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"I need a New PC!" 2013 Part 2. Haswell = #IntelnoTIM, but free online. READ THE OP.

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samjaza

samjaza

Member
Current Specs:
CPU: Intel i7 920@3.2GHz
Mem: 6GB RAM 1.93GHz DDR3
Mobo: ASUS P6T
GPU: Gigabyte 670 Winforce 2GB @1.3GHz/3.4Ghz
PSU: 850W Antec Signature
Case: Antec 902
HDD: 1TB/2TB 7200 Drives

Budget: <1k AUS, Australia
Main Use: Rate 1-5. 5 being Highest:
Light Gaming : 2
Gaming: 5
Emulation (PS2/Wii): 5
Video Editing: 1
Streaming games in HD: 1
3D/Model work (and what program): 3
General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback): 4

Monitor Resolution:
1920x1200 24', planning on upgrading to a 120Hz monitor

List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well:
Star Citizen, PCSX2, Dolphin
When i get the new monitor i want to be able to play as many games at 120Hz as possible.

Looking to reuse any parts?
Gigabyte 670 Winforce 2GB
850W Antec Signature
1TB/2TB 7200 Drives as Storage

When will you build?
around Christmas, Depending.

Will you be overclocking?
Yes

I wanted to overclock the CPU more but it seems to be finicky and wont boot at higher clocks without massively raising the voltages, and it wasn't really worth it.

So I want to upgrade the cpu, but to do that i need to upgrade the ram and motherboard. And since i would be upgrading all that i might do a case swap at the same time,
my current case has slowly accumulated problems that are to much of a pain to fix.
The GPU is OK for the moment, though i should of got the 4GB version,
and i plan on setting up a SSD as the system drive and my two old drives as storage.
 
N

neorej

ERMYGERD!
One last question, is it worth it to invest in an SSD for gaming? I have one in my HTPC right now and OMG it boots SO FAST, but I was wondering if games benefit from this in terms of loading times.
 
C

CreepingFear

Member
neorej said:
One last question, is it worth it to invest in an SSD for gaming? I have one in my HTPC right now and OMG it boots SO FAST, but I was wondering if games benefit from this in terms of loading times.
Click to expand...

Loading times yes, but no on fps. I use steam mover for steam games to move games back and forth from my hdd to sdd, and for games like WOW, you can just move the full game directory back and forth as you please.
 
A

Addnan

Member
idrinkalone said:
Is it a pain in the ass to switch coolers? I have the stock cooler on my i5, but would like to overclock it. Thanks
Click to expand...

Depends on the case. Most new cases have a cut out on the motherboard tray, its as simple as opening the two case covers, taking out the old and screwing in the new. If your case doesn't have a cut out you will have to take the whole motherboard out.
 
B

br0ken_shad0w

Member
Seanspeed said:
I live in London, so yea, I'll definitely have to check them out.

Only just moved here a couple weeks ago. Don't really know whats around. Went to a PC World the other day, which was terrible.


Good to know. If I can see some of these screens in-person, I can make a much better decision on what I think I want, though.
Click to expand...

To be fair, this is why I got a 120 hz monitor: http://www.blurbusters.com/zero-motion-blur/lightboost/.

Otherwise I would have definitely have gone with an IPS panel. 120 Hz + Lightboost ruins colors though (and TN panels aren't that great to begin with), but a small price to pay for zero ghosting.
 
I

idrinkalone

Banned
Addnan said:
Depends on the case. Most new cases have a cut out on the motherboard tray, its as simple as opening the two case covers, taking out the old and screwing in the new. If your case doesn't have a cut out you will have to take the whole motherboard out.
Click to expand...

I have no problem taking my case apart. What I meant to ask is it a pain to take off the actual stock cooler? When I put on the cooler it came with thermal paste on it. Does it just pop off, or do I have to do anything special?
 
K

kennah

Member
idrinkalone said:
I have no problem taking my case apart. What I meant to ask is it a pain to take off the actual stock cooler? When I put on the cooler it came with thermal paste on it. Does it just pop off, or do I have to do anything special?
Click to expand...
Easiest thing ever. Pops right off
 
M

MetatronM

Unconfirmed Member
Alright, here's the view of the completed inside of my new rig from last night:

gh5Jtdj.jpg
Click to expand...

Not bad for my first attempt at this, I'd say. Though the cable from the heatsink fan kind of bothers me. I'll probably make a couple minor adjustments to the cable management in the back, maybe spread a couple things out a little more than they are now, and I'm probably going to add another fan to the intake on the front of the case eventually (there's 1 fan in there right now but room for 2).

