Finally joined the Dark Side: PC Master Race
 

Well, I needed to upgrade my aging PC anyway, because things like Lightroom sorting and Photoshop edits were becoming quite taxing on my 2007-spec Dell XPS420. So about 2 weeks ago it was replaced by a brand new Dell XPS8700. I wanted to pick a configuration with the best processor and RAM I could get while getting the lowest end video card (as those are NEVER a deal from the factory, and factory RAM almost always takes up every slot, so upgrading requires replacing everything). Ended up with a configuration for $849 that gave me an Intel Core i7-4790 with 12GB ram and 1TB HDD. First order of business was a 250GB Samsung SSD to ghost over the OS to boot and host most software (sup 12-second cold boot). Then today, the mailman dropped off my Nvidia GeForce GTX 660, which I got off Amazon for $140 after utilizing a gift card and Amazon credit card reward points. In the meantime before delivery, I bought super cheap off Origin Crysis 3 (which came with a free copy of Crysis 2) and Dead Space 3. My 660 qualified for a free copy of Watch Dogs which is downloading now.

My eyes have seen the glorious light. It may have cost me $1140 when all's said and done, but this investment should get me at least as long as my old rig did. It may not keep up with the most current games, but gaming is completely secondary and a wonderful bonus for the time being.

Crysis 3 is a lot of fun and looks gorgeous. I have most of the settings maxed at 1080p with some of them scaled back to only High. I am blown away by the kind of quality of the image. I'm only getting about 20-25fps at that level, but that's perfectly adequate for playing through the campaign. I haven't tried DS3 or WD yet, but I'll give them some time when I get tired of drooling over Crysis 3. :)

I'm definitely not giving up my console gaming, and will still keep my X1 as primary PvP online gaming device. But this thing may keep me from wanting to drop cash on a PS4.... no matter how good MLB14 is!

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img841/215/g3pw3.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img840/9219/efew.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img829/1794/n5md.jpg

The master race. Wooo

Why didn't you just custom build one? anyways... Great job finally seeing the light that PC is Master Race

Because I've done it before and I didn't need the stress, headaches, and swear-inducing problems associated from gathering parts from multiple sources by multiple brands with fingers crossed that everything works together and nothing is broken after weeks of waiting for individual parts and hours of assembly and installation. In addition to a complete lack of any meaningful warranty or support.

Yeah, I'll let Dell do the grunt work and I'll take 15 minutes to plug in a video card and SSD. :)

Aw man, I would've helped you plan the build to make sure it went smooth with no hitches. It's gotten even easier in the past several years to get everything up and running. But I'm glad you're happy with what you've got, and the 660 may be a slightly older card but it's no slouch!

I know in the past you said you didn't like messing with video configurations to make sure you were getting the best performance to looks ratio out of what you had, so you may want to grab the Nvidia GeForce Experience Tool. It analyzes your system specs and changes the game settings automatically to get you the best visuals without sacrificing performance. AMD has one as well, with Raptr and Gaming Evolved.

My new Corsair 450D case came in yesterday so I transplanted everything over from my CM690. Fantastic case, and lower temperatures as well. It'll probably be my go-to recommendation in its price range now.

It can actually default to high or ultra on every game I've tried so far. The only one I messed with was crysis 3, which runs a couple on ultra and the rest on high. So there's not much to worry about there. Gaming was a secondary reason for getting the new PC, so if it doesn't stay up to top tier forever, that's ok. Plus the 660 only set me back $140 after amazon gift cards and reward points. Much better than a $300+ card AND a $100+ new PSU.

This


It isn't 2006 where compatability was an issue, now a days there isn't much to it except matching cpu sockets to CPU's

I have no interest whatsoever in building from scratch. For the same reason I won't build another AR15 from scratch. It's really not any cheaper, I checked by sourcing parts. When you combine shipping for each individual item, it's maybe $50-100 cheaper. Which is well worth the time and effort saved. I've already built multiples of each already, and it's really not worth the extra work and maintenance that never gives you peace of mind. And if anything goes wrong, it's up to me to fix it out of pocket.

Maybe you suck at building PC's... I never do any maintenance on any of my 3 rigs, and my main computer is water cooled, and running 1GHz over base clock, and all 3 of them are on 24/7 mining bitcoins without any hickups... only maintance I've done to my main rig in the last 2 years was upgrade my GPU to a 290X and ram to higher spec 2400mhz 8gb pack. :iono:

That's cool. I still don't gain anything from building it myself. I'll break it down in dollars: base XPS8700 was $849. My 250gb Samsung SSD was $148. My EVGA GTX 660 was $140. Totaling $1137. According to pcpartpicker, configuring that same setup would cost $1305 before rebates and $1256 after. In addition to not having a warranty or any kind of liability for the system as a whole.

