PC Pc Gaming/building thread

[Gold Member]

I thought those ATH’s came with extension cables anyway as the headphones only have a single 3 pole 3.5mm cord coming out and the extension splits the 3 pole mic/stereo so they can be plugged into a PC? Unless that’s a different model or I’m entirely mistaken with something else.

The 2m extension is a splitter to use with on board audio and mic, which I tried but wasn't impressed. Probably because I was splitting the speaker signal between my speakers and the headset somehow the directional audio was off.

I then used the included USB DAC which gave excellent sound but now I'm temporarily burdened with the 1m cable.

The other minor annoyance is the cable is holding the memory of being curled up for transit and it pushes into my neck. Have to hit it with the hairdryer...

The audio is amazing. Last night in pubg I tracked a dacia & heard it pull up at a compound between 800m & 1km away!

 

[dwwaino]

The 2m extension is a splitter to use with on board audio and mic, which I tried but wasn't impressed. Probably because I was splitting the speaker signal between my speakers and the headset somehow the directional audio was off.

I then used the included USB DAC which gave excellent sound but now I'm temporarily burdened with the 1m cable.

The other minor annoyance is the cable is holding the memory of being curled up for transit and it pushes into my neck. Have to hit it with the hairdryer...

The audio is amazing. Last night in pubg I tracked a dacia & heard it pull up at a compound between 800m & 1km away!

Cool! Sounds like you’ve got it sorted but if you just plugged it straight into your onboard chip there was probably no Dolby or anything activated which is why you had no surround. Depending of what you have onboard you might be able to enable it through mobo software or some people reckon the free Razer software is pretty decent. The included DAC is probably better than what you have on board anyway so the exercise is fruitless but that’s always something to try if you feel like stuffing around with it.

I was looking at the AD900x and ADG1X (I think they’re the same just one has an added mic and slapped with a ‘gaming’ label?) as well as the closed back varieties a while back because we’re eventually going to be moving into an apartment. That’s the only reason I knew about the cable. I’m going to lose my upstairs studio/guitar room and will have to combine my spaces and thought it would be handy to run one off my interface when I use it as an external soundcard. At the moment my setup is still going to be a bit convoluted and I’ll need to work it out but for now I’ll stick with my wireless stuff for downstairs. Also one less cord for the cats to attack.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Thanks for all the replies in regards to headphones choices guys! Plenty to go over and look into. My main concern is that I will use the headset for both PC and console gaming (PS4) and need something that is easy to switch. I'm not opposed to a wired headset just personally prefer to have wireless. I sit at a desk for PC and console gaming so the cords isn't the biggest issue but less cords is definitely nicer.

I've heard from some people that digital audio is generally the way to go for multi-platform headsets rather than analogue as analogue relies on the sound-card quality. Not sure whether any of you audiophiles can enlighten me on this?

Going wireless does reduce your options a fair bit. I honestly don't know much about wireless audiophile headphones and would struggle to make a recommendation there.

If you are purely using them for gaming you'd probably be fine with something like the Logitech g933 which can be used wirelessly with both the PC and PS4 and the price isn't too ridiculous at around $195.

Regarding analogue headphones, it's true that many models require amping to get decent sound. A soundcard for your PC won't help you with using them on a PS4 so it's not an ideal option for you. I ended up getting a second hand Astro Mixamp for $90 so I could get better quality audio with all my consoles/PC. Obviously this is for wired headphones though.

 

[dwwaino]

Best option for Multiplatform wireless imo is still the A50 gen3 as long as the PC supports toslink. I’m not sure what is going to happen to Astro in the future as Logitech bought them from Skullcandy this year but the latest A50 have the same well rounded sound signature as the previous stuff, great build quality and more than twice the battery life from the gen2. So far the G933 is by far my favourite of the ‘gaming’ headsets for PC, wouldn’t use them on console though due to being limited to stereo there. Current version of the G933 is a pretty shitty build though, won’t be surprised if the headband cracks in a year or two which isn’t a massive deal to me because I probably buy more headphones/headsets than I do new undies but to others this will understandably be a massive issue. I’m always buying toys and so tempted to try out a Sennheiser GSX 1000 because of the shiny buttons but a $300 DAC/amp combo that can only drive a max of 150ohm headphones seems like a con job.

