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[mkenyon]

I plan on upgrading my system with these parts:

I know it's probably overkill, but I plan on upgrading my system later down the road for higher resolutions than 2560x1440.

Any suggestions? I can already tell the Corsair Ram is probably overpriced. I think I've seen that most Gaffers use Samsung. But besides that, any other models that you would recommend over what I have here?

Amazon only? I'd recommend the Gigabyte UP5-TH, ASRock Formula OC, and the Maximus V Gene over that. If you aren't planning on pushing the OC hard, then I'd suggest going with the ASUS P8Z77-V.

As others said, low profile memory as well.

That SSD is $400 on Newegg too.

 

[Mononoke]

Amazon only? I'd recommend the Gigabyte UP5-TH, ASRock Formula OC, and the Maximus V Gene over that. If you aren't planning on pushing the OC hard, then I'd suggest going with the ASUS P8Z77-V.

As others said, low profile memory as well.

That SSD is $400 on Newegg too.

Sweet, thanks for the advice guys. That SSD is actually $399 on Amazon too, I just went for the "Desktop Mounting" kit version. Not even sure if I need it? This is the case I'm using: http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=3037&product_name=HAF 932 Advanced

Will do on the low profile Ram. EDIT: I'm only using Amazon, because on most of the stuff, there is no sales tax for me + I have free Amazon Prime. Free 2 day-shipping.

 

[Horse Detective]

Does the CPU directly affect gaming performance, or are the different tiers (i3, i5, i7) just able to handle certain graphics cards?

I completely understand if no one wants to answer. I know I could just google it, but I love learning things through Gaf instead of random blogs. I have never been led into something and had it end up horrible here.

 

[Mononoke]

This is actually what I'm using now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128502

Since I'm planning on upgrading the Ram + the Processor + SSD - is what I currently have, actually good enough? Do I even need to upgrade my Mobo? I definitely want to upgrade my ram + my processor. Just thinking, maybe my current Mobo is good enough.

 

[sixghost]

Does the CPU directly affect gaming performance, or are the different tiers (i3, i5, i7) just able to handle certain graphics cards?

I completely understand if no one wants to answer. I know I could just google it, but I love learning things through Gaf instead of random blogs. I have never been led into something and had it end up horrible here.

Someone else could probably answer this better, but it seems like the GPU is much more likely to be the bottleneck when it comes to games. There are exceptions though, like Planetside 2, Civ 5, or StarCraft 2.

 

[mkenyon]

Does the CPU directly affect gaming performance, or are the different tiers (i3, i5, i7) just able to handle certain graphics cards?

I completely understand if no one wants to answer. I know I could just google it, but I love learning things through Gaf instead of random blogs. I have never been led into something and had it end up horrible here.

It's a complicated question, but the short answer is that they do directly affect performance. How much entirely depends on the game in question. However, what is common through all of them is that PER THREAD/CORE performance matters more than anything with games. The 3570K will be within a few percentage points difference as compared to even the $1000 3960K, so the 3570K gets the nod.

The reason why the K model is suggested is that overclocking with Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge is extremely simple, almost as if they were designed to be overclocked by first time PC builders. The K models have an unlocked multiplier, which with core voltage, are the only two values you need to change to take it to 4.6GHz (though 4.2-4.4 is a much more realistic OC for most folks).

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I've long since settled on my build but for curiosity sake, does anyone here own or once owned an ASUS Maximus V Formula?

It supports tripple XF/SLI so that's something of a just in case type luxury to have. What is the range of PSU's I would look for to run 3 modern day GPU's (680/7970)?

I'm going for the Seasonic 850W to cover me on SLI when that time comes but the more I think about it, the more I get tempted to get a PSU that will be 3 way SLI/XF ready instead of getting a PSU and having to gut my system to replace it.

It sounds picky but I have to have to reroute wiring and do all that cable management again so I would rather have a nice PSU that would cover me now than not.

 

[mkenyon]

I ran 3x670s, a 3820 that eats up 3x the power of an Ivy proc, a pump, 8 fans, and two SSDs on an AX850. Had to get some molex->PCI-E adapters, but it was fine. 850 is more than enough for 3x680s, 3x7970s, or even 2x690s.

As far as Z77 boards go, once you get past a certain point in power delivery quality, you're not really going to be getting any benefits other than specific feature sets you might be interested in.

For what it is worth, Ivy only has 16 PCI-E lanes, and the Z77 boards that support 3-4 way crossfire/SLI are using PLX chips to multiply lanes and do in fact add a bit of latency. If you are seriously interested in that sort of setup, I think you would be much better served by SB-E/X79.

