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Quote (omnislash5209 @ 22nd February 2013 03:35)

See all that fancy tech speak above?

That's why I console game

And that's why PC gamers look down on console gamers.

I kid, I kid. I can totally understand not wanting to mess with this kind of stuff unless you're a PC gamer, or an artist, or just like tinkering with electronics.

Anyway, as Nyte asked for, here's a list of most of the stuff I just put into my machine. I didn't include a case, since budgets and tastes for those things vary widely, and I didn't include an SSD because that's probably the first thing I would remove if I were making this a more budget-y machine (don't get me wrong, SSDs are amazing and I will never ever build a PC without one again, but they are somewhat pricey). If you want links to some of those, I'll dig some up later. Also, while my machine has 4TB of hard drive space, three of it new to this build, that's overkill for most people. I put a 2TB drive in the list instead, the same drive I use to store all my photography on my network.

http://narshe.me/WeP4dO

(Yeah, it's an Amazon Wish List. If I'm giving advice, I might as well try to make some AmaCoN money off of it, right?)

This post has been edited by Rangers51 on 22nd February 2013 13:59

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Since SSDs were mentioned here, I got a question about them.

What are SSDs good/bad for? I've heard that they have quicker access times and are more shock-resistant because no moving parts, but they also wear out faster (fewer read/write cycles? or something like that) and are currently more expensive than typical rotating disc drives.

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

You've more or less got it all there.

SSDs are much, much faster, but hold much, much less and cost much, much more per GB.

They do theoretically have a limit on write cycles, but in most cases this is more than you will practically use unless you keep them forever, particularly if you move volatile stuff like the swap file to a mechanical disk. Mechanical disks are likely to wear out over time themselves due to all the small moving parts, so it's not a major disadvantage, just something to keep in mind.

A common and sensible configuration is to have an SSD for the operating system and key programs you use a lot, and a mechanical disk for large data and infrequently accessed items. This allows you to make efficient use of the limited space on an SSD without worrying about overall space limits or write cycles.

Keep in mind that for SSDs to work best, you need at least Windows 7 - XP doesn't see them as being any different from traditional disks and will not do the right things to manage them effectively, resulting in slower access times and probably in more cycles being used up than necessary.

Meanwhile, I've put all my bits into this creature from Portal.

For those who care about this sort of thing, it runs an i7 2700K with 8GB PC3-10700, a Radeon 7950, a Sound Blaster ZXR, two Blu-Ray readers/DVD writers, and two oldfashioned disks: a 600GB WD Velociraptor and a 2TB WD RE4.

Sounds like an SSD is best used in conjunction with a regular mechanical HD.

I do remember one friend who bought a laptop with an SSD only but later complained that it had very little space.

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unless you keep them forever

What kind of timeframe are we talking about, roughly...three years? ten years? twenty years?

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two oldfashioned disks

When you said this I first misread it as "drives" and I was suddenly searching the picture for 5.25" and 3.5" floppy drives.

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 23rd February 2013 23:34

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

The Corsair 600T? Man, that thing's kind of a beast! I have it, too (although I have the regular black color).

So yeah, I'm no tech wiz, myself, and even I was able to build my first PC last summer. The nerve-wracking part for me was knowing the slightest bit of static could fry the more sensitive circuitry in some of the parts. You better believe I was grounding myself out like crazy (I probably went a little overboard, but you can never be too careful!) Beyond that, the hardest part was just doing the research to make sure all the parts I was getting were compatible with one another.

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Console RPG Cliches

Quote (Rangers51 @ 22nd February 2013 07:56)

Quote (omnislash5209 @ 22nd February 2013 03:35)

See all that fancy tech speak above?

That's why I console game

http://narshe.me/WeP4dO

(Yeah, it's an Amazon Wish List. If I'm giving advice, I might as well try to make some AmaCoN money off of it, right?)

I noticed on there you included a out-of-box cooler, is that fairly standard? I just made my first PC a couple of months ago and just used the cooler that came packaged with my cpu, are those considered less effective generally? I could easily put down the $25 if it meant more longevity or something on my system

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"We're not tools of the government or anyone else. Fighting... fighting was the only thing I was ever good at, but at least I always fought for what I believed in." - Frank Yeager (a.k.a. Grey Fox)

Quote (FallingHeart @ 23rd February 2013 22:51)

I noticed on there you included a out-of-box cooler, is that fairly standard? I just made my first PC a couple of months ago and just used the cooler that came packaged with my cpu, are those considered less effective generally? I could easily put down the $25 if it meant more longevity or something on my system

Depends on what you plan on doing with your PC.

I may not be the most knowledgeable in the matter and maybe others can add to this, but here's what I know: Stock coolers that come packaged with CPUs are generally what most may consider "good enough." But, for those who plan on pushing their CPUs with stuff like modern games (like me), or in particular, overclocking their CPUs past their stock specs (NOT like me), a better third party cooler is pretty much a must. Regardless, I'd say $25 is a pretty small price to pay to keep from frying your CPU.

This post has been edited by Galsic on 24th February 2013 06:33

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Console RPG Cliches

I tend to get a decent aftermarket cooler out of habit even though I don't overclock, as historically it's always been possible to run both cooler and quieter than with the stock heatsink. I have no idea if the stock ones have improved now, but they have certainly always done the job - if you've fitted it correctly, and you're happy with the noise level the machine makes, and you're not overclocking like crazy, you'll be fine.

Speaking of noise level, the front fan on my 600T is making a horrific whine! I'm told this is because it's sat too close to the front honeycomb grid. I've ordered another one of a different design in the hope that the actual blades will sit a little further away to mitigate the issue, though there are decidedly mixed reports on how well it'll fit - some say theirs fit without doing anything much, some report they had to remove a drive cage. We'll see!

On SSD longevity, this article seems to give a decent idea.

Yeah, what Tiddles said about the cooler. If nothing else, it's a great investment for noise. My old machine used a stock cooler and it stayed at a great temperature, but it was a lot louder - typically, the same fan in a larger size is inherently quieter than the smaller size, because it can run at fewer RPM to move the same amount of air. Most aftermarket coolers nowadays have 120mm fans or larger, which is 50% larger than the 80mm fans that are still found on stock Intel coolers.

Thanks for that link, Tiddles, re: SSDs. That actually gave me some good information to use as well that I don't think we'd ever spoken about in chat.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?