3 ~ $935
G.SKILL RipjawsX DDR3-1600MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $136
MSI HD 6990 CrossFireX or MSI GTX 590 Quad SLI or EVGA GTX 580 SLI ~ $1338
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 240GB or Crucial M4 256GB or Intel SSD 510 250GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB for Storage ~ $66
HP dvd1270i SATA 24X DVD Rewriter ~ $37
Seasonic X-850 850W PSU ~ $280 or Corsair HX850 850W PSU ~ $275
Cooler Master ATCS 840 ~ $400
Total ~ $4XXX

High-End Systems

Intel Core i7 2600K & GIGABYTE Z68X-UD7-B3 ~ $935
G.SKILL RipjawsX DDR3-1600MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $136
MSI HD 6990 or MSI GTX 590
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120GB or Crucial M4 128GB or Intel SSD 510 120GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB for Storage ~ $66
HP dvd1270i SATA 24X DVD Rewriter ~ $37
Seasonic X-850 850W PSU ~ $280 or Corsair HX850 850W PSU ~ $275
Cooler Master ATCS 840 ~ $400
Total ~ $3XXX

Intel Core i7 2600K & GIGABYTE Z68X-UD7-B3 ~ $935
G.SKILL RipjawsX DDR3-1600MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $136
PowerColor HD 6950 2GB CrossFireX ~ $758 or Palit GTX 560 Ti 2GB SLI ~ $780
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120GB or Crucial M4 128GB or Intel SSD 510 120GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB for Storage ~ $66
HP dvd1270i SATA 24X DVD Rewriter ~ $37
Seasonic X-850 850W PSU ~ $280 or Corsair HX850 850W PSU ~ $275
Cooler Master ATCS 840 ~ $400
Total ~ $3XXX

Intel Core i7 2600K & GIGABYTE Z68X-UD3P-B3 ~ $721
or AMD Phenom II X6 1100T & ASUS Crosshair V Formula ~ $603
G.SKILL RipjawsX DDR3-1600MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $136
EVGA GTX 580 ~ $669 or Sapphire HD 6970 ~ $460
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120GB or Crucial M4 128GB or Intel SSD 510 120GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB for Storage ~ $66
HP dvd1270i SATA 24X DVD Rewriter ~ $37
FSP Aurum AU-600W ~ $135 or FSP Aurum AU-500W ~ $115
Cooler Master CM690 ~ $129
Total ~ $2XXX

Mid-Range Systems

Intel Core i5 2500K & Gigabyte Z68A-D3-B3 ~ $492
or AMD Phenom II X4 965 & ASUS M5A99X EVO ~ $419
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $56
PowerColor HD 6950 2GB ~ $379 or EVGA GTX 570 Superclocked ~ $449 or Palit GTX 560 Ti 2GB ~ $389
OCZ Vertex 3 120GB or Corsair Force GT 120GB or Crucial M4 120GB or Intel SSD 510 120GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB ~ $66
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
FSP Aurum AU-500W ~ $115
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $16XX

Intel Core i5 2500 & GIGABYTE Z68A-D3-B3 ~ $479
or Intel Core i5 2500 & BIOSTAR TP67B+ ~ $380
or AMD Phenom II X4 955 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $265
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $56
PowerColor HD 6950 2GB ~ $379 or Palit GTX 560 Ti 1GB ~ $300
OCZ Vertex 3 60GB or Crucial M4 64GB or Crucial C300 64GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB ~ $66
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
FSP Aurum AU-500W ~ $115
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $14XX

Intel Core i5 2400 & BIOSTAR TP67B+ ~ $360
or Intel Core i5 2300 & BIOSTAR TH67+ ~ $350
or AMD Phenom II X4 955 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $265
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $56
Sapphire HD 6950 1GB ~ $319 or Palit GTX 560 Ti 1GB ~ $300
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 32MB ~ $66
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
FSP Aurum AU-500W ~ $115
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $9XX