Analogue connections will have different qualities depending on what they’re plugged into, but since the sources are all digital and audio like in games is heavily compressed so spending the same on an analogue set as you would an A50 or A40 could be a waste.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Astro A50 aint cheap though. That's the only reason I didn't mention it.

Personally I don't think missing out on 7.1 audio on the PS4 is a big deal anyway. Most of the time you're better off with a good set on stereo headphones if you want decent positional audio.

 

[Gold Member]

Cool! Sounds like you’ve got it sorted but if you just plugged it straight into your onboard chip there was probably no Dolby or anything activated which is why you had no surround. Depending of what you have onboard you might be able to enable it through mobo software or some people reckon the free Razer software is pretty decent. The included DAC is probably better than what you have on board anyway so the exercise is fruitless but that’s always something to try if you feel like stuffing around with it.

I was looking at the AD900x and ADG1X (I think they’re the same just one has an added mic and slapped with a ‘gaming’ label?) as well as the closed back varieties a while back because we’re eventually going to be moving into an apartment. That’s the only reason I knew about the cable. I’m going to lose my upstairs studio/guitar room and will have to combine my spaces and thought it would be handy to run one off my interface when I use it as an external soundcard. At the moment my setup is still going to be a bit convoluted and I’ll need to work it out but for now I’ll stick with my wireless stuff for downstairs. Also one less cord for the cats to attack.

My onboard audio is probably better than the supplied DAC. I think the problem was my splitter was actually splitting L & R channels. 1 to my headset 1 to my speakers... I'll vmuck around with the plugs some other time..
Sound settings are set to stereo in Windows.

 

[dwwaino]

Windows doesn’t care about the setting, if something is plugged into the headphone jack it will always be stereo. Just need to select surround or whatever in game and directx will handle the surround audio queues. The splitter would definitely screw that up because the splitter just splits the two bands on the jack

 

[Anzac16]

Going wireless does reduce your options a fair bit. I honestly don't know much about wireless audiophile headphones and would struggle to make a recommendation there.

If you are purely using them for gaming you'd probably be fine with something like the Logitech g933 which can be used wirelessly with both the PC and PS4 and the price isn't too ridiculous at around $195.

Regarding analogue headphones, it's true that many models require amping to get decent sound. A soundcard for your PC won't help you with using them on a PS4 so it's not an ideal option for you. I ended up getting a second hand Astro Mixamp for $90 so I could get better quality audio with all my consoles/PC. Obviously this is for wired headphones though.

It does reduce the options a fair bit. A few years back when I bought my A50's, Astro was just the brand you went for if you wanted high end gaming headphones. I still think they make some really great headphones but they are overpriced without a doubt. So many more brands have come out with some really quality headsets since then as well.

I do like the Logitech G933 but quality control issues has me a bit worried given I used them quite a lot.

I've got 2 Astro mixamps so there isn't too much stress there for an analogue headset with my PS4. I'll look into that a bit more.

 

[Anzac16]

Best option for Multiplatform wireless imo is still the A50 gen3 as long as the PC supports toslink. I’m not sure what is going to happen to Astro in the future as Logitech bought them from Skullcandy this year but the latest A50 have the same well rounded sound signature as the previous stuff, great build quality and more than twice the battery life from the gen2. So far the G933 is by far my favourite of the ‘gaming’ headsets for PC, wouldn’t use them on console though due to being limited to stereo there. Current version of the G933 is a pretty shitty build though, won’t be surprised if the headband cracks in a year or two which isn’t a massive deal to me because I probably buy more headphones/headsets than I do new undies but to others this will understandably be a massive issue. I’m always buying toys and so tempted to try out a Sennheiser GSX 1000 because of the shiny buttons but a $300 DAC/amp combo that can only drive a max of 150ohm headphones seems like a con job.

