General upgrading questions and other stuff

Jonathan Sifleet

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Apr 25, 2013
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Hey guys, as a few of you may know, I'm upgrading my rig soonish, and would like some feedback. Here's my current build: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Jonathanwashere/saved/2ijo

The one I'm hoping to get:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Jonathanwashere/saved/2iaj

I'm sure I can find this out myself but I've tried and it was taking a LONG time.

Some quick questions:

I've only used membrane keyboards (I have owned a Corsair k70, because some recommended it but I gave it to my cousin for his birthday (I hadn't researched at all either)), could someone recommend me a switch type? I think I like the mx blue because of the clicky sound, but people say they aren't good for gaming, is that true? What makes them not so good? ~Answered, going to go for red switches.

i7 2600k A bit more expensive than the 3770k, although it does have an overclocking guide. It has a retired socket
i7 3770k A lot of people seem to have these, a bit cheaper, no overclocking guide. It has a retired socket.
i7 4770k Most expensive so far, no overclocking guide. Newer socket (Wont have to replace MOBO in the near-future?)
i5 4670k Cheaper CPU, newer socket (see above), no overclocking guide, no hyperthreading.
i5 2500k Somewhat more expensive than the haswell equivalent, older socket, overclocking guide, no hyperthreading.

I'm sure I can just follow the guide anyway.

I'm more inclined towards the 3770k, as lots of people have that, but there isn't an overclocking guide, don't get me wrong, I know what Im doing, but Im not the most confident. The bit with not going with the latest socket troubles me, I may have problems with upgrading in the future, but by then well probably of gone least 1150, possibly even lga.
~answered

Could you link me a motherboard to go with them? I'm thinking an AsRock EXT 4 (for both) (please only UEFI BIOS or similar I really don't like legacy Bios's). ~Going to go for the EXT4.

Is it worth the power requirements, added heat, general problems, increased CPU usage, micro stutters, better PSU requirement of SLI/GPU+PPU?
~Not going to go for multiple GPU's.

Are there any news/leaks about the upcoming AMD cards in October?

Is there a Xeon equivalent of the i7 3770k?

What are the requirements to record and upload to youtube in 1080p? Probably a stupid question, I'd need a monitor with 1080 vertical pixels, but I can't seem to find the answer to the question (most likely because it's too obvious).

Do you think the Zalman Reserator max 3 will be better than the h100i? If so, is it worth considering getting over the h100i? ~Going to take a risk and go with the Zalman.

I can't seem to find a case with the following things:

A handle (much like the bitfenix prodigy and Cm scout 2)
A side window
3/4/5 5.25 inch bays (exposed)
~Going to go with the scout 2, cannot find a t-balancer for a reasonable price. Chosen to go with the Nzxt Sentry LX.

Could someone recommend me a 4 fan T-balancer?

Would a sound card increase my gaming experience? Like would I see a noticeable sound quality difference (I'm using tritton ax 180's). ~Answered not going to get a sound card.

Would I be able to watch freeview using a tv tuner do I need to pay an additional fee (eg a tv license (not sure if it matters but I'm with virgin media))? If so where would I find a pci-e card (in the uk)?

Would a gt 670 (4gb gigabyte edition) be able to handle a 23" monitor at 1080p and a 19" 1360*768 at the same time (one for gaming one for misc stuff)? ~ Answered, going to wait for AMD's October GPU's.

Could you go onto Chris Pirillo's YouTube channel and watch some of his latest vlogs, his wife diana is bugging me, she seems off, I don't know how to explain it, it's been bugging me for weeks all I can say is she's very child like (not childish), she doesn't seem real (or mature) if hat makes any sense.

Are the these fans any good? Like for a radiator and general fans? ~Going to go for these fans anyway.

Can someone recommend me a UV cold cathode please? ~Nevermind, found one.

Can someone recommend me a 60/64gb SSD for caching?

Can I raid 0 two 32gb Sandisk Ready Cache SSD's and then cache them?

If I was to replace the southbridge and northbridge coolers (the heatsinks), with little 40mm fans, would I be see better temperatures?

If anything seems off, it's because I'm tired.

Thanks guys, any help will be greatly appreciated.