Intel Core i5 2300 & BIOSTAR H61MH ~ $314
or AMD Phenom II X4 955 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $265
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 8GB (2X4GB) ~ $56
EVGA GTX 560 1GB ~ $255 or Sapphire HD 6870 ~ $246 or Sapphire HD 5850 Xtreme ~ $218
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB ~ $52
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
FSP Aurum AU-500W ~ $115
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $8XX

AMD Athlon II X4 640 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $200
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 4GB ~ $28
PowerColor HD5770 1GB ~ $149 or Palit 450 512MB ~ $143
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB ~ $52
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
FSP Aurum AU-400W ~ $95
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $6XX

AMD Athlon II X3 445 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $165
or Intel Pentium E6500 & ASUS P5KPL-AM ~ $186
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 4GB ~ $28
PowerColor HD5770 1GB ~ $149 or Palit 450 512MB ~ $143
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB ~ $52
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
Antec Neo Eco 450W PSU ~ $69
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $5XX

Budget Systems

AMD Athlon II X2 250 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $143
or Intel Pentium E6500 & ASUS P5KPL-AM ~ $186
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 4GB ~ $28
PowerColor HD5750 1GB ~ $135 or Sapphire HD 5670 512MB ~ $120
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB ~ $52
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
Antec Neo Eco 450W PSU ~ $69
Ikonik EN2 ~ $55
Total ~ $5XX

Entry Level Systems

AMD Athlon II X2 250 & Biostar A880G+ ~ $143
Kingston DDR3-1333MHz 4GB ~ $28
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB ~ $52
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Rewriter ~ $24
Antec Neo Eco 450W PSU ~ $69
Casing ~ $40
Total ~ $3XX
 
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adrianlee

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Under Renovation :D

Anandtech: GPU Bench is Live
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU/88

CPU Benchmark, Part 1: Value Processors
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/cpu-benchmark-value.html

CPU Benchmark, Part 2: Mainstream Processors
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/cpu-benchmark-mainstream.html

CPU Benchmark, Part 3: High-End Processors
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/cpu-benchmark-highend.html

All Core i7 Models
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/All-Core-i7-Models/708/1

Giant roundup: 168 Intel and AMD CPUs
http://www.behardware.com/articles/778-1/comparatif-geant-168-processeurs-intel-amd.html

Core i7 System Buyers Guide
http://anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=3510

Phenom II System Buyers Guide
http://anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=3552


Processors


LGA 1156 Core i7s & Core i5s Reviews
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2469828

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Reviews
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2464665

AMD Athlon II X4 620 & 630 Reviews
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2500883

How Many CPU Cores Do You Need?
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2455166


Graphics Card

ATI HD5970 - The Fastest Graphics Card on the Planet
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2568532

HD5870 and HD5850 Reviews
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2508717

HD5770 & HD5750 Reviews
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2531389

HD4870 Reviews
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2006227

Motherboards

P55 Motherboards
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2449443

790FX Socket AM3 Motherboards Reviews
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2345421

AMD 785G Motherboard Reviews
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2455169


Memory

Core i5 & Core i7 Memory Kit Round-Up
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2502988

DDR3 On A Budget: Six 6 GB Memory Kits
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2457748

Solid State Drive & Hard Disk Drive

The SSD Relapse: Understanding and Choosing the Best SSD @Anandtech
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2482962

Intel X25-M G2: Previews & Reviews
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2442713

Serious Competition: Intel X25-M and Five SSD from OCZ Technology
http://xbitlabs.com/articles/storage/display/ocz-ssd-roundup.html


Seagate Ships Desktop Hard Drive With World's Highest Areal Density -- 500GB Per Disk
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2226525

Power Supply Unit
Power Supply Buyer's Guide
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2034606
How much PSU power do you REALLY need?
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1587810&highlight=power


Heatsink-Fan
25 LGA 775 CPU Coolers *Mega Test*
 
Last edited:

adrianlee

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Processor

Intel Core versus AMD's K8 Architecture
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2748

