What are you here to build?

What are you here to build?

  • A High End PC, Extreme CPU, GPU & DDR3 RAM +$2500

    Votes: 1 4.5%
  • A Mid Range PC, Quad/Dual core CPU, GPU & DDR2/3 Ram $1500 - $2500

    Votes: 7 31.8%
  • A Budget PC, Low Dual Core CPU, GPU & DDR2 Ram $500 - $1500

    Votes: 10 45.5%
  • I like Cheese (for those that are just are there to help others)

    Votes: 4 18.2%

  • Total voters
    22

deadwolf

Distinguished
Jul 19, 2006
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18,530
I ask this question because recently I have read allot of forums and have done allot of research in the pursuit of building my own dream machine. In my travels I have noticed a very common trend; most people are trying to decide between mid-range parts for their pc builds or upgrades and not the high range parts.

For example I have notice large amounts of people are more interested in which CPU to choose between the Q6600 and E8400 CPU’s, but hardly does anyone mention the extreme QX9770 or X6800 that are out there.
Then there is the video card question, 8800 GT, HD3870 or 8800 GTS? I rarely see anyone asking if they should get the 8800 GTX or Ultra.

I only raise this poll to actually see if my suspicions are correct;
#1 Not many can actually afford the high end components
#2 Like me you can not see spending that much money for something that you are going to replace in a few years or so any way.
#3 Technology becomes obsolete so fast, maybe obsolete is not the correct term, more the value of the technology depreciates to fast and new technology is faster and cost about the same. Remember that $1000 P4 3.4 you had to have in 2004, you can now get for $172 (worth 17% of it’s original value 5 years later) if you still are interested. On the same note if you bought a P4 2.8 retailing around $300 you can now pick one up for $48 (still a 16 % worth it’s original value 5 years later) but you paid $700 less for mid range technology that lasted just as long as the high range tech. And now you have $700 more than the guy who bought the 3.4 model to spend on your next mid-range CPU 2-4 years later.

Any who, I am not saying I wouldn’t like to have a Q9770 or a 9800 GX2 when it comes out, but personally I can’t afford it, and I don’t see where I would gain that much performance over price comparing them to a Q6600 with a 8800 GTS. And it appears that a lot of users seem to agree.
Now I know there are those that that buy high end parts as soon as they come out and are extremely happy with them, which I thank you, really I do! If it wasn’t for you guys the mid range parts wouldn’t cost what they do. As long as some one is willing to pay that amount of money for those high end parts, the mid range will always be available for half the price in most cases.
 

Dunkel

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Jan 19, 2008
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18,780
I took the advice of many here and built a budget PC (chip < $100, board ~$100) but I splurged on the GPU and bought an 8800GT 512MB.

Once I get the hang of OCing, I'll shoot for 3.0GHz on my $70 E2160. If I get bored with that I'll score a wolfdale or something. I'm not sure if I'll ever need a quad, but I could ride my bike to work too.
 

mlovel2828

Distinguished
Feb 4, 2008
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18,510
I fit in to your #2 for the most part. I have a couple of high end parts but mostly mid range. I spent $3200 to build a system that the high end shops would have charged $6-7K. I built:

Q6600 oc'ed 3.2Ghz
Striker extreme MB (i love mine)
8800GTX x 2 in SLI
Zalman 9700 LED CPU Cooler
CORSAIR XMS2 4GB(2 x 2GB) DDR2 800
2 WD 150 mb Raptors in Raid 0
Hitacthi 1 TB Deskstar storage drive
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500 MCE Dual TV Recorder Tuner Card
LG BluRay HD DVD Burner
Collermaster Stacker 830 SE Case w/1000w PSU
some LED fans and case lights (looks great)
Logitech G15 Keyboard
Logitech G9 mouse

I already had a Dell 24" monitor (present from the wife)

It's been running about a month now and I'm very happy with it.
 

Moondrinker

Distinguished
Jan 23, 2008
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18,680
Is my future PC really midrange? i certainly thought it would be high-end. I mean, it's nothing extreme but then again it can run everything smoothely.

P5K Pro
E8400
8800 GT
2x1 Gig PC 8500
Corsair HX550W psu
Antec performance one P182

Btw, interesting poll, it's just really really anoying that you can't see the results if you vote. :(

cheers!
 

I see that you have a P35-DS3L, so this might help you with OCing:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareus.inc&cat=29&post=245679&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=3&trash=0&trash_post=0&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0
 

deadwolf

Distinguished
Jul 19, 2006
29
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18,530


I would call it mid-range. High range you would have a QX9770 and a 8800 GTX or Ultra.. which almost tripples the price.

I admit i am a mid-ranger, always have been, always will be.. PC's are an investment, i figure that if i buy PC/Parts for $2000 today, and it should last me 4 years, i would spend $500 a year on it... i just put it all up front.
 
I'm mostly in the 4th category, but I look for upgrade guidance too, and get a lot of general ideas for when I do build. My builds are usually in the $1K range, plus or minus partly depending on upgrades and what I might still have that's useful lying around. Whatever my budget, I want to get the most bang for the buck that will be reliable.