Hardware advice: The ULTIMATE mechanical keyboard, and modular PSU. (With Far Cry 3 giveaway)

Don't know anything about keyboards, so I'll leave that topic alone. :) Actually I don't know much about power supplies either, so when I'm shopping for one I poke around places like hardocp and jonnyguru. Hopefully someone else can give some better suggestions, good luck! :)

Most power supplies are built by the same few companies such as Seasonic, CWT, Super Flower, etc (OEMs). Other companies then have these companies build PSUs for them or just rebrand reference designs under their own brand such as Corsair, OCZ, Cooler Master, etc.

Decided to add a little bit more. Brand doesn't really matter unless you're talking about which company built the PSU in question. You'll often find that different PSUs within the same brand are sourced from different manufacturers unless it's being sold by the OEM. I'm biased towards Seasonic or Super Flower mostly. 80+ isn't a huge thing either to be honest. Some companies even send different platforms in for qualification and then sell a different unit on the market. In general just make sure you buy a unit that's been well reviewed.

If you're set on upgrading and won't be using more than 2 graphics card, one of these would be good. 1 2

Edit: I know a decent bit about keyboards but since I personally hate Cherry switches, I'll just recommend the OCN forums which I've found to have the best forums for peripherals.

Corsair, Cooler Master and OCZ (edit: almost forget about OCZ) are the brands that I trust for PSU's, I'll assume you already know that you need a Bronze or higher certified PSU, I can't stress enough on how you shouldn't skimp on a PSU, the price doesn't matter only the quality does, because if that PSU goes it can take your entire setup with it. Before you make a decision on a PSU, be sure to read a few reviews from newegg or a similar website to see the amount of RMA's it roughly has, I've found Corsair and Cooler master to have very few in comparison to some of the other brands.

I honestly know next to nothing about keyboards, I'm just a PC builder and I know the brands that I've had bad times with and the brands that haven't ever failed me. (Stay the hell away from Diablo Tek and other OEM PSU's, they're terrible.)

EDIT: Also, I already own Farcry 3, I'd just hate to see someone with a dual GPU setup get torn down from a bad PSU.

I'd say you go for an XEX or Corsair Power supply's,XEX Is cheap,but it dosen't fail,i've been using an XEX 400w PSU for 4 years now,no failures,but if you have cash to spend go for 80+ certified gold corsair cpus :D

Blood Dragon is better in every way, you say it yourself. I have no advice to give, just the best of luck in finding the ultimate kb.

I just ordered a Ducky keyboard, a Zero DK2108S with brown switches and orange backlight. It doesn't have all the features you want, but the Shine 3 DK9008 looks like it does (except it has USB instead of PS/2). I got the cheaper one because I didn't need all the fancy features.
Duckys have a reputation for being extremely solid. I tried one out in a store and it did feel like it was built like a tank.
If you want I can tell you more when mine gets here around the 22nd (I ordered it from China, haha).

I'm also looking for a mechanical keyboard lately, and I think I found the best fitting one for me. It's the cooler master quickfire ultimate, it comes with brown or blue switches (at least those are available for me). It is fully backlit but the color is 'chosen' with the color of the switches. In US layout brown switches come with white backlight. It does not have the feature to be programmable but it has different modes for it's backlight. It has a detachable USB cable and I'm sure you can connect it via a PS/2 adapter. Here a link.

PSU.. SO... im using a be quiet! And I really like it. It doesn't heat up at all and it's quiet!
I'll recommend you the STRAIGHT POWER E9 | 700W it has a 80+ Gold certification and should have enough juice. If you want one with cable management the is the STRAIGHT POWER E9 | 680W CM with a little bit less W.

If there are any typos.. Sorry, I wrote this on my mobile.

so i have a Logitech G19s keyboard and i'm very happy with it. You can change the color of your keys into anything you like, and you can save up to 3 different color profiles. the latest patch for the LCD screen gives you a lot of extra options like in game stats for popular games like League of Legends and World of Warcraft. Also it uses a profile selector which can be used to instantly select different profiles for every game you play. It can also display how much you CPU is using, display your FPS if you have fraps, or play video's through Youtube etc. But if you don't care about the LCD screen you can always check the options below.

Here are some other options i hear are very good:

CM Storm QuickFire TK A simple mechanical keyboard with no macro keys but nice for casual gaming.

Corsair Vengeance K95 mechanical keyboard. If you want a shitload of macro keys on you are better off
getting this one, it's amazing!

Logitech G710+ insanely fast mechanical keyboard from logitech with macro keys. i highly recommend this one.