Analogue connections will have different qualities depending on what they’re plugged into, but since the sources are all digital and audio like in games is heavily compressed so spending the same on an analogue set as you would an A50 or A40 could be a waste.

At this rate I'm definitely considering just dropping the cash on another pair of A50's. I've loved my Gen2 version of them.

I'm actually okay with Stereo for PS4 personally especially with FPS games. Positional audio just gets muffed and confusing with the 7.1 on.

 

[Anzac16]

So bought the first 3 components for my new build today as PCCaseGear had stock of the i5-8600k. Was between that and the i7-8700k but given the lack of stock of the 8700k and the price difference I settled for the 8600k. It's performing really well for gaming and beating out a 7700k and matching the 8700k in quite a lot of tests. I'll be using the PC mainly for gaming and and university work so the 8600k is a really nice value buy for me.

Motherboard I just went through and made sure it had the connectors needed. Decided to spend the extra 30-40 bucks to get something that looked really nice and will allow me some flexibility with making an aesthetic build. Have used Gigabyte for my last build and had no real major issues with motherboard so decided to stick with them.

RAM I went with DDR4-3000 as it seemed like the best value purchase given the price inflation at the moment. Can over-clock in the future if I need it running faster.

CPU - Intel Core i5-8600k
Motherboard - Gigabyte Z370 AUROS Ultra Gaming ATX
Memory - Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB DDR4-3000

Still deciding on some of the other parts I want to pair with these. Looking at the NZXT Kraken for the AIO cooler. Expensive but looks amazing and will suit a S340 Elite case if I go that route.

Storage I'm thinking about putting an M.2 drive in for my OS instead of a standard SSD. Considering forking out the extra cash and getting an SSD for games storage then just a HDD for mass storage.

GPU will be a 1080Ti, just not sure what make/model yet.

PSU will likely be a 750W Gold Standard, again not sure make/model yet.

So decisions to still be made but should have all the parts together within the next 2 weeks then I can start the build!!

 

[dwwaino]

Is that M.2 PCI-E or sata? Regardless, just keep in mind that if you’re only gaming you won’t see any gains since you won’t be transferring files large enough. Something to keep in mind if you want to save a dollar. PCI-E M.2 can pinch CPU lanes too but I don’t think it’s an issue anymore. Something you can always look up if you want but I’m sure it will be fine.

Good choice on the 8600k if you’re overclocking . Minus the extra threads you could just about match my 8700k at stock turbo.

 

[Anzac16]

Is that M.2 PCI-E or sata? Regardless, just keep in mind that if you’re only gaming you won’t see any gains since you won’t be transferring files large enough. Something to keep in mind if you want to save a dollar. PCI-E M.2 can pinch CPU lanes too but I don’t think it’s an issue anymore. Something you can always look up if you want but I’m sure it will be fine.

Good choice on the 8600k if you’re overclocking . Minus the extra threads you could just about match my 8700k at stock turbo.

Haven't decided on what M.2 I'd get if any. Was just more of a thought. Would only have it for the OS. Most likely to save a bit of cash I'll just get a 250GB SSD for OS and main programs and a 2TB HDD for everything else.

Yeah I'll overclock the 8600k probably to around 4.8GHz. People are saying you can get them above 5GHz if you get lucky with the silicon lottery but I'll go for a more stable overclock. Yeah the OC speeds of the 8600k are really quite impressive and can match the 8700k stock and beat it out in gaming. Obviously if you overclock the 8700k its performance would be better.

 

[Gold Member]

Haven't decided on what M.2 I'd get if any. Was just more of a thought. Would only have it for the OS. Most likely to save a bit of cash I'll just get a 250GB SSD for OS and main programs and a 2TB HDD for everything else.

Yeah I'll overclock the 8600k probably to around 4.8GHz. People are saying you can get them above 5GHz if you get lucky with the silicon lottery but I'll go for a more stable overclock. Yeah the OC speeds of the 8600k are really quite impressive and can match the 8700k stock and beat it out in gaming. Obviously if you overclock the 8700k its performance would be better.

