My Gaming Rig

[Aiyen]

While I agree based on the premise that there is a limited budget then I do not agree with anything else!

IPS have superior color coverage over a wider view angle and it shows....

I went from my old TN panel samsung monitor, to my dell IPS... And as some of you might know I spend quite a bit of time doing ENB, and in general playing with color based stuff... and I can tell you 100% that you can clearly see a difference between a monitor that has down near 85-90% sRGB color coverage and an IPS with 95%+

 

Yes the refresh rate suffers, but like I mentioned earlier... unless you play racing games, FPS shooters semi professionally etc. then you are not going to notice it at all (at 5ms... going higher is not really useful for anything but office work). Also ofc. the superior viewing angle is a godsend. Even good TN panels with a high color coverage only have it in an extremely limited view range.

 

In general you cant say "for gaming" like that.. since it depends on what you play. If you do not play any fast paced games then an IPS will give superior color, and generally just make the games, movies etc. look better then an TN panel ever could. If you do play fast paced games a lot, then a good TN panel is the way to go. But for most others then there just is not enough fast camera movement (Unless you play with an insane sensitivity, I play at 1400 DPI and cannot notice it in my games, I need to exceed 1800 before it becomes noticeable, but then it is just not pleasant for me anymore). I mean in a game like civ 5, or games like the witcher, etc. you just do not move the camera that much, hence the refresh rate issues are never going to be an actual issue.

 

One good thing about the top end TN 120Hz panels is that you can do some funky contrast stuff with them due to the refresh rate... so it is not just for 3D gaming! Quite interesting if high contrast is a must for you!

I would only ever recommend getting a tv for a computer monitor if you already have the required physical space, and furniture to be comfortable.

[TechAngel85]

I didn't mean to imply I agreed with the TN panels. IPS is superior. I meant that I agree in the fact that I believe the monitor I chose is all I need for what I'll be doing on my system and it is an IPS panel with 5ms gtg response time. I don't need anything higher quality.

 

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[Spock]

I wouldn't say IPS panels are superior, they have different advantages over TN panels. Refresh rate does matter though:

https://www.blurbusters.com/faq/60vs120vslb/

 

This will show on any game with some kind of camera motion. It's subtle but noticeable.

[Aiyen]

Tech: My reply was mainly in response to mothergooses comment!

 

In general I just want to clarify that there are areas where IPS are clearly superior, and some where TN panels are still vastly amazing. The link Spock shows is a good example. However this is again only a case if you actually do anything on your monitor that requires super slick, and fast movements while retaining full accuracy.

 

Also in relation to that link, then one has to read what they actually say and not just look at the images, since those are zoomed in to really show the effect.

In general the higher resolution the panel supports, the less of an issue the blur is going to be even at 60Hz. A 16 pixel distortion on 1440p... you have to look really hard to spot that. Ghosting is a more annoying issue due to the 5ms latency, but again this is mainly noticeable in really high contrast stuff, like having a white browser on a dark desktop background.

 

Who would have thought this thread would get this far around! ;)

[Spock]

Sorry for derailing the thread further:

The 16 pixel distortion is relative to the pixels moved. With higher resolution you will get more movement as well.

I cannot tell how large the difference really is because I decided against buying one of those monitors and wait for affordable OLEDs instead. But I do see some slight "smudging" on my monitor when gaming though.

[phazer11]

Ok a few questions mate.

1. Do you have a desktop where you might be able to use your new graphics card or is this your only one? I ask because if you can't spend money on the CPU you really want right now then you might as well don't otherwise you'll be out $600 instead of $200-300.

2. While I would personally consider getting a GPU with more VRAM since my PSU is awesome. You're skimping on a major if not the most important component.

 

I have a few more points but I'm a bit busy right now with my flooring.

I would highly suggest for the thousanth time to go to OCN and post your HARD cost ceiling and tell them what you're going to be using it for. I'd then post the parts list you have in the OP and have them pick through it. I've been around long enough to know a few good places other than the usual but some of the members on there are still surprising me with great sites. If nothing else you could look and see how Best Buy or BHphotovideo do for monitors and HDD's.

 

At the very least PSU wise I would get a great brand with a pretty good 80+ rating I wouldn't go any lower than 80+ silver and I wouldn't get anything less than This PSU but again, that's me.

A lot of the name brands are merely rebranded Silverstone PSUs so you really can't go wrong with one.

[TechAngel85]

This is a brand new build so I don't have any parts. I wouldn't be out the entire cost bc when I upgrade I'll simple resell the parts to recoup some of the money.

 

I'm not too worried about the PSU. I've used several calculators to confirm my power requirements. With this system it's not even 500 watts so 550 is good.

