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Xonar's New Build


Xonar

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Well boys, time for my first desktop build. :)

The main tower is geared towards top performance, without going broke to LGA2011/Titan config.

The accessories are geared towards FPS games, particularly competitive Counterstrike: Global Offensive.

Here's the stock config:

CPU Intel i7-4770k $280
Motherboard MSI MPower Z87 $190
Video Card EVGA ACX GTX 780 $660
RAM 2x4 GB Corsair Vengence LP 1600Mhz $60
SSD 128GB Plextor M3Pro (OS) --
HDD 750GB Seagate --
CPU Cooler Corsair Hydro H70 (2x Corsair 120MM fans pull) $50
Sound Creative SoundBlaster ZxR $200
Power Supply Corsair AX850 $120
Case NZXT Phantom 630 Full Tower $170
Monitors Main: Asus VG248QE 144Hz | Second: HP 2311xi IPS $250
Keyboard Steelseries 6Gv2 (Cherry Black) --
Headset Sennheiser PC 350 SE $250
Mouse Logitech MX518 (@400 DPI) --


My main tower cost: $1730

(SSD/HDD pulled from laptop)

Accessories: $500

(Keyboard/Mouse purchased years ago)

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Total: $2230

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8624[/ATTACH]



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Conclusions:

1. Anyone who says 60Hz is fine for FPS is full of shit or needs to go to the optometrist/ophthalmologist to get those eyes checked out. I use the LightBoost StrobeLight mod to get the fastest refresh rate/latency possible, (120Hz Storbed is better than 144Hz). It's simply.... AMAZING. I switched back to 60Hz just to test the difference and my eyes felt like crap within a minute.

2. "Sound cards do not make a difference from integrated". Wrong on so many levels. Your gear has to match the sound card, for instance my 150ohm impedance Sennheiser's are quiet as hell on integrated. They also don't sound nearly as amazing on a NICE sound card. I'm not talking about a SB Audigy 2 from 2001 or using iPod headphones. I'm talking Asus Xonar/SB Zx&ZxR with professional headset/speakers.

3. Fuck the Haswell silicon lottery. I got an average chip. Can't clock higher than 4.5GHZ, even though I have tons of thermal headroom.

4. If you are debating GTX 780 vs. Titan, get the GTX 780 Classified. That thing is an insane overclocker for $700. Otherwise a custom cooler GTX 780 is a good buy regardless.
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Of course, this is T|I, so who the hell runs at stock config?

CPU i7-4770k @ 4.5GHz 1.3V, Cache @ 40x
RAM 2x4GB @ 2133MHz 1.6V
GPU GTX 780 svl7 vBIOS @ 1250MHz Core, 3300MHz Mem
Monitor ASUS VG248QE @ 120Hz LightBoost StrobeLight mod


Pics of my rig will be tomorrow. Too busy enjoying the hell out of it! :D

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nice setup! it might run counter-strike 1.6 with decent framerates ;)



I remember running that game on an Athlon XP 2700+, GeForce MX 440, 192MB RAM and 90Hz CRT. :D

It's still a fantastic game, very well refined, but I've moved onto Global Offensive, super popular in Sweden too. Footsteps...footsteps...
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Yeah I used to play all night when I was a teen, a few years ago I tried to play it again but there were'nt hardly any servers :(

I haven't bought GO yet but I've heard it's really good.

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  • Founder

I was tempted by that same monitor but didn't want to deal with TN picture quality. I'm tempted to sell my titans and get a pair of classifieds.

Sent from my GT-I9100

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I was tempted by that same monitor but didn't want to deal with TN picture quality. I'm tempted to sell my titans and get a pair of classifieds.

Sent from my GT-I9100

My first monitor was an IPS so I felt the same. But man once you see 120Hz @1ms response time you'll never go back. The viewing angles are above average, and I just applied some sypder calibrations people posted online. Overall its a good monitor, but a great TN panel.

Sent from my HTC Sensation

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It's a shame that Haswell is such a lottery. If only intel bothered to bin their CPUs so that the 4770k was actually better than the cheaper ones. There used to be a day when the rock bottom CPU bin simply could not run at the top bins. Cheaper CPUs were actually inferior besides having part of the cache artificially disabled and overclocking locked. Those times were so long ago...

In regards to monitors is it the 144Hz refresh rate that you are noticing over 60Hz, or is it just that the 144Hz panel has a much lower response time? My laptop is 16ms and it is extremely noticeable, and the best I have heard of for laptops is 12ms (120Hz 3D panel). I'll plug in my 10 year old CRT every once in a while so that I remember what it's like to have 0 ghosting. If I knew how LCDs worked better I would try modding it in an instant to reduce the response time.

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it's the refresh rate. i've bumped it down to 60hz just to see what the difference is and it became unbearable. its instantly noticeable when you drag a window accross the desktop and can still read the text with 120/144hz but in 60hz everything becomes blurred/chunked/lines running through it.

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  • Founder
My first monitor was an IPS so I felt the same. But man once you see 120Hz @1ms response time you'll never go back. The viewing angles are above average, and I just applied some sypder calibrations people posted online. Overall its a good monitor, but a great TN panel.

Sent from my HTC Sensation

Well I got a wide gamut LG IPS and the picture quality blows away any TN panel. That's one reason I went with it, also because I couldn't find a good 27" lightboost TN that had decent blacks + colors.

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