Need Help From The Glorious PC Gaming Master Race
Re: Need help from the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race
If you decide to go tablet instead of laptop for the mobile side, consider a Samsung Galaxy Note. They have a stylus system and handwriting recognition that can make them very convenient for jotting down things on the go. And it would still work with a Bluetooth keyboard. There are a couple different screen sizes, I think. A cheaper stylus option would be the EVGA Tegra Note 7, which is not quite as nice, but cheaper.
Re: Need help from the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race
The Surface Pros are basically Ultrabook PCs. I've got a first-gen one, and the 2 doesn't change a whole lot from that.
Upside to them is that, again, it's a full Windows 8.1 PC. Essentially, an Ultrabook slate. Relative to nearly any laptop out there, it's small, and fairly light. Relative to an iPad or something, it's thicker and much heavier.
Unlike pretty much all iOS/Android/etc tablets, the Pro 1/2 have a dual digitizer setup. The stylus is using a Wacom digitizer. It's not on the level of their stand-alone products (though installing their updated drive helps a bit), but it's much better than what most tablets these days have. The Surface Pro 3 removes it though, and uses a stylus that's similar to what you can get for mobile OSes.
On the negative side, the battery life isn't great. It's serviceable - about as good as a standard business laptop - but relative to mobile OS tablets, or larger ultrabooks, it falls quite short.
If you're trying to use the desktop side of the OS (especially) with only the on-screen keyboard and such, it gets painful quickly. The Type cover is a decent keyboard (Touch one is shit), but the touchpad is beyond terrible. Additionally, as most of the reviews point out, that setup doesn't work very well without a table or something to put the thing on.
The Surface is also not user serviceable or upgradeable, but that's pretty typical for the device class.
Personally, I bought the thing specifically for the stylus support for stuff like Painter. It's hard to beat the current pricing for that, considering a baseline Cintiq (Wacom tablet with a built in LCD) costs about twice as much, and doesn't have a PC built into it.
If you aren't buying it on that basis, however, then I would look at something else. Lenovo Yoga series maybe.
Upside to them is that, again, it's a full Windows 8.1 PC. Essentially, an Ultrabook slate. Relative to nearly any laptop out there, it's small, and fairly light. Relative to an iPad or something, it's thicker and much heavier.
Unlike pretty much all iOS/Android/etc tablets, the Pro 1/2 have a dual digitizer setup. The stylus is using a Wacom digitizer. It's not on the level of their stand-alone products (though installing their updated drive helps a bit), but it's much better than what most tablets these days have. The Surface Pro 3 removes it though, and uses a stylus that's similar to what you can get for mobile OSes.
On the negative side, the battery life isn't great. It's serviceable - about as good as a standard business laptop - but relative to mobile OS tablets, or larger ultrabooks, it falls quite short.
If you're trying to use the desktop side of the OS (especially) with only the on-screen keyboard and such, it gets painful quickly. The Type cover is a decent keyboard (Touch one is shit), but the touchpad is beyond terrible. Additionally, as most of the reviews point out, that setup doesn't work very well without a table or something to put the thing on.
The Surface is also not user serviceable or upgradeable, but that's pretty typical for the device class.
Personally, I bought the thing specifically for the stylus support for stuff like Painter. It's hard to beat the current pricing for that, considering a baseline Cintiq (Wacom tablet with a built in LCD) costs about twice as much, and doesn't have a PC built into it.
If you aren't buying it on that basis, however, then I would look at something else. Lenovo Yoga series maybe.
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someone3760
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Re: Need help from the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race
I would say a desktop and a laptop. I was able to build a computer as strong as the ps4 for only 320$.
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someone3760
- 24-bit
- Posts: 183
- Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2012 5:38 pm
Re: Need help from the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race
Check frys too for a lenovo s210. Its a 2 in 1 laptop on sale for like 288$ and my dad just got one and its pretty good. Price lasts until tomorrow i think.
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Frag Mortuus
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 1110
- Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2009 8:39 pm
- Location: Princeton, WV
Re: Need help from the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race
I just thought I'd throw my $.02 in here on the build.
