ERM64bit

This was a build for my co-worker at the hospital who had been toying around with a gaming PC build idea for a while, but hasn't ever built one. It started out as we found a Core i5-6500 in perfect condition that came out of a PC that wouldn't boot from a broken HDD. Since the workstation was marked recycled in inventory, it became the first part of his budget build. After looking through a sea of ITX and mATX cases that he didn't like, we found this Lenovo workstation that was decommissioned for running Windows XP. The front handle was perfect for LAN party travel, so after a few sessions of measuring, I found out it held a standard mATX motherboard and a ATX power supply. So I got to work putting together a parts list that was hilariously powerful for a corporate black box that sat under someone's desk for 11 years. A few caveats while planning this build came up as I worked: The case only supported 92mm fans, and the MB required a PWM fan splitter The front panel USB required an extender, and the HDD/Power LED doesn’t work until I can get in and reconfigure the front panel block. The PSU has to intake from inside the case, so I went with a low profile CPU cooler to make sure there was adequate space for the PSU to intake Overall though the build seems to be pretty awesome and is able to tear through his entire Steam library. We left the DVD drive in it because it still works and keeps the aesthetics (also he watches DVDs on it from time to time). Right now he’s hunting for some Intel Duo and Windows XP stickers since those came off when we cleaned the case. Also he never told what peripherals he went and got, so I don’t have that info. Without knowing that, the total part cost was $784.36 USD. Considering there’s a 1070 Ti and 16GB of RAM, I thought the build came out great for a budget build. Let me know what you guys think of my first sleeper build! https://pcpartpicker.com/b/zsfH99 Here’s the link for the PCPartPicker post for the part list.

So I started to evaluate my gaming rig lately, and one of my major disappointments that I currently have is my HyperX Cloud Core. I got this pair whenever my wife worked at Gamestop and picked it up for about $45 on sale (which was not bad, since I didn't have anything for my PS4 at the time). Now 2 years later, I'm getting irritated with its sub-optimal mic performance (to be fair, it was decent on PS4, but now it sounds like garbage in Discord) and the fact that my ears start to hurt after a little over 1 hour of just regular use. So I started to look around at a few local stores and I kept gravitating toward the SteelSeries Arctis Pro. I really liked the simple design, RGB, and sound quality, but I haven't used it for a long period of time. Reviews on the Arctis Pro have been good, with the microphone samples I've listen to being very good. However, I've only just found out about the Alienware AW988 Wireless Headphones. They cost a bit more ($229 vs $189 USD for the SteelSeries) but they are 2.4Ghz wireless with a USB dongle and very good looking. I do already have an Alienware AW768 keyboard and AW958 mouse that I have implored for quite a while, and I'm wondering if it's worth staying in the Alienware ecosystem. Nearly every review of the AW988 focus on how comfortable it is for prolonged use, and 15 hours of battery life (with RGB disabled) sounds better than most other wireless headsets, but I'm wondering if it's mostly hype or actually worth it. Let me know if you own either headsets and what you like/dislike about it. I know that $230 for a pair of headphones is pretty high, but I find myself using headphones more every day and I don't mind paying more for better quality. SteelSeries Arctis Pro: https://steelseries.com/gaming-headsets/arctis-pro Alienware AW988 Headphones: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/accessories/apd/520-aanp?~ck=mn

https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=600-PL-2816-LR This is exactly what you need. I had one come with my 1070 Ti. It will still make a slight bump (not sure by how much) but it won't put pressure on your cables. Hope this helps, and 100% digging the build, looks amazing so far!

I recently did a full white build my best friend as a white version of my build. If you're doing air cooling, Deepcool makes a decent air cooler https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1357601-REG/deepcool_neptwin_white_version_cpu.html/?c3ch=CSE&c3nid=98. Case fans are actually hard to find, I used these BitFenix Spectre fans https://pcpartpicker.com/product/yvXfrH/bitfenix-case-fan-bffscfp12025wwrp and they look pretty damn sweet. For an airflow build, my co-worker has a Corsair Crystal 460X White, and I actually really liked that the interior was also white. I'll have to ask him about temps, but he was running an air cooled setup and didn't have any problems.

