|OT| The PC Hardware Thread -- Buy/Upgrade/Ask/Answer

[ISee]

Huh.

1: My case is the Phanteks Pro M Tempered Glass edition. It is quite spacey, and there are no visible cables except from the PSU shroud to my GPU. Everything is zip-tied nice and neat, and I even got a cablemod with combs and such to make it all pretty.

2: I have 4x Noctua NF-P14s Redux, two in the front for intake, and two on top for exhaust. The rear exhaust is a Corsair ML140. (My theme was Black, Grey and White inside, so I needed at least two White LED fans, CPU and rear exhaust in this case.)

3: I can! ... And have. My fan curve is pretty agressive since noise doesn't bug me. I usually have a fan or something going anyways... Complete silence drives me insane, I like ambient noise.

My full build is here still: System Builder - Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHz 6-Core, GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11 GB SC2, Enthoo Pro M Tempered Glass (Black) ATX Mid Tower - PCPartPicker

Put this thing together...last April/May? It's been a year already wowie.

That's a pretty sweet build.
For your problem: 90°C on a 8700k at 4.7GHz sounds a bit too high for me too. I know that they are running hot, but 4.7GHz should be manageable.
Just in case, I'd try to refit my cooler and reapply thermal paste. Maybe the cooler isn't making full contact for whatever reason. I doubt it it is going to change anything, but it won't hurt either. I'd also try undervolting a bit and see how it goes.
If nothing helps the good, old solution of throwing more money at the problem remains. I'm big fan of Cryorig and the H7 is a great performer for that price point, but better (more expansive) options exist. You are occupying all memory banks, so ram clearance is a problem here though.
But the Cryorig R1 Universal and the new Noctua NH-U12A could be able to help you out without interfering with the ram. Especially the new Noctua cooler (with the new fans) is getting pretty great reviews so far.

 

[Deku]

Is this the best card I can get for ~€200

ASUS GeForce GTX 1060 6GB ROG STRIX GAMING

ASUS GeForce GTX 1060 6GB ROG STRIX GAMING finns hos Inet! Sveriges bästa datorbutik med det senaste för gaming- & teknikentusiaster.

www.inet.se

Like I have mentioned in the Steam thread I am still on 670. It would be a nice upgrade

 

[ISee]

Is this the best card I can get for ~€200

ASUS GeForce GTX 1060 6GB ROG STRIX GAMING

ASUS GeForce GTX 1060 6GB ROG STRIX GAMING finns hos Inet! Sveriges bästa datorbutik med det senaste för gaming- & teknikentusiaster.

www.inet.se

Like I have mentioned in the Steam thread I am still on 670. It would be a nice upgrade

They normally go for ~240€, which is already GTX 1660 non Ti territory. 1660 non Ti are of course faster than 1060 cards, which makes the Strix a bit questionable at ~240€. But for 200€, it's a good deal indeed and if that's your limit, I think it will be hard to find anything better (currently).

That said, you can sometimes find the Zotac GTX 1660 for ~225€. That's +10% price increase for ~15% better performance. Not a must do, but worth to think about. I'd recommend taking a brief look at 1660 benchmarks.

 

[Deku]

They normally go for ~240€, which is already GTX 1660 non Ti territory. 1660 non Ti are of course faster than 1060 cards, which makes the Strix a bit questionable at ~240€. But for 200€, it's a good deal indeed and if that's your limit, I think it will be hard to find anything better (currently).

That said, you can sometimes find the Zotac GTX 1660 for ~225€. That's +10% price increase for ~15% better performance. Not a must do, but worth to think about. I'd recommend taking a brief look at 1660 benchmarks.

1660 Ti cards in Sweden cost between €300 to €360. So there is no way I can't get a 1660 card for €225. It's very tempting price for the 1060 card. I might buy it

 

[ISee]

1660 Ti cards in Sweden cost between €300 to €360. So there is no way I can't get a 1660 card for €225. It's very tempting price for the 1060 card. I might buy it

I'm talking about the 1660 and not 1660 Ti. But I also don't know how prices are for them in Sweden.
As said, 1060 Strix for 200€ is a good deal, even over here.

