Tech advice requested

[doomlord9]

I am in the market for a new computer. The last couple times I have ordered the parts and assembled them myself and this has worked out ok but there have always been issues with doing so. Cutting corners to save just a little bit more, components not quite working together as they should because they are from different developers and they used different methods requiring work-arounds, things like that. Also I am easily excited/distracted by the shiny and sometimes won't calm down enough to see through a scam in time.

Now my budget is much larger for it and it has been easily a decade since I have last done so. Much of the terms and nuances about hardware I do not know.

Rather than spending far too long refreshing my knowledge on the subject and making god knows how many newbie mistakes, I'll just ask here.

I am wanting advice on if I should just buy a decent pre-built from Alienware or similar service with a good reputation for quality products of assemble a similar system myself for a lower price but with a greater chance of incompatible components.

---

I'm looking for a solid gaming computer. I won't say price is no object but $2k is within acceptable range while $5k definitely isn't.

General specs include a good video card with lots of video RAM. 256 MB has been driving me nuts and locking off a good 1/3 of my steam library.

Lots of system RAM, 2 GB has also been driving me nuts and making everything tediously slow. I'd say 16 GB min, maybe 32 if it doesn't massively jack up the price.

I'm going to be using my current SATA 2 HDD as a storage drive at least but I would like one SSD with decent capacity(as well as advice on the do's and don'ts of using an SSD) along with a large HDD for general storage.

A full copy of Windows, whichever one is actually functional and looks to actually work as intended. Win XP has served me well but it's time to upgrade that as well.

A Power Supply that can handle everything with excess power in case of future upgrades.

I am thinking on a Liquid Cooling system as well. Where my comp is has no heating or cooling so it gets pretty hot in the summer which has a noticeable effect on my comp performance but I'm not sure if the hassle, noise, and power use is worth it. The winter isn't a problem, everything runs great except that I need several layers myself to stay warm. I would really like advice on if this is a good idea or not.

---

If you are able to assemble a system purchase you KNOW will work, no 'it should work' or 'the theory is sound' on this purchase, from a site like Newegg which I have used before go ahead and link it to me to review. Alternately any good systems from prebuilt sites with a good rep for not selling faulty product would be appreciated.

Hopefully this will prevent me from making mistakes that are really obvious in hindsight but I was too distracted by the shiny thing to notice.

I would also like advice on DIMM-Drive and if it's worth the $22 it currently is on sale. I know there are free utilities that do the same thing but is the ease of use and integration worth it? It makes lots of claims and looks really shiny but is it actually worth it?

 

[seeing_octarine]

Keep in mind that I almost never get to build a new computer because I'm poor and destitute. (My current computer is one I got for free because a local university was throwing it out.) That being said, this seems like it might be of use to you.

 

[Jim Starluck]

If you happen to live near a MicroCenter, I highly recommend looking into shopping there. I built both my and my brother's current computers with parts bought there, and being able to go back and exchange if I got the wrong thing was invaluable. They also got me a System Builder's edition of Windows for significantly less than the standard edition.

 

[Seclorum]

First off, I'll need some ancillary information before I toss up a build for you.

Case - Do you want something small and compact? Or are you willing to have a more normal tower?

HDD - How much space is on your HDD you plan on using for storage, and how much space in general do you want?

Optical - Do you desire an Optical drive in your system?

CPU - What CPU do you have now, and do you use programs like Video Editing or Rendering?

GFX Card - Do you have a preference for Brand? AMD or Nvidia?

---

Your questions...

Prebuilt machines, like from Alienware and such are just fine. Dont let anyone tell you different. The key point people make when saying they are shit, is that you can save a LOT of money you might otherwise use for components as well as you get a lot more experience with how your system is built and how to fix it by doing it yourself.

I use a site called PCPartPicker.com to assemble configurations. It detects what parts are compatible with your build as you have selected and greatly speeds up finding parts as well as ordering them from a multitude of vendors, including Newegg.

Dimmdrive is not worth it imho.

 

[vyor]

You should use-

I use a site called PCPartPicker.com to assemble configurations. It detects what parts are compatible with your build as you have selected and greatly speeds up finding parts as well as ordering them from a multitude of vendors, including Newegg.

