Your Top Picks: Tom's Hardware Forums' Q1 2013 BestConfigs
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So you like our System Builder Marathon? Ever come up with your own idea for a killer rig? Don't forget to tell us about it on the Tom's Hardware forums. The following ten setups were configured by forum members and chosen in Q1 2013 BestConfigs Poll.
Your Top Picks: Tom's Hardware Forums' Q1 2013 BestConfigs : Read more
Your Top Picks: Tom's Hardware Forums' Q1 2013 BestConfigs : Read more
More about : top picks tom hardware forums 2013 bestconfigs
echondo
March 11, 2013 4:38:17 AM
EzioAs
March 11, 2013 4:58:33 AM
nevertell
March 11, 2013 9:33:58 AM
nordlead
March 11, 2013 9:43:41 AM
A good thing I don't use these "forum best configs" as guides. It looks like every single one of them was built by a power hungry gamer rather than an economical engineer that builds to meet specific requirements.
The NAS chosen here has WAY to much space dedicated to the OS drive (driving up costs), and all the benefits of the SSD are lost (you won't be loading new programs off the SSD) except for the low power. But that can be achieved for much less cash with a CF or SD card (or even a USB stick, but I don't care for those since they can easily be unplugged). You also don't need 4GB of RAM in a NAS, nor do you need a fancy case with a window when it will be stuck in a closet. I could shave $150-200 off of that machine no problem and cut the electrical costs, all while serving files via NAS to multiple machines at the same time without missing a beat. Heck, my Atom D525 does all of that at a measly 30W (measured at the wall) along with online backups, and serves web pages at a decent clip for myself and my close friends. Since I'm sure the intent of the 3x 3TB hdds was for RAID 5, you could put that $ towards a 4th and do RAID 10. Or you could put it towards actual backup instead of redundancy.
The NAS chosen here has WAY to much space dedicated to the OS drive (driving up costs), and all the benefits of the SSD are lost (you won't be loading new programs off the SSD) except for the low power. But that can be achieved for much less cash with a CF or SD card (or even a USB stick, but I don't care for those since they can easily be unplugged). You also don't need 4GB of RAM in a NAS, nor do you need a fancy case with a window when it will be stuck in a closet. I could shave $150-200 off of that machine no problem and cut the electrical costs, all while serving files via NAS to multiple machines at the same time without missing a beat. Heck, my Atom D525 does all of that at a measly 30W (measured at the wall) along with online backups, and serves web pages at a decent clip for myself and my close friends. Since I'm sure the intent of the 3x 3TB hdds was for RAID 5, you could put that $ towards a 4th and do RAID 10. Or you could put it towards actual backup instead of redundancy.
Score
11
samwelaye
March 11, 2013 10:06:03 AM
internetlad
March 11, 2013 10:18:26 AM
nevertellWhy do all the builds use poser ram ?
And what RAM would you suggest, Mr. RAM Expert? What's wrong with brands like Mushkin and G.Skill? They're incredibly popular.
Honestly, does brand even make a difference in RAM besides warranty? You put it in and it works or it doesn't. As long as you have enough RAM to accomodate what's running, and it doesn't BSOD, I don't really care about the brand.
Score
10
s3anister
March 11, 2013 10:40:18 AM
Nintendo Maniac 64
March 11, 2013 10:53:00 AM
internetlad
March 11, 2013 11:05:11 AM
Nintendo Maniac 64Why would you use the 5800k over the 65w 5700 for a mere office machine? Not to mention the mobo chosen for it has no VRM heatsinks and therefore cannot reliably overclock anyway, making the aftermarket cooler pointless in the first place.
You have to remember this is the build that was VOTED FOR by the community. Of course the better chip is gonna get the fanboys all wet, even though, as you say, it IS for an office build.
I quoted an extremely capable AMD office/APU gaming machine and managed to shave 150 bucks off the $500 budget, (I had spent a couple days researching it for my brother in law, who's wife wouldn't let him spend much.) and it didn't get one vote. Why? Maybe because it didn't have 3 terabyte drives, or 16 gigs of ram. It was a modest but extremely functional and cost effective machine for the cost, and nobody seemed to care.
Score
2
silverblue
March 11, 2013 11:13:42 AM
tourist
March 11, 2013 11:51:15 AM
nevertell
March 11, 2013 1:18:20 PM
internetladAnd what RAM would you suggest, Mr. RAM Expert? What's wrong with brands like Mushkin and G.Skill? They're incredibly popular.Honestly, does brand even make a difference in RAM besides warranty? You put it in and it works or it doesn't. As long as you have enough RAM to accomodate what's running, and it doesn't BSOD, I don't really care about the brand.
