Tell me about building a PC
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@mark and others, I've been following this thread as I am upgrading my entire home office set up. To be clear (and perhaps to offend), I most likely will not be using my computer or monitor for gaming.
My current/previous desktop (Dell XPS 8700, with an i7-4770, 12GB RAM, and Nvidia GeForce GT 635, 256 SSD hard drive) has served me well for the past 7 years but I am looking for an overall upgraded experience. In addition, I want to start viewing/editing my iPhone 4K videos and wanted a graphics card and monitor that doesn't disappoint.
So I just purchased a Dell XPS 8940 Special Edition (in white!), you can view it here.
- Processor: i7-11700
- RAM: 16 GB
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8GB
- Hard Drive: 512 SSD, (plus 1 TB HDD, which I will probably swap out for a 2 TB SDD for file storage)
For my monitor, I am drawn in by the 1440p or 1600p ultrawide monitors. Looks like you're a fan of this LG 38" monitor, @mark ?
I haven't purchased a new monitor yet, but plan to this week.
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Oh, other home office upgrades include:
Purchased
- UpLift corner standing desk - link
- Printer (HP LaserJet, since I don't print often and InkJet always dries out) - link
- Shredder (Amazon Basics) - link text
Not Purchased Yet
- Monitor (see above post)
- Speakers
- Keyboard/Mouse upgrade
- Glass chair mat
- One of those floating globes via magnet lolz
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Congrats on the new PC!
The LG monitor you linked is excellent. I have it and love it.
And it's fine for gaming. It's 75Hz refresh rate is obviously better than a 60Hz but 120Hz+ is what serious gamers go for. You will love the 1600 pixels in the vertical and the width is perfect for "professional" / "business" use. It's also very easy on the eyes.
It should also be available in white, to match your tower.
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@89th Keyboard and Mouse.
I recently purchased EVGA's new Z20 keyboard, wired version. I really like it. It's mechanical, clicky, fast and comfortable. It has the required* G1-G5 (EVGA labels them E1-E5 lol) programmable function keys to the left of the `, TAB, CAPS, SHIFT CTRL keys. numeric keypad, Built-in volume and media controls, aluminum base, solid as a rock.
https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=812-W1-20US-KR
I also picked up the X17 wired mouse from EVGA. It's comfortable, fast, and completely programmable. The scroll wheel scrolls of course, but, it is also a button when you press down on it and, it has a left and right button built-in for horizontal scrolling, or whatever you want to program it to do. It is, the most programmable mouse I have ever used.
https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=903-W1-17BK-KR
*I require these keys on any keyboard. I program them using macros to do things in a variety of applications but mostly including games of course.
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@mark Good recommendations! Regarding the monitor, I may be leaning towards a 144hz so that everything (not just gaming, but browsing, mouse movement, etc) is just that much smoother. I know most videos I'll be editing are 60 fps, but still........
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@89th said in Tell me about building a PC:
@mark Good recommendations! Regarding the monitor, I may be leaning towards a 144hz so that everything (not just gaming, but browsing, mouse movement, etc) is just that much smoother. I know most videos I'll be editing are 60 fps, but still........
Good call. I want to get a 144Hz+ monitor to replace this one eventually. The 240Hz of the 49" G9 is awesome. I do get much faster frame rates at 240Hz vs. 120Hz regardless of the vertical sync setting.
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@axtremus said in Tell me about building a PC:
@89th wrote:
I want to start viewing/editing my iPhone 4K videos
Get a Mac.
Loser.
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@89th said in Tell me about building a PC:
@mark Good recommendations! Regarding the monitor, I may be leaning towards a 144hz so that everything (not just gaming, but browsing, mouse movement, etc) is just that much smoother. I know most videos I'll be editing are 60 fps, but still........
The LG 38" 144Hz GSync, QHD+ 3840 x 1600
Or the 34" 3440 x 1440 for a lot less $$$.
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@mark will do! Ultimately I went for the premium (at least, premium to me... I know other monitors can go north of $2k) because I figured I'll literally be looking at this monitor for 8+ hours per day so might as well enjoy a few extra bells and whistles.