So why would I want to build my own system?

Just to clear this up, every part is warrantied when you build too. Often with lengths that you'll have to pay a company extra to get. Not saying building is any better, some people just don't even want to mess with it. I get it. Same way some people bring their car into the shop to have parts installed. We all have our reasons, be it time, money, or other priorities.

edit:

I'm curious. Did you selectively pick expensive parts when you ran through on PCPartPicker? I ran an XPS 8700 comparable build minus keyboard/mouse and came out to:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pxh2bv
Base Total: $918.89
Promo Discounts: -$31.39
Mail-in Rebates: -$45.00
Total: $842.50

If I wanted a desktop I would custom build just to avoid having to deal with manufacturer software and tossing out the crap mouse and keyboard it comes with lol.

That said, sometimes there are very good deals on prebuilt machines and I would not mind doing what you did.

They have a handful of configurations for the 8700. Mine came with the i7-4790, 12GB DDR3 1600mhz, big fan on the big heatsink, wireless network/bluetooth card, built in 8-in-1 memory card reader (no longer need CF card dongle) and also came with a new multimedia keyboard and mouse. Making those additions still brings it to about $1100. Except it's a mish mash of random parts from who knows where that I have to put together myself.

I make the same argument that I do about not building more rifles. When I set out to build my first AR-15 after buying an $1100 factory one, I wanted to build a mid-level semi-nice basic rifle for about $1000. When all was said and done, I spent over $1400 (nearly $2500 if you include bipod, optic, and optic mount). Yeah, I got what I wanted, but it was a nightmare waiting, piecing things together, troubleshooting little things that didn't fit or didn't work quite right. When all was said and done, it didn't shoot any more accurately than my original rifle anyway (and with non-match ammo, not much different from my buddy's $700 M&P15 Sport). Sure it looked cool and had all the tactical accessories, but I really didn't gain anything other than what it looked like and the name brand of each piece.... and it certainly wasn't cheaper.

The second rifle I built suffered a catastrophic part failure due to a poor quality component (bolt head sheered off at the lugs, destroying the bolt and damaging the barrel). Was bought and assembled while I worked at a gun store and bought most of the stuff under massive discount and had them help with any issues. When I told the boss about the bolt, he immediately just gave me a new one (NiB plated, no less), but the damage had been done to the barrel. They tried to fix it twice (and I had to wait for time at the range to test if it was still malfunctioning), but nothing helped. In the end, I had a barrel-shaped paperweight and had to buy a brand new barrel. Luckily he gave me a good discount, but it was still out of pocket. It shoots good now, but I always worry in the back of my mind what else is going to go wrong.

I had the experience, learned what I needed to, and figured I never needed to do that again. I'll leave it to the professionals to design, build, test, and make sure everything works as a complete unit from the factory. Then I can come in and swap out a few pieces here and there (if I even need to) and enjoy all the fruits of their labor with my little bits of customizing. Best of both worlds really. At least in my opinion.

I made some changes and added the CPU and 16GB of ram, mouse and keyboard, and it's still around 1050. HSF isn't needed since you're not upping vcore or overclocking.

The parts aren't random, so don't sell yourself short. You know what they are and you know what you have. It's not a big deal, and we're not talking about square peg into a round hole here. Nothing makes these companies special. All of their parts come from the same factory that the parts you can buy and build do. Furthermore, you actually don't know what they're putting into your computer. I mean, you have an idea, but what kind of motherboard is it? What kind of power supply is it? Who's the OEM for their cases? What CFM and dB level are the fans rated at?

Hopefully you'll have a great experience with Dell. They were decent to me when my monitor started acting up, and replaced it after I finally got fed up and sent an email straight to Michael Dell. I had a few horror stories working tech bench on stuff we sent it, but it goes that way with every manufacturer. Unfortunately sometimes they just don't get it too. A friend of mine has a Dell system that came factory equipped with an R9 270. It has a 450W psu. The system isn't stable. On paper it should just barely be able to run that card. In reality it doesn't have enough wattage on the +12v rail, and he's told them that, but they keep sending him a new PSU that won't work until he finally went out and bought another PSU that would. Thankfully Dell is good about allowing people to upgrade parts in the box they purchased. Some manufacturers are stupid and will void your warranty for adding any hardware.

