---

My rationale for the chosen products:

---

• CPU: Review
  A very detailed review from GamersNexus. These guys make incredible reviews and will go very in depth into every aspect of whatever they review. They also post on reddit a bit.
  This CPU is just the best bang for the buck right now, no question asked. Intel is too expensive and doesn't let you upgrade the CPU on the same motherboard if you would want to do this in a few years.
  
  This CPU is bought in MicroCenter with a combo kit to save $30!
  
  
• Motherboard: Product page
  A very solid board that doesn't break the bank. It comes with 7 USB type A (standard) & 1 USB type C port on the read. With the 2 from case, we get to the total 10 USB ports that was asked for.
  When you buy this motherboard at MicroCenter, you get a $30 combo deal.
  
  I highly recommend to ask one of the sales people if the BIOS is compatible for the new Ryzen 3000 series. I've heard that they would even upgrade the BIOS for you without extra cost to get it working. But it will probably work out of the box by now.
  
• Memory: RAM is RAM. Brands don't matter too much, speed & latency does have an impact for performance on Ryzen though. This video explains it very well. So I went with a 3000MHz, CL15 set from G.Skill. This will work very well and will give you a decent performance boost.
  
• Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD & 2TB HDD for mass storage. This is a very nice balance in terms of SSD & mass storage I find personally.
  The Sabrent Rocket NVMe SSD is extremely fast and very well balanced in terms of price to performance. The WD 2TB is a very standard drive that got a lower RPM to reduce the noise. It will be a tiny bit slower compared to a 7200 RPM drive, but you'll hardly be able to notice the difference. A slower RPM HDD also on pure merit, will last longer because of the lesser amount of mechanical tear it goes through over time.
  
• Video Card: Review & Review (written)
  This is the best video card for the budget of this build. We could spend less on the peripherals and get a better card, but considering the games that are mentioned. This would be a waste in my opinion. It will perform very well at 1440p (the monitor resolution I suggest) and will just be a lot of fun.
  
• Case: Review
  GamersNexus again! Well, this is an a very silent case. It does not come in army green or has handles, but there are very few cases that have either of that. It does have the 2 ODD which was also requested so I went with a case that got 2 out of the 4 requests. Silence is a main factor for my PC builds.
  
• Case fans: It comes with 2 very high quality fans, which is enough for this system.
  
• Power Supply: Review
  10 year warranty, 80+ gold efficiency, fully-modular black cables, semi-passive fan design, 650W PSU from Corsair made by CWT. The 10 year warranty should tell you enough, but if not then the 9.666.. score for this unit should tell you enough. I remove the "value" score from this review since prices change all the time. Ow right, it is the 750W unit, but the 650W is pretty much the same platform. So very close in performance and quality.
  
• Monitor: Review
  An other amazing review that looks at pretty much everything this monitor has to offer. It's a long read, so in short. It's one of the best TN gaming monitors available right now. It will diliver an awesome gaming experience. It also comes with a USB 3.0 HUB for 1 extra USB connection, since it got 2 on the monitor, but you have to connect it to 1 on the motherboard. So you lose 1 there, but gain 2 on the monitor. Useful for the microphone & something else of choice.
  
• Wireless Network Adapter: This card has been highly rated, although I personally have no experience with it. I also don't recommend to use WiFi if possible. It can and often will be a lot worse compared to a hardwired cable. If you can't reach the PC with the cable, then you can use a power-line adaptor. This will allow you to use the powerlines in your house to get from the router to the PC. You will lose some speed doing this, but it is still much better compared to WiFi.
  Regardless, this card does support both Bluetooth & WiFi. You have to connect the USB cable to get the Bluetooth working!
  
  Place this card in anything but the bottom PCIe x1 slot. Since that one won't work when you put the NVMe SSD into the top M.2/1 slot. They share the bandwidth.
  
  
• Keyboard: Review
  Probably the best wireless mechanical keyboard on the market. It's a 60% keyboard, so no F, arrow or numpad keys. If you want any of these keys, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Also because it's a mechanical keyboard, the switch type is something personal. Ask your brother if he wants to have tactile feedback when pressing down a key and if he would like it to click. The clicking can be very loud, so its something to be well aware of. I personally use MX browns and while I can hear it very slightly, it's by far my favourite switch. I had blues and tried reds as well. I don't like red switches since they don't have any feedback, so I don't know when I pressed the key. It's a minor thing and for "gaming" it can be better since you can press keys "faster" but in my opinion this is not really much of a difference or negative.
  
• Mouse: Review
  The best mouse reviewer there is. He rates it fairly highly and because of the cheap price, it was not a hard decision to suggest this. However, it would help a lot to ask your brother if he could measure his hands and how does he grip the mouse? Knowing those two factors will help to say if this mouse will work or if we should look at something else.
  
• Mousepad: I don't know if he will sit behind a desk or not, but can't forget to get a mousepad. I absolutely love the extremely large ones where you can place the keyboard on it as well. It also helps for your wrists a bit to have a softer place for them.
  
• Speakers: You wanted a wireless keyboard & mouse, so you also get some wireless speakers! I actually personally wasn't a fan of wireless audio for a while. But they've made massive improvements to make me feel a bit more comfortable with recommending it. If you want to use wires, you can simply get the T40 series ii. These speakers have been the bar for sub $100 speakers.
  
• Microphone: Review
  Well, finally a LinusTechTips video joins the list! Well, the Blue Yeti has been pretty much the staple of microphones for high quality voice recording and podcasts. I went with it, even though it may be a bit overkill. But heey, you buy this and can use it for many years while sounding crystal clear. You may even get some compliments on how sexy you sound!
  I also included a stand so that you can actually get it very close to your face that most streamers do. It also reduces the noise of the keyboard by a good amount + no shocks when you place something on the desk because of the shock mount.
  
  

  Hope you like it and If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Here I have my current setup. The headphones are my Beyerdynamic Custom Studios, the DAC is an Audioengine D3, and the AMP is a Fiio A3 Portable Amp. The entire setup cost me $268, but as of now I believe the Custom Studios are discontinued, so you could replace the headphones with some alternatives in that price range (Audio Technica M40x/M50x or Philips SHP9500.) Anyways, here’s a review for everything.

Beyerdynamic Custom Studio (80 ohm)


Used to be $163, now they are [$250] (https://www.guitarcenter.com/Beyerdynamic/Custom-STUDIO-Headphones-1392652270585.gc)
I bought these headphones around July of 2017 as my first pair of “real” headphones. Initially, I was disappointed, but this was only because I was not used to the sound of these headphones at the time. After about a month of listening to them, I went back to compare them to some old Apple Earbuds and at first, I couldn’t believe the difference. Everything about these headphones was amazing. There’s a great amount of detail in them, the imaging is absolutely amazing, but soundstage is very narrow due to them being closed back headphones. As closed back headphones, they do a fantastic job of not allowing sound to leak about and making sure outside noise stays outside as long as the volume is higher. I use these at the library in my school when I write papers and never get complaints. I’ve tested them before by placing them on my friends’ heads and playing music at a loud volume, but nothing leaks out.


I found the comfort to be alright, but the fault was due to the velour. I really do not like velour as I find it to be very itchy, however, many other people praise the earpads, so it just comes down to preference. I instead replaced the pads with some [Brainwavs HM5 Sheepskin earpads] ( https://www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-Sheepskin-Leather-Memory-Earpad/dp/B01J53KM32) and fell in love with the comfort. The pads increased bass a little and made them incredibly comfortable. I use a [V-Moda Boom Pro] ( https://www.amazon.com/V-MODA-BoomPro-Microphone-Gaming-Communication/dp/B00BJ17WKK/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1524357476&sr=8-1&keywords=vmoda+boompro&dpID=41WfbQw%252Bp8L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch) with it when I game and these never become uncomfortable, even after playing for hours on end. The clamp on these is very strong, but I like it that way as it prevents them from falling off my head.


The unique thing about these headphones is that it has bass sliders on each cup, which allows you to adjust the bass from (Low bass, neutral, vibrant bass, and max bass.) I tend to keep it on neutral and the bass there is more than enough for me (and I love bass.) I use these for just about everything, including gaming and I never have any issues. I wear glasses and these are fine for anyone who may wear glasses.


After trying out different headphones at CanJam this year, I now know where these headphones can improve, but these still manage to keep up with everything else above its price range. You can run these off a phone and get some good volume, but I like music loud, so I use them with an amp at all times. Overall, I’m glad these are my first pair and I plan on keeping them as my closed back pair of headphones after I move on to more expensive headphones.


Audioengine D3 DAC+AMP


[$45 Refurbrished] (https://audioengineusa.com/shop/factory-refurbished/d3-24-bit-dacheadphone-amp-2/)
I bought the Audioengine D3 as the last piece of the puzzle in terms of headphones, amps, and dacs. It is a USB DAC that comes with a ¼ inch adapter and a sleeve to carry it. This is actually what motivated me to listen to music on my laptop as I used to listen to music on my phone. I really have no complaints about it. When it released, it was priced at $200 and was one of the few USB DACs that could compete with the Dragonfly DACs, and from what I’ve read online, a lot of reviewers actually prefer the D3. I saw it on Massdrop a month back for $70ish and wanted it, but I wanted to read reviews about it first. That’s where I found that you can get it for $45 straight out of their website with free shipping included. There really is no reason to look for another DAC when this one is available for such a steal. There is no kind of sound when music is not playing and it is driverless, meaning you can just plug it in to your computer and it’s ready to go. One thing to note is that it gets really hot, but it isn’t a problem, so long as you keep your fingers off of it. I felt like I noticed an improvement in songs, but it could just be a placebo (A B test your gear and see if you can notice a difference.) However, I really like having it around and I don’t listen to anything on my laptop without it.


Fiio A3 AMP


[$59.99] (https://www.amazon.com/A3-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier-Black/dp/B00Z9BIODA)
I bought the Fiio A3 when I bought my headphones because I read that an amp was almost required for anything at 80 ohms and higher. Since then, I’ve loved this little beast of an amp. It has a low and high gain switch to control volume (I keep it on high gain when connected to my phone and low gain when connected to the D3.) It also has a bass boost switch which I really like when I feel like being basshead (The bass boost here + max bass setting on the Custom Studios = Madness.) It has a life of about 16 hours before needing to recharge and it has a blue led that blinks when it needs to charge. It makes headphones very loud very fast. It is also built like a tank. I tried carrying it around in my pocket when I walked on campus and it slipped out. It only took a cosmetic hit, but in terms of functionality, it is untouched.


The only reason I still use it is because I like being able to control audio through a knob as opposed to a digital slider. The only annoying thing about it is that it has a hissing noise when the knob is turned up without any music playing, but when music starts to play, the hiss disappears. Overall, I absolutely recommend this amp if you want something to start with as it will do nothing but impress you every time.


This is my setup and being a broke college kid, I could not be happier. In terms of the things that this sub shows off, I find this to be a very budget friendly setup. Even when I upgrade everything, I still plan on keeping it as I do not want to forget where I started in terms of this hobby. For anyone that may be wanting to jump into the world of audio, I absolutely recommend these products as places to start. I’ve provided straight links for anyone that may want to check out the products.

So I woke up and these are the links to the videos and some pointers and what not.

ALL LINKS IN THE BOTTOM

Here is the first video for 150 dollars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dj5G0isn9Y

These are the 50 dollar headphones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fD-M1F6L4g

These are the really high end for 200-1000 dollar sets. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgTnJ3JQQ0E

Open vs Closed

Closed

Closed which is what I use right now but am looking to get an open pair for 150 bucks. Now closed is where the sound outside your headphones do not come in, as much. Now some are completely noise cancelling then others and some you can still hear but not too well. It has a less of a sound stage so it is harder to know where somethings is by hearing it.

Open

Open is where the vibrator (forgot the name) is directly exposed with little noise cancelling materiel and sometimes none. The offer a much larger sound stage where you can tell where hostiles are, where the birds are, tanks, etc. They also are much better sounding. However, if you live in a loud place with a lot of things going on, get closed. Open also allows for people to hear what you listen to, from 2 or 3 feet away but not behind a closed door.

Microphones

One of the things that you need to be weary about is desktop mics. They are good sounding, great everything. However if you have a small desk get an attachable arm. If you have a mechanical keyboard or hit your table a lot get an arm. But arms can be expensive 20-40 dollars or even more. The solution is getting a Antlion Modmic 4.0 for 40 bucks, great sound, nice and clear and noise cancelling so it won't pickup outside noise. Desktop mics I'd get is a Blue Yeti, Snowball, Audio Technica 2020 is also great, Snowflake microphone, etc.

Ad-dons for audio

So if you want to get better audio, louder, etc. Get an AMP/DAC mix. They are a DAC/AMP connecting VIA USB plug to the PC and then the headphones connect to the DAC with a quarter inch with some 3.5mm connectors but not recommended. These offer a much better experience but at a cost for 80-200 dollars for good ones. Some pads too add bass or take away from treble, mids or bass or add to. But not that much but it is always great to get better pads then stock ones on some stuff for more comfortable wearing.

Headphones

Probably why you are here reading this. Now if you have 80-100 dollars here are my recommendations

Takstar HI 2050 open back headphones and a modmic 4.0 come in at just 100 dollars, they are great headphones. VERY comfy pads from Bererdynamic, honestly I don't know how they aren't losing money they sound like 200 dollar headphones.

Superlux 668B's they are good headphones, they sound high end, are very tough, etc. However they are semi-open and have a fairly large sound stage. My biggest 2 problems are, they are very treble heavy and uncomfortable for larger heads and ears. If I got these I'd need the velour ear pads Amazons sells for them because the stock are hard plastic. The other problem is they aren't very big either and I have a very large ear and head so they is a minus for me. Which is why I love the Takstar HI2050's.

Now if you want to drop more money then get these AKG Q701's which are VERY open. They offer the largest sound stage in the price bracket and more then almost all 500+ headphones. They are very comfy and big for big ears. Very good sound.

For some alternatives in that price bracket for open are DT 990's pros for 150 dollars, they are a bit treble heavy but still are very great. They are 150 on Amazon for the 250 OHM one which can be used in quarter inch and 3.5mm plugs by unscrewing the quarter inch adapter. They have very deep ear pads and very comfy ones too.

Now if you want closed for 30 bucks and still good audio get these Monoprice 108323. Now these earpads aren't very good IMO so I'd get Brainwavz replacement pads for 20 dollars. They are deep, comfy and overall nice. Sound I don't know too much about but they still beat gaming headsets.

For the last pair of closed backs I can think of are DT 770s, bass heavy, VERY big headphones from Beyerdynamic and overall good but not a good sound stage get these for 170 on Amazon.

Another honourable mention is Audio Technica M50x's, they are ok. Better then gaming headsets but don't offer much compared to 990's or 701's but still good. They are 160 I believe.

Now get a modmic or whatever mic you want with these, I'd get a desktop mic w/ arm personally but modmic is nice.

Links

• http://www.modmic.com/collections/modmic Modmic
  
  
• Blue yeti http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Yeti-USB-Microphone/dp/B002VA464S I'd recommend a pop-filter too.
  
  
• Snowflake http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Snowflake-USB-Microphone/dp/B0012AUHXW
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Razer-Seiren-Elite-Digital-Microphone/dp/B00QXT5M3C This isn't much more then the Blue Yeti, in fact a bit worst and very expensive. I'd stay away but worth a mention.
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Snowball-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B006DIA77E
  
  
• AT2020 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AS6OYC/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687582&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0006H92QK&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0ZVM8GGV5TDXFE02QPWP
  
  
• DT 990 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0011UB9CQ/ref=twister_B00WU2V08C?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• DT 770 http://www.amazon.com/Beyerdynamic-770-PRO-250-ohms/dp/B0006NL5SM
  
  
• ATH M50x http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-M50x-Professional-Monitor-Headphones/dp/B00HVLUR86/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1457973618&sr=1-1&keywords=m50x
  
  
• Takstar HI2050 http://www.amazon.com/Takstar-Monitor-Headphone-Gaming-Computer/dp/B009PIQUB6/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1457973640&sr=1-1&keywords=Takstar+hi+2050
  
  
• Superlux 668b http://www.amazon.com/Superlux-HD668B-Dynamic-Semi-Open-Headphones/dp/B003JOETX8/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1457973655&sr=1-1&keywords=668b
  
  
• Velour pads for 668B's http://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Velvet-Replacement-Cushion-Headphones/dp/B00KLPRQMO/ref=pd_bxgy_23_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0Z33W5JHBVD65A9T5YGD
  
  
• Brainwavz pads http://www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-Replacement-Memory-Foam-Earpads/dp/B00MFDT894/ref=pd_sim_23_36?ie=UTF8&dpID=41vuwIZESZL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=14DP2XANDMR7AFMC1QMY Make sure these fit I am postive but check /r/headphones to know.
  
  
• Monoprice headphones http://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-108323-Headphone-Gold-Plated-Accessories/dp/B007SP2CO2/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1457973687&sr=1-1&keywords=monoprice+8323
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/AKG-Signature-Reference-Class-Premium-Headphones/dp/B004444OFK
  
  Make sure to look at reviews.
  
  Feel free to ask any questions too.

