Guide to helping you choose your components

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Also Ive decided to include a few links at the start here, good review sites that may come in handy
http://www.anandtech.com/
http://techreport.com/
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/
http://www.jonnyguru.com/ - Particuarly useful for PSUs
http://www.silentpcreview.com/Case_Basics_and_Recommendations

And within Anandtech there are some good benchmarking suites useful for comparison

CPU comparison
GPU comparison

Hi all, I've written this as a bit of a guide to anyone who's looking to build a new system from scratch, hopefully it will clarify a few of the questions some of you might have. I've broken this down into three sections, this being the first section which contains a few select tower builds at different budget points, this is intended to be a bit of a template on where to start and can obviously be tailored to your individual needs, these are geared towards gamer builds as these seem to make up the majority of peoples needs/requests, if you need another build, e.g. workstation/fileserver then whilst the general advice may help, you probably need a dedicated thread, similarly with upgrades to existing systems. I'll update this as and when necessary.

The second section explains in general terms what your choices are and hopefully how to make them, I'll update this as necessary when there are any big new hardware releases. I realise the amount of information looks a bit daunting, unfortuantely theres no real other way of getting across whats needed, the motherboard section in particular is quite long as Ive explained a few of the common features found, Id just advise if youre comfortable with expansion slot requirements etc you skip over this and move on. I'll try and trim it down as best I can :)

The third section is for HTPC's this is a growing sector and so I've done a little small section for this at the end, I'll update this as I see fit

Builds:

I have tried to use components as much as possible with 10+ stock, if the exact component isnt in stock use an alternative brand. Some of the builds have small footnotes to them if I think theres something worth mentioning
Ive tended to pair AMD aith ATI and Intel with NVidia in an attempt to not show bias to one gfx/cpu supplier or the other however they are interchangable, eg AMD with NVidia and Intel with ATI, however please read section2 re SLI/Crossfire support if youre not sure

BUDGET SECTION

These are low end gaming builds, cutting out all unnecessaries, focus is on a decent enough gfx card, with an adequate cpu and backed up by reasonable case for cooling and reliable PSU, in case you havent read below, do NOT skimp on your PSU, even on budget builds

Budget AMD Build

BudgetAMD.png



Budget Intel Build


BudgetIntel.png


As you can see the Intel build is a bit more expensive but will perform better in the gpu department

MID LEVEL SECTION

This is probably what I would call the sweet spot in terms of price/performance return, if I were to build a new system now I'd probably tailor it something around this, obviously case is personal choice but Ive gone for one with good cooling, both boards and PSUs would support a 2nd gfx card later if it were required, you could up RAM to 8 gig as its so cheap, other than that the first upgrade from these would probably be the addition of a SSD
It should be noted that AMDs CPU is quite behind Intels from this point on, their GPUs are more comparable (AMD vs NVidia)

Mid level AMD

MidLevelAMD.png


Mid Level Intel

MidLevelIntel.png


HIGH END SECTION

This is starting to get to the point of diminishing returns, but for those who simply have to have the best, read on, included SSD as standard now and very ample PSU for any upgrades, still with single gfx card systems as IMO its better (by the time youd need to upgrade, you may as well sell on that card and buy a newer one), but would easily support dual cards. Ive included the HAF X case as its one of the best air coolers still, though a lot of people at this stage will probably prefer the more subdued looks of the Corsairs etc, again thats personal choice

High End AMD

HighEndAMD.png


High End Intel

HighEndIntel.png


There is the new 2011 platform, but it offers very little over the 1155 as far as gaming is concerned
 
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The big choice is which platform to choose? Whilst the builds above are aimed at gaming performance, I realise not everyone wants that so a brief summary of each of the main platforms available.
Those currently available

