Laptop Store

[Art Vandelay]

:O what case is that? looks so good!

[Dejan]

beast beast case

[QuantumJG]

any laptop besides dell is not worth buying so dell.com.au

You can't be serious?! Dells are a POS.

[abcdqdxD]

any laptop besides dell is not worth buying so dell.com.au

You can't be serious?! Dells are a POS.

I second that

[Mr Keshy]

It's a CM Storm Stryker

Great case, bought it this week, costed a fair bit 

But it's worth it!

[paulsterio]

I still believe that cases are a waste of money, generally I just go for good parts inside and get whatever case I can with what I have left over, currently on a Thermaltake V4, which is a nice mid-tower, it'll last until my next upgrade, I'm thinking my next upgrade would be an MB/CPU upgrade, but I am on Sandy Bridge, so I'd like to wait at least until the one after Haswell to upgrade.

[abcdqdxD]

I still believe that cases are a waste of money, generally I just go for good parts inside and get whatever case I can with what I have left over, currently on a Thermaltake V4, which is a nice mid-tower, it'll last until my next upgrade, I'm thinking my next upgrade would be an MB/CPU upgrade, but I am on Sandy Bridge, so I'd like to wait at least until the one after Haswell to upgrade.

Agreed. When you use your computer you look at the screen.. not the case

[Art Vandelay]

I cant wait to build another PC haha. I'm probably holding out until the end of financial year though

I went with buying another keyboard/mouse rather than buying a pretty case this time around. Hoping to have the best of both worlds next time around!

[Mr Keshy]

Reasons I got my case was...

1. My GPU was hitting 105 degree's when the ambient was around 28. Not too high. Lets not even think about what it would've reached yesterday
2. I want to upgrade to an E-ATX motherboard sometime, and this gives me adequate space for such an upgrade, the expansion slots etc..
3. I plan to incorparate a watercooling loop in my system in a bit of time. This will involve multiple radiators, which the Stryker can definitely fit. And with a bit of modding, a few more radiators can be squeezed in too!
4. Look at it.

Normally, I'd by a case at around $130 but this was around 190 so really, for $60 I could definitely see the value in it. So many useful features in there that aren't always seen!

Bottom line is that it's very versatile. Among many cases I agree, but I just like the way this one looks.

[abcdqdxD]

my case is like $60

[Mr Keshy]

And we are computer enthusaists here so I can say this with no shame.

Sometimes, we buy cars based on how they look. But you only sit inside, so why not go for the car with the better features and interior. Same kinda thing here

Another thing I noticed was with these video cards these days and the designs... the damn things face down!!!!!!

[paulsterio]

3. I plan to incorparate a watercooling loop in my system in a bit of time. This will involve multiple radiators, which the Stryker can definitely fit. And with a bit of modding, a few more radiators can be squeezed in too!

I can honestly tell you that incorporating a watercooling loop into your system will give you minimum benefit. I can expand further, but to be honest, it's more trouble than it's worth, you'll be spending a fair bit of cash on a watercooling system, up to like $300 not to mention the watercooling fluid you'll have to keep spending on, not to mention it's a nightmare to install and it makes your system like a fair bit heavier. I would honestly just stick with air cooling.

If you really want to overclock, I'd suggest getting an i7 3770k, it's the CPU I would really recommend (I usually recommend the i5 3750k or the i7 3770k) and pair it with a good air cooler - such as the Noctua NH-D14 or the Thermaltake Frio Extreme - both are under $100 and will cool your system probably just as well as an entry level water cooler. Remember to pair them with good quality fans and do your research on setting up your case fans - if you're going to be moving THAT much air, you need to have a push-pull configuration (so you need to have intake fans as well as output fans).

The only real benefit I can see from water cooling is noise - I'm not sure about you, but I don't mind noise so much, like using another car analogy here, wouldn't you like to hear your car engine scream?

Anyways, that's just my opinion, watercoolers look and sound cool and will defs put you on the cutting edge, but in terms of price:performance ratio, they still can't beat the best air coolers out there, you'll be able to reach 5.0 GHz easily with any of those air coolers - but remember that if you're overclocking, it's for general speed and stability, not to pump out as many GHz as you can and be left with a fried CPU in the long run

[Mr Keshy]

3. I plan to incorparate a watercooling loop in my system in a bit of time. This will involve multiple radiators, which the Stryker can definitely fit. And with a bit of modding, a few more radiators can be squeezed in too!

