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[turbosnail]

What kind of graphics card do you guys suggest getting? I reserved a "Core i7 4770K 3.5GHz Socket LGA 115"

I have a decent budget, I wish I had the patience to save up for a Titan, I'm thinking about it.

 

[Instro]

So this is where I'm at right now: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/12Iti

I'll fill out the the OP questions to make this easier.

Your Current Specs: Old amd dual core, old gpu, old stuff, etc.
Main Use: Gaming, Emulation, General Use
Monitor Resolution: 1080p, need a new monitor.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Crysis 3, etc.
Looking to reuse any parts? Some HDDs, DVD drive, nothing major
Will you be overclocking?: Yes, but not heavily
When will you build?: Looking to start buying within the next couple days/week.
Budget: 1700-1800~, definitely want to save money where possible of course.

I'm kind of going back and forth on the gpu, I'd like to wait for the 4gb 770 but the 7970 is a damn good deal. I feel like there might be a better equivalent 2TB HDD but I'm not sure. I could probably drop back to a smaller size SSD to save a bit, although I kind of like 250gb. The monitor is a bit of an issue since I don't really know what to pick, I'm certainly willing to spend a bit more for something of better quality, but I'm not looking go bigger as far as size is concerned. As long as it is 1920x1080 21-24in is fine. Thoughts on some inexpensive speakers would be appreciated as well.

 

[Keyouta]

Pros/Cons on going with Haswell vs Ivy Bridge vs AMD's 8-core CPU?

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Biggest mark-up ever?

Biggest mark-up ever :-/

Checked Home Depot, ACE, Lowes and a hobby shop - nobody has those screws. Home Depot had pointed ones in brass, but that's not what I want. At $4 a gallon and 20mpg.... I guess I'll stop hunting. And thanks LD, for including silver feet with my black case, lol.

And I want 3-day shipping so I can continue this on Friday, since I'm traveling for work on Sunday, cutting my weekend short. And 2-day was only like $2 more, so yeah...

 

[Karmum]

Probably upgrading from my GTX 460 SLI setup this summer. My budget is $400 (+/−, if the increase in money is worth going over the budget) recommend me the best card. I'm thinking a 7970 (would be my first AMD card) or a 670...

Any ideas on when a 760 may drop? If it'd be worth waiting for / significantly better than the 670? If not, maybe I'll just wait and hope for the 670 (or 7970) to drop a little. So glad I didn't upgrade several months ago.

EDIT: I'm an idiot. I meant the 770, which I remembered has literally just been released.

So basically, is the difference between the 670/770 worth the extra $20-$30? Not sure when the 8000 series is coming out, or what would be the equivalent card in that price range/performance.

EDIT 2: I wasn't completely aware that most 770s are $399 on Newegg, but I'm sort of trying to get around Newegg because I'm going to get boned with NJ taxes. Probably answered my own question then, get a 770 since my budget is at $400.

 

[biocat]

I'm looking for a case with child locks on it. Is there anything like that around?

 

[Karmum]

I'm looking for a case with child locks on it. Is there anything like that around?

My suggestion would be a Lian-Li, unless you mean an actual physical lock on it...I'm pretty sure they have some kind of locking mechanism on them (haven't had one in ages).

 

[Jzero]

I'm looking for a case with child locks on it. Is there anything like that around?

Thumb screws aren't enough security?

Your kid must be strong.

 

[RoKKeR]

Probably a noob question that I can answer on my own, but will my i5-2500k stock clock (3.3GHz) bottleneck with a 770?

 

[kennah]

Thumb screws aren't enough security?

Your kid must be strong.

I think he means the power button and such on the front.

As a dad - you can disable the power button in the windows settings. I think there are also hacks to make the optical drive buttons not work.

Probably a noob question that I can answer on my own, but will my i5-2500k stock clock (3.3GHz) bottleneck with a 770?

No but a 2500K at stock clocks will bottleneck your life. Overclock that sucker! It is so easy!

 

[squicken]

Pros/Cons on going with Haswell vs Ivy Bridge vs AMD's 8-core CPU?

Don't go with AMD. As far as Ivy vs Haswell, I think it comes down to board features and price. How many USB3 ports do you need? How many SATA 3 ports? I'd lean Haswell not based on the CPU core, but on all the board features. You may not need more than 2 SATA3 ports right now, but you might in a couple of years

 

[mkenyon]

Pros/Cons on going with Haswell vs Ivy Bridge vs AMD's 8-core CPU?

Haswell motherboards aren't vetted yet. Might get a dud.

Ivy has fewer SATA 6GB ports, is slower clock for clock, is a dead socket.

