Ian_Balisy

Denon AD-H2000 have been excellent for me, however they are a little heavy and can get somewhat hot after extended use (more than 3 hours). If you have a smaller head (like me), they can look a little large, but they are very well built and look great. After having had them for some time now, I will more likely consider either doing the MarkL mod to them or paying for the mod service rather than buying a new pair of cans, as the mod makes them equivalent to $750-1000 headphones. Sorry if that was more info than was necessary Edit: As per the sound profile, they are neutral, even bass response and not boomy, detailed highs but no harshness, good mids but the MarkL mods improve the sound in this department.

+1 for Gelid Wings if you want green LEDs.

And the money brought in from selling it would definitely help considering the cost of 59xx chips. Eh, you should probably sell it, but if the money isn't a concern for some reason giving it away is an awfully nice thing to do!

Would love to have it! I have a very recently purchased 4690K but I'd be willing to give it away to someone who wants one.

It's really too bad you can't get your hands on some Dayton Audios, they're really a great value. I would definitely recommend the Airs over their older brother, as they pretty much just switched to well known a regarded tweeters and woofers for a slightly higher price tag. If you can find them, that is. My suggestion would probably be to piecemeal this together since budget is a concern. By that I mean get a decent receiver ~$350 and don't spend much at all on the surround speakers at the moment. If you feel the need to get a sub, allocate ~$100 for that--as I had said above, BIC makes good subs, Yamaha's are good too, Polk Audio is not worth the money. I would not personally recommend a soundbar as they're weak options for a center channel and necessarily use small dynamic drivers that are usually chosen for their size and resonance characteristics rather than their sound characteristics. You could, if you get a center channel sturdy enough and large enough, simply rest your TV on the center channel--depends on how much your TV weighs (many are light enough these days for this to be acceptable). If not, I'd definitely suggested mounting the speaker above the TV, as this provides the best listening experience. Once you've got your system together and you haven't spent much on the speakers, take the time to listen to the overall sound and get a feel for what you want to invest more money in in the future. Then, gradually hoard a fund together to change out one piece (better sub/surrounds/center channel, etc.). I'm a big proponent of building up to better and better systems over time, as you gain a much better understanding of how different pieces of a sound system improve or remain stagnant with price increases. Don't convince yourself that something must sound better if it costs more. As I mentioned above, there are wide gaps in component costs and thus even wider gaps between price points justified by better sound. Also, companies that pay a lot for advertising (Sony, Pioneer, Polk Audio, etc.) have to generate that money somewhere--it directly inflates the price of their products. Companies like SVS and Elemental Designs (R.I.P.) make some of the best equipment out there despite the fact that you won't ever see an ad for their products.

Looks solid, but why Z87 and 4670K rather than 4690K and Z97? If you plan to SLI in the future, a Gold rated PSU might be better suited for the build. Edit: themaniac's build looks like a better fit to me; better PSU, current generation CPU+mobo. I might prefer an ASUS mobo, but that comes down to preference and color scheme if you have one in mind.

I am personally waiting for Freesync to become commonly implemented, as has been indicated. If it's 60 FPS and image quality you're after, I really do suggest you consider the LG 34UM95. It looks fantastic in game, better in my opinion than a 4K screen because the experience of sitting in front of so much horizontal viewing space has a very cinematic appeal and feel. Really good for immersion. More pixels means more detail, yes--to a certain extent (in terms of perceivable PPI). I'm hoping ASUS and other companies follow with 1440p 21:9 screens as it seems like it's the most promising future of monitors and possibly even TVs too. 5040x2160 120-144 Hz IPS Freesync panel anyone? I wish.

Not a bad price. But you can't SLI them

I've had the experience many times over... Won't ever buy a console. The worst is when you have a console-only friend and you show him/her what games should look like on a reasonable computer and then they just gradually stop games altogether because they don't want to admit that console looks terrible. They've tasted the sweet fruit of REAL gaming, they can never go back!

I've used a 40" TV as a monitor and it was just awful. Too much screen for productivity, too slow for games, looks downright silly. I'd definitely go for a 27" monitor. I'd also suggest the ASUS PB287Q for 4K (although I still don't like 4K monitors as Windows just isn't ready for it yet). Or the ASUS PB278Q for a 1440p PLS panel. Since you're already up there in price maybe the LG 34UM95. The ROG Swift is a good option if you want G-Sync.

Here's a mini ITX build based on an i5 4690. I don't know that the Xeon (above) is the better option of the two. PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($234.00 @ Canada Computers) Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($94.35 @ Amazon Canada) Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($84.70 @ DirectCanada) Storage: A-Data Premier SP610 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX) Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.95 @ Vuugo) Video Card: Club 3D Radeon R9 270 2GB '14Series Video Card ($159.99 @ NCIX) Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX) Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($107.99 @ NCIX) Monitor: BenQ GW2255 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($119.99 @ NCIX) Case Fan: Gelid Solutions FN-SX12-10 37.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($9.99 @ Memory Express) Keyboard: Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Ultimate Wired Gaming Keyboard ($109.26 @ DirectCanada) Total: $1115.20 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-21 20:12 EDT-0400

Aniallation's build looks solid but not at all small. Here's a microATX build: PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($156.98 @ DirectCanada) CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($33.07 @ DirectCanada) Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($60.05 @ Vuugo) Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($84.70 @ DirectCanada) Storage: A-Data Premier SP610 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX) Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ DirectCanada) Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($199.76 @ DirectCanada) Case: BitFenix Prodigy M Midnight MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($97.68 @ DirectCanada) Power Supply: Cooler Master VSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($93.98 @ Newegg Canada) Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($107.99 @ NCIX) Monitor: AOC i2267Fw 60Hz 22.0" Monitor ($139.99 @ Canada Computers) Keyboard: Das Keyboard 4 Professional Wired Standard Keyboard ($144.99 @ Canada Computers) Total: $1246.16 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-21 19:13 EDT-0400 Personally, the Das Keyboard 4 seems an unusual choice since it's one of the more expensive keyboards you could buy--there are keyboards with the same mechanical switches $55 less expensive and that's quite a bit when we're talking about a single peripheral. You're also not going to need more than an R9 270, though if you want a 280/280x I would definitely use the money you could save from going with a cheaper keyboard. You're going to be drawing somewhere in the range of 400-450W so a 550W gold efficiency power supply should be just right.

I also don't really like 4K at the moment. Just used one yesterday and it is an altogether frustrating experience unless you're gaming and doing nothing else. I also don't really think that G-Sync is worth the huge price tag that comes with it, I'm waiting to see what will happen with DisplayPort and AMD's Freesync. It is possible that we will be seeing 120 Hz 1440p IPS panels in the future (but maybe that's just wishful thinking ). I also just used the LG 34UM95 yesterday and it's ridiculously nice! The extra horizontal viewing space is perfect for games and productivity. If you're really wanting a high refresh rate monitor, definitely the ROG Swift. But why is higher refresh rate important to you and are you die hard team green?

Looks like Fastboot was the culprit, I can now access my data drive. Thanks Jonny!

I disabled Fastboot and I'm running a chkdsk scan now. I will shut down and boot into Ubuntu and then let you know.