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Hi all, I'm looking to build a dirt cheap (£300/$450) gaming rig to see me through the summer (and the Steam summer sale) until I have enough for a full-on water-cooled beast. I'm not bothered about running at crazy high settings, but I do want to be able to play Blood Dragon, Starcraft, Dota 2, and pretty much anything else. Not quite sure the best way to distribute my cash. What do you think? AMD A10-5800k ASRock FM2A55M-DGS or FM2A75M-DGS 8GB of 1600MHz RAM, Vengeance, HyperX or GSkill Ares Corsair Builder 500 (As recommended by Logan) Gigabyte HD 6670 2GB in Crossfire Some random case CPU cooler if I can afford one, (Thermalright True spirit) I have enough storage laying about the house to get something decent As a budget rig goes, what do you think?

Hey, First, sorry if I'm posting in the wrong section, haven't really used the forum enough yet. Second, I need your help. I have to get a new laptop for university, but being a student I have a limited budget (£350 - £400) I have found a few laptops for my budget but I want to have other peoples opinions on them. When I (hopefully) go to university, I want to study computer science which involves programming and group projects. With the programming and the use of multiple OS', I also need a laptop that can handle all of my work and when I have free time, play the occasional game, (Portal 2, Minecraft) not to demanding of games. Anyway enough rambling, here are the laptops I wish to have your opinions on. www.ebuyer.com Quick find Code: 406981, 411061, 442261, 409379, 482039, 411060 Amazon http://amzn.to/11PX34z http://amzn.to/Yf8RA4 http://amzn.to/168ww7N http://amzn.to/ZWaii6 http://amzn.to/12FdC4q http://amzn.to/15SAtO3 Thanks for your help.

I am building a few $600 gaming computers for my friends and I am not sure what CPU and MB to get. I need a 7870 or greater amd card because I am going to mine out Bitcoins to pay back for the machines. Here are the specs: Video Card: Radeon 7870 Memory: 2x4GB CL9 1600Mhz Storage: WD 1TB Cavear Blue PSU: Corsair Builder 430W Optical Drive: N/A Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 Other Questions: Should I go with an aftermarket cooler? Which One? Should I go Windows 7 or Windows 8?

Hey guys, I'm going to be building a PC soon and I would like to know what you guys would build with a $850 (with monitor) budget. If you can list all the part, that would be great!

Hello! My old headset recently broke, so I thought it might be a good idea to get a new set. What I wonder is which headset would be best suited for me? There are however some restrictions: My optimal budget is max ~105 euro. I would use them for gaming and general listening, a requirement is good surround sound with a decent "soundstage". I'd appreciate if you could tell me about your experiences with different headsets. I prefer closed headsets. It would be best if the headset used a USB sound card/3.5mm plug combo, such as the Orion Pro, since I'm not planning on buying a sound card anytime soon, but I'd like the ability to upgrade to one in the future. My favorite genre is Deathmetal, but I've got other headphones for listening to that. I would however like if the headset had clear audio first and foremost, but some bass would be appreciated as well. I do not plan to use a sound card, yet, so USB sound card would be neat. I Would like the headset to have a good microphone with little to none leak, and I would also like the mic to have a little "depth" to it. I.e, I'd appreciate if it was somewhat good quality. I've been considering the Logitech G35 and G430, but the ASUS Orion Pro seems like a good choice as well. What do you think?

