Building a High Performance Windows 7 PC
section: windows, for your questions: KezNews forum, 15.4.2009
Tip: Click here to update all your PC's outdated driversWith Windows 7 release candidate just around the corner, the other day I was asked to spec out a high performance PC suitable for Windows 7 64-bit, This system would also be a great Vista system.
Just to clarify that this is a “high performance” PC, and not a “sky’s the limit, money no object” system. I am therefore choosing parts that offer the best bang for the buck at the high end, and not the very best, bleeding edge components.
Here’s the spec I came up with:
CPU
Choosing an Intel CPU is a no-brainer when it comes to high performance PCs. Intel’s current Core i7 silicon offer the very best performance going. However, if you go for the top of the line 965 Extreme Edition then you are going to be spending a thousand dollars on the CPU alone. While some people are happy to spend such sums on just the CPU, I feel that the cost outweighs the performance gains and that the cheapest Core i7, the2.66GHz 920, which retails at a more reasonable $290 is a better option.
Motherboard
With the Core i7 processor in the bag, we now need a compatible motherboard. A Core i7 CPU needs a socket LGA 1366 motherboard sporting an X58 chipset, and fortunately there are plenty to choose from.
RAM
While the ASUS P6T can support up to 24GB of RAM, that much memory is overkill and a waste of money. A good compromise for a Core i7 system is 12GB.source:
blogs.zdnet.com
>> Click Here to Run a Free Scan for PC Errors <<
Send link 2 friend | Permalink
MORE RELATED ARTICLES:
Western Digital Launches High-Performance 7200RPM 2TB Drives || Check PC Performance Details with WinSAT in Windows 7 or Vista || 120 Original Windows 7 High Resolution Wallpapers || Understanding Windows 7 New Levels of Performance and Reliability || Windows 7 build 7057 - Performance that blasts past XP, Vista
Comments(17)
this sounds to me like a huge advertisement campaign. computer's high-end hardware has
become an obsession for many people. now days we have a thousand times faster cpu, memory
ram, gpus, etc. but the user experience hasn't become a thousand times faster yet. i7
intel? 12gb ram? what the hell is going on with people now days? we run heavy databases
servers with half of that power. i play some games once in a blue moon with a dual core
cpu, 9800gt gpu and 4gb ram. our xserver takes 75 clients load with 2gb ram and dual xeon
cpus! i can't wait to see somebody showing me a home/client high-end pc addressing 12gb
ram and a proof that "windows" is really using that much ram and cpu cycles. intel cpu
is a no-brainer when it comes to expensive hardware that most of the time is not even used
for the proposes it has been built for.
i think i get it! this is just another
way to take money away from people that can afford these expenses and that obviously
don't know any better.
cheers
12 gigs of ram for a home pc? nice to have but absolutely unnecessary.
win 7
is pretty much vista special edition and will do fine with 4 gigs (8 if you really need
it).
as someone else said, it's a su*kers market. i deal with a lot of first
time buyers who want tri sli and 965s. they don't have a clue what they are buying and
they don't understand that maintaining a machine like that requires some degree of
expertise.
i've had 5 returns since the beginning of the year from people
who've basically never touched the inner workings of a pc but thought they were somehow
qualified to overclock a 965 cpu, ram, gpu etc based on reading one article or another.
the problem is that everyone "thinks" they are an expert these days because
they watch an hour of g4 a day or they've done a year at x community college.
so silly :(
take 12 gb ram in your a.s.s!!!!!
i just read this idiot's article.
what a clueless a$$hat. first he says its
not a high end build, then he adds a gtx 285 (fastest single gpu card available).
he reckons the sb x-fi is an easy choice when auzentech are far better for x-fi and
the asus xonar hdav is an equally good solution.
he reckons you should buy the
highest end video card going and 12 gigs of ram but you dont want to spend cash on an ssd
because they are expensive (offering massive speed increases)
finally, 12 gigs
of ram? what an a$$hat. win 7 is vista 2k9 edition ffs, it will run fine on the same
hardware as vista does.
at this time:
buying a core i7 system is actually waste of money.
because.
amd coming up!
intell will reduce the prices.
if you buy a core i7 with appr.
$400, may be i will buy it with $250.
it's same for mainboard en ram's.
i'm
really happy with mine q9550 :)
i'v got 7.4 points & w7 and i can run 3 virtual w7
machines at same time with many progresses and host computer has palso running programs (
winamp, ff, ie8 etc.. )
far enough...
isn't it?
that g.a.y. guy can just go to f0ck a goat.
amd x4 phenom.
need not say more.
12gb ram is not enough, i recommend 24gb if you intend on sending emails.
i've got win 7 installed on an old dell desktop for the hell of it . . . with 512 mb
ram, pci nvidia graphics card 128 mb, 120 gb western digital hard drive, came with win 98
se and it runs just fine.
i agree with slick,kody,fu.cker, and the rest- i'm finished with the upgrade the
hardware game every time a new os is out it's just ridiculous.
jeez, i guess amd cpus are incompatible with 7... and i'd better give away my q9550 w/
4gb ram, it won't run 7 properly...
i'm running win7 on:
amd phenom 9950 (3.2ghz oc)
6 gb ddr2-1066
xfx
9800gtx+ xxx 512mb
it's running like a dream! :d
and cpu for half the
money then an i7 cpu
i jus installed windows 7 ultimate.
i got 2 gig ram
2.61 dual core athlon 64
bit
msi ultra board......and it works cool
12 gigs of ram.....get the f..k outa
here
oh i got a shitty ass 7300gt....512
and i runnin anythin so far
my score is 4.4
7800 gtx sli
fx57
2gb ram
80386 sx
25mhz
4mb ram
250mb hdd
windows 3.1
1mb svga
soundblaster
:)
yea i kinda be thinking that maybe adrian at blogs zdnet is in need of a lobotomy. a $300
cpu? 12gb of ddr3 ram at $220? video card for $340? what? $2500 for a new windows 7
'performance pc' lol... i just built a pc containing a ma790x motherboard, phenom ii
940 be cpu at 3.2ghz, 4gb of ocz 1066mhz ram, and a radeon hd 4670 with 1gb ddr3 ram. for
about $1500 less at $990. this thing can push call of duty 4 modern warfare with graphics
set to high at 1920 x 1080 on my new 23 inch monitor, of which was included with the $990.
this pc can also transcode a 90-100 minute movie and burn it to dvd in about 25 minutes, i
imagine a 2 hour movie would be about 30. but what are we doing with this pc hes talking
about? what, can it finish a dvd in 20-22 minutes? big deal! whats he talking about for
games? microsoft's dx 10.1 trash? well good thats nice cause my video card does 10.1 as
well lol. not to mention the rest of the parts that i bought...22x dvd burner with light
scribe, 500gb hd, 600watt psu. etc... take it how u will but i am here stating that this
guy out of his mind. i know what i am talking about as i have been working with pc's
since the early 90's and i am about to be a certified pc tech... and then onto
pro-networking!
No new comments are allowed for this article.
For your questions use our KezNews Forum
Windows 7 RTM 7600.16385.090713-1255 HERE !
Advertisement?
By Yoni on 16.04.2009 - 00:04