Share Your PC Setup / Rig / Desk / etc
 

I searched and found a thread titled "official computer geeks thread" but the last post was in 2011, and I wanted a thread that was specifically for sharing how you have your PC setup on your desk and whatnot. If there is a thread on that, i'd love to see it, but for now, i'm just posting a new one.

Anyway, share some pictures of your rig:

http://i57.tinypic.com/10hn3u8.jpg

Sorry for the ****ty quality. There's little to no lighting in my apartment right now. I also want people to keep in mind that for my setup right now, I haven't got everything that I want to make my PC the setup that I want. I've gotten a few things here and there to get it to that point, but i'm still in the early stages of getting it to a point that i'm super duper proud of it. I'm proud of it now, but there's still some stuff that I want.

Why no lighting? You and LiL not paying the bills?

I'm particularly fascinated by the "cup w/ quarters in it".

Nah, just the living room doesn't have any lights in it. We need to get a lamp or something but haven't gotten to it. The only kind of lighting comes either from outside or from the kitchen to the left.

Just took this...

http://i.imgur.com/xqVlixO.jpg

Just upgraded my computer setup as well. Here are the relevant specs:

MOBO
- ASRock X99 Extreme6

CPU
- i7-5820k

RAM
- 16GB DDR4

GPU
- GTX 980 Ti

STORAGE
- 120GB OS SSD
- 120GB Program SSD
- 80GB Sample SSD
- 500GB Data HDD
- 1TB Backup HDD

MONITORS
- Main: Qnix 1440p 27 inch
- Secondary: Asus 1080p 24 inch

I guess I could talk about all the other stuff in the room if anyone is interested.

Edit:
I just realized I didn't spec out the gray cat. It's a cat. Female. Gray. Only about a year old or so. Not mine. Runs really fast.

^I've been considering switching to that format for my duel monitors. I've seen some people do that and apparently it's supposed to help with resolution in some way or another. What are your thoughts? And what did you use for the mount?

Also, for mine, I forgot to mention that I have a 1TB hard drive along with a 1TB backup hard drive.

Best decision I ever made, second to going from spinning disks to SSDs.

1440p is pretty awesome. Granted, you need 1440p content to actually appreciate it graphically (and there are even Youtube vids out there at 1440p now), but it's mostly about gaming. Most modern games support that resolution without scaling up. The result is phenomenal. I'm currently playing The Witcher 3 on this resolution now. I bought it when I was playing on a 660Ti at 1080p, so I noticed the difference.

Other than that, the screen real estate is great. You get a lot more space for the monitor, but at the same time, everything is a lot smaller. Pixel density, as it were. It scales everything down. I'm not hard of seeing up close, though, so it doesn't bother me.

For monitoring, basically any Qnix monitor (these will be the best bang for your buck. So cheap for 1440p, using mainstream panels in their configs too) is going to have a ****ty stand. I already had a VESA stand because I've always needed a vertical mount for multiple monitors due to space regarding my studio speakers being in the proper position, so what I did was disassemble the bezel/case of the monitor and just remove the leg for the stand, then mount it via a VESA mount onto my pre-existing vertical stand.

Of course, you can just mount the foot on the leg that's already there, but most people review the Qnix monitors as having an unsturdy stand, but how many of us are hanging off our monitors anyway?

Edited my specs. I have the GTX 980 Ti, not 960 Ti. Big ****ing difference.

http://i.imgur.com/BSCWhfp.gif

That sounds awesome! I'm not too picky when it comes to scaling things down since I as well don't really have much issue with how close my monitors are, but that would still be pretty cool. I may definitely look into that then because even from you, i've just heard nothing but amazing things. I've got a pretty big desk but being able to save space is always a nice touch. On the side, i've been thinking of ditching the stands that my monitors sit on and going with a desk mount for each monitor since that would allow me to be able to have the monitors at the edge of my desk and i'd still be able to mess with them to get the right angle etc without having to worry about the space that the stands are taking up.. Eventually down the line i'll make the switch to the top and bottom monitor setup once i feel like upgrading. Eventually even further down the line, i'm planning to get a third monitor, but it'll be much smaller than my two 27'' and it'd be mostly used for things like running virus scans, etc and to just have on the side if I need to drag any Steam chatboxes over too etc etc. Plus, more monitors is always fun to mess around with.

And nice touch with the GTX 980. Ever since I got my GTX 960, i've never looked back. Best money I ever spent.

