Ok I posted last week seeking places to start with a micro build since my last build lasted me 7 years and I have been away from the latest and greatest that the industry has to offer in a long time. I tend to do things against the norm, but with reason. I will try and lay that out. I also need some feedback on HDMI monitor resolutions as I am new to that game as well. That question will be at the bottom. Thanks all and as always I REALLY appreciate all of your feedback and constructive criticism.
I was pushing for a 1k build, and I just barely broke it. Here it is:
1. ASRock 880GMH/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G USB 3.0 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
2. AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
3. SAPPHIRE 100314SR Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16
4. G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
5. CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 Modular Silver certified
6. OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD3-2AGT90G 3.5" 90GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
7. ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
8. SAMSUNG Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model SH-B123L
9. APEVIA X-QPACK2-BK/500 Black Aluminum Body/ Front Mask MicroATX Computer Case
Ok here's my reasoning/justification
1. I had never heard of ASRock, but they have some real high rated stuff with fewer MAJOR hardware oversights as evident in their online ratings. The only real issue that I have seen has been boards that were DOA (as with EVERY manufacturer). This board does not support SATAIII, but hey, none of my hardware uses it... so w/e
2. I like AMD, I have stock in AMD, I buy AMD. I like the underdog and will always lean that way in David vs Goliath
3. Sapphire makes good stuff and stands behind their products. 6870 because I wanted a strong video card that will be able to work w/e comes out in the next 5 years like my old x700 has for the last 7 (Only Dalaran was a little choppy) ALL of the new gen games however need more
4. While I am a strong supporter of Kingston HyperX (That sheyot is ROCK SOLID), I have strayed from that to go with the G.Skill this time, mostly due to cost. The Kingston is almost $150 more for 2x 4gb sticks. I hope I don't get bitten in the butt on this one. The G.Skill rates very high so...
5. I may up this to the gold certified PSU for the extra $$$. Why 750W with a single GPU micro build? Multiple reasons... 7 years ago I built my full tower on a 600W Enermax. It was the shizznit of its day and at that time 250W PSU's were enough. . Now, Corsair OWNS the best ratings industry wide for PSU's. 750W because I want to over do it on power needs. I don't want to get the bare minumum because I don't want to overwork my PSU and send it to a premature death. Low load = less stress = quieter fan speeds = solid base to run a system from. So many people recommended the OCZ Fatal1ty 550W, but that ONE model is the only OCZ PSU that even has semi-decent feedback, and mostly because it is modular. When all of their other PSU's rate so low, I don't trust them. Thanks for the input though!
6. Only 1 drive? Why not 2 spinners? Why not this, why not that? There's so many options and configurations here. My primary concern with a drive was seek times. The only real lag I got gaming was from my drive access time (yes I defragged regularly). I could hear that old Maxtor chugging away whenever I lagged. I also have limited space in my case and the more drives that I stuff in there the more heat/less air flow. I only have 36GB used on my system now even with WOW (which is coming off since I quit 8 months ago). 90GB will be overkill for me. OCZ seems to have the best rated SSD's right now. I'm aware that it takes some tweaking on setup.... thats fine.
7. That cooler is the shizz... nuff said
8. Samsung Blu-ray player. Lets face it... Samsung is a one of the leaders in Blu-Ray technology. I'll pay a little extra here for a name brand.
9. Sooo many negative ratings on the QPack2... Why on earth would I buy one? Well if you look virtually ALL of the negatives are because the PSU that comes with it is absolutely worthless. You do not buy this case for the PSU, and I am already replacing it with an awesome one. A friend of mine has one and it is an amazing case! GREAT air flow, enough room for a good GPU, more than enough room for the Zalman cooler (which will aid with the airflow with its directionality). I wanted to get the solid black one, but opted for the windowed one because the case will have a significant negative pressure with 2 120 fans blowing out along with the GPU venting out with only one 80mm fan intake. I wish both side vents were filtered, but they aren't. I want to be able to see inside to know when I should clean. Cleaning this thing is CAKE with the removable mobo tray and the top & sides being removable. Throw in a sturdy front handle and it is a kickazz LAN box.
With combo discounts I can get this setup just over 1k... with rebates it is under, but I know you can't count on the rebates.
So what do you all think?
HDMI MONITOR QUESTION:
1080P vs "Native Resolution"
I am deciding between 2 LG monitors... a 21.5" 1080P and a 23.5" "native resolution". I understand the base concept in the difference, but how does this affect rendering performance? Will it be harder for my GPU to output in native vs true 1080p or will any difficulties or stress lie in the monitor itself? My ignorance on this subject should be quite apparent by now, so any explanations would be appreciated.
