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[Mordeccai]

Ok GAF, got a little issue here.

Decided to give a go at overclocking my i5. I went into the bios and changed the multiplier to 42 to try out a 4.2 clock, and set my RAM voltage at 1.375 because there was no option to set it at 1.35 (what its rated at on the box) and I had read that its best to assign it to a voltage.

Well, now my computer won't boot. It was hanging on the bios splash screen, so I hit the reset button and now it won't even show that. It shows a black screen with a white _ in the top left corner and just stays there.

Is there any way to reset everything back to stock?

 

[Exuro]

Ok GAF, got a little issue here.

Decided to give a go at overclocking my i5. I went into the bios and changed the multiplier to 42 to try out a 4.2 clock, and set my RAM voltage at 1.375 because there was no option to set it at 1.35 (what its rated at on the box) and I had read that its best to assign it to a voltage.

Well, now my computer won't boot. It was hanging on the bios splash screen, so I hit the reset button and now it won't even show that. It shows a black screen with a white _ in the top left corner and just stays there.

Is there any way to reset everything back to stock?

Clear the CMOS. It'll set your BIOS to factory settings.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/tp/clearcmos.htm

 

[Mordeccai]

Just did and back in business, cheers. Gonna wait until I'm done with finals before I mess with overclocking anymore so I can dedicate a bit more time to reading about it.

 

[scogoth]

Haswell cant come soon enough. A dear friend of mine somehow talked me into holding out for haswell and the new samsung ssd thats supposed to come out sometime in 2013. Im getting more anxious by the day and really want to build this rig. Mkenyon was kind enough to recommend me a nice rig for the money I have ($3000) but Im so confused. Unfortunately I'm kind of on the cutting edge type guy and really want the best of the best. The more I read this thread, the more inspired I get and it's really starting to affect me

sigh....

sorry for the rant

You know haswell is still 6 months away... For $3000 you could go X79 and upgrade to IB-E when they hit.

 

[kitch9]

Haswell cant come soon enough. A dear friend of mine somehow talked me into holding out for haswell and the new samsung ssd thats supposed to come out sometime in 2013. Im getting more anxious by the day and really want to build this rig. Mkenyon was kind enough to recommend me a nice rig for the money I have ($3000) but Im so confused. Unfortunately I'm kind of on the cutting edge type guy and really want the best of the best. The more I read this thread, the more inspired I get and it's really starting to affect me

sigh....

sorry for the rant

What does your friend think Haswell will do that IB won't?

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Isn't Haswell going to be primarily about reduced power consumption and a much better integrated GPU? Are huge CPU performance gains expected from it?

 

[Tweedy]

No its not broken. Your TV should be on just scan mode. Alternatively you can use nvidias drivers to rescale the display image to compensate for your TVs over scan but you will lose some resolution doing that.

Ah okay fair enough! I had a play around with it and the only way it would work is in Just Scan mode.

It looked wierd in Scan mode but I messed with the sharpness and it looks better now.

I don't understand how it randomly stopped working. Least it is now though thanks

 

[Momentary]

Haswell cant come soon enough. A dear friend of mine somehow talked me into holding out for haswell and the new samsung ssd thats supposed to come out sometime in 2013. Im getting more anxious by the day and really want to build this rig. Mkenyon was kind enough to recommend me a nice rig for the money I have ($3000) but Im so confused. Unfortunately I'm kind of on the cutting edge type guy and really want the best of the best. The more I read this thread, the more inspired I get and it's really starting to affect me

sigh....

sorry for the rant

I feel you on this. The more I research and the more I look at reviews the more I just want to go ahead and get started when the 700 series hits. But I'm waiting until 2014 for Maxwell to hit. I'm dropping over $6000 on a rig and I'm waiting for the new architecture from NVIDIA to hit. I have a gaming laptop (GTX560m) to tide me over until then.

I know there's always going to be something better, but I don't have the money to do constant upgrades on this thing. So I'm waiting on NVIDIA's new architecture that's coming out after consoles are released since I feel that will future proof it for a while. Hopefully by then 1TB SSDs aren't ridiculously priced and they'll have 120hz monitors with 2560x1440 native resolution that don't have to be overclocked by the customer. I really don't want to fool with that.

