(Part 2) Top products from r/CabaloftheBuildsmiths

1. Ha, that's what I ended up going with. And then it was one of one, an two of the other, then three and two, then...
   
   
2. Hm. That'll be a mild challenge, but I think I can furnish some suggestions.
   
   
3. There're a few pretty solid videos showcasing the sound quality. It's pretty alright, but it's quite clearly "through a cheap-ish mic". You don't cringe listening to it, or anything, but it's quite noticeably worse than a "real" mic. On the flip side, much more convenient, much cheaper, and more than sufficient for a potential future streaming hobby.
   
   I must admit, closed, neutral-with-some-extra-bass, and $250ish (accounting for Modmic) is a bit of a tall order. The first thing my mind goes to is [Focal's Spirit One] (http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/focal-spirit-one-page-3), which is pretty cheap at [$180] (http://www.amazon.com/Focal-529102-SPOH-Spirit-One-Headphones/dp/B007AH7YFU). [The sound is on the warmer side] (http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/FocalSpiritOne2013B.pdf) (bass/lower mids leaning), but with a fairly accurate overall signature. Unfortunately, they're not famous for their comfort, being more of a portability-oriented headphone, and to my knowledge their soundstage isn't much to write home about, a negative trait for a gaming headphone.
   
   [Beyerdynamic's] (http://www.head-fi.org/products/beyerdynamic-dt-770-pro-80-closed-studio-headphones/reviews/4320) [DT770] (http://www.head-fi.org/products/beyerdynamic-dt-770-pro-80-closed-studio-headphones/reviews/3574) is another option worth considering, and the [$180] (http://www.amazon.com/Beyerdynamic-770-PRO-250-ohms/dp/B0006NL5SM) they're currently retailing for is quite a good price, but there's a bit of a wrinkle: in addition to being fairly strongly bassy (enough so to make their marketing as studio headphones rather laughable), the DT770s [have a quite significant treble boost] (http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/BeyerdynamicDT770.pdf). This "v-shaped" sound is quite different from a bassy or warm headphone, with much more forward electric guitars and other treble sound, but even less forward midrange. The DT770 does have the merit of being quite well regarded for comfort, however, and the version which is presently cheapest is also the easiest to drive, meaning an amp is unlikely to be an issue.
   
   The [NAD VISO HP50] (http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/i-love-these-headphonesthe-nad-viso-hp50) is another fairly compelling option, though at [$300] (http://www.amazon.com/Electronics-VISO-Noise-Isolating-Over-Ear-Headphones/dp/B00E1UVXHO) it's definitely on the higher end. I believe it should still fit into budget, however. The HP50's biggest selling point is a "speaker-style" sound signature, which replicates the sound of listening to music on speakers (which would reflect some attenuation of treble due to the distance between the speaker and the listener). [Measurements show it to be more neutral than most warmer headphones] (http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/NADVISOHP50.pdf), but most subjective review places it on the bassier side of neutrality. The comfort, however, has been criticized due to the atypical shape and fit.
   
   To be honest, the first headphone that comes to mind in this circumstance is [MrSpeakers'] (http://www.head-fi.org/t/693071/review-mr-speakers-mad-dogs-a-hard-to-beat-closed-option) [Mad] (http://www.head-fi.org/products/mrspeakers-mad-dog-t50rp-mod/reviews/9602) [Dog] (http://www.head-fi.org/products/mrspeakers-mad-dog-t50rp-mod/reviews/9701). The most famous of the Fostex T50RP variants, the Mad Dog's sound has been characterized as on the bassy side of neutral, [which its measurements support] (http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/MrSpeakersMadDog2014.pdf). Sadly, while it's very well regarded for sound quality, and one of the cheapest orthodynamics on the market, the Mad Dog is quite hard to drive, and the amp (and DAC) you'd want to support it would put you considerably over budget.
   
