If you're not opposed to getting things separately, then I have some recommendations and suggestions. There's also some info you should know if you want to get better value for your money. I've explained in the least technical way I can. Just ask if you have questions.

🎧 Headphones

---

Open-back:

• AKG K612 Pro
  
• AKG K701
  
• AKG K702
  
• Audio-Technica ATH-AD700x
  
• Audio-Technica ATH-AD900x
  
• Beyerdynamic DT880
  
• Beyerdynamic DT990
  
• Philips Fidelio X2
  
• Sennheiser Game One (headset)
  
• Sennheiser HD558/HD579
  
• Sennheiser HD598/HD599
  
  Closed-back:
  
  
• AKG K550
  
• Audio Technica ATH-MSR7
  
• Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro Plus
  
• Beyerdynamic DT770
  
• Sennheiser Game Zero (headset)
  
• V-MODA Crossfade M-100
  
   
  
  The first thing you should determine is whether you need sound isolation or not.
  
  
• Open-back: the earcups have perforations/openings that allow sound to freely pass through. This often provides a larger soundstage and better imaging.
  
  
• Closed-back: the earcups have solid shells that isolate sound from passing through to various extent.
  
   
  
  Next, you should figure out which sound signature you prefer.
  
  
• Balanced/flat/neutral: doesn't over- or under-emphasize the bass or treble.
  
• Warm: emphasizes the bass.
  
• Dark: recesses the treble. A headphone can be warm and dark.
  
• Bright: emphasizes the treble. Bass may be recessed.
  
• U-shape: emphasizes the bass and treble a little.
  
• V-shape: emphasizes the bass and treble more than U-shaped.
  
• Mid-forward: the mids are louder than the bass and treble. The mids may be emphasized or the bass and treble may be recessed.
  
  Sub-bass is where rumble lies. This is easier to find in closed-back headphones. Mid-bass is where impact lies.
  
   
  
  Lastly, you should know what sound characteristics constitute positional audio and pertain to immersion.
  
  
• Soundstage: is produced by the headphone, not the game. It's perceived space and environment of sound. It's the size of the sound field. A small soundstage makes the environment around you sound confined or boxed in. With a large soundstage, the environment sounds much more spatial, open and natural. You can't comprehend it without experiencing it.
  
  
• Imaging: is inherent to the audio content. It's how accurately the locations of sounds/objects are reproduced.
  
  
• Separation: is how you discern individual sounds from a range of overlapping sounds. This is only important for competitive shooters.
  
   
  
  Of the listed headphones, I have Audio-Technica ATH-AD700x, Beyerdynamic DT990 (600 ohms), Philips Fidelio X2 and Sennheiser HD598.
  
  
• AD700x: is bright with recessed sub-bass. It has clean bass and a little harsh treble. It has a huge soundstage, excellent imaging, separation and clarity, and great detail retrieval.
  
  It has a lightweight and durable build without flimsy and squeaky parts. The earpads are made of smooth, non-itchy velour and are very soft. They have a good size and depth for average sized adult ears and have very good quality. The clamping force isn't too tight or too loose for an average sized adult head. The wing design is a gimmick to me; the headphone slides down and rests on my ears, but using a headband cover like this prevents it from happening and makes the headphone extremely comfortable to wear.
  
  
• DT990: has emphasized mid-bass, recessed sub-bass, and very emphasized treble. The bass is clean. The treble is slightly splashy and somewhat sharp. It has a huge soundstage and excellent imaging, separation, clarity and detail retrieval. The 600-ohm version requires an external/dedicated headphone amplifier or a sound card.
  
  It has a lightweight and sturdy build without flimsy and squeaky parts. The earpads are made of silky smooth velour and are very soft. They have a good size and depth and have great quality. The clamping force is just right. It's extremely comfortable to wear.
  
  
• Fidelio X2: has emphasized sub-and mid-bass and treble. It has clean bass and smooth treble, meaning the treble isn't harsh, scratchy, splashy, piercing or anything else that's offensive to the ears. The soundstage is very wide, like the others I've mentioned, but it lacks some depth. It's probably only noticeable if you play competitively or compare it head-to-head with other headphones that are deeper. This affects the imaging from front to back somewhat. The imaging from left to right is excellent. Separation and clarity are excellent. Detail retrieval is great. The bass overpowers sound cues a lot.
  
  It's a little heavy and has a sturdy build without flimsy and squeaky parts. The earpads have great quality and are soft, very roomy, and made of smooth velour. The clamping force is more on the tighter side. The comfort is very good.
  
  
• HD598: is mid-forward with recessed sub-bass. It has clean bass and smooth treble. I haven't used it much, so my impressions of its competitive performance are that it has a large soundstage and good imaging, separation and detail retrieval. Clarity is excellent.
  
  It has a lightweight and sturdy build without flimsy and squeaky parts. The earpads are soft and made of smooth velour. They have a good size and depth and have very good quality. The clamping force is tight, especially when the headphone is new. It's comfortable to wear.
  
  

  
  

  
  I also compare to AKG K52, AKG Q701, HiFiMan HE400i (the revision), HiFiMan HE500, HyperX Cloud, Philips SHP9500, Monoprice Monolith M1060, Sennheiser HD700, Sennheiser HD800, Superlux HD662 EVO, Superlux HD668B, Superlux HD669, Superlux HD681 EVO, Tritton Pro+ and Turtle Beach Ear Force XP Seven MLG Pro.
  
  My evaluations are based on games -- not music. I test headphones mostly in BF:BC2, BF3, BF4 and R6S.
  
   
  
  

  🔊 Microphones
  

  
  ---
  
  

  
  

  
  

• Antlion ModMic 4: it attaches magnetically to a base that sticks to either earcup. It's easy to attach and detach and doesn't fall off unless you accidentally hit it or violently move your head around. The mic has a flexible neck and can be tilted up and out of sight. It has a very good build quality and great sound quality for voice chat. It's compatible with all headphones.
  
  
• V-MODA BoomPro: it inserts directly into the headphone, replacing the original headphone cable. It's compatible with Philips Fidelio X2 and V-MODA Crossfade M-100. It has a great build quality with an aluminum gooseneck and a tangle-free and braided cable. It has volume and mic mute controls. It has great sound quality for voice chat.
  
  

  
  

  
  Alternatives:
  
  

• Antlion ModMic 5
  
• Audio-Technica AT2020USB
  
• Blue Snowball
  
• Blue Yeti
  
• Massdrop Minimic (currently unavailable)
  
• Neewer Clip on Mini Lapel Microphone
  
• Samson Go
  
• Sony ECMCS3
  
• Zalman ZM-Mic1
  
   
  
  

  Additional gear and accessories
  

  
  ---
  
  

  
  

  
  Volume and mic mute control for use with DS4:
  
  

• adjustR
  
• Fosmon
  
• Insignia
  
• Lucid Sound AdjustR
  
  

  
  

  
  USB adapters:
  
  

• BENGOO
  
• Ugreen, single jack
  
• Ugreen, dual jacks
  
  

  
  

  
  Amplifier and DAC combos:
  
  

• Audioengine D1
  
• FX Audio DAC-X6
  
• Micca OriGen G2
  
• Schiit Magni 3 + FiiO D3
  
• SMSL SD793-II
  
  To use an amp, you need a DAC (digital-to-analog converter) because USB and optical are digital signals and PS4 has no analog outputs. USB DACs may reverse the left and right channels or not work at all, so I have only included DACs that use optical, which is completely reliable. You can use an HDMI-to-optical converter if you have Slim.
  
   
  
  Sound cards:
  
  
• Astro MixAmp Pro TR
  
• Creative Sound BlasterX G1
  
• Creative Sound BlasterX G5
  
• Turtle Beach Elite Pro TAC
  
   
  
  

  Setup
  

  
  ---
  
  

  
  

  
  To connect the headphone and ModMic, Minimic, Neewer clip-on mic, ECMCS3 or ZM-Mic1 to the controller, you need a Y-splitter with three black rings on the connector, which is called a TRRS or 4-pole Y-splitter.
  
  If you want to use an amp and a DAC, then the mic must connect to the controller with a Y-splitter. The headphone connects directly to the amp. To avoid this clutter, you can use a sound card / USB adapter instead. You may have to use a Y-splitter if it has just one jack.
  
  The BoomPro doesn't require a Y-splitter and works only with the controller, sound cards, and other devices that have a TRRS jack, meaning they are designed for headsets. The BoomPro doesn't work with amps and DACs.
  
  

Sure thing!

The Projector is the Optoma HD25-LV... For what it's worth, I didn't pay that price for mine. Not sure why that's $1800 now. I think I paid less than $700 brand new.

Screen - Elite Screens Spectrum 125-inch motorized

Speakers - Blue Octave... I had never heard of this brand. But I had a set of older sony speakers in there before and they were sounding tinny. So, I gave these a shot. I think I got them for around $100 for the set of 8, and they have been absolutely amazing. They sound great.

Subs - I don't have links to them. But they are both Sony subs. The one I got with a 5.1 set of speakers I bought a few years ago, and the other one is the exact same thing, I picked up at an estate sale for like $12. They're behind my seats.

Receiver - Sony STRDN-850 (current)... However, this arrived today. I bought this for 2 reasons. 1) We just had a pretty big storm roll through our area over the last couple of days. There was no lightning or thunder, but the power did surge a few times while I was trying to work from home in my theater, and at one point, the receiver shut down and wouldn't come back on. Then, after a while when it did, it wouldn't output video or audio. Audio has since randomly returned, but still not outputting video. 2) We recently spent a good bit of coin on our back yard, and have a nice area to entertain, which we plan to do more often. The new receiver will allow for multiple zones, and I'm planning on putting an outdoor theater out on our new patio

Gaming PC - Ryzen 5 1600x CPU, Asus Strix B350-f motherboard,Asus Strix GTX 1070, 16gb RAM built into a Rosewill 4u server chassis. I replaced the front intake fans with these to add some character. Single 250gb NVME SSD for OS, and single 525gb SATA SSD for game storage. 20tb of drives in a Windows Spanned Volume acting as a backup for the media server.

Media Server - Dell R710 with dual xeon E-5630 CPUs, 36gb RAM. Two 128gb SSDs in RAID 1 config for OS, then 6 (soon to be 8) 5TB Seagate drives in RAID 6 for data. 20tb of potential media storage.

The rack - I actually got this for free. I work in IT and a company I was consulting for had their entire IT staff just walk out one day, which is why I was there. Apparently, they had stockpiled the previous 5 years worth of the company's hardware refreshes in this storage room. One of the things we had to oversee was a massive e-cycling job to get rid of all those old PCs and things. They were going to pay this other company we subcontracted by the pound to haul it all away, so I talked to the boss and we both agreed that anything I took was going to ultimately save them money. So, I got like 8 SSDs, about 6 i7 CPUs, some RAM, 5 monitors, and then I took that roll-around rack, and two of my teammates took these brand new Dell 4-post racks.. I didn't have room for those giant things, so I let them take those. This has been great. The only drawback is the door is warped and won't close. So, it's currently taking up space in my basement.

As for what I like... It's hard for me to pick. The projector has an amazing picture once you get it dialed in. It has several options to adjust the image, whether it be keystoning, or image shifting of some kind. So, it's not hard to get it lined up. My only complaint is that it tends to move. This room is one of our basement rooms and is right underneath our kitchen and family room on the main floor. The projector is mounted right onto the joist in that floor/theater room cieling, so when people walk through the kitchen, it tends to bounce. I find myself having to readjust it about 2-3 times per month. An annoyance at most, and not at all a negative of the projector. What I love about the projector is what a stark difference it has made. Version 0.1 of this home theater, was a white sheet hung up with thumbtacks and about a 10-year old 720p projector I won at a company auction back in 2007-2008. So, that one was on it's last legs anyway. I'm pretty sure the bulb was dying. Add that to the brand new bright bulb in the Optoma, combined with the increase in resolution... Massive improvement.

I don't have a link to the chairs, we bought them from a dealer here in town. But if I HAD to pick a favorite item in that room, it's going to be the chairs. I spent a LOT more on them than I intended to furnish that room, and they're so big, I had to take the door to the room off and cut 2 studs out of the wall to get them in there (it was a narrow door). But, they have electric reclining, which is a pretty cool feature, and they lay waaaaaay back, almost completely horizontal. The headrests are also motorized to INCLINE. So when you ARE completely reclined, you don't have to manually hold your head up to see the screen... They're soft, and warm... They'll be in my house for a long time regardless if I have a home theater or not.

The subs add an element of immersion. I've had surround sound systems for years, but never have I had the space, time, money, and patience to 'architect' it from top to bottom like this before. So, the first time I felt the bass kick really good during a movie or game, I was pretty much hooked. Speaking of immersion, I added the dynamic backlighting behind the screen last summer. It's 2 Phillips' Hue LED strips. One running the length behind the top of the screen, the other behind the bottom. I use this free software called ScreenBloom to control the color of the backlight in real time. Since everything I do is via the gaming PC anyway, I just have it run there. The creator says it will work on all movies (which it does) and most games (though I haven't found a game it didn't work on yet). It basically takes a snapshot of your screen every X miliseconds and then generalizes the color and sets the hue to the closest matching color in it's range. You can set the refresh rate for it to fit your preference, and you can also set zones. So, if you have multiple Hue lights, you can assign that light to a specific section of the screen. It's a really cool piece of software. This adds a whole new level of immersion believe it or not.

While I love my lapdesk setup, it is not anywhere NEAR where I want it to be yet. I have searched high and low for a decent 'living room' lapdesk setup for gaming and while there ARE more and more options coming, the demand just isn't high enough for companies to dedicate resources to developing for it. So, over the last 18 months, I've bought and returned about 8 or 9 different lapdesks, and finally settled on this one from iSkelter. My criteria was, it had to have room for a keyboard, mouse, and a gamepad (all seen in the pics), and it had to fit across the arms of the chair. This lapdesk by itself was sufficient, but my gripe with it was having to completely get up out of the chair to put it down when I was watching a movie, and one of the dogs wanted to get up in my lap. I wanted something to swivel into place and out of the way depending on whether or not I needed it, and I didn't want to have to get up to put it 'away'. So, after some real hard thinking and strategic google-fu for pretty much a solid month, I stumbled across this company. They make electronic attachment brackets for police and military vehicles. I looked over their components catalog and liked what I saw. So, I emailed their sales and explained what I was trying to do. Within minutes, they responded, and asked for measurements of my chair, lapdesk, etc; then within 24 hours they got back to me with a parts list. The whole mount cost about $200. But, it has worked brilliantly. Like I said, this solution isn't QUITE done yet. The mount screws into the wood lapdesk right in the center, and it's wobbly. It will suffice for now, but I'm going to keep poking at that until I get it right.

I know I didn't quite answer what I liked or what my favorite part is. But, as I said earlier, it's hard for me to pic a favorite. The whole thing has been challenging to solve a host of problems one by one, but now that it's where it is, it's all so satisfying.

Feel free to ask if y'all have anymore questions.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor |-
CPU Cooler | *Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | £84.99 @ Amazon UK
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-G1.SNIPER Z97 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | £128.83 @ Amazon UK
Memory | Kingston Savage 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory | £114.82 @ Amazon UK
Storage | Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | £51.99 @ Amazon UK
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | £63.00 @ Amazon UK
Video Card | *Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card | £289.99 @ Amazon UK
Case | *Corsair 450D ATX Mid Tower Case | £93.95 @ Amazon UK
Power Supply | *Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | £179.50 @ Amazon UK
Operating System | *Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) | £72.99 @ Amazon UK
Other| Logitech C920 HD Webcam| £48.00
Other| Blue Microphones 2070 Yeti Blackout Tri-Capsule USB Microphone| £110.00
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | £1238.06
| *Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-22 17:17 GMT+0000 |

Things I changed:

Processor cooler:

While the Corsair H100i is great (I own one myself), the NZXT Kraken X61 is just better in sound levels and performance. It's bigger as well and will not fit in all the cases.

Motherboard:

The Gaming 5 is extremely overpriced at amazon. I'd not recommend it as it does not offer any great features for that price.

The Gigabyte GA-G1.Sniper Z97 is a good alternative. Decent overclocking and great onboard audio configuration. If overclocking is more important the Asrock Z97 Extreme4 and the Asus Maximus VII Hero. The Extreme4 is cheaper as it doesn't offer a lot of the (unecessary?) features Asus offers.

If just overall features is what you want the Asus Z97-Pro(WiFi-ac).

RAM:

Changed to a similar priced RAM kit. It runs at the same speed, but this one has lower timings and still fit in your red/black theme.

SSD:

The M500 SSD is becoming outdated. It's already replaced by the MX100 series. They are a little more expensive, but use better chips and will give you better read/write speeds and overall endurance.

HDD:

The Black series from Western Digital are really overpriced and I don't recommend paying so much for it. For just 60% of the price of the black you can get a good HDD from Seagate.

Case:

While the 450D is not a bad case, there are plenty of better cases out there. Offering more features for a cheaper or similar price. The Corsair Spec-03 Red is a gamer focused case for a good price. It's sturdy and comes standard with 1 red led fan!

The Fractal Define R5 window just recently released, so it's not the cheapest. However it does offer a huge amount of features for the price. Sound dampening material on the inside of the panels is one! It's really modular as well!

The NZXT S340 is a great priced and slick looking case. It doesn't give you the option of using 5.25" / optical drives.

The Phanteks Enthoo Pro is regarded as the best case for the money. It offers the most features for it's price, which is still fairly high.

The NZXT H440 is another great looking case from NZXT, but a bit more expensive than the S340. It's still a great case though.

Power supply:

Similar story to the case. It's a great power supply, but fairly expensive. There is a non "i" version of the 860 which I'd recommend. It doesn't offer corsair link, but the software has not much of an value IMO. It's a lot cheaper this way.

The EVGA1000 P2 is an amazing power supply with a huge amount of wattage for a good price. Unfortunaly there is not 750w / 850w version of it.

The Seasonic SS760xp2 is almost identical to the Corsair AX760 for a very similar price.

You could save yourself some money by getting a 80+ Gold certified power supply. They only have a 2% lower efficiency.

The EVGA G2 850w is the one to go to. Great price for it's features, which semi-passive cooling is one of!

So there's a few things with this.

Firstly, you're not going to be able to get a great gaming PC for $400. You'll be able to play stuff with it but don't come into this expecting super max graphics ;)

As far as your PC parts go, so long as you feel your HDD is OK, that's the only thing to keep for a new build. That being said, if you're currently using it as the main OS drive for your current PC, consider doing a clean OS install onto the drive when you build the new one, assuming you have any important things backed up etc. first.

CPU: Intel G4560 ($70)

GPU: RX 460 ($90)

Motherboard: ASRock B250M Pro4 ($74)

RAM: 8GB DDR4 ($55)

PSU: [Seasonic S12II 520W](https://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-S12II-520-BRONZE-SS-520GB /dp/B00390P1NO/) ($45)

Case: HAF 912 ($60)

Total Cost: $394

Just using mostly Amazon and Newegg for you. Keep an eye on pricing, I've quoted full prices yet these parts do have rebates on from time to time, which could save you more money :)

So my main choices for the parts was based like this. Firstly, you're not going to get a better CPU without spending another $50 onto the i3 7100. Because of the choice in CPU, the RX 460 is the best performance for the price. You could spend more onto a more powerful GPU but you're not going to see the benefit with that CPU. Motherboard is a modern board for the current Intel chipset, so you should be comfortably able to get upgrades for this for a good number of years to come. As part of that, I've given you a single 8GB stick of DDR4, leaving you plenty of free slots on the board to upgrade your RAM in the future. DO NOT USE YOUR OLD RAM. The PSU is powerful enough to be able to handle bigger CPU and GPU's if you want to do bigger upgrades to those in the future and the HAF 912 case gives you plenty of flexibility for size and design internally to cover that too.

All told, that's about as good as you're going to be able to do for $400.

First suggested upgrades would be to spend around $50 on a SSD to use as an OS boot drive to make the system a little bit more snappy. Next upgrade would be for a more powerful CPU some point down the line, followed by GPU.

No problem, good to see such a detailed response.

2x4 is going to be slightly faster than 1x8 because it utilises dual channel. I said that 1x8 is going to be better for expandability because going for 2x8 in the future will be faster than 4x4 (sounds unintuitive but it is because it is running in dual channel). Personally, I chose 16GB (2x8) because I'm interested in playing games such as PUBG which is known to struggle a bit with only 8GB due to a lack of optimisation, and my budget was a decent amount higher. Although, to be honest I don't think you will see a very big difference in terms of gaming performance (dual channel vs non-dual channel). If you think you will ever upgrade to 16GB, I would go with 1x8, otherwise 2x4 will do well. You can always upgrade to 4x4 in the future if you like. Sorry for not giving an easy solution but there is no correct answer here really. Feel free to take a look at some benchmarks (here and here) to see the difference. Basically any 2400MHz+ RAM with a 14 or 15 latency from a reputable brand will be fine.

I totally agree with the choice to go for 500GB.

That GPU will perform well, but is allegedly very loud. If that is something that will concern you then perhaps look elsewhere if you can, if not then it is a perfectly fine 1060 3GB. Just be conscious that it might really annoy you.

Case recommendations aren't my strong suit, I personally went with the NZXT S340, not because it was particularly great but because I couldn't find anything else that looked better in my opinion. You should try to find a case with good airflow, quality (and quantity) of fans, and a nice design. It also needs to be an ATX case that supports LGA1151 motherboards. I would recommend seeking additional advice from others on this subreddit.

Good choice on the PSU, looks fine to me.

Again monitors aren't something I know a whole lot about, you'll have to ask r/monitors about that one.

Always happy to help :)

Yeah, I tend to agree. But you can find gamer stuff that's not too bad. Laptops are big offenders like some of Asus' ROG but some is better than others. Something like the HP Omen isn't too bad (it would be better if you could make the back-light white). Some of Dell's stuff looks pretty professional, they just don't tend to reach the same high-end specs unless you get into Alienware or something. Lenovo makes some laptops with good gaming specs that aren't too bad. They do make a more stereotypical 'gaming' line as well though.

