so I should change it? Yes that will be my main one and for games. What should I look for then?
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"I need a New PC!" 2013 Part 1. Haswell, Crysis 3, and secret fairy sauce. Read da OP
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so I should change it? Yes that will be my main one and for games. What should I look for then?
Is it not just base clock though?
550w is plenty for a single GPU and an overclocked 3570K
The XFX is pretty shite, better off with the Gigabyte 7950.
Yeah, listen to mkenyon. You could get a HX 850 for just a little more, but that wouldn't be much point. And from there on the price starts rising rapidly. Anyway, it looks like a beast.
SSD if you can afford it. Something 7200RPM if you can't.
A WD Blue, Seagate Barracuda, WD Black, or a 64/128GB SSD.
I don't really feel like going all McGyver on it (taping SSD's and whatnot). I plan to have the H100i exhaust out the top and keep the rest as stock, but that's not good enough?
Nope. You'll have extreme negative pressure which means lots of dust build up and poor GPU cooling.
Moving fans around is literally the easiest thing you can do.
SSD's can be taped anywhere because they don't get hot (as long as they aren't next to something that gets hot), and they don't have moving parts. Behind the motherboard tray is a great place for them.
It doesn't look sloppy or anything:
Those are my SSD's on the side of the optical bay.
Moving fans around is literally the easiest thing you can do.
SSD's can be taped anywhere because they don't get hot (as long as they aren't next to something that gets hot), and they don't have moving parts. Behind the motherboard tray is a great place for them.
It doesn't look sloppy or anything:
Those are my SSD's on the side of the optical bay.
That looks quite good actually, what fans are you using there?
So for my 2 mass storage HDD i assume i could buy some mounting frames for 3.5" -> 5.25 and mount them at the top. My 60gb SSD is already in a 3.5" mounting frame, so i guess i could mount that with the normal HDD's. The two crucial SSD's could then be on the side of the 5.25" case as seen in your picture.
Edit: How noise is that setup?
Those are BitFenix Spectre Pro's
They're good, but not quite as good as the Arctic Cooling F12s which are the same price. Same with the Swiftech Helix.
*edit*
I would generally spin my fans at 800-1000RPM, so the build was ambient noise or lower. The loudest part was the pump, and when I switched that to internally mounted, I couldn't hear a thing.
$15 - Corsair SP 120 Quiet Edition
$15-20 - Gentle Typhoon AP14/AP15
$20+ - Noiseblocker eLoop
They're good, but not quite as good as the Arctic Cooling F12s which are the same price. Same with the Swiftech Helix.
*edit*
I would generally spin my fans at 800-1000RPM, so the build was ambient noise or lower. The loudest part was the pump, and when I switched that to internally mounted, I couldn't hear a thing.
$10 - Arctic Cooling F12, Swiftech HelixHeatsink for an i7 930? I've got a True and its a loud beastif the true is good enough replacement fan recommendations?
$15 - Corsair SP 120 Quiet Edition
$15-20 - Gentle Typhoon AP14/AP15
$20+ - Noiseblocker eLoop
So 3 Arctic Cooling F12's would do the job? 1 for the back and two for the front? Should i change the fans on the 100i (if possible)?
Edit: Aren't the back and front fans 120mm?
The stock Fractal Fans are pretty quiet, and if you wanted to save some scratch, just get an additional one. That would give you pretty optimal temps while maintaining a really quiet build.
The H100i fans are basically highly variable Corsair SP120s which are fantastic fans. If you set them on low, you'll have excellent temps even with a healthy 4.5GHz OC. If you plan on keeping it at stock speeds, then there's zero reason to go above low.
*edit*
Nope, stock fans are 140s.
*edit 2*
Here's how I set up my R4. With the H100 as exhaust, you'd esentially be having the same setup but the exhaust would all be on the top rather than split between the rear/top. Then put the other fan on that spot next to the PSU. Lots of fresh air right at that Titan which is *also* an exhaust fan for all intents and purposes.
The H100i fans are basically highly variable Corsair SP120s which are fantastic fans. If you set them on low, you'll have excellent temps even with a healthy 4.5GHz OC. If you plan on keeping it at stock speeds, then there's zero reason to go above low.
*edit*
Nope, stock fans are 140s.
