Official Building/Upgrading thread

[AzNightmare]

Are all VGA cables the same?

Seems like they have a big list of different types:
(SVGA, WXGA, SXGA, WUXGA, QSXGA, etc)
that are associated with specific resolution sizes.

But I'm also reading that it's all a big marketing thing, and it doesn't really matter. VGA cables don't have types and they all can produce whatever resolution your monitor/video card produces.

[underscore]

Why would you use VGA?

[AzNightmare]

Originally Posted by underscore

Why would you use VGA?

Long story short:
Monitor's DVI port is messed up.
Temporary solution is VGA.

[Pho Dac Biet]

Can someone suggest a budget-midrange cpu/mobo combo for some low level gaming? I have an R9 280x sitting here but it seems to be bottle necked by my Asus m2n32-SLI deluxe mobo and Phenom 9600 cpu and 6gb ram.

I get junk framerates, or maybe I'm not doing it right.

[Razor Ramon HG]

ASUS H81M-E + G3258

[Kaolinite]

not sure if this has been asked but im looking to build a gaming rig thats easier to carry around since i currently have a full sized tower.. was looking at the micro-atx and mini-itx.. whats the difference?

[knight604]

Smaller towers can not house max performance gpus.

[Razor Ramon HG]

Depends what you need.

I don't recommend full-ATX cases any more unless you really like a specific chassis.. the NZXT S340 was more than enough to make me go from mITX to it. But I'm rocking a Clevo P650SE instead these days.

The only real difference is expansion slot and cooling.

Most mITX cases these days can generally fit most cards out on the market like the Corsair 250D. And even if they can't fit the regular full size version, manufacturers generally have ITX versions of certain NVIDIA cards like the GTX 970M at the expense of slightly higher temperatures.

And of course, smaller case equals less fans and more noise. A tiny case like the EVGA Hadron Air only has two exhausts, and that can affect temperatures (which is why it's recommended to use a reference style GPU with a blower fan to exhaust it out the back).

There aren't too many good mITX cases on the market that I can really recommend aside from the 250D (little on the larger side, but has great cooling and 240mm radiator support) and the nCase M1.

I find mATX to be the best compromise, but people downgrading strictly for size might not be satisfied enough. There are a lot of nice cases though without breaking the bank like the Coolermaster N200 and cases in the Fractal Design Core 1000 series.

Don't bother with the Bitfenix Pandora tho. It looks nice, but was a pain in the fucking ass to build in and made me want to smash it with a hammer.

[twitchyzero]

my 2.5 year old PC...swiftech sent me a new unit when the older version's pump died
screwing in CPU heatsink/block is my least favourite step when building PCs
i have a 120mm radiator sitting around that i'll add to the bottom when I get a new card + gpu block down the road

[Razor Ramon HG]

I always wanted a Swiftech in my system, but NCIX was always sold out of it so I ended up getting a H100i instead.

The Swiftech water block is so nice.

[bcrdukes]

Folks,

To follow up with my previous thread, (http://www.revscene.net/forums/70246...g-bonkers.html) are there any cheaper/better alternatives to something similar to this?

Lenovo Q190 - The world's smallest full-function desktop PC $| Lenovo CA

I would much prefer a small/slim desktop PC as opposed to a tower. I don't need anything crazy as I will use it for the following only:

- Microsoft Office (Excel / Word / Outlook)
- Chrome (regular browsing i.e. RS, hipster websites etc.)
- Skype / Google Hangouts
- WinAmp
- The occasional movies (downloaded or DVD)

That's pretty much it. No games or processor-intensive applications. I'm not set on getting a slim style desktop so I'm open to suggestions. No budget in mind for now and would prefer something where I can have at least 4GB of RAM. Ideally 8GB since Chrome is a RAM vampire.

Thanks in advance.

[Iceman_2K]

You looking to purchase a prebuilt or build your own?

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Folks,

To follow up with my previous thread, (http://www.revscene.net/forums/70246...g-bonkers.html) are there any cheaper/better alternatives to something similar to this?

Lenovo Q190 - The world's smallest full-function desktop PC $| Lenovo CA

I would much prefer a small/slim desktop PC as opposed to a tower. I don't need anything crazy as I will use it for the following only:

- Microsoft Office (Excel / Word / Outlook)
- Chrome (regular browsing i.e. RS, hipster websites etc.)
- Skype / Google Hangouts
- WinAmp
- The occasional movies (downloaded or DVD)

That's pretty much it. No games or processor-intensive applications. I'm not set on getting a slim style desktop so I'm open to suggestions. No budget in mind for now and would prefer something where I can have at least 4GB of RAM. Ideally 8GB since Chrome is a RAM vampire.

Thanks in advance.

[Razor Ramon HG]

You can build a small mITX box for around $400 taxes in.