But I keep looking at all these cases from LD, CaseLabs, and the Cosmos II by Coolermaster and looking at reviews from OC3D and I just want to build now. I keep finding myself on FrozenCPU.com's site and adding things to my wishlist like Aquacomputer's airplex radiators. They are the best looking (in my opinion) and, from reviews, best performing radiators out on the market. Now that I know FrozenCPU has a painting service also it's really killing me. Just thinking about an all white Cosmos II case is driving me nuts. ARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!

 

[GhostWriter24]

What's the best ~$150 graphics card right now? I was thinking about this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005C31F2M/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[Prozel]

If you can stretch it a bit I would get this instead: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009LTUC90/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[Hazaro]

Isn't Haswell going to be primarily about reduced power consumption and a much better integrated GPU? Are huge CPU performance gains expected from it?

Pretty much. I'd expect another 5-15% jump in performance per clock speed. Dunno if the OC speeds can match what we currently have since iirc they are designing a 10-15W chip instead of a 20-30W chip as usual.

Ok GAF, got a little issue here.

Decided to give a go at overclocking my i5. I went into the bios and changed the multiplier to 42 to try out a 4.2 clock, and set my RAM voltage at 1.375 because there was no option to set it at 1.35 (what its rated at on the box) and I had read that its best to assign it to a voltage.

Well, now my computer won't boot. It was hanging on the bios splash screen, so I hit the reset button and now it won't even show that. It shows a black screen with a white _ in the top left corner and just stays there.

Is there any way to reset everything back to stock?

Come on dude. It's easy, but don't just go changing clockspeed to 4.2Ghz. At least start at 4.0

There's an OC guide in the OP and in the linked benchmarking thread.

I only built my PC this year, but already I am looking to upgrade...

I am kicking myself for not spending more when I was building, but I was just getting into PC gaming and didn't know better. I would like to upgrade 1 or more component of my PC for better gaming performance If anyone can give me some tips I would greatly appreciate it.

My current build:
CPU: i3-2120
Video Card: Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 6870 1GB
Ram: 2x2GB DDR3 1600MHZ
PSU: 550W(cant remember model, sorry)
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V LX Intel Z68

I am looking to spend as close to $300 as possible, but am willing to consider more for a good reason (major power increase, for example). What I am mainly looking for is to be able run more games at max settings or as close to as possible, around 60fps. Games I am currently playing: Mass Effect 2, Arkham City, Witcher 2. I would also like Dolphin to run more games at 1080p, but this is not so important to me.

I realize I might be asking for too much here; if so, please tell me. Clearly I am inexperienced to building PC's, so any and all help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

That rig is still solid and more importantly a great upgrade platform to work with
Swap in a 2x4GB DDR3 1.5V kit to get your 8GB for just $30, then nab a 7870.

I'm so out of the loop on PC related things, it's not even funny. That being said...

In regards to CPU's and video cards, I know that the latest update to the OP was in October. When are the next big jumps in these two areas expected to come out? I want to build a gaming PC in the near future, but I wanna know how long to wait on certain things (namely, those two areas) because if I can wait a little longer to get a decent upgrade on those things... yeah. Are there any big jumps expected before Bioshock Infinite comes out in late March?

CPU's I doubt will see a large jump. Haswell will do some new things, but is being targeted at nearly half the power consumption. I can't see it being a large jump.

GPUs last I remember is Q1 for high end and probably a rebranding/update.

What's the best ~$150 graphics card right now? I was thinking about this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005C31F2M/?tag=neogaf0e-20

7850 2GB is what you should spring for if possible. Hard to recommend a 6870 if you can stretch.

 

[Gala]

Hi pc expert GAF!

After upgrading my RAM to 8GB and getting a GTX 670 the next parts I want to buy are a CPU and a motherboard.

CPU-wise I want to get a i5 3570, but I really have no clue what motherboard I should get for it. I guess it should have some e-sata stuff and usb 3.0 and I want to get an SSD later on

It just should fit in my tower. (I'm currently having a Phenom with a http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3272#ov So it should have this size as well.)


Hope you guys can help me out once again.

 

[Panzon]

Isn't Haswell going to be primarily about reduced power consumption and a much better integrated GPU? Are huge CPU performance gains expected from it?

