Questions on Windows and Graphics card for new build

fmcco

Howya folks, couple of questions I want to clear up before starting into a new build...appreciate any help you can give.

1. Should I go with Win7 or 8? Use 7 at work and sure its grand, have not been plugged into the reaction to 8 enough to judge it though
2. Is buying a key-only Windows package a bit dodgy? Is it safer/easier to just go with the full disc package? Reviews online look OK but there are always a few horror stories about getting bogus keys.
3. Do the brands matter an awful lot on graphics cards e.g. a PowerColor versus a Sapphire with the same spec?

Thanks...

SterlingArcher

With regards to the graphics cards. Branding really only comes into play when you are not on a really tight budget.
Better brands would normally have better cooling and run quieter and sometimes perform slightly better. But its not the be all end all.

You're asking the wrong questions. Firstly what is your budget for the card. If you have a card in mind that you want ,what is it?. And we can help you shop for a better deal or better card. And save you hours going through benchmarks, reviews and all that bollox.

justsomebloke

Windows 8.1 has an unbelievably bad UI but as an overall OS it is better then 7. There was some free programs that will give you a more standard OS so I'd be more inclined to go with 8

Wonda-Boy

From recent reviews Win 8 is not performing aswell with games as Win 7. I would go for Win 7 64 bit as its a lovely stable build at this stage. The last thing you want is lower performance with a new build.

Usually the better know brands offer a better warranty and cooling, most of the time the performance is identical. Get the best card you can afford from a brand leader.

fmcco

Cheers folks...was hoping for a resounding yes one way or the other but I'll take it all on board anyway.

Has anyone any thoughts on Windows key-only versus full package?

TerrorFirmer

I'm using Win 8.1 and to be honest while initially I dreaded it, now I love it, so much faster than 7, and with a few customizations and the $5 start8 program, it looks identical to Win 7, so really there's no reason not to go with Win8 at this point if you're coming from the XP/Vista era.

With regards graphics, different brands have different coolers, but I've always been a firm advocate of price above all - take for example the 280x, you can pay anything between 260 and nearly 400 for the same card. Yes, some models are much betters than others - regards cooling, overclocking ability, and so on, but really, I always take the stock performance into account - I'd rather a stock performing 280x at 260 euro than a fancy one at almost 400, no matter how well it overclocked. I've always taken that view with hardware, from cases, to fans, to cards and so on. People aren't wrong to make reference to cooling, temperatures, overclocking ability - not at all. But in the budget world, price is king, and at the end of the day, the best value lies within the budget money pinching segment.

I must have gone through dozens of CPUs, GPU's, cases and power supplies the last decade, and I've always leaned towards the budget angle, even when I was spending over 1K on hardware. It's where the true value lies.

fmcco

Thanks Terrorfirmer, I think I'm sold...

One more question, what other sites are good (and by 'good' I obviously mean cheap and reliable) for components & software in the event that hardwareversand is out of stock?

..Brian..

Amazon are good for buying single components, prices are fairly competitive and you can usually get free shipping.

Also worth a mention are www.overclockers.co.uk and www.scan.co.uk but bear in mind you will have to pay shipping.