Every once in a while I get a question sent to me asking what type of computer that I use. Most people are trying to get an idea of what type of computer that I like enough to use, but what they may not realize is that I have been building my own PC from components for over 15 years now. So, for those that are curious what I use and why, I've decided to put together the list of items that I use in my computer and why I chose those them. I've tried to make the list as complete as possible with all of the various small components. Many of the items on the list have links to the reviews posted on the site for them.
- Antec P182 - One of my main goals for my computer is to be very quiet as I use it many hours every day and I also listen to music while I work. Antec's Performance One P182 offers an excellent level of accessibility to interior components while still providing excellent cooling with low noise.
- Seasonic M12II-500 - Not everything is about high watts. This is a very low noise power supply with excellent efficiency. The modular cables also help keep interior clutter to a minimum.
- ASUS P5K-E - The P35 chipset offers very strong performance and the ASUS P5K-E matched my needs and price range. It was fairly inexpensive, offered a RAID controller and has decent overclocking.
- Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 - My goal originally was to get a 45nm quad core, but they took forever to get to market. Instead I opted for the E8400 thanks to its low power, low heat and excellent overclocking ability.
- Intel Core 2 Heatsink – Right now I'm using the default heatsink that comes with the Core 2 Duo processors. It doesn't keep temps as low as I would like and it can get hot, so I will eventually replace this.
- GeIL 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Kit - Frankly, this isn't the fastest memory out there. Instead, I opted to go for some solid RAM that would allow me to afford two sets for a total of 8GB for all the memory intensive programs I run.
- Western Digital Caviar SE 640GB - While there are terabyte drives, I'm looking more for affordable performance than capacity. I use two drives in a RAID-0 for best performance at a very reasonable price.
- LG GGC-H20L Bluray/HD-DVD - This drive allows me to playback Blu-ray or HD-DVD movies and also burn CDs or DVDs. A great compromise for the price especially when you don't need to burn either hidef format.
- eVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS Superclocked- While this isn't the fastest thing on the market, it still performs quite well. NVIDIA and ATI haven't made a compelling enough product yet for me to replace it.
- Arctic Cooling Silencer NV5 Rev. 3 - Once of the problems with the high performance graphics cards is they need a lot of cooling. I chose this fan to replace the stock one on the GeForce 7800GTX because it performed better and was much more silent.
- Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP 20.1” Widescreen LCD - This widescreen monitor is a great value for those willing to shop the coupons. The performance is great, resolution not too high and the size is perfect for my office.
- ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 - Creative really needs to refine their products. ASUS offers a great alternative with superb sound, excellent features and emulation of EAX 5.0.
- Logitech Z-680 5.1 Speakers – This is a much older 5.1 speaker setup, but I originally got it for my nForce2 audio that ran over digital coax. It also has the standard minijack connectors, but I found that connecting the rear channel input cable tended to introduce a lot of static to the speakers.
- Microsoft Natural Ergonomics 4000 – With the amount of typing I do every day, carpal tunnel syndrome is a big concern. I found that the ergonomic keyboard layout helps keep my wrists from hurting.
- Logitech Trackman Wheel – Similar to the keyboard, mousing can really cause my wrists to hurt. This trackball I found the best suited to me for my work and playing PC games. Now if only more companies would produce similar products or Logitech would update it for higher resolution.
