D.I.Y. - PC Component Reviews

Originally Posted to ZDNet

Welcome to the updated and revamped Hardware 2.0 “Very Best Kit List” for Mar/Apr 09. 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!

This new kit list has been expanded significantly from the last time I published a kit list.

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: Each time I come out with a list of kit I always end up fielding a few emails and comments from people wondering if companies have “bought” space on the list. Let me tell you now that the only way for a product to get on this list is to be the best - period. Manufacturers, vendors and PR companies have zero influence over this or any other recommendation that I make.

Also note: I’m looking to expand this list by adding more categories and components. If you’d like to see anything added, let me know!

Final note: All prices are approximate … shop around for the best deals!

CPU

Extreme - Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition

Quad-core, 3.2GHz

The Core i7 processors represents a new era in architecture for Intel. Gone is the LGA 775 socket, instead replaced by the larger Socket LGA 1366.

With the Core i7 Intel has also reintroduced Hyper-Threading, giving the desktop CPUs the power of eight virtual cores. You also get the brand new X58 chipset and support for DDR3.

Additional info - What you need to go Core i7!!!

Price: $1010

Mid-range - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600

Quad-core, 2.4GHz

The quad-core Core 2 Quad Q6600 is one of the best CPUs Intel has ever made. Sure, there are more powerful pieces, and the Q6600 is now looking a little old (the 65nm architecture it’s based on now dates it), but it’s still a great CPU. For most enthusiasts it’s still the first rung on the ladder of quad-core ownership.

Price: $195

Budget - Intel Core 2 Duo E7300

Dual-core, 2.66GHz

The E7300 is an excellent CPU. It’s a 2.66GHz part based on Intel’s 45nm Wolfdale architecture. But that’s not the reason I’ve chosen the E7300 for this package. I’ve chosen it because it is highly overclockable.

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 E7300, 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: $130

Motherboard

Extreme - Asus P6T Deluxe/OC Palm

The Asus P6T Deluxe is, without a doubt, the best motherboard to match up with the Core i7. There are cheaper boards, and there are now boards that cost more, but the P6T Deluxe/OC Palm is the best. It’s a fast, stable board that’s packed with features and settings for the enthusiast and overclocker.

Excellent board!

Price: $330

Mid-range - BioStar TPower I45

The BioStar TPower I45 is a great mid-range board because it combines rock-solid features with the ability to handle overclocking so you can unleash the hidden potential of your other hardware. I’m now amazed how many lower-speced boards offer very sophisticated overclocking features.

Another well laid out, fully-featured board from BioStar. Keep an eye on this company over the coming year, I expect to see more good things from it!

Price: $160

Budget - BioStar TP45HP

The TP45HP 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.

But the main reason I’ve picked this particular board for this package is that it’s a great board for overclocking. In fact, I’d go as far as to call it an overclocker’s dream board.

Price: $110

RAM

Extreme - Corsair Dominator TR3X6GB1600C8D 3×6GB

6GB of high-performance DDR3 RAM with loads of overclocking potential - what more could you ask for!

• DDR3 rating - PC3-12800
• Freq - 1,600MHz
• Timing - 8-8-8-24
• Bandwidth - 12.8GB/s

Price: $215

Mid-range - OCZ PC2-8500 Reaper HPC 2×2GB

Fast, reliable RAM with plenty of over head. Coolers are a bit weird but if you can ignore that, this is a good buy!

• DDR2 rating - PC2-8500
• Freq - 1,066MHz
• Timing - 5-5-5-15
• Bandwidth - 8.5GB/s

Price: $80

Budget - Corsair 2X2048-6400 2×2GB

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: $50

Read Entire Review at ZDNet

Some Flash Drives More Equal Than Others

Originally Posted to ZDNet

Low-priced SATA flash drives are tempting. But beware: some of them test at an abysmal 2 random writes per second!

The hype around flash SSDs attracted bottom-feeders to build junk drives with USB thumb drive controllers that were never intended for disk-level performance. Stuff them full of off-spec flash and you have I/O disaster.

Avoid flash SSD garbage
Modern journaled file systems do 2 writes - metadata and journal - for every file you open. Open a few files on one of these SSDs and you’d have a good long wait before you could get to work - at 10x the cost of a hard disk drive.

You’ve heard of “slow food?”
The test results come from hard drive and SSD test equipment maker Calypso Systems. All SSDs and hard drives were fresh out of the box and tested on the same benchmarks on the same testbed.

Results

MLC SSD vs HD performance on 2k, 4k and 128k writes.

Graph courtesy Calypso Systems.

How to avoid a lemon
Calypso wants to get business from everyone who makes SSDs - so they didn’t finger the bad guys. But their results suggest a strategy for getting what you think you’re paying for: a high-performance flash SSD.

• SLC = performance. Single level cell (SLC) flash is lower density and 4x the cost of multi level cell (MLC) flash - but it offers 10x the write life of MLC. Garage-shop vendors putting out garbage SSDs aren’t likely to invest in costly SLC flash so you’re more likely to get what you paid for.
• MLC = caution. Calypso’s results show that not all MLC are created equal: there are good ones out there. But when you see a low-priced MLC drive you should wonder why.
• Find customer reviews! Storage civilians may not know why a drive is slow - but their experience can help you avoid lemons. Make sure your vendor has a good return policy too.
• 3rd gen drives. Like any new technology it’s taken the engineers a while to learn how to deliver the goods. The 3rd gen drives from Samsung and Intel have garnered good reviews because they’ve ironed out most of the kinks.

Note that price isn’t a predictor either.

The Storage Bits take
There are good MLC flash drives along with the junk. Today’s virtual-memory, multi-tasking operating systems rely on predictable I/O to deliver decent performance. You can spend a lot of money and cripple your system at the same time.

That said, after a long wait there are finally some good flash SSDs out there. I’ve been using 2nd-gen MacBook Air with a 128 GB SSD for the last several months and I’ve been pleased. Boot times are a little faster than my 10k WD VelociRaptor-equipped quad-core Mac Pro - but the Pro has more startup items - and that’s a good thing.

Many small writes - mostly software installs - bring the SSD to its knees. Worth the extra $500? Not really. But at least it does what Apple promised - unlike the garbage from some vendors.