Click to shrink...

God damnit.

But ya, you shouldn't have too many problems with incompatible parts if you use that.

If you want to use an SSD, don't defrag it, and use it for either the OS or games. Not both, it just slows it down(you can do both, it just isn't recommended).

 

[Seclorum]

If you want to use an SSD, don't defrag it, and use it for either the OS or games. Not both, it just slows it down(you can do both, it just isn't recommended).

Click to shrink...

SSD's use a feature called TRIM.

Basically it will go along and zero out formerly used sections of the drive. This helps with drive longevity as well as keeps your overall drive response speed up.

In windows, it's generally enabled by default nowadays.

But depending on just how large a drive you are willing to get, you dont need to dedicate it to just the OS or just your games.

If you have the budget to swing it, I highly recommend a 1tb 850 Evo from Samsung. Oddles of storage for around 300 bucks.

 

[vyor]

But depending on just how large a drive you are willing to get, you dont need to dedicate it to just the OS or just your games.

Click to shrink...

There is that.

 

[Seclorum]

I'm currently looking at a build for myself when I get some money to update my old as shit system.

I have recently become enamoured by small SFF systems.

Like this little compact beauty...

https://www.ncases.com/

 

[Mu-Sensei]

If you're going for a desktop, a RAID0 Array with at least 4 disks of 7200 is enough even for HD intensive games (Starcraft 2 and Tera), sometimes surpassing entry levels SSDs. I have a 4x500gb@5400RPM, and a friend has one Kingston V300 SSD. My Games load faster (same CPU i3-4150@3.5GHz), and I have way more storage space...

 

[Seclorum]

If you're going for a desktop, a RAID0 Array with at least 4 disks of 7200 is enough even for HD intensive games (Starcraft 2 and Tera), sometimes surpassing entry levels SSDs. I have a 4x500gb@5400RPM, and a friend has one Kingston V300 SSD. My Games load faster (same CPU i3-4150@3.5GHz)

Click to shrink...

While it's possible to do this, I dont recommend it to non-tech savvy people.

Your basically Quadrupling your points of Failure for a storage array.

And with a Raid 0 array like that, if a single drive goes, you loose everything on all the drives.

Plus you introduce greater power requirements, more heat, and the noise of all those platters spinning up and down.

 

[Hexed999]

I am wanting advice on if I should just buy a decent pre-built

Click to shrink...

You should at least consider it.

Alienware

Click to shrink...

Stay away from gaming computers, they tend to be extremely overpriced and put too much money into the core and not enough into the graphics card. Know the individual parts and how good they are and you should be able to get a good deal on a pre-built quickly and easily.

Prebuilt machines, like from Alienware and such are just fine. Dont let anyone tell you different. The key point people make when saying they are shit, is that you can save a LOT of money you might otherwise use for components as well as you get a lot more experience with how your system is built and how to fix it by doing it yourself.

Click to shrink...

I bought a computer at the beginning of the summer and while I decided on a pre-built computer, I did look at a building one myself but decided not to due to time constraints (DIY takes time and they take more if you want to do it right). What I found was that is that pre-builts are tend to be roughly the same price as DIYs if you by them at full-price but you can get a few hundred off a DIYs easy and most decent pre-builts never go on sale for more then 100$ off, however on the flip side DIY will take you longer. I chose the pre-built because I wasn't able to take a desktop with me to school and wanted as much time on it as possible but I fully intend to build a computer once I've finished school and take them time to get a beast of a machine a low price.

tl;dr Get a pre-built if you want a computer now, build one yourself if you want one eventually.

 

[Mu-Sensei]

While it's possible to do this, I dont recommend it to non-tech savvy people.

Your basically Quadrupling your points of Failure for a storage array.

And with a Raid 0 array like that, if a single drive goes, you loose everything on all the drives.

Click to shrink...

Raid Arrays are not that fragile. Mine are all 500gb 2.5" hdds with more than a year of use each, none of them new, only two match, and I never had any issues with data loss. And we're talking about USA, right? Hard drives are way cheaper over there. Get a 4x1tb Array and a 4tb external HDD and set a windows automatic backup. I have one 2tb as a backup on my rig, even though it did cost me some extra, but hey, no risk of data loss on failure.

