Hawk's Slighty Above Average PC Questions

@hawk4x4

PSUs are most efficient and work best when they aren't constantly under max load or near max load. That's why people were recommending calculating your requirements and then getting something that's about double that.

I'd recommend getting a Seasonic PSU. Most companies don't make their own PSUs. They just rebadge units from OEMs. Some of the Chinese OEMs are dreadful. They use low quality capacitors. Seasonic is the exception. You buy a PSU from Seasonic, you are getting a PSU with Seasonic as the OEM and in most cases all Japanese capacitors.

 

Look for sales on slick deals. 6 weeks ago I got a fully modular SeaSonic 620 bronze for $40 after rebate.

 

SeaSonic might be best for a budget. Corsair and eVGA have really good high-end stuff but the low-end doesn't matchup.

 

@hawk4x4

This is $60 (actually $40 after rebate) and would be totally fine for your needs: Seasonic, Modular. Only Bronze certified, but you aren't going to get Gold or Platinum in your price range.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095

 

Not really. And you probably won't be loading this up that heavily so it should be pretty energy efficient.

 

Mostly marketing. Better efficiency can save a few dollars every year in electricity but you'll probably never save enough to cover the higher price.

 

I picked up a set of Audioengine A2+'s. They sound pretty good. As good as most studio monitors I've listened to, but they are much smaller than studio monitors and fit nicely on a desk. Here's my question, is it better to run these off of their built in USB DAC/Amp or use my X-Fi card to do digital/analog conversion and run 3.5 or 3.5/RCA out to the speakers? Thoughts? Bfun?

 

I have the original A2s without a DAC but I use a DAC out on my desktop amp and it works really well. I go PC-USB -> AMP-> DAC out-> RCA speakers. If I had to guess I'd say the built-in A2+ DAC will do better than the X-Fi card if only because you won't have electrical interference with the sound components. I tried running mine off onboard sound one and they lost a lot of clarity. It's possible the USB adapter will cause loss but it seems like it's not an issue with new systems. Some still say you need to use optical to eliminate all interference. I run USB to my DAC but will probably switch back to optical now that I have a new motherboard that works.

They're pretty nice speakers for the price. Their strong point is the mids. Most $200 PC speakers still come with tiny speakers and cheap sub.

 

Funny you should ask. I was just sitting down to measure my new loop. I think it's been about 5 years since I've run one. All-in-one coolers will run you $80 to $200 but those don't look neat nor work nearly as well as a custom loop. A basic quality custom loop will cost $80 per water block, $80 for 2x120 radiator, $50 for a reservoir, $80 for a pump, $40 for tubing and clips, $20 for fans. About $350 unless you can cut corners. If you really want to pimp it out and turn it into a show piece expect to pay over $500.

This is a basic kit for $320.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...m_re=water_cooling_kit-_-35-106-411-_-Product

An effective AIO can be had for $100 but expect higher temps than a custom loop and more noise than an air cooler.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...60&cm_re=water_cooling-_-35-181-060-_-Product

I cleaned all my old equipment a few weeks ago. Bought new hose and a water block. I might finish tonight if I feel like it. It's a lot of work and I don't worry about looks. People put all kind of crap in their water but I found Water Wetter works the best for me. It's the same stuff that goes in car radiators. Here is my new AM4 block.

 

@hawk4x4

Modern Intel CPUs and nVidia GPUs generally run so cool and quiet on air, you just don't see people doing much with water cooling these days. It's become a very niche thing. And when they do water cool, it's usually those closed loop water coolers.

 

What's your budget for the case?

 

Your Centurion looks about like my Cosmos. It was a great case back in the day but there is a lot of wasted space up front with all the cages. I considered getting something new but in the end, I made my Cosmos work. You could always get this front panel to add more USB 3.0. If you want a new case just watch the deal sites for a month. Something always pops up.

Here is what water cooling looks like when you don't try to make it pretty. I'm deliberately hanging that pump over the fan. It's one of the few that's air cooled instead of water cooled and it's old. I took about 7 hours to complete and I don't feel like bothering with cable management right now. I actually have a piece of silver in the reservoir. Supposedly it works as a biocide. I guess I'll find out in a few months if that's true.

 

Thor V2.

I bought one a few years ago. Massive, easy install, easy cable management, great cooling fan setup. I'd get it again if I was building a new PC. It was originally so expensive Newegg threw in a free chair lol.

 

I have a Corsair Obsidian 650D. It's a behemoth, but it's actually the cut down version of the Obsidian 800D which was almost comically big. It has 8 hard drive bays, which might sound like a lot, but I'm actually using 4 of them, and I will likely expand further as my collection of porn and illegally downloaded movies grows. It has good cable management. I also like that it has an eSATA bay on the top. Really helpful when fixing computers to be able to just slide a hard drive into that thing and be able to read it. My PSU is a Seasonic 1000W Platinum. It uses a semi-passive design. It's extremely quiet. I've been using it for about 5 years with no problems.

Here's an older picture of my setup from back when I had a GTX 980