By the way, I got the cube case because it was $80 off $150 and I can’t pass it up. Interesting case though, all aluminum except for the framework and caddies inside. 
Rand,
I’m also interested in buying a new gaming computer and I found this which might be of interest to you:
WTH is that PSU? So generic looking. :rolleyes:
Well, we wouldn’t want a generic looking PSU.
What’s fashionable these days when it comes to PSU styling?
What I really mean is the PSU looks like a cheap model. Good PSUs won’t look like that.
For a $1000 system I’d use a good PSU.
I’m not an expert by any means, but one intentional choice I made on my last build was to pick a video card that had great performance (for its time) plus relatively low power draw and quiet. I have not regretted that for an instant (I also had similar considerations when picking the PSU). Just last weekend a visitor remarked on how quiet my PC was while playing a game.
I hate the whine of cheap fans. Just a thought.
And that old nVidia 660 still lets me play modern games on high settings (though no doubt I’m not on the bleeding edge of video-hungry gamers).
Yeah, I don’t have the volume on at work so I don’t know if they gave an actual make and model for the PSU but its plain grey exterior made it look like a stock PSU out of a Dell or something. The usually recommended ones tend to be black with branding on them (random example) and usually modular (which this one was not).
Right and the cheap models tend not to have protection circuitry against brownouts/blackouts as well as decent voltage regulation.
When they fail it takes out your $1000 investments in components.
The only issue with Xeons is that in gaming, single-threaded performance is still king.
Hopefully that starts to change with DX12 and OpenGL Next though. But right now, with current API’s: higher clock rate + modern single threaded performance >>>> number of hardware threads.
A Xeon isn’t really a gaming CPU.
Which GPU you should get depends upon the resolution of the monitor you choose. For a 1080p monitor, the Geforce GTX 970 will do you just fine. If you’re gaming at 1440p or above then going for a card with more than 4 GB VRAM makes sense.
Consider ditching the internal optical drive and getting an external USB one.
I’m leaning towards the R9 because I’m hoping to get a 1440P monitor. I’m currently in the process of getting a new one so am looking to upgrade.
I want to forgo the optical drive but am paranoid because the moment I make that build there’ll be something really important on a cd. Lol.
Is there a real reason NOT to get an optical drive? I understand it likely won’t be used much but, for the twice a year I might use mine, $16 was worth having it there and ready to use. It’s such a minor expense and no hassle to plug in, I can’t think of the drawback to adding it unless you had some super-space-premium micro build going on.
Takes up too much room in small builds, and the super slim ones are pricey. Might as well just pick up an external one for the one time in the next 10 years you’ll need one.
So, unless you’re doing a space premium build, no reason not to have one. It’s not as though anything else is going in that part of a standard tower; if I didn’t have an optical drive there, it would just be open space. Even that mini ITX case has a bay for it, so nothing is gained from leaving the bay empty (especially if you’re doing closed loop cooling and not worrying as much about airflow)
I’d rather have it in my system than have an external drive banging around outside the system waiting to one day be used.
It won’t hurt to have a DVDRW drive. It may not be used much but it’ll probably be needed one day. Lots of OSes and software are out on DVDs.
I use mine for archiving my files and I have a DVD movies collections I watch on my PC.
Oculus Rift drops in early 2016. Build your PC to support it.
I probably won’t be able to use it. I get horrible, horrible motion sickness (oddly enough, I used to fly in a helicopter for a living). I couldn’t even handle the new Disney’s Star Tours.
An internal one will become a dust trap if not regularly used; an external one can be put away in a drawer.
Not really my experience but if someone wants to go external, knock yourself out. Personally I’d spend the $16 and have it installed and waiting when I need it. Only real reason I can see not to are case concerns: either you lack the space in an exceptionally small case or else it interferes with the aesthetics.