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[teh_pwn]

AMD is releasing the first Sea Islands GPU with AMD Radeon HD 7790. While they've branded it 7000 series, it's really the design that supposedly will be used later this year for the 8000 series.

Looks like we're getting a good refresh this year considering there's no die shrink. 30-40% faster than an equivalent Southern Islands design with a minimal increase in power usage.

Hope the 8970 isn't far behind. I need to sustain my 120 hz addiction. I suspect it's soon because I've been tempted to upgrade with last year's GPU and stuff is out of stock everywhere. I guess from a GPU marketing standpoint...you'd want to align with Intel releases somewhat? Even if Haswell is only 20% faster with IPC + OC increases.

 

[bro1]

My corsair 750xt has an awful coil sound and I have gotten 7 kernel 41 critical errors according to event log in the past month. Are they related? Would a silver stone 600w silver be a good replacement? 3570k, gtx 670, ssd in my system

 

[cpp_is_king]

Is it possible to find out what bios version my motherboard is on out of the box, before plugging anything in?

 

[OriginofHysteria]

No need to do anything to what's on the HDDs. Just run the flash update and no software should be effected.

Well I'm not updating, I'm installing a completely new motherboard haha. Does the same still apply?

 

[Double D]

After being all over the place making a decision on a new GPU, I'm ordering a 7970 today.

Now the questions:

1) This Gigabyte card, or this Sapphire card? Alternatively, I'm open to other suggestions.

2) Will a Corsair G600 PSU work okay with this? It's currently powering my GTX 465.

thanks!

 

[brentech]

Well I'm not updating, I'm installing a completely new motherboard haha. Does the same still apply?

Replacing a bad motherboard or all new board with new features?
I'm picky enough to just reload Windows and have a clean slate of drivers if it's a different motherboard all together. I don't like having a bunch of old unused drivers that my PC might try to look to.

 

[metalshade]

Brand new. And it did come with a Sanyo Eneloop rechargeable AA. I just notice that it will go from 3 green bar to 1 in maybe a matter of hours (3 - 4). Maybe I should just let it roll and see how much longer it run in the evening.

Mine does the same, dont worry, it will run for days, even on the high drain settings.

 

[kennah]

Please talk me out of sleeving my cables.

 

[red731]

Would creation of disk image after installing and updating windows delete the data that are already on USB drive?

 

[mrklaw]

Please talk me out of sleeving my cables.

every time someone sleeves a cable, a kitten loses his mittens.

 

[Frankfurter]

is my PSU bust ?

Im also getting unstable warnings during boot and the Southbridge is running stupidly hot from touch...

Im think -12 is wrong, shouldnt it be near -12 ?

No expert here, but I'd definitely say you should double check with another app. But if these are correct readings than I'd say you are also in trouble on the +12V rail. Afaik ATX specifications are minimum 11.4V and maximum 12.6V, i.e. your PSU (again if this app is reading the values correctly) exceeds the upper limit most of the time.

 

[Kipp]

Are there any good PSU deals right now? I think the one I've got might be dying. It's making a nasty, loud, high-pitched screaming noise under load.

 

[kennah]

There is a great deal on a used Seasonic in the bst thread

 

[Ty4on]

AMD is releasing the first Sea Islands GPU with AMD Radeon HD 7790. While they've branded it 7000 series, it's really the design that supposedly will be used later this year for the 8000 series.

Looks like we're getting a good refresh this year considering there's no die shrink. 30-40% faster than an equivalent Southern Islands design with a minimal increase in power usage.

Hope the 8970 isn't far behind. I need to sustain my 120 hz addiction. I suspect it's soon because I've been tempted to upgrade with last year's GPU and stuff is out of stock everywhere. I guess from a GPU marketing standpoint...you'd want to align with Intel releases somewhat? Even if Haswell is only 20% faster with IPC + OC increases.

Damn, this is why you don't put super agressive fan profiles on cards. The reference card isn't even running that hot at just 74C and the heatsink is tiny. The Sapphire card has a very small overclock, around 7%.

 

[Proc]

Hey guys...need your advice on something.

I have gtx570 in sli right now. I find that some of my games stutter quite a bit with sli enabled. HOTS especially, which I play every day.


I could pick up a gtx680 for $370...would I notice much of an improvement to warrant the price tag? I could upgrade my htpc with those two 570s if I go through with it.

