KDevil's Battlefield 4 Dual Build

Hello everyone,

Recently two of my friends asked me to build computers for them. The goal was simple. Play Battlefield 4 on Ultra at 1920x1080 (1080p.)

One friend went with an Intel-Nvidia Build and the other got an all AMD Build.

KDevil's AMD Battlefield 4 Build:

CASE:

CM Storm Stryker (www.coolermaster.com)

Supported Motherboards: Micro ATX/ATX/XL ATX
5.25" Drive Bays: 9
Expansion Slots: 9+1
Dimensions : 9.8" x 23.8" x 22.8"
Price : US$ 159.99

We used the case my friend previously had after servicing it and replacing fans. It has been a great case that has served him well over the year.






CPU:

AMD FX-9370 (www.amd.com)

Core Clock: 4.4 GHz
Turbo Clock: 4.7GHZ
8-Core
L3 Cache: 8MB
Price: US$ 289.99

AMDs newest offerings, the 9370 is the cheaper of the two (The other being 9590.) Performance wise its pretty spectacular although tends to run a bit hot and sits at 220W TDP (Gulp!) Comes bundled with a Liquid Cooler (Re-badged Antec Kuhler H2O 620)






MOTHERBOARD:

ASRock 990FX Extreme9 (www.asrock.com)

Max Memory: 64GB
PCI-E 2.0 x16: 4
PCI-E 2.0 x1: 1
SATA Connectors: 8 x SATAIII
Price: US$ 179.99

One of only 3 motherboards that can support the 9 Series CPUs, it is a very rock solid motherboard.




VIDEO CARD:

ASUS R9290 (www.asus.com)

Interface: PCI-E 3.0 x16
Core Clock : 947 MHz
Stream Processors: 2560
Memory: 4GB 512-bit GDDR5
Ports: 1 HDMI, 2 DVI, 1 DisplayPort
Power Connector: 6 +8 Pin
Dimensions: 10.9" x 4.3" x 1.4"
Price: US$ 399.99

AMDs newest offerings have beaten current Nvidia cards handily in both power and price. As is with AMD though, runs hot. They can output to 4K monitors so maybe in the future I can help them get one ^_^



SOUND CARD:

CREATIVE Sound Blaster ZX (www.creative.com)

Channels: 5.1
Sample Rate: Front Out: 192kHz, Headphones: 96kHz
SNR: Front Out: 116 dB, Headphones: >105dB
Interface: PCI Express x1
Price: US$ 99.99

The new line of Sound Blaster cards from Creative, Flashy looking red ^_^






RAM:

AMD Radeon RG2133 Gamer Series (www.amd.com)

Capacity: 4 x 4GB
Speed: 2133
Price: US$ 179.99

AMD has also started their own gaming RAM series and we were very excited to test it out. So far so good and just a head's up, RAM speeds in BF4 really matter so go above 1600 if you can. You will not be disappointed. You can get away with 8GB of Ram as well.




POWER SUPPLY:

Corsair AX860 (www.corsair.com)

Max Power: 860W
Active PFC
PCI-E Connectors: 6 x 6+2-Pin
SATA Connectors: 12
Fully Modular
80+ Platinum Certified
Price; US$  189.99

A very good power supply for a power hungry system. Fully modular helps in keeping it nice and tidy inside the system.




LIQUID COOLING:

We went with the provided liquid cooler. In the event it does not work as well as we would like, I will be switching it out with potentially a Corsair H100i

HARD DRIVE:

Samsung 840 Pro Series (www.samsung.com)

Capacity: 128GB
Interface: SATA III
Max Sequential Read: 530 MB/s
Max Sequential Write: 390MB/s
Price: US$127.99

A great SSD from Samsungs Pro series. You can never go wrong with samsung when it comes to SSD!









Seagate Barracuda (www.seagate.com)

Capacity: 1TB
Interface: SATA III
Speed: 7200RPM
Cache: 64MB
Price: US$69.99

A great dependable drive for every day use. Price is nice as well.











TOTAL:

US$ 1697.91 (If you include the case. Since he already had it, the SSD, HDD and the Motherboard, his price was a little lower : US$ 1159.95)

This build will give great performance at 1080p and I believe give good performance at resolutions above it as well since FX-9 Series are more than capable of fighting it out with Core i7. We also bought peripherals over the course of the two months so I will be listing that separately at the end as well.