 

[Hazaro]

Mr. Holzman's video guide saved me.
How foolish of me, the video link in the OP wasn't working so I didn't bother searching for it, but it was the most helpful out of all of them.

Updated

I've long since settled on my build but for curiosity sake, does anyone here own or once owned an ASUS Maximus V Formula?

It supports tripple XF/SLI so that's something of a just in case type luxury to have. What is the range of PSU's I would look for to run 3 modern day GPU's (680/7970)?

I'm going for the Seasonic 850W to cover me on SLI when that time comes but the more I think about it, the more I get tempted to get a PSU that will be 3 way SLI/XF ready instead of getting a PSU and having to gut my system to replace it.

It sounds picky but I have to have to reroute wiring and do all that cable management again so I would rather have a nice PSU that would cover me now than not.

Unless you are pushing stupid resolutions and settings two top end GPUs are more than enough. Plus tmk 3 GPU scaling is still shit. Is the Gene V enough for your needs?

X850/860/AX850 should cover you.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I would love to but money becomes an issue when trying to go for a 3930k and an accompanying motherboard :/

I looked at the SB-E first thing and it about killed my budge The CPU is 500 alone a good MB is around 300 from my research.

I have ambitions of getting an IPS monitor at this time as well so having to spend 8-900 just to get the CPU/MB is really not what I wanted to do.

If I could get the CPU and MB for around 600 I would be a hell of a lot more tempted to do SB-E.

Hoping for a sale since I would love to to get the SB-E but it's not looking likely. We will see how prices look mid Feb.

 

[mkenyon]

3820s are less than 3770K's. 4C/8T, but 5.0GHz is a realistic 24/7 OC if you have the right cooling.

What Haz says about 3 GPU scaling is correct. Three 670s vs. two 670s at 1080p is like a 0-5% difference in frames.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

3820s are less than 3770K's. 4C/8T, but 5.0GHz is a realistic 24/7 OC if you have the right cooling.

What Haz says about 3 GPU scaling is correct. Three 670s vs. two 670s at 1080p is like a 0-5% difference in frames.

You can't OC the 3820 though it seems. Unless you mean there's a way to do it. 300 for that is also going to quad core but that 3820 would still be better than a 3770k just based on the extra PCIe lanes alone or is there more benefits?

Reading the feedback, it seems you can. This may be an interesting proposition now and is causing me to rethink the CPU, MB, and RAM choices I've made.....unless that Samsung memory will run fine on this. I would also need a separate CPU cooler as well.

It seems like you can get higher than the 4.3 barrier with the right timings. This decision is hard now. I may have to pass up on the IPS monitor in favor of upping my CPU/MB budget.

 

[mkenyon]

The Samsung RAM works amazingly well with SB-E. You use BCLK as well as the multiplier to overclock, rather than just the multiplier. BCLK affects memory speed as well as CPU, so you want memory that can OC well. The Samsung can do 2100MHz fairly easily.

125MHz BCLK x 40 multiplier = 5000MHz

You would want to get an aftermarket CPU cooler whether or not you went SB-E.

However, if you want a more simplified system that will work great with SLI or Crossfire, I do recommend sticking with Ivy. There's a few things that require a bit more knowledge with SB-E, especially the motherboards, to get things working smoothly.

 

[sorijealut]

Do all PCI-E cables have labels on them?
I have one 6-pin+2 labeled PCI-E and one 6-pin with no label, wondering if I can plug them in my 7950 gfx card. Thanks

 

[mkenyon]

Do all PCI-E cables have labels on them?
I have one 6-pin+2 labeled PCI-E and one 6-pin with no label, wondering if I can plug them in my 7950 gfx card. Thanks

6 pin with no label sounds suspicious, but it should be fine. If it is a modular PSU, are you sure you do not have it backwards?

 

[sorijealut]

6 pin with no label sounds suspicious, but it should be fine. If it is a modular PSU, are you sure you do not have it backwards?

I know, right? It's the XFX Core 550, and here it says I have two 6-pins.
I checked all around and read even small fonts on the cord, and nothing. Perhaps a mistake in production?

Cable Connectors
Fixed FDD:Up to 2
Fixed Peripheral:6
Fixed 6+2-pin PCI-E:1
Fixed 6-pin PCI-E:1
Fixed ATX12V / EPS12V:One 4-pin, One 4+4-Pin
Fixed Motherboard Connector:20+4 Pin
Fixed SATA:9

 

[mkenyon]

Yeah, it's totally cool.

Hard to screw up with power for the most part. If it shouldn't go there, it doesn't fit.

 

[sorijealut]

Yeah, it's totally cool.