2011 - Top end, excellent processing power, if you have unlimited budget and want raw power this is the one to go for, suitable for rendering encoding and well everything really, hence the cost, could be considered overkill for gaming
1366 - Last generation version of 2011 would be best way to describe it, still very good for the above tasks and can be had for relatively cheaper price than above
1155 - Intels Mid range, as can be seen from the builds above, pretty much ideal for all gaming set ups, due to its cheaper cost and still excellent performance, will also do heavier CPU intensive tasks relatively well (CPU dependant obviously)
1156 - This is again the last generation of Intels mid range
AM3+ - AMDs latest offering, can still offer good processing power and can be cheaper than Intels, but is currently quite a way behind in terms of performance
AM2+ - AMDs previous generation, can offer mid range gaming ability at a relatively cheapo budget if costs are tight
FM1 - AMDs latest low power entries, provide good budget low power or HTPC or non gaming systems

Motherboard (mobo):

Form Factor: In addition to the choice of socket, there is also a choice of form factor, which is directly proportional to size. The industry standard and what most people will use is ATX (Advanced Technology Extended - for anyone who's curious), in addition to this there is mATX where the m stands for micro, as you can imagine this is smaller and is suited to the HTPC builds in particular, in addition there is also ITX which is a very small form factor, it has the advantages of low power consumption but typically is not very expandable, I'll explain a bit more on this in section three, HTPC. And finally there is also E-ATX or extended ATX, these boards are slightly bigger and well suited to a system where you're likely to use multiple graphics card configurations etc, you should make sure if you select one of these the case you select will accomodate it. It should be noted that you can put smaller boards in bigger cases but not vice versa, so a mATX board will still fit in a normal ATX case, as cases come with multiple configurations for positioning of the standoffs which you attach mobo too (however ITX is not backwards compatible as it is its own form entirely).

Choices: For whatever socket/chipset you decide on you then have a choice of which manufacturer and then which of their boards, all I'll say at this point is make sure it has enough connections for your needs and supports any additional functions such as SLI/crossfire (discussed later) as needed, similarly if working on a budget, ask yourself if you're paying for more functions than you need?
To address this I'll explain a little about some of the typical on board features:
RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Discs): Most new boards, but not all, contain an onboard RAID controller. RAID is a way of linking your Hard Drives, the two main ones are RAID 0 and RAID 1. RAID1 mirrors your data, you use 2 HDDs and they both have the same image on, this means if one of the drives fails you dont lose all your data, it should be noted however this is not a backup, if you delete something accidentally or get a virus it effects both drives, this merely protects you from drive failiure. RAID1 also increases your read performance as the computer has two sources to read from, however it decreases your write performance slightly as it has to write twice (dont worry its not by a factor of 2), using RAID1 you only have available the space of one of the drives, e.g. if you're using 2 500gig drives you have 500 gig of available space. RAID0 stripes your data, by this it means that it shares the data across both drives, this has the biggest impact on performance and can improve your PCs performance measurably, however it does mean that your computer is more succeptible to a drive failiure using RAID0, if one drive fails you lose all your data (not just half) using RAID0 you have the available space of both drives combined, so with the same example using two 500gig drives would give you 1000gig (1Tb) of available space. There are other types of RAID, 5 and 10 for example but these are less commonly used.
PCI-E x16 connections: This is the interface your graphics card uses, most boards have at least one connector and some have more than one for using multiple graphics cards.
PCI-E x8/x4/x1: These connections allow for the addition of extra controller cards, such as sound cards, TV cards, wireless network card etc, it should be noted that these are backwards compatible, so you can put a x1 card in a x8 or even x16 slot if you so choose. You should also be aware of the layout of these slots though, often when using dual slot graphics cards a lot of these other slots become inaccessible, if you intend to use a lot of controller cards then you're best finding a review of the specific board you intend to buy so you can ensure it will be suitable. In addition to PCI-E there are also plain PCI connectors which serve the same function but use a slightly slower interface.
Power phases: you may well see some mobo's spout off about how many power phases they have, e.g. 12+2 etc. Some believe more power phases allow for a better overclock, some dispute this (Biostar boards which OC very well only have 2 pp's iirc) but its clear that these only potentially effect overclocking, nothing else.
Cooling on motherboards, theres two things to note here, supplied chipset cooling and clearance for 3rd party heatsinks. Often higher end motherboards have better cooling that allow for higher overclocks, however for the majority of people reading this, this is a not a concern as you can still overclock very well with the basic cooling provided on budget level boards. More of a concern is the clearance issue, motherboards are becoming more and more cramped as manufacturers try and put more and more on the boards, you need to be aware that if you plan to use a large aftermarket cooler you may run into problems with clearance on both chipset coolers and RAM slots, typically, again its best to try and find a review of the specific board you intend to buy to see if this is an issue.
In addition there are the usual SATA and USB connections which all mobo's have, but in varying numbers, if you intend to have a particularly large storage collection then ensure the board you choose has enough ports for your requirements

