Someone Help Bayantel’s LolaTechie Shop for Computer Parts!
By Rico, 7:07 am Mon Oct 19 2009 - Featured, Gaming, Tips & Tricks - 9 Opinions
It’s great to see Bayantel spokesperson LolaTechie decide to buy a computer for Diablo 3, as documented in her latest ad. But as a relative noob, it’s clear she needs some help choosing computer parts! Here’s my advice.
First though, watch the ad below:
Here are the parts she ordered:
- “isang Quad Core 2-8-3″ (or an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550)
- “16 GIG na DDR2″
- “dalawang one terra na 72 hundred” (probably two 1TB Western Digital Caviar Blacks)
- “ge-force 900 GT”
- “SLI na motherboard… yung… Striker 2 siguro” (The Asus Striker II Formula)
- “tapos yung cordless na laser mouse”
- “saka ung wireless keyboard, yung pulang ilaw”
- “dalawang 24 widescreen”
- “tapos yung orange na casing… yung parang spaceship!”
And now for my advice:
Canvass Different Sellers
At the end of the ad, the shop LolaTechie calls quotes her P183,000 for her whole rig, including delivery. LolaTechie settled for just ordering the mouse.
Nearly two hundred-thousand pesos for those specs is simply too much, even if LolaTechie did order a high-end CPU, 16GB of RAM (which is totally unnecessary as I’ll discuss below) and two 24″ monitors. Even if the prices of computer hardware components are usually more expensive in the Philippines than they are in the US, a reasonable total should fall closer to P100,000—or even below that.
Fellow PC gaming enthusiasts have recommended RSUN Online to me. I will send a quote to them for a computer with specs I will list at the end of this article, and see what price they can come up with. In the meantime, if you know of a seller with reasonable prices and good service, feel free to leave an opinion below.
Get Some Help Choosing Parts
There’s really nothing wrong with asking for help when choosing parts for a new computer—it can save you paying unnecessarily for parts you don’t really need.
Granted, the Q9550 is fast. But from a value-for-money perspective the Q6600 is a much better deal. Though it has a lower clock speed (2.4GHz to the Q9550′s 2.83GHz) performance-wise the difference isn’t that significant. Even the Q8200 (2.33GHz) is a better deal.
If she really wants to pay good money for a top-of-the-line processor, LolaTechie should consider a new Core i5 or Core i7 CPU, such as the consumer level Core i5 750 or even the high-end Core i7 920. In any case, games nowadays rely more on the graphics card, so it’s preferable to spend more on that, leaving enough cash for a decently powerful CPU.
There are three Striker II motherboard variants available from Asus. All three support a maximum RAM of 8GB, meaning LolaTechie would’ve been left with 8GB of RAM she could not use. Also, getting an expensive motherboard really isn’t worth it if you don’t plan to overclock your system (forcing your components to run faster than designed).
Even if she was able to use all 16GB of RAM she was planning to order, LolaTechie would’ve still been unable to maximize it. Only 64-bit versions of Windows can utilize more than 3.25GB of RAM—and I’m assuming LolaTechie uses the more common 32-bit version, given its better compatibility with games and applications in general.
There is also no such thing as a “GeForce 900 GT”. Maybe LolaTechie wanted to order a member an NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT? If that’s the case, a better buy would’ve been an NVIDIA GTX 260—or even the competing ATI Radeon HD 4890.
How to Save Money Choosing Computer Parts
Aside from the computer part suggestions above, I’m also asking LolaTechie to reconsider whether she really needs two 24-inch monitors. One 24″ display is already large enough, enough for almost any household computer need, from gaming to typing out figures on spreadsheets. The same applies to her choice of storage: one 1TB hard disk should already be enough.
As with anything else, looking to buy the best and fastest components is very appealing. But even with an unlimited budget, blindly getting hardware with the highest specs is simply a waste of money. Examples discussed above include replacing the Q9550 with the cheaper but similar Q6600, and settling for one large display instead of two.
The best way to choose computer parts always starts with having a clear idea of what you want to do with your system. Do you want to play the latest games, and games that will come out in the next two years? Do you want to edit videos? (In that case, two monitors and two hard disks are definite must-haves). Are you planning to overclock your system for better performance? In other words, choose parts that suit your needs to a tee.
Base your research on those needs, and make sure you’ve got all the bases covered.
- Motherboard
- CPU
- Memory
- Video Card
- Power Supply
- Drives (DVD-ROM, burner, card readers, etc.)
- Case
- Peripherals (printer, scanner, keyboard, mouse, mouse pad, speakers, headphones, etc.)
- Voltage Regulator, UPS
LolaTechie forgot to order a power supply, always an important consideration that many consumers overlook. Do your research, and come up with a tentative list of parts, then feel free to ask the numerous computer hardware forums online for help.
Asking the opinion of other people is a great way to discover flaws with your planned setup that you may have overlooked—and it’s easy to get surprised by how much money you can save based on the recommendations of knowledgeable enthusiasts. A good place to ask for help is the New System Build section of the Tom’s Hardware forums.
So What Parts Should LolaTechie Get?
I’ll stop yapping now and provide a list LolaTechie can work with. At the very least, the parts below should be enough to play Diablo 3 when it comes out next year!
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz
- Asus P5Q SE2
- 2 x 2GB DDR2-1066
- GTX 260 1792MB
- 640GB WD Caviar Black
- Liteon 24X DVD-RW
- Astone Enforcer Titanium CPU case
- 550W power supply
- 500va UPS
Agree or disagree? Tell us why by leaving an opinion below.
Marocharim
9:09 am Mon Oct 19 2009
great specs, man. you’re right: parts should fall around or below 100K. two-monitor displays are great for programmers and people who do video editing, but it doesn’t make too much sense for gamers (save for pogi points, which is still a good deal lol).
Bim
9:09 am Mon Oct 19 2009
Wow, little overkill there for Grandma, isn’t it? But hot damn, I’d love a rig like that. To watch porn on.
Fitz
10:10 am Mon Oct 19 2009
Great post. Lola Techie and the people in Bayantel should read this.
Jonathan
6:06 pm Mon Oct 19 2009
Aside from the computer and its specs, she barely needs a STABLE and FAST DSL connection for her to be able to play multiplayer online. Do they have that?
lolo
12:12 am Wed Oct 21 2009
i thought i7′s used ddr3s. hmm.
lolo
12:12 am Wed Oct 21 2009
oh and another good project is to install hackintosh on your rig.
why don’t you do a post on that, rico?
amphil
11:11 am Sat Dec 12 2009
im using AMD Setup. it is more cheaper than the intel. ^_^
Rico
4:04 pm Sat Dec 12 2009
Marocharim: Well, some gamers like to play games while keeping their other apps open, “necessitating” the two-monitor setup!
Bim: For porn, all you need is a netbook
Fitz: I hope they have!
Jonathan: Well not barely, but REALLY. I have no idea if Bayantel’s connection is good, as I’ve never been their customer.
lolo: Yes, the Bloomfield i7s use DDR3 RAM. Pero the Core 2 Quads use DDR2s. I will post something like that if and when I successfully install Mac OS X into a PC!
amphil: Agreed! But don’t you need better cooling for their CPUs?
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