Buying memory for a Socket AM2 system
http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q2/socket-am2/index.x?pg=2

AMD Socket AM2 Dual Core CPU Reviews
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1303415

Sempron AM2 3000+ vs S754 3000+
http://www.hkepc.com/hwdb/am2sempron-1.htm

AMD 3500+ Mid-Range CPU - AM2 vs S939 Comparison
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=454


Intel's Conroe E6300 & E6400 vs AMD's FX-60
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1310538

Intel's Conroe spanks AMD FX-62's botty - for real!!!
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=5692

Intel Conroe Performance Previews
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1314520



AMD Roadmaps have socket 939 end of life (EOL) in Q4'06
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1259801

Athlon 64: Background to the new E6 Stepping
http://216.239.39.104/translate_c?h...evision+e6&start=60&hl=en&lr=&sa=N&as_qdr=all

Revision Guide for AMD Athlon 64 and AMD Opteron Processors
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/25759.pdf

How to read the ordering part number (OPN) of AMD Athlon 64

codes.jpg


ADA3500DKA4CG – 90nm Venice E4 Stepping

ADA=AMD Athlon™ 64 Desktop
3500=Model Number
D=939pin
K=Vcore 1.35V
A=Max Tcase=Variable
4=L2 512KB
CG=Rev E4

ADA3500DAA4BW – 90nm Venice E6 Stepping

ADA=AMD Athlon™ 64 Desktop
3500=Model Number
D=939pin
A=Vcore Variable
A=Max Tcase=Variable
4=L2 512KB
BW=Rev E6

ADA3500DAA4BP – 90nm Venice E3 Stepping

ADA=AMD Athlon™ 64 Desktop
3500=Model Number
D=939pin
A=Vcore Variable
A=Max Tcase=Variable
4=L2 512KB
BP=Rev E3

ADA3500DIK4BI - 90nm Winchester

ADA=AMD Athlon™ 64 Desktop
3500=Model Number
D=939pin
I=Vcore 1.4V
K=Max Tcase=65C
4=L2 512KB
BI=Rev D0

ADA3500DEP4AW - 130nm NewCastle

ADA=AMD Athlon™ 64 Desktop
3500=Model Number
D=939pin
E=Vcore 1.5V
P= Max Tcase=70C
4=L2 512KB
AW=Rev CG

ADA3700DKA5CF – 90nm San Diego E6 Stepping

ADA=AMD Athlon™ 64 Desktop
3700=Model Number
D=939pin
KA=Vcore 1.35V
A=Max Tcase=Variable
5=L2 1MB
CF=Rev E6

ADA3700DAA5BN – 90nm San Diego E4 Stepping

ADA=AMD Athlon™ 64 Desktop
3700=Model Number
D=939pin
A=Vcore 1.35 to 1.4V Variable
A=Max Tcase=Variable
5=L2 1MB
BN=Rev E4

SDA3300AIO2BX – 90nm Palermo

SDA=AMD Sempron™ Desktop
3300=Model Number
A=754pin
I= Vcore 1.4V
O=Max Tcase=69C
2=L2 128KB
BX=Rev E6

SDA3100AIO3BO – 90nm Palermo

SDA=AMD Sempron™ Desktop
3100=Model Number
A=754pin
I= Vcore 1.4V
O=Max Tcase=69C
3=L2 256KB
BO=Rev E3

SDA3100AIO3BA – 90nm Paris

SDA=AMD Sempron™ Desktop
3100=Model Number
A=754pin
I= Vcore 1.4V
O=Max Tcase=69C
3=L2 256KB
BA=Rev DO

AMD and Intel CPUs Guide
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2418

Thermal & Electrical Specfication of AMD Athlon™ 64 Processors
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/DownloadableAssets/K8_Electrical_Spec_Rev_ENG.pdf

AMD Product Date Codes
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/DownloadableAssets/01_codes-packoptions_1.pdf

Athlon 64 Revision E: Unofficial DDR500 Support
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2469