Memory or RAM:
None of the new systems I recomend building use DDR2 RAM anymore due to the spiralling cost putting it on a par with the cost of DDR3 RAM, obviously DDR2 is still available and those upgrading older 775/AM2+ systems will still be purchasing it, all I'll say is the same basic principles that apply to DDR3 RAM apply to DDR2.

DDR3 comes in dual channel (all except those listed here), triple channel (1366) and now quad channel (2011).
The main things which effect memory performance are bandwidth or speed and latency, I'm not going to get into technical explanations of each but simply say higher speed and lower latency is best, often a compromise is needed. RAM has a lot less effect on system performance than either CPU or graphics, as such you should not look at spending too much money in this area, 1600MHz tends to be the sweet spot For those building a gaming rig then 8gig is plenty, you dont need more this purpose. If youre into photoediting or running virtual machines you'll benefit from more but I'm sure those who fall into this category already know this. It should be noted for FM1 socket systems the memory speed does greatly effect the gfx processing power and as such should be considered more carefully, getting as fast a RAM as you need/can afford.

Graphics Card (gfx):
When it comes to gaming this is the part of your PC which has the most impact. There are two brands here again, ATI and NVidia, I'm going to say it now, neither brand is better than the other. In my opinion you're best purchasing the single most powerful card you can afford, you can consider adding a second at a later date but should always go for the best option you can now. When running two or more graphics cards this uses a system called crossfire (or xfire) for ATI and SLI for NVidia, be sure that your mobo supports either of these if it is a genuine option you want to keep open for future upgrades.

As you can see each company has an even spread, this chart by techreport sums uptheir overall performance nicely but its worth checking as advances in this area are frequent

value-fps.gif


Hard Drives (HDD):
There's many different makes of HDD, and you should remember that all of OcUKs stock consists of good quality manufacturers, I'm going to talk about general technology in the area.

Mechanical: Firstly most will use mechanical hard drives, these range from anything from 80gig up to 2Tb (2000gig) currently. They're probably suitable for most peoples uses and come in two main speeds 5400rpm and 7200rpm, 5400 are useful for storage drives but shouldn't really be used as your main boot drive, they tend to be quieter and more power efficient than the 7200 drives. 7200 drives are what most people will use as their main boot drive, they perform quickly compared to the 5400 drives and are still a very cost effective way of storing lots of data. In addition to these there are velociraptors which are still mechanical HDDs and spin at 10000rpm, these are (you guessed it) faster than the 7200 and tend to come in smaller capacities as well as costing quite a bit more. Some people tend to use these as their main boot drive and then have another slower drive for their storage needs.

Solid State Drives: These have somewhat superseded velociraptors as they are much much faster still but even more expensive, these are not a mechanical HDD but use flash memory. They are what Id consider a luxury item, you should note if you do go for one of these you will need an adapter, 2.5” to 3.5” as they are smaller than traditional drives too. Note about SSDs these are still quite new technology and as such there are certain issues with them, such as block rewrite penalty amongst others and I strongly recommend you read up on these before investing, Techreport and Anandtech have particularly good (and very in depth) articles.
Note these are less of an issue now we are on 2nd and 3rd generation SSDs, but its still worth checking out.
You can also use Intels Smart Response Technology on their latest Z68 chipset to use your SSD as a cache for your mechanical HDD, turning them into a hybrid, which are also now available to purchase. I recommend your own reading around this area