   Beyond these closed headphones, just to be complete, there are a few open headphones which you may want to consider, as your Modmic, judging by my own experience and that of many others, shouldn't have trouble with leakage at lower volume levels:
   
   [Hifiman's] (http://www.head-fi.org/products/hifiman-he-400/reviews/9192) [HE-] (http://www.head-fi.org/products/hifiman-he-400/reviews/8643)[400] (http://www.head-fi.org/products/hifiman-he-400/reviews/6872) is an exceedingly well-regarded headphone for EDM, and in general for that matter. While it would also want for an amp, but at [$250] (http://www.razordogaudio.com/collections/hifiman/products/hifiman-he-400-planar-driver-over-the-ear-headphone-1) for an open-box unit, you've got enough budget space to fit in something affordable. Their sound is typically characterized as bassy, with fairly strong treble, but [their measurements don't show too much variance] (http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/HiFiMANHE400.pdf). They're definitely not neutral, but they shouldn't be too coloured to enjoy a variety of genres. The comfort and build quality has always been a sticking point for Hifiman products, and the HE-400 has received criticism for both, but their price/performance is exceptionally well regarded, particularly at $150 less than their formal average street price.
   
   [Philips Fidelio X2] (http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/boss-philips-fidelio-x2) also definitely deserves a mention. [$300, albeit sadly out of stock for the moment] (http://www.amazon.com/Philips-X2-27-Fidelio-Headphones/dp/B00O2Y2MZG), but very easy to drive, and supposedly one of a fairly small body of open headphones which is well-regarded by bass lovers, the X2 has received some of the most universal praise I've seen for any headphone. It seems like nobody has a complaint about it, other than those who just don't like its [quite blatant bass emphasis] (http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/PhilipsFidelioX2.pdf).
   
   The last option, and one which I must confess some bias towards myself as its one of my absolute favourite headphones, is [AKG's K7XX] (http://www.head-fi.org/t/743280/the-akg-k7xx-massdrop-first-edition-thread), currently on Massdrop for [$200] (https://www.massdrop.com/buy/akg-k7xx-massdrop-first-edition-headphones?mode=guest_open). A rebranded AKG K702 65th Anniversary Edition, the K7XX breaks away from the rather famously bass-light sound of the K701/2 with a [moderate but noticeable bass boost] (http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AKGK712.pdf). I have a pair of these myself, and while they're no longer my single favourite headphone since I've successfully constructed a pair of ATH-AD2000s in an AD700 shell, they're still easily in my top 3, and a really fantastic value at $200. The K7XX, like the other open headphones here but to an even degree, has a truly impressive soundstage. The K700 series has long been held up as the standard for positional audio headphones, and the K7XX is definitely not an exception. There's an amazing sense of depth and breadth to the soundstage, and the positional audio is pretty darn top notch. They do require (or, at least, significantly benefit from) an amplifier, but a $75 FiiO E10k should viably drive them while leaving room for a Modmic in the budget. They're also one of only a few headphones I've heard that I didn't dislike for anything. Their presentation is accurate, but the extra bass means it's not too sterile, and the neutrality really does flattery any music that you actually do like.
   
   Now, this said, I'm not sure that, if I were just going to listen to metal and EDM, I would choose the K7XX as my go-to headphone. Honestly, for me, that would probably be the time to go for a Beyer, as I find that their particular sound is really excellent for both EDM and metal (particularly the latter). However, if you wanted a headphone which will give any genre a fair presentation, perform well for its cost, be just about the best option possible for gaming, the K7XX is something you should seriously consider it, and with this drop supposedly being the last, it seemed better to mention it as an option than to omit it.
   
   Sorry for the wall of text! I, er, really like audio...

Howdy. I'm not a buildsmith, so I'll defer to /u/transam617's expertise. Just some additional food for thought here: I noticed you mentioned that you'd like a quiet build. The strength of your preference, your definition of quiet, and the background noise in your environment will all play a part in how relevant the following advice is.

The fans in the case that /u/transam617 specified will run at 1200 RPM, and the ASRock motherboard may or may not have the ability to control their speed. They're three-pin voltage-only fans. Other fans have a fourth PWM pin (pulse-width modulation) that allows very fine control of fan speed, which is what almost all motherboards support on their four-pin fan headers for speed control. Some motherboard manufacturers support voltage speed control of three-pin fans, but the ASRock manual doesn't make it clear that they can do this. They say vaguely that you can set "fan speed and voltage" which hopefully is true. ASUS definitely supports voltage speed control and will even automatically calculate the voltage range by lowering voltage and measuring fan speed until it cuts out, and then setting a threshold so you don't stall the fans. Unfortunately ASUS' B350 board has some pretty gnarly reviews out there at the moment, there seem to be a lot of firmware/BIOS related issues with the board, so it's a bit hard to recommend for the moment.

