"I Need a New PC!" 2015 Part 1. Read the OP and RISE ABOVE FORGED PRECISION SCIENCE

Status
Not open for further replies.
Bisnic said:
I'm in Quebec, so that's on the complete other side of Vancouver. :P

How good are the performance on GTX 960 and R9 280X? I don't want them to have a hard time handling something like Witcher 3 on medium/high settings. If I have to pay a little over 300$ CAN, so be it, but i don't want to surpass 400$, taxes included. =/

Are AMD CPUs that bad compared to an i5 for me to need a new motherboard if i want better framerates?
Click to expand...

Depends on the game, but in general I can safely say that Intel i5 processors generally perform better than any currently available AMD processors in terms of framerate. Here's a CPU performance benchmark for Dragon Age Inquisition by Techspot. DA:I runs on the Frostbite 3 engine which apparently scales well with multiple cores, but in framerate performance the quad core i5 still beats out hexa and octo core AMD processors.

It's hard to say for future games that haven't been released yet, but I don't expect future games to get better for AM3 platforms. Any optimizations that allow AMD processors to run better framerates would still largely apply to Intel processors which beat AMD in per-core performance. Having more cores doesn't pay off very well when most games don't make much use of more than 4 cores so stronger single-core performance is still important and means more for overall performance right now.

Rebel Leader said:
Gat I need a network card because apparently my motherboard Ethernet port is causing problems

but which versuion should i get: PCI or PCIe
Click to expand...

What motherboard do you have? I'd probably go for PCI-E as it's newer and faster than PCI. That said, PCI probably wouldn't bottleneck gigabit networking anyway, so it doesn't matter too strongly one way or the other. Get whichever one is cheaper.

This D-Link gigabit PCI model is just $9 and seems to have good reviews all round. It's a bit old but according to this Microsoft webpage, 6 out of 8 users say it is compatible with Windows 8.1. Amazon product reviews also indicate that it should be compatible with Windows 8.

Hip Hop said:
Guys, I'm building a PC for my bro. He's not a big gamer, but I'm sure having a PC now will tempt him into that in the near future. Doesn't need a "max" all PC.

He's budget is a bit low for now so he'll be running on integrated with an i3. Is this a good enough PC? Can I do better. Budget is around $300-$350. Leaving some room for a GTX660-GTX960 in the future and an extra stick of 4GB RAM.

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=27684306
Click to expand...

Link doesn't work. We'll need a screenshot or a public link of some kind. PCPartPicker.com works well for sharing parts lists.
 
Rebel Leader said:
Link doesn't work. We'll need a screenshot or a public link of some kind. PCPartPicker.com works well for sharing parts lists.
Click to expand...

Rebel Leader said:
we can't see it because you are linking it though the account, use pcpartpicker
Click to expand...



here it is.

It's around $350 total on Newegg before mail in rebates.

budget is around $350. Any recommendations, is this fine?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8tpjCJ

EDIT: does the motherboard have to be standard ATX or can a full graphics card fit a Micro ATX board?
 
RGM79 said:
Unless anyone has any specific parts to recommend, something like this should work well:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($178.89 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.10 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($96.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290X 4GB Tr-X OC Video Card ($279.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 (White) Mini ITX Tower Case ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $875.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-10 20:00 EDT-0400

Alternatively, the GTX 970 which may be preferable for the zero fan speed and lower heat, although that'd add around $40 to the cost or so.

If you can wait the two months, AMD should be releasing their R9 3XX graphics card line around June according to rumors.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the build up, I think I'll go with the GTX 970, especially since it comes with a Witcher 3 voucher! Are there any other cases you recommend ? Just want to see wha tother aesthetics are out there since it will be visible, thank you!
 
traveler said:
I haven't looked into parts since I purchased everything for this first computer. While I see a ton of good advice in the OP for building from scratch at different price ranges, I'm a little more confused on what the priority would be for upgrading an existing PC. I'm trying to figure out the specs of my machine without actually being able to use it and, just from looking at labels on parts inside, it looks like I got:

Asus P8 Z68-V mobo
Seasonic SS-750KM PSU
(Assuming I'll have to replace one of those out of necessity)

RAM- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186
MSI Twin Frozr III (I know it's 500 series but can't tell exactly what model- think its an Nvidia 570)
and I can't tell what the cpu is at all. I want to say its an intel i5 2500 series, but that's not a certain. This was bought as a fairly high end computer at the end of 2011, if that makes that seem any more or less likely.

and it currently all fits in a Fractal Arc Midi.