A big negative for most stuff is the garish red LEDs. Make it white or RGB so you can change it. IDK why red is the default color and not just a black/white (and thus grey and even aluminum) color scheme isn't the standard. I don't want my laptop to look like it goes in a rice burner from The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift.

Now, I have a Sager laptop that's pretty clean looking and I use some Corsair stuff and they tend to keep it pretty clean looking as well. Say what you want about the RGB-fever, they have designs that aren't garish with crazy lines. Their more basic keyboards look pretty clean as well (Ducky and DasKeyboard are really good mechanical keyboard choices though), their mice aren't too bad either. Just set the RGBs to one color like white and not a strobing rainbow and you can keep a clean aesthetic

Not all "gaming" stuff is made equal though, that's for sure. Sometimes it is a chore and a little compromise to get good gaming hardware that doesn't look awful.

Awesome, thanks for that.

This will handle the consoles switching with one HDMI port using one button - nice and clean:

https://www.amazon.com/Splitter-TeckNet-Bidirectional-Switcher-Supports/dp/B07SWJG2DY/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?keywords=hdmi+switch&qid=1574052012&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyNkdYV1hFVk8xNEFJJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNjczNzY3Mk43MDBQN0ZaVU0wRyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODg3Njk4OUtFMUhRT0lFVjFGJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

​

With the mouse and keyboard... If you are focused on gaming, you could probably do better for the price. But, at the end of the day, Logitech is a good brand and if you like the feel and happy with them - then its a good choice for you :-)

I'm assuming (let me know if any of it is wrong):

• Your Omen Laptop has Mini DisplayPort
  
• Your MacBook Air is Type C only
  
  ​
  
  With your monitor being 1080p 144Hz, this presents an interesting challenge as i assume you would like to keep that functionality. So i can provide 2 options, one that might keep the high refresh functionality on your gaming laptop and will cost a lot more (but would be a cleaner 1 button solution) or the one i would do to save a buck and will definitely keep high refresh (2 button solution):
  
  ​
  
  Option 1:
  
  In THEORY (only because i haven't tested it and can't say for sure - maybe someone else with first hand experience can chime in) you could get a DP KVM that can do 4k 30fps which would maybe allow for 1080p 120fps
  
  Like this:
  
  https://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-2-Port-DisplayPort-Cable-Switch/dp/B076ZDQDN4/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=displayport+kvm&qid=1574051617&sr=8-3
  
  (or find one specifically stating it can do 1080p 144Hz with DP connectors)
  
  ​
  
  If it does work, then you would need:
  
  

1. Mini DP to DP adapter for the Omen Laptop
   
2. Type C to DP adapter for the MacBook Air
   
3. Type C to Type A adapter for the MacBook Air USB
   
   ​
   
   It would 100% work and give you output but as i said, i cant guarantee you'll keep high refresh with this KVM and its a bit of an investment on a hope. But will allow you to click one button and have everything swap over.
   
   ​
   
   Option 2:
   
   Get a USB switch to toggle only the USB devices between the computers. This means that you would have to switch the display input on the monitor manually but it wont affect any high refresh rate.
   
   https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-Selector-Computers-Peripheral-One-Button/dp/B01MXXQKGM/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=kvm+switch&qid=1574051808&sr=8-5
   
   ​
   
   Then i would get the following for connecting to the monitor and computers:
   
   

• Type C to DVI adapter for the MacBook Air
  
• Mini DP to DP adapter for the Omen Laptop
  
• Type C to Type A adapter for the MacBook Air USB
  
  ​
  
  Hope this helps - let me know if you need me to clarify anything and feel free to check me out on youtube ("TechLens" - same pink monitor logo as on reddit) Like, share etc if you want to say thanks! :)

This unit scored 4.5 out of 5 on Amazon. Please note that this model is discontinued and there are many refurbished units available. This looks like a refurbished unit. I would check warranty. Pass if 180 days or less. You can get a 1 year warranty on a refurbished unit if bought from the Dell Outlet. I paid $360 new from Amazon in December right as these were being discounted/discontinued. You will also need a keyboard & a mouse ($25-50), a headset with mic ($10-100+) and possibly a monitor ($100-150).

You are not going to get an unbiased opinion on a pre-built PC in a sub-reddit called buildapc. These are a great buy at ~$360 for new(er) units. These can be use for low to middle desktop gaming but are designed as an affordable set-top PC console. For the listed games, this unit will do okay to very good (not great to mind blowing fabulous) graphics.


Things to know:

• These are made to hook up to a HDTV and only have a single HDMI port for graphics. There is no VGA port. Thus, you will need a monitor (or TV) that takes HDMI or DVI (DVI requires a HDMI to DVI cable or adapter).
  
  
• The default interface is called HiveMind and built on top of XBMC/Kodi and will launch Steam in Big Picture Mode. This computer interface is designed to be controlled with a controller. Many PC games support a controller. However, 3 of 4 games you listed are best played with a mouse and keyboard.
  
  
• For audio output, these only have HDMI and S/PDIF ports. Because your son wants to play online with friends, he will need a headset with mic. You can use a [Xbox 360 headset ] (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_11?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=xbox+360+headset&sprefix=xbox+360+headset%2Caps%2C169) that plugs into the game controller ($10-25). - OR - Get a USB audio adapter ($6) and use a standard wired headset ($10-100). I recommend the USB audio adapter if desktop gaming. My unit had a problem that when the game controller shut off the PC audio would have problems. If you hook to a TV, look into getting a wireless headset ($50-100+) or again a headset that hooks into the controller.
  
  
• The game controller for this unit is wireless and requires 2 AA batteries. I recommend getting rechargeable batteries and a charge base ($25) because the controllers eat batteries and need a place to live when not in use.
  
  
• Plan to get an extra wireless xbox 360 controller for when his friends come over or he needs a quick controller swap.
  
  
• Plan to upgrade to Windows 10.
  
  
• For this unit a SSD swap down the road is recommended and an extra 4GB of memory while you are at it.
  
  
• There are 5 USB ports. 2 in the front, 2 in the back, and 1 hidden on the bottom. I found it's actually pretty easy to run out of USB ports. My configuration: one for the wireless game controller dongle, two for the keyboard & mouse, one for the USB audio adapter.
  

I've been helping people pick computer parts a lot lately, and here's my go-to current build (as in, where I feel price/performance is optimized)--it's usually around $1000, NOT including monitors. I built two for my company (minus the video card), and they are wonderful. If you want to compare: CPUs, GPUs.

>Case: Corsair 200R, $73

>http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-200R-Compact-CC-9011023-WW/dp/B009GXZ8MM/

>Cases cheaper than this price point will become flimsy, break, literally cut you, and otherwise fall apart over time. I like the way the 200R is, too--no LEDs, no weird shapes, and 2.5" drive slots.

-

>Motherboard: Asus Z97-A, $145

>http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Z97-A-DDR3-2600-Motherboards/dp/B00K2MAU5Q/

>This is a medium range motherboard with PWM case fan pins: an extremely quiet combo. It's more important than you think.

-

>CPU: i7-4790K, $336

>http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i7-4790K-Processor-Cache-BX80646I74790K/dp/B00KPRWAX8/

>While we're on CPUs: GHZ MEANS ALMOST NOTHING FOR PERFORMANCE. My 2Ghz i7 in my Mac outperforms my 4Ghz 2500K in my desktop. It's annoying that it's even mentioned in anything but overclocking guides.

-

>Memory: 16GB Corsair Vengeance (2x8GB), $130

>http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10/dp/B006EWUO22/

>I find myself always using >8GB. Task Manager tells me I'm at 9GB with lots apps but no actual games open.

-

>Graphics Card: EVGA GTX 960, $210

>http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Dual-Link-Graphics-02G-P4-2966-KR/dp/B00SC6HAS4/

>The 960 was recently released, but the 750 and the 900 series are very powerful and power efficient, and EVGA makes great cards.

-

>PSU: Corsair CX 600W, $60

>http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Builder-Watt-EPS%C2%A0-CX600/dp/B0092ML0OC/

>I skimped on a PSU once (it was "Diablotek"). It took my motherboard and a stick of RAM with it when it died.

-

>SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB, $135

>http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-75E250B-AM/dp/B00OAJ412U/

-

>OS: Windows 8.1 Full Version (not OEM), $100:

>http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-8-1-Full-Version/dp/B00EDSI7QO/

Current total: $1189 + tax, way over budget, so...


>The PSU can be replaced with a 500W EVGA for $17 less:

>http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-80PLUS-Certified-ATX12V-100-W1-0500-KR/dp/B00H33SFJU

-

>The SSD can be replaced by a 2TB 7200RPM drive, where you won't need a 2nd HDD but booting will be much slower, for $60 less:

>http://www.amazon.com/HGST-Deskstar-3-5-Inch-7200RPM-Internal/dp/B003GSLDRC/
(and get the sata3 monoprice cable)

-

>The GPU can be replaced by a GTX 750 Ti, for $65 less, but at a ~30% loss to graphics power (although it's still a great card):

>http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Superclock-Dual-Link-Graphics-02G-P4-3753-KR/dp/B00IDG3IDO

-

>The CPU can be a non-K version (at very little/no performance loss), for $36 less:

>http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-i7-4790-Processor-BX80646I74790/dp/B00J56YSLM

>The next step down in terms of CPU is an i5-4690, at ~30% less CPU power, for $80 less. I personally wouldn't go there.

This is at $1015 + tax--still over budget, but going much cheaper really starts to bite into your experiences (and if anyone here can recommend anything to save money, I welcome it).


As for monitors, if you're playing EVE, honestly I'd recommend a 2560x1440 monitor because spreadsheets. However, since those start around $300, my go-to cheaper monitors are the not-bad 22" 1080p ones that can be had for around $140.

>BenQ 24" flicker-free (for comfortable viewing) 1080p TN panel (for faster response times), $140:

>http://www.amazon.com/BenQ-GL2460HM-24-Inch-LED-Lit-Monitor/dp/B00IKDFL4O/

-

>Dell 22" 1080p IPS panel (for better colors and viewing angles), $134:

>http://www.amazon.com/Dell-CFGKT-IPS-LED-21-5-Inch-LED-lit-Monitor/dp/B009H0XQPU/

Source: I've done IT for the past few years, and done dozens of computer purchases/builds.

Notes: I don't buy AMD or ATI unless it's an extreme budget build. I don't buy off-brand because I've had parts break and then not have an RMA available; I've had good experience and RMA support with Corsair and EVGA. You don't really need a CD/DVD drive; you can install Windows from a USB key, but if you're unsure, CD/DVD drives are like $15. If you go with Intel/nVidia Maxwell, you won't really need a >500W PSU.

I don't like to skimp on computers much because, economically, if you're spending even 5-10% of your time waiting for your computer and you earn $10-25/hr, $1000 is paid for in somewhere between 2000-250 hours of use, yet the computer will last at least 3-5 years.

Hmm. Okay well my build is a bit different than that because its loud as hell, has a large gpu for gaming, and is a desktop build more than a home theater build.

If you want to build it yourself, check out r/buildapc.

If you want to do the least amount of research (which I don't recommend, because everyone should know what parts they are picking out and why), check out r/buildapcforme.


But a few tips:

Come up with a budget. Check out www.LogicalIncrements.com. It basically shows the best parts you can buy per price point.

Determine the amount of disk space you want, and allocate enough of a budget for the drives. This isn't an issue for light users, but some of us have 4+ TB of media. If you want to set up Sonarr or Plex, anticipate growth.

Determine the number of streams you want to be able to run. My i5-4690k (OC'd) can handle at least 3 streams at original quality (transcoding). That may be overkill for some people but I share my library with by siblings.

The sound issue is going to be a matter of the case and fans you use, and to a small extent, the quality of the disk drives. I can hear my drives going when the computer really warms up, but I kind of like the sound. It's a reminder of the crazy vast amounts of work it is really doing.

This is my case, and I highly recommend it. It's very quiet with the original fan, and the open structure of the paneling makes it an absolute joy to work in.

That being said, you can find the right parts, and put together an HTPC case which is much smaller and perfect for home theaters. But it is not easy putting together a good build in a small case. It requires a certain finesse.

That's all I can really recommend for now but shoot me any more specific questions if you've got them. I love building pc's and have been learning about it pretty steadily for many years now.

Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E250B/AM)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OAJ412U/?tag=pcpapi-20

Sentey XPP725-HS Xplus Power Supply 725 watts, Computer ATX Desktop Power Supply, 140mm Sleeve Bearing Fan, Quiet Fan, Sleeved Cables, 115/230 AC Power, SLI Ready
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SN6VN7W?psc=1

Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-02 Mid Tower Gaming Case
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I0MKMG2/ref=psdc_572238_t1_B00I6BJATW

Here's a screen shot of my 'system' page:

http://imgur.com/WDAIAEd

I have an NVidia GT 630, and my Motherboard is the Asus CM6330. My concerns are the following:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487077

Should I invest in this GTX970 right now, or wait for the GTX1070? I don't play that many intensive games, but when I do, I want to play them at decent quality. The GT630 is awful for that. Is it worth it to spend the $80 more? Is it probable that I'll even get the card right away in June, considering the number of people preordering and getting the card?

I'm sold on that SSD.

I'm sold on that mid tower. It looks sleek, and it seems to have enough ports for everything I need. Concern: is it big enough for the GTX970 / 1070? I'm almost certain it is, but would love confirmation.

I'm hesitant with the power supply. That power supply is on sale for $45 with Amazon Prime, from $100. In the event that I want to add more parts to my rig, it would be nice to have the extra wattage to be safe. But should I just go with an EVGA 500W 80+ PSU? Or is this one perfectly fine? Which is best for the case I provided?

----
Taken verbatim from my older post. Is the SuperNOVA 550 GS from EVGA good? And I'm wholly aware that I'm bottlenecking because of my CPU; however, I plan to upgrade it extremely soon after this first set of upgrades. So, basically, this will get my build set up to run pretty well right now, and then I'll get it to full potential soon. I'll definitely see a difference between a GT 630 w/o SSD and a GTX 1070 w/ SSD.

I wouldn't recommend getting USB or surround sound headphones. They come in two types and both are mediocre as well as limiting. You have your headphones with multiple drivers, which reviews will time and time again say are off. Multiple smaller drivers in a circumaural headset next to year ear? Diminished sound quality as well as limited directional accuracy. The other option is to get a set that use virtual surround, but these are going to be USB only. My experienec with USB headphones tells me this is not worth it. Needing to install drivers, potential voltage dropouts from USB charge not being stable, popping (that shit HURTS and is what caused me to throw out my last USB headset), as well as not being able to plug it into more devices. The 3.5 millimeter standard is MUCH better to have here for its versatility and simplicity. If you would like USB, as another user suggested a functional reason for it (though the same could be achieved by using the front audio ports because most computers will still distinguish between headphones and speakers if you use the front ports), they do sell cheap USB adapters that often have their own virtual surround drivers. I'd recommend this over a dedicated USB headset. The lack of versatility and problems associated are worth keeping your setup modular. If you would like to have virtual surround but your soundcard/motherboard doesn't have driver support for it, then I really suggest grabbing the Razer Surround drivers for free.

Okay, wall of text is over! What SHOULD you buy? That's a crazy question. If you're looking for a headset (headphone+microphone), I'm personally a fan of the Logitech G230 which is one of the better price/performance options out there. They are not the highest quality headphones but they are sturdy (important!) and comfortable (double important!). The sound quality coming through them is more than passable. Sometimes I forget I'm not listening to speakers, even though I've been using them exclusively for months. The mic quality is mediocre and requires some boosting, so that should be known.

If you're just looking for headphones without a microphone, this is NOT the place to be asking that question. Audiophiles know headphone gear much better than gamers do, but generally don't know anything about headsets because the low-quality mics headsets use aren't of much use to audiophiles.

If you got through all that, congratulations and I hope it helps you! Just make sure to check reviews on various sites (or just Amazon, if you're lazy like me) and don't pick up anything with less than a 4/5 rating. Good luck!

Budget:$100-$150
Desired:Logitech Z-5500( i wish) Looking for a good surround sound or a good 2.1 system
Use:Movies, anime, netflix, etc. I watch alot on my pc
What i own now: I have an onkyo stereo with polk surround, sadly its been cutting and i cant find the problem. its pretty old so its expected to finally be going
Source of audio: I run from my pc, But i have an external soundcard this
Why: Mostly watching things like streams of most of the things i watch and live sports etc
Buy used?:No


I would go with soundbar but i dont have the room on my desk for the long unit. i have 2 polk audio on the desk now. about 2 feet tall so i have the room for those but a sound bar would stretch across and it would interfere with my monitors and some other stuffs. Im looking For good sound.. so it doesnt need to be surround sound but i would like a powered set. so with a powered sup and speakers is preffered.. Im very interested in these although i dont know if that is what im want..

I realize also that with my sound card im unsure if i can connect whatever i want via RCA to the speakers or whatever it is im going to use. Two volume knobs is also my concern, will they be assigned to one volume or one controls pc voluime and one for the speakers themselves since its on the powered speakers.

Im pretty knowledgeable when it comes to computers but in audio... well i can put it all together with my eyes closed but if you were to ask me what specs mean i would probably drool. Just looking for general knowledge of what i could go for i have looked at the Logitech Z506 and just wasnt impressed.. Seem very flimsy and cheaply made.. Although i hear many people tell me that logitech sound is great. Im used to having a serious set up.. since i was a kid i would just put my own stereo together but unfortunatly i dont have the room for 3 foot speakers any more.. or 600 bucks to spend.. if i can go with monitors like the HiVi's i linked that would be idealy the size im interested in. I hope this is enough info that you guys need to answer what im looking for and appreciate anyone who gives some advice! Thanks audiophiles!

Alright guys here goes!


First of all I'm using a Intel Movidius neural compute stick to accelerate the raspberry pi's ability to read the graph of a pre-trained MobilenetSSD. I'll move on to training with my own data shortly - https://software.intel.com/en-us/movidius-ncs


This is a great tutorial regarding getting started with the Movidius . I made a few modifications so the presence of an object would halt or trigger a function or method - https://www.pyimagesearch.com/2018/02/19/real-time-object-detection-on-the-raspberry-pi-with-the-movidius-ncs/


This all requires a raspberry pi camera board v2 and an extra long ribbon to allow for head movement -
https://www.robotshop.com/ca/en/raspberry-pi-camera-module-v2.html
https://www.robotshop.com/ca/en/300mm-flex-cable-raspberry-pi-camera.html


As for the head it's a Lynxmotion pan and tilt kit, I bought the servos separately -https://www.robotshop.com/ca/en/lynxmotion-pan-and-tilt-kit-aluminium2.html?gclid=Cj0K


I use the Pigpio library for the servos. Which works with a surprisingly low amount of jitter considering - https://github.com/joan2937/pigpio


I also created my own custom functions in conjunction with the pigpio library in order to add delays to the servo rotation whenever I need, giving me the ability to animate his movement further.


I'm struggling to reliably stabilise his ultrasonic range sensor so I'm thinking of moving on to lidar once I get back to the UK but you can grab a cheap HC-SR04 sensor for ~$5 easily -https://www.robotshop.com/ca/en/hc-sr04-ultra01-ultrasonic-range-finder.html


I use the Adafruit motor hat, specifically designed for the Raspberry pi - https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-Motor-HAT-Python-Library.
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-dc-and-stepper-motor-hat-for-raspberry-pi/overview


The hat works in conjunction with some pretty hefty 12v DC geared motor, although I don't remember their RPM. Either way they allow for some pretty granular movement that gives the anthropomorphic vibe I was looking for!


As i mentioned below too the treads are Lynxmotion and the chassis is Lynxmotion and part debris form the prototype build. the lynxmotion chassis is great because it has a bunch of space to house two battery packs and excess wire. One pack for the track motors and one pack for the servos -
https://www.robotshop.com/ca/en/lynxmotion-tri-track-chassis-kit.html


Throw in a bunch of 1/2 size perma-proto boards from Adafruit, some custom circuitry, a max98306 stereo amplifier, a powerboost 1000c, a 5v lipo, a Ugreen USB sound card, 2 8 ohm 0.5w speakers, some hacked up acrylic housing from an old Arduino Uno, and you have a surprisingly powerful sound system -
https://www.adafruit.com/product/987
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-powerboost-1000c-load-share-usb-charge-boost/overview
https://www.amazon.ca/UGREEN-Universal-3-Position-Headphone-Microphone/dp/B01N905VOY/ref=pd_bxgy_147_img_2/131-4509517-7844215?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01N905VOY&pd_rd_r=14e1a4dc-62b7-11e9-af2b-df456cd2a423&pd_rd_w=rTNLv&pd_rd_wg=z1Y3n&pf_rd_p=a62e2918-d998-4bbb-8337-35aac776e851&pf_rd_r=KJNTZV474QCZ8NXNA09X&psc=1&refRID=KJNTZV474QCZ8NXNA09X
https://www.adafruit.com/product/571


To play sound within the program itself I just use the os library and aplay.


For speech synthesis I use a Marytts local text to speech server - https://github.com/marytts/marytts.


Add to that some simple use of the Python format method, a library of random phrases I'm slowly building and you have a talking robot.


Oh hey and it's worth mentioning that the raspberry pi itself is powered by a simple portable charging bank and that power to the tracks, head, raspberry pi and sound are all on separate circuits with switches for the sake of debugging.


In terms of how the recognition affects movement. I have a detection method running in one thread. If an object is present according to the pre-trained model it assigns the object class to a global attribute. In the main thread I have his movement methods running - that can literally do anything so long as the object/objects isn't present - otherwise the method triggers a return statement and he moves on to the next function in the main program etc.


Now I have all of this up and running I'm hoping to have him follow the object he's been assigned to find! Hopefully I'll have a video of that up soon :D

I may come back and edit this if I mess something up, but I'll try to be as granular as possible and give links because I sure wish I would have had someone help me when I was building this. I will say this, I looked for these items over time and waited until I found good deals.


