PC build thread

[isiolia]

Who is doing SSD only and who is doing SSD + traditional HD?

Desktop PC has an SSD boot drive, a second SSD for MMOs, and three HDDs for bulk storage and other games. The sheer amount of space utilized makes SSD only impractical at this point.

Server is all HDDs, but basically just a single user NAS at this point.

Mac Mini has an SSD, plus the original HDD, though it could easily be SSD only (as it's a 500GB one). Mainly, I felt like putting a dual drive kit in, and figured I wouldn't use a 5400rpm HDD anywhere else.

Macbook has a hybrid drive, which seems to be decent enough and still gives me 500GB.

Surface Pro has an integrated SSD, no real option there.

Going forward, I'd have little issue with going SSD only in a laptop, since they're secondary machines for me.

All of that is why I was considering getting a SSD for my laptop. The downside is that you can only have the one internal drive, so your only option for a SSD + mechanical drive setup is to use an external drive. Either that or you'll have to shell out the cash for a larger SSD.

If the laptop has an optical drive, there's a decent chance you could swap that out for a module that'd let a second HDD be installed.
Also not that uncommon now for laptops to have an mSATA slot compatible with SSDs, in addition to space for a HDD. Drives for that are a little more expensive, but it may be an option.

[noiseredux]

thanks to isiolia, I now have my first mechanical keyboard. It's a WASD Keyboards V1. I'll let y'all know how it goes!

[noiseredux]

thanks to isiolia, I now have my first mechanical keyboard. It's a WASD Keyboards V1. I'll let y'all know how it goes!

alright so I have now spent some time with my first mechanical keyboard. As y'all know, in the past I've not really understood the need: http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... eyboard%2A

DSH told me recently that for him switching to a mechanical was like finally using an arcade stick that used real arcade parts after being used to 3rd party buttons/sticks. Well, I think I can see this analogy as sound. In the past 10 days I've spent most of my gaming time using this keyboard. I've used it for 8 hrs of Dragon Age, and a bunch of random FPS games I wanted to test out. And I've found that the more I get used to a mechanical keyboard, the more natural it feels. The thing I'm getting (used to still) is that part of the allure is that you really don't need to push the keys all the way down. That's a weird thing to wrap your muscle-memory around, but it does start to feel awesome in games to just lightly lean into the key for movement.

[Anapan]

I just put together a new computer for myself on Newegg. I already knew what I wanted, but before I clicked the checkout I called my buddy to ask about any possible bottlenecks. He said to check here:

http://www.logicalincrements.com/

This site is incredibly well researched and kept up-to-date. It matches up all the parts you'd want to put into a computer at certain price ranges so everything "clicks" and no single part is being dragged down by the others.

Glad to see my new computer is hanging around the enthusiast level (I'll get the second graphics card later). I didn't have any changes to make in my order after verifying my picks were mostly the same.

One thing that really impressed me was the mechanical keyboard buying guide they have there. I haven't read through all the other stuff but I'd figure this site is invaluable to anyone looking to put together a new computer and needs to know what goes well with what.

I'm going to be running 2 SSDs - one's a 64GB Readyboost type I have to (supposedly) increase performance tho since my OS drive will be a 500Gig SSD it will probably do nothing... I found that it made no noticeable performance increase on my WIP arcade cabinet which has everything except the roms on a SSD - the emulators are all very small programs after all. I'll be putting in a multi-partitioned 4TB drive for all the storage on my new computer.

[Frag Mortuus]

I'm stoked. I have recently sold some wares to allow myself to build a new PC from nearly the ground up. I'm waiting on my GPU's and my SSD to arrive tomorrow and it will be mostly ready (I'm RMAing my RAM as I changed my mind on what I wanted after I already purchased the RAM I currently have, but I have some RAM to use temporarily). I'm going to get it together this week and I'll snap some pictures to show you folks.

[TSTR]

"GPUs"

Sounds like fun!

[noiseredux]

I'm stoked. I have recently sold some wares to allow myself to build a new PC from nearly the ground up. I'm waiting on my GPU's and my SSD to arrive tomorrow and it will be mostly ready (I'm RMAing my RAM as I changed my mind on what I wanted after I already purchased the RAM I currently have, but I have some RAM to use temporarily). I'm going to get it together this week and I'll snap some pictures to show you folks.

so uh... what's going on with your old GPU's then?? You had 750's I believe? I know my wife could use a decent GPU...

[marurun]

Hell, I could use a good GPU, too, if it'll fit in my case... *grumble*

[noiseredux]

got myself a new case, a Rosewill Blackhawk



I like Rosewill (have a Challenger now) and went with this because, well, it's blue and has a window. But it's massive and roomy as heck. Will be an ease to build in this thing. It's also got 5 fans.

Waiting on my new PSU to arrive before moving everything over. The old case and PSU are going to my wife's new improved gaming PC...

[noiseredux]

so I expected moving my build over to my new case to be a quick swap. Not so much. Considering I was also installing a new modular PSU as well as an aftermarket cooler (CM Hyper 212 EVO - which was so much more complicated than I expected. It's a long story, but I managed to remove and apply thermal paste 5 times in the process...) it was like doing a whole new build. And I've said it before - but man I hate jumpers haha. Anyway, everything's up and running now and it looks awesome.

This case is huge and had tons of room to work in. There was also lots of help for cable management in there, and much of the connections (HDD, SDD, etc) were tool-less or close to, which was convenient. The case is actually too big to fit under my desk now, which is probably for the best to give it extra breathing room. The EVO cooler actually blocked the side case fan, so I'm using 4 fans instead of 5 unfortunately.

Anyway, far too drained to start working on my wife's build today.