Very nice, I was thinking of a really small SFF build, but this case and being able to stuff a D15 is making me think.
I have a Corsair 900D haha, I was planning a full custom loop when I got it, but never bothered.
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Gah! That thing is massive!
I'm too scared of custom loops. Even my AIO makes me a little nervous, to be honest.
Aha yeah. I use to work away at the time of building it, I came back home to a dead psu which took out my SSD. Used this as an excuse for a new build and decided to go all out. Used it with stock cooling for a bit then got lazy, changed all the case fans to Noctua's, got an AIO for the 4770K and the GTX 780 was quiet/cool enough. Currently have a 1080 Ti FTW3.
I keep dreaming about building a very high end PC in one of these giant-ass cases. Hard-line liquid cooled. Some RGB lighting. SLI graphics. You name it.
No idea what I'd do with all the power, however. It would be totally wasted on me -- I don't play games anymore because I suck too badly, and I haven't ripped any movies with Handbrake in ages since everything I'd be interested in now would be from 4K bluray (from which ripping seems like a pain), and while I think it might be fun to experiment with some machine learning/AI, I haven't really done any coding since using PASCAL in college (shows my age).
And the rest of what I do on my computers doesn't really come close to requiring anything much more than a half-decent i5 processor and a lower-end GPU. I have a SurfaceBook 2 with the i7-8650U and GTX 1050, and it's a perfect desktop-replacement for me.
It's a bit like owning a super car to drive to the local shops, but you do see it!
With some very spirited driving to and from
Still beats the people that buy a car and leave it sitting in a garage, not driven at all.
My impatience is overtaking me:
Best Buy has same day delivery of the Alienware m17 r2 and MSI Stealths in 15.6 and 17 inch size.
Also decent sale on MBP 16" w/1TB.
Of all of these, the Alienware has the worst reviews (but the design is calling to my imagination ?). Enough for me to almost ignore the negative reviews of memory issues and customer support.
I have liked MSI's keyboards.
Not sure if I will bother with video conversion, but other uses will be Corel Painter with a Wacom tablet, learning the Affinity software (Photo, Publisher & Designer), screenwriting and usual things web surfing, watching movies, writing (in MS Word) etc.
Will definitely use a mouse and possibly extended keyboard.
Any suggestions this morning would be great.
Best Buy has same day delivery of the Alienware m17 r2 and MSI Stealths in 15.6 and 17 inch size.
Also decent sale on MBP 16" w/1TB.
Of all of these, the Alienware has the worst reviews (but the design is calling to my imagination ?). Enough for me to almost ignore the negative reviews of memory issues and customer support.
I have liked MSI's keyboards.
Not sure if I will bother with video conversion, but other uses will be Corel Painter with a Wacom tablet, learning the Affinity software (Photo, Publisher & Designer), screenwriting and usual things web surfing, watching movies, writing (in MS Word) etc.
Will definitely use a mouse and possibly extended keyboard.
Any suggestions this morning would be great.
With all due respect, don't rush off and buy something in haste. In the past few weeks you have sworn off Apple products, then converted back and then last week swore off Apple again. Yet in your post today you list the MBP as being a possibility. For financial and stress management reasons, you must make a choice and stick with it (for at least a year). Just my opinion
With all due respect, don't rush off and buy something in haste. In the past few weeks you have sworn off Apple products, then converted back and then last week swore off Apple again. Yet in your post today you list the MBP as being a possibility. For financial and stress management reasons, you must make a choice and stick with it (for at least a year). Just my opinion
I appreciate your input, things have changed here where it would be better for me to jump sooner rather than later.
The MSI keyboards are pretty good. So it's btw Alienware and MSIs now.
Bummed about Razer's keyboards, but I cannot see buying another one until they change the layout.
Apple:
The MBP was listed as a last resort - truth is I am not happy with the 16" or any Mac. My iMac's keyboard identification issues and massive slowdown are still present: it works far worse now than a month ago. Yes, I am still annoyed about that and iPads just being garbage. Old habit that I even mentioned it.At any rate, thank you anyway.
I have the Black Widow keyboard and its a solid keyboard. I've not had issues but i guess YYMV
I meant the laptop keyboard itself with that right shift key. Thanks for your input.
Looking at the Razers again too now.
You know, I had a fleeting thought that's what you meant.
My opinion on the Razer laptop keyboard - its decent but not great. If I were to compare it against the Thinkpad I'd say that the Razer has superior backlighting of the keys and I don't just mean color selection but overall its a better backlight. My X1E's backlight nearly non-existent, yes the light comes on and it illuminates the keys but its not a great experience. Other then that the Thinkpad has better travel, the curved keys feel more natural and the water resistance is a nice bonus.
Other pain points with the razer keyboard is the repositioned cursor keys and so if you're used to using the right shift and /? key it will be frustrating. Back on my old (and returned) 2018 Razer the secondary keys never light up, so I never saw the @#$ values.
Overall, though I'm still a big fan of the razer laptop and I can see myself owning one
I really liked the Razer I had too and kept thinking about it.
You are right about the feeling of the keys on Razor and that right shift/? key. Such a shame, because I like their laptops.
Ironically, I may ultimately buy an extended keyboard no matter what I pick up.
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lol.....brilliant. My wife says my PC is my midlife crisis sports car. Hmm, maybe she’s right.....
The PSU (Corsair SF750) does come with braided cables, but I bought some extension cables from Phanteks. They are required in this case, because even though it's small form factor, it's on the large side and the PSU cables are designed for much smaller cases.