Well, it's a rule of thumb that RAM without heatspreaders comes cheaper. And it's been proven time and time again, that those heatspreaders don't benefit the regular computer in any kind of way. If you're on a budget, ram is the first place to compromise, if you've already chosen something with heatspreaders and whatnot and you won't be using cpu's integrated graphics. It's only the iGPU's of todays A-series APUs that truly benefit from substantially faster RAM in any meaningul way.
Score
1
hapkido
March 11, 2013 1:39:10 PM
tourist said:
So no benchmarks just a popularity contest ? Next time just post pics and stats of the girls that is something to vote on. May seem harsh but anyone can pull parts out of a catalog. assembling and getting it running optimally is what separates the wheat from the chaff. These were hypothetical builds. And assembling a PC is much easier than picking the right components. But if you want to buy me the parts from my media PC build, I'll benchmark it playing a video or something.
Score
0
JerryC
March 11, 2013 2:27:54 PM
jnkweaver
March 11, 2013 2:48:32 PM
The LAN system is more in line with the AMD budget build. Both in the $1200-1300 range.
I own the ARC MIDI case and Fractal Design uses thick steel. I love Fractal Design cases but good luck hauling it around on LAN parties when the case alone weighs 20 lbs.
I was surprised the high end Intel build didn't use the Noctua DH14 for the cooler. On a $2200 build it is worth spending the extra $70.
Overall they were good builds and got alot of participation. It does seem though that the earlier builds in the article got low participation especially the Intel Home Office build.
I own the ARC MIDI case and Fractal Design uses thick steel. I love Fractal Design cases but good luck hauling it around on LAN parties when the case alone weighs 20 lbs.
I was surprised the high end Intel build didn't use the Noctua DH14 for the cooler. On a $2200 build it is worth spending the extra $70.
Overall they were good builds and got alot of participation. It does seem though that the earlier builds in the article got low participation especially the Intel Home Office build.
Score
1
tourist
March 11, 2013 3:18:45 PM
hapkidoThese were hypothetical builds. And assembling a PC is much easier than picking the right components. But if you want to buy me the parts from my media PC build, I'll benchmark it playing a video or something.
Hypothetical build = hypothetical performance
Take the fm2 home office monster g-unit1111 put together home office with only 4 usb ports on the board , sure it has a header for 6 more but not one is usb 3.0. Home office means lots of peripherals, fast ones that need 3.0 for everyday use. I just wish a little more thought went into this exercise but hey when pigs fly right !
Score
0
obrada
March 11, 2013 3:34:34 PM
I don't think that the budget intel gaming PC should had won. It says clearly on the rules that the range price was $1,000 and everyone who made the builds were on that range except 2 guys and 1 of the resulting the one with most votes. I believe that if the price range would have been $500 the story would have been different.
Score
0
hapkido
March 11, 2013 4:10:09 PM
tourist said:
hapkidoThese were hypothetical builds. And assembling a PC is much easier than picking the right components. But if you want to buy me the parts from my media PC build, I'll benchmark it playing a video or something.
Hypothetical build = hypothetical performance
Take the fm2 home office monster g-unit1111 put together home office with only 4 usb ports on the board , sure it has a header for 6 more but not one is usb 3.0. Home office means lots of peripherals, fast ones that need 3.0 for everyday use. I just wish a little more thought went into this exercise but hey when pigs fly right !
Are you seriously talking about benchmarking performance for a home office machine or implying a keyboard needs USB 3.0?
While we're on the topic, what specifically is wrong with my $700 hypothetical performance media PC?
Score
-1
jkhoward
March 11, 2013 5:30:17 PM
CheesyHotDogPuff
March 11, 2013 6:14:18 PM
flong777
March 11, 2013 6:59:31 PM
Congratulations on winning the build contest.
I configured my PC with the Hauppauge's 2250 with two tuners and I have little desire for cable. It works very well as long as you have the right antenna reception. The only caveat is that you have to have a powerful video card or your HD picture will be very poor.
I think the only thing that might be improved is more storage. It is amazing how quickly a 1 TB drive fills up when you start recording HDTV shows.
Great Job!!!
I configured my PC with the Hauppauge's 2250 with two tuners and I have little desire for cable. It works very well as long as you have the right antenna reception. The only caveat is that you have to have a powerful video card or your HD picture will be very poor.