AMD 8350 is not an 8 core, it's 4 modules that happen to have 2 CPUs each. It works like a hyperthreaded quad core - such as the i7. It competes with the first gen Core series processors in games, but competes with current gen i7s in multimedia creation.

 

[Smash88]

H100i is overkill. No insane cooler is going to keep it cool once you hit that heatwall. Step down to something like the H60, IMO.

Dom Plats are pretty, and pretty overpriced. Only buy these if this is a showcase build.

Full towers are silly unless you want to water cool (as in, a DIY full system). Think about the Fractal Arc Midi R2 instead, or a Fractal Define R4. If you want it for the aesthetics, then by all means. The 820 is a good case.

Drop down PSU to something like a 650. With SLI 770s and an overclocked Haswell chip, you'd be looking at about 500W load during gaming.

Sabertooth is a bad value. Every board in its price range is better equipped.

With all of that said, if you've picked a lot of these parts based on aesthetics rather than value, then everything you have selected is great quality.

I agree with everything you have said, except for the Sabertooth. I think it is well equipped, without the erroneous "LAG KILLER INTEGRATED CHIPS" and other frivolous crap. The Sabertooth has just as many features as any other high end board.

 

[Blizzard]

I'm aware of the 770 vs AMD argument, but if I go with the 770, any opinions on this build? Here's my post from earlier:

I'm partly posting this in case anyone has any awesome advice (the most recent build in the OP was updated in February I think), and partly as notes to myself. My Oculus Rift should arrive within a week or two, and I want to build a new computer for it since I haven't in about 5 years.

Your Current Specs: (not really applicable since I plan to build a completely new system and keep the old one functional)

Budget: I'd like to see if it's possible to build for $1000 or less. Country is U.S.

Main Use: I assume this is 5 for everything: gaming, 3D modeling, programming, video recording, music recording and editing, video playback

Monitor Resolution: I have a 1680x1050 monitor, probably time to upgrade but I do like the 1.6 close-to-golden-ratio resolution. For the immediate future I might just reuse this and buy one later.

List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Project CARS at 60 fps would be ideal, but I know that may be virtually impossible. I'd like to be able to downsample relatively high-end PC games (2012/2013/2014 releases), or at minimum run them at 60 fps. I sometimes run the UDK which can eat a ton of memory.

Looking to reuse any parts? Keyboard and mouse, though I may upgrade to another split keyboard since the black one with hotkeys doesn't seem as good as the old white simpler one.

When will you build?: I'd like to at minimum order within a week, and of course the sooner I can ship the parts the better. I used Newegg previously.

Will you be overclocking? No.



Specific things I am going to look for:

• i5 or i7 processor, at minumum I would like a 3Ghz quad core without overclocking. I've been using a 3 GHz e8400 core 2 duo for about 5 years and I'm probably often CPU limited.
• At minimum 8GB RAM
• A SSD might be nice but probably isn't a super high priority for me unless it's inexpensive and not a big hassle splitting between Steam games and Windows. A very highly reliable 7200+ rpm hard disk IS a high priority since I do programming projects and don't want to lose anything. I really need to buy more external(s) and back up more regularly.
• Windows 7 (home premium is probably fine), not 8
• nVidia graphics card (I've used AMD for years). I've been using a 5850 which was a great combination of being fast, cool, AND quiet. I'd like to find those three things again, but in a card that is at minimum faster than the 5850 and ideally would last me for a couple of years like the 5850 did. I will be using this with the Rift over HDMI or whatever.
• Big case for big graphics card, has at least 2 USB on front panel
• DVDRW of course, might throw a Bluray in as well if there's an inexpensive yet really well reviewed and reliable one.
• Motherboard that fits all of the above stuff, has 2+ SATA ports, decent quality audio I/O
• PSU, presumably 700W+.

If anyone has suggestions or spots anything I missed, input is very welcome.

Thanks to suggestions, here is what I have put together tonight:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/12KCm
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/12KCm/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/12KCm/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-GD55 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($116.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.62 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($419.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.94 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1122.47
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-04 00:10 EDT-0400)

Compatibility notes mention "MSI Z77A-GD55 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard has an onboard USB 3.0 header, but the Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case does not have front panel USB 3.0 ports.". The case does appear to have front panel USB ports, but I guess they're not USB 3.0 compatible? (unless this note is wrong) Either way it's probably not a big deal, I just want decent, physically secure 2.0 ports to work on the front.

Any opinions, especially on reliability of these particular parts/brands? I'm a big Corsair fan after having one for like 5 years for my current build. The 750W is major overkill, but less power was the same price. Is it worth the price to get one of the gold instead of bronze certified ones? I know power supply is one area where you certainly don't want to be a cheapskate.

