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"I need a New PC!" 2012 Thread. Ivy, SSDs, and reading the OP. [Part 2]

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T

The Frankman

Banned
mkenyon said:
WA State man. It's totally legal here.
Click to expand...
Ah, gotcha. I once had a big glass of milk and Strawberry Nestle Quik... I tell ya, I was flying!

...

*cough* *cough* well anyway, checking a few guides on SSD tweaks for a Crucial m4 (including everything in the OP). Is there anything more recent anyone has seen that is a must-have?
 
N

NoRéN

Member
The Frankman said:
Ah, gotcha. I once had a big glass of milk and Strawberry Nestle Quik... I tell ya, I was flying!

...

*cough* *cough* well anyway, checking a few guides on SSD tweaks for a Crucial m4 (including everything in the OP). Is there anything more recent anyone has seen that is a must-have?
Click to expand...

How much did you get your Crucial m4 for?
 
A

Artanisix

Member
mkenyon said:
Going to want lots of VRAM and an i5/i7 running at 4.5+ GHz for the CPU constrained games like Hawken.

I think NVIDIA's 3D solution is supposedly a bit better than AMD's. Go with a BenQ XL2420T monitor, and a 4GB 670/680. If you aren't happy with performance, add a second.
Click to expand...

scogoth said:
I would say stick nvidia has their 3D support is quite a bit farther ahead AMD. That being said 3D support is very game dependent. I've never heard of hawken so you will have to research it's 3D compatibility. Dolphin and emulators are extremely CPU defendant and last I tried their 3D implementation (about 8 months ago) was useless and almost all games had rendering problems with overlays, menus, shadows, etc. but I hope it's improved since then.
I would suggest a 670 for its modern games because 3D is effectively doubling the amount of rendering that needs to be done.

Edit: I need to type faster.
Click to expand...

Awesome. Thanks a bunch guys, I really appreciate it.
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
scogoth said:
Off topic but is it a winter wonderland in WA right now? Cause Vancouver is winter wonderland
Click to expand...
I'm in Olympia, which is the rainiest city (of like 50K or more people) in the country. It almost never snows here. I had like two inches at my house 3 days ago, but I'm a good 750ft higher than Oly.

It's just rained non stop for like 3 days.
 
C

Camp Lo

Banned
I've been contemplating going PC for the next gen (or at least until next gen consoles are on their last leg) so here's my criteria:

Your Current Specs: None, own a laptop and I'm gonna build a desktop
Budget: $2000
Main Use Rate importance on a 1-5 scale. (5 Being highest): Gaming = 5, Emulation = 3 (I wanna do Dolphin), HD Streaming = 1, General Usage = 5 (Word, Web, 1080p playback). Monitor Resolution: New monitor so whatever will suffice for most of next gen
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Dark Souls at Max Settings, I'm not even remotely sure what the max settings of a next gen game would be but I'd like to be able to do the first year's best with ease, if that makes sense.
When will you build?: I'll buy piece by piece most likely
Will you be overclocking?: I dunno?
 
N

NoRéN

Member
Holy Crap said:
I've been contemplating going PC for the next gen (or at least until next gen consoles are on their last leg) so here's my criteria:

Your Current Specs: None, own a laptop and I'm gonna build a desktop
Budget: $2000
Main Use Rate importance on a 1-5 scale. (5 Being highest): Gaming = 5, Emulation = 3 (I wanna do Dolphin), HD Streaming = 1, General Usage = 5 (Word, Web, 1080p playback). Monitor Resolution: New monitor so whatever will suffice for most of next gen
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Dark Souls at Max Settings, I'm not even remotely sure what the max settings of a next gen game would be but I'd like to be able to do the first year's best with ease, if that makes sense.
When will you build?: I'll buy piece by piece most likely
Will you be overclocking?: I dunno?
Click to expand...

You could go for the OPs enthusiast build, and then some.
 
