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[Skel1ingt0n]

Crappy pics for now; I'm gonna try to find my battery charger and I'll take some glamour shots tomorrow... but here's some quick and dirty iPhone pics:

Very first impressions:

Box was about the size I expected, as was the case.

The condition of the brown box was fantastic - it really put me at ease before opening it.

However, couple small issues: a few screws were loose (and a hard drive cage screw was completely off). However, after tightening everything down, all is nice and secure.

Secondly, there's a slight indentation on the top front part (above the bays and before the top radiator opening). It swoops down. Can't really tell looking at it, but you can feel it. Probably got "fender bendered" on its way. Not enough for me to bother RMAing, but ever so frustrating just cause I know it's there.

Case is extremely light. Seriously, it feels like a light plastic case - yet the quality is leaps and bounds better. The construction is fantastic. The motherboard tray, for example, just looks so well machined.

Paint job on the interior is a darker red than I expected - more blood red. But it's beautiful.

Black outer casing is very nice. Has a wonderful texture up close.

Interior has so much room to play with and so many options for setting things up. I'm no expert - but I can already tell this is gonna be a wonderful case to build with - and it's not gonna hold me back.

Much more sexy pics hopefully tomorrow...

 

[kennah]

That's awesome. I wish they had the green in that size (or smaller).


Trying so hard to not buy the Lian Li PC-TU200B w/ P8H77-i, Noctua fan and SFX psi for $260 on Overclock.net I really really don't need three ITX cases.


On that note - anyone interested in a 2600K, Corsair H40, GA-H61N-USB3, Silverstone SG05, 450WSFXPSU, 8gig 1600mhz Kingston Blu and maybe a hard drive or two? (from Canada...)

Currently hackintoshed, but doesn't quite meet my needs so getting something a touch bigger.

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Alrighty, so I've been toying around online all day long - man, I didn't get anything done at work. Also bailed on my office's happy hour in an effort to get to bed on time; yet here I am at 11:46pm.

Anyway, here's kind of what I'm thinking at this point:

The reservoir/pump is way different than I originally intended; but I think I can come up with a nifty way to find a pleasing and secure way to attach it in my case.

For fans, I think I'm gonna copy you:

And then that leaves the eventual 240mm radiator on the front and two GPU blocks.

I think it will match the cables really well

That means:

Matte Black Exterior
Gloss Red Interior
Black/red motherboard
Black waterblocks and black radiators/accessories
White/Red cables
White water tubing
Red Compression fittings
White fans with black frames
.... gotta find good looking white RAM



Basically - Black/Red with striking white accents

I think it could look really snazzy.

 

[scogoth]

You doing the cables yourself?

 

[Slayer-33]

Can't wait to see how it looks when finished

 

[Horse Armour]

How much does the motherboard affect OCing? I'm planning on getting the 4670K on release and I'm unsure what motherboard to go for especially since they might not all have reviews.

 

[longdi]

PC GAF!

I has a few Q's for ya!

-I keep debating between the ASUS Rampage IV Gene and the ASUS Sabertooth X79. Any thoughts to sway me to one? (I'm getting a i7-3930K if that helps)

-Does anyone happen the know the sound quality of those boards? I'm no audiophile but I'm playing on hooking up speakers (probably klipsch 2.1 speakers for now) and decent headphones (high-end VModa, Ultrasone, Denon, etc.).

-Keyboards! I can't seem to find the right keyboard for me. I am looking for a mechanical keyboard but one that also has a backlight. I loved the Tt eSPORTS MEKA G-Unit but sadly it only has "selective backlighting" on the keys. My next contender is the Razer Blackwidow Ultimate Stealth 2013 (heard these use brown keys?). Can anyone recommend any other keyboards?

-Also...how is Seagate QA hold up these days on their HDDs? I am shocked how cheaper they are compared to WDs



I'd like to know this as well since my future location is up in the air at the moment.

I will go for the x79 gene. It has same 8 phase vrms circuits and overclocking bios as its bigger brothers...but it can only fit 2xgpu or 1xgpu + 1xsoundcard optimally.

The built in gene sound card is also one of the better integrated sound, but a dedicated soundcard produces much better analog audio.

Filco mech keyboards are better grade than other bigger brands such as coolermaster/corsair/rosewell/razer/ducky. imo.

