Hardware 2.0 'Very Best Kit List' for Apr/May 2010
Welcome to the Hardware 2.0 "Very Best Kit List" for Apr/May 2010. Here I've put together a list of the best high-end and mid-range and budget components currently available. So if you're thinking of buying, building or even upgrading a PC, this list is a must-read for you!
These components are on this list because I firmly believe them to be the best either in terms of performance or price - although I'm ready to admit, as always, that there's room for debate and some choices "go with the gut" more than others.
NOTE: All prices are approximate ... shop around for the best deals!
Jumplist:
- CPUs
- Motherboards
- RAM
- Graphics cards
- Hard disks
- Sound cards
- PSUs
- Coolers
- Cases
- Monitors
- Keyboards/Mice
- Other cool gear
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CPUs
Extreme - Intel Core i7 980x Extreme Edition - Six-core, 3.33GHz
The Core i7 processors represents a new era in architecture for Intel, and the 980x represents a new era in desktop processors - the era of the six-core CPU.
This is a 3.33GHz part that can be Turbo Boosted up to a whopping 3.6GHz. It has six cores, which when combined with Hyper-Threading makes a whopping 12 threads available. Add to this 12MB of L3 cache, triple-channel DDR3-1066 memory interface, 130W TDP, and a brand-new stock cooler.
Additional info - What you need to go Core i7!!!
Price: $1090
Mid-range - Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 - Quad-core, 2.66GHz
Gone is the aging Q6600 from the list (one of the best CPUs Intel has ever made), replaced this time by the Q9400. This 45nm piece offers 2.66GHz of quad-core power for well under $200, making it an ideal part for those looking for good bang for the buck.
Price: $189
Note: You might also be interested in Intel's new Core i5 750 part, which retails for a shade under $200. This 2.66GHz part is a cut-down version of the Core i7 but still offers good value for money - but remember that this can't act as an upgrade CPU for LGA 775 moitherboards.
Budget - Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 - Dual-core, 2.93GHz
You can get this CPU up to 4GHz easily (Google is your friend) where it will run 100% stable. This puts an enormous amount of power at your disposal!
However, to get the most from the E7400, you'll need a motherboard that offers you plenty of overclocking potential. But don't worry, I've chosen one that's perfect for the job!
Price: $110
Honorable Mention: If you want to go quad-core on the cheap, AMD's Athlon II X4 635 2.9GHz could be for you. You should be able to pick one up for around $115.
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Motherboards
Extreme - EVGA 170-BL-E762-A1
The EVGA 170-BL-E762-A1 is the world's first 4-way SLI board which allws enthusiasts to configure multiple graphics cards in a variety of ways - 2-way SLI + PhysX, 3-way SLI + PhysX or 4-way SLI.
Excellent board! A dream board for high-end enthusiasts.
Price: $450
Honorable Mention: If you are looking for an Socket LGA 1156 for Core i7/i5 CPUs, an excellent choice is the EVGA P55 FTW 200 which retails fori around $270.
Mid-range - ASUS P5Q Pro Turbo
Solid and reliable board. If you're not yet ready to jump aboar the Core i5/i7 wagon, this is an excellent choice.
Price: $120
Budget - BioStar TP45E
The TP45E a good all-round board that offers plenty of options in the way of USB, SATA, Ethernet and so on. It's also another example of a rock-solid board that shouldn't give you any problems in day to day usage.
Sure, it's not got the fancy bells and whistles of the other high-end boards, but it's still an excellent board.
Price: $95
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RAM
Extreme - G.SKILL PI+Turbulence 8GB (2x2GB) DDR3 2200
- DDR3 rating - PC3-17600
- Timing - 7-10-10-28-2N
Price: $390
Mid-range - OCZ Platinum PC2-8500 2x2GB
Fast, reliable RAM with plenty of over head. This replaces the Reaper HPC modules that were previously on the list which had weird heatspreaders on them that made them tricky to fit in some systems.
- DDR2 rating - PC2-8500
- Freq - 1,066MHz
- Timing - 5-5-5-18
Price: $120
Budget - Corsair 2X2048-6400 2x2GB
Solid product with a decent backing. Also offers some overclocking potential. Great value for the price.
