[Newomega]

Good day all!

I apologize in advance if it seems that I am an idiot. I blame it on the cigarettes, alcohol, and the Navy.

Anyways, I had a few questions for when I build my next desktop.

Here we go:

Is intel or amd better for multi-tasking? I will mostly be playing games with a webbrowser and music on at the same time
Which is better, bigger cache or faster FSB? Once again the focus is gaming.
I have a friend who swears up and down that ASUS motherboards are horrible, he has gone through four of them. Is there any validity to this, or just bad luck?
Is the Killer M1 LAN card worth the extra money, or is it just a "gimmick" for gamers?
Will there be a noticible difference between a 2000MHz memory and a 1600MHz memory?
Also, any recommendations for companies that supply water cooling? This will be my first time doing this, and I am being quite cautious before putting water in a 3000+ dollar system.

Thank you for any help and assitance you can offer. Have a good day!

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1) Processors are so fast now they can all cope with a lot more than they used to. So either will be fine.

2) It has been proved in online studies and testing that a graphics card adds more to a gaming experience than the processor. Therefore you can have the fastest and best processor going but if you pair it up with a rubbish graphics card you will have a rubbish gaming experience.

3) Asus the company was founded in 1989. If they really made rubbish boards would they last 20 years? All manufacturers go through periods of duff reliability and poor boards though often this isn't their fault and down to the quality of the bits they buy or are sold.

4) Depends. If your internet provider bottlenecks the connection the M1 may be a waste of money.

5) Not really.

6) Water cooling - nice idea, can be a pain in the behind to do right and the main danger is when the tank runs out of water. In the old-fashioned way of doing things you'll never run out of air in a computer case.

[Neil Jones]

1) Processors are so fast now they can all cope with a lot more than they used to. So either will be fine.

2) It has been proved in online studies and testing that a graphics card adds more to a gaming experience than the processor. Therefore you can have the fastest and best processor going but if you pair it up with a rubbish graphics card you will have a rubbish gaming experience.

3) Asus the company was founded in 1989. If they really made rubbish boards would they last 20 years? All manufacturers go through periods of duff reliability and poor boards though often this isn't their fault and down to the quality of the bits they buy or are sold.

4) Depends. If your internet provider bottlenecks the connection the M1 may be a waste of money.

5) Not really.

6) Water cooling - nice idea, can be a pain in the behind to do right and the main danger is when the tank runs out of water. In the old-fashioned way of doing things you'll never run out of air in a computer case.

[Newomega]

Okay, that all clears up a lot. Thank you for the information. The only thing that I ask for clarification on is number 4, for the Killer NIC. How would I know if my internet provider (Cox) would bottleneck the connection or not? Or is it more of just a trial and error thing?

I'll have to look more into the liquid cooling before deciding. I know that San Diego gets hot in the summer and the apartment gets even worse.

Thank you again for the information and I look forward to any assitance you can offer for the clarification. Have a good day!

[wannabe1]

Hello Newomega...

In the Navy, huh? Thanks for all you do!

I use both AMD and Intel processors in my builds depending on client preference. I actually prefer AMD as you tend to get more bang for the buck...their Phenom quad cores are hard to beat. That said, AMD chips tend to run a little warmer than the Intel chips of comparable performance, so cooling is a consideration. A case with good airflow is essential for high performance machines regardless of whether it's AMD or Intel based.

The FSB and cache size question is really pretty dependent on which processor you go with. The Phenoms I like best (9950 Agena) don't have an overly large cache, but they perform very well with higher FSB capabilities. With some of the Intel chips with larger caches, the FSB is not as big a concern.

I use ASUS motherboards almost exclusively. In the years I've used them, I've only had a couple of boards go bad and have never had a DOA. ASUS has always replaced the boards, no questions asked. Many times an apparent board failure can be traced to the end user not setting the board up properly for their system.

I'll leave the LAN question for the gamers here to comment on.

The difference in 2000MHz and 1600MHz RAM is barely perceptible (if at all) to the person using the machine, but the 2000MHz module will require more power than the 1600MHz module which means more heat to dissipate. The trick here is to choose quality RAM that's properly matched to the motherboard. Don't skimp on RAM.

Water cooling has come a long ways in the last few years and several manufacturers offer good liquid cooling solutions. Some motherboard manufacturers build liquid cooling capabilities into their boards...I know ASUS offers a couple. I've used only the Corsair Nautilus, and found it to be easy to install and very effective, but I'm with Neil....I prefer air cooling. With the right case, air cooling is pretty darn effective.

I'm sure some of our "build freaks" will offer their opinions here, as well.

wannabe1

[edge2022]

I have a friend who swears up and down that ASUS motherboards are horrible, he has gone through four of them. Is there any validity to this, or just bad luck?

This would have to be bad luck... Asus makes very good boards and they are extremely reliable.

Since you have a large budget, I would go with an Intel i7. AMD processors usually give more bang for the buck, but if you have money to spend, an Intel processor will give you more performance.
http://www.cpubenchm...ommon_cpus.html

I am not too sure on the Killer M1... it is a very good card and has a good list of nice features, but I don't know if it's worth the extra money.

You won't be able to "see" the difference between 2000 and 1600 memory, but it will show in benchmarks.

Many of Asus' high end motherboards have a built-in waterblock for easy liquid cooling (Asus calls it the Fusion Block System). I recommend the Asus Rampage 2 Extreme or the EVGA E760 Classified.
Also, for liquid cooling you need a large case... look at the Cooler Master Cosmos.

[Newomega]

Sounds good. Thank you for the additional information and help. I will have to look into the ASUS motherboards again. As for the case, I was considering the Cooler Master HAF full tower. It looks good, and supposedly is extremely good for air flow.

[edge2022]

You mean the HAF 932? It is a good choice... you should also look at the Cooler Master Cosmos, and the Antec 1200 before making your choice. They are all good cases.

[Newomega]

I haven't looked at the Antec 1200 but I have seen the Cosmos and Cosmos S, both of which i was very attracted to. I will have to check out the Antec one though. Once I narrow down my parts I will post up here for people to take a look at before I spend that much money.

[edge2022]

All right then