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[civilstrife]

Modular, same price, pretty solid quality, much lower amount of DOA and issues. More than enough power for a single card. It's a no brainer.
Corsair has gone through like 10 PSU makers and designs now. Just because it says Corsair on it doesn't mean it's good. Each PSU from any company should be judged on it's own merit.

The old CX380 and CX400W's were good units. The current CX and GS line are very lackluster in value for your money.

Thanks man! And thanks for the awesome guides. Soooo excited for my new rig.
I should be building by the end of the week!

 

[Koroviev]

Pulling my hair out, trying to decide whether or not to wait for Haswell.

My current rig is a tired old Athlon II X2 that is weighing down my new 7870 XT.

I would take advantage of the deals on Ivy Bridge processors, which should perform similarly to the efficiency-minded Haswell line.

 

[Dave_6]

Haha I'm such an idiot. I've got a ~1.5 year old Dell as my current desktop that is used for nothing but web browsing and such. Yesterday I thought to myself "I've got this nice Fractal R4 sitting here with nothing to go in it so I'll put the guts of the Dell in that case!" Get it all apart, mount the PSU and mobo in the R4 and only then do I realize the PSU cables are too short for the taller R4 Oh well it was only ~30 minutes wasted so no big deal.

 

[theytookourjobz]

7950 for 299 or 7970oc for 380?

 

[Kamaki]

Hey there guys, my friend has been running into a problem with his new graphics card. He's supplied me with information to come for advice.

He bought this HD7870 and this Alpine 700W Silent PSU to accommodate for the increased power consumption. Except now when he starts the computer it comes on, instantly turns off and restarts, all showing a black screen.

I'm thinking that it's actually still a power issue and that he hasn't got enough power for the card. What do you guys think?

Also he gave me this to show in case it helps.

 

[BolognaSoup]

I've had my PC for about 8 months now so I'm thinking it may be due for a light cleaning on the inside. How do you guys recommend going about that, removing dust, etc? I have kept the exterior vents pretty clean so far but haven't really done anything on the inside yet.

 

[kharma45]

Hey there guys, my friend has been running into a problem with his new graphics card. He's supplied me with information to come for advice.

He bought this HD7870 and this Alpine 700W Silent PSU to accommodate for the increased power consumption. Except now when he starts the computer it comes on, instantly turns off and restarts, all showing a black screen.

I'm thinking that it's actually still a power issue and that he hasn't got enough power for the card. What do you guys think?

Also he gave me this to show in case it helps.

Most likely that PSU that he bought, it's to be blunt junk.

 

[garath]

I've had my PC for about 8 months now so I'm thinking it may be due for a light cleaning on the inside. How do you guys recommend going about that, removing dust, etc? I have kept the exterior vents pretty clean so far but haven't really done anything on the inside yet.

Compressed air. Blow it out.

 

[asdad123]

So I managed to get another crucial M4 256gb for $100 to go with the one I bought from newegg for $150 last week. What would be the best way to set them up? Raid 0? If so, how would I do that? I'm building everything tomorrow.


I also have a Intel 510 250gb SSD. Any idea what those are worth? I don't reall need 750gb of ssd lol.

 

[MisterNoisy]

Nice prodigy build. What's the fan in the front? How are people setting this up for cooling? I see that it has top and bottom vents, but is it simpler just to go straight front to back, with CPU cooler fan in line with the airflow? I would probably remove the middle drive bay, and I don't think I'll use an optical drive, so I guess there is the option for a H60 or similar from the top vents, but it looks like air would be fine.

I notice you've gone for a water cooler for the CPU, is that set up as an exhaust or intake at the back? And if your CPU is water cooled, and your GPU has its own big intake, is such a large front fan necessary?

It looks like he's using the 230mm Spectre Pro in the front with the H60 set up as intake. My build is similar, though I used 2x120mm fans up front instead. As far as other fans, I have two fans on the top as exhaust - air enters from the front, rear and the area around the video card and is blown out the top - this setup is fairly close to neutral pressure and gave me the best overall temps, but your mileage may vary.

