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"I need a New PC!" 2013 Part 1. Haswell, Crysis 3, and secret fairy sauce. Read da OP

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Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Any opinions on this z87 board? Looking for something that will OC good and has some great features.

MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming or this one ASUS Z87 PRO

Also, what do you guys think of this psu, I will be using SLI in the future so I wanted it to be a bit more than 500w

Seasonic x650
Too soon to know, but the MSI boards are hopefully good. The 45 Gaming seems to be the better value since Haswell doesn't seem demanding on the power phases.
Also have you considered an LGA 2011 build?

PSU get a 750W unit.
 
Too soon to know, but the MSI boards are hopefully good. The 45 Gaming seems to be the better value since Haswell doesn't seem demanding on the power phases.
Also have you considered an LGA 2011 build?

PSU get a 750W unit.

Think I am going with this Corsair HX750 Gold

It was only $110 plus I get $20 rebate, steal imo.

I haven't really considered a LGA 2011 build.
 

-COOLIO-

The Everyman
A quick glance suggested that you could have an early type of the Marvell SATA3 controller which would give you those speeds.

yeah, i just snooped around :''''''''''''''''(

Marvell SE9128 high speed SATA3 is trash.

oh well, TIME TO UPGRADE :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDD


*cries*
 
Hi.

Got a problem I hope someone can sort out. I'm trying to reinstall Windows 7, but when I boot the PC I can't get picture through the graphics card once every 2 or 3 tries. The card/s work and they are all plugged in properly. And onboard graphics is disabled.

MOBO: Gigabyte Z77X-D3H, F17f BIOS
GFX: 2x Gigabyte 7970 GHz

I've heard it is a problem that happens with this motherboard and I can't figure out a way around it.
 

flotsam

Neo Member
It's a glorious Saturday morning here in London but I'm not going to see much of the sun today thanks to an early delivery of my components.

Thanks again for the help in decision making over the last few weeks, I'm looking forwards to start the build on this beast and will hopefully be able to pop back later with some pictures and a success story.

A lot of my build is similar to Sothpaw (who is having trouble with his build) so hopefully I might be able to shed some light on his situation once I get started.

1QQAPSy.jpg
 

demonkaze

Member
Sorry for the potentially stupid question but I was wondering what is the best cable to use for my new monitor (gaming 144 Hz one), would it be HDMI?
 

demonkaze

Member
No. There should be a DVI-D cable with your monitor, use that.

Thanks for that, one final stupid question, where do I connect the cable to on the PC, where the graphics card is or where the motherboard (?) is? As you can see from all this, I really am new to this so I know I'm probably asking some very stupid questions.
 
Thanks for that, one final stupid question, where do I connect the cable to on the PC, where the graphics card is or where the motherboard (?) is? As you can see from all this, I really am new to this so I know I'm probably asking some very stupid questions.

Graphics card.
 
Just ordered a Define R4 (thanks for the link to newegg deal mkenyon!) and I have an H60 2013 edition. What's the best fan setup with using the stock fans? I'll probably move the stock rear fan to the front for 2x120 as intake, and I guess have the Corsair H60 fan as exhaust in push? Would I need any extra screws to mount it that way? If so will the R4 include them?
 

VE3TRO

Formerly Gizmowned
Guys I've installed the second GTX 680 and it works great but I'm noticing the games look darker.

Would this be due to a setting in Manage 3D settings through the Nvida cpanel? Some gamma issue?
 
I dont know much about the hardware itself. I knew, however, that I wanted a machine I didn't need to upgrade for several years. I chose parts that were highly rated but the price was a lot more than I expected.

  • CPU: Intel Core i7-2700K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£232.99 @ Amazon UK)
  • CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.40 @ Amazon UK)
  • Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£101.99 @ Amazon UK)
  • Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£103.95 @ Amazon UK)
  • Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£349.99 @ Aria PC)
  • Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£59.99 @ Aria PC)
  • Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (£329.98 @ Dabs)
  • Sound Card: Creative Labs Audigy SE 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card (£19.99 @ Dabs)
  • Wired Network Adapter: Intel PWLA8391GTBLK 10/100/1000 Mbps PCI Network Adapter (£21.83 @ CCL Computers)
  • Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£27.00 @ Amazon UK)
  • Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£94.00 @ Ebuyer)
  • Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£67.19 @ Aria PC)
  • Monitor: Asus VS238H-P 23.0" Monitor (£138.60 @ CCL Computers)
  • Total: £1571.90
 

abunai

Member
I dont know much about the hardware itself. I knew, however, that I wanted a machine I didn't need to upgrade for several years. I chose parts that were highly rated but the price was a lot more than I expected.

