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Mid-Range DIY Computer Buyer's Guide
Black Friday has come and gone. The shopping world is foaming from the mouth at the thought of getting our money. Let's be honest, we're going a little rabid ourselves. After all, computers are practically cheap now. Major manufacturers and OEMs are clamoring to deliver a sub-$500 laptop, Intel and AMD are throwing heavy punches at each other, and prices are going straight down as new territory is being explored in all areas of performance. With that said the time has come for us to give you the straight dope on what's ripe for picking. This is our Mid-Range DIY Computer Buyer's Guide for the holiday season. The following components are very practical and solid choices for someone looking to setup a very powerful computer. And as is always the case with building your own, no OEM can really match a deal with the performance you'll get picking parts from this $1600 list. The prices are approximated, as is the shipping, which I've included in the totals. What this guide will not do is pull the trigger. It would be an overstatement to say that one guide could make the right computer for everyone, and as a system builder, you probably have opinions that should be weighed against this. As such, this guide is here to outline not just products, but their features; and based on these it will be up to use to make the call on what's going to end up in your personal computer. If you'd like to just buy the items I recommend, links will be provided to purchase each product for your convenience. Processor Recommend: Any Core 2 Duo LGA775 processor, starting at $180 Recommended Manufacturers: Intel Highly Recommend: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300, $180 A Core 2 Duo will outperform a similarly-priced Athlon X2, and an AM2 motherboard will cost about the same. It is for these reasons I cannot, without reservation, recommend AMD. Sorry Team Green, show us what you've got next round. An E6300 runs $180, which is the cheapest of the very powerful Core 2 Duo processors. Even though it's the entry-level processor, it's still hard to beat, and it's a great overclocker. With even mid-range motherboards, overclocking features are abundant, and a little elbow grease can turn it into a real monster. With that in mind, if you want a little more out of the processor, you can look into an Intel E6600, which is at the next real price/performance breaking point (because of its larger 4mb cache). At a little over $300, it's a fairly large step up, and it will push the limits of our budget unless you select cheaper alternatives to the other components in this list. Motherboard Recommend: Any Intel 965-series motherboard, $130 Recommended Manufacturers: Intel, abit, Asus, Biostar, Foxconn, Gigabyte Highly Recommend: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3, $130 Intel's 965 chipset is an interesting one. In an uncommon change of pace, it is both their mid-range component as well as their preferred overclocker. While usually a little light on features and fancy extras like wireless cards and cables for every single connector, they make all-around high-performance motherboards without drawbacks. There's no reason not to choose one. If you're interested in onboard video, Intel manufactures some of their 965 chipsets sporting their own video processing. They are the Q965/Q963 and G965. In fact, the P965 is the only one of the series that doesn't have onboard video. Memory Recommend: 2x1GB PC2-6400 (800MHz) DDR2 with 4-4-4 timings at 2.0V or 2x1GB PC2-6400 (800MHz) DDR2 with 5-5-5 timings at 1.8V, $200 Recommended Manufacturers: Buffalo, Corsair, Crucial, G.Skill, Kingston, Mushkin, OCZ, Patriot, PQi Highly Recommend: Corsair, Mushkin, OCZ Since it's officially supported on 965-series motherboards and because of the fact that it really does improve performance, I strongly suggest DDR2 800MHz RAM. I also think having two gigs of RAM is here to stay, and a requirement for any serious computing. Combined with the ubiquity of affordable, equally matched DDR2 modules on the market, there's very little reason to choose one manufacturer over another for performance reasons. But there is always a matter of trust. Often the most expensive component in a computer, or close to it, it's a good idea to go with a company of repute. So if you've got a favorite company, go with them, there will be little or no noticeable difference between the many brands. Personally, I like Corsair, Mushkin, and OCZ (in alphabetical order). And again, look for lower latencies (4-4-4 is better than 4-5-5) as well