Quote:a) If I need a new mouse (mine is double clicking 50-60% of the time I single click and won't open without the case being smashed), and want a half decent, but not expensive one, how am I supposed to decide what to buy? I'm fairly sure it isn't as simple as choosing the highest DPI I can afford, so what else should I take into account?
The number 1 factor is do people like it? What are people saying about it?
DPI is really just sensitivity at the hardware level. All modern mice support crazy high DPIs so it's really not an issue.
I would highly recommend my G500 or the cheaper G400 if you're on a budget.
The scroll wheel is amazing. It has a button underneath it to switch between low friction (fast and smooth) and high friction (slow and precise) scrolling.
The shape and material are both decent.
It has three programmable buttons on the side that feel great and are placed perfectly. I have them set to keypress 1, keypress 2, and keypress 3 so that I can quickly switch weapons (in fps) or use abilities (in rpgs).
It also has two buttons for raising and lowering dpi on the fly between three programmable levels. I have mine set to 800, 1200, and 1600. 800 is perfect for making slow precise movements for things like sniping. 1,200 is good for normal desktop use and gameplay (for me anyways). And I find 1,600 is good for making fast movements that are still controllable. Perfect for spinning around quickly or rocket jumping in tf2.
The laser is great.
The mouse feet are super smooth and allow perfect gliding across a mousepad.
It has an adjustable weight (it hasn't really made any difference to me, but it's still cool).
The software is great.
It's logitech so you know that the customer service is great.
The chord is long and well protected.
.....I can't think of anything else to talk about. A could go a lot more in depth about the configuration software but all you really need to know is that it's useful and stable.
Quote:b) If my motherboard's maximum RAM frequency is 1333 MHz, and I upgrade to 2x4GB @ 1600 MHz, when I upgrade motherboards in the future, it won't have set some permanent setting on the cards so that they won't run at 1600 MHz when on the right board. I'd rather confirm this that have to meddle with RAM frequencies and latencies at a later date.
Tell me the motherboard. It won't run the ram at 1600 MHz if it doesn't support it, even if the ram supports it. You would have to go in and manually OC it.
Most motherboards don't even properly update the ram frequency/latencies when you swap out the ram. You usually have to go into the bios setup and manually reconfigure it.
As for your question. No, that makes no sense.
Quote:c) Haswell will be DDR3 compatible, and won't force me to use DDR4, won't it?
Yes. DDR4 won't be out yet according to Intel and JEDEC.
Quote:d) How do I tell if a PC case is decently ventilated? I don't want to buy a case and find that it has the same crappy airflow as my current one (which forces all air that flows out of my graphics card straight back in, meaning it doesn't coll properly).
Well you could try looking at it (sorry, I can't help but give a smartass response to that question).
Quote: In fact, do you have any suggestions for a good case?
Loads. What's your budget and preferred size?