El Metronome
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- Mar 13, 2010
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My current specs are listed on the right. I'm looking to upgrade from 1080p to 1440p gaming, pretty much got my eye set on the upcoming U2715H from Dell, as long as the quality and pricing is not absurd as compared to the U2713HM. Going to get my year end bonus soon, I think I can budget about $1.5k for upgrades (damn my itchy hands). Taking the monitor at 750, that leaves $750 left for other upgrades.
What I am trying to do:
1. go from 1080p gaming/movies rig to 1440p.
2. move to a more compact mATX build, if possible within budget. My 540 air is great and I really like the dual chamber design, but the footprint on my desk is pretty large. Currently considering 240 air.
Rig is pretty much gonna be used for games (COD:AW, SoM, Dota2), as well as movies/music/internet. Hoping to play at max settings at 1440p/60Hz.
That in mind, I have some questions:
1. Is there any B85 mATX board with gaming features? Other than MSI? The other mATX boards with 'Gaming' features I found seem to be all on Z87/Z97, which would be a waste for me since I don't intend to OC and gaming doesn't really required CPU OC-ing anyway?
2. What single GPU can drive 1440/60Hz? I haven't really kept myself up to date, how do the GTX 970/980 compare with the AMD lineup (R9 280(X), R9 290(X))? I really want to avoid XF/SLI, it seems to be a very large expense for small gains.
3. I know this is totally subjective, but how big a jump is 1080-1440p for gaming and movies? Is the difference earth-shattering, and worth the sizable expense (it is a sizable expense for me) required to upgrade?
4. Audio wise: I am not too experienced with computer audio matters. How should I be looking to upgrade my audio setup for my targetted usage, and what kind of budget should I be looking at? Currently on a T40, and getting a beyer DT 770 250ohm.
5. If I were to delay upgrades for the next 3+ months, are there any upcoming new technology I should be consider waiting for? AFAIK DDR4 seems like a marginal upgrade considering the prohibitively high expense required.
What I am trying to do:
1. go from 1080p gaming/movies rig to 1440p.
2. move to a more compact mATX build, if possible within budget. My 540 air is great and I really like the dual chamber design, but the footprint on my desk is pretty large. Currently considering 240 air.
Rig is pretty much gonna be used for games (COD:AW, SoM, Dota2), as well as movies/music/internet. Hoping to play at max settings at 1440p/60Hz.
That in mind, I have some questions:
1. Is there any B85 mATX board with gaming features? Other than MSI? The other mATX boards with 'Gaming' features I found seem to be all on Z87/Z97, which would be a waste for me since I don't intend to OC and gaming doesn't really required CPU OC-ing anyway?
2. What single GPU can drive 1440/60Hz? I haven't really kept myself up to date, how do the GTX 970/980 compare with the AMD lineup (R9 280(X), R9 290(X))? I really want to avoid XF/SLI, it seems to be a very large expense for small gains.
3. I know this is totally subjective, but how big a jump is 1080-1440p for gaming and movies? Is the difference earth-shattering, and worth the sizable expense (it is a sizable expense for me) required to upgrade?
4. Audio wise: I am not too experienced with computer audio matters. How should I be looking to upgrade my audio setup for my targetted usage, and what kind of budget should I be looking at? Currently on a T40, and getting a beyer DT 770 250ohm.
5. If I were to delay upgrades for the next 3+ months, are there any upcoming new technology I should be consider waiting for? AFAIK DDR4 seems like a marginal upgrade considering the prohibitively high expense required.