Would it be worth the extra $85+ for a SSD? I'd almost rather put another Caviar Blue 1TB in if they're reliable, fast enough, and there aren't going to be heat/power/whatever problems associated. Is it likely that this setup won't come with any SATA cables? I can't find notes on it so I should probably get some (I like Monoprice but I have seen some very loose SATA connectors from them recently)

If I want to play Blu-rays, I see there's one $40 player but it requires additional purchased software to legally play DVDs or Blu-rays. I don't actually own any Blu-rays but if I consider them in the future, is it worth it to get such a drive instead (I don't have an actual entertainment center) and if so what's a good price for one with included software?

If I'm not overclocking, do I need a CPU cooler or any extra case fans for this setup? Thanks again for everyone's help!

 

[mkenyon]

I agree with everything you have said, except for the Sabertooth. I think it is well equipped, without the erroneous "LAG KILLER INTEGRATED CHIPS" and other frivolous crap. The Sabertooth has just as many features as any other high end board.

Compare the audio, phase control, bonus BIOS/utility features, PLX PCI-E multiplier, and NIC with the Sniper M5, Maximus VI Gene, Maximus VI Hero, and MSI MPower. Some of those are cheaper. None are more expensive.

I'd say it compares favorably with the $180 boards. Literally the only thing it has going for it is the thermal armor. It's a really good pull though, and one that pulled me in on the P67 model. I'd buy another if it were fitting/required for a showcase build, but in terms of value, it's insanely overpriced.

 

[theSlacker]

I agree with everything you have said, except for the Sabertooth. I think it is well equipped, without the erroneous "LAG KILLER INTEGRATED CHIPS" and other frivolous crap. The Sabertooth has just as many features as any other high end board.

For more moneys. It's about the value. For example I think another asus board, the p8z77-v pro has everything that the sabertooth does other then the "armor" and more, and is cheaper. Like he said, if you are buying because of aesthetics, then go for it, but it isn't a good board for it's price if you put that aside.

Edit: Once again should have refreshed before posting.

 

[Irresistable Thing]

Hey guys...
What the heck is going on here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUwjXQjQZZM

(Amd showing off their A game)

 

[RoKKeR]

No but a 2500K at stock clocks will bottleneck your life. Overclock that sucker! It is so easy!

Gahh I'm nervous though! I've been avoiding it haha. I bought an iBuyPower prebuilt back in 2011 and it came with a stock liquid cooler for the CPU. I put some MX-4 Thermal Paste on it last summer and it's been running very cool, (around 50-55C on average I'd say) but I've always been a person who just uses things as they're intended to and doesn't break warranties haha.

How much would a performance increase, if any, would I get if I OC'd it to, lets say 3.8GHz?

 

[nbthedude]

I'm aware of the 770 vs AMD argument, but if I go with the 770, any opinions on this build? Here's my post from earlier:



Thanks to suggestions, here is what I have put together tonight:



Compatibility notes mention "MSI Z77A-GD55 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard has an onboard USB 3.0 header, but the Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case does not have front panel USB 3.0 ports.". The case does appear to have front panel USB ports, but I guess they're not USB 3.0 compatible? (unless this note is wrong) Either way it's probably not a big deal, I just want decent, physically secure 2.0 ports to work on the front.

Any opinions, especially on reliability of these particular parts/brands? I'm a big Corsair fan after having one for like 5 years for my current build. The 750W is major overkill, but less power was the same price. Is it worth the price to get one of the gold instead of bronze certified ones? I know power supply is one area where you certainly don't want to be a cheapskate.

Would it be worth the extra $85+ for a SSD? I'd almost rather put another Caviar Blue 1TB in if they're reliable, fast enough, and there aren't going to be heat/power/whatever problems associated.

If I want to play Blu-rays, I see there's one $40 player but it requires additional purchaed software to legally play DVDs or Blu-rays. I don't actually own any Blu-rays but if I consider them in the future, is it worth it to get such a drive instead (I don't have an actual entertainment center) and if so what's a good price for one with included software?

If I'm not overclocking, do I need a CPU cooler or any extra case fans for this setup? Thanks again for everyone's help!

1. Your motherboard will still have USB 3.0 on the back through the motherboard, just only 2.0 connector for the front. You can however buy a 3.0 front panel for your case that just slots into a bay drive if you want. They are very cheap. Personally, I don't care about USB 3.0. It is just a marketing bullet point to me because 2.0 is more than fast enough for as infrequently as I transfer files to flash drives.

2. I am no expert here, but Corsair is a good brand. I have had good experiences with them.

3. Many will tell you yes SSD is really worth it. Personally I think they are a nice luxury but you wont notice many huge differences outside of start up. I can barely tell a difference between games installed on my SSD and on my Caviar Blue. If storage is more important to you, get the storage space. You can always add an SSD later where a bigger drive is cheaper now than buying an extra one later. I've filled up a 1TB with Steam games, so I know how easy it is with all the crazy cheap deals. If you suspect you are going to want more space, save cash and hassle by buying the bigger drive now.