Optical Drives:
There's not a lot to discuss here to be fair, modern drives use SATA connections over the older IDE connections but if you're working on a budget then you can still use your old drive, I'm not aware of any mobo which does not include an IDE connector, yet. You may see some drives mention lightscribe, which is basically the ability to burn an image onto the actual disc, you do need specialist software (often supplied with retail drives, but not OEM) and lightscribe discs for this though. Then there's blu-ray, obviously this is personal choice on whether or not you've made the move over to blu-ray yet or not.

Cooling:
Well there's a lot of choice here, firstly whether you need 3rd party or aftermarket cooling at all, well the reason most go for aftermarket cooling is normally because they're OCing, either that or to try and reduce the noise their system makes, if you don't OC and aren't bothered about noise then the stock HSF will be fine for you. If you do OC or want a quiet system then you probably want to pick up an aftermarket cooler, which takes us on to the air vs water (WC) debate.
Most people will go with air cooling, it is easiest and performs very well in addition to being cheaper than WC, a custom WC can run into hundreds of pounds (see the WC forum for this) but will outperform AC in terms of lower noise and lower temperatures, allowing a higher OC. There are quite a few (Corsair H50 and Coolit) what I'd call one stop WCing solutions coming out now, these are self contained kits that cool your CPU, consisting of the block, radiator and fan, they tend to be slightly more expensive and perform similarly to high end air cooling, as such unless you're wanting an introduction to WCing with the view to maybe building a custom set up later, Id recommend AC for most.
Finally there is the paste, or thermal interface material (TIM) for most people reading this the stuff supplied with your heatsink will suffice, however once you're more confident and are looking to push your system further in terms of overclocking then some decent TIM such as Arctic Cooling MX3 will help shave a few crucial degress of your temperatures and allow you to reach slightly higher overclocks
There are other cooling applications to consider, such as NB/SB/mosfet cooling and 3rd party graphics cooling but I think this is again a bit to in depth for my intended audience, if you want to know more about these applications then check out the overclocking & cooling sub forum.

Case:
There are so many choices here its impossible to discuss them all, briefly most cases use ATX form factor which fits with PSU's and mobo's but do check to make sure. The main things to look for in a case are cooling performance, particularly relevant with a high end gaming machine, noise dampening (relevant for HTPC builds, or those with sensitive ears) and aesthetics. Aesthetics is purely subjective so what one person likes isn't necessarily same as what another likes, some like “bling” LEDs etc. whilst others like a more subdued look, nice sleek clean lines etc.

Power Supply (PSU):
This is the main thing people often over look, it doesn't on the outside appear to effect performance and some people see it as an ideal area to make savings, MISTAKE, do not scrimp here, cannot stress this enough, if you're building a quality PC you need a quality PSU, again pretty much all OcUKs stock consists of decent manufacturers so you cant go far wrong, don't think buying a no name case/PSU combo will save you money, in the long run it will probably cost you more, not just in energy bills by being less efficient but when you have to replace your PC after the cheap PSU you bought has blown and taken everything else with it. Wattage is how a PSU is rated, a lot of people often overestimate what they need here, if you're building a cheap office/HTPC machine then 400W is plenty, a single gfx card machine can manage on 500W and a dual card machine 700W - 850W depending on the gfx cards. You also have to be aware of what amps a PSU is putting out, but again with OcUKs stock this isn't going to be an issue.
Good low budget ones are
- XFX Pro 450
- OCZ ZS 550
- Corsair CX430
- Antec VP450P
- Coolermaster GX450

That takes care of the main components within the PC which is what the builds in the following section will give you examples of, in addition to this there's other things to consider, these are discussed below

