Will_oftheWind

I'm building a full setup for gaming, streaming, video editing, and design work and realize that I'll be needing a good keyboard to make full use of modern productivity and gaming features. I want a keyboard that has some programmable keys, since I think those could come in handy while using video editing and creative programs. I don't really need much in the way of RGB, but a keyboard backlight could be a nice thing to have. I don't care about wireless functionality, as I'll be using this board at a desk all of the time. I'd also like one that doesn't break the bank, so ideally under 100 USD--though I could go a touch higher if I had to. When it comes to switches, I don't like too much noise ("Old Keyboard Clack" drives me crazy) though a little sound is alright; I've actually gotten to quite like the soft but lightly sharp "tappy clicks" of the Surface Laptop keyboard that I've been using for work. To find switches with a similar sound would be ideal, though that really isn't the most important thing. It's worth noting that I'll be using this near a microphone a lot of the time. From what I've heard, mechanical switches are generally better for both productivity and gaming purposes, so I'd better go for that. I think of the switch types I've read and heard about that Cherry MX Browns sound like they might be a decent fit for me. What do you think? In summary, I'd like some help choosing a good keyboard with the following features: Mechanical keyboard Programmable function keys Backlit keys No heavy RGB Wired mode via USB Sound-wise, a light and fairly quiet clicky sound; NOT a heavy or hollow clacking sound Ideally under $100 US (But if this is unrealistic I'm okay to go higher for a nice board) Any advice or help would be hugely appreciated! I would hate to get a dud board or one whose sound drove me up the wall. Thanks for reading! On a side note, I'm planning to also get a Logitech G403 mouse. If that sounds like a poor choice to anyone, feel free to give me a sanity check.

Thank you! I've used Windows media creator tool before, so I think I'll just install windows off a flash drive and use an activation key from ebay. You're right; the prices are great! Thank you so much for telling me about this! Thank you! That's how I thought it worked, but I wanted to make sure before I bought one. Now that I've saved money by cutting out the overpriced Windows 10 install, I'll officially be going for an RTX 2070 Super! It'll be nice to not have to sweat over this when I upgrade my monitor setup. Since I like having things run more quietly overall and because the aesthetic matches, I'll go with the second one I mentioned above. It's also got a nice overclock. I did see one review mentioning minor coil whine on their card, but I don't think that'll be too noticeable. Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB Gaming OC 3X Video Card Thanks again for all the help ?

I saw a review of the Wraith Prism cooler that comes with the 3700X that said it was decent but recommended getting something more powerful for certain use cases. However, you're right; I really should test it in my own configuration before I buy another cooler. I'll give that a go! I've seen windows keys for sale at around $30 US, but the websites that sell them look a little suspect--I've heard mixed things. Are those what you're talking about? If so, have you tried one yourself? I do trust you, but I'm not so sure I trust certain websites. If I can safely get Windows for less, though, I definitely would be glad to find out more! Please let me know what I can do. If I do decide to go with a 2070 Super, I think one of these two would be my choice. The former is a dual fan while the latter is a triple fan unit very similar to the 2060 Super I was going to get. Asus GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB DUAL EVO OC Video Card Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB Gaming OC 3X Video Card What are the advantages and disadvantages of two fans versus three? In particular, which card would most likely run quieter? Noted. I'll keep this in mind as an option--thanks for the recommendation! I've also gone ahead and purchased my CPU; I had a chance at a decent deal with an old gift card I had, so that's now locked down. Once I have the graphics card issue resolved, I'll plan to get everything else and start building! Thanks to everybody who has already given me input. I'm still just a beginner, so your feedback helps me make smarter comparisons!

After heavy consideration, I've decided to upgrade my graphics card to an RTX 2060 Super. I think I'll appreciate having an RTX card and the reassurance that my PC will be able to run with better monitor specs. The 2060 Super seems to lie at a point for price-to-performance diminishing returns to not hit it too heavily. Here's my new full config: PCPartPicker Part List Type Item Price CPU AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor $299.63 @ Walmart CPU Cooler ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO CPU Cooler $47.22 @ Amazon Thermal Compound Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut 1g 1 g Thermal Paste $7.97 @ Amazon Motherboard Asus PRIME X570-P ATX AM4 Motherboard $144.99 @ Amazon Memory Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory $92.99 @ Newegg Storage Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive $87.99 @ Amazon Storage Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive $85.99 @ Newegg Video Card Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8 GB GAMING OC WHITE Video Card $409.99 @ B&H Case Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case $86.98 @ Newegg Power Supply BitFenix Formula Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply $89.00 @ Amazon Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit $99.99 @ B&H Wireless Network Adapter Asus PCE-AC55BT B1 PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter $31.59 @ Amazon Case Fan ARCTIC P12 PWM PST(5-pack) 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fans $27.99 @ Amazon Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts Total $1512.32 Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-02 12:53 EST-0500 Extra cost here is due to purchase of a windows install, wireless adapter, and a few quality of life/aesthetic choices. I think this will be my final parts list unless there's anything else I've missed.

Thanks for the advice so far! I appreciate the suggestions a lot! I've added on a wireless network card and a couple of 140mm fans. I think I'll stick with the case and memory I had, since I'm willing to pay the extra $40 for a pleasing aesthetic and faster memory speed. Because I'm planning on using my M.2 SSD frequently for file transfers, I think I'll also keep the Samsung 970 Evo. Maybe it's a foolish thing, but I trust that drive more for the purpose. It should also pack a bit more speed. For the time being, I think I'd rather wait to upgrade my graphics card and monitor until I can spare the money for both at once. I'll stick with the 1660 Super for now. I would switch to a cheaper power supply, but the motherboard I have includes a second power connector for use in more intensive builds. While my current build likely wouldn't need it, I want to have full compatibility in case any future upgrades I make increase power draw to that point. The unit I have right now is one of the cheaper ones with two connectors.