Cooler Master Cosmos Build Log Hi y’all, I’ve been using an old Sharkoon case for my main gaming build. I actually have a build log in the forum. It’s called “Goni”. It’s really cheap, small, and the paint gets chipped of if you scratch it with your nail. So I decided to get a “new” high quality full tower case, so I can fit my radiator inside. I found an “old” Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 on a local store for 50 bucks. It was in great condition and it actually came with 4 fans. But, it’s silver and the cable management sucks. Last time I tried to use a dremel and paint a case it didn’t work out. This time I won’t cheap out. I will laser cut cable management holes, laser cut for a smoked window, and paint it professionally. But before we start with the build log, here’s the hardware that I’m using. CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-890XA-UD3 Graphics Card: ATI Sapphire Radeon 6970 Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16gb 1600MHz Storage: 2 WD Green 1TB, 1 WD Black 640GB Cooling: 360mm Radiator cooling GPU and CPU Case: Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 Power Supply: AZZA PSAZ-850B14 Dynamo 850W Power Supply Here’s a shot of the case that I bought Not too bad for 50 bucks, considering that a couple of years ago it cost 200 bucks. Now, here’s a shot of how my rig looks right now. Before I start taking apart the old rig, I want to prepare the case so I can send it away for painting and cutting. As you can see, the cable management is terrible, and it’s still bare steel inside. This is where the windows is going to go And these are the cable management holes that I’m going to make (Later on, I also designed a cpu mount hole) Here’s a shot of the case naked Time for emptying the WC setup Before I sent the case away, I tested the hardware to see how it looks and if I needed to order anything Turns out, I need some custom cable extenders and a couple of 45 degree fittings. Final update for now, the case will arrive in a couple of days! (I’m using stock air cooling until the case comes back)

Hello Linus Tech Tip Forums , about a few months ago I purchased a Xonar STX. Reading the review it seemed this was the right choice for me because I love to listen to music and i'm a borderline audiophile. However I was very disappointed with the price to performance ratio. I did notice a increase in audio quality and the built in amp was quite nice but, I feel the performance I was getting was not worth $200. With that kind of money I could have purchased things such as a second monitor or saved it for my next major component upgrade so I returned the card and that was that. However the problem still remains, I still would like a jump up from the sound quality from my integrated sound. So I have decide to lower my budget to $50, hopefully that will make me more satisfied with my purchase. Things that I use in my build that may be important Sennheiser HD 380 Windows 8 Gigabyte Z77 Extreme 4 Thank you for your time.

Hey guys I'm here for help again. So, I am on a quest to find a good pair of IEMs for under $50. I would not like to spend a lot of money so $50 is my max. I am mainly going to be using it to listen to comedy, rap, rock, pop, and maybe some audio books at my house. Any suggestions would be great, Thank you! -- Dominic

Hello just wondering what is the best psu to get for my budget any suggestions? Been interested in Corsair AX1200/Corsair AX1200i the main question also could be is it worth paying extra for a better 80 Plus Grade or isn't there to much to worry about getting a lower graded psu. Thank You!!!

Hello Everyone! I've been using my old PC for quite a while and have recently bought a GeForce GTX 660 for cheap. The people who sold it offered me to change my platform for really cheap as well, because i'm still running a PCI-E 1.0 mobo, which has a pretty obvious impact on gpu performance. The problem right now is deciding which CPU to get, since most of them are relatively in the same price range. (in my country). My current PC: CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 635 OC 3200 MHz GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Windforce 2X OC Edition 2048 MB RAM: Kingston DDR3-1066 4 GB (Will get 1600 MHz 8 GB with the upgrade) HDD: Hitachi Deskstar 7200 RPM 500 GB Motherboard: ASRock N68C-S UCC What can i choose from is: Intel Celeron G550 Intel Core i3-3220 AMD A6-3670K AMD A8-5600K AMD FX-4100 AMD FX-6100 So what would be the best to get? I sometimes do a bit of non-intense video editing or 3d animation and programming stuff, but other than that, not much on the multi-tasking side, much more on the gaming side.

Hi Guys! I think i may have configured the best sub $700 system but i want you guys to critique it. If it is good enough I am going to build this system in a month. I live in nebraska (Not many computer store here), and my budget (not Including an OS) is $700. I will be doing a lot of web browsing, gaming, word processing, Blender and Unity stuff. This is not included in the budget but I will probably be getting an Asus PB238Q monitor because I had heard it was a good monitor. Thanks for the input, here are the links. 965 Black Edition Corsair Vengeance 2 x 4gb Gigabyte - GA- DS3 Sapphire 7850 WD Blue 1Tb Samsung 840 Corsair Cx 500w Haf 912 Total: $692 I chose an SSD because i wanted a fast boot up time and I will be accessing random files a lot and I wanted the speed.