4. No. Bluray got fucked on PC. You can buy a standalone player for less than $50 but decent software on PC cost you that much alone. If you want to olay BluRays, I think it is cheaper and more convenient to just buy a stand alone player.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

Hey guys...
What the heck is going on here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUwjXQjQZZM

(Amd showing off their A game)

dem next next gen graphics

 

[nbthedude]

Hey guys...
What the heck is going on here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUwjXQjQZZM

(Amd showing off their A game)

That is both really stupid and really awesome. Amd has cyber nano-soldiers that be slashin up those data demons, yo. I'll bet that big guy at the end was the frame latency demon.

 

[squicken]

Hey guys...
What the heck is going on here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUwjXQjQZZM

(Amd showing off their A game)

I could see them trying to sell the idea that they are offering the same thing that is in consoles, only faster/cheaper. Not sure Tron's Crysis works, though

 

[RoKKeR]

Just watched a video on OC'ing a i5-2500k on a P8P67, seems very simple, might try it out tomorrow.

What's a recommended OC speed for my first attempt?

 

[ACE 1991]

Just watched a video on OC'ing a i5-2500k on a P8P67, seems very simple, might try it out tomorrow.

What's a recommended OC speed for my first attempt?

I'd bump the core clock up to 40, and then run prime 95. I was never able to get my 2500K up past 4.0ghz for some reason, but not everyone gets the same quality processor. You should be able to get that sucker up to 45 no problem, but YMMV.

 

[Blizzard]

1. Your motherboard will still have USB 3.0 on the back through the motherboard, just only 2.0 connector for the front. You can however buy a 3.0 front panel for your case that just slots into a bay drive if you want. They are very cheap. Personally, I don't care about USB 3.0. It is just a marketing bullet point to me because 2.0 is more than fast enough for as infrequently as I transfer files to flash drives.

2. I am no expert here, but Corsair is a good brand. I have had good experiences with them.

3. Many will tell you yes SSD is really worth it. Personally I think they are a nice luxury but you wont notice many huge differences outside of start up. I can barely tell a difference between games installed on my SSD and on my Caviar Blue. If storage is more important to you, get the storage space. You can always add an SSD later where a bigger drive is cheaper now than buying an extra one later. I've filled up a 1TB with Steam games, so I know how easy it is with all the crazy cheap deals. If you suspect you are going to want more space, save cash and hassle by buying the bigger drive now.

4. No. Bluray got fucked on PC. You can buy a standalone player for less than $50 but decent software on PC cost you that much alone. If you want to olay BluRays, I think it is cheaper and more convenient to just buy a stand alone player.

Thanks. I'll try to order everything tomorrow unless anyone has further suggestions. I'll keep the optical drive I have since your standalone Blu-ray suggestion sounds better, and I'll probably simply add a second Caviar Blue.

I probably do need SATA cables though, haha.

 

[RoKKeR]

I'd bump the core clock up to 40, and then run prime 95. I was never able to get my 2500K up past 4.0ghz for some reason, but not everyone gets the same quality processor. You should be able to get that sucker up to 45 no problem, but YMMV.

Alright, I'll give it a shot tomorrow.

 

[IrishNinja]

help me, PC-GAF.

my living room/media hub PC was troubled; shit was resetting sometimes, but most times it'd be okay when running but if you let it reset (update, etc) it'd get stuck in a loop of failed windows boots that formatting didn't fix. given that it was an archaic dualcore, i took this as an opportunity to upgrade it to a new CPU/GPU/mobo/RAM etc for stability.

worked great for a bit, but started resetting again randomly (when viewing videos, browsing, even idle sometimes) and now it's only getting more frequent. im thinking at this point, its only the HDD and power supply that are the variables here...running a stable/legit windows 7 with:

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3 ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD FX-4100 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ Quad-Core Desktop Processor
and a, i forget, ATI 4500 or so? anyway

could this be the power supply? i don't think so, just wanted to double check before upgrading the HDD and hoping that solves everything. anything i might be missing here?

also, assuming its the drive, do you guys recommend seagate, barracuda, toshiba, western digital or what? prolly just gonna go by Tiger Direct in the next few days and buy the cheapest 1 TB ya'll recommend

 

[Najaf]

Don't upgrade. You are fine for awhile. What is your gpu?

Two GTX 560's in SLI.

Why recommend not upgrading? Its a 3 year old CPU. What should I hold out for? Next generation 1150 socket CPUs or just wait for prices to come down?

Thanks for the input.