So, with the ASRock board, if you find that the case fans are too loud for you consider a fan speed controller like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zalman-Fan-Speed-Controller-FANMATE-2/dp/B000292DO0/ - Just mount it with some foam tape internally and dial in the speed you want. Or, mount it through / onto the rear of the case. It's not pretty, but it's cheap!

Couple that with a fan splitter and you'll have speed control over your case fans so you can scale them back to 700-800 RPM where they will be virtually inaudible.

I also noticed that transam617 recommended a 7200 RPM HDD. That drive is a great value, but 7200 RPM drives can be a bit noisy. If you're very noise sensitive, consider a 5400RPM drive instead. You can get a WD Blue drive for an extra 4 quid. The drive will be slower, but you'll be keeping the games you play on the SSD and the speed hit isn't that noticeable for your mass storage tasks (dormant games, photos, videos, etc). The noise reduction is definitely worth it.

Last, the PSU. That model has a fan that can peak out above 2000 RPM, which would be loud. It does have fan control, and should idle at a much lower speed. The reviews I see for the unit don't discuss fan speed, so it's probably not an issue at normal loads. As a fan with a 2000 RPM peak it may not be capable of going much slower that 800-1000 RPM, which is still noticeable. TBD.

In my most recent silent build, the HDDs were the loudest item in the whole build after I got all my fans under control.

So, all this considered, if I wanted to take the other build and make it silent, I'd swap the HDD and PSU and add a CPU cooler as follows. I'd then be above your budget, but this is just for your consideration so you can see where you might be headed if you want extreme quiet. If you build Transam's build and find something is noisy, we can easily help you determine which part it is that you can hear and we can provide guidance to help you achieve the sound level you desire.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor | £190.83 @ Ebuyer
CPU Cooler | Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | £25.66 @ Novatech
Motherboard | ASRock - AB350M-HDV Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | £64.38 @ CCL Computers
Memory | *Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | £124.58 @ Aria PC
Storage | *Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | £76.80 @ Amazon UK
Storage | Western Digital - Blue 1TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive | £44.55 @ Eclipse Computers
Video Card | Asus - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Dual Video Card | £235.09 @ More Computers
Case | Fractal Design - Define C ATX Mid Tower Case | £63.39 @ CCL Computers
Power Supply | EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | £83.99 @ Ebuyer
Operating System | Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro Full - USB 32/64-bit | £39.00 @ Amazon UK
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | £948.27
| *Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-14 11:09 BST+0100 |

-ITX

Sounds like the 305's would fit the bill then, you may have to hang them, but for the dollar they are very good.

>Years ago, people used to be all about tweeters. Is it worthwhile having one?

Er, the tweeters on the LSR's are very good, Im not sure if you are confusing the waveguide tops on the speakers with a traditional dome tweeter. Both serve the same purpose, but the waveguide just distributes sound better than domes do at this pricepoint.

The only thing you may want with these speakers is a separate subwoofer. If you want to get one, it'll be a tight fit in the $600CDN you have to spend on the audio stuff.

This would probably work, but would put you $50 over:

https://www.amazon.ca/America-12-Inch-430-Watt-Down-Firing-Subwoofer/dp/B0000Y2WYS

Good response down to about 30Hz, which should compliment the LSR's nicely in your small room though if you can spend a bit more, the F12's are a bit better:

https://www.amazon.ca/BIC-America-F12-475-Watt-Subwoofer/dp/B0015A8Y5M/

Total: $1,401

$380 Monitor 27GL83A-B https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YGZL8XF

$490 GPU EVGA 2070 Super 8 GB https://www.microcenter.com/product/609535/evga-geforce-rtx-2070-super-black-gaming-overclocked-dual-fan-8gb-gddr6-pcie-30-video-card

$199 CPU 3600x https://www.microcenter.com/product/608319/amd-ryzen-5-3600x-38ghz-6-core-am4-boxed-processor-with-wraith-spire-cooler

$115 Mobo MSI B450 MAX Tomohawk ATX https://www.amazon.com/MSI-Arsenal-Crossfire-Motherboard-Tomahawk/dp/B07WF6ZQST

$70 RAM Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory https://www.amazon.com/Ballistix-Single-PC4-24000-288-Pin-Memory/dp/B07M9HZFP2/