KDevil's Intel-Nvidia Battlefield 4 Build:

CASE:

Corsair Graphite Series 600T Arctic White (www.corsair.com)

Supported Motherboards: Micro ATX/ATX
5.25" Drive Bays: 4
Expansion Slots: 8
Dimensions: 23.30" x 10.40" x 20.00"
Price: US$ 169.99

We reused his old case which is working great still. Replaced the fans (something I always like to do.)











CPU:

Intel Core i7-4770K (www.intel.com)

Core Clock : 3.5GHz
4-Core, 8-Threads
L3 Cache : 8MB
Price : US$ 339.99

The newest generation of Intel Processors with lower power usage in mind. Clocks in at 84W (Comparing it to the AMD one..... yeah...) Hyper Threading helps in every task and also in Battlefield 4.









MOTHERBOARD:

GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD3H (www.gigabyte.com)

Memory Supported :Max 32GB
PCI E 3.0 x16 : 2 ,PCI E x1 : 3 ,PCI : 1
SATA Connectors : 6+2 SATA III (2 diff. controllers)
Dimensions : 12in x 8.6in
Price : US$ 159.99

A great little motherboard. Not too many components, not too little.







VIDEO CARD:

GIGABYTE GTX 770 GV-N770WF3-4GD (www.gigabyte.com)

Interface : PCI E 3.0 x16
Core Clock : 1046 MHz
Boost Clock : 1085 MHz
CUDA Cores : 1536
Memory : 4GB 256-bit GDDR5
Ports : 1 HDMI, 1 DisplayPort, 2 DVI
Power Connectors : 2 x 8 Pin
Dimensions : 11.5" x 5.08" x 1.69"
Price : US$ 379.99

A solid card. Re-used from his old build








RAM:

G.Skill Ripjaws Series (www.gskill.com)

Capacity: 4 x 4GB
Speed: 1600
Price: US$ 139.99

Great set of RAMs which are very reliable. Used from older system.







POWER SUPPLY:

XFX P1-850X-XXB9 (www.xfxforce.com)

Max Power: 850W
Active PFC
PCI-E Connectors: 4 x 6+2-Pin
SATA Connectors: 10
Modular
80+ Bronze Certified
Price; US$  139.99

A great PSU which is also Haswell Certified.




LIQUID COOLING:

Cooler Master Seidon 120 XL (www.coolermaster.com)

Radiator Dimensions : 150 x 120 x 38 mm
Fan Dimensions : 120 x 120 x 25 mm x2 fans
RPMs : 600-2400 RPM (PWM)
Air Flow : 19.17-86.15 CFM
Fan Noise : 19-40 dB
Price : US$ 89.99

Cooler Master's line of liquid coolers. Good build and good reviews.





HARD DRIVE:

Kingston HyperX 3K (www.kingston.com)

Capacity: 120GB
Interface: SATA III
Max Sequential Read: 555 MB/s
Max Sequential Write: 510MB/s
Price: US$99.99

One of the strongest enthusiast grade SSDs out there, with Kingston reliability!

Seagate Barracuda (www.seagate.com)

Capacity: 1TB
Interface: SATA III
Speed: 7200RPM
Cache: 64MB
Price: US$69.99

A great dependable drive for every day use. Price is nice as well. Used from older system










TOTAL:

US$ 1589.91 (Price for him : US$ 829.95)
A great system that will give great performance in BF4 and the Power draw is low enough that your electricity bill won't go through the roof.

PERIPHERALS:

We bought two keyboards and two mice

AMD Build got

CM Storm Quick Fire TK (www.cmstorm.com)

Type: Wired
Mechanical Keys: Cherry MX Red Keys
Price: US$ 99.99

A great little keyboard with a good tactile experience and rapid response keys. Perfect for quick key strokes and also typing.

Corsair Vengeance M65 (www.corsair.com)

Type: Wired
Interface: USB
Tracking Method: Laser
Buttons: 8
Maximum DPI: 8200
Price: US$ 59.99

Great if you like FPS games! Rock solid build as well.








Nvidia Build got

CM Storm QuickFire Rapid (www.cmstorm.com)

Type: Wired
Mechanical Keys: Cherry MX Black
US$ 69.99

Mx Black Keys for the ultimate FPS experience. Easy to double tap. Might be less typing friendly though.


Razer DeathAdder (www.razerzone.com)

Type: Wired
Interface: USB
Tracking Method: Optical
Buttons: 5
Maximum DPI: 6400
Price: US$ 59.99

A great Razer mouse which is also very comfortable to use.





MONITORS:

Both have the same monitor which is phenomenal for gaming. Both had previously purchased it

ASUS VE247H (www.asus.com)

Screen Size: 23.6"
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Response Time: 2ms
Connectors: D-Sub, DVI, HDMI
Price: US$ 169.99

An awesome gaming monitor. 'Nuff said.