- DDR2 rating - PC2-6400
- Freq - 800MHz
- Timing - 4-4-4-12
- Bandwidth - 6.4GB/s
Price: $90
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Graphics cards
Extreme - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi)
But don't let your expectations get the better of you. Performance boosts for some games can be quite modest, you'll need a monster PSU, and these cards run very hot.
Price: around $500
Mid-range - ATI/AMD Radeon HD 5670
What’s interesting about the HD 5670 is that it is, as far as most gamers are concerned, the highest-end graphics card they need. Why? Because if you are playing your favorite games (Crysis, Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty 5 …) at screen resolutions of no more than 1600×1200 or 1920×1200 (or the equivalent in wide-screen) you can get all the gaming power you need for around $110!
A great card and a fantastic price.
Price: $110
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Hard disks
Extreme - SSD - OCZ Colossus 1TB
Colossus LT SSDs deliver exceptional performance for high-end desktops and are the result of OCZ’s latest breakthroughs in flash based storage. Designed to offer PC enthusiasts a best-in-class storage upgrade from traditional hard disc drives, the innovative Colossus LT Series features incredible speed and ample storage for the complete gamut of gaming, multimedia and demanding productivity applications.
Price: 1TB, $4,000
Extreme - High-speed - Western Digital VelociRaptor 600GB
The Western Digital Raptor/RaptorX has given way to a new hard drive - the VelociRaptor.
I'll be honest with you that the Velociraptor isn't as thrilling as the Raptor was, and it's not so easy to actually see the performance gains you are getting, but they are there. If you want the fastest drive going in your PC, you need the VelociRaptor. This is, however, the newer 600GB Raptor drive, whic offers performance and capacity.
Price: $280
Extreme - High-capacity - Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EADS 2TB
Want the largest capacity SATA drive going? then you want the Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EADS 2TB drive. Yes, you read that right - 2.0TB!
Not only is this drive fast, it also sips power as opposed to gulping it. This means that you save money and have less heat to deal with in your system. Sweet!
Price: $160
Mid-range - Samsung Spinpoint HD502HJ 500GB
Good drive at a fantastic price. Ideal for those looking for a second drive.
Price: $55
Budget - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD2500AAJB 250GB
Great starting point. Can't go wrong with this drive at the price it's going for now.
Price: $45
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Sound cards
Extreme - HT | Omega Claro Halo XT
An absolutely stunning card for the audio enthusiast. Lots of tweaking and customization options.
Price: $250
Mid-range - Creative X-FI Xtreme Gamer
Great mid-range sound card.
Price: $99
Budget - Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE
If you motherboard doesn't feature sound then this will rectify that. However, if your motherboard has onboard sound then you'll be just fine with that.
Price: $35
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PSUs
Extreme - Enermax Galaxy EGX1250EWT
The Galaxy EGX1250EWT has a whopping five 30A 12V power rails, which allow you to build a stable system. Oh, and the modular cabling system means less cable mess. Oh, and it’s also 80% efficient, so it doesn’t harm the sky … much.
Note: Do people really need a 1KW+ PSU? I doubt that many do, but there’s no doubt that these high-output PSUs are popular among performance enthusiasts, hence my reason for including one.
Price: $320
Mid-range - Antec EarthWatts 500W
Nice mid-range PSU. Efficient, reliable and provides ample power.
Price: $65
Budget - Antec EarthWatts 380W
Probably the best budget PSU you can find.
Price: $50
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Coolers
Extreme - Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme 1366
It's highly efficient at cooling pretty much any CPU you can throw at it (including the monster Core i7 965), it's quiet, it's low-profile so it doesn't look like you've jammed a car radiator inside your PC, and it's also cheap enough that it won't break the bank (if you're spending $1,000 on a CPU, less than $100 on a cooler is peanuts).
Price: $85
Mid-range - Cooler Master RL-EUL-GBU1-GP Aquagate S1
One of the best liquid CPU coolers (best in terms of price, performance, ease of use, quietness and reliability) is the Cooler Master RL-EUL-GBU1-GP Aquagate S1.
This system’s not elaborate and you don’t get enough radiators to heat your house, but for approximately $80 you get everything you need to cool most CPUs down, even if you overclock them.
Price: $75
Budget - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
What can I say about this cooler other than it’s quieter than the Intel stock cooler and a heck of a lot more efficient. It’s also easy to fit and remove and tends to fit well into cramped motherboards. No matter what other air cooler I look at, I always come back to this one. It’s also pretty cheap.
