New Processor, Graphic Card, anything...

[arrowghost]

So, I'm glad we didn't have a thread for this one.

Right now, I got my dibs for getting a new desktop in August due to the release of Haswell as well as Nvidia's 7xx series, if they get the middle-end GPUs on time to replace my current GTX 650 choice. I'll let it mix with Windows 8 as well BUT with the use of 3rd party software to bring back the Start Menu and also to ensure I don't see Metro ever again, but I too will look forward to Windows Blue or 8.1

What are your thoughts?

[Parker_Izing]

From two week ago, fixed myself a 30 TB external hard disk... I used ten 3TB hard disks, a full tower case I had, a 600W PSU, 10 SATA-USB converters and a USB 3.0 Hub, at a switch flick it all powers on and I have quite the disk real estate... My first download? The whole Wikipedia so I can check offline.

[arrowghost]

30TB? Where did that come from? Never seen one of those before, I only heard the current maximum is 1TB. Did you confuse TB for GB?

[Dio]

I suppose it's possible to set up a drive partition across multiple linked drives, but at that point you're better off building your own server and having it set up as network storage for your home.

I just finished my first build a couple weeks ago:

Specifications

CPU: Intel i7 3770K (Ivy Bridge)

Motherboard: Intel DZ77BH55K ATX

GPU: ASUS nVidia GTX 660 Ti

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB (2x4GB DIMMs)

PSU: Corsair HX650

CPU cooler: Corsair H60 closed loop liquid cooler

Case: Thermaltake Chaser Mk. I

I've got more drive bays than I know what to do with. I'm planning on taking the money I would have spent on the Xbox One and putting it toward a GTX 780 later on. I can run BF3 at 60fps with all settings on high at 1080p resolution and my other games look absolutely beautiful. The only game I have trouble with is Planetside 2, but I think that gives anyone issues just because of the sheer scale of the game.

The rest of the machine should be future proof for the next couple years, though I think I'm already near the point where I need additional storage

[arrowghost]

Wow, that's a nice rig. But normally I still rather wait till Haswell comes out, can just wait till the next series comes out, I regret buying my laptop which uses the 1st Gen i7 processor but then in just 2 months later, 2nd Gen came out. So I'm not going to make the same mistake again, same case for Nvidia's GPU, gotta wait till 7xx comes out so I'll stick to Haswell's Iris chip first of course, then when 7xx in the mid-end scale comes out, I'm buying it, a possible Gigabyte GTX 750 with 2GB RAM should do nicely for me.

Speaking of your BF3 at 60fps, are you using only one GTX 660 Ti GPU or was it another one under SLI?

[Parker_Izing]

30TB? Where did that come from? Never seen one of those before, I only heard the current maximum is 1TB. Did you confuse TB for GB?

An industrious level rig for 30GB max? Now that's absurd! Now you can find 4TB drives (pricey) price for me wasn't an issue because I found a partly full box of sparkly new 3TB drives for free... (someone derped discarding that box) Really, that swag right now totals like 1.400 $ (The USB solution was the cheapest I found, no mobo, no OS, no virus)

[Dio]

Wow, that's a nice rig. But normally I still rather wait till Haswell comes out, can just wait till the next series comes out, I regret buying my laptop which uses the 1st Gen i7 processor but then in just 2 months later, 2nd Gen came out. So I'm not going to make the same mistake again, same case for Nvidia's GPU, gotta wait till 7xx comes out so I'll stick to Haswell's Iris chip first of course, then when 7xx in the mid-end scale comes out, I'm buying it, a possible Gigabyte GTX 750 with 2GB RAM should do nicely for me.

Speaking of your BF3 at 60fps, are you using only one GTX 660 Ti GPU or was it another one under SLI?

I went with Ivy Bridge because I had to cut the build off somewhere, so I locked in that particular chip in my purchase plans. Even with new architecture on the horizon, the 3rd gen i7 is still no slouch and since it's the 3770K with liquid cooling, I have the option to overclock if I want to squeeze every last bit of performance out of it.

I'm running a single 660 Ti overclocked. I'm only planning on going up from here with any hardware, be it drives, GPUs, or accessories.

The 60fps was all settings on high with AA post and deferred disabled and HBAO disabled. The only two settings I run on ultra are textures and model detail since that maximizes the draw distance so I can actually hit things while I'm flying a jet or chopper or get those long range headshots as a sniper. I also run the BF3 borderless software to run the game as a windowless fullscreen game since BF3 doesn't support it natively.

[arrowghost]

Sure of course. Anyway, I'm not into overclocking, so I don't need to do all that. Although right now I'm concen on choosing the right Gigabyte model for my motherboard, especially on the function as well as which is needed, I also tend to be in a dilemmatic between Gigabyte motherboards that has "Ultra Durable 4" label or "Ultra Durable 5".

I kind of wonder what is IR3550 PowIRstage when I saw Ultra Durable 5, is that special chip meant for overclocking? All I'm looking for is anything to ensure it's power efficient, that includes I want to buy the latest Haswell processor (could have waited till Broadwell, but sadly, no thanks as my laptop is in bad condition) and if not the Nvidia 700 series, anything that has die shrink and also any programming of some sort that reduces power consumption, that I'm happy.