 

[Deku]

I'm talking about the 1660 and not 1660 Ti. But I also don't know how prices are for them in Sweden.
As said, 1060 Strix for 200€ is a good deal, even over here.

Oh, sorry. Just the prices for 1660 cards, they are between €250 to €280

 

[Zexen]

Opinions on Intel Optane for those who have used it or know about it?

From games perspective, if you play Star Citizen, it will have various uses but I don't know any other games able to use the tech properly. Other than that, purely synthetical/work case specific.

I have an aging rig that I wish to replace (4790k - SLI 980 TI - 16GB), but there's not much that justify doing so, CPU and GPU wise. Sure the 2080 TI is a tempting card, but damn, that's way too pricey.
Quite interested about Ryzen 2, maybe I will jump to an AMD based platform once they're revealed, if they come any close to the speculations/leaks, these should be juicy processors.

Is the current Ryzen socket compatible with 1150 based waterblocks/heatskinks? I have a Koolance 380i, quite old but does the job just good, would be dumb to replace it, and I can't remember if it came with different backplates.

 

[Deku]

Is there any place to find whether a CPU will bottleneck the GPU? Or do I have to find it the hard way?

 

[dummmyy]

I recently got a RX580, and any time i play a potentially graphically taxing game, it heats up pretty bad. Fan's start whirring pretty loud. I understand that I need a case with better airflow, and fans. Currently only have 1 right now...shameful, i know...any suggestions?

 

[Kvik]

I was using a 5820k until I upgraded to the 9900k.
I still miss the PCIe lanes of the HEDT platform, but the new HEDT CPUs can't really compete with the 9900k for game (and general low-thread-count) performance.

Exactly. I especially need those extra PCIe lanes because my rig has multiple GPUs. For a single GPU system, however, 9900K is the performance king and I don't see it unseated unless Intel has a few surprises in store for Cascade Lake-X.

 

[Ryne]

Debating what monitor to get.

I have a 24" dell gsync monitor that I would like to replace, but there is no way I'm going lower than 144 hz on my next monitor. That leaves out 4K monitors and the like because they are fabulously expensive.

I have two monitors that I am eyeing:
Gigabyte - AORUS AD27QD 27.0" - around 800 CAD
LG - 34GK950F-B 34.0" - around $1500 (!!) CAD.

I want the LG because I read that ultrawide is the shit and you can never go back, however the user reviews on it are terrible. Bad QC is the main issue. The gigabyte is more affordable for me, but it's not ultrawide

Anyone with any other suggestions? Definitely has to be 144 hz, over 27" and 1440P.

 

[Durante]

If you want to go both ultrawide and 144Hz you greatly limit your selection (to basically just that LG currently).

If you were to accept 120 Hz then there are some more reasonably priced ultrawide options, e.g. the AOC Agon AG352UCG6 or the Alienware AW3418DW,

 

[ISee]

I'm myself waiting for a nice 1440p Ultrawide with FreeSync/GSync, but I also want something with HDR and nothing has that currently. At least not in a satisfying way, HDR 400 just isn't good enough. It's not the real deal.
Maybe this year? Please Asus, AOC, LG, Samsung. Anybody?

 

[Deku]

I ordered the 1060 6GB card! And they already have delivered it. It will be a nice upgrade from 670

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

Deques Nice. From a quick look around the 1060 will make a tidy upgrade from the 670... and because it's bitten me in the ass before i'm going to ask an annoying question. Will the 1060 fit in your case? My Refine R3 limited what length card i could get and my 1070 was very snug.

What CPU do you have? I think the usual way to identify a bottleneck is to run benchmarks at various settings and interpret the results.

 

[Shadowhaxor]

If you want to go both ultrawide and 144Hz you greatly limit your selection (to basically just that LG currently).

If you were to accept 120 Hz then there are some more reasonably priced ultrawide options, e.g. the AOC Agon AG352UCG6 or the Alienware AW3418DW,

Speaking of which, I own the AW3418DW and I love it. Sure, it doesn't do 144Hz, but 120 isn't bad.