 

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[Spock]

If you are planning on upgrading already, you might as well think about buying used parts now.

Just had a quick look, the I7 920 is surprisingly cheap and it usually clocks to 4 Ghz on air.

[phazer11]

It's not the power output that you should worry about (so much). It's about the quality of the pieces inside, I haven't read too many good things about Thermaltake.

[TechAngel85]

Funny. I haven't read too many bad things about Thermaltake. ;) They are (or used to be) one of the top, reliable brands. If I save enough money I'll go back to my original choice.

 

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[rootsrat]

Funny. I haven't read too many bad things about Thermaltake. ;) They are (or used to be) one of the top, reliable brands. If I save enough money I'll go back to my original choice.

 

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I would definitely recommend ThermalTake. I have one myself. I cannot recall the model or wattage now, I bought it few good years ago and yet it's still able to power my rig (see my STEP page for specs) without a problem.

[TechAngel85]

Well, why am I not surprised... my monitor is out of stock and discontinued. This is the 4th time this has happened. Lol

 

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[mothergoose729]

The only thing you have to worry about with power supplies is how the amperage on the 12v rails. In reality, a high end desktop computer, even if you add a second graphics cards and overclock a bit, is pushing no more than 250-350 watts total. The power suggestions for CPU and graphic cards do not stack up and are overly generous. The problem is you have to factor in a couple things. The first is that nearly all of that 200+ wattage is 12v power, so if you have 150 watts in the 5v and 3v rails that isn't going to help you much. Secondly power supplies perform at peak efficiency at about 50% output and fall off as you tax them. Now a reputable brand like thermatlake will give you every watt it claims and then probably then some, but a lot of that gets lost as heat. You can rely on a bronze certified or higher power supply to give you at least 80% efficiency at nominal load, but it might dip a touch below that at very high levels of output. Armed with that knoweledge, a simple forumla is a good guide line.

 

Add up the CPU and graphics wattage, add about 30 watts and multiply by 1.2. Divide this answer by 12. This is the combined power output you are going to need on all 12v rails. One last consideration, if you are have two high end graphics on one rail and only the CPU on another you could fall short on the more taxed rail. So maybe its not so simple. Anyway, a good 550+ watt power supply is more than edquate for all the most extreme setups, even if a mild overclock. Thermaltake is a fine brand. Middle of the pack when it comes to performance parts, but it should work just fine.

[TechAngel85]

I agree with Mothergoose here. The power supply I chose has 42 amps on the 12v rail. You have to pay attention to these numbers especially if you don't have a single rail for the 12v. Some power supplies will split this rail into two separate rails and also split the amps between them. This is important to pay attention to because most modern video cards will recommend a minimum watt power supply as well as a minimum amp on the 12v rail.

 

For example, the video card I chose recommends at least a 500w/30amps 12v rail minimum. Many power supplies that split the 12v rail only have 24 amps on each rail. This would not meet the minimum recommendation for my card of choice. So anyone building a rig needs to pay attention to the details and not just toss a bunch of components together.

 

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[Aiyen]

Just because it cannot be said enough.... check dem rails!

Anything not single rail should essentially be thrown out if you do not have a multi gpu setup! There is just no point in them! And nothing sucks more then having a PSU which technically can run your rig, but you do not get the FPS you expect since the card simply cannot draw as much power as it needs and hence downscales its performance to compensate.

 

About certifications... essentially like Mothergoose says, then the nominal efficiency is at about 50% load. However assuming that you sometimes play some taxing games do something else that actually require some power, then it is a good idea to project that you always are in the 55%-60% range and look at that.

The difference between certifications mean that the peak efficiency is higher... but also that the loss to heat etc. becomes less the higher you go. Hence as long as you are between 50-60% then you will be at peak efficiency give or take 1-2% depending on certificate.

 

I got a a gold certified 750W.... since then at just idle loading or watching a movie etc. then my load is at about 45%, at during heavy ENB pumped gameplay it goes up to about 65% max. So I am almost always at my or very close around my peak efficiency, and there is room to expand later. And I do expect this badboy to last for quite some time... so it can pay for itself.

 

This is another consideration... depending on where you live in the world power cost money (Who would have guessed!)! I know in most of the US power still does not get taxed as heavily as in some other countries, but it is always worth considering. Spending a bit extra initially where I live is worth it since power is silly expensive and every kWh you can save is noticeable amounts of money over a 3 month period.

 

In general never get anything that is not at least bronze certified... only go gold if you got expensive power since otherwise it is most likely not going to pay for itself during its lifetime. And just do not go platinum lol.... unless it is for a business or you really want to show off.