*edit 2*
Here's how I set up my R4. With the H100 as exhaust, you'd esentially be having the same setup but the exhaust would all be on the top rather than split between the rear/top. Then put the other fan on that spot next to the PSU. Lots of fresh air right at that Titan which is *also* an exhaust fan for all intents and purposes.
mastershake
Member
I really feel i should have went with that 7970 that was on sale for $360 on NCIX. I didn't realize my roommates monitor was as good as it was(Dell 27in U2711 1440p). I expected to play all my games at 1080p max but 1440p looks so damn nice.
So far my 7870 XT is playing games at max setting at 1440p pretty damn well(Tomb Raider 28fps avg, Sim City5 30fps locked) but i know the more graphically intensive stuff is probably going to be unplayable.
shit!
So far my 7870 XT is playing games at max setting at 1440p pretty damn well(Tomb Raider 28fps avg, Sim City5 30fps locked) but i know the more graphically intensive stuff is probably going to be unplayable.
shit!
I've heard good things about a Noctua NF-F12. What do you think of those?
I meant to write 140mm, sorry. Aren't the F12 only 120mm fans? They fit fine on the casing?
Yeah, it accepts 120s or 140s anywhere.
Overpriced. Corsair SP120 Quiet Edition performs on par for $7 less. Noiseblocker eLoops are better than them at the same price.
How is 28-30 FPS and "playable" the same thing?
Great! So to break it down.
I purchase 3 x Arctic Cooling F12 fans (one for the back and two for the front) all taking in air for the H100i and GTX Titan to exhaust.
What model of the F12's should i go for? I see a number of different ones availible:
F12
F12 TC
F12 PWN
F12 Pro
F12 Pro TC
F12 Pro PWM
F12 PWM
The normal F12 is the cheapest, but i don't know if these other models give any advantage.
For the SSD/HDD setup. I mount my three SSD disks in the bottom cage like seen on your picture and then i mount my two standard 1 tb HDD's in the top case using mounting adapters.
Good?
Edit: No, it doesnt seem like i would be able to fit a DVD drive in the top of the case with 2 standard size HHD's.
thiefinthenight34
Neo Member
Sorry! Just reposting my question:
Guys, I have currently have a ASUS HD7850 installed, but with the recent new releases, I've got the itch to upgrade. What graphics card could I purchase to give me a significant increase in FPS and IQ?
Guys, I have currently have a ASUS HD7850 installed, but with the recent new releases, I've got the itch to upgrade. What graphics card could I purchase to give me a significant increase in FPS and IQ?
If you have the F12's in the front, you can go ahead and leave the full drive cage in there and use it.
Fans, in addition to CFM (airflow) and dB, are rated by static pressure (mm/H2O). This is essentially a measurement of how well the fans work when obstructed by something. The stock fractal fans have an abysmal static pressure rating. Removing the middle HDD cage allows it to breathe a bit more and put some good air through.
The F12s have really good static pressure, and as such, won't be overly affected by the front HDD cages. The standard F12s are what you want, because you'll be able to control them with the built in fan controller.
You'd have to go up to a 7950 or a 7970, although if you've got a good chip then you can O your 7850 to around stock 7950 levels.
But they aren't brown.
Great, keeping the full HDD bay does save me quite some money on mounting adapters.
So the Samsung 840 120GB is $95
Do you think it would be a noticeable upgrade going to the 128GB 840 Pro or the 250GB 840?
According to Anandtech, the write speeds are about half of the 250GB and the cache is half as well. I'm not really sure what that translates to in real life situations though.
Also, I don't really plan to do much constant writing to it or anything like that, so I don't think the shorter lifespan of it would be much of an issue for me.
Thanks in advance!
Do you think it would be a noticeable upgrade going to the 128GB 840 Pro or the 250GB 840?
According to Anandtech, the write speeds are about half of the 250GB and the cache is half as well. I'm not really sure what that translates to in real life situations though.
Also, I don't really plan to do much constant writing to it or anything like that, so I don't think the shorter lifespan of it would be much of an issue for me.
Thanks in advance!
Ah. Anandtech led me to believe the lifespan was longer than that. Thanks for the advice.
Out of curiosity, is there a reason your estimates differ from Anand's? http://www.anandtech.com/show/6459/samsung-ssd-840-testing-the-endurance-of-tlc-nand
mastershake
Member
How is 28-30 FPS and "playable" the same thing?
lol
This is my first PC in like 7 years or something crazy. Right now i am amazed i can run tomb raider at the setting i am and its still so much smoother than PS3. If i dropped down to 1080p I average over 43fps(60fps w/o tressfx but eff that) but i fell in love with 1440p
I see a quick GPU upgrade in my future :/
Cheers I'll check them out
minasodaboy
Member
Out of curiosity, how hard is it to re-install an OEM copy of Windows 7 from one drive to another (HDD to SSD)?
