Questions about PCs/parts - Consulting

[QwarkDreams]

Yes, the Dell would be my first choice right now but this Asus would be ~50E cheaper. Don't know what to buy :-(

 

[gedzum]

Right I see..in any case I'm very pleased with my Dell monitor and would recommend it. I think it is a very suitable option for you. I read this review over on TFTCentral and it was one of the factors that helped me decide on getting it. Dell U2412M Review

 

[QwarkDreams]

Right I see..in any case I'm very pleased with my Dell monitor and would recommend it. I think it is a very suitable option for you. I read this review over on TFTCentral and it was one of the factors that helped me decide on getting it. Dell U2412M Review

Still not sure which monitor I should buy. I cancelled out the Asus and the ones left are the Dell U2414H (~215€, but I don't really wanna pay that much just for a monitor) and the Iiyama ProLite X2483HSU (which costs around 160€). If I decide to buy the Iiyama I would get a VESA mount and end up at the same price as the Dell (and I could mount a second monitor - like my current one - if the space is sufficient).

The U2412M ain't an option for me (don't like 16:10) and too expensive (215€ for the Dell is the maximum I'm willing to spend on a monitor).

 

[gedzum]

Ah I see. So did you manage to decide which monitor to go for in the end?

 

[QwarkDreams]

Ah I see. So did you manage to decide which monitor to go for in the end?

Yeah, I think I'll go with the iiyama ProLite X2483HSU for ~160€. It lacks the functionalities of the stand (swivel, pivot,...) from it's brother - the XB2483HSU - but is about 25€ cheaper. If I find myself missing those features (my current monitor doesn't have them either) I can always buy a VESA desktop mount and can change te position of the monitor too (plus all the other features).
I decided against the Dell because I hate backlight bleeding (general problem with IPS panels). I'm mostly at my PC at night with only a small lamp in the back of the room, so the backlight bleeding would be even more visible. Also, MVA is said to have better black levels (the monitor in my living room has terrible black levels and when the whole screen is black there are also shades of red in it, so it's not a true, pure black and I hate that).

But it seems like I'll be ordering it next month instead of this one.....damn you, puny income of a student!

 

[gedzum]

Alright that's good you found one you like. Hope it serves you well. And yeah I also hate the income of being a student haha..

 

[QwarkDreams]

Alright that's good you found one you like. Hope it serves you well. And yeah I also hate the income of being a student haha..

Never thought it would be such a hassle for me to decide on a new monitor. But, man, there are so many things you need to consider....panel type, size, amount and type of connectors, price, stand. And than you find one that has all the features that you want, look up some reviews and it gets smashed because the quality is so bad (crystal effect, backlight bleeding, blur,...)^^ Good thing I don't need a new one immediately.

But it's not quite over^^ I still need a new mouse, keyboard, mousepad, headset/headphones, new chair.....damn, this year will be expensive :-/
And my front intake fans (the stock ones that came with the case) are kinda 'humming', so I may have to replace them too (not sure if it's the fans or the crappy fan speed control of the ASRock boards...

At least I now have a plan how and when I will upgrade my CPU and GPU (waiting for the last socket 1150 chip from Intel that's supported by my motherboard, after that I might switch to AMD; waiting for the new R9 285/295 to release and the 270X/280/280X to get cheaper).

 

[gedzum]

Oh man all that's definitely gonna cost a pretty penny. Quite the expensive piece of gear to keep up to date right Well looking forward to seeing your complete setup when it's all done..

 

[QwarkDreams]

Oh man all that's definitely gonna cost a pretty penny. Quite the expensive piece of gear to keep up to date right Well looking forward to seeing your complete setup when it's all done..

Yeah.....especially with my kinda expensive taste. 30€ Keyboard? No, I need that 140€ mechanical keyboad with backlight and ****. Mouse and pad? Sure, I just take them for 80€ and 40€.^^
But hell, I'm gonna use them for a long time, so I can invest a more money in them. It's not like I'm going to replace them every year.

And having such an expensive taste, it might take a long time until my setup is "finished" :-(

What are your plans for your setup? Anything new in sight?

 

[Muessig]

Oh Qwarky... I wish I had seen this thread sooner. I have a Dell UltraSharp U2713HM 27" IPS professional grade monitor. I have to have accurate colours as I do freelance design - including both web and print designing, so I needed a reliable monitor that I could calibrate etc. I've had no backlight problems in the ~10 months I've had this monitor, no problems with colour shifting or build quality issues. I couldn't recommend Dell enough.

When I was deciding I was torn between Asus and Dell, I didn't fancy an Ilyama at the time. I could have spent a little less on Asus but honestly when you're investing in a ?600 off pound monitor you're pretty heavily investing in the customer support you're going to get thereafter and Asus have never impressed me in this regard.