 

[kharma45]

How much does the motherboard affect OCing? I'm planning on getting the 4670K on release and I'm unsure what motherboard to go for especially since they might not all have reviews.

A fair bit, but the chip lottery will also affect it. When the new Z87 boards launch people like ASRock and MSI will keep on their current ranges like Extreme4 and GD55 so it won't be too hard to know what should be good for OCing.

 

[Horse Armour]

A fair bit, but the chip lottery will also affect it. When the new Z87 boards launch people like ASRock and MSI will keep on their current ranges like Extreme4 and GD55 so it won't be too hard to know what should be good for OCing.

So what are generally predicted to be good motherboards for Haswell? Is there a sweet spot for bang for buck?

Also, when you say a fair bit, how much is that exactly? Is it enough that say one MB would go to 4.8 and one could go 5GHz?

 

[kennah]

So what are generally predicted to be good motherboards for Haswell? Is there a sweet spot for bang for buck?

Also, when you say a fair bit, how much is that exactly? Is it enough that say one MB would go to 4.8 and one could go 5GHz?

Yes

 

[VE3TRO]

VG248EQ monitor arrived this morning. Really happy with it. Tried some CS-GO at 144hz and already I feel that I was performing better due to the 1ms response time.

It comes with a few presets for certain things like Gaming, Scenary, Standard, Theater, Night and sRGB. Most look pretty good already depending on what you want to watch. The whites are good but blacks could have been better. I did have to adjust the sharpness on some since presets since everything looked overdone.

Viewing angles are also pretty good and the adjustments are great for tilting and height. It also comes on a 90 degree twist stand so you can spin around without needing to lift it off the desk.

Sound is pretty weak to begin with but after some adjustments in the OSD and in Windows I've made it better. It lacks some bass and treble though some probably be better with a surround kit and it has no quick buttons to adjust volume. Luckily I have those assigned to the keyboard.

Another thing is the addition of placing a few different cross hairs on the screen to help in games such as BF and COD hardcore modes. I tried it out in CS-GO with some snipers and was easily no scope headshotting people in the disanse. Only 4 designs with 2 each being green or red. Would have been nice to choose own colours.

Overall I'm much happier with it than my previous Samsung monitor. The only thing which dissapointed me was the sound. My Samsung had great audio so this feels a little dull.

I have read as well that quite alot of people are removing the anti glare film from the screen which then produces a much better picture so I might do that but need to look for more comparisons first.

Some shots from Arma 3 straight and angled.

 

[kharma45]

So what are generally predicted to be good motherboards for Haswell? Is there a sweet spot for bang for buck?

Also, when you say a fair bit, how much is that exactly? Is it enough that say one MB would go to 4.8 and one could go 5GHz?

Yeah you'll get variations like that, and also each CPU will have variations too.

As for good price to performance for mobos it'll be the successors to stuff like the ASRock Z77 Extreme4 and MSI Z77 GD55.

 

[Horse Armour]

Yeah you'll get variations like that, and also each CPU will have variations too.

As for good price to performance for mobos it'll be the successors to stuff like the ASRock Z77 Extreme4 and MSI Z77 GD55.

Cool. Are Gigabyte and Asus not considered as good any more?

Will CPU/MB reviews go up before release or a little after, how far ahead are they sent to review sites or are they just sent on the release date? Also, will there be stock shortages for popular parts e.g. 4670K at launch?

 

[kennah]

Cool. Are Gigabyte and Asus not considered as good any more?

Will CPU/MB reviews go up before release or a little after, how far ahead are they sent to review sites or are they just sent on the release date? Also, will there be stock shortages for popular parts e.g. 4670K at launch?

Asus and Gigabyte are still fine (giga especially if you want to hackintosh) but you asked about the bang for buck sweet spot. Which is Asrock and MSI.

As for reviews and shortages, who knows. It will be what it is.

 

[Horse Armour]

Asus and Gigabyte are still fine (giga especially if you want to hackintosh) but you asked about the bang for buck sweet spot. Which is Asrock and MSI.

As for reviews and shortages, who knows. It will be what it is.

How are you meant to see what the differences between motherboards are as all I can see that's different between motherboards twice the price are more USB 3.0 ports and SLI which I don't really care about in USB3's case and not at all in SLI's case? Are you pretty much down to relying on website reviews to tell which is the best MB?

 

[MedIC86]

Will CPU/MB reviews go up before release or a little after, how far ahead are they sent to review sites or are they just sent on the release date? Also, will there be stock shortages for popular parts e.g. 4670K at launch?