Voice of Reason
Banned
Been looking for a wireless adapter for my rig, and found this one with superb Amazon reviews
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RM08RE/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Anyone knows if it's that good or should I just stick with a PCI card?
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RM08RE/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Anyone knows if it's that good or should I just stick with a PCI card?
Get a powerline adapter, unless you live in an old place with really bad wiring.
Need one last piece of advice: Which motherboard?
http://microcenter.com/product/387627/Z77_Pro3_1155_ATX_Intel_Motherboard
or
http://microcenter.com/product/393422/P8Z77-V_LK_LGA_1155_Z77_ATX_Intel_Motherboard
Obviously Id prefer the cheaper one, but if the asus is a lot better, I wouldnt mind paying the extra cash.
http://microcenter.com/product/387627/Z77_Pro3_1155_ATX_Intel_Motherboard
or
http://microcenter.com/product/393422/P8Z77-V_LK_LGA_1155_Z77_ATX_Intel_Motherboard
Obviously Id prefer the cheaper one, but if the asus is a lot better, I wouldnt mind paying the extra cash.
You are changing shit again for no reason other than you are listening to what some other person says. I already gave you what feedback you needed.About to go crazy, hate building PC's, especially if there's 100 opinions coming my way.
Here's what I've gathered, sorry for continuously changing it, I'm sure I'm annoying half of you.
Went back to the black WD 2TB hard drive, since it'll probably be easier than 2 separate blue WD hard drives.
Also changed the cpu cooler to a enermax liquid cooler.
That's about it, but people are telling me to go for the Radeon 7970 graphics card, then if I get another one in the future, I can ''crossfire'' them, making it better than the graphics card listed above. But if I went with the nVidia GTX 680 Twin Frozr, which types of graphics cards can I ''SLI'' with it? Any nVidia graphics card?
I was also told to change to the.. ASRock Z77 Extreme6 Motherboard from the above motherboard, not sure what the difference is though other than it being a little cheaper.
Thanks, and I'll be out of t his thread soon!
I'd get a Xornet/Spawn mouse and some keyboard combo instead.
Prefer the BP550 (modular) to the Antec HCG's
ASrock Pro3 will do you fine. ASUS quality on their lower end (aka under $180) isn't as good compared to what other brands are offering imo.
I mean the 4 is better, but it's still a fine Z77 board you can OC on. Given how the low power draw and small voltage boost I don't think it's THAT big a deal.
*Reading further it seems some have odd OC issues. I guess go for the Pro 4 or LK.
hey GAF,
I searched this thread for relevant information and advice on Haswell and it seems the consensus is:
- we don't know how well it will overclock
- assumed to be a 10% increase in speed overall
- might be more beneficial to laptops due to the reduced power consumption
My current PC is this:
Intel Q9550 @ 3.8GHz
4GB of DDR2 800
Gigabyte MB
nVidia MSI 660Ti PE 2GB
Vertex4 SSD
This machine handles everything well at 1080p now that I recently upgraded the card but I'm sure it's being bottlenecked by the slow ram and processor.
Would you wait for Haswell if you had my machine? If you were to recommend a current gen cpu, what would it be? I don't really plan to overclock so I guess that's something to consider as well. The main purpose is gaming followed by photo/video editing.
Thanks!
I searched this thread for relevant information and advice on Haswell and it seems the consensus is:
- we don't know how well it will overclock
- assumed to be a 10% increase in speed overall
- might be more beneficial to laptops due to the reduced power consumption
My current PC is this:
Intel Q9550 @ 3.8GHz
4GB of DDR2 800
Gigabyte MB
nVidia MSI 660Ti PE 2GB
Vertex4 SSD
This machine handles everything well at 1080p now that I recently upgraded the card but I'm sure it's being bottlenecked by the slow ram and processor.
Would you wait for Haswell if you had my machine? If you were to recommend a current gen cpu, what would it be? I don't really plan to overclock so I guess that's something to consider as well. The main purpose is gaming followed by photo/video editing.
Thanks!
It's tough to say for sure because of how much we don't know. Gut instinct says it's not going to be huge unless you are the person who likes to push their parts to the limit.
What's your budget and how important is video/photo editing? I ask as SB-E is still a great option for people who do a lot of that, and will give you a socket you can upgrade the CPU later on to some octo-core IB-E.