Case:[ Corsaire Air 540] (http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Series-Airflow-CC-9011030-WW/dp/B00D6GINF4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421547180&sr=8-1&keywords=corsair+air+540) - This is a large case. However, I have built many PC's and this is the best case I've ever used. All of your cables are hidden, so you have a very clean build with very easy access.

Proc: i7 4790K - I got this on sale for $279. Although I don't need to, I can very easily use the ASRock to overclock to 4.5 ghz straight from the OS.

Video: EVGA GTX 760 SC (I got this at Microcenter for $230.00) - As mentioned, I run three 1900x1200 montors with this. For games - I can run anything (to date) at 1900x1200 on ultra when the Proc os overclocked, unless it is just coded crappy. Lately I'be been playing ESO and Wildstar, but I've also done Bioshock Infinite and The Vanashing of Ethan Carter (beautiful game) as well.

Ram: Crucial Ballistix Elite 16gb - See my comment below on ram.

Motherboard: ASRock z97 Motherboard - Believe it or not, I got this for $86 at Microcenter.

Firewire Card: Syba FW Card with TI Chipset - This is low profile, but comes with a full size bracket. Works great with the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40.

OS: Windows 8.1 Professional

PT Version: PT11 (Latest Build)

Audio Interface: Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 - Make sure you get the latest software for this and run PT as administrator. I had to do this before the Midi would work right through the Saffire.

Proc Cooling: Corsair Hydro 105 - Do your research. There are a lot of cooling options. I had this in a separate machine and really like it.

Case Fans: Corsair Air Series AF140 LED Quiet Edition High Airflow Fans - One again, there are a lot of options with fans. These matched my case and are relatively quiet. Iknow the Noctua stuff is really awesome too.

Power Supply: Corsair HX850 - This might be overkill. I got this because I game some on this system and figured I would add another GTX 760 at some point. Also, not sure you need the HX. You might be able to go with a lower end PSU.

Video Monitors: Two of these are Lenova which I already had and are not included in the build price. The other, I just got and it beats the Lenovos significantly. It is an ASUS PA248Q 24-Inch LED-Lit IPS Professional Graphics Monitor. I use these large monitors because my eyes are bad from years of IT work, staring into monitors. Imagine that. This would be overkill for many as they take up a lot of space.

HD1: Crucial MX100 512 gb SSD. Everybody gets Samsung, and even I have one in my purchased gaming rig. However, before you do that, read this review from Tom's Hardware on the MX100. I'm completely sold on this SSD. I got this for $180 on a Newegg sale.

HD2: [Seagate 3tb 7200](Seagate Desktop 3 TB HDD SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 7200 RPM 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST3000DM001) - It is a platter HD I put my sessions on, nothing more. I've never seen a slow down.

A couple of other notes.

1. I use a service SOS Online Backup to back up my sessions so in case of a drive failure I don't lose anything.
   
   
2. If I could change anything about this - I would have bought a motherboard with Thunderbolt. However, I think it was a $200 price difference at the time, so I stayed with my budget and I've had no issues with the firewire.
   
   
3. I'm a singer songwriter, so this setup geared for me. I think it would work for just about anyone, but I've seen some of the mixing engineers on this forum say you may need more ram if you ar running huge sessions. The biggest song I run is probably about 25 tracks (including buses), few of which would be simultaneous, and I've never used more than 1/2 my ram.
   
   If you have anymore questions let me know. I had this info an a word doc from when I was planning - so I'm glad I was able to pass it on. I hope this helps.
   

should probably check our /r/headphones

It depends what your onboard is and how terrible it is. I use this creative usb as the input for my modmic 4. I use a yulong u100 as my output dac/amp to my Senn HD598s for gaming, but use a Bifrost Uber and Lyr 2 to drive my hifiman HE500s.

I just tested my mod mic with onboard, my portable xonar U3, and the creative usb. Onboard without mic boost was inaudible, with mic boost it's ok, but not great. The U3 has no mic boost and fell half way between onboard without boost and with, but sounded much better. The creative USB with boost off was about the same as the U3, but with boost I have to turn the gain down to about 70% or it is overbearingly loud. I position the mic about 1" from the side of my mouth as it's supposed to be placed.

output impedance is pretty high on the STX, the usual 10Ω found in soundcards. The DAC in it is decent, but the output stage is pretty blah. You're better off with a real headphone amp.



If you're getting ready to piss $200 on an STX, skip it and buy a Magni 2/Modi 2 stack or O2+ODAC for the headphones, then a something like an X-fi go for mic input.

You can do everything with a laptop, I do it all the time and the crowd doesn't seem to care. I typically play for college parties sized at 50-200 people. I have gone through 3 mixtracks in the last 4 years thanks to drunk people spilling drinks on them. After last time, enough was enough so I stick with a good USB mouse and a USB soundcard. Fancy shit does not make up for a shitty DJ; a truly good DJ will be just as good regardless. You think big name DJ's use equipment live? HELL NO! Even Deadmau5 says "we all hit play":

http://deadmau5.tumblr.com/post/25690507284/we-all-hit-play

Ultimately, you are limited by the software, so I recommend getting any DJ software that supports two sound cards. If you do that, then you can copy my setup.

CDJs/Controllers are essentially expensive KEYBOARDS! Besides, using a mouse and keyboard, you can find music on your computer and online TREMENDOUSLY more efficiently. Use your favorite piracy method to answer requests when people ask for their favorite song. Moderate to some degree, but people love when you play their song. You'd be surprised how many songs that you hate and everyone else loves. Having access to WIFI or ideally ethernet internet is best to access whatever song you could think of. Set it up so your downloads go straight to your DJ music folder.

I recommend vk.com to get your music in conjunction with this chrome extension that allows you to download from the site:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/vkontakte-music-downloade/eifflpnfppfheimpmmagplbanbceajjn?hl=en

All you would need physically is a 2nd sound card for headphones, just get this one for under $7:

http://www.amazon.com/Syba-SD-CM-UAUD-Adapter-C-Media-Chipset/dp/B001MSS6CS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370938166&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+soundcard

Connect your headphones to your laptop, connect the speakers to the usb thingy, get familiar with your DJ program's shortcuts (or set your own), download some tunes, and ENJOY! Get used to alt-tabbing between chrome and your DJ program to answer requests.

You can get vinyl wrap from a number of locations online, often used for automotive panels. I had leftovers from a furniture project that used a black wood grain vinyl wrap for drawer fronts. Amazon link below. I just used that because it was handy. It worked great, but if I did it again, I might search for a faux carbon fiber print, which looks really cool for ... anything.

I just cut a 1/2" plywood sheet to 24" x 24". Drilled and countersunk the mounting holes for the wall studs, and drilled holes for 1/4-20 threaded inserts for the VESA mounting plate. Big wood screws probably would have worked too, but the threaded inserts seemed like a good idea. Then I sanded the panel, vacuumed it thoroughly to get the dust off, then applied the vinyl wrap, which is just a big sticker. You never want to completely remove the peel away backing from the vinyl sheet before applying it. It is too sticky and easily ruined if it sticks to itself or you try to peel it off of another surface. Peel the backing sheet about 4", stick it to one end of the panel surface, then slowly and carefully rub the sheet flat across the panel while pulling the backing sheet away progressively. You only get one chance to apply it correctly. Trying to pull it off of the panel will likely tear up the plywood. Then use an Xacto knife to trim any excess, and wrap the ends like a present. Finally, mount it to the wall with long drywall screws, attached the VESA plate, and hang the chassis.

• Vinyl sheet that I used - Anything will work
  
  
• Threaded inserts
  
  
• 1/4-20 x 1/2" Truss Head Screws
  
  
• VESA Mounting Plate
  
  
• Black Cable Mounts - Must be screwed to panel or will eventually pull the vinyl sheet away from the panel from the weight of the cables.
  
  
• Slim USB DVD Drive - Sits on top of the power supply.
  
  I taped the DVD drive to the power supply with this, which is thick, super strong, and yet removable without shreading or leaving any gunk or glue behind. That tape also works fantastically for mounting LED strips, the best that I have tried so far. It's rubbery and doesn't feel super sticky and can be pulled off fairly easily - at first. After about a minute, it bonds really well to any surface, then takes a lot of effort to pull up again. Great stuff !!
  
  

So here is my long overdue suggestion & rationale.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor | $310.00 @ MicroCenter (combo)
CPU Cooler | Corsair H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $96.99 @ Best Buy
Motherboard | Asus Z170-AR ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $140.00 @ MicroCenter (combo)
Memory | Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory | $70.00 @ MicroCenter
Storage | Samsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $304.65 @ Amazon
Storage | Western Digital Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive | $70.00 @ MicroCenter
Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB FTW Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card | $679.99 @ B&H
Case | Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX ATX Mid Tower Case | $170.00 @ Amazon
Case Fan | 2x NoiseBlocker NB-ELoop B12-2 51.1 CFM 120mm Fan | $40.00 @ Amazon
Case Fan | 3x be quiet! BL065 59.5 CFM 140mm Fan | $62.70 @ Newegg
Case Lightning| NZXT Hue+| $60.00 @ Amazon
Power Supply | EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $100.00 @ Amazon
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $89.99 @ Amazon
Monitor | Asus PG279Q ROG Swift 27.0" 165Hz Monitor | $799.00 @ B&H
Keyboard | Corsair STRAFE RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard | $129.99 @ Best Buy
Mouse | Mionix Castor Wired Optical Mouse | $70.00 @ Amazon
Headphones | Sennheiser HD 598 SE Headphones | $144.88 @ Amazon
Mouse Pad| Vipamz Extended XXXL| $12.00 @ Amazon
Audio| Schiit Fulla| $79.00 @ Schiit
Audio| USB 2.0 Type A to Mini-B| $7.00 @ Amazon
Optical Drive| External optical drive| $26.00 @ Amazon
Thermal Pasate| Arctic Silver 5 Thermal + ArctiClean| $11.00 @ Amazon
Thermal Paste| Microfiber Cleaning Cloths (8 Pack)| $9.00 @ Amazon
Tools| Magnetic Screwdriver | $5.00 @ Amazon
Microphone| Samson Meteor| $70.00 @ Amazon
| Prices include shipping, taxes and discounts | NO rebates!
| Total | $3557.19
| Generated by Kiwiandapple | ♥

You should be able schedule the initial interview as soon as 12-24 hours after signing up. I think from my sign up date to hire date I completed the entire process in 4-5 days! Which was awesome because I desperately needed work at the time! You choose when to do the interview based on the available time slots. However, there are trying something new where you can do a completely self-recorded initial interview, which has some advantages I'm sure. You will have more control over exactly what you are sending them and hopefully show something professional enough to get above $18/hour and closer to $20 or $22!

I would not invest a lot into props unless you are hired by VIPKID. In every stage of this hiring process, you will have access to the power point of what class you will be pretending to teach, so you can find those props ahead of time around your house, or make a few simple drawings. So while in practice you will need a variety of versatile props, the interview is all about getting a very specific case correct. All I purchased was a large white poster board to hang behind me, some post-it note letters to create an alphabet on the sheet, and use markers to draw some colorful shapes/animals/people/etc. on it as well. I would recommend, however, buying a small handheld dry erase board! They are so versatile and it is a small investment cost to apply for this job and look way more professional. I also purchased a nice attachable microphone which I will link below. Don't get too obsessed with finding tons of awesome props, though. Many applicants often focus too much on props and not enough on their communication skills!

If you are hired, I also have a whole list of what props and setups to get then. I'm all about keeping it simple and not having my supplies take up a whole room in my house! :D

This microphone is awesome if you want to turn your good headphones into an amazing headSET!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R98JVVU?ref=emc_b_5_t

Just get an attachment like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Adapter-Windows-AU-MMSA/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=pd_bxgy_23_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00IRVQ0F8&pd_rd_r=DEJHY7WRFT67AY404A9J&pd_rd_w=5fpY3&pd_rd_wg=jPQH8&psc=1&refRID=DEJHY7WRFT67AY404A9J

or

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-headsets-separate-headphone-microphone/dp/B004SP0WAQ/ref=pd_bxgy_23_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B004SP0WAQ&pd_rd_r=FBN4YFJYQDXP8FHBXX06&pd_rd_w=VZKVa&pd_rd_wg=y9wMc&psc=1&refRID=FBN4YFJYQDXP8FHBXX06

I bought everything in B&H so that I didn't even have to wait for shipping!

My list for mobile/portable operating would look something like this...

For a man portable setup I could carry in a pack, the highest capacity LiFePO4 battery I could afford.

Otherwise, if I'm driving out to a fixed operating site, then the biggest AGM deep cycle battery I would care to lug from the car a short distance to the operating site.

A lightweight computer with good battery life so I don't have to worry about external power for it out in the field. I'm not really a Mac guy, but I'd probably bring my Macbook Pro for this task.

The TS-480 doesn't require a Signalink/Rigblaster type interface for digital operation, but you will need the following items to interface to your computer...

• USB to serial converter. Don't buy the Prolific chipset garbage, save yourself the frustration and spend the few bucks for something with an FTDI chipset.
  
  
• Kenwood PG-5H data cable set. You can also make this if you want, Your TS-480 should have shipped with a plastic baggie with the connectors in it to make this (pinouts are detailed towards the back of the manual). Or, you can get them on ebay. I bought mine mainly because hate soldering stuff to DIN connector pins.
  
  
• Serial cable, straight through, female ends. Cheap and readily avaialble.
  
  
• If the laptop you're using doesn't have separate speaker out/mic in jacks, then a cheap USB audio adapter.
  
  The filters aren't truly necessary and the unit is pretty frequency stable without the TCXO, but they sure are nice to have. If you were going to put a filter in it, I would recommend the 500Hz CW filter. It comes in handy when you're trying to zero in on a particular signal or block adjacent strong signals. The DSP filtering is generally adequate, but a strong enough signal is going to swamp the AGC and that's when the crystal filters come in handy to notch that out.
  
  If you do get the TCXO, don't waste $110 on the Kenwood SO-3. The cheap Chinese TCXO's work just as well and can be had for much cheaper. I got mine from ebay for 20 bucks or so, but now you can even get them on Amazon with Prime shipping and everything.
  
  Antenna choice is highly variable. Out here in the deserts of New Mexico, you don't find much in the way of trees, so a wire antenna deployed up into a tree is out and a self supporting vertical is in. I generally pack an MFJ 1979 telescoping vertical whip with a clamping antenna mount or a collapsable fiberglass pole that I can hoist up a length of wire with. Your own situation, available terrain, bands you want to work are going to be the determining factors here.
  
  This page has some useful notice on power draw of the TS-480 with some operating scenarios and battery sizing options. A lightweight, power sipping QRP rig the TS-480 is not, but it's still very usable for portable operations.
  
  

How soon do you plan on building this? If you can wait a couple months the NVIDIA GTX 880 will be out soon, and it's supposed to be around the price of the 770 when it came out (about $400, US). This is probably the worst time of the year to build a computer. Devil's Canyon and Z97 did just come out, but Intel is still do for X99 and Haswell-E, NVIDIA is releasing Maxwell, and AMD probably has some stuff being announced soon.

Otherwise it looks good, the only things I would change would be the power supply (for an EVGA SuperNOVA), the motherboard (to something from ASUS), I would maybe get a cheaper SSD as the 850 Pro series don't really offer much more for the premium. An 840 EVO or a Crucial MX100 of the same price would be the optimal as far as price/performance. I would also recommend against getting a 7.1 headset, I've tried them and they're terrible, as an alternative I'd get a cheap pair of studio headphones like the Audio-Technica ATH-M50 and a desktop microphone.

Edit 1: I would recommend getting a case with better airflow as well. Something like the Phanteks Enthoo Pro is a good value case with much better airflow, and has a nice aesthetic.

A lot of building a computer is figuring out how components fit together, as well as their name.

I like to start building my PCs by selecting a processor to build around. For instance, Skylake processors are pretty new and more efficient than previous processors, so I opted for the Core i7-6700.

I then chose a compatible motherboard. The Core i7 is a socket 1151 processor. So I looked for a motherboard that met that criteria as well as my desired memory capacity (32 GB). The ASRock Z170M Pro4S fit that criterion: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157637


After that, I chose a compatible case. The Pro4S is a micro ATX motherboard, so it can fit in a micro ATX case or even mid ATX or full ATX. However, a mid will not fit in a micro and a full will not fit into a mid. I went with a mid tower: http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-SPEC-01-Tower-Gaming/dp/B00I6BJATW

Next, I chose a power supply. If you look up the wattage on the motherboard and processor, it doesn't add up to much, but if you start adding extra hardware like graphics cards, sound cards, network cards, etc. you are going to need to draw more power. 430W was enough for my build, so I purchased a Corsair CX430M power supply unit.

Last, I selected a storage drive. SSDs (solid state drives) are a lot faster than HDD (hard disk drives) because they have no moving parts, whereas an HDD uses a magnetic disk. That's what I went with - the downside is that they cost a lot more money for the same amount of space. I purchased a Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB SSD.

That's pretty much it for required parts. You can get a video card if you like as well, for better performance in gaming. The case and PSU come with the right cables and screws you need. The SSD comes with a SATA cable. So, on to assembly...

Your case comes with an I/O panel/shield. Install that from the inside of the case. It should sort of snap in when you have everything aligned right.

Take the motherboard out of its packaging and set it on a clean, solid surface. Take the processor out (being careful to not touch the pins too much and especially try not to damage them). Insert it into its socket in the proper orientation (see the included manual if you're not sure how - there are indicators on the motherboard that assist with this). Lock it in place with the lever. Mount the motherboard in your case and install the standoff screws. The CPU comes with a stock cooler (fan), get that ready. The stock cooler should come with a thin layer of thermal paste pre-applied to the bottom, but if it doesn't, you'll need to get your own - apply a small amount (like the size of a grain of rice) to the processor. Set the cooler down on top of it, aligning the twist screws in their holes. Lock them down by twisting them to the right. Plug the cooler into the motherboard. You should be able to find a connector that matches the plug near the processor, most will be 4-pin (I actually don't think I've seen one that wasn't).

Mount your SSD in the appropriate place in the case. Cases typically have a bay area specifically for storage drives. Screw it in place and attach the SATA cable to the only connector on it that fits. Plug the other end into the motherboard in one of the plugs labeled "SATA".

Hook up the front panel LED and switch cables, they're already in your case. They're very skinny and typically have labels on the side. You may need to look at your motherboard manual to see which goes where and the correct pin position/orientation.

Next, mount your PSU in the case. It will go either above or below the motherboard, depending on your case. Screw it in tight. From here on, you should be able to find the correct places to plug in the power to the motherboard. There's a motherboard power connector somewhere near the CPU, there's also a special power cable that goes to your drives.

Hook up all your power cables, monitor cables, etc. With any luck, the computer will turn on when you press the power button. If not, you'll have to do a bit of troubleshooting. That's the gist of it though, and hope this helps you. I wrote this from memory so I could be missing some stuff, if anyone wants to chime in.

I looked at the specs of the case, and it says there's 15+ inches from the rear of the case to the drive cages, so it should fit your EVGA 1070 (which is about 10.5 inches, I think -- I've got the non-FTW version so it should be the same exact length as mine). I've liked and used Coolermaster cases in the past, so that one looks like it has plenty of good reviews. I haven't used that model before though.

One thing: You're buying a non-k CPU, which is fine, but it's curious that you picked a Z170 motherboard. Typically you get a Z170 for overclocking K CPUs, so unless there are specific features of that board you like, you can save a lot of money by going with a H170 or a B150 motherboard.

Technically you can overclock non-K Sky Lake CPUs in Z170 motherboards but I think you need to flash them with older bioses or something, (Intel asked mobo manufacturers to remove that feature) so I don't know if it's worth it for you, plus if you really wanted to OC a non-K i5 Sky Lake chip, I hear it's better to get an i5 6400 as it's easier to OC and get into 4+ghz territory, than the i5 6500. But, if you don't plan to OC at all, just get that i5-6500 (it's a good CPU) and a H170 or B150 motherboard to save costs.

edit: fixed typo on motherboard numbers

• 750 Watt Power Supply. $89.98
  
  
• Generic Corsair Case. $64.99 You can shop around for something better looking for a little more money.
  
  
• DDR4 3200 RAM (2*4GB Sticks) for $147.99 and DDR4 3200 RAM (1*8GB Stick) for $160.32. You can also drop to 3000MHz and save like $5-10 but not worth it in my opinion.
  
  
• GTX 1060 3GB for $304.99 or GTX 1060 6GB for $389.99.
  
  
• i7 8700k for $449.99 or i7 7700k for $422.96. 8700k is 8th gen and 7700k is 7th gen. You can drop to any processor around an i7 7700 (No "k") without seeing issues I'd assume. WoW is a processor heavy game though. Still my i7 8700k only ever reaches maybe 30% useage that I see.
  
  
• Heat Sink + Fan. Cooler Master is good. $34.99
  
  
• i7 8700 will require a 300 Series Motherboard like ASUS ROG for $141.50 or ASUS Prime for $84.99. The 7700s will take a 200 series motherboard like this one for $129.61 or this one for 149.99. Basically just make sure it has all the hook-ups you need (sound and USBs and shit) with the proper chip set and supports DDR4 RAM with minimum 1 PCI Express slot for your GPU.
  
  
• Samsung 860 Evo 500GB SSD for $179.94 or the 250GB for $109.94. Any decent SSD will do. Make sure it has enough room for your OS and the game(s) you play. You can use any regular HD to store other stuff on. Samsung is a good brand for them.
  
  When trying to decide on what power your PC needs a good website to use is http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/ - it'll give you a general idea since I get confused with all the "i7/i5/i3 XXXX gen X" nonsense too.
  
  That'll build you a tower. Then you just need external components. Monitor, keyboard, mouse, headset, chair, desk, etc. Depending on what you have available and stuff it can vary so I'll let you price out that stuff.
  
  $1,358 pre-taxes if you go with i7 8700k, and GTX 1060 3 GB. For the tower. Taxes in, plus all the other components you're still looking at pushing close to $2000. That's CND I think. If you do a little shopping around you might get a decent deal on a few items and look into different price points between AMD and Intel if you choose their Board/Chip/GPU combos.