Q3'05 AMD Roadmap; DDR2 and New Sockets for AMD
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2476

AMD Desktop Processor Quick Reference Guide
http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/default.aspx

F.E.A.R. CPU Shootout: AMD vs. Intel
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/fear_cpu_performance/

AMD Opteron Processor Quick Reference Guide
http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/opteron/default.aspx

AMD Athlon™ 64 Processor Power and Thermal Data Sheet
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/30430.pdf

AMD Athlon X2 3800+ and Athlon 3800+ Review
http://www.penstarsys.com/reviews/cpu/amd/x2_3800_939/index.html

Motherboards

ATI RD580 Reviews
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1234713


DFI Lanparty UT RDX200 CF-DR
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2572

Sapphire PURE Innovation - ATI's Chipset for the AMD Enthusiast
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2481

DFI LANParty UT nForce4 SLI-DR Expert
http://www.dfi.com.tw/press/press_h...US&TITLE_ID=6330&LINK_URL=arch390.jsp&SITE=US

ASUS A8N32 SLI Deluxe - nForce 4 SLI X16 Unleashed
http://hothardware.com/viewarticle.cfm?articleid=739

MSI K8N Diamond Plus nForce4 SLI X16
http://www.msi.com.tw/html/newsrelease/product_news/2005_1017_K8NDiamond.htm

nForce4 SLI Roundup: Painful and Rewarding
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2358

nForce4 Ultra Roundup: Charting the Mainstream
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2465



Memory

1GB DIMMs: FAST 2GB DDR Kits from Corsair, Gigaram, and OCZ
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2560

Corsair TwinX2048-4400 PRO PC4400 DDR Memory
http://www.pcstats.com/artvnl.cfm?articleID=1862

OCZ PC4000 2x1024MB EB Platinum Edition
http://www.3dxtreme.net/index.php?id=oczebpc4000p1

Crucial PC4000 Ballistix Tracer 2GB
http://www.benscustomcases.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1742&Itemid=40

Corsair TWINX2048-3500LLPRO 2GB Kit
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/CorsairXMS3500LL/index.htm

Corsair TWINX2048-4000PT 2GB kit
http://www.corsair.com/corsair/news.html




2x1GB/1x1GB OC Database
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=67762

Patriot Memory PDC1G5600ELK PC5600 DDR Memory
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1846

OCZ PC4800 Dual Channel Platinum Limited Edition Memory
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1810&page=1

Corsair TWINX1024-4400C25
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2312

G.SKILL F1-4400DSU2-1GBFC PC4400
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC

OCZ Gold 3500 Gamer eXtreme 1GB Kit
http://www.bleedinedge.com/reviews/memory/ocz_gold_gamer_extreme/ocz_gold_gamer_extreme_01.html

Kingston HyperX, Crucial Ballistix and Corsair XMS Expert 1GB Kit
http://www.sudhian.com/showdocs.cfm?aid=707



Value 512MB DDR400 CAS 2.5 Memory Shootout: Corsair Vs OCZ
http://www.amdzone.com/modules.php?...s&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=181&page=1

Value RAM Roundup: Computing On a Budget
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2392





 
Last edited:

adrianlee

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Graphics Card

Oblivion CPU Performance
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2747

Oblivion Athlon 64 CPU Performance
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/oblivion_athlon_64_x2_fx_cpu_performance/

Oblivion GPU Performance
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2746

ATI Radeon X1900XT and XTX Reviews
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1209202

ATI Radeon X1900GT Reviews
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1268286

Radeon X1800 GTO Reviews
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1223899

7600 Series Reviews
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1241219

RV560 and RV570 Info
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1232999

Contemporary CPUs and New Games: No Way to Delusions!
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/28cpu-games.html

Games against CPUs. Part II
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/cpu-games2.html

GeForce 7800GTX Performance with Athlon 64
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/athlon_64_geforce_7800_gtx_scaling/