 

[nbthedude]

Thanks. I'll try to order everything tomorrow unless anyone has further suggestions. I'll keep the optical drive I have since your standalone Blu-ray suggestion sounds better, and I'll probably simply add a second Caviar Blue.

I probably do need SATA cables though, haha.

Or just make it simple. A 2tb Western Digital Caviar Black for $126 with 15% off promo code WDBLACK15OFF. That's cheaper than 2 blues. It is also faster with a better warranty.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136792

 

[theSlacker]

I like the new adaptive voltage thing, but wounder how reliable it is over just using offset if stress testing fucks with it.

 

[knitoe]

Thanks. I'll try to order everything tomorrow unless anyone has further suggestions. I'll keep the optical drive I have since your standalone Blu-ray suggestion sounds better, and I'll probably simply add a second Caviar Blue.

I probably do need SATA cables though, haha.

A new build without SSD, for at least OS and daily use programs, is a huge mistake. There is a reason why people that went SSD will never go back to just regular HDD. It's that big of a deal. While most people mention faster bootup as a reason for going SSD, that's really not the most important part. It is for the almost ZERO seek time. You click on something sitting on the SSD and it responds right away. When people say Windows is much more snappy and responsive, that's why.

 

[nbthedude]

A new build without SSD, for at least OS and daily use programs, is a huge mistake. There is a reason why people that went SSD will never go back to just regular HDD. It's that big of a deal. While most people mention faster bootup as a reason for going SSD, that's really not the most important part. It is for the almost ZERO seek time. You click on something sitting on the SSD and it responds right away. When people say Windows is much more snappy and responsive, that's why.

I just disagree as someone who owns one. When I search for a file on my SSD and on my 1TB WD Blue (which I have nearly full) I do not really notice a large difference. I use Steam mover alot. I honestly notice very little difference in playing games off an SSD or off a Harddrive. I am not saying there is no difference, but rather than good modern HD are already pretty damn fast outside of booting Windows.

Given that my 1TB is full and I frequently delete stuff to make room and have to decide which multiplayer/coop games to keep installed to play woth friends, I can easily see the decision to forgo it for more storage.

 

[biocat]

My suggestion would be a Lian-Li, unless you mean an actual physical lock on it...I'm pretty sure they have some kind of locking mechanism on them (haven't had one in ages).

Lian li looks good. My son is one year old and I'm mostly worried about him pushing the power button while I'm in the middle of doing something. He loves pushing buttons...

 

[nbthedude]

A new build without SSD, for at least OS and daily use programs, is a huge mistake. There is a reason why people that went SSD will never go back to just regular HDD. It's that big of a deal. While most people mention faster bootup as a reason for going SSD, that's really not the most important part. It is for the almost ZERO seek time. You click on something sitting on the SSD and it responds right away. When people say Windows is much more snappy and responsive, that's why.

I just disagree as someone who owns one. When I search for a file on my SSD and on my 1TB WD Blue (which I have nearly full) I do not really notice a large difference. I am not saying there is no difference but rather than good modern HD are already pretty damn fast outside of booting Windows.

Given that my 1TB is full and I frequently delete stuff to make room and have to decide which multiplayer/coop games to keep installed to play woth friends, I can easily see the decision to forgo it for more storage. Especially with a high end Caviar Black for $126. That is a good deal.

 

[knitoe]

I just disagree as someone who owns one. When I search for a file on my SSD and on my 1TB WD Blue (which I have nearly full) I do not really notice a large difference. I use Steam mover alot. I honestly notice very little difference in playing games off an SSD or off a Harddrive. I am not saying there is no difference, but rather than good modern HD are already pretty damn fast outside of booting Windows.

Given that my 1TB is full and I frequently delete stuff to make room and have to decide which multiplayer/coop games to keep installed to play woth friends, I can easily see the decision to forgo it for more storage.

Take the test. Take the SSD out. Try running Windows on a HDD only. Forget about bootup time, come back and tell us if Windows is just as snappy and responsive on the HDD only. Most SSD users already know the answer.

And, yes, games load faster on SSD. I use Steam Mover and I can clearly tell when the game is sitting on my raid Samsung 840 2X250GB SSD vs Seagate 3TB HDD. It might amount to a few secs here and there, but still very noticeable.

 

[nbthedude]

Take the test. Take the SSD out. Try running Windows on a HDD only. Forget about bootup time, tell us if Windows is just as snappy and responsive.

And, yes, games load faster on SSD. I use Steam Mover and I can clearly tell when the game is sitting on my raid Samsung 840 2X250GB SSD vs Seagate 3TB HDD. It might amount to a few secs here and there, but still very noticeable.

