memecomplex
Member
Thanks, been ok for me so far... single player at 3200 x 1800 and multi at 2560 x 1440 (will probably drop it down to 1080p for multi though).
"I need a New PC!" 2012 Thread. Ivy, SSDs, and reading the OP. [Part 2]
- Thread starter Hazaro
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Thanks, been ok for me so far... single player at 3200 x 1800 and multi at 2560 x 1440 (will probably drop it down to 1080p for multi though).
FunkyMunkey
Banned
Jesus my evga 670gtx ftw doesn't even sound 1/4 as loud as that when running maxed out benchmarks, and it merely sounds like a fan, not all rattly. And the low constant fan noise from my hyper212+ is louder so I never even hear my gfx card other than a little more fan noise on top of it when the fans are at full speed. Like turning a desktop fan from low to medium. The card in the video almost sounds loose or faulty. Maybe I got lucky, eh.
Should mention that I'm referring to BF3 MP with regards to my issues. I didn't have any issues in the SP.
I had a dual card set up for two years (Radeon 6870s) and I'm going to back mckenyon up on the hassles and inconsistencies.
Since I ditched them for a single 7970 I couldn't be happier. My system is dramatically more quite. I get no hiccups or stutter at all and I get way better performance more consistently than I was before.
Hell, with my dual card set up I would even get random weird hiccups when I was writing MS Word Docs as one of them kicked into gear and it would pause for a few seconds. I thought maybe it was a windows problem or something else, but I have not had that problem once since I switched to the dual card set up.
And that is not to mention all the pain in the ass hassles you have when new games come out that don't support dual cards the way they should. Often you'll have to wait months for your system to be taken advantage of the way it should. Even a year after release, I still couldnt' run Rage smoothly, but I booted it up when I got my new card and it's like butter.
memecomplex
Member
dr3upmushroom
Banned
How good is that i3 processor in the budget build in the OP? I'd love to build a gaming PC but I don't have much use for a desktop anymore and I can't bring myself to drop $1,000 on something I'm only going to use for gaming. I know buying games on the cheap would make up for it, but I'm not willing to spend that much up front.
I'd go for something around $600, I'm thinking something like the i3 paired with the 7850 card from the next build up, or maybe a 560 ti. I'm not sure how big a bottleneck that processor would be though.
I imagine being dual-core really hampers it, but I'm not what effect the 4 threads have.
Also, my plan is to reward myself for finishing my bachelor's with either a new console or PC, so I'd be buying around March. Maybe something new would be out by then, or not that long after?
I know you can buy a pretty reasonable PC that will kick the shit out of current consoles for relatively cheap, but I'm not sure if PCs are going to be a worse value when new consoles come out. Like, I'm sure the i3 and a 560 will run something like FarCry 3 much better than a 360, but will it max it? Would it be good enough for now but quickly outdated or likely last a few years?
I'd go for something around $600, I'm thinking something like the i3 paired with the 7850 card from the next build up, or maybe a 560 ti. I'm not sure how big a bottleneck that processor would be though.
I imagine being dual-core really hampers it, but I'm not what effect the 4 threads have.
Also, my plan is to reward myself for finishing my bachelor's with either a new console or PC, so I'd be buying around March. Maybe something new would be out by then, or not that long after?
I know you can buy a pretty reasonable PC that will kick the shit out of current consoles for relatively cheap, but I'm not sure if PCs are going to be a worse value when new consoles come out. Like, I'm sure the i3 and a 560 will run something like FarCry 3 much better than a 360, but will it max it? Would it be good enough for now but quickly outdated or likely last a few years?
For now it would not be a bottleneck at all. You would run everything great with an i3 and a 7850. Maybe when multiple cores are put to more use in a year or two you would start to notice a difference but you could always upgrade to an i5 then and they would probably be cheaper. If you are on a budget nothing wrong with an i3.
You are not going to max Far Cry 3 at a locked 60fps but that is because FC3 has some pretty crazy settings. I have an i7 and a 7970oc and even I turned down a couple of dials to keep it rock solid 60. However, you will be able to run it very well at fairly hogh settings.