What's your budget and how important is video/photo editing? I ask as SB-E is still a great option for people who do a lot of that, and will give you a socket you can upgrade the CPU later on to some octo-core IB-E.
I pretty much understand everything when it comes to the components of my PC. But theres one part I just have no clue about.
the Motherboard.
I sort of understand what it does, but I don't know what the difference is between certain motherboards, what benefits you get from having one that's better than the other, or pretty much anything else.
I just got my motherboard because it was recommended and I knew it worked with my CPU.
Can anyone help me understand what exactly a motherboard does, what the benefits of a "better" one are, and how I know which I should get?
the Motherboard.
I sort of understand what it does, but I don't know what the difference is between certain motherboards, what benefits you get from having one that's better than the other, or pretty much anything else.
I just got my motherboard because it was recommended and I knew it worked with my CPU.
Can anyone help me understand what exactly a motherboard does, what the benefits of a "better" one are, and how I know which I should get?
Well mkenyon, you should be pleased with me!
Just ordered the Asus 144hz from B&H for a final price of $264.99!
It is backordered though, although it says it's expected March 7th. But I don't need it for another couple weeks anyways.
Here's the link in case you or anyone else is interested: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=orderHistory&A=details&Q=&sku=917361&is=REG
Seems like quite a good deal!
Just ordered the Asus 144hz from B&H for a final price of $264.99!
It is backordered though, although it says it's expected March 7th. But I don't need it for another couple weeks anyways.
Here's the link in case you or anyone else is interested: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=orderHistory&A=details&Q=&sku=917361&is=REG
Seems like quite a good deal!
Photo editing is something I do on the regular, but video editing not so much but I do know I'll be doing more of it down the road, within the next year or so.
My budget is whatever it takes to get quality stuff that will last me at least 3 years or so. I have a microcenter near me so I can get the i7-3770k for $289 or the i5 3570K for $189. I guess at that point I would just need some ram and a new motherboard...the rest of my stuff should transfer over nicely.
Or I could wait for Haswell :-| lol
They're insanely complex. I only have a really really beginner's idea of everything going on. Though he pretty much focuses on Gigabyte boards, check out Sinhardware.com. He goes into insane detail. This guy can tell you what each tiny chip on the motherboard does.
To give you a rough beginning idea though there's a couple things you want to look at with current motherboards.
1) Voltage Regulator - The quality of this device and how well it is cooled can drastically alter OC results.
2) Power delivery (i.e. "8 Phase PWM!") - Tied with voltage regulation, will determine how clean the power delivery is to the CPU.
3) Component quality - If the capacitors are crap, then the motherboard will blow up. If it is 3 layers of thin PCB, you might have interference/feedback with the onboard sound. That sort of thing.
4) Chips to multiply PCI-E Lanes - Socket 1155 chips only have 16 PCI-E lanes so they rely on chips to multiply these in order to allow things like x16/x16 Crossfire/SLI
5) Add ons - Things like the onboard soundcard, what kind of NIC you are getting, extra SATA ports, extra USB 3.0 ports, etc etc etc
F yeah.
Koroviev
Member
I would pursue that i7 from Micro Center.
If you can find it on sale, Steelseries Sensei RAW.
Here we go: http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=74368&vpn=62154&manufacture=Steelseries&promoid=1324
Here we go: http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=74368&vpn=62154&manufacture=Steelseries&promoid=1324
You weren't kidding. Click reviews > sub categories, only GIGABYTE
But yeah for 90% of computer builders, motherboard features are all that matters.
For 9.9% BIOS layout and 'overclocking' ability
0.1% Being able to pump 1000W of power with a +-0.1mV tolerance. I was surprised I can actually change the frequency and phase variance of power delivery on the M5E
EDIT: For people looking to learn a little bit more in depth about how computers work check out this book http://www.amazon.com/dp/0789747103/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Covers a lot of the basics that most people will know here but also covers some more advanced stuff like PLL, VRMs, etc. Great intro book
lol
This is my first PC in like 7 years or something crazy. Right now i am amazed i can run tomb raider at the setting i am and its still so much smoother than PS3. If i dropped down to 1080p I average over 43fps(60fps w/o tressfx but eff that) but i fell in love with 1440p
I see a quick GPU upgrade in my future :/
mmmmmmhmm
first you get the PC
now you have experienced the great valley beyond 1080p
then you'll get a new graphics card
then you'll get a ssd
Okay thanks. I tried going to Microcenter today since I read the P8Z77V Pro was on clearance for $105, but my microcenter was sold out =/
Guessing Im gonna go with the LK Model.
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