Help! I have custom PC fever.

[Anonymous]

This keyboard is probably so ugly to you.

Actually no. Having been an engineer I find beauty in everything as long as it is well made. My work office PC has a standard keyboard, case, and monitors. My personal office is the one I went nuts on but it is my sanctuary away from stresses.

As for monitors I’ve always had good luck with Siemens. The worst was HP. I have a friends who use Acer and have been trouble free, and they look great too.

[nixnerd]

Acer looks really great and the price is very decent for an LED display. Again… I need to keep that price low enough to justify the Happy Hacking keyboard. That thing just looks so awesome.

[valimai]

Hi Joe! I read all your post here and see every part that you like in building pc. I don’t know how to build pc but I’m excited to see the finish product. I got intrigued when you mention dual monitor.

[nixnerd]

My latest custom PC ended up being a custom Mac just to see if I could pull it off.

You’re a pimp. I most assuredly will install Arch + BSPWM on it. I originally did that to see if I could but now, after doing 10+ installs… it’s easy. Who knows with new components though!

In a monitor, I want good pixel density and 24 inches. That’s all I really care about.

[nixnerd]

Good luck with your build :)

Thanks! I’m pretty excited. I’m assembling a parts list now. All I can say is… SSD!!!!

[__]

In a monitor, I want good pixel density and 24 inches. That’s all I really care about.

Have you ever used an IPS monitor? I have LG monitors. They’re pretty darn nice, and not too pricey. I’m not married to the brand, but I’m never buying a TFT monitor again.

will install Arch + BSPWM on it… it’s easy. Who knows with new components though!

Have you had to solve any hardware issues yet? missing devices? drivers? It’s time-consuming, but usually not too bad (assuming you have a second machine that is connected to the internet).

And, seeing as how you’re buying the components, you won’t have to go the the process of figuring out exactly what they are.

I’ll probably go 8GB on RAM though. …I’ve read that anything above 4GB and swap isn’t necessary.

OTOH, you can find yourself needing it. Someday, you’ll find yourself working on a gigantic PDF or editing super-high-res vacation photos or something. I’d suggest 16GB. At least get a mobo with enough slots to expand in the future.

I’ll probably roll with fans. Liquid cooled seems like overkill. I won’t be playing Crysis 4. But… quieter is better.

Closed-loop water seems very attractive to me of late. You can get decent ones for around $75. At 3.5 GHz, it couldn’t hurt. If you overclock, or live in a hotter climate, I’d definitely recommend it.

you should definitely learn Vim.

All my encounters with Vim have ended badly. I don’t know what the issue is. Someday.

[nixnerd]

Have you ever used an IPS monitor?

No. And now I double don’t want to. I don’t want to get addicted to expensive technologies. I’ve looked at the prices and I really don’t think I can swing it. At least… not in the size I want.

Have you had to solve any hardware issues yet?

No. Because all my stuff is Intel now. Not for long though! Should be exciting. Looks like I’m going to hit up the IRC channel and get about 1.2 million “RTFM!” responses.

At least get a mobo with enough slots to expand in the future.

I will for sure get enough slots to accommodate 16GB.

Closed-loop water seems very attractive to me of late.

Me too. My mind has changed. The Corsair H50 looks awesome for the money! And, I hear the AMD FX 6300 is relatively easy to overclock to 5GHz. Therefore, one of these seems in order.

All my encounters with Vim have ended badly.

Go forth and conquer.

I absolutely love the price:performance of the Corsair Force GS series

That looks like a pretty steep price @shaneisme. I reeeeaaaally like the price of the Samsung SSDs.

This is ABSOLUTELY a budget build and I need to keep everything under $1,000. Well, maybe not including a keyboard :)

[nixnerd]

This is ABSOLUTELY a budget build and I need to keep everything under $1,000.

This even includes dual monitors. Lucky for me… I’m finding this kind of budget is quite workable. Maybe not for a suuuuper high end gaming rig, but for my purposes it will be WAY overbuilt.

Also, I truly believe I’m at a great advantage. With my most recent Linux configurations, my laptop is running REALLY fast with no SSD, only 2.7 GHz and only 4GB of RAM. When I would boot up in Windows, it would slow waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down. Like unbearably so.

I think light software is really the key to speed but awesome hardware is only going to aid in that.

Also, now that I’m a developer professionally, I want a rig that will last me for years with minimal upgrades. I think I’ll be able to get that.

[__]

now that I’m a developer professionally, I want a rig that will last me for years with minimal upgrades.

I know that sentiment. My next-to-most-recent-box is a decade old; major upgrade (I fried the CPU) about 4 years ago. Still a great machine.

[nixnerd]

My next-to-most-recent-box is a decade old

Hell to the yeah. If this thing lasts me 5-6 years, I’ll be happy.

[nixnerd]

I’m never buying a TFT monitor again.

So… I guess the monitors I’ve been looking at are IPS. My bad. I guess I can afford them.

[nixnerd]

Buy some ASUS parts to pad my paycheck :P

I did! Ordered an ASUS mobo and a whole slew of other parts… none of the others are ASUS though.

[chrisburton]

Really? I hadn’t noticed.

Ahahaha

[nixnerd]

I had to chuckle at that too. I’ve definitely had hardware on the brain for a little while.

But now… that will all go away. Just need my stuff to come in.

[nixnerd]

I’ve already ordered my monitors. But I actually am really excited about the mobo. Love that it’s expandable to 32 GB of RAM. That is so overkill for everything that I do it’s ridiculous.

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