SPAM random annoying things

[TdC]

OT: one of my precious platinum valves in the power amp died. It was pretty spectacular though, purple arcs everywhere

 

[caLLous]

Something I don't have to worry about upgrading for 4-5 years. My current PC is older than that because just about the time I would normally have upgraded, my son was born and I gave up games for a few years, now I fancy getting back into it a little bit.



Its about £1450. I'll have a go on the tech forum, but I do vaguely know what I'm doing. I could save money by keeping some bits for the old PC, but only really the case and the blu-ray drive (which hardly gets used anyway), the rest needs to be replaced.

If you're looking for something to last you then you'll be looking at "not far off top of the range today" stuff so I can see how the price could stack up. So a minimum I would go for would be that it can handle 4k gaming, even if you don't want a 4k monitor yet (21:9, 3440x1440 gaming is where it's at, anyway).

I take it you're also factoring in a new monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers and all that stuff? It all adds up.

 

[DaGaffer]

If you're looking for something to last you then you'll be looking at "not far off top of the range today" stuff so I can see how the price could stack up. So a minimum I would go for would be that it can handle 4k gaming, even if you don't want a 4k monitor yet (21:9, 3440x1440 gaming is where it's at, anyway).

I take it you're also factoring in a new monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers and all that stuff? It all adds up.

Exactly; I need a Haswell i7 CPU, and I don't really want to fuck around with SLI or Crossfire, so something like a GTX970 (980 is mad money), then one reasonable SSD and a big hard disk (I put everything on the NAS for streaming etc. but I tend to use the desktop as backup/resilience). Start from there, throw in the exchange rate and it looks a wee bit expensive. And no, that's not including 4K monitors and fancy keyboards, that will have to wait (we're about to kick off a big extension on the house as well so most of my money for the next 9 months is going to be going on the building and decorating work). I could do something lower spec but it feels like a false economy.

 

[caLLous]

Exactly; I need a Haswell i7 CPU, and I don't really want to fuck around with SLI or Crossfire, so something like a GTX970 (980 is mad money), then one reasonable SSD and a big hard disk (I put everything on the NAS for streaming etc. but I tend to use the desktop as backup/resilience). Start from there, throw in the exchange rate and it looks a wee bit expensive. And no, that's not including 4K monitors and fancy keyboards, that will have to wait (we're about to kick off a big extension on the house as well so most of my money for the next 9 months is going to be going on the building and decorating work). I could do something lower spec but it feels like a false economy.

Re: Graphics cards: I think SLI and Crossfire will become a much more viable option as DirectX 12 gains traction, it does much more fancy things to make better use of the cards. You could always hold on until next year when the next generation of HBM will arrive from both manufacturers.

Re: Storage: I love having a dedicated storage on the network (with proper redundancy), my main desktop machine is much more lean now - an M.2 SSD plugged straight into the motherboard and 2 normal SSDs tucked behind the motherboard tray and no HDDs at all. Again though, Samsung predicts 4 TB SSDs next year and also that the prices will tumble, also XPoint from Intel and Micron is going to have a big impact. Another reason to hold on might be to take advantage of DDR4 RAM, which is only on the Haswell-E (X99) and Skylake (LGA 1151) platforms at present. Skylake supports both DDR3 and 4 but they use different slots.

 

[Syri]

Exactly; I need a Haswell i7 CPU, and I don't really want to fuck around with SLI or Crossfire, so something like a GTX970 (980 is mad money), then one reasonable SSD and a big hard disk (I put everything on the NAS for streaming etc. but I tend to use the desktop as backup/resilience). Start from there, throw in the exchange rate and it looks a wee bit expensive. And no, that's not including 4K monitors and fancy keyboards, that will have to wait (we're about to kick off a big extension on the house as well so most of my money for the next 9 months is going to be going on the building and decorating work). I could do something lower spec but it feels like a false economy.

Are you going to be using the PC for anything else that's CPU intensive, or just gaming? If it's just gaming, a Core i5 should do the job without much noticeable difference, and a k series will give the option of overclocking later on, to extend its life a bit more. I know someone who's still using a 1st gen i5, and it still handles new games pretty well, so you should be fine with that, if you're not touching any number crunching apps outside of gaming.

Also, if currency exchange is skewing the numbers, see if there's anyone you know that has any visitors coming, or is going to a country with better rates, and see if they can arrange to get at least some parts through, it might help shave a little bit off the cost, and if it's just one or two bits, might be easier to get through without attracting a huge customs charge.

 

[soze]

I have been pricing up a gaming PC for myself to run through my TV rather than buying a Laptop (if I ever sell this Mac) so I have a budget. This should do a job and the GFX card can be upgraded if the 980 ever comes down in price. A fair few places say that unless you are looking to stream your games an i5 will be fine as games to not seem to use enough cores to make it vital to get an i7. £800 without any shopping around.

