ToBeHiFi

Thanks for the reminder. It's the CoolerMaster HAF 912 Advanced, and according to it's specs page, it supports CPU coolers with max. height of 175mm. so the D15 should fit nicely.

Bottlenecking at 4K/60hz? Not at all. At 1440p/120hz? Yea, probably.

Thank you very much everyone for your input, very appreciated! Well, based on your replies (and others for the same question on overclock.net), I believe the best approach I should take is the following steps in order: 1- Have better case airflow: As all I have for intake is 1x 200mm 800 RPM Coolermaster fan in the front but it's actually near the bottom (behind it is a small 2.5" HDD cage), and 1x 120mm Coolermaster JetFlow in the side panel running at ~ 800 RPM. So there's no intake fans in the upper half of the case (to blow fresh air directly to the CPU). 2- Apply better heatsink TIM: As that old Zalman STG2 compound I'm using is fairly old (since 2011 I believe), and it's not one of the best either I think. So, a couple lower degrees would also help. 3- Delid (If necessary) If the above steps didn't yield the expected results, I would go ahead and delid and use CLU for the best results. 4- Buy the Noctua D15 (If necessary) I highly doubt I would need it if I went with the previous steps, but if necessity arises, it wouldn't be a bad investment at all (especially with the extra AM4 bracket). How's that sound?

Well, I was wondering if I should go a head and replace my old and trusty Zalman Performa with a Noctua D15 (or U14S), for better temperatures, but before that, let me delve into some details: Setup: - CPU: Intel 7700k, OC to 4.7GHZ, at 1.25 vcore (No AVX offset) - MB: Gigabyte Z170X-UD3 - Cooler: Zalman CNPS10X Performa - Paste: Zalman STG2 (Bought it in 2011 or something, but it's still holding up) - Case: CoolerMaster HAF912 Advanced with decent airflow (2x IN fans + 2x OUT fans) - Ambient temp: around 27c Problem: First of all, I know the 7700k is a hot potato, but I would like to have better temperatures than the ones below: - Gaming: 72c max. - Asus RealBench: 80c max. - Prime95 v26.6 8k FFT: 81c max. - Prime95 v28.10 8k FFT: 92c max. Now, based on almost all of the reviews I have found online comparing the Performa with the Noctua D14 (which is close enough to the D15 anyway) says there's like 3-4c difference between the two at max, of course noise is a different story but I don't honestly care much about that: http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2498&page=5 https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3199/zalman_cnps10x_performa_cpu_cooler/index6.html http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/zalman-cnps10x-performa-cpu-cooler-review/6/ Questions: 1- Is the performance difference between the two really that small? 2- Do newer coolers like a Noctua D15/U14S perform better on new generations CPU's than old ones or it doesn't matter? What's Locally Available: - Noctua D15 + extra AM4 kit: Almost new, used once for a review --> about $85 - Noctua U14S + extra AM4 kit: Almost new, used once for a review --> about $57 What to Do: A ) Nothing, temps are fine as it is. B ) Keep the Zalman but get a better thermal compound and maybe a better fan C ) Buy the Noctua U14S, as it's almost the same performance as the D15 with lower price D ) Buy the Noctua D15, it's the best E ) Delid and use any of these coolers Any thoughts or input is very appreciated! Thank you in advance.

I do have the LG 27UD88-W which AFAIK uses the same panel and scaler as the 68 model, and let me tell you that scaling works very well with this monitor, let it be 1080p or even better the 1440p resolution. Of course that also depends on how far you sit away from the monitor, but overall I would say that the scaler does an excellent job.

Like others have said, knowing the lore and the story will make you enjoy the game much more, at least it did for me. I didn't play the first two games though, I just watched a few videos on Youtube made by some great folks, in which they recapped the whole story of both first games. It helped me tremendously understanding the lore while playing the last title.

Turning ON 'Temporal Filtering' alone will give you a huge boost in performance, also disabling/reducing shadows and reflections will help a lot. Give it a try.

Don't forget that you always have the option of using VSR/DSR for better quality visuals, if your card can handle it.

It's 1080p by the way.

Thank you very much for your reply and recommendation. I actually went with the HyperX CloudX brand new for about $70, and I'm very satisfied with it's comfort and sound quality. The main reason I didn't buy the DT990s is that I was a little worried about it's open back design (never tried one before), while the CloudX comes with two types of pads, the leatherette one which makes it totally closed, and the foam one that makes it kind of semi-open for better sound stage. My next stop will probably going to be the Sennheiser HD650 paired with a decent amp, mainly for music listening.

Hello everyone, this's my first post here and I'm not an audio expert by any means, so bear with me please I have been doing an extensive research for the past week for the best headphones I can get my hands on for both gaming and music. So here's what I'm looking for and what I have/do: Main use: Music - Trance/Techno tracks, sometimes a bit of classics, hiphop, and Jazz. I appreciate deep, clean, and not overpowered bass, also clear and present mids and highs. Gaming - No specific titles or genres; FPS, Racing, ARPGs, RTS, and sometimes MMOs. Soundstage and nice overall sound quality is what I'm looking for here. Sources: Desktop PC with onboard soundcard, nothing fancy, just a regular P67 Gigabyte motherboard. Macbook 2015 15". iPhone 6. Looking for: - Best Sound quality I can get (with decent soundstage for gaming). - Comfort, that's why all headphones I listed here are over ear ones. - I think I would prefer open or semi-open headphones (I never tried one to be honest) mainly for the more natural and balanced sound, breathability for the ears, also better soundstage from what I read. But if closed ones can provide better sound quality with enough comfort, I wouldn't mind. - Durability, as I'm not going to replace it anytime soon. What's locally available (Egypt): - BeyerDynamic DT990 Premium 32ohm: Used in mint condition for $80. - AudioTechnica ATH-M50x: Used in a very good condition for $133. - HyperX Cloud series: It's either the CloudX Pro, or the Cloud 1, mainly because they have the extra velour ear pads which off what I read, make them a bit more open, with better soundstage and more balanced lows, mids, and highs. I can get these new in the range of $67 - $100. Also available, yet I'm not sure they worth mentioning: - Bose SoundTrue: New for $83. - Sennheiser HD 201: New for $40. - Sennheiser HD 451: Used for $33. So, what do you think are the best options for my needs? and in what order? Thank you very much in advance, and I really appreciate any input.