Not OP but I can help you out here. Let's break this down by component:

1. Speakers - There are two types: active and passive. Active = amplifier built into each speaker (i.e. most dedicated "computer" speakers from the likes of Logitech, Creative, etc.). Passive = 90% of speakers out there, must be connected to an amplifier to work. Typically passive speakers will get you a better speaker for a given price for an active but you have to figure in the cost of an amplifier. For a passive speaker set up, the cheapest system recommended over at /r/audiophile is a SMSL SA-60 amp and Micca MB42X Bookshelf Speakers. If your budget is higher, ask in the daily purchase advice sticky there (read the rules/suggestions thoroughly). I don't mess around with active speakers so I can't recommend any.
   
   
2. Microphone - For simplicity's sake, I will recommend you look into USB connecting condenser microphones as they are affordable and have good sensitivity. Something like the Audio-Technica AT-2020 or Blue Yeti are popular mics for under $100. I have the Yeti and can attest that it is a very good and sensitive multi pattern mic. They can be hooked directly up to your PC or if you want to get really fancy, check out an audio interface like the Focusrite Scarlett Solo or Scarlett 2i2. The nice thing about an interface is it allows you get a nice mic with an XLR connector (generally better than a USB connection) and it will work with your PC.
   
   
3. Headphones - Don't waste your money on "gaming" headphones. A nice 2 channel pair of cans with a standalone mic like I listed above will hands down outperform the likes of Turtle Beach and Razr headsets. /r/headphones has a really good wiki with more info than I can provide here and headphones broken down by price range and characteristics. Plus, then you can use them both for gaming and general music listening and have a good experience, something you don't get with dedicated "gaming" headsets. The amp I listed in the speakers section is fine for headphones but Schiit makes absolutely fantastic headphone amps and DAC (digital to analog converters, check out both /r/audiophile and /r/headphones for more info on them and why they are good for your set up) with very respectable price tags.
   
   Hope this helps. Higher quality audio equipment can be confusing and daunting, what with all the technical details, wide price ranges, parsing through all the marketing bullshit and the sometimes snobby attitudes of some "audiophiles". I wish you luck and feel free to ask me if you have any questions.

Somewhat upgrade-able:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor | $199.99 @ Microcenter
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $154.99 @ NCIX US
Memory | Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $71.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk | $122.99 @ NCIX US
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $59.98 @ Outlet PC
Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card | $409.99 @ NCIX US
Case | Corsair 650D ATX Mid Tower Case | $159.99 @ Microcenter
Power Supply | Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply | $79.99 @ Newegg
Optical Drive | LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer | $15.99 @ Microcenter
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) | $89.73 @ Outlet PC
Monitor | Dell S2340M 60Hz 23.0" Monitor | $159.99 @ Adorama
Keyboard | SteelSeries 6Gv2 Wired Standard Keyboard | $98.98 @ Outlet PC
Mouse | SteelSeries Sensei RAW Wired Laser Mouse | $44.99 @ NCIX US
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $1669.59
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-03 01:55 EDT-0400 |

More upgrade-able:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i7-3820 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor | $229.99 @ Microcenter
Motherboard | Asus P9X79 LE ATX LGA2011 Motherboard | $224.99 @ Amazon
Memory | Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $71.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk | $122.99 @ NCIX US
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $59.98 @ Outlet PC
Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card | $409.99 @ NCIX US
Case | Corsair 650D ATX Mid Tower Case | $159.99 @ Microcenter
Power Supply | Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply | $79.99 @ Newegg
Optical Drive | LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer | $15.99 @ Microcenter
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) | $89.73 @ Outlet PC
Monitor | Dell S2340M 60Hz 23.0" Monitor | $159.99 @ Adorama
Keyboard | SteelSeries 6Gv2 Wired Standard Keyboard | $98.98 @ Outlet PC
Mouse | SteelSeries Sensei RAW Wired Laser Mouse | $44.99 @ NCIX US
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $1769.59
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-03 01:58 EDT-0400 |

This is all based on speculation, but I don't think that the LGA 1150 socket (the socket that the i5-4670k uses) is going to be around for a long time in comparison to the socket used in the more upgradeable build (LGA 2011).

The i7 used in the LGA 2011 build is going to help improve performance, but it isn't going to make a big difference in gaming. However, I would say that the LGA 2011 socket is going to have better longevity, if that's what your after.

Other than the CPU and motherboard, the primary components of both builds are pretty much the same. You have your motherboard. In the i5 build, the motherboard is good enough to support overclocking quite well, as long as you aren't too extreme with it. In the more upgradeable build, the motherboard is also good enough to support overclocking, but the CPU will not be overclockable due to it not being an Intel "K" variant.

The SSD I have included is pretty much the best SSD on the market right now, and you have 128GB of it. That's pretty nice for storing your OS and programs that you're going to frequently access. The Hard Drive is for big data and files like Music and Videos.

The GTX 770 is the second best single GPU card out today. It has the best price:performance ratio of any card and will ravage any game.

The Corsair 650D is one of the nicest mid-tower cases out there. It isn't massive, but it isn't small either. It has a nice window so you can see inside. If you want, get some Logisys cathodes to light up your case for a quick mod that makes things look cool.

The monitor is a decent budget IPS display. If you want to focus more on the monitor, I can shift some of the budget to it. It has a pretty nice bezel.

It's finished off with a nice set of steelseries gear. The 6gv2 is the nicest mechanical keyboard I've used, with the exception of possibly the das keyboard. It doesn't light up, have extra buttons, or have any other frills. It's just a really nice mechanical keyboard. The mouse is the sensei [raw], which is a slightly lesser version of the sensei, but it's all you need. It has an ambidextrous design, which some of the right-handed people don't like. Just thought you should know that.

The last part is the gaming headset, and this is the reason why there's a sizable chunk of money at the end of the i5 build. There wasn't enough money to put in a GTX 780, overclocking, AND headphones. I should let you know that I don't believe in gaming headsets. A high-end gaming headset approaching $100 is essentially a $20-30 headphone with a microphone attached to it, sold at a large markup. It's all hype, and most people buy into it. The best solution is a nice pair of cans with a clip-on mic. I'm partial to the V-moda Crossfade M80 with this zalman clip-on mic, but on-ear headphones may not be your thing. The M80 has nice bass that is perfect for video games. Let me know.

www.amazon.com/V-MODA-Crossfade-On-Ear-Noise-Isolating-Headphone/dp/B005HSDLCO/
www.amazon.com/Zalman-Zm-Mic1-Sensitivity-Headphone-Microphone/dp/B00029MTMQ/

That said, if you're dead set on a pair of gaming headphones you can't go THAT far wrong with a Logitech G35 or Steelseries Siberia V2. You just aren't getting what you pay for with the sound quality.

This is what I would call a "build" that's representative of what I BELIEVE you're looking for as far as a set up goes.

Before that though lets get into:

> A few people have recommended going with the I7 for the types of games i'll be playing, saying its needed to handle the workload but will the I5 get the job done, say for a game like star citizen (which is in alpha i know)?

Needed? Haha that's like saying that a family of 4 would ABSOLUTELY needed to get something like a Honda Odyssey full mini-van instead of a Honda CR-V because "you never know" if you're going to drive more than four people.

Star Citizen is an un-finished game let that be known to everyone. The Dev's are focused on FINISHING the game first which is obvious because the game is still in "beta" so of course there's bound to be some bugs in which the game is hogging hardware. You can make a conclusive requirement on a game that isn't 100% finished.

Here's the thing, most people don't have i7s in their gaming computers. Do you seriously think it's a smart business decision to cater and optimize Star Citizen to the top 1% of the PC gamers who all have overkill rigs over the other 99% who have lower end rigs? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

----------------------------------------------

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor | $219.99 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler | Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler | $68.49 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING 3X ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $124.99 @ B&H
Memory | Avexir Core Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory | $69.99 @ Newegg
Storage | ADATA Premier SP550 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $109.99 @ NCIX US
Storage | Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $35.99 @ Amazon
Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card | $598.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case | NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | $66.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply | EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $79.99 @ Newegg
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $85.70 @ My Choice Software
Monitor | Asus ROG SWIFT PG248Q 24.0" 180Hz Monitor | $349.99 @ Best Buy
Keyboard | Corsair Vengeance K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard | $129.99 @ Corsair
Mouse | Logitech G502 Wired Optical Mouse | $57.51 @ Jet
Headphones | Kingston HyperX Cloud II 7.1 Channel Headset | $91.89 @ NCIX US
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $2090.49
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-18 13:47 EST-0500 |

In this build I stuck to the "practical" side of computer building over niche parts. i don't know how you feel about that but because you'd need a small loan of a million dollars to actually make something that has the best quality all around.
The i5-6600k is literally enough. If people tell you that "oh why didn't you buy an i7 you totally need it for gaming", ask them for proof in benchmarks of REAL games. 9 times out of 10 they're probably going to give you some cherry picked benchmark from some game and you can just laugh at them for it.
Water cooling doesn't help you in temperatures unless you're running X99 level CPU's with crazy voltages. The NH-D14 might not look like the best thing in the world, but it has it where it counts. You can EASILY get up to 4.5~ Ghz with this air cooler under 65C assuming you got a decent i5-6600k from the famous Silicon Lottery.
This isn't the absolute cheapest SLI compatible Z170 board but atleast it looks cool. The black/white color scheme will work perfectly with the case! It has all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a Z170 board like M.2 ports for PCIE SSDs, SATA Express, USB 3.0, USB Type C and HDMI/DVI out.
16GB of ram on two sticks is enough. 2400Mhz ram costs just as much as 2133mhz ram so just go for it. Any brand will do. You might want to look around if you want to color match the build.
I kept with the program and used a 480GB SSD and a 1TB hard drive. Not the most glamorous brands by any stretch of the imagination but they will work just as well. Just like any other component the SSD/Hard drive can fail and that's just how life is. It doesn't matter if it's Samsung or Kingston or A-DATA or etc.. I've had my fair share of failed drives and the one company I will never by "consumer grade" products from is Seagate. Their hard drives have substantially higher failure rates after one year of use compared to any other competing company.
I kept the GTX 1080 because it fits with the budget and shouldn't really change. Brand doesn't matter as long as you aren't buying a founders edition or blower style cooler. You'll never reach the high overclocks like that.
I had to drop the case to a less expensive but still fabulous NZXT S340 case. The case doesn't impact performance really it's just there for aesthetics. If you really want the Phantom 530 then feel free to go for it. I'm not going to tell you its bad because it's your prerogative. I personally always go the extra mile for a case that I really want.(Well all my cases were made by NZXT, S340 White -> H440 Black/Orange -> Noctis 450 Black).
I tossed in a 750W Semi-Modular power supply from EVGA to make sure you have the room for upgrades in the future comfortably. You can run dual GTX 1080's just fine with this power supply. I don't go after fully modular cases unless I'm going for sleeved cables because Semi-Modular power supplies always have the "required" cables attached. I.E 20+ 4 Pin Motherboard/ 4+4 Pin CPU connector/ 2X 6+ 2 pin PCI-E connectors.
I went with a more expensive G-Sync enabled 180HZ Asus PG248Q monitor. Quality/features come at a price and this is as good as it gets for your budget if you want a 144Hz monitor. G-Sync will help your GTX 1080 in those times you can't quite reach those higher FPS in very VERY VERY demanding games. I just tossed this in because I feel that this monitor is probably something you'll be happy with. It definitely has that "gamery" vibe and the "this would cost you an arm and a leg" type of peripheral. If you didn't need the 180hz/G-Sync and you're completely fine with a 144Hz enabled monitor then the AOC G2460PF is the next best thing. It has VERY good reviews and a lot of people prefer this monitor over other ones in the same price range.
* I kept the rest of the peripherals to respect your decisions in the peripheral department. The one thing I will say though is that the G502 is a freaking dust magnet. I've owned one myself and it's great but the pads underneath the mouse have a problem of getting clogged with dust in time and just freaking terrible execution from Logitech. I switched to a Razer Deathadder Chroma and it's working dandy for me on my Steelseries QCK mousepad.


If you have any concerns or questions feel free to ask. There's obviously things about the build that can be changed if you feel strongly about certain components. That's personal and I wont contest that.

Looks like a really good build. I will put part links in the end of the post. Here's some tips to save a bit of money if you're open to it:

1. Power supply: 550 watts is a great amount for this system. You could save some money by passing on the 80+ gold rating (although it's great to have a super efficient power supply, you don't need 80+ gold) and get a power supply that has an 80+ bronze efficiency rating. A power supply being fully modular isn't a must either, for me at least. A good semi-modular pick would be the Rosewill Hive 550, I have it and it has has sleeved black cables for about $55. If you want to save more money on the PSU, though, the EVGA basic 550W unit has all black cables and goes for around $43. Otherwise, the 600B from EVGA is a great 600W unit for around $50. Changing your power supply with these options might save you around $30-$40.
   
2. RAM: there are 16GB kits out there that are cheaper than the ones you selected, some are even in red to match your color scheme. I know there is a kit from Corsair that goes for around $80, so that might save you $20-$30 there. Otherwise, if you can't afford 16GB at the beginning of the build, 8GB will suffice until you upgrade. Just make sure if you get 8GB, get a single stick so you can throw another one in later. 8GB instead of 16 GB may save you $30-$40.
   
3. CPU cooler: The i5 6500 comes with its own stock cooler, so you can save around $25 by not paying for a CPU cooler right away. Otherwise, the 212 Evo is a superb cooler and also comes in a red LED fan version for a few bucks more :D
   
4. GPU: The GTX 1060 is a great option for a video card, but the RX 480 from AMD might be able to save you a few bucks right now and down the road. When you look to purchase another monitor, options with FreeSync (AMD adaptive sync) are normally cheaper than monitors with G-Sync (Nvidia adaptive sync). Adaptive sync monitors will make your gameplay smoother. Also, if you get a motherboard that supports crossfire, you can throw another RX 480 in your rig in the future. I will recommend you a motherboard for this at the end, and it won't cost you much more than your current one. An RX 480 8GB starts at around $230. Also, RX 480's are said to be better in DX12, another "future proofer".
   
5. Motherboard (minor): H110 is a budget chipset, and a Micro ATX one will save you a bit of money. BUT, if you want another RX 480, you'll need a motherboard with 2 PCIe slots to house them. An ATX motherboard will fill your case better, not look as awkward as a mATX one, and will let you put another RX 480 card in your rig in the future. A good ATX motherboard that would work for this build would be the Asus B150-PLUS for $95. This may be a bit expensive, but you could spend your saved money on this part. I highly suggest you exercise this option.
   
6. Storage: if 250GB is enough for you, then you could save some money by not getting a Samsung SSD. An SSD comparable to this would be the Crucial MX300 275GB for around $80. Also, the SanDisk z400s is $75 and is 256GB. If you want more storage, though, I would recommend a 120GB SSD like the PNY CS1311 for $40 and a 1TB hard drive like the WD Blue for $50.
   
   TL;DR: cut back on PSU efficiency ratings, look for different 16GB or even 8GB RAM kits, ditch CPU cooler (or keep if you want), get an RX 480 for saving money on future monitors, you can also put another RX 480 in your build in the future with a different motherboard; an ATX motherboard would fill your case and add capability for a second RX 480, a non-Samsung SSD could save you some money, while for $100, you can get an SSD and a 1TB hard drive.
   
   Links:
   EVGA 550W "basic" http://amzn.to/2gbEbeQ
   Rosewill Hive-550 http://amzn.to/2gbBtGe
   EVGA 600B http://amzn.to/2gtvZcH
   Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO LED http://amzn.to/2fJ7mHM
   RX 480 http://amzn.to/2gbIUgI (choose which one you like)
   Asus B150-PLUS http://amzn.to/2eVnuqj
   Crucial MX 300 275GB http://amzn.to/2fidOoq
   SanDisk Z400S 256GB http://amzn.to/2fifFtk
   WD Blue 1TB http://amzn.to/2fJcPhK
   
   I hope my advice helped you and that this didn't overwhelm you. If you save enough money, you could throw in a red LED PWM fan, which adjusts its speed based on your computer's needs. I had a lot of fun making this, thanks for posting, and happy gaming :D
   
   
   

i5s tend to perform a bit better than equivalent Ryzen CPUs for gaming, and the motherboards are a bit cheaper. So I'd go with an i5 7500 and a B250 motherboard. If you have your own Skylake CPU to use to update the BIOS in the motherboards, go with a H110 or B150 motherboard to save ~$15-20 per computer, but otherwise, the B250 is the best choice. (You don't want to risk getting an older motherboard that isn't updated to boot with the newer CPUs)

I'd swap out the 2 x 4 GB of RAM for 1 8 GB stick so that you can add more in the future when games start needing more than 8 GB of RAM.

A SSD isn't really necessary at this budget, as they're low on storage and all they do over a cheaper HDD is reduce boot times by 30 seconds and load times by 15-60 seconds in some games. A 1 TB WD Caviar Blue is $50, so you save some money over the SSD and get over 4x the storage space.

I switched the RX 480 model to a very similar one because the one you picked doesn't have a price showing. Just get the cheapest 8 GB RX 480 from a reputable brand and site.

