First computer build in a couple years

[Shwiggie]

I finally settled on a solution that will fit my needs, and then some. After deciding to put off certain other interests (holding off on some four figure firearm purchases I had planned), I pulled the trigger on orders from Amazon and Newegg. This thing will be an upgradeable media server complete with the fastest mainstream processor and a barely less than cutting edge video card for gaming (as I'm foregoing the next console generation for a few years at least).

Here are the components:
CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K (freebies: Grid 2 game and Grid 2 t-shirt)
GPU: Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon HD 7950 (freebies: BioShock Infinite, Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider games)
Mobo: GIGABYTE Z87X-UD3H
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB)
PSU: Corsair GS700 700W 80 Bronze Certified
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Case: Thermaltake Soprano Mid Tower
SSD: Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB
HDD: (2) Western Digital Red 3TB (other link)
ODD: LG BD-ROM Combo
Display: ViewSonic VX2370SMH-LED 23-Inch IPS
Input: Logitech Wireless Wave Combo Mk550 Keyboard/Mouse
OS: Windows 8 64-bit
Misc: (3) Rosewill 18" SATA Cables

The setup will be Windows 8 running Plex Media Server and SnapRAID with NAS drive as backup. This can be easily upgraded in the future under SnapRAID with the addition of any number/size of HDDs.

[die]

Nice. I've been considering doing something like this as well for a while now. What's the final cost on this set-up?

I'm also considering skipping this gen as well tbh. I do plan on snagging a Ouya though, for $99 it will be an easy buy to toy around with.

[Shwiggie]

The whole thing including monitor, inputs, and OS is a shade over 2G. The only things I'm reusing is the mouse pad, speakers, printers, and scanner.

I'd have preferred 4tb drives, but one 4tb cost the same as 2 3tbs (using enterprise/NAS series drives). Plus I have a 3tb external NAS that will serve great as backup.

The hardest thing was picking a case.

[SoVi3t]

What are you doing that required you to go with an i7 vs an i5? Not much really uses hyperthreading, so an i7 is pretty much overkill, if you're just gaming.

700W power supply seems a tad on the low side.

no SSD? I wouldn't build a PC without them, anymore.

I bought a bluray burner when I built this pc, and I've never used it once, even to READ discs.

[Shwiggie]

Holy necro post, Batman!

What are you doing that required you to go with an i7 vs an i5? Not much really uses hyperthreading, so an i7 is pretty much overkill, if you're just gaming.

Since I'm primarily running Plex Media Server I wanted it to be able to transcode on the fly without having to wait for it to catch up with fast-forwarding or rewinding. It may have been overkill, but was a good decision...I have no playback delays, period, no matter what I'm streaming to (wired HTPC, wireless laptop & cellphone, or the tablet I wound up 12-gauging). And although price wasn't an object with this project, the i7 didn't really cost much more than the i5.

As for gaming, even though most of mine is high speed Ms. Pacman in MAME I wanted something that would allow for plenty of future headroom in case I decided to forego this console generation. And, so far, so good; I'll pick up an upgraded video card further down the road and see what it does for Arkham Knight. But, when I do....

700W power supply seems a tad on the low side.

...this will require upgrading, too. However, it won't be a Corsair--the original one was replaced under warranty (the load-sensing fans decided to go full-blast full-time full-noise). The next one will be modular so that, if I have to swap it out again, I won't have to re-run the power cabling AGAIN. But by that time I'll probably have updated cases, too, so whatever.

no SSD? I wouldn't build a PC without them, anymore.

Me, neither:

SSD: Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB

If/when I rebuild my HTPC, it won't have a mechanical HD in it at all. For that matter, I might just throw OpenElec up on an old NUC and use a thumb drive on that bad boy. Nobody should have to run a HD as their primary in this day and age...you might as well be running a shotgun dial-up or ISDN instead of broadband for the difference it makes.

I bought a bluray burner when I built this pc, and I've never used it once, even to READ discs.

I rip Blurays. A lot. I also work at a radio station, and I rip CDs fairly regularly. Plus I still burn the occasional DVD for various reasons (mainly downloading old shit for my tech troglodyte brother to watch). Being able to encode straight to disc in a very few minutes is another reason to love the i7, too.

[SoVi3t]

got damn, I think I am gonna buy this when it comes out:

http://techgage.com/article/the-new-sin ... x-titan-x/

fucking fuck, look at all that got damn memory

[Shwiggie]

Last week I decided that, since Batman: Arkham Knight was coming out, I needed a new video card to play it. Particularly when I could get the game bundled. So I picked up an MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G. It throttles itself a bit in terms of memory bandwidth, but it's still quite highly rated for a $350 part. So I hit up my old boy, Amazon: I had a card on the way and started downloading (very slowly, dammit) the thing over Steam. The card arrived today, and I was starting to get happy.

Then the reviews come in that the PC version of B:AK is virtually broken out of the gate and will have to be patched.

FCK

[Shwiggie]

Built (rather, assembled) one of these a few weeks ago. I haven't even turned on my HTPC in a month. Threw some double sided tape on that thing and stuck it to the back of the TV, and the only control device is the TV remote, so, no keyboard.

I'm liking it.

[Shwiggie]

I bought a Vero 4K for Kodi needs (the new Plex plugin for Kodi is the shizz) and a RetroPie install with GameWizard scripting on a Raspberry Pi 3 for retro games. I think the next revision of Kodi is going to bundle EmulationStation, so I'll likely run that on the Vero for a unified hardware solution. But as of now I'm using them in different rooms.

[Shwiggie]

FINAL UPDATE!

I got an nVidia Shield for my Plex/Kodi/RetroArch needs. It's the best I've found. Look no further. Screw the rest.

Just thought I'd put that out there before THE END.

Cheerio.