Case:
http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Gaming-T ... tower+case
CPU:
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i5-4670K-Qu ... ords=4670k
GPU:
http://www.amazon.com/GeForce-GTX750TI- ... TI-OC-2GD5
Motherboard:
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-1150-D-S ... -B85M-DS3H
HDD:
http://www.amazon.com/WD-Blue-Desktop-H ... e+WD10EZEX
RAM:
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Ballistix ... +DDR3+1600
PSU:
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-80PLUS-Certi ... s=550w+psu
This comes in at approximately $677. I know you said you had a credit of $650, but this build gets you some high quality parts. The only part I'm not crazy about is the motherboard. It is a barebones board that offers just enough for your needs. If I were to build a gaming PC that didn't have to be super high end, then I would buy all of these parts expect the board. I would try to scrounge up another $50 and buy a better quality board with some overclock features (since the 4670K has an unlocked multiplier and is made to support overclocking). With that said, you will still get great performance with the board I listed. The MoBo doesn't really add or remove much in terms of performance. Some chipsets are faster than others and support more or less USB and SATA ports, but that is about it.
I'm an Intel and Nvidia guy. I feel as though they offer the best performance and longevity. Without the need to upgrade as often to meet the needs of current software / games. Admittedly, AMD GPU's offer better performance for the money. However, I have personally had bad luck with AMD GPU's. I recently spent $800 on two R9-290's, got them in the mail, immediately installed them and literally got no picture on my monitor. I knew the PC was booting because I could hear the Windows welcome tune as well as POST beeps and such. After hours on the phone with XFX, the manufacturer of the cards and EVGA, the manufacturer of my MoBo, both concluded that the cards should work, but they don't. I returned them, bought two GTX 760s installed them and started gaming immediately. This is just my experience. I will probably revisit AMD again in the future when I upgrade two a new platform and see if I have better luck.
So, the reason I chose that specific GPU is because for approximately $150 you get a GPU that has a very low TDP, so it puts off very little heat and uses very little power. Also, this card is capable of running most modern games at 1080p with high setting, at frame rates well above 30, which is considered the minimum acceptable number.
The CPU I chose has shown over time that it will run games at the same benchmarks as higher-end i7 CPUs. Basically there is a point where CPU's stop affecting gaming performance and this CPU is the one that hits that point. Anything above this CPU's capabilities are meant for high level multi-tasking.
The RAM is fast, high density sticks from a big name in the PC industry. That's about it. Also, since you get 8GB from two sticks, you have room to expand later.
The PSU is a low wattage, but is a quality piece which I have used in the past. EVGA has excellent quality and customer service.
The HDD is standard fare. 1TB from Western Digital. Not an SSD, but your budget didn't really allow that for what I would consider priority. However, I would upgrade to an SSD sometime. You will see a gigantic jump in speed and performance.
The case is just a standard Mid-Tower case from Rosewill, which is a budget brand, but they actually make good quality products. This case has plenty of air flow and it's not too hard on the eyes.
The Motherboard is the only item I feel is a compromise. Like I mentioned above, if this were my build I would try to find a little extra money to buy a better unit. Gigabyte is a brand that is the top of mid-tier companies. They make nice products that are comparable to the higher end brands like EVGA and ASUS. This motherboard uses the B85 chipset that limits its available USB and SATA ports. As well as the number of PCI-e slots it can have. In this case it's one PCI-e 3.0 x16 ports and a second PCI-e 2.0 x4 port. This limits the usage to one GPU and a second low speed PCI-e device. The last limitation of this board would be the BIOS options for overclocking. This isn't important to some folks. Most people will never use those features. But since the CPU I listed is capable, if not made with overclocking in mind, then why not get a board that can support that capability? Again, I want to stress, that this board will be just fine for this build and will not hinder your ability to play games in any way.
This is just my idea of a good $650 build. It went slightly over, but I think the extra $25 or so would be completely worth it.
Case:
http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Gaming-T ... tower+case
CPU:
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i5-4670K-Qu ... ords=4670k
GPU:
http://www.amazon.com/GeForce-GTX750TI- ... TI-OC-2GD5
Motherboard:
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-1150-D-S ... -B85M-DS3H
HDD:
http://www.amazon.com/WD-Blue-Desktop-H ... e+WD10EZEX
RAM:
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Ballistix ... +DDR3+1600
PSU:
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-80PLUS-Certi ... s=550w+psu
This comes in at approximately $677. I know you said you had a credit of $650, but this build gets you some high quality parts. The only part I'm not crazy about is the motherboard. It is a barebones board that offers just enough for your needs. If I were to build a gaming PC that didn't have to be super high end, then I would buy all of these parts expect the board. I would try to scrounge up another $50 and buy a better quality board with some overclock features (since the 4670K has an unlocked multiplier and is made to support overclocking). With that said, you will still get great performance with the board I listed. The MoBo doesn't really add or remove much in terms of performance. Some chipsets are faster than others and support more or less USB and SATA ports, but that is about it.