I think the only thing that might be improved is more storage. It is amazing how quickly a 1 TB drive fills up when you start recording HDTV shows.
Great Job!!!
Score
0
flong777
March 11, 2013 7:17:30 PM
Congratulations on your win.
For a small increase in cost you could have gone to 2133 RAM (8GB) and seen a 2%-3% improvement in performance. The small additional cost would be worth it.
I also don't understand using a bronze rated PSU for a "high-end" system when gold and even platinum PSUs can be found so very cheap. I used the Corsair HX 850 for my build and because my computer draws about 40% - 50% of the PSU's capacity I am running at approximately 92% efficiency. Plus, my PSU fan rarely turns on and it is silent in my case. More importantly, because of the high stability of the PSU, I have peace of mind that my expensive components protected. Mg Corsair HX 850 cost $140.00 which is very reasonable.
The case is beautiful, I have not read a review of it yet. But NZXT makes good cases.
Great choices with the 840 Pro and the Barracuda. I have the Barracuda and it is a great HDD.
Congratulations again.
For a small increase in cost you could have gone to 2133 RAM (8GB) and seen a 2%-3% improvement in performance. The small additional cost would be worth it.
I also don't understand using a bronze rated PSU for a "high-end" system when gold and even platinum PSUs can be found so very cheap. I used the Corsair HX 850 for my build and because my computer draws about 40% - 50% of the PSU's capacity I am running at approximately 92% efficiency. Plus, my PSU fan rarely turns on and it is silent in my case. More importantly, because of the high stability of the PSU, I have peace of mind that my expensive components protected. Mg Corsair HX 850 cost $140.00 which is very reasonable.
The case is beautiful, I have not read a review of it yet. But NZXT makes good cases.
Great choices with the 840 Pro and the Barracuda. I have the Barracuda and it is a great HDD.
Congratulations again.
Score
1
grokem
March 11, 2013 7:25:31 PM
I think the mATX gaming build was my favorite of the bunch. Sweet case and pretty good value oriented parts without a lot of bling. Ok, maybe the case was a bit of bling in a black monolith sort of way. I was however surprised to see that not one build was sans an optical drive. Not even the NAS build? I noticed that about half the NAS entries didn't have an optical or listed it as optional which is nice at least. Why on earth would you need an optical on a NAS box?
Score
0
voiidwulf
March 11, 2013 8:01:11 PM
tourist
March 11, 2013 8:10:09 PM
hapkido said:
tourist said:
hapkidoThese were hypothetical builds. And assembling a PC is much easier than picking the right components. But if you want to buy me the parts from my media PC build, I'll benchmark it playing a video or something.
Hypothetical build = hypothetical performance
Take the fm2 home office monster g-unit1111 put together home office with only 4 usb ports on the board , sure it has a header for 6 more but not one is usb 3.0. Home office means lots of peripherals, fast ones that need 3.0 for everyday use. I just wish a little more thought went into this exercise but hey when pigs fly right !
Are you seriously talking about benchmarking performance for a home office machine or implying a keyboard needs USB 3.0?
[Of course you bench office pc's.
Nothing more irritating than having to wait on a usb2.0 file transfer of say 200-300gb from a external hd.]
While we're on the topic, what specifically is wrong with my $700 hypothetical performance media PC?
Nothing is wrong with it but it is still hypothetical until you build it. can you be 100% sure it will decode/play 1080 mkv files without stutter or maybe that it will not over heat when doing so ?
Score
0
gallovfc
March 11, 2013 9:17:34 PM
gallovfc
March 11, 2013 9:26:30 PM
hapkido
March 11, 2013 10:16:45 PM
What gives you any indication a SB Pentium and 7750 will have any problem playing video files and/or overheat while doing so?
Of course you can't guarantee you won't have problems with a new build, but by that same reasoning, if Tom's built all these PCs and had no issues at all, it doesn't mean someone else buying the exact same parts won't have issues.
Of course you can't guarantee you won't have problems with a new build, but by that same reasoning, if Tom's built all these PCs and had no issues at all, it doesn't mean someone else buying the exact same parts won't have issues.
Score
0
slomo4sho
March 12, 2013 2:54:41 AM
markiz
March 12, 2013 3:27:36 AM
Guys lets do this again in a couple of months.
Rate this post up if your keen and I'll speak to Joe (our Community Manager) and Adam.
A nice prize would seem appropriate too ...