But considering normal use without an Anti-virus, backups are a must anyways (Not using an anti-virus is risky, but improves system speed considerably.

I'm currently looking at a build for myself when I get some money to update my old as shit system.

I have recently become enamoured by small SFF systems.

Like this little compact beauty...

https://www.ncases.com/

Click to shrink...

I have a CoolerMaster Elite 110 and I like it very much, but I'd love to build a even smaller case.

 

[Seclorum]

tl;dr Get a pre-built if you want a computer now, build one yourself if you want one eventually.

Click to shrink...

I usually budget a full day for unboxing, assembly, and basic software installation when I build.

But then I know exactly what I'm doing and have done it a bunch of times.

If going for a prebuilt machine, shop around to a couple different vendors.

Raid Arrays are not that fragile. Mine are all 500gb 2.5" hdds with more than a year of use each, none of them new, only two match, and I never had any issues with data loss. And we're talking about USA, right? Hard drives are way cheaper over there. Get a 4x1tb Array and a 4tb external HDD and set a windows automatic backup. I have one 2tb as a backup on my rig, even though it did cost me some extra, but hey, no risk of data loss on failure.

Click to shrink...

A spinning rust disk, a term I picked up from some google engineers who hated their Spinning HDD drives, generally has a MTBF (Mean Time Before Failure) of Three to Five years. They can fail at any time for various reasons and in a Raid-0 array, you are relying on none of the drives failing for any reason.

I've also had External drives fail when they were used in continuously connected applications, so it's not a cure all safety net.

I suggest using as few drives as you need, simply to reduce the number of things that can possibly fail.

Plus, 1 SSD will use less power, has no vibration, and much less heat than 4x Spinning Rust drives.

But considering normal use without an Anti-virus, backups are a must anyways (Not using an anti-virus is risky, but improves system speed considerably.

Click to shrink...

If you download a run a lot of "Questionable" Software from the web, you will want something as an Anti-Virus. I havent run one in over a decade. All I run nowadays is Spyware elimination and prevention software.

As for backups, really a more ideal solution would be something like a NAS, Network Attached Storage.

Essentially you build a small and light system you connect to your home network, that can have a bunch of drives crammed into it that acts as a backup system for every computer in your home that connects to your network.

 

[Mu-Sensei]

As for backups, really a more ideal solution would be something like a NAS, Network Attached Storage.

Click to shrink...

Not ideal for my wallet. 2K (on local currency) for 2tb.

EDIT: For reference, minimum monthly wage is ~800.

I Live on the land of overpriced entertainment and technology A.K.A Brazil.

A funny story I tell people is how the tourism companies were giving a PS4 for free when buying a USA or Europe package. Essentially, it was cheaper to buy the round trip ticket and the PS4 overseas than buying it here.

 

[edale]

if I should just buy a decent pre-built from Alienware or similar service

Click to shrink...

I don't know what they're like now-a-days, but back a few years ago when Alienware was bought out by Dell (I nearly cried when I heard about that)... Well, their quality tended to match Dell's quality after that... Not sure if they ever recovered from that, or if they're still coasting by on name recognition.

If you want to use an SSD, don't defrag it, and use it for either the OS or games. Not both, it just slows it down(you can do both, it just isn't recommended).

Click to shrink...

If you get a SSD, get Auslogics DiskDefrag (100% free). On top of being completely awesome for HDDs, it also can fully defrag SSDs (DO NOT defrag a SSD with software meant to defrag HDDs).

And if you get that DIMM-Drive (which I know nothing about that I haven't read on the page you linked to), it'll take care of that minor slowdown you might get from having your OS and games on the same SSD drive.

Haven't done much with liquid cooling myself, so can't comment on that.

 

[Seclorum]

If you get a SSD, get Auslogics DiskDefrag (100% free). On top of being completely awesome for HDDs, it also can fully defrag SSDs (DO NOT defrag a SSD with software meant to defrag HDDs).

Click to shrink...

You dont defrag SSD's.

Every time a write operation is performed, it minutely damages the NAND Flash. SSD's only have a limited number of write operations guaranteed in their lifespan. Anymore, it's measured in years and years of time.