TLDR: Need better audio to record from PC to high-end tape deck, and from high-end tape deck to PC. Would be nice to use as headphone amp, but not required. C-Media based external sound "card", Fulla 2, or Modi 2 - and why?

​

Long version:

I was using my internal sound card to record to a high end tape deck and I could hear the electrical noise from the video card and CPU (audible buzz when CPU and GPU utilization is 50% or higher). So now I'm looking for an external DAC or sound card.

Seeing how a cheap USB "Sound Card" such as the $10 uGreen (https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-External-Headphone-Microphone-Desktops/dp/B01N905VOY) is just an external DAC, makes me wonder would that serve it's purpose? Or is the C-Media HS-100B not all that good?

A huge step in the audio spectrum is the Fulla 2 vs the Modi 2. Lets say the C-Media is crap, so I'm looking between these two Shiit products. For my purpose, I can probably go for either, right? Both at $99, using the PC as the source (and sometimes the recording destination), either would work, right?

I was thinking Fulla 2 would fit my needs better because at the same price, it has a built-in amp for the times I want to use it as a portable external DAC/Amp, which I can't do with the Modi 2. The Modi 2 would just be a dedicated DAC with a line-level out, where the Fulla 2 can serve as a line-level out, line-level in, AND will serve as a decent headphone amp for those occasional listening sessions.

I plan on gaming on my Logitech G930, so the DAC will only be for audio recording (both line out and line in, to and from a tape deck).

The tape deck, if you're curious, is a JVC TD-V661 3-head dual capstan deck from 1993.

​

EDIT: I just realized the Fulla 2 line-in is just to use it as a dedicated analog amp and NOT as a line-in for PC recording. Oh well. Still seems like a better value compared to the Modi 2. Again, would like to know if I'm missing anything (why go for the Modi 2 over the Fulla 2?)

You could probably roll with a similar Ryzen 7 build that I have, I think it came together quite well. I'll edit this when I'm not on mobile with my pcpartpicker. I like the Corsair Air 540 as a nice case that's easy to put together for first time builders.

May I ask what you're using this PC for? A Threadripper is great for workstation stuff but gaming you're not really getting much benefit from it over that. You also have room to upgrade in 2019 to the 7nm Zen 2 stuff if you really want to flex.

EDIT: Something like this is my build. Some of the parts aren't popping up and I hunted around for sales a bit, so I think it came around to $2000 when I built it over a month or two. The Corsair Air 540 isn't showing up properly because it's out of stock right now, but I love this case. The layout is really nice for being not too obnoxious but still showcasing your parts. There's no PSU or HDD bays clogging up the viewing window. It's very nice, and you seem to like Corsair from your parts list.

Anyway, I don't really imagine a regular, non-professional use case that demands a Threadripper. I know you said you don't like saving money just for the sake of saving money, but think of it as investing that extra money into higher end parts elsewhere. I don't even have 3.5" HDDs since SSDs have gone down in price so much. Why not skip the Threadripper and grab a second M.2 drive, among other niceties? Hell, the price difference from a 2950x and 2700x gets you from a 1080 Ti to a 2080 Ti, if gaming is your primary use case (and you should probably wait for benchmarks to see what's going on with that anyway).

And I'm not going to completely shill AMD, but you can totally just wait and see what Intel and AMD have planned for the rest of the year (and you should, because benchmarks are the most important thing to wait for).

TL;DR: You don't need a 2950x for gaming but maybe if you're doing hardcore video editing and 3D modeling or something it'd be nice (ie: if this is a workstation that you game on now, not a gaming PC), also, wait for benchmarks.

I posted this on buildapc, but didn't get any results. Hope it's okay for me to post this here too. It's a question that involves the use of a steam link.

I've got a pretty silly setup for couch gaming right now which is a result from my lack of proper research (no wireless support) before buying certain accessories. When I'm couch gaming on my TV, I'm hooked up through something like this:

Couch->XBox One Elite Controller (Wired)->Roccat Sova (Wired)->Steam Link (Wired)->PC

I'm looking to get my couch set up to be microphone friendly. My current plan is to get a USB microphone adapter to plug into the Sova, and then have my microphone/headset plugged into the adapter. (https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Adapter-Windows-AU-MMSA/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=pd_cp_23_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00IRVQ0F8&pd_rd_r=MM9NND2RJ7HJBB9CBDRY&pd_rd_w=LGle5&pd_rd_wg=DI0MR&psc=1&refRID=MM9NND2RJ7HJBB9CBDRY)

Would this work, or is this not enough? Do I need an external soundcard or something to have audio come through the usb in the Sova?

The other option is to hope for Steam Link to support wireless connection for the XBox One Elite Controller, and see if I can insert a microphone directly into the XBox One Elite Controller. If anyone can help out with this, I'd really appreciate it. My couch gaming setup doesn't feel very efficient, but thats also due to Steam Link not supporting the controller I have over wireless.

CPU - Ryzen 5 1600 ($194.99) 

Motherboard - MSI B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 ($88.99)

RAM - Corsair Vengeance LPX 8gb ($92.99)

Storage - Seagate Barracuda 3.5" 2tb ($59.99)

GPU - MSI GTX 1050 Ti ($224.99)

Power Supply - Corsair CXM 550w ($59.99)

OS - Windows 10 64bit ($99.99) 

Wifi - Asus PCE-AC55BT B1 ($34.99)

Card Reader - Rosewill RDCR-11004 ($25.99)

Case - Corsair 200R Mid Tower ($59.99)****


TOTAL: $942.90 (Before Taxes) 

****This case is a placeholder. It works in this build, but I left room for you to choose your own.

Make sure the case is a Mid Tower ATX case, and has at least one 5.25 optical drive bay. 

-------------------
SPECS----

CPU: Ryzen 5 - 1600 (3.2ghz 6 core) 

GPU: GTX 1050ti

RAM: 8gb DDR4

Usb2.0: 8

Usb3.0: 2

Usb3.1: 4

Card Readers: Yes

Disk Drive: No

Wifi: Yes

Bluetooth: Yes (4.0)

HDMI: Yes

Ethernet: Yes

------------------
LINKS----

CPU: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XNRQHG4/?tag=pcpapi-20


Motherboard: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XPM7FSR/?tag=pcpapi-20


RAM: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ARHBBPS/?tag=pcpapi-20


Storage: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01IEKG402/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile


GPU: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137055&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=


PowerSupply: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B72W0A2/?tag=pcpapi-20


OS: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZSI7Y3U/?tag=pcpapi-20


Wifi: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0713RRZMB/?tag=pcpapi-20


Card Reader: https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-2-Port-Internal-Connector-RDCR-11004/dp/B007YDJJFS


Case: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009GXZ8MM/?tag=pcpapi-20

***Oh, and if you need help with how to do it this guy is pretty good.
https://youtu.be/IhX0fOUYd8Q

1:- I do not know what resolution you will be playing at, but anyway, the GTX 1050 ti can play
-1080p med-high at around 45-75 fps.
-1080p max settings at 30-55 fps
-1440p max settings at 25-30 fps.
Also, it depends a lot on the game. Battlefield 1 runs at 60fps on 1080p max settings and around 40 fps on 1440p max. But, ashes of the singularity runs at 1080p max settings on 29fps. So, it depends on the games you play you can probably play your games on 1080p max settings at 50-60 fps so no problems there.

2:-8 GB of RAM is enough for gaming right now, but there are some games that recommend 10 gb already. Buy a single 8gb RAM stick so that you can upgrade in the future. 8 GB will last you for around 2 more years if you wanna play the absolute newest and most demanding games, otherwise you can last for maybe 3 years before you have to upgrade.

3:- if your case already comes with one or two fans, they are enough. Even having one fan won't let any overheating damage occur. For your build, one fan is more than enough.

4:- you can use Ethernet instead of buying a wi fi card. Having a wired connection is so much better than wi fi. A wired connection is usually 6-10 times faster than wireless. Also, nobody uses optical drives these days, games are all downloaded online. If you use an Ethernet cable, you can download games from steam really, really fast and your entire library will be on your PC for whenever you want it. and also, you can return games on steam. Also, steam sales are insane and you can normally always get a brand new game from steam for 50% off. So, WiFi cards and optical drives are not essential, everything else is.

5:- instead of getting windows shipped to you, you can download the windows iso for free from the official Microsoft website and you can copy it to a USB, then build your PC and plug the USB in. Then, you can either install Windows without using the activation key and get notified every 5 minutes to activate Windows, or you can buy a windows key from the many keystores on the web for 20-50 dollars. R/Microsoftsoftwareswap and playasia are good places to get windows keys.

6:- thermal paste is included with you cooler(I recommend the cooler master hyper 212 Evo),you can buy twist ties if you want,sata cables,power cables, etc are included in your stuff, buy screwdrivers, and also buy anti static wrist bands and a magnetic tray for all of your screws.

7:- I do not recommend hunting around in brick and mortar stores because you can get better deals online and it is also possible that you don't find a good deal on a part and have to go to another store and so on and so forth. It is both time consuming and not cost saving if you hunt around in brick and mortar stores. Also, I recommend the NZXT S340 mid tower case because it is cheap and is one of the best cases I have used, it also looks really sleek and classy. Check it out

Ok here are my suggestions based on the prices of Amazon Mexico.

CPU

The i3-6100 and the Pentium G4400 are both decent choices for your daughter. Al though the i3 is more powerful, the Pentium will still run low-end games decently, if you don't wish for groundbreaking performance. The i5 is probably overkill. Alsom you probably don't need a CPU cooler.

Motherboard

https://www.amazon.com.mx/Gigabyte-GA-H110M-H-Motherboard-Chipset-PCI-Express/dp/B01FB6TEMC/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1478960159&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=h110

Doesn't look too expensive, but will serve its job. If you can find a cheaper one, you can go for it instead.


RAM

https://www.amazon.com.mx/Kingston-HX421C14FB2-Memoria-Hyperx-DDR4-2133Mhz/dp/B01D8U27YU/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1478960538&sr=1-3&keywords=8GB+RAM

Looks like the cheapest 8GB stick of DDR4 RAM, if you find cheaper from renowned company sticks, go for them.

Storage

You may want to either go for a 1TB HDD+ 120GB SSD, 1TB HDD, or a 240GB SSD. I do not think that 120GB SSD is going to be large enough for your daughter, as she will need to store Windows, games, software, and documents in it.

GPU

https://www.amazon.com.mx/Sapphire-460-2-GB-GDDR5-HDMI-PCI-E-Tarjeta-11257-00-20-G/dp/B01J1M4H8I/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1478961001&sr=1-1&keywords=rx+460

The RX 460 is your best choice. This one is a 2GB version, but it will run the likes of Dota well.

Power Supply

That power supply is actually decent, but this one is a better option, and doesn't look too expensive.

Case

I like this Corsair one, but you may want a cheaper case. I haven't found great cases cheaper than this one myself.

Peripherals+Monitor

That monitor is good. The peripherals are your choice since that's personal preference. The monitor should come with a DVI cable if I'm not mistaken.

This isn't easy or simple, but it is possible. You will need a separate microphone of some kind.

Get one of these:

https://en-us.sennheiser.com/pcv-05

This separates the audio from an Xbox One controller into separate microphone and headphone plugs.

If your controller is an Elite, you can plug this directly into the controller.

If not, you'll need an adapter like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Afterglow-LVL-Headset-Adapter/dp/B017VLXJ7G/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_63_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VKQJ85AC83ZD52576QFZ

Now run 1/8" stereo cables from the headphone and microphone leads of the Sennheiser adapter and either plug them into the inputs on your PC, if they are available. If not, you can add more inputs by adding a USB audio adapter like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/external-Adapter-Windows-Microphone-SD-CM-UAUD/dp/B001MSS6CS

In the Xbox, enable your headset and send party and game chat to the headset only. (You can also use speakers, but then you'll only be able to control the chat audio levels in the Xbox, not in OBS.)

If you're not already using it, get VoiceMeeter Banana and set it up according to its manual:

http://vb-audio.pagesperso-orange.fr/Voicemeeter/banana.htm

Voicemeeter provides for three hardware inputs, three hardware outputs, and three audio buses. It creates a virtual device to be used as the default Windows audio output. Check the quick start section of the manual.

Then what you want is to set your Let's Play microphone as hardware input 1, and your Xbox headset as hardware input 2 (either the mic input of your PC or your USB adapter).

Hardware output 1 should be the headphones you use while playing (not the Xbox headset, we're not even going to use it!) and hardware output 2 should be either your PC's headphone port or the USB audio adapter, depending on which you are using.

Now what you want to do is enable the appropriate busses for hardware inputs so they get output to the proper places. That's what the buttons labeled A1, A2, A3, B1 and B2 are for.

You want to make sure that the hardware input for your microphone and the hardware output for your xbox adapter are on the same bus, and that this is a separate bus from the one where the hardware input from your Xbox adapter is on the same bus as the hardware OUTput for your headphones.

This means that you can hear your buddies on Xbox chat, and they can hear you through the microphone you are using to record in OBS.

When you are done, you should ideally have 3 audio inputs in your OBS setup: your microphone, your xbox headset input, and your game audio (from whatever your usual capture method is). You should be able to control volume levels on all three separately, as well as enable or disable them as you wish.

For a more complete guide on the portion of this where you set up OBS and VoiceMeeter Banana, look here:

https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/voicemeeter-banana-audio-management-for-1-and-2-pc-streaming-setups.397/

A 780 is a pretty beefy graphics card that can handle almost anything thrown at it, including WoW. I've never played WoW, so I can't speak from first hand experience, but I would be shocked if that card had issues running 1080p 60fps on ultra.

Given that you already have the GPU and don't need an OS, your budget is more than ample enough to build a high quality rig.

Do you live near a microcenter? If so, here is a link to their current catalog. They are renowned for having excellent deals on hardware.

A couple links to consider:

• i5-4690k - $180
  
• ASRock Z97 Anniversary Edition mobo - $55 (if bundled w/ CPU)
  
• Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB RAM - $80
  
• WD Green 1TB HDD - $67
  
• Corsair CX500 500W PSU - $60 ($40 w/ mail in rebate)
  
• Corsair 200R case (on Amazon) - $50
  
  Total: $492
  
  If you can fit an SSD like the Crucial MX100 ($73 @ microcenter), it is a glorious addition. Super quick boot and load times.
  
  EDIT:
  Found a better deal on the CX500 on Newegg - $50, plus a $20 prepaid visa card
  
  Also some cheaper G.SKILL RAM on Newegg as well - $58

If you want to keep future proofing more open ended, you definitely want to be on an 1150 socket board. AM3+ is effectively EOL. If you don't mind spending the extra $20 for an i3 I think you would be very happy with the performance. How would you feel about something like this?:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor | $114.29 @ Amazon
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-H81M-H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $51.34 @ Amazon
Memory | Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $33.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $53.99 @ Amazon
Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB FTW ACX Video Card | $129.99 @ Amazon
Case | Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case | $24.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | Antec 450W ATX Power Supply | $34.99 @ Amazon
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $443.58
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-22 00:23 EDT-0400 |

i3

appropriate socket motherboard, additional $10 MIR

cheaper GPU with similar performance, additional $20 MIR

cheaper case, matx to match motherboard. The Elite 430 is overpriced for what you get, at the least you could get something nicer for the same price like the Source 210 or Corsair 200R(if you go with the 200R you'll want to change the motherboard to something with USB 3.0 front panel like this)

Yeah thats a good case. I actually have one of those, except its the usb 2 not 3 version which is cheaper, and haven't had any problems with it, but something like this, this, or this might be a little better. They are all good so really just pick which one looks best or would fit all of your parts best.

• I say stick with the 7700k if you have the money, it might be overkill but also may buy you another year or two before needing to upgrade again.
  
• Not sure how much you want to spend but the Asus z270E is usually only $20 more and has built-in WiFi and Bluetooth.
  
• I'd drop the CD Writer. You really won't need it. If you do find you need a CD writer then just purchase an external like this.
  
• Also, for another $20 or so you could get an AIO watercooler like the Corsair H100i V2 or the Thermaltake Water 3.0 which will help you take advantage of overclocking that 7700k. I also think they are easier to install in their own way.
  
  Micro Center has great deals on processors and mobos with an automatic $30 off for matching cpu to mobo. Good luck building!
  

If you want to buy him a single part rather than just an Amazon or Newegg giftcard, I would recommend buying the case.

The case is the tower itself, where all the parts go. This is probably one of the easiest parts to choose, as it's mainly down to personal preference and aesthetics. I would recommend a case which says it is compatible with ATX motherboards, as this is the most common size of motherboard and will give him the most choice. Anything with "ATX mid-tower" is what you need. "Micro-ATX" and "Mini-ITX" are different, not what I would recommend unless you know for sure he wants motherboards of those sizes. You will also see "ATX Full Tower" cases, which will probably be much too big. These are mainly only used for massive system builds.

If you want my advice, I would recommend the NZXT S340. It's a very nice visually appealing case, has a large side window to see the components, comes in a variety of colours, is a reasonable price and comfortable to build in.

If you have no idea what to get or feel overwhelmed, you can just get him an Amazon or Newegg gift card.

If you need any further help, r/buildapc is a very good place to ask.



Edit: On a second thought, why not buy him a nice mechanical keyboard to game with? (Assuming he doesn't already have one). Here's a good one

Cases are largely a stylistic choice at this point. I can't tell you what style you'll like best, but I can recommend Phanteks's cases. I have this case and I love it. (it's a big big though, so you'll need to consider your workspace) Phanteks cases are reasonably priced, have good build quality and have all of the "nice to have" features I really like in a case.

Other brands I'd recommend looking into:

• Fractal Design
  
• Cooler Master
  
• NZXT

Cases are really a matter of preference, the companies that I recommend are Cooler Master, Corsair, Fractal Design and NZXT. As long it supports ATX mother boards you will be fine.

I'll recommended 2,
The first one: Corsair 200r, not flashy but high quality and a great price.

http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16811352020&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-Mobile&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-Mobile-_-pla-_-Computer+Cases-_-N82E16811352020&gclid=CjwKEAiA-5-kBRDylPG5096R8mASJABqEdm4yKexU2p0ldX1CGv-9IKLUOuTNnk6LdJigDit-nieNBoCxBDw_wcB


The second is the Fractal Design Define R4 also great case but more at the end of the budget.
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Series-Compact-CC-9011023-WW/dp/B009GXZ8MM

Anyway choose what you like and good luck building.

Well... To be honest you did get a audio interface designed to work with guitars and singer style microphones... When what you needed was an external soundcard.

There are major audio interfaces by the music industry. And your cool USB soundcard has some of the more popular ones... Yay! But it does not have what you want. Booo!

Your soundcard/interface is not designed for 3.5mm jacks. so you will need adapters to make it work.

On the front you have two XLR inputs or you can use them as TRS inputs. Pre sonus calls them "2 combo XLR/¼” mic/instrument inputs"

TRS inputs are big headphone jacks... 1/4 inch type. They would go in the middle of the inputs on the front. You would feed your mic in there. How? You can get an adapter that will allow your 3.5mm headphone jack to fit 1/4 headphones to fit the front area. Something like this... Can get them at Radio Shack pretty cheap. Make sure they are stereo and not mono though.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/400307-REG/Sony_PC234S_PC_234S_Mini_Stereo_3_5mm.html

You would need two of them, one for the headphones (labeled "phones") port in the back of the interface, and one for the mic part in the front of the interface.

If you are going to make music you got the right interface. If you are only using it as a really good soundcard, there are others that would fit you better. Like this...

http://www.amazon.com/Syba-SD-CM-UAUD-Adapter-C-Media-Chipset/dp/B001MSS6CS/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1410104831&sr=8-15&keywords=audio+interface

Or if you got monies... this

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Blaster-Surround-External-SB1560/dp/B00EZT7RE4/ref=dp_ob_title_ce


At the beginning I called one an audio interface and the other a sound card. Audio interfaces are a card that focus on the interface part, meaning the recording/band aspect of music and their connectors.. Sound cards are just making sound like the audio interfaces, but they don't include the band interfaces/ports/jacks and usually go to 3.5mm jacks like your headphones want.

Hope this helps.

It does look pretty sweet except that "Price: $224.32AU + $268.58AU Delivery ($492.90AUD, or $350USD)", "Shipped from and sold by Amazon US". https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0091IZ1ZG/

If the shipping wasn't so expensive, yeah. I don't mind paying for a product, but paying to have the privilege of buying it is kinda annoying. Rosewill has always been difficult to get here. Based on this review, heaven forbid I have to send it back...

> CyberSkulls

> 4.0 out of 5 stars

> Great value, but quality is hit or miss

> 3 March 2018 - Published on Amazon.com

> Capacity: 4U, 15 Bays & 7 Fans Verified Purchase

> I've probably bought 25 of these chassis over the years. The quality is extremely hit or miss or for lack of a better term, sub par. Then why 4 stars? For a $100 chassis, it's still an extremely great value. You just have to know upfront they typically don't check these for quality before they leave the factory. So if a chassis has issues, it will make it all the way to your door, it will never be caught at the factory.

> Example is I received six more of these a week or so ago. Out of those six, one had a lock that just wouldn't work no matter how hard you turned the key. One was missing all the motherboard standoffs. One had wires pinched below the drive cages so it literally had exposed wires in it for the front panel connections. One had too many left hand drive slides (the blue ones that slide into the cages) and not enough right side ones. And finally one of them had the motherboard standoffs over drilled where the standoff goes in basically at an angle and wouldn't line up with the screw. So what I did is take one chassis, tear it down for the spare components, fixed each of the above issues on the other chassis and basically created a chassis full of issues to exchange with Amazon. It was better than returning five chassis to Amazon and possibly playing this same game again.