If I didn't have a music mixing/mastering hobby, I'd personally go with 3 monitors horizontally. Main monitor in the middle, smaller peripheral monitors on either side. It helps the neck, believe me. Having to go vertical was only a function of necessity for me, because I've always been in rooms where I needed my speakers to be equidistant to my listening position, so I could never really scale out horizontally. And because I love big monitors, there's really not much I can do to prevent that, short of building a custom desk with inlaid, angled monitors for my peripherals. (which I totally want to do when I buy my house!)

If you're headphones mostly, or just gaming in general with even speakers that don't need to be positioned perfectly in a particular way in respect to your listening position, I'd say it's better to just scale horizontal. Big bad ass screen for the middle, which is your gaming screen, and maybe two smallers on either side that you can rotate vertical or horizontal to adapt to your needs. Swivel monitors are great for this. Then you have all the screen real estate you could ever need, and goddamn the productivity is like 10/10.

I used to use a 37'' TV for my main monitor before I got my two 27'' monitors. The 37'' was a bit too much for me to handle especially since the resolutions were all a bit wonky and I just didn't like it. It was only temporary anyway. Not too big on the bigger screens since I fell in love with the 1920x1080 resolutions for both my monitors. It's perfect for what I like to do.

https://scontent.fsan1-2.fna.fbcdn.n...52&oe=56149555

Tried the two monitor thing for a while but just couldn't adjust to it. I'm using a 25" Ultrawide LG monitor with an AMD FirePro V4900 card in a Dell workstation with a Xeon 2.8 Ghz processor and 18 GB of ram.

How can you not adjust to 2 monitors? It's like... double the screen real estate. If you're minimizing windows in order to look at another, you're working backwards. Extended desktop on 2 or more monitors is the business!

Also, forgot to add my audio interface(s) to the mix.

Originally I was using an Echo Audiofire 12 (12 in, 12 out) and recently when I changed up my computer, it "broke". I thought it was the Firewire interface, so I had one next day'd to me as a replacement. Still didn't work... so I'm like "welp. must be the interface" and ordered a Saffire Pro 40. Plugged it all in (like Wednesday) and it still didn't work. F*ck. Then I realized... well goddamn, troubleshooting 101, check the damn cable, right? Put in a spare, and it freaking works.

So I bought a Firewire card and an entire new interface because of a bad cable.

You live, you learn, and you sometimes end up with redundant equipment should the sh*t really actually die!

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...pszm3rmt5s.jpg

My workhorse
 

My computing needs have been consistent for the last 10 years - I need a 24/7 workhorse media server with an external DAC for lossless audio, 6TB of internal storage mirrored to 6TB of remote external storage and a 2nd mirror on the cloud, an ISP with no data caps, and just enough power for database management, image editing, occasional video work, and 0 lag on large media libraries of 100,000+ files.

My current server is dual booting Ubuntu and Windows 7 64bit, has an AMD FX-4300 CPU, 8GB Dual-Channel DDR3, a Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2 mobo, and a U-Control UCA202 DAC (a fallback after my Cambridge Audio DACMagic died).

A local computer repair shop built the custom tower for $350 three years ago and I picked up a second-hand DELL E228WFP 22" widescreen monitor for free. As a rule I never spend more than $350 on a workstation.

Additional cooling set me back $19 and keeps the server at a happy 10-35°C.

This box provides me access to over 13,000 of my favorite albums and 16,000 of my favorite movies and TV shows from any web-enabled device (god bless unlimited data.)

For sound, I'm running a Denon DP-60L rosewood TT with an Ortofon 2M red cart, Focal 814v floor speakers, a Harmon Kardon copper faced tube powered 1950s tuner, AudioQuest Python balanced interconnects, XLO Ultra cables, Tributaries Silver series RCAs, and various pre and power amplifiers including a McIntosh C39, an Integra ADM2.1 power amp, formerly a McIntosh MAC 4280 vintage receiver, a Sonance SonAMP, a Yamaha 640 70s receiver, and a NAD L40 CD/integrated amp. Each of these are connected with my music server (and I've a Philco 47-1227 9 tube console radio-phonograph on the side.)

For monitors I run Sennheiser HD 380 Pros.

I couldn't be happier.

Old habits partly. Been using a single screen for eons. I sit about 18" from my monitor so it pretty much takes up most of my field of vision, plus I'm never doing two things at once.

AKG 240s! :beer:

Bought mine in 1982-3??? Still got them and they still sound amazing.

Love the setup, Pete, but i've gotta say i'm surprised to see that you don't do the duel monitor setup. Your specs sound awesome though so that makes up for it :p

I love the mic setup as well. I've been thinking of doing the same thing in the near future.