I'd say I can spare around $700 - $800 on upgrades- including any necessary replacements for repair- though I'd really love to hold on to some of that to get one of those new fangled g-sync monitors everyone is talking about later this year.

Thanks in advance for any insight on either my hardware issue or what I should be looking to upgrade.
Click to expand...

I just got my new parts in! Got a Gigabyte z97x, GTX 970, and i5 4690k.

This will be my first time building/modifying a PC. I've already disassembled the old components and taken the RAM and heatsink off the mobo. Bought to make a last minute trip to Fry's for thermal paste- any other supplies I might need while I'm at it?

Thinking of picking a monitor while I'm at it if their prices aren't too bad. What's the best buy currently- Acer XB270HU or the ROG Swift or ASUS PB287Q mentioned in the OP? Should I hold off on a monitor right now for something else on the horizon if I already have a serviceable monitor? I dunno if I really have the hardware for 4k, so 1440p may end up being the best shot.
 
Okay, I think I came up with a better $350 build. I think going with an Mini ITX build.

Any thoughts? Could this support a full graphics card down the road?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YNgTRB

CPU
Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor
$109.99

Motherboard
ASRock H81M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard
$58.99

Memory
G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
$30.99

Storage
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
$44.99 Free two-day shipping with Amazon Prime $44.99

Case
Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case
$49.99


Power Supply
Corsair CSM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
$59.99
 
Hip Hop said:
Okay, I think I came up with a better $350 build. I think going with an Mini ITX build.

Any thoughts? Could this support a full graphics card down the road?



CPU
Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor
$109.99

Motherboard
ASRock H81M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard
$58.99

Memory
G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
$30.99

Storage
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
$44.99 Free two-day shipping with Amazon Prime $44.99

Case
Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case
$49.99


Power Supply
Corsair CSM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
$59.99
Click to expand...


One of the pictures shows a graphics card in it, so it should be fine.
 
Hip Hop said:
here it is.

It's around $350 total on Newegg before mail in rebates. budget is around $350. Any recommendations, is this fine?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8tpjCJ

EDIT: does the motherboard have to be standard ATX or can a full graphics card fit a Micro ATX board?
Click to expand...

Hip Hop said:
Okay, I think I came up with a better $350 build. I think going with an Mini ITX build. Any thoughts? Could this support a full graphics card down the road?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YNgTRB
Click to expand...

A full graphics card will still fit in your mITX build. However, I recommend my version of your earlier build, it costs a little more but has twice the RAM and a better power supply.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-GAMING 3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cougar MG100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($28.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $321.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-11 00:39 EDT-0400

Mini ITX is handy for moving around, but if you want a system that will have more expandability down the line and be a bit easier to build in, you should consider mATX or ATX.
 
JackHerer said:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Lc8R6h

That's my plan right now. I based it off of the Smokey build in the OP as suggested. The only thing I'm really unsure about is the case at this point and that's just purely aesthetics. Am I missing something or does this seem like a good setup?
Click to expand...

Get el cheapo Crucial Ballistix Sport* DDR4 ram and swing up to a 5960X brah'...and you get to keep spare cash...

*low profile, black pcb, nice looking heatsink and will overclock up to 2800Mhz at least.
 
Is there anyway to obtain a G-sync module for the Asus VG248QE? I bought the monitor a couple months back, and now I was looking to seeing about getting the module but nVidia doesn't sell it anymore on their site.
 
Smokey said:
I'll echo what others have said...1k on RAM is madness. But if you like it because you also want a show rig, then I guess it is what it is. I'd probably get the same RAM but from a different company. The Dominator line to me has almost always been for show which is understandable if it's what you want to do.



