Desktop Computers

Linksys WRT54g? lol

So I lurked around the latest few pages and more or less copied Noodleface's build and upgraded a few things here and there, notably the gpu.

Intel Core i5-4670K, EVGA GeForce GTX 770, Corsair 300R - System Build - PCPartPicker

This fits my budget pretty well.. but I could shell out a couple more hundred if it gave me some more staying power.

I should also mention I've never built a computer but I've spent a fair amount of time with mechanical parts. I don't want to buy parts that are a nightmare to put together so I tried to make sure everything is relatively easy.

Any advice / revisions much appreciated!

Get aASUS Profor your motherboard imo. It has built-in WiFi if you really need it. Also, if you can stomach it (I had no issues) just buy Windows 8.1 offTrade your software here!. You can get it for $10 there. Download an updated torrent to install it from a USB. That'll save you $70~.

every time i get a little too uppity and start posting too many pc master race posts in the gaming forum, my pc takes a shit. was down for 3 hours today, dusted off everything cleaned it all up (lots of dust/dog hair) and i guess its back to normal now, but man sometimes i do like how consoles just... work. i am getting a little bit worried by water cooler may be getting old, no fucking idea how I am supposed to service water cooled systems

best thing i bought recently: electric duster, lets me blow out all the shit out of the pc (or keyboard etc) and then vacuum it all up
Amazon.com: Metro Vacuum ED500 DataVac 500-Watt 0.75-HP Electric Duster 120 volt: Home Improvement

hats_sl said:

So I lurked around the latest few pages and more or less copied Noodleface's build and upgraded a few things here and there, notably the gpu.

Intel Core i5-4670K, EVGA GeForce GTX 770, Corsair 300R - System Build - PCPartPicker

This fits my budget pretty well.. but I could shell out a couple more hundred if it gave me some more staying power.

I should also mention I've never built a computer but I've spent a fair amount of time with mechanical parts. I don't want to buy parts that are a nightmare to put together so I tried to make sure everything is relatively easy.

Any advice / revisions much appreciated!

Click to expand...

Why a mid tower?

Building a newbie rig for my Dad for Father's Day. Barebones, entry-level, but still able to put out some power. I have a GTX 650ti BOOST to pop in it, but may splurge on a 270x so he can crossfire in the future if he wants. What do you guys think?

Cooler Master TC-102 Mid ATX HD Audio w/500W PSU Black (TC-102-KKN1) (is this PSU gonna be adequate?)

Samsung (SH-224DB/BEBE) Internal 24x DVD Writer, OEM| Black, SATA, 1.5MB Buffer (he's old and not having a disc drive would give him a panic attack)

Intel Core i5-4440 Quad-Core Processor | Socket LGA1150, 3.10Ghz, 6MB L3 Cache, 22nm

ADATA XPG V1 Series Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz CL9 DIMMs (AX3U1600W4G9-DB)

Gigabyte GA-P85-D3 Socket 1150 Intel B85 Chipset | Dual Channel DDR3 2933(O.C.) MHz, 2x PCI-Express 3.0 x16 | Dual Giga LAN, 6x SATA 6.0Gb/s, 4x USB 3.0 | Display Port/Mini DP/HDMI, ATX

$435 (CAD)

Crossfire/SLI works pretty well if you time it right and upgrade to a 2nd card probably within a year or so, and catch that second card on sale.

I originally bought a 660Ti 3GB for like $320 when they released around August 2012. I then added a 2nd one during a Black Friday sale in November of '13 for about $180. So I ended up spending $~500, spread over 2 years, and ended up with 780Ti/Titan level performance. Worked out pretty well. I normally would never spend $500 in one shot on one video card, but the investment was pretty reasonable when spread over 2 purchases that were over a year apart for the performance I ended up getting.

I probably won't upgrade again until Black Friday/Christmas 2015 or so. I plan on being in good shape for at least another 18 months with my current setup. There wasn't anything I could have bought for $500 in August of 2012 that would have been as powerful as what I have now, or lasted me 3+ years

joeboo_sl said:

Crossfire/SLI works pretty well if you time it right and upgrade to a 2nd card probably within a year or so, and catch that second card on sale.

Click to expand...

Within a year of the release of that particular card model, keep in mind. Not within a year of the purchase of your specific card. Product cycles for GPUs are really short, if you don't jump on the second card soon enough, you will miss the boat.

True, most video cards are released, and then see a sizeable price reduction/clearance in roughly 12-18 months after release, and are gone and discontinued by the 2 year mark.

Video card cycles are roughly 12 months. It's pretty rare for two lines to be overlap for more than a month or two as old inventory is cleared out. 2 years is very, very optimistic.

Well, they may not be manufactured new after the 1 year mark, but there is usually plenty of inventory to keep them stocked at most places until they start blowing them out at clearance prices at some point in the 12-24 month range, to where the cards basically can't be found new anymore by the 2 year mark. I should have worded that differently. They get discontinued at the 1 year mark, and stock is generally completely gone by the 2 year mark.

Alright, I want to go all out. I'm going to drop 2-3 grand on home-built desktop pc and I need some help choosing pieces. If anyone has some serious spare time could they help me choose parts from the ground up?

I'm doing the research myself in the meantime but I'm starting from very out-of-touch experience.

hats_sl said:

Alright, I want to go all out. I'm going to drop 2-3 grand on home-built desktop pc and I need some help choosing pieces. If anyone has some serious spare time could they help me choose parts from the ground up?

I'm doing the research myself in the meantime but I'm starting from very out-of-touch experience.

Click to expand...

This is what I came up with real quick. Would also help to say what reso you plan on playing in and how many monitors.

Intel Core i7-4770K, Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti (2-Way SLI), Corsair 600T White Graphite - System Build - PCPartPicker

Never thought too much of using two monitors but might be cool. The build you posted would certainly support that wouldn't it? I mean two high-end vid cards like that?

If I had to say something off the top of my head it would be 1920x1080, but again, I'm out of touch.

Let me put up this hypothetical situation.. I want to hook the computer onto a projector. So biggest reso possible of one single screen is ideal.

You won't find any projectors(or at least affordable ones) that have a higher resolution than 1080p. Sony has a 4K projector that is about $20,000.

If you are going to be gaming at 1080p, there is absolutely no need to spend 3 grand on a PC. In the build that Abefroman listed above, you're going to be pushing 200FPS in new games. It's total overkill.

Honestly, I'd take that build, but just change the video card. At the very least, scale it back to a single 780Ti and save $700. I'd even consider scaling it back to a 770 and save $1000. Sock that money away to buy a new video card in 3 years. Even the 780Ti will need to be upgraded within 3 years. You can't spend enough on a video card today to make it still be great in 4 or 5 years. It just isn't possible. So plan your upgrade strategy now.

Tuco_sl said:

Sup bros, my motherboard is giving out on me so the only choice is to rebuild a new PC.

Currently I have a modified


With a water cooling system. It works great but there's too much dust everywhere and I want to engineer a system that is resilient to dust.

What I'd really like to do is have a computer case with a singular air input and a singular air output. The air input or output (Doesn't matter much to me which one) must be close in footprint to this 120mm x 240mm radiator:

Which I use in my water cooling system. My goal is to build a system where air only enters one way and I have an air filter that I can easily remove and clean off.

Any ideas on a good case for that? Otherwise I'll continue to use my stacker830 which is great.

Click to expand...

I'd go with the Fractal design define r4 or the define xl r2 depending on the size you want. Dust filters are a dream as long as they're easily removable and you keep the case positive pressure (more air intake than exhaust).