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New Computer, what do you think?
Computer Builders, I have a few questions. I am currently looking at buying an ironside computer and was wondering if anyone had any reviews on the company. Here's the build I'm looking at right now:
Tower:
HAF 912 (Mid Tower) [Iron Tundra Ready]
Size: 19.50" x 9.10" x 18.90"
Weight: 17.80 lbs
Front Ports: 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x Audio, 1 x Speakers
Form Factor: Mid Tower
Stock Case Fans: 3
Motherboard:
Asrock Z97 Pro3 [4 DDR3 Memory Slots]
CPU:
Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz (Quad Core)
Cooling:
Asetek 510LC High Performance Liquid Cooling
Standard Thermal Compound
Memory:
1TB 7200 RPM
Graphics Card:
Nvidia Geforce GTX 970 4GB
Power Supply:
700 Watt
Operating System:
Windows 8.1 64 Bit
Monitor:
Acer 21.5'' 1920 x 1080 LCD Monitor
Mouse/Keyboard:
Cooler Master Devastator Gaming Keyboard & Mouse Combo
Total Price:
$1,585.00
Comments
The coolermaster mouse is kinda "eh" for MMO with only 2 side buttons. I really need at least 3 side buttons to be happy.
They can't do any macros either.
And they're pretty old models, from like 2012.
Logitech G502 for palm grip and any Roccat for fingertip grip are much better mice, and they can all do macros.
I'd rather have an i5 with a top of the line mouse than an i7 with some cheapo mouse.
Don't buy that computer. For over 1 500$ you should get something that comes with SSD and larger monitor.
You could save some money by picking I5 processor, then buy SSD and/or larger monitor.
Ironside Computers looks like it already offers Windows 10. Do you have some reason for picking Win 8.1 instead of Win 10?
If you need to save even more money, it looks like you could pick cheapest RAM available at Ironside, then purchase 2x8GB from Newegg and install them yourself, and it would become cheaper.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104458.
EDIT: I'm not seriously recommending that you should try to save money by buying RAM from elsewhere. Rather that you might want to look if you could get the whole computer cheaper from some other place /EDIT
From what I've heard with AsRock mobos, they either are a hit or a miss. If you get one that is NOT DoA then it's a solid mobo for the price. As for the cooler I would rather go for a CoolerMaster Hyper 212/ 212 Plus/ 212 EVO. They have been around for quite a while but they are solid parts for enthusiast builders. It's a simple build and the only thing you have to worry about failing is the replaceable fan since it's the only part that does anything and you don't need to worry about leaks. The Hyper 212 holds it's own against other 120mm closed loop systems when OC'ing your CPU.
Other than that it looks like a pretty solid build to start out with, adding an SSD for your OS will make it so much more sweeter. Once you go SSD you'll never want to boot from an HDD.
PS: If you can save some money from switching to 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1866 to be able to afford an SSD, go for it. Unless you need the additional RAM for video editing or some other production type of scenario. Eight GB is plenty enough for gaming and moderate productivity. It would be easier to slim down on RAM for an SSD at inception and in the future add two more 4GB sticks to bring you up to 16GB if you really need it. Just make sure the memory is a match when you do add them, timing, model number, etc... And build it yourself to save even more $$$.
DONT buy pre built PCs.
I agree - a build like that would probably run closer to $1000, and you could do as well for less if you were smart about it
Also - no SSD.
Any non-SSD, even fast RAID is a bottleneck on a modern system. SSD's make all the difference.
Is this really the case? I notice load times that are faster in seconds but that's the only difference I see an SSD make in most games. I don't believe most games are pulling info off the HDD that frequently after they are loaded. So referring to the HDD as a bottleneck is not really an accurate description IMO. Or am I totally wrong?
I have 2 PC's that are pretty much the same. One with an SSD and one with an HDD. Games don't appear to actually run any better on the SSD one but load times are better.
Steam: Neph
It largely depends on how load heavy the game is. But there are other issues as well, like swap file access(even/especially on high memory systems), and games which have load on demand aspects. LotRO and Marvel Heroes come to mind, both of which perform much better since I installed them onto SSD's.
Their biggest asset isn't really overall burst speed output, but rather their seek times, which are always fast, and reliably so. And yep, we're talking real world differences, not stress tests.
Awesome! thanks for the info
Steam: Neph
YW!
I love 'em so much I have 3 of them. But really it's the OS drive that has made the most difference.
My favorite thing: You know how, even on a new system, when you boot to your desktop and it takes a while for your machine to start responding and start loading programs you click?
With an SSD for my OS, there is NONE of that. Not even on my 2009 built system.