I have been running PCs with standard HDs all my life. I know what it is like to run Windows on one. I am not saying it makes no difference, but people tend to flip out over boot times and seek times. I guess I tend to be more practical and from that angle, I can totally see someone going for more storage and a faster, better quality harddrive over an SSD and a cheaper, smaller drive. At least for the next few years until the $1 per GB ratio changes. Which is another argument for waiting on the SSD if you like lots of storage space. Their prices continue to drop almost by the month whereas that isnt true with traditional HDs.

 

[knitoe]

I have been running standRd HDs all my life. I know what it is like to run Wimdows on one. I am not saying it makes no difference but people tend to flip out over boot times and seek times. I tend to be more practical and from that angle, I can totally see someone going for more storage and a faster, better quality harddrive over an SSD and a cheaper, smaller drive. At least for the next few years until the $1 per GB ratio changes. Which is another argument for waiting on the SSD if you like lots of storage space. Their prices continue to drop almost by the month whereas that isnt true with traditional HDs..

I too have ran raid, HDD and SSD, all my life, but raid HDD doesn't make Windows more snappy and/or responsive because their seek time are still shitty 9-13ms. Adding more HDDs won't decrease that number. Having Windows + daily use programs be much more snappy and responsive is not a "luxury". That should be a top priority. And, many SSD go on sale for $0.60 per 1GB these days. I guess ignorance is bliss...

 

[Fatal Futanari]

Anyone got a tut for OCing memory other than the one in the OP?I've never OCed ram before (came from the land of the laptops). I tried doing the basic "change ram clock speed" to 2133MHz in the mobo bios but it fails. I have also tried fiddling with the timings but alas nothing. So right now my ram is running at 1333HMz.

Dunno if this matters but my ram is a Kingston HyperX Beast 32 GB 2133MHz kit and mobo is a Rampage IV Formula.

I'm going to go out on a limb that my ram is not compatible with my mobo? It wont OC at all, even with just 2 or 1 sticks. Unless I am just doing all this wrong (big chance). Been looking at a few guides but most contradict each other lol.

I guess the good thing is that I can return it (got it from Amazon). Just need to figure out what to replace it with. I would LOVE the 32gb Corsair Dominator Platinum kit but its damn expensive.

 

[nbthedude]

I too have ran raid, HDD and SSD, all my life, but raid HDD doesn't make Windows more snappy and/or responsive because their seek time are still shitty 9-13ms. Adding more HDDs won't decrease that number. Having Windows + daily use programs be much more snappy and responsive is not a "luxury". That should be a top priority. And, many SSD go on sale for $0.66 per 1GB these days. I guess ignorance is bliss...

We just disagree about the value of Windows seek times vs. the value of more storage and a higher quality drive. Or rather, I am not even disagreeing so much as saying I can see arguments for why someone may value the later over the former, but, uh.. thanks for calling me ignorant.

 

[Hazaro]

Running through the updated OP.

Haswell is making performance/$ fight an upgrade path. Though what lies ahead is pretty debatable. It's hard to pass almost a full GPU upgrade tier to jump from IB to Heatlel.

I have been running PCs with standard HDs all my life. I know what it is like to run Windows on one. I am not saying it makes no difference, but people tend to flip out over boot times and seek times. I guess I tend to be more practical and from that angle, I can totally see someone going for more storage and a faster, better quality harddrive over an SSD and a cheaper, smaller drive. At least for the next few years until the $1 per GB ratio changes. Which is another argument for waiting on the SSD if you like lots of storage space. Their prices continue to drop almost by the month whereas that isnt true with traditional HDs.

We are right at the tipping point imo.
Good 120GB drives regularly go on sale for <$90 and sit at $100.

Yes, modern HDDs have come a fantastic way and most regular users who don't do a lot of multitasking won't really notice all the benefits.

I'm going to go out on a limb that my ram is not compatible with my mobo? It wont OC at all, even with just 2 or 1 sticks. Unless I am just doing all this wrong (big chance). Been looking at a few guides but most contradict each other lol.

I guess the good thing is that I can return it (got it from Amazon). Just need to figure out what to replace it with. I would LOVE the 32gb Corsair Dominator Platinum kit but its damn expensive.

What RAM did you buy and what does CPU-Z say in both memory tabs?
I wouldn't be surprised if your 2133MHz memory couldn't go higher (4 slots filled and high density). Did you bump the VCC/VCCIO one or two notches?

*Also why are you overclocking it? Shit matters <1% in most cases

 

[knitoe]

We just disagree about the value of Windows seek times vs. the value of more storage and a higher quality drive. Or rather, I am not even disagreeing so much as saying I can see arguments for why someone may value the later over the former, but, uh.. thanks for calling me ignorant.

