Getting a new computer. Need advice.

[MrRubix]

Originally Posted by MrGiggles

In terms of cooling? It could be better, but the company that designs and builds that premade will have made sure that it can handle the heat.

If I had to pick out specifics? It looks like it has a 120mm outtake fan in the rear. I can't really see the what's right in front of the HDD's, but it appears to have another 120mm intake fan in the front there. Hopefully it has a dust catching mechanism in front, my last computer died of a dust overdose. That arrangement seems pretty solid for a case that size. The issue that jumps out at me are the side vents. Side vents just plain suck and I don't know why any case has them. They collect dust like hookers collect diseases and they hurt the overall front-to-back airflow.

EDIT: Uh, it looks kind of like the side vents are outtake vents for the CPU fan. That removes the dust issue but it still interrupts airflow. Not as much as if they were intakes, but still.

In terms of bottlenecks, I don't see any. The HDD, maybe? But that's minor. I don't think there's many things out there that will redline any of your components yet, so it's tough to tell.

How long does it take for dust to build up in a tower with suboptimal air flow (ballpark figure)? I figure if I just open the case up every once and a while and blow everything out, it should help everything last longer so I don't have dust holding in needless heat.

[Red_Comet]

best to open it up once a month for air cooling and clean it out if it's not in an environment that restricts airflow, you can clean it every 2-3 months though if you aren't a neat freak. but yeah try to stay within the 6 month frame of cleaning out your pc.... it gets dusty one way or another.

[MrGiggles]

Originally Posted by MrRubix

How long does it take for dust to build up in a tower with suboptimal air flow (ballpark figure)? I figure if I just open the case up every once and a while and blow everything out, it should help everything last longer so I don't have dust holding in needless heat.

There's a lot of variables in how quickly dust builds up. If you keep your tower on the floor, it builds up faster. If you keep it on a rug or carpet it builds up even faster. If the front of the case has a washable air filter it makes things loads easier, but opening up the case and getting rid of dust with some compressed air is a good idea every few months or so.

[Zageron]

Yeah, if you have access to an air compresser (One used in the woodwork industry) they're so handy. Open up your case and let loose, staying at least 4 inches away from any component.

If you're more comfortable with computer hardware by the time you do this you could even take the RAM, Video Cards, and PSU out.

Let loose at the PSU and completely empty it of dust, carefully (from a distance) clean out the RAM and PCI slots, and then remove and clean any fans on any device in your computer. (If they're case fans try to blow from the inside -> out.)


I also heard somewhere that you can, for a very good cooling solution, submerge your board in a distilled water or vegetable oil environment. The liquid must be 100% distilled and must NEVER contain any physical particles. Then all you do is rapidly pump the liquid through a cooling device and push it back into the case.

This obviously sounds retarded, who would submerge their computer/board in water. But it's been done, and it works. (The reason electrical devices short out are because of the physical particles in liquid.)

I'm not pulling this out of my ass a friend who's taken a crapload of computer sciences courses told me this.

[MrGiggles]

Originally Posted by Zageron

Yeah, if you have access to an air compresser (One used in the woodwork industry) they're so handy. Open up your case and let loose, staying at least 4 inches away from any component.

If you're more comfortable with computer hardware by the time you do this you could even take the RAM, Video Cards, and PSU out.

Let loose at the PSU and completely empty it of dust, carefully (from a distance) clean out the RAM and PCI slots, and then remove and clean any fans on any device in your computer. (If they're case fans try to blow from the inside -> out.)


I also heard somewhere that you can, for a very good cooling solution, submerge your board in a distilled water or vegetable oil environment. The liquid must be 100% distilled and must NEVER contain any physical particles. Then all you do is rapidly pump the liquid through a cooling device and push it back into the case.

This obviously sounds retarded, who would submerge their computer/board in water. But it's been done, and it works. (The reason electrical devices short out are because of the physical particles in liquid.)

I'm not pulling this out of my ass a friend who's taken a crapload of computer sciences courses told me this.

I think he's mistaken. Distilled water will short out your components no matter what really. Mineral oil is what some people submerge their systems in. Mineral oil doesn't really conduct electricity so it keeps your components safe and cool.

I don't really know that much about it, but I've seen mineral oil setups floating around on /g/. It's a novelty cooling system really, it's even trickier than watercooling and requires more maintainance.

[Red_Comet]

building off of zag's post: removing hardware to be cleaned can cause esd if there is dust on any of the contacts, it's because the "dust" that has been touching the electronic can store a large amount of electricity and without a proper contact point will release all that energy causing either the hardware on which it is touching to be instantly fried, or in rare occassions will also destroy your mobo in the process if for some odd reason the grounds fail you, which they shouldn't.

and distilled water is very hard to keep pure in a non-sterile environment, which most PC's are located in but yeah you can submerge electronics in purified water and certain mineral oils, that's what professionals do when they can fit it in the budget and AoO the hardware is tied to.