The thing runs like a dream so far, though. Windows 7 installation was super fast, and I loaded up pretty much all the mobo, sound card, and Nvidia drivers last night, so it's pretty much fully up and running now. And since Steam and all of its games had been installed on the 2TB drive that i stuck in this thing, that seems to be working just fine too (even got Sleeping Dogs to start up, which hadn't been working on my old machine for a couple of months due to the dreaded HKShip.exe crash error).

Tonight will be about tweaking and overclocking and just generally bringing things up to speed.
 
S

SuicideUZI

Member
br0ken_shad0w said:
To be fair, this is why I got a 120 hz monitor: http://www.blurbusters.com/zero-motion-blur/lightboost/.

Otherwise I would have definitely have gone with an IPS panel. 120 Hz + Lightboost ruins colors though (and TN panels aren't that great to begin with), but a small price to pay for zero ghosting.
Click to expand...

any chance there will be IPS panels that support lightboost in the forseeable future? or will we have OLED monitors before that happens
 
K

kharma45

Member
Mr Nightman said:
Snagged me a used 2500k, won one on ebay for 160 shipped, not too shabby for my first step into intel :)

So for overclocking, do I want a z77 board?
Click to expand...

Yep. That or a cheap Z68 if you can find one but Z77 will be the easiest to get hold of. What sort of money are you looking at for a mobo? Good mid range one is the ASUS LK model if you've the cash for it.
 
G

gblues

Banned
Subbing. Gonna be retiring the ol' Phenom II x4 3ghz here pretty soon. I have a build in mind but I will be cross-referencing info here to hopefully save some cash.
 
N

nick nacc

Banned
Whats up with everyone buy these expensive moniters? I thought a lot of people hook up their pc's to their tv's now? Are these moniters really good at specific stuff over televisions?
 
F

Felix Lighter

Member
nick nacc said:
Whats up with everyone buy these expensive moniters? I thought a lot of people hook up their pc's to their tv's now? Are these moniters really good at specific stuff over televisions?
Click to expand...

Less input lag generally, higher resolution/pixel density and/or higher than 60Hz refresh rate.

Also, connecting your PC to a large TV works out great for controller friendly games but for keyboard and mouse gaming is often awkward. A quality monitor is the best choice in a lot of cases.
 
T

TerryLee81

Member
MetatronM said:
Alright, here's the view of the completed inside of my new rig from last night:



Not bad for my first attempt at this, I'd say. Though the cable from the heatsink fan kind of bothers me. I'll probably make a couple minor adjustments to the cable management in the back, maybe spread a couple things out a little more than they are now, and I'm probably going to add another fan to the intake on the front of the case eventually (there's 1 fan in there right now but room for 2).

The thing runs like a dream so far, though. Windows 7 installation was super fast, and I loaded up pretty much all the mobo, sound card, and Nvidia drivers last night, so it's pretty much fully up and running now. And since Steam and all of its games had been installed on the 2TB drive that i stuck in this thing, that seems to be working just fine too (even got Sleeping Dogs to start up, which hadn't been working on my old machine for a couple of months due to the dreaded HKShip.exe crash error).

Tonight will be about tweaking and overclocking and just generally bringing things up to speed.
Click to expand...

Take out the empty HDD cage.
 
K

kennah

Member
So tempted to keep the 2500K instead of my 2550K for the onboard video. Guess we will see which one overclocks better. Mwa ha ha.
 
M

Muffin Awesome

Member
Your Current Specs: Empty BitFenix Prodigy Case
Budget: 500 US
Main Use: Gaming - 5, Emulation (PS2) - 5, preferably 1080p
Monitor Resolution: 1080p
List SPECIFIC games: (no laughing)
CS Source, Orange Box, Bf3(4), Splinter Cell, and a dream if Kojima brings MGS 5 to PC
When will you build?: able to wait, no later than March 2014.
Will you be overclocking?: Most likely no with size of case and my being a novice and having a nine month old(patience).
 
F

Frank Jaeger

Member
I'll probably build a gaming rig soon enough, the thing is, I've moved to Umeå (Sweden) and haven't the slightest idea on how/where to buy the parts from.

I've made a selection based on the 1st post on this thread on amazon.co.uk and some of the parts couldn't be delivered here. No idea why... I don't know how much the postage would cost me.

So any tips/advices from Swedish dudes around here?
 