Well basically this but Im pretty sure you'll be able to get at least 15% increase in overall performance as well. From the little research I've done it seems like this is going to be the case. Also, it seems like April is a possibility for Haswell to release.

If it weren't because we're approaching next gen in gaming I would've built this rig long ago. I don't want to spend this money now and have to spend more later as well. I love the new gadgets and all but I'm married and my wife certainly won't appreciate me wasting all this money on pc parts every time

 

[beje]

Hi pc expert GAF!

After upgrading my RAM to 8GB and getting a GTX 670 the next parts I want to buy are a CPU and a motherboard.

CPU-wise I want to get a i5 3570, but I really have no clue what motherboard I should get for it. I guess it should have some e-sata stuff and usb 3.0 and I want to get an SSD later on

It just should fit in my tower. (I'm currently having a Phenom with a http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3272#ov So it should have this size as well.)


Hope you guys can help me out once again.

That's a full ATX board so anything that size and below (micro ATX, mini ITX) will fit there. You're good to go with the Z77 picks from the OP. All of them come with USB 3.0 support, just check if they fit your e-sata requirement.

 

[Willkiller]

Re-posting this here in case anyone has some advice. Preparing to build my first PC and installing the fucking OS is the thing that is stressing me out the most :lol

Fucking Windows.


Right, I'm building a new PC for gaming and I want to install Windows 8 on it. I'm not going to have a disk drive so I'm going to install it from USB. If I run the windows 8 upgrade assistant on my laptop, buy it and create a bootable USB will that be fine? My concern is that with me trying to install it onto a new machine Windows won't active as it isn't an upgrade as such.

What are my options? Will purchasing it through the upgrade assisstant allow me to install and activate it on my new machine or will I have to fork out over 100 quid for the OEM version (which I think would require a disk drive)?

 

[DagsJT]

Re-posting this here in case anyone has some advice. Preparing to build my first PC and installing the fucking OS is the thing that is stressing me out the most :lol

I ran my USB upgrade on a completely fresh PC and it was fine. Installed just like a new install.

 

[Willkiller]

I ran my USB upgrade on a completely fresh PC and it was fine. Installed just like a new install.

So you bought Windows 8 through the upgrade assistant, made it into a bootable USB, then installed it on a fresh PC with no issues?

I assume they sent you the activation key in an E-mail or something then?

 

[Trojita]

I couldn't finish building my computer while visiting my parents house (Where I had everything delivered) due to time constraints. I did manage to check that it booted though.

I was worried the RAM would be bad and the Noctua right on top of them would have to be removed.

I think I screwed up the thermal grease application

I tried to do the line method and it looked way too thin the first time over so I went back over it and then the thermal grease wouldn't disconnect from the tube and I had an extra dollop that kind of went on the side with potentially space between the line and the dollop. I'm worried I applied too much and possibly created an air pocket with the dollop.

The Asus rear panel thing is terrible crap.

The r4 is a nice case that seems like it should cost a lot more. I'm kind of dismayed that the power light is so bright and blue though. I wonder if there is a way to replace it with another color. Reason being is that my computer is in my room and if I need to leave the computer on when I go to sleep, blue lights are way too bright.

 

[DagsJT]

So you bought Windows 8 through the upgrade assistant, made it into a bootable USB, then installed it on a fresh PC with no issues?

I assume they sent you the activation key in an E-mail or something then?

Installed Windows 7, ran the upgrade assistant, bought Windows 8 and received an email with the key.

Built my new PC, booted from USB stick and entered the Windows 8 key, installed, done.

The r4 is a nice case that seems like it should cost a lot more. I'm kind of dismayed that the power light is so bright and blue though. I wonder if there is a way to replace it with another color. Reason being is that my computer is in my room and if I need to leave the computer on when I go to sleep, blue lights are way too bright.

LED's are a pain at times. I watched a movie last night and had my Virgin Superhub blue light blinding me, mouse lit up and case lights on.

 

[DagsJT]

Delete

 

[Willkiller]

Installed Windows 7, ran the upgrade assistant, bought Windows 8 and received an email with the key.

Built my new PC, booted from USB stick and entered the Windows 8 key, installed, done.