Budget - <$400ish

Source - PC, Phone

Isolation - don't care too much about isolation, just want some new closed cans that would offer a bit more intimacy than open ones

Preferred Type of Headphone - Full sized closed headphones

Preferred tonal balance - Warm, bit of bass. Neutral also acceptable

Past headphones - Sennheiser HD280s and Fidelio X2. HD280s were my first and only closed headphones and they were great but the highs were too sharp for my taste. I much prefer the sound of my X2s but the open design lets too much sound in a lot of the time unless im in a totally quiet room.

Preferred Music- Punk, Pop punk, electronic, rock, alternative.

What would you like to improve on from your set-up - I want a pair of high level closed headphones. I love my X2s to death but want something with a similar sound but more intimacy if that makes sense. I want to feel closer and feel like im in a different world where as the fidelios keep me in the present room but still provide great sound.

Suggest any additional equipment to power these things (if necessary). the only thing I have currently is my soundblaster omni external soundcard. It supposedly has a built in 600ohm amp. If necessary kindly suggest an amp that will meet the suggested headphones needs.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor | $159.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI - B450-A PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard | $59.99 @ Newegg
Memory | Team - Vulcan 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $69.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Kingston - A400 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $39.49 @ Amazon
Storage | Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $58.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card | MSI - Radeon RX 580 8 GB ARMOR OC Video Card | $204.89 @ OutletPC
Case | Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case | $46.98 @ B&H
Power Supply | Corsair - CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $59.89 @ OutletPC
Wireless Network Adapter | Asus - PCE-AC51 PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter | $29.89 @ OutletPC
Keyboard | Razer - Blackwidow Tournament Edition Wired Gaming Keyboard | $58.90 @ OutletPC
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $848.90
| Mail-in rebates | -$60.00
| Total | $788.90
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-21 00:15 EST-0500 |

Here is the monitor I recommend:

https://www.microcenter.com/product/508128/ha230-23-full-hd-75hz-vga-hdmi-freesync-led-monitor

Here is the mousepad I recommend:

https://www.amazon.com/VicTsing-Extended-31-5×15-75×0-12-Computer-Water-Resistant/dp/B0794WBPHK/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1542777401&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=gaming+mousepad

So this should all be plenty for his intentions.

AMD’s Ryzen lineup has more cores than intel and tends to be a much better “bang for the buck”

8GB of high speed ram

Instead of a GTX 1060 or 1070, I went with an RX580 to save money. It has very equivalent performance as the 1060, and even better in some areas.

I added a WiFi card to allow for wireless connectivity, which isn’t necessary if you plan to wire your connection.

A nice CherryMX Switch keyboard.

A 2TB Hard Drive for games and a 240GB SSD for Windows. (Allows for faster boot times and a smoother experience overall.)

A good looking case that has a glass side panel on one end.

And a 75hz monitor that is a steal at the moment. I actually have one of these myself and it is amazing for its price, I’m very satisfied. Only downside is it doesn’t ship with an HDMI cable, only VGA so make sure you have a spare.

And of course a large mousepad, not necessary but helps.

If your son plans on using a mic, he needs a USB splitter which is super cheap and you can get off of Amazon for ~$10.

https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-External-Headphone-Microphone-Desktops/dp/B01N905VOY/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1542777817&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=3.5mm+usb+splitter&dpPl=1&dpID=41zp99SXYrL&ref=plSrch

This build should get the job done for your son;)
I know it’s a little out of budget, but the extra money is worth it.

Edit: I also recommend purchasing another case fan for $5-10 as this only comes with 1 preinstalled.

1. Go for a different Card. you don't need all that money spent on a card for basic web browsing.I got my parents a radeon 240 but after multiple dead on arrival cards, I ended up getting them this MSI Geforce 210, which works great at 1920x1080, and even does some pretty good cs:go results on a similar, low cost build. It's only about $40, but works just fine for those purposes- web browsing, video, and probably is about equal to intel iris graphics, which I use as a daily driver for my macbook, and it works great on lots of stuff.
   
   
2. Maybe get 2x4gb ram (it'd be cheaper than 1x8gb), and you can also dual-channel it.
   
   
3. Storage- maybe consider spending a few extra dollars today for a 1tb, it's not that much more expensive, and it's better to have it and not need it than need it and then substitute speed for performance. You could also consider getting a 64gb ssd for os and programs, etc.
   
   
4. Consider getting windows 8, it's a bit cheaper, and windows 10 is just around the corner. link to price/buy
   
   
5. Optical- This guy hasn't failed me in the few months i've had it, and you can also plug it in to other places. Not sure about booting to install windows, but it should be fine.
   
   Other than that, it looks fine to me. Good cpu as far as I know.

Are you looking to build one from complete scratch, or are you looking to buy one that already has some of what you need(hdd trays, caddys, etc)?

for my last NAS build, I ended up getting myself a 4U chassis. A good one that I can recommend is the RSV-L4500 You can also pick something like the RSV-L4000 for something with a horizontal bay if you like. Or If you know that you want it full of Drives and are comfortable stopping at 12 hot swap bays, Rosewills RSV-L4412 would be ideal from the get go, as you wont need to replace the bays that it comes with at any point.

I ended up purchasing 3 3x5.25 to 5x3.5 bay hdd caddys for a total of 15 drives. Looks exactly like THIS

After you get the case, you can put the parts that you like in it. Just read what size motherboard fits, get an appropriate power supply for the number of drives you'll be using, get an HBA that does JBOD and can can connect to the number of drives you'll be getting, and you're good to go.

Specifically for freenas, you can put the OS on a USB and run it from there, however because Small USB tend to be hit or miss, i recommend a SATA DOM or two, plugged directly into the motherboard instead of via the HBA. Two if you want to mirror the OS. Remember, do not use any form of hardware raid when using freenas.



Edit: words.

I would highly suggest getting an Antlion ModMic.

I love my Antlion ModMic (4 if you're wondering) I use it on a pair of Audio‑Technica ATH‑AD500X's for the "ultimate gaming headset" \^(I love my ATH‑AD500X's! Got them on sale for $69, never looking back again.)

Now for the mic.. It's a standard boom mic that attaches to the headphones with a little magnetic clip that has some 3M adhesive on the backside. You absolutely want to get a 5w USB audio adapter to supply enough power for the mic, if you don't supply enough power(ie motherboard or laptop audio ports) the mic sounds terrible(hence the bad reviews), but once you supply it with enough power it clears right up and sound *amazing*. Something like this would work perfectly: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_dp_sMBcBbJYT12KP

The Modmic can be found for approx $50 and is an excellent choice for VoIP services like discord. It isolates my voice extremely well from my very noisy Cherry MX Blue keyboard not 2 feet away and includes a handy in line mute switch.

EDIT: Welp. You use speakers so I guess a headphone-mounted boom mic wouldn't work so well... Get headphones while you're at it! XD

Wow, you and your friends obviously did your research and know your stuff. Most people's friends on this sub are nvidia/intel fanboys.. As for the PSU, corsair is a great brand, and newegg is just letting you get a Mail in rebate. In reality it is a $55 PSU, which is about average for 500w. My only (very minor) complaint is the case. You could get a much nicer looking case for that price (Here are two great ones):
https://www.amazon.com/Phanteks-PH-EC416PTG-BW-Eclipse-Steel-Tempered/dp/B01N9JPUYW/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1493327921&sr=1-3&keywords=p400 ................................................................
https://www.amazon.com/Tower-Computer-Matte-Black-CA-S340MB-GR/dp/B00NGMIBUU/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1493327978&sr=1-1&keywords=s340&th=1

Other than that, great!

Upgraded the CPU cooler, because I changed the case to something that I think will work out better for you (especially cable management wise, and overall airflow). You can get the 970 EVO for much less, and with that I also upgraded the motherboard to a much better one. I just dropped 1TB from the HDD, but it's still the same Toshiba X300.

For the CD drive, I do recommend external, as you probably won't be using it as much as people did before. More and more, I'm finding people go with external cd drives, and they're better off overall, because they can get better components for the tower.

A few recommendations... LG GP65NB60 | ASUS ZenDrive (USB-C)

(The case I recommended has a USB-C front panel port)

PCPartPicker Part List

|Type|Item|Price|
|:-|:-|:-|
|CPU|AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor|$327.99 @ Amazon|
|CPU Cooler|Corsair H150i PRO 47.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler|$179.99 @ Amazon|
|Thermal Compound|Corsair TM30 3 g Thermal Paste|$7.99 @ Amazon|
|Motherboard|MSI MPG X570 GAMING EDGE WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard|$199.99 @ Amazon|
|Memory|G.Skill Trident Z 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory|$129.99 @ Newegg|
|Storage|Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive|$89.99 @ Amazon|
|Storage|Toshiba X300 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive|$109.99 @ Amazon|
|Video Card|MSI GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB GAMING X TRIO Video Card|$749.99 @ Newegg|
|Case|Fractal Design Meshify S2 ATX Mid Tower Case|$145.99 @ Amazon|
|Power Supply|Corsair HX Platinum 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply|$119.99 @ Newegg|
|Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts|||
|Total (before mail-in rebates)|$2081.90||
|Mail-in rebates|-$20.00||
|Total|$2061.90||
|Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-18 02:17 EST-0500|||

fuck - I typed out a good long reply to you and hit my browser back button and lost it. here we go typing it up again..


As far as the cases, I am looking to keep it relatively cheap. I found this but I also like this. I like them as they'll 'show off' the white finish on that motherboard I'm eyeing. Do you have any other suggestions in that price range?

I'll take your suggestion and leave out the audio card. This is a high(er) quality MOBO if I do go for it so it should be sufficient.

As far as the GPU - am I missing something with this product? This is a great price for a 950 (isn't it!?) and would totally go for this as opposed to the cheaper cards my coworker is offering. This would operate better than those, right?

I am really hoping for some good suggestions here. Money isn't an unlimited factor - and this is absolutely a want over a need, but I definitely want to do this, but do it right and not put hard worked money to waste.

It's not a PCI card but I got a Sound Blaster OMNI External USB 5.1Ch Surround Sound Card Link. It uses only a single microUSB cable for power/connection. Used in excellent condition with all original accessories in OG box for only $45 shipped. Has a great amplifier as well as dual beam-forming microphones and of course the dedicated volume knob which is surprisingly handy. Time stamp Link. Lemme know!

It's pretty doubtful that you'll be able to use more than 8GB of RAM. You can save about $100 AR by getting these stick instead.

For this kind of money, I also recommend a motherboard with a warranty longer than two years. The MSI P67A-GD65 is a good alternative.

I'd also recommend a Crucial M4 or OCZ Agility 3 for your SSD. Those two are setting the standard.

For a hundred bucks, you can get a modular Corsair PSU with a single 12-volt rail. Or you could get their regular 750w for $85 after rebate and promo code.

If you don't intend to overclock, you can skip the aftermarket cooler as well. Intel's stock coolers perform quite well, even for moderate OCs.

I'd also recommend taking a look at the HAF 912 case (but get it at Amazon for free shipping). It has a removable, rotated drive cage for extra room, more airflow and airflow options, and better cable routing management.

My scheming from when last we spoke appears to be paying off.

I've taken a single Supermicro X9SCL-F board and put it into a server that I'm currently using as a super-simplified SAN - CentOS on a small SSD with a ZFS mirrored vdev pool totaling 2TB for VM storage. I've tested the Dell 0KJYD8 cards that I had lying around with some SFP+ receivers that I bought on eBay in various configurations, and everything seems to work well. It looks like it's time for me to move on to Phase 2 of my plan :)

In preparation for Hurricane Florence (I live close to the east coast) I also went ahead and splurged on new batteries for all 4 of my UPSes - two Cyberpower 1500PFCLCD's and two APC Back-UPS Pro 1500's. I think, once I get the proper cable from Amazon to tell the APC's that they have new batteries and thus report an accurate remaining time to me, I will use those in my homelab, particularly because I can purchase battery expansions for these models to get even more runtime out of them. I'll likely use the Cyberpower UPSes for mine and my partner's desktop rigs. This was a relatively expensive purchase (compared to how much I've spent on the rest of my homelab), but it's definitely going to be worth it to be able to actually trust my UPSes in case of brownouts/blackouts going forward.

With all of that said, here's everything that's currently in my homelab:

Current Hardware

• Whitebox SAN/VM Storage
  
  • Supermicro X9SCL-F
    
  • Xeon E3-1230
    
  • 16GB DDR3 ECC
    
  • 64GB Sandisk SSD - CentOS boot drive
    
  • 4x1TB spinning HDD's - 2x mirrored vdevs for 2TB usable
    
  • Dell 0KJYD8 2x10GbE NIC
    
  • Services/VMs running:
    
    • ZFS exporting datasets for VMs on the (currently only) hypervisor
      
    • OPNsense VM (master) - 2x NICs from the mobo passed through to the VM (means that technically this box is airgapped, which for a SAN is okay by me)
      
• Whitebox Hypervisor 01
  
  • Shuttle case + mobo
    
  • Core i5-4670
    
  • 32GB DDR3
    
  • 64GB mSATA SSD - CentOS boot drive
    
  • Dell 0KJYD8 2x10GbE NIC (direct connect to SAN)
    
  • VMs running:
    
    • apt-cacher-ng - apt and yum caching server for other systems
      
    • many more planned but not yet implemented :)
      
• Whitebox NAS
  
  • Generic case (will soon be replaced)
    
  • AMD FX-8320E
    
  • 8GB DDR3
    
  • 2x16GB Sandisk flash drives - ZFS mirrored vdev for FreeNAS OS
    
  • 6x4TB spinning HDD - 3x mirrored vdev for 12TB usable
    
  • Used as a target for backups, media, etc
    
  • *may* eventually get a 10GbE card if I ever wind up with a 10GbE fiber switch... whenever that happens. :P
    
    

    // todo (immediate)
    

    
    

• Purchase rackmount cases and accessories for existing hardware
  
  • For SAN + Hypervisors: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A7NBO6E/
    
  • For SAN: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M0BIPYC/
    
  • For NAS: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0091IZ1ZG/
    
  • 4x of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XXDJASY/
    
    

    // todo (future)
    

    
    

• Purchase more Supermicro boards and replace other hypervisor hardware with them
  
• Build a bigger rack (I've been inspired by posts around here of others building their own racks, and I figure I can give it a shot too)
  
• ...actually get around to playing around with various homelab services :)

The good news is that the discs that came with the hardware are obsolete and the updated software is available for download on their sites.

The bad news is some software, depending on the vendor, must be installed from the included disc because they do not offer a replacement on their site (to minimize how many people who don't own compatible hardware try using it). Creative and Canon with their DSLR's are two examples where proprietary software is exclusive to their included media and the website merely offers patches.

Also, your OS is downloadable and can be very easily installed to a USB drive of 8GB minimum capacity (it will be formatted to FAT32)

• Windows 10 Media Creation Tool
  
  
• Windows 8.1/8 Media Creation Tool
  
  With the spare storage on the USB drive, I would create a folder and place all your driver downloads there UNcompressed and sorted so your OS can find them when you point to it.
  
  If you are installing Windows in new hardware, remember to boot off the USB drive in UEFI mode (use opportunity to ditch MBR). After pressing the appropriate key on startup to dictate the boot device, look for UEFI next to the USB drive. Desktop motherboards allow you to boot with the typical BIOS/MBR method or the UEFI/GPT method without having to make any modifications, whereas laptops may require you disable "Secure Boot" before permitting booting
  
  
• Process to install Windows 10/8.1/8 via UEFI / GPT
  
  
• Process to install Windows 7 via UEFI / GPT
  
  Finally, remember to save this drive in a safe place for future use. Like in your motherboard box.
  
  That being said, if you still want to get an optical drive, here are five options:
  
  
• $29.99 Plextor PX-891SAF DVD burner
  
  
• $58.99 LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray Burner
  
  
• $65.99 Pioneer BDR-209DBK Kit Blu-Ray Burner
  
  
• $20.99 LG GP60NB50 USB DVD Burner
  
  
• $84.63 Samsung SE-506CB/RSWD USB Blu-Ray burner

I would prefer if I could make them louder with my cell phone. I currently have a Nexus 6P but I'll be getting a different phone within the next few months.

They sound great with my home PC (motherboard).

They could be much better with my work PC, and the sound significantly improved once I started using this adapter.

I guess I'm looking for something to improve sound quality/volume for my cell phone and to make sure I'm not missing anything with my work setup.

To be honest, I picked that one because the reviews said it was easy to build in. I thought the design looked cool enough, but I'm really not picky about how it looks. Do you think this is a better choice?

The disc drive is there for fun. Entirely not necessary, but I do still occasionally burn CDs for my car and to hand out at events. I figured the inclusion wouldn't compromise anything, or is that incorrect? Thanks for your input friend

I see when it comes to headsets you're worried about faultiness after awhile. Most companies will leave you with this problem, Logitech, Turtle Beaches, Plantronics.. Some other companies will just pure rip you off. I know quite a bit after the audio world being a head-fier. I can assure you that nothing can beat the quality of a Audio-Technica or Sennheiser gaming headset..

They usually are 3.5mm, but you can get a converter to USB http://www.amazon.com/Syba-SD-CM-UAUD-Adapter-C-Media-Chipset/dp/B001MSS6CS/ref=pd_bxgy_e_img_b

Audio-Technica is known for being cheap and sturdy, and for its price none of the competitors like Logitech or Turtle beaches will stand a chance, the quality that comes out of them for their price is just amazing.. They might not look as stylish or what not but if you don't care about that, go for it. You can easily just google Sennheiser or Audio-Technica and enjoy :)

If I could really recommend something, buy headphones, get yourself a good sound card and you won't need an actual gaming headset, the 3D sound will work in games amazingly. Then all you need is a stand up mic or something.

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-PC-151-Noise-Canceling-Microphone/dp/B000NOR89Y/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1311707536&sr=1-5

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826402091

Ohh okay. A lot of the USB soundcards you see on Amazon are just for computers and might not work with the vr headset, but they are all only a few dollars and it would be pretty cheap to test. This one looks like the best, and some people report it working with the ps4, which is a good sign that it may work with the vr headset.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001MSS6CS/

A mixamp or DAC will easily convert any USB source to stereo for your headphones, but they are usually bigger than the usb soundcards.

Can you get audio from the same source as the vr, or do you need it to come from the vr headset?

Following the "modesty is best policy" principles I would recommend a few things here:

• Go with the really good main monitor, looks like you got the 27 inch 1440p 144hz Acer. (This is freesync btw. I recommend the Dell S2716DGR for the G-Sync - AMD vs Nvidia) and pick up a 1080p side monitor.
  
  
• Ditch the liquid cooling. It's an unnecessary hassle for anyone other than PC enthusiasts in the OC communities. A Cooler Master or the Noctua (if you have enough room in your case.) Both will provide ample cooling and your CPU will last just as long as with a liquid cooling kit.
  
  
• In combo with the above, my favorite case so far (after 4 PC builds for myself and family) is the Corsair Carbide 540 High Airflow ATX Cube. Lots of room for cables in the back and gives your components a nice display with LOTS of airflow.
  
  
• I would, however, recommend going to an M.2 SSD, which is significantly faster than a standard SSD. Not much of a price jump there.
  
  I see others have spoken about overclocking your CPU and such already. My opinion is to skip overclocking. For the standard gamer wanting a quality experience that is getting a top of the line CPU, there's zero need to OC. I went with the i7-7700 non 'k' version and have been plenty happy. It saved some money too.
  
  Keep in mind your peripherals. Usually those are overlooked when upgrading your PC, but maybe it's time for a new mouse/keyboard, new controller, headphones, etc.
  
  Also if you're dad is giving you a budget, is he giving you the money to spend, or buying the stuff for you? If you don't get the remaining money from $3k, maybe you should include those things now instead of later.

You're good to go w/o thermal paste, it's included with the 212 EVO

A good case to go with would probably be something like the Corsiar Carbide SPEC-02, it looks great, windowed, $60 on Amazon.

As for the monitor, I've heard really good things from the Acer S220HQLAbd, it's $110 on Amazon. I've created an updated parts list for you.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor | $179.99 @ Micro Center
CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | $29.98 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $84.99 @ Micro Center
Memory | Kingston Black Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $44.17 @ Amazon
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $48.99 @ NCIX US
Video Card | MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card | $319.99 @ Amazon
Case | Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case | $59.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $64.99 @ Amazon
Monitor | Acer S220HQLAbd 21.5" Monitor | $109.99 @ Amazon
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $943.08
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-20 15:39 EDT-0400 |

I recently went through somethings similar... lots of separate external drives and looking for a solution to bring it all together. The main two things I think you'll need to consider are performance and noise. At first I bought a Dell R720XD server which can fit 12 3.5" drives in it, and I was going to mount it in a closet using this wall mount bracket. What I ended up finding out though is that that server is loud and way too loud for my house. I returned it and instead decided to build one myself with the help from the great community at /r/JDM_WAAAT who also host the serverbuilds.net site. I built a server with a Rosewill L4500 case which can hold 15 or so drives but there are other options too. This gives me room to expand and I was able to make it super quiet, which was a much bigger factor than I realized originally.

The next thing you're going to want to figure out is the operating system to run on the server. Your setup would be considered JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Drives). I would recommend using drivepool (if on Windows) or mergerfs (if on linux). Add snapraid for your backup solution... I've been following the guide here. I went from knowing nothing about linux to actually preferring it, so I'm using mergerfs + snapraid at the moment.

Regarding your drives... the ones that are less than 1TB are probably not worth keeping. I have an old Seagate 500GB and I don't know what to do with it. It's slow, old, and I never use it.

Speaking of performance... so what I did was I built my server and I'm filling it with 8TB and 10TB drives. The external drives I was using were 5TB and not rated to really be used in a NAS type of setting. I had at least 10 of those drives, and now that I've transferred all of my data to this pretty powerful server, I've been trying to come up with a solution for all of those older externals which will basically become my backup server. I ended up buying an Orange Pi 3 (Single Board Computer) and I'll be using a USB strip like what you have underneath your desk, and I'm 3D printing the box for it at work. I'm not sure how much power this will have but I'm basically replicating my current server setup using low power, low heat components in a much smaller package. I'm just about to start this project and it's gonna be interesting!

