Thread: setting up the crib

Sorry for the slow response, I'm only just getting back onto AULRO after a year away (due to a hectic year at uni) and I've only just spotted this.

Dual screens are amazing for doing uni work, particularly if you're doing research, writing papers or doing lab reports.

The big difference between a TV and a computer monitor is pixel size. A computer monitor, generally speaking, has a lot more pixels per inch than a TV. What this means is that a computer monitor will look a lot better at close range than a TV screen.

As for VGA vs. HDMI, HDMI is a far superior technology. The VGA connector has been around for a long time now, being released in the late 80s. The big difference between VGA and HDMI is that VGA is an analogue technology, whereas HDMI is digital. As such, particularly at higher resolutions, you'll find that there will be a little bit of fuzziness when you're using an VGA connector, something you don't see with HDMI. I have a 23" 1920x1080 screen with multiple connectors, and I can spot the difference between when it's using an HDMI connection and a VGA connection; VGA is no where near as clear. Don't be afraid of DisplayPort either, there's no difference visually, but from a technical standpoint, DisplayPort is a better standard than HDMI. DVI and HDMI are a simple adapter away from one another, the signals transmitted are identical.

I recommend you have a look at the Whingepo-, er, Whirlpool Audio Recommendations wiki page: Audio Recommendations If the people of Whingepool say it's good, us mere mortals will find it amazing.

If you need assistance with selection of parts for your new desktop computer, let me know and I'll try and help. (I'm making the assumption you're likely to build the computer yourself).

-Martin

Thanks heaps Martin. I would like to have a go myself with the guidance of the IT guy for our college who lives a few doors from me.

Building computers isn't too difficult and can be a lot of fun. Assistance for your first build is a good plan though, there's a few things which really have to be done correctly and with care.

I have a few questions for you to answer in order to better recommend parts for you. In a rough order of importance:

1. What's your budget?
2. Do you have any existing desktop computers which you can harvest parts from, e.g the case or a power supply?
3. Will you be purchasing new screens, and if so, does that come into the same total budget?
4. Do you have an existing keyboard or mouse you can use?
5. Do you have any preference in regards to how much HDD storage you need, and the configuration of that storage? (I'm a big believer in RAID 1 arrays, if you can afford one)
6. What sort of games do you play? (i.e. how ridiculous a graphics card do you need?)

My knowledge of computer components is a little outdated just at the moment, but I have a friend who I'll ask on your behalf. He's quite the maven (anybody read Malcolm Gladwell?) when it comes to parts. I'll be catching up with him tomorrow arvo... wait, given it's almost 2 am then I guess I'll be catching up with him later today, so I can ask for his recommendation then. We're finishing off his small water cooled gaming PC build. He has spent way too much money, but it's going to look amazing when it's complete! I strongly advise you don't build anything water cooled, it's not worth the money, the stress and the pain.

Cheers,

Martin

Edit: spelling

1. What's your budget? I was hoping to build something between $600-$800(which I know isnt a lot)
2. Do you have any existing desktop computers which you can harvest parts from, e.g the case or a power supply? I have an old desktop pc which is quite outdated-vista days
3. Will you be purchasing new screens, and if so, does that come into the same total budget? I have 1 tv 32" and still not sure whether to get anothe rtv screen the same size just to have it look neat. This does not come into my budget.
4. Do you have an existing keyboard or mouse you can use? YES. I use wireless as I am normally on my bed
5. Do you have any preference in regards to how much HDD storage you need, and the configuration of that storage? (I'm a big believer in RAID 1 arrays, if you can afford one)Not really
6. What sort of games do you play? (i.e. how ridiculous a graphics card do you need?) Guild wars, LOL, will be playing steam games. I do play quite a few others but they do not require much.
I want to have one screen which is always for watching something or playing music-as I am forever doing those and the other for uni work or playing games. I have a laptop which I could use separate.

I plan on having 2 3tb external hardrives. I already have one

One of the issues at my college is that the rooms only have a single power point which needs to run a fridge plus everything else.

Ok, that gives me something to work with. I'll get back to you soon.

Cheers,

Martin

Well, my friend has gotten back to me already. That's what happens when he's twitching by the front door waiting for computer parts to arrive.

Here's his response:

Screens do not come into budget? TV screens are usually revolting for everyday PC use. I'd be interested to know whether the TV you're using supports a 1:1 pixel ratio and has 60Hz output. Otherwise you're better off having one TV and one decent monitor. (such as LG EA53V-P 23in LED IPS Widescreen Monitor [LG-23EA53V-P] - $195.00 : PC Case Gear )


OK so...

Screens not in budget

Assume scavenged power supply and hard drive. (otherwise recommend Silverstone Strider 500W ST50F-ES [SST-ST50F-ES] - $65.00 : PC Case Gear)

I'll include 8GB in the budget but may be able to swap some over from the old PC

I'll use an Intel base, let me know if you're loyal to AMD

I've included a case on the assumption that if you've got an OEM desktop that case will be horrendous to rebuild in. But if you're strapped for cash and your old one isn't ugly you could try that.



Notes:

CPU. Basically the only gaming CPU worth recommending to anyone. Expected OC, 4.3-4.7 GHz depending purely on luck (there is very little skill involved these days). You can save $60 by getting an i5 4440 if you prefer. I do not recommend dropping back to a dual core (note that AMD 'quad cores' are dual core with regard to Floating Point operations).


Motherboard. A fairly basic yet feature-complete board with some overclocking potential. Too many options to really explain but you could drop back to an H87 chipset and a physically smaller board.


RAM. High speed but high latency. It's the same price as all the other low end stuff and the Haswell memory controller can handle it no worries.


Case. Inexpensive yet not hideously cheap looking. Reasonable to work with and has room for decent cooling. Honestly the low end case market is very wide and thoroughly boring so choose any ATX case you like.


Graphics card. This is the only piece of this build where you really have a LOT of choice. I'd recommend an AMD R9 270 at $230 as this is the best graphics card that a crap power supply is likely to cope with. Here's an article that explains the current state of the market quite nicely.
AnandTech | Best Video Cards: January 2014


Here's the resulting PC Case Gear wish list. It's over budget. Sorry.
PC Case Gear


Here's the revised $700 el cheapo equivalent. If i'm honest there won't be any perceptible performance difference between these two builds... But my OCD imaginary friends and I would feel dead on the inside.
PC Case Gear



(very) SUGGESTED UPGRADE

An SSD. You will notice a difference in responsiveness.
Samsung 840 EVO Series 120GB SSD [MZ-7TE120BW] - $109.00 : PC Case Gear

I'd strongly recommend you have a chat to Inc as well, see if you can get the parts from him rather than PCCG. An SSD is an amazing upgrade, by the way, if you can at all afford one, you definitely want one.

If you have any questions, let me know.

Cheers,

Martin

You can save a few dollars by using an AMD cpu. I've built a few computers with them and never had an issue.

OK, i've just dropped round to borrow Martin's angle grinder.

AMD CPUs are fine but they aren't much better value for gaming and they get destroyed on a per core per clock basis by all haswell models. You'd almost do better to go down to an intel i3 or pentium model.

(To reiterate, AMD is fine if you're loyal to them but there's no reason to use them other than loyalty)

-Ben