Please no fanboyism/bias, they're very wont to give bad advice (yes wont, not won't).
 

imkvn

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Jun 29, 2008
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I have the Asrock extreme gen 3 and probably would have paid a little more to get a Gigabyte, MSI, or ASUS mother board. This is due to the board not being stable at different frequencies. The board will randomly freeze and I have a custom loop on a 2700k. You may get a better board, but I'm just warning you on Asrock issues.

CPU wise I would go for the 3770k, or the i5 2500k. The 3770k has better threading the 4000 series is too expensive for what it is.

As for over-clocking issue there are not allot of guides because overclocking was made easy now with the unlock multiplier. You only need to play with the multiplier and the Core Voltage settings.

The H100i is probably the best bang for the buck when it comes to liquid cooling performance and you would not see much difference running a custom loop.

For a fan controller

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811992004

Sound controller would not help if you don't have the speakers to go with it. To me mother boards have fairly decent sound controllers built in. Some offer 6.1 integrated.

I have the 670 and it is a beast. It's a lower clocked 680. It handles my two 24 inch monitors.

I haven't used those fans, but the best fans are Scythe and Noctua
 
For processor, my vote goes for the i7-4700k. It's newer and doesn't have a dead socket. Of course, Haswell doesn't offer much performance increase over Ivy Bridge, which is why it's not recommended to upgrade from ivy to haswell. However, since it's a new build, might as well get the newer socket.
I wouldn't be so worried over overclocking guides. You can't really follow them exactly anyways, it's more of a trial and error kind of thing. If you know the basics of overclocking, you should be good to go.
If you do decide to go with Haswell, there's a great combo deal going on at Newegg that ends today: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1414256
The Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD4H is a great motherboard for overclocking and has tons of features.
I wouldn't go with any closed loop cooler unless it's the Swiftech H220. The H220 is a beast and allows you to add extra tubes and radiators to cool your graphic cards or whatever you want. The Noctua NH-D14 or Phanteks PH-TC14PE performs closely to the Corsair H100i at a cheaper and quieter fashion.
Since you're only gaming on one monitor and using another for basic purposes, 2gb of vram is enough. I would spend the extra money for the GTX 770 because it's newer and much stronger (it's stronger than the GTX 680).
This is a great case with a handle, side panel window, 3 5.25" bays, and fan filters: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-sgc5000wkwn1
Your headset isn't very high quality, so I would just stick with the onboard audio. Shouldn't make a huge difference anyways.

With a good quality case and cpu cooler, there should be no need to change fans. The only fans that would be better than the stock ones would be Noctua fans, which are expensive, ugly, and unnecessary.

Edit: Forgot to talk about keyboards. Mechanical keyboards are definitely the way to go if you can afford it, as it will last much, mcuh longer.
Switches are always up to you. Generally, people say that Reds are the best for gaming because it doesn't take as much activation force as others and aren't as loud as others. However, that doesn't mean you need to get Reds because you're gaming. It's always up to you. If you like the clicky sound of the Blues, then grab a Blue keyboard. It's always preference.
 

imkvn

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Jun 29, 2008
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Depends on the budget but I totally AGREE!
 

Jonathan Sifleet

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Apr 25, 2013
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I'm going to go for the 4 series Asrock MOBO, because of the 8+2 VRM phase. Definitely going to go with the 3770k, I'm unsure about the old socket. Thanks for linking that fan controller, I looked at some reviews and it seems good. I wont go for a sound card. I think I'll go for those fans, if they're good enough for Linus, they're good enough for me.
 

Jonathan Sifleet

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Apr 25, 2013
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11,160


I'm going to go for the 3770k. I'm also going to go for the scout 2, that case you linked is rather expensive. Why'd you say that? I love my headset, guaranteed there is so much white noise, and it makes a weird buzzing sound when I touch my iphone, but they have excellent bass. I think I'll go for the Ducky Zero Shine blue led keyboard, but I'm really confused, I haven't used any switches before. I like the clicky sound, but I don't know know if I want to get a keyboard simply because of the fact that it makes a click sound when you type (and it's backlit). The Ducky Zero Shine with red cherry mx keys is $100~£66, Is it worth going with that?
 
Whatever you say, but LGA 1155 is dead for new builders now.
Yeah, the storm stryker is expensive, but that and the storm 2 are the only cases I know that has handle(s).
As I stated, keyboards are preferences. Look around your city and try to find a computer store that will let you try out different Cherry MX switches.

Are you actually going to buy fans? They're un-necessary and expensive. With the money saved from fans, you can go LGA 1150, which is totally worth it.