If on budget, get small SSD(OS & most used programs) and HDD (storage). Best of both worlds. After Samsung left, these days HDD quality have gone down big time. There are no recommend safe brand. It's the luck of the draw. And, no, I am not calling you ignorant. Just telling people without SSD what they are missing out.

 

[squicken]

help me, PC-GAF.

my living room/media hub PC was troubled; shit was resetting sometimes, but most times it'd be okay when running but if you let it reset (update, etc) it'd get stuck in a loop of failed windows boots that formatting didn't fix. given that it was an archaic dualcore, i took this as an opportunity to upgrade it to a new CPU/GPU/mobo/RAM etc for stability.

worked great for a bit, but started resetting again randomly (when viewing videos, browsing, even idle sometimes) and now it's only getting more frequent. im thinking at this point, its only the HDD and power supply that are the variables here...running a stable/legit windows 7 with:

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3 ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD FX-4100 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ Quad-Core Desktop Processor
and a, i forget, ATI 4500 or so? anyway

could this be the power supply? i don't think so, just wanted to double check before upgrading the HDD and hoping that solves everything. anything i might be missing here?

also, assuming its the drive, do you guys recommend seagate, barracuda, toshiba, western digital or what? prolly just gonna go by Tiger Direct in the next few days and buy the cheapest 1 TB ya'll recommend

Yes, it could be the power supply. A bad power supply can make otherwise good components fail stability tests. How old is the PSU? What is the model? How many watts?

edit: You are in a tough spot. Do you just have the one HDD? There's really no way to diagnose the issue w/o swapping in known working hardware.

 

[Fatal Futanari]

R
What RAM did you buy and what does CPU-Z say in both memory tabs?
I wouldn't be surprised if your 2133MHz memory couldn't go higher (4 slots filled and high density). Did you bump the VCC/VCCIO one or two notches?

*Also why are you overclocking it? Shit matters <1% in most cases

Got a Kingston HyperX Beast 32 GB 2133MHz kit paired with a Rampage Formula IV mobos

Says its running at 1333MHz with a 9 CAS in the tabs

I have not tried that, I'll try that when I get home

Main reason I am overclocking is because I bought 2133MHz ram, would like to have it running at that speed rather than 1333MHz lol. But of course I would like fast ram for the gaming, encoding, rendering, vmwaring, and other multitasking stuff I do.

I am totally new to OCing ram btw

 

[squicken]

Cross posting from the Haswell thread. Embargo lifted on dual core parts, though only one for desktop

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7021/introducing-the-dualcore-haswell-skus

 

[nbthedude]

If on budget, get small SSD(OS & most used programs) and HDD (storage). Best of both worlds. After Samsung left, these days HDD quality have gone down big time. There are no recommend safe brand. It's the luck of the draw. And, no, I am not calling you ignorant. Just telling people without SSD what they are missing out.

The Caviar Black comes with a 5 year warranty and is no slouch in performance. It is a very quite, very fast 2TB drive for $126:

http://techreport.com/review/24487/wd-black-4tb-hard-drive-reviewed/12

Drives with spindle speeds around 5,400-RPM are invariably slower than 7,200-RPM models, though. Their random access times tend to be particularly sluggish, and that's an area where the Black 4TB excels even versus its 7,200-RPM rivals. If you need your hard drive to do more than just house FLAC songs and Blu-ray rips, the Black 4TB starts to make a lot of sense. Its strong all-around performance and massive capacity are good fits for content creation and video editing professionals who need more storage than SSDs can provide at a reasonable cost.

I'd even be inclined to recommend the Black for high-end desktop rigs on the strength of its low idle noise levels and five-year warranty coverage. Even if you're running a solid-state system drive, some games will surely spill into mechanical storage; you don't want to wait too long for them to load. I'm not sure I'd want my growing collection of RAW image files residing on a slow hard drive, either. The Black 4TB is an appealing sidekick in the right setting.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/[primary-term]/western_digital_caviar_black_2tb

If this is the shape of 7,200rpm drives to come, we're wetting ourselves with excitement.
All these little extras add up, and the 2TB Caviar Black offers the speediest sustained reads and writes&#8212;exceeding 112MB/s each&#8212;of any consumer magnetic hard drive we&#8217;ve ever tested. That&#8217;s 15 percent faster than the Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB&#8217;s read speeds. The 1.5TB Barracuda, previously our high-capacity speed champion, couldn&#8217;t keep up in sustained writes, either&#8212;here the Caviar was nearly 30 percent faster. And thanks to the greater areal density of the Caviar drive, its random-access read and write times are just 7.6ms and 5.0ms, respectively. You won&#8217;t find faster seeks short of a VelociRaptor or solid state drive.

 

[Addnan]

So this is where I'm at right now: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/12Iti

I'll fill out the the OP questions to make this easier.

