Building Computers

    Top 4ce

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    BJammin

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    So what, I can get these parts off of amazon or do I need to go to special computer part sites?
    Amazon, NCIX, Newegg, and SuperBiiz are good places to start (PCpartpicker shows listings from all of them too). I've bought parts from each of them and all deliver what they say. (Plus, going to different sites can sometimes get you a better deal on the same component. Though with your budget, I'd say that won't be an issue.)
     

    Calhoun

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    Amazon, NCIX, Newegg, and SuperBiiz are good places to start (PCpartpicker shows listings from all of them too). I've bought parts from each of them and all deliver what they say. (Plus, going to different sites can sometimes get you a better deal on the same component. Though with your budget, I'd say that won't be an issue.)
    All of this. Mind that pcpartpicker.com does not generally show shipping charges.
     
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    Master_Artificer

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    So is the 1070 the way to go, if i can find a non-founders edition one?
    I dont plan on doing VR stuff i think, so would it just be complete overkill or no?
     

    Calhoun

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    So is the 1070 the way to go, if i can find a non-founders edition one?
    I dont plan on doing VR stuff i think, so would it just be complete overkill or no?
    Pretty much. It's a great card, and it'd last you for awhile. The pricing on it has been pretty crazy though, so you'll have to watch for that.
     

    Master_Artificer

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    What about cooling the card? Does it run hot enough to warrent fancy heatsinks?
     

    Calhoun

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    What about cooling the card? Does it run hot enough to warrent fancy heatsinks?
    Every card will fry itself if it's improperly cooled. That said, the Founders Edition cooler isn't the best.

    Honestly, MSI have the best coolers at the moment. Asus focuses more on noise levels, EVGA cards are pretty solid too. I'd still recommend the MSI over anything at this stage.

    Just had a quick look, and MSI has two 1070s with very nice prices. $429 for the standard (Custom cooler still) and $449 for the Gaming X. The X us obviously better, so if you don't mind the 20 bucks I'd go for that.
     
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    Master_Artificer

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    What brands should I look for when choosing SSD's?

    When googling SSD best Brands, I get lists of 2015 best SSD's, 2016 best SSD's, but not stuff like "buying samsung/intel/etc generally gets you +++ at the cost of ---"

    _______________________________________

    And for Graphics cards, it seems like Nvidia gives their cards to manufactures and then you choose from EVGA, MSi, ASUS, Gigabyte, etc.
    What are your guys experience with the brands? If I buy a Gigabyte motherboard, should I get a Gigabyte graphics card?

    What is the terminology for cards that have built in Overclock, and do they have copper plates on them where you would mount stuff like heatsinks for fans or water-cooling or is it all incased in plastic and the fans on the front?
    (EDIT: you can see all the sides in pictures on the sites, and it does not have a copper plate like this, so I hope the default fans are good enough. Probably are, but best to read customer reviews)
    [doublepost=1469462372,1469462182][/doublepost]I should also mention that I will not be buying the parts and assembling it until mid-augest, so hopefully the prices come down to MSRP in the future
     

    jayman38

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    Samsung appears to be the SSD brand to beat (for years on end, including 2016), and OCZ and SanDisk are maintaining good quality. Intel appears to be a solid choice. I do not have a SSD yet myself, but if I were to get one today, I'd go for a Samsung. Samsung's quality appears to be consistent and solid, and they appear multiple times on the top lists. Tom's Hardware will generally steer you right. Newegg is currently running special prices on Samsung's 750 and 850 series 250 GB SSDs.

    I have had both EVGA and MSI NVidia cards, and I've never had a problem with them at all. I think I had a good Gigabyte card too. They last forever for me, so I haven't had to buy a lot. Even when one computer breaks down, the card will work in a new computer.

    I have never had a problem with mismatched cards. I use an EVGA card on a MSI motherboard without any delays or hiccups. At this price range, standard interfaces should keep things compatible between manufacturers. It's one of their selling points.

    Overclocking: AMD processors come pre-overclocked. For overclocked video cards, look for "OC" in the model number. Generally, if "OC" is anywhere in there, it will be pre-overclocked for you. Also look for "Super Clock" (EVGA likes to use this phrase.) Newegg can help you look for overclocked cards.

    Most new NVidia cards are going to have G-Sync, so you will probably find a good investment by getting a G-Sync compatible monitor to go with it. (It's a standard, so you don't have to match up the monitor brand with the card brand.) This kind of monitor will update its image when the video card tells it that a new update is ready, instead of demanding a video image update at a regular rate like 120 Hz. It's still going to update fast, but it might update 119 times per second or 122 times per second, depending on what is best for the card, instead of sticking to 120 times per second, regardless of the video card. And what is best for the card will yield a smoother output for your eyes. Such monitors are about 3 times the price of their non-synced cousins, but they are generally big and high-quality.

    Edit:
    I haven't ever read about anybody upgrading their video card cooling. I have seen replacement video card cooling fans, but those are replacement items, meant to replace broken fans. Usually, the stuff that comes built-in on the card is good enough and relies on you creating a cool interior. That's why you want to create a good air flow path, so that the video card can vent properly. With that said, I have seen liquid cooling kits that have a second cooling plug that attaches to the backside of video cards. However, I don't know anything about those, including their effectiveness. And of course, any cooling add-ons may make it difficult to have everything together. So if you wanted custom cooling and dual-video card SLI at the same time, that might be hard to pull-off, because the SLI motherboard will generally put large PCI-E slots together, so that multiple video cards are close together, side-by-side.
     
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