 

[Kipp]

My Logitech G5 mouse is finally starting to die (after many, many hackjob repairs), so I think it's time for a refresh. I'm thinking of sticking with the G5-like design of the G500, but I don't know much about the newer high end mice. Are there any mouse recommendations for a primarily FPS player?

A lot of people here would recommend the Sensei RAW to you.

However, if you do think you're going to go with the G500, it's $31.99 right now on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002J9GDXI/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[Slackbladder]

Hey there guys, my friend has been running into a problem with his new graphics card. He's supplied me with information to come for advice.

He bought this HD7870 and this Alpine 700W Silent PSU to accommodate for the increased power consumption. Except now when he starts the computer it comes on, instantly turns off and restarts, all showing a black screen.

I'm thinking that it's actually still a power issue and that he hasn't got enough power for the card. What do you guys think?

Also he gave me this to show in case it helps.

36amps on that PSU seems enough but it's very cheap. Tell him to get a new PSU. It's always worth while to spend a little money on a good PSU.

As I am getting an overcloaked CPU (not doing it myself, have'nt got the balls!) perhaps someone could tell me if this looks about right?

AI Overclock Tuner: XMP
BLCK Freq: 100
Turbo Ratio: By All Cores
By All Cores: 46
Internal PLL OverVoltage: Auto
Mem Freq: 1600
EPU Power Saving: Disabled
Load-Line Calibration: Auto
CPU Manual Voltage: 1.375
DRAM Voltage: 1.65
CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
CPU Ratio: Auto
CPU C1E: Disabled

The CPU is an Intel® Core™i7-3770k Quad Core (3.50GHz @ max 4.60GHz).
Thanks.

 

[mkenyon]

So I managed to get another crucial M4 256gb for $100 to go with the one I bought from newegg for $150 last week. What would be the best way to set them up? Raid 0? If so, how would I do that? I'm building everything tomorrow.


I also have a Intel 510 250gb SSD. Any idea what those are worth? I don't reall need 750gb of ssd lol.

Xornet<Spawn<Sensei RAW

The G500 has some pretty heavy acceleration that cannot be disabled.

 

[scogoth]

As I am getting an overcloaked CPU (not doing it myself, have'nt got the balls!) perhaps someone could tell me if this looks about right?

The CPU is an Intel® Core™i7-3770k Quad Core (3.50GHz @ max 4.60GHz).
Thanks.

1.65V for the DRAM doesn't look right. They should be using 1.5V RAM

 

[RibbedHero]

Heads up, if you bought a GTX 660 or higher EVGA card from March 4 onwards you get 3D Mark Advanced free.

http://www.evga.com/articles/00734/

 

[Ryaaan14]

It came in a day early o_o

Heads up, if you bought a GTX 660 or higher EVGA card from March 4 onwards you get 3D Mark Advanced free.

http://www.evga.com/articles/00734/

Fuck yeah, awesome

 

[Anton668]

Hey there guys, my friend has been running into a problem with his new graphics card. He's supplied me with information to come for advice.

He bought this HD7870 and this Alpine 700W Silent PSU to accommodate for the increased power consumption. Except now when he starts the computer it comes on, instantly turns off and restarts, all showing a black screen.

I'm thinking that it's actually still a power issue and that he hasn't got enough power for the card. What do you guys think?

Also he gave me this to show in case it helps.

quick google found many stuff such as...

Here is a video review of an "Alpine Black 700W Silent Quiet PC ATX PSU" priced at £17.65, which an self-builder should avoid like the plague:

 

[Fantasmo]

PC GAF, I've got an issue. I bought Tritton Detonator headset from Gamestop because I had credit for trading some stuff in. Problem is it doesn't work with Black Ops 2. its plugged in via USB, it shows up in Windows 7 64 bit, its set to default, so is the mic portion.

It works with everything, except Black Ops 2. It worked with Portal 2 and open mic worked fine.

Black Ops 2 has an audio menu, where you choose the sound device, but it auto changes to my internal sound card, and allows me to use my external sound card, but the headset doesn't appear at all. Even if I disable all the sound cards, the headset won't appear!

I really want to get it to work because I don't think Gamestop carries PC specific headsets and the price was right.

Again, it works with everything else, just not Black Ops 2.

Please help!