Hard to screw up with power for the most part. If it shouldn't go there, it doesn't fit.

Awesome. Thank you.

I'm not sure how the fan controller for R4 works, do I just plug my fans into it, and this big 4-pin cable powers & controls the 3 fans plugged in?

 

[scogoth]

The Samsung RAM works amazingly well with SB-E. You use BCLK as well as the multiplier to overclock, rather than just the multiplier. BCLK affects memory speed as well as CPU, so you want memory that can OC well. The Samsung can do 2100MHz fairly easily.

125MHz BCLK x 40 multiplier = 5000MHz

You would want to get an aftermarket CPU cooler whether or not you went SB-E.

However, if you want a more simplified system that will work great with SLI or Crossfire, I do recommend sticking with Ivy. There's a few things that require a bit more knowledge with SB-E, especially the motherboards, to get things working smoothly.

I think I should get the 3770k and do some testing as is, delidded, and removed lid vs your 3820 numbers. With no heat spreader I'm pretty confident that 5+ 24/7 is doable on ivy

 

[mkenyon]

Awesome. Thank you.

I'm not sure how the fan controller for R4 works, do I just plug my fans into it, and this big 4-pin cable powers & controls the 3 fans plugged in?

Yep.

I think I should get the 3770k and do some testing as is, delidded, and removed lid vs your 3820 numbers. With no heat spreader I'm pretty confident that 5+ 24/7 is doable on ivy

Challenge accepted.

 

[Argyle]

The Samsung RAM works amazingly well with SB-E. You use BCLK as well as the multiplier to overclock, rather than just the multiplier. BCLK affects memory speed as well as CPU, so you want memory that can OC well. The Samsung can do 2100MHz fairly easily.

125MHz BCLK x 40 multiplier = 5000MHz

You would want to get an aftermarket CPU cooler whether or not you went SB-E.

However, if you want a more simplified system that will work great with SLI or Crossfire, I do recommend sticking with Ivy. There's a few things that require a bit more knowledge with SB-E, especially the motherboards, to get things working smoothly.

So, I told myself I wouldn't OC my system much, but it's hard to resist the siren call...

I posted my build earlier...3930K, Sabertooth X79, H100i cooler, although I ended up throwing 32GB of that Samsung RAM at it (probably overkill which I would imagine makes overclocking more difficult.

I let the Asus "OC Tuner" do its automatic thing and it gave me a 125Mhz BCLK and a net CPU turbo speed of 4.2GHz, and it seemed pretty stable (it survived a couple of hours of Prime95 with no errors, I'll let it run overnight tonight to be sure). It also set the memory to DDR3 1333 speeds. I was able to bump that up to 1600 (the memory is rated on the box for 1600) but anything higher didn't seem stable - setting BCLK to 100 and just setting the multiplier to 45 for 4.5GHz was almost stable, but caused errors in Prime95. Setting the memory to higher than 1833 or so caused the memory to fail, no matter what I set the voltage to. I haven't tried to hit 4.5GHz with a 125MHz BCLK...also, should I even bother trying any other BCLK values?

Granted, you might be talking about a 4-core SB-E which can perhaps OC higher, but I just wanted to see if you thought what I was seeing was typical (that is, I'm not doing something drastically wrong...)

 

[sorijealut]

Great. I think I'm done with my first build, although I can't believe it (it looks much too simple and empty to believe).
Thank you all so very much for helping me, I couldn't have done it alone.

All that's left of the build:

• wait for Win8 to arrive
• wait for 2x case fans
• buy more zip-ties and large masking tape for cable management

after all this, I will post pics

P.S. what is this GPU Boost switch on my ASUS mobo? it seems like a magical switch that makes my card amazing hahaha.

 

[Horse Detective]

I don't know what I am going to do for a monitor. If I buy the items recommended in the enhanced section, wont have much left over.

 

[Argyle]

One more question - I ended up getting the Seasonic X750 Gold PSU (the 650 recommended to me here went OOS when it came time to order the parts), which I believe has active PFC. I would like to buy a UPS to make sure that I don't lose work if the power craps out, but I don't know if I need a pure sine wave UPS or if I can get away with a cheaper one.

One wrinkle is that I live in Hawaii, and shipping is brutal for these things. Amazon won't even ship a UPS to me here, and the larger capacity models are not Shoprunner eligible on Newegg (so +$60 for shipping)...any advice?

 

[sixghost]

Great. I think I'm done with my first build, although I can't believe it (it looks much too simple and empty to believe).
Thank you all so very much for helping me, I couldn't have done it alone.