Great work by all of those who submitted builds and many thanks to Adam for putting it all up in a neat format with some good copy.
I particularly liked the workstation build ... sadly I could not convince the wife to give me her kidney towards the cost.
Rate this post up if your keen and I'll speak to Joe (our Community Manager) and Adam.
A nice prize would seem appropriate too ...
Great work by all of those who submitted builds and many thanks to Adam for putting it all up in a neat format with some good copy.
I particularly liked the workstation build ... sadly I could not convince the wife to give me her kidney towards the cost.
Score
4
tourist
March 12, 2013 11:11:33 AM
hapkido said:
What gives you any indication a SB Pentium and 7750 will have any problem playing video files and/or overheat while doing so?Of course you can't guarantee you won't have problems with a new build, but by that same reasoning, if Tom's built all these PCs and had no issues at all, it doesn't mean someone else buying the exact same parts won't have issues.
Ok i see the media pc was yours,. Do you think about encoding when you picked that dual core sandy with no h/t. ?
Score
0
basketcase87
March 12, 2013 11:46:31 AM
hapkido
March 12, 2013 3:55:20 PM
tourist said:
hapkido said:
What gives you any indication a SB Pentium and 7750 will have any problem playing video files and/or overheat while doing so?Of course you can't guarantee you won't have problems with a new build, but by that same reasoning, if Tom's built all these PCs and had no issues at all, it doesn't mean someone else buying the exact same parts won't have issues.
Ok i see the media pc was yours,. Do you think about encoding when you picked that dual core sandy with no h/t. ?
With a $700, sure I thought about it, and it wasn't a primary concern.
It needed to have a tv tuner card and blu-ray burner in an appropriate case for mass appeal. Otherwise it's just a computer hooked to a tv. That's fine for many of us, but it's not fine for people with cable + dvr and rent discs from redbox.
It also needed to be quiet and relatively efficient. 2x4GB RAM is close enough in price to 2x2GB to warrant the excess and any users who don't leave it on overnight will really appreciate the SSD.
That leaves the GPU as really the only "extra", and if you're not going to play any games, you could leave that out and upgrade the CPU instead. I don't think it's worth it for several reasons.
-People with kids and a decent-sized Steam library will definitely appreciate the GPU -- which is much better than the APU in the upcoming Piston Steambox.
-The tuner card already has built-in dual mpeg-2 encoders so it's going to put very little strain on the CPU while recording.
-Depending on what program you're using, you may be able to off-source some of the load to the GPU.
-If you're compressing recorded shows or ripping discs, you can schedule them when the PC is idle or overnight.
Could it have been better? Yes. Could it have been better while keeping all functionality in the given budget? I don't think so.
Score
-1
flong777 said:
Congratulations on your win. For a small increase in cost you could have gone to 2133 RAM (8GB) and seen a 2%-3% improvement in performance. The small additional cost would be worth it.
I also don't understand using a bronze rated PSU for a "high-end" system when gold and even platinum PSUs can be found so very cheap. I used the Corsair HX 850 for my build and because my computer draws about 40% - 50% of the PSU's capacity I am running at approximately 92% efficiency. Plus, my PSU fan rarely turns on and it is silent in my case. More importantly, because of the high stability of the PSU, I have peace of mind that my expensive components protected. Mg Corsair HX 850 cost $140.00 which is very reasonable.
The case is beautiful, I have not read a review of it yet. But NZXT makes good cases.
Great choices with the 840 Pro and the Barracuda. I have the Barracuda and it is a great HDD.
Congratulations again.
Faster RAM won't necessarily affect the performance of your CPU and GPU one way or the other.
The Platinum PSUs that can be had for less than $100 are generally made by a lot of brands that produce a lot of junk (like Coolmax and Sentey). They are not to be trusted. Energy efficient doesn't always mean that the power supplies are made with quality components. It's better to buy a PSU that is from a good OEM like Super Flower or Seasonic, getting one of those will be better than having your PSU blow up in your face.
Score
1
JonnyDough
March 12, 2013 4:25:11 PM
JonnyDough
March 12, 2013 4:28:47 PM
JerryCThese systems arent really complete. You need to include a monitor, keyboard and mouse to complete these systems.
They assume you have these, just as they do for ALL builds. In truth, you need an operating system and many sites seem to omit that. Unless of course you use Linux, which works with Steam now, and many decent games including TF2. Let's let the days of spending $100+ every few years DIE!
