550D vs Define R4

[airdeano]

come over to the fractal club and check it out....
the noise isnt at all an issue with or without the door.. personally, nix the door for performance.

airdeano

 

[hoofhearted4]

as of now, the Arc Midi has my vote. only thing though (as i dont want to do case modding myself) is i cant figure out how to buy the side panel window. do they even sell to the US? no where on the page of the window does it say how much it costs or where to buy?! if i cant get the window in the US then it looks like ill have to keep looking at other cases. the 690II Advance had my eye too but idk much about it

 

[airdeano]

i dont think you will be disappointed with the FD arc midi. great choice

as of now, the windowed side-panel is scheduled for release. was september..
its september and no panel.. but maybe by the time you pull the trigger
on the case the panel will be available.

theres nothing to cutting the window.. i did it.. link see thread #5
i believe it is better than what fractal is releasing..
check it out.

airdeano

 

[hoofhearted4]

ya, a little bit of google work and i found out the window has been revealed but not released, except for the Define R4, and only if you buy it with the case (ie not a stand alone part)

and im sure it will be out by the time i buy the case, i have months before i go on this build. the only thing i can foresee changing my mind on the Arc Midi, is if the 550D comes out with a good window. i still like the looks of the 550D the best, and it can hold the h100 and with a window it would be my final choice, but unless that happens, Arc Midi w/ Window will probably be my choice.

modding may be easy for you, but not for me. ive never done it. never even built a system before. not even sure if i have the correct tools to mod a case. so i just prefer to stay away from it. at least for now.

thanks for all your help airdeano!!! its very very much appreciated!!

 

[airdeano]

i never done it at all years ago, myself.. so i ripped the side-panel off and cut a
hole in the panel, hot-glued a plexi panel and now its the same, but now using
double-sided tape.. not doing it because you haven't is like not breathing
because you dont know how... if you booger one up.. no worries..
$15 plus hsipping and try again!

suggestion:
buy your system in a couple of months (black friday is best for prices).
dont worry about panel windows.. there are other more important issues
to address till then.

airdeano

 

[hoofhearted4]

honestly, though i would love to build it that soon, idk if ill even have the money by Black Friday. My Target date is sometime around Tax Returns, Early next year. if i feel i can save/spend the money comfortably before then, then i will. but i dont see having enough money by black friday unless every piece i want is on sale lol, which they usually arent

 

[airdeano]

ahh but usually i thought the same and watching the etailers flyers and email
blasts you can stategize the major stuff and worry about lil items later..
rom drives, coolers, peripherials, etc...

airdeano

 

[hoofhearted4]

ahh but usually i thought the same and watching the etailers flyers and email
blasts you can stategize the major stuff and worry about lil items later..
rom drives, coolers, peripherials, etc...

airdeano

This. Plus i was actually doing a little bit of number crunching. while over estimating the price of bills and the cost of my rig and underestimating the income from my check, i still would have just enough to pay for it all. thats not including any deals i may come across on black friday or cyber monday and in addition, that monday i would be able to put in another check (which didnt figure into my estimations) so if everything goes according to plan, i actually could build this rig on black friday/cyber monday, and if necessary even drop the $100 in fans or something else to lower the build cost even more and buy those later!

 

[airdeano]

there ya go.. stratigize and plan.. the big ticket items would be:
processor
motherboard
GPU
power supply
case
memory

pretty much in that order.. remember some used equipement can be cost
savers as well.

airdeano

 

[hoofhearted4]

there ya go.. stratigize and plan.. the big ticket items would be:
processor
motherboard
GPU
power supply
case
memory

pretty much in that order.. remember some used equipement can be cost
savers as well.

airdeano

and monitor. being my first build, i need one of those too.

as i said, waiting on fans alone would save me $100 initially. that right there, should be enough if i cut it closer then i estimated. on top of that, i could skimp on an early keyboard. i plan on getting the K90, but it wouldnt kill me to buy a $15 one for a while. same with the H100. wouldnt kill me to stick with the stock cooler for a bit those 3 would save me like $300. then even further is the HDD. i already have an SSD i just bought and stuck in my laptop that will eventually go into the PC. if necessary i could use an old laptop HDD for the time being, theres another $100. i cant believe i never really thought of it to begin with, but i could be more then ready to build this PC come Black Friday/Cyber Monday.

 

[airdeano]

i use my SSD for the OS, a laptop drive as storage, and network for mass-storage.
even using a USB 3.0 external HDD would be pretty quick. but your thinking
is spot on, yeah it'd be nice to have it all plop into your lap... but if funds
dicate otherwise than that'll be how it is played..

airdeano

 

[hoofhearted4]

i figure worst case scenario, if i dont feel like i have enough saved up by Black Friday/Cyber Monday, i could always wait an extra month until Christmas. that would not only allow me an extra month of Checks, but id still get holiday deals/discounts (if applicable) and it would still be a few months ahead of what i was originally planning. that said, im still gunna shoot for the November dates!

 

[Philib]

I love my r3 and the r4 is meant to be even better. I know nothing about the 550d so I dont really have an opinion.