Operating System (OS):
With windows 7 on the horizon this is the only option really, its ironed out all of vista's bugs and should be suitable for everyone. I'd only recommend the 64bit version because this is a requirement of a modern PC in order that it can address all the various forms of memory in use. Home premium will be suitable for most users, if you need anything more you probably already know it and don't need my advice. There are other OS's such as Linux and Ubuntu but I don't know enough about them to give advice on really, and I doubt any newcomers will be looking at them anyway

Monitor:
First thing I'll say is, if you're building a high end PC with a high end gfx card you don't want a cheap monitor which is unable to display all your graphical goodness.
Things to consider here are,
Size: Obviously if you're restricted by environment then you'll have to get a smaller screen, the most popular choice nowadays seems to be around 24” though
Panel: There are various different types of panel, the most widely used being TN, this is the cheapest and has good response times making it suitable for gaming, however they suffer from poor viewing angles (you need to be sat in front of it) and don't reproduce colours nearly as well as the other two which are IPS and PVA (each having several different variations) these are both superior to TN panels but cost more money, budget will often be the deciding factor, but remember what I said above, also a monitor is often a long term investment that will last several PC rebuilds, so bear this in mind. If you are investing in a high end monitor you obviously want to do your research first, I've found TFTcentral to be good for reviews of the higher end monitors, it doesnt contain every monitor so if one you're after isnt on there you'll probably have to revert to good old google to find a review.

Soundcard:
This wasn't included above as its a purely optional component, most onboard sound is plenty good enough for 90% of users, if you are an audiophile then have a look at a dedicated card, be aware that there are cards tailored to various et ups though, e.g. headphones and 5.1/7.1 etc. in addition to the professional offerings, for more specific advice I'd recommend the sound city forum

Speakers/Headphones:
Similarly to above you'll get best advice in sound city but for gaming with onboard sound then one of the gaming headsets or set of desktop speakers will meet your needs, if you're more of an audiophile then you may prefer dedicated speakers and quality headphones designed for music, neither of which are available from here

Keyboard/Mouse:
With these there are many different choices, and they are a very subjective topic too, what one person finds comfortable wont be the same as what the next finds comfortable, for gaming wired is normally the way to go due to lower input lag, for a HTPC then wireless is probably more convenient, but again its down to you as an individual.
 
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More and more people are looking to Home Theatre PC's nowadays, and as such I've included this section with a couple of examples on the options here, the emphasis with these builds is quietness and efficiency over raw power as in the gaming builds previously. I havent included any TV cards in these builds but both have space for one.
One thing to note with HTPCs as well is that they're not as good at exhausting heat from a system as their bigger desktop PC cousins, as such you should also aim to minimise the amount of heat produced in them by choosing CPUs with low TDPs and graphics cards which dont produce too much heat and preferably have good aftermarket cooling with rear exhaust venting. At present ATIs 5770 is a very efficient card and would be a good choice, however its not particuarly powerful either, you have to decide on your preferred balance of power/refinement. It should also be noted that heavy overclocking should be avoided with these systems for the same reason, heavily overclocked CPUs produce a lot more heat than a stock CPU, and it should also be noted that you can underclock/undervolt your components, both CPU and GPU to reduce heat production. The use of aftermarket coolers is preferred with these, as they are more efficient and quieter than stock coolers, however you need to be aware of space constraints within your HTPC case, these are normally smaller than desktop PCs and wont take large tower style heatsinks, something like a scythe mini ninja would be a good choice

This first example uses the mATX format and a case which blends in with the rest of your AV equipment however theres nothing to stop you using a normal tower case and standing it beside your AV set up

HTPC.png


This second build uses the ITX format, this is even smaller thean mATX and they are very efficient, consuming very low power, the draw back of that is that their use is limited, this system couldnt be converted into anything more powerful due to a lack of expansion options
N.B. Its important to note this build uses slimline optical drives (under laptop drive section in the shop) and 2.5" HDDs