The EVGA PSU went up in price, so I changed it to a very similar model that's $20. You could switch the PSUs with 420W Seasonics if you want better durability and build quality.

For a Wi-Fi adapter, I added a $20 USB TP-Link ac adapter. You're probably better off with an ethernet network switch/splitter if your cousins have a wired connection in their house/apartment, though.

> Personalized cases (doesn't need to be extravagant, something like personalized LEDs for each computer?)

Maybe get these RGB LEDs? They're fairly cheap

This build, which uses my suggestions above, ends up saving you about $100 per PC excluding the RGB LEDs and Wi-Fi adapters which add $40 per PC. So you're at $4200 total for the 5 PCs with RGB and Wi-Fi.

> Mice (4)

This is up to personal preference. I use the Logitech G502 but it's a bit expensive at ~$70-80 USD each if you're buying 5 of them. I'd recommend looking at Logitech's gaming mice in the $40-50 range. The G602 is on sale for $40, and the G502 is on sale for $60, so I'd get one of those two. The G602 is wireless, and the difference doesn't seem to be too big, so I'd go with the G602.

> Mousepad (4)

I'd heard good things about the Steelseries Qck and Qck+, and the Glorious PC Gaming brand of mousepads, which are more affordable. I personally use a Logitech G240 mousepad, which I've had for a few years, though the rubber coating on the bottom had started to fall off, so I'm planning on replacing it with a Glorious PC Gaming Extended mousepad. The advantage of the Steelseries mousepads seems to be that they are from a more reputable brand, but the Glorious mousepads are stitched at the edges to prevent the rubber part from falling off (Which seems to be common with cloth mousepads after a lot of wear), and are a bit cheaper.

> Keyboard (4)

I personally use a Corsair STRAFE. If you want to get a mechanical keyboard, the Corsair Vengeance K65 keyboards seem to be a great budget choice at $60 each.

> Monitor (5)

I'd get 23/24" 1080p monitors with low response times (Preferably 5 ms or lower). At $85 each, this 23.6" Acer seems good.

> Microphone and Headphones/ Or Headset (4)

Headsets tend to be overpriced with poor sound quality. Something from the r/headphones wiki in the below $50 range for headphones should be excellent for the price.

Mic-wise, a cheap clip-on mic such as this one for just under $10 should be fine.

If you want to cut down costs more, you could use onthehub.com to get cheaper Windows keys if your cousins' schools are on there. It's a site partnered with Microsoft to give discounts to students and teachers. I personally used it for Windows 10 and I haven't had any problems with my OS (I've been using the key for about 6 months now.)

After peripherals, if you spend $40 per each pair of headphones, and $87.89 on Windows, you're at $1085 per PC or $5425 total. You save $270-320 or so total if you can get the Windows keys from onthehub for $10-20 each. Here's the parts list excluding the mics, headphones, keyboards, monitors, mice, and mousepads.

I'd go with /u/RatchetRussian's suggestion of using Jet.com. I'm Canadian, so I've never used the site, but it seems to be pretty reputable.

> Should I build the computers myself or ask a professional?

You can build it yourself easily with a good YouTube tutorial. I'd recommend this Newegg tutorial or this PCPer tutorial from the sub's sidebar.

> Should I gift them individually or all at once? Christmas or random summer day?

I'd just give them all at once when you finish all of the PCs so that everyone can start playing at the same time, but do whatever you think is best.

I'd also go with /u/Clintosity's suggestion of making sure that there's enough room for 5 PCs. If there's issues with space, you can switch the cases to mATX cases and build smaller PCs.

Hopefully this helps, and good luck with the PC building!

Personally I think it is worth it, especially if you do what I did. I bought mine off ebay from bestbuy as an open box, cost me 850ish dollars plus tax and an upgrade to next day shipping, which brought the total up to about $950.

At that price, for me its unarguable. If it had been like 1200 or so, i might of had to think about it. But at that price, it seems like one of the best choices out there.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Open-Box-Excellent-Dell-G7-15-6-Laptop-Intel-Core-i7-8GB-Memory-NVI/323328281085?hash=item4b47de09fd:g:RQYAAOSwx3dblLBx:rk:2:pf:1&frcectupt=true

It was indeed open box but mine came in perfect condition. You might not like this option, but it is a way to get it much cheaper. The sale price seems to change every so often

But despite the open box, I was able to get the full premium plus warranty from dell for it for roughly 4 years (3 years 7 months or so, due to the fact it was open box I believe.)

​

I think the ram should be upgraded however at least if you get into ram intensive tasks. And they do offer a 16gb ram openbox and new option from the bestbuy ebay store, and I am sure if you hunt around you will find an openbox at a physical bestbuy location if you look.

If anything my ram was the only down side to this buy. But I intended to upgrade this anyhow and will be using crucial's compatibility guarantee program to make my purchase of 32gb of ram. This ram issue might not be a problem for you, however I run VM's for work and genuinely need the extra ram for things to actually run or the VM's have a high likelihood of not running or crashing.

I also dropped a 2 TB seagate firecuda hard-drive (SSHD) in my laptop with no problem ( I disabled UEFI secure boot and made sure the bios was up to date, and it worked perfectly on the first try). 96$ from amazon. I got probably 1tb worth of games on it already :P.

Going with an 8gb model gave me a few advantages as well, for example this laptop seems to come with dual sticks of ram no matter if you buy the 16gb or 8gb model. IF you want to upgrade to 32gb of ram, expect to throw away the old ram. Also the 8gb version came with a 256gb ssd, which is not a bad size and one less thing I have to worry about upgrading. Consider that I have used 98gb on my installation already...

So overall for my particular case, if I went with the 16gb version, in the matter of a month or two the following things would of happened.

I would of thrown out the ram, as I need the 32gb of ram and cannot reuse the old sticks in this particular latptop after an upgrade.

I would of thrown out the SSD, because just my base install I have done now would of ate all of the storage space. For reference I am using 98gb of ssd space, and have only 1 game installed on the ssd (csgo)

And I would of thrown out the HDD, because my base install has already used the entire storage space that drive would of provided. For reference I used about 1tb of storage already but I do have like most of my games installed (something like 47 games). I did that because I can lol, The other 1tb is dedicated to VM's and production related stuff.

Your end result might not be the same, if you are not intending to use it for the type of work like I do, you might have an advantage going with the 16GB model instead. Each person's usage and goals will differ.

​

There are some things to consider however

This thing does not have the ultimate battery life of like 10 hours you can find on other laptops.

I find that it lasts anywhere from 3~4 or so.

You cannot play games while on battery, at least not on anything close to high or medium settings without huge frame rate drops. And expect gaming to eat battery life much quicker.

I am saying this because, if you have never had a gaming laptop, you should be informed to expect this. My alienware had the same issue on both performance and battery life.

I did find a way to cheat this, by buying one of these.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0713XJBG2

it gave me at least an hour maybe hour and a half of gaming time, and I suspect it will give 4~8 more hours of normal web browsing usage but I haven't tried it fully yet. It can be very useful if you are mobile and need to use your laptop for production. However I don't think you can bring it on carry-on at an airport due to the restrictions of battery sizes by TSA, you should be able to put it in checked luggage however.

Other than the battery life, I personally cannot find too many cons about this laptop. It seems to be a solid performer overall, and has all the modern features you need like the fancy new thunderbolt connection (40Gbps), and support for NVME high speed drives as well as a regular 2.5" drive (as long as its 7mm or less in thickness) . And the build quality seems very good.

Its not very flashy and the cost to performance ratio is way up there. It has the amazing 10 series nvidia graphics card and ddr4 ram and the latest generation intel processor with an insane 12 cores and even turbo boosts on 6 cores up to something like 3.9 ghz which is pretty fast.

Overall its not a bad piece of kit, and I don't think you can build a desktop for much cheaper than this with very similar specs. That is to say, I don't think its way over priced. Unlike the alienware 15 with almost the same specs for 1800

I will say however,

One of the other options is the Acer predator

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator-Overclockable-Aeroblade-PH315-51-78NP/dp/B07CTHLX8C

I might of made your decision harder, but there are videos comparing these two and some others at the same time. It might be worth the look at them, overall your going to have to decide what you like more. They basically come down to preference. There are a few laptops with these specs at this price range. For me, the dell has the understated look that can pass for professional, the capability I needed, and a brand I really trust, so it was a no brainier.

​

But at the end, they are all going to be great bang for your buck, the pricing on this and the other direct competitors to this laptop are solid imo.

I don't know about the reliability of the others, I don't remember having to replace lots of parts in the other brands. Only HP has really had some serious bunks that I can remember, I changed way more HP motherboards than any other laptop. But I have owned Dell's and they never failed me so I stick by what I know is usually solid..

No matter what you get, if you intend to keep it many years. You need to get the warranty and max it out if you can. If you intend to keep it as long as you say, you will want accident protection and everything, and make sure you read reviews on the warranties. You don't want to find out after you break it that the warranty you got is bulls#$%. Dell has a lot of business contracts, and they have solid warranties there, and as a result those solid warranties trickle down to consumers as well. I know I've had nothing but the best warranty support from them.

​

On a side note, here are a few few recommended accessories to protect your laptop no matter what you buy, its not a bad idea to get something like the following

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071HBDDW8

Hardened glass screen protector

​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DA2OMKS

Water and dust Resistant keyboard cover to give an extra step against a drop of water penetrating the keyboard and ruining the motherboard underneath.

​

It should be noted that I do not get paid for any of these items, you'll notice none of them are links to a compensated account somewhere.

I just like dell products and have had good experiences with them. This is just another case of a product that I think is great and worth the money.

Not even sure what's up with your form:

> Do you prefer a 2 in 1 form factor, good battery life or best specifications to your requirements for the money? Pick or include any that apply.

>Best Requirements

Wtaf man. GET IT TOGETHER CHARLIE.

> Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.

>Look at last question

Last question says you prefer Windows..

I get the feeling this question is a troll but nevertheless, I'm going to give you a nice answer.

Programming doesn't usually require a hardware intensive machine, it doesn't need a GPU or a penisvery powerful CPU but since you asked for such a high budget laptop in which weight doesn't matter I'm going to offer you a high-budget laptop and a low-budget laptop. The high budget lappy will last you approx 6 years and the low budget will last you 4 years approx.

I shall, from this point onwards, assign nicknames to the laptops:

1500 USD ASUS ROG G751JY-VS71(WX) shall now be called "That popular fat guy in college"

The 800 USD Dell Inspiron 15 7599 shall be called "good guy greg" because it's great value.

Processor: Both of these guys have incredibly powerful processors but note that a high end notebook processor is equal to a mid-range gaming processor. The fatty can easily spit out 2.6 GHz with it's i7-4720HQ however the good guy can push out a very respectable 2.3 GHz with it's powerful i5 6300HQ.

I want to give you a tip, NEVER buy a laptop based on it's processor solely. Most people are fooled buy the fact that one processor is an i7 and the other is an i5, well here's a fact, the most powerful model of the i7 can push out only 3% more than the most powerful i5.

Both of these processors can run heavily processor intensive games like "Total war: Warhammer" and can compile code equally fast because the algorithm is usually bottle-necked.

Graphics Card: They both have very powerful graphics cards but the fatty wins this battle hands down. It comes with a Nvidia GTX 980M which has 1536 CUDA cores, versus the good guy which only has approx 640 CUDA cores, respectable but the 960M is no match. VRAM is not a limiting factor, in either of them, the only game that requires more than 4 GB of VRAM is The Witcher 3, which can still be run at high and only consumes about 3 GB. Even GTA V only requires 3.8 GB at it's highest settings. Both of these can run Overwatch at max with 50-60 FPS, though the 980M can probably push out 80 FPS.

The fatty is definitely much better in this regard if you plan on doing very hardcore gaming.

Storage: I know for a fact that coders lover SSD's, the good guy comes with a pre-installed 256 GB M.2 SSD, M.2 SSD's are some of the most powerful SSD's and 256 GB is more than enough. The ASUS (popular fatty) has an optional SSD slot, goes upto 512 GB in both of the laptops. You can get a 256 GB M.2 SSD for 200 USD or a 512 GB M.2 SSD for 320 USD.

When getting an SSD only opt for Samsung, they make the best SSD's with 0 flaws.

Other than that they both have 1000 GB HDD's (no, not 1024) but that should be plenty.

RAM: NEVER BUY A LAPTOP BASED ON RAM YOU FUCKING DIMWIT, IT'S UP-GRADABLE. JESUS CHRIST.

But yeah they both have DDR3 RAM. The ASUS has 16 GB while the Dell has 8 GB

Screen size: Coders ALWAYS prefer large screens so I got the ASUS with it's 17.3 inch 1080p display, you know the ladies love a big screen ;), though the dell has a comfortable 15.6 inch 1080p screen. But as a coder I think you will prefer a large display.

Extra: The dell has thunderbolt 3

Sorry if I hurt your feelings during the review. Pansy.

Youtube videos you should watch:

[SSD's vs HDD's](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQEjGKYXjw8)


[CPU vs GPU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kypaBjJ-pg)

[i3 vs i5 vs i7**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLSPub4ydiM)

Good luck.

If you want, I can copy-paste the response I usually give to people asking about gaming headset. Hope it will help you.

Wall of text ahead. Please, read only if you are really interested...


What I usually recommend when someone ask for advice about gaming headsets is: Gaming headset are crap 99% of the time. They provide very poor sound quality, and any good headphone (literally, even 40$ ones) will sound far better than expensive 300$ headsets. The question is not if headphones are better than headset (the answer is “Hell, YEAH”). The question is, are they better for you?


What are you planning to use your headphones for? Just for gaming, or for gaming and music listening?


If the answer is “just for gaming”, then ask yourself if a Hifi headphone is what you need. Usually games don’t really need high quality headphones, since they provide low quality sound, and you will be more concentrated gaming than listening. In that scenario, everything will serve you, and gaming headsets have the advantage of the integrated microphone.


So, if you want something good for gaming, and just for gaming, with integrated microphone, then the only two headsets with good enough quality sound (aka don’t suck) are:


HyperX Cloud (70$)


Sennheiser G4me One (170$)


Both are good choices. Or go with any fancy RGB headset you find (Logitech, Razer, Corsair, Steelseries, etc), you will most probably don’t notice the difference while gaming.


BUT, if you plan to use them for music listening besides gaming, then keep reading.


About the microphone problem


Hifi headphones for gaming have the disadvantage of having to deal with the micro thing. None of them have microphone incorporated, and you must find a workaround to the problem. Options available are:


1- Use a desk microphone like this


2- Some headphones have detachable cable. If the connector is a 3.5mm jack, you can substitute the cable with this V-Moda micro. That way you can have a microphone attached and still use a single cable. Main problem is that you must use this cable, no matter what, and if you end buying an amplifier, you can no longer use this microphone, as amplifiers don’t have micro input. Also, not all headphones are compatible, as not all use 3.5mm jack connections (Audio-technica and Sennheiser headphones are NOT compatible with V-moda Boom micro, cause they use 2.5mm jack)


3- use a modmic like this one or if your budget is tight, something like this.


The first option requires desk space and it’s expensive. The second one is not compatible with every headphone, and forces you to use this cable. The third one are detachable micro, with an extra cable you’ll have to deal with. Any of them are a nuisance. Any solution is annoying. All of them are an extra expense that must be accounted. If micro is a must and you are not willing to bother with this solutions, please, go back to HyperX Cloud or G4me One.


Ok, so, you really want some damn good headphones, that also can be used for gaming! Keep reading, please (are you bored yet?).


You can choose Closed back headphones (the classic ones you have already used. Closed back models offer good isolation and do not leak sound. This is your choice when there are people around you, or you want isolation from noisy a environment.) or Open Back headphones (Open back models offer next to no isolation and will leak sound -and allow you to hear what happens around you-, but they are the best sounding models). Open headphones achieve the best sound, soundstage (feeling that sound is coming from around you) and imaging (ability to locate the source of one sound).


If you are here because you want to get a replacement for a gaming headset, I would recommend you Open back, but since they don’t isolate, you must choose. If isolation is required, get closed back, if that’s not a concern, go open.


Some closed back cans:


Audio-Technica ATH-M40x. 100$. Balanced headphones, very good feedback from lots of people. Typical entry level headphones to the rabbit hole.


Sennheiser HD 598Cs. 125$. Balanced, very very detailed, great instrumental separation. Comfortable as hell, very recommended.


Beyerdynamic DT770. 160$. V-shaped signature (lots of bass and lots of treble). Amazing soundstage (for a closed headphone). Great for explosions, movies, and rock. Treble can be harsh if you are sensible. Get the 32 ohm version, as the 80 (may) and 250 (do) need an amplifier to work properly.


Those are some examples of entry-mid level of closed cans. There are lots more, depending of your budget!


As for open cans:


Superlux HD668b. 40$. Those are THE CANS. The best quality for low budget you can get. Hands down. Great soundstage, Bass light. They are not too comfortable, but pads can be changed for a deluxe comfort (extra expense). You are not getting anything better at this price. For gaming in a budget, this are the headphones you were looking for.


Philips SHP9500. 80$. Mid-forward signature. Good soundstage, great comfort. Very detailed. Another amazing quality for the budget headphone. Due its popularity, they’re getting harder and harder to get.