 

[Deku]

Deques Nice. From a quick look around the 1060 will make a tidy upgrade from the 670... and because it's bitten me in the ass before i'm going to ask an annoying question. Will the 1060 fit in your case? My Refine R3 limited what length card i could get and my 1070 was very snug.

What CPU do you have? I think the usual way to identify a bottleneck is to run benchmarks at various settings and interpret the results.

I don't know if the card will fit in the case, I will know when I have the card or I could measure how big my 670 is.
The CPU I have is an i7 3770k

 

[fearthedawn]

I don't know if the card will fit in the case, I will know when I have the card or I could measure how big my 670 is.
The CPU I have is an i7 3770k

i run my 3770k with a 1070 and except for the rare cpu killer like acdyssey it feels like a really good combination for todays games , the cpu has been good enough for 60fps+ in pretty much everything so far without having to go into tweaking for cpu performance (144fps in something newer and more demanding than cs:go or rocket league is a different story, but with a 1060 i assume 1080p60 is your goal)

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

The CPU I have is an i7 3770k

I reckon you'll be fine, i was running an i5-3570k with a GTX 1070 until recently and it was great at 1080@60/120 which was native for my monitor.

 

[Deku]

I reckon you'll be fine, i was running an i5-3570k with a GTX 1070 until recently and it was great at 1080@60/120 which was native for my monitor.

Nice! Just measured the case inside, and I think that the GPU won't fit. It might be one or two cm too long

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

Dammit, yeah the same problem i had with my case, time has moved on and generally cases don't have tons of big drive racks anymore so they can take bigger cards.
What case do you have? They probably list the longest card it supports on their site or manual.

 

[Deku]

Dammit, yeah the same problem i had with my case, time has moved on and generally cases don't have tons of big drive racks anymore so they can take bigger cards.
What case do you have? They probably list the longest card it supports on their site or manual.

Tbh, I don't know. I believe it's a Fractal case.
The 1060 card is 30 cm. I checked other cards and those are 24 cm which fits in the case
I guess I have to return the card when I receive it

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

My case is this: Fractal Design Define R3 USB 30 Arctic White
"* Supports graphic card lengths up to ~290mm " - This bit me before, luckily i was able to change the order before it shipped but i've double checked GFX & PSU sizes before ordering since. I'm thinking of a newer Define case with a cleaner internal bay as i only need one bay for a BluRay drive.

 

[Deku]

My case is this: Fractal Design Define R3 USB 30 Arctic White
"* Supports graphic card lengths up to ~290mm " - This bit me before, luckily i was able to change the order before it shipped but i've double checked GFX & PSU sizes before ordering since. I'm thinking of a newer Define case with a cleaner internal bay as i only need one bay for a BluRay drive.

Hmmm... I did some search and come to conclusion that I have an Arc Midi Tower. Need to check if it is that one I have. Can I find anything in the case?

Supports graphic card lengths up to 290mm when removable HDD-Bay is in place
Supports graphic card lengths up to 470mm without removable HDD-Bay

So if I remove the HDD bay I might be able to use 1060

 

[Stevey]

Hmmm... I did some search and come to conclusion that I have an Arc Midi Tower. Need to check if it is that one I have. Can I find anything in the case?



So if I remove the HDD bay I might be able to use 1060

I took the HDD bay out my last case, loads of room that way.

 

[Ryne]

If you want to go both ultrawide and 144Hz you greatly limit your selection (to basically just that LG currently).

If you were to accept 120 Hz then there are some more reasonably priced ultrawide options, e.g. the AOC Agon AG352UCG6 or the Alienware AW3418DW,

Yup, looks like I already made the decision in my head and was looking for some outside voice to justify it.

Going to play the panel lottery

 

[ISee]

Stupid, noob question regarding how a dual channel system (like a 2nd gen ryzen) allocates memory.
If I have (for example) all four memory slots occupied, and the PC has 8 GB of data to store. Does it store 2GB in each Memory Module or does it fill up the first two, "linked" modules and only uses the other two when necessary (more than 16Gb of data to store).