This is generally unkown. Intel is usually pretty ok with launches, but you can expect some shortage in the first 1/2 weeks, but its a far cry from a paper launch.

I know some hardware sites already have z87 motherboards to test (but they under nda). So you can expect to see some reviews around launch.

 

[t-ramp]

Built my friend's 3570K build last night. Seems to be working great. Anybody know if there's any point updating the ASRock Z77 Pro4 BIOS to 1.7 before we try to overclock sometime? It's on 1.6 now.

 

[MedIC86]

Built my friend's 3570K build last night. Seems to be working great. Anybody know if there's any point updating the ASRock Z77 Pro4 BIOS to 1.7 before we try to overclock sometime? It's on 1.6 now.

Read the bios updates notes on the sites of ASRock, if there is no increased functionality on what you need its not needed.

 

[JohngPR]

Is an AMD 8-core 8350 a worthy upgrade if you already have a Phenom XII 4 core 955 Black Edition?

A friend of mine keeps saying that I need to skip all that and go with the i5 3570k, but I won't have the money to buy the 3570k and a new MOBO to house it.

So for the forseeable future, it's either stick with my 955 Black Edition or upgrade to the 8350 which is on sale on Amazon for $179.99 right now. He says I should still wait then.

Thoughts?

 

[Dave_6]

Ok I think I'm ready to try and overclock my 3570K. I am using an MSI MPower mobo with a Corsair H60 cooler. Is the video in the OP a good one to follow for my setup or this there another one more specific for the MPower? A nice guide came with the mobo but it seems more of a general guide than an in-depth one.

I'm bumping this but also want to ask; how often do you guys usually shut down your PCs and clean them and the filters out?

 

[MedIC86]

Is an AMD 8-core 8350 a worthy upgrade if you already have a Phenom XII 4 core 955 Black Edition?

A friend of mine keeps saying that I need to skip all that and go with the i5 3570k, but I won't have the money to buy the 3570k and a new MOBO to house it.

So for the forseeable future, it's either stick with my 955 Black Edition or upgrade to the 8350 which is on sale on Amazon for $179.99 right now. He says I should still wait then.

Thoughts?

I think (if you have a decent gpu) a x4 955 isnt going to stop you from playing any games. Also if its BE you can overclock it a lot, i dont think you will notice any significant gains with an 8350. Better save up money and go for haswell or broadwell later (or any new amd platform).

 

[JohngPR]

I think (if you have a decent gpu) a x4 955 isnt going to stop you from playing any games. Also if its BE you can overclock it a lot, i dont think you will notice any significant gains with an 8350. Better save up money and go for haswell or broadwell later (or any new amd platform).

I just bought a 7970 last month, so I'm good there. I do have my CPU OC'd from 3.2 to 3.8.

Thanks for the input!

 

[kharma45]

Is an AMD 8-core 8350 a worthy upgrade if you already have a Phenom XII 4 core 955 Black Edition?

A friend of mine keeps saying that I need to skip all that and go with the i5 3570k, but I won't have the money to buy the 3570k and a new MOBO to house it.

So for the forseeable future, it's either stick with my 955 Black Edition or upgrade to the 8350 which is on sale on Amazon for $179.99 right now. He says I should still wait then.

Thoughts?

Have you looked into overclocking your 955 rather than upgrading? The 955 can usually get to around 4GHz without too much trouble. What are you doing with your CPU that you are considering upgrading?

Edit - Just saw your reply above there. Keep hold of your 955 unless you really feel its holding you back. An 8350 would be a decent upgrade but you'd be better to hold off until you really feel you need an upgrade, and by that stage you might have more money at your disposal to go for Haswell or change to Steamroller if it is out by that stage.

 

[JohngPR]

Have you looked into overclocking your 955 rather than upgrading? The 955 can usually get to around 4GHz without too much trouble. What are you doing with your CPU that you are considering upgrading?

Edit - Just saw your reply above there. Keep hold of your 955 unless you really feel its holding you back. An 8350 would be a decent upgrade but you'd be better to hold off until you really feel you need an upgrade, and by that stage you might have more money at your disposal to go for Haswell or change to Steamroller if it is out by that stage.

I have a Cooler Master Hyper 212 cooling my OC...unless I'm just not getting the voltages right, 3.8 Ghz is about as high as I can go stable before games start throwing up BSOD's.

