Oussebon
Multiverse Poster
This is just a collection of links to reviews of the hardware PCS offer in their configurators, which I built up for my own reference and thought I’d tidy up and share.
It might be useful or of interest it you
It’s not a build advice guide, and won’t tell you what is best value for your needs and budget. Nor is this a review of PC Specialist, their customer service or their system build quality (you can check trustpilot and other sites for that).
And just because something scores better in a benchmark doesn’t mean it’s worth having. 10 ‘Cinebench’ points difference between a ROG Maximus IX FORMULA and a Z270-P isn’t worth £200 if you end up having to buy an i3 instead of an i7. In fact it’s just not worth £200 anyway.
I’ve put a few personal comments and highlights in a post further down, which is as close as this gets to build advice - if you like you can start with those and then read the reviews to make your own mind up. But it’s no substitute for making a topic on the Check My Spec forum:
https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?30-Check-this-spec!
Contents (with links):
· PC cases (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
· Mini PC cases
· Kaby Lake Motherboards: - home office, performance, mini
· X99 Motherboards
· X299 Motherboards
· AM4 Ryzen Motherboards
· EVGA GPUs only
· Storage (HDDs/ SSHDs, Sata SSDs, M.2 SSDs)
· CPU Coolers (Air Coolers, AIO Coolers)
· Monitors (only a few)
· Personal opinion
Forthcoming (hopefully)
· PSU
· KB + M
· Other items, e.g. wifi cards
(Not had time to finish polishing the above, and may well not do so)
“FAQs”:
A component has no reviews. Is that bad?
No. For one thing there are a lot of different components out there and tech websites often rely on being loaned hardware to review. Tech companies may be more likely to send their most expensive products out for review to maximise exposure and sales. It’s also possible that I just missed the review or haven’t updated the page. Some items are ‘OEM’, designed for companies like PCS to use rather than individual consumers, so websites catering to consumers don’t cover them.
I’ve never read these kinds of articles. What should I bear in mind?
Most of all that you’re building a (balanced) system. Just because something ultra-expensive gets great reviews doesn’t mean it’s the best option in the context of your budget and needs.
Not all info is relevant. You don’t care if X is a pain to install, because you paid PCS to do that for you. Prices change so value for money judgements by the author may be irrelevant.
Sometimes numbers are just numbers. Whether your i7 7700k CPU is 61 degrees C or 62 degrees C under gaming load probably doesn’t matter much.
If you look at the benchmark graphs, make sure to at least check the article’s conclusion as well
Where there are multiple / revised versions of an item I’ve tried to signal that and include what info I have about the differences. Manufacturers can release which can affect performance or resolve issues that early reviews pick up on.
Different review sites may have different findings or anomalous results. They may use different methodologies or combinations of hardware. So be wary of comparing the data between websites.
What’s not included here?
· CPU – which CPU is most appropriate for a build and budget is a separate topic
· GPUs – same with which GPU.
· RAM – Unless you manually OC your RAM you probably don’t care much what brand PCS are using. I don’t, so I don’t have a list of links.
· AMD FM2+ and AM3+ mobos. There are so few cases where these CPUs seem like the optimal choice to me that I haven’t been keeping notes on them for a long time.
· Workstation mobos
It might be useful or of interest it you
- Are checking if there’s a little or a lot of difference between Options A and B
- Want to feel generally informed about what you’re spending your money on
- Someone tells you to buy X but you’ve never heard of it and want to find out more
It’s not a build advice guide, and won’t tell you what is best value for your needs and budget. Nor is this a review of PC Specialist, their customer service or their system build quality (you can check trustpilot and other sites for that).
And just because something scores better in a benchmark doesn’t mean it’s worth having. 10 ‘Cinebench’ points difference between a ROG Maximus IX FORMULA and a Z270-P isn’t worth £200 if you end up having to buy an i3 instead of an i7. In fact it’s just not worth £200 anyway.
I’ve put a few personal comments and highlights in a post further down, which is as close as this gets to build advice - if you like you can start with those and then read the reviews to make your own mind up. But it’s no substitute for making a topic on the Check My Spec forum:
https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?30-Check-this-spec!
Contents (with links):
· PC cases (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
· Mini PC cases
· Kaby Lake Motherboards: - home office, performance, mini
· X99 Motherboards
· X299 Motherboards
· AM4 Ryzen Motherboards
· EVGA GPUs only
· Storage (HDDs/ SSHDs, Sata SSDs, M.2 SSDs)
· CPU Coolers (Air Coolers, AIO Coolers)
· Monitors (only a few)
· Personal opinion
Forthcoming (hopefully)
· PSU
· KB + M
· Other items, e.g. wifi cards
(Not had time to finish polishing the above, and may well not do so)
“FAQs”:
A component has no reviews. Is that bad?
No. For one thing there are a lot of different components out there and tech websites often rely on being loaned hardware to review. Tech companies may be more likely to send their most expensive products out for review to maximise exposure and sales. It’s also possible that I just missed the review or haven’t updated the page. Some items are ‘OEM’, designed for companies like PCS to use rather than individual consumers, so websites catering to consumers don’t cover them.
I’ve never read these kinds of articles. What should I bear in mind?
Most of all that you’re building a (balanced) system. Just because something ultra-expensive gets great reviews doesn’t mean it’s the best option in the context of your budget and needs.
Not all info is relevant. You don’t care if X is a pain to install, because you paid PCS to do that for you. Prices change so value for money judgements by the author may be irrelevant.
Sometimes numbers are just numbers. Whether your i7 7700k CPU is 61 degrees C or 62 degrees C under gaming load probably doesn’t matter much.
If you look at the benchmark graphs, make sure to at least check the article’s conclusion as well
Where there are multiple / revised versions of an item I’ve tried to signal that and include what info I have about the differences. Manufacturers can release which can affect performance or resolve issues that early reviews pick up on.
Different review sites may have different findings or anomalous results. They may use different methodologies or combinations of hardware. So be wary of comparing the data between websites.
What’s not included here?
· CPU – which CPU is most appropriate for a build and budget is a separate topic
· GPUs – same with which GPU.
· RAM – Unless you manually OC your RAM you probably don’t care much what brand PCS are using. I don’t, so I don’t have a list of links.
· AMD FM2+ and AM3+ mobos. There are so few cases where these CPUs seem like the optimal choice to me that I haven’t been keeping notes on them for a long time.
· Workstation mobos
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