Call of Duty 2 High-end Graphics Shootout
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/call_of_duty_2_performance_ati_nvidia/

3D Performance with Call of Duty 2: Mainstream Cards
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/call_of_duty_2_midrange_graphics/

Quake 4 High-end Graphics Shootout
http://firingsquad.com/hardware/quake_4_high-end_performance/

3D Performance with Quake 4: Part 2 Mainstream Cards
http://firingsquad.com/hardware/quake_4_mainstream_performance/default.asp

3D Performance with F.E.A.R. Part 1: Mainstream Cards
http://firingsquad.com/hardware/fear_performance_mainstream/

Battlefield 2 GPU Performance Analysis
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2466

Quake 4 CPU Shootout: Intel vs. AMD
http://firingsquad.com/hardware/quake_4_cpu_performance/

F.E.A.R. CPU Shootout: AMD vs. Intel
http://firingsquad.com/hardware/fear_cpu_performance/

Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide Rev. 10!
http://www.rojakpot.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=88&pgno=0

Tom's VGA Charts VIII: PCI Express Winter 2005
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/02/vga_charts_viii/

Tom's VGA Charts IV: AGP Graphics Cards
http://www20.graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/index.html

Tom's VGA Charts V: PCI Express Graphics Cards
http://www20.graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041222/index.html

Tom's VGA Charts VI: PCI Express Update Summer 2005
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050524/index.html

The Fastest Graphics Cards of 2004: Ultimate Testing of 27 GPUs
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/2004-27gpu2.html

The Fastest Graphics Cards of Summer 2005: Ultimate Testing of 17 GPUs
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/2005-17gpu.html

7800 GTX Extreme Edition Head-to-Head
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2005/10/20/leadtek_xfx_7800gtx/1.html

Leadtek WinFast PX7800 TDH MyVIVO Extreme vs ASUS Extreme N7800 GTX TOP
http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?id=1704&cid=3&pg=1

XFX 7800GTX OverClocked Edition Review
http://www.vr-zone.com.sg/?i=2825








SAPPHIRE Radeon X800 GTO²
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1120373

GeForce 7800 GTX Performance with Athlon 64
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/athlon_64_geforce_7800_gtx_scaling/

F.E.A.R. GPU Performance Tests: Setting a New Standard
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2575

3D Performance with F.E.A.R. Part 1: Mainstream Cards
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/fear_performance_mainstream/

Quake 4 High-end Graphics Shootout
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/quake_4_high-end_performance/

GPU Database
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/




Hard Disk

Western Digital Raptor WD740GD
http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200401/20040126WD740GD_1.html

Western Digital Raptor WD360GD
http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200303/20030320WD360GD_1.html



Seagate's 7200.9
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2559

Western Digital Caviar WD2500KS
http://www.storagereview.com/articles//200507/20050705WD2500KS_1.html

Western Digital Caviar WD3200JD
http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200505/20050518WD3200JD_1.html

Hitachi's Deskstar 7K500 hard drive
http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q3/deskstar-7k500/index.x?pg=1

Western Digital's Caviar SE16 hard drive
http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q2/wd-caviarse16/index.x?pg=1







DVD Player

Plextor PX-130A
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=15285

Plextor PX-716SA
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=15134

Pioneer DVR-110D fw1.17
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=15018

