Support NeoGAF

[theSlacker]

I'm not too worried about ventilation. I have a few ideas in mind to keep the system cool and quiet.

Well the grounding of the motherboard would be my biggest concern.

 

[Ty4on]

There was a large gap between the GTX 650 Ti and the GTX 660, and the Boost fills it nicely

Hate the name, but I can't come up with a better one myself. GTX 655? Something to make buyers realise it's a detuned 660

I'm a bit of an AMD guy, but it's great to see a really competitive mid range chip from Nvidia. Great to see the gap between 7770/650ti and 7850/660 removed. Scared about the 1GB version though if it means just 768MB of fast memory. Does 1.5GB just sound too strange?

 

[VE3TRO]

Guys I've got a problemo. I noticed this morning that the fans are still spinning while the PC is actually off.

I've unlocked the ATA cable from the PSU which powers the fans and now they've stopped. I've reset the bios and it still happens. The only way to stop them is to pull the ATA 8 pin out of the PSU.

Any ideas?

 

[RibbedHero]

While I like it, I think Anandtech gave AMD a bit too much credit on dismissing Fraps.



Fraps and measuring frame time is still FAR more accurate than FPS metrics. I think people who are still pathetically (yes, I went there, I'm getting sick of it) to second based FPS polling are going to look at this and say 'Look, it's not accurate!'.

Agreed. Anandtech make some good points about it being down to user perception, frametime is a better measure of the user's experience.

FPS would suggest that Crossfire produces fantastic results, which in practice is very often not the case (microstutter, etc). Frametime captures this well, and AMD should not be so quick to dismiss it.

 

[Demon Ice]

120Hz/144Hz is what defines next gen technology, IMO. This is the greatest leap in the illusion of motion (what all graphics are ultimately attempting to do) in recent history.

Would you say the same frame rate / frame time looks better on a 120 Hz monitor vs a 60 Hz? For example, would a locked 60 FPS / 16.67 ms look better on a 60 Hz monitor vs a 120 Hz, or does the benefit of 120 Hz only kick in if you have an extremely high end rig that's capable of pushing near 120 FPS on a regular basis?

I also see a lot of people saying they can go ahead and leave Vsync off completely and notice much less tearing on a 120 Hz monitor, is that true?

 

[mkenyon]

Guys I've got a problemo. I noticed this morning that the fans are still spinning while the PC is actually off.

I've unlocked the ATA cable from the PSU which powers the fans and now they've stopped. I've reset the bios and it still happens. The only way to stop them is to pull the ATA 8 pin out of the PSU.

Any ideas?

Sounds like it's in Hibernate or Sleep rather than actually off. Windows 8?

 

[CornBurrito]

120Hz/144Hz is what defines next gen technology, IMO. This is the greatest leap in the illusion of motion (what all graphics are ultimately attempting to do) in recent history.

Only thing I am worried about is that I am living in a dorm room, and space is an issue. In fact the 23' monitor I picked might even be too big.

 

[brentech]

Using my laptop is painfully slow now. Ugh.

 

[VE3TRO]

Sounds like it's in Hibernate or Sleep rather than actually off. Windows 8?

Windows 7. The system is in shutdown and I've checked the settings for power options. Even when I turn off the PSU from behind on the switch they still have power. It's not until I pull the ATA cable out.

 

[mkenyon]

I'd check your motherboard manual, it has to be some sort of setting on the RIVE. It's a complicated board.

 

[aasoncott]

I've been using a GTX260 for quite a while now, and though it's held its own for a long time, the massive frame drops in Bioshock Infinite are trying to tell me it might be time to upgrade.

I've also been out of the videocard loop for quite a while. I have no idea how the GTX260 compares to the cards on the market now, and I have no idea how much I'd have to spend to see a decent performance boost. Would I be happy moving from a GTX260 to, say, a GeForce GTX 650 Ti?

A brute hardware compare makes it look like the 260 is still the better card, but I'm not sure how that actually translates to performance.

---

Hmm, it looks like that might not be a great option. It sounds like performance is pretty similar.

 

[kennah]

Friend of mine went from a 280 to a 660 and saw a huge jump so you'd probably be good. Go 660 ti if you can afford it.

 

[Vestal]

I've been using a GTX260 for quite a while now, and though it's held its own for a long time, the massive frame drops in Bioshock Infinite are trying to tell me it might be time to upgrade.