I'm not doing anything too crazy...there's just been a few games where it feels like my CPU is the bottleneck a little bit. Like to keep 60fps at all times if possible.

It's really not that bad, and I think a lot of the stuff I'm having trouble with people with better CPU's still have trouble with (like certain parts of Tomb Raider, The Witcher 2, etc). Appreciate the advice...I'll definitely be waiting like my friend said.

 

[Horse Detective]

Question for Mkenyon,
I was wondering if the Fractal R4 is still a preferable case for a rig like Mr. Pocket's? I would like to have USB 3.0.
Also, I was wondering what the power supply for that rig is. I saw Seasonic, but not the specific model.


Thanks.

 

[Uthred]

I've been looking but cant seem to find a mechanical keyboard with a fully customisable lighting scheme e.g. maybe today I want xyz illuminated, tomorrow I'd want some other keys illuminated. The Steelseries Apex is sort of what I'm looking for but the illumination isnt finely controlled enough (and its not a mechanical keyboard). Anyone seem anything like this out there?

 

[friday]

I have a Cooler Master Hyper 212 cooling my OC...unless I'm just not getting the voltages right, 3.8 Ghz is about as high as I can go stable before games start throwing up BSOD's.

I'm not doing anything too crazy...there's just been a few games where it feels like my CPU is the bottleneck a little bit. Like to keep 60fps at all times if possible.

It's really not that bad, and I think a lot of the stuff I'm having trouble with people with better CPU's still have trouble with (like certain parts of Tomb Raider, The Witcher 2, etc). Appreciate the advice...I'll definitely be waiting like my friend said.

I am in the same boat as you. My Cpu is only running at 3.4 currently. I have not really had any issues with performance except for Planetside 2, but the game is not in great shape performance wise anyways. When I built my rig the Bulldozer chips had not been released yet so I was hoping they would make for a good upgrade path in a year or so. Turns out the next two generations of AMD chips would suck. I do only have a 560 non TI GPU so that is my biggest bottleneck. My system currently handles everything I want it to, but I imagine that later this year I will basically be starting from scratch with an Intel build.

 

[kharma45]

I am in the same boat as you. My Cpu is only running at 3.4 currently. I have not really had any issues with performance except for Planetside 2, but the game is not in great shape performance wise anyways. When I built my rig the Bulldozer chips had not been released yet so I was hoping they would make for a good upgrade path in a year or so. Turns out the next two generations of AMD chips would suck. I do only have a 560 non TI GPU so that is my biggest bottleneck. My system currently handles everything I want it to, but I imagine that later this year I will basically be starting from scratch with an Intel build.

Piledriver is fairly good to be fair.

 

[Kadey]

Can somebody recommend a 120hz IPS monitor. I have a dual monitor setup, both Asus, and it's starting to really bother me that the non-IPS one doesn't produce as rich colors as the other. And no matter how hard I try to configure the settings to get it to look like the other, it cannot be. Reds and oranges are the most apparent.

 

[MedIC86]

Can somebody recommend a 120hz IPS monitor. I have a dual monitor setup, both Asus, and it's starting to really bother me that the non-IPS one doesn't produce as rich colors as the other. And no matter how hard I try to configure the settings to get it to look like the other, it cannot be. Reds and oranges are the most apparent.

I dont think there are consumer 120hz ips monitors. I believe you can overclock some korean ips monitors to 120hz, but afaik no out-of-the-box solution (correct me if im wrong tho).

Last time i checked the BenQ and the ASUS 120hz were pretty decent (but they are TN)

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Admittedly it's far from my best work (what's white balance, lol); but here are some better shots of my new baby:

***

That's awesome. I wish they had the green in that size (or smaller).


Trying so hard to not buy the Lian Li PC-TU200B w/ P8H77-i, Noctua fan and SFX psi for $260 on Overclock.net I really really don't need three ITX cases.


On that note - anyone interested in a 2600K, Corsair H40, GA-H61N-USB3, Silverstone SG05, 450WSFXPSU, 8gig 1600mhz Kingston Blu and maybe a hard drive or two? (from Canada...)

Currently hackintoshed, but doesn't quite meet my needs so getting something a touch bigger.

Yeah, the green is pretty sexy - totally agree. Also, kinda funny doing a red-themed build with Nvidia cards. That said - the pictures don't do it justice; the red is gorgeous. And the quality aluminum really makes it pop.