 

[Durante]

Stupid, noob question regarding how a dual channel system (like a 2nd gen ryzen) allocates memory.
If I have (for example) all four memory slots occupied, and the PC has 8 GB of data to store. Does it store 2GB in each Memory Module or does it fill up the first two, "linked" modules and only uses the other two when necessary (more than 16Gb of data to store).

That's not a stupid noob question at all.
In fact, I've been reading for the past 20 minutes to actually be able to answer it accurately, increasingly annoyed at myself that I don't just know

As far as I can tell from that (limited) research, a current PC architecture will use two nested interleave sets, one for memory channels, and below that a separate one for the memory ranks per each channel. If that is accurate, then the expecation would be that all your physical memory will always fill up approximately equally.

 

[ISee]

That's not a stupid noob question at all.
In fact, I've been reading for the past 20 minutes to actually be able to answer it accurately, increasingly annoyed at myself that I don't just know

As far as I can tell from that (limited) research, a current PC architecture will use two nested interleave sets, one for memory channels, and below that a separate one for the memory ranks per each channel. If that is accurate, then the expecation would be that all your physical memory will always fill up approximately equally.

Thank you for the invested time.
I had the opportunity to test my system with 4x8GB of memory today and was surprised to learn that my performance didn't get worse. I always assumed that occupying all memory slots on a dual channel system could have slight negative results on gaming performance, but performance is actually slightly better. That said: 2-3 fps is in the margin of error, so it's not worse is the more reasonable statement.
My first assumption was to question if my system is filling up the memory equally in the first place, or if it "behaves" like a dual channel system with two sticks of memory until it reaches more than 16GB of usage.
All I can right now say is: Unexpected and interesting, I need to do play around with it a bit more and look up articles.

 

[uraizen]

Anecdotal evidence says that Intel Optane does indeed make a difference. The difference between load times in Yakuza Kiwami 2 were night and day with and without.

What can I say? I was curious.

 

[gabbo]

So here's my current gaming-focused machine:
i5 3570 Ivy Bridge
16gb DDR3
Asus GTX970 4GB
256gb Samsung 850 ssd and a 960gb western digital hdd for games
Creative Z pci sound card
Asus p8z77 mobo

So I could keep the ssd, the hdd, gpu (for now) and sound card in any new build.
It would be focused on gaming, but I also do programming/development work on it and browse META/the web.
I don't aim for bleeding edge, but I'm not sure if i should wait for Zen2/Navi or jump in now with a zen 2600/and a 1660ti or 2060? With my gaming pc's, I tend to build them and ride them out for minimum 5 years before I go for a rebuild - and I'll swap out parts as required. This machine (cpu, ram, mobo, whatever won't be moved to a new build) will replace my current HTPC - a yorkfield c2q 9450 from 2008. Yes I have a problem, I'm working on it

Budget, when I can finally get it all together will likely be around 1600-1800 CAD.
I've got these two builds on pc partpicker:

System Builder

ca.pcpartpicker.com

System Builder

ca.pcpartpicker.com

 

[ISee]

So here's my current gaming-focused machine:
i5 3570 Ivy Bridge
16gb DDR3
Asus GTX970 4GB
256gb Samsung 850 ssd and a 960gb western digital hdd for games
Creative Z pci sound card
Asus p8z77 mobo

So I could keep the ssd, the hdd, gpu (for now) and sound card in any new build.
It would be focused on gaming, but I also do programming/development work on it and browse META/the web.
I don't aim for bleeding edge, but I'm not sure if i should wait for Zen2/Navi or jump in now with a zen 2600/and a 1660ti or 2060? With my gaming pc's, I tend to build them and ride them out for minimum 5 years before I go for a rebuild - and I'll swap out parts as required. This machine (cpu, ram, mobo, whatever won't be moved to a new build) will replace my current HTPC - a yorkfield c2q 9450 from 2008. Yes I have a problem, I'm working on it

Budget, when I can finally get it all together will likely be around 1600-1800 CAD.
I've got these two builds on pc partpicker:

