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Technology Thread: Building a Desktop Computer

On the same subject: my big concern is that ASUS is about to blow the lid open on affordable IPS panels. They have some really interesting monitors scheduled for release in the first half of this year (one of which is rumored to be the world's first 144hz IPS 4k G-Sync panel). I don't really want to get a pricey QHD monitor if we're about to see significant UHD breakthroughs.

I know, I know, "there will always be something better," but I think the market is going to stabilize with 4k in a way that it didn't with WHD. I don't see 6k or 8k being viable options for PC displays anytime soon, especially given DPI scaling issues that already exist with 4k.
 
I know the dpi isn't as good, but I love using a 40" 1080p PVA HDTV as my monitor. I wish it had better than 60Hz, but I love the size.
 
RedSoxFaithful said:
On the same subject: my big concern is that ASUS is about to blow the lid open on affordable IPS panels. They have some really interesting monitors scheduled for release in the first half of this year (one of which is rumored to be the world's first 144hz IPS 4k G-Sync panel). I don't really want to get a pricey QHD monitor if we're about to see significant UHD breakthroughs.

I know, I know, "there will always be something better," but I think the market is going to stabilize with 4k in a way that it didn't with WHD. I don't see 6k or 8k being viable options for PC displays anytime soon, especially given DPI scaling issues that already exist with 4k.
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I'm not totally convinced that 4k will be the best resolution for computer monitors even doe. I think you need to be at a 30"+ monitor to even see the difference/notice the benefits there.

I can't wait to see how the hell they're going to get enough bandwidth to push out 144hz at 4k. Jesus.
 
I'm starting to buy pieces for a build. My first ground up build, so I'm taking it slow. I was going to do the SSD boot drive/HDD storage drive thing, but honestly I use so little storage I'm thinking I could get by with just a good size SSD for everything. All my photos and music are in the cloud and I basically only use the PC for gaming and surfing. I think my current drive is 250 GB and it's not close to full. Any reason not to go single SSD?

ETA: Something like this guy here. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W02KJ6017
 
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Deacon923 said:
I'm starting to buy pieces for a build. My first ground up build, so I'm taking it slow. I was going to do the SSD boot drive/HDD storage drive thing, but honestly I use so little storage I'm thinking I could get by with just a good size SSD for everything. All my photos and music are in the cloud and I basically only use the PC for gaming and surfing. I think my current drive is 250 GB and it's not close to full. Any reason not to go single SSD?

ETA: Something like this guy here. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W02KJ6017
Click to expand...

If you don't really have a lot of storage needs, then nope, not really any strong argument against it. I haven't heard of anyone going Kingston for SSDs though lately, I think you're better off going with a Crucial in that price/performance range, something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-Inch-adapter-Internal-CT960M500SSD1/dp/B00BQ8RGL6?tag=amaz98-20

(I have two of the 240 GB versions of that drive, and they've both been great so far)
 
You might even want to go two 240 GBs and put them in RAID 0 if you really want to increase the speed.
 
I am planning to future proof with a pretty solid SLI capable mobo, although I haven't decided which one. Should I plan for a M.2 SSD (given that I need a fairly large capacity SSD as described above) or not worry about M.2 and go with SATA III? Or is M.2 pretty much available on all the higher end mobos now?
 
Deacon923 said:
I am planning to future proof with a pretty solid SLI capable mobo, although I haven't decided which one. Should I plan for a M.2 SSD (given that I need a fairly large capacity SSD as described above) or not worry about M.2 and go with SATA III? Or is M.2 pretty much available on all the higher end mobos now?
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You're going to have to go with an x99 mobo if you want to really future-proof with regards to an M.2. SLI'ing on a z97 board is generally going to limit your m.2 speeds (to PCIe x1 or x2 max I think, x1 is only marginally better than SATA3) just because there aren't enough PCIe lanes on those.
 
There really aren't enough PCIE M.2 drives out there to make it worthwhile, IMO. The XP941 is the only one I'm aware of, and it ran me $135 for 128 GB.

Those things sell out pretty frequently at Amazon/Newegg/EBay, so I'm sort of surprised more companies haven't gotten into that market.
 
So, I decided to reformat both drives after all and start from scratch. I'm just going to leave all Windows stuff and most apps on the XP941 (this worries me a bit because, again, it's only 128 GB, but we'll see how it goes), and put all of my games on the 256 GB, with all of my documents/music/videos on another drive.

So far, so good!
 
RedSoxFaithful said:
So, I decided to reformat both drives after all and start from scratch. I'm just going to leave all Windows stuff and most apps on the XP941 (this worries me a bit because, again, it's only 128 GB, but we'll see how it goes), and put all of my games on the 256 GB, with all of my documents/music/videos on another drive.