I saw your post in the B/S/T. Good deal. GLWS!

You doing the cables yourself?

Mkenyon did me a solid and offered me a really good deal for the ones he was no longer using. I'm quite happy; and I think bringing in some white will really class things up. Just gotta avoid that Christmas look ;p

Can't wait to see how it looks when finished

Me neither - I have patience and I'm trying not to cheap out. But I don't know how much I trust myself to get a "super sexy build" done like I've seen from Mkenyon and so many other people here and on other forums.

VG248EQ monitor arrived this morning. Really happy with it. Tried some CS-GO at 144hz and already I feel that I was performing better due to the 1ms response time.

It comes with a few presets for certain things like Gaming, Scenary, Standard, Theater, Night and sRGB. Most look pretty good already depending on what you want to watch. The whites are good but blacks could have been better. I did have to adjust the sharpness on some since presets since everything looked overdone.

Viewing angles are also pretty good and the adjustments are great for tilting and height. It also comes on a 90 degree twist stand so you can spin around without needing to lift it off the desk.

Sound is pretty weak to begin with but after some adjustments in the OSD and in Windows I've made it better. It lacks some bass and treble though some probably be better with a surround kit and it has no quick buttons to adjust volume. Luckily I have those assigned to the keyboard.

Another thing is the addition of placing a few different cross hairs on the screen to help in games such as BF and COD hardcore modes. I tried it out in CS-GO with some snipers and was easily no scope headshotting people in the disanse. Only 4 designs with 2 each being green or red. Would have been nice to choose own colours.

Overall I'm much happier with it than my previous Samsung monitor. The only thing which dissapointed me was the sound. My Samsung had great audio so this feels a little dull.

I have read as well that quite alot of people are removing the anti glare film from the screen which then produces a much better picture so I might do that but need to look for more comparisons first.

Some shots from Arma 3 straight and angled.

One: AWESOME monitor. And two: Dang does ARMA look amazing. Everytime it blows my mind.

 

[mrklaw]

The 840 is actually a step back from the 830 in terms of longetivity - but for the average consumer, it probably won't make much of a difference. The 840 Pro though is technically better.

I went with the standard 840 - benchmarks looked similar enough for my use and the price difference meant I could get a 240Gb 840, wheras if I'd have gone for a pro I'd have stuck with 128GB.

Longevity is enough - I'll probably sell or update this build long before it is an issue

 

[kharma45]

I went with the standard 840 - benchmarks looked similar enough for my use and the price difference meant I could get a 240Gb 840, wheras if I'd have gone for a pro I'd have stuck with 128GB.

Longevity is enough - I'll probably sell or update this build long before it is an issue

The 250GB 840 is rated at 7 years, it's only the 120GB that is a worry.

 

[sssstententen]

So I want a new build, have had mine since 09.

Worth it to just hold out for the new rumored AMD cards plus haswell? Or is nVidia still king? Titan is a little too high for me, although I'm not opposed to spending 500+ on a gpu down the line.

 

[EatinOlives]

A couple of questions: one for my build and one for a friend's soon-to-be.

Mine:

What kind of heatsink would I need to completely max out an i5-750's clock? Would the Coolermaster 212+ from the OP suffice? If not, how much should I expect to be able to OC the i5 if I do go with the Coolermaster, and what kind of heatsink would I need instead if I did want to max it out?

Friends':

I'm helping him on this build and I want to pick out the parts this time, since with my build all I did was run down a list of pre-picked parts and just bought the shit. I want to try my hand picking out parts on my own and actually knowing about shit.

1) How much of an issue is compatibility? Do I need to really do research to make sure everything works well, or is that just not really an issue?

2) How are the case+mobo combo deals on Newegg? Is that something to consider or are they just cases and mobos that nobody wants and I should avoid?

3) I know how to pick out a GPU and CPU, but what about a mobo and RAM? I don't really know what I'm supposed to be looking for.

 

[MedIC86]

The 250GB 840 is rated at 7 years, it's only the 120GB that is a worry.

Were did you get that 7 years from? this site is doing a stress test on one and they already simulated 136 years of use and Program Fail Count and Erase Fail Count are still on 0.

 

[kharma45]

A couple of questions: one for my build and one for a friend's soon-to-be.