Sennheiser HD 598 SR. 170$. Very similar to the HD 598Cs, but with open back. Wider soundstage, a little less bass. Very balanced headphones. Super-duper comfortable. Great for long gaming sessions.


Philips Fidelio X2. 250$. V-shaped signature. Those are in another league. Build quality is just.. OMG. Extreme soundstage and imaging. More comfortable than the HD 598. Bass is BOOOOOM!!!. A little pricey, and can be somewhat fatiguing to listen if you are treble sensible, due to high treble.


Well, that’s all. I have selected only headphones that don’t need an amplifier. Now is your turn to research, watch some Youtube videos, read some reviews, and give them a try.


All this headphones are GOOD. No trash here, and all them will make you open your eyes when listening your music if you are coming from standard headsets. You will notice sounds, instruments, that you never realized they were there, even if you had listened this song a thousand times before. Try them, and be amazed.


Welcome to the rabbit hole.

Yes it would be, I just asked because it would sense to invest in what you would use more, no sense pouring money into something you won't use all that much. And not necessarily, but some of the prices of my "go-to" gear has increased a little bit, which did make this just a little bit harder.

Okay so, this is what I came up with. Speakers are usually $40 but they are $50 right now for some reason, so that is why it's about $8 dollars over. also if you had any of these cables lying around it would definitely put you under $100.

Speakers - Dayton Audio B652 Amazon | Easily the best ~$50 book shelf speakers out there. Loud, with great sound quality, good imaging, and just all around outstanding for the price. They are kind of big though, so take into account desk space.

Amplifier - Lepai 2020A+ Amazon| You will need these to power the speakers, connected with speaker wire. It's a great little amp. It's buit out of metal, which is great given it's price tag, and the knobs feel great. Has tone controls that has a button that lets you toggle between using them or bypassing them. Provides ample power for speakers in this listening situation. It isn't really made for "party level" volume so just be careful, as you CAN blow speakers if you crank it too high on the AMP/computer. I personally use this and works great. Price is also a little higher than what I've seen them go for ($15).

Cables/Wires Amazon, cable Amazon, wire- A standard 3.5mm male to male cable that will connect the amp to the computer, and 50FT of 16 gauge speaker wire to connect the speakers to the amp. If you have a 3.5mm cable already you won't need to buy another.

Headphones - Sennheiser HD201 Amazon | Sennheiser makes great headphones, from their $1000 HD800 right down to the $20 HD201. Great headphones for music, and okay for gaming. They are closed back, which means the sound stage will not be as broad, but they will isolate outside noise. $10 dollars more will get you these Superlux HD681s which are open backed, which will result in a bigger sound stage, which is helpful for the directional aspect of audio while gaming. they sound pretty good too! Both headphones will perform well for music, and gaming when you use them. Not the best but they're better than most "gaming headsets".

Mic - Zalman Clip on Mic Amazon | A basic mic that clips on to your headphone's cable. what's great about this is you can use them for any pair of headphones, or when you're not even using them! the clip can also hold it to your shirt.

Total cost is about $108. If you are diligent/patient the speakers may drop back down to $40 sometime.

Overall this is great value for a little over $100, and will offer you much more all around than an $100 speaker set. The great thing about this is that everything is modular. If you want to upgrade your speakers you don't have to buy a new amp, and vice-versa. If you want to add a sub down the line, you don't have to ditch everything and get a new set; you just add it into the "chain". Headphones broke? No need to buy a new mic. Want nicer sounding headphones? No problem! Mic broken or lost? Don't need to buy a whole new headset. As you can see it is very flexible, and very easy to upgrade things as you go, which I feel is completely worth the $8 over your budget you gave me.

Sorry this took a while to get to you, lots of writing, linking, and searching! Hope this helps!

I actually don’t see the need for surround sound. That’s more of a marketing gimmick really, as the usb 7.1 dongles suck. If you really need surround sound, get Dobly Atmos on your computer.

But I don’t think you really need either. Most games have really good audio, and some games like rainbow six siege literally say don’t use surround sound because it’s broken. You need a headset with good soundstage.

What’s soundstage? Well it’s being not only able to tell the direction of your enemy, but also the distance. That’s why I recommend open back headsets for gaming, though they do leak sound and your mic may pick that sound up. Don’t worry about it though, because what I recommend is omni directional and will basically only pick up your voice.

I recommend the Philips SHP9500/SHP9500s. They are to same thing but the s has a little bit more bass. You also might have trouble getting the 9500 because it is discontinued and not many are left. I recommend these because:

Great soundstage

Very comfortable

Has a lot of treble which is good for hearing footsteps.

Has a detachable cable Incase the wire breaks and so you can use a mic

It is extremely well priced at 80USD. It’s probably the best for gaming under 150 USD. And most importantly it will definitely fit you.

For mic, I recommend the Vmoda BoomPro. You just unplug the cable from the headphones and replace it with the BoomPro which is just a 3.5 mm cable with a mic attached. This is a super good mic.

I also highly recommend an amp both for gaming and music. The one I recommend has a switch with T D and B. T is treble boost (for gaming), d is flat, meaning it won’t change anything, and B is bass boost. Which you want if you listen to music because the 9500 has little bass.
I recommend the Syba Sonic DAC/AMP. Link at the bottom. This will definitely help sound quality as it bypasses your pc soundcard.
IMPORTANT: DON’T use the included usb cord in it as it will cause a short in your computer. You’ll need a different mini usb cable as the provide a really bad one.

To use the amp: This is a usb amp, so plug the usb into your computer and the mini USB port into the DAC/amp. The will power it so it will drain laptop battery with a laptop. Then all you do is is plug your headphone jack into the big 3.5mm headphone jack. Don’t use the one for a split cable because your headset isn’t a split cable.

That’s it! The total is about 150 bucks and will surpass anything for the price.

Don’t get a gaming headset. They just use cheap divers and RGB and day gaming to trick you, as they are way overpriced.

Z Reviews on YT (total audiophile geek) recommends this as well. I invite you to spend more time researching on his channel and other places to understand the mic and amp better. He has a best gaming gaming headsets video from a year ago. This setup is at the very front and one of the first things he talks about. Also goes very in depth on the whole subject of sound for gaming at the beginning. Here are the links:

9500s-https://www.amazon.com/Philips-SHP9500S-Precision-Over-ear-Headphones/dp/B00ENMK1DW

Vmoda BoomPro Mic - https://www.amazon.com/V-MODA-BoomPro-Microphone-Gaming-Communication/dp/B00BJ17WKK

Syba Soni DAC/amp - https://www.amazon.com/Syba-Digital-Headphone-Amplifier-Coaxial/dp/B009WN7QT4

Remember you need a different mini usb cable. I’d throw the one it came with away because it’s garbage and possibly a fire hazard.

Please watch Z Reviews Gaming Headphone guise from a year ago. The first 25 minutes are all you really need to hear. They explain audio in-depth and talk about the headphones and this combo. Good luck!

Feel free to reach out to me as I can help with the setup or usage, but r/ZReviews is probably a better option. You’ll get help ASAP from a whole hutch of audiophiles who know their stuff.

Sonically, there's nothing about headsets marketed and advertised for gaming that makes them more suitable for gaming than regular headphones. The vast majority of them are widely perceived as bad or worse in the audio enthusiast community. After owning a HyperX Cloud II, Tritton Pro+, and Turtle Beach Ear Force XP Seven, I understand why. They have terrible price-performance ratio, build quality and comfort, except the Cloud; it has great build quality and good comfort.

There are three important sonic properties for gaming:

• soundstage: perceived space and environment of sound. It's width, depth and height. The best way I can describe the difference between a small and a large soundstage is that a small one feels closed/boxed in and congested. Loud and nearby sounds, it can be a tank or something small as a radio, typically sound very intimate, dominate and intense in either ear when you don't face them. A large soundstage creates more distance between you and the sound source, alleviating the unpleasant/fatiguing feeling of a sound being right inside your ear, and it makes the environment around you feel more open, spatial and expansive. I mean the type of soundstage that headphones produce. Games have their own soundstage, but headphones can greatly expand or shrink it.
  
  
• imaging: how accurately the directions of sounds/objects are reproduced. Soundstage and imaging are generally best achieved with open-back headphones/headsets, which means they have perforations/openings that let sound pass freely in and out. "Gaming" headsets are typically closed-back, which attenuate sound from passing through.
  
  
• separation: how you discern individual sounds from a range of overlapping sounds. You don't need to be concerned with this if you don't play competitively.
  
  Of regular headphones, I've used AKG K52, K1000, Q701; Audeze LCD-2 Classic, Mobius; Audio-Technica ATH-AD700X, AD2000X; Beyerdynamic DT990 Edition (600 ohms); Creative Aurvana Live!; Denon AH-D7200; Focal Clear; HiFiMan HE400i rev. 1, HE-500, HE-560 V2; Koss Porta Pro; Monoprice Modern Retro, Monolith M1060; Philips Fidelio X2, SHP9500; Sennheiser HD580, HD598, HD700, HD800; Sivga SV007; Sony MDR-HW700DS; Stax SR-L300; Superlux HD662 EVO, HD668B, HD669, HD672, HD681 EVO.
  
  I mainly use DT990 (600-ohm) and HD800, depending on whether I play competitively or casually. But even a cheap headphone like Superlux HD668B or HD669 get you, like, 80% of the same performance. Diminishing returns top out very early in games.
  
  As for microphones, you can attach an Antlion ModMic or a Massdrop Minimic to any headphone, which is very easy to do. These have much clearer, cleaner, crispier and more natural reproduction of voices than most "gaming" headsets and they have good/great build quality. When or if they break, you can replace the mic instead of the whole headset. If you get a new headphone, you can reuse the mic. The ModMic 5 and Minimic are modular, so they're very easy to temporarily remove. The cons with these mics are the additional cable and no in-line volume controls.
  
  Alternatively, you can use a V-MODA BoomPro mic, which is on par with the sound and build quality of the ModMic and Minimic. It plugs straight into the headphone, which replaces the original headphone cable, so there's only one cable running down from the headset. It has a volume control and doesn't require a Y-splitter. But the mic is only compatible with headphones that have a 3.5mm jack with a detachable cable and no proprietary mechanism or design that prevents the mic from inserting and staying in place.
  
  

  
  

  
  ---
  
  

  
  

  
  My go-to recommendations is Sivga SV007 with V-MODA BoomPro.
  
  SV007 has a well-balanced sound profile. The mid-bass, which is where boom and punch come from, is a little bit boosted. The sub-bass, which is how deep the bass goes and is where rumble comes from, is a little bit subdued. The treble is close to neutral with a slight boost.
  
  The bass doesn't sound muddy or distorted and is clean. The treble is clean, smooth and sparkly. By clean, I mean it's not washy or hazy. By smooth, I mean it's not sharp, harsh or splashy, but if effects, soundtracks or voices are recorded or mastered that way, then SV007 isn't going to take the edge off. And, by sparkly, I mean the treble isn't dull. The midrange is clear, not tinny or muffled. It's a very clean and clear sounding headphone.
  
  It has a large (but not huge) soundstage, very good imaging and separation, and great detail retrieval. I can hear microdetails like the rustle of a foe's uniform when he merely changes his direction; the flick of a switch when a foe changes his gun to alternative fire; the arm movement and "uhh" sound when a foe throws a motion sensor, and the impact of the sensor hitting the ground, a wall or other objects. All extremely helpful sound cues when you're about to pass by a foe that is hiding, or about to move as a foe employs a motion sensor. But if you were to play competitive shooters, I'd recommend a headphone that accentuates details somewhat more and makes them louder in the midst of gunshots, explosions and other very loud sounds.
  
  SV007 is open-back and over-ear. The build is sturdy and lightweight with wooden cups and metal yokes, hinges and headband. It has no flimsy or squeaky parts. The cups tilt and swivel and can lie flat. The pads fit around my ears without pressing them against the inside of the cups. They are plush and have a relatively high-quality coating. The headband has great weight distribution and doesn't cause hotspots on top of my head. The clamping force isn't loose or too tight. I have an average sized head and average sized ears. The build quality is excellent for the price and very good in general with even stitching, no sharp or rough edges, and has a near immaculate finish all around.
  
  

Weird the link worked for me. I just copy and pasted the post below, hope it's useful!



This is a guide that recommends headphones with an added mic and does not recommend gaming headsets (I'll explain what that means). I'm posting this because I found lots of info on headphones for gaming but not a proper setup for a console like the PS4.

If you're looking for a great quality headset for gaming, you might run into some trouble like I did. I define quality as being made with solid materials and having awesome audio while having a decent mic to chat with other players.

Options within the quality gaming headset category are both limited and expensive. Take a stroll over to r/headphones to get their two cents on how and why gaming headsets are often overpriced and actually underperform their ticket price. This post in particular was very thorough and linked out to other really useful resources like Z Reviews

When my old headphones broke I started exploring options for a new pair of cans. I wanted to get something great and didn't mind spending a buck on it. As I researched I began to learn more about different types of headphones and what they offered in gaming. The problem I ran into is that the best pair of speakers you can put on your head are almost all headphones, not headsets (meaning headphones do not have a mic equipped). But I'm playing on a PS4 so that changes the game some, PC might have some different avenues. The PS4 dualshock controller (as of 2016, possibly earlier) has proprietary restrictions as to what headsets can plug-in and work with it so creating a DIY headset (independent headphones and mic) was tricky. I tried a workaround with getting an aux plug-in adapter that had "4 poles " to use with the DS4 controller but it didn't trick the controller nor did unplugging and re-plugging in headphones with a mic. Others have had success with it but not me.

I ended up getting a USB to headphone and mic input adapter. This way you can buy whatever headphones you want and whatever mic you want and pair them together by plugging them into your PS4 USB port. You are tethered by a wire but I have read that there is lag with basically any wireless setup so I wouldn't recommended them, especially if you're into online FPS.

My setup is:

---Open air headphones: Audio Technical 900x ($130)

There are other versions of these headphones like the 500x for around $75 as well as the 2000x for $600+
-I would also explore the Superlux HD668B Semi-Open Headphones ($40) as they are relatively inexpensive have replaceable ear pads and have glowing reviews.

---Attachable mic I haven't gotten comments on how I sound which can only be a good thing. I have asked how it sounds and "fine to me" is usually the answer I get.

---USB adapter w/ headphones + mic auxiliary inputs

-Also you might want to get a USB cable extender if the phones and/or mic you go with don't have long cables.

I would venture a guess that most any version of the above 3 components would work together. I am really enjoying my setup and have been using it for about 2 months now. The “soundstage" on open headphones is a really different experience, instead of being closed off by noise cancelling headphones it now feels like everything is happening around me. I had a pair of beats Studios (gen 2) that were pretty good but I would definitely recommend giving “open” style headphones a try. The beats seem puny in comparison, not just in physical size but also in output quality.

I hope this is of benefit to you. I spent a lot of time researching, reading and watching reviews, figuring out what would work on a PS4 and deliberating on what pieces to buy. I am by no means an audiophile so this is just the research of a lay person that wanted great sound and is enjoying what they found.

TL;DR Don't buy a gaming headset if you want awesome sound. You can get a great, probably better, setup on your own and likely save a bit of money in the process by DIY.

If you can push your budget a little higher and get better GPU, then I would recommend this Acer Aspire E 15**
NVIDIA MX150 which is one of the best for this range but still not great for newer games Benchmark(use the same website to check the benchmarks of the other GPU from the right hand list), and it will run the mentioned game smoothly.

It comes with 8th gen, i5 quad core which is suitable for the mentioned usage.

• Long battery life (advertised of up to 15-hours of battery life), weight 5.27 lbs, backlit keyboard, USB type C and HDMI port like you want.
  
• 8GB DDR4, 256GB SSD, and both are somewhat standards in 600 range so finding them on 500~ range is somewhat a catch.
  
  Here is a little in depth review of it :
  
  
• It is made from plastic, but it feels sturdy, screen comes with anti glare finish so it will work well outside.
  
  
• Battery life is great about 5-8 hours of general usage.
  
  
• Backlit keyboard, quite and comfortable, Trackpad have been getting some mixed reviews, I think it is a software issue, or maybe it is because some people are not used to trackpads.
  
  
• Speakers are good, above average for laptops in this range, the gaming performance is also above average since it is only MX150 but it the best for the budget.
  
  
• Thin, very quiet (can barely hear the fans), It has room for more ram as well as more SSD, Fingerprint magnet.
  
  63Gaming laptop with good battery life & thermals (~$1500 or under)
  I would recommend this Eluktronics mech g2 because it has great combination between value for money, weight, battery life, and performance.
  It comes with RTX 2070 GPU and it will run Civilization 5 & 6 on medium to high settings, You can check the below link to see how the RTX 2070 GPU (scroll down for the FPs and settings expected or ctrl+f then type the name of your game).
  https://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-RTX-2070-Laptop-Graphics-Card.384936.0.html
  The outer shell is made almost entirely out of metal and as you mentioned reliable build quality is really important to you.
  Keyboard is mechanical with RGB backlit.
  