My lab at work, where I spend most of my computer time:

http://i.imgur.com/R2MQY2R.jpg?1

- Two mid-range Dell laptops, one with Windows 7 one with XP
- One mid-range Dell PC with Windows 7 and various virtual machines
- One nearly ancient COMPAQ DeskPro running Windows 2000
- HP 8753D 30 kHz - 3 GHz Network Analyzer
- R&S FSEB 30 20 Hz - 7 GHz Spectrum Analyzer
- Three R&S SMIQ 03 300 kHz - 3.3 GHz Signal Generators
- 10 GHz GPS Reference Signal Generator
- HP 436A Power Meter
- HP DC Power Supply / Digital Multimeter
- Three extra monitors for various uses
- An endless cycle of various amplifiers, routers, switches, and cellular coverage systems

I don't own any of it of course, but I am the only one who uses it.
At home I just have a mid range ASUS laptop with no specs worth mentioning. Won't be buying a gaming computer until Fallout 4 drops in November.

http://i.imgur.com/0JJjBZI.jpg

Text says: new addition to already existing setup.

Anyway, obvious changes to my setup, more specifically the new mic w/ pop filter etc etc. Really excited to have this now. I just ordered a shock mount since I forgot to order one when I already everything else. Lookin' pretty snazzy though.

Image sized really weird but yes, those are duel 27 in screens. They look a lot smaller for whatever reason.

Picture a 20 year old machine and that's pretty much my set up. It's nothing flash, but it does what i want it to............Cost me nothing either

http://i539.photobucket.com/albums/f...psvebm8op9.jpg

I believe I've posted this somewhere here before, but what the heck. JBL L200 Studio Masters, with some Bose desk monitors, all running through a Marantz SR-19, which is connected to my PC using an RCA to .125" adapter into an M-Audio interface. I run my HD500 left mono to the Line 6 cab, and right mono to the Peavey KB300, then headphone out to the PC system through the same M-Audio interface utilizing the .25" input. This what I use to jam and record. My PC is just an old Acer running Vista. Nothing special. I've been wanting to put a 60" LCD up in the corner that will be utilized as a second screen as well as to be used for cable TV. Soon.

Wow Vista...I'm still revelling in the joy that is XP lol

Nothing wrong with that. Except less RAM.

my whole set up is stock as it was back in the day........It was originally running 98 when i scored it

I still have a 98 machine. I just pulled the HD out of it and grabbed all my old files a couple months ago. Memories.

lol yeah my monitor sits on my old 95 machine.........And it still works

My theory is if it still works why change it. Though the 98 was a "had to" more than a want

Haha, Plankton are those the “real” pictures from that rockguitar 101 guy?

They're shopped. I needed to fill the space.

You need to get them framed and put on your wall for realz.

Compaq C700 laptop (around 10 years old maybe) with missing/sticky keys and missing left touchpad button, running Windows XP, slow as hell.

I'm not really sure where to ask this, so I'll just post it here. I'm looking to get either a laptop or a desktop which can play most high end games perfectly. Do I really need a top of the line graphics card etc. to play these? Or will I need to fork out more?

High end games smoothly? No.
High end games smoothly with max graphics? Yes.

You don't need to drop a boatload of money to run high intensity games with reasonable fps on medium graphic settings, and building/ordering it yourself will help save a lot.

Desktop would be better suited, much easier to swap out parts. If you just want to game at 1080p on high settings you're probably going to want to look at a GTX 960 which is about 140 quid. That said though you'll probably want at least an i5 processor like the 4590 which is roughly around 130 pounds. From there it's just figuring out the best motherboard, case, PSU (probably something at least 750 watt), cooling, RAM, peripherals and operating system.

You can buy pre-built but you will be paying more, but there are some stores that will let you buy the parts and then they will build it for you. I'd recommend checking out Pick Parts, Build Your PC, Compare and Share - PCPartPicker, it lets you make PCs and will tell you if there are any conflicts. You can also look at mitigating costs by going AMD but I've never had any experience with either their CPUs or GPUs but a number of people do use them. The biggest problem is one company or another gets in bed with a game dev and they get the better drivers first.

^i can backup the GTX 960 suggestion. Ever since I got mine, its been the best purchase I ever made.

Cheers guys.

Can you point out names of games you are playing and what settings and resolution?

In any case, there doesn't need to be any guesswork about this, there are graphics card benchmarks out there that can give you a firm idea on what your frame rates are going to look like.

Take it from me, a gamer and someone who built his own PC.

My current PC is incapable of playing pretty much anything. I've since looked up specific cards etc. and have a fairly good idea of what I would need, and it's definitely not the real high end stuff.