An I3 literally gets only 1 frame per second less than an i7 in Far Cry 3 according to Tom's. Check it out:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/far-cry-3-performance-benchmark,3379-7.html
It does make more of a difference in other games but the i3 still does fine. Videocard is where your bottleneck is more likely to be:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-4170-core-i3-3220-benchmarks,3314-7.html
The other side of the coin is that it is apparently beginning to shift a little more in quadcore's favor. If you can swing the extra $40, it might be worth the future proofing for an i5. But in terms if games that are out. Right now, not a huge difference.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-4170-core-i3-3220-benchmarks,3314-7.html
The other side of the coin is that it is apparently beginning to shift a little more in quadcore's favor. If you can swing the extra $40, it might be worth the future proofing for an i5. But in terms if games that are out. Right now, not a huge difference.
Frequency and per thread performance is still king. The i3 does have four threads, and is a very capable processor. If you don't require consistently low frame latency with super high settings, it'll be fine for years.
Those Toms FC3 benchmarks are fishy as all hell though. Here's my own testing:
Those Toms FC3 benchmarks are fishy as all hell though. Here's my own testing:
Some guy who /buildapc/ likes did some horrendously bad testing (8xAA and 1080/1440p resolutions on a 7870 without making ANY NOTES ABOUT HOW HE TESTED) and came to the amazing conclusion that the AMD 8 core is 'better' than the i5 3570K. It had 850 upvotes and NONE of the comments that argue against it have above like 10 upvotes, everything got downvoted to shit by idiots.
Like, you'll get solid help eventually, but some of their part choices are outdated (CX430 on a lot of builds), but when someone is buying a 3k PC and someone does a formatted list with a GTX690 and an FX CPU (Because they watched a video they didn't understand) it just makes me sad.
There's no real accountability or authority.
HeadphoneGAF. Also another pair of AD700s
Saitek Eclipse? I think you can get the older model around that much.
Yeah amd I know this thread has been round and round this topic. But $40-$50 more gets you an i5 and there have been so many rumors now that the two next gen consoles will be 8 core processors that the likelyhood that that will become an issue seems more and more certain. The tide has started to change.
Still I agree i3s are still obviously very capable. And he can always trade up later. But for $50 if it were me, I'd go for the i5, I think.
They are more like 4 cores, they work in pairs. 8 sure sounds nicer though, which is why they market the FX8xxx procs as such.
But, if someone can show me a game that uses more than 4 threads that chugs more on i3s than an i7 (at similar frequency), I will sing a different tune.
But, if someone can show me a game that uses more than 4 threads that chugs more on i3s than an i7 (at similar frequency), I will sing a different tune.
I am really struggling with picking out a video card. I think I have it narrowed down to an EVGA 660 Superclocked or an MSi TwinFrozr 7850. The 660 is ~$30 more bit it is actually in stock. I am leaning that way, it's $209.99.
They also have the Ti for $279.99. Is that worth the extra price? From what I can tell its not... But this shit is honestly making me super confused. I will be using a 1080p, 16:9 monitor. It won't be 120hz. The most intensive game I'm interested in playing is FarCry 3.
They also have the Ti for $279.99. Is that worth the extra price? From what I can tell its not... But this shit is honestly making me super confused. I will be using a 1080p, 16:9 monitor. It won't be 120hz. The most intensive game I'm interested in playing is FarCry 3.
dr3upmushroom
Banned
Haha, I've been out of the loop of PC hardware for awhile but I remember people making a very similar argument several years ago with the E8400 and Q6600.
I guess I'll probably wait and see what the new consoles look like and if they don't excite me I'll save up a bit and build a decent PC, i5/ 660ti sort of thing. I should probably wait and see what kind of value the Steambox represents as well.
It's good to know budget components will get decent performance though, although I'm guessing right around a console launch is a bad time to build a PC.
ss_lemonade
Member
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=26496047
How does this look? Some parts like the psu was from hazaro's build, but what can I change to further lower the cost? SSD can come later. I've already experienced the benefits before and I think for a purely gaming rig, I'll survive without one for the meantime.