A 250gb ssd with windows on it doesn't leave room for many games, I'd recommend at least a 480gb sata ssd.
M.2 gives no benefit to gamers to justify the price increase.

 

[Anzac16]

A 250gb ssd with windows on it doesn't leave room for many games, I'd recommend at least a 480gb sata ssd.
M.2 gives no benefit to gamers to justify the price increase.

Fair point. I was thinking if I did only get a 250GB SSD I'd just keep most games on the HD. Samsung 850 EVO was the SSD I was looking at.

Won't bother with a M.2 drive then.

 

[Gold Member]

Fair point. I was thinking if I did only get a 250GB SSD I'd just keep most games on the HD. Samsung 850 EVO was the SSD I was looking at.

Won't bother with a M.2 drive then.

Yeah, keep your games on the ssd for the fast load times. Mechanical drives are for media storage & recording gameplay onto!

 

[dwwaino]

I thought I would be right with my 500gb SSD (totally left out my 2TB on this one, once I experienced SSD I can never go back to a disk even for media storage) but once you take out the 40gb reserve and the OS and then my staples that stay on whether I’m playing them or not (Diablo 3, BF1 and PUBG) then there isn’t a lot of wiggle room left after I start loading in new games. I’m going to get a second 500gb shortly just for those times when I buy a few games from Steam at once and want to install them all to try them out.

 

[Anzac16]

I thought I would be right with my 500gb SSD (totally left out my 2TB on this one, once I experienced SSD I can never go back to a disk even for media storage) but once you take out the 40gb reserve and the OS and then my staples that stay on whether I’m playing them or not (Diablo 3, BF1 and PUBG) then there isn’t a lot of wiggle room left after I start loading in new games. I’m going to get a second 500gb shortly just for those times when I buy a few games from Steam at once and want to install them all to try them out.

What I'm thinking I will most likely do is leave my mainstay games on the SSD then just install the new games on my SSD before I play them. Especially for single player ones. Then transfer them to a HD once I've finished with them. Probably the easiest way of doing it. Although a nice big 1TB SSD could nullify this if I wanted to fork out the cash.

 

[dav3]

Western Digital Black drives are a decent compromise if you're on a budget, under $200 for 2TB and improves load times a fair bit over standard drives.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Fair point. I was thinking if I did only get a 250GB SSD I'd just keep most games on the HD. Samsung 850 EVO was the SSD I was looking at.

Won't bother with a M.2 drive then.

It's a shame to miss out on M.2 speeds but he's right when he says you would be better served with a 500gb standard SSD. The extra hundred dollars to get a 500Gb Samsung 960 Pro just isn't worth it.

Just a word of advice, you probably shouldn't be aiming to store all your games on an SSD. Game sizes for many AAA titles are blowing out massively these days. Just look at Doom for example, it's well over 100gb now. Also Witcher 3 and a bunch of other games need hefty amounts of storage. Instead I would only recommend installing either your most played games, or the ones with the longest load times to the SSD. Everything else should go to HDD storage. Some games don't actually benefit all that much from an SSD so pick and choose carefully.

 

[Anzac16]

It's a shame to miss out on M.2 speeds but he's right when he says you would be better served with a 500gb standard SSD. The extra hundred dollars to get a 500Gb Samsung 960 Pro just isn't worth it.

Just a word of advice, you probably shouldn't be aiming to store all your games on an SSD. Game sizes for many AAA titles are blowing out massively these days. Just look at Doom for example, it's well over 100gb now. Also Witcher 3 and a bunch of other games need hefty amounts of storage. Instead I would only recommend installing either your most played games, or the ones with the longest load times to the SSD. Everything else should go to HDD storage. Some games don't actually benefit all that much from an SSD so pick and choose carefully.

I can always throw one in later on if I need to upgrade on storage.

Yeah I'll only store the main ones I play and whatever single player game I'm working through at the time. Then just transfer the single player games to a HD once I'm done.