System Builder

ca.pcpartpicker.com

System Builder

ca.pcpartpicker.com

The R5 2600 is a great CPU and if you want or need something right now and you don't want to blow too much of your budget on the CPU: It's a great pick.
The problem is: There is always something new coming out. 7nm navi has the potential to give you RTX 2060 or 2070 like performance for less money and an R5 3600 will, probably, have more power than the current r5 2600. Waiting, as always, will give you more power for about the same price (+/- 10%).
But there is always something new on the horizon and you have to make a decision at one point in time, especially once you aren't satisfied with your machines performance anymore. The good thing about the 2600: It's not a huge investment, you could pick it as a interim solution and get a ryzen 3000 CPU next year anyway. Not the cheapest solution, but a solution if you want something new now.

I'd prefer the RTX 2060 over the 1660Ti, if it fits your budget. Not because of the RT cores, Ray Tracing is awesome but support is still rather disappointing. It's just faster and will allow you to either play at higher settings, at more stable 60fps, higher unlocked fps etc. More GPU power is always nice to have if it fits your budget.

I'd also take an air cooler, over an AIO. If you don't mind the look and have the space for it. They are equally strong, more reliable and often a bit more quiet. Their fans do not sit on the front or top panel of your case. Air cooler fans are on the inside, this really makes a difference, but you also need good in-case airflow!
I once switched from an air cooler to the beloved Corsair Hi100 v2... I went back to my Noctua after a month. Temperatures weren't better, even worse and it was so much louder. It drove me crazy. But people seem to like it so maybe there was something wrong with mine. I don't know.
Most importantly: Air coolers are cheaper and allow you to invest more of your budget into something else. Just a tip: You need the NH-D15 SE-AM4 for Ryzen (different mounting plate) or take the newer, smaller and equally strong NH-U12A

Last but not least: You can reuse your current windows key, no need to buy new. Just activate it, call in support and they'll either give you a new key or activate windows 10 remotely for you. Worked for me last year and I switched from an LGA 1151 to AM4 build.

 

[Durante]

Anecdotal evidence says that Intel Optane does indeed make a difference. The difference between load times in Yakuza Kiwami 2 were night and day with and without.

What can I say? I was curious.

Is this with having it buffer for a non-SSD or slow SATA SSD, or in comparison to an NVME SSD?
And did you ensure that Windows caching files in memory did not affect your measurements?

I'd also take an air cooler, over an AIO. If you don't mind the look and have the space for it. They are equally strong, more reliable and often a bit more quiet. Their fans do not sit on the front or top panel of your case. Air cooler fans are on the inside, this really makes a difference, but you also need good in-case airflow!
I once switched from an air cooler to the beloved Corsair Hi100 v2... I went back to my Noctua after a month. Temperatures weren't better, even worse and it was so much louder. It drove me crazy. But people seem to like it so maybe there was something wrong with mine. I don't know.
Most importantly: Air coolers are cheaper and allow you to invest more of your budget into something else. Just a tip: You need the NH-D15 SE-AM4 for Ryzen (different mounting plate) or take the newer, smaller and equally strong NH-U12A

I agree with this. There aren't many reasons to go AiO water over air unless you are space constrained around your CPU socket or have a very specific build in mind.

 

[Parsnip]

I need start looking into getting a smaller case at some point. Anyone got any favorites? My current mobo is mATX and I probably won't change into itx in the near future so it should fit that and 158mm tall cooler. And a lengthy GPU, the MSI GTX 1070 I have is 279mm.

I've had the Define R4 for a little over 6 years now but it's big and bulky, has optical drive bays and other shit I don't need, so I could use an upgrade, or a sidegrade. Also I hate windows in cases.

 

[Durante]

As a fellow window-hater, it's starting to get to the point where your selection in (higher-end) cases is actually limited if you don't want a window :/
I currently use a Define C, which is smaller than the R series, and does away with the useless bays, but it's not exactly small.