How does this look? Some parts like the psu was from hazaro's build, but what can I change to further lower the cost? SSD can come later. I've already experienced the benefits before and I think for a purely gaming rig, I'll survive without one for the meantime.
If you're not going SLI/Crossfire swap your PSU to this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151119&Tpk=seasonic 550w
ss_lemonade
Member
Updated. Yep I have no plans for a multi gpu setup now
Irobot82
Member
Ikea. They are fashionable. lol
That's where I got mine from. It's also a modular design so the desk part and it's shelf can be put where ever you want.
did you try setting "Mesh Quality" to low ?
makes a pretty large difference in GPU usage and fps on my 670 SLI setup
(not constantly but with Mesh Quality set to maximum I would get reproducible frame drops to ~70 fps and low GPU usage when looking in certain directions on certain maps)
it's usually better to just overclock manually so you have control over the voltage, auto overclock usually means low overclocks with (too) high voltages
Hello, I've got a question: I want wireless internet for my desktop pc, what do you guys recommend? Thanks.
EDIT: wifi internet
is there a difference between usb and internal wireless things?(cards? I dont even know what to call them lol)
I want something that could handle a decent range with a few walls in between.
EDIT: wifi internet
is there a difference between usb and internal wireless things?(cards? I dont even know what to call them lol)
I want something that could handle a decent range with a few walls in between.
How RAM speed can affect gaming/windows experience? I'm a bit concerned about my speed. I'm almost done with my build, still haven't decided on RAM.
Mr. Wonderful
Member
So here's a tip that some people might know, but some people may not:
The setting the Power Mode to High Performance in both Windows and the BIOS causes a substantial increase in performance, and is something you should double check to make sure you have enabled over "Balanced".
I would post some graphs from work, but unfortunately I'm not allowed to. What I can tell you however, is that it cuts average workflow completion times by a third. (FWIW, these are highly parallelized tasks).
The setting the Power Mode to High Performance in both Windows and the BIOS causes a substantial increase in performance, and is something you should double check to make sure you have enabled over "Balanced".
I would post some graphs from work, but unfortunately I'm not allowed to. What I can tell you however, is that it cuts average workflow completion times by a third. (FWIW, these are highly parallelized tasks).
Do you have a strong router already? I've only used the AirLink USB dongles and they work great. 'Few walls' is a lot.
It's fine.
RAM is doubled speed and your CPU is not in turbo mode.
Thanks, but this also assumes I already have Windows installed, and want to now set up Ubuntu. I'm the other way around.
Right now I´ve got a generic internal wireless internet thing for my desktop, I used to get speed of about 500k/s on a laptop I had; on this thing I sometimes reach that speed for a minute or so, but most of the time I can´t even load videos on youtube on low speed settings.
Does it help when I point the antenna at the general direction of the modem? Is there a signal repeater I could get instead?
By a few walls I mean the modem is in diagonal to the pc, so I´ve got a ceiling and one wall in between (maybe two, but I don´t thunk so).
Another question, I tried connecting a cable to the pc, but it wouln´t receive internet at all from it. Should I somehow disable the wireless thing before connecting the cable? I don´t remember having to do so on the laptop I had. I tried disconnecting the antenna, but that didn´t work either. Assuming nothing´s wrong with the cable, where in mt pc could the problem be? I suppose it´s the motherboard, but I´m a super noob at this.
One last problem I have: I have an nvidia gt 430 installed. If I connect the pc through hdmi to a tv it all works fine, but if I use the normal monitor cable to a computer monitor I have, the image looks slightly grainy. The monitor is fine, I´ve tried it with the same cables on other pcs and had no problem. Could it be the video card? as I said, it works fine over hdmi. Could it be motherboard? I have updated the video card drivers.
thanks for the help.
EDIT. It´s a relatively old monitor.
Does it help when I point the antenna at the general direction of the modem? Is there a signal repeater I could get instead?
By a few walls I mean the modem is in diagonal to the pc, so I´ve got a ceiling and one wall in between (maybe two, but I don´t thunk so).