I own a NZXT S340 Elite, with a 1070 Ti and i7-8700K and a front mounted Kraken X52. I have had 0 thermal issues out of it, and the system runs silent while playing AAA games at the highest settings on a 21:9 1080p ultrawide. Honestly I'm pretty happy with my case and would suggest it to others if you like the design of the case. I haven't had a chance to check out the H500/H500i, but I'm keeping mine since I'm swap out my current card with a Gigabyte Aorus card (either the 1080 or 1080 Ti that have the VR Link) and use my front panel HDMI for a VR setup. The H500 lost that and the extra 2 USB 2.0 connections, but they seem pretty similar from everything I see.

UPS wise, I would stick with APC (great customer support, easily replaceable batteries, most features) with something like a Smart-UPS series for a small enclosure. There's a lot of things you need to consider when building a server rack, things such as noise, heat, and HVAC units. 1 rack mounted server in a closet might be okay, but add a firewall, switch,or a NAS (especially 4U size with over 8 bays) and you're going to see some heat issues. The cooling might be fine if it sits out in the open in a living room or office, but if you shove it in a walk-in closet, you're going to overheat quickly, especially in a fully enclosed rack. To give you an idea of what my small office with a 30U rack looks like: a 1U gateway, a 2U Cisco Meraki MS120-48, a 4U NAS, a 2U surveillance server, a 2U Domain Controller, 2 UPS (redundancy), 2U VoIP switch, and 2U punchdown block. All of this is in a 200 sq ft room and requires a separate AC unit to keep the room under 22 C. An open air rack might help, but then you have the cons of it being more open to dust, louder, etc. and you're talking about a 1-2 degree difference. In our larger offices, the wiring racks are typically in larger rooms that have multiple ventilation ducts, so cooling is not an issue. In small business, I have seen them add a vent to a closet from their existing system and work fine, but those were typically open air racks that were mounted closer to the vent. The Ubiquit APs are good, I'm not a fan of the switches though. If you can find a good deal on a used HP managed switch or a Cisco switch, you'll be better off. We use the Cisco Meraki series on one of our smaller offices and it is much easier to manage (but also, more costly). As for the cabinet, just whatever fits and has a decent warranty. Also, your switches, routers, firewall, and gateway will generate more heat than you realize, so again, plan out your total power consumption and cooling. Definitely start looking into sound dampening materials that don't retain heat (maybe get with a local radio station or studio and see what they use to dampen echos).

As long as you're running a 1070 or higher, the 3440x1440 shouldn't be an issue, just be prepared to spend a good chunk of cash as 1440p ultrawides w/ G-Sync tend to be over $1k. I picked up my 2560x1080 monitor for under $300 (Freesync though) but I haven't noticed screen tearing in any of my games. One issue I've run into that is making me go back to a 16:9 is no compatibility with older games. I have a lot of older games that I like to replay, and none of them support 21:9 aspect ratios. If someone would have told me this going in, I would have gotten a 16:9. The black bars may not annoy you, but they bother the hell out of me.

Why not both? https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-27-led-qhd-gsync-monitor-black/5293502.p?skuId=5293502 Not sure what the price is for the monitors you're looking at, but the S2716DGR is on sale again for $369.99 US, which is a really good deal. If this is for a future purchase, definitely wait until closer to Black Friday if you can for a 1440p/144Hz monitor, as they tend to drop to the $3-400 range instead of $600+

If you can find a great deal on a GTX 1080/1080Ti, I wouldn't be afraid to jump on it. At E3, Cyberpunk 2077 Demo was running on modern PC specs and everyone said they weren't stuttering or hitting issues (link to PC Gamer article with full specs: https://www.pcgamer.com/cyberpunk-2077-e3-demo-pc-specs-revealed-by-cd-projekt-red/). This is an unreleased game running a new game engine, and said 4k 60fps was running smoothly during the demo. I think you would be fine for about 3-4 years comfortably, probably even longer if you aren't trying to run 4k 120fps in the future. If you're streaming,you really should upgrade to the 2700X or 8700K just because a 4 core processor will be bottlenecking sooner rather than later.