So far, so good!
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I think you'll be fine. My last PC (lasted me 4 years) only had a 128 GB SSD as the primary Windows + Apps drive and I even had space to put a couple games on as well that I wanted to be able to access faster (had a secondary HDD for some games/data).
 
cookoutdeac said:
I think you'll be fine. My last PC (lasted me 4 years) only had a 128 GB SSD as the primary Windows + Apps drive and I even had space to put a couple games on as well that I wanted to be able to access faster (had a secondary HDD for some games/data).
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Word. The 256 GB is already getting a little cramped on space (though I am being pretty liberal about what I'm throwing on there). Downloading things on Steam, Origin, Battle.net, and uPlay simultaneously is killing the DL speeds, but I wanted it to run overnight anyway, so meh.
 
RedSoxFaithful said:
Word. The 256 GB is already getting a little cramped on space (though I am being pretty liberal about what I'm throwing on there). Downloading things on Steam, Origin, Battle.net, and uPlay simultaneously is killing the DL speeds, but I wanted it to run overnight anyway, so meh.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's pretty funny. I'm setting my new build up now as well and the biggest limiting factor for speed on most stuff is almost always my download speed. I need dat FIBER.
 
Look up symbolic links and you can store some things on the SSD and some on the HD. It's great if you have lots of Steam games.
 
cookoutdeac said:
You're going to have to go with an x99 mobo if you want to really future-proof with regards to an M.2. SLI'ing on a z97 board is generally going to limit your m.2 speeds (to PCIe x1 or x2 max I think, x1 is only marginally better than SATA3) just because there aren't enough PCIe lanes on those.
Click to expand...

After some research yesterday I think I'm going to stick with a z97 board and not worry about the M.2. I think just moving from HDD to SSD is going to be such a big jump, I'm not going to miss the extra bit of speed from an M.2. I'll put the money I save from going with a z97 and i5 processor instead of an x99/i7 setup into a better graphics card/move to 2 cards. Also, I'm somewhat of a n00b with this stuff and I would rather be working with the more time-tested z97 architecture/BIOS etc than possibly having to troubleshoot more with an x99.
 
cookoutdeac said:
If you don't really have a lot of storage needs, then nope, not really any strong argument against it. I haven't heard of anyone going Kingston for SSDs though lately, I think you're better off going with a Crucial in that price/performance range, something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-Inch-adapter-Internal-CT960M500SSD1/dp/B00BQ8RGL6?tag=amaz98-20

(I have two of the 240 GB versions of that drive, and they've both been great so far)
Click to expand...

Thanks, that looks like a strong product. I checked last night and my single 256 GB drive still has 41 GB on it after 5+ years, and there's a bunch of crap on there that won't make the transition to the new machine. So I think I can get by with a single 240 GB, but will look for a good deal on a larger SSD.

Out of curiosity, why would it make sense to put in 2 240GBs in RAID instead of just getting one 480GB?
 
Deacon923 said:
After some research yesterday I think I'm going to stick with a z97 board and not worry about the M.2. I think just moving from HDD to SSD is going to be such a big jump, I'm not going to miss the extra bit of speed from an M.2. I'll put the money I save from going with a z97 and i5 processor instead of an x99/i7 setup into a better graphics card/move to 2 cards. Also, I'm somewhat of a n00b with this stuff and I would rather be working with the more time-tested z97 architecture/BIOS etc than possibly having to troubleshoot more with an x99.
Click to expand...

Haha, that's pretty much exactly my thought process w/ the PC I juuust built. Went z97/i5 also.

I'd like to overclock my PC at some point, but I'm a little worried I didn't do the 3rd party heatsink install correctly. It idles in the mid to upper 20's (c), and generally is fine when doing most stress tests (like Intel's XTU), but Prime95 absolutely destroys it. 4-5 minutes of either of the processor heavy calculations take it to close to 90c, anyone else have a similar experience? I'm hoping it's just Prime95 being ridiculous since other stress tests/programs take the temp to 65-75 tops.

Also, no coil whine on my 970. My new PC is so damn quiet when it's idling/doing basic tasks.
 
cookoutdeac said:
Haha, that's pretty much exactly my thought process w/ the PC I juuust built. Went z97/i5 also.

I'd like to overclock my PC at some point, but I'm a little worried I didn't do the 3rd party heatsink install correctly. It idles in the mid to upper 20's (c), and generally is fine when doing most stress tests (like Intel's XTU), but Prime95 absolutely destroys it. 4-5 minutes of either of the processor heavy calculations take it to close to 90c, anyone else have a similar experience? I'm hoping it's just Prime95 being ridiculous since other stress tests/programs take the temp to 65-75 tops.

Also, no coil whine on my 970. My new PC is so damn quiet when it's idling/doing basic tasks.
Click to expand...

I don't think your temps should be getting that high. You should try reseating the heatsink.
 
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