Question for PC enthusiasts

[Dark Drakan]

Yeah, the 290x is a waste of time and doing some more research I see that the 290 is very good for its price, it managed to beat the GTX 780 in a few benchmarks (such as Bioshock Infinite) on its own, kills it with SLI. The drawback of the card however is that the 290 is a really loud card and can get pretty warm. Which isn't all that surprising since AMD tends to value price/performance over cooling efficiency with many of their cards (even mine is really loud). So it comes down to: How much do you care about noise level?

Not that fussed about it being too loud as it won't be at head height (direct earshot) but under a desk & my old rig wasn't that quiet either & laptop is very loud too. For £100 less I can put up with a little noise. Case is quite well ventilated & can always buy a few more fans to keep things cooler. For price that it is I could easily afford to SLI if needed at some point too.

Might be worth going for the EVGA due to lower temps as if card runs hot & PSU does too it might cause some heat issues.

 

[Gikoku]

Not that fussed about it being too loud as it won't be at head height (direct earshot) but under a desk & my old rig wasn't that quiet either & laptop is very loud too. For £100 less I can put up with a little noise. Case is quite well ventilated & can always buy a few more fans to keep things cooler. For price that it is I could easily afford to SLI if needed at some point too.

Might be worth going for the EVGA due to lower temps as if card runs hot & PSU does too it might cause some heat issues.

In that case I would keep the 290 on your list for consideration, it's an excellent card either way. The card in conjunction with the i7-4790k is overkill on anything at 1920x1080 unless you have a strong desire to play things at 2560x1440.

You can see both the card & cpu together in this benchmark with an average 74fps & max 100fps (gets higher frames without Fraps).

Good point, though you'll be fine with either PSU. For one your rig will have its own cooling to help, and your current setup with a single GPU won't even demand all that power the 850w provides, not until you start doing crossfire anyway.

 

[Azer249]

They also recommended the EVGA's Supernova G2 850W (£94.99) over Corsair's RM850. As according to them in their tests the Corsair runs quietly but at very high temperatures.

U wot. Suck it up Giki, suck it up...

From past experience though my Corsair PSU is never at high temps and always sits around 35*c..
Mine is from the HX series though but still, i'd go Corsair... Honestly it's not that much of a problem because both are trustworthy brands, just, i'd always stick with Corsair, you could say i'm a fanboy.

That and the little differences on the rails is enough to sell it to me, stat whore and all. Oh and the 290 is still a good choice.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Looks like I now have the outline for a half decent rig & now just have to get the cash together to start buying parts in next few days. Anyone have any monitor recommendations at all?

 

[Gikoku]

Looks like I now have the outline for a half decent rig & now just have to get the cash together to start buying parts in next few days. Anyone have any monitor recommendations at all?

Narrowed my results down to these 2 monitors, 1 for both sizes that you were interested in. They're both available on Amazon as well, but are cheaper on Newegg, significantly so in the VE278Q's case.

Asus VS248H-P: 1920x1080, 24", 2ms response time. £114
Asus VE278Q: 1920x1080, 27", 2ms response time. £153

One thing to know about the Asus VE278Q model though, is that because of its pixel pitch count (0.311mm) and 27" size at 1920x1080, it ends up giving some pixelated edges with text and anti-aliasing. It can be resolved though with fiddling about in the menu controls.

Neither one comes with its own HDMI cable in case you don't have a spare lying around, though they do come with a DVI cable which is just fine in the meantime. Can't adjust the height on them either, only the angle, which isn't as bad as it sounds (mine is the same and works perfectly fine).

 

[Dark Drakan]

Narrowed my results down to these 2 monitors, 1 for both sizes that you were interested in. They're both available on Amazon as well, but are cheaper on Newegg, significantly so in the VE278Q's case.