K

kennah

Member
Muffin Awesome said:
Your Current Specs: Empty BitFenix Prodigy Case
Budget: 500 US
Main Use: Gaming - 5, Emulation (PS2) - 5, preferably 1080p
Monitor Resolution: 1080p
List SPECIFIC games: (no laughing)
CS Source, Orange Box, Bf3(4), Splinter Cell, and a dream if Kojima brings MGS 5 to PC
When will you build?: able to wait, no later than March 2014.
Will you be overclocking?: Most likely no with size of case and my being a novice and having a nine month old(patience).
Click to expand...

Come back when you're ready to build basically. Things change a lot. Doing a mITX with that budget will be a little bit tricky as the parts can be more expensive. Do you have a hard drive already that can be put into the machine?

Assuming you already have keyboard, mouse, monitor and OS, I'd go...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($136.48 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $556.43
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-09 17:22 EDT-0400)

And use the onboard graphics to tide you over until you can afford a 7850 or 760.

Your BEST bet might be to try and find someone upgrading a Sandy or Ivy ITX setup for cheaper though.

Or continue saving up until March and checking in then.
 
C

Cyrix

Neo Member
Hey anyone with a gtx 7xx and the latest drivers had any problems with the Nvidia driver crashing while doing normal desktop stuff?

I put my 760 in about a week ago and since then i have had i think 3-4 instances of the driver crashing while doing innocuous stuff

once while just surfing the web i opened a second chrome window and everything started chugging then my monitor lost signal, then came back and windows gave me a message about the display driver kernel crashing.

the other two times have been right after getting on my computer in the morning, once while launching chrome the other just dragging a selection box on the desktop.

I have my PC set to shut off the monitor after 15 mins but that's it so it's no related to sleeping or anything.

any ideas would be appreciated.
 
maneil99

maneil99

Member
WOW is all I can say, flashed my 780 ACX SC bios, was capping out at 1187 due to power restrains. I am now hitting 1247mhz, still can push it further, only hitting 82c.
 
B

Blitzhex

Member
kennah said:
Dude - wouldn't that card still be under warranty?

Also that 660TI is barely faster than your 570. I'd spend the 40$ more and get a 760.
Click to expand...

Nah the site says the warranty ran out since I didn't register the code within 30 days of purchase. Can't afford the extra 40 dollars for a 760 :p
 
maneil99

maneil99

Member
Blitzhex said:
Nah the site says the warranty ran out since I didn't register the code within 30 days of purchase. Can't afford the extra 40 dollars for a 760 :p
Click to expand...
EVGA is really good, if you contact them they will replace it, if they have none left they will give you a 770 GTX
 
B

Blitzhex

Member
maneil99 said:
EVGA is really good, if you contact them they will replace it, if they have none left they will give you a 770 GTX
Click to expand...

I've contacted them, waiting for them to get back to me. Bought the 660 ti as a panic/impulse thing. If the RMA works out I can sell the 660 ti for a profit locally, so its no biggy.
 
T

theSlacker

Member
Looks like the "BenQ XL2420TE" is now listed on amazon. Time to do some research to find out if it is worth the extra $150 over Asus's 144hz.
 
M

MetatronM

Unconfirmed Member
TerryLee81 said:
Take out the empty HDD cage.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I actually realized there was no reason to have it like that and made an adjustment just a little while ago. I didn't take it out entirely, though, just rotated it around so it's now basically acting like a guide for the air coming from the intake fan to direct it pretty much right at the video card.

We'll see how that goes. I can always take it out altogether later.
 
R

RoKKeR

Member
So after a clean install of the latest Nvidia drivers, things are...ok. Still not great. One oddity I've noticed is that whenever I try to play a bunch of games in succession, performance steadily decreases for each title I try, and for example, is noticeably worse when I go back to a game like Bioshock Infinite. Why would that be happening?
 
F

Flizzzipper

Member
Shiiit, so my hard drive died so I ordered an ssd to replace it. I proceeded to blow out my case with compressed air while I had it out and unhooked. Hooked everything up today and nothing, the mobo light comes on but that's it.

Unhooked everything but the two mobo power connections and the cpu fan connection. Also have the system power/reset etc switches hooked up. Still nothing but mobo light, cpu fan never spins. Also have the ram out, hoping for some beeps or something. You guys think I shorted the mobo out cleaning it? Anything else I can try? I've taken the mobo out and reseated it. Only thing I haven't done is reseat the cpu or fan because I don't have any thermal paste, I doubt that's the problem anyways.

