New computer build time? Or hold off?

[Taem]

I'm inclined to believe you're right on this one, as models showing performance output vs cost are obviously skewed by machines running 24-hrs as comparison instead of your average user. I had my doubts when there is only a 6% performance gain that you could actually save hundreds, but who knows, maybe deebee plans on farming for bitcoin 24/7 and that extra 6% would make a big difference... lolol, just kidding. We really know that deebees been testing his bots on this sites for years now and is finally ready to release spam on an epic level to rein in a few extra dollars a week .

[DeeBye]

deebee

ಠ_ಠ

Almost 12 years and over 3300 posts.

[LennyLen]

Everyone knows it's DeadBee.

[kandrathe]

Tell her it's your xmas and b.day gift to yourself, so she's next up for a big purchase.

Well, she actually had the last big purchase. She bought a new 2014 Subaru Crosstrek. It's my turn?

Well... You just tell her you are the man of the house, and if she doesn't like it...

... You'd be totally fine with doing the dishes, and folding more clothes.

:-)

[Taem]

deebee

ಠ_ಠ

Almost 12 years and over 3300 posts.

My apologies; I have no idea why I keep spelling it wrong . I think I always have. I'll make a concentrated effort to spell your name correctly in the future, not implying I haven't done so in the past, I just keep forgetting, obviously.

[DeeBye]

My apologies; I have no idea why I keep spelling it wrong . I think I always have. I'll make a concentrated effort to spell your name correctly in the future, not implying I haven't done so in the past, I just keep forgetting, obviously.

Haha, it's fine. No worries.

Everyone knows it's DeadBee.

That is an acceptable alternative.

Well... You just tell her you are the man of the house, and if she doesn't like it...

... You'd be totally fine with doing the dishes, and folding more clothes.

:-)

If I told her "I am the man of the house, and...." I would no longer live in a house to be a man of. She wears the pants. I'm just here to kill spiders and open jars.

[Aahzmadius]

I have a 970 video card and absolutely love it. Hopefully it will last both of us for several years!

[DeeBye]

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($428.99 @ Amazon Canada)

So there was a hitch with my chosen GPU. They ran out of stock and it was holding up the build. They sent me an email saying that they could substitute a similar one for $15 more, or I could wait a week or so until new stock came in.

My original EVGA GTX 970 choice

The similar one they suggested for $15 more

The substitute has a non-reference heatsink/fan so it's probably quieter and cooler, but it's actually clocked a little lower. It didn't seem like it was worth $15 more so I declined. I did a little more research on GTX 970s, and found out that there is a newer EVGA GTX 970 with great reviews. It's clocked even faster, and is supposed to be super quiet in idle scenarios. I asked if they had it in stock and they did, but for $25 more than my original choice. I agreed to that.

Was this a wise decision? I think I'm comfortable with it. I just didn't want to hold up the build any longer, and I don't mind paying an extra $25 for a superior card with better and quieter cooling.

[LavCat]

I think you answered your own question.

[Hammerskjold]

Was this a wise decision? I think I'm comfortable with it. I just didn't want to hold up the build any longer, and I don't mind paying an extra $25 for a superior card with better and quieter cooling.

25$ extra for that level of gaming card is a drop in the bucket IMO, especially if you're planning to not tinker\upgrade\replace it shortly after you get your system.

Only other thing I can think of is are you're getting it delivered, or are you picking it up at the store. Personally I almost always choose local pick up, since I have this paranoid fear of some delivery dudes just throwing around my PC like a sack of potatoes. Or more likely nowadays, just leaving it on my doorstep with one ring a ling, and just taking off.

So that, and what type of mouse pad will you be using. (Very important here! ) Some people will swear by a twitch FPS tournament approved\sponsored mouse pads. I personally prefer a porcelain tile or a linoleum tile sample from ye ole big box hardware store.

[kandrathe]

I personally prefer a porcelain tile or a linoleum tile sample from ye ole big box hardware store.

I suppose you could put rubber feet on it.

[DeeBye]

Only other thing I can think of is are you're getting it delivered, or are you picking it up at the store.

There is no local pickup option (BC is many thousands of kilometers away). It's being delivered by Purolator. I have full shipping insurance, and have requested the GPU be removed after testing and shipped separately.

As for mousepads - the only thing I like is a proper rubber-backed cloth mousepad. I don't care if new laser mice work anywhere. They just feel wrong.

[kandrathe]

[Hammerskjold]

There is no local pickup option (BC is many thousands of kilometers away). It's being delivered by Purolator. I have full shipping insurance, and have requested the GPU be removed after testing and shipped separately.

I think I was given the same option for GPU removal for local pickup option. And don't mind me, it's mostly my own peculiarity and the good luck to have one of their store within 10 min driving distance.

Though I'll still complain re: deliveries in my area has gone somewhat downhill, I remember when the mailman\woman rang twice and waited at least a bit before taking off.

/pepperidge farms remembers

As for mousepads - the only thing I like is a proper rubber-backed cloth mousepad. I don't care if new laser mice work anywhere. They just feel wrong.

Definitely a personal preference thing. I use a graphics tablet most of the time, but when it comes to mouse and mouse pads, I think I'm in the harder surface camp. Linoleum and cork is the softest I'd personally like, with ceramic\porcelain being my favourite.