Go with something in this price range, and use the savings to upgrade to the 5960x. If you're spending this much you might as well get the best CPU you can.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice on the RAM. I will choose something cheaper and upgrade the CPU. I for some reason was thinking the 5960x could not be overclocked but I was confusing it with something else.

Stubo said:
That RAM is absolute madness, there's no way you need to spend that much on it for any reason. Maybe something like G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2800 instead?

I'd probably suggest the Corsair H110i GT over the H105. It's widely regarded as the current king of all in one coolers right now. Check out these sweet numbers!

Other less obvious things I'll leave to the resident high end experts!
Click to expand...

Great thanks! I'll switch to that cooler.
 
Your Current Specs: I have a crappy old laptop that a friend gave me. Gavent owned a proper PC since the first Max Paybe game was released..
Budget: Price Range + Country: USD $600-$700. I'm in China and will be using www.taobao.com and www.jd.com
Main Use: PC Gaming! I want to play GTA5 and the Witcher 3 at 60fps with bells and whistles on.
Monitor Resolution: I travel a lot so will be using hi def TV exclusively - no monitor available. Possibly a projector in future.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: the Witcher 3, GTA5 and so forth.. I'm tired of being a console peasant.
Looking to reuse any parts?: No, but I would like a mini itx form factor for ease of transport.
When will you build?: ASAP but can spread it over two months if it's too expensive.
Will you be overclocking?: No but may try in future once I'm more confident

I've read that the mini itx GTX 970 is a great card, so I would like to build my PC around that if its not too expensive. Any help greatly appreciated.
 
Smokey said:
Looks like the H100i GTX is actually their latest cooler in that line. Here is a review:
https://youtu.be/bFstDuftJow
Click to expand...
While the H100i GTX has the confusion of sounding better because of the 'GTX', it has a 240mm radiator compared to the 280mm H110i GT.

The larger radiator improves temperatures as seen in the graphs for the H100i GTX review here. Even in quiet mode the larger radiator throws out some really impressive performance.

As long as you pick a case which fits 280mm radiators I'd say to definitely go for the 110i GT, custom loops are the only thing better right now but require a bunch more money, effort and maintenance.
 
RGM79 said:
What motherboard do you have? I'd probably go for PCI-E as it's newer and faster than PCI. That said, PCI probably wouldn't bottleneck gigabit networking anyway, so it doesn't matter too strongly one way or the other. Get whichever one is cheaper.

This D-Link gigabit PCI model is just $9 and seems to have good reviews all round. It's a bit old but according to this Microsoft webpage, 6 out of 8 users say it is compatible with Windows 8.1. Amazon product reviews also indicate that it should be compatible with Windows 8.
.
Click to expand...


Gigabyte B85M<-D3H
 
RGM79 said:
You have an equal number of PCI and PCI-E slots. You'll probably never use the PCI slots for anything else, so you could go for the PCI model instead of PCI-E.
Click to expand...

gonna go with the one I posted because it's a bit cheaper and reviews say it's windows 8 compatible

I see that PCI on the card has 2 holes while the port has 1 bump for the hole, this is ok?

and after some thought I'm probally gonna use PCIe for a wireless ac card
 
Rebel Leader said:
gonna go with the one I posted because it's a bit cheaper and reviews say it's windows 8 compatible

I see that PCI on the card has 2 holes while the port has 1 bump for the hole, this is ok?

and after some thought I'm probally gonna use PCIe for a wireless ac card
Click to expand...
It'll be fine.
 
Hi, I'm looking to either buy or make a cheap as possible build to mainly run games from the early to mid 2000's, like Far Cry, Max Payne, the Splinter Cells (although I heard Pandora Tomorrow had issues with shadows on newer systems), etc., but with the possibility of playing newer games at at least a solid framerate.

I also know next to nothing about the components of a PC, so forgive me if anything I say is a load of nonsense.

Budget: Ideally £300 or less, maybe a bit higher. I'm in the UK.

Main Use: As I said, I want to play older titles; mainly ones from 6th gen, but some from last gen too, and just for standard web browsing.