 

[Kipp]

There is a great deal on a used Seasonic in the bst thread

Thank you so much! I think that's exactly what I need.

 

[kennah]

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX44025

Canada! 144Hz 24" Asus on sale today for $259

 

[Proc]

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX44025

Canada! 144Hz 24" Asus on sale today for $259

I just bought this for $280 at CanadaComputers....great monitor. Loving it so far.

 

[Lighthouse]

Hey guys...need your advice on something.

I have gtx570 in sli right now. I find that some of my games stutter quite a bit with sli enabled. HOTS especially, which I play every day.


I could pick up a gtx680 for $370...would I notice much of an improvement to warrant the price tag? I could upgrade my htpc with those two 570s if I go through with it.

Where are you getting a gtx680 for $370? Is it new or used?

I just paid the same price for a 670.

 

[Proc]

Its used. I don't want to pay the msrp but the used price seems reasonable.

 

[Kipp]

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX44025

Canada! 144Hz 24" Asus on sale today for $259

DO IT. I can now FULLY recommend this monitor. It's fantastic.

 

[scogoth]

Please talk me out of sleeving my cables.

Doing it yourself? It's takes a lot of patience and it hurts your fingers. But do it anyways

 

[mkenyon]

You Canadians. So stoic.

 

[DJ_Lae]

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX44025

Canada! 144Hz 24" Asus on sale today for $259

Edmonton North: Out of Stock

Boo.

 

[Lighthouse]

I did it. Im building my own pc for the first time. The OP has helped me tremendously in picking the right components and feeling pretty confident about putting it all together.
My macbook just died on me and my dell laptop is right behind it. I will be using my panasonic plasma as the primary monitor. Very excited everything should be here by saturday except for window 7 which was sent by usps instead of fed ex for some annoying reason.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread for helping me out.

The build is:
Case: haf 922
Psu: Corsair enthusiast 650w
Mobo: as rock z77 extreme4
Ram: corsair vengeance blue 8GB
Cpu: i5. 3570k
Gpu: gigabyte gtx 670 oc
Cpu cooler: cooler master 212 evo
Optical: asus dvd rw
Hd: caviar blue wd 1TB
ssd: crucial m4 128 GB


Cant wait to get started and will do my best to follow all the advice in the op, including proper cable management.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Lqel
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Lqel/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Lqel/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V PRO ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($199.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($409.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On ihes112-04 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($56.98 @ Outlet PC)
Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1591.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-22 11:19 EDT-0400)

Just placed the order. Got great mileage (nearly 5 years with only a GPU/RAM upgrade) out of my previous system and hope for similar with this one.

 

[brentech]

I did it. Im building my own pc for the first time. The OP has helped me tremendously in picking the right components and feeling pretty confident about putting it all together.
My macbook just died on me and my dell laptop is right behind it. I will be using my panasonic plasma as the primary monitor. Very excited everything should be here by saturday except for window 7 which was sent by usps instead of fed ex for some annoying reason.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread for helping me out.

The build is:
Case: haf 922
Psu: Corsair enthusiast 650w
Mobo: as rock z77 extreme4
Ram: corsair vengeance blue 8GB
Cpu: i5. 3570k
Gpu: gigabyte gtx 670 oc
Cpu cooler: cooler master 212 evo
Optical: asus dvd rw
Hd: caviar blue wd 1TB
ssd: crucial m4 128 GB


Cant wait to get started and will do my best to follow all the advice in the op, including proper cable management.

looks very familiar to my own build. You'll enjoy it.
The cooler master was the only tough part and that's because it was the first heatsink I've used that needed support through the back of the board.
Runs like a charm though.

Another word of advice, I went to asrock website and downloaded all the new drivers for the motherboard, but most ended up not resolving unidentified devices. So just use the driver disk that the board comes with. All devices register when I went back to that.

 

[HoosTrax]

Anyone done any mini-ITX builds for kicks? Kind of been fawning over the BitFenix Prodigy case.

I'm really leaning towards that direction (either mini-ITX or returning to micro-ATX, actually) for the future. Especially with it being totally feasible to get by with no [permanent] optical drives and just one HDD and one SSD these days, it doesn't make much sense to have a huge, empty case.