One of the best air cooler available ... certainly the best for the price!
Price: $35
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Cases
Extreme - Cooler Master RC-1100 Cosmos S ATX Full-Tower Case
High-end cases don’t get any better than the Cooler Master RC-1100 Cosmos S. Externally, the beautiful yet robust aluminum construction offers rigidity without too much of a weight penalty. Internally, the case offers bags of room - 7 exposed 5.25-inch drive bays, 4 hidden 3.5-inch bays (converted from three 5.25-inch bays), and 7 expansion slots. All bays are tool-free (and the good quality sort of tool-free, not the cheap and nasty variety).
The I/O panel offers four USB ports, IEEE1394 FireWire, eSATA, microphone, and audio.
The only downside - price.
Price: $200
Mid-range - Antec Nine Hundred
Nice, all-round mid-tower.
Price: $150
Budget - Antec Three Hundred
Nice, small, cheap and cheerful case.
Price: $60
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Monitors/Touchscreens
Specialist - NEC MultiSync LDC3090WQXi
If you're a professional looking for a monitor that you can trust in then look no further than the 30" MultiSync LCD3090WQXi from NEC.
This is a pro bit of kit aimed at the photographic, print production, graphic design and CAD/CAM industries, so expect a premium price! However, you do get a panel capable of stunningly flawless output.
Price: £2,050
Extreme - 30" - Dell UltraSharp 3008WFP
- 2560 x 1600 Native Resolution
- 3000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio
- TrueHD 1080 with an integrated HDMI connection
- Seven connection options: VGA, DVI-D with HDCP, HDMI, S-Video, Component, Composite and DisplayPort
If you don’t have the desk space for a dual-panel setup then this might be the solution for you (of you want to spend $2K on a panel).
Price: $1,699 (with instant savings on Dell.com I've seen this as low as $1,409)
Mid-range - 22" - Samsung T220
The Samsung T220 is a nice panel that not only displays a really sweet image, it also looks good in any setting.
- Display Type: Widescreen LCD
- Pixel Pitch: 0.258 mm
- Input Video Signal: DVI-D/VGA
- Dynamic Contrast Ratio: 20000:1
- Brightness: 300 cd/m²
- Response Time: 2 ms
- Horizontal Viewing Angle: 170 degrees
- Vertical Viewing Angle: 160 degrees
- Maximum Resolution: 1680 x 1050
Price: $250
Budget - Acer V173
A very nice budget screen that supports 1280 x 1024.
Price: $129
Touchscreen - GVISION P15BX-AB-459G
A great way to add touchscreen capability to your PC without having to buy a new PC is to add a touchscreen monitor. Here is a 15-inch 1024 x 768 panel offering that could make an idea second screen.
Price: $390
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Keyboards/ Mice
Extreme - Gyration GO 2.4
Probably the best keyboard and mouse setup that you can find. The wireless keyboard has a traditional look but packs state-of-the-art technology. The in-the-air mouse is also the very best you can buy.
Price: $285
Mid-range - Logitech MX5500
The MX5500 is probably one a great all-round keyboard and mouse combo. Ideal for a home/office/gaming system.
Price: $150
Budget - Microsoft CA9
About as cheap and cheerful as you can get!
Price: $16
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Other cool gear
Enthusiast GPS - TomTom GO 740 Live
Not only do you get flawless navigation, but you also get access to a whole raft of Live service (such as traffic and fuel prices), great portable media player that you can load your music and audio books onto for in-car fun.
King of the road!
Price: $399
Wireless Router - D-Link Xtreme N Duo (DIR-855)
Basically everything you could want from a router - reliable, robust, fast, easy to set up. Offers 802.11a/g and supports the draft 2 standard of 802.11n.
Ideal router for those streaming high amounts of data (such as HD video) over the air.
Price: $299
Printer - Canon PIXMA MX7600
Who wants a separate printer, fax, scanner and copier cluttering their office? Save space (and money) with an all-in-one printer system.
The Canon PIXMA MX7600 combines a 600 x 600 dpi monochrome printer with a 4800 x 1200 dpi color printer, a 4800 x 9600 dpi optical resolution scanner and a fax all in one package. You also get a handy Ethernet port for hooking it up to your network!
Price: $399