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High End RAM: 4x1GB or 2x2GB. Top-o-the-line RAM: 4x2GB, even thought this is not usable by anyone. Some other good brands of higher RAM: Mushkin, Crucial (esp. Ballistix), Geil. I know those guys r good.
 
Corsair XMS Dominator.
 
surfsk8snow.jah said:
High End RAM: 4x1GB or 2x2GB. Top-o-the-line RAM: 4x2GB, even thought this is not usable by anyone. Some other good brands of higher RAM: Mushkin, Crucial (esp. Ballistix), Geil. I know those guys r good.
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I would say top of the line should have 2 x 2GB or 4 x 1GB since no OS can use more than that right now (so it is useless).

Top of the End RAM is RAM that uses Micron D9 chips.
So that would be Crucial Ballistix easily or the most expesive Corsair Dominator since the others use Epilida chips.

Geil to my knowledge does not use Micron D9 chips, but PROMOS or Epilida and are not high end.
Muskin does use Micron D9 chips, but only in their really expensive stuff.
Some good cheap Micron D9 chips are either G Skill (w/ Black heatsinks), Buffalo Firestix or Ballistix DDR2-800 RAM.
 
Definitely put Western Digital Raptor hard drives up there for high-end, or even gaming. Multiple Raptors for RAID, although not as crucial. SATA drives with 16MB cache preferred.

I'm partial to WD, but some would recommend Raptors for OS drives and Segates (7200.10) for storage.
 
GJSNeptune said:
Definitely put Western Digital Raptor hard drives up there for high-end, or even gaming. Multiple Raptors for RAID, although not as crucial. SATA drives with 16MB cache preferred.

I'm partial to WD, but some would recommend Raptors for OS drives and Segates (7200.10) for storage.
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Haha I was just thinking that and I did that for a high end system...
I am kind of stuck if a high end system should have an 8800GTX or not
 
High-end should have at least an 8800GTX. Top-of-the-line should have two. :)
 
Ya those are the HDDs I'm putting in my system, exactly like that.
From what I've read, there's a sweet set of Geil Memory that having low timings, are pretty cheap, are very overclockable, and are confirmed D9GMH http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144062
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1181402 <--confirming D9 Micron
So keep Geil up there bad boy =)

and we've been having some debate about dual 8800GTS 320MB vs single 8800GTX (ask Ketxxx) - see http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=30762

Amen to dual 8800GTX on Top-o-line. Throw a physics card on there too (I've been on that kick... hey if I had the xtra money I'd def buy it).
 
surfsk8snow.jah said:
Ya those are the HDDs I'm putting in my system, exactly like that.
From what I've read, there's a sweet set of Geil Memory that having low timings, are pretty cheap, are very overclockable, and are confirmed D9GMH http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144062
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1181402 <--confirming D9 Micron
So keep Geil up there bad boy =)
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That RAM is not Micron D9.
If they were then they would get past DDR2-1000.
These are Epilida chips which OC nice, but cannot perform on the same level.

Micron D9 is good bc it can take a high level of voltage and still get better results.
With Promos and Epilida, you reach a barrier once you hit 2.2V - 2.3V I believe.

Also, a common misconception about RAM is the tighter the timings the better the RAM.
This is not fully correct.

An Intel platform will benefit from higher freq. and looser timings. For example DDR2-1000 5-5-5-15 will be better than DDR2-800 3-3-3-9.
However, an AMD platform will benefit from tighter timings and lower freq. For example DDR2-800 3-3-3-9 will be better than DDR2-1000 5-5-5-15.

Also, for that price you could get better RAM.
Look at the Crucial RAM at Buy.com (there is a thread in Hardforums.com in the deal sections about it).
Much better RAM for a little bit more (It is $120).
Here is the link ( http://www.buy.com/prod/crucial_bal...emory_w_led_lights/q/loc/14982/204538864.html )
 
Hmm interesting info on the timings for intel vs amd. Good to know.
Alright I cede from the Geil debate lol, not that important anyway =)
Besides, I am going on your previous recommendation and buying 4GB of those crucial balllistix for myself :) w00t.
 
surfsk8snow.jah said:
Hmm interesting info on the timings for intel vs amd. Good to know.
Alright I cede from the Geil debate lol, not that important anyway =)
Besides, I am going on your previous recommendation and buying 4GB of those crucial balllistix for myself :) w00t.
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Hmm you just gave me a new idea.
I am going to add RAM and CPU section for good bang for the bucks.

