Why dont you guys use an old stockings that your GF/mom doesnt use anymore?

Stretch that mofo over the removable screen filter you have.

I used to do that on my old Antec case, but i have a different case now that its not necessary.

BTW, any of you guys are interested in a Cosmos II case? My setup doesn't quite fit anymore and looking at a Corsair 900D.

I've got the Corsair Carbide 300 or whatever, I love Corsair cases, the 900D is a beauty.

They are slower than high end intel chips, however, performance per dollar amd is better. It mainly because they don't have a good architecture.

I've never had any problems with their processors and I don't do any serious benchmarking so AMD is perfect.

Also, my flight sim now has 8 core support so this CPU should be perfect.

Well the issue that I have with AMD is they push all these big numbers, but they don't perform well at all.
A stock i5 3570k out performs it in every application, and it runs at 3.4ghz. I paid $215 for my i5 3570k. Even the i5 2550k out performs it.

AMD says you get more for your buck, but they don't really perform well. Granted, this is at very high end levels. Where the 8350 lags behind quite a bit, but also when I say lag behind, I mean it's getting like 90fps where the i5 is getting 130, so either way you wont notice it.

Anyone know of a good sound card for a good price? I need a sound card specifically for my online voice chat

They do that, but for my flight sim, the 8350 should be perfect.

Do you not have a decent onboard one?

Brandon that mouse and keyboard is beautiful!
I haven't replaced my keyboard for almost 8+ years, and probably won't.
I have spilled a ton of stuff on it and have taken it apart and cleaned it and it goes back to working like it did before.
I will probably replace my mouse some time soon, should I stay wireless or is wired the way to go?

I'm trying to run my ventrilo through just my headset, nothing else through the headset. But the only way I can do that, is apparently either a usb connector, which for some reason makes my microphone sound deep, or through a pci sound card. If anyone knows of any other ways, let me know.

Thanks! I really spent a ton of money on my keyboard and mouse setup but I didn't want anything cheap that will die in a year from extensive use. Every Microsoft mouse I have purchased, the left or right click end up going after about a year. And membrane keyboard, to me just don't cut it anymore.

I picked up the keyboard on sale for I believe it was $100 (normally 139.99) and I picked up the mouse on sale for 79.99 (normally 94.99).

As for the wired vs wireless debate, I tried wireless for a couple years and I really found it to be more of a hassle than a benefit. So I ended up going back to wired, and I haven't even thought twice about it. There are some mice now that you can unplug the usb from it and it will be wireless for when you need it, but you plug the cable in it to the front when you don't.

That's a cool idea, I will have to check it out.

Are both the keyboard and mouse Razer?

I'm rocking a logitech G15 (I think that's the one?) and have had it for about 7 years.
My mouse is the Logitech revolution MX. Love it. All the buttons and knobs. Clutch scroll wheel is key, and a secondary scroll wheel on the side which I use for volume control. . Also cozy!

Nope, I'm going to pick up a Razer mouse in the near future I think but for now my Logitech G9X has been amazing, it's comfortable, has a low slanted design and is very comfortable. The headset and the keyboard are both Razer though.

my keyboard is the zboard, i was trying to grab the model but it seems it's discontinued now. It's the one where you can swap out the keyboard. It's more of a novelty thing now, I don't remember the last time I have switched.

I think I will pick up a Razer mouse eventually.

All done.



The 6970's primary job is to keep the 6990 from sagging too much.

That's really clean!

Thanks!

The power supply being fully modular really helped, along with all the room on the other side of the case to hide all the cables.

Is that a HAF I spy?

Definitely very clean!

Yessir! HAF 932 advanced. (Aka the same old HAF 932) great case for the price.

I did just notice that your 2nd ram stick, the top lock isn't engaged

Nice catch!
Stephan why did you decide to put the CPU fan at the top?

I caught that one too after I took the picture. Thank you for the heads up though!

CPU fan went uptop because its a Corsair H100, so it's rad requires two spots.

Oh ok, got you!

I finally got a card for that rig. It's an Asus 760. pretty happy so far with the games. Now i need to get solidworks installed on there and test it out.

Nice, the 760 is a solid card for a great price.

I haven't been watching the hardware scene that much lately but I did notice AMD has a 4Ghz octo core cpu now, I think a winter upgrade is in order

I got it for $250 after tax. Pretty good value i think. I have it clocked now to 1280.

If you like AMD, look into the 8350. I got mine overclocked to 4.5ghz and it's stable and happy.

Did a bit of wire tucking and cleaning out the dust.





And just for reference:

Well #$@% me sideways. This is just a reminder that you can never win or keep up with computer hardware these days.

I recently bought a GTX 660 for 299, I think it was, before the 760's were released, but I could've waited.

Had no idea they'd be priced so well. They're quite a bit faster than the 660 as well.

Bombaclot

I see alot of AMD hate, here's the deal. For whatever reason I find intel works better with nvidia and AMD works well with its family. I've seen and been contradicted to this a couple of times but for me I like to match.

I've done the intel game and the AMD game, Nvidia and AMD.

Right now i have a 1190T and a HD7970. I CRUSH everything at full tilt and thats an older processor. Bulldozer isnt a requirement for me right now but I will admit to being a GPU whore.


When people say the i5's outpreform bulldozers. Maybe your right, and MAYBE they were VERY competitively priced that you ended up siding with intel.

when you say outperform you MUST be referring to the countless benchmarks that YOU have run personally and NOT the benchmarks found on popular sites that use reference samples naturally......


AMD products overclock EXTREMELY well, as well as intel/nvidia but lets face it you couldn't overclock or bios flash a 660-670 to a 690...........a 7970 CAN.


I don't overclock at all other than a bios flash for my gpu but the fact that my processor is STILL 3-4 (?) years old and crushing ALL modern games on a 42" on full tilt kinda puts the "i5 preforms better than bulldozers in the same price range" argument out the window.

If you notice any difference in performance then thats something else BUT I still have a min 30 fps while playing metro last light and the new BF4 beta.

keeping in mind my current processor is around the 100$ range REALLY puts things into perspective.


Keep in mind this is SOLELY about gaming





don't flame for fanboy because I've had both sets mixed and un mixed. I sold off my 680 sc (evgta) on this board because it was not what I had expected for such a pricey piece of hardware

I get 60fps pretty steady in BF4, never drops below 50.. and the only difference is our processor. i5 3570k is the best bang for your buck.

I have always been an amd chip guy but for video cards I was always invidia.
It wasn't until Luc convinced me otherwise.
I can't really comment on the overclocking though cause I over clocked my 5750 which was working great but as soon as I added my second monitor it start shitting.
With the 6970 that I have now I couldn't be happier the thing is a beast, atleast compared to the 5750.
Also my chip I just ditched (6000+) was doing really well and it was only when I tried the witcher 2 that it started choking and I think it was the motherboard holding the video card back too.

^^ This.

Someone who knows something through tinkering and experience instead of online benchmarks.

I've had many setups as well, and when it comes to playing games, hey as long as it's smooth gameplay, numbers don't matter.

I've had setups where the max frame count, and cpu benchmarks were top notch, but game play was jittery even with the high frame count.

This compared with a middle of the pack spec'ed machine that played games smoothly.

Sometimes it's the driver releases, and not the hardware's fault.

It all depends, but once you've found your perfect setup, it's difficult to move onto new stuff, because you've gotta start all over again.

It used to be fun, now it's a hassle.