You can't really compare a computer to a rifle though. Especially when you get into really high performance builds, the lower cost of entry means you can spend more on components and it will run better than a comparable off-the-shelf purchase. This time, not a big deal. I can get it being worth a couple hundred bucks to put together a computer. That's about what I'd charge if I were building one, though most of the time I just do it for a friends and family discount of free, since it's something I enjoy.

Like I said, I'm not trying to talk you down or say you made a bad purchase. I hope it gives you many hours of awesomeness. If you become addicted though and are ever in the market for an enthusiast-class build and want some guidance or help building just give me a shout, and I'll save you about a grand as I did with a coworker when he decided to take my advice and not buy another Alienware.

I'm sure it's a lot easier these days (built PCs a lot in late 90s early 00s) but it was definitely not fun back then. Usually what I'm talking about is IF something goes wrong (and it usually does), troubleshooting is the pain. Figuring out what went wrong, why, whether it was a defective part, which part, is it the driver, is it the cable, is it this is it that, do I have to drive back to the store, do I have to mail something back, does that store offer return policy, do I have to pay shipping, etc. I'm sure a lot of stuff has improved in terms of compatibility and reliability, but I have no desire to deal with those headaches again just to save a few bucks.

This is my second Dell XPS, with my first box lasting me a comfortable 7+ years. And even now, there's nothing wrong with it, it's just slow by today's standards (Core2Quad Q9450, 8GB ram, original 8800GT was fried and replaced with a GT 550 Ti). That box now lives in the living room on the big TV as a web browser and media station.

That being said, I've got several more hours into Crysis 3 and have found my ideal settings at a lower res (1600x1024) because that means I can max every setting, including MSAA, and get about 30-40fps. At 1920x1200, I'm lucky to break into the 20s with everything maxed. Watch Dogs runs at a silky smooth 50-60fps with everything on high at 1080p. Maybe I'll build the next one years from now, but I think this new machine will do me just fine for the casual amount of gaming I do these days.

The last generation of consoles that I owned was the GameCube/PS2 era.

When I switched over to PC, it just made a lot more sense, plus PC games are discount far more frequently than console games. Steam is also very convenient.

THE STEAM SALE IS COMING! (or, rumored, the 19th)
http://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/13834...ummer-sale.gif

Time to make up your own online currency and start mining it.

Just me, but building a gaming PC makes having an xbox redundant and not a ps4.

Just me though.

I'm more geared up for Steams remake of Gauntlet.:party0030:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQky7Tl84sk"]Gauntlet- PC/Steam HD Game Trailer - YouTube[/ame]

Oh man I had forgotten about that. It's at the top of my must buy list, having wasted a ton of money on Gauntlet Legends in the arcade. Have they given a release date yet?

How? There are Xbox exclusives just like there are PS4 exclusives.

How many x box exclusives are not on pc vs ps4 exclusives not on pc?

How many PS4 titles run on a shoddy, slow, unreliable network with a controller that I hate? :bonk:

Besides, the only worthwhile PS4 exclusive title is MLB The Show. And I'm not dropping $500 to play one game!

Subjective.

Didn't answer the question

Doesn't matter, really. I got the system 8 months ago and have been enjoying all my games over that 8 months. And I will continue to enjoy them and others onward. There are only a few PS4 exclusives, and most are generic 3rd person action adventure games or quirky indie titles I don't care about. I've played Uncharted and Last of Us on PS3, they were good, but I feel I could get the exact same experience watching a Let's Play video online. Nothing on the near horizon stands out to me. Except maybe Forza Horizon 2. :P

As for gaming on a PC, depends on the title if I will buy it for PC or X1. I generally despise playing online PC games because of the combination of trolls, hackers, griefers, and way-too-obsessed opposing teammates that seem to have more training than Navy Seals. The a-holes and over-obsessed clans do exist on XBOX Live, but in significantly less numbers compared to the "let's actually have fun" crowd. I'll likely keep buying my online shooters on X1 and limit PC to single player campaigns and any graphical showcase titles like Crysis or Watch Dogs.*

Long story short, I don't have a big desire to buy a PS4, nor do I regret buying an X1 by any means. Besides the games, it's pretty sweet to record game clips with voice commands, then immediately mix them into a montage and upload to youtube. And I must be one of the few people who uses and enjoys the Fitness Kinect app that's free for Gold. No exclusive title for PS4 is a system-seller for me, and I'll have to probably wait a few years before a library of content I'm interested in is available. MLB The Show is the only thing close to getting me to get a PS4 and that's only because I'm a diehard Yankees fan and the game is fantastic (roommate has it along with a PS4).