I have a feeling I'm going to regret not being able to use my Xonar if I go mini-ITX instead of mATX though. Kind of wish ASUS would put out a mini-ITX version of a ROG board with the isolated audio chipset.

Edit: maybe now would be the time to learn how DACs work -- are they able to bypass the typical EMI interference that's latent to signals produced by onboard audio?

 

[Lighthouse]

looks very familiar to my own build. You'll enjoy it.
The cooler master was the only tough part and that's because it was the first heatsink I've used that needed support through the back of the board.
Runs like a charm though.

Another word of advice, I went to asrock website and downloaded all the new drivers for the motherboard, but most ended up not resolving unidentified devices. So just use the driver disk that the board comes with. All devices register when I went back to that.

Thanks, Im sure I will. The closest thing to a gaming rig I have owned is a dell xps m170 laptop. The first and last gaming laptop I will buy.

I watched 3 different videos on youtube showing the installation for the cpu and cpu cooler today to prepare.
Interesting bit about the latest drivers you downloaded, as I am planning on downloading all the latest today.
After you got all devices registered did you go back and update the drivers or just stick with the ones that come with the mobo?

 

[brentech]

Thanks, Im sure I will. The closest thing to a gaming rig I have owned is a dell xps m170 laptop. The first and last gaming laptop I will buy.

I watched 3 different videos on youtube showing the installation for the cpu and cpu cooler today to prepare.
Interesting bit about the latest drivers you downloaded, as I am planning on downloading all the latest today.
After you got all devices registered did you go back and update the drivers or just stick with the ones that come with the mobo?

Just completed my build and installs on Thursday. Right now I'm still using the ones on disk. Not sure why the downloaded drivers didn't all work.

Some did though.

 

[kharma45]

After being all over the place making a decision on a new GPU, I'm ordering a 7970 today.

Now the questions:

1) This Gigabyte card, or this Sapphire card? Alternatively, I'm open to other suggestions.

2) Will a Corsair G600 PSU work okay with this? It's currently powering my GTX 465.

thanks!

If you don't care about the voltage lock on the Gigabyte and don't want to OC it much then I'd lean towards it.

PSU should be fine.

 

[kennah]

Anyone done any mini-ITX builds for kicks? Kind of been fawning over the BitFenix Prodigy case.

I'm really leaning towards that direction (either mini-ITX or returning to micro-ATX, actually) for the future. Especially with it being totally feasible to get by with no [permanent] optical drives and just one HDD and one SSD these days, it doesn't make much sense to have a huge, empty case.

I have a feeling I'm going to regret not being able to use my Xonar if I go mini-ITX instead of mATX though. Kind of wish ASUS would put out a mini-ITX version of a ROG board with the isolated audio chipset.

I tried holding out for a mITX Sabertooth or ROG board, but in the end upgraded anyway.


HOWEVER, you are in for a world of (SWEET WONDERFUL) hurt because right now there is a plethora of really great ITX cases.

You have already seen the Prodigy.

$79

PROS: Lots of room for Air and Hard drives and a 51/2 if you need it. Has plenty of niches that you can shove an SSD into. Cheapest of the bunch. The feet are cool.

CONS: Watercooling is a BITCH that can require heavy modification and particular parts. Won't fit a powersupply bigger than 160mm without looking stupid.


CaseLabs S3

$199 + Accessories
PROS: Will fit pretty much anything you throw at it, the flexbays are awesome, comes in Black, White, Blue, Grey or PRIMER (to paint any colour you want). Amazing build quality from a very well regarded company. This case is something you would get to be able to do anything you want, most flexible of the bunch.

CONS: "cheap" initially but when you enter the world of customizing it the price can really ramp up quick. Kinda large and 'boxy'.

CompactSplash

$150 + shipping

PROS: Specifically designed to be the smallest possible case that will accept a full custom watercooling loop. Each one custom built and custom named, can be ordered in any colour for an additional charge. Only available for a limited time!

CONS: Air cooling options limited. Will not take regular ATX powersupplies at all. Only fits two 2.5" hard drives (4 if you are watercooling your video card and literally tape two together), Only available for a limited time!


I'll have more later!

 

[HoosTrax]

That CaseLabs S3 looks intriguing. Might even fit my giant Corsair HX1000 PSU (I'm perfectly fine with using 5.25" bays for my SSD and HDD and sacrificing all of the drive cages if it means I can fit both a video card and over-sized PSU).

