Hello guys,
Been following Tom's for over 7 years, but never posted till last week. I've been on desktops all my life, but been away from it since 2010 when I bough my G73JH-A1.
I'll be building a HTPC soon and I'd like some advanced advise about some things that I'm not sure about.
Before starting, I want to make clear that I'll be running all games in 1920x1080 and in no more than 4x AA. I think in such a high resolution as 1080p, we don't really need a high AA. I want a machine that will run skyrim (the haviest game atm) in 1080p 4xAA and all settings maxxed out around 100 frames per second. Why? Cos I don't want to have to spend more money in a computer for the next 2 or 3 years, which means that what runs maxxed out right now at 100fps, will run at a playable 30fps in 1080p with 2xAA in 2-3 years time. Maybe without AA if necessary, and a bit of a O/C to push the envelope.
Also, I'll be going for a TrueHD 5.1 HTPC, since I'll be playing a lot of movies too.
Processor:
I want to go high on this one, I don't want to be bottlenecking games. i7-3930k good?
Videocard:
I like the 7970. The GTX680 seems like a better bang for the buck, but I heard some bad stuff about it, like the lack of TrueHD 5.1.
Memory:
That is the one thing I did not research. Back in the day, I knew Corsair was good in the memo department, but nowdays I have no clue. Does latency bottleneck games? I'll be going with 8gb, and the best option available.
Hard drive:
Here's the question I've been wanting to ask for ages: is SSD really worth? I mean... I'm the sort of guy who leaves his computer on 24/7 downloading crap. I don't really care if a software takes 30 seconds to load instead of 15. I do like big storage, since I feel like I have the easiest time in the world running out of space with 2TB hard drives. Also, I keep more than 50 games installed at a time, so SSD for games is definitely a no-go. All my life I got a big HD, partitioned into 4 (60gb for windows, 500gb for games, 1tb for data and the rest for mp3) and never had any complaints about "how long does it takes to load this or that". So, question is, for daily use in windows (browsing, watching, moving files, etc) since games will all be in a normal HDD, is it worth to spend another 100-200 bucks for a 64-128gb SSD for windows alone? Does it really bottlenecks that much?
Motherboard:
I'm a long-time-big-fan of ASUS, and I'll be definitely going with an Asus, just don't know yet what model. I want a model that allows me big overclocks, but at the same time not so expensive.
Case:
Since it's a HTPC, maybe a horizontal case? I don't know squat about horizontal cases, but I assume they are as spacious as the vertical towers. I don't mind about big cases, in fact I prefer it. The bigger it is, the better the ventilation is, lower temps and less noise. I saw a few with blue led screens, quite amazing.
Sound:
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/sony-sony-5-1-channel-3d-home-theatre-system-htss380-htss380/10170276.aspx?path=28adfb7df9954df2581ea59cf0a30c38en02
This one supports TrueHD 5.1 hdmi in-out. I like it and like the price too.
Video:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=60452&vpn=W1100&manufacture=BenQ&promoid=1263
After a lot of research, I think I'm going with this one. Same price as a 55" TV, but goes to 135" and it's 3D ready. Also, small enough so I can but in a backpack, so it's hard to beat. I think it will go well in the living room with the 5.1 HT.
So, taking roughly 1200 out for projector + ht, I'm left with 1800 dollars. I think it's a good budget to build a decent machine that will keep me satisfied for 2-3 years.
Also, in a totally different matter, does anybody knows if we'll be having TrueHD 5.1 games anytime soon? I'm no sound expert, so I don't even know if it's possible. At any rate, I want to be tech-ready in case this feature comes in the near future.
Just to confirm... the HDMI that leaves my 7970 to the receiver will carry image and 5.1 audio from games, correct? Will my radeon do this automatically or it's a pain to configure?
Leave your thoughts, opinions, criticism and suggestions, I'll ready it all.
Thanks in advance!
Been following Tom's for over 7 years, but never posted till last week. I've been on desktops all my life, but been away from it since 2010 when I bough my G73JH-A1.
I'll be building a HTPC soon and I'd like some advanced advise about some things that I'm not sure about.
Before starting, I want to make clear that I'll be running all games in 1920x1080 and in no more than 4x AA. I think in such a high resolution as 1080p, we don't really need a high AA. I want a machine that will run skyrim (the haviest game atm) in 1080p 4xAA and all settings maxxed out around 100 frames per second. Why? Cos I don't want to have to spend more money in a computer for the next 2 or 3 years, which means that what runs maxxed out right now at 100fps, will run at a playable 30fps in 1080p with 2xAA in 2-3 years time. Maybe without AA if necessary, and a bit of a O/C to push the envelope.
Also, I'll be going for a TrueHD 5.1 HTPC, since I'll be playing a lot of movies too.
Processor:
I want to go high on this one, I don't want to be bottlenecking games. i7-3930k good?
Videocard:
I like the 7970. The GTX680 seems like a better bang for the buck, but I heard some bad stuff about it, like the lack of TrueHD 5.1.
Memory:
That is the one thing I did not research. Back in the day, I knew Corsair was good in the memo department, but nowdays I have no clue. Does latency bottleneck games? I'll be going with 8gb, and the best option available.
Hard drive:
Here's the question I've been wanting to ask for ages: is SSD really worth? I mean... I'm the sort of guy who leaves his computer on 24/7 downloading crap. I don't really care if a software takes 30 seconds to load instead of 15. I do like big storage, since I feel like I have the easiest time in the world running out of space with 2TB hard drives. Also, I keep more than 50 games installed at a time, so SSD for games is definitely a no-go. All my life I got a big HD, partitioned into 4 (60gb for windows, 500gb for games, 1tb for data and the rest for mp3) and never had any complaints about "how long does it takes to load this or that". So, question is, for daily use in windows (browsing, watching, moving files, etc) since games will all be in a normal HDD, is it worth to spend another 100-200 bucks for a 64-128gb SSD for windows alone? Does it really bottlenecks that much?
Motherboard:
I'm a long-time-big-fan of ASUS, and I'll be definitely going with an Asus, just don't know yet what model. I want a model that allows me big overclocks, but at the same time not so expensive.
Case:
Since it's a HTPC, maybe a horizontal case? I don't know squat about horizontal cases, but I assume they are as spacious as the vertical towers. I don't mind about big cases, in fact I prefer it. The bigger it is, the better the ventilation is, lower temps and less noise. I saw a few with blue led screens, quite amazing.
Sound:
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/sony-sony-5-1-channel-3d-home-theatre-system-htss380-htss380/10170276.aspx?path=28adfb7df9954df2581ea59cf0a30c38en02
This one supports TrueHD 5.1 hdmi in-out. I like it and like the price too.
Video:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=60452&vpn=W1100&manufacture=BenQ&promoid=1263
After a lot of research, I think I'm going with this one. Same price as a 55" TV, but goes to 135" and it's 3D ready. Also, small enough so I can but in a backpack, so it's hard to beat. I think it will go well in the living room with the 5.1 HT.
So, taking roughly 1200 out for projector + ht, I'm left with 1800 dollars. I think it's a good budget to build a decent machine that will keep me satisfied for 2-3 years.
Also, in a totally different matter, does anybody knows if we'll be having TrueHD 5.1 games anytime soon? I'm no sound expert, so I don't even know if it's possible. At any rate, I want to be tech-ready in case this feature comes in the near future.
Just to confirm... the HDMI that leaves my 7970 to the receiver will carry image and 5.1 audio from games, correct? Will my radeon do this automatically or it's a pain to configure?
Leave your thoughts, opinions, criticism and suggestions, I'll ready it all.
Thanks in advance!