Huh! I thought it would have checked the fresh PC for a previous version of Windows before it let you install.

Welp, I guess I'll just try it then. Cheers!

 

[DagsJT]

Huh! I thought it would have checked the fresh PC for a previous version of Windows before it let you install.

Welp, I guess I'll just try it then. Cheers!

Nope, just installed straight off. I built my mate's PC with the same method and his also worked fine. The "upgrade" disc/USB stick is actually the full version, it seems.

 

[Willkiller]

Nope, just installed straight off. I built my mate's PC with the same method and his also worked fine. The "upgrade" disc/USB stick is actually the full version, it seems.

Brilliant, guess that's saved me a lot of money and hassle then!

 

[timnich]

Awesome! That's good to hear. One question, which of these am I supposed to be looking at? http://m.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/search.asp

Pretty much. I'd expect another 5-15% jump in performance per clock speed. Dunno if the OC speeds can match what we currently have since iirc they are designing a 10-15W chip instead of a 20-30W chip as usual.

Come on dude. It's easy, but don't just go changing clockspeed to 4.2Ghz. At least start at 4.0

There's an OC guide in the OP and in the linked benchmarking thread.

That rig is still solid and more importantly a great upgrade platform to work with
Swap in a 2x4GB DDR3 1.5V kit to get your 8GB for just $30, then nab a 7870.

CPU's I doubt will see a large jump. Haswell will do some new things, but is being targeted at nearly half the power consumption. I can't see it being a large jump.

GPUs last I remember is Q1 for high end and probably a rebranding/update.

7850 2GB is what you should spring for if possible. Hard to recommend a 6870 if you can stretch.

 

[dk_]

Is there a huge drawback when I use a graphics card with PCI-E 3.0 in a PCI-E 2.0 mainboard?

 

[Ty4on]

Is there a huge drawback when I use a graphics card with PCI-E 3.0 in a PCI-E 2.0 mainboard?

Nope. No GPU today is fast enough to show a difference between 2.0 and 3.0.

 

[dk_]

Nope. No GPU today is fast enough to show a difference between 2.0 and 3.0.

Ok, thank you!

Is this card recommendable? Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 OC 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express 3.0

 

[DagsJT]

Ok, thank you!

Is this card recommendable? Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 OC 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express 3.0

I think the "ti" versions of the 660's are the one to go for.

 

[dk_]

Hm ok, my budget is 200 € and this one is exactly my maximum I would spend. ;-)

 

[Plinko]

I'm relatively new to PC gaming and am a little confused. I just bought a new computer and am transferring my GTX 460 over.

The PSU in this computer is 460 watts. The recommended minimum power supply for the GTX 460 is 450 watts.

I guess my confusion comes from "recommended minimum power supply." Will a 460-watt PSU be enough for heavy gaming, or is it like the "recommended specs" for a game where you can have the minimum recommendations but the game runs terrible?

 

[KungFucius]

Haswell cant come soon enough. A dear friend of mine somehow talked me into holding out for haswell and the new samsung ssd thats supposed to come out sometime in 2013. Im getting more anxious by the day and really want to build this rig. Mkenyon was kind enough to recommend me a nice rig for the money I have ($3000) but Im so confused. Unfortunately I'm kind of on the cutting edge type guy and really want the best of the best. The more I read this thread, the more inspired I get and it's really starting to affect me

sigh....

sorry for the rant

I would not hold my breath on Haswell. Intel may or may not go with a different strategy since the desktop is in decline. If you really need to blow 3k on a fucking computer then wait for the IB core i7 extreme. It's a total waste of money for a gaming rig, but that's a good way to eat into that budget. It will come out in ~ 6 months.

Or you could just go with an i7 3770K now, save some money, and build a nice, very fast rig that is still overkill for CPU and gaming. Add a nice GPU now, and then update the GPU again in the next cycle, which could start February or March depending on when AMD launches the 8xxx cards. As far as SSDs go, samsung sells retail packs with Norton Ghost that make it really easy to clone drives, so if you are dead set on getting them, you can wait and upgrade painlessly.

What are you upgrading from? Single screen 1080p or multi monitor? That is more important I think.

 

[kharma45]

Ok, thank you!

Is this card recommendable? Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 OC 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express 3.0

AMD is the better option at this price point unless you need to go Nvidia.