  • CPU: Intel Core i7-2700K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£232.99 @ Amazon UK)
  • CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.40 @ Amazon UK)
  • Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£101.99 @ Amazon UK)
  • Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£103.95 @ Amazon UK)
  • Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£349.99 @ Aria PC)
  • Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£59.99 @ Aria PC)
  • Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (£329.98 @ Dabs)
  • Sound Card: Creative Labs Audigy SE 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card (£19.99 @ Dabs)
  • Wired Network Adapter: Intel PWLA8391GTBLK 10/100/1000 Mbps PCI Network Adapter (£21.83 @ CCL Computers)
  • Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£27.00 @ Amazon UK)
  • Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£94.00 @ Ebuyer)
  • Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£67.19 @ Aria PC)
  • Monitor: Asus VS238H-P 23.0" Monitor (£138.60 @ CCL Computers)
  • Total: £1571.90

You could cut the 2700k down to a 2500k or 3570k, do you really need hyperthreading? If you're going to be doing workstation stuff, sure. Gaming? Not so much. Same thing applies for 16GB ram, trim it down to 8GB. 512GB SSD will make any build more expensive, perhaps stick to a lower capacity and get another later on (and RAID)?
Sound cards are a bit pointless; if you really care about audio quality and have the hi-fi speakers to take advantage of it, get a USB DAC. Speaking for lots of experience in dealing with soundcards, they suck. Drivers are often a mess and you'll end up with electronic noise messing with your signal if you're driving anything through a decent Hi-fi amplifier. Onboard sound is good enough for most people.
Your motherboard has LAN onboard, you don't need a pci lan card. You'd need the wireless one if you require Wifi, though. You could also trim in a few places like getting a 670 instead of a 770 or going for AMD.
 

flotsam

Neo Member
Not having the best of luck so far with this build :(

I opened the Fractal Design R4 and heard a strange rattling noise inside the case, but thought it was probably just spare blanking plates or screws.

Alas, it looks like the box took a pretty heavy hit during transit and the plastic pegs that hold the front of the case on had all sheared off the body.

Novatech don't have any couriers at the weekend and because I'm impatient I'm going to do the hour round trip to their store to pick up a replacement. I've taken a good look at the other components and can't see any damage but it's hard to tell without being able to get it all hooked up.

This is not what I wanted to be spending my afternoon doing...

 

kennah

Member
Know what's harder to find than a blue fan?

A yellow one. Shit, why did I have this accent colour idea.




One used Gigabyte GTX 670. It's been updated to the latest bios so it works great. It's the Windforce OC edition. $250 includes us shipping.


Good deal in the BST thread.
 

VE3TRO

Formerly Gizmowned
When using 2 x SLI guys do you need to use only one bridge? When playing some games it was flickering like mad so I tried the second bridge and had the same problem.

But when I've applied both bridges the flickering has stopped. Is it known that some cards need 2 bridges to work? Or could there be some fault?


Update:
Tried some bridges which came with the mobo and all had the same issue. I went back to the ones in the picture but turned the upside down and it seems to fixed the issue. So I'm wondering if it was some sort of lose connection.
 

flotsam

Neo Member
Thanks alot! now i know whats my next case gonna be :)

What do you guys think about MSI Z87-GD65 GAMING for 190$?

My research resulted in the opinion that the extra features the GD65 has over the GD45 have no bearing on gaming and are therefore not worth the extra money (but I bought one anyway because BIGGER NUMBERS!).
 

demented

Member
Guys I have a problem with my 7970:

Ever since I built this PC I've been having random flickers. It lasts less than a second so it's hard to capture but it's basically like white with some lines, usually not even all over screen and it happens fast. Like this at 0:29 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5amSM8GxSyA
It comes and goes, sometimes takes hours or not at all in days, sometimes few in a row and I thought oh well and haven't been trying to fix it until this happened:
1499126


Sound and everything in background worked and I couldn't see or get out from this.
I am running latest drivers and catalyst and also have latest MSI afterburner installed with fan curve set at 1c=1% after 20c, but should note it also happened on last 2 versions of drivers.

What I've done is disconnected DVI cable and on HDMI now, I think flicker happened once, not sure because it happens fast, but been waiting and nothing so far. But if it did happen it's one of 3 things: graphics card is bad, graphics card interaction with monitor is bad, monitor is bad. Last one I don't think so because I play 360 and ps3 on it and no problems there. And if it happens on HDMI again then it's not cable either..

I've been suggested to RMA card but I want to be 100% sure what's the problem because me RMAing it involves traveling 12 hours and paying 50e for train ticket to give them the card, then if they don't give me new one right away(probably not) going back, then waiting x days while using onboard card and then traveling back again 12 hours x2 and paying 50e.... or begging some friend to pick it up and send it via bus or something.