Rosewill Apollo RK-9100xB Blue Backlit Mechanical Keyboard I don't know much about this one, all i know is that people really like it!

Azio Levetron Mech5 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard This thing looks amazing and a bit over the top. but it should be a nice thing with a lot of extra options.

That's all the keyboards i know by name right now, i hope this helps!

I've had my Blackwidow for years and mine is still kicking, unfortunate that yours is having issues. Honestly, I like my keyboard, but I'm probably gonna end up replacing it soon for something better.

That being said, if I had to buy a new keyboard right this moment, I'd probably go with the CM Storm Quick Fire Ultimate (Friend of mine highly recommends it) or the TT esports MEKA G-Unit. (White version, probably, I think it looks the best out of all of the others.)

When you pick a PSU you need to take mainly two things into consideration: build quality and optimal performance.

While 750W would be enough, since you're deciding to upgrade your PSU it wouldn't hurt get a little bit more powerful PSU, and generally speaking at lease a 850W PSU is recommended for a GTX 770 SLI setup. You never know if some time you decided to upgrade your video cards or overclock your CPU. Also, you could tell us the rest of your rig so we get a better idea of how much power demanding it will be. Also, there is capacitor aging you should take into consideration if you plan to keep your PSU for 1-2+ years and depending of how much you use your computer everyday (24/7, etc). With time part of the wattage capacity is lost because of the electrolytic capacitor aging.

Lets suppose your system demands 350-45W under heavy load, the ideal situation is that your PSU handles well that load in the highest/optimal efficiency. PSUs typically reach the highest efficiency at typical load (50% nominal wattage range), so, a 700-850W PSU would be recommended. You should not get a power supply that is far beyond or below the expected power consumption / optimal range, although newer PSUs handle low, normal and high loads pretty well keeping very good efficiency levels.

As others said, brand is really not important, but the model/manufacturer beneath it. In my personal experience I recommend the Corsair PSUs. In general, Corsair picks good OEM manufacturers for their retail PSUs, and their support service is great and usually long time warranty coverage. Ever since I changed to Corsair PSUs I only had problem with one unit, and while it wasn't originally the PSUs fault what caused the problem, Corsair made no objection to exchange it.

I check the reviews, try to look for similar options, if other models don't offer great advantage over Corsair counterparts I pick Corsair. Depending on your system specs I would recommend a Corsair AX860i or HX850. The real drawback of Corsair PSUs are their price. But with PSU you shouldn't go cheap if you're thinking about building a high end gaming system.

Keep in mind that if you never used modular PSUs also note that adding a new point of attachment/connection, the modular cables, is adding another resistance point to the circuit, so always make sure everything is perfectly fit as you can run into problems. Regardless or modular or not, you will need to do cable management, for better organization, esthetics and airflow, being modular just make less cables being present lying at the bottom of your case.

Stop wasteing money on stupid things and use ur current RIG

My knowledge about hardware is a bit outdated coz today i use a laptop, but i got pretty good experience with a Corsair TX750 and some CM, so i'd probably go for a Corsair AX860 or a Cooler Master V850 - high qualitty, modular and so on.
What about keyboard: right now i use Logitech G15v1. It is about 6 years old and works just perfectly, but if i had to change it i'd buy again Logitech, and it would be a G710+: made for gaming, mechanical, and with CMX brown switches...but overall kinda simple, so if you want an uber safisticated one then take a look on Mad Catz S.T.R.I.K.E. 7 or S.T.R.I.K.E. 5.
Good luck with the upgrade! ;-)

You may want to look at Max Keyboard who have a range of keyboards and offer customization options too. Personally I am happy with my CM Storm Trigger but it may not be quite what you are after.

In terms of power supplies I would suggest looking at Corsair's range. They certainly had a good reputation last time I was looking for a PSU.

Manufacturers I generally trust: SeaSonic, Corsair, Antec, PC Power and Cooling, Silverstone, and sometimes Cooler Master.
Of that list, my most trusted are SilverStone and SeaSonic.
The others have some series that are excellent but some that are not on par. For example, Corsair makes some great PSUs (AX line is outstanding and HX is very good too), but they also have a TX line that can be hit and miss and then a base model line or two that generally aren't for someone putting good money parts into a system.
If you stick with these brands, just get the highest efficiency unit you can and the quality typically follows suit with efficiency.
I LOVE my SilverStone Strider Gold 850W unit.