Another question, I tried connecting a cable to the pc, but it wouln´t receive internet at all from it. Should I somehow disable the wireless thing before connecting the cable? I don´t remember having to do so on the laptop I had. I tried disconnecting the antenna, but that didn´t work either. Assuming nothing´s wrong with the cable, where in mt pc could the problem be? I suppose it´s the motherboard, but I´m a super noob at this.
One last problem I have: I have an nvidia gt 430 installed. If I connect the pc through hdmi to a tv it all works fine, but if I use the normal monitor cable to a computer monitor I have, the image looks slightly grainy. The monitor is fine, I´ve tried it with the same cables on other pcs and had no problem. Could it be the video card? as I said, it works fine over hdmi. Could it be motherboard? I have updated the video card drivers.
thanks for the help.
EDIT. It´s a relatively old monitor.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
The Samsung RAM has been sold out on Newegg for a few days now. Anyone know a site that sells it for the same price and takes Paypal?
Two questions:
I had a bad bios flash on my Asus Sabertooth Z77 mobo on Friday. I was able to recover it with the Flashback feature and get it up and running. I am on the newest bios and I am having trouble with my GTX 660 SLi setup. Could a recovered bios flash cause permanent trouble?
If it's not a bad recovered flash and just a coincidence that my SLi is giving me trouble, what single card do you recommend? I am looking at the GTX 670 Gigabyte Windforce. My GTX 660's ran super hot (83 c) and would like better thermals. Thoughts?
I had a bad bios flash on my Asus Sabertooth Z77 mobo on Friday. I was able to recover it with the Flashback feature and get it up and running. I am on the newest bios and I am having trouble with my GTX 660 SLi setup. Could a recovered bios flash cause permanent trouble?
If it's not a bad recovered flash and just a coincidence that my SLi is giving me trouble, what single card do you recommend? I am looking at the GTX 670 Gigabyte Windforce. My GTX 660's ran super hot (83 c) and would like better thermals. Thoughts?
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
I know this seems like it's going too far but have you tried resetting the CMOS via battery removal on your MB? I see that Z77 version is armor plated. Is there a CMOS reset button on the MB?
Do you also recall your temps pre-bios flash? SLI and air flow may play some part in this. In the current rig I'm buying parts for, I've gone out and bought 3 extra fans and stuff like Artic Silver. Sometimes doing some extra things may net you better ambient temps and mean cooler components. I know I'm m to
).aybe deviating but your temp issue may be more than just your GPU's running hot (like they are meantI know this seems like it's going too far but have you tried resetting the CMOS via battery removal on your MB? I see that Z77 version is armor plated. Is there a CMOS reset button on the MB?
Do you also recall your temps pre-bios flash? SLI and air flow may play some part in this. In the current rig I'm buying parts for, I've gone out and bought 3 extra fans and stuff like Artic Silver. Sometimes doing some extra things may net you better ambient temps and mean cooler components. I know I'm m to
No easy access to the CMOS battery without taking the armor off.
Temps actually went down after the flash but I was having a few issues with it prior to that now that I think about it. In Far CRY 3, one of the NPCs kept on having flashes of blue in his beard and in Dragon Age 2, the girl NPC had black dots in the texture of her chest.
Could be drivers too...SLi is such a headache. Going single card. If that doesn't work it's either drivers or mobo. I will know tomorrow when the card that I order today arrives.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Could even be a bad component. SLI is a lot more guaranteed with 2 GPU's than say, 3 GPU's. I've always been against SLI but after reading about how things work for several years, I will be doing this in about a year.
SLI means 2 cards and double the risk of something going wrong as well so keep that in mind.
Did not know this. Will give it a try later thanks.
GHG
Gold Member
I'd suggest checking each card individually before doing anything else. The temps should not be that high. Mine see 65 degrees max after long sessions of gaming. What brands of cards are you using?
Also, what case are you using any whats your cooling like?
You should sell your parts individually on ebay, you'll get more money that way. You can check the price that each component goes for by doing a completed listing search on there.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
I sold my PC with very similar specs MINUS the case and with 8GB RAM for 500USD shipped. No monitor either. A fair asking price on the low end would be around 430-480£ and as high as 500-560£ on the high end.