List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well:
  • At least 30FPS on all games (60FPS'll be ideal though), and as high settings as my budget'll get me on older titles. If I could get stuff like Far Cry 3 to run at these framerates that'd be a bonus, but if that'll increase the cost by a huge amount then I'm good
  • Far Cry
  • Splinter Cell Trilogy
  • The Hitman series
  • Max Payne
  • Ghost Recon series
  • The old Medal of Honour games
  • Any of the Sims games

When will you build?: No deadline, but sooner rather than later.

Will you be overclocking?: Probably not.

I've never built a PC before, although I'm sure I could manage it, so I guess a ready made system would be more preferable, but if building my own'll cut down costs I'm absolutely willing to give it a shot.

Thanks!
 
Jimnymebob said:
Hi, I'm looking to either buy or make a cheap as possible build to mainly run games from the early to mid 2000's, like Far Cry, Max Payne, the Splinter Cells (although I heard Pandora Tomorrow had issues with shadows on newer systems), etc., but with the possibility of playing newer games at at least a solid framerate.

I also know next to nothing about the components of a PC, so forgive me if anything I say is a load of nonsense.

Budget: Ideally £300 or less, maybe a bit higher. I'm in the UK.

Main Use: As I said, I want to play older titles; mainly ones from 6th gen, but some from last gen too, and just for standard web browsing.

List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well:
  • At least 30FPS on all games (60FPS'll be ideal though), and as high settings as my budget'll get me on older titles. If I could get stuff like Far Cry 3 to run at these framerates that'd be a bonus, but if that'll increase the cost by a huge amount then I'm good
  • Far Cry
  • Splinter Cell Trilogy
  • The Hitman series
  • Max Payne
  • Ghost Recon series
  • The old Medal of Honour games
  • Any of the Sims games

When will you build?: No deadline, but sooner rather than later.

Will you be overclocking?: Probably not.

I've never built a PC before, although I'm sure I could manage it, so I guess a ready made system would be more preferable, but if building my own'll cut down costs I'm absolutely willing to give it a shot.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

what computer are you using now and do you sill want to use it? Cause it seems just putting it a 750 ti (that is not overclocked and needs no cord from the power supply) will do fine for you and old games. I did the same for my nephew who wanted to play games with his current computer.

Don't know how far cry 3 would run if at all, but you know let me try far car 3 on my computer that has a 750ti SC (though it's not overclocked)

I think far cruy 3 will run atleast 30fps, gonna DL it now

The 750ti alone costs £109 computer power supply needs to be 300 watts or more IIRC
 
This little beauty arrived in the post yesterday and I'm installing it today.

It's a Samsung 256GB SM951 M.2 drive, which is the successor to the XP941. There was only one place selling the 256GB model in the UK afaik so I'm glad I got my hands on one (QuietPC had a shipment of about 20).

Going try and use it as a boot drive so I'll post my impressions later which may be of use to anyone here that wants to go the same route and get a super-fast M.2 drive to boot their system from as opposed to a normal SSD.

10911413_679775228817711_7094400251166634998_o.jpg
 
Rebel Leader said:
what computer are you using now and do you sill want to use it? Cause it seems just putting it a 750 ti (that is not overclocked and needs no cord from the power supply) will do fine for you and old games.

Don't know how far cry 3 would run if at all, but you know let me try far car 3 on my computer that has a 750ti SC (though it's not overclocked)
Click to expand...

I have the late 2010 Macbook Pro (I got it in early 2011 but I'm 95% sure it isn't the 2011 model) as my main machine, which I mainly use for design work, but the computer that we have that I never really use, other than writing essays and research for College before I got my Macbook, and was looking to replace has these specs:

Zoostorm 45CMX VB Series M2, with:
Processor: Intel Celeron CPU E1400 @ 2.00GHz 2.00GHz
Memory (RAM): 2.00GB
System type: 32-bit

And is running on Vista.
Where would I check to see to see the power supply?

Games wise it can run some older titles, but with a hell of a lot of slowdown on a few of them, and there's quite a lot of stuff like the Splinter Cell sequels that just flat out refuse to work, even though the original runs fairly well.

A big problem a lot of the games have is that the character you control will sort of disappear every couple of seconds and flicker.

Thanks again for your help though.
 
Coulomb_Barrier said:
This little beauty arrived in the post yesterday and I'm installing it today.

