Norcal's $1000 PC Build. Please Do Enter - Page 2

Modular if you anticipate making a lot of hardware changes...but one can use elbow grease and zipties/velcro shit to keep things tidy/maximize airflow

Find out how many watts you actually need here, then, to save money, just buy the cheapest PSU that satisfies those requirements... Then look out for deals on the premier PSU ( Corsair HX series, Seasonic ), and keep the cheapo one as a backup

For RAM, you can get away using DDR3-1333, until you familiarize yourself with the BIOS and quirks relating to that specific motherboard's design... you can find out from other builders what brand/type of RAM plays nicely with your motherboard by checking the discussion forums on the manufacturer's website

Oh, and there is no such thing as doing too much research before selecting all the components for your build

I'll disagree with this advice. The one thing I'd recommend springing for is a good quality, and VERY QUIET, PSU. Whiny ones are a real bitch.

+1. Diagnosing PSU problems on a fresh build can be a pain.

I meant to say cheapest quality psu like Antec Green

This is what I mean by cheap. You're the one who said he had a $1000 budget. And that's assuming you're actually paying for software...

I dunno...if you are used to looking at an accurate panel...looking at a goofy one is annoying even if you aren't doing any graphics work. I got a new monitor at work (and I could do my job just fine on a 16 color display) and it took me forever to get used to it. It wasn't until I messed with a bunch of settings and adjusted the gamma curves that I was able to make it tolerable. There are often good enough deals on slickdeals that it is worth it to go IPS. I'd trade a bit of screen size for quality any day--especially since most of these displays are still only 1080p (so a 24" doesn't have any more pixels than a 22")

by a Mac? Macs are infallible!

which means you, sir, are a liar.

Bingo. I never stated that you shouldn't calibrate the monitor :wink:. Regardless what kind of monitor you buy, you should always, always calibrate it, via software, or preferably hardware calibration.

Monitor is fine. Honestly I wouldn't spend that much on an Asus TN panel.

Personally I'd get a nice Dell Ultrasharp IPS from craigslist on the cheap.

I have two 2007fpw's I got for around $60 each. Waiting for a third to pop up for below $100, then I can begin my triple monitor gaming goodness!

I briefly read through the hardocp thread. Here's another review. http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/asus_ml239h.htm

Looks promising. Just make sure the ebay seller has a decent dead/stuck pixel policy. The stand looks meh and it doesn't appear to have VESA brackets, so be aware of that if you planned on slapping your own stand/arm. No height adjustment, VGA and HDMI inputs only. Kind of odd to leave DVI off the list.

What's with all the (inexpensive) LED's coming out with no VESA compatibility?!? The LED version of my 25" wasn't mountable either... WTF.