For keyboard, I'd highly recommend Ducky, Corsair (depending on which switch you want since they mostly offer MX Red), Das Keyboard, and Cooler Master.
Macro keys and LCD screens (like some Logitech models) are things you'll find much less often with mech boards. If you HAVE to use them there are always software macro management applications you can use certainly, though having had a G15v1 I can certainly understand wanting dedicated keys for macros. Gigabyte makes a mech board that comes with red or brown switches and has dedicated macro keys (link). It was recommended to me by a friend who uses one, but I never got a chance to personally try it out.

Does the keyboard, apart from being mechanical, having a detachable USB/PS2 cable and having multicolored backlit programmable keys, also need to be able to bring peace to the world and cure cancer?

I've got a Cooler Master CMStorm Trigger. I love it. Backlit, Cherry MX Browns (but they come in Blues, too), macro keys, built in USB ports, and generally a very sturdy feeling.

For the PSU, I'd say get an 850 or better PSU if you've absolutely gotta update it. I wouldn't settle for less than Silver certification, but that's just me.

dude if you gonna buy second GPU take GTX 780Ti it's the best right now even maybe your stuff will cost just wait few more time & get the greatest stuff so you don't need to change them everytime & for PSU buy 850-1200W then no need to change it too :)

Hm, last mechanical kboard I have read about is this.

As far as PSUs go, you should find out how much of energy your hardware eats. One 770 under load takes around 300 watts, high end CPU + couple of hdd's and some peripherals could make another 200 under load, that makes it 500. I am not completely sure how the cards behave in SLI, but it will certainly add up another 200-300 watts.

And apparently the best option is for your hardware's consumption to amount to around 60% of your PSU capacity. You should imo get something between 1000-1200 W.

Thats just my opinion, but you should get a Gold/Platinum Efficiency PSU, you save a few bucks on the energy bill and they produce less excess heat.

Roccat Ryos MK Pro with Brown switches.

I only have a 550 watt but they have much better. The connector options are outrageous and I believe they have a lifetime warranty. I have had no problem with noise from my machine. I believe this unit is better than "good enough".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww2Tk1gg0Pw

I don't know anything about keyboards, but I can help you with PSU.
-If you want cuality/price, buy that one http://www.pccomponentes.com/aerocool_strike_x_power_800w.html
800W, 80 plus silver, semi-modular and with lot of connections

• If you have money, this will be very good http://www.pccomponentes.com/corsair_rm1000_1000w_80_plus_gold_modular.html
  1000W, 80 plus gold and modular.

Corsair and Seasonic made the best PSU. Aerocool is algo good :D

I'm a huge fan of Corsair's AXi line.

If you want to go for 2 or 3 GPUs, Try this one, a 1200w platinum rated full modular.

This PSU will power a a single top-end GPU or a pair of mid to mid-high range GPUs.

For a PSU with very quiet fans, Cooler Master's Silent Pro series has models appropriate for single or dual GPU rigs. Silverstone's Nightjar series is even quieter due to not even having fans, but they're only suitable for single GPU rigs.

An OEM product just means it doesn't come in a retail box. You'll be lucky to get an instruction manual and a driver disc, but those are nearly always available online. They just come in an antistatic bag and/or a plain box, probably with no logos. It's a great way to save money if you know what you're doing but want to save a little money. Skip OEM if you want to have a nice box to display on the shelf. I try to go OEM when I can if it's cheaper, because the quality is perfectly identical to the retail boxed version.

As for mechanical keyboards, I wish I could help you out with first-hand recommendations. I want one too, but still haven't picked one out. Still doing research.

I'm looking closely at Ducky models from mechanicalkeyboards.com ever since I tried one. They're not trying to be fancy at all, and well priced. No marketing gimmicks from what I can tell.

I've tried some switches, and have settled on Cherry MX Browns. The actuation point in a Brown switch is around halfway to bottoming out, which means I don't have to bottom out the key to get it to activate.

For detachable cables, they're a bit hard to find. Cooler Master makes one, but I haven't tried it so I can't attest to build quality. I hear only good things though, other than 'overpriced.'

I'm also REALLY liking this keyboard.

The keyboard you might be thinking is the upcoming Cherry MX RGB. I happened to write a small news item on my site on its reveal about a month back. [http://www.gamecrastinate.com/gaming-hardware/cherry-mx-rgb-reveal/

There's plenty of good Cherry MX Brown keyboards around, multi-colour backlight is a bit less common though (I'm guessing because it adds a lot to the price). I'd suggest the Corsair Vengeance K70 but it only comes in blue backlight.
I think you can find something to your liking in Coolermaster's CMStorm Quickfire lineup though, they offer a choice of the 4 different MX Cherry switches and offer red backlight.