Score
0
tourist
March 12, 2013 6:40:17 PM
hapkidoOk i see the media pc was yours,. Do you think about encoding when you picked that dual core sandy with no h/t. ?With a $700, sure I thought about it, and it wasn't a primary concern.It needed to have a tv tuner card and blu-ray burner in an appropriate case for mass appeal. Otherwise it's just a computer hooked to a tv. That's fine for many of us, but it's not fine for people with cable + dvr and rent discs from redbox.It also needed to be quiet and relatively efficient. 2x4GB RAM is close enough in price to 2x2GB to warrant the excess and any users who don't leave it on overnight will really appreciate the SSD.That leaves the GPU as really the only "extra", and if you're not going to play any games, you could leave that out and upgrade the CPU instead. I don't think it's worth it for several reasons.-People with kids and a decent-sized Steam library will definitely appreciate the GPU -- which is much better than the APU in the upcoming Piston Steambox.-The tuner card already has built-in dual mpeg-2 encoders so it's going to put very little strain on the CPU while recording.-Depending on what program you're using, you may be able to off-source some of the load to the GPU.-If you're compressing recorded shows or ripping discs, you can schedule them when the PC is idle or overnight.Could it have been better? Yes. Could it have been better while keeping all functionality in the given budget? I don't think so.
[/quotemsg]scheduling can be effective but this is the got to have it now gen. qick sync would have been my top priority but again this was a exercise in compromise so good job to all that submitted.
Score
0
HideOut
March 12, 2013 8:45:40 PM
HideOutsome of the PSU's are WAY overkill for the builds. Loss of efficiency + overpriced when bought. Could use the extra $ elsewhere or just save it.
Not necessarily. I input my build back into PC Part Picker and with dual 7970s the estimated wattage is 779W. So a 950W PSU for that build is justified.
Score
0
Azn Cracker
March 12, 2013 9:57:57 PM
youssef 2010
March 13, 2013 1:16:38 AM
sanilmahambre
March 13, 2013 3:35:43 AM
slyu9213
March 13, 2013 11:04:30 AM
Honestly we need to lower the budget for "budget" systems. $1000 for a desktop build isn't much for the people already experienced with custom built computers, but for the newcomers who are coming from consoles $1000 is nowhere near budget. $500-700 would be a good budget for a PC, lower would be even better but highly impossible unless older parts were used.
Score
0
balister
March 13, 2013 11:18:54 AM
nordleadA good thing I don't use these "forum best configs" as guides. It looks like every single one of them was built by a power hungry gamer rather than an economical engineer that builds to meet specific requirements.
Agree 100%, looking at the build chosen, I see a lot of bad builds that could have been built a lot more effciently that allow for more or would cost less.
I mean, why does an office/browsing machine need to cost $500? I can build a perfectly good machine, minus the Windows license if you go that route, for about $250 max. The NAS, could have had more space for the $750 that was chooses as you don't need a power processor nor a huge amount of RAM, the ultimate goal of a NAS is to go with maybe $200 on the process, MB, memory, and case, and spend the remaining $500 on multiple hard drives.
Likewise, I see a lot of people going with ATX boards over using smaller form factors when the smaller form factors would have been just as good or better to use.
Simply, these builds were pretty poor. Next time Tom's has a contest like this, they need to make it known on the front page for a few weeks before starting it so you can get some people in there that can really make a good build.
Score
2
balister said:
nordleadA good thing I don't use these "forum best configs" as guides. It looks like every single one of them was built by a power hungry gamer rather than an economical engineer that builds to meet specific requirements.
Agree 100%, looking at the build chosen, I see a lot of bad builds that could have been built a lot more effciently that allow for more or would cost less.
I mean, why does an office/browsing machine need to cost $500? I can build a perfectly good machine, minus the Windows license if you go that route, for about $250 max. The NAS, could have had more space for the $750 that was chooses as you don't need a power processor nor a huge amount of RAM, the ultimate goal of a NAS is to go with maybe $200 on the process, MB, memory, and case, and spend the remaining $500 on multiple hard drives.
Likewise, I see a lot of people going with ATX boards over using smaller form factors when the smaller form factors would have been just as good or better to use.
Simply, these builds were pretty poor. Next time Tom's has a contest like this, they need to make it known on the front page for a few weeks before starting it so you can get some people in there that can really make a good build.
How does going with a small form factor equal a better build? Please elaborate. Small form factors limit your expansion capabilities and not all mATX cases and mITX cases will be able to house the dual GPUs of the higher budget systems.
Score
1
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