HEADSETS:

I would recommend two headsets. One I have tried and love, the other I have not but looks promising

ROCCAT Kave (www.roccat.org)

True 5.1 Surround Sound headset with  4 3.5mm connectors and USB connector. A great headset that is very comfortable for me and provides great sound.

Price: US$ 109.99











Corsair Raptor HS40 (www.corsair.com)

A USB gaming headset that provides 7.1 Surround Sound. I have not tried it yet however judging by past Corsair products, this should be good. If any of you have, let me know how it turned out for you and I just may use your experience in a review ^_^

Price: US$59.99











Closing Thoughts:
Well that is it for this rather lengthy post. Both builds are working absolutely great. The AMD system is a bigger power drain and rather noise so beware. The Intel-Nvidia is pretty quiet by comparison and of course lower power drain.

Kiyoshi Out!
Psst... Hey... Spread the word! +1, Subscribe,Tweet ^_^ Thank you for reading. 

Kiyoshi Computer Build II : Small Footprint

Hi Everyone!

So it has been ages since my last post. A lot has happened but without further ado, let's check up on my most recent build. It was for a friend who wanted a dorm friendly computer. Not big on power since this PC was not meant for gaming, but more for reliable everyday use when it came to assignments and stuff (coupled with a mid range gfx card, it can still play a lot of games on medium settings.) Dorms meant one thing, space, or more specifically lack thereof. So off we went to a mini-ITX Build!

CASE:

Fractal Design Node 304 Black (www.fractal-design.com)

Dimensions : 9.8" x 8.2" x 14.7"
Price : US$54.99

A great case when space is at a premium but you still don't want to overlook design aesthetics. Simple clean lines and also capable of holding a surprisingly big video card (with some drawbacks of course.)











CPU:

Intel Core i3-4130 (www.intel.com)

Core Clock: 3.4 GHz
2-Core 4-Thread
L3 Cache: 3MB
Price: US$129.99

The Haswell line, complete with power efficiency features and nice processor strength. Comes with HT so it has 2 physical and 2 virtual cores. Only criticism is the HD 4400 as a graphics solution.








MOTHERBOARD:

ASRock H81M-ITX (www.asrock.com)

Max Memory: 16GB
PCI-E 2.0x16: 1
SATA Connectors: 2 x SATAIII
Price: US$64.99

Complete with a host of new features such as Wake On LAN and a dehumidifying system built in, this is one great motherboard in a very small package.






RAM:

Mushkin Enhanced Essentials (poweredbymushkin.com)

Capacity: 2 x 2GB
Speed: 1333
Price: US$41.99

A great little set from the very reliable Mushkin.



POWER SUPPLY:

EVGA 500B (www.evga.com)

Max Power: 500W
Active PFC
PCI-E Connectors: 2 x 6+2-Pin
SATA Connectors: 2
Non Modular
80+Bronze Certified
Price: US$44.99

A great little PSU from EVGA.





AIR COOLING:

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (www.coolermaster.com)

The ever great, ever affordable air cooler from cooler master. Always a safe bet when you don't know much about CPU cooling.

Price: US$ 34.99










HARD DRIVE:

Mushkin Enhanced Chronos (poweredbymushkin.com)

Capacity: 240GB
Interface: SATA III
Max Sequential Read: 560MB/s
Max Sequential Write: 525MB/s
Price: US$ 164.99

Very good reviews for this awesome little SSD.






TOTAL:

US$ 536.93

THOUGHTS:

This was a fun little build to do. In the near future he may opt for a video card and an optical drive. We will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Kiyoshi Out!
Psst... Hey... Spread the Word! +1, Subscribe, Tweet ^_^ Thank you for reading.

Intel Launches Haswell Processors

The start to this month brought us Intel's newest CPUs: The Haswell Bridge. It is the Tock in the Intel Tick-Tock release schedule and as such comes with a major architectural refresh (which means a new socket type : LGA 1150 and a new set of motherboards.)

Featuring a new box art, amongst other things, the biggest change this time around is not core counts or frequencies, rather a "better" experience. Intel claims the biggest battery life increase in Intel's history and unprecedented graphics in ultra-thin computing. It is clear from this that Intel is aiming at the mobile world more and more as PC and Laptop sales continue to fall in face of the lower cost, lower power ARM microprocessor powered cell-phones and tablets. In that light Haswell will be trying to make mobile PCs (Ultrabooks for example) perform more like smartphones and tablets with increased battery lifes and instant wakes.