Phanteks Extension Cable Combo Kit - Black/Grey
50 cm long extension cable set from Phanteks with 1x 24-Pin-, 1x 4+4-Pin- 2x 6+2-Pin sleeve cable, Flexible black-grey textile sleeves, Black connectors and transparent cable combs.www.overclockers.co.uk
Thanks! It has to look clean to fit my setup aesthetic
I got jealous and bought some white braided extensions. Still not as clean as your setup but an improvement, I think.
A couple images of the keyboard and the monitor now that it's on a proper mount. The one it comes with is a little big and wobbly when I'm bashing my mechanical keyboard
LG 27GL850-B and a Duronic desk mount.
![lg_27gl850-b.jpg]()
Durgod Hades68 keyboard. Gateron silent browns. I have some custom keycaps + cable on the way too.
![hades68-1.jpg]()
![hades68-2.jpg]()
![hades68-3.jpg]()
LG 27GL850-B and a Duronic desk mount.
Durgod Hades68 keyboard. Gateron silent browns. I have some custom keycaps + cable on the way too.
Agreed. That is a beautiful office setup - TV like. lol. Very nice indeed. <Looks at own desk> - Yeah, maybe I should do some cleanup. lol.
lol.....seriously. When I took photos of my PC, I tried very hard to NOT include the mess that I call a "desk".
rhime!
Model D arrived, it's a thing of beauty. Very pleased with it.
![model_d-02.jpg]()
![model_d-01.jpg]()
I decided after a while that the ITX form factor isn't needed, it has too many compromises in terms of cooling hot hardware. I've sold the ITX case, PSU and motherboard. I'm planning an ATX build now.
The GPU I sent back because I bought a used 2080 Ti, but that didn't workout as as the cooler on the EVGA 2080 Ti Black edition needs to run at jet engine levels and still hits 84c. I did think about doing a full custom loop, but not sure I can justify £700 for cooling.
I have someone potentially coming to collect the 2080 Ti today. I will then pick up a used mid tier GPU to tied me over until Ampere is released.
The GPU I sent back because I bought a used 2080 Ti, but that didn't workout as as the cooler on the EVGA 2080 Ti Black edition needs to run at jet engine levels and still hits 84c. I did think about doing a full custom loop, but not sure I can justify £700 for cooling.
I have someone potentially coming to collect the 2080 Ti today. I will then pick up a used mid tier GPU to tied me over until Ampere is released.
Man, this sounds like it's getting expensive for you. Don't worry, I've been there too – which leads me on to this…
I recently sold my Mac Pro 6,1 and solely used a PC for a few months until a project required me to get another Mac. I opted for a 2019 iMac 5K 27-inch from Apple's refurb store and it's reminded me of just how well the hardware all works together. I'm currently using both platforms daily and they both have their pros and cons.
If you can get away without a Mac - and stay that way - it probably makes good financial sense in the long run. If you want a more holistic computing environment, though, the lack of a mobile platform (phone, watch, tablet) hurts Windows somewhat (although the Your Phone app is starting to integrate Android better than ever before).
This is something I've also really struggled with (first world problems, I know). You hit the nail on the head when it comes to the stress of switching between platforms; some days I'm all-in on Apple, other days I feel like ditching the lot. Financially, it's pretty irresponsible (and I hate taking things back within a return period just because I changed my mind).
I recently sold my Mac Pro 6,1 and solely used a PC for a few months until a project required me to get another Mac. I opted for a 2019 iMac 5K 27-inch from Apple's refurb store and it's reminded me of just how well the hardware all works together. I'm currently using both platforms daily and they both have their pros and cons.
If you can get away without a Mac - and stay that way - it probably makes good financial sense in the long run. If you want a more holistic computing environment, though, the lack of a mobile platform (phone, watch, tablet) hurts Windows somewhat (although the Your Phone app is starting to integrate Android better than ever before).
I have a mini-ITX build that runs just fine for simple desktop purposes. I'm using a fanless Streacom case as well. It's been serving me just fine for 8 years and counting. I made sure the specs were good (4 core i5, 16GB RAM, solid SSD, ...) and it paid off.
But for more power, ITX is indeed too much of a compromise. Mini-ITX is usually limited to 1 x16 PCIe slot and 2x DIMM. That's very tight if you're aiming high. I'm looking at building a workstation somewhere in the future where GPU is not the focus, but to get lots of RAM and storage, micro-ATX is a good compromise between size and functionality. The cases are better looking than some of the ATX hulks as well.
I now need a Windows machine, and will be picking one up upon confirmation of news I am waiting on between next Tuesday and Thursday.
It has been super stressful to try to switch, but Apple made it very easy now.
I had to wipe and restore my aging iMac last month which effectively killed it. The now locked down, super slow version of Sierra that replaced the version I've used for 3+ years is worse than anything I've worked with since the usability issues began over six years ago. I do not even want to use the iMac any more, so bravo, Apple for that nail in the coffin.
Now is a great time to switch. I've been using both since 2011. Windows 10 is great and amazing. I absolutely love it. I work on it all day. If Windows 10 had iMessage, photos, and Day One I'd switch yesterday.
I spent $1500 (includes cost of XPS 8930) upgrading a Dell XPS 8930 with a $300 graphics card I already had --- upgraded nvme to 1TB and added 32gb of ram. It screamed, was lag-less, super fast. It was so nice to use. I "sold it" (half off) to family. Now I want it again, badly.
Windows 10 is amazing these days.
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