I've also been out of the videocard loop for quite a while. I have no idea how the GTX260 compares to the cards on the market now, and I have no idea how much I'd have to spend to see a decent performance boost. Would I be happy moving from a GTX260 to, say, a GeForce GTX 650 Ti?

A brute hardware compare makes it look like the 260 is still the better card, but I'm not sure how that actually translates to performance.

I would say 660ti would be your best upgrade path.

 

[garath]

I've been using a GTX260 for quite a while now, and though it's held its own for a long time, the massive frame drops in Bioshock Infinite are trying to tell me it might be time to upgrade.

I've also been out of the videocard loop for quite a while. I have no idea how the GTX260 compares to the cards on the market now, and I have no idea how much I'd have to spend to see a decent performance boost. Would I be happy moving from a GTX260 to, say, a GeForce GTX 650 Ti?

A brute hardware compare makes it look like the 260 is still the better card, but I'm not sure how that actually translates to performance.

---

Hmm, it looks like that might not be a great option. It sounds like performance is pretty similar.

660ti or a 7950 would be a huge upgrade.

 

[CornBurrito]

How long will the 680 last me? Halfway or fully through the PS4 generation or not even?

 

[chickdigger802]

for some reason, my parents think me leaving my desktop on at night with monitors off is killing me or something with radiation. Any validity to that?

I remember crt monitors were known for radiation and people put that thing over the monitors... but nothing else of recent .

 

[kharma45]

How long will the 680 last me? Halfway or fully through the PS4 generation or not even?

It depends on what sort of settings you deem acceptable for gaming.

I've been using a GTX260 for quite a while now, and though it's held its own for a long time, the massive frame drops in Bioshock Infinite are trying to tell me it might be time to upgrade.

I've also been out of the videocard loop for quite a while. I have no idea how the GTX260 compares to the cards on the market now, and I have no idea how much I'd have to spend to see a decent performance boost. Would I be happy moving from a GTX260 to, say, a GeForce GTX 650 Ti?

A brute hardware compare makes it look like the 260 is still the better card, but I'm not sure how that actually translates to performance.

---

Hmm, it looks like that might not be a great option. It sounds like performance is pretty similar.

Don't bother with the 650 models, for Nvidia go for at least a 660 and make it a 3GB model.

for some reason, my parents think me leaving my desktop on at night with monitors off is killing me or something with radiation. Any validity to that?

I remember crt monitors were known for radiation and people put that thing over the monitors... but nothing else of recent .

None.

 

[HoosTrax]

for some reason, my parents think me leaving my desktop on at night with monitors off is killing me or something with radiation. Any validity to that?

I remember crt monitors were known for radiation and people put that thing over the monitors... but nothing else of recent .

I'm not sure I would want to sleep with a constantly active WiFi router under my pillow (wasn't there some study a few years ago about cell phones causing brain cancer or something?), but I don't think a desktop computer emits much in the way of radiation. The case itself is kind of a Farraday cage, I would think.

 

[Orca]

Updated the previous listing to this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: SilenX EFZ-120HA5 86.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Kingston 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($91.38 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Crucial M4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($191.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 680 4GB Video Card ($519.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($55.06 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Full (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1742.32
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-26 16:01 EDT-0400)


Will probably order it all up next week. Still waffling on upping the CPU to an i7, that'll probably be a last minute change.

 

[kharma45]

Updated the previous listing to this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: SilenX EFZ-120HA5 86.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Kingston 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($91.38 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Crucial M4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($191.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 680 4GB Video Card ($519.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($55.06 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Full (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1742.32
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-26 16:01 EDT-0400)


Will probably order it all up next week. Still waffling on upping the CPU to an i7, that'll probably be a last minute change.

The 3770K is a very good deal at Microcenter, but then again so is the i5. If you're doing media work you could probably justify the i7 to yourself.

 

[Orca]

The 3770K is a very good deal at Microcenter, but then again so is the i5. If you're doing media work you could probably justify the i7 to yourself.

That's the problem, I can always justify it to myself.

 

[chickdigger802]

That's the problem, I can always justify it to myself.

me too even though im a developer who can only technically work on my work laptop

 

[kharma45]

That's the problem, I can always justify it to myself.

Heh I guess it's always easy to do, that's how my budget build doubled in price What sort of stuff are you using your PC for again?

 

[ss_lemonade]

I think both the m4 and 840 non pro 250gb drives are discounted at newegg now

 

[HoosTrax]

This might be a dumb question, but I'm looking at this res top for a Laing D5 (to replace my Swiftech res):

How does one go about filling that with no fillport? Do I have to go the T-line route? Maybe I'm missing something obvious, which is quite possible since I haven't used WC this gen.