  It has 3 USB type A, Ethernet, and mic and headphone jack and on the back an HDMI and USB type C.
  Screen is IPS with 144Hz refresh rate, with impressively small bezels, and a professional design.
  
  Lid can't be open with one hand.
  
  Fans get loud under intensive work, but that is normal with every good gaming laptop.
  
  Plenty of upgrade options as the chassis supports up to 32GB of ram, and 2 SSDs and 1 HDD.
  
  Heat management is great which meets your requirement, it can get hot but it gets cool again pretty quickly once the fans kick in.
  
  Main con of the laptop is the trackpad, it is mediocre at best when you compare it to other laptops in the price range.
  
  Battery life during normal usage is around 3.5-4.5 hours and 1.5 hour during gaming.
  
  Speakers are down facing so during gaming, it is best to wear headphone since the fan gets loud during gaming as well.

I might be able to help you here. I had the G933 Artemis Spectrum headphones. They were alright — I didn’t realize at the time that I had to have them hooked to a PC in order to take advantage of the virtual surround sound, so I never got to experience that with the PS4.

I decided I would invest some money into getting a really good pair of headphones after that, but I wanted to get a unicorn... something that was good for music, movies, and games. I settled on an open back pair that had incredible reviews for the price tier. And, I spent over $300 on it just over a year ago... but you can get the same model (it’s the Philips Fidelio X2/HR) for only $122 on sale on Amazon Prime right now. I think that’s a killer deal for these, and they’re HiRes also in case you like to listen to premium, high bit rate formate stuff.

They’re incredibly comfortable and have a ski goggle style design, so you could have a head the size of a watermelon and they’d cradle on it gently. Open back, big sound stage. Great quality cable, too. They’re wired though, but I really like that they’re the kind where the jack is on the headphones themselves so if the cable ever fails you can replace it and not have to replace the whole headset. So what I did is I bought a V-Moda Boom Pro Mic that plugs directly into the headset and has a flexible boom mic and a volume dial w/ mute switch on the cable, and then you plug that into the PS4 dualshock or computer. You don’t need to buy a headphone amp/DAC to power them either, which is nice.



I wasted money buying one of the Astro A40 MixAmp Pro TR boxes so I could get the virtual Dolby surround, but I wouldn’t bother. Instead, I prefer to just run a long cable from my home theater amp/receiver’s headphone out, since that’s basically one huge amp/DAC anyway, and you can drive these things up to some serious volume. You also get a much better quality sound with them and the mic combo, versus buying a gaming headset (where they jack up the price quite a bit).

If you’re looking for a wireless option, you could check out the Steel Series Arctic Pro — that link is for the one with the game DAC with DTS Headphone X and you can use it on the PC and PS4 (for $199), or the wireless version for $315. I’ve heard a lot of people say these are pretty good but I’ve not heard them myself. If you’re looking for something cheaper, maybe the HyperX Cloud for $100ish.

I recently picked up a pair of in ear buds also — the 1MORE E1010 Quad Driver for $170 that come with a little Fiio A1 headphone amp. They’re pretty nice so far, I’ve been playing “Death Stranding” with them.



I’d check out /r/headphones and you could also read the sidebar over at /r/headphoneadvice and make a post detailing the exact setup and price range and what you’re looking for and have people make recommendations. Also in the sidebar there are some popular model headphones, amps, and mics. I think most people will tell you that buying a good pair of headphones and adding the mic is better (either the VModa BoomPro or there’s another that sticks to the side of the cup like a magnet for the same-ish price). You’ll get better sound than a gaming headset, and more for the money. And you can use those savings to buy a headphone amp/DAC if you want also, which will boost the volume and bass and maybe even give you virtual surround if that’s something you feel like you really need.

I know this is long, but I figured since I was familiar with what you’d used previously (the G933s) and was on a similar hunt not so long ago, I’d share my findings with you. If you find a great set and you happen to remember, hit me up and let me know what you grabbed so I can maybe try to demo them somewhere for myself. And if you do buy the Phillips Fidelio X2/HRs from Amazon, you could always listen to them a bit and send them back if they’re not for you. But I think you’ll be pretty impressed. I definitely was, at twice the price they’re going for now. Good luck!

Alright! So There's good news and bad news. The good news is you can absolutely upgrade your computer in a variety of ways. You can even give yourself a dedicated graphics card! The bad news though, is that doing so probably won't be cheap. It might be better to buy a new laptop, or start putting together a desktop rig for yourself. I'll let you be the judge though! Here we go!

RAM: Upgrade from 4GB to 8GB

This would definitely speed up your computer. *GB is the minimum I recommend to anyone, regardless of what they are using the computer for. 4GB of RAM is the minimum necessary for a modern operating system to function, so doubling to 8GB will give you some very noticeable improvement.
I generally stick with Crucial.com RAM for upgrades. They're affordable, have good customer service, and have never steered me wrong before. You have two choices for an 8GB upgrade from them. A standard 8GB module and a Ballistix 8GB module. The latter is supposed to be higher quality, but I'm not really familiar with the differences, nor do I think it's worth the extra money. I'd go with the standard.

Hard Drive: Upgrade to Solid State or Fusion Drive

Upgrading the hard drive won't improve gaming performance, but it will make everything you do on your system faster overall. Not 100% sure, but I think your computer has a 500GB drive in there right now. decent space, but bare bones performance. Upgrading to a Fusion Drive or SSD will give you a huge performance jump. SSDs are the fastest drives out there, but assuming you don't want to decrease your disk space, your going to have to pay the premium. SSHDs aka Fusion Drives offer the best of both worlds; they add flash storage to a standard drive, and optimize performance by putting the system files and most frequently used files and programs on the flash section. Huge performance boost for a MUCH lower price than an SSD. I love these things, and definitely recommend one if budget is an issue. To upgrade your drive, you'll need to either have a backup you can restore to the new drive, or clone your existing hard drive to the new drive beforehand. My recommended method of doing this is by buying a hard drive enclosure. It's super affordable, and will let you repurpose your old hard drive as an external drive or backup drive when you're done.

CPU, Motherboard, and GPU:

Ok, here's where everything gets complex. The RAM and Hard Drive are easy upgrades, but while they will definitely speed things up, they won't help with gaming performance as much as this will. Your processor is trying to handle running the computer and running the games at the same time, and since it's not a great processor, it can't do that very well. Upgrading the processor allows your computer to do a lot more at once, and adding a GPU essentially gives games their own dedicated processor to work with. You'll see huge gaming performance boosts by going this route. Here's the trouble though: Your CPU is integrated in the motherboard. The only way to upgrade it is by swapping in a new motherboard with a better integrated processor. The silver lining here is that your computer model line had several motherboard options, both with more powerful CPUs as well as dedicated integrated GPUs. This means that by buying a new motherboard, you could upgrade your CPU, add a GPU, or both!
Here's the problem though. These motherboards are hard to find, expensive, or both. Parts-People.com has the listings and Dell Part numbers for several upgrades to your system, both with and without NVidia GPUs.

No GPU:
i5-4210U 1.7GHz - 6YPRH |
i5-5200U 2.2GHz - THVGR |
i7-4510U 2.0GHz - 7G1CD

With GPU:
i5-4210U 1.7GHz - 1P4HG |
i5-5200U 2.2GHz - T7TC4 |
i7-4510U 2.0GHz - CHXGJ

As you can see...pricey AND sold out. But at least this gives you a references. You may also notice that the ones with NVidia GPUs actually say they are only compatible with models that already had a discrete GPU...that's not actually true. I double checked with one of their technicians; all you'd need would be a replacement fan/heatsink. The one in your system only covers the CPU. The new one would cover both the CPU and the GPU. Fortunately, this part is inexpensive, both on the Parts-People site and on eBay.
Speaking of eBay, I think it's the best option for finding one of these motherboards. I did find the best version of the bunch for sale, but they're still quite pricey. There is another option though. By watching eBay for used Dell Inspiron models that have the motherboard you need, you might be able to find and win an auction for a whole computer at a far lower price point than the motherboard alone. As it turns outYou'd need to look for keywords like processor speed, and hope that if you tactfully asked if it said "nvidia" somewhere, the seller would understand what to look for. It gets risky, but you might even find auctions for damaged versions being sold for parts. Idiot cracked his screen? Motherboard's probably ok! Idiot spilled beer all over the computer...avoid that one. You wouldn't be restricted to Inspiron 15 (3542) either. As it turns out, these boards were used in Inspiron 14 (3442) and Inspiron 17 (5748) models as well. Definitely helpful if you go that route. Hell, with nothing wrong with it and at the right price point, you might find a whole new computer this way!

Speaking of a new computer...we come to my final point. Cost and worth. If you were to buy the RAM, Fusion Drive, external enclosure, i7 + GPU Motherboard, and Fan/Heatsink right now, you'd be looking at something like $350. Not terrible in the grand scheme of things, especially considering the fact that you could buy them at separate times, upgrading in stages as budget allows. However, the Wirecutter's pick for a budget laptop is $550 on Amazon, and would match or exceed the performance of everything above with no hassle or downtime. Just something to consider!

Phew! That was a lot. Hopefully it's helpful information, and gives you an idea of your options. Let me know if you have any questions!

[bear in mind, this is long winded mostly cuz i'm trying to explain the reasoning for what i'm suggesting rather than just throwing parts at you]

well for that much you're not gonna get a whole lot of power, /r/buildapc (also useful as a source to help with costing the build) has a handful of useful tools (in the form of links on the sidebar) for determining what parts match what other components (though most components have universal designs and so all fit the same slots).

that said, the cpu should be the first thing you decide on (also the one thing you should not skimp on), then the motherboard with the same socket as the motherboard in the desired size. it will have a specified label you can type in, ie mine is an lga1150 cpu and the motherboard is the same, but the actual cpu itself is an i5 quad core thingy which shares that lga specification with a handful of other grades of cpu. it also is a bit biased to say but i would suggest going intel over amd, if only because the pins will be on the motherboard instead of the cpu and since the cpu is decidedly far more expensive than any motherboard you would get for it, it's better to have the easily bent pins on the motherboard in case something goes wrong. the aforementioned cpu has yet to be forced to meet the needs of the two gpu i have so something below i5 will probably work for your intents. (you'll also want to get cooling for it eventually, the stock fans work but are pretty bad)

once you decide on the cpu, you need to decide what size tower you want (there's a few, though micro atx and atx are the two i'm familiar with. this will define what size motherboard you would get. depending on how you want to go with the computer in the future, you may want smaller or larger. if you would eventually put more money into the computer to boost its power via SLI or crossfire (meaning, running two of the same graphics cards at the same time with a wire "bridge" between them), then atx would be a solid choice. i would not suggest going that route if you can help it as cooling the top gpu can be a bit of a pain (though they sell hybrid gpu which have liquid cooling pre-installed that mitigates that issue) along with multiple games not supporting that functionality and not using it anyway (overwatch is one that does support it, for whatever that's worth) however, the power you can get out of them is better for the price and doesn't require a huge immediate investment (ie, can buy the second card later, doubling your power). however, if you don't mind upgrading and replacing the gpu as needed, then micro atx is fine, too. (bear in mind, you can do sli in micro atx but they will be seriously cramped and you won't have any room for any other pci slotted device like an audio processing unit or a wireless card). my personal recommendation would be to go for the atx size and try sli/crossfire out once you could afford the second graphics card.

once you've got the size of the computer, go find a motherboard which can socket the cpu you chose (amazon/newegg are good choices for shopping for these, new or used, btw) and then a tower/case of the appropriate size (if you're interested in liquid cooling, look for towers with grates on the top and sides. corsair does a pretty good set of these but they're also kindof expensive. easy as pie to work on, though). after that, go find some ram (i would suggest 8gb at least) which match or are lower than the motherboard's specifications (ddr3 is pretty common atm, but ddr4 is better if you can afford it. ddr3 is probably best to go for for price and availability.)

gpu! the funny little powerhouses that make graphics run really well. you don't strictly speaking need one to run a game, but i would highly encourage one (even if it's a basic little bitch like this $20 one as onboard graphics of most motherboards are only good enough to run basically low res video. these are the filling to the sandwich and can be added and removed with relative ease (also one of the components with universal specs so any graphics card will fit in any motherboard, more or less). both the cpu and the gpu are going to be where you're spending most of your money along with your monitor and operating system coming in close behind. that said, with the 10 series of nvidia graphics cards being released recently, you can probably get a used 960 pretty cheap (for the record, i can run overwatch with two 960 ftw's at 135~fps solid on high settings at 1920x1080 so one would get you a solid 60fps on most games at decent levels of prettyness. you could get 700 and 800 series cheaper but will not last as long or be as effective. a 1050/1040 might be a better option but you'd have to get use one of those tools from /r/buildapc to compare effectiveness and price cuz there's way too many for me to spew all the data here)

last but not least, the power supply unit! (aka psu) once you have all other components selected, you need to go find out the wattage ratings for all the components and add them up. that will determine the amount of wattage your psu should be, choosing a psu with more wattage than is required as having too little can cause problems (750w should probably be fine unless you go for much heavier stuff). you also need to make sure it's the right size for the tower and has all the plugs you need (modular are good as they have a lot of everything and can add/remove cables fairly freely).

once you have those picked out, there are gallons of peripherals you can choose from (ie, monitor, keyboard, mouse, headsets/speakers, etc. i personally like my keyboard to light up/glow cuz i work in the dark more often than not.) as well, you will need a hard drive or two and an operating system cd and key (windows 7 is probably best for price and usage for gaming. definitely do not get windows 8 it was made with tablets in mind and is total crap, windows 10 isn't a bad choice if you can get it cheap. maybe student versions? idk.) hard drives are fairly cheap and easy to upgrade and install (nother one of the universals). i would suggest a 1TB HDD as that is a large amount of space and fairly cheap (that one's $50) considering they go up to 6tb now. another option if you are willing to shell out for it is to get an SSD to load the os from (makes your computer start up stupid fast) and have an extra hdd for larger files like movies music and games. the only problem with this is that most things want to use C: for downloading and storing files so if the ssd isn't big enough you can run out of space pretty damn quick. that said, i'm using a 128gb ssd and only just recently started running out of room. 256gb would probably be better for longer term and for storing maybe one or two games on it for fast loading or maybe just using that if you're not a game hoarder like i am (i like having all my steam games installed for nostalgia purposes).

also as a sortof rant/general rule i would suggest avoiding asus if you can, not cuz their stuff is crap but because their rma department is crap. i've sent things to them which were horrifically broken or otherwise obviously damaged that they sent back to me unchanged. on the flip side, they sent back a new motherboard when i sent it in the second time after i said i would prefer they do that, so they've got that going for them.

with all of that said, there are likely pre-designed pcs for that range somewhere but i could not immediately find them on /r/buildapc so i'm not sure where to find them. if you'd prefer that, i can go find it. i just think of it as more fun to do the aforementioned abomination of planning and minmaxing. in all cases, building the pc yourself will be cheaper than buying one from a store or a laptop.

I may be of some help. I was in the same position as you a couple months ago.

First you have to decide, wired or wireless.

Wireless: A lot people suggest the ps gold headset ($100). As a gaming headset, they're decent but from what I've read, the sound quality is not great. If all you do is plan to play games with it and you don't care all that much about sound quality then this may be your best wireless option. A better wireless option would be the Astro A50. Reviews seem to say that the sound quality on the A50 is pretty good but this comes at a much higher price ($300 new, $200 refurbished). SteelSeries also makes a good wireless option at the same price point of the Astro.

Wired: If you go on head-fi, everyone will say the best option would be to buy a decent dedicated full-size headphones(price here depends on budget), a separate mic, and something like this to connect to your controller. This is true but I didn't like this option. Having two cables going my controller to my head seemed like a bit of a hassle and I wanted as few wires as possible. I wanted a quality wireless setup, but I couldn't justify spending $300 for a setup I'd only use to game.

I did find the V-Moda boom pro which would replace the cord on their headphone's with an in-line boom mic thus eliminating one more wire. Paired it up with the V-Moda M80(You should be able to use it with anything form the vmoda line, but don't hold me to that, you should be able to find out yourself easily), which to my surprise got great reviews on head-fi. I bought them for around 80 on an amazon lightning deal. They're pretty good, especially considering the whole setup cost ~$100. Build quality is very high, sound quality is good, a little bass heavy IMO but that is perfect for gaming. I also wouldn't mind taking these out with me on the colder months as they're not too bulky. They also come with a pretty cool carrying case.

I'm very happy with this setup now and I think the next step up from here would be to get a wireless setup.

Hope this helps.

Source: I do have quite an extensive headphone collection so I do appreciate a good set of cans.

I was in a similar boat. Wanted a well built, light, and high battery life laptop that could net insane gaming performance. Sadly, you're going to have to make some compromises if you're looking to spend around $1000. Here are some decent options:

Somewhat lightweight Gaming laptops:

• Usually weigh around 4.6-6 lbs, so not too heavy
  
• 1060 or higher
  
• All around powerful machines
  

• Usually a mix of plastic and brushed aluminum (honestly, still not bad)
  
• Screens are typically not amazing
  
• Usually abysmal battery life (not ideal for doing work off campus)
  
  Some options for this category:
  
  
• https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-gl502vm-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i7-12gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-1tb-hard-drive-black/5712362.p?skuId=5712362
  
  
• https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834234455&cm_re=asus_gaming_laptop-_-34-234-455-_-Product
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator-i7-7700HQ-1060-6GB-G3-571-77QK/dp/B06Y4GZS9C
  
  
  Lightweight ultrabooks that can still game pretty well:
  
  

• Typically equipped with 1050's (still good, just don't expect 60fps with high/max settings on newer titles)
  
• Usually great quiality
  
• Portable!
  