As for your mouse and keyboard I would recommend Corsair's Vegeance mouse and keyboards. They've served me really well and Corsair's support has been excellent for me!

 

[QwarkDreams]

Oh Qwarky... I wish I had seen this thread sooner. I have a Dell UltraSharp U2713HM 27" IPS professional grade monitor. I have to have accurate colours as I do freelance design - including both web and print designing, so I needed a reliable monitor that I could calibrate etc. I've had no backlight problems in the ~10 months I've had this monitor, no problems with colour shifting or build quality issues. I couldn't recommend Dell enough.

When I was deciding I was torn between Asus and Dell, I didn't fancy an Ilyama at the time. I could have spent a little less on Asus but honestly when you're investing in a ?600 off pound monitor you're pretty heavily investing in the customer support you're going to get thereafter and Asus have never impressed me in this regard.

As for your mouse and keyboard I would recommend Corsair's Vegeance mouse and keyboards. They've served me really well and Corsair's support has been excellent for me!

Nothing to worry ;-) The U2713HM is quite a bit more expensive than the iiyama and even than the U2414H, heck, even about 180€ more expensive than the Eizo Foris FS2434 (which is supposed to be an awesome IPS gaming monitor)^^
Since my budget is very tight (and I honestly don't even want to spend more than 200€ on a single part for my PC) and IPS is still not supposed to be for gaming (except high price/high quality products like the ones from Eizo) I think I'm better off with the iiyama.
Big bonus: if it turns out to be not that good as expected I can always save up for a new one and use the iiyama in the living room (the monitor on that PC is quite old too).

As for mice and keyboards: I think I'll stay with the Roccat Kone (but this time the XTD). I'm also still waiting for the Corsair Vengeance K70 RGB with brown switches to be released and for the first reviews (especially on the backlight, since the LEDs on the "old" K70/K90 are said to be of short life). Then it will either be the K70 RGB or the CM Storm Mech.

A new X360 controller would be nice too (the d-pad isn't responding 1 out of 2 times) and a replacement for my netbook is on my list too..... xD

I mostly know what I want (as long as I have at least some knowledge about it) but everything costs money

 

[Muessig]

I think the k70 would work well, the led is inside the switch itself. I think brown switches would be great, I have red which are great in fps but a bit sensitive for normal typing.

 

[QwarkDreams]

I think the k70 would work well, the led is inside the switch itself. I think brown switches would be great, I have red which are great in fps but a bit sensitive for normal typing.

When I first considered the K70 it appealed to me that it seems to be easy to clean^^ But the reports about failing LEDs (I expect a bit more quality from Corsair and a keyboard that costs 120-140€) and the rare availability kinda scared me off. Now with the LED issue being fixed with the new RGB series it seems like a considerable choice again.
Not sure about the switches yet. Brown seems like a nice option since it will be my first mechanical keyboard and I want to know when the switch is activated (the haptic feedback).

Damn you, expensive taste! *shakes fist* I'm really considering saving up for the Eizo xD The 5 year warranty seems like a nice thing to have (plus the great quality of Eizo products). I only hope my current monitor doesn't decide to die on me before I can buy a new one^^

 

[Muessig]

I can vouch for corsair quality, it's really good. I've had the k60 and 70 and they haven't Failed on me. The build quality is good, easily cleanable like you say. If you haven't had a mechanical keyboard before you're in for a treat. Once you go mechanical you don't go back.

 

[QwarkDreams]

I can vouch for corsair quality, it's really good. I've had the k60 and 70 and they haven't Failed on me. The build quality is good, easily cleanable like you say. If you haven't had a mechanical keyboard before you're in for a treat. Once you go mechanical you don't go back.

The K60 is not an option for me (lack of backlight and proper wrist rest). It's between the K70 and Storm Mech for me and unfortunately it will come down to which one is easier to get. The availability here is terrible. The K70 was originally available in 3 different colors (black, silver, gun metal) with 2 backlight colors (red and blue) and 4 key switch types (red, black, brown, blue). The choice in my country is effectively zero. The prices for the K70 went up (the range is now ~120€ to 180€) and you don't can get the color/switch combination you wan't (but the same goes for the CM Storm Mech). This really bugs me. Right now you can only get the black one with MX Cherry Red, Brown and Blue (gun metal and silver, and black switches aren't available anymore). I don't know why Corsair a) didn't produce more and b) is delaying the release of the RGB version. The price speculations were insane too (some sources even said up to 180$ for the K95 RGB).