*Speaking of Watch Dogs, y'all see this?? http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=390114
No word from Ubisoft yet, but the general consensus is they had to nerf the PC version so it would be more "in line" with the console versions. This fan-provided patch unlocks the effects and details originally shown back at the 2012 E3 demo.

September 3rd is what they are saying right now.

There's an incomplete list for last gen over on Wikipedia.
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_game_exclusives_%28seventh_generatio n%29"]List of video game exclusives (seventh generation) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

I mean, really if you want to make that comparison this gen so far, the PS4 is full of indie games that were available on PC first.

Here's current
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_game_exclusives_%28eighth_generation %29"]List of video game exclusives (eighth generation) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Each has their own large set of exclusives. If you want to go off of that, everyone should forget the PS and Xbox and just buy a Wii U.

Zero. Since you said you don't hate the DS4. :D

@Dadhawk

IT'S HAPPENING!
http://i.imgur.com/RJTni44.jpg

So so incredibly useful
http://steamdb.info/sales/

Kudos for building a PC. I always love when I see people playing games on PC.

I respect your decision to buy from a manufacturer, though building a PC from scratch is no more troublesome nowadays then putting on a new set of wheels. I think the best part about building your own is the option to customize it to your liking, and the flexibility to really make your system unique. Also component quality is a big factor...I know I'm getting top tier components and not whatever Dell can buy on margin.

As for price, you're usually spending the same or more to build it custom, but you'll be getting higher quality components. For uber high end computers its always cheaper to build on your own. For low to midrange items its hard to beat the margins of big manufacturers.

I love custom built stuff though, so I'm biased.

http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/d...psa4j1wzhk.jpg

My faith in Dell is pretty strong. I've had another Dell box for 7 years with lots of heavy photo and video work. Not so much gaming, but still some intensive usage over the years. I have every bit of confidence this machine will do the same.

So what goods did everyone get from the Steam sale? It was my first and I think I made out pretty well. I spent less than $100, but ended up with Borderlands, Borderlands 2, all the DLC, GRID 2, Lego Movie game, Kerbal Space Program, FTL, Papers Please, Unreal Tournament 3 Black edition, Doom 3 BFG edition, Cloudbuilt, Dust An Elysian Tale, System Shock 2, and 17 Sonic the Hedgehog games.

Master race checking in. My elite PC is around the size of those dirty console peasants, but way more superior.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42...2130920923.jpg

Some other cases I'm playing with.

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Steam Sale
 

Picked up Fable The Lost Chapters for $2 because I love it and I'm more likely to play on a PC than busting out an Xbox or 360.

Grabbed Wolf Among Us last night on a whim for $8.50 and holy crap it's so enthralling. I don't think I could justify the $20+ price tag until I go back and judge the replayability after it's all said and done but for less than $10 it beats the hell out of a movie. Before anyone mentions it I'll probably skip Walking Dead, not really into zombies but I'll look forward to see if they nail it with GOT.

$11 on a steam sale really makes me a lightweight doesn't it?

Visual representation of the final carnage.

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I spent less than 20 this time around.
I either already had the game or nothing interested me.

My ps3 is just for Netflix note that I have a pc. And I just discovered Dota so that's not good

I didn't do too bad. Dark Souls II, Grim Dawn, Shadowrun Returns, F1 2013, Goat Simulator, Castle Crashers/Battleblock Theater pack, Banished, and Skyrim.

Of course I already have 200+ games in my library, so I had most of what I already wanted. Debated Kerbal Space Program for the millionth time and decided to hold off. Same with South Park Stick of Truth. If it had been around 25 though I would've been hooked.

Very nice. Always wanted to do a micro-ATX build, but I don't really have much of a use for a desktop computer. A couple years ago I drew up some diagrams to build a completely passively cooled mATX with the entire case as a massive heatsink, with heatpipes running through everything.

I still want to build it someday, but it will probably never happen. I also dug through the internet for parts to make a watercooled version as well, and that is never going to happen either. I've graduated from the cheap hobby of PCs and am dreaming of how to blow 20-40x more money on car parts lol.

I really need a case for my downstairs computer...

http://i.imgur.com/1iJQmZY.jpg