If Linus is considering a Plug-In Hybrid rather than a full electric car (and it looks like the wife is saying no to the superbike) I would look at the new Volvo S60 T8 Plug-In. It has great power at 400hp, 495 lb-ft torque and it seats 4 adults very comfortably. I've driven the new T6 (and freakin loved it) and I'm waiting on my local dealer to get a T8, but I've heard great things about the T8 and its' Polestar variant. Also I'm curious about whether or not cars region specific to dealers. In the US, you can only order the Honda Clarity in California and Oregon, and is unavailable throughout the rest of the US, so I wonder if Canada is the same with EVs?

Holy crap, not sure what has changed, or if it's just been a minute since I watched a video from LTT, but that was making me seasick. Just stick with a fixed shot.

Even though your friend is a graphic designer, they actually won't need a ton of power, depending on what they're doing. If it's just regular design work using Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop, honestly most any laptop with an i5 and 8GB of RAM will handle it without a hiccup. If they're doing more intense video editing or 3D modeling, then a 1070 is necessary. My wife, who has been a professional graphic designer for about 5 years, is just using a Macbook Pro 13" w/ Touchbar for about 2 years, and has a 5K iMac at work and cannot tell a difference in performance. The XPS 15 would be able to do everything, especially with the new 6 core, but if you want to save some money and get some very competent hardware, the Dell Precision 5520s are in the same clamshell as the XPS lineup, and you get the options for Quadro and Xeon, along with ISV certifications. You can save even more money by going through the Dell Outlet on something like this one: http://outlet.us.dell.com/ArbOnlineSales/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=us&cs=28&l=en&s=dfb&sign=PXhcOSHtr1T4IOw%2fPR7UdfaeGYN%2fArlJRPEfecs8%2fMi7AzP%2bti63G3Gkavd9T8JRE3SRjDyCGx7ArDlZMtwyK6g0n5DJx5bcxkpL6tve4n7bXb%2fkwxfIYv83g4%2b71OgivzKT4L%2bEuHpv86sOfJERmu42Rsy9a6DQkLt%2bVlV3zqbBf2Q%2bU%2fqLuHFgpYIbNiPZ *In case the link expires, its a Dell Precision 5520 with a Core i7 7820HQ with Win 10 Pro & Thunderbolt 3 with 4 PCIe lanes, 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD, 16GB RAM (1x slot, can upgrade to 32GB) 4K Touch display that's 100% Adobe RGB, and a Nvidia Quadro M1200 4GB for $1611 USD. If this is being used for just work, this would be one of your least expensive options. Other thing they need to consider: if they're eventually going to work at a firm or do freelance. Most firms will either provide a computer, or require that you are in their ecosystem (in 4/5 cases, Apple ecosystem). I'd hate for your friend to spend $2k on a system and show up to work just to have the manager tell them "Nope, it has to be a Mac." (I say this because was the reason that my wife had to go Apple for her work computer. Her manager told her that he would refuse to let her connect to his network unless she had a Macbook).

One of things I was hesitant of when I bought my S340 Elite was airflow since it has a solid front panel, so I did some experimenting with it. I mounted my Kraken x52 to the front of it and have two Aer 120mm on the rear of the case for my airflow setup. I established a benchmark of 62° CPU/71° GPU after 1 hour under full load, and it was only a 2° difference with the front plate on. 2° is what I would consider "not a big deal", and with a pretty sizable gap between the front panel and the filter, I feel like it gets sufficient airflow. Running most modern titles (Andromeda, Rise of the Tomb Raider) it rarely gets past 65° on the GPU, and the CPU rarely peaks above 50°. I would love to compare my S340 Elite to one of these cases to see what the difference is as far as building & thermals.

exactly. Like they have a white B360 board that would be perfect, but I'd prefer he has 2 M.2 drives and more than 4 SATA ports. (I have no idea if he wants to overclock, but you never know)

This is more of what I was talking about as far as white. Yea, I've been watching some of the reviews on it, and it seems to be a mixed bag. It seems like some people get a board and have 0 issues and everything is perfect, while others can't even POST no matter what they do.