Something like an 850 Evo from Samsung, has a 7.5 year "Lifespan" And a guaranteed write performance of around 90 Terabytes of data over that lifespan. Frequently they can exceed this.

Also, there is no real point to running a Defrag on an SSD. They physically dont suffer from file fragmentation that plagues Spinning Rust drives.

This is because there is no read head, and having data spread across the array doesn't take any time to move a read head over and let the disk spin under it. It's solid state, no moving parts except electrons.

And if you get that DIMM-Drive (which I know nothing about that I haven't read on the page you linked to), it'll take care of that minor slowdown you might get from having your OS and games on the same SSD drive.

Click to shrink...

Basically DIMM-Drive is a piece of software sold to facilitate making a RAM-Drive. IE, sectioning off a chunk of ram to act as a temporary hard disk.

It's stupid fast, way faster than an SSD or most Raid Arrays. But it's temporary and requires you dedicate a significant chunk of Ram to doing it, most of the time people dont install enough Ram to make it really worthwhile.

Haven't done much with liquid cooling myself, so can't comment on that.

Click to shrink...

Liquid Cooling really isn't all that different from traditional Air cooling.

There is this misconception that it can magically cool your system no matter what.

It cant.

You can not go beyond Ambient Temperatures, without some kind of compression cooling system, which is a whole nother ball of bees best left to professionals and the insane.

So if your room is 80 Deg F, You can never get your system below that on air or water without some extreme shenanigans.

A water cooling rig can be prohibitively expensive, because you have all kinds of fittings and hardware you have to buy to make it work. It also has a lot of maintenance you need to do year round to ensure the loop works correctly, and when it breaks, it can be catastrophic.

This is why things like the AIO water coolers that different MFG's put out, are more popular than building a custom loop.

They are as simple as normal Air coolers to install, no maintenance required, and give you a significant fraction of the performance of a custom loop.

What's the advantage to using a Water system at all?

Your moving the heat up off the Die, and dissipating it into the air more efficiently than a traditional Air cooler.

 

[pepperjack]

I use a site called PCPartPicker.com to assemble configurations. It detects what parts are compatible with your build as you have selected and greatly speeds up finding parts as well as ordering them from a multitude of vendors, including Newegg.

Click to shrink...

Let me add my voice to the chorus. Built my own computer for the first time last year, walked myself through it by using this site and reading the manuals that came with the parts. Worst issue I had to deal with was that it didn't turn on the first time because I hadn't plugged in the power supply firmly enough. Runs like a dream.

Oh, and my CPU fan fell off a month or two ago, but that was just because I didn't screw it in right back in October. It could happen to anyone and I'm frankly impressed it stayed on that long. I just stuck it back on with some leftover thermal paste and twisted the fasteners to the right this time, problem solved.

Or was it left...?

 

[Smuthunter]

I am actually building my PC for the first time sometime this week, just as soon as the case and the RAM come in the mail. I also used PC Parts Picker to select my build after this setup was recommended to me elsewhere.

 

[Seclorum]

I am actually building my PC for the first time sometime this week, just as soon as the case and the RAM come in the mail. I also used PC Parts Picker to select my build after this setup was recommended to me elsewhere.

Click to shrink...

Not a bad little system.

Do you already have a copy of Windows you can use, and media to install it with?

 

[Smuthunter]

Not a bad little system.

Do you already have a copy of Windows you can use, and media to install it with?

Click to shrink...

...shit. I have a copy of Windows 7 but it's on a disc and I don't have an optic drive.

Can a Windows installation disc be loaded onto an external hard drive and booted from there, or would a new system's USB ports not work without drivers installed?

 

[Seclorum]

...shit. I have a copy of Windows 7 but it's on a disc and I don't have an optic drive.

Can a Windows installation disc be loaded onto an external hard drive and booted from there, or would a new system's USB ports not work without drivers installed?

Click to shrink...

Yes.

Windows really wont like being on an external but it should work.

Another option is to get a nice sized Thumb Drive, and "Slipstream" an installation with some software you can look up. This way you just plug the USB drive in, boot the new system, and it can install a fresh OS using the Thumb drive as an Install Disk.

Heck, Windows 10 can be purchased right now straight up on a USB thumbdrive from the factory!