Mine:

What kind of heatsink would I need to completely max out an i5-750's clock? Would the Coolermaster 212+ from the OP suffice? If not, how much should I expect to be able to OC the i5 if I do go with the Coolermaster, and what kind of heatsink would I need instead if I did want to max it out?

Friends':

I'm helping him on this build and I want to pick out the parts this time, since with my build all I did was run down a list of pre-picked parts and just bought the shit. I want to try my hand picking out parts on my own and actually knowing about shit.

1) How much of an issue is compatibility? Do I need to really do research to make sure everything works well, or is that just not really an issue?

2) How are the case+mobo combo deals on Newegg? Is that something to consider or are they just cases and mobos that nobody wants and I should avoid?

3) I know how to pick out a GPU and CPU, but what about a mobo and RAM? I don't really know what I'm supposed to be looking for.

Hyper 212 will be fine.

1) You do need to do some basic checks but most stuff does just work.

2) They're generally OK from what I've seen but obv. post here first before you buy.

3) Motherboard wise are you looking to buy right now or wait for Haswell?

As for RAM, just 8GB 1600MHz and low profile will have you set.

So I want a new build, have had mine since 09.

Worth it to just hold out for the new rumored AMD cards plus haswell? Or is nVidia still king? Titan is a little too high for me, although I'm not opposed to spending 500+ on a gpu down the line.

Yeah wait for Haswell, it's only a few weeks off. GPU wise for a single one at realistic prices the 7970 is the best but Nvidia will be launching the 780 in the next few weeks and should be about 20% faster iirc.

Were did you get that 7 years from? this site is doing a stress test on one and they already simulated 136 years of use and Program Fail Count and Erase Fail Count are still on 0.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6337/samsung-ssd-840-250gb-review/4

 

[MedIC86]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6337/samsung-ssd-840-250gb-review/4

Ah i see, but if i read it correctly they just do the math they didnt actually test it like the other site is doing.

 

[EatinOlives]

Hyper 212 will be fine.

1) You do need to do some basic checks but most stuff does just work.

First off, thanks for the response! What checks should I be doing to make sure everything works well together?

2) They're generally OK from what I've seen but obv. post here first before you buy.

OK, will do. I was planning on posting our first "rough draft" here for feedback as soon as I had it anyway.

3) Motherboard wise are you looking to buy right now or wait for Haswell?

I don't know much about Haswell. Those are going to be new CPUs, right? We're already waiting for the 700 series GPUs from nVidia and it looks like Haswell is coming before then (June 4th I read?) so I guess we'll wait . What will picking Haswell affect in terms of picking out a mobo? Do we need to wait for new motherboards as well or are they mostly forward compatible?

As for RAM, just 8GB 1600MHz and low profile will have you set.

Thanks! Are brands relevant to RAM at all? Some reviews said that they absolutely swear by G.Skill but I don't know if there are legitimate "bad" brands I need to avoid.

 

[kharma45]

Ah i see, but if i read it correctly they just do the math they didnt actually test it like the other site is doing.

True, I hadn't seen that stress test thing before so cheers for linking that. Do they do it with many SSDs?

First off, thanks for the response! What checks should I be doing to make sure everything works well together?

OK, will do. I was planning on posting our first "rough draft" here for feedback as soon as I had it anyway.

I don't know much about Haswell. Those are going to be new CPUs, right? We're already waiting for the 700 series GPUs from nVidia and it looks like Haswell is coming before then (June 4th I read?) so I guess we'll wait . What will picking Haswell affect in terms of picking out a mobo? Do we need to wait for new motherboards as well or are they mostly forward compatible?

Thanks! Are brands relevant to RAM at all? Some reviews said that they absolutely swear by G.Skill but I don't know if there are legitimate "bad" brands I need to avoid.

1. Checks as in what exactly for the i5? If you're overclocking temperatures are what you'll want to keep an eye on. By running something like Intel Burn Test you'll find out if your OC is stable, and something like Core Temp to see what the CPU is doing. Under a test like that you'll not want to take it more than 80 degrees. If it's hitting say 82 you'll probably still be OK as your CPU will never be put under that sort of strain for the most part.

2 and 3. How soon is soon? Haswell is out ~June 4th if I remember right. If you're in no rush at this stage you might as well wait to get the latest socket. If you're already waiting for the 700 series yeah wait for Haswell. In terms of picking out a mobo there'll be a whole new range coming out on the 1150 socket. The ones you'd want to be looking at are the Z87 (or Z85 if they launch any) variants as they'll allow you to overclock. The motherboards you can buy at the minute are not compatible with Haswell.