What does all of this mean for the Desktop side of things? Well while the architectural improvements will increase overall efficiency, custom-builders have, at the moment, little need to upgrade to the newer CPU. The speeds are not all that faster and there are no more cores than the previous generation. So if you are looking to build a whole new system, it would make sense to try Haswell out, however if you already are on Sandy or Ivy Bridge, you can safely stay away from upgrading just yet.

The biggest thing to note will be that if you are going to buy Haswell Bridge, take some time and search PSU which are compatible with the new CPU as power operating states have changed dramatically and you will need a high quality power supply to ensure steady power to the PC. Check with a manufacturer for Haswell low-power compatibility.

The Model List and Launch Prices are as follows

Model	Cores/Threads	CPU Clock (GHz)	Turbo Boost (GHz)	Cache	IGP	TDP	Launch Price (USD)
Core i7-4770K	4/8	3.5	3.9	8MB	HD4600	84W	339
Core i7-4770	4/8	3.4	3.9	8MB	HD4600	84W	303
Core i7-4770S	4/8	3.1	3.9	8MB	HD4600	65W	303
Core i7-4770T	4/8	2.5	3.7	8MB	HD4600	45W	303
Core i7-4765T	4/8	2.0	3.0	8MB	HD4600	35W	303
Core i5-4670K	4/4	3.4	3.8	6MB	HD4600	84W	242
Corei5-4670	4/4	3.4	3.8	6MB	HD4600	84W	213
Core i5-4670S	4/4	3.1	3.8	6MB	HD4600	65W	213
Core i5-4670T	4/4	2.3	3.3	6MB	HD4600	45W	213
Core i5-4570	4/4	3.2	3.6	6MB	HD4600	84W	192
Core i5-4570S	4/4	2.9	3.6	6MB	HD4600	65W	192
Core i5-4570T	2/4	2.9	3.6	4MB	HD4600	35W	192

Suffixes:
K: Unlocked Multiplier

S: Performance Optimized, i.e Lower CPU frequency, reduced TDP

T: Power Optimized, i.e Lower CPU frequency, lower Turbo Boost frequency, greatly reduced TDP 

Also the Integrated Graphics is now called Iris. 

Initial tests show a modest gain in performance across various benchmarks for Haswell and the newer generation sits above the previous one, although, as stated before, by a very narrow margin. 

The SnapKnot Camera Giveaway!!

Hello All!!

It has been a while but I am back with something very cool and exciting!

SnapKnot (www.snapknot.com) are doing a DSLR giveaway that, if you win, gives you the chance to claim

1. Nikon D800

Featuring an astonishing 36.3 MP sensor, the D800 is the stuff dreams are made off. Check out the full specs by clicking here.










2. Canon 5D Mark III

Featuring an amazing 22.3 MP sensor, the Mark III is in all aspects an upgrade over the Mark II. Great for fast action scenes and a lot more. Check out the full specs by clicking here








Enter the Drawing and one of these cameras can be yours!

So how do you enter it? It is simple! Click the link below

Big thanks to the SnapKnot wedding photography directory for offering this great camera giveaway!

Be on the lookout for a new post soon.

Till Then,

Kiyoshi Out!

P.S To check out my photography visit my other blog here.

Product Review 2: Zalman ZM-300 Mouse

The Zalman ZM-300 is a gaming grade optical mouse. Hot on the heels of my last purchase (A4Tech Keyboard) comes this one. Since budget is extremely limited for me, I went ahead with these two purchases and also thought it would be a good idea to start reviewing products with these two.

Here are the specs of the ZM-300:

Type: USB Wired
Tracking: Optical
DPi Range: 625 to 2500
Buttons: 7
Price: ~US$ 14.99

LOOK:

I like the way this mouse looks! I can quite put my finger on it, but it is very reminiscent of something (maybe a car...) In any event I really like how it looks.

The shiny coating tends to lock in your finger prints so you may have to clean it after every play through to make sure it stays clean and .... well shiny.

Looks: 7/10

FEEL:

There are a 7 buttons in total on the mouse (including the scroll wheel.) There is a small red LED on the side which corresponds to the DPI settings. Unlit is 625 and fully lit is 2500.

The overall finish doesn't feel as cheap as it's price indicates though it is lighter than what I prefer. Also the mouse is small and you may have to adjust quite a bit to use it effectively.