But yea the Ballistix are the best :)
 
Ya now that would be helpful, cuz there's so many companies and sticks that look comparable, but may be worlds apart. That'd help a lot of people out there. Write a description differentiating the D9 vs epilida vs promos and why D9s are better, and put that timings bit on there too. That was very concisely worded. This is shaping up to be an amazing post bruins. GJ!
 
surfsk8snow.jah said:
Ya now that would be helpful, cuz there's so many companies and sticks that look comparable, but may be worlds apart. That'd help a lot of people out there. Write a description differentiating the D9 vs epilida vs promos and why D9s are better, and put that timings bit on there too. That was very concisely worded. This is shaping up to be an amazing post bruins. GJ!
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Thanks man.
I just want to help people with the knowledge I have.
I also would like to learn new things too :)

Oh and by the way the Crucial Ballistix I linked to you have lights on them as well.
Just some extra bling for you :)
 
Added the RAM Section...
Let me know if anything needs more descriptions (besides the areas to be added soon)
 
Something I just thought about that might help users: pust the approximate price ranges for each build type of build.
 
Woah! Incredible thread :D I'm sure this'll get stickied :toast:
and how about some good cases ? :)
 
GJSNeptune said:
High-end should have at least an 8800GTX. Top-of-the-line should have two. :)
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GTX??? what about those $850 ultras ;)

my top of the line rig would be dual quads xeons, like 24+ gb of memory, 1x 88 ultra/x2900xtx (or two, depends if the mobo can do it)...etc..etc...etc...

*dreaming*

:)
 
Ultras are for idiots with money. :)


You don't have room to dream! You have an X2.
 
GJSNeptune said:
Ultras are for idiots with money. :)


You don't have room to dream! You have an X2.
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I barely use that rig :(...i dont know why, but i dont. :cool: Kinda hard to decide on what computer to use when they both are equally the same performance.
 
I'll take the one you don't want.
 
Finished with the builds and added prices.
Only section not done yet is the CPU section
 
Finished the CPU Buyers Guide Section

Added the GPU Buyers Guide and the PSU Buyers Guide, but havent started on them yet
 
All Sections are completed, except the GPU Buyers guide.
Any feedback is appreciated
 
I think your prices are a little bit understated. I get around $1800US for high-end, $1200US for intermediate, and like $700US for Budget. The top-of-the-line sounds about right tho.

1)PSU: Nice, good section. I would add the COOLMAX CUG series in the intermediate PSUs tho, that series gets some good reviews from people (CTG is the suck one). And it's in the low 100s vs high, so thats good.
Question: Does a PSU have to SLI rated to run SLI? ofcourse nVidia says so, and so would the PSU companies, but is that necessarily always true?
2)Mobos (High-End & Top-o-Line): You might wanna add the 975x series in here. There's a lot of people who prefer these more than 680i, and they're pretty on-par with each other in OC-ability.
3)Add a HDD section? Describe to peeps the diff between the Raptors and Normal, "SATA2" (even tho it's not really called that), etc.
4)And maybe a cooling section describing diff cooling options, good CPU fans & why, what makes a case fan good, etc.

It Looks way good tho. I definitely vote for a sticky on this when its done. Fer sherr dyood. hah
 
Oh and another fan to add that's pretty good: Tuniq Tower. That thing tie with Thermalright 120 Ultra, and gets second only to Ultra 120 eXtreme.
 
surfsk8snow.jah said:
Oh and another fan to add that's pretty good: Tuniq Tower. That thing tie with Thermalright 120 Ultra, and gets second only to Ultra 120 eXtreme.
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Ahh thats it.
It was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldnt get it out will update it with that :)
 
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