$72 Case NZXT H510 https://www.microcenter.com/product/606972/nzxt-h510-tempered-glass-atx-mid-tower-computer-case---black-white

$75 PSU EVGA GQ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017HA3SQ8

EDIT: I have the following 1TB SSD but it's unopened and within the return window if there's advice on another SSD or NVMe: https://www.microcenter.com/product/502942/samsung-860-evo-1tb-ssd-3-bit-mlc-v-nand-sata-iii-6gb-s-25-internal-solid-state-drive

Notes:

GPU - I was also considering the 5700XT which gets pretty cheap at Micro Center. I feel like the 2070 Super is worth the upgrade, but I'd like some input here.

Mobo - I was also looking at the Asrock B450 which is $65 cheaper at Micro Center when combined with the CPU. I was reading that you need a 2nd Gen Ryzen to flash the BIOS though? Also that it's not as good for overclocking.

Windows - Is this guide for free windows legit? https://www.windowscentral.com/you-do-not-need-activate-windows-10

Cooling - Are there any cooling concerns with this build? Aftermarket coolers I should buy or fans I should add to the case?

General advice - I've built a PC in the past but just kind of plugging everything in and hoping it worked. Any guides that you could give me would be appreciated. Voltages to check, how to overclock the CPU, overclocking the RAM, any fine tuning for the GPU, testing to make sure the IPS monitor doesn't have backlight bleeding, I've never used a modular power supply before, etc.

Thanks for recommendation. I'm just not sure if I like bass all that much. I listen to music very little. I would use them for playing videos games (primarily FPS) and watching YouTube, hulu, and Netflix. So I'm planning on going with the The Shure SRH1540 ($499) when I save up.

All my parts should be here by Thursday.

Amazon a day later sold the video card and SSD card cheaper right after I bought those parts -_-

Also I was looking at computer chairs. Needed a 2nd option on this. I can only spend $210 on this. I know you are no chairologist expert but... I was looking at these two...

Edit:[ I'm think I'm going to be getting this one... http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Q5XTE8//ref=cm_sw_su_dp?tag=gamingacc-20

I like the way the leather ones look but it's not real leather. In the near future I'm going to be sitting at my desk for many hours everyday so I need to it last and be comfortable. Looks okay but yea. You Have any input? ]

1. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00166DR9S//ref=cm_sw_su_dp?tag=gamingacc-20
   
   
2. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008OTSHSQ//ref=cm_sw_su_dp?tag=gamingacc-20
   
   
   Few others I looked at...
   
   
3. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00SWCQHV4?psc=1#
   
   
4. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004C1RULU//ref=cm_sw_su_dp?tag=gamingacc-20
   
   
5. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Q5XTE8//ref=cm_sw_su_dp?tag=gamingacc-20

https://www.amazon.fr/Seasonic-S12II-620W-Alimentation-620-BRONZE/dp/B003BIEOCI/ref=sr_1_82?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1462982521&sr=1-82

Only AMD has a chance of making a gpu that will require a PSU bigger than what you have.

https://www.amazon.fr/BenQ-XL2411Z-Ecran-Gaming-1920x1080/dp/B00HZF2JWA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463064215&sr=8-1&keywords=BenQ+XL2411Z#productDetails from what i found it can rotate every way possible

I'm thinking maybe I want to get another headset for music further down the line, since I haven't been listening to it as much lately, and focus more on one for gaming right now since I will be playing a lot at first, 150+ unplayed games on Steam will take a while.. Would the K7XX be good for that? And even if I were to use them for music from time to time I'm sure they wouldn't sound terrible to me since these were my last headphones.

Worst case scenario I could just sell them if I just despise them for whatever reason, though I don't see that happening. Plus I have a 2.1 Insignia speaker set with a 5" sub-woofer, I know not great please don't cringe, for my PC if I really need to hear some hard hitting bass.

>1x960 is gonna last him forever

At current, it struggles with getting 50fps in FC4 at max without AA. It will certainly not last him "forever", and SLI 960s still can't push 50fps in Crysis 3 at 1080p. SLI'ing middle tier GPUs is generally not the best idea, particularly when the pair costs more than a 970, while still losing to it.

Um... do you mean these Sennheiser 201s? What is he upgrading to?