1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Gaming, media playback, etc.
My gaming requirements are somewhat modest: most of the unplayed games in my collection are not extremely new and have been bought from Steam sales (to venture a guess, Crysis 2 is probably the most demanding). I would like to be able to run games currently available and those that will soon be released flawlessly. I plan on using a single 1080p monitor, for the time being, although adding a second one is certainly not out of the question.
My media storage requirements are quite large, however. I'm always finding I could make use of more storage space. I do not currently back up everything properly.
2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
My main criteria is value (bang for the buck). I am willing to pay more for useful performance gains, but I will not throw good money after bad (ex. my impression is SLI/Crossfire is wasteful, as my understanding is it only provides a 50% performance increase at 200% of the price). I would rather spend $300 on a part that will be obsolete in two years, than $600 on a part that will be obsolete in four (on the basis that the $300 part will meet my needs for two years, and the replacement at that time will be more powerful than the $600 part from two years ago).
That said, I'll pick a number of say, oh, $1000 +/- 20% as the starting point. I do have the means to go above that if there is a compelling reason to do so.
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
Canada
4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
We can't be expected to scour the internet on your behalf, chasing down deals in your specific country... Again, help us, help YOU.
www.newegg.ca
www.ncix.com
www.canadacomputers.com
www.memoryexpress.com
www.amazon.ca
5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
I don't really feel strongly any way here. In general, though:
Intel over AMD
nVidia over ATI
WD over Seagate (I've heard Seagate's had a bunch of problems recently? I may be misinformed..)
6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
I will keep my current monitor. I could use my current GPU (Radeon HD 7850 Core Edition), as I upgraded to it ~1.25 years ago, but it would likely be a bottleneck.
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Probably at default speeds.
8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?
1920x1080
9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.
Within the next few weeks.
X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?
I'll probably need to pick up a copy of Windows (not included in the above budget). Likely Win 7, as what I have seen of Win 8, I do not like (though, I haven't seen the recent updates).
Gaming, media playback, etc.
My gaming requirements are somewhat modest: most of the unplayed games in my collection are not extremely new and have been bought from Steam sales (to venture a guess, Crysis 2 is probably the most demanding). I would like to be able to run games currently available and those that will soon be released flawlessly. I plan on using a single 1080p monitor, for the time being, although adding a second one is certainly not out of the question.
My media storage requirements are quite large, however. I'm always finding I could make use of more storage space. I do not currently back up everything properly.
2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
My main criteria is value (bang for the buck). I am willing to pay more for useful performance gains, but I will not throw good money after bad (ex. my impression is SLI/Crossfire is wasteful, as my understanding is it only provides a 50% performance increase at 200% of the price). I would rather spend $300 on a part that will be obsolete in two years, than $600 on a part that will be obsolete in four (on the basis that the $300 part will meet my needs for two years, and the replacement at that time will be more powerful than the $600 part from two years ago).
That said, I'll pick a number of say, oh, $1000 +/- 20% as the starting point. I do have the means to go above that if there is a compelling reason to do so.
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
Canada
4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
We can't be expected to scour the internet on your behalf, chasing down deals in your specific country... Again, help us, help YOU.
www.newegg.ca
www.ncix.com
www.canadacomputers.com
www.memoryexpress.com
www.amazon.ca
5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
I don't really feel strongly any way here. In general, though:
Intel over AMD
nVidia over ATI
WD over Seagate (I've heard Seagate's had a bunch of problems recently? I may be misinformed..)
6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
I will keep my current monitor. I could use my current GPU (Radeon HD 7850 Core Edition), as I upgraded to it ~1.25 years ago, but it would likely be a bottleneck.
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Probably at default speeds.
8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?
1920x1080
9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.
Within the next few weeks.
X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?
I'll probably need to pick up a copy of Windows (not included in the above budget). Likely Win 7, as what I have seen of Win 8, I do not like (though, I haven't seen the recent updates).
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and just took out the summer equipment.
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