Hello, i have used all sorts of computers. From Dell to Hp. Even Custom Made Ones. I know all the ins and outs of hardware through software. So i am making this post dedicated to anyone that is custom making a computer, and needs ideas on what to get.

First off:

Lets talk about videocards (Or Gpu's). There are two main leading video card compains out there. First is Nvidia (http://www.nvidia.com) and then there is Ati (http://www.ati.com). I have used both. Both have there ups and downs, and sideways. Both have there Cons and Pros.

Nvidia: (My Choice)

Customer Service:
Nvidia has the best user friendly environment you can expect from a big time company. They offer on demand Drivers for your nvidia cards so you may keep your system in top shape, and your games in beautiful form.
Quality:
Nvidia cards are not the cheapest (But you gotta expect money over quality here.) But with nvidia, you can get a cheap 100$ card, and be running your games at there full potential!
Compatibility:
Nvidia cards work with all system specs (Windows, Mac, Unix) flawlessly. No errors found.
Benchmarking:
Nvidia cards (compaired to its leading partner Ati) usually average a bit less on the bench scores. This is only because Nvidia puts more quality into there cards, unline ati who just want to have the most Pipelines.


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Ati: (Not Recommended)

Customer Service:
Ati does offer drivers, but they are a bit harder to get, and are not as easy going as you may like (like nvidias). You usually have to go a couple extra steps to get them running in there peak performance.
Quality:
Ati does not strive for quality. They demand more on the Graphics Now, Smooth Running later... line of buisness. They will average more pixel-pipelines then Nvidia, but will lack in other areas.
Compatibility:
Ati does work on all system specs. But will average more errors then nvidia. They are also less-reliable.
BenchMarking:
If you were to read any 3d Benchmarking forums (Aquamark, 3dmark), you would hear Ati's cards with a higher score avg. Than Nvidias. This is only because they strive more for pipelines (whic makes they game run faster/smoother).


This is just the beginning, i will edit the video cards, and add everything your cmoputer needs (From harddrives to ram). this is just a first attempt to make sure this is ok with everyone that i make this thread.



[edit]


Omg, thanks lappy, how could i forget!


Go here for your computer hardware/software needs!!

You might consider doing this on a KL blog. Just think that, that would work better.

I'm just in the process of buying a PC. Perfect timing.

If you buy a PC, I think it would be cheaper to buy your own video card from Newegg and then put it in the PC, unless you get a PC that's costing more than $2000, you'll get a crappy graphics card.

I currently have a ATI Radeon 9600, if you had $100 to spare I'd get a Nvidia 6600. That's around $110 or so, on Newegg. Fry's sells the video cards like, overpriced. A Radeon 9200 still costs $100 over there!

BTW, ATI doesn't work as well with Linux, their drivers don't work that easily. They are proprietary...They call it the ATI Linux Proprietary drivers.

Lol, that's kind of weird.

I'm not really sure that I want a very good graphics card, though. I mean, just how often would I actually use it? Not very often.

I thought that Nvidia had more pixel pipelines, but ATi had higher clock rates. In any case, Nvidia is better

That may be. In 1 card or 2. But the majority of them they went with more pipelines. Just to out-preform nvidia. Those lazy abstages.