S

Smokey

Member
scogoth said:
Yep but if your buying 2560x1600 IPS or 120Hz or three screens then you can afford dual/triple high end GPUs. On another note I'm thinking I might go another 680 I want my 120fps 5760x1080 BF3
Click to expand...

How is nvidia surround? Is your main game just bf3?
 
I

Infinite Justice

Member
xJavonta said:
That's what I recommended to him. But this guy keeps coming back and countering my arguments with stuff like "I doubt he'd be using any type of AA, AA doesn't matter it just makes the game look better." which is leaving my friend Danny (the guy asking about building a PC), confused and conflicted.
Click to expand...

WTF is going on here?
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
I kind of agree, I always have AA set low. I only really care about smoothness and frame rate. I get that it is important to other people though, so I wouldn't dismiss it offhand like that.
 
I

Infinite Justice

Member
mkenyon said:
I kind of agree, I always have AA set low. I only really care about smoothness and frame rate. I get that it is important to other people though, so I wouldn't dismiss it offhand like that.
Click to expand...

but he supposedly said it "looks better" and just left it there.

If it was that AA offers some tradeoff in framerates and stuff that would make it easier to parse and not misunderstand
 
S

scogoth

Member
Smokey said:
How is nvidia surround? Is your main game just bf3?
Click to expand...
It works pretty well for most games. Main game are BF3, various racing games and SCII. Starcraft doesn't work in surround (unfair advantage) and doesnt likevwin8 so I run it in windowed mode.
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
I remember when Eyefinity was first announced. Bought a 5870 day one to get a bigger screen in HoN. It was the same image just stretched across the screens. Then I realized that yeah, they would want to prevent people from having an FOV advantage. :p
 
S

scogoth

Member
mkenyon said:
I remember when Eyefinity was first announced. Bought a 5870 day one to get a bigger screen in HoN. It was the same image just stretched across the screens. Then I realized that yeah, they would want to prevent people from having an FOV advantage. :p
Click to expand...

Even without a FOV advantage having 90 degrees over three screens looks a lot better then 90 over one screen. SC2 should have triple screen support just not for ladder matches.
 
L

Lkr

Member
if my monitor goes to sleep, the audio is disabled when it turns back on. i am using hdmi from the 7850 and the amd beta drivers. is this a known issue with a fix or am i just fucked? only way to get audio back is to restart
 
K

kharma45

Member
Lkr said:
if my monitor goes to sleep, the audio is disabled when it turns back on. i am using hdmi from the 7850 and the amd beta drivers. is this a known issue with a fix or am i just fucked? only way to get audio back is to restart
Click to expand...

I saw mention of it in the release notes for beta 11 that it happened in Linux but it has been fixed, couldn't see anything else.

It'd be worth filling this out in the mean time http://www.amdsurveys.com/se.ashx?s=5A1E27D20B2F3EEE

Try updating to the latest beta if you're not on it, and if that doesn't help maybe roll back to a release driver. I'm still sitting on 12.8 with my 7850 and I'm just gonna wait off until 12.11 is properly released before updating rather than faffing around with beta drivers and potential problems that could occur.
 
L

Lkr

Member
kharma45 said:
I saw mention of it in the release notes for beta 11 that it happened in Linux but it has been fixed, couldn't see anything else.

It'd be worth filling this out in the mean time http://www.amdsurveys.com/se.ashx?s=5A1E27D20B2F3EEE

Try updating to the latest beta if you're not on it, and if that doesn't help maybe roll back to a release driver. I'm still sitting on 12.8 with my 7850 and I'm just gonna wait off until 12.11 is properly released before updating rather than faffing around with beta drivers and potential problems that could occur.
Click to expand...

I already have the latest beta I believe. do I need to run driver sweeper or any shit like that or just uninstall the package and then install the 12.10 package?
 
H

HappyPuppy

Member
Greetings Gaf, I need help picking a PSU. Something solid and good bang for the buck.
Going to build my pc in like 6 months hopefully but right now i need a PSU since the one I was using died in my old setup, so the question is

What is a good PSU that would serve me well in 6 months time when I decide to build my pc (building something modest like a 250$ or 300 video card)

Thanks gaffers.
 