You may have issues if you already used that Win7 key on your current machine. Keys get locked to whatever Motherboard they were first installed on.

 

[Smuthunter]

Yes.

Windows really wont like being on an external but it should work.

Another option is to get a nice sized Thumb Drive, and "Slipstream" an installation with some software you can look up. This way you just plug the USB drive in, boot the new system, and it can install a fresh OS using the Thumb drive as an Install Disk.

Heck, Windows 10 can be purchased right now straight up on a USB thumbdrive from the factory!

Click to shrink...

I'm not touching 10 until Microsoft severely revamps their new privacy policy, at the very least.

You may have issues if you already used that Win7 key on your current machine. Keys get locked to whatever Motherboard they were first installed on.

Click to shrink...

I knew that much, I bought a new copy of 7 Pro for the occasion.

 

[Seclorum]

I'm not touching 10 until Microsoft severely revamps their new privacy policy, at the very least.

Click to shrink...

There is a lot you can do as a user to block MS and the shitstorm that is Win 10 Privacy.

But I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Microsoft is porting all the privacy invasive stuff back into Win 7 and Win 8/8.1. So if your running a more modern Windows install than say, Vista, you are boned on the privacy front.

 

[Smuthunter]

There is a lot you can do as a user to block MS and the shitstorm that is Win 10 Privacy.

But I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Microsoft is porting all the privacy invasive stuff back into Win 7 and Win 8/8.1. So if your running a more modern Windows install than say, Vista, you are boned on the privacy front.

Click to shrink...

Not if you stop Microsoft Updates from applying those patches.

 

[Seclorum]

Not if you stop Microsoft Updates from applying those patches.

Click to shrink...

They slip them in with other required updates. The only way to block them is to literally never connect your machine to the internet.

 

[Smuthunter]

They slip them in with other required updates. The only way to block them is to literally never connect your machine to the internet.

Click to shrink...

No, the updates in question are specifically marked as optional. The only way they get installed is if you opt into them. And I have CEIP turned off for both Windows and Office so even if they got in they still wouldn't get anything out of me.

 

[Seclorum]

Sat down and on a lark, put together a possible build within your price range I think will work for you.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card ($334.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define S ATX Mid Tower Case ($98.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full - USB (32/64-bit)
Total: $993.91 - Dont pay attention to this. The export of the list doesn't include some things in this number, like the CPU. That's because Newegg currently doesn't have any in stock. Click the part list above to see the true value.
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-09 21:18 EDT-0400

CPU - i7 6700k - Probably over what you really NEED, but it's Intel's latest and greatest mainstream processor. The i7 means this Quad core chip can utilize downtime to impersonate an Octo core chip. This is really helpful when your running heavily threaded programs or many programs at once, but most people would only really encounter this when trying to edit or render video.

Cooler - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo - A very well respected aftermarket Air cooler. You might want to pick up an aftermarket thermal compund as well, they usualy run around 5-10 bucks. With the Skylake generation, you NEED to buy an aftermarket cooler like this, as they no longer come with reference coolers.

Mobo - MSI Z170A Gaming M3 - A nice and well respected brand. This motherboard is needed to use the above CPU. MSI also includes their own version of DIMM-Drive technology in the bios, so you dont need to buy it seperately. Although if you wish to use it, I suggest upping the amount of Ram you stuff into the system.

Ram - Corsair Vengence LPX 16gb DDR4 - Memory needed for the motherboard and processor. Anymore you should run at LEAST 8gb if not 16gb of memory. Personally I might bump this up to 32gb given who long I tend to use systems for and the average rate of expansion of memory needs nowadays.

Storage - Samsung 850 Evo 500gb - This is another part I might bump up if you want or add another drive for dedicated bulk storage.

GFX Card - MSI Radeon 390 8gb - The 390 series has taken the crown off the venerable Geforce 970 as the midrange price performance King.

Case - Fractal Design S - A good rather barebones case. Note, you cant mount any 5.25" drives. So no CD/DVD drives in this baby. But it has plenty of good space inside for parts, it's built and constructed with Water Cooling in mind, and it has air intake filters that are easy to access along the front and the bottom, keeping dust out of your case. You should probably think about getting some more fans for this bad boy to increase airflow. It has space for a TON of fans. It also has liberal uses of sound dampening materials to try and keep the noise from everything under control.