All that's left of the build:

• wait for Win8 to arrive
• wait for 2x case fans
• buy more zip-ties and large masking tape for cable management

after all this, I will post pics

P.S. what is this GPU Boost switch on my ASUS mobo? it seems like a magical switch that makes my card amazing hahaha.

Are you talking about the 3 buttons on the main BIOS screen? Power saver, normal, Performance?

If so, those are power settings/automatic overclocking settings. I would set that to normal and leave it. I had bad experiences with the auto overclock. Do it manually if you want to overclock.

 

[sorijealut]

Are you talking about the 3 buttons on the main BIOS screen? Power saver, normal, Performance?

If so, those are power settings/automatic overclocking settings. I would set that to normal and leave it. I had bad experiences with the auto overclock. Do it manually if you want to overclock.

Um, there were various tiny physical switches on the mobo itself.
Ahh, gotcha, will leave those alone. I had a feeling these GPU/EPU switches were rather gimmicky-looking.

I do plan to learn about overclocking after everything's set (GPU, memory, and CPU).
Hopefully everything will go okay.

 

[mkenyon]

I don't know what I am going to do for a monitor. If I buy the items recommended in the enhanced section, wont have much left over.

Save more money.

So, I told myself I wouldn't OC my system much, but it's hard to resist the siren call...

I posted my build earlier...3930K, Sabertooth X79, H100i cooler, although I ended up throwing 32GB of that Samsung RAM at it (probably overkill which I would imagine makes overclocking more difficult.

I let the Asus "OC Tuner" do its automatic thing and it gave me a 125Mhz BCLK and a net CPU turbo speed of 4.2GHz, and it seemed pretty stable (it survived a couple of hours of Prime95 with no errors, I'll let it run overnight tonight to be sure). It also set the memory to DDR3 1333 speeds. I was able to bump that up to 1600 (the memory is rated on the box for 1600) but anything higher didn't seem stable - setting BCLK to 100 and just setting the multiplier to 45 for 4.5GHz was almost stable, but caused errors in Prime95. Setting the memory to higher than 1833 or so caused the memory to fail, no matter what I set the voltage to. I haven't tried to hit 4.5GHz with a 125MHz BCLK...also, should I even bother trying any other BCLK values?

Granted, you might be talking about a 4-core SB-E which can perhaps OC higher, but I just wanted to see if you thought what I was seeing was typical (that is, I'm not doing something drastically wrong...)

More volts! (assuming the temps are okay)

 

[sixghost]

Um, there were various tiny physical switches on the mobo itself.
Ahh, gotcha, will leave those alone. I had a feeling these GPU/EPU switches were rather gimmicky-looking.

I do plan to learn about overclocking after everything's set (GPU, memory, and CPU).
Hopefully everything will go okay.

I'm talking about this screen in the BIOS:

 

[TheBear]

Hey guys, thought I'd plug in my Samsung 32inchLA32 M61B to see how the games look on it. I have it connected via HDMI through my 560ti.
I have both displays working, however I can't seem to get games running on it. The TV apparently has a resolution of 1366x768, but I ran Chivalry at 800x600 and nothing happens. However if I run Hotline Miami it runs fine. What's the issue?

 

[BolognaSoup]

Question about wireless routers: I just ordered a new 802.11n router. Would I be able easily to take my old Linksys g router and place it upstairs to extend my new router's network/signal strength?

 

[Akai__]

Thanks man!

I can't say enough about this motherboard either. Best one I've ever owned.

It's so good it almost convinced me to ditch my X79/3820 for my main system and use that as a test bench instead.

Love the look and the functionallity of this board.

What kind of CPU-fan is that?

 

[kadab]

guys i have a question.want to buy a new videocard (nvidia)
have like 150 euros to spend what should i get? want the best bang for my bucks

 

[Train of Midnight]

Hey guys, I'm having some suspicions that my mobo is being grounded out by my case. I want to take everything out and try booting it outside of the case. What can I place the mobo on to be sure it won't damage it? I still have the foam packaging it came in, will that work? Or can I just rest it on top of an anti-static bag on a table?

 

[Anton668]

Hey guys, I'm having some suspicions that my mobo is being grounded out by my case. I want to take everything out and try booting it outside of the case. What can I place the mobo on to be sure it won't damage it? I still have the foam packaging it came in, will that work? Or can I just rest it on top of an anti-static bag on a table?

NO!!! never do that!

have the box it came in? wood cutting board?

 

[Train of Midnight]

NO!!! never do that!

have the box it came in? wood cutting board?

No to the wood cutting board, but I have the box it came in.

 

[Anton668]

perfect

 

[Train of Midnight]

perfect

So just set it on the cardboard, or on the foam padding?