4. Brands are all much of a muchness. G.Skill stuff is fine, as is most RAM. Just get what is best value and low profile.

 

[JordanN]

Is there any performance penalty from playing in fullscreen vs window mode (or vice versa)?

 

[kennah]

Depends on the game. For example Minecraft runs way better fullscreen than in a window. There isn't a hard and fast rule. Some games run better in a window than full screen.

 

[MedIC86]

True, I hadn't seen that stress test thing before so cheers for linking that. Do they do it with many SSDs?

No i believe its the first one. Its a pretty good site also (its dutch, but the english translation is pretty good). Its an pretty interessting test because SSD's are still relativly new, and to see they can last this long.

 

[kharma45]

No i believe its the first one. Its a pretty good site also (its dutch, but the english translation is pretty good). Its an pretty interessting test because SSD's are still relativly new, and to see they can last this long.

I must keep an eye on it

 

[Kadey]

I dont think there are consumer 120hz ips monitors. I believe you can overclock some korean ips monitors to 120hz, but afaik no out-of-the-box solution (correct me if im wrong tho).

Last time i checked the BenQ and the ASUS 120hz were pretty decent (but they are TN)

Oh. It doesn't have to be 120hz. I just need an IPS monitor that would be good for gaming too since it will be the primary monitor. The IPS monitor I have now is used for the secondary where I usually leave streams on while I do business, gaming or surfing on my primary.

 

[CreepingFear]

For those of you that stream on Twitch, which capture card do you use? I know back in the day, people used the blackmagic intensity pro, but now I seem to notice people using the Avermedia Live Gamer HD. Also, is it still best if you can afford it to have a dedicated pc for streaming and the other pc for gaming?

 

[MedIC86]

Oh. It doesn't have to be 120hz. I just need an IPS monitor that would be good for gaming too since it will be the primary monitor. The IPS monitor I have now is used for the secondary where I usually leave streams on while I do business, gaming or surfing on my primary.

Okay, well screens are also a bit personal preference, i really like the Dell IPS screens. I have the U2312HM (its also LED) and it looks pretty awesome. Are you looking for a particular size or anything?

 

[HammerOfThor]

So I was thinking, two of the bigger benefits of Haswell is the building graphics and power usage, right?

If I'm planning on using a discrete GPU anyway, does it make sense to wait for Haswell?

 

[Carlisle]

I've decided to check my thirst for immediate gratification at the door and instead settle for upgrading my meager desktop to its best CPU/GPU capacity. Don't want to touch anything else since that's a pretty slippery slope. I'd like to save some cash and hang on to this for a few more years before I dig into a major from-scratch new rig later on.

Right now I'm sporting an Inspiron 530 tower. The guy I bought it from did some small upgrades so not all the internals are OEM.

-Current Setup-

CPU: Core 2 Duo E4400 @ 2GHz
GPU: Sapphire HD 4850 1GB
MOBO: Foxconn G33M02
PSU: Cooler Master 460
RAM: 8GB (4x2GB DDR2 800 - Max for the mobo)
Optical drive and HDD are OEM--no idea what brand, but they'll suffice.

It's pretty clear to me that the 2GHz is my most significant bottleneck. The fastest CPU my mobo can handle is a C2D E8600 3.33GHz. It's a bit pricey, so I might settle for a E8400 3GHz if that's not too big of a power hit.

As far as GPU, I've been all over tomshardware and can't seem to come to a consensus. I keep hearing that the 7750 is a good fit--I'm looking at the Sapphire 2GB model. But is that overkill for a E8600/E8400?

Ideally I'd like to beef this up to run, say, Skyrim or Blops 2 on high-ish @ 30+ fps... would also love to run Dolphin and PCSX2 decently. I know no setup will be ideal with that old mobo, but I'm trying to find the PSU/GPU combo that will get me the closest without upgrading case, PSU, mobo, etc...

Cheers for any insight

 

[kharma45]

So I was thinking, two of the bigger benefits of Haswell is the building graphics and power usage, right?

If I'm planning on using a discrete GPU anyway, does it make sense to wait for Haswell?

10% faster clock for clock, and we're hoping it'll clock nice and high too. If you're in no rush you might as well wait, you're not going to lose out.