Computer building

[rickztahone]

hey guys, in almost all basic cases there is no need for more than 16GB of RAM in a desktop computer.

The most common source of system slow down tends to be malware of any sort, followed by registry errors and finally, disk fragmentation for those who still use platter hard drives.

common applications like web browsers also tend to have memory leaks so leaving them on for days can eat up system resources.

now legitimate situations that DO eat up tons of ram are things like working with massive raw images in photoshop that have sizes that need to be measured in gigabytes, virtual machines, and anything on that level.

if the cause is disk fragmentation, getting a Solid State drive is going to be a much bigger help than buying more RAM.

yeah, I've been looking at a SSD but a lot of it just goes over my head. And I do work with huge files on PS all the time which is why I get bogged down too.

[kris2341]

functionally, the SSD works the same as a standard hard drive. just plug it in like one and run!

[Discus-n00b]

now legitimate situations that DO eat up tons of ram are things like working with massive raw images in photoshop that have sizes that need to be measured in gigabytes, virtual machines, and anything on that level.

if the cause is disk fragmentation, getting a Solid State drive is going to be a much bigger help than buying more RAM.

I think both me and Ricardo do this lol more RAM the better I say. Future proof. Why do people need 128gb of DDR4? They don't as DDR3 can run just as well, but eventually the DDR4 will put it to bed.

Also I love SSDs but their lifespans can be shorter than the average HDD. They are getting much better as technology improves of course but they still have a limited amount of write times (I guess all HDDs will die eventually).....its excessive for most of us, but point is there is a line in the sand thats usually closer than the normal HDD at this point in time if you really work a lot on the machine. Good thing is their price is dropping very well currently, and they don't take up nearly as much room in a case build. Have 1-2 planned for this coming build, though they will be something I add later rather than at the start.

Best bang for your buck is still probably a very large traditional HDD.

[kris2341]

most recently,people have been testing popular SSDs for write lifespans, to put it simply, the average consumer SSD can handle hundreds of terabytes of written data with some handling petabytes of data before failing....

the drive will become many many years old before this becomes an issue in a desktop environment.

drive reliability relies on the manufacturer however due to the soldering and SSD firmwares. Samsung drives seem to have the best reliability average overall.

http://techreport.com/review/27909/t...heyre-all-dead

[Discus-n00b]

Agreed about the Samsungs. I'm eyeing that Samsung Pro.

[kris2341]

go for it, theyre amazing

both the EVOs and Pro drives are excellent. ive built with several and not a single issue

[zergling]

128GB of ram which is utterly INSANE.

For 99% of people out there, yes, 128GB is ridiculous. For folks that run multiple virtual machines, it can be considered reasonable.

I started multi-quoting earlier, and then I realized that kris2341 has already posted everything I want to share LOL!

My home PC is getting close to 3 years old, overclocked to 4.6 GHz for the past 21 months.






Pretty happy with this build - it's very silent when I'm not doing anything intensive, but goes up to 4.6GHz (and fans get ramped up) when needed. Overclocking my video card was my next step, but life got too busy to ever get around to it hahaha!

i7-3770k
MSI GTX 670
ASRock Z77 Extreme6
Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB
Samsung 840 (non-pro) 250GB
WD Green 1TB
WD Red 3TB
Corsair AX750
Fractal Design Define R4 case
Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler
Noctua 140mm cooling fans

Hopefully the market will finally bring a 27"-30" monitor that my geeky self and my anorexic budget will agree on. GPU upgrade might also become necessary, depending on what monitor resolution I get and if I ever find free time to play games again LOL. Later this year I also plan to start playing around with VM's and Linux (and maybe OSX?), so RAM and HDD upgrades will be needed.

[Discus-n00b]

Nice! That D14 is huge, I was thinking of going for the D15 but I figure since I'm not going to be OCing straight away that a budget cooler will do the job until then. Its a way to save costs to be able to put more into a GPU or similar. I just wish the Noctua's weren't so big....I guess thats why they are the best air cooler out there but still, takes up half the case LOL. And I know you can change them but I wish they'd change the color of their stock fans, so ugly.