So I underclocked my card from stock core 1050 memory 1375 to 800 925 and haven't had flicker in hours, will update if I get one but this seemed to fixed a problem. What should I do now? Don't want to play with underclocked card :| keep raising until where there are no flickers? But at same time does it mean card is still faulty?
 
This was probably beat to death but I havent seen it spoken in the last few pages, whats the general consensus on ati 7970 vs gtx 770?

I have always used ati cards in the past but I hate its software and its supersampling options but its attracting me because of the 3gb ram, the free games is a nice touch as well.
 

LCGeek

formerly sane
Your motherboard has LAN onboard, you don't need a pci lan card. You'd need the wireless one if you require Wifi, though. You could also trim in a few places like getting a 670 instead of a 770 or going for AMD.

realtek nics are not nearly as solid as a good pci express chip especially killer or intel stuff. Besides the ping variations I found ping to be lower by 10-20ms. Intel nics also have a much better fifo buffer and driver options for games.

I dont know much about the hardware itself. I knew, however, that I wanted a machine I didn't need to upgrade for several years. I chose parts that were highly rated but the price was a lot more than I expected.

  • Wired Network Adapter: Intel PWLA8391GTBLK 10/100/1000 Mbps PCI Network Adapter (£21.83 @ CCL Computers)

Jason get this intel PCIE card instead of PCI it offers better performance as well and happens to be slightly cheaper.
 

Addnan

Member
So I underclocked my card from stock core 1050 memory 1375 to 800 925 and haven't had flicker in hours, will update if I get one but this seemed to fixed a problem. What should I do now? Don't want to play with underclocked card :| keep raising until where there are no flickers? But at same time does it mean card is still faulty?

If the card doesn't run at clocks it shipped at its faulty.
 

koji kabuto

Member
My research resulted in the opinion that the extra features the GD65 has over the GD45 have no bearing on gaming and are therefore not worth the extra money (but I bought one anyway because BIGGER NUMBERS!).

Thanks flotsam, I think i'm getting the GD45.
the 60$ difference can go toward my gtx 770 :)
 

MedIC86

Member
This was probably beat to death but I havent seen it spoken in the last few pages, whats the general consensus on ati 7970 vs gtx 770?

I have always used ati cards in the past but I hate its software and its supersampling options but its attracting me because of the 3gb ram, the free games is a nice touch as well.

In most benchmarks they trade wins in games. The 7970 has more VRAM but besides heavy modded skyrim i dont think you will see any real limitations with 2 vs 3gb. Maybe in the future but both cards will be out of juice then anyway. But the preoverclocked 770's get ahead a bit of the 7970's in most benchmarks.
 

bro1

Banned
Really dumb question. Gtx 770 from msi requires dual 8 pin psu supply. I have a silverstone psu with a 6 & 8 pin pcix line. Do I just use the supplied 6 to 8 adapter?
 
Hmmm... I was thinking of building a whole new PC but think I might want to just wait until later this year to do that.


So I was thinking of upgrading my graphics card for now, since that would likely be the most bang for my buck upgrade I could make for gaming. I currently have a Phenom II X3 720 (unlocked fourth core, overclocked to 3.4 GHz), AMD 5770, 8GB of RAM and a Corsair 550W PSU.

What would a solid GPU upgrade be coming from a 5770 right now, or within the next month or so, under $300 or ideally between $200-$250? A 7950 Boost? A 660 Ti? A 7870?
 

kharma45

Member
Hmmm... I was thinking of building a whole new PC but think I might want to just wait until later this year to do that.


So I was thinking of upgrading my graphics card for now, since that would likely be the most bang for my buck upgrade I could make for gaming. I currently have a Phenom II X3 720 (unlocked fourth core, overclocked to 3.4 GHz), AMD 5770, 8GB of RAM and a Corsair 550W PSU.

What would a solid GPU upgrade be coming from a 5770 right now, or within the next month or so, under $300 or ideally between $200-$250? A 7950 Boost? A 660 Ti? A 7870?

You could get a 7950 yeah for about $280 after rebate.

Tahiti LE 7870 is also an option too, they're 7900 series based and very close to the 7950 performance wise. $245 for the Sapphire version http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AWKYB1M/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Powercolor one is $250 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AWKYB1M/?tag=neogaf0e-20
 
Really dumb question. Gtx 770 from msi requires dual 8 pin psu supply. I have a silverstone psu with a 6 & 8 pin pcix line. Do I just use the supplied 6 to 8 adapter?