as lower voltages. Weigh that against what's cheaper, and you've got your RAM. Video Card Recommend: GeForce 7950GT, $260 Recommended Manufacturers: BFG, eVGA, Gigabyte, XFX Highly Recommend: BFG 7950GT OC, $260 With a $1,600 budget, it's hard to recommend a build that lacks a good video card. However, if you're not interested in gaming, encoding or decoding whatsoever, pick a motherboard with integrated video; you won't miss the performance difference. If you need a little more oomph from a dedicated video, it's hard to steer you in any non-8800GTS direction. For about $200 more, you'll be set for a good long while, and you'll have one of only two currently available DirectX 10 video cards. Hard Drive Recommend: 250GB SATA hard drive, $75 Recommended Manufacturers: Seagate, Western Digital, Samsung, Hitachi Highly Recommend: 250GB SATA Seagate w/NCQ $75 A quarter terabyte is enough storage for most people. It's also a good starting place, so if you're tied to this budget you can probably live with 250 gigs now and add more later. Otherwise, if you think you can afford more, go for it. Hard drives have the tendency to fill up, after all. Another consideration is purchase multiple hard drives for a RAID setup. While increasing storage capacities are very convenient for storing years of data, don't forget that you're risking losing more and more data as hard drives hold more. A mirror RAID setup isn't for everyone, but if you've got a lot of important data, it's something to consider. If you can live with less space and have the extra change, you might want to seriously consider a 10,000RPM hard drive, like the Western Digital Raptor. They're not as loud as they once were, and they're all available in SATA varieties. Like RAM, hard drive selection should be a matter of preference. Some people are dedicated to their manufacturer. Go with what you trust; Seagate being the largest hard drive manufacturer, with what amounts to one of the best warranties, makes me prefer them. What is important is Serial-ATA. IDE drives are outdated, and more importantly, IDE connectors are becoming scarce. Along with SATA, make sure the drive supports Native Command Queuing. That little acronym doesn't cost any extra, and in many cases improves drive performance. Optical Drive Recommend: Any within price range $20-$40 Recommended Manufacturers: Samsung, NEC, LiteON Highly Recommend: Samsung 18x DVD +/-R, $35 There are dozens of optical drives and hundreds and possibly thousands of models in manufacture. What differentiates them? Not much. Not even price or compatibility. For a couple of extra bucks (literally), you can find LightScribe-capable drives, which allow you to burn pretty labels on the (compatible) media, if Sharpies don't do it for you. [Editor: And if you don't mind waiting forever for it to burn those labels...] If there's one feature to get in an optical drive, it's DVD +/-R (sometimes written DVD +R 16x, DVD -R 16x, among many other specifications). DVDs are cheaper than four or five CDs, and games and operating systems are making the switch. It's time for everyone to have DVD-ROMs in their computers. I recommend NEC for custom BIOS support. If you're at all interested in flashing the firmware of your drive to make it faster or slower (slower is important for quiet home theater PCs) there is a huge internet community customizing and tweaking their NEC drives, and sharing what they know. LiteON has a reputation for making workhorse drives with a rock-bottom failure rate. They also tend to have shiny stripes across the front for a little factory-modded styling. Samsung has something else with their 18x speed drives. Aside from plain good looks, they're astonishingly quiet. While media manufacturers aren't making 18x blank DVDs, the drives are fully capable of burning at full speed while making less noise than many hard drives. Monitor Recommend: 20" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) LCD, 300 nit brightness minimum, 800:1 contrast ratio minimum, 6ms response time maximum, with DVI connection, $250-$300 Recommended Manufacturers: Dell Highly Recommend: Dell E207WFP (20"), $260 I would like to recommend more than Dell alone, but in this price range, and in this category, they're unbeatable. Of course, this is a widescreen monitor, but at this price, there's no reason not to go wide. And while there are widescreen displays out there for a little less, they're generally not fully WSXGA+. Less expensive widescreen displays are likely limited to a 1440x900 resolution, which does feel a little limiting, even compared to 1280x1024. The height difference with the smaller