 

[derder]

PC GAF, I've got an issue. I bought Tritton Detonator headset from Gamestop because I had credit for trading some stuff in. Problem is it doesn't work with Black Ops 2. its plugged in via USB, it shows up in Windows 7 64 bit, its set to default, so is the mic portion.

It works with everything, except Black Ops 2. It worked with Portal 2 and open mic worked fine.

Black Ops 2 has an audio menu, where you choose the sound device, but it auto changes to my internal sound card, and allows me to use my external sound card, but the headset doesn't appear at all. Even if I disable all the sound cards, the headset won't appear!

I really want to get it to work because I don't think Gamestop carries PC specific headsets and the price was right.

Again, it works with everything else, just not Black Ops 2.

Please help!

I would check your Audio Control panel and esnure that the tritton detonator usb soundcard is set to the windows standard for both the audio output and input.

I've always had troubles with usb mics and windows in games.

 

[mkenyon]

Disable your standard audio device too. Do it in BIOS if you have to.

 

[Fantasmo]

I would check your Audio Control panel and esnure that the tritton detonator usb soundcard is set to the windows standard for both the audio output and input.

I've always had troubles with usb mics and windows in games.

That was the first thing I did. I have motherboard and external sound cards so I knew this going in. They are 100% definitely set to default.

Youtube, media player, and every other game work. Specifically Portal 2 worked both as a stereo headset and the Open Mic worked flawlessly. The headset is totally functional except this game.

When I start the game, my receiver clicks, which it always does when it engages itself or switches modes. Its like Black Ops 2 is taking the sound card functionality away from the headset and switching to my sound card.

Also, Black Ops 2 has an encrypted config file, so I can't manually set it. I've also tried deleting the hardware_mp.chp file manually but that just resets the options. It doesn't make the headset appear in the options.

Disable your standard audio device too. Do it in BIOS if you have to.

I will try this tonight and report back.

Ps - Thanks for all your input a few months back. I'm loving my PC!

 

[mrklaw]

It looks like he's using the 230mm Spectre Pro in the front with the H60 set up as intake. My build is similar, though I used 2x120mm fans up front instead. As far as other fans, I have two fans on the top as exhaust - air enters from the front, rear and the area around the video card and is blown out the top - this setup is fairly close to neutral pressure and gave me the best overall temps, but your mileage may vary.

Thanks. Did you reuse the case fans - so move the rear fan to the front for the 2x120, then add the H60? Did you remove the optical drive to add the extra exhausts?

See you're using a Corsair HX650 - no problems with size, read that can be an issue with the prodigy. Will that be enough to drive a 7970?

 

[Salaadin]

Any way to troubleshoot static noise in a headset?

I own the Sennheiser PC 360s and, on occasion, I get a quick bit of static. I never hear it during gameplay or music...only when Im web browsing or at the desktop. I cant ever get it to repeat itself so its hard to really track down the cause.

Im using on board sound with my Logitech 2.1 speakers plugged into the rear jack. The speakers have a headphone jack on them and thats what Im using for the headphones. Could this just be a bad jack?
When I need voice chat, I use the headphone/mic jack built in to my keyboard and, so far, I havent noticed any static from these but I cant say for sure because its so inconsistent.
Id normally use the headphone jack on the front of my PC but there was a loud humming from that port a few years ago because of grounding issues inside the case and the fix resulted in sound from that port being mono only, not stereo

 

[xJavonta]

Xornet<Spawn<Sensei RAW

The G500 has some pretty heavy acceleration that cannot be disabled.

Wrong thread?

 

[Salaadin]

Wrong thread?

Right thread, he just quoted the wrong guy. He meant to quote:

My Logitech G5 mouse is finally starting to die (after many, many hackjob repairs), so I think it's time for a refresh. I'm thinking of sticking with the G5-like design of the G500, but I don't know much about the newer high end mice. Are there any mouse recommendations for a primarily FPS player?

 

[mkenyon]

Nah, I just clicked the wrong post to quote. My bad!

A lot of people here would recommend the Sensei RAW to you.

However, if you do think you're going to go with the G500, it's $31.99 right now on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002J9GDXI/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[xJavonta]

Right thread, he just quoted the wrong guy. He meant to quote:

Nah, I just clicked the wrong post to quote. My bad!