 

[uraizen]

Is this with having it buffer for a non-SSD or slow SATA SSD, or in comparison to an NVME SSD?
And did you ensure that Windows caching files in memory did not affect your measurements?

I assure you, I put zero effort into this. It was for a SATA drive, but just a mechanical 7200 RPM. I populated the bastard with about 2TB worth of file transfers.

 

[gabbo]

As a fellow window-hater, it's starting to get to the point where your selection in (higher-end) cases is actually limited if you don't want a window :/
I currently use a Define C, which is smaller than the R series, and does away with the useless bays, but it's not exactly small.

I'm also team no window (and also team fuck rgb-lighting-in-everything.), but i have so many old titles i need a case with at least one optical bay drive. Thus i need to go with something at least as big as my current Define R4. Mind you I dont mind a full tower.

The few cases I've found, that have those bays, and i like the aesthetics of are minimum 200CAD after taxes. Getting so bad im going to have to learn to fabricate my own damn case.

 

[Kuro]

I'm also team no window (and also team fuck rgb-lighting-in-everything.), but i have so many old titles i need a case with at least one optical bay drive. Thus i need to go with something at least as big as my current Define R4. Mind you I dont mind a full tower.

The few cases I've found, that have those bays, and i like the aesthetics of are minimum 200CAD after taxes. Getting so bad im going to have to learn to fabricate my own damn case.

USB DVD/Bluray Drive.

 

[ISee]

And I thought I'm the only one not caring for cases with led stripes and windows.

 

[gabbo]

USB DVD/Bluray Drive.

Internal is the one thing I won't switch out. Prefer the aesthetics and having less cables for potential cat havoc

 

[ISee]

Just in case somebody cares. Using all 4 memory slots on Ryzen isn't a big deal. That said, I was previously able to hit 3433MHz on my RAM and had to tune it down to (currently) 3266MHz. So there is that.

Two examples.

https://abload.de/img/32vs16gbramo6jbo.jpg

1.) Divison 2.
Average FPS stayed the same, the interesting part is that average CPU load decreased a tiny bit.

2.) Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
Average FPS didn't change again, but the CPU renderer improved by ~7%

Games were running maxed out at 1440p (DLSS if available) and DX12, nothing was changed in between runs (except the RAM amount).
CPU seems to have a bit more of freed up "resources" or headroom or the memory controller is better at handling data with all four slots occupied. No idea why, or if my conclusion is accurate.
One thing is sure though, it's not performing worse.

So, once those new 24-32GB shared memory consoles arrive. Upgrading from 16gb to 32 (if necessary) shouldn't be a problem,
The big next question is: Will 8GB of Vram be enough?

edit: I'm using this memory kits:
G.SKill F4-3600C16D-16GVK. It is apparently single sided Samusng ram. Single Sided may make a difference when running 2 vs 4 slots.

 

[Kuro]

Internal is the one thing I won't switch out. Prefer the aesthetics and having less cables for potential cat havoc

I just have old laptop with DVD drive left for any Music CD's I want to listen, been thinking about getting USB drive for a while so could have it straight to desktop but since I use the drive like once a year haven't yet done that.


Upgrade parts are here:
ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2070 Advanced
Crucial DDR4 16GB 3000MHz
WD Blue 4TB
Samsung 860 QVO 1TB

Time to make some soon and install them

 

[gabbo]

I just have old laptop with DVD drive left for any Music CD's I want to listen, been thinking about getting USB drive for a while so could have it straight to desktop but since I use the drive like once a year haven't yet done that.


Upgrade parts are here:
ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2070 Advanced
Crucial DDR4 16GB 3000MHz
WD Blue 4TB
Samsung 860 QVO 1TB

Time to make some soon and install them

Its less for music and more for older games. If i do end up swapping my current machine to my htpc, it'll be less an issue. That has more than one use for the drive

 

[Kuro]

Its less for music and more for older games. If i do end up swapping my current machine to my htpc, it'll be less an issue. That has more than one use for the drive

Yeah, if you use one more than weekly then internal is way to go, they're literally free nowadays.