It's a Samsung 256GB SM951 M.2 drive, which is the successor to the XP941. There was only one place selling the 256GB model in the UK afaik so I'm glad I got my hands on one (QuietPC had a shipment of about 20).

Going try and use it as a boot drive so I'll post my impressions later which may be of use to anyone here that wants to go the same route and get a super-fast M.2 drive to boot their system from as opposed to an SSD.

10911413_679775228817711_7094400251166634998_o.jpg
Click to expand...

The hell is that?
 
Jimnymebob said:
I have the late 2010 Macbook Pro (I got it in early 2011 but I'm 95% sure it isn't the 2011 model) as my main machine, which I mainly use for design work, but the computer that we have that I never really use, other than writing essays and research for College before I got my Macbook, and was looking to replace has these specs:

Zoostorm 45CMX VB Series M2, with:
Processor: Intel Celeron CPU E1400 @ 2.00GHz 2.00GHz
Memory (RAM): 2.00GB
System type: 32-bit

And is running on Vista.
Where would I check to see to see the power supply?

Games wise it can run some older titles, but with a hell of a lot of slowdown on a few of them, and there's quite a lot of stuff like the Splinter Cell sequels that just flat out refuse to work, even though the original runs fairly well.

A big problem a lot of the games have is that the character you control will sort of disappear every couple of seconds and flicker.

Thanks again for your help though.
Click to expand...
I assume you had a desktop, my bad.

I don't know if you will be able to get a PC for the budget but let me try


Do you have a monitor at home or tv that you can hook it up to?
 
Jimnymebob said:
Hi, I'm looking to either buy or make a cheap as possible build to mainly run games from the early to mid 2000's, like Far Cry, Max Payne, the Splinter Cells (although I heard Pandora Tomorrow had issues with shadows on newer systems), etc., but with the possibility of playing newer games at at least a solid framerate.

I also know next to nothing about the components of a PC, so forgive me if anything I say is a load of nonsense.

Budget: Ideally £300 or less, maybe a bit higher. I'm in the UK.

Main Use: As I said, I want to play older titles; mainly ones from 6th gen, but some from last gen too, and just for standard web browsing.

List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well:
  • At least 30FPS on all games (60FPS'll be ideal though), and as high settings as my budget'll get me on older titles. If I could get stuff like Far Cry 3 to run at these framerates that'd be a bonus, but if that'll increase the cost by a huge amount then I'm good
  • Far Cry
  • Splinter Cell Trilogy
  • The Hitman series
  • Max Payne
  • Ghost Recon series
  • The old Medal of Honour games
  • Any of the Sims games

When will you build?: No deadline, but sooner rather than later.

Will you be overclocking?: Probably not.

I've never built a PC before, although I'm sure I could manage it, so I guess a ready made system would be more preferable, but if building my own'll cut down costs I'm absolutely willing to give it a shot.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

If there are any parts you can reuse from your existing PC like the hard drive or case or power supply, that would do a lot to save costs. Otherwise, here's a parts list for an entire new PC.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor (£87.86 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£39.10 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£24.62 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.99 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card (£85.38 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£30.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£49.94 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £355.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-11 13:03 BST+0100

The build as listed only needs a 250 watt PSU at best, I just put a 600 watt PSU there because of future cost consideration (if you ever want to upgrade the graphics card you'll need a new power supply if the current one is too weak). It's better to spend the £50 now for a stronger power supply than getting a cheap PSU now and having to pay more for a new power supply upgrade in the future.

Jimnymebob said:
It is a desktop, not a laptop. It's just that crappy.
It's hooked up to a Dell monitor I think.
Click to expand...

I could be wrong, but it seems like you might be able to just get a new CPU, motherboard, graphics card, and maybe some more RAM. You wouldn't need a new hard drive or case, although I wonder if the power supply you already have is any good, it may or may not have the power cable to properly support the R7 260X graphics card.
 