Ahh gotcha. Your advice would have come in handy a couple of weeks ago before I bought my new mouse. I love it, but it took FOREVER to get used to playing FPSes on a G600.

 

[MisterNoisy]

Thanks. Did you reuse the case fans - so move the rear fan to the front for the 2x120, then add the H60? Did you remove the optical drive to add the extra exhausts?

See you're using a Corsair HX650 - no problems with size, read that can be an issue with the prodigy. Will that be enough to drive a 7970?

I used the Bitfenix fans as the top exhaust, the two I have mounted in the front I picked up separately. I did pull the ODD rack to clear room for the upper intake fan (two of the mounting holes for the top 120mm fan are actually running through the ODD blank) and the top exhaust fans.

That PSU barely fits, and should be plenty for almost any single-GPU build. I used motherboard standoffs to set the PSU back in the chassis by an extra quarter-inch, so that everything could be screwed down flush (the modular connectors for the PSU cables made it a nonstarter without the standoffs). You can see them (along with some #6 washers) in this photo pretty easily (if a bit out of focus):

 

[Salaadin]

Ahh gotcha. Your advice would have come in handy a couple of weeks ago before I bought my new mouse. I love it, but it took FOREVER to get used to playing FPSes on a G600.

Im still not used to it.
I really want a new mouse but Im so used to Logitechs hyper scroll wheel and Im not sure that I want to give that up. At the same time, thats a pretty lame reason to keep a mouse Im not real happy with

 

[iavi]

Got my 2600k up to 4.7ghz on just 1.3v, up from 4.6ghz. H80i putting in work, temps topped out at 62c. I've posted this before but I think I have a really good chip and 5ghz could be a possibility!

Ivy can't hit anywhere near that on an H80i

4.3 seems to be my wall, maybe 4.4 if I push my temp tolerance up a bit.

 

[garath]

Im still not used to it.
I really want a new mouse but Im so used to Logitechs hyper scroll wheel and Im not sure that I want to give that up. At the same time, thats a pretty lame reason to keep a mouse Im not real happy with

I replaced my aging mx518 with a Sensei RAW. Took about 2 days of tweaking and getting used to it in general. Now I won't look back. Brilliant mouse.

 

[mkenyon]

What do you mean by hyper scroll wheel? As in, low restriction and easy to spin?

 

[Vestal]

So Gaf. I am in the process of upgrading my current video card to the EVGA 660 Ti OC. I am wondering if anyone has a suggestion on were to sell my "older" MSI 6950 Twin Frozr III outside of ebay..

Thanks

 

[comu]

Got the first two parts of a new PC to be built in a month

Gigabyte HD 7870
Asus P8Z77-V LX2 motherboard

They look fantastic

But the graphics card is 28 cm long! (from description)

They also gave me codes for Crysis 3 and Bioshock Infinite, which are normally for the 7900 series, but they had none left for the 7800

 

[Salaadin]

What do you mean by hyper scroll wheel? As in, low restriction and easy to spin?

The scroll wheel has two modes. One is regular like we all know but pushing a button below the wheel "frees" it so that it doesnt click into place anymore. One flick and it will just spin and spin and spin. Very useful on large webpages or spreadsheets.

 

[XShagrath]

Is "VGA Clearance" on a case the amount of room you have for a video card? I've got an NZXT Source 210 and newegg says it has 230mm /w hard drive, and 330mm without. I'm looking at getting a 7950 sometime soon, but that according to Gigabyte's website is 285mm long. I've got two HDDs that I need in there. Is it time for me to buy a new case as well?

 

[xJavonta]

Im still not used to it.
I really want a new mouse but Im so used to Logitechs hyper scroll wheel and Im not sure that I want to give that up. At the same time, thats a pretty lame reason to keep a mouse Im not real happy with

Haha that's true, but one feature could make a world of difference in a mouse.

Do you have a G600? Mine doesn't seem to have Hyper Scroll :/

 

[Vestal]

The scroll wheel has two modes. One is regular like we all know but pushing a button below the wheel "frees" it so that it doesnt click into place anymore. One flick and it will just spin and spin and spin. Very useful on large webpages or spreadsheets.