EDIT -- FIXED

The goddamn thing started working after I left the power supply on and plugged in for like 10 minutes. Does a power supply need to charge up? Never heard of such a thing. Maybe my power supply is on the brink too?
 
Jibbajabbawockky

Jibbajabbawockky

Member
Somebody try to set me straight on installing an SSD.


I've been debating getting an SSD (Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB most likely) to put Windows 7 and a limited amount of games and programs on. I've only recently started looking at how to actually install an SSD alongside my WD Black 750GB hdd I have in my system right now.

My impression was that you could install an SSD with just the OS and then install whatever programs you wanted on the SSD, while still using the other, bigger hdd for everything else. But as I've been reading on how to install an SSD, many guides seem to recommend formatting your existing hdd as part of the installation process for the SSD. Not that I couldn't do that, but it would be a bit of a pain.

I was thinking that to install the SSD, I basically take out the old hdd, hook up the new SSD with my copy of Windows and install Windows, set the SSD as the boot drive in the BIOS and then hook up my old HDD back up and I'm good to go. Is that wrong?

Basically, what is the easiest way to install a new SSD as a boot drive for the OS while still using my larger capacity HDD for most other progams without having to muck around too much with cloning or formatting my old HDD?
 
K

kharma45

Member
Jibbajabbawockky said:
Somebody try to set me straight on installing an SSD.


I've been debating getting an SSD (Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB most likely) to put Windows 7 and a limited amount of games and programs on. I've only recently started looking at how to actually install an SSD alongside my WD Black 750GB hdd I have in my system right now.

My impression was that you could install an SSD with just the OS and then install whatever programs you wanted on the SSD, while still using the other, bigger hdd for everything else. But as I've been reading on how to install an SSD, many guides seem to recommend formatting your existing hdd as part of the installation process for the SSD. Not that I couldn't do that, but it would be a bit of a pain.

I was thinking that to install the SSD, I basically take out the old hdd, hook up the new SSD with my copy of Windows and install Windows, set the SSD as the boot drive in the BIOS and then hook up my old HDD back up and I'm good to go. Is that wrong?

Basically, what is the easiest way to install a new SSD as a boot drive for the OS while still using my larger capacity HDD for most other progams without having to muck around too much with cloning or formatting my old HDD?
Click to expand...

That's exactly what you can do.
 
T

theSlacker

Member
theSlacker said:
Looks like the "BenQ XL2420TE" is now listed on amazon. Time to do some research to find out if it is worth the extra $150 over Asus's 144hz.
Click to expand...

Quoting myself. From the small bits of info I've read, no it doesn't seem like the XL2420TE is worth the extra price over the other 144 monitors. Is a shame too since I really like that stand and the non glossy frame. Just don't "$100+ extra" like it.
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
MetatronM said:
Alright, here's the view of the completed inside of my new rig from last night:

Not bad for my first attempt at this, I'd say. Though the cable from the heatsink fan kind of bothers me. I'll probably make a couple minor adjustments to the cable management in the back, maybe spread a couple things out a little more than they are now, and I'm probably going to add another fan to the intake on the front of the case eventually (there's 1 fan in there right now but room for 2).

The thing runs like a dream so far, though. Windows 7 installation was super fast, and I loaded up pretty much all the mobo, sound card, and Nvidia drivers last night, so it's pretty much fully up and running now. And since Steam and all of its games had been installed on the 2TB drive that i stuck in this thing, that seems to be working just fine too (even got Sleeping Dogs to start up, which hadn't been working on my old machine for a couple of months due to the dreaded HKShip.exe crash error).

Tonight will be about tweaking and overclocking and just generally bringing things up to speed.
Click to expand...
You want the CPU HS fan on the otherside and blowing across the heatsink towards the back of the case
kennah said:
Is techpowerup legit? I'm trying to find a replacement bios for a 6950
Click to expand...
Pretty legit
 
T

TheD

The Detective
Worth it to go from a GTX570 to an HD7970 (non Ghz ed)?
I have found the cheapest deals being powercolor cards and I have heard some bad things about them, worth the risk?
And is the neversettle bundle still in effect in Aus?
 
K

kennah

Member
TheD said:
Worth it to go from a GTX570 to an HD7970 (non Ghz ed)?
I have found the cheapest deals being powercolor cards and I have heard some bad things about them, worth the risk?
And is the neversettle bundle still in effect in Aus?
Click to expand...
1. Fuck yeah, huge increase
2. Powercolour is ok, there are better cards, but nothing wrong.
3. Depends on the retailer, call before you buy.
 
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