resolution is noticeably confining, despite the added girth. Case and Power Supply Recommend: ATX case, $80-$110 Recommended Manufacturers: Antec, Cooler Master Highly Recommend: Antec New Solution NSK6500 with 430W PSU $105 Cases are so personal it's hard to recommend any without knowing who it will belong to and what it will be used for. Case manufacturers, on the other hand, are a little more predictable with their products. For that reason, Antec and Cooler Master come to mind. Both make quality cases with looks that follow suit, delivering with original looks and without gimmick. Also, models from Antec and Cooler Master with included power supplies tend to have reliable, efficient ones, so if you're less interested in picking out a separate PSU, for a mid-range computer, they should be adequate. They cost a little more than one without a PSU, but you'll save when combining both into one purchase. Keyboard and Mouse Recommend: Any within budget, $50-$100 Recommended Manufacturers: Creative, Kensington, Logitech, Microsoft, Razer Highly Recommend: Logitech MX 5000 Desktop, $100 Input devices are quite a bit more personal than cases, and that much harder to recommend. And I have my own opinions about what I want plugged into my computer. I like lightweight, responsive controls–two things that stand out with the above keyboard and mouse–however everyone should select what's best for them, and all of these manufacturers make great peripherals. One small thing to keep in mind when selecting a keyboard is its lifespan. Keyboards get broken easily. They get dirty fast, and an even easier way to break them is to figure out a way to clean them. I suggest picking out a keyboard that you'd replace sooner than lament its inevitable destruction. Go cheap, but not so cheap you're going to get carpel-tunnel. [Editor: As Max mentions, each person has different expectations and preferences when it comes to input devices. My personal opinion is that input devices are an important investment which can have a significant impact on your workflow and as a result, productivity. I have used a lot of input devices, and I've always been most impressed my Logitech's high-end offerings. The Logitech MX 5000 Desktop is what I would personally recommend.] Speakers Recommend: 5.1 surround sound, $100 Recommended Manufacturers: Altec Lansing, Creative, Klipsch, Logitech Highly recommend: Logitech X-540 (5.1) or Z-2300 (2.1), $100 Speakers can be a vague, practically subjective component. Generally speaking, if you're a gamer, go for dedicated surround sound. You'll never look back... For $100 I recommend getting Logitech's X-540 5.1 speaker system. Alternatively, if you want speakers mainly for listening to music, and you want a little more kick than the X-540s can provide, consider Logitech's Z-2300 200W 2.1 speakers for a few extra bucks. Options Power Supply Recommend: 500-600 Watt, ATX12V 2.0 or later, multiple 12V rails, 80+ efficiency, nVidia SLI certification, Active PFC, $100-$150 Recommended Manufacturers: Antec, Cooler Master, Corsair, Enermax, OCZ, SeaSonic, Silverstone, Tagan, Zalman Highly Recommend: Enermax Liberty 500W, $100 Power supplies are not a dime a dozen. They are the blood in your computer's body, and if you're not satisfied with bundled PSUs, or the case you want doesn't come with one, there is a short list of great manufacturers. SeaSonic is one of these companies, and they manufacture a large percentage of other companies' power supplies. They're an easy recommendation for both great quality and quiet operation. [Editor: The SeaSonic M12 PSU isn't available on Shopping.com, and the S12 is the same price as Enermax PSU I'd recommend over it so I'm linking to that PSU. I've been using an Enermax Liberty 500W to power my video card testing rig for a long time now, and it has been excellent. It's also modular whereas the S12 is not.] Conclusion No floppy drive, no floppy drive, no floppy drive. Let yourself go free. And always weigh these options. Not a serious gamer? Buy a "budget" video card. Very serious? nVidia 8800GTS all the way, make no bones about it. Also remember that re-using components from another computer is a great way to get the computer you really want, even if it has a used hard drive. If that's all that's between you and your glory, don't let a little common sense phase you. Aside from that, you've got a whole computer here, and it's a killer. When you're playing with sixteen-hundred bucks, you might want to go a little over and get yourself a high-end PSU, maybe the case you want doesn't have one.
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