ITX.png


The third final HTPC option looks at building a gaming oriented HTPC, for those who maybe dont have the space for a dedicated gaming PC as such and want to combine the best of both worlds. This example below shows what I'd consider the best option at the moment, the thing to remember about HTPcs is that the cooling is not as good as on bigger desktop PCs where your case can be geared towards extracting as much heat from the system as possible, as such your choice of components should be based around those which dont kick out too much heat, thats why here I've gone for the new i5 which has a low TDP and is very power efficient and cool running when not overclocked and a 6870 graphics card, which is very efficient too.
If you wanted a mATX gaming build you could swap the case in this build for something like an Antec mini P180 and have a nice quiet poweful mATX gaming tower

HTPCgaming.png
 
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Legend. Thank you.

m-atx boards have a lot to be said for them, when diagnosing errors, choosing cases, and having more space free in atx cases. It is difficult to think of a way of using more than four expansion slots.

I also think amd uses 1.8-1.9V ram though.

Cheers
 
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It is difficult to think of a way of using more than four expansion slots

It's not too difficult really, 2 half decent dual width video cards, A better sound card than the onboard, TV tuner card, RAID card, Physics card and the list goes on.

If I was spending 700 quid on a new system, I'd want as much expandability as possible. Why limit your options later on down the line.

Besides which mATX boards look a bit lost in a mid sized case, especially one with a side window ;):D
 
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Speaking of which you should definitely cover Linux in more depth. For most people's use it is more appropriate than Windows, such as browsing and word editing. Hell, it would be my main OS if i wasn't a gamer or it supported games better.
 
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A great post Thriffles, I hope your efforts get credited with a sticky. The only draw back I can see is that if it is made a sticky you will have to update the example ‘build budgets’ regularly.

Additional but by no means inconsequential: Your new revamped sig is, obviously, very disappointing – you can’t just dump 3 girls to make way for your system spec! More attention to surplus flesh and less of the component facts – you’ve set standards that need to be maintained. Kimberley Walsh should never be dropped from a sig regardless of her questionable talents as a singer ;)
 
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Additional but by no means inconsequential: Your new revamped sig is, obviously, very disappointing – you can’t just dump 3 girls to make way for your system spec! More attention to surplus flesh and less of the component facts – you’ve set standards that need to be maintained. Kimberley Walsh should never be dropped from a sig regardless of her questionable talents as a singer ;)

You can talk... all you have is an old man performing surgery on a plant.
 
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Awesome dude, as a noob myself I found it really helpful. I'd like to know a bit more about mobo's though, what makes a good one vs a poor quality one besides connectivity. Cheers bro!
 
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You can talk... all you have is an old man performing surgery on a plant.

He’s a proctologist and, although he’s not going to perform surgery, he is imminently going to perform a minor yet very invasive procedure on, what I thought was, a clearly disconcerted ‘being’ (You must own some very ‘scary ass’ looking plants if they appear to have eyeballs staring out at you with wide eyed terror?)
 
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A great post Thriffles, I hope your efforts get credited with a sticky. The only draw back I can see is that if it is made a sticky you will have to update the example ‘build budgets’ regularly.

Yeah I'm going to update at least once a month, I can't commit to updating every week as the old one did, but I don't think its really necessary anyway tbh

Additional but by no means inconsequential: Your new revamped sig is, obviously, very disappointing – you can’t just dump 3 girls to make way for your system spec! More attention to surplus flesh and less of the component facts – you’ve set standards that need to be maintained. Kimberley Walsh should never be dropped from a sig regardless of her questionable talents as a singer ;)

LOL :D I'll see if I can come up with another one for you

I appreciate the tips, I'll ammend the RAM as people have rightly pointed out, and I do welcome any constructive criticism, both in the actual builds and the general guide, so if anyone thinks theres something glaring I've missed out give me a shout
 
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for the 1027 pound amd build, you can pretty much get the same build for 850 quid with no noticable difference on performance. Make the 1TB WD a 500gb drive, change the mobo to the Asus 790X chipset Evo, and the case to antec 300 and you've just saved 170ish pounds with almost identical performance.
 