Your Current Specs: Old amd dual core, old gpu, old stuff, etc.
Main Use: Gaming, Emulation, General Use
Monitor Resolution: 1080p, need a new monitor.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Crysis 3, etc.
Looking to reuse any parts? Some HDDs, DVD drive, nothing major
Will you be overclocking?: Yes, but not heavily
When will you build?: Looking to start buying within the next couple days/week.
Budget: 1700-1800~, definitely want to save money where possible of course.

I'm kind of going back and forth on the gpu, I'd like to wait for the 4gb 770 but the 7970 is a damn good deal. I feel like there might be a better equivalent 2TB HDD but I'm not sure. I could probably drop back to a smaller size SSD to save a bit, although I kind of like 250gb. The monitor is a bit of an issue since I don't really know what to pick, I'm certainly willing to spend a bit more for something of better quality, but I'm not looking go bigger as far as size is concerned. As long as it is 1920x1080 21-24in is fine. Thoughts on some inexpensive speakers would be appreciated as well.

That looks like a great built, wouldn't change much. I would get caviar blue or black, but if you are just using it for storage there's no problem. If you like gaming online then drop the wifi thing and buy a power line adapter!

 

[IrishNinja]

ah, thanks for the replay man!

Yes, it could be the power supply. A bad power supply can make otherwise good components fail stability tests. How old is the PSU? What is the model? How many watts?

edit: You are in a tough spot. Do you just have the one HDD? There's really no way to diagnose the issue w/o swapping in known working hardware.

shitballs. not in front of said PC right now, but...would belarc or any free PC profiling tool tell me this without having to open it? i don't think we upgraded it, so we're talking...2008 or so if not older, it likely came from an older PC before that too (most of the prior parts did).

i think i have a slim 60 GB drive around from my PS3, maybe i could test that thing out, but i really wish i could just sort this out. aside from windows standard stuff like scandisk etc is there another good app to test the HDD?

 

[squicken]

ah, thanks for the replay man!



shitballs. not in front of said PC right now, but...would belarc or any free PC profiling tool tell me this without having to open it? i don't think we upgraded it, so we're talking...2008 or so if not older, it likely came from an older PC before that too (most of the prior parts did).

i think i have a slim 60 GB drive around from my PS3, maybe i could test that thing out, but i really wish i could just sort this out. aside from windows standard stuff like scandisk etc is there another good app to test the HDD?

Only way to check the model of the power supply is to look at it. As far as the drive, you can run check disk off of a recovery disk or USB stick. Or you can try the PS3 drive. Power supplies aren't too expensive, and it's not like you couldn't use an upgrade there. 5 years is a long time

 

[IrishNinja]

Only way to check the model of the power supply is to look at it. As far as the drive, you can run check disk off of a recovery disk or USB stick. Or you can try the PS3 drive. Power supplies aren't too expensive, and it's not like you couldn't use an upgrade there. 5 years is a long time

fair enough! maybe ill just replace the HDD & PSU both, tigerdirect looks like i can easily get a 1TB (big jump over the prior 700 GB anyway) for like $70; given the specs in my prior post what kinda wattage should i look for/@ what should i look to pay? i know newegg is typically better, just hoping to resolve this before having some people over next week.

 

[Ezalc]

I would get a Titan over a 690. Better to have a singe card than have to deal with sli and Haswell just launched, you should get the 4770K instead with a compatible motherboard like the Z87 GD65.

Whats you overall budget and fill out the little questions in the OP!

Your Current Specs: My main desktop is broken, I'm using my mom's laptop right now as it's the only working computer in my house. So basically I have none.
Budget: I live in Brasil, but my price range in dollars would probably be around 2k (only for the desktop itself) Accessories and the like come afterward.
Main Use: Gaming 5, Emulation 2, General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback) 5.
Monitor Resolution: I can't remember right now the resolution of the monitor I used for my desktop, only number that comes to mind is 1024. Yes I want to buy a new monitor at some point soon after I build the new desktop.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: X-COM, Wasteland 2, Shadowrun remake, Total War games (Shogun 2, Rome 2, etc), titles of the sort.
Looking to reuse any parts?: My first desktop was made in like 2005, so probably not. Just going to try and see if I can get all my stuff out of the harddrive and that's about it.
When will you build?: The plan is to buy one of the more expensive parts in july when I have a friend in the US, and then getting the rest as quickly as I can after that might take a while depending on money though.
Will you be overclocking?: Probably not, last time I tried it I remember my desktop had problems and kept crashing. Unless it's something that would be necessary I don't see why I would do so.

Hope that clears a few things up. Friend of mine said that the 690 is better than the titan right now and it's a bit cheaper right?