RGM79 said:
If there are any parts you can reuse from your existing PC like the hard drive or case or power supply, that would do a lot to save costs.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor (£87.86 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£39.10 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£24.62 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.99 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card (£85.38 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£30.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£49.94 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £355.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-11 13:03 BST+0100

To cut costs, you could look into getting a smaller hard drive and maybe a less capable power supply. The PC only needs around 250 watts at best, the 600 watt PSU is only there because of future cost consideration (if you ever want to upgrade the graphics card you'll need a new power supply if the current one is too weak). Better to spend the extra £10~20 now over a weaker power supply than have to pay around £50 extra for a new power supply upgrade in the future.



I could be wrong, but it seems like you might be able to just get a new CPU, motherboard, graphics card, and maybe some more RAM. You wouldn't need a new hard drive, power supply, or case.
Click to expand...

Righteo. Most of my games are physical copies anyway, so I won't be downloading and installing them from Steam or GOG for the most part.

So would I be good to just get those, open it up, and replace the existing parts with the new ones?

Rebel Leader said:
My bad =p



RGM79, I have the exact same list.. holy shit.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's that bad. It was mostly for web browsing and writing essays.
 
Rebel Leader said:
The hell is that?
Click to expand...

Modern motherboards should have M.2 support. It's an SSD that isn't connected through relatively restrictive SATA architecture.

If you want to know what my specific M.2 drive is, read this (although the 256GB model is slightly slower than the 512GB one).

Sequential read speed can reach 2150Mb/s. Write speed 1200Mb/s. My standard Crucial MX100 SSD is 550/330Mb/s for comparison. So this M.2 is around 4x as fast as the SATA SSD. Which is crazy speed!
 
Jimnymebob said:
So would I be good to just get those, open it up, and replace the existing parts with the new ones?
Click to expand...

Yes, I think all you need is a new processor, motherboard, graphics card, and RAM. Perhaps a new power supply as well. If possible can you tell us what model your current power supply is, or take a photo of the label on the side?
 
RGM79 said:
Yes, I think all you need is a new processor, motherboard, graphics card, and RAM. Perhaps a new power supply as well. If possible can you tell us what model your current power supply is, or take a photo of the label on the side?
Click to expand...

and a new mb won't cause problems with his current OS?
 
RGM79 said:
Yes, I think all you need is a new processor, motherboard, graphics card, and RAM. Perhaps a new power supply as well. If possible can you tell us what model your current power supply is, or take a photo of the label on the side?
Click to expand...

Alright, I'll check in a few minutes.
Thanks.

Oh, I didn't realise you have to take the case off to check the power supply. I assumed you could find it in the settings.

I don't have time at the moment to take it out and remove the case, but knowing the PC it's probably powered by a goddamn hamster wheel. Looking online I think similar models, or ones that have the same case, have 230w PSU's, but no idea if mine is the same.
 
Coulomb_Barrier said:
Modern motherboards should have M.2 support. It's an SSD that isn't connected through relatively restrictive SATA architecture.

If you want to know what my specific M.2 drive is, read this (although the 256GB model is slightly slower than the 512GB one).

Sequential read speed can reach 2150Mb/s. Write speed 1200Mb/s. My standard Crucial MX100 SSD is 550/330Mb/s for comparison. So this M.2 is around 4x as fast as the SATA SSD. Which is crazy speed!
Click to expand...

I was thinking about getting one of those instead of a standard SATA SSD, what motherboard do you happen to be using? I've heard of a few people having issues setting those up on their systems, but I never checked into if it's a widespread issue or not.

Those speeds are crazy, though. I think I'm definitely sold on one for when Windows 10 rolls around (for dual-booting).
 
RGM79 said:
Uh, that's right, Windows will need to be reinstalled and may refuse to activate. He'll need to contact Microsoft and tell them it was a system upgrade and then it'll work.
Click to expand...

Would a fresh install of Windows 7 or 8 be easier, or would I still need to go though this?
 
MetalDeer said:
I was thinking about getting one of those instead of a standard SATA SSD, what motherboard do you happen to be using? I've heard of a few people having issues setting those up on their systems, but I never checked into if it's a widespread issue or not.

Those speeds are crazy, though. I think I'm definitely sold on one for when Windows 10 rolls around (for dual-booting).
Click to expand...

Yeah speeds are insanely fast compared to standard SSDs. I think this Samsung is the fastest on the market right now, but apparently lots of firms will be releasing M.2 products later this year.

