14 replies to this topic

[Serafita Kayin]

If you're building, buying or upgrading, your favorite threads can now be found here:

PSU Buyer's Guide

The Constantly Evolving Suggested Builds Thread

Anandtech's BENCH Comparison Tool thread

And I'm certain there will be more to come.  This is simply an effort to clean up a bit around here as we get ready for more news and hopefully some info on requirements.  There will most likely be other threads added here in the future, so check back often!

Here's an external link to hardware failure rates on some popular brands, this will be updated as often as new ones are released.

http://www.xtremesys...ad.php?t=263481

[Lord Sojar]

That hardware failure rates thread you linked to is rather... useless..  it's based on a single e-tailer, and only 100-500 units sold.  That's, a bad comparison.  Maxtor has the lowest failure rate of drive?  Kingston beats out Crucial?  PNY has lower failure rates than XFX?  HAHAHAH, good jokes.

[Truthe]

Western Digital is sposed to be the most stable hardisc frmo what i've read ;) yeah lol the jokes are funny crucial dominator gt 2000 DDR3 ram ftw, xfx for psu

[Lord Sojar]

Truthe said:

Western Digital is sposed to be the most stable hardisc frmo what i've read ;) yeah lol the jokes are funny crucial dominator gt 2000 DDR3 ram ftw, xfx for psu

Samsung as well.  The Samsung F3 is still the best and fastest mechanical HDD on the market

[dhatcher1]

Lord Sojar said:

Samsung as well.  The Samsung F3 is still the best and fastest mechanical HDD on the market

The Samsung F4 320GB is faster (single sided, single platter 7200RPM).  I just wish they had a 640GB model out as 320 is a bit small.

[Lord Sojar]

dhatcher1 said:

The Samsung F4 320GB is faster (single sided, single platter 7200RPM).  I just wish they had a 640GB model out as 320 is a bit small.

I should have clarified:  The Samsung F3 is the fastest high density mechanical HDD on the market (aka 1TB or better)  :p

[Truthe]

Lord Sojar said:

I should have clarified:  The Samsung F3 is the fastest high density mechanical HDD on the market (aka 1TB or better)  :p

Argh, meine head hurten...

Okay so all excited I do a bit of research something to do with less parts gives 10% and 7% increase something or rather in access times etc.

but with 16MB Cache and 7200RPM won't that lose everytime to 10000RPM 64MB cache, and foolishly now I'm going to be brave and say even 32MB 7200RPM (lets just assume the make is Western Digital for now)

please explain?

[dhatcher1]

Truthe said:

but with 16MB Cache and 7200RPM won't that lose everytime to 10000RPM 64MB cache,

For random access the 10K raptors beat the 7.2K drives (as it takes more time for the platter to make a full circle).  The contemporary solution is to buy an SSD which makes the 10K HDD look like a snail in random access races.  Thats why SSDs are best for boot drives.

For throughput the platter density matters more.  An old 10K raptor might have a 200 GB platter.  New Samsung F3s have 500 GB platters.  The rapor spins 50% faster, but the F3 is reading 250% more data on the same amount of rotation.  250% is alot more gain than 50%.  You want the most dense platters you can find for storing large files.

Right now, as far as I know the Samsung F4 320 GB 7200 RPM is the fastest throughput available.  It runs one side of a 640GB platter which is the most dense available.  Its also below $45 so its great as the solo drive for a low end system.  Some of the expensive 2TB drives with 4x500gb platters might be faster due to larger caches.

Edited by dhatcher1, 17 February 2011 - 10:46 PM.

[Truthe]

dhatcher1 said:

For random access the 10K raptors beat the 7.2K drives (as it takes more time for the platter to make a full circle).  The contemporary solution is to buy an SSD which makes the 10K HDD look like a snail in random access races.  Thats why SSDs are best for boot drives.

For throughput the platter density matters more.  An old 10K raptor might have a 200 GB platter.  New Samsung F3s have 500 GB platters.  The rapor spins 50% faster, but the F3 is reading 250% more data on the same amount of rotation.  250% is alot more gain than 50%.  You want the most dense platters you can find for storing large files.

Right now, as far as I know the Samsung F4 320 GB 7200 RPM is the fastest throughput available.  It runs one side of a 640GB platter which is the most dense available.  Its also below $45 so its great as the solo drive for a low end system.  Some of the expensive 2TB drives with 4x500gb platters might be faster due to larger caches.

cool, tho personally im not fussy about load times n such.

[dhatcher1]

Truthe said:

cool, tho personally im not fussy about load times n such.

Like screen size, its not a big deal when you are moving up.  Once you are used to it, moving back is painful.

[Truthe]

yeah i heard that but i can live with not forking out that extra cash :(

[poootythang]

I would also recommend these outside links. I used these for research on my build last December.

CPU Heat Sinks
GPU benchmarks
more GPU preformance charts
Fan benchmarks
Recommended SILENT hard drives

For software, these links might be helpful.
Vista/7 performance tweaks
Best Free Software

Edited by poootythang, 23 February 2011 - 12:43 PM.

[Undead]

Maxtor has the lowest failure rate of drives?... I don't think so.

As for Seasonic have a higher failure rate than Antec, Corsair, and Enermax.... it makes sense sort of. Seasonic have always had pretty good electrical performance with their PSU's, however their build quality can sometimes be a little 'meh'.

No way should CM and Thermaltake be ahead of Seasonic though, half of the units Thermaltake sell (most of the TR2 and budget units) and horrible junk. Same goes for CM. Their GX750 PSU can only do about 450w before going out of ATX spec.. Their elite/xtreme Power units are also junk.

If were talking on a worldwide scale I would imagine Delta, Enhance and Enermax units to have the lowest failure rates. The PSU's made by these manufacturers usually have very good build quality.

And Fortron (FSP).... they're mediocre all over.

Edited by Undead, 23 February 2011 - 02:06 PM.

[The Comfy Chair]

The laptop thread by tijo has been started, if you can edit the OP to include that, it'd be useful.

[devicus]

http://www.tomshardw...ock,3106-5.html
http://www.tomshardw...eview,3107.html

I think these will be pretty useful, there's stuff for other parts too if you can navigate the site. The tier system means you can compare various parts and look for the the deals (as well as what works with your existing MOBO and other parts) it doesn't use benchmarks, so it's approximate but it's approximate in a parsimonious way rather than a dodgy one. Rather than checking benches you can see how your parts compare to other choices, and if you're building a rig, the minimum requirements are the X1800 (somewhere in the middle of the GPU chart) and the e6400 (somewhere towards the bottom, 3 tiers up I think) so you can see what's going on from there.