Hopefully the market will finally bring a 27"-30" monitor that my geeky self and my anorexic budget will agree on. GPU upgrade might also become necessary, depending on what monitor resolution I get and if I ever find free time to play games again LOL. Later this year I also plan to start playing around with VM's and Linux (and maybe OSX?), so RAM and HDD upgrades will be needed.

Thats what i've been looking at the past few days. Good monitors are a must for me. I do a lot of photo editing, but I also want some that are decent for gaming and movies. Its hard to find one perfect for all 3. I think since I don't game as much as I used to that I will go for an IPS panel. I've kind of been drooling over Acer's new release. Not one for the anorexic budget LOL but looks really good.
http://store.acer.com/store/aceramer...ctID.314151300

Also looked at this one from Asus
http://www.asus.com/us/Monitors/PA279Q/

I've considered getting one good gaming monitor and one good IPS monitor but then I'd have to place them where I want them on my desk and there will not be any real switching back and forth between them as they are meant for different purposes and I don't know if I like that. Also considered going for one 34" but they all seem to have some issue with them like back light bleed so it hasn't convinced me yet, but 34" with no bezel would be nice.

GPU upgrade is what set me on this path of a new computer, LOL. Snowball effect, if I need a new GPU then I might as well "need" this, or need that. Stuck between 2 graphics cards atm too lol.

[zergling]

Nice! That D14 is huge, I was thinking of going for the D15 but I figure since I'm not going to be OCing straight away that a budget cooler will do the job until then. Its a way to save costs to be able to put more into a GPU or similar. I just wish the Noctua's weren't so big....I guess thats why they are the best air cooler out there but still, takes up half the case LOL.

Agreed. I think that massive air coolers like mine are only worth it if you plan to overclock in the future and need the best noise/cooling performance. Liquid cooling will bring better performance (and a cooler geekier look LOL) but the noise will be a problem, at least for me.

And I know you can change them but I wish they'd change the color of their stock fans, so ugly.

I literally LOL'd! I did notice many complaints about Noctua's beige and brown color scheme. I don't have any problems with the color scheme, but I've never been much of a fashion guy I've also gone through quite a few fans from 80mm to 200mm when I was trying to quiet down my previous PC, and I eventually became a fan (yes, pun intended ) of Noctua's noise/cooling performance and build quality.

Thats what i've been looking at the past few days. Good monitors are a must for me. I do a lot of photo editing, but I also want some that are decent for gaming and movies. Its hard to find one perfect for all 3. I think since I don't game as much as I used to that I will go for an IPS panel. I've kind of been drooling over Acer's new release. Not one for the anorexic budget LOL but looks really good.
http://store.acer.com/store/aceramer...ctID.314151300

Also looked at this one from Asus
http://www.asus.com/us/Monitors/PA279Q/

I've considered getting one good gaming monitor and one good IPS monitor but then I'd have to place them where I want them on my desk and there will not be any real switching back and forth between them as they are meant for different purposes and I don't know if I like that. Also considered going for one 34" but they all seem to have some issue with them like back light bleed so it hasn't convinced me yet, but 34" with no bezel would be nice.

GPU upgrade is what set me on this path of a new computer, LOL. Snowball effect, if I need a new GPU then I might as well "need" this, or need that. Stuck between 2 graphics cards atm too lol.

Haha it looks like you're running into the same details that I'm dealing with while researching monitors. The Acer XB270HU sounds like a perfect fit for gamers, while the ASUS PA279Q sounds like a perfect fit for photo pros like you!

I don't do any photo editing, but I do research and read check out pictures and watch movies so much that I'm now starting to easily notice the color differences from my TN monitor compared to the iDevices and bigger TV's in the house. I think I want an IPS panel, but just about anything might be an upgrade to my now 3 yr old TN panel haha

Resolution and refresh rate - 1440p @ anything over 60Hz is going to be a nice upgrade to what I currently have (1080p @ 60Hz). However, I have barely played any games in more than a year now. My monitor is actually getting more use for work more than anything else nowadays - which makes me wonder if I should really go 2180p. Decisions decisions hahaha!