 

[beje]

I'm relatively new to PC gaming and am a little confused. I just bought a new computer and am transferring my GTX 460 over.

The PSU in this computer is 460 watts. The recommended minimum power supply for the GTX 460 is 450 watts.

I guess my confusion comes from "recommended minimum power supply." Will a 460-watt PSU be enough for heavy gaming, or is it like the "recommended specs" for a game where you can have the minimum recommendations but the game runs terrible?

Power supply recommendations for GPUs are always over inflated because lower-end PSUs found in most pre-built or store-built PCs (which cut corners in stuff most people don't notice like PSU or mobo chipset) are rated with a much higher wattage than they actually are due to being very poor eficiency-wise. Actually, a gaming PC with modern components and a single GPU shouldn't draw more than 300-350W on full load so you're perfectly fine, Nvidia is just covering their backs in case someone uses a really shitty 350W PSU and fries it. Anyway, this is not a case of poor performance but more of a "either there's enough juice to run your computer or there's not".

 

[kakashi08]

I'm still using my old hp monitor.
I ordered the BENQ XL2420T and now they say its on "back order", from tigerdirect.
Any idea how long it will take them to get it back in stock?
Or should I call them and cancel it and order it from somewhere else.

 

[Shambles]

Nope, just installed straight off. I built my mate's PC with the same method and his also worked fine. The "upgrade" disc/USB stick is actually the full version, it seems.

The upgrade version took my serial at first as well but after a day or two you'll probably start getting warnings that your serial is invalid. If that happens you'll have to edit one registry valid and re-enter your upgrade serial.

Beginner questions here:

Is the HD6850 still sold? It is the low end option in Hazaro's builds in the OP but searching “HD6850” on newegg shows it as sold out. Plus amazon is just a bunch of used options.

I have a four year old dell with an Intel Q8300, a HD3650 and a 375w power supply. Pitiful by GAF standards I’m sure but it does the job and has let me play a number of games on low settings at 1024x768. I want to upgrade to a low end graphics card to get me through the end of this gen, playing games like Darksiders II and Dark Souls on low. I mostly play console ports and indie games.

Is the HD6450 a good option? It’s still in stock and very cheap. Also, I wouldn't need to upgrade my power supply (based on some preliminary searching)

The 6450 is pathetic. The first real low-end option is the 7750 which I've personally been impressed with considering it's price. If you're looking for something more towards the 6850 performance and price range the 7770 is that option. It depends what kind of PCI-E power connections you have on your dell and how many slots you have available. I originally bought the 7750 because I had an old dell that only allowed a single slot card and had no PCI-E power connections.

 

[HamPster PamPster]

Beginner questions here:

Is the HD6850 still sold? It is the low end option in Hazaro's builds in the OP but searching “HD6850” on newegg shows it as sold out. Plus amazon is just a bunch of used options.

I have a four year old dell with an Intel Q8300, a HD3650 and a 375w power supply. Pitiful by GAF standards I’m sure but it does the job and has let me play a number of games on low settings at 1024x768. I want to upgrade to a low end graphics card to get me through the end of this gen, playing games like Darksiders II and Dark Souls on low. I mostly play console ports and indie games.

Is the HD6450 a good option? It’s still in stock and very cheap. Also, I wouldn't need to upgrade my power supply (based on some preliminary searching)

 

[kharma45]

Beginner questions here:

Is the HD6850 still sold? It is the low end option in Hazaro's builds in the OP but searching “HD6850” on newegg shows it as sold out. Plus amazon is just a bunch of used options.

I have a four year old dell with an Intel Q8300, a HD3650 and a 375w power supply. Pitiful by GAF standards I’m sure but it does the job and has let me play a number of games on low settings at 1024x768. I want to upgrade to a low end graphics card to get me through the end of this gen, playing games like Darksiders II and Dark Souls on low. I mostly play console ports and indie games.

Is the HD6450 a good option? It’s still in stock and very cheap. Also, I wouldn't need to upgrade my power supply (based on some preliminary searching)

what is your budget? At that res even something like a 7770 would fly.

 

[beje]

what is your budget? At that res even something like a 7770 would fly.