 

[Anzac16]

So looking to buy the rest of my parts this week and I'll be building next week! Very excited!! This is the build I've come up with. Any last minute recommendations would be appreciated.

CPU - Intel i5-8600k (Purchased)
CPU Cooler - NZXT Kraken X62 280mm
Motherboard - Gigabyte Z370 Auros Ultra Gaming (Purchased)
Memory - Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB DDR4-3000 Black (Purchased)
SSD - Samsung 850 Evo 500GB
HDD - Seagate Barracuda 2TB
GPU - Gigabyte GTX 1080Ti 11GB Auros Xtreme Edition
Case - NZXT S340 Elite (Black)
OS - Microsoft Windows 10
Wireless Adapter - TP-Link TL-WDN4800
Monitor - Asus PG279Q ROG Swift 27" 2560x1440p 165Hz

Pretty much set on everything there now. Decided to put in the X62 instead of the X52 as it's only $20 more expensive. Hopefully will have an Ethernet connection soon with my setup but for now will need a wireless adapter. Not sure whether to go USB or just put in a PCI-Express like I had in my current build.

Monitor, I'm still tossing up between the ROG Swift and the Predator. Both are really good, Predator being $100 cheaper definitely is nice.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Speaking of the ROG Swift, there definitely is some backlight bleed. Haven't noticed it in-game at all yet but it's there.

 

[Anzac16]

Speaking of the ROG Swift, there definitely is some backlight bleed. Haven't noticed it in-game at all yet but it's there.

That's the one thing I'm most worried about with getting an IPS monitor is the backlight bleed. Apparently it's a bit of a lottery. Gaming I turn my brightness up a lot more than I normally have it so hopefully it doesn't affect it at all.

 

[dwwaino]

So looking to buy the rest of my parts this week and I'll be building next week! Very excited!! This is the build I've come up with. Any last minute recommendations would be appreciated.

CPU - Intel i5-8600k (Purchased)
CPU Cooler - NZXT Kraken X62 280mm
Motherboard - Gigabyte Z370 Auros Ultra Gaming (Purchased)
Memory - Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB DDR4-3000 Black (Purchased)
SSD - Samsung 850 Evo 500GB
HDD - Seagate Barracuda 2TB
GPU - Gigabyte GTX 1080Ti 11GB Auros Xtreme Edition
Case - NZXT S340 Elite (Black)
OS - Microsoft Windows 10
Wireless Adapter - TP-Link TL-WDN4800
Monitor - Asus PG279Q ROG Swift 27" 2560x1440p 165Hz

Pretty much set on everything there now. Decided to put in the X62 instead of the X52 as it's only $20 more expensive. Hopefully will have an Ethernet connection soon with my setup but for now will need a wireless adapter. Not sure whether to go USB or just put in a PCI-Express like I had in my current build.

Monitor, I'm still tossing up between the ROG Swift and the Predator. Both are really good, Predator being $100 cheaper definitely is nice.

Can’t go wrong with that

Speaking of the ROG Swift, there definitely is some backlight bleed. Haven't noticed it in-game at all yet but it's there.

I can only see it when I’ve got a black screen but that’s just a given for IPS panels. Have yet to see it in game, browsing or on the desktop though which I guess is the most important. Either it’s not a big deal anymore or I got lucky in the IPS lottery. My last monitor was a 27” LG IPS with some pretty bad backlight by comparison but I can’t say it bothered me. It was only a third of the price though so I guess that’s a different story.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

That's the one thing I'm most worried about with getting an IPS monitor is the backlight bleed. Apparently it's a bit of a lottery. Gaming I turn my brightness up a lot more than I normally have it so hopefully it doesn't affect it at all.

FWIW, I turn brightness up slightly more than recommended as well and have only noticed it on pure black startup/no input screens. I've played some Witcher 3, ESO, Project Cars 2, Cuphead, Little Nightmares and Divinity 2, along with some word processing/browsing and haven't noticed it while in use yet.