I

Infinite Justice

Member
HappyPuppy said:
Greetings Gaf, I need help picking a PSU. Something solid and good bang for the buck.
Going to build my pc in like 6 months hopefully but right now i need a PSU since the one I was using died in my old setup, so the question is

What is a good PSU that would serve me well in 6 months time when I decide to build my pc (building something modest like a 250$ or 300 video card)

Thanks gaffers.
Click to expand...

Antec BP550 is usually recommended at that level you want (a decent priced single card, anything highend or multiple cards for SLI/Crossfire will need a larger PSU)

The PSUs from Seasonic gets good praise in this thread

The Corsairs (save for the CX version) also gets good praise

XFX Core Editions are getting recommendations now due to basically being rebadged Seasonic PSUs.


Most of these are in the builds listed in the OP so check it out.

You will have other posters weighing in.
 
T

The Frankman

Banned
Thanks to the SSD tweaks in the OP I picked up over 8 GBs of free space. Thanks guys! Still more work to be done.

Question: Should I just map all my programs from my HDD to the Start Menu of Windows 7? Which is better to have Antivirus (AVG 2012) stuff on? I know the bottom is that if I lack space, only putting Apps on the SSD that will benefit from the speed like games/multimedia need would make sense...

I guess I answered my own question then. I'll leave it on the HDD.
 
LiquidMetal14

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
The Frankman said:
Thanks to the SSD tweaks in the OP I picked up over 8 GBs of free space. Thanks guys! Still more work to be done.

Question: Should I just map all my programs from my HDD to the Start Menu of Windows 7? Which is better to have Antivirus (AVG 2012) stuff on? I know the bottom is that if I lack space, only putting Apps on the SSD that will benefit from the speed like games/multimedia need would make sense...

I guess I answered my own question then. I'll leave it on the HDD.
Click to expand...

Sent you a PM.
 
iamvin22

iamvin22

Industry Verified
can 660ti cards do 1080p ultra settings at 60 fps? any advice on which 660ti card to pick up GAF or will just about any 660ti do with a good over clock?
 
K

kharma45

Member
HappyPuppy said:
Greetings Gaf, I need help picking a PSU. Something solid and good bang for the buck.
Going to build my pc in like 6 months hopefully but right now i need a PSU since the one I was using died in my old setup, so the question is

What is a good PSU that would serve me well in 6 months time when I decide to build my pc (building something modest like a 250$ or 300 video card)

Thanks gaffers.
Click to expand...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013

Should work out at $40 using the promo code and rebate.
 
N

n0n44m

Member
ShdwDrake said:
Hey GAF what's the best way to test the temps on your pc under 100% load?
Click to expand...

assuming you mean the whole system

realistically ?

Unigine Heaven 3.0 at max resolution / max settings to stress your GPU(s) to 99ish %

Prime 95 in the background at 2 of your 4 (or 4 of your 6) cores (set using affinity in task manager, then adjust #threads used in Prime to half #cores or half #cores*2 if your CPU has hyperthreading) --> if you don't have enough CPU power available for Heaven it will not come close to maxing out your GPU , and GPUs these days are more power hungry and thus heat generating than CPUs so they should be priority


unrealistically ? (my favorite :D )

Furmark to toast your GPUs into oblivion & Intel Burn Test (or other LinX based tests) to get your CPU red hot. In this scenario your PSU will also start squealing like a pig unless you got a sufficiently oversized one for your setup :p


I'd recommend the realistic approach for most users ;)

for individual components the programs I mentioned work fine as well, with again the notion that Prime 95 & Heaven are more realistic than the torture test of Furmark and IBT
 
Soodanim

Soodanim

Member
Back again. Thanks to Ty4on, kharma45, mhayze, and especially x3r0123 and dinzy.

The build I'm with now, which I'm fairly content with, is mostly what x3r0123 put together.