To complicate matters, we are also starting to see PCIe SSDs, which are SSDs that bypass the SATA architecture as well, which has reached its limit right now. Intel just released a model called the SSD 750 PCIe, which again, is ridiculously fast, but slightly slower than the Samsung SM951.

My motherboard is the X99 SLI Plus. Most boards bought today should have M.2 support with the latest BIOS without any workarounds needed to use these drives as boot devices, only older boards need a little tinkering.
 
Okay, so, annoying situation here.

I had built a non-gaming PC for my family which my brother now uses. 5600K AMD processor and this power supply: http://www.bequiet.com/en/powersupply/325.

Now, my brother wants to play games on it. Yes, I know, not a great idea.

So I want to add a GPU to it. Now, my biggest trouble is with that power supply. I am pretty confident it would run a 750 Ti. But, would it also be able to handle a GTX 960? From what I've researched it should stay within safe margins, but can anyone else give their opinion?
 
Coulomb_Barrier said:
There was only one place selling the 256GB model in the UK afaik so I'm glad I got my hands on one (QuietPC had a shipment of about 20).
Click to expand...

I would've ordered one if the delivery fee to the arse end of the Australia wasn't so damn expensive ($50).

Funny thing is by the time Ramcity will actually have stock, the price would probably end up the same :-\
 
Kvik said:
I would've ordered one if the delivery fee to the arse end of the Australia wasn't so damn expensive ($50).

Funny thing is by the time Ramcity will actually have stock, the price would probably end up the same :-\
Click to expand...

Yeah damn hard to get hold of. As I said there are a few 128GB units on Ebay but you loose a lot of speed at this capacity compared to 256/512GB.

In the next few months much more will be on the market or the Samsung more widely available, hopefully for you Aussies too, so might have to wait a bit.
 
I'm having occasional issues with my current router, I'm looking into buying a new one. I'm not sure if this is the right place or not. I'm willing to spend up to $300. I was looking at the Netgear R7000, though it is so hard to make a decision because every router seems to have some sort of issue in one form or another based on user feedback.
 
So I need a new CPU for upcoming games, especially Witcher 3. My i7 920 isn't doing it anymore. I want to spend around 300&#8364;, 350&#8364; at maximum and only if the 50&#8364; more really make a big difference. However I also need to buy a new motherboard, so that's ~80-100&#8364; right?
I don't need to run every game at 1080/60 but if that's within my price range it would sure be nice however if something big like Witcher 3 runs at stable 30FPS that'd be fine too.
What are my best options?

I was thinking about a i5-4690 and a Asus Z87-C(C2) motherboard?
If there are any comparable motherboard I'd be happy to hear about those too since the Asus one a friend recommended seems to be a bit tricky to get where I live.

I have a GeForce GTX 770 and 10 GB DDR3 right now, so I should be good otherwise.
Not planning to do any overclocking since I'm a coward.
If my Power Supply is relevant for this, I have one with 700W

Thanks.
 
Damn Titan X seems to be sold out everywhere. It's on Ebay with ridiculous markups of course and I certainly won't be buying two of them at that price. I was hoping to get everything together for my build this week but the the GPU sold out on Amazon sometime yesterday. :(

Thanks for all the tips on motherboard, ram, coolers, etc. I'm really looking forward to putting this together.
 
Hi Team!

I got a kickass gaming PC with info from GAF a couple months ago and it's been great.

Question regarding my old secondary PC. With a i5-750, would I be totally CPU-limited if I put a 980 in it? Right now it has a 560ti

Money isn't much of a concern, unless there literally will be very little difference due to CPU
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

The Last of Us Part II Remastered PC Features, New No Return Content Detailed
2 3
131
6K
Insane Metal replied
PS5 price to rise in Europe, Australia and New Zealand
News  3 4 5 6 7
344
17K
adamsapple replied
The Last of Us Part I and Part II Physical Edition seem to be in the works
Rumor  2
76
3K
ArtHands replied
PC Master Race, I need your help!
37
1K
lachesis replied
GVMERS: The Rise and Fall of Twisted Metal
18
661
violence replied
Top Bottom