 

[Anton668]

just set it on the box... hold on a min....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls

 

[Train of Midnight]

Perfect, thanks.

 

[Anton668]

no problemo

 

[Smokey]

Micron 1TB SSD launching Q1 2013

960GB drive for $600.

I paid $250 for my current 160GB SSD...I'd buy at near 1tb ssd $600.

 

[Fjolle]

So.. My stock Intel cooler is rattling and driving me nuts. I've ordered a Hyper 212 evo to replace it.

It comes with everything like cooling paste, right?

Also. How can I tell Intel that their cooler is a POS?

 

[scogoth]

So.. My stock Intel cooler is rattling and driving me nuts. I've ordered a Hyper 212 evo to replace it.

It comes with everything like cooling paste, right?

Also. How can I tell Intel that their cooler is a POS?

Oh they know that. They also know you'll give them money anyway.

 

[mrklaw]

what would you think it'd take to build a machine optimised for the oculus rift? lets take the devkit and a theoretical consumer unit as examples.

devkit - would need to run 1280x800 at 60fps locked vsync, stereo 3D side by side. I'm guessing that target resolution is nice and low but I don't know how much headroom you'd need for the stereo part, or making sure you never drop below 60fps.

potential consumer unit - maybe 1920x1080 at 120Hz? Big jump in requirements there but probably a year away.

 

[BronsonLee]

Grrrr.. Just finished building my Gaming HTPC, and yet I'm trading someone for a much better spec'd one. Whattodoargh

 

[opticalmace]

HDMI cable isn't long enough to reach the TV.

Possible solutions:
- buy a longer cable
- buy a female-to-female adapter and chain two HDMI cables together

Any reason why I shouldn't do the latter if it's cheaper? I already have a bunch of short HDMI cables. Thanks.

 

[Shambles]

I plan on upgrading my system with these parts:

I know it's probably overkill, but I plan on upgrading my system later down the road for higher resolutions than 2560x1440.

Any suggestions? I can already tell the Corsair Ram is probably overpriced. I think I've seen that most Gaffers use Samsung. But besides that, any other models that you would recommend over what I have here?

Crucial just announced their M500 SSDs today. Looks like they'll be cheaper and faster than the M4 if you can wait a bit.

 

[mkenyon]

So.. My stock Intel cooler is rattling and driving me nuts. I've ordered a Hyper 212 evo to replace it.

It comes with everything like cooling paste, right?

Also. How can I tell Intel that their cooler is a POS?

Yes it does.

If you pull off the fan, they make great coasters.

what would you think it'd take to build a machine optimised for the oculus rift? lets take the devkit and a theoretical consumer unit as examples.

devkit - would need to run 1280x800 at 60fps locked vsync, stereo 3D side by side. I'm guessing that target resolution is nice and low but I don't know how much headroom you'd need for the stereo part, or making sure you never drop below 60fps.

potential consumer unit - maybe 1920x1080 at 120Hz? Big jump in requirements there but probably a year away.

Not much. That's fairly low resolution, and if you are talking about 3D at 60fps, it's actually 120fps. There are some games that are just so horribly unoptimized that they can not reach that level of performance. However, even the enhanced should be able to accomplish this task is most games outside of the major graphics hogs and the single/dual threaded engines.

Grrrr.. Just finished building my Gaming HTPC, and yet I'm trading someone for a much better spec'd one. Whattodoargh

Current specs vs. new machine?

 

[BronsonLee]

Current specs vs. new machine?

Bear with me here, I'm jotting my own specs out of memory.
AMD A10-5800K
8 GB DDR3-2133 Patriot RAM (Apparently the on board video on the A10 benefits from faster RAM)
Asus A75-E35 MB
500 GB SATA II HD (don't remember the brand)
I have a tv tuner here as well, but no low profile bracket so it just dangles naked. Not exactly optimal.


Specs for new one (this is copied):
8 gig ddr3 memory
Sycthe heat sink
600 watt corsair psu
Asus p8h61-m motherboard
I5 2450p cpu
Hdtv tuner
Sapphire 7750 low profile card
2 terabyte sata 3 hard drive
256 gig ssd drive

It's also a much cleaner and professional build than mine.
I love the one I made. It plays games I didn't think it had any chance to, and does it at 1080p on decent settings / frame rates. But the one on the table is too good to ignore, in my opinion. The fact that it's the first computer I've built for myself ever also stings, along with the fact that I'd have to redo the Windows Media Center stuff again, as well as copy over all the Steam/uplay stuff. Thoughts?

 

[mkenyon]

Thoughts?

Do it. You have a lot more room for future upgrades on the new one.