While the R280 is a good deal price/perf, those things are heat MONSTERS and are loud as all get out. I have this card in my setup and i've yet to find a game i can't run at max settings (except AA, i hate antialiasing) on 1080p.
The ACX cooler is nice, runs it a few C cooler than the reference design and a few dB quieter as well. (FAR FAR FAR quiter than the AMD card).
If heat/power usage and noise level are not a concern to you, go with the r280
For the power supply, what matters is the electronics inside, not the logo on the label. You do, I hope, realize that most companies that sell power supplies to the general public don't actually build their own power supplies, but buy them from other vendors--and often the same other vendors. The power supply you linked is cheaper and is decent enough, but it's also considerably lower quality than the one I linked.
As for the video card, yes, the Radeon R9 280 isn't the most efficient card. But you'd pay an extra $30 to save 20-30 W under gaming loads? I wouldn't--at least, not in a desktop. The card I linked isn't a reference card; HIS put a nice cooler on it. Of course, it's now out of stock, but this one isn't:
Calling a consumer video card a "gaming" card is rather stupid marketing; what else are people going to use it for? Though to be fair, the moniker carried over from MSI's motherboard line, where a gaming-focused motherboard that spends the money on better integrated sound and networking rather than better overclockability and more SATA ports at least makes some sense.
Originally posted by orangeoreos Just making sure, it is easy to build a computer? I won't completely trash it up and ruin everything right? aha xD
Is it easy to use a screwdriver? And is it easy to read and follow directions? One could argue that, once you have the right parts, the hardest part of assembling a computer is screwing in the motherboard.
Now, if you're so clueless about computers that, if someone were to unplug the power cable, you wouldn't be able to fix it, then maybe you shouldn't try building your own. But if you've never tried it before, it's probably easier than you think.
There are all sorts of different shapes, so if you completely ignored directions and did everything at the level of putting all of the components where they physically fit, the computer would almost work; the one exception is that you'll have to consult the manual to find directions on where to attach the cord from the case power button and so forth. It's mostly akin to putting a square peg in a square hole and a round peg in a round hole rather than the other way around. The shapes do get more complicated than round and square so that there can be a bunch of distinct hole shapes, but it takes some doing to mess it up.
And if you put everything together and try to turn it on and it doesn't work, it probably just means that you forgot to plug something in. You turn the computer off, find it, plug it in, and then everything is good; failing to plug something in won't damage anything, with only the exception of forgetting to put the CPU heatsink on entirely. There is a risk that a part could be defective when it arrives, but the same risk is there for a prebuilt computer, whether desktop or laptop.
While the R280 is a good deal price/perf, those things are heat MONSTERS and are loud as all get out. I have this card in my setup and i've yet to find a game i can't run at max settings (except AA, i hate antialiasing) on 1080p.
The ACX cooler is nice, runs it a few C cooler than the reference design and a few dB quieter as well. (FAR FAR FAR quiter than the AMD card).
If heat/power usage and noise level are not a concern to you, go with the r280
For the power supply, what matters is the electronics inside, not the logo on the label. You do, I hope, realize that most companies that sell power supplies to the general public don't actually build their own power supplies, but buy them from other vendors--and often the same other vendors. The power supply you linked is cheaper and is decent enough, but it's also considerably lower quality than the one I linked.
As for the video card, yes, the Radeon R9 280 isn't the most efficient card. But you'd pay an extra $30 to save 20-30 W under gaming loads? I wouldn't--at least, not in a desktop. The card I linked isn't a reference card; HIS put a nice cooler on it. Of course, it's now out of stock, but this one isn't:
Calling a consumer video card a "gaming" card is rather stupid marketing; what else are people going to use it for? Though to be fair, the moniker carried over from MSI's motherboard line, where a gaming-focused motherboard that spends the money on better integrated sound and networking rather than better overclockability and more SATA ports at least makes some sense.
Yes, i do realize that. Seasonic for example used to make a crapload of PSU's for other people to slap their label on. Corsair (to my knowledge) does make their own PSU's. Nevertheless. High end PSU's are all fine and dandy, but for the average gamer its a waste of money. Those PSU's are designed for constant use, like in a server environment. Now, im not saying get some PoS supply, get a decent one, but you don't need a high end.
Either way, either one of the PSU's is fine, i just particularly like and have had good experiences with corsairs products (used to do antec, etc).
As for the video card, yes, i'd pay $30 for the efficiency, lets not also forget the noise. I can't speak to the aftermarket cooler, but as far as the reference cards, its a significant difference and loud computers get annoying.
As far as the efficiency part of it, you'll make up that $30 savings in the span of a year or so, (depending on how much you game).
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."
Comments
For the power supply, what matters is the electronics inside, not the logo on the label. You do, I hope, realize that most companies that sell power supplies to the general public don't actually build their own power supplies, but buy them from other vendors--and often the same other vendors. The power supply you linked is cheaper and is decent enough, but it's also considerably lower quality than the one I linked.
As for the video card, yes, the Radeon R9 280 isn't the most efficient card. But you'd pay an extra $30 to save 20-30 W under gaming loads? I wouldn't--at least, not in a desktop. The card I linked isn't a reference card; HIS put a nice cooler on it. Of course, it's now out of stock, but this one isn't:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127789
Calling a consumer video card a "gaming" card is rather stupid marketing; what else are people going to use it for? Though to be fair, the moniker carried over from MSI's motherboard line, where a gaming-focused motherboard that spends the money on better integrated sound and networking rather than better overclockability and more SATA ports at least makes some sense.
Is it easy to use a screwdriver? And is it easy to read and follow directions? One could argue that, once you have the right parts, the hardest part of assembling a computer is screwing in the motherboard.
Now, if you're so clueless about computers that, if someone were to unplug the power cable, you wouldn't be able to fix it, then maybe you shouldn't try building your own. But if you've never tried it before, it's probably easier than you think.
There are all sorts of different shapes, so if you completely ignored directions and did everything at the level of putting all of the components where they physically fit, the computer would almost work; the one exception is that you'll have to consult the manual to find directions on where to attach the cord from the case power button and so forth. It's mostly akin to putting a square peg in a square hole and a round peg in a round hole rather than the other way around. The shapes do get more complicated than round and square so that there can be a bunch of distinct hole shapes, but it takes some doing to mess it up.
And if you put everything together and try to turn it on and it doesn't work, it probably just means that you forgot to plug something in. You turn the computer off, find it, plug it in, and then everything is good; failing to plug something in won't damage anything, with only the exception of forgetting to put the CPU heatsink on entirely. There is a risk that a part could be defective when it arrives, but the same risk is there for a prebuilt computer, whether desktop or laptop.
Yes, i do realize that. Seasonic for example used to make a crapload of PSU's for other people to slap their label on. Corsair (to my knowledge) does make their own PSU's. Nevertheless. High end PSU's are all fine and dandy, but for the average gamer its a waste of money. Those PSU's are designed for constant use, like in a server environment. Now, im not saying get some PoS supply, get a decent one, but you don't need a high end.
Either way, either one of the PSU's is fine, i just particularly like and have had good experiences with corsairs products (used to do antec, etc).
As for the video card, yes, i'd pay $30 for the efficiency, lets not also forget the noise. I can't speak to the aftermarket cooler, but as far as the reference cards, its a significant difference and loud computers get annoying.
As far as the efficiency part of it, you'll make up that $30 savings in the span of a year or so, (depending on how much you game).
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."
- Friedrich Nietzsche