I like these mini towers compared to the the old-school cube cases, where the PSU would always end up in a awkward place over the CPU or GPU.

Edit: Holy shit, it actually has three PCI slots in the back? So it actually accommodates an aircooled ASUS ROG GPU. I think I just found a new favorite miniITX case...

Edit: One more inch plus one additional PCI slot would make it a mATX...is that what the S5 they're talking about in the OCN thread is?

 

[cpp_is_king]

Is it possible to find out what bios version my motherboard is on out of the box, before plugging anything in?

Bumping this since no response, anyone know?

 

[kingellesar]

Right so got the money together to get the dual monitors next week!

Last time I was here I was recommended:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008F7GW2K/

Whats the difference between that^ and this:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/monitors/23inchmonitors/23ea63v.html

Cheers

 

[kharma45]

The one from Novatech just looks to be a new revision of it with a thinner bezel.

Cheaper through Ebuyer btw if you qualify for their free delivery http://www.ebuyer.com/466118-23ea63v-23-ips-led-1920-1080-vga-dvi-hdmi-black-23ea63v

 

[kingellesar]

Sweet! I do!

I was hoping you'd say they are similar because it looks much nicer!!

 

[kharma45]

Agreed, what I believe to be the new model does look an awful lot nicer with that thinner bezel. Not sure if there are any other changes bar that, specification looks to be the same.

 

[mkenyon]

Bumping this since no response, anyone know?

Probably not, but you could check your manual as well as manufacturer support forums.

 

[VE3TRO]

I feel such a noob asking all these questions. I've got everything up and running and now I want to raid the two 1TB HDD's I have.

I'm in disk managment and run through a few raid options and every one give me an error saying.

There is not enough space available on the disks to complete this operation.

These are both indeticable models and size and both have 930 available each.

 

[mkenyon]

Are they already formatted and usable? Because they need to be unallocated.

 

[kennah]

That CaseLabs S3 looks intriguing. Might even fit my giant Corsair HX1000 PSU (I'm perfectly fine with using 5.25" bays for my SSD and HDD and sacrificing all of the drive cages if it means I can fit both a video card and over-sized PSU).

I like these mini towers compared to the the old-school cube cases, where the PSU would always end up in a awkward place over the CPU or GPU.

Edit: Holy shit, it actually has three PCI slots in the back? So it actually accommodates an aircooled ASUS ROG GPU. I think I just found a new favorite miniITX case...

Edit: One more inch plus one additional PCI slot would make it a mATX...is that what the S5 they're talking about in the OCN thread is?

S5 is the same thing but wider and with 5 Slots yes S3 isnt' available for order until next week, S5 is a few months away.

 

[VE3TRO]

Both have unallocated space of 932.20GB with 200mb Healthy (EFI System Partition)

 

[mkenyon]

Windows 7 or 8?

 

[kennah]

I want to buy an S3 just to mount my compact splash into one of its flexbays.

 

[VE3TRO]

Windows 7 or 8?

Windows 7. I Can't seem to do anything with the drives now. Won't allow me to format them.

 

[mkenyon]

try putting them on a different SATA controller, check your motherboard manual to see which is which. There should be three total, IIRC.

 

[megabytecr]

Gaf already helped me get a budget build.

i3-3220 (i5-3470 is +$110)
HD 7850
8GB DDR3

Not much is known for Durango, but how will this build fare regarding PS4 and Durango leaks?

There is other benefits in getting a PC, like cheaper games and Mods. But would really like to know how it fares against next gen consoles. I know I can get good performance, can I get 1080p in today´s games?

I can tolerate 720p, so my guess is I would have to go to 720p for the next gen games. Could also upgrade down the road to a beefier GPU.

Also what is the best controller?

 

[mkenyon]

No one can tell you how console ports will run until they are playable. Until then, it's all speculation.

 

[knitoe]

I feel such a noob asking all these questions. I've got everything up and running and now I want to raid the two 1TB HDD's I have.

I'm in disk managment and run through a few raid options and every one give me an error saying.

There is not enough space available on the disks to complete this operation.

These are both indeticable models and size and both have 930 available each.

Why not raid them through your disk controller? Usually, you have to press a few keys during bootup to get into the setup.