Asus VS248H-P: 1920x1080, 24", 2ms response time. £114
Asus VE278Q: 1920x1080, 27", 2ms response time. £153

One thing to know about the Asus VE278Q model though, is that because of its pixel pitch count (0.311mm) and 27" size at 1920x1080, it ends up giving some pixelated edges with text and anti-aliasing. It can be resolved though with fiddling about in the menu controls.

Neither one comes with its own HDMI cable in case you don't have a spare lying around, though they do come with a DVI cable which is just fine in the meantime. Can't adjust the height on them either, only the angle, which isn't as bad as it sounds (mine is the same and works perfectly fine).

Just realised I never thanked you here for the suggestions (did it on Facebook). I think I do have a spare HDMI cable in my wardrobe (will check). Wish AMD & nVidia would sort these new ranges & price drops out soon (rumoured to be within a month). Keep hearing that certain ranges are due a price drop to compete with each other & to co-incide with new range announcements. I know I will buy one then price will drop days after so I'm holding off as long as a can on the GPU.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Some good priced monitors on DinoPC are any of these any good? I mean the 24 inch ProLite GE2488HS is £119.49 & has a 1ms response time & 1920x1080 resolution, granted they aren't as well known brands as Asus etc.

 

[Dark Drakan]

So far the parts I have in my hand are:

Case: Corsair Carbide 200R (Extra fan mount location compared to 300R and its slightly longer & taller) plus one I linked to in original link wasnt the 300R so this was ordered instead. :lol::blush:
PSU: Corsair RM850
DVD Drive: LG 24x DVD Burner
SSD: Crucial CT120M500SSD1 120GB M500 SATA

Ordering the Motherboard next and that shall be the Asus Maximus VII HERO and the processor which is the Intel Core i7-4790K.

 

[Gikoku]

Some good priced monitors on DinoPC are any of these any good? I mean the 24 inch ProLite GE2488HS is £119.49 & has a 1ms response time & 1920x1080 resolution, granted they aren't as well known brands as Asus etc.

Hard to say, never heard of 'em before and there's **** all information on it in that page, but the one you listed looks like the only decently priced model for what you're getting. You're not going to notice a difference between 1ms & 2ms though. There's a bit more info about it on Amazon (which has it for 139 quid.. lol..jeez) and it has an adjustable stand (tilting). The problem I have with lesser known brands is they can list all the specs they want for their models, it's their production reliability I'm concerned about. Westinghouse is a good example of a company that can list pleasing specs for their monitors at an affordable price, but end up with terrible quality (as I have dealt with).

I'm going to say don't chance it, because I'm looking around and there's no reviews anywhere for that model to grasp how reliable it is. Plus, it costs more than the Asus model of the same size with a 1ms difference and a greatly inferior contrast ratio. Not to mention the Asus monitor just dropped further and is listed at 110 quid now for me.

So far the parts I have in my hand are:

Case: Corsair Carbide 200R (Extra fan mount location compared to 300R and its slightly longer & taller) plus one I linked to in original link wasnt the 300R so this was ordered instead. :lol::blush:
PSU: Corsair RM850
DVD Drive: LG 24x DVD Burner
SSD: Crucial CT120M500SSD1 120GB M500 SATA

Ordering the Motherboard next and that shall be the Asus Maximus VII HERO and the processor which is the Intel Core i7-4790K.

Looking good so far, wasn't expecting the new case though, it looks pretty nice (I like it better than mine).

Oo oo, also. When you get your rig all sorted out, the Maximus VII comes with it's own software for tuning but I've seen some find it a bit confusing. In any case, I'd grab Speedfan to control your fans until you invest in a drive bay control panel (or whenever you wrap your head around MVII Hero's UEFI BIOS). It's simple and to the point. Otherwise your system is likely to default them to max speed, shortening their lifespan and giving you your own personal jet turbine. >_>

 

[Dark Drakan]

Hard to say, never heard of 'em before and there's **** all information on it in that page, but the one you listed looks like the only decently priced model for what you're getting. You're not going to notice a difference between 1ms & 2ms though. There's a bit more info about it on Amazon (which has it for 139 quid.. lol..jeez) and it has an adjustable stand (tilting). The problem I have with lesser known brands is they can list all the specs they want for their models, it's their production reliability I'm concerned about. Westinghouse is a good example of a company that can list pleasing specs for their monitors at an affordable price, but end up with terrible quality (as I have dealt with). I am impressed with the amount of air flow vents in it though and the fans are pretty big.