No. 6 pin adapters carry 75W on the single pair of wires that actually carry current, 8 pins carries 150W over two pairs which carry the current. If the card has twin 8 pin lines the card needs 300W otherwise they would have given it an 8+6 configuration like my Gigabyte 770GTX. Using the adapter will only give it 225W.

At best it'll operate at lower clocks under load. At worst it could damage the card or the power supply.

You would need something like this and a power supply with two six pin connectors spare. Otherwise you need to look at a new PSU.
 

flotsam

Neo Member
Build is going better now after my detour to pick up a new (undamaged) case from Novatech.

I won't say that attaching the Coolermaster 212 Evo wasn't a little fiddly compared to my past experience with standard heatsinks, but it went in without any real trouble.

The only tip I'd give is to make sure that it is oriented the correct way so the tiny pin attached to the heatsink sits inside the tiny notches on the cross piece.

As suggested by the OP, I decided to go with the 4mm ball method (I did some of my own research around this too and came up with the same conclusion) and I felt it went well, even though the proof will be in the temps.

Both this and this videos were a great help so far as they show (in detail) how to attach the 212 Evo.

Apologies for the poor quality picture as it's from my iPhone. I'll have some better ones when I've finished and can be bothered to plug my camera in.

 

tarheel91

Member
PCGaf I'm buying a new desktop after 5 years with a laptop and I'd really appreciate some feedback.

I wanna spend 1250€ including a 22-24' screen.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/147cc
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/147cc/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/147cc/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($92.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.97 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 Ti 3GB Video Card ($298.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $874.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-07 21:22 EDT-0400)

Which source and case do you recommend? What would you guys change? I'd love to get the 770 for the extra 100€ if it's worh it.

Thanks in advance for all the help.

For that price a 7950 will preform a 660Ti. I run a 550W power supply with a very similar set up. You should be able to find 2x4 GB RAM for cheaper than that.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($58.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($92.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.97 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($287.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $839.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-08 13:59 EDT-0400)
 
You could get a 7950 yeah for about $280 after rebate.

Tahiti LE 7870 is also an option too, they're 7900 series based and very close to the 7950 performance wise. $245 for the Sapphire version http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AWKYB1M/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Powercolor one is $250 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AWKYB1M/?tag=neogaf0e-20


Hmmm.. yeah, a 7870 might be plenty for me.

I guess my only concern then would be fitting a new GPU in my case. I have a Storm Scout and according to Cooler Master's site at least the original Storm Scout only fits 10.5" cards. Skimming through 7950s and 7870s, they mostly look to be in the neighborhood of 11" to 11.5" long.

I guess if I wanted to go a little over $300, the 660 Ti's seem to be around 10.5" in length, so maybe that would work better.
 

bro1

Banned
No. 6 pin adapters carry 75W on the single pair of wires that actually carry current, 8 pins carries 150W over two pairs which carry the current. If the card has twin 8 pin lines the card needs 300W otherwise they would have given it an 8+6 configuration like my Gigabyte 770GTX. Using the adapter will only give it 225W.

At best it'll operate at lower clocks under load. At worst it could damage the card or the power supply.

You would need something like this and a power supply with two six pin connectors spare. Otherwise you need to look at a new PSU.

I have another 8 pin on a seperate pcie line. Should I use that?
 

kharma45

Member
Hmmm.. yeah, a 7870 might be plenty for me.

I guess my only concern then would be fitting a new GPU in my case. I have a Storm Scout and according to Cooler Master's site at least the original Storm Scout only fits 10.5" cards. Skimming through 7950s and 7870s, they mostly look to be in the neighborhood of 11".

Note that those aren't normal 7870s, they're basically 7950s in performance terms as they share the same GPU core.

Ah that's a shame :\
 
Okay, so now I'm leaning towards the Fractal Arc Midi R2....

In this review here:
http://youtu.be/SVqFb2eKN_4?t=18m58s

...the guy says you can install hard drives into the optical bays. Does anybody have any experience with this? Is it a Fractal-only thing? Does the stock case allow for it, or would I need some aftermarket bracket?
 

Mad Max

Member
Okay, so now I'm leaning towards the Fractal Arc Midi R2....

In this review here:
http://youtu.be/SVqFb2eKN_4?t=18m58s

...the guy says you can install hard drives into the optical bays. Does anybody have any experience with this? Is it a Fractal-only thing? Does the stock case allow for it, or would I need some aftermarket bracket?

You can do that with pretty much any case, just need to buy some brackets (5(1/4)" to 3(1/2)"). In the midi R2 you can also mount 2 SSDs to the back of the mobo tray though, but not regular size HDDs.
 
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