Spoiler

Noctua NH-U12S Ultra-Quiet Slim CPU Cooler with 120mm NF-F12 fan


650W Corsair RM Series, Full Modular, 80 PLUS Gold, 1x135mm Fan, ATX v2.4, PSU


16GB (2x8GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance Pro Series Red, PC3-19200 (2400), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 11-13-13-31, XMP, 1.65V


Intel Core i5 4590, LGA 1150, Haswell Refresh, Quad Core, 3.3GHz Base, 3.7GHz Turbo, 1150MHz GPU, 84W, CPU, Retail

Asus Z97-PRO GAMER Intel Z97, S1150, DDR3, PCIe 3.0 (x16), Quad SLi, Quad CrossFireX, D-Sub (VGA)/ DVI-D / HDMI, ATX


250GB Samsung 850 EVO, 2.5" SSD, SATA III 6Gb/s, MGX, 3D V-NAND, 512MB Cache, Read 540MB/s, Write 520MB/s, 97k/88k IOPS


4GB Asus GTX 960 STRIX DirectCU II OC, PCIe 3.0, 7010MHz GDDR5, GPU 1228MHz, Boost 1317MHz, Cores 1024, 3x DP/HDMI/DVI-I


Fractal Design Define S Black Mid Tower ATX/mATX/mini-ITX Computer Chassis with USB 3.0 + Silent Design

 

[caLLous]

I would get an closed loop CPU cooler, that case has plenty of room for radiators. They keep the CPU much cooler and (probably more relevant for a "by the TV" PC) run much quieter than heatsinks with fans.

 

[soze]

That is what I thought but reading this suggests otherwise. http://techbuyersguru.com/complete-guide-cpu-coolers-downdraft-vs-120mm-vs-140mm-vs-liquid?page=3

The closed loop coolers tend to suffer from the pump noise as well.

 

[DaGaffer]

Are you going to be using the PC for anything else that's CPU intensive, or just gaming? If it's just gaming, a Core i5 should do the job without much noticeable difference, and a k series will give the option of overclocking later on, to extend its life a bit more. I know someone who's still using a 1st gen i5, and it still handles new games pretty well, so you should be fine with that, if you're not touching any number crunching apps outside of gaming.

Also, if currency exchange is skewing the numbers, see if there's anyone you know that has any visitors coming, or is going to a country with better rates, and see if they can arrange to get at least some parts through, it might help shave a little bit off the cost, and if it's just one or two bits, might be easier to get through without attracting a huge customs charge.

Right now, I don't know. I do some graphics work from time to time (usually when I get irritated with designers and have to show rather than tell). And like a side, an i5 might be fine now, but I'd rather upgrade in four years' time rather than two.

Getting people to buy abroad is a bit difficult (my Mum is going to the US next month but its not really fair on her to help me on this; she's nearly 70); the Euro isn't just in the dumper against Sterling, its not exactly great against the dollar either. My best bet is probably amazon.de

Re: Graphics cards: I think SLI and Crossfire will become a much more viable option as DirectX 12 gains traction, it does much more fancy things to make better use of the cards. You could always hold on until next year when the next generation of HBM will arrive from both manufacturers.

Re: Storage: I love having a dedicated storage on the network (with proper redundancy), my main desktop machine is much more lean now - an M.2 SSD plugged straight into the motherboard and 2 normal SSDs tucked behind the motherboard tray and no HDDs at all. Again though, Samsung predicts 4 TB SSDs next year and also that the prices will tumble, also XPoint from Intel and Micron is going to have a big impact. Another reason to hold on might be to take advantage of DDR4 RAM, which is only on the Haswell-E (X99) and Skylake (LGA 1151) platforms at present. Skylake supports both DDR3 and 4 but they use different slots.

They're the usual "jam tomorrow" calls you have to make anytime you're speccing a PC. Reality is, even if that stuff all becomes mainstream next year, it won't be essential for another couple of years after that at least.

 

[Edmond]

Mine is about 5 yrs old now, and its starting to chug especially with the 10 update. I don't use it for gaming, I use my console for that, and I did build this one myself, but im so out of the loop with what's available now, and I just don't have time to look into it atm

 

[old.user4556]

Comedy Central.

They should rename it to Central, vast amounts of unfunny drivel.