 

[CornBurrito]

It depends on what sort of settings you deem acceptable for gaming.

At the very least I don't want the games to run worse than a console version. Otherwise I'd just get the console.

 

[kharma45]

At the very least I don't want the games to run worse than a console version. Otherwise I'd just get the console.

In that case you'll likely be fine for a long time I would imagine, the GPU (in the PS3 at least) is only around 7850 levels afaik.

Nothing is ever for certain though, but I'd be surprised to see the 680 not be able to cope.

 

[kennah]

At the very least I don't want the games to run worse than a console version. Otherwise I'd just get the console.

Consult your crystal ball.

 

[chickdigger802]

In that case you'll likely be fine for a long time I would imagine, the GPU (in the PS3 at least) is only around 7850 levels afaik.

Nothing is ever for certain though, but I'd be surprised to see the 680 not be able to cope.

Ps3 is 7850 level? Wow.


680 will kickass for at the very least a few years. Ue4 is probably gonna scale quite well too.

Next gen is gonna be kind for pcs IMO.

 

[kennah]

But this is all speculation until the things actually happen.

 

[ruxtpin]

Anyone here have any thoughts or recommendations on the GPUs I'm considering?

Asus 670 GTX

EVGA 670 GTX "Superclocked"

Or... Spend a bit more money and get a 680 GTX? Is the performance gain worth it?

 

[kennah]

Get the Asus, it'll be quieter and just as good.

There's really not much point in going up to the 680, it's a fairly small difference from the 670.

Unless you want to spend the money, then go for it.

 

[kharma45]

Anyone here have any thoughts or recommendations on the GPUs I'm considering?

Asus 670 GTX

EVGA 670 GTX "Superclocked"

Or... Spend a bit more money and get a 680 GTX? Is the performance gain worth it?

$100 difference for around 10% performance in games. Unless you need the extra CUDA cores for software programs that utilise the tech I'd just stick with the 670.

 

[zainetor]

I need a new card, but I dont know what to buy.
Get a cheap 7850 and upgrade again next year, or get a 7950 vaporx, but I dout that will last very long.

 

[ruxtpin]

Do you think that Superclocked+ functionality does anything, or is that just marketing gimmick? The ASUS and EVGA are right at the same price point pretty much, but the EVGA seems to have that artificial "Superclock" boost to it.

 

[OriginofHysteria]

Do you think that Superclocked+ functionality does anything, or is that just marketing gimmick? The ASUS and EVGA are right at the same price point pretty much, but the EVGA seems to have that artificial "Superclock" boost to it.

I could be wrong but EVGA seem to be very good overclockers while the ASUS is good at keeping the GPU cool...I mean even at full speed those fans are pretty damn silent.

 

[ruxtpin]

I could be wrong but EVGA seem to be very good overclockers while the ASUS is good at keeping the GPU cool...I mean even at full speed those fans are pretty damn silent.

I'm thinking ASUS it is then. I highly - highly - doubt I'm ever going to be over-clocking. From what I understand, OC-ing wouldn't make a discernible difference when I'm playing games (which is what the machine will be use for). I'm also going with a mATX case/form-factor so it'd probably be better for me to run something cool.

 

[HoosTrax]

I could be wrong but EVGA seem to be very good overclockers while the ASUS is good at keeping the GPU cool...I mean even at full speed those fans are pretty damn silent.

I don't think I've ever actually seen an ASUS cooler at full speed. Even at load, my GTX570 is usually in the 30-40% fan speed range. The size of those coolers is no joke though.

But yeah, ASUS has the best air coolers I've personally used (the silence is an incredible contrast with some reference coolers)... Wish I could have a Sapphire Toxic to compare with though.

 

[Shambles]

Anyone here have any thoughts or recommendations on the GPUs I'm considering?

Asus 670 GTX

EVGA 670 GTX "Superclocked"

Or... Spend a bit more money and get a 680 GTX? Is the performance gain worth it?

I can't speak to the EVGA but the Gigabyte 670 I had produced much more coil whine than the Asus 670 I ended up sticking with. I've been very happy with it so far.

 

[mkenyon]

This might be a dumb question, but I'm looking at this res top for a Laing D5 (to replace my Swiftech res):

How does one go about filling that with no fillport? Do I have to go the T-line route? Maybe I'm missing something obvious, which is quite possible since I haven't used WC this gen.