Thanks all!
I was pushing for a 1k build, and I just barely broke it. Here it is:
1. ASRock 880GMH/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G USB 3.0 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
2. AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
3. SAPPHIRE 100314SR Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16
4. G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
5. CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 Modular Silver certified
6. OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD3-2AGT90G 3.5" 90GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
7. ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
8. SAMSUNG Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model SH-B123L
9. APEVIA X-QPACK2-BK/500 Black Aluminum Body/ Front Mask MicroATX Computer Case
Ok here's my reasoning/justification
1. I had never heard of ASRock, but they have some real high rated stuff with fewer MAJOR hardware oversights as evident in their online ratings. The only real issue that I have seen has been boards that were DOA (as with EVERY manufacturer). This board does not support SATAIII, but hey, none of my hardware uses it... so w/e
2. I like AMD, I have stock in AMD, I buy AMD. I like the underdog and will always lean that way in David vs Goliath
3. Sapphire makes good stuff and stands behind their products. 6870 because I wanted a strong video card that will be able to work w/e comes out in the next 5 years like my old x700 has for the last 7 (Only Dalaran was a little choppy) ALL of the new gen games however need more
4. While I am a strong supporter of Kingston HyperX (That sheyot is ROCK SOLID), I have strayed from that to go with the G.Skill this time, mostly due to cost. The Kingston is almost $150 more for 2x 4gb sticks. I hope I don't get bitten in the butt on this one. The G.Skill rates very high so...
5. I may up this to the gold certified PSU for the extra $$$. Why 750W with a single GPU micro build? Multiple reasons... 7 years ago I built my full tower on a 600W Enermax. It was the shizznit of its day and at that time 250W PSU's were enough. . Now, Corsair OWNS the best ratings industry wide for PSU's. 750W because I want to over do it on power needs. I don't want to get the bare minumum because I don't want to overwork my PSU and send it to a premature death. Low load = less stress = quieter fan speeds = solid base to run a system from. So many people recommended the OCZ Fatal1ty 550W, but that ONE model is the only OCZ PSU that even has semi-decent feedback, and mostly because it is modular. When all of their other PSU's rate so low, I don't trust them. Thanks for the input though!
6. Only 1 drive? Why not 2 spinners? Why not this, why not that? There's so many options and configurations here. My primary concern with a drive was seek times. The only real lag I got gaming was from my drive access time (yes I defragged regularly). I could hear that old Maxtor chugging away whenever I lagged. I also have limited space in my case and the more drives that I stuff in there the more heat/less air flow. I only have 36GB used on my system now even with WOW (which is coming off since I quit 8 months ago). 90GB will be overkill for me. OCZ seems to have the best rated SSD's right now. I'm aware that it takes some tweaking on setup.... thats fine.
7. That cooler is the shizz... nuff said
8. Samsung Blu-ray player. Lets face it... Samsung is a one of the leaders in Blu-Ray technology. I'll pay a little extra here for a name brand.
9. Sooo many negative ratings on the QPack2... Why on earth would I buy one? Well if you look virtually ALL of the negatives are because the PSU that comes with it is absolutely worthless. You do not buy this case for the PSU, and I am already replacing it with an awesome one. A friend of mine has one and it is an amazing case! GREAT air flow, enough room for a good GPU, more than enough room for the Zalman cooler (which will aid with the airflow with its directionality). I wanted to get the solid black one, but opted for the windowed one because the case will have a significant negative pressure with 2 120 fans blowing out along with the GPU venting out with only one 80mm fan intake. I wish both side vents were filtered, but they aren't. I want to be able to see inside to know when I should clean. Cleaning this thing is CAKE with the removable mobo tray and the top & sides being removable. Throw in a sturdy front handle and it is a kickazz LAN box.
With combo discounts I can get this setup just over 1k... with rebates it is under, but I know you can't count on the rebates.
So what do you all think?
HDMI MONITOR QUESTION:
1080P vs "Native Resolution"
I am deciding between 2 LG monitors... a 21.5" 1080P and a 23.5" "native resolution". I understand the base concept in the difference, but how does this affect rendering performance? Will it be harder for my GPU to output in native vs true 1080p or will any difficulties or stress lie in the monitor itself? My ignorance on this subject should be quite apparent by now, so any explanations would be appreciated.
Thanks all!
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