But it seems like I have to delay the purchase of a new mouse and keyboard....kinda forgot over the summer break that I need a new laptop for university^^ My Acer Aspire One D257 is so slow now, it takes 20sec to open FireFox and even longer to load websites. Every other software takes forever to open. This might even delay the purchase of a new monitor. And with V-Sync/Adaptive Sync I'm not so sure about the Eizo Foris either (first monitors capable of V-Sync are rumored to be released in Q1 2015 and my GPU will get a driver update to support that standard.

As much as I love PCs, right now I hate the hassle of choosing the right parts -_-

Edit: I think the reason why my Netbook is so slow it because of the HDD. I just plugged in a USB thumb drive with Ubuntu 14.something and it runs way faster. Still kinda sluggish (it's an Atom CPU, duh) but the difference to Windows on the HDD is huge. Still, working on it would be tiring...
Damn, I hate troubleshooting.

Edit #2: Formated the netbook's HDD and installed Ubuntu 14.04. It's still not performing as fast as I would want it to, but it's more usable than with Windows 7 Starter (and that crappy Android 2.3.x multiboot partition). First time for me to actually install and use an OS other than Windows.

Edit #3: Ditched Ubuntu and installed Mint. Cinnamon is a much better GUI than the one in Ubuntu. Didn't like that at all. Also, it seems like Mint runs faster than Ubuntu (especially FireFox).

 

[xboxonthego3]

I like this thread and have been reading it for awhile. I'm considering building a gaming PC for around $1500. I was considering a Haswell E and DDR4 Ram. But I figured that would be overkill and a little bit more expensive. So I think I have decided on the i7 4790k as a compromise. Keep in mind build below does not include optical drive or OS. I don't have a need for an optical drive and have one if I need one. I already have a copy of Windows 8.1. I am considering getting a 500GB SSD rather than a 250GB. I think the case comes with adequate airflow for now. Would consider water coolers but don't know which to buy. I think this looks like a pretty sweet build for the price. Let me know what you think and/or how I can do better.

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-GAMING 7 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($175.91 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.92 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($363.02 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 450D ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1393.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Intel Core i7-4790K, Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970, Corsair 450D - xboxonthego3 - xboxonthego3's Saved Part List - PCPartPicker

 

[QwarkDreams]

What do you need the PC for? If you don't do rendering on a daily basis or for work it's not worth getting a Haswell E and a X99 motherboard (Workstation-grade). Also, I've read that some X99 motherboards have some serious issues with delivering power and fry. Adding a high-end GPU would probably excede your budget.

And again, what do you plan on using your PC for?
How many monitors will you use and at what resolution?
Are there any parts you can reuse? (like old harddrives or even the case)
Are you planning to overclock your CPU?
What games will you play?
How many SSDs/HDDs are you planing to use? 250-500GB SSD seems a bit sparse.
Are you sure you need 16GB RAM? (ties in with the first question. if only for gaming 8GB is enough for now and you can upgrade everytime)

If you're not going to overclock the CPU you can get the non-K version and save a few bucks. Same goes for the motherboard (and the wifi on the motherboard, if you don't need it you can get a cheaper motherboard).

Even with all those question unanswered I tried to shave off a few bucks here and there without loosing performance (regarding stock clock speeds).
~200$ less seems nice and if you still want to use that money you can put it towards a 980 + better PSU.

Intel Core i7-4790, MSI GeForce GTX 970, Corsair 450D - System Build - PCPartPicker

And if you are okay with AMD you could go with a FX-9370 (OEM/tray) + Cooler Master AIO and still save ~90 bucks (in both bases I added a 2TB HDD).
AMD FX-9370, MSI GeForce GTX 970, Corsair 450D - System Build - PCPartPicker

 

[xboxonthego3]

I plan to do some gaming and maybe some minor video editing and sound editing. I would like the option to overclock my CPU at some point if needed. I plan on playing Borderlands 2, Skyrim, and any future games like that. I wonder if the i5 4690k would be fine for what I am doing. I would like to have a 500 GB SSD if possible. But 250GB SSD would be fine to start. I would rather not have to get a HDD. I guess you make a good point about the RAM so it'll probably settle for 8GB. I didn't realize what exactly was on the Motherboard. I bet I could find a cheaper one with what I need. I'll take a look at your builds and play with them a bit to see where I can get the price.

Thanks for the Feedback!