PCPartPicker part list

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (£81.65 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£84.61 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Samsung 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£35.53 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£45.54 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£79.97 @ Dabs)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card (£193.02 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£89.29 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£66.91 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On DS-8A8SH DVD/CD Writer (£20.68 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£59.94 @ Aria PC)
Total: £757.14

I've decided to forget about emulation, at least powerful/smooth emulation. One of the games I wanted to play the most is SMG, but it turns out it's one of the most demanding. That translates to paying roughly £100 more to play a couple Wii games with proper audio.

Thanks to that realisation, I've decided to go with an i3. The most demanding game at the moment seems to be BF3, and I have no plans to play that. Especially 64 player multiplayer. I know the trend will move more towards quad core CPU-requiring games, but right now I don't really want to spend close to a grand.

Anyway. As you can see, I threw in a 128GB SSD. The motherboard is still a Z77, and I'm not sure whether to stick with it and leave myself an upgrade path at the cost of [I can't imagine it's that much] or whether to downgrade it and spend the money on a better graphics card...

Which leads me to my final questions: I've noticed in some reviews that Radeons (well, at least the 7950) seem to suffer from render times that are all over the place. But Radeons seem to be recommended left right and centre in this thread, so am I paying too much attention to Tech Report's reviews? The other question is regarding drivers. I've always gotten the impression that Nvidia's drivers are much better than ATI's. Is there anything to this?

Actually, there is one more thing. Optical drives. Google provides me with cases of some of the cheaper drives not opening or failing fairly soon. Are there any cheap-ish drives (preferably DVD writing) that are reliable? PCPartPicker's list is tiny.
 
K

kharma45

Member
SixFourMike said:
Back again. Thanks to Ty4on, kharma45, mhayze, and especially x3r0123 and dinzy.

The build I'm with now, which I'm fairly content with, is mostly what x3r0123 put together.

PCPartPicker part list

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (£81.65 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£84.61 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Samsung 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£35.53 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£45.54 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£79.97 @ Dabs)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card (£193.02 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£89.29 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£66.91 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On DS-8A8SH DVD/CD Writer (£20.68 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£59.94 @ Aria PC)
Total: £757.14

I've decided to forget about emulation, at least powerful/smooth emulation. One of the games I wanted to play the most is SMG, but it turns out it's one of the most demanding. That translates to paying roughly £100 more to play a couple Wii games with proper audio.

Thanks to that realisation, I've decided to go with an i3. The most demanding game at the moment seems to be BF3, and I have no plans to play that. Especially 64 player multiplayer. I know the trend will move more towards quad core CPU-requiring games, but right now I don't really want to spend close to a grand.

Anyway. As you can see, I threw in a 128GB SSD. The motherboard is still a Z77, and I'm not sure whether to stick with it and leave myself an upgrade path at the cost of [I can't imagine it's that much] or whether to downgrade it and spend the money on a better graphics card...

Which leads me to my final questions: I've noticed in some reviews that Radeons (well, at least the 7950) seem to suffer from render times that are all over the place. But Radeons seem to be recommended left right and centre in this thread, so am I paying too much attention to Tech Report's reviews? The other question is regarding drivers. I've always gotten the impression that Nvidia's drivers are much better than ATI's. Is there anything to this?

Actually, there is one more thing. Optical drives. Google provides me with cases of some of the cheaper drives not opening or failing fairly soon. Are there any cheap-ish drives (preferably DVD writing) that are reliable? PCPartPicker's list is tiny.
Click to expand...