• Moderately good to insanely good battery life
  

• Not as powerful as gaming laptops with 1060's+
  
• Can run on the expensive side depending on the brand or if not found on sale
  
  Some options for this category:
  
  
• https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-yoga-720-2-in-1-15-6-4k-ultra-hd-touch-screen-laptop-intel-quad-core-i7-16gb-memory-512gb-ssd-platinum-silver/5722755.p?skuId=5722755 (love this computer, but previous shipments had screen defects with black bars appearing. I'd hope that has been fixed as it's a great device otherwise)
  
  
• http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/xps-15/spd/xps-15-9560-laptop (Dell XPS 15 is an awesome slim device with an amazing battery life)
  
  
• http://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-pavilion-power---quad-w--2gb-gfx-touch-optional-1gk62av-1 (on sale right now! Great deal, but this laptop has a mostly plastic build quality unlike every other laptop in this category, and apparently a noisy fan... but you can get a 1050ti configured in this thing!)
  
  
• https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-spectre-x360-2-in-1-15-6-4k-ultra-hd-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-512gb-solid-state-drive/5712363.p?skuId=5712363
  OR https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-spectre-x360-2-in-1-15-6-4k-ultra-hd-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-512gb-solid-state-drive-dark-ash-silver/6082118.p?skuId=6082118 (HP Spectre's are great! But they only have a 940mx... so they're the worst for gaming here and probably won't run a game like the new Assassin's Creed very well.)
  
  
  A super expensive laptop:
  
  

• Super powerful (typically 1060+)
  
• Great battery life
  
• Very portable
  
• AMAZING build quality and screens
  

• Super expensive
  
  Some options for this category:
  
  
• (The Dell XPS is kind of in limbo but I threw it in the above category instead)
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-Aero-15W-BK4-i7-7700HQ-GeForce/dp/B07141QMKD (amazing, thin, light, and high battery life computer with a 1060! Great screen too! Probably my favorite laptop here under $2000)
  
  
• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/config/surface-book-2/8MCPZJJCC98C?cid=surfacebook2interstitial (the Surface Book 2 is the coolest laptop here! The screen comes off so you can use it like a tablet or drawing canvas, and it has a 1060! But the 1060 configuration costs $2500 and only goes up if you want more storage)
  
  
  Basically, either you spend a TON of money or compromise somewhere. Best of luck!

I have this same laptop and it's working perfectly well after upgrading both the RAM and the SSD. Upgrading to an SSD will greatly decrease the boot time of the laptop and adding more RAM will help to make the laptop snappier overall. The first step I would take would be to put an SSD in the laptop, especially considering the horribly long boot times you're experiencing, but both will

Adding RAM will be the easiest change for your laptop, as it doesn't require any transferring of files. I personally have 16 GB of ram in my laptop (2 x 8GB) but in the interest of saving money, you may want to get one 8GB stick of RAM and upgrade again down the line if you desire. When shopping for RAM, you want to make sure that you have a SODIMM sized stick, and that it's running at 1600 MHz speed. Here is an option from Amazon, but you may be able to find other options for cheaper (this was just the first thing I found). You just want to ensure that the RAM you buy is a SODIMM module and is running at 1600 MHz. Assuming the 4GB is in the form of 2 x 2GB sticks, you will have 10 GB of RAM total after installing the new module.

You can easily find videos on how to install RAM on the internet, but as a quick explanation:

• Turn your computer off
  
• Remove all the screws from the bottom of the MacBook, there should be 10 and they're all Phillips.
  
• Pull off the back of the laptop
  
• You should see RAM modules above the battery at the bottom of the laptop
  
• There are two tabs that you can pull on to release the RAM from its socket, it should pop up at an angle and you can pull it out. There will most likely be another stick of RAM under it, you should leave it be.
  
• You want to put the new stick of RAM in at the same angle that the old one came out at, aligning the notch of the slot to the notched hole in the RAM stick, and then push it down so it's sitting as the original RAM stick was.
  
• Put the back cover on and rescrew the screws. Note that the 3 long screws go in the part of the back nearest to the screen hinge.
  
  You should now be able to go to "About the Mac" then to Memory, and see a 2GB and 8GB (if you get an 8GB stick) module show up.
  
  
  As for the SSD, it can be a bit more complicated depending on how you want to go about doing it. If you care about all of the data on your old drive, you can clone it using a cloning software. If not, you can copy important files onto a flash drive or external hard drive to paste back into the new installation of macOS.
  
  But first, you need to get the SSD itself. The Samsung 850 Evo is very well liked across the internet and the drive that I personally used. You can get it in whatever capacity you need. That being said, there are other options of SSDs that will be less expensive while still being a massive upgrade over the spinning disk drive that you likely already have. If you do searching around the internet, the only thing you need to be careful of is that the SSD has a SATA connector and isn't a m.2 drive. You'll also need a SATA to USB cable like This
  
  The way I would recommend replacing the drive would be to do a fresh install of macOS, keeping a backup of your important files.
  
  You want to start by plugging the SSD into the SATA to USB cable and the cable into your laptop. Then, open Disk Utility (either by using a spotlight search or finding it in the "Other" folder of the application display (hit the F4 function key)) Once you have disk utility open, you want to find the SSD on the left drop-down menu and erase it. This will format it to be usable as a boot disk for macOS. Note: it's possible that it will work without doing this but I am unsure and think it would be good to be safe here to save the time of having to change it.
  
  As with the RAM, you can probably easily find a video showing how to do it, but I will also list the rest of the steps as I remember them.
  
• Turn the laptop off
  
• Unscrew the screws of the back cover
  
• Take off the back cover. The hard drive should be beside the battery at the bottom and held in by black brackets on the top and bottom. To unscrew them, you just need a small Phillips screwdriver.
  
• Once you've unscrewed them, you can pull off the top of both black brackets and pull out the drive. Be careful not to damage the ribbon cables!
  
• Disconnect the SATA power and SATA data connectors at the end of the ribbon cable on the drive.
  
• Unscrew the four screws holding the drive in the bracket.
  
• Pull the drive out and put the new drive in and screw it back in like the old one was
  
• Do the steps taken to remove the old drive in reverse to secure the new drive into place.
  
  Once the new drive is in, you can reboot the laptop and hit the Option key to bring up a boot menu. You should see something that says "Choose a Network" and you can sign into your WiFi to continue. From there you will able to use network recovery to reinstall macOS.
  
  
  I hope this is helpful and good luck! I'm glad I'm not the only one still using a 2012 MBP :)
  
  edit: formatting, a word
  

2. This is heavly debatable on what the best option is and I encourage you to do some extra research yourself. However, I would go with the Noctua NH-D15 as a premuim cooler. If you dont plan on heavly OCing you could grab a cheap but effective cooler like 212 evo and save some cash.
   
3. Going with a single card is almost always the better becuase it: has better power efficiency...will generate less noise and heat
   ...will be able to achive similar preformance in all games and does not run the risk of xfire or sli not being supported fully.
   Running a 1070 will save you alot of hassle and provide you with consistant performance similar to 2 rx 480s. AMD has a reputation for squeasing more power in their cards as time goes on. However until amd releases vega they have no single card that can compete with anything above a 1070. The closest amd card that can maybe be a substitute is the fury x and even that gets beaten. These small improvements are nice but wont make up for that much preformance gain. Its really up to you on when you want to upgrade. Video editing is mainly cpu dependent and wont change alot if you swap the gpus around.
   I will finish answering your other questions in a bit. (im on mobile so sorry for any grammatical errors)
   
4. I assume you want 2 monitors for productivty purposes. I recommend getting A: a single ultrawide 1440p monitor that is great for gaming and productivity due to its massive size B: Grab either a 144hz or 1440p monitor and buy a cheaper 60hz 1080p monitor as you will probably be only be gaming on 1 monitor. If you go with option b choose a 144hz monitor if you play alot of games where speed and smoothness are key (cs go, lol, dota). 1440p monitors shine in impressive games(gta, witcher, skyrim). I personally own a 144hz monitor and it is fabulous. I cant strongly suggest any 1440p monitors but just look for good reviews. As for 144hz monitors the https://www.amazon.com/Asus-VG248QE-24-inch-Ergonomic-Back-lit/dp/B00B2HH7G0?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0 is great. As a rule of thumb when looking for a monitor look for a name brand(asus, acer, benq) and choose one with good reviews. Also, IPS pannels have better colors then TN pannels. For gaming you will want a monitor below 5ms response time.
   
5. I honestly don't know much about network adapters but I would just do a quick google search on witch ones are the best.
   If you have any further questions feel free to ask. Wait for deals on the U.K buildapcsales before purchasing parts, otherwise I can help you bring down the price abit if you want.

Looks alright. I wouldn't reccomend Ryzen chips. I would probably get something more like an i7 6700k or the 6700 (which is around $20 cheaper if you can't justify the price) for gaming. If you end up choosing an Intel CPU you'll have to choose a different Mobo as well but there are lots of good ones.

I'd reccomend getting an entry level 144Hz Screen. If you can stretch to something like this I would seriously reccomend it, though it's not going to hurt you if you don't. I think it was Jake from LG Evil that made T500 early in the game on a Mac Book running OW in wine.

I personally don't like any gaming Headsets other than the HyperX Clouds. There is a huge quality difference between them and any other "gaming" headsets I have used.

As far as mice and keyboards, I would probably just buy a nice cheap Keyboard to begin with because there are no benefits really to having a good keyboard if you're on a budget. A mouse is kinda personal, I use a Steel Series Rival 100 but am a palm style user and am completely arm aim. It's a good cheap mouse but you may want something else if your grip style is different. My brother plays claw and doesn't mind it though.

Parts and gear you should prioritise for Overwatch are: Good GPU. 6GB 1060s are plenty for overwatch unless you want to be running the game at consistently over 240FPS (here's Taimou's settings btw. These will help with you configuring your settings for Overwatch). A fast CPU (Overwatch can be very CPU dependant). SSDs are kinda nice and fairly cheap. If you have a SSD btw you're at a direct benefit to most other players because you load in matches faster and can therefore instalock first, if that's your thing. :P Monitors are the most important peripheral by far in my opinion, followed closely by mice. If you're not getting a 144Hz screen now, you'll want one eventually (you won't need one but you'll want one). The only other peripheral that is important for Overwatch specifically is a mouse. This is one of those what suits your style things and there's no real correct answer but for First Person Shooters you usually want a nice light fast mouse. Ideally with 2 buttons on the side of the mouse for binding melee and voice. Just don't get a Razer and you'll be fine.

I'd probably ask on /r/buildapc as well because they'll probably give you better advice than this sub will. Best of luck dude with your transition to PC. Hope this helps.

Edit: oh and Mousepad! In the beginning I'd reccomend a nice control style mouse pad for getting used to using a mouse for aiming. I can't reccomend you any though because I have always used the mats that come in WoW TCG boxes since a family member has heaps of them and I've never used any other control style mats. The bigger the better.

I'm not the guy you asked, but I ALSO have the G930s. They're nice, but I won't be buying them again. I find the wireless to be flaky when my wife uses HER wireless headset (another Logitec, but not G930s), and the battery is nearly worthless after 2 years of ownership (though I do a fair bit of gaming, so YMMV). Next headset I buy is gonna be a pair of these bad-boys, and I'm gonna slap some of these on 'em. If I need a mic, I'll grab something like this. Won't be wireless, but I've got a cheap bluetooth headset if I need to move around the house. Since my HMD is tethered ANYWAY, I don't mind the headphones being so as well. :)

Hope that was somewhat helpful! :)

EDIT: OK, so here I am, nearly a month later. My G930s finally gave up the ghost, and I went ahead and bought about what I describe above (haven't picked up a mic yet (doesn't make sense at this point, with the Vive so close), but I've got the Superlux cans and 3rd party earcovers), and I'm LOVING them. Nice sound, though quieter than expected - I've not dealt with anything but USB headsets for a while, so I'm pretty sure I need an amp, which I can't fault them for, I knew it was a possibility going in. In any event, though a bit quiet at this point, it's not to the point of unhearability or anything. I just can't make it annoyingly loud if I want to. I'm also irked at the tiny male jack hardwired into them - I'd rather have a flush female jack, but what 'cha gonna do?

Beyond those two TINY issues (the first is only an issue due to my not realizing they'd need a bit more juice, and the second is annoying, but not at all a dealbreaker), I'm LOVING them for the price. Reproduction sounds pretty good (good enough for mixing with, anyway), and comfort is GREAT (they feel VERY light). YMMV, but I'm a happy camper with my Superlux HD668B semi-open cans (just don't forget the (<$10!) 3rd party covers - they REALLY improve on the default comfort).

EDIT #2: I'm a jackass. I had them plugged into line-in. When I found a second line-in (this one actually labeled and recognized by the OS as a headphone jack), the softer sound issue went away.

Hi Voldis, I've been a really long time CS player and was globally elitest so I can def. give some advice.

144 hz monitors are hella good and you'll notice a huge performance increase if you are gaming with more than 200FPS. The way that this works is that you can have up to 144frames in a period of one second, so compared to the 60 you normally see on monitors, you'll instead see 144. This makes a really big difference with transitions and movements, as they will look smoother and you will be less likely to see tearing. I think this is a pretty good reference https://pcmonitors.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Refresh-rate-comparison.png

unrelated snippet about refresh rates and FPS

You can look at refresh rates and FPS as two different entities. FPS is juts however many frames a second that you're getting, and the refresh rate is locked in at whatever the monitor allows. If two things are out of sync, ie the FPS "updates" at the 20ms mark, and the monitor updates at the 22ms mark, the monitor will display the frame from the 20ms mark, as it is the most up to date info. It's because of this that the 144hz/refresh monitor results in smoother transitions. Instead of only 60 updates, you'll get 144. To make this even more accurate, gsync was developed to ensure that the FPS refreshes at the exact same time as the monitor, so your screen will always give you the most recent information at a refresh point (22ms and 22ms instead of 20ms and 22ms)

end snippet

I personally recommend the http://www.amazon.com/Asus-VG248QE-24-inch-Ergonomic-Back-lit/dp/B00B2HH7G0/ although if all you care about are visuals, invest in an IPS. It isn't essential to have a 120/144hz, although it makes the whole CS:GO experience much more enjoyable.

Bunny hopping is something that just takes time to learn, but essentially you just need to spam jump right before you hit the ground with a scroll wheel. Through the use of air strafing, by pressing A or D and moving your mouse, you are able to control your momentum in the air and essentially control how fast you go. CS:GO has a hard cap of 300 units I think? after a jump, so by controlling your air strafing and in turn your velocity, you can move even faster than if you have a knife out (250 units.) It requires inhuman precision to maintain a velocity in the 250-300 range for long periods of time, especially on bumpy surfaces, which is why you don't see the pros bhop across the map.

About settings... everyone has their own preference and I think it really is unfair to say there is anything "best." Preferred resolution will vary from player to player, but all that matters is that you keep the same settings. Even if you start playing on tilt and doing really bad, you need to keep using the same settings. It'll make you a better player in the long run. If you really think you want to use a new resolution, do whatever, but try to stick with the same settings (like sensitivity and stuff.)

Gonna dump on some opinions here. Bhopping is insanely effective and can give you a slight edge over opponents. The half a second you save getting to garage on Nuke can result in you winning a 1v1. Learning smokes and flashes is an important thing, although its probably a better investment to focus on learning rotations. If you are able to get a good feeling for where other players should be, then keep track of where they actually are, and combine both of those with intel gained from your teammates positions, specifically where they can't be, you can probably out maneuver/play/position your opponents. Knowing where enemies are is a key component in winning as it will allow you to place yourself in a better position (ie if you know they are coming from B tuns on dust 2 to defuse your bomb in B, you can wait outside of the site to waste time.)

Definitely learn nades though, they're important (I still don't know them.) A good basic popflash to just practice is to throw it with right click and then walk over it. By doing so, you will force the enemy to look away and you won't get blinded by them. Pretty neat.

Another general tip is to just learn maps. If you can pre aim where people are going to be, you will have an advantage. Its much easier to mash WASD than it is to move your mouse. You'll also get called a cheater a lot which is pretty fun.

The way that tick rates work on server is that there are essentially a higher number of updates. So on a 64 tick server there are 64 updates a second, while in a 128 tick server there are 128 updates a second. It makes for a huge difference, although if you are below Badge (old LEM), then you probably won't really notice when it actually is a problem. Tick rates have nothing to do with refresh rates.

I would offer to help in game but I'm too busy to play really, although I don't mind explaining CSGO mechanics in depth. pls lmk if you have questions, I enjoy helping people get better at this, objectively, #1 FPS.