I'm going to say don't chance it, because I'm looking around and there's no reviews anywhere for that model to grasp how reliable it is. Plus, it costs more than the Asus model of the same size with a 1ms difference and a greatly inferior contrast ratio. Not to mention the Asus monitor just dropped further and is listed at 110 quid now for me.

Looking good so far, wasn't expecting the new case though, it looks pretty nice (I like it better than mine).

Oo oo, also. When you get your rig all sorted out, the Maximus VII comes with it's own software for tuning but I've seen some find it a bit confusing. In any case, I'd grab Speedfan to control your fans until you invest in a drive bay control panel (or whenever you wrap your head around MVII Hero's UEFI BIOS). It's simple and to the point. Otherwise your system is likely to default them to max speed, shortening their lifespan and giving you your own personal jet turbine. >_>

£110 for a monitor isn't bad at all, paid more than that for my old one years ago & it's a relatively unknown brand. Looks like I will opt for an Asus monitor then, you happen to have link to one your looking at?

The case was ordered by mistake as my link went to the 200R instead of the 300R & didn't notice until I opened package. I must have been comparing the 2 and when I added the link to the post it was still on the 200R. The 300R looks a little more fancy than mine (mainly front panel) but the minimalist front of mine has pleased Amy at least. She saw my old rig which was huge with a clear side panel and blue lights & LEDs & was worried I would "clutter" my lounge with another 'monstrosity' as she called it. It has a bit more room to play with inside than the 300R however so not bad overall. It also has a good amount of air flow that I was impressed with and some huge fans inside and 1 extra space for another fan in there too compared to 300R.

I was going to ask about software to monitor fan speed & temps etc so I will look that up. Getting my head around other things currently so will go 1 step at a time. :lol:

 

[Quistrix]

 

[Dark Drakan]

Ive actually seen that rig before, its pretty damn impressive I have to say.

 

[Quistrix]

The rig that makes all other rigs feel bad about themselves.

 

[Gikoku]

Jeezus... wish I had a swank setup like that... on the other hand.. MOBILITYYYY!!

£110 for a monitor isn't bad at all, paid more than that for my old one years ago & it's a relatively unknown brand. Looks like I will opt for an Asus monitor then, you happen to have link to one your looking at?

Yep, same one from before.

http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Pro...orebbr=1&cm_re=monitor-_-24-236-153-_-Product

The case was ordered by mistake as my link went to the 200R instead of the 300R & didn't notice until I opened package. I must have been comparing the 2 and when I added the link to the post it was still on the 200R. The 300R looks a little more fancy than mine (mainly front panel) but the minimalist front of mine has pleased Amy at least. She saw my old rig which was huge with a clear side panel and blue lights & LEDs & was worried I would "clutter" my lounge with another 'monstrosity' as she called it. It has a bit more room to play with inside than the 300R however so not bad overall. It also has a good amount of air flow that I was impressed with and some huge fans inside and 1 extra space for another fan in there too compared to 300R.

Blessing in disguise? If the love approves then you're good to go, Kath would kill me if I had one of those see-through LED-blasting 60lb monsters in the game room. There's already enough big things in the house as it is, thank the nine divines for the invention of soundbars.

Oh, which reminds me.. What are you doing about your sound for the rig? Headphones? Speakers? I wouldn't wish the built-in speakers of a monitor on any soul.