I used the very same one. The in port is actually on the side there, the top is what you would use to fill it. It's a great unit, there is a decoupling mechanism built in to the mounting system too, which makes it nearly silent even at the highest setting on the D5 vario.

I could be wrong but EVGA seem to be very good overclockers while the ASUS is good at keeping the GPU cool...I mean even at full speed those fans are pretty damn silent.

Nah, it's all silicon lottery. There's pretty much no point to buy EVGA cards unless you get one of those dual fan coolers.

I can't speak to the EVGA but the Gigabyte 670 I had produced much more coil whine than the Asus 670 I ended up sticking with. I've been very happy with it so far.

Coil whine existing seems like a recent outbreak, and I have no idea why exactly. Maybe it's that everything has quieted down so now it's audible. History of my recent cards with/without coil whine.

ASUS 5870 - None
XFX 5870 - Moderate
MSI 560Ti (x2) - Severe on both of them
Sapphire 7970 - Nope, but loud VRM pop
MSI 580 Lightning Extreme - None
EVGA 690 - The worst, really really loud
Powercolor 6950 - None
3xEVGA 670s - All three moderate
ASUS 7970 DCII - Mild
ASUS 7970 RoG Matrix - None

All of these are on pretty much the same PSUs too.

 

[Jafku]

Should I be concerned with using a HD 7850 with only 1GB VRAM? I just built my pc earlier this month and want to see if I can wait to upgrade and stick with this card for a while.

 

[VE3TRO]

Found the fault with the fans. It seems to be coming from a HDMI cable. If I pull the HDMI cable out the fans stop. So somehow the cable is transferring power from the HDCP stripper to the PC.

I don't know if this is some sort of PCI interference so I'll try another slot.

 

[mkenyon]

Found the fault with the fans. It seems to be coming from a HDMI cable. If I pull the HDMI cable out the fans stop. So somehow the cable is transferring power from the HDCP stripper to the PC.

I don't know if this is some sort of PCI interference so I'll try another slot.

THIS IS MADNESS

True story, I shocked myself the other day by touching a displayport on the plug side, and it hurt quite a bit. I had no idea they carried that kind of power.

 

[v0mitg0d]

Guys!

MY Tiki arrived and I'm setting it up now. One thing I'm not certain of is acceptable temps in Celsius.

Whats proper for CPU, GPU and mobo? Fan speeds? When should I worry?

i7 3770k, GTX 680, M3 256GB etc..

 

[mkenyon]

Download HWMonitor, CPU-Z, Uningine Heaven 4.0, and OCCT.

Open HWMonitor, CPU-Z, and OCCT. Run the Linpack test, post a screen shot after ~30mins.

Close out of OCCT and HWMonitor. Reopen HWMonitor and then open Unigine Heaven 4.0. Run for 30 mins, post a screen shot of HWMonitor.

 

[VE3TRO]

THIS IS MADNESS

True story, I shocked myself the other day by touching a displayport on the plug side, and it hurt quite a bit. I had no idea they carried that kind of power.

That happened to me last year on my MBP. I touched the end of a thunderbolt cable.

You think it will be ok? It cant be sending much power over since it struggles to only power 1 fan up and leds. Wouldn't want it to break the mobo.

 

[memecomplex]

Just placed my Compact Splash order, hope I get the number I want!

Kennah, can you pm me your parts list please? Cheers!

 

[kennah]

Just placed my Compact Splash order, hope I get the number I want!

Kennah, can you pm me your parts list please? Cheers!

Welcome!

 

[A Dog Chasing Cars]

So I finally got my PC assembled thanks to this thread and some youtube videos, but now I'm having a problem. I can see the boot screen and get into the BIOS via HDMI from my motherboard, but if I change anything in the BIOS like boot order and then restart I lose all picture. The only way to get it back is to clear the cmos and start again. Is the PC switching from my motherboard to the GPU, or do I need to update my BIOS? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[kennah]

So I finally got my PC assembled thanks to this thread and some youtube videos, but now I'm having a problem. I can see the boot screen and get into the BIOS via HDMI from my motherboard, but if I change anything in the BIOS like boot order and then restart I lose all picture. The only way to get it back is to clear the cmos and start again. Is the PC switching from my motherboard to the GPU, or do I need to update my BIOS? Thanks in advance for the help.

Plug your monitor into your GPU not your motherboard