Want Help Building / Upgrading a PC?

    Quote from Skybex

    I don't really want dual 144hz, more just pointing out that it's what i could get for the price of the curved monitors. A gaming screen and a miltimedia screen sounds like a good idea.

    And so essentially to bring this to a machine that can give me another 4-5 years I would also need a new processor?

    Ah, fair enough! Point noted, but curved anything right now is just a new gimmick to make people buy.

    I just had a look on my trusted part sites and amazon and there are listings for LGA1156 motherboards but they're either out of stock or used. Couple are new, but are £190 and £220 which is about twice as much as I would suggest spending on a good modern mobo and I wouldn't touch second hand electronics at the best of times (from an unknown source), let alone this old.

    A new motherboard and CPU in itself is basically a new computer.

    Also, PSUs are usually the first part to fail, are a total pain in the arse to replace, and can bring a lot more down with them depending on how spectacularly they fail. I was having power issues, computer kept restarting and due to the continuous "system power fails" windows became corrupted :(

    I would just stick to what you've got until you're willing to completely upgrade. Picking a computer apart piece by piece leaves a lot of spare lying around, and sometimes that extra "complete" machine is useful. Could be a server if need be, or send VMFs to, to compile while you play games on your bitchin' new rig.

    Quote from Skybex

    Just had a quick look at the curved monitors, about £800. That's more than I am willing to spend especially when a 27" 144hz dual monitor setup would cost about the same. Although dual 27" is also probably overkill. I'm currently using one of these, the price listed on that site is WAY overpriced.

    http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/monitors/LS24D300HS/ZA

    I will most likely buy a matching pair of new gaming monitors and mount them on something like this.

    http://www.amazon.com/Mount-It-Monit…1/dp/B00DQ3AE5E

    My current 24" is fine in terms of size, but would like a second one so i can run mapping/modelling programs on separate monitors, or run a game/movie on one while being able to see messages or game wikis on the other.

    Yeah I understand your point... what sizes you're looking at then, just for curiosity.
    I ask just because I imagined you were going to get twin screens, and the jump from 24" to 27" is already substantial in estate... I don't think I'll ever need/want a 2x27", I'd more likely have a 27" and next to it a vertically rotated monitor of whatever size (24"?) would match the height of the 27". Or get a single 30".

    Quote from blackdog

    Yeah I understand your point... what sizes you're looking at then, just for curiosity.I ask just because I imagined you were going to get twin screens, and the jump from 24" to 27" is already substantial in estate... I don't think I'll ever need/want a 2x27", I'd more likely have a 27" and next to it a vertically rotated monitor of whatever size (24"?) would match the height of the 27". Or get a single 30".

    I have two 27" monitors at home and they do take up a lot of space. Most of the time I am only using the one screen and the second screen just has mumble, steam, music etc open whilst I browse the web or play a game. It does come in handy when developing though. Then you can have your tools on the one screen and any references and such on the other screen. Saves a lot of alt+tabbing.

    30" has lots of real estate, but sometimes you need the second screen just to have everything visible.

    I still game on a 24", but next chance I get to upgrade my desired spec would be:

    • 27"
    • 1440p
    • 144Hz
    • IPS
    • G-Sync

    Depending on the quality of the IPS, it could mean any accurate colour work could be done on it, leaving the second screen to be something relatively cheap/rubbish (or in this case, whichever of my current screens survive).

    Anyway... my point is that I'm pretty sure the above spec is available.

    Found some Acer XB270HU and on Amazon, and ASUS have a RoG Swift version, by the look of it with an update coming out (which also supports up to 165Hz?). I'm still looking deeper into how these compare to the top spec TN models, but right now it seems pretty close!

    OH! and with windows 10, you can snap a window to each quadrant of the screen, not just left or right sides any more.

    Quote from Beck

    I have two 27" monitors at home and they do take up a lot of space. Most of the time I am only using the one screen and the second screen just has mumble, steam, music etc open whilst I browse the web or play a game. It does come in handy when developing though. Then you can have your tools on the one screen and any references and such on the other screen. Saves a lot of alt+tabbing.

    Yeah do agree on the usefulness of multi-display, just from what I've seen (but never had the chance to use myself) I'd say that 2x27" it's a waste of money cos the second monitor wouldn't be used as much. Especially if one is keeping communication or documentation, I imagine finding a vertical display more useful. I've seen designers using a laptop with all the PS palettes on the laptop screen and the art on the big one above, I can imagine that working well, otherwise to me just seems too much.

    For gaming I'm feeling more and more like that I want to play on a giant TV screen (as I haven't been playing any multiplayer FPS in a long time). Dunno how I would feel stepping up to a 27"-30" and getting a comfortable chair ;)

    We use 2x27" at work, it's fine because we have a corner type desk where you sit in the middle and the monitors are rotated to face you, pretty essential when working with editors like Unreal, would be not so good with a standard straight desk though, you'd need a massive desk, my 2x 24" at home is enough for serious work and still allows for space to have my hifi amp and some lights etc.

    Should we do one of those "my workspace" photo topics? ... actually, think we had something in the past?