 

[TdC]

finding two holes on one of my roadbike's tyres, raging at idiots who throw tyre-ruining shit in the road, buying and fitting a new tyre....THEN reading up on the brand's website that the holes are meant to be in the tyre and are actually a wear-indicator. sweet baby jebus

 

[Yoni]

So it's kris' birthday tomorrow and on top of the shoes I brought him last week I decided to get him a new wallet.... Why oh why are the majority of men's wallets completely impractical ie no coin part... For Kris this is the top thing on his list of features..... Eventually after two hours in NK (best department store in Stockholm) I found one which didn't cost the earth (Paul Smith.... I love them but not Kris' cup of tea so no point in spending the money) and that was functional (ie had a place for coins)....but I'm exhausted :/

 

[dysfunction]

.... Why oh why are the majority of men's wallets completely impractical ie no coin part... For Kris this is the top thing on his list of features..... Eventually after two hours in NK (best department store in Stockholm) I found one which didn't cost the earth (Paul Smith.... I love them but not Kris' cup of tea so no point in spending the money) and that was functional (ie had a place for coins)....but I'm exhausted :/

I have no idea! It's top of my list when looking for a wallet and I struggle to find anything!

 

[Billargh]

Being a Paul Smith wallet, were you considering getting a mortgage out to pay for it?

 

[Yoni]

Being a Paul Smith wallet, were you considering getting a mortgage out to pay for it?

A Paul Smith wallet cost less than my Longchamp purse but not what Kris would like

 

[DaGaffer]

I have a Boss wallet. It has a pocket for coins. Not that I use it for that; that's why men have pockets.

 

[Tom]

I have no idea! It's top of my list when looking for a wallet and I struggle to find anything!

I've had one of these for well over ten years:

http://www.vajacases.com/premium-leather-wallets/premium-leather-wallets-euro.html

It is in perfect condition, not a stitch loose. It goes everywhere.

 

[soze]

I use a Jimi Wallet. I hated getting bent cards when my leather wallet bent to my leg. So this plastic one was awesome room for 4 cards and 2 or 3 notes. Change goes in my pocket. I would like a nice leather one and if I ever need to wear a suit jacket regularly then I will be getting one.

 

[caLLous]

I have a leather one from River Island that must be 15 years old. The wallet is a bit tatty but it has a nice weathered look to it and it's still in one piece.

 

[Bodhi]

Last wallet I had that lasted 10 years was actually a BMW one, very discreet branding and very well put together. Got a funky Animal one now, about 4 years old but getting a bit tatty as I never clear it out.

 

[caLLous]

I think "Animal wallet" and I think crap old fabric thing with lots of velcro.

 

[TdC]

I have a Bellroy Note-Sleeve wallet. It's well made, cheap-ish and tiny. I carry several cards, and they all fit and are easily accessible. If I carry actual cash money, I put coins in my pockets.

 

[caLLous]

I have a system whereby I only carry € 1 or € 2 coins in my pocket, nothing smaller. When I get home I put everything € <1 all in a jar and then once a year (or whenever I remember), I take it to the bank and drop it into the big change swallowing machine. It's always a good hundred euros and I'm always pleasantly surprised.

 

[TdC]

yeah, I have a similar thing where I dump all coins I have collected over a week into a jar. it's my take-away jar, and I pay for delicious Chinese, Thai or Surinam foods with it's contents

 

[Raven]

So it's kris' birthday tomorrow and on top of the shoes I brought him last week I decided to get him a new wallet.... Why oh why are the majority of men's wallets completely impractical ie no coin part... For Kris this is the top thing on his list of features..... Eventually after two hours in NK (best department store in Stockholm) I found one which didn't cost the earth (Paul Smith.... I love them but not Kris' cup of tea so no point in spending the money) and that was functional (ie had a place for coins)....but I'm exhausted :/

Men put coins in a pocket. Anything else is a purse, which is probably fabulous but...

 

[soze]

I have a Bellroy Note-Sleeve wallet. It's well made, cheap-ish and tiny. I carry several cards, and they all fit and are easily accessible. If I carry actual cash money, I put coins in my pockets.

I like that but your version of cheapish is different to mine

 

[caLLous]

@TdC doesn't have to carry coins about because he entertains himself by throwing them at the common folk.

 

[TdC]

Indeed. I love making the common folk dance while I look upon their contorted faces from my couch made of brioche and boobs. My minions fire two-euro coins at them with catapults.

 

[TdC]

I like that but your version of cheapish is different to mine

Jesting aside, I was comparing Bellroy and Paul Smith wallets. I know Yonikins has expensive tastes from time to time though Personally I find prices of (luxury) items quite ridiculous. Wallets, shoes, belts ffs. A store I go to to buy shirts sells expensive belts. How can a belt be 400 euros? Its a frigging belt! For that price I'd like my pants to be held up by singing, naked maidens, who caress me with their beautiful hair while giving me cheeky tugs