Learning About Hardware!!

1. This question will get mixed responses and brand recommendation will often result in opinions. Now there are certain pieces of hardware that some of us recommend for specific reasons but even with in the same brand one item is not as good as the next.

For example the PSUs (power supply) DSO offers several different types of Corsair PSUs but some are better then others. Many of us often recommend only the 750HX, 1050HX or 1200w Pro Series Gold as those are the 3 best PSUs DSO offers in terms of performance, reliability and warranty.

Some of us also happen to be fans of EVGA but that's because of EVGA's excellent track record of performance. Unfortunetly DSO does not offer EVGA MOBOs (mother boards). For the brand they do offer, ASUS, there are only 3 or 4 we recommend based on your needs and this again has to do with performance. But when it comes to GPUs we will recommend EVGA over something like ASUS for the same model card.

2. SLI is one of those things that you only get if you need it. Your "need" for SLI will depend on the resolution of the monitor you will be playing on and what games you will be playing on it. If you play nothing but WoW or SWtoR then SLI is not "needed" and will not be recommended as neither game actually uses it correctly.

If you want to play games like BF3 or Metro 2033 on any monitor that is 1920x1080 or larger then SLI will be "needed" in order for you to max out your graphics settings in order to maintain playable frame rates.

3. Some games will always run better on one card over but that's the fault of developers making their games to run on a certain card. Example Arkham City is intended to be played on Nvidia GPUs. That's not to say that someone with an ATI card can't play it but if you were able to find a Nvidia and ATI card that were identical to each other the Nvidia would have a slight edge. Nvidia is also capable of using the Physx feature when ATI cards can not.

For the last several years Nvidia has had the edge over ATI/AMD when comparing the same generation and level of cards. That gap has shrunk since the ATI/AMD merger but Nvidia still consistently performs better when comparing equal level cards.

4. I'm not sure where you are reading that as many of us active posters recommend against OC'ing your GPU. Your performance gain will be nothing (less then 5fps) and more then likely it will wear out the card in less then 2 years. You need/want your GPUs to last your 2+ years between upgrades.

It is the CPU that we always recommend over clocking as it will give you a definite performance boost and will not harm your CPU in any way so long as the vcore is kept at or below 1.4v.

5. See my early statement about SLI. Your monitor resolution dictates exactly what hardware your system will need. Your entire system should be built around the resolution you will be playing and what games you will be playing.

For the TV issue, they make bad PC monitors, it's the easiest way to say it. A TV is designed to display relatively slow moving images, typically below 60fps. Even something like a 120Hz TV is still not meant to produce images in the detail you will get from a gaming PC. The detail level of games of the 360 or PS3 are turn way the hell down compared to the detail level of those same games on the PC.

All TVs are capped at a max 1920x1080p resolution (unless you spend $7000 on one of the new 1620p TVs) but that 1080p image is stretched across 40", 50" or even +60" inches. Compared to a typically 1920x1080p monitor is in the 21" to 24" range. That's why big TVs are meant to be placed all the way across the room from you. They have to be really far away so your eyes can't see the sh*tty grainy and pixelated you get from stretching that image out so much.

You also have to be careful as TVs can often lack the necessary connection for your computer and even if you can connect it you often need to mess with various settings in order to get the game to display correctly. Long story short, when you are using a PC, connect it to a monitor.

6. See my early statement on hardware recommendations. The power you need is based on the other hardware. A single GPU, non-SLI, system will need the 750HX, a x2 SLI system will need the 1050HX and any x3 SLI or more system will need the 1200w Pro Series Gold.

7. For a system to stay current for 5 years you have to understand that you will need to at least upgrade your GPUs after about 2 years to stay current. Beyond that your CPU and RAM should last you at least 5 years and at most you can always add extra RAM easy and cheap.

In terms of budget that all depends on your needs and use of the system. For a non-SLI custom build expect around a $2000 - $2400 budget. For x2 SLI you'll be looking at $2500 - $2800 and for x3 SLI expect to spend more then $3000.

8. Your CPU is the brains of you computer, both the number of brains (cores) and how fast those brains work (speed rated in GHz) are important. Also Hyperthreading (making each core perform double the work) is coming back and is very useful. It's what makes the 2600k a better CPU then the 2500k.

The CPU you "need" will be based on some other hardware. The P67/Z68 platform (2600k CPU) can not handle x3 SLI due to a lack of PCI data lanes on the MOBOs. If you need a x3 SLI set up due to your monitor resolution you will need to go with the X79 platform (3930/3960 cpus).

If you need x2 SLI or less then the 2600k will be just fine. The only other exception would be if you are doing something like rendering. If so then you will want to upgrade to the X79 platform.


Edited by jmaster299 - 31 Jan 2012 at 10:37am

I like to add to what jm299 said:

Even after you read this info, run your config by us, there are still little things here and there that you guys may miss/not know.