 

[xboxonthego3]

Here are four new builds I made. (i5 4690k and i7 4790k)
i5 16GB RAM 250GB SSD - $1209.89
i7 16GB RAM 250GB SSD - $1309.90
i5 8GB RAM 250GB SSD - $1146.89
i7 8GB RAM 250GB SSD - $1246.90

xboxonthego3 - Saved Part Lists - PCPartPicker

I decided to go for a little bit better featured motherboard then what you had. I wanted 2 PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots for the future. There might be a cheaper motherboard than that though. I stuck with your RAM. But went with 8GB for two of the builds to see the price difference. I also opted to go back to Corsair PSU. But lower wattage of 650W for $20 cheaper than the 750W. I have heard good things about Corsair PSUs. Continuing on I also removed the HDD because I rather not have one. I'm liking the prices I see much better even though my original budget was $1500 but if I can save money fantastic! Would you recommend getting a CPU cooler? I don't at first plan to overclock the CPU no matter which I decide to get. Would it be good to have a cooler without Overclocking the CPU?

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

 

[QwarkDreams]

I plan to do some gaming and maybe some minor video editing and sound editing. I would like the option to overclock my CPU at some point if needed. I plan on playing Borderlands 2, Skyrim, and any future games like that. I wonder if the i5 4690k would be fine for what I am doing. I would like to have a 500 GB SSD if possible. But 250GB SSD would be fine to start. I would rather not have to get a HDD. I guess you make a good point about the RAM so it'll probably settle for 8GB. I didn't realize what exactly was on the Motherboard. I bet I could find a cheaper one with what I need. I'll take a look at your builds and play with them a bit to see where I can get the price.

Thanks for the Feedback!

Skyrim is heavy on the CPU and with mods also on the RAM.
Look at benchmarks that include the games and programs (for video & sound editing) and compare them (if a more expensive CPU/GPU and more RAM will give you a more satisfying experience). 2fps more in games and a few seconds less in rendering would -IMO- not justify going for more expensive parts. It may be nice to be able to get - for example - 140fps or even higher in games but a 60Hz monitor won't make use of it.

I included the HDD because SSDs - at least consumer-grade / non-enterprise - are still not offering the same wear-and-tear resistance as HDDs. Another reason is the price-per-GB ratio. SSDs may be nice as a scratch drive for Photoshop and stuff like that but I - personally - would rather have a smaller SSD in my PC for the OS and the most important/often used programs and games and 1-3 HDDs for everything else (docs, media, all other programs and games). If the big SSD dies all your data is gone. If the smaller SSD dies you just get a new one and install everything again. There might be some data-loss but not as much as with just one drive total. (although, I advise keeping your important data on a seperate drive, disc,... outside of your PC and do regular backups)
I will replace my HDDs with SSDs when there's no need for HDDs anymore (aka when they become as cheap as HDDs and as reliable).
However, you CAN get a 500GB or even 1000GB SSD - in the end it's your decision - if you want to. There's no point in recommending something you don't feel comfortable with and it would be a shame if you bought the things I proposed and not being happy with them.

Here are four new builds I made. (i5 4690k and i7 4790k)
i5 16GB RAM 250GB SSD - $1209.89
i7 16GB RAM 250GB SSD - $1309.90
i5 8GB RAM 250GB SSD - $1146.89
i7 8GB RAM 250GB SSD - $1246.90

xboxonthego3 - Saved Part Lists - PCPartPicker

I decided to go for a little bit better featured motherboard then what you had. I wanted 2 PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots for the future. There might be a cheaper motherboard than that though. I stuck with your RAM. But went with 8GB for two of the builds to see the price difference. I also opted to go back to Corsair PSU. But lower wattage of 650W for $20 cheaper than the 750W. I have heard good things about Corsair PSUs. Continuing on I also removed the HDD because I rather not have one. I'm liking the prices I see much better even though my original budget was $1500 but if I can save money fantastic! Would you recommend getting a CPU cooler? I don't at first plan to overclock the CPU no matter which I decide to get. Would it be good to have a cooler without Overclocking the CPU?

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

I'll take a closer look at those builds tomorrow, too tired today.

@ CPU cooler: well, the stock cooler gets the job done but it doesn't do any harm using an after-market cooler. They are usually much better than the ones that come for "free" with your CPU (=better temps + less noisy). If you don't overclock in the near future you'll be fine with a cheaper one (like a Hyper 212 Evo). Just don't throw the stock cooler away, it's very useful if the after-market cooler breaks. I only have an i3-4130 and I'm pretty stingy, so I didn't get an after-market cooler yet

I think when it comes to PSUs everyone has their favorite OEM. I just can't think of putting something else in my PC than a Seasonic PSU ;-)

Keep in mind that more speed on the CPU (through overclocking) also means more need for power (I'm sure there are lists for that on the internet; like: +100MHz = +30watt) and more heat. From what I've heard you also lose your warranty if you overclock it (not sure how strict Intel and AMD are when it comes to that).