I was going to ask about software to monitor fan speed & temps etc so I will look that up. Getting my head around other things currently so will go 1 step at a time. :lol:

As long as you have the fans plugged into the motherboard via the cha_fan sockets, you'll be all set for fan control. I use Speedfan for fan control and HWMonitor for proper temp monitoring (speedfan does also, but hwmonitor does it better), which gives current, minimum, and maximum temp values for every component in the system.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Yep, same one from before.

http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Pro...orebbr=1&cm_re=monitor-_-24-236-153-_-Product

Going to see if I can find it on Amazon to compare prices as basic shipping is around £21 I believe with import tax.

Blessing in disguise? If the love approves then you're good to go, Kath would kill me if I had one of those see-through LED-blasting 60lb monsters in the game room. There's already enough big things in the house as it is, thank the nine divines for the invention of soundbars.

Yeah maybe a blessing in disguise as she was far more accepting than I thought. Now with an extra desk in my lounge too.

Oh, which reminds me.. What are you doing about your sound for the rig? Headphones? Speakers? I wouldn't wish the built-in speakers of a monitor on any soul.


As long as you have the fans plugged into the motherboard via the cha_fan sockets, you'll be all set for fan control. I use Speedfan for fan control and HWMonitor for proper temp monitoring (speedfan does also, but hwmonitor does it better), which gives current, minimum, and maximum temp values for every component in the system.

I might pick up some speakers but I think I can also get my 360 Turtle Beach earphones to work on it with a couple of tweaks & an extra lead.

Hopefully I can figure out where everything goes easy enough. Want to keep a close eye on temps for when I consider overclocking as an option too.

 

[Gikoku]

Going to see if I can find it on Amazon to compare prices as basic shipping is around £21 I believe with import tax.

Just checked and they don't have that specific model on the UK Amazon site, but they do on the US site for $169. :/

I'll have a look-see if there's anything close to it on there.

I might pick up some speakers but I think I can also get my 360 Turtle Beach earphones to work on it with a couple of tweaks & an extra lead.

Hopefully I can figure out where everything goes easy enough. Want to keep a close eye on temps for when I consider overclocking as an option too.

Sounds good, you'll be fine with the installation. Everything has labels on them and a quick Google search of a socket will resolve any issues if you're ever stumped. As long as you have some good management of your cables and proper airflow, you'll be just fine with keeping things cool.

Oh, though one socket I do know that isn't obvious is the AAFP socket, which is meant for your front panel audio plugs like HD_AUDIO and the old AC'97. So just a heads up.

 

[Dark Drakan]

I have ordered my Hyper X Fury Black RAM (8GB) and my Western Digital 1TB HD and they will arrive today. Going to order my motherboard either tomorrow or early next week then my CPU. I have decided on an nVidia EVGA GTX 970 for my GPU also and will order that either just after my CPU or just before, depending on stock (available Sept 26th on Overclockers UK) but no sign of it on Amazon UK yet.

Final Specs will be

Case: Corsair Carbide 200R
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VII Hero
PSU: Corsair RM850 Plus Gold
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K (Quad Core 4Ghz)
GPU: nVidia EVGA GTX 970 (4GB)
RAM: Hyper X Fury Black (8GB)
SSD: Crucial CT120M500SSD1 120GB
HD: Western Digital 1TB
Optical Drive: LG 24X DVD Burner
Windows: 8.1

Havent decided on monitor as of yet.

 

[Dark Drakan]

I hit a bump in the road over last few months with life and bills getting in the way of me continuing my new PC build. I have around 65% of the components purchased however and soon as I have some spare cash again I shall continue buying more. Im a couple of months behind schedule but with Christmas and my Birthday shortly afterwards I should have some extra cash coming in soon. Have all the expensive parts left to purchase so been unable to buy any for a while so just got to wait until I have saved some cash.

 

[Albion Knight]

Might wait and see if Windows 10 is coming out at this point. If you already have 8 I think the upgrade will be free however.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Might wait and see if Windows 10 is coming out at this point. If you already have 8 I think the upgrade will be free however.

I don't have any at the moment & it's still on list to purchase along with Motherboard/CPU/GPU & monitor.