[MrRubix]

I think I'll stick with air cooling for now. I don't mind blasting out the dust from time to time. Liquid cooling seems like it's asking for trouble if it's not done properly. It's quite easy for me to open up the case, see dust, and blast said dust.

I am probably going to get a better keyboard, perhaps, and a better mouse to go with all this. And a monitor at some point. At least 24" according to SD.

[Nightfirecat]

Yeah - definitely get a 22" monitor at the least, and get it just about as high resolution as you want. Just make sure it's 2ms (or less) response time, high contrast rate, etc. Usually, it won't make a huge difference, unless you're planning on doing graphics design, but yeah - get a big monitor.

[MrGiggles]

Originally Posted by Red_Comet

and distilled water is very hard to keep pure in a non-sterile environment, which most PC's are located in but yeah you can submerge electronics in purified water and certain mineral oils, that's what professionals do when they can fit it in the budget and AoO the hardware is tied to.

Well, maybe I'm wrong about distilled water after all. Like I said, I don't know a whole lot about submerged setups, I've just seen pics floating around.

[MrRubix]

Maybe I'll submerge my computer, overclock everything to the max, and use the liquid to boil some ramen. Hell yeah. Dinner with your game.

Seriously though,

Any recommendations for a good 24-28 inch screen, or a keyboard/mouse/etc? I know these must be very annoying questions, but I've only grown up with so many computers and I really don't know what people use nowadays.

[Relambrien]

I'm going to post some advice I've gotten from Something Awful since I too am in a market for a new computer.

First of all, future-proofing is impossible. Three years from now, what is top-of-the-line now won't be able to play anything. So buying super-high-end is never worth the value. Instead, buy cheaper mid-range parts that will do everything you want them to do now, and use the cash you save to upgrade that computer fairly regularly, or build a brand new system in two years or so.

Quad-core processors like the Core 2 Quad series and the i7 series aren't being properly utilized by today's applications. If you're not going to do much in the way of video encoding or other ridiculously processor-intensive tasks, you won't see much of a performance gain between a Core 2 Duo and an i7. Especially not in gaming.

It's a similar thing with video cards. The absolute best value card on the market right now is an ATi HD4850. It runs you less than $120 but can play anything you can throw at it at max or near-max settings with no problem at 1680x1050. Since you've said you're looking for a 24"-28" screen, however, you're going to be looking at some very high resolutions, in which case a 4890 or one of nVidia's higher-end offerings would be good to look into.

Additionally, SLi and Crossfire aren't exactly as good as you would think. Two cards does not mean double performance. In fact, the performance gains are usually only somewhat noticeable and you would have been much better served buying a single more powerful card.

That said, the computer build I'm currently putting together costs less than $800, yet it will run everything like a monster. It could run Crysis probably not at max settings, but close to them.

If you want more specific guides about which parts to pick, check out The Tech Report's Summer 2009 System Guide. It gives all the info you could ever want and suggested systems on every budget. TR also has a guide on how to put a computer together yourself, and it really isn't very hard. Look at it here.

[Nightfirecat]

Well, I just have a pretty basic keyboard and mouse. Cost about 15 bucks to get em:

Keyboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823126023
Mouse: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826105185

But if you want a gaming keyboard, I'd suggest the OLD logitech G15.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Backl...6908975&sr=8-3

If you can't find an old one, get a new one.

Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...logitech%20g15


As for gaming mouses - I haven't found that I've needed one. That microsoft mouse seems to do fine. Beautiful, easy to use, and cheap.

[Conorn]

just remember rubix, DONT GET VISTA.

[MrRubix]

Well this rig comes with 64 bit vista, although there is a free upgrade to windows 7.

[Conorn]

i suggest the upgrade in my opinion

[MrRubix]

Is Vista *really* that bad for gaming?

I've been using XP for years, and I've always been really hesitant to upgrade to Vista due to the intense controversies and complaints, but I can't help but wonder if they're outmoded complaints by now. Is Vista 64 bit actually any good?

[fido123]

Vista isn't nearly as bad as people say, however XP and 7 are better for gaming, but not enough to avoid at all.

[MrRubix]

I figure I'll just install Vista and then when 7 comes out, upgrade and give it a shot.

[jugglinguy]

Lolwindows

[ninjaKIWI]

Originally Posted by ninjaKIWI

EDIT: I would also recommend the Razer Lachesis mouse and the OLD Logitech G15 keyboard, depending on the gaming you will be doing. The ability to create macros on the keyboard is more useful than you would assume.

This. Never use an optical mouse for gaming, ugh.

Originally Posted by Conorn

just remember rubix, DONT GET VISTA.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with Vista, you don't know what you're talking about.