So, I'm helping a friend build a desktop over the summer, and wanted to get some extra opinions before he orders the parts.
He wants to be able to play Dolphin so I recommend the build below.
Any opinions?
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Nrmgator/saved/43Ut
For the case, I know it's a tiny bit more expensive, but the Cooler Master N200 is a far better choice. Personally, I'd get the Fractal Design Midi case for a build of that stature, but it's quite a bit more expensive.
Does he need RAM that's that fast? Currently, there's not too much improvement to be had by getting faster RAM, other than a moderate reduction in latency, so, if he's not doing anything that requires lower memory latency, I'd say drop down to something slower and less expensive.
For the ODD, I'd recommend getting a BRD instead, but they're usually $30-60 for a good one. Even with that price increase, though, they're compatible with CDs and DVDs, and have the upside of being able to read and write Blu-Ray media.
On the PSU, well, looking at the part choice, it's obvious that this is going to be overclocked. I'd recommend asking a PSU expert integrated into
an overclocking community. I'm not sure about that exact power supply, but it's not looking up for me. It's thermaltake (I don't know whether their PSUs are as bad as their closed-loop watercoolers, mind you), and it's 80+ bronze. Still, it could be fine (I was originally recommended an 80+ bronze XFX-branded power supply for my overclocking endeavors by some experts, until it's price got hiked to ridiculous levels), so I guess I'll have some peace of mind about it if you ask an expert about it, or if you already did and could tell me the gist of what they said. Not everything you need to know can be extrapolated from reviews if you aren't really knowledgeable about power supplies.
(04-03-2014, 11:26 AM)KHg8m3r Wrote: [ -> ]So, I'm helping a friend build a desktop over the summer, and wanted to get some extra opinions before he orders the parts.
He wants to be able to play Dolphin so I recommend the build below.
Any opinions?
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Nrmgator/saved/43Ut
if you are looking to OC, mATX should be a better option rather than an ITX Case. That's my 2 cents. Because of air flow management, but if you are going to opt in for a water cooler, then disregard, i think?
(04-03-2014, 11:50 AM)kinkinkijkin Wrote: [ -> ]For the case, I know it's a tiny bit more expensive, but the Cooler Master N200 is a far better choice. Personally, I'd get the Fractal Design Midi case for a build of that stature, but it's quite a bit more expensive.
Does he need RAM that's that fast? Currently, there's not too much improvement to be had by getting faster RAM, other than a moderate reduction in latency, so, if he's not doing anything that requires lower memory latency, I'd say drop down to something slower and less expensive.
For the ODD, I'd recommend getting a BRD instead, but they're usually $30-60 for a good one. Even with that price increase, though, they're compatible with CDs and DVDs, and have the upside of being able to read and write Blu-Ray media.
On the PSU, well, looking at the part choice, it's obvious that this is going to be overclocked. I'd recommend asking a PSU expert integrated into an overclocking community. I'm not sure about that exact power supply, but it's not looking up for me. It's thermaltake (I don't know whether their PSUs are as bad as their closed-loop watercoolers, mind you), and it's 80+ bronze. Still, it could be fine (I was originally recommended an 80+ bronze XFX-branded power supply for my overclocking endeavors by some experts, until it's price got hiked to ridiculous levels), so I guess I'll have some peace of mind about it if you ask an expert about it, or if you already did and could tell me the gist of what they said. Not everything you need to know can be extrapolated from reviews if you aren't really knowledgeable about power supplies.
That's the case he likes the most
Good point on the RAM
Trying to keep it cheep, went down from a Blu-ray, but I'll ask him again.
I've been using a 450 W Thermaltake for a few years now in my desktop (Q6600, nvidia gt 640) and its been great. Haven't looked much beyond reviews, I'll look into overclocker forums.
@skanob: reviews have people saying it has good venting and air flow
Why not GTX 750 or GTX 750TI ? He could choose a lower wattage PSU with either of those GPU
The GTX 660 is stronger for PC gaming (according to Nvidia)
-Swap the PNY card for EVGA.
-Remove the ODD unless he really needs it.
-Swap the thermaltake PSU for almost anything else.
-I hate Xion cases but that's just me.
-Does he really need a mini-ITX board? They impose some serious restrictions and shouldn't really be used unless the small footprint is absolutely needed.
-Don't bother with the grease. All noctua coolers come with plenty of good thermal paste.
-The noctua NH-D14 is $10 more and a much better cooler.
KHg8m3r Wrote:The GTX 660 is stronger for PC gaming (according to Nvidia)
Yes it is.
kinkinkijkin Wrote:For the ODD, I'd recommend getting a BRD instead, but they're usually $30-60 for a good one. Even with that price increase, though, they're compatible with CDs and DVDs, and have the upside of being able to read and write Blu-Ray media.
Why spend more to get a feature that he's unlikely to ever use? Nobody uses BD. Not even the HTPC crowd.
Not yet. Since it's higher-capacity, and (I'm not actually sure about this one) higher-bandwidth, I can see it replacing the CD/DVD once media starts being made for it.
I like getting this kind of thing if compatibility isn't borken.
Though, I completely forgot that some people USB boot their OS installers. I prefer to use optical discs, mostly because it's a lot cheaper if you don't have reformattable USB sticks readily available for you (which I don't).
Blank Blu-rays are still 17p each, which is quite a lot for ROM, and the only data which is available on them is films, which a lot of people netflix/pirate these days. Windows, Linux and OSX still manage to fit on a DVD, albeit needing to download a tonne of updates after installation, so the Blu-ray drive isn't particularly advantageous.
They're ok for film. Completely useless for everything else.
Why nobody uses them:
-They're still expensive despite having been around for 8 years now with very little hope of that ever changing. Look at the cost of RW and DL discs! It's nuts.
-They're painfully slow
-Their storage capacity and price per GB is pitiful compared to external hard drives. And not much higher than similarly priced flash drives.
-Even after 8 years their hardware support in the industry is limited outside of dedicated BD players
-Scratches/dust can easily corrupt the data on them
ODD are dying in general. Everything they can do can now be done much more efficiently via networks, flash drives, and external HDDs (this would take an entire article to explain so you'll just have to take my word for it). Back in the day external HDDs were expensive and small by comparison, networks were too slow to deliver audio/video content, and flash drives were pathetically slow, small (capacity), and expensive. But all of those have dramatically improved since then while ODDs haven't improved much and thus have started to lag behind. With BD ODD have not gained any speed. They have gained more capacity but also more cost. Thus the cost per GB hasn't improved either. There is simply no advantage to using them anymore. BD will likely be the last generation semi-successful for film/game distribution and DVDs the last generation for general data storage and home video.
kinkinkijkin Wrote:Not yet. Since it's higher-capacity, and (I'm not actually sure about this one) higher-bandwidth
Depends on the drive speed. Generally it's around the same as a DVD (which is painfully slow, especially for random read).