I'm an Intel and Nvidia guy. I feel as though they offer the best performance and longevity. Without the need to upgrade as often to meet the needs of current software / games. Admittedly, AMD GPU's offer better performance for the money. However, I have personally had bad luck with AMD GPU's. I recently spent $800 on two R9-290's, got them in the mail, immediately installed them and literally got no picture on my monitor. I knew the PC was booting because I could hear the Windows welcome tune as well as POST beeps and such. After hours on the phone with XFX, the manufacturer of the cards and EVGA, the manufacturer of my MoBo, both concluded that the cards should work, but they don't. I returned them, bought two GTX 760s installed them and started gaming immediately. This is just my experience. I will probably revisit AMD again in the future when I upgrade two a new platform and see if I have better luck.
So, the reason I chose that specific GPU is because for approximately $150 you get a GPU that has a very low TDP, so it puts off very little heat and uses very little power. Also, this card is capable of running most modern games at 1080p with high setting, at frame rates well above 30, which is considered the minimum acceptable number.
The CPU I chose has shown over time that it will run games at the same benchmarks as higher-end i7 CPUs. Basically there is a point where CPU's stop affecting gaming performance and this CPU is the one that hits that point. Anything above this CPU's capabilities are meant for high level multi-tasking.
The RAM is fast, high density sticks from a big name in the PC industry. That's about it. Also, since you get 8GB from two sticks, you have room to expand later.
The PSU is a low wattage, but is a quality piece which I have used in the past. EVGA has excellent quality and customer service.
The HDD is standard fare. 1TB from Western Digital. Not an SSD, but your budget didn't really allow that for what I would consider priority. However, I would upgrade to an SSD sometime. You will see a gigantic jump in speed and performance.
The case is just a standard Mid-Tower case from Rosewill, which is a budget brand, but they actually make good quality products. This case has plenty of air flow and it's not too hard on the eyes.
The Motherboard is the only item I feel is a compromise. Like I mentioned above, if this were my build I would try to find a little extra money to buy a better unit. Gigabyte is a brand that is the top of mid-tier companies. They make nice products that are comparable to the higher end brands like EVGA and ASUS. This motherboard uses the B85 chipset that limits its available USB and SATA ports. As well as the number of PCI-e slots it can have. In this case it's one PCI-e 3.0 x16 ports and a second PCI-e 2.0 x4 port. This limits the usage to one GPU and a second low speed PCI-e device. The last limitation of this board would be the BIOS options for overclocking. This isn't important to some folks. Most people will never use those features. But since the CPU I listed is capable, if not made with overclocking in mind, then why not get a board that can support that capability? Again, I want to stress, that this board will be just fine for this build and will not hinder your ability to play games in any way.
This is just my idea of a good $650 build. It went slightly over, but I think the extra $25 or so would be completely worth it.
Re: Need help from the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race
TSTR wrote:Pulsar_t wrote:17.3 inches aren't exactly what I'd call portable.
I get around just fine, thank you very much.
Thy ban hammer shalt strike 
Re: Need help from the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race
Pulsar_t wrote:TSTR wrote:Pulsar_t wrote:17.3 inches aren't exactly what I'd call portable.
I get around just fine, thank you very much.
FINALLY
Re: Need help from the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race
If I was to get a more expensive GPU would the GeForce 760 be a good choice or a R9 280x? I heard Nvidia gives free games that a fairly new. It's that true?
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperClocked ... B00DHW4HXY
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperClocked ... B00DHW4HXY
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Frag Mortuus
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 1110
- Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2009 8:39 pm
- Location: Princeton, WV
Re: Need Help From The Glorious PC Gaming Master Race
760's are great cards and if you want to spend the extra money, it will serve you well.
Here is a quick break down between the differences:
http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-760 ... GTX-750-Ti
The raw numbers show a huge difference between the two cards, and so do the couple benchmarks they list at the bottom of the page. For approximately $100, you will get better performance. The good thing about the 760 is that it supports SLI, where the 750Ti does not. So, you could go that route in the future if you wanted.
Here is a quick break down between the differences:
http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-760 ... GTX-750-Ti
The raw numbers show a huge difference between the two cards, and so do the couple benchmarks they list at the bottom of the page. For approximately $100, you will get better performance. The good thing about the 760 is that it supports SLI, where the 750Ti does not. So, you could go that route in the future if you wanted.