 

[Parsnip]

Sometime ago I found a neat website that allowed me to input box dimensions so I could easily compare case sizes in comparison to the R4 but now I can't find it. Bleh.
The Corsair Carbibe Air 240 for example seems like a neat case, but has a window.
In general I'm warming up to cube cases. Maybe Bitfenix Phenom. At a glance it seems like a decent case, but gotta do my research.

As a fellow window-hater, it's starting to get to the point where your selection in (higher-end) cases is actually limited if you don't want a window :/
I currently use a Define C, which is smaller than the R series, and does away with the useless bays, but it's not exactly small.

Yeah, last time I looked at some of this stuff more closely, all the cases that looked interesting were ruined by a window with no option for a windowless replacement even.


gabbo Kuro
RE: Optical drive, yeah. It all came down to how often I needed it. Even 5 years ago I would probably have an internal one, had a habit of burning dvd's a lot then, but nowadays I need it like once every 6 months when I suddenly need something from some ancient backup. So I have a slim usb dvd burner that lives in cupboard most of the time.

And I thought I'm the only one not caring for cases with led stripes and windows.

Feels like we are a dying breed indeed.
I like a good clean minimal case, which is why I gravitated towards Fractal Design in the first place.

 

[gabbo]

Sometime ago I found a neat website that allowed me to input box dimensions so I could easily compare case sizes in comparison to the R4 but now I can't find it. Bleh.
The Corsair Carbibe Air 240 for example seems like a neat case, but has a window.
In general I'm warming up to cube cases. Maybe Bitfenix Phenom. At a glance it seems like a decent case, but gotta do my research.


Yeah, last time I looked at some of this stuff more closely, all the cases that looked interesting were ruined by a window with no option for a windowless replacement even.


gabbo Kuro
RE: Optical drive, yeah. It all came down to how often I needed it. Even 5 years ago I would probably have an internal one, had a habit of burning dvd's a lot then, but nowadays I need it like once every 6 months when I suddenly need something from some ancient backup. So I have a slim usb dvd burner that lives in cupboard most of the time.


Feels like we are a dying breed indeed.
I like a good clean minimal case, which is why I gravitated towards Fractal Design in the first place.

I mean, if I go with a midtower or one of my preferred full towers, they all have at least a single bay, so I'll be okay. Even the R6 has space for one, and I still do like the minimalist Fractal cases.
Does our lack of interest in rbg everywhere make us "old man yells at led clouds"?

 

[Parsnip]

Does our lack of interest in rbg everywhere make us "old man yells at led clouds"?

Every cloud has a silver led lining.

 

[gabbo]

Every cloud has a silver led lining.

This is good, damn good

 

[Stevey]

I'm currently thinking of getting a Gsync monitor.

This monitor has the resolution, response time and size that I'm after, but are there any other monitors the same price, or around the same price that would be a better purchase?

 

[Durante]

I'm currently thinking of getting a Gsync monitor.

This monitor has the resolution, response time and size that I'm after, but are there any other monitors the same price, or around the same price that would be a better purchase?

It's a TN monitor with all that entails. If fast response times are the single most important metric to you then that is a good choice, but you should be aware that it comes with some compromises in color reproduction/consistency compared to IPS and VA, and contrast compared to VA.

If you're willing to settle for "G-sync compatible" VRR (with a 48-144 range, and potentially slightly worse pixel color transition times across that range compared to G-sync), you can get models with the same size and resolution at a lower price and also have the option of choosing VA and IPS panels:

Monitore mit Diagonale ab 27", Diagonale bis 27", Auflösung: 2560x1440 (WQHD), Bildwiederholfrequenz ab 144Hz, Variable Synchronisierung: Adaptive Sync/AMD FreeSync/NVIDIA G-Sync Preisvergleich Geizhals EU

Preisvergleich und Bewertungen für Monitore mit Diagonale ab 27", Diagonale bis 27", Auflösung: 2560x1440 (WQHD), Bildwiederholfrequenz ab 144Hz, Variable Synchronisierung: Adaptive Sync/AMD FreeSync/NVIDIA G-Sync

geizhals.eu