Optical drive you could change to this and save £7 or so http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007267YRC/

I'd change your SSD too as the 840 isn't all that good a drive. Samsung's 830 and 840 Pro are great, 840 not so much. Novatech are one of the few places with the 830 still in stock http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...al/solidstate/128gbandabove/mz-7pc128neu.html

GPU wise Overclockers are doing the ASUS 7870 with two free games https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-288-AS They're also doing the 7850 version of that card for £150 which would be my choice as it's only marginally slower and would allow you to get nearer to adding a 3570K to your build over the i3. My problem with the 7870 is it's very close to the 7950 price wise but it's a large enough jump up to make it worth recommending, so for me either go down to the 7850 or up to the 7950.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-289-AS

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-275-AS

Lastly I'd change the PSU to an XFX Core as it's just a rebranded Seasonic http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005TDTV0S/ or http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/powersupplies/p1-550s-xxb9.html

Also look into a TopCashBack account (I can refer you if you wish) to get some money back on purchases, some of those stores should offer a few percent back.

So to sum up what I'd do is change your SSD, DVD drive and PSU. That will all save money and you could also drop the 7870 to a 7850 and that might free up funds to go for a 3570K.
 
n64coder

n64coder

Member
Tattooth said:
I've only got the one windows machine. Would I be able to put the SSD in an enclosure and just format it and reinstall windows, since I don't really know what else I can do.
Click to expand...

I probably would not get an enclosure yet. I would suggest getting a IDE/Sata to USB adapter like this one You make the connections and then plug the power cord in and the USB to your computer. It's a good way to test/use drives outside the computer. You could use this to see if your drive is still good.
 
W

weremichael

Member
R

Revengeance

Member
Talk me down, PC Gaf. I'm thinking about getting a second 7850 to crossfire with my current one. $200 on Newegg for the same model I'm using already, plus code for Far Cry.

Is this even necessary? I haven't overclocked anything (I have a i5-3570K).
 
K

kharma45

Member
Revengeance said:
Talk me down, PC Gaf. I'm thinking about getting a second 7850 to crossfire with my current one. $200 on Newegg for the same model I'm using already, plus code for Far Cry.

Is this even necessary? I haven't overclocked anything (I have a i5-3570K).
Click to expand...

What resolution are you playing at? I'd say no tbh, if you want any more juice from your system overclock your CPU and your 7850, when OC'd it's not far off a stock 7950.
 
F

Felix Lighter

Member
I'm the kind of guy that would take the lesser performance of a single HD 7970 over the potential Crossfire issues of 2 7850s but it seems like SLI/Crossfire setups are becoming increasingly common and I would hope less problematic.
 
R

Revengeance

Member
kharma45 said:
What resolution are you playing at? I'd say no tbh, if you want any more juice from your system overclock your CPU and your 7850, when OC'd it's not far off a stock 7950.
Click to expand...

Playing at 1080, and tbh, most of the games I play are not super graphics intensive (LoL, torchlight, etc). I'll pick up Far Cry 3 at some point during the steam sale (hopefully), and if I'm not happy with the framerate I'll look into overclocking.

Thanks for the advice, I had a feeling it wasn't really necessary. Just got hit with a case of the Christmastime itchy buy-finger :)
 
K

kharma45

Member
Revengeance said:
Playing at 1080, and tbh, most of the games I play are not super graphics intensive (LoL, torchlight, etc). I'll pick up Far Cry 3 at some point during the steam sale (hopefully), and if I'm not happy with the framerate I'll look into overclocking.

Thanks for the advice, I had a feeling it wasn't really necessary. Just got hit with a case of the Christmastime itchy buy-finger :)
Click to expand...

Yeah definitely just stick to the one card :) only way I'd advocate Crossfire would be if there was an absolutely stonking bargain on a 7850.
 
K

kharma45

Member
Csokis said:
I'm buying a new PC.

ASUS P8Z77-V

Intel Core i7-3770 (non-K) (OC @ 4.1)

16GB Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 2x8GB Kit

Which CPU cooler to buy? Max. 65-70C full load (Prime/LinX!), and price is max. 52€/69$!

Thank You!
Click to expand...

Why non K? Are you gaming or doing media work? If it's just gaming and general use save your money and go for a 3570K.

Cooler wise I quite like Noctua's (although they're not exactly pretty) stuff but you could go lower cost like a Hyper 212 and still get good results.
 
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