    In terms of optimizing space, I have been dreaming of building my desktop workstation inside the desk itself when I will be able. Easy to work on it cos the desk would be the workbench itself, no clunky boxes around, wiring that goes neatly through the desk, no risks of pulling stuff with your feet etc.

    replying here. It is an old acer laptop, I bought it before ivy bridge was released. I dont know what's broken, I'm assuming that the motherboard has to be replaced. Either the bios has to be replaced or something else fried, chipset?

    Unfortunately, quad core i5 doesnt exist for laptops and skylake is only available in i7 variant. I don't know the price in USD, but judging by amazon prices I'd say that my budget, with proper currency conversion and taxes, is 500 to 550 USD.

    CPU: 5200U

    GPU: 930M

    RAM: Samsung expert x30 comes with 8GB, Asus X555 comes with 6GB or 8GB

    HDD: 5400rpm. Like all models have it.

    Samsung offers matte screen, while Asus is glossy.

    TFT: unfortunately, IPS full HD is way above my budget

    Games are second priority.

    Quote from 0kelvin

    Unfortunately, quad core i5 doesnt exist for laptops and skylake is only available in i7 variant. I don't know the price in USD, but judging by amazon prices I'd say that my budget, with proper currency conversion and taxes, is 500 to 550 USD.

    Why are you judging your budget on what you can find on Amazon? You're making some rather odd assumptions in your post. Just tell me what you want your laptop to do and how much you can afford or want to spend up to.

    Is a laptop necessary?

    Not really necessary, because I have a tablet.

    College stuff, maybe light gaming and mapping and/or programming. That's why I was looking for a 930M.

    3.8x = 1 USD more or less. lols, it was around 2.11 years ago

    Hey I've got a tricky one for you

    With a budget of 500 euros, tried to find a laptop for my father, who will basically use it for office work, multimedia and the rare gaming on semi old games. His criterion are more about comfort than performance. That goes for instance that he wants to have the largest screen possible. He wanted a 19" screen like his old one, but nothing like that exist now, it is 17.3" or less.

    What we found that would be the best for now is an hp Pavillion, 17.3" with an i3 and an amd card, don't remember which one.

    Do you think that with such budget there is a way to build a custom pc with a 19" screen and decent performance more or less like that HP laptop? I have to precise that I have a free license for Windows 10 or windows 7 on hand, so that wouldn't go in the budget. However I might possibly need some help assembling it so, mostly to make him trust it all will be okay :)

    2000 to 3000, no idea about how much of that consists of taxes. To get an idea: that's the same range for ps4 and xbox one, depending on the pack and whether it's assembled here or broght from abroad.

    Country: BRA

    Quote from laminutederire

    Hey I've got a tricky one for you

    What's the purpose of the upgrade may I ask? If you can give the full specification of the laptop I can see about matching/improving with a PC build + screen. I would advise the PC over a laptop unless he absolutely needs one.

    What kind of multimedia work does he do? I ask because higher resolutions and colour reproduction accuracy all make screens more expensive.

    @0kelvin and @laminutederire If I were to find you both parts for a PC, are you able to assemble them? Or do you require it to be pre-built? What extras would either of you need?

    The purpose is that his old laptop had its screen break and since it was 10 years old, it would be easier to buy a new than find the replacement hardware needed.

    He needs one for work and since he is currently unemployed he has to move a lot for job interviews, and if he manages to get a job he would have to live elsewhere during the week, then coming back home every weekend. A pc that may work would be easily transportable but I don't know if that currently exists. But the multimedia is more consuming rather than producing, and the size in his case is more relevant since he has age against him on that.

    And I admit I don't know what is needed to make things work correctly I figured I might ask!

    Pre-built as in you only choose specs and someone builds it for you or pre-built as in even specs are already chosen? If it is the latter, I can find it myself, I wouldn't bother you with that, it's mainly comparing things knowing that they will work :) If so that could be nice, but I think I can build it myself if needed. That shouldn't be that hard with time and patience and help of Internet resources ?

    Quote from laminutederire

    He needs one for work and since he is currently unemployed he has to move a lot for job interviews

    Sounds like a laptop would be better, but what work does he do? Dare I suggest it, but a lot of people over do it with laptops these days and may often be better served by a tablet, or a laptop/tablet hybrid.

    I realise tablets usually mean smaller screen sizes, but there are all kinds of magnification utilities to make that easier. It's worth asking because people often just resign themselves to "wanting what they had before" without considering newer options/technologies

    Quote from jackophant

    An hybrid should be more suited to it rather than a normal tablet. I mean, while he mostly use basic stuffs, like browsing or checking email, he does use a lot the office suite (PowerPoint and excel). Those may require a bit of computing power, since he sometimes have to deal with huge Excel sheets handling the company's datas, and sometimes he basically had to borrow my laptop for that because it was too much of computations to execute his macros. He works in supply chain management :)

    What about a laptop without a dedicated GPU and buy an i5 with decent Intel HD graphics? Maybe it's easier to find something within the budget then. I have a laptop like that myself and can even run some games on it. Very low video settings, but it's working :P

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