If you decide to build your own PC, I can at least recommend a case: I recently bought one and love it.
Phanteks Enthoo Pro Full Tower Chassis

Probably the best case you can get for $100 (and honestly, you probably don't want to waste money on anything cheaper than that). However, it's high-quality and has good built-in cable management features - easy for a non-builder like myself to work with. It's also really extensible and modular: if you wind-up getting interested in this and a year from now you want an enormous graphics card or CPU cooler, a liquid cooling solution, lots of hard drives, or multiple case fans, you'll be able to add them easily. Very future-proof. I'm not a serious gamer - those guys can recommend better options in the $200-300 range, but I think for your situation this is an excellent starting-point.

Here's what I would do: MSI Krait edition motherboard + Corsair Dominator Platinum Series RAM sticks. It is a better overclocking mobo and you get the style points for a black/white build. Also, the RAM is faster so you're a little bit more futureproofed. The Cryorig H7 is replacing the 212 in terms of the go-to air cooler, otherwise the Corsair water cooling kit is a great option as well (also fits color scheme). I'm personally recommending 240GB since I've filled up my 120GB with games and programs twice now before I had to do some cleaning. I also like this case better, plus you can remove drive bays to make room for larger GPUs, if you are still undecided about which one you want. I wouldn't worry about M.2, I got that SSD and never ended up using it. If you do end up building this, please do take pics :)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor | $345.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler | CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler | $34.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING 3X ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $149.99 @ Amazon
Memory | Corsair Dominator Platinum Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz | $109.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $49.99 @ Amazon
SSD | Kingston SV300S37A/240G | 67.86 @ Amazon
Video Card | Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB Video Card |-
Case | Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case | $54.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $89.99 @ Amazon
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | ~$903.80
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-14 19:36 EDT-0400 |

My current microphone is a Neewer NW-800 with a pop filter, stand, power supply, & shock mount. In total, around 100 dollars (excluding shipping and the wire/adapter)
Microphone,
Boom Arm,
Pop Filter,
Power Supply,
I got mine for around 65 because the mic was on sale, so I would wait until it goes on sale again to be a bit more affordable.

PS: If you want to connect this mic to the PS4, I recommend these two:
Wire, Adapter

Yes, your specs are good enough for an LP series. I agree with Pyroraptor (Audacity, OBS Studio/Standard OBS, Gimp, I use Lightworks, but you could use HitFilm. The webcam seems pretty nice. Just remember that the Neweer is a condenser mic, meaning it will pick up almost anything, so it would be a good idea to either remove any potential background noise in Audacity or use a noise removal program. I would focus on the mic and software first, webcam later. Hope this helps! -Alduin

My wife and I just did this our self a few months ago. We spend hours gaming each day and found a great combo using Sennheiser HD 598, Antlion Modmic, and a simple USB audio adapter.

• The headset has great comfort for long gaming sessions, it also has an open ear design so we can easily communicate with each other (Not perfect for everyone if you have a lot of background noise).
  
• The mic was a simple solution for us because we like having it attached to our headset and didn't want to have a mic setup on the desk.
  
  We spent a while doing our research across multiple subs and obviously everyone's situation is different.

For Intel its either the i7 6700k/7700k ($300+) or the g4560 ($80). Everything in between go for Ryzen, as well as the $300+ category in some cases when you are doing content creation and need the extra cores/threads, and aren't just going for the highest FPS.

For your budget I would almost certainly go for the Ryzen series over the i5.

Here is something I threw together:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor | $197.88 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | MSI - B350 GAMING PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard | $98.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory | G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory | $65.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Kingston - A400 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $56.98 @ Newegg
Storage | Seagate - BarraCuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $44.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card | EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SC GAMING ACX 2.0 Video Card | $158.88 @ OutletPC
Case | Fractal Design - Define C ATX Mid Tower Case | $59.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Corsair - CX (2017) 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $59.38 @ Amazon
Operating System | Microsoft - Windows 10 Home Full - USB 32/64-bit | $102.99 @ SuperBiiz
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $845.97
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-01 11:48 EDT-0400 |



1.) So this CPU is most certainly better for pretty much everything. Gaming, streaming, content creation, future proofing, etc. Also the stock cooler it comes with is more than enough.

2.) The faster ram was the same price, also would recommend buying another stick sometime in the future when you can afford it.

3.) Added an SSD you can install your OS on. They're pretty much a necessity these days and make your PC feel so much faster.

4.) Get whichever 1050ti you want, I just added one that had an active price, it was not added to your total on your parts list.

5.) The case you picked was pure crap, not to be rude. Poor build quality, poor layout to build in, and poor airflow. I just threw a random one in there, and that fractal case is nice for the money. If you want to add a 3rd fan still, the ones installed are the Dynamic x2 GP-12

6.) You do not need anywhere close to 750 watts for your PSU. Gave you a newer cheaper one.

7.) Gave you the full retail version of windows 10, because from personal experience. If you swap out mobos due to it dying, or you just don't like it, or you decide to build a whole new computer, you will lose your key and have to buy another. The full retail version transfers to as many mobos/computers as you build. Well worth extra $ to me.

8.) You do not need a DVD drive if you are only buying it to install windows. You can buy the full retail version and use the USB to install it, or if you decide to keep the OEM copy you can make your own USB install stick with the Windows Media Creation Tool. Just google it, very easy. If for some reason you still need a DVD drive for a few programs, I highly recommend you buy an external one from LG or something similar. That way you can still do what you need to do without limiting your pick of PC cases etc.

Example: https://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Portable-External-GP65NB60/dp/B00ODDE33U/ref=zg_bs_1292112011_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=HNSVC6Y8RS9PH2WG5P18


9.) Unless you already have that monitor, get a 1920x1080 monitor instead, 1600x900 is super outdated.

10.) That mouse and keyboard is fine, but if you can spend a but more, these are better:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823129060

I see, this build is basically for maxing out most games at 1080p, so I wouldn't be able to see it's full potential, but that's not a problem. But my monitor's resolution is 1400x900, is that not Full HD?

I bought this PC for like a 150 bucks so I guess that is what I get for the price. A small question, when Amazon says free shipping, do they mean free shipping internationally or only in the "Glorious" USA? Also, The Corsair Spec-01 case is kinda expensive right now, do you recommend any other case for the same price? It is 77$ in Amazon but 55$ in Newegg.

SPEC-01 (Amazon) - http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-SPEC-01-Gaming-CC-9011050-WW/dp/B00I6BJATW/

SPEC-01 (Newegg) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139041

AMD Athlon (Free Shipping?) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139041

Happy to help! :D

If you're planning on one to install windows, you can do so with a USB thumb drive now! pretty easy using the microsoft media creation tool.

Most cases no longer come with a 5.25" bay for an optical drive, the q300L included. If you just want to use it now-and-then for random tasks, you can get an external drive like this and keep it stashed in a drawer. Bonus, you can use it with a laptop, too! https://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Portable-External-GP65NB60/dp/B00ODDE33U/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=usb+dvd+burner&qid=1569903952&sr=8-4

If something you're doing requires physical media fairly often, you can change to a different case to use a standard DVD or Blu Ray drive like I've picked (there's only room for one in this case, but some offer multiple if you're archiving a collection of CDs or something)

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor | $129.30 @ Amazon
Motherboard | Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $71.99 @ Amazon
Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $67.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Intel 660p Series 2.048 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | $184.99 @ Amazon
Case | Thermaltake Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case | $44.99 @ Walmart
Power Supply | Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $69.99 @ Amazon
Optical Drive | LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer | $54.08 @ Amazon
Optical Drive | LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer | $18.88 @ OutletPC
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $99.95 @ Amazon
Wireless Network Adapter | Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter | $33.89 @ OutletPC
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $776.05
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-01 00:23 EDT-0400 |

Thx so much for the fast and very clear answer !
CPU
Shoudl I take the intel core i7-6700 k instead of the i7-6700 ?
Case
I'm sorry I changed my mind about the case so it will probably change the motherboard too ^^
I decided to take a Corsair Carbide Series 200R : https://www.amazon.ca/Corsair-Carbide-200R-Compact-CC-9011023- WW/dp/B009GXZ8MM/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1465910816&sr=1-3 Because space is not an issue and we could probably have a better motherboard for the same price right ? (Because it is a normal ATX board)
Motherboard
Maybe my first pick would work but if you have another idea it would probably be better !
RAM
Will it all change and my first pick was better ?
Thx one more time and have a nice day !

Prebuilt NAS from the likes of Synology is a huge waste of money. The ones that can transcode 1080p media properly cost upwards of $600, and that's without the storage.

For well under $600 (again excluding storage) you can build a kick-ass dual socket Xeon based server that will transcode one 4k stream without breaking a sweat, 2 would be a stretch, but maybe.

• Gigabyte GA-7PESH2 mobo - $175
  
• 2x Xeon E5-2650 V2 - $110
  
• Couple of half-decent coolers - $45
  
• 4U server chassis - $145 often on sale for $100
  
• 16GB 1066 or 1333 ECC REG memory - around $50 on eBay
  
• Decent PSU with dial EPS connectors - $60 on Evga B-stock site
  
• 2x SAS break-out cables if you want to run the SATA HDDs at their full potential speeds - $30
  
• As much SATA storage as you can afford. I usually buy the 8TB WD MyBook external drives when they go on sale, for around $130 each, and shuck them.
  
  You won't even need a GPU. Just make sure your monitor has VGA input for setting up the server, and after the initial setup it can run headless. The passmark score on the 2 CPUs is over 20k which is plenty.
  
  For more information check out https://serverbuilds.net site and Discord channel. Based on their guides I built a very capable server for under $400, and it does extremely well transcoding multiple 1080p streams simultaneously. Besides Plex Media Server it also runs all my automation like NZBget, Sonarr, Radarr, Bazarr, Tautulli, MCEBuddy (for converting 4k to 1080p,) Commskip (for removing commercials from recorded OTA programs,) and is my backup target for 4 Duplicati sources. The CPU load never goes above 50%, so I may throw all my home automation on there as well.

Those are some really shitty items. I thought there'd be a gem in there, but it's all junk.

The Raspberry Pi Zero is $5 (if you can find stock) and works as a great emulation system.

A USB sound device like this Sabrent one for $6 works great so solve a variety of audio issues like low mic volume or static/broken audio ports.

So many people in online games don't have mics. You can get one on eBay for $1. Please buy one if you play online games. www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=clip+on+microphone

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-9600K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor | $229.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler | Corsair H100i PRO 75 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $116.98 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI MPG Z390 GAMING EDGE AC ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $179.00 @ Amazon
Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $69.99 @ Amazon
Storage | HP EX920 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | $112.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive | $94.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB WINDFORCE OC 3X Video Card | $499.99 @ Amazon
Case | NZXT H700i ATX Mid Tower Case | Purchased For $0.00
Power Supply | Rosewill 850 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | Purchased For $0.00
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $99.95 @ Amazon
Wireless Network Adapter | Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter | $33.99 @ Amazon
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $1437.77
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-22 19:27 EDT-0400 |

The 9600k and 9700k are fairly similar gaming wise as most games don't really make use of the extra cores/threads on the 9700k. No need for thermal paste, the cooler comes with it preapplied. The HP EX920 is the cheapest 1tb M.2 SSD with a cache and is only $5 more than the cheapest 1tb SSD with a cache (the 2.5" MX500). The i5-9600k+2070S is a better pair than the 9700k+1660ti.

The H700i, like many modern, stylish cases, doesn't have the 5.25" bay needed for an ODD. If one is needed, you can get a USB one for like $25(I've got that one on my desk right now and it works just fine). Mounting an AIO is fairly simple since it's one piece; all it is is mounting the waterblock like you would with an air cooler and then mounting the rad and fans to the case.

Seems good enough. Intel would be better, but this is a super cheap build so no big deal. I would definitely get an ssd. It will make it seem like a faster machine than it actually is. MOST important thing to me for sure. You could save a little on the case too I think. This is what I have. Very decent for the price.

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-SPEC-01-Tower-Gaming/dp/B00I6BJATW/ref=sr_1_22?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1479884956&sr=1-22&keywords=Computer+case

Story Time

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Initially, I started with this case ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Q2Z11QE ) as I was thinking of throwing something together like what you're talking about. Then my "project" began to grow.

That's when I ended up ordering this case instead ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005KQ66ZC ). That said, my server consists of a Threadripper 2990WX with an AIO water cooler. Well...this case wasn't made for that. So my father in law machined a hole in the top to mount the radiator on the top of the case like a blower on a car. This worked VERY well for a couple of weeks, but I just wasn't happy with it.

Finally, I ordered this case ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0091IZ1ZG ), to which I was able to fit everything inside of with a few extra bolts that still need to be trimmed. Here's a pic of the inside of mine and the temp 32 cores runs at ( https://imgur.com/tek9ID0 - https://imgur.com/vEPFLv5 ), do excuse the dust.

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As far as SSD's go, just do something like this ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GMGZBP0 ). Saves space and doesn't hurt them as they only take a single HDD slot. Taping them to the side of the case doesn't hurt either if you don't care about the looks. Also, I want to boast about these fans for a min ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KFCRF1A ). Move a lot of air and aren't as loud as you'd think. The 120mm variant is a good bit louder, but still well worth it.

> What are the perks of overclocking?

Overclocking is essentially a way to improve your system performance by running certain components (especially the CPU and GPU) at frequencies above their default specifications. For gaming, this essentially translates to higher frame rates.

Although it can significantly improve performance, it also has some drawbacks: It usually requires more expensive components, the components will output more heat and take more power, it requires some research to learn how to do it, etc.

Personally, I have never really felt the need to overclock, although I have messed around with it on my GPU a bit. It's by no means necessary and you can get a very high end PC (as you would be) without doing it.

> What good is an optical drive?

Optical drives are kind of becoming obsolete because of online distribution. Probably the biggest use now is just the initial installation of the OS (although it is possible to do that without an optical drive, just slightly less straightforward).

They can still be useful if you have a specific reason. I have an old one in my PC that was useful to rip my CD collection and install my OS, but it doesn't see too much use anymore. One good option IMO is to just get an external USB optical drive like this and then you can share that between all your devices.

> What OS do you suggest?

Based on your component choices I'm assuming this is (at least partly) for gaming. In that case you will definitely want to get Windows, as the majority of PC games are only available on Windows. I would recommend Windows 10 simply because it's the latest version of Windows and the older ones will be losing support at some point. You will probably want the home version; the pro version has some more features but they are probably not important to you.

Windows 10 has some annoyances to it, but once you get it working the way you want it's very nice. For my preferences, I've been able to get it to look and behave very similarly to Windows 7 (but faster!) and I've turned off most of Microsoft's data collection and advertisement stuff.

Really awesome idea, happy to give it a test drive. Finding my config was pretty easy - nice work on that. The suggestion I got was a little odd though - the most expensive improvement it came up with was to upgrade to 1TB SSD, when I think there are several CPU/GPU upgrades I could make with my mobo:

|Part type|Name|URL|Price|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|motherboard|LGA1151 Z170||0|
|processor|Intel Core i5 6600/6600k||0|
|memory|ddr4 16GB 2666MHz (2 RAM slots)||0|
|video_card|Nvidia GeForce GTX 960||0|
|drive|Western Digital Black NVMe 1TB M.2-2280 SSD|https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6ZP7FS6170|248.17|
|power_supply|SeaSonic Focus 550W 80+ Platinum SSR-550PX|https://www.amazon.com/-/dp/B074N8YBK9/?tag=envybits-20|99.9|
|computer case|Corsair Carbide 100R|https://www.amazon.com/-/dp/B00RORBQNW/?tag=envybits-20|49.99|
|total|-|-|398.06|

I'm not actually sure which z390/B365 board has the best audio from all the brands. Alternatively You can just spend like $7 and get an external USB sound card like this one. Was far better than the sound card that was in my $130 motherboard. But the biggest difference is the microphone quality improvement. I actually have this one. If you feel the difference depends on the headset. I have a $90 pair of Sennheisers, which are more made for music. Most gaming headsets on the on the other hand have pretty bad audio in comparison and you might not be able to tell.

As for memory, you can still use 3200mhz, but I think it will just run at 2666mhz anyways if you get a b365 motherboard. If you care about the RGB then TEAM has some good ones too. They might be better performance wise too (maybe lower timings), but it's hard to know without knowing what memory timings yours would go to if you stuck them into a b365. That's another topic altogether. There is memory speed, and memory timings linked to it.

Yes. Current metrics would call it a "modest" computer.

CPU: Dual core Pentiums and Phenom 2's.

Something like this:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7651325&SRCCODE=LINKSHARE&cm_mmc_o=-ddCjC1bELltzywCjC-d2CjCdwwp&AffiliateID=tCdAnHNE6xQ-iu_wzMq7YUPooc98Htqh1g

Or this:
http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Phenom-3-4Ghz-512KB-4000MHZ/dp/B002SRQ214?tag=logicaincrem-20


Don't spend more than ~120 bucks on a CPU.


GPU: Radeon 6570, 6670 or 7750

The 6570 should be considered the bare minimum for a dedicated GPU. The 6670 is a great deal of bang for your buck. 7750 is as well. All of these should be able to handle modern games from at least the lowest rung of settings. My old computer with a 6670 runs WoW on high settings, and COD4 : 3 at all high settings, and can run Company of Heroes 2 from at least low settings smoothly.


All three cards should be bought for 100$ or less.



RAM: 4 gigs is adequate. If you want to splurge 8 gigs is more than affordable.

Don't spend more than 60 bucks on RAM.


HDD: 500 gigs can be bought for ~50 bucks. 1 TB can be bought at about 70. Either is probably excessive.


PSU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10440897&PID=5961731&SID=0


or


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10440897&PID=5961731&SID=0


Depending on future wants and needs.



Case:


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811815014&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10440897&PID=5961731&SID=0


Or


http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Series-Compact-CC-9011023-WW/dp/B009GXZ8MM?tag=logicaincrem-20


I use a corsair 200r currently. Can't complain. Comes with two 120mm fans, has room for 7 more.


Mother Board:


Depending on what CPU you buy,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157394&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10440897&PID=5961731&SID=0


or


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157362&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10440897&PID=5961731&SID=0


or


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157314&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10440897&PID=5961731&SID=0

Everyone: Thanks for the help. I assumed it was some electrical issue on her computer's end, but good to know a USB sound card works as a workaround and I don't have to go to her office and crack her computer open :) I decided to spend a few bucks to get the best-reviewed one on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A29Y8OP2GPR7PE

Thanks again for the help!

Yea that's why, I always suggest staying away from turtle beach/gaming headphones but if you enjoy them then there's no reason to not get them. I always suggest a headphone +modmic combo. I always suggest Ath M50x plus the modmic, and if you do end up getting them it's always good to get this Sabrent if you don't have a sound card, it's needed for the mod mic to reduce the interference from your mobo, and has a chance to make headphones sound even better. In the end it's up to you, but I have a feeling you will enjoy this combo. And if you ever do end up playing on console, you can pick up an Astro mix amp and listen to console and PC at the same time.

If you can fix it easily, nice job, but don't spend too much time trying to get it to work. user badchromosome referred me to this : Just another USB dongle!

Just to add to your options :)
It really is worth it. I couldn't get my audio to work again after 10.11.4, and it was really frustrating. Having this work equally well was really fantastic and worth every penny, especially knowing if something happens to my setup, I won't ever need to try and get audio to work. It'll just work :)

Hi /u/Neovngr, welcome to r/LinuxHardware! :)

It's definitely possible to output audio via a USB port, in fact I recently had to do this myself just last week due to the sound chip on my motherboard dying.

What you require is a USB DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter). These generally require no drivers at all, and work immediately on any OS. Something as tiny and cheap as this would do the job, but the audio quality won't be very good and it's questionable how long it'd last.

I personally went with this DAC here due to the interesting capacitor modifications one can do to it, as detailed in the top review. But even without that, I can confirm it sounds very good indeed.

This Behringer DAC would also be a fine choice going by this review, though it is slightly more expensive.

Whatever you choose, it should be as simple as plugging it in and selecting it as the main audio device in the Pulseaudio control panel. (On my PC it shows up as 'Audio Codec Analog Stereo')

Hope that helps! \^_^

Case is mostly subjective so everything I say is also but I like the look of the corsair 200R more and it can be found at 50$ with 10$ MIR from NCIX (I wanted to link you to the same merchant though), and same goes for the NZXT Source 220

The only other changes I could offer would be to save a little bit and drop to a 600W PSU, but if you plan to Crossfire in the future having the 750W PSU makes sense.

You can save a bit on the RAM by dropping to 1600 MHz (which in performance translates to a fraction of a percent usually depending on the application)

Those are about all the corners there are to cut that I see besides dropping to a MicroATX to save another 10$ or so, if you'd feel comfortable with that I could look for a compatible MoBo. To get under 650 you will have to roll back the CPU and the GPU.

Hey guys, I'm about to build my first computer and I have some questions that, hopefully, can be answered by more experienced individuals:

• Someone suggested that instead of having one 2TB of storage, you get two 1TB of storage? Is that true?
  
• What are some of the best cases around the $60-$75 range? At the moment, I am thinking about using this case.
  
• How good is this CPU? Does it need a lot of cooling? Is there a better one at a similar or smaller price?
  Thanks guys!

Thinking about building a 3950X machine this fall. My main debate now is about what case to build in. I've narrowed it down to the Thermaltake V21 or the Cooler Master NR400.

I already have one V21 build; it houses a 16c/32t 1950X for compute and simulation tasks. The V21 case was a pleasure to work with. On the other hand, the NR400 is another micro-ATX case that caught my eye. It might be fun to build in.

Probable specs:

Part | Type
---|-----
Motherboard | MSI B450M Mortar Max
CPU | AMD 3950X 16c/32t
GPU | probably a 2070 Super
RAM | 16GB DDR4 3200
SSD | Inland Premium 1TB
HDD | 12TB WD Gold
PSU | EVGA 650w
Case | V21 or NR400

Shoutout to /u/caesar15 for recommending the Inland Premium SSD.

