Hardware Opinions and Ruminations

Fanboy (n)
Technocratic zealots; evangelicals of geekery.
Characterized by irrational advocacy of a particular OS, console, company, or franchise.
Definition by Dr. Know at Urban Dictionary

Opinionating on computer hardware on the internet can be a dangerous thing. For every statement there is a rebuttal. For every argument there is a counterpoint. For every stance there are a hundred supporting stances and a thousand opposing. What follows is merely my take on the many different questions that arise over what hardware is better than others. Take it with a pinch of salt, and if you feel the flames rising... go jump in a river.

The CPU War

In terms of vicious online fanboyism and flamewars, the CPU question causes perhaps the most carnage of all, excepting of course the Dreaded GPU Debate which is completely untouchable in this regard. AMD and Intel have been duking it out since the days of the 386 and don't look like stopping any time soon, which can only be good for Joe Consumer.

Right now, I can honestly say that of all the systems I've built, I have never used an Intel CPU. This is not because I have any particular dislike for Intel, it's just that ever since I've been building PCs Intel have been pushing the Pentium 4 line of processors, and they're overpriced and underpowered compared to AMD's comparable offerings.

All this has changed now that Intel has developed the Core 2 Duo line of CPUs - these are pretty speedy parts and handily beat AMD's current CPUs on performance, if not price too. If I'm building a PC any time soon, it'll probably have a Core 2 Duo part in it. That being said, it looks like a return to the days of the 'CPU wars' near the introduction of the Athlon XP and Pentium 4 architectures. This can only be good for Joe Consumer as both companies are going to be fighting like mad in a price war :-)

The Dreaded GPU Debate

Don your flame-retardant suits now. Ever since 3dfx went belly-up and relinquished their market-leading position in the 3D graphics world, nVidia and ATi have struggled for supremacy in the 3d graphics space with the result that GPUs can be even more powerful (in some respects) and expensive than CPUs. With this close battle of high-powered technology, there comes the inevitable squabbling over which is better and why. My opinion?

It doesn't matter a damn.

Seriously, does 5fps really make that much of a difference in real life? Can you really tell the difference between 8x and 16x AA/AF? The answer, if you're being honest, is no. Can you really tell the difference between a £120 and a £150 graphics card? Why yes sirree, it's £30! Now we have an important point of comparison, because let's face it - the vast majority of ATi and nVidia's cards perform very closely to their opposing equivalents. In my experience, nVidia cards tend to offer better mid-range value while high-end ATi cards give you more bang for your buck, but to be honest it's just a case of picking a price point and seeing what you can get for your money.

One point to consider is the idea of multi-GPU setups. If you want to go for a bit of extra expandability, choose wisely - ATi's Crossfire is a bit more versatile regarding card selection than nVidia's SLI, but SLI offers a performance and compatibility advantage over Crossfire. Consider your options carefully.

Motherboard Chipsets

This is a slightly less combative subject than others simply because motherboards aren't sexy, nor are they easily replaceable. However, I maintain that the core chipset is the most important piece of hardware in a PC, so I always take care when choosing one. Just about everything in your PC communicates through your chipset, and the chipset's hardware support defines what you can and can't put in your machine.

I personally can't speak for Intel chipsets as I've never done much research into them, having in the past usually gone for AMD-based setups. For AMD setups, nVidia's nForce series of chipsets have been the market leader for years in terms of performance and feature-set. If you want something cheap and nasty, go for a VIA chipset, or if you want an ATi Crossfire setup go for an ATi chipset. Otherwise, I'd stick with nVidia at least for the foreseeable future. It'll be interesting to see what ATi comes up with in the future, though, seeing as they've now been bought by AMD.

RAM

One thing I would say here is that it's easy to overestimate the importance of low-latency RAM. If you're a dedicated overclocker, go ahead and get it - and why the hell are you reading this anyway? Otherwise, your money would be better spent getting a faster CPU, or more RAM, or an extra 40 gigs of HD space, or whatever. You're not going to see a noticeable difference between CAS2 and CAS3 unless you're seriously overclocking your CPU and you need your RAM to keep pace.

Another thing I would say is: avoid cheap RAM. Cheap, unbranded RAM is basically the castoffs that major RAM manufacturers didn't think were good enough to brand as their own. Of all the hardware problems I've seen, dodgy RAM is #1 - so make sure you get RAM made by a decent vendor. Names to look for include Crucial, Kingston, Corsair and Geil among others. Other than that, go for value for money - a £65 stick of Crucial DDR400 isn't going to be appreciably worse than a similar Kingston stick for £75.

Hard Drives

Maxtor aren't quite as reliable as other HD makers, and Seagate drives are usually the quietest. If you want all-out screaming performance, get a WD Raptor (or, better, two in a RAID 0 setup). Other than that, get whatever gets you the best value at your desired pricepoint. Seriously, as far as I'm concerned there's bugger-all difference between hard discs other than what I just mentioned.

Sound Cards

If you play games a lot, get a recent Creative SoundBlaster card for its EAX capabilities. Otherwise, stick with your onboard sound as it's good enough for most things. End of discussion as far as I'm concerned.

Monitors

This one's pretty simple too. If you are stuck for space or are worried about power consumption, go ahead and get a TFT. Otherwise, get a damn CRT. They're cheaper, more reliable, more versatile, and offer better picture quality. The only advantages of flat-screen monitors are that they're smaller and use a bit less power. If you want one because they're prettier than a CRT, why don't you just bugger off and get an iMac already.

Keyboards and Mice

My opinion on these is that you should go with whatever is most comfortable for you. You spend a lot of time with your hands on these things, so you should pick comfortable, ergonomically friendly ones to help prevent RSI rearing its ugly head in the future. Gel pads can be good (although mine seem to be magnets for spilt juice :-/ ).

I personally use a MS Multimedia Natural Keyboard because I like the comfort of the split-board layout and I find the extra buttons handy. I use an MS Comfort Optical Mouse 3000 because it's light, accurate and comfortable - although I have to admit I don't like the spongy feel of its tilt-wheel.

Conclusions

There's a common theme underpinning my opinions on hardware selection: go for whatever offers you personally the best value for money. You don't always have to have the best hardware for everything. There's no point in using a lightning-fast WD Raptor hard drive to store nothing but mp3s, and there's no point skimping on the GPU if you want to play the latest games. You've got a limited budget, so make the best use of it you can (if you don't have a limited budget, go look at the God Box recommendation here and buy two. Then give me one :-D ).

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