Also, watching streams really doesn't make you better after a certain point. You can use them to learn how to play counter-strike, but you can't use them to git guud because everyone plays differently. Watching someone else play may provide ideas, but at the end of the day CS:GO should be about having fun and playing in whatever way makes you happy.

sorry for long post,
tl;dr play csgo git guud

HP Pavilion 15

• Don't be fooled by the Core i7 processor label. This is a dual-core U-series near-negligibly faster than i5 U-series chips of the same generation, and actually slightly slower than i5 U-series chips of the current generation (that's how little the difference is). If you need CPU performance, you need HQ series, i5-HQ or i7-HQ. If you don't, i5-U is pretty much just as good as i7-U. This CPU branding is misleading to the point that it has warranted a section in the sidebar on this sub.
  
• 12GB RAM... higher than some, but it's $30 to DIY-upgrade most 8GB RAM laptops to 12GB.
  
• No SSD is also a bit disappointing.
  
• Screen is IPS and touch, however be aware it's the less-good glossy-touch-layer-over-matte-LCD type, which gives you all the reflections of glossy, without the "popping" colors/contrast.
  
• No dedicated GPU, if you were going to game or use GPU-bound software.
  
  Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro
  
  
• Not bad. Good GPU, good display. No SSD, but there's a great deal on one at Microcenter for the same price but with a dedicated 512GB SSD. http://www.microcenter.com/product/475414/Aspire_V15_Nitro_Black_Edition_VN7-593G-70U4_156_Gaming_Laptop_Computer_-_Slate_Black
  
• This one's also great: https://www.amazon.com/Eluktronics-P650HP6-Premium-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B01MT7P0QJ/
  
• And this if the greater thickness won't be an issue: https://www.amazon.com/MSI-Computer-GT62VR-Dominator-027-i7-6700HQ/dp/B01K00YHMG/
  
  Dell Inspiron 15
  
  
• Some Inspiron 15 models are good; not this one. This Costco Inspiron 15 is saddled with the low quality TN display with poor contrast and viewing angles. Pretty freaking awful for $1150 IMO, regardless of SSD size. It looks like this: https://i.imgur.com/Sajajqc.jpg
  
• The good Inspiron Gaming 15 is the 7000 series, not the 5000 series... more specifically the 7567 with the IPS screen upgrade
  
• http://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-inspiron-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-ti-256gb-solid-state-drive-black/5872507.p (Includes IPS)
  
• http://www.dell.com/en-us/member/shop/productdetails/inspiron-15-7567-laptop/fncwf514s?selectionState=eyJGUHJpY2UiOjg5MC45OSwiT0MiOiJmbmN3ZjUxNHMiLCJRdHkiOjEsIk1vZHMiOlt7IklkIjo3NjAsIk9wdHMiOlt7IklkIjoiRkhETlQiLCJQcmljZSI6NDkuNX1dfSx7IklkIjo1NzIsIk9wdHMiOlt7IklkIjoiRkcwMDI4In1dfV19 (IPS upgrade auto-selected)
  
• If you would like the 512GB SSD, you can choose the 4K model if you don't mind gaming in non-native res, and making sure apps scale correctly. Good deals in the Dell Outlet usually, but none right now.
  
• Or you could choose the 7700HQ + 1TB model on Dell.com, pick the IPS upgrade on the config page, add a 512GB SSD yourself, and maybe also upgrade the RAM yourself.
  
• Or you can choose the Eluktronics N850HK1 model with the 512GB SSD for $1049. Even better type of IPS display.
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Eluktronics-N850HK1-Premium-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B01N7YTLD0/
  
• Note that may not apply to you anyway: There's an offered 4K model but it's PenTile (RG/BW) not-true-4K. I would choose the Inspiron 7567 4K model if you wanted 4K, since that is a true 4K display.
  
  Lenovo Legion Y520
  
  
• Not bad. Massive storage specs, however you may not need those, and the battery life is rather mediocre at under four hours.
  
• I'll usually recommend the Inspiron 7567 (IPS configs) and Eluktronics N850HK1 over this.
  
• Screen is fine, but I think the Inspiron 7567 IPS is slightly better, and the Eluktronics N850HK1 is definitely better.
  
  Lenovo Ideapad Y700
  
  
• It's not awful but the GPU is a 960M and you can easily get a 1050 or 1050 Ti at this price. Actually you can get a GTX 1060 / GTX 1060 for this price if you'll take advantage of it, but if not I might look at other options.
  
• Screens are IPS but none of these are as good as the Eluktronics' and Acer VN7-593G displays when it comes to color saturation. I wouldn't recommend the Y720 configs above $1150 or so; there are better options. (General exception that may not even apply to you: if you want 4K and are buying it specifically for that. Also applies to the Y700).
  
  Thinkpad P51s
  
  
• Thinkpads (T/P/X series) are great for durability and longevity. But, if you get this, don't pay to upgrade the CPU. They're all U-series. If you need CPU performance, I would choose the regular P51 with the HQ CPU. Link with Lenovo's 'Perks' discount. If you don't, cheapest i5-U is just as good as the rest, for all practical purposes.
  
• dGPU is also better in the P51 than the P51s, if you need that.

I used to play WoW on a 2013 15 macbook pro till 2 weeks ago.

I bought a new desktop from a friend. Really powerful to me.

• Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5/3.9Ghz
  
• 16GB RAM DDR4 3000Mhz Vengeance
  
• EVGA GTX 1070 8GB
  
• SSD 480GB Corsair Force LE
  
• And Watercooling (even if not overclocked, as I don't know yet how it works)
  
  Now that is amazing, it is like I play a new game. (Going from 12-25fps to 90+, and I think WoW is limiting to 100 by default. Anyway).
  
  ------------------------------------
  
  My problem is I borrowed his monitor. From what I see, it is a ASUS VS228H-P 21.5" Full HD 1920x1080
  
  And for those who played WoW, it feels "smaller". My knowledge of screens is limited, but I think when I run WoW on the macbook, the resolution is 2880x1800. I feel I can't go to a smaller resolution.
  
  Another friend told me "if you are gonna do gaming, you need this monitor". But all I can see is the same "1920x1080" resolution.
  
  -------------------------------
  
  What is the advice from this community for a good compromise?
  
  
• I am looking for a 27'' screen.
  
• I've heard of 4k. By browsing here and there I found this one which is definitely high end budget to me. People said that under 32'', everything feels "tiny".
  
• In a 1st time I'm gonna play WoW on it, then I'll do more adventure games like the Witcher, Tomb Raider, Skyrim, etc. Anything that will be release and be awesome on the "adventure" side. I do not plan to do any MOBA or FPS, I'm too old for this :) My aim is just to play and have fun, not going to the competitive side of games, just enjoying chilling adventure games that I missed by having a mac.
  
  ---------------------------------
  
  I start to feel overwhelm by browsing topics I am not familiar with yet (remember, I come from a all-in-one macbook). I need enlightenment, I plan to buy a new monitor around black Friday (in sale or not, $200 would be preferable, definitely under $400). If you guys have heard of a similar situation, and could tell me something like "Yeah I have a similar story and went with this monitor XXX, I highly recommend this to you, {you don't need 4k, you need 4k}, the fps above 60 {matters, not matters} for what you seek for, the price is just {$250, $450 but really really worth it, $350 right in your range!}"

This infographic could help you start with your research to see what is available in different price ranges. You could look to see if some of the more expensive laptops on this list are on sale this weekend for the sales for Black Friday/Cyber Monday if you would like to take advantage of those sale prices. In terms of suggestions:

Acer Helios 300 is a solid choice but does look a lot like a gaming laptop if you have issues with that for college. It is not on sale for the weekend so you would be able to take your time on that one.

Razer Blade stealth looks great and is a great laptop but may not be great for gaming (due to the lack of a nice GPU) unless you plan on buying something like the Razer Blade Core to add an external GPU later. But obviously that will add a lot to the price and not make it too price efficient.

I personally have the ASUS Fx502vm and love it. It is very powerful and looks a little more professional (than other "Gaming laptops"). It is currently on sale for $1000 so you would probably have to buy it quickly to take advantage of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals but I got it for 1250 and still think it was a great buy.

My brother recently bought the Lenovo Y720 and loves it and it is on sale from $1300 to $1050 for Black Friday weekend.

Overall there are a lot of good deals online this weekend you could take advantage of this weekend or you could take your time and do research and find the best laptop that fits you. $1000 to $1200 is a great price range because you can start to get some powerful laptops for a good price. I think you should try to buy a laptop with a NVIDIA GPU if you are paying that much for a GPU but if a graphics card isn't a high priority, the Razer Blade Stealth is a good option especially for below $1000.

Gaming headphones are a pretty weird market. None of them are actually that good for anything but games, and other headphones can usually do games better. Instead of buying a gaming headset, It's better to buy a less expensive pair of headphones that preform better and add a mic. Gaming headsets may have all sorts of cool features, but you'll find that you don't really need them once you don't have them. The most important thing for gaming headphones isn't preset EQs or bass response, it's all about having a positively massive soundstage. That's how you can get your system sounding something like a surround sound setup (although headphones just can't do the same things that speakers can at any price range). Depening on your price range, you could get the Sennheiser HD558, the Audio Techinca AD700X, the AKG Q701, or the Philips Fildelio X1. As for mics, you can get the Zalman ZM1 clip on mic, or the Antlion Modmic, if you're a fan of boom mics and quality. On top of being able to play games with them, you'll also be able to listen to your music collection rather comfortably, which is the main place where gaming headsets fall short, as they're equalized and tuned specifically for games.

I'm sorry to do a huge info dump on you, but getting a nice sounding pair of headphones doesn't just improve your games and music, it improves your life :) Eventually, you'll be more comfortable wearing them than not.

Whichever way you go, though, I hope you enjoy whatever you buy to the fullest, and most importantly, enjoy Destiny's phenominal sound design with your headphones! And if you need more suggestions, I'd be happy to help!

Reading about your grandfather made me think about my own. Yours sounds very much like the man that married my grandmother almost 30 years ago. He's actually not my blood grandfather but he's absolutely wonderful. Incredibly smart and witty, honest and interesting. One of the most fun people to talk to you could hope to meet. As your grandfather was, he's a lover of words. Just being around him everyone's vocabulary gets better! He's a know-it-all but in the way that you WANT him to tell you about things. History is a passion of his and he could tell you the most amazing stories about the past. I love him dearly.

Here's the link you asked for. One of those would be great. Thank you very much for holding the contest! You've actually inspired me to make sure I call my grandparents today and talk to them for a bit. I miss them a lot and I think they're back home from their vacation.

I have one last question if you wouldn't mind answering it for me. I've spent a lot of time researching more on the laptop models that the comments have suggested for me, as well as doing my own research on some I like, and I am very close to making a decision. I was just wondering on whether or not you would be able to tell me which one you think would be the best path to follow. I'm asking both you and u/shopineer since your usernames tend to pop up a lot in the subreddit and you both seem like you know what you're doing.

1. The Acer Aspire E15 - In doing my own research, I'll admit that I really like the sound of this one. The price tag and value you get for this model is incredible, and it looks like this is a positively reviewed laptop on both here as well as Amazon. The general design is a bit bulky but I thoroughly enjoy it for some reason, I'm just not sure how much upgrading it would cost. RAM isn't too much from what I've read but to add an SSD to it rather than rely on the HDD within, that could be a bit costly.
   
   
2. The Acer Spin 5 - This one is also one that I enjoy, but with a somewhat heftier price tag. The 2-in-1 form factor is definitely cool and the SSD included is definitely a boost over standard HDD. My main concern here is whether or not that 2-in-1 form factor would be best used in my hands, seeing as it's still a somewhat large rectangle in tablet mode and I'm not exactly going to take notes or likely draw with it anytime soon. I'm unsure on whether or not this can be easily upgraded (it seems like the RAM is from the reviews I read, which also favor this device, but I can't find anything on SSD upgrades) and the bigger price tag makes me a bit hesitant if the previous option would be better overall.
   
   I ultimately decided against the HP models that were suggested to me in this thread because they didn't seem to have very good reviews upon closer inspection. They're beautiful pieces of machinery but I don't think they're the correct fit for me. The same goes for the Acer Swift 3, since the reviews point to possible bad experiences in comparison to the laptops I've narrowed it down to. Even now I'm hesitant to purchase a used or refurbished unit, hence why I won't attempt to go after a refurbished Surface 2 or 3, and while this Acer Aspire E15 model is tempting, I'm still a bit squeamish since it seems like a very hit-or-miss sort of ordeal.
   
   The main question now is whether it's a better choice to go with an Aspire E15 that can be upgraded, which could serve as something to gain experience from, or whether it would still be the better choice to opt for a Spin 5. Any advice you can give me is greatly appreciated and thank you for taking the time to help everyone here. A lot of us would more than likely be lost without helpful users like you.

Alright, I can work with that.

To preface this, I recommend pairing one of the following headphones with a clip-on microphone - either a cheaper model like a [Zalman ZM-Mic1] (http://www.amazon.com/Zalman-Zm-Mic1-Sensitivity-Headphone-Microphone/dp/B00029MTMQ) or a more expensive model like [Antlion's Modmic] (http://www.modmic.com/collections/frontpage) - rather than getting a headset with an integrated mic. From a price/performance standpoint, headsets almost never stack up. The headsets made by the real headphone brands are exceedingly expensive, and with a very small body of exceptions the cheaper headsets sound terrible.

Now, onward to the headphones. When I hear "isolation", "comfort", and "neutral/warm sound signature", the first thing that comes to my mind is [NVX's] (http://www.head-fi.org/t/624729/review-nvx-xpt100-a-direct-brainwavz-hm5-competitor) [XPT100] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2G9qk7IOEA) ([$99 via Amazon] (http://www.amazon.com/NVX-Over-Ear-Headphones-ComfortMax-Cushions/dp/B0093PVTPS)). I actually own a pair of these myself for use as moderate isolation movie/podcast headphones for when my house is too loud for me to use my open headphones, and they're among the most comfortable headphones I've had. While they don't take the top spot - no headphones without an AKG-style suspension strap will ever do that - they're definitely in the top five or so. Their sound isn't the most detailed out there, but they're fairly neutral, solidly built, and very comfortable, particularly given their price.

A more expensive step up would be [Shure's] (http://www.head-fi.org/products/shure-srh840/reviews/5056) SRH[840] (http://www.head-fi.org/products/shure-srh840/reviews/3768) ([$199 via Amazon] (http://www.amazon.com/Shure-SRH840-Professional-Monitoring-Headphones/dp/B002DP8IEK/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1426324378&sr=1-1&keywords=shure+srh84)). While I sadly haven't had a chance to try these out myself, I've heard little but good things about them. Formerly on Innerfidelity's wall of fame, and with consistently good reviews for their sound, comfort, and overall quality, they're definitely a solid choice if you're looking for a neutralish sound with some bass.

A third option would be the [Focal Spirit One] (http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/focal-spirit-one-page-3) ([$175] (http://www.amazon.com/Focal-529102-SPOH-Spirit-One-Headphones/dp/B007AH7YFU) or [$179] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008R9QRIU/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687702&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B007AH7YFU&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0HS51KQ3XCE0J5B14R27) via Amazon for the black and white models, respectively). Focal has a quite a solid reputation in audio, but the Spirit One had some serious issues on its release due to manufacturing defects, and it suffered a rather bad reception as a result. These issues are said to have been since resolved, however, and the Spirit One is a very solid headphone at that price. The sound is a bit on the bassy side, but not extremely so, and is quite good for this price. Comfort may be an issue, however, as the One was quite clearly designed more for portability than comfort. While no review characterizes it as uncomfortable, it's a safe bet that it doesn't measure up to the other two in this regard.

Another rather unique option, albeit one with some inherent drawbacks, would be [Fostex's] (http://www.head-fi.org/t/570138/review-fostex-t50rp-my-intro-to-the-world-of-orthos) [T50RP] (http://www.head-fi.org/t/559233/review-fostex-t50rp-its-been-needing-a-review) ([$127 via Amazon] (http://www.head-fi.org/t/559233/review-fostex-t50rp-its-been-needing-a-review)). Now, the T50RP is, at stock, not the best-liked headphone. Though it is one of the (if not the) cheapest orthodynamic headphones in the world, its very poor comfort and [rolled-off sound] (http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/FostexT50RP2011B.pdf) have attracted a lot of criticism. Having a pair myself, I wholeheartedly agree with criticism of its comfort, but think its stock sound is better than people give it credit for. What the T50RP has going for it, however, is an [exceptionally dedicated modding community] (http://www.head-fi.org/t/618659/fostex-t50rp-incremental-mods-and-measurements), and some very high-profile modified variants. Modded T50RPs under the branding of MrSpeakers and ZMF can sell for $300, $600, or even $1,000, and experienced reviewers and audiophiles alike have claimed that they measure up to headphones in those price ranges. If you happen to feel a DIYish inclination, a T50RP can be quite a solid project to work on, and, in theory, it can get you $300-600 sound quality for a little sound of $200 accounting for the various materials it takes to mod them.

