I considered the Alpha, but it didn't have dual band onboard. That was a big selling point for me.
The ROG series boards are nice, but I wasn't just going for a gaming system. Nowadays, I actually do a lot of work on my computer as well. Also, ROG seemed a tad gimmicky to me.
Fair enough.
The UEFI is very easy to use. There's a drop down menu right next to the RAM that lets you load the profile.
That being said, I don't use it. I don't have a great deal of experience with overclocking, and I'm using a stock fan for my CPU, so I'm scared to death I'm going to fry both the RAM and the CPU if I go over 1600 MHZ.
Wait. Hold up.
If you haven't applied a new profile, you're not operating at 1600 MHz.
Your RAM will operate at 1333 until you use XMP to bump it up to 1600.
*shrug*
Still good to have for the next 5-10 years before it's completely replaced by flash drives and digital distribution. I still believe though, you're not going to completely get rid of it.
Fair enough. Personally, I can't remember the last time I used my optical drive. I even use my USB Flash drive when I do my annual Windows reinstall.
That said, I'm still going to move my optical drive over to my new build because I have absolutely no good reason not to.
Whoa! I kind of already broke the bank without buying two additional cards and an 850 Watt PSU (would possibly need 1000 for 3-way Crossfire).
Yeah, I went a little overboard there. I tend to buy power supplies, motherboards, and cases with the assumption that I'm going to add every piece of hardware possible. And then I don't add anything. And then I'm broke for no good reason.
If I can find another 290x for a better price than I bought this one, I would like to build a CrossFire setup. I'm leery of it though. Because it would with either mean a) Buying a larger case OR b) Mutilating the tower even more than I already have. Neither idea sounds very appealing.
The 290X will come down in price when AMD releases the 300 series this summer.
The temperature's decent enough. It hasn't gone above a 45C average.
That being said, I just received my new 120mm Noctua fan. I'm gonna install it as an intake fan on the side. Maybe I should have gone with two. We'll see.
Sounds like you won't need a side fan...yet. But if you've already got it, might as well use it.
I've already gone over budget dammit!
I wanted to go bigger, but the cost rose exponentially with every few inches of size increase. It's okay though, because I have a 46 inch Vizio M-Series sitting about three feet away from it. I hooked it up to the 290x.
I don't know how much you spent, but I ended up getting a 29" ultrawide from LG. It ain't huge and it's only 1080p, but gaming is so much better on a wider monitor. Plus, it was on sale for only $300.
It has for me. I don't know how it is for most other people, but if I don't have a high enough degree of actuation, my fingers become very disoriented, and it's rather frustrating.
One of these days I'll head to brick and mortar and actually try one of those.
