HWC approved builds

[BootlegUsher]

Something that I think would be nice to see on this site would be an article for Hardware Canuck "approved" builds for different budgets.

For instance, there could be one for high end gaming, one for mid range PCs and one for budget PCs.

The reason I am suggesting this is because my mother asked me what kind of PC she should get and all I really know about is towards the higher end of the spectrum, so when I tried to think up a build for her the sum total came out to $1000! All she needs a PC for is listening to music and surfing the net and e-mails, so 1000 dollars seemed pretty steep. I could just pick the cheapest components available but for all I know they could be crap and not function well.

That is why it would be nice if I could click on an article, select "budget" and see a list of components that are confirmed to work well together (i.e. everything fits, nothing is bottlenecking the PC). This article could be updated annually, and this way people could take a quick glance and have a feel for what is appropriate at a certain budget.

[0o0]

for how often it must be manually updated, I don't think it's worth it. In fact, I'd prefer the status quo, I'd suggest that hwc don't do this. This would waste very valuable volunteer time that the staff here at hwc have so generously commited, they can use that doing something much better. I guess it'd be possible for this to be a user supported section, but many websites already have this such as hardware.info but no one really cares or takes it seriously (and no one really updates it either) so it just dies. If you really need it, try the ncix system builder thingy. I've never used it before, I don't even know how it works but all I know is that people actually use it

[mo' power]

I concur. Just use the "new builds" thread. It works perfectly. You post your budget and what you want to use your pc for and voila! replies are usually posted within a few minutes with hardware suggestions. As they say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

[SugarJ]

BootlegUsher, what you are suggesting is a good idea, IMHO. I've often thought about doing such a list for the board, but to be honest, I don't have the time to maintain it on a monthly basis and neither do any of the other staff. If you go back, you'll see that HWC was asking for submissions for reviewers about the time you joined up. That might give you an idea of the backlog of stuff the reviewers are looking at. Also, it would be almost impossible (and expensive) to pick up all the parts on the list and test them together on a regular basis.

My thoughts were to do a suggested "websurfer" or budget build, a $1000 gaming rig, and a $1500 gaming rig. I'll do some more thinking on it, and will mention it to the editorial staff. Don't hold your breath though.

[FiXT]

I like the idea as a potential feature for our youtube channel provided I can fit it in :)

I have seen something somewhat similar on other websites, but I know it is a bear to keep up as SugarJ said.

Definitely appreciate the suggestion though. We will see how it could be adapted to be time conscious and still beneficial. Anyone who has any ideas about this, by all means post them up :)

[Zero82z]

Bit-tech does this. If you HWC guys are interested, I suggest you go read over their articles to get an idea of how they do them. It doesn't seem like it would be any more time-consuming to put together than a standard review, since you'd basically just be looking over various online retailer sites and checking prices for different hardware components.

[MonsterSound]

As far as a PC for my mother goes, I would recommend keeping an eye on the specials from the big chains. Most of the time I can't build a decent PC with an OS for the kind of low prices <$400 they offer. Get rid of the bloatware on some of these sale machines, and you've given mom a decent setup.
imho

[SugarJ]

Originally Posted by Zero82z

Bit-tech does this. If you HWC guys are interested, I suggest you go read over their articles to get an idea of how they do them. It doesn't seem like it would be any more time-consuming to put together than a standard review, since you'd basically just be looking over various online retailer sites and checking prices for different hardware components.

I do read Bit-tech's, and agree that they do a good job of it. They are also paid fulltime staff. What you probably don't realize is the amount of time that does go into a review here on HWC. They certainly aren't banged together in an evening, as seen by Sky's 32 pages of fun in the 480/470 reviews.

[Zero82z]

Originally Posted by SugarJ

I do read Bit-tech's, and agree that they do a good job of it. They are also paid fulltime staff. What you probably don't realize is the amount of time that does go into a review here on HWC. They certainly aren't banged together in an evening, as seen by Sky's 32 pages of fun in the 480/470 reviews.

Actually, I realize exactly how much time goes into writing up a review, which is why I'm saying that putting together build recommendations would be easier.

[BootlegUsher]

I understand that it takes time to do something like this, and believe me I appreciate the work done on this site by the volunteer staff. That is why I suggested that the list be updated once a year so that it does not gobble up too much staff time, while still keeping reasonably up to date. I can see it now on the home page "presenting the Hardware Canucks approved builds of 2010".