So in short, no case, no monitor, and just parts for 500USD shipped. I am helping a friend out so I could have tried ebay or GAF B/S/T but am just happy I found a buyer so fast. He's already paid me and I've been using some of the money to buy parts on the cheap. Need that Samsung 8GB ram kit though!
Hey guys! I bought a laptop recently and I just wanted to get your opinions on it. The specs are below.
3rd generation Intel® Core i5-3210M processor (2.50 GHz, 3M cache)
15.6in High Definition (1366X768) WLED with TrueLife
6GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
1TB Serial ATA (5400RPM)
2GB AMD Radeon HD 7730M
8x DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
I got it for £530 with a free Xbox 360 S 4GB.
Was it a decent deal? :s
3rd generation Intel® Core i5-3210M processor (2.50 GHz, 3M cache)
15.6in High Definition (1366X768) WLED with TrueLife
6GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
1TB Serial ATA (5400RPM)
2GB AMD Radeon HD 7730M
8x DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
I got it for £530 with a free Xbox 360 S 4GB.
Was it a decent deal? :s
The folks at Laptop GAF will have a much better idea of what you've got there. Though part names can be similar on Laptops and Desktops, they are pretty different. So most here are clueless.
This Asus thermal armour is a right pain. I had to transplant a new mobo/CPU into my computer vertically this weekend and I dropped about three different screws into it which became lodged behind the armour so I had to remove the mobo each time.
I actually had some trouble with the latest firmware with the Sabertooth Z77. I was changing overclocking settings but they were not being applied. I read somewhere else that can happen with that BIOS. I ended up downgrading to an older BIOS (1504) and it seems fine now. I seem to have a dud 3570K though, needs about 1.35 vCore to boot at 4.4Ghz which is horrible.
Are you using the latest 310.90 drivers? I found them particularly buggy myself.
Wolf Akela
Member
How many uses can I get out of an injection of thermal paste? Been looking at a Tuniq TX-4. I was wondering if it had enough for my PC and PS3.
I'm still on a year's old big tube of Artic Silver.
My case is a corsair carbide 300. I have an input fan, an output fan, a top fan and a side fan all either 120mm or 140mm. My video cards are both EVGA.
I called Asus about my mobo, and the tech told me that the cards are probably fine and my mobo is not damaged. He said that if it boots from a flash then the flash is fine, but the bios itself could be a bit buggy. He did say that there was a stealth update to the newest Nvidia drivers on Friday that may be causing my trouble in SLi and to roll back.
However, I was able to return both of my GTX 660 to Best Buy for a full refund and bought a 670 instead. Less headache about power and temps now. If this one doesn't work then it's probably the mobo.
mhayze
Member
I do. I assume this question is for those who have a fully built PC rig and think of themselves as primarily "PC Gamers" - which I do. I still get quite a lot of use out of my PS3. It's a launch unit - still plays SACDs and PS2 emulation, although I haven't popped in a PS2 disc in forever. I use it for 50% - 60% media consumption in the living room - Blu-ray, Hulu, Netflix, VOD, etc., and 40-50% for PSN exclusives and the occasional PS3 AAA exclusive. I've probably played more PSN games and 'free Playstation Plus' games than AAA titles on it over the last two years. I do wait for most 3rd party games, such as Dark Souls to be released on the PC - and I'm rarely ever disappointed that I did.
What process did you use to downgrade the BIOS? Flashing the bios on this board makes me very nervous
During the holidays they were price matching with Amazon and Frys so I was able to get decent prices.
I am so nervous now that it's a borked motherboard. I do not want to RMA that!
GHG
Gold Member
Case and fan configuration all seem fine and should be sufficient for SLI. I would have suggested 2 side intake fans to be sure. To get temps like that, sounds one or both of your cards were bad.
Good to hear that you got it all sorted in the end anyhow. What temps are you getting on your 670 now?
GHG
Gold Member
I would always recommend doing that when installing new hardware. Completely remove all trace of Nvidia drivers then put your new card in and do a clean install.
When you got your 660's was that on a brand new build or was it just a GPU upgrade?
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