Now, there are, as said, quite a few drawbacks to the T50RP: the stock sound isn't for everyone, it requires more power to drive than the other mentioned headphones (not enough to cause issues at stock, in my opinion, but when modded it can be quite intensive to drive, almost assuredly moreso than your integrated audio can support), and it's absolutely terrible in comfort (if you do go for them, [a headband cover like this] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00862522A/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and a pair of [Shure] (http://www.amazon.com/Shure-HPAEC840-Replacement-Cushions-Headphones/dp/B002Z9JWZS/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1426325351&sr=1-1&keywords=shure+pads) or [Brainwavz] (http://www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-Replacement-Memory-Foam-Earpads/dp/B00MFDT894/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1426325358&sr=1-1&keywords=brainwavz+pads) pads were what I used to take them from "terrible" to "pretty darn solid" comfort), and modding isn't for the faint of heart. After quite a while of tinkering, I've yet to get my own T50RP mod working properly. It's amazing value if you can make it work for you, but it's quite a significant amount of effort to achieve that.

Others have already asked some pretty useful questions, but if you're looking for more specifics here's what I know.

Recording & Editing Software

While I can't speak to resources for non-Apple tools. If you have a Mac you can start out with simply a good microphone and the GarageBand application.

Microphones and Pop Filters

If you're looking for a mic recommendation I've had a lot of success with the Yeti USB microphone. It's pretty versatile and the sound quality has been quite good. A cheaper reliable option is the Snowball. You can find mics for less than that but I can't vouch for the quality. No extra set up is really needed, just plug it in and record. Some people recommend a pop filter, they're pretty cheap and I've had a good experience with the Dragonpad ones. If you need an example of sound quality PM me, I'm happy to link you an episode I created using the Yeti mic.

Uploading and Hosting

Once you've recorded and edited your Podcast you'll need somewhere to host it so others can listen to what you've created. I usually upload the file to SoundCloud and then share the link or embed the player in my blog and website. There are a lot of other podcast-specific hosting sites out there but I've found SoundCloud to be free and easy.

Helpful Guide

When I first started out I came across a great blog article by Mike Cernovich that I followed to create my first episodes. You can read it here if you're interested (it's specific to using GarageBand though).

I hope this helps, a D&D podcast sounds great. Can't wait to hear what you create.

If I may make a recommendation, try to go for 24", which suits 1080p better. 27" is still good, but it doesn't look as sharp. Also, I would strongly encourage getting a monitor with adaptive sync. ("Freesync" monitors if you have an AMD card, and "Gsync" monitors if you have an NVIDIA card.) It makes a huge difference.

Looks like you have a GTX 1070. In that case, I would recommend also upgrading to 1440p like /u/KarlofDuty said. I use a 980 Ti for 1440p@144hz w/ Gsync, and it does the job very well. A 1070 should do it even better.

The options you selected are all quite a bit overpriced for what they offer, in my experience. As for affordable better options, I use the Dell S2716DG, which meets all these critera and you can often find for about $450-500 -- check /r/buildapcsales often, because this monitor pops up there every other week. You can get a monitor multiple times better for the same amount that you're already willing to spend.

Please note that it is a TN panel, which is a type known for having washed-out colors. I own two different monitors with TN panels, and you can adjust color settings to make it still look great. The main benefit is that TN is usually much cheaper than the better alternative, IPS. (So, if you're willing to spend an extra couple hundred bucks, you can get an IPS panel instead. If accurate color is that important to you.)

You may be thinking, "but that's a 27"." The key difference is that 1440p looks great at 27", while 1080p looks best at 24" in my opinion. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Other note: there's a new release from Dell coming soon, which is basically the same thing but scaled down to 24" for better sharpness and increased the refresh rate to 165hz. I don't know how much it will cost, but if you're interested it might be worth waiting a little while.

You're not going to be able to do squat for video editing or streaming on a 250-370 dollar laptop. the best laptops in that price range to be completely honest are chromebooks. Chromebooks aren't bad but you can't do much other than chrome based stuff, hence the name. If you just wanted to watch videos and could tolerate a 720p screen, chromebooks would be fine, but I will NEVER recommend any windows laptop at that price point unless for some odd reason it has more than 6 gigabytes of RAM. 6 is the bare minimum that one should accept when using Windows 10, and 8 should be the target minimum. Only get 6 gigabytes of RAM if that's the absolute best you could afford at the time. You may be better off spending a couple hundred extra dollars on something like the Acer Aspire or one of the many HP x360 models. I personally recommend the x360 over the acer simply because I've got better product history with HP than I do Acer. I personally didn't get my laptop on Amazon, couldn't find one for my budget that was good enough. I paid 400 dollars for mine. I have the HP 15-bw053od. It's a 15 inch laptop with a quad core AMD APU and pretty decent integrated graphics (good enough to game on actually) it also has 8 gigabytes of RAM out of the box but I could upgrade to 16 any time for pretty cheap. Also it has a pretty slow 5400 RPM hard drive but that could also be swapped out with an SSD down the road. Amazon may not be the best place for you to get yourself a laptop unless you wanna bump your budget up by a couple hundred dollars, I got my laptop at OfficeMax. Microcenter is also a good place to look for laptops though.
Here are a couple links to okay/good laptops on Amazon, which are sadly about your 370 dollar limit:

HP x360 2in1

Acer Aspire E15

Both of those are pretty strong for the price, but they wouldn't be the absolute best at video editing. Depending on the webcam streaming you want to do those laptops could do just fine. The acer would do video editing a bit better simply for having an SSD installed already, but if I remember correctly, you could also put an SSD in the x360, which is also a touch screen, which I think is pretty useful for a lot of windows programs outside of gaming.

Your upgrade looks like it will be way cheaper than mine was.

I got the Rift on sale for $350, but my PC was like 10 years old with only a new SSD in it.

Ended up getting an i5-9600K + MSI Z390 Gaming Edge for $470, 16 GB of RAM, Cooler Master 212 EVO which turned out to be huge and a huge pain in the ass to install (I recommend watching the video on that page that I didn't notice until after I installed the thing with only it's Ikea-like instructions.), but that big fan means it's far quieter than the tiny stock fans processors usually come with. The i5-9600K does not come with a fan either, so I had no choice and this was the most popular one on NewEgg.

Also got myself an MSI Gaming X GTX 1070 used on Ebay for $270. And because it only has one HDMI port, I decided to use that for the RIFT because it was less risky, and got a Displayport to HDMI cable which supports audio for my monitor which has the speakers built in and does not have a Displayport connector. Only afterward while taking my PC apart however did I realize I had the HMDI cable plugged into my old card with a DVI adapter, and the Gaming X has a DVI port as well, so I could have saved the money on the cable. :(

Also at the last minute I had to run out and grab a Corsair 750W power supply because my perfectly good Coolermaster 750W power supply did not have an 8 pin connector for my CPU. Of course, when I got it home it did not have the 4 pin connector and the motherboard has both a 4 pin and 8 pin and I assumed both would be needed, but I gave it a shot and just having the 8 pin was fine. But now I wonder if just having the 4 pin would also have been fine. The damn manual doesn't have a thing to say about it being okay to just use one of them, but being an electrical engineer I have to assume they're both tied to the same rail on the board, so I'm just gaining a bit more copper to lower the voltage drop if I were to connect a 4 pin as well, and the system seems perfectly stable, so perhaps they included the second connector to help with overclocking. I dunno.

Anyway, final tally including the Rift without a third sensor was $1,339.

And if you're wondering why I didn't go with AMD, well, I could have but when I priced it out, I wasn't actually going to save that much. And the Intel seemed like it would perform better with both games and applications and would just be less likely to have any issues like the Vive and its wireless solution do with AMD processors.

Part of the reason the AMD was not much cheaper is the same MSI motherboard would have been more expensive as an AMD variant and while the AMD included a cooler, the Cooler Master one was only $30 and had a bigger fan which meant it would likely be quieter. Though the AMD does run at a lower wattage, so it could be a toss up. All I know is my old PC sounded like a jet engine when I started doing any heavy lifting with 3D graphics, and it was still kinda noisy otherwise, but now its super quiet and even when running 3D apps that MSI card which I specifically chose because it's one of the quietest, was indeed really quiet.

Speaking of the 1070, my god that is a monster of a card! I barely fit it in my case. And my case is a full size tower. But it has extra 3.5" bays down the bottom where I have my hard drives installed and I had to move them down some more to get it to fit and it only barely slid in behind the metal frame of the drive bay.

Only other thing to mention is while I had no problem fitting my two ram sticks on the motherboard, that Cooler Master cooler's fan would probably collide with one of the ram sticks if I were to install four in there. I think the fan can slide up and down on the cooler though, so perhaps as long as you have low profile ram, you could slide it up a smidge or two to make it fit. Something to consider if you think you may eventually want 32 or 64GB of ram.

CPU - This is a perfectly fine CPU for gaming and there isn't any reason to change it.

Motherboard - This is a solid board, and it's a plus that it's a Gigabyte board. Make sure to keep in mind that this board doesn't support SLI, so if you ever plan on getting a second GPU you should go a different route.

Memory - You should seriously just get the cheapest RAM you can find since you can't utilize XMP. RAM is the only computer components that is actually created equal, other than manufacturers with high failure rates.

SSD - Don't get that SSD. It's faster than any HDD out there, but at the same time slow for an SSD. I know it's tempting to cheap out on a few parts like the SSD, but it's certainly worth it to spend a bit more. I'd recommend this SSD.

HDD - Do you really need 2TB of storage? I don't hear many bad things about Hitachi, but I still think you'd be better off with a Western Digital HDD. If you really do need/want the 2TB hard drive, it looks like it's quite a nice deal for that price and I wish you luck with it.

GPU - You're gaming at 1080p60 and expecting "high settings". This card is overkill. Do yourself a favor and get an RX 480 or a GTX 1060. On the other hand, if you don't plan to upgrade for 4-5 years, the GTX 1070 is perfectly fine. As far as aftermarket cards go: For AMD, I'd recommend PowerColor/XFX and for NVIDIA I'd recommend EVGA.

Case - Solid case, but I think you could stand to spend a bit more for a Fractal Design Define R5 if you decide to buy a less expensive GPU. I'd recommend it anyways, but the less you spend the better, I assume.

PSU - At this point, I recommend no PSU other than this one. The PSU is a very important PC part that you shouldn't cheap out on, and this PSU in particular is one of the best.

KEYBOARD

I'm not really all that much of a keyboard guy. Having said that, you want a wired keyboard for gaming. I love my Saitek Eclipse II.

MOUSE

The Cobra is exactly that. I know that it's kind of suspicious at $5, but I've been using mine for the past 9 months, and it's exactly what you describe, a cheap mouse with adjustable DPI and no macros. Plus it looks kinda neat, fits the color scheme, and it isn't going to do anything stupid.

CPU

Here's an 8350 streaming on a much worse GPU than the one in your build.

CPU Cooler

You don't "need" it if you don't want to overclock, but it's a good bit quieter than the stock one. I only put it in because you said you wanted it quiet.

RAM

Most games right now only use about 4GB, so 8 is the sweet spot for the rare game (like Crysis) that uses more resources than a normal game. Plus, you can add more memory in this build (you'll want to in about 2-3 years or so), and it'll only take you about 2 minutes. Ram has been going up in price lately; I was able to get 16GB of 1866 memory 9 months ago. I wouldn't buy much more than I had to now.

Storage

I'm running this exact hard drive in my build, and it's not giving me any problems. The SSD, on the other hand, is one I've never used before. It has nice reviews and is SATA III, so it should run fine.

VIDEO CARD

Here's my argument. They are very similar, and the 7970 is $80 cheaper.

Motherboard

This is one of the best AMD motherboards out there. It's only running the 970 chipset, which means that it can only run one NVIDIA graphics card (no SLI), or 2 AMD cards (in Crossfire, but the second one is kind of slow). However, Crossfire is terrible (no driver support), and I'd rather have one really nice card than 2 OK ones. Also, this card has heatsinks on the VRMs and is one of the best boards for overclocking out there. The way I see it is, if it can withstand a huge overclock, it's going to be pretty stable. Read the reviews on it. It's nice.

CASE

It matters a bit. This case has nice cable management options and a spot for the SSD. It's pretty sturdy, has USB 3.0, and a lot of fans included. I have no idea what it's going to cost to get it shipped from MicroCenter. If it's too much, we can look for another case.

Power Supply

You need about 500 watts for this build, but I went with a 600 watt power supply because as the capacitors break down (3+ years from now), you're going to lose some of your wattage. Plus, if you ever decide to do some crazy stuff that consumes a lot of power, you'll be covered.

OPTICAL DRIVE

This is a DVD/CD drive. It burns them and plays them. If you want Blu-Ray, we can throw that in, but it'll be about $30 more.

Wireless Network Adapter

Got it. This one's pretty awesome.

OS

Windows 8 works better with the AMD FX chips out of the box, but if you really want to run Windows 7, you can download and install some fixes from Microsoft that will make it pretty similar. If the interface is your gripe with Windows 8, you can install a start menu for it from a 3rd party developer. I use Windows 8 and like it a lot, but a lot of people don't.

Overclocking

It'll hurt things if you're being stupid. Otherwise, you'll be fine. Still, this thing should last for a long time.

I have a very similar build, and it worked out of the box. After I installed drivers (which you have to do anyway), it ran even better.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor | $179.99 @ Microcenter
CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | $19.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard | $89.99 @ Microcenter
Memory | Kingston Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $58.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Sandisk Extreme 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk | $84.99 @ NCIX US
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $63.99 @ Geeks.com
Video Card | PowerColor Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card | $309.99 @ NCIX US
Wireless Network Adapter | TP-Link TL-WN822N 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter | $19.98 @ Outlet PC
Case | Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case | $44.99 @ Microcenter
Power Supply | Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply | $46.00 @ Newegg
Optical Drive | Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer | $16.00 @ Newegg
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) | $89.73 @ Outlet PC
Mouse | Cobra 9897005984104 Wired Optical Mouse | Purchased For $4.97
Other| XStar 1440p Monitor| $279.99
Other| Saitek Eclipse II Keyboard Warehouse Deal| $39.99
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $1345.57
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-02 18:11 EDT-0400 |

EDIT: These headphones and this mic will outperform $100+ headsets.

Not sure what your budget is but you can run Fallout 4 on the Acer Predator Helios 300. I did a review on it a few days ago so it might be helpful to you

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The Acer Predator Helios 300 was always known to be one of the best budget gaming laptops and now that the 2018 model has dropped in price it might be worth getting now in 2019.

Who is this laptop for?

The design is not professional by any means as it has a black metal lid (plastic body) with the predator logo in the middle and two red stripes running vertically. As for students, it is not ideal as it weighs about 6 pounds which is not ideal for bringing around and its limited battery life adds to its lack of portability. But for gamers and creators, Acer Predator Helios 300 finds its home.

Ports

• Full size Ethernet jack

• USB type-c

• Full-sized HDMI

• USB 3.0

• Full size SD card

• Two USB 2.0 ports

• Audio jack

Upgrades & Maintenance

Just like all other versions of the Helios 300 upgrading is easy. There is a slot for a 2.5 inch hard drive which and the RAM is easily accessible by taking off 2 screws if you want to get. The m.2 nvme SSD can also be upgraded but you have to do a little more work. There are a lot of screws to remove in order to get to the CPU & GPU if you want to repaste.

Battery Life

The battery is 48 watt hours which is quite small for a laptop this powerful so don't expect to get a lot of gaming out of this when it's off the charger. Even when you are just browsing or watching a few videos you will be limited to around three hours of use so if you are gaming it is best you to keep it plugged in the entire time.

Display

The display in this model has an 98% srgb rating which is ideal for people who want to edit photos and are videos. With over 300 nits of brightness this laptop is able to game outdoors reasonably well. The 144 Hz screen will give a nice and smooth gameplay but unfortunately, it doesn't have G sync.

Others

· The 720p webcam is placed at the top of the device and it is not of the best quality, it is grainy and not ideal for conference calls.

· The speakers are placed at the bottom and they are bang average. Nothing special but not terrible either

· The keyboard has a nice rubber feel which makes it nice to game and type on

Performance

This version of the Helios comes with Intel's 8th gen coffee-like processor, which has six cores that means you can game comfortably at 1080p with settings at high and stream at the same time without any bottlenecking its GPU. This laptop will comfortably run new titles or any modern titles and will be able to do so with its settings set to high.

Gaming performance is only bottlenecked by thermal throttling. The Helios falls short in the heating department. The keyboard reaches around 53 degrees Celsius, which is a few degrees higher than what is acceptable. Additionally, after extended gaming periods there is noticeable thermal throttling. The CPU temperatures start spiking and there are frame drops while you are playing.

There are methods that will help with the throttling if you don't want any frames to drop and you want a good experience.

Firstly, don't let the system determine the fan rotations, set it to max and leave it on max all the time with cool boost enabled. This will keep the CPU temps around 80 degrees. If you want to get the laptop even cooler you can undervolt the CPU and GPU and also repaste

Conclusion:

The Acer Predator Helios 300 still offers a lot of value for the money especially that is on sale. The display is great for gaming and most importantly it is color accurate for creators who want a gaming laptop

Most gaming laptops do not have a good battery life so that’s no big deal. The only real downside of this laptop is its heat management but that can be handled with a few tweaks.