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Very good but it's a tough guide to write and maintain as technology changes. My thoughts are that it's specifically written for the newer chipsets and not any older versions so it might be worth saying so in the title.


CPU - Sockets types, motherboard and memory compatibility, cache types and sizes, difference between on chip memory controller and off etc

Motherboard - What should you look for in bus speeds. Extras? Do you really need them and are they worth paying extra for? Layout.. this is important depending on the case and the cooling. Older socket types such as 775, AM2 etc.. Differences in buses PCI, PCI-e, AGP etc..

Memory, DDR? i.e. PC3200. Voltages? DDR3 has both 1.8v and 1.65v versions.
 
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Very good but it's a tough guide to write and maintain as technology changes. My thoughts are that it's specifically written for the newer chipsets and not any older versions so it might be worth saying so in the title.

Yes its purely for new technology/new builds, I mention that in first line but yeah I suppose should have put it in title, I dont think I can ammend it now though?

CPU - Sockets types, motherboard and memory compatibility, cache types and sizes, difference between on chip memory controller and off etc.

I agree, I'll expand a bit more on compatibility, this was just first draft and was a bit rushed tbh, hence RAM mistake, however do you think given target audience of new builders things such as onboard vs off memory controllers is a bit too much depth? I'll include that sort of thing if others agree but I was thinking its a bit too much, ideally dont want to make the general guide too much longer, it already seems quite long for people to read through

Motherboard - What should you look for in bus speeds. Extras? Do you really need them and are they worth paying extra for? Layout.. this is important depending on the case and the cooling. Older socket types such as 775, AM2 etc.. Differences in buses PCI, PCI-e, AGP etc.

As above, I'll expand a bit more on the whole compatibility thing, thought I'd mentioned about asking yourself if you need to pay for the extras, maybe I skirted over it or meant to put it in and forgot, I'll clarify when I rewrite

Memory, DDR? i.e. PC3200. Voltages? DDR3 has both 1.8v and 1.65v versions.

Not looking to address the older DDR, this is purely looking at a new build, if I started including older tech for viable upgrades the overall volume of material would balloon, but yes I'll clarify DDR3 voltages, as you can see it completely slipped my mind
 
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I'm confused about the voltages, it says amd boards should be 1.9 but a lot of people use the gskill which is 1.65 with amd boards - so whats going on here?
 
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Deific, to answer your question I think you can get away with using the lower voltage stuff in an AMD build, but if you were to do it the other way round and use the 1.9V stuff in a lynnfield build (which is meant to take 1.65) then that would fry the memory controller. Less is probably ok (though Ive not tested it) more is bad (wouldnt dare to test this, lol)
 
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Bumping this as there are a few forum members/threads that would benefit from the info Thriffles has provided - plus, I think, it’s getting very close to warranting a sticky if kept updated – it has my 5 stars.

I like the addition of the HTPC info – perhaps you could expand on techniques for reducing noise levels via passive cooling/third party HS/better case fans etc?

Also, have you considered creating a hybrid HTPC/Gaming build as more and more posts are appearing with this kind of requirement?

Basically, a more conventional PC crammed into a standard HTPC case but still geared to run as quietly as possible when idle/films. Obviously, the onus would be on recommending third party coolers for the gfx/CPU or advice on setting up quiet profiles for quiet operation when not gaming (underclocking components etc). I realise there will be limits for the height of CPU cooler – but it may be handy to know the more efficient alternatives available for such a machine.

However, the additional info may start to get too elitist/involved for the average poster and probably detracts from the original intention of your thread (a simple easy guide to give a general idea) - but a token mention of possible 'noise reducing' solutions may be enough to get them asking pertintent questions in their own threads.
 
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nice to see someone stressing the point of buying a decent PSU, everytime i see a generic PSU in a proposed build it makes me cringe!
 
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Cheers guys, appreciate it

Plec yeah I'll look at including that info, I did realise I kinda skirted over the section on HTPC and planned to elaborate a bit more, didnt think about the gaming HTPC but sounds good I'll include that too, update to follow shortly :)
 
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