[arrowghost]

Ok, I guess it's my turn to show off my future gaming rig, well, it's only at the mid-end scale, can't really afford a high-end one. So here I go...

Specifications :-

CPU: Intel i5 4430 (Haswell)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H87-D3H (with Ultra Durable 5 Plus)

GPU: Gigabyte Nvidia GTX 750 (Awaiting release)

RAM: CORSAIR 4GB 1600Mhz (4GB RAM only, 4+0)

PSU: (Would be decided)

CPU cooler: (Mostly just a basic fan but with bigger blades)

Casing: (Would be decided, prefer with good cooling dynamics)

Monitor: SAMSUNG 18.5" S19C150FS (720p, sorry, want to keep it energy efficient as well as low-cost, gladly this one uses 12 watts with Energy Star 6.0 rating)

Speakers: LOGITECH Z313 2.1 (Sorry, I no need for Surround Sound)

Optical Drive: LG 24X SATA Super Multi DVD-RW Drive OR LITEON 24X DVD-RW SATA Super AllWrite Drive (I can't decide, I wonder which one is better in terms of durability or quality)

HDD: WD1002FAEX (Western Digital 1TB Black Series comes with 5 year warranty)

Keyboard: Logitech Gaming Keyboard (Wanted only regular but all I need is for its LED backlighting)

Mouse: Logitech Laser Mouse (I never want another optical again, its infrared sucks)

Should be mid-end enough and hopefully last for many years, I hate getting my old Dell Studio 1558's motherboard replaced every year. I'm confident all of these above will do well, especially the motherboard will not likely die easily, especially the capacitor is all black solid, no liquid to burst and leak as seen in the old-fashion capacitors.

[Admin404]

I'd get some more RAM, 4GB is kinda low. 6-8GB is pretty much standard for most gaming machines, and you can get some pretty sweet deals from Newegg.

Otherwise, your next bottleneck is your HDD, then your CPU.

Regardless, it's a pretty good mid-range build. As long as you stick with a 1155 chipset you wont need to switch your mobo for a while, and you can upgrade your CPU pretty easily if needed.

My current rig:

GPU: GTX 580 2GB GDDR5

RAM: 16GB Corsair

PSU: Corsair 1000W

OS SSD: 120GB Crucial SSD - 550MB/s

Storage HDD: Two 2TB 7200 HDD's in Raid 0 (For Storage)

CPU: Intel i7-3820 LGA 2011

Motherboard: DX79SR Extreme Series Intel Mobo

Optical Drive: Some Blu-ray drive

Monitor: Dual 22" LED Monitors

Sound: 2.1 Speakers, 7.1 Headset

Keyboard: Razer Black Widow Stealth Edition Keyboard

Mouse: Razer Naga Mouse

Mic: Blue Yeti Microphone (For professional voice recording)

I plan on getting another GPU shortly. Likely going to try SLI.

[arrowghost]

Sorry, Haswell is using 1150 socket instead. And besides, my current machine is a Studio 1558 laptop, and using 1st Gen i7, so the motherboard & socket are not my concern, except it tends to die out every year, 2011, 2012 and now 2013. So I had enough of this and will switch to desktop instead. But this time my motherboard will be very durable with Gigabyte's models, capacitors are always the main culprit to kill a motherboard, but in this one, it's all solid caps and no liquid chemical is in there, therefore, no risk of leaking and failure. Go ahead and Google up my model's number, you know what I'm talking about as I want to make my whole desktop to last for years, hopefully more than 5 years as the myth claims.

I stick with 4GB RAM is because of one thing, usage, ask yourself :

1. Do you play a lot? My answer is yes, but it plays little contribution including the processor, the most processing job will be done by the GPU.

2. Do you use a lot of Adobe software? Photoshop yes, but not that significant loading up will take a while but what's key to need an 8GB RAM is mostly for users who use After Effects and 3D software, Source Filmmaker included. If I need more in demand, then I can buy the same Corsair RAM chip to get to 4+4 = 8. Sorry, can't buy a 8+0 model, because people say dual-way is better than a single-way.

3. Do you watch HD movies? To me, no, I'm sticking with 480p in order to save space.

My HDD is fine enough since my current 650GB is finishing up and I knew the games are coming in later while I do less backups, so I don't mind an extra and not to mention WD's Black series is more durable and covers with 5 years warranty compare to my shop's 2 years warranty instead. Blue series is in the middle and still alright, but Black is the strongest of the lot, power consumption wise is not a big deal to me. And yeah, sorry that my monitor will have to stick with 720p as I already stated my reason in the previous post. And besides, I wanted 1080p but there's no desktop monitor that is 18.5" that has 1080p, only laptop monitors are capable for that resolution. And better yet, I buy a slightly more expensive one due to its 12 watt usage, a win-win for me.

If you want SLI, I doubt the GTX 580 (I heard that you need a similar model for it to work) will stay in the market, you have to get from 3rd party instead, or else you have to buy from the will-be-obsolete-soon GTX 6xx or the new 7xx. And besides, most of the newer ones have updated Kepler architecture as well as a special anti-aliasing mode called TXAA & FXAA, you're going to love that too.