I'm a first-time builder looking for advice and opinions on the parts I've chosen. I'm currently working on building a desktop PC that will primarily be used for gaming, live-streaming, and video editing. I want to be able to live-stream at 1080p at 60fps while making full use of programs, and plan to edit video footage starting at 1080p but potentially moving up in resolution in the future to as much as 4k. I also want to have the capability to do 3D modeling and design work in the future, as that's something I have interest in doing. I have two old office-type 1080p monitors at the moment, but I'd like to upgrade one of them in the future to a higher-refresh 1440p or above monitor. My total budget for this build is about $1,300 USD; this is about the highest I can justify going at the moment. My ideal aesthetic is monochrome black and white with few highlights. I believe I've covered everything I'll need below, but if there may be cables or items I haven't considered. I'm really just looking to make sure everything I have will go together well and work before I buy. As I don't yet have the experience to know a lot of this stuff on my own, I'm hoping to find help here. If anyone has revisions they think would be more optimal for my core parts or information I might not know, please let me know! Any help would be appreciated. ? Here's what I have so far (pcpartpicker list here): For my CPU, I've chosen the Ryzen 7 3700X. From my research, it seems to provide more than enough power for anything I'd regularly throw at it while still having enough in reserve for multitasking and running future programs. It's a recent and very well-rounded chip that lies at the threshold of my budget. CPU: Ryzen 7 3700X (~$300 US) For my CPU cooler, I chose one that got fair ratings for the price point and matches a black and white aesthetic. I think it should be able to handle the 3700X's 65 watt TDP. ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO CPU Cooler (~$50 US) I wanted a graphics card that would be able to handle most loads very well but not destroy my bank account. For a moderate price and good looking specs on paper, I chose to get a variant of the GTX 1660 Super. GPU: Asus GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB DUAL EVO OC (~$240 US) I figure 16 GB of DDR4 RAM should be enough for now, and that's an easy upgrade if I ever feel I need 32. I've picked out a well-priced kit with a sleek look. The only thing that gives me slight pause is the lack of reviews for this product, so any opinions on this choice would be appreciated. Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory (~$95 US) Since I'm going into content creation, I know I'll have to work with a lot of large programs and heavy files. I've chosen a 500GB Samsung 970 Evo M.2 NVME drive to act as a boot drive and to store programs and frequented files. I'm also going to add a large hard drive for storing files I'm not currently working on. I'll add extra storage and backup drives if my plans work as intended, but can't afford to purchase them now. Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (~$90 US) Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (~$90 US) Knowing what I want to put on it, I chose my motherboard. I'm not very experienced at picking these, but I wanted to choose one with future upgrades in mind. Due to that, I thought it would be best to go with an X570 board. I also wanted one with a mostly black and white aesthetic and without too much RGB or colored highlighting. I thought that this Asus board would fit well. Asus PRIME X570-P ATX AM4 Motherboard (~$145 US) Since I'd found myself favoring a black and white clean aesthetic, I wanted my case to conform to that as well. I also wanted one with solid airflow and sleek design that could make a statement but not be obnoxious whilst sitting on my desk. The Fractal Design Meshify C in white ticked all of those boxes. Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case (~$90 US) As for my power supply, I wanted something at least semi-modular but not too pricey, since my build was beginning to stress the budget I had set forth. I chose this one, which seemed to be a good deal, but I'm not sure how ideal it is for this build. I think this is the one item I'm most likely to change out if a better option is found. EVGA BQ 750 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (~$85 US) Add on a Windows 10 key (~$100 US) and a tube of Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut (~$8 US). In total, the build is looking to cost me approximately $1,282 before any sales tax. This is right about the threshold of my budget, and I don't think I can justify going any further at the moment without good reason. With that said, please don't hesitate to tell me if there's anything I'm missing here. Also, please let me know if there are any obvious ways to save money that I may have missed. I'll shop around for bargains once my parts list is finalized. Cheers!

Can I use my laptop for streaming and video recording/editing, or will I need to build a more competent desktop? I purchased a Microsoft Surface Laptop (1) about two years ago as a light and portable general use laptop for college work, and it served me well for that purpose. However, my future plans recently changed such that my computing needs have shifted. I'm currently trying to build a computer setup for live-streaming and content creation for sites like Twitch and YouTube. I'm planning on using either OBS studio or Elgato Game Capture HD to set up and stream content to Twitch and later edit footage down for YouTube audiences. I was hoping to use my laptop for this, but in basic testing its CPU was pinned at 96-99% while only working on basic rendering of captured content (at 720p). My laptop just wasn't designed to deal with sustained CPU intensive loads. It has an Intel Core i5 7200U with 2 cores and a supposed 2.71GHz base speed. It has terrible cooling though, so it seems to clock itself down to the 1.4-1.9GHz range to compensate. I need a computer that can perform the following tasks: Rendering content from multiple inputs (HDMI capture, webcam, microphone, overlays) for live-streaming at 1080p. Editing video and audio at a basic to moderate level I'm currently using these peripherals: An old 1080p VGA monitor (hooked up via a mini-DP to VGA adapter) as a secondary monitor A USB 3 powered hub Audio equipment hooked up via my laptop's audio jack Is there any way I can make my laptop work, or will I need a new PC? I'd like to use my laptop if I can, so suggestions for how I could better cool my laptop would also be appreciated; it has an aluminum chassis, but few ventilation holes. I think I could make my Surface work for the time being if I could get it to stop overheating. If I do need a new PC, I'll write up a more detailed "ideal" specs list and go from there. Any help or advice will be appreciated!