Anyway... catching up on this thread, a few questions for you:
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How many full desktop builds do you have? I see there's a "budget build" plus the big dog (Aquarium), and also the racer.
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For liquid cooled, is it just water you have or a special water/chemical? Do you ever have to replace it?
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Is the Aquarium noisy at all? All the cooling and fans.
Anyway.... l337 setups you have there, anti-n00b!
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@89th said in Tell me about building a PC:
@mark will do! Ultimately I went for the premium (at least, premium to me... I know other monitors can go north of $2k) because I figured I'll literally be looking at this monitor for 8+ hours per day so might as well enjoy a few extra bells and whistles.
Anyway... catching up on this thread, a few questions for you:
-
How many full desktop builds do you have? I see there's a "budget build" plus the big dog (Aquarium), and also the racer.
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For liquid cooled, is it just water you have or a special water/chemical? Do you ever have to replace it?
-
Is the Aquarium noisy at all? All the cooling and fans.
Anyway.... l337 setups you have there, anti-n00b!
Proud supporter of Plan 2525. Everything you think, do and say will be in the pill you took today.
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@89th said in Tell me about building a PC:
@mark will do! Ultimately I went for the premium (at least, premium to me... I know other monitors can go north of $2k) because I figured I'll literally be looking at this monitor for 8+ hours per day so might as well enjoy a few extra bells and whistles.
Anyway... catching up on this thread, a few questions for you:
- How many full desktop builds do you have? I see there's a "budget build" plus the big dog (Aquarium), and also the racer.
I built two PCs. The "Budget Build" turned out to not be such a "Budget Build" lol I upgraded from 4 to 8 then to 16 cores on the processor. I went from an old RTX 560 to a 2060, then a 3060, 3070 and ultimately ended up with a 3090 Hybrid in it.
It ceased being a budget machine about 2 months after I built it. lol
- For liquid cooled, is it just water you have or a special water/chemical? Do you ever have to replace it?
All I have are AIO units. (All In One) They are sealed from the factory (I think they can be flushed and refilled though)
- Is the Aquarium noisy at all? All the cooling and fans.
They are both surprisingly quiet. I should bring my sound meter down here and see what the background noise level is in my office. I have a server rack in here and that certainly adds to the fan noise in the room. The "aquarium" is powered off unless I am racing or flying. It's the "sim rig". If I leave it on, it acts like a big space heater and the office temp goes up considerably. The Budget build is now a top shelf gaming monster and I play the MMORPGs on it. More comfortable to sit at the desk and run those games.
Anyway.... l337 setups you have there, anti-n00b!
lol, they won't be for long. such is the way of tech. I hear rumors of the 4000 series NVIDIA cards. Supposedly 100% faster than the current crop. I don't believe it of course.
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I'm such an elite gamer I'm currently playing Baldur's Gate remastered while I'm saving for my next system. The game is 20 years old, no 3D, but funnily enough, still quite compelling.
My current rig is 4 years old, so can't really handle VR, which is what I really want it to do.
Proud supporter of Plan 2525. Everything you think, do and say will be in the pill you took today.
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@doctor-phibes check out the new Final Fantasy XIV. It's very good. They have a 7 day free trial.
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Speaking of non-sequiturs, I want to be precisely as famous as that guy.
I could pay off some stuff, like the house and what-not, but I wouldn't have to worry about some jackass faking a slip on the brick walkway leading up to the mansion I don't have.
Also, I could go to the store, the movies, whatever and be completely left alone. Just every so often, once in a blue moon, someone would come up to me and it'd be like:
"Yo, you're that dude from those the silly commercials!"
"Yeah, yeah I am!"
"Hahahah awesome, do the thing you used to do! Let me get a selfie with you for the 'gram!"
"You got it!"
"Yeeeeah awesome, thanks man!"And that would be that.
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@aqua-letifer Hahaha crazy to think those commercials were 20 years ago. It's also weird to watch some of them. I got a total flashback/visceral feeling of what it was like to buy a computer back then when I saw the "get a free CD burner upgrade!" part:
Link to video