Plextor PX-716AL
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=14918

BenQ DW1640
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=14268

BenQ DW1625
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=14236

DVD Burners Roundup
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=14511





 
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adrianlee

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adrianlee

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Heatsink-Fan

AMD Athlon 64/FX and Intel Pentium 4

Zalman CNPS 9500 LED

Zalman CNPS7700Cu

Thermalright XP-90

Thermalright XP-90C

Thermalright XP-120

Thermalright Copper Heatsink SLK-948U

Coolermaster Hyper6

Universal 4 in 1 solution, Intel LGA775. P4 and AMD K7, K8

Thermaltake Tower 112

Thermaltake Silent Tower

AMD Opteron and Athlon 64 / Athlon 64 FX / Sempron Socket 754

Thermaltake Silent Boost K8

AMD Athlon XP up to 3400+ & AMD Sempron up to 2800+

Thermaltake Silent Boost K7 A1889-01 Ball Bearing

Thermaltake Silent Boost K7 A1889 Hydro Wave Bearing

AMD Athlon 64, AMD Athlon XP and Intel Pentium 4

ZALMAN CNPS7000A

Intel Pentium 4 Heatsink Roundup

Intel Pentium 4 Heatsink Roundup

The LCD Buyers Guide

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=71226

Monitor Technology Guide

http://www.necdisplay.com/support/css/monitortechguide/index.htm#introduction
 
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justin_

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Hope it's safe to reply now :s13:

anyway why never consider the ASUS Extreme for the Extreme Systems? Though it's durability is questionable.
 

jt_aus

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How about an extreme system option of an Asetek Lightspeed or some other kind of phase change cooling? Maybe you could include an overclockers extreme system.

PS: I've got the MSI K8N Diamond with TWINX1024-4400C25 (2GB, 4x512) and I can't get them to run above 250MHz/DDR500. Even at 4-4-4-8 timings. Also, the mainboard BIOS (which is the latest from MSI) doesn't seem to have an CPU:RAM ratio setting. :s11:



Well done by the way, I don't know how you do it. :)
 

adrianlee

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justin_ said:
Hope it's safe to reply now :s13:

anyway why never consider the ASUS Extreme for the Extreme Systems? Though it's durability is questionable.

Mun mun lai :D ASUS Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV. Give me price and I will put it up

I am waiting to include this one :)
winfast_px7800gtx_tdhvivoe_2.jpg
 
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adrianlee

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jt_aus said:
How about an extreme system option of an Asetek Lightspeed or some other kind of phase change cooling? Maybe you could include an overclockers extreme system.

Go to review sites. Not Buyer's Guide

This one good

jt_aus said:
PS: I've got the MSI K8N Diamond with TWINX1024-4400C25 (2GB, 4x512) and I can't get them to run above 250MHz/DDR500. Even at 4-4-4-8 timings. Also, the mainboard BIOS (which is the latest from MSI) doesn't seem to have an CPU:RAM ratio setting. :s11:

Well done by the way, I don't know how you do it. :)

I would get 2 X 1GB :D
 
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jt_aus

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adrianlee said:
I would get 2 X 1GB :D

I thought about it but there seems to be no performance 1GB RAM around, the only Corsair TWINX2048 (2GB) are PC3200 DDR400. Anyway, I thought 1024MB sticks were even harder to overclock than 512MBs? :s11:
 

FangsDK

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Good stuffs :)

Might want to put a latest update dated as of when and correct some typo like..

"Total ~ $55590"


:s13:
 

xspace

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I see the entry system .. machiam more powerful than the one i using now... Except for casing... lol...
 

adrianlee

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jt_aus said:
I thought about it but there seems to be no performance 1GB RAM around, the only Corsair TWINX2048 (2GB) are PC3200 DDR400. Anyway, I thought 1024MB sticks were even harder to overclock than 512MBs? :s11:

Ask RAM GUY for help
 

adrianlee

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eventhorizon said:
Nice buyer's guide... Care to include X2, Pentium D or Pentium Extreme Edition (PEE)?

Pentium Extreme Edition is in the DIY section. X2 & PD will be included at a later date

I haave to break up post #1 in the original thread to 4 or 5 posts. Updating prices is a nightmare. It is easier to update in one single post. CPU & GC prices has dropped recently

http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?p=15157413&highlight=10000+characters#post15157413

eventhorizon said:
After reading again huh, i find tt i see less info leh...

Not completed mah :D
 
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adrianlee

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FangsDK said:
Good stuffs :)

Might want to put a latest update dated as of when and correct some typo like..

"Total ~ $55590"


:s13:

Thank you. Corrected liao :)
 
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