Looks pretty good! If you don't care too much about appearances, maybe get a cheaper case. Most cheaper ones don't look as good but still function the same (good fans, good cooling, etc) Could save you a good amount, heres a nice one

First of all, you're probably going to want to get an unlocked processor (one that ends in a K like 2500k). Then you can overclock it. You already have the motherboard and after market cooler that will allow you to overclock, so there's no reason in not spending the small amount more to get the unlocked processor.

There's not much of a huge gain from DDR3 1333 to higher speeds of memory. Not really a reason to spend $20 more on 8gb of 1866 ram over 1600. And for normal use and gaming, you won't need more than 8gb. If you're video editing or doing something else that uses a lot of memory, then stick with 16gb. However, eliminating one of those 2x4gb gets you really close to being able to buy a 60gb solid state drive for your operating system and a few programs/games.

You can usually find 1tb HDDs for $90, or on sale for $80. If you really don't need the storage then 500gb is fine...

If you can find a 560 w/448 cores on sale for really cheap like $200-$220, then get it. However, the radeon 7850 can be bought for $250. The 7850 performs better and has more vram.

For the case, the HAF 912 is $40 after MIR and is generally regarded as a really good case. But really, the case is up to you. Buy whatever you think looks nice.

Finally, for a power supply, I haven't heard of the brand you have there. I would instead go with a OCZ modular psu that essentially cost $45.

The Define R5 is a pretty similar case. It is also very quiet and a bit larger, but it has slots for an optical drive:

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/sjX2FT/fractal-design-case-fdcadefr5bk

Personally, I think internal optical drives are a waste of money these days. They are so rarely used. I prefer to just have a USB optical drive. It opens up many more options for more interesting PC cases and allows for greater flexibility. You can move a single USB DVD drive across multiple machines, as well as laptops that do not have an optical drive. For most people, that is more than good enough since they don't use an optical drive more than a couple times a year:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ODDE33U/

TL;DR: You can either switch the case or buy a USB DVD drive

Thank you for the gold!

Yes, the graphics card is only for visually-intensive tasks, like gaming and video-editing. Even then, the integrated graphics (Intel HD 530) is one of the most powerful around. One thing I forgot to include, you'll need to install Windows 10 via USB or external USB optical drive, as the case doesn't support an in-built optical drive. However, you kind find high-quality inexpensive USB optical-drive like this one. Let me know if you need any more help, and I hope you and your aunt enjoy the build!

Hey, 1500+ hours in-game. I've played a thousand hours with a cheap $30 headset from Amazon, both with surround sound on and off. I've also played with Audio Technica M50x's and several other mid-range headphones. Currently I play with a set of semi-open back headphones.

Some tips:

1. Whether or not you should use surround sound depends on the specific option you're using. My headphone's built-in "surround sound" sucked. Razer Surround software was OK but I didn't like it. I now play with semi-open back headphones with no surround sound.
   
   
2. I've tried all the game's audio settings for long periods of time each, and I honestly don't notice a big difference between them. I personally use Hi-Fi but I've been good with all of them.
   
   
3. You won't be able to soundwhore without having it at high volume. Perceived volume is different for everyone, but in general I have the volume just a little under where I feel it's "too loud". If I had it any higher then a lot of gunfire might hurt my ears. When I watch videos of people playing, I watch with the volume lower and I can't hear the footsteps and sounds they can hear. Loud volume is more important than any setting.
   
   
4. KingGeorge plays with a simple pair of earbuds. It really doesn't matter what you use. It's all preference.
   
   Those are my soundwhoring tips. My current setup is a pair of AKG M220 semi-open back headphones and the Creative SoundBlaster Omni amp. I always play with Windows volume at 50 and in-game master volume at 80. Pretty loud, but it gets the job done and I don't find it uncomfortable unless it's for very long periods of time (5+ hours).

looks good.

if it were me...I'd probably get a different case, like the CM HAF 912 for $60 or the Antec 900 for $70.

cases are largely personal, but your system is pretty badass. For me, I'd hate to have regret over a cheap-ish case when you could get a badass case to match the rest of your system for another ~$35...but it's all up to you, and the case you have would probably be just fine, especially if your on a budget. ~my 2 cents

after reading some reviews for your case, you might not have regret for getting this one... looks like a a pretty nice case as far as $35 cases go

Windows is the easy part so I'll start with that: [$85 on Amazon] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZSI7Y3U).

With video editing as the primary focus, the i7-6700K is going to be your target at that budget-- and while it is overclockable, you don't need to overclock it to get better performance than the i7-6700. [This build also has an RX 480] (https://www.theaipc.com/result/c1468166669259) which should give you good to very good performance at 1080p on almost all games-- though wait a bit for it to start coming back in stock if you can, probably a week or two (the performance is great if it's at list price, stores that have it in stock are currently running $350 instead of $200).

I will say to not bother with the case in that build-- it's not going to give you the kind of airflow you may want if doing intense video editing and won't fit the motherboard properly. [This Corsair] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I0MKMG2) should do you well, though.

All told that'd be a beast of a machine for ~$1400.

One of the best things about the monitor outside of its speakers and refresh rate is that there is 2 HDMI ports as well. If you ever need help with hooking up an external capture card to the Alpha or something let me know. And if you want to use a PC headset that has the mic and audio jacks separate you can use This although fiber optic utilizing headsets (Astros are great my opinion), sound the best.

I’ve been very happy with this case: Rosewill 4U Server Chassis/Server Case/Rackmount Case, Metal Rack Mount Computer Case support with 15 bays & 7 Fans Pre-Installed (RSV-L4500) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0091IZ1ZG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_g9S.Bb2HETDCB

Very quiet, looks good, well built, and ticks all your check boxes. Each “fan bay” can support 5 x 3.5” drives or it can be removed to fit 3 x 5.25 devices. I’ve currently filled it with 3 x 2.5” x 6 ICY DOCKs, giving me space for 18 x 2.5” drives in addition to 10 x 3.5” drives.

Monitor deals: http://www.pcgamer.com/cyber-monday-gaming-monitor-deals/

Cases: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811854028&ignorebbr=1
The Phanteks P400 and P400S are great cases, looking to get a P400S myself.

https://amazon.com/NZXT-Tower-CA-S340W-B1-Glossy-Black/dp/B00NGMIBUU?ie=UTF8&keywords=case%20nzxt%20s340&qid=1480383765&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1
This case is also highly rated and a good value (but not on sale)

https://amazon.com/gp/product/B017XPPHGG/ref=s9_zgift_hd_bw_b2Ore_g147_i7?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-12&pf_rd_r=RJJZ767TNQX3NCQD8XKW&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=c964ba4f-3a33-5fcb-be07-da7df14df9f4&pf_rd_i=572238
Interesting case and on sale.

https://smile.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Silent-Quiet-Tower/dp/B00RORBQSW/ref=lp_572238_1_11?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1480383832&sr=1-11
Best cheap case, also on sale.

Did you watch the video demonstrating the M-Disk media durability?. http://youtu.be/CfBEHlzvZnc Sure, a DVD is excessive to store a small wallet.dat file, but its pretty inexpensive when you consider its a total cost of $60, $30 burner http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Portable-External-GP60NB50/dp/B00C2AMK2M/ plus $30 for 10 blank m-discs http://www.amazon.com/M-DISC-4-7GB-Permanent-Archival-Backup/dp/B005Y4NKE0/ If your ultimate goal would be for a family member who gets this DVD from safety deposit box to be able to retrieve the bitcoins, encrypt the wallet.dat w/ the built in pass phrase encryption found in the core bitcoin wallet, and possibly fill the rest of the DVD with a few thousand family photos to use up the rest of the space. You could have the pass phrase stored separately in a completely different document w/ a trusted 3rd party, or the family lawyer. Maybe you could hide the pass phrase deep within the family photos in a picture. It all depends how difficult you want the process to be to retrieve the coins, and how many secrets need to be combined to access them. Be creative, write clear instructions on how to access the bitcoins on the DVD with the wallet.dat, include bitcoin software, but don't be so clear about the password, or even that there is a password in the instructions with the wallet.dat file.. Have that be separated somehow if that is a concern.. but don't be so tricky that no one in the family is ever able to get the coins either.

This one caught my eye first and seems pretty nice. I love the black with red highlights look. Would everything fit in it and would you consider it a good case? Thanks in advance.

Thank you very much! This is the Yamaha P-45 digital piano and I'm wearing the Audio-Technica ATH-T22 headphones which came with the piano.

To record the audio, it took several components. (Bear with me, I'm gonna be as specific as possible so it might get complicated.) The P-45 has both a USB and Headphone port. To record AUDIO, you MUST use the headphone out port. (The USB is only for MIDI recordings.)

To do so, I got a "1/4 inch TRS to Dual 1/4 inch TRSF Y cable" and plugged it into the headphone port. The Y cable splits a single port into 2 connections so that I can hook one to my Mac and record audio and the other one I use to plug in my headphones (or else I won't be able to hear my playing because that headphone port is the only source of sound outward).

Now it's just a matter of attaching adapters to make a 1/4 inch cable into a 1/8 inch (the only one that'll fit into that headphone port).

I got a 10 foot, "1/4 inch TRS cable" and plugged it into one of the Y ports so that it could reach my Mac. On the end of the 1/4 inch TRS cable, I attached a "1/4 inch Female to 1/8 inch Male adapter".

Next, I attached this sound adapter (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to my Mac, and plugged in the 1/8 inch male end into the sound adapter so that I could get audio information into my computer. Then I just used Garage Band to record the audio!

IN SUMMARY ... Piano -> Y cable -> 10 foot 1/4 inch cable -> 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch adapter -> Sound adapter -> Computer. I don't know if this is the most efficient way, but it's what I learned through trial-and-error and from hours of research over the course of a week. I am more than happy to answer any questions to make it super simple for you.

The RX580 has a mail-in rebate making it a $200 card, I already have a hdd, copy of windows, monitor, and necessary peripherals. Is there any way I can optimize it? The case I'm actually getting is the Corsair Carbide 100R, that was the closest case price wise haha (link: https://www.amazon.com/CORSAIR-CARBIDE-100R-Mid-Tower-Case/dp/B00RORBQNW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537296378&sr=8-1&keywords=corsair+carbide+100r). Any suggestions would be amazing, thank you in advanced!

Corsair Carbide series cases are $50 on Amazon. Much better cases. Please consider starting with a good brand like Corsair that has good airflow in mind as well as logical cable routing capability for a clean build.

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-200R-Compact-CC-9011023-WW/dp/B009GXZ8MM/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1416841525&sr=1-1&keywords=pc+case

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-SPEC-01-Gaming-CC-9011050-WW/dp/B00I6BJATW/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1416841164&sr=1-2&keywords=pc+case

Like the other comments say, I'm still in the "not liking my own voice phase" i like to think i have a good voice but I still never like what i record. But other than that, I highly recommend getting a decent mic. Aim for XLR, if you can, over USB microphones. They are a bit more expensive but totally worth it for quality. the NW-700 is a really good beginner Microphone. As of now its only $27 which is awesomely cheap for an XLR, although you will have to buy a phantom power, little box that powers the microphone since the computer itself cant generate it, but thats only an extra $17. And a small adapter to actually go into your PC. This is by no means professional but any XLR is better than a USB microphone, in my opinion.

Microphone: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XOXRTX6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Phantom Power: https://www.amazon.com/Neewer-1-Channel-Microphone-Condenser-Recording/dp/B014H8AWGC/ref=pd_bxgy_267_img_2/132-8551522-3088534?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B014H8AWGC&pd_rd_r=ee89c156-a0db-4f07-b5fd-08246cdd8db3&pd_rd_w=oJwwl&pd_rd_wg=2W4Tj&pf_rd_p=a2006322-0bc0-4db9-a08e-d168c18ce6f0&pf_rd_r=GZSZ5G9AGGFHYCWXQWJM&psc=1&refRID=GZSZ5G9AGGFHYCWXQWJM

​

Adapter: https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Adapter-Windows-AU-MMSA/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=pd_bxgy_267_img_3/132-8551522-3088534?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00IRVQ0F8&pd_rd_r=ee89c156-a0db-4f07-b5fd-08246cdd8db3&pd_rd_w=oJwwl&pd_rd_wg=2W4Tj&pf_rd_p=a2006322-0bc0-4db9-a08e-d168c18ce6f0&pf_rd_r=GZSZ5G9AGGFHYCWXQWJM&psc=1&refRID=GZSZ5G9AGGFHYCWXQWJM

​

I myself am no professional but have been into this for a while and had this very microphone for like 2 years. I've since upgraded to an AT-2020

Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H. It's 1150 from everything I've read. I tried a completely fresh install and applying this fix before even applying the initial multibeast.

Even on a fresh install I extracted the default kext from the installer I used to build my media and also made sure there were no extra kexts in any of the relevant folders (I wanted to be super sure everything was clean). In other words, I had a fresh install but also made extra sure everything was clean by going through the typical steps to clean everything out.

Anyway, at the end of the day I decided it wasn't a battle worth fighting because my local computer shop had a USB > 3.5 adapter (this one) for under $10. For the price it seemed like it made more sense to just grab that and avoid hours of messing around with my system. It also gives me piece of mind because my system is running at the bare minimum in terms of injecting and patching kexts, so I don't have that house of cards feeling that you sometimes get when you've spent days getting certain functions to work and are afraid that everything is going to break the next time you look at your computer the wrong way.

No worries Amazon didn't ave one or two of the parts in my original build so switched the PSU & motherboard but they're still very similar, so see below... only $9 more.

(case not included)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 1600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor | $257.00 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler | CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler | $47.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI B350M GAMING PRO Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $79.99 @ Amazon
Memory | Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory | $52.23 @ Amazon
Storage | Crucial MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $149.99 @ Amazon
Video Card | Asus GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Dual Series Video Card | $369.00 @ Amazon
Power Supply | Rosewill 600W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $54.99 @ Amazon
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $1011.19
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-25 06:26 EDT-0400 |

* Go to Amazon and look up 'Micro ATX case' (has to match with your motherboard, which is also Micro ATX - it's the most common/easiest to shop for). You can get an OK standard for for under $30, but if you stretch out to around $50-60 you can get some nicer slim/cube ones if you would rather something more portable and less space consuming that the big old school towers (personally I hate those things lol!). You won't get anything as thin as a console, but maybe around the size of a old school VCR player. Some examples:

https://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Black-Extreme-Chassis-CA-1D5-00S1WN-00/dp/B00PDDMN6S/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1493114841&sr=1-5&keywords=matx%2Bcase&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-MicroATX-Computer-ATX12V-R379-M/dp/B004EMSH9Q/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1493115065&sr=1-8&keywords=matx+case&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A3606145011%2Cp_36%3A5000-6500

Also a word of advise - if any case comes with a power supply, don't use it - they're often crap and not worth risking any damage to what would be a really, really good system. You might fetch $10-20 on ebay/craigslist/etc for it however which will help the fact that you're $30-50 over budget depending on your case.

I have one of these and while it doesn't sound bad, especially considering the price, but I would suggest these lav mics (this listing is for three which is a good deal but they don't last very long). The clip on the Zalman mic just doesn't work with my headphones, the cable is too thin. Everyone might not have this issue, but the lav mics have actual clips that will actually clip to anything.

This lav mic is much more expensive but also very high quality.

Also as a word of warning to those out there looking at these microphones: most motherboards don't put out enough voltage for these microphones to perform well enough. You'll want something like this USB sound card for best results. Of course this isn't anything to worry about if you have a PCIe sound card already.

It's actually this case!

Would highly recommend it. Cable management system is fantastic, it's cool and looks great! A cover thing comes for the top grill, which is like a mesh looking plastic thing (technical term).

What's your price range?

The "Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case" at around $100-$120 might be the most expensive mentioned, but I think it does a much better job at airflow and cable management.

• https://i.imgur.com/5Frux7o.jpg
  
  I bought one last year and I've been pretty happy with it.
  
  edit, adding some links
  
  
• linustechtips review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWkwBgDHtW0
  
• amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D6GINF4
  
  

Ah, I see. That CD likely contains the best driver for your device. If you can find the CD, definitely do.

Even though you don’t have a CD drive on your computer, you can get an external USB DVD adapter like this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ODDE33U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_t9KRCbB1XA3SM which are usually plug and play so no worries like you’re dealing with with this thing.

Interesting that it shows up as Line In. When you go into Sounds, do you see it listed in the sounds? Right click the volume icon on the lower right hand corner of your computer in the Taskbar, select Sounds, and then go over to the tab for Playback and also Recording.

Is it listed on any of these tabs? And if so, does it have a green check mark on it? Is your guitar plugged in to the adapter and does it seem to be recognizing sound coming from the adapter and showing up on the bar when you strum the guitar?

Good luck. You're gonna need a mess of adapters to accomplish that.

What you're going to need to ultimately do is get PS4 audio sent as an input into your PC and connect your headphones directly to your PC so you can hear both at the same time.

So firstly you're gonna need to make sure you have an Audio IN port on your PC. Next is transferring the Audio over to your PC. The easiest way to do this is pick yourself up a sound card with optical input. Something like this could work.

https://www.amazon.com/Blaster-Performance-Headphone-Forming-Microphone/dp/B009ISU33E/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1511642837&sr=1-1&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A4091980011%2C2889460011

Then you could run the optical cable from the PS4 to the Optical IN on the card and have it do live playback.

The second cheaper option would be to get one of these devices.

https://www.amazon.com/PROZOR-Digital-Converter-Toslink-Adapter/dp/B00KNNSKV0/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1511642983&sr=1-3&keywords=optical+to+3.5mm

Then run a 3.5mm into your PC. It likely won't sound as good but in theory it should work.

You would of course need to make sure you 3.5mm MIC/AUX Input on your PC.

https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-External-Converter-Adapter-Desktops/dp/B06XP5R449/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1511643145&sr=1-3&keywords=usb+3.5mm+aux+input

Something like this could work on your PC if you didn't have a 3.5mm aux input.

Obviously you'd need the 3.5mm cable like this.

https://www.amazon.com/FosPower-Stereo-Auxiliary-iPhone-Samsung/dp/B00LBJ77ZK/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1511643286&sr=1-3&keywords=3.5mm+audio+cable+25ft

And you'd need an optical cable that would plug into the adapter.

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Digital-Optical-Audio-Toslink/dp/B00NH11H38/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1511643360&sr=1-3&keywords=Optical+cable

If you're spending $750 dollars on a graphics card, you may want to spend more than $50 on a case. Zalman is pretty well known for low quality products, it's one of the reasons their products are so cheap to buy. The white NZXT S340 is on sale for like $70, it's a fantastic case and usually about $110. If you already have the case, it should fit, and I recommend getting some better case fans if you are using the stock case fans, a 1080 ti will introduce a lot more heat into your case.

For a case that'll leave a smaller footprint, I really want to recommend the Air 240 but because you have the NH-D14 (ayyy Noctua. High five) you will most definitely have a clearance issue. It can definitely house your 780ti though since the Air 240 has no problem housing the 970 G1 even with a rad at the front.

I'd like to throw in the Air 540 because ugh, I really love the Carbide Air 240 and 540

Hi hi hi friends,

I bought my Sennheiser HD 598 CS's during black friday and I cant help but feel like I'm not getting the most out of them. Right now I have them connected, along with a ModMic, to my mobo with this.

I had my eyes set on these;

FiiO E10K

Optomo NuForce

So, my question is, should I get either of these DACs or is it not really worth the price I'm intending to pay? If I should buy a DAC which one of these should I get? Or is there a better one around this price point?

Budget: $150cad

Location: Canada

Thanks for any help!

You need this:

https://www.amazon.com/external-Adapter-Windows-Microphone-SD-CM-UAUD/dp/B001MSS6CS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479836527&sr=8-1&keywords=syba

I use that one and it works great. Then just use the inputs on that for the sound and mic. You might need a mixer or should have one even a cheap one for mixing volumes etc... or conversely you could set up some kind of mixing software on the PC.

I was under the impression the one with the HC2 the USB sound card is not compatible with the PS4. Not for sure though. Might want to give it a try since you have it.

If your hooking the Elgato directly to the PS4 with HDMI audio make sure that the settings in OBS have use device audio checked or on in the software.

Bottom line make your life easier with a cheap mixer to control, mix and make your stream sound better.

I use a PS4 everyday with this setup and it allows ultimate control and sound through my DSS USB device also plugged into the PS4 come by and discuss it TonyLemont on Twitch.

Peace.

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/YJ2V6X

This was my build, but i saw a few deals so the ssd, mobo, and case are different, i believe the corsair case is still 47 bucks which is a good start

Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-02 Mid Tower Gaming Case https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I0MKMG2/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_66tHxbKS41D39

Doesn't list that as a deal but i was building my list last night and it was 60

If you're only using amazon for the build the ram on the list above is 81usd on amazon...

mobo deal is over but i imagine another will come, there is a newegg bundle, 335usd for i5 6500k, z170 mobo and 8gb 2400mhz ram which is a great start too, pop a gpu, psu and case and it's good to go

Keep in mind that the fans in the promo pictures aren't always (or usually) the fans that the cases actually come with. You always have to read the specs, in this case the Thermaltake case actually only comes with 1 fan.

My personal favorite case manufactures are phanteks, nzxt, or fractile design.

I'd probably recommend something like the Enthoo Pro M as I find phanteks cases to be amazing to build in.

If you're looking for something closer in price to the other one then I'd go for something like a Corsair 100R.

Keep in mind most cases will come with at most 1 or 2 fans, if you want more fans you'll have to purchase them separately.

Just a few things I notice:

1. Your motherboard is overkill for iRacing. You could go with a motherboard like this one and get the same quality of play. From talking to computer people, once you get past the $150 range for a motherboard you really are splitting hairs as to noticeable performance gains. Might save $80 or so.
   
   
2. You included a sound card in your build. Most motherboards have onboard sound cards. So unless you're doing things above what iRacing is capable of, the motherboard has all the sound you'll need. So that could save you $34.
   