[zimmjeff]

Alright kind of read through this and my head hurts. Going to take a nap.

[rickztahone]

Nice! That D14 is huge, I was thinking of going for the D15 but I figure since I'm not going to be OCing straight away that a budget cooler will do the job until then. Its a way to save costs to be able to put more into a GPU or similar. I just wish the Noctua's weren't so big....I guess thats why they are the best air cooler out there but still, takes up half the case LOL. And I know you can change them but I wish they'd change the color of their stock fans, so ugly.



Thats what i've been looking at the past few days. Good monitors are a must for me. I do a lot of photo editing, but I also want some that are decent for gaming and movies. Its hard to find one perfect for all 3. I think since I don't game as much as I used to that I will go for an IPS panel. I've kind of been drooling over Acer's new release. Not one for the anorexic budget LOL but looks really good.
http://store.acer.com/store/aceramer...ctID.314151300

Also looked at this one from Asus
http://www.asus.com/us/Monitors/PA279Q/

I've considered getting one good gaming monitor and one good IPS monitor but then I'd have to place them where I want them on my desk and there will not be any real switching back and forth between them as they are meant for different purposes and I don't know if I like that. Also considered going for one 34" but they all seem to have some issue with them like back light bleed so it hasn't convinced me yet, but 34" with no bezel would be nice.

GPU upgrade is what set me on this path of a new computer, LOL. Snowball effect, if I need a new GPU then I might as well "need" this, or need that. Stuck between 2 graphics cards atm too lol.

That 279Q looks amazing! What is the price tag on that bad boy?

[Discus-n00b]

Looking at around $800 for that one Ricardo lol. These new 27" 1440p monitors, especially IPS panels are going to be $700+. I'm really torn on the direction I want to go. I've even looked at a 34" 3440x1440 display to replace multiple monitors as well http://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-34U...rawide-monitor . I've heard some people complain about light bleed though yet others say its flawless. I think light bleed is just a necessary evil from the new IPS panels especially extra wide ones. If I did go for the extra wide I could always use one of my current 1080p monitors beside it for web browsing and such. I'm gonna need a VESA mount soon it seems LOL.

[kris2341]

hey guys, somewhat of a derail but on topic...

I have 3 nearly complete Haswell based computers that I seek to sell, either as parts or as whole systems. (they're all pretty high end i5 or i7 machines, I came across a few nice deals on parts and bought them out in order to use and clear out all the old parts that i had on hand.)

I have an Achievia Shimian 2560x1440 IPS monitor (korean brand, decent quality) and AMD R9 290X graphics card that id like to sell.

Also have an ergotron arm mount to accompany it but its extremely heavy.

if anyone is interested, let me know! the only thing i cant ship is a large computer tower as the shipping becomes as much as the case!

oh, and i would consider payments of discus (not including the cost to ship) and good fish food! LOL!

[Discus-n00b]

Have a 4790k? lol

What is everyone's take on Onboard audio vs sound card? I currently use a sound card, not sure how much good its doing me. And I feel like motherboard audio has advanced. Do I really need a soundcard? I have 2 options that I'm looking at, either going for a mATX build or a full ATX build. I kind of want to go mATX just because I like the idea of consolidating the build. Full ATX will have no real issues but on the mATX I'm worried about spacing issues in the PCIe slots so If I could drop the soundcard all together It would be a plus. Use my sound for the usual, youtube, movies, gaming, etc but I'm not an audiophile. Could I just use a USB DAC and plug straight in with headphones and have the same result?

[kris2341]

yup i have a 4790k in one of the systems i want to sell (not really willing to sell just the CPU though LOL!)

sold a 4770k, z87 motherboard, 16GB of RAM and a 250GB samsung 850 evo the other day for $520 since it was my most used and abused set of internal parts.

I personally only like sound cards because they tend to be less noisy than onboard sound solutions, i have an asus phoebus somewhere that i no longer use because i use an ALO PanAm USB amp/DAC tube amp feeding my beyerdynamic DT 880 headphones(yes im considering selling these too... LMAO!) .