Apex MI-1800BK
Intel G3258
ASUS H81i-PLUS
8GB DDR3
500GB HDD

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by Iceman_2K

You looking to purchase a prebuilt or build your own?

Either or. Whichever works best to my advantage.

Originally Posted by Razor Ramon HG

You can build a small mITX box for around $400 taxes in.

Apex MI-1800BK
Intel G3258
ASUS H81i-PLUS
8GB DDR3
500GB HDD

Do you have a parts/price list for something like that? I assume the HDD is NOT a SSD, correct? (Wishful thinking, but I don't know shit about computers since Pentium III.)

Thanks guys.

[Razor Ramon HG]

You'll have to pick up the parts at both NCIX and Memory Express to take advantage of all the pricematches, but it will look like something below.

Apex MI-100BK - $59.02 @ DirectCanada
Intel Pentium G3258 - $78.99 @ Newegg
ASUS H81i-PLUS - $97.99 @ PC-Canada
Geil EVO 8GB DDR3-1600 - $69.99 @ NCIX
Seagate Barracuda 1TB - $59.99 at NCIX

Subtotal: $365.98
After Taxes: $409.90

I'd recommend throwing in a SSD as a boot drive, and having a traditional HDD for storage. The Sandisk Ultra Plus SSD is $61.09 @ Canada Computers.

If you want to save some cash, I'm selling a 500GB hard drive for $40 that I pulled out of a new laptop.

This computer will be many times faster than the Lenovo. You can upgrade the CPU down the road if you wish, but you won't be able to stick a video card in there if you want to do any sort of gaming (case is small).

[underscore]

Buddy of mine is getting some hardware from a relative (upgrading) and needs input on a couple pieces:

I5 4690K
16Gb ram (1600)
120Gb SSD
Rosewell 550W PSU
GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448

Basically he needs a mobo and a case, it'll be used for gaming so something that will allow him to overclock down the road would be good, dual GPU support probably a plus and good fan support a must. He's currently looking at the MSI Z97 gaming 7 ($215) but it's probably overkill?

[R&R]

Gaming 5 is good enough, save that money for a better gpu

[Razor Ramon HG]

The best mid-range Z97 board would be the ASUS Z97-A. ASUS' fan software is also miles better than the competition's.

For the case, I would recommend NZXT's S340 if the component colours all match together or your friend doesn't care. Best ATX case for the dollar by far.

If not, the Cooler Master N600 (more budget) or Fractal Design R4/R5 (more high-end) are all good cases. If he just wants the cheapest and decent case, I would recommend the Antec One. Just make sure the GPU fits in it.

[Iceman_2K]

Is he not going to do anything other than gaming? I'd probably add a secondary spinning disk in just to hold files - 120GB SSD will fill up if he's using the machine for more than gaming.

Originally Posted by underscore

Buddy of mine is getting some hardware from a relative (upgrading) and needs input on a couple pieces:

I5 4690K
16Gb ram (1600)
120Gb SSD
Rosewell 550W PSU
GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448

Basically he needs a mobo and a case, it'll be used for gaming so something that will allow him to overclock down the road would be good, dual GPU support probably a plus and good fan support a must. He's currently looking at the MSI Z97 gaming 7 ($215) but it's probably overkill?

[underscore]

Spinning disc will get tossed in as well, I think he'll be copying my 2 SSD/1 HDD setup.

[twitchyzero]

Originally Posted by Razor Ramon HG

I always wanted a Swiftech in my system, but NCIX was always sold out of it so I ended up getting a H100i instead.

The Swiftech water block is so nice.

yeah it's infrequently stocked even on their website...the demand far outpaces production. I just found out my case supports 280mm rad so I may upgrade to that whenever NCIX restocks it.

The backplate and block screws were awful to use...but once installed you can forgive it because the performance/noise/expandability is unrivaled...here it is against the popular corsair's latest offering

YouTube

[raysquared]

Any thoughts on the ncix explorer r2 series? looking for a pre built pc for light gaming (starcraft and fps) and daily tasks (email, 1080p videos etc). I don't really have any experience in buying separate parts and installing myself to save money.

[Razor Ramon HG]

It's a decent system. Uses a cheap H81 motherboard though depending on the level you get.

ABSOLUTELY NEW GAMING PC SET FROM NCIX

This dude wanted to trade his system for my laptop a week back. I'm sure you could haggle him down to $600-650 for the whole PC + monitor + keyboard and mouse.

A 750TI should be fine for SC2 + CSGO @ 1080p.

[raysquared]

Funny, I saw the ad earlier on and he still has it. I'm pretty reluctant on buying electronics on cl but it would be a good deal at 600-650.

[Razor Ramon HG]

If he has the receipt and it matches up with the system then there is nothing to worry.

He's asking for $750, but that system is really not worth more than $600-650 used even with all the extras.