PSU - EVGA Supernova 750W 80+ Gold Cert - Good brand, plenty of power for just about anything you could throw at it with your budget. The 80+ Gold means it's efficient and will hopefully keep your power bill down.

OS - Windows 10 USB - Do be warned that Windows 10 has known privacy issues. There are plenty of articles and videos by people such as the guys over at TekSyndicate on youtube that explain what they are, and how to minimize the problem.

 

[doomlord9]

Don't have time to look over everything right now but thanks for the advice thus far.

Case - Do you want something small and compact? Or are you willing to have a more normal tower?

Click to shrink...

Full tower is fine and what I am using right now. Doesn't need to be fancy and I would prefer to stay away from excess LEDs and whatnot. They look awesome but they get really distracting sometimes. I have mentioned that I am easily distracted by the shiny right? I meant that both metaphorically and literally.

HDD - How much space is on your HDD you plan on using for storage, and how much space in general do you want?

Click to shrink...

If I can swing it I would prefer one drive dedicated towards OS, one purely for games, then a third for general storage. Two SSD's for the dedicated storage wouldn't bother me too much.

Optical - Do you desire an Optical drive in your system?

Click to shrink...

By this I assume you mean a CD/DVD drive? Then yes, it's always good to have one. Doesn't need to be crazy good because it'll likely only get one use every few months but a reliable one would be wanted.

CPU - What CPU do you have now, and do you use programs like Video Editing or Rendering?

Click to shrink...

Pentium D 2.8 GHz dual core. No video editing or rendering, mostly browsing and gaming.

GFX Card - Do you have a preference for Brand? AMD or Nvidia?

Click to shrink...

I usually use Nvidia but I'm not attached to the brand. Whatever works best with the rest of everything and will cause the least amount of problems down the line is what I want.

The system build looks good thus far but I don't have time ATM to look at it closely.

No hurry though, I'm not in a rush and definitely want to do this right.

 

[Seclorum]

The system build looks good thus far but I don't have time ATM to look at it closely.

Click to shrink...

Just about the only thing I didn't completely account for in my previous post with a possible build for you, would be your desire for an optical drive.

Which is simple enough to fix if having an external optical drive doesn't bother you overly much.

The Define S case I selected has two dedicated SSD mounts behind the motherboard, and mounts for up to three 3.5mm HDD's or SSD's on that side of the case.

So it's got plenty of space to stuff storageif you want to go with your configuration of drives you describe.

 

[subsider34]

In terms of graphics cards, AMD has recently shown very promising performance on the first DirectX 12 assessments, even with their older cards. Apparently all those parallel processing units that made them popular for bitcoin mining a while back are actually being put to use by the new standard. While nVidia's serialized GPU processing reigns supreme for DX11 and lower games, its not by nearly enough to push AMD out of the mid-level market. If you want future-proofed I'd go with AMD right now. Perhaps something from their 200 or 300 series for affordability.

CPUs...well who do you want? Intel comes with a significant premium and tends to strip out useful features in all but their top-of-the-line chips, but they have better serialized performance and power efficiency. AMD's performance isn't as good, but their feature set is much more consistent across each chipset in a family. I recommend the FX-Series if you go that direction. With Intel you have to worry about whether one i5 is merely slower than another or if they actually stripped out Virtualization support, HyperThreading, or more.

For a power supply I'd recommend at least 600W, possibly 800, depending on your graphics card, desire to overclock, number of drives, etc. Especially if you anticipate using every port you have.

Liquid Cooling is an excellent choice for all occasions, but you might be surprised that quality thermal paste (that stuff between the processor and the heat sink) can have a significant impact as well. Arctic Silver is always a good standby, but just about anything is better than stock. I've had this $8 purchase decrease my CPU temperature by nearly 10°C before.

Now Motherboards...Stay away from Gigabyte. Every single one I've seen in the past year or two had something (usually more than one something) major go wrong with them. Everything from ports dying to both BIOSes failing, to Windows changing its mind about whether those nice SATA III ports you have are actually SATA I ports between reboots. Not all that familiar with others at the moment, sorry.