Yep, this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127687 is the best value for a new card in a tight budget (and two free games, better than nothing). A 6450 can't even be considered a "gaming" card. Step down to a 7750 or go second hand if your budget is even more limited but I wouldn't go lower than that.

 

[HamPster PamPster]

The 6450 is pathetic. The first real low-end option is the 7750 which I've personally been impressed with considering it's price. If you're looking for something more towards the 6850 performance and price range the 7770 is that option. It depends what kind of PCI-E power connections you have on your dell and how many slots you have available. I originally bought the 7750 because I had an old dell that only allowed a single slot card and had no PCI-E power connections.

Thanks, I'll look into the 7750. I believe I have 1 PCI Express x16 slot

what is your budget? At that res even something like a 7770 would fly.

My main goal is to just keep it simple and avoid upgrading the power supply. No real budget outside of that, just trying to keep it cheap - the PC is 4 years old, only a matter of time before something breaks so I don't want to pour money into it, I'm just hoping to get a bit more out the steam and amazon sales until then. I figure this time next year I'll spring for the big upgrade / new PC instead of a new console

 

[garath]

I know we've been down this road before in this thread but I'm on the cusp of asking for a mechanical keyboard as my gift from the wife. Unfortunately I've never had an opportunity to feel any of the different varieties so hopefully some people can offer their suggestions.

Cherry MX (red/blue/brown/black)?

My purpose is strictly gaming. I've read red might be the best for gaming but I've heard people say they really like blue or brown.

Thoughts? Ideally I'd like to keep the price as low as possible. I've been looking at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007VDOOBU/?tag=neogaf0e-20 (brown or red)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007VDLVD4/?tag=neogaf0e-20 (they have all 4 switches as an option)

There's also a steel series that looks good. Red seems to be the rarest and most expensive with blue and brown being the cheapest.

 

[scogoth]

I know we've been down this road before in this thread but I'm on the cusp of asking for a mechanical keyboard as my gift from the wife. Unfortunately I've never had an opportunity to feel any of the different varieties so hopefully some people can offer their suggestions.

Cherry MX (red/blue/brown/black)?

My purpose is strictly gaming. I've read red might be the best for gaming but I've heard people say they really like blue or brown.

Thoughts? Ideally I'd like to keep the price as low as possible. I've been looking at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007VDOOBU/?tag=neogaf0e-20 (brown or red)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007VDLVD4/?tag=neogaf0e-20 (they have all 4 switches as an option)

There's also a steel series that looks good. Red seems to be the rarest and most expensive with blue and brown being the cheapest.

The pro and rapid are manufactured at the same place so the only real difference is the layout and switches. Red is best for gaming, I have blue and have gotten used to them and can't go without. Browns feel a little stiffer than red because they a bump in the middle of the keystroke. Blacks are way to stiff for me. If you can try and find a store with keyboards on display and type away for 5-10min.

EDIT: Also a huge man of cmstorm's macro/settings software. It has everything you need to customize your kb. Unfortunately only the trigger keyboard has the built in memory profile for driverless macro

 

[garath]

The pro and rapid are manufactured at the same place so the only real difference is the layout and switches. Red is best for gaming, I have blue and have gotten used to them and can't go without. Browns feel a little stiffer than red because they a bump in the middle of the keystroke. Blacks are way to stiff for me. If you can try and find a store with keyboards on display and type away for 5-10min.

EDIT: Also a huge man of cmstorm's macro/settings software. It has everything you need to customize your kb. Unfortunately only the trigger keyboard has the built in memory profile for driverless macro

So you really like the blue over red personally? Or is that more for general use, you'd still buy red for gaming primarily.

 

[scogoth]

So you really like the blue over red personally? Or is that more for general use, you'd still buy red for gaming primarily.

If I was starting again I would probably go red. Blues are considered best for typing though I don't have trouble with them for gaming. I didn't know at the time I just heard mechanical keyboards were all the rage so went out an bought one not knowing there were different switch types. Now that I'm used to blues its hard to switch (no pun intended)

Actually bought the trigger red for Spl1nter for his birthday and he loves it.

 

[mkenyon]

Reds for life. Lots of people like browns for gaming too.

 

[n0n44m]

(...)