The "Hyper wheel" eventually goes bad due to dust build up and what not. happend to my old MX mouse, no amount of air, cleaning or what not would let it go back to its original glory.

 

[asdad123]

So I managed to get another crucial M4 256gb for $100 to go with the one I bought from newegg for $150 last week. What would be the best way to set them up? Raid 0? If so, how would I do that? I'm building everything tomorrow.


I also have a Intel 510 250gb SSD. Any idea what those are worth? I don't reall need 750gb of ssd lol.

Anyone?

 

[Salaadin]

Haha that's true, but one feature could make a world of difference in a mouse.

Do you have a G600? Mine doesn't seem to have Hyper Scroll :/

G500

The "Hyper wheel" eventually goes bad due to dust build up and what not. happend to my old MX mouse, no amount of air, cleaning or what not would let it go back to its original glory.

My old bluetooth hyperscroll had that issue but the G500 is ok so far. Had it for 2 years.

 

[Vestal]

Anyone?

I personally wouldn't go with a Raid setup on a pair of SSDs.. I would dedicate 1 for OS/Apps and the other for Gaming stuff.. There is hardly any speed benefit to Raiding 2 SSDs..

Not to mention that last I checked the TRIM functionality in SSDs does not run under RAID.

 

[mkenyon]

Yep. I can't tell the difference in speed when in RAID or by themselves. The only benefit is having a single volume, which is kind of meh when you are talking about the amount of space you have anyway.

 

[scogoth]

Yep. I can't tell the difference in speed when in RAID or by themselves. The only benefit is having a single volume, which is kind of meh when you are talking about the amount of space you have anyway.

You are missing the most obvious advantage, running a security essentials scan on SSD raid 0 is damn fast

 

[mkenyon]

Hadn't considered that, but I also have it run when I'm not at the PC.

That is a pretty cool benefit.

 

[Kipp]

Woo! My PC shipped today!
Also got my Quickfire Rapid Cherry Brown keyboard in the mail today as well as my enormous mousepad!

I got a giant box and a medium sized box. Figured the bigger one was the keyboard and smaller one was the mousepad. Turns out I was wrong. The 3 foot long box was filled with packing peanuts to protect a mousepad. Pretty hilarious:

 

[mrklaw]

Lets try again then:

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/J25U


CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£164.34 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£58.92 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard (£89.12 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£37.39 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£54.48 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£100.00 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card (£223.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (White) Mini ITX Tower Case (£62.16 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£69.84 @ Amazon UK)

Total: £860.24

Open to suggestions, specially on the GPU. 7870, 7870 GHz, 660ti and 7950 all seem to be roughly in the same ballpark on price, and there are lots to choose from. (And the 7970/670 are sitting just a little higher, tempting me). Will be gaming at 1080p. Also needs to be a decent bump up from my laptop with gtx660m

 

[DTKT]

Woo! My PC shipped today!
Also got my Quickfire Rapid Cherry Brown keyboard in the mail today as well as my enormous mousepad!

I got a giant box and a medium sized box. Figured the bigger one was the keyboard and smaller one was the mousepad. Turns out I was wrong. The 3 foot long box was filled with packing peanuts to protect a mousepad. Pretty hilarious:

I think I might have the same mouse pad. It's pretty good and huge but sides seem are starting to come off.

 

[kennah]

I asked about that gigabyte ITX board a while ago and was told this

It can't control voltage. Max OC is 4.2GHz and it automates voltage to get there.

So you might want to get an MSI, Asrock or Asus instead. Otherwise, looks pretty great. I say go for the 7970 or the 670 if you can afford it. But really you can't go wrong.

 

[kharma45]

I asked about that gigabyte ITX board a while ago and was told this



So you might want to get an MSI, Asrock or Asus instead. Otherwise, looks pretty great. I say go for the 7970 or the 670 if you can afford it. But really you can't go wrong.

From the reviews that I read on it some people were getting 4.5GHz from the 3770K on it, guess it depends on the chip.

 

[Artanisix]

Do AMD cards allow downsampling? 7970 looks very attractive but I might just get an Nvidia card if you can't downsample with AMD.