I can honestly tell you that incorporating a watercooling loop into your system will give you minimum benefit. I can expand further, but to be honest, it's more trouble than it's worth, you'll be spending a fair bit of cash on a watercooling system, up to like $300 not to mention the watercooling fluid you'll have to keep spending on, not to mention it's a nightmare to install and it makes your system like a fair bit heavier. I would honestly just stick with air cooling.

If you really want to overclock, I'd suggest getting an i7 3770k, it's the CPU I would really recommend (I usually recommend the i5 3750k or the i7 3770k) and pair it with a good air cooler - such as the Noctua NH-D14 or the Thermaltake Frio Extreme - both are under $100 and will cool your system probably just as well as an entry level water cooler. Remember to pair them with good quality fans and do your research on setting up your case fans - if you're going to be moving THAT much air, you need to have a push-pull configuration (so you need to have intake fans as well as output fans).

The only real benefit I can see from water cooling is noise - I'm not sure about you, but I don't mind noise so much, like using another car analogy here, wouldn't you like to hear your car engine scream?

Anyways, that's just my opinion, watercoolers look and sound cool and will defs put you on the cutting edge, but in terms of price:performance ratio, they still can't beat the best air coolers out there, you'll be able to reach 5.0 GHz easily with any of those air coolers - but remember that if you're overclocking, it's for general speed and stability, not to pump out as many GHz as you can and be left with a fried CPU in the long run

Yeah, I think you're right too, I forgot to mention one thing about my case and that was that I'd be taking it to "LAN Parties" .. And having a wc loop would be a huuge pain and risk!

Yet another story.

My original computer had a 930 i7, I went to the motherland (more recent) and received an e5504 (2ghz) and two X5560's (2..

I ended up using one of my x5560's and I wanted to sell my 930 and one of the x5560's as well as that crappy e5504.

Someone bought my 930 and my x5560. Then about 3 months before, my x5560 committed suicide. So now I'm stuck with the e5504 I just want to cry.

At this stage, I'm looking at trying to find a 920 or a 930 for under 100. It would improve my system immensely.

[paulsterio]

Haha, to be perfectly honest, I think Xeon CPUs are a big, big waste of money. I'm surprised you swapped your i7 930 for an X5560 though, considering they are essentially the same CPU inside, but the Xeon just has extra server features, such as support for ECC RAM...etc. which are of no use to you anyways.

If I were in your situation, I would have bought a dual CPU board and chucked the two X5560s on and see how they perform, that would actually be jizz-worthy, but oh well, you can't now, so oh well

To be honest, I don't think the E5504 is THAT bad, like it's the same Nehalem microarchitecture as the rest of the i7s and Xeons in that range, it's just a cut down, low GHz, low cache version, so you'll get extra zip with an i7 920/930 (which is the same CPU, except the 920 multiplier is set one step lower) but it won't be as much extra zip as you're thinking I'll assure you that.

But anyway, I think you're a little unlucky to be stuck on the LGA1366 platform, as much as I like it (things such as triple channel RAM is nice), I think it's really a server platform and hence it really limits your options in terms of CPUs. The LGA1155 platform is probably the better one to be on, but even now, if you get an i7 920 or 930, you'd still be 3 generations behind (4 generations when Haswell comes out next year) - so really, you'll be running a CPU that's 4 years old.

I reckon, if I were in your position, I'd just spend around $300 to get an i7 3820, considering it's probably more economical to stick with the LGA1366 platform for now.

You see, I'm on LGA1155 (Sandy Bridge at the moment) - so upgrade paths are a lot simpler.

To be honest, get an SSD, you can get a 120GB SSD for $99 - it'll be a good $99

[Truck]

A good case is pretty important imo, it'll keep your PC a lot cooler and if you're serious and plan on Overclocking a good case is essential!

EDIT: also are you upgrading your PC just for the sake of upgrading it? You shouldn't really be changing CPU's/GPU's until you find a game you can't play anymore or you start using it for some serious shit (which you probably won't). If you're spending that much money on just changing CPU's for the sake of moving to the next level you have too much money to waste lol.