Then again I'm the type of computer geek who actually likes the concept of projection, and glass touchscreen keyboards. Granted they're pretty far from perfect and needs a lot of improvement, and for actual productivity use a 20-40 dollar generic keyboard\mouse combo will likely do a better job. But the design geek side of me really likes the projection and glass touchscreen boards. It's like I'm in the future or something.



(I can do without the PowerGlove TM and Precogs however.)

So then, on to the absolutely most critical concern. What will be the first vidya game to grace this fine machine of yours? INB4 Minesweeper.

[DeeBye]

So then, on to the absolutely most critical concern. What will be the first vidya game to grace this fine machine of yours? INB4 Minesweeper.

That is the burning question of the moment. I have such a huge library of Steam games I bought during various sales, but never wanted to play on my less than stellar non-gaming PC. I have the FEAR series, the Bioshock series, the Red Faction games, GRID 1 and 2, Borderlands 1 and 2, all the Crysis games, the Walking Dead, Saints Row 4, plus I got game keys for Far Cry 4 and Total War: Rome II for buying various parts. I also want to try out WoW again, and Diablo 3 needs a revisit.

I'll probably play Minecraft.

[Taem]

I have the FEAR series, the Bioshock series, the Red Faction games, GRID 1 and 2, Borderlands 1 and 2, all the Crysis games, the Walking Dead, Saints Row 4, plus I got game keys for Far Cry 4 and Total War: Rome II for buying various parts. I also want to try out WoW again, and Diablo 3 needs a revisit.

FEAR is pretty incredible. Some of the gfx settings seem "familiar" after a couple of levels, but if you play with headphones in the dark, the game is really intense! I found Deadspace to be pretty boring and the ambient audio to be grating to my senses to a point I didn't enjoy the game, but FEAR kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time and was not too much on anything. I highly recommend you give it a try.

[DeeBye]

FEAR is pretty incredible. Some of the gfx settings seem "familiar" after a couple of levels, but if you play with headphones in the dark, the game is really intense! I found Deadspace to be pretty boring and the ambient audio to be grating to my senses to a point I didn't enjoy the game, but FEAR kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time and was not too much on anything. I highly recommend you give it a try.

I have (but not yet played) the entire FEAR series, and I love horror-themed games. I'm happy to see a positive review of them. I actually really loved Dead Space. I also have (but not yet played) Dead Space 2, but not 3. I think it's only on Origin. I'm also seeing that Resident Evil has been remastered in HD and released on Steam for $20. I absolutely loved Resident Evil 1&2 on Playstation back in the day, so I'm keenly interested in that.

As for headphone gaming, I might be looking for something new. Right now I have a Sennheiser HD 280 Pro that is great for watching movies late at night when my family is asleep, but I bought my son a Corsair Vengeance 1500 headset for Christmas. I tried it out for myself and it really sounds fantastic for the price, so now I'm thinking on getting a really good 7.1 gaming headset for me. My HD 280 sounds great, but it's only stereo and I'd love to see what newer games sound like with a full 7.1 headset. I'm not quite sure what to look at though.

[DeeBye]

It's finally here! There were some delays due to out of stock parts, me changing things, and terrible weather for delivering a parcel over 4,000 km in Canada in January. Everything arrived unbroken. They did a good job of packing it for a long travel.

Excuse my low quality cellphone pictures.

I haven't fired it up yet. I was working a late shift and it was delivered while I was away. I only just unboxed it and installed the GPU. I need to move some things from my current computer to an external drive anyways.

The Corsair 230T case seems pretty nice on first impressions. There is tons of room in it, and a bunch of spots for huge fans if I might need them. The case has one big fan up front, and the H60 liquid CPU cooler has a big one in the back. It looks like they are set up for good airflow front-to-back, and directly across the video card. The GTX 970 is a big card, but it feels surprisingly light. My old AMD 4890 is about the same size, but was a lot heavier.





edit: I still haven't decided on what game I should play to break it in. What is the most graphically demanding (yet fun) game out there right now?

[Lissa]

edit: I still haven't decided on what game I should play to break it in. What is the most graphically demanding (yet fun) game out there right now?

"One does not simply walk into (Shadow of) Mordor."

[Hammerskjold]

The Corsair 230T case seems pretty nice on first impressions. There is tons of room in it, and a bunch of spots for huge fans if I might need them. The case has one big fan up front, and the H60 liquid CPU cooler has a big one in the back. It looks like they are set up for good airflow front-to-back, and directly across the video card. The GTX 970 is a big card, but it feels surprisingly light. My old AMD 4890 is about the same size, but was a lot heavier.

Looks good and clean looking.

edit: I still haven't decided on what game I should play to break it in. What is the most graphically demanding (yet fun) game out there right now?

http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/181849...the-future


But it's a hacked version though, so you'd be haxxor if you "play" it.

Favourite quote from the link:

...K-putt has a pretty beefy gaming rig, and yet it could only muster 2 fps when running at 8K resolution.

edited ps, on a more cereal mode. I think gaming at 1080 p will still be around for awhile longer, and the benefit of more powerful GPUs for gaming will be speed and smoothness overall. But IMO the 'MOAR REZ!' thing does hit a pretty solid wall of diminishing return after a certain viewing distance and application.