   
3. Computer case opinions seem to vary. But if you aren't totally in love with that case then take a look at this one. I just bought it and it seems to be a pretty good case. Lots of room inside and plenty of space for fans and cooling. It will save you around $62 if you have amazon prime.
   
   So with the $175 you could upgrade to the i7-6700k CPU that is 4.0GHz or you could upgrade to the 1080 graphics card... or you could pocket it. I'm not a computer guy by any means, but the people on the iRacing forum helped me learn a ton when I was trying to figure all of this out. Hope it helps.

Nope, just a standard case but with the whole right side being dedicated to cables / power supply / drives. I have the newer version of it.

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-High-Airflow-Cube/dp/B00D6GINF4

And the newer one:

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Air-740-CC-9011096-WW/dp/B01LHFLPB4

EASILY the best case I've ever used in a build, by a wide margin.

Hopefully, someday, some time, I get my dream PC. If you need help with parts or anything let me know and I'll be happy to help. Also, here are some cases that I like :-

https://www.amazon.com/NZXT-S340-Tower-CA-S340W-W1-White/dp/B00NGMIBXC/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1473528432&sr=1-1&keywords=nzxt+s340

https://www.amazon.com/Noctis-Tower-CA-N450W-M1-Matte-Black/dp/B00VX1L31K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473568199&sr=8-1&keywords=nzxt+noctis

https://www.amazon.com/Phanteks-Enthoo-Evolv-Computer-Case/dp/B01F0KWTXA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473568215&sr=8-1&keywords=phantek+enthoo+evolv

Great, I'm very nearly kitted out. :D

Back full circle to the case. I like the look of this Enthoo. Good price and lots of space. I'm worried about overheating since it's going to be in a pretty warm place, so a full tower gives it lots of room for airflow. And I'm thinking one of these for the rear mount.

EDIT: That's as well as the CPU fan.

Well damn. Sorry you have to deal with that stuff! That is really frustrating!

My last suggestion, if you are willing, is to get a cheap USB Sound Card and completely bypass your internal jack. As that could be the issue as well.

It is a really cheap test and it would let you know if it is the headset or the jack or the adapter.

Something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Aluminum-External-Adapter-AU-EMAC/dp/B00OJ5AV8I/

Or this:
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Adapter-Windows-AU-MMSA/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/

Anyway, good luck on solving that issue man. And if they USB Sound Card works you could try some different headsets/headphones. Just remember that those USB Sound Cards are very basic and offer little to no amping. So you wont be getting the best sound quality. But it would definitely be equivalent to the onboard sound of laptops. And let you test your situation.

If you want to do a serious upgrade in sound quality, get the Sound Blaster Omni 5.1.

I have it and it amps all my headphones perfectly and has so many features and options and is rock solid. It does have an integrated mic into the unit and does noise cancel quite well but I wouldn't recommend it if you can use one on a headset as that would probably be clearer.

https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Performance-Headphone-Integrated-Microphone/dp/B00EZT7RE4/

Just letting you know of the options, and sorry about all the info.

The reason I thought it could be the adapter or port is because I have the Game One and the SHP 9500's which are VERY open and leak sound substantially and I never get the mic picking up the audio from the headphones when using voice activated on PC or even on PS4 which is only voice activated.

Also, I just noticed something from your wording and just want to clarify something.

You are saying that when you are on a voice chat program with someone, they hear coming through your mic what is playing on your headphones right? It's not that you are hearing your mic in your headphones right? Just being sure. Because if you hear your mic in your headphones that is a completely different issue and can be disabled by going into your speaker settings and muting the mic playback which plays back to your headphones for closed headphones so you can hear yourself without having to yell it's called sidetone. Anyway, this is probably definitely not the issue but I just want to clarify so we can rule out everything else.

Heh, good luck with that! :)
I got tired of searching and just went with this USB switch:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01MXXQKGM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As for the monitors, I hooked up a second HDMI cable that I can connect to the laptop and just switch the inputs on the monitor itself. Not ideal but I guess it'll get the job done :) Good luck OP!

I'm pretty sure you can get a crappy little USB device with a 1/8" mic input and use that. The sound isn't going to be great but it might hold you over in the meantime. Something like this or this (along with cable adapter(s)) i think would work.

Otherwise, I'd probably be spending all my time learning the blofeld and making patches for it. That synth is basically limitless with its possibilities. Try to make some patches that sound like the gear you want (e piano, etc.).

And get some VSTs! There are plenty of solid-sounding free ones - you can compose your ass off with just free software.

Okay awesome thank you, all of this info is super helpful.
Can I go with a USB plugin for the wifi or do I need to buy a PCI-E one?
Think I'm going with this for motherboard - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0131GA4WI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A2L77EE7U53NWQ&psc=1
and this for case - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NGMIBXC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Alright will add the power supply to the updated list. Just to clarify on the gcard, I cannot get the blower because it is incompatible with my build, I now understand that. Have already added in the monitor to my build & at the end of optimizing this pc part list, I should be able to afford getting the better gcard, being the xfx gtr. Would you recommend the gtr instead of the msi, performance-wise?

edit: think I found a better case regardless of price. This corsair is better than the one you suggested correct? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I0MKMG2/?tag=pcpapi-20&th=1

I knew this sounded familiar...

After 6 years in my posession, my MSI GT70 0nc has NOT aged well at all

1. BSODs and slow startup- You were informed that the HDD is likely dying and were recommended an SSD swap. If you cannot afford a high capacity SSD, the Seagate Firecuda is an excellent replacement.
   
2. Monitor cable loose - Remove the bezel on your LCD and reattach the loose cable. It's more likely that the ribbon is pinched/damaged and drops the connection. YouTube video to help you take apart the LCD and find the ribbon.
   
3. USB 3.0 not working - Check to make sure that the wire you are using on your external SSD is good. Pins 5-9 on the male end connector may be bent/damaged and force a USB 2.0 connection instead.
   
4. Headphone jack - Use a toothpick to clean out the headphone port. If you are willing to take it apart, make sure your headphones are making good contact. Otherwise, just buy a USB sound card.
   
   Keep us posted.

Does it have to be ~12 inch?

I ask because this Asus Vivobook E403SA is a really good deal at $399, but it's 14".

It's the cheapest way to get a highly portable, inexpensive machine for average use with a full HD 1080p display, and it sounds like it would be ideal for her.

Do keep in mind that smaller form factors, and especially lower budgets don't come with a lot of storage and they definitely don't come with optical drives. You can get some externals like this WD Passport, and this external optical drive both without crossing the $500 mark total.

Great, thanks. I'm a little concerned about overheating the GPU, since the original case wasn't designed for use with a high-end GPU.

However, I don't know how to tell whether a case will have good enough ventilation. Do you think this one would be OK?

The Fractal Design Define R4 has great build quality along with noise suppression. It has sound dampening material on the side panels as well as being very heavy; this allows the case to counteract fan and drive vibrations and to absorb sound easily. I have this case and everything runs very quiet even when gaming under heavy load.

Another case that I would recommend researching is the NZXT S340. This case along with the Fractal Design Define R4 are probably among 2 of the most popular cases for PC gaming. I just have a personal preference for the R4 as I have more experience with it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NGMIBUU/ref=twister_B019C7RTYQ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Vpdqqs/nzxt-case-cas340ww1

Everyone runs the Behringer DAC with these Nexus 7 setups, but to be honest, it seems like overkill, and it ain't small. Is there a reason you chose it over a small option like [this](http://www.SYBA.com/ external USB Stereo Sound Adapter for Windows, Mac, Linux Extra Audio Source with Microphone SD-CM-UAUD https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001MSS6CS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_sbD2xb9F64ZHN)? I can buy that the audio quality on the Behringer is likely higher. It just seems like an ungainly device when size does matter.

Just came in the mail. I tried it on my Macbook Pro to confirm it's native. Works like a charm! Pop it in and it shows up in the sound options. Sound quality is also decent. I don't detect any excessive noise or anything like that. Definitely worth $10 to not fuck with drivers haha.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001MSS6CS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Dear Pi-people,

I want to make wall mounted phones and hang them throughout the city. You can leave voicemails or talk 1-0-1 if someone is on the other line. It will be a closed network of about 10 units.

Your advice on mic/telephone: i think the shoulder mics are really cool for this project. But i have no clue how to connect it to the pi. Will an usb soundcard be ok? I don’t know if these 2 pin connectors on the shoulder mics fit the standard usb cards.

Furthermore I don’t know if the PTT (push to talk) will still function or how to make that interact with the pi; recognising when mic is on or off (maybe sound levels?).

Second option would be to attach a “retro” phone. Anyone have any experience/ suggestions? Regarding software as well (Is Asterisk a solution or Mumble + voicerecord for voicemail?)

https://www.amazon.com/BTECH-QHM22-Platinum-Rainproof-Shoulder/dp/B00Z4X3MM6/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1518681063&sr=1-3&keywords=shoulder+mic

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Adapter-Windows-AU-MMSA/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=zg_bs_3015427011_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=TEF3DD19MRMX3V5B2PSN

Thanks in advance!

It could well be enough, but since you're on a bike I'd recommend being safe than sorry. Something like this will spread the weight distribution out a bit more and should keep the card safer.

I have used both Volumio and Rune Audio and they both offer web based control over a headless pi audio server. You can stream internet radio, play audio from archive.org, and play music from an attached storage device with music loaded onto it (or a network music share device).

They are both based on the same open source project and are pretty similar functionally and aesthetically, they might be perfect for what you want because anybody on the network can access the web control panel and play/que music.

You will also probably want to look into a USB DAC or a add-on board like hi-fi berry because the Pis audio out is pretty underwelming in terms of sound quality. I used this USB audio card because it was plug and play and cheap but sounds good through an amplified stereo.

Best thing to do is to buy a new case. Either this https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-Mini-Itx-Computer-DS380B-USA/dp/B07PCH47Z2/ref=sr_1_15?keywords=silverstone+hotswap&qid=1566943919&s=gateway&sr=8-15 Which a quite a lot of folks I know who are using mini iTX are using something like this. 8 hotswap 3.5 and 4 x 2.5 https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=452 or if you want to use ALL your drives and a cheaper alternative https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0091IZ1ZG/ref=twister_B079C7QGNY?_encoding=UTF8&th=1 You can fit 15 x 3.5 in that. or get some 2x2.5 to 1x3.5 to shove some SSDs in there too. https://www.amazon.com/Inateck-Internal-Mounting-Included-ST1002S/dp/B01FD8YJB4/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=2.5+x+3.5&qid=1566944571&s=electronics&sr=1-11 There are various companies I looked quickly on Amazon. That way you can have 12 drives rather than just 6. The cheap sata cards will fix you up or shove this in there https://www.amazon.com/Crest-Non-RAID-Controller-Supports-FreeNAS/dp/B07NFRXQHC/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=I%2FO+Crest+8+Port+SATA+III+Non-RAID+PCI-e+x4+Controller+Card+Supports+FreeNAS+and+ZFS+RAID&qid=1566944762&s=electronics&sr=1-1 . Hope this helps :)

I would go with the Ryzen 1600. It comes with an okay stock cooler for just 200 dollars. Look up "B350 Ryzen" and you will find lots of motherboards that are cheaper than motherboards that use Coffeelake CPUs. Also, "IMO" i think that this case looks better.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CC-9011075-WW-Windowed-Mid-Tower-Computer/dp/B00RORBQNW/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1511229923&sr=1-1&keywords=corsair+100r
I know Computer hardware is pretty expensive rn but newegg is having some great bundle deals! I recommend trying to get a little bit faster ram because it is not that much more expensive over lower clocked ram.
https://www.newegg.com/Combos/EventSaleStore/ID-50?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=IGNEFL112017&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL112017-_-EMC-112017-Index-_-E0I-_-Combos01&et_cid=39599&et_rid=15984067&email64=ZXRoYW4uY3Jvd2VAbGl2ZS5jb20%3d
I hoped this helped you. Sorry it looks so messy, I was in a rush trying to put this together. Happy PC building!

Primary Components are...

Rosewill RSV-L4500 Case: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0091IZ1ZG/

GPU Bracket Coversion Kit: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1731197.0

F12 Silent Arctic (~800RPM) 120mm Fans: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0119T0D4I/

6-Pack v009S Risers: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B077JYBDYT/

6pin Extension Cables: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B073M4643C/

Corsair 1200 Watt Platinum PSU: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00U6GTONM/

GIGABYTE GA-H110-D3A Mainboard: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B073ZMZV6K

4 PNY GeForce GTX 1060 6GB GPUs: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01IR5MR32

I just built this for something to keep me out of trouble, didn't really expect to make any money, maybe free heat in the winter. So far I'm pleasantly surprised it's making ~$40 weekly (at rates as of today, lol) after deducting power costs. No sure how long it will last at that rate, but I'm having fun. Got one more 8pin (to dual 6pin) corsair type 3 cable arriving next week, then will be able to throw another card in there (PSU has six 8pin ports). Making about 100+ RVN daily right now, probably gonna look for newer coins once in awhile and just HODL them all and see what happens...that's my stragegy so far.

I was very surprised how well the 3 front fans do only being 800 to 1000 RPM, then again I don't have monster GPUs in this rig, just 6pin 1060s. Heat did NOT increase after closing the top, BUT I had to remove the front door because it cut down airflow too much and things heated up very quickly. Mining X16 seems to keep heat / power usage down I guess? Haven't mined much else yet, I suspect ethash might be a different story.

EDIT: The four 1060 GPUs are only pulling 330 watts at the wall...pretty sweet. I haven't mined in years, I was predicting a lot higher.

Hi all. Love the NAS Killer guide, I think this build would be a great replacement for my aging Synology DS212J. Question, though: Would this build work well in the Thermaltake Core V21 case? I know that case costs more and doesn't come with a power supply, but it would fit better into the spot where I'd like to put my NAS. Thoughts?

Need a bit of tech support.

I have Sennheiser HD 598s, which sound amazing and I love them. But they are WAY WAY too loud.
I have my pc volume mixer set to 1%, and then still watch videos and play games at like 10% internal volume.

As far as the rest of my setup goes, I'm using this USB sound card
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B001MSS6CS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

with no DAC or anything.

Is it possible I have a really warped idea of how loud hearing damage occurs at, and I should just crank everything up? I don't really want anything to be louder though.

I've spoken to some friends who have already really pushed me to buy a DAC but I'd love your opinions first. And if I get a DAC, would I have to return to using my on board sound card instead of the USB card?

Yep but you're probably cheaper off buying a cheap usb sound card for like 5-10€

Edit: the purpose of the sound card is to just sort out the interference coming from the PC and send a clean signal to the device. This doesn't require a 400€ AMP or a DAC.
Sort of just smoothing out the "bumps".

Something like this can do the job.

Audio processing inside a power hungry computer is like holding a concert on an F1 track while a race is happening next to you.

I definitely will! You do the same. The way I did this one was I just ran the tracks playing into a small mixer I have, then a really simple USB interface i got off of amazon that looks like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Adapter-Windows-AU-MMSA/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1511477524&sr=8-9&keywords=usb+audio+interface

this track is really simple so it didn't take much, but if you ran like 6 different channels into some simple interface like that it might muddy it.

I record most of my tracks into either logic or I use the recording feature on my op-1.

I'd really like to get more into abelton, becuase I think it would really help with workflow, but I have such a mental block on learning it. I'm used to the garageband/logic interface setup.

Looks like a great build, with that bit of extra cash, you could get an i5 6500 (better clock speeds). I think an ATX motherboard would look better in your case, I would go for the MSI B150 PC Mate or the AsRock H170 PRO 4S. To squeeze an SSD in there, you could save a bit of money with the MasterBox 5 or the S340 and pick up the PNY CS1311 120GB SSD along with your HDD. Also, you could possibly get an RX 480 like this to save money on non-SLI motherboards and FreeSync monitors instead of a GSync one. Sorry if this was overwhelming, but I hope this helps.

Any USB audio dongle should work, but this is the one I have.

I had run one of the audio patching scripts, but it gave me only partial audio function. There were none of the system sounds in OS X, but I could get audio out if playing a video stream in a browser window. After doing a fresh install of El Cap I decided to grab the dongle just to see what would happen--works perfectly. It's a solution for a desktop with plenty of ports and where it doesn't matter if the dongle is sticking out the back. Would be a little clunky on a laptop.

off the top of my head around 120-150 but thats assuming you buy everything online with free shipping and assuming you have access to alot of tools.

Pi Zero https://www.adafruit.com/product/2885 $5.00
LCD https://www.amazon.com/BW-3-5-Inch-Monitor-Automobile/dp/B0045IIZKU/ $15.50
USB Sound Card https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Adapter-Windows-AU-MMSA/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/ $6
USB HUB https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Converter-Android-Samsung-Transformer/dp/B00OZDUTMM $6
Volume Potentiometer https://www.amazon.com/16x2mm-Double-Taper-Duplex-Potentiometer/dp/B00O9Y6Z70 $6
Mono 2.5w amp https://www.adafruit.com/products/2130 $3
ABXY PCB http://store.kitsch-bent.com/product/common-ground-dmg-button-pcb-a-b-x-y-version $11.75
Power Boost 1000C https://www.adafruit.com/products/2465 $20

Female micro usb https://www.adafruit.com/products/1829 $1
female usb socket https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Female-Degree-Socket-Connector/dp/B00FH85SGG Free or $6
Stereo Jack https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Plastic-Stereo-Socket-Connector/dp/B00GLQAF7A $6
Slide switch https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-SS12F32-G7-Position-Switch-Solder/dp/B007QAJWYW $6
Membrane set http://store.kitsch-bent.com/product/silicone-buttons $2.75
Extra button set http://store.kitsch-bent.com/product/custom-buttons $2
28mm Speaker https://www.amazon.com/Metal-Inside-Magnet-Player-Speaker/dp/B00O9YG9GM $6.50
two single button pcb http://store.kitsch-bent.com/product/easy_buttons $4.30
2300mah Battery http://www.microcenter.com/product/458057/2,300_mAh_Li-Po_Battery_and_Charger $15.00

I used an antlion modmic. The product actually doesn't interact with the 598's cable at all. It's a separate cable and the mic is attached with a magnet.

I plug it (only the mic, not the headphones) into a Sabrent USB Soundcard (otherwise the mic hisses and is quiet). With this cheap ($7) soundcard it sounds great and is crystal clear.

The Modmic works with all headphones due to the fact that you just attach it and it's ready to use. However, the cables can get tangled EXTREMELY easily so I recommend taking advantage of the included cable clips and maybe getting a cable sleeve should you go the Antlion modmic route.

"I priced everything out online and this is what it's worth" suuurrreee....

• 4TB Hard Drive - $120
  
  
• i7 2600K - $175
  
  
• 16GB RAM - $50
  
  
• 7850 - $75 I actually bought a 7870 on eBay a few months ago for $57 but whatever
  
  
• Motherboard, can't find one but equivalent decent mobos would be like $150
  
  
• PSU - $75 and probably better than the one this thing comes with
  
  
• CPU Cooler - $20
  
  
• Case - $70
  
  
• Enough LEDs to melt this computer - $20
  
  I'd offer $750 for everything, tops.

Amd Ryzens are pretty nice at the moment and cheap. Ryzen 1600 is a good choice. I recommend a SSD disk and a second one HDD so you have a faster system and also an storage disk. Graphic card will be the hardest. Maybe a cheap 1050 2 gb will do.



Processor: Ryzen 1600 - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06XNRQHG4/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520330748&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=ryzen+5+1600&dpPl=1&dpID=319ktX3yGXL&ref=plSrch

Hard disk (hdd): barracuda works - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01IEKG402/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1520330798&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=hdd&dpPl=1&dpID=5152Tk32IxL&ref=plSrch

Graphic card (gt 1050; 2 gb) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01MEGB6LK/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520330867&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=1050+2gb&dpPl=1&dpID=51KuYAEIFPL&ref=plSrch

Motherboard: B350 for ryzen - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06WVFFXXL/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520331052&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=b350&dpPl=1&dpID=51%2BX8pCoVML&ref=plSrch

Ram: corsair vengeance 8 gb - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01ARHBBPS/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1520331152&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=ram+ddr4+8gb&dpPl=1&dpID=41fGQgRH9hL&ref=plSrch

Heatsink from artic - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005IOLEJO/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520331385&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=heatsink+for+ryzen&dpPl=1&dpID=51vHMnzWlEL&ref=plSrch

Power supply: standard - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B014W3EMAO/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1520331603&sr=8-7&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=power+supply+650w&dpPl=1&dpID=51jq9j94-TL&ref=plSrch

Case: also standard stuff - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00RORBQNW/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1520331936&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=pc+case&dpPl=1&dpID=41Wq97Jk20L&ref=plSrch


The total is around 700. You may need to add some more things put this is enough for full functionallity. Also, I wouldnt buy the parts on amazon, but this way you can search them in a good electronics shop from your country which adds the assembly. Standards can be changed easily, that depends on what you preffer.

Similar price, no it's hard to beat a 40$ case cost wise

I built in this the last time. It was ok, I'm still salty they discontinued the first case I ever built in it was amazing.

Cooler Master USA System Cabinet Cases RC-912-KKN1-GP, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZM7YTA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_kleDCb43DTKW1


This one is pretty good as well.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/wc3yxG

I'm willing to go to like 60-70 but Amazon has some cases like This and This on sale right now which look really good.

If I wait I'm willing to pay more for sure.


Do cases usually last multiple builds for the average user? The orange graphite series case really appeals to me especially if it's something that lasts through a few builds.

It really sounds like RFI but you said you tried different microphones, so I doubt it since most of them have grounding.

What I suggest you to try is an USB microphone or even an USB sound card (they're actually pretty fucking good, audio quality can increase a lot using them), I've used this one for a long time and it's still good but some reviews are saying that the new models are slightly worse (I would just buy it and test if you can fix your problems)

Corsair SPEC-02. Looks nice, built nicely, and pretty cheap.

I'm pretty sure this budget.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CC-9011051-WW-Carbide-Windowed-Mid-Tower/dp/B00I0MKMG2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458523617&sr=8-1&keywords=Corsair+Carbide+Series+SPEC-02