The one problem I have in at least my mouse is that if you press both the Left and Right buttons and then let go of the Left one first, it kind of gets stuck. On closer inspection I have found the main reason for this:

The cut is not clean and they get stuck when pressed together

Feel: 6/10

BUTTON PLACEMENT:

The buttons are somewhat misplaced on this mouse. I prefer the DPI button to be below the wheel so it is not accidentally pressed however this is what will happen in the beginning and during intense gaming as well. Also the click of the DPI switch is somewhat lackluster. It doesn't press reliably every time. The Auto Fire is weirdly programmed. Playing Ghost Recon Online, you have the ability to set some guns to Auto Fire, Burst Fire or Semi Fire depending on your need. With the Auto Fire button enabled, it stops shooting after two shots when your gun is set to Auto Fire, has no impact on Burst and only fires two shots in Semi before you have to press the button again. Normally on Semi, the guns shoots at a steady one bullet at a time pace but with the Auto Fire button enabled, it fires two rapid shots and then just stops.

The Mouse Wheel is solid and the small rubber coating ensures that your finger won't slip during extended usage. The Wheel click is solid and easy. The side buttons also have a reliable and great click. I did not like the placement though as the pressing the front one is a bit of a stretch for your thumb and you will have to be really clawing your mouse to reach it all the time. It is fine for gaming but for daily use, I would prefer if the side buttons were placed a little better.

Button Placement: 6/10

LONG TERM USAGE:

The mouse is working great a month in to my buying it. Aside from the two buttons grinding each other, the mouse is working well. Only time will tell how well it stands up to rough usage. For now it is working great.

LTU: 6/10

CONCLUSION:

I am somewhat surprised at how well this mouse is holding up. It does not feel as cheap and is standing up to daily gaming without showing any wear and tear. The buttons need to be better placed and I would like it to be heavier then it is. Aside from this I would recommend that you give it a try.

Final Score: 25/40

Product Review 1: A4Tech G800V Keyboard

Hello all!

Today I will be doing my first product review.

The A4Tech (www.a4tech.com/) G800V Keyboard. It is a part of their X7 Gaming Devices line.

I recently purchased this keyboard from a sale at Newegg. It was delivered fast as always.

LOOK:

The G800V sports a black and grey paint job with a built in palm rest. It has 8 rubberized key caps (WASD, Arroy Keys.) There are a total of 15 Macro Keys and Media Control Keys as well.

It sports a Mode Key and a key to turn the Windows Key On and Off. However this part of the keyboard feels very cheap as it has a sticker with a very small "bump" of a key and spoils the overall aesthetics somewhat. Also the Right Shift key sits much lower than the rest of the keys and that looks somewhat odd as well.

Also, as seen in the picture, the G6 key sits somewhat higher than the rest of the keys. I do however like the fact that they haven't shortened the Backspace key. Interestingly there is no "G8" key. They skip over it from G7 to G9 and that is a little odd.

Looks: 6/10

FEEL:


I personally prefer a more "clickey" feel to keys whereas the G800V sports a very soft click. It is not a negative feature just more of a observation. If you like soft click you will enjoy it. The keys G1 through G4 actuate with much more force than the rest of the keyboard and I actually like it. The Rubber keys feel very good to touch and give a good grip.

Feel: 6/10

SOFTWARE:

The software is quite easy to understand and operate (though I haven't delved much in to Macro Settings.) and it also let's you download custom macros for some games (Most notably Counter Strike.)

Software: 7/10

LONG TERM USAGE:

This is where I feel I cannot give high scores to this keyboard. After about a month of using it, I have started noticing some small things.

Look at the 2 & 3 Keys

I press the 2 and 3 key with my middle finger and as you can see they have started slanting. They 2 Key is slanting more to the left while the 3 Key more to the right.

Similar deal with the Left Ctrl Key. I don't use it as much but it has started sitting askew as well. The F Key as well is now sitting at a lower place than the rest of the keys surrounding it.

It seems like the most often used keys are sitting lower as compared to other keys and this is somewhat disconcerting. I feel like this keyboard will not last as long as it should. Also for being a "Gaming" Keyboard it should outlast my budget keyboard which was basically a $4 keyboard and it is still serving me great after 4 years of heavy use.

Also when you tap the keyboard, some of the keys jiggle. All of this combined makes me feel like this keyboard will not last too long.

LTU: 4/10

CONCLUSION:

I had high hopes for this keyboard when I un-boxed it. However over time, I feel less and less pleased with my buy and were it not for the sale, I would not recommend anyone else buying it. The options are good, the software pretty easy to use however, I am less than pleased with the rest of the things. Specially the price point at which it is sitting (US$ 59.99 on NewEgg) it competing against Thermaltake, ROCCAT, SteelSeries and that is a challenge it is definitely losing.

Final Score: 23/40