This is my desired specs http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WiLT Budget is around $750 without discount , rebate , shipping etc. Anything to add ? Should I take the SSD away in favour of a 7870 ? Or go intel ? Games i mostly play are(currently & near future) : DotA 2 , FIFA , GTA Series , Assassin's Creed Series . I hardly play FPS games. And if i do , I hardly play their multiplayer . THANKS in advance :D

Hello techies! I'm a computer builder/designer, and I want to make myself a gaming PC that will last for some time (throughout Uni at least). Unfortunately I feel like I'd build the wrong kind of PC, as I've NEVER chosen water cooling parts before, I've been given parts to hook up at work, but not really known anything about it. Basically I would like a PC with a budget of about £2000 (about 3150 CAD; http://bit.ly/11MVxRZ) that can be adequately water cooled (i.e doesn't need RAM cooling or anything silly like that, but CPU/GPU coolers definitely) Along with the gaming aspect though, I obviously want HDD space. When building a PC for medium storage, I'd go for 2-4 TB in 2 drives HDD and maybe a 128 GB OS SSD. But this time, I want SSD's that can record from FRAPS quickly, but not having the HDD being the slowest part of recording. I was thinking for my build 2x2 TB Seagate Barracuda and 2x2 240 SSD in RAID 0 So here's a list of components I would LIKE, but are too expensive, so my question to you techies is, what parts should I compromise on, and ALSO can anyone help me with pricing to the adequate water cooling components needed for it. Any comments on changing out parts for others are also REALLY appreciated (I admit I am a very biased builder) Hardware: CASE: NZXT Phantom Black / Cooler Master HAF X V2 - these are my favourite to build with, I know HAF V2 has good water cooling capabilities CPU: Intel Core i7 3930K Unlocked - This is one of my favourite cores, but very expensive, would a 3770k be fine for gaming? PSU: Corsair 800W Gaming PSU - 800W seems to pull in enough volts for what I need MOBO: Gigabyte GA-X79-UP4 - I like the black theme, but I'd possibly like more USB 3.0 headers RAM: Corsair 16GB PC3-12800 1600 MHz (4x4GB) - This may be a bad decision to go with the mobo, as it had 8 RAM dims, also what do you guys feel about having 16 GB for gaming? I'd also be editing videos, and Java rendering at Uni GPU: 2x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 - Not sure if this is overboard, and should go with a single, better GPU, like I said, very biased Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 - nice and cheap 7.1 surround WiFi: TL-WDN4800 450 Mbps - To utilise a university's internet speeds, and lack of Ethernet access SSD: 2x 256GB OCZ Octane - RAID 0 - better SSD ideas please? HDD: 2x 2TB Seagate Barracuda - No RAID. One for all normal files, and one for storing huge files (gaming videos, films taken from my collection) Optical Drive: Samsung 24x DVD/CD Re-Writer/Reader - generic DVD drive Card reader: Icy box 50-in-1 card reader - This is for images taken and uploads, as I'm an avid photographer, as well as my fiancé Fans: Noctua silent Cooling: This is chosen by you people if you don't mind Monitors: I'd like to say I know a lot about monitors, but I don't. My go-to monitors are always either: BenQ GL2450HM Samsung S24B300HL I'd like a dual set-up, on extended display Software from the outset: Windows 8 x64 CyberLink PowerDVD 10 Nero V10 Essentials Suite 2 Peripherals: Keyboard Something mechanical, I really can't make up my mind. Something like.... Razer Deathstalker Corsair Vengeance Steelseries Mouse Currently, I have a low grade perixx MX1000 iron, which I LOVE, so I don't think I'll go for a new one, but if I do, it might be Razer Naga Hex, League of Legends Edition Also, I have a Razer Goliathus control edition Speakers I have some incredibly old Creative speakers, in 2port 3.5pin, but I LOVE them, they won’t change Headset I have a Creative Fatality, that's getting a bit worn and has a very twisted cable, hints at a cheap, but good alternative would be appreciated This build currently comes out, around £2,600, without water cooling. This is why I need help on cutting out stuff I don't need. Just to point out, I'm not going for a 4k crysis 3 20fps build, but more of a generic, can play/record most games above 30/40 fps. What do you guys think of using AMD in this build? I never touch it, but it may be good for the price? This is a very chop/chase build, but I hope it helps in some way to understand me, and I know it’s a lot of work for whoever decides to help me! I really know nothing about water cooling. Thank you for reading until the end and possibly replying! Chris