But I keep looking at all these cases from LD, CaseLabs, and the Cosmos II by Coolermaster and looking at reviews from OC3D and I just want to build now. I keep finding myself on FrozenCPU.com's site and adding things to my wishlist like Aquacomputer's airplex radiators. They are the best looking (in my opinion) and, from reviews, best performing radiators out on the market. Now that I know FrozenCPU has a painting service also it's really killing me. Just thinking about an all white Cosmos II case is driving me nuts. ARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!

I'm an Aquacomputer fanboy to the max but their radiators aren't the best performers to be honest. Good performance, but there are better performing ones out there (for less)

but hey if you're positive you really enjoy building why not buy a good case and start modding it yourself ... it can take months if you take it slow (especially if you make your own cables), and it should fit whatever hardware is released in the next few years anyway

this is my second watercooled build and it took me about 3 weeks. Most of the parts came from my 1st build which took me about 4 months (!!)

also I'd definitely take a LD/Caselabs over the Cosmos II personally but with a bit of modding the Cosmos can look cool as well

 

[ZetaEpyon]

Any opinions on the Dell S2440L? Best Buy has it on sale for $199...

It's glossy, 24" 16:9 1080p and S-PVA. I've been looking for something to replace my way old and now crappy 17" Samsung LCD, and this would match my two 22" eIPS Dells pretty closely in pixel density. I suspect that I could deal with S-PVA for the center monitor, but I'm not sure how the glossy would work in the center of two matte ones.

The layout would look like this.

I get the feeling that I would have to spend quite a bit more to get a monitor that is significantly better.

Hmmm.....

So, I ended up just grabbing one of these and after some tweaking, it seems pretty decent. At first, the colors seemed really washed out and I wasn't impressed at all, but apparently Nvidia cards treat the HDMI output strangely with this model, and you have to switch it to YCbCr444 color instead of RGB. After doing that, things look quite nice. I've gotten it adjusted to match my IPS monitors pretty well, although blues seem a little bit too cool. I don't think I can improve it too much without an actual calibrator, though.

I can definitely tell that it's not IPS in terms of viewing angles, but it's not too much of an issue as the center monitor, since I'm pretty much always looking straight at it. I also understand what people mean by IPS not having blacks that are as good as other matrix types - the darker shades on this monitor are very nice indeed.

The glossiness is interesting - the only times I really use a glossy screen are with TVs, so some of that "feel" carries over to this new screen for me. As such, watching videos and TV (via hd homerun) is really nice. The lack of the anti-glare grain is definitely apparent at my normal viewing distance, and reflections haven't been too bad as I can control the lighting in my office pretty well.

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the screen, at least for the price. I do get the feeling that I'd still rather have a matte IPS screen, but I don't think that I've ever seen one in this size (24" 16:9 1080p). So, for now this will do - it's a vast improvement from having my old dying 17" on the side.

As a side note, I'm beginning to wonder if my desktop is too wide - the combination of 22, 24, and 22 creates an extremely wide field of view for desktop usage. It'd probably be cool for Eyefinity-type use though.

 

[Ceebs]

Well finally heard back from Asus about the delay on my video card RMA.

They are sending me a 4GB model of the 670 instead of the 2GB. Nice upgrade for me to go with my 1440p monitor since this was not available when I originally bought it.

 

[scogoth]

Nice mkenyon! Those other ugly builds are out of limited csq, I thought they didn't meet the requirements because their parts listed were just "EKWB CSQ" not the acutal product.

 

[garath]

Reds for life. Lots of people like browns for gaming too.

If I was starting again I would probably go red. Blues are considered best for typing though I don't have trouble with them for gaming. I didn't know at the time I just heard mechanical keyboards were all the rage so went out an bought one not knowing there were different switch types. Now that I'm used to blues its hard to switch (no pun intended)

Actually bought the trigger red for Spl1nter for his birthday and he loves it.

Awesome. Thanks guys. I'll keep my eye out for a good deal on a cherry red. Unfortunately they do seem to be more rare and more expensive but I'll keep looking.

 

[beje]

I have the Thermaltake Meka G1 with Cherry Blacks and it's awesome for both gaming and typing, they don't feel "hard" or "heavy" at all. It's also really affordable right now (at least in Euroland) so I'd give it a look.