Just Monika

60GB is what I'd call the bare minimum for a boot drive with some essential programs, because with SSDs is that you don't want them to get near full to make use of the drive's wear-leveling ability. I'd recommend holding out for at least a 128GB SSD if at all possible.

Has Amazon ever honored pricing errors? Tempted to buy it myself for the lols even though I'm Canadian.

Chipped in for my Silver badge a few days ago, got it today.

Never been bullied about being knowledgeable about computers. Although non-techies have a tendency to go all "woah" when I mentioned that I built my PC for the first time a few months ago instead of buying a pre-built, I don't remember ever being treated negatively.

I would personally recommend either the Samsung 840 Pro as it's been the gold standard in performance and reliability in SSDs for the past few years, or the 850 Pro for a single SSD setup. The 840 Pro has been dropping in prices lately to make room for the 850, so it's a good purchase in my opinion. If you're more inclined towards newer tech, then maybe the 850 is more suitable. The Pros may be more expensive than other SSDs on the market, but in my view, it's worth spending a little bit more on something that's going to be responsible for holding critical system files.

I also received my 840 Evo a few days ago. First thing I did was check the firmware revision in Samsung Magician, but it said the firmware was the most updated version. I also ran the Performance Restoration tool just to be on the safe side, but is there anything else needed to ensure that the speed degradation issue is prevented? Apologies for adding a question into an existing thread, but I did so in the hopes the answer would help the OP as well.

No, colors are not important for me personally. My case is a non-windowed Define R4 and I've opened up the case a grand total of one time since I completed my build, so I never see what's inside anyways.

Bought S version of the i5 4690 instead of the K. On the bright side, I have no regrets about the other components of my build.

You get Steam keys for Borderlands 2 GOTY and each DLC separately. Also just a bit of warning, if you encounter any hiccups with your purchase such as white pages on checkout, don't immediately try purchasing again until after 15 minutes. Due to said hiccups, my order went through twice and my PayPal was charged twice. And a tip: use the code macgames5off on checkout for an additional $0.75 discount.

My external HDD prevents my system from passing the boot screen until I disconnect it. I only reboot when Windows Update needs a reboot or some other installation/uninstallation needs it, so I can live with it.

I have 16GB RAM in my system and I don't do any sort of video/image editing, and it's effectively an "unlimited" amount for my use. The last time I went with the recommended average was back when 2GB RAM systems were the norm and 4GB was considered excessive to the point where people started disabling their page files. I regretted it horribly within a couple of years and had to buy 4GB of overpriced generic DDR3 RAM (DDR2 was even more expensive) just to maintain playable FPS for games at the time. So with my latest system, I decided to go "one higher" than the commonly-recommended 8GB and I have no regrets.

My old PC has went through 2 450-500W PSUs, although they were no-name brands and possibly underpowered for my system. The current PSU is a 650W CoolerMaster-something and hasn't failed me yet. I've had one GPU (8800 GTX) that failed during normal gameplay. I rarely played graphically-demanding games at the time so the failure was somewhat strange. I have one external 1.5 TB HDD (WD Elements) that's showing signs of imminent failure - drive appearing empty when it's not, or simply being inaccessible.

Very interested here as well. I've only recently gotten into overclocking with my GPU for the first time, and I'm regretting that I never picked an OCable CPU to go with my system. Canada resident here.

I experimented with BCLK overclocking twice trying to aim for a +100 MHz increase on the CPU, both times something went horribly wrong. Attempt #1: Bumped up BCLK from 100 to 103.5 MHz for a 100MHz CPU overclock, dropped RAM frequency from 1866 to 1600 MHz. Neglected to undo my previous CPU undervolt (-60 mV core, -160 mV cache), and my system refused to POST. Attempt #2: Limited BCLK increase to 103 MHz, lowered RAM frequency to 1600 MHz, and used stock CPU voltages. System posted, but my second display refused to extend my desktop and duplicated the first display instead. Windows Aero refused to function properly, and everything was glitchy overall. Overall, it seems the costs of instability from BCLK overclocking far outweigh the limited benefits.

It's been a while since I've played A3 multiplayer so I can't give exact FPS figures, but its high enough that there is no noticeable difference between playing alone in the editor and in a multiplayer environment (I played Battle Royale mainly). Testing in the editor with 50-60 AI units moving within viewing range with all maxed settings, I have a consistent 50 FPS. If I lowered AA or some other graphical extras, a consistent 60+ could probably be reached. Personally, I would advise you to prioritize upgrading the CPU first. If you're having 10 FPS with your current CPU, I'd think a 40+ FPS boost is very worth it.

A 280X should be fine for Arma 3, the CPU may need to go. I have absolutely no framerate issues in Arma 3 multiplayer with an i5 4690S and 280X with all settings maxed.

Post Sandy Bridge/Pre-Haswell CPUs are "partially unlocked" up to the max turbo multiplier as far as I know. Will find source and edit it if I can find it. Edit: Source here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5276/intel-core-i7-3820-review-285-quadcore-sandy-bridge-e

I regret purchasing the "S" version of the I5 4690 instead of the "K" in order to cheap out on buying a CPU cooler.

CPU: I5 4690S GPU: Asus Radeon R9 280X 3GB DirectCU II (1150/1850) Average FPS: 49.9 Score: 2088 Setting: Extreme HD

GeForce MX 200(?) 32MB GeForce 8800GTX 320MB (died) Radeon HD 5830 (replacement) Asus Radeon R9 280X 3GB DirectCU II (current)

This video helped me clear my misconceptions about what Intel's hyperthreading was, and saved me money for my new gaming build by buying an i5 CPU instead of an i7: Thanks Linus.