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[Kaiden]

Alright guys, I have started building a PC (at least trying to) by buying parts recommended to me by a friend. However I'm getting anxious and want to finish this thing, but I personally have no idea what I'm doing. This is what I have right now :

GTX660-DC2O-2GD5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 DirectCU II Overclocked 2048MB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16 Video Card

INTEL BOX INTEL CORE I5-4670K

ASRock H87M Pro4 LGA 1150 Intel H87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

My question for you guys is: If I were to spend another ~400 dollar or less, what's the best I can get for my money (Not including peripherals)?

 

[Ieu]

Alright guys, I have started building a PC (at least trying to) by buying parts recommended to me by a friend. However I'm getting anxious and want to finish this thing, but I personally have no idea what I'm doing. This is what I have right now :

GTX660-DC2O-2GD5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 DirectCU II Overclocked 2048MB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16 Video Card

INTEL BOX INTEL CORE I5-4670K

ASRock H87M Pro4 LGA 1150 Intel H87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

My question for you guys is: If I were to spend another ~400 dollar or less, what's the best I can get for my money (Not including peripherals)?

You seem to have a k series CPU for overclocking but the H87 chipset doesn't support overclocking. Either get a Z87 motherboard or get the "normal" non k version of that CPU.

 

[Lanbeast]

Whelp. I ordered everything. Now the long wait...

Time to look for a mechanical keyboard!

Edit: Thanks again for everyone's input! Super excited for this stuff to arrive.

Let me know if you find any great deals as that's the one thing I'm missing as well.

 

[kharma45]

Alright guys, I have started building a PC (at least trying to) by buying parts recommended to me by a friend. However I'm getting anxious and want to finish this thing, but I personally have no idea what I'm doing. This is what I have right now :

GTX660-DC2O-2GD5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 DirectCU II Overclocked 2048MB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16 Video Card

INTEL BOX INTEL CORE I5-4670K

ASRock H87M Pro4 LGA 1150 Intel H87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

My question for you guys is: If I were to spend another ~400 dollar or less, what's the best I can get for my money (Not including peripherals)?

I'm a tit.

 

[Kaiden]

You can get a 7870 for $170 plus two free games, I'd grab it http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202025

Funds freed up there and you could go for a 3570K + Z77 combo, again would be cheaper. Little point paying for a K CPU unless you can overclock. Some H87s can (albeit not as far as a Z87) but it'll depend on their BIOS version as Intel are trying to lock that out now.

I guess it should be noted that the parts I listed have been in my posession already now for a few weeks (~2-3 weeks, my guy is slow, if you can't tell).

Would it be a better idea to try and return these things that I have already purchased, or rather push on from here?

 

[kharma45]

I guess it should be noted that the parts I listed have been in my posession already now for a few weeks (~2-3 weeks, my guy is slow, if you can't tell).

Would it be a better idea to try and return these things that I have already purchased, or rather push on from here?

Fuck I didn't read that right, sorry. What you have is perfectly fine. So you've $400 for the rest of the build then?

 

[Kaiden]

Fuck I didn't read that right, sorry. What you have is perfectly fine. So you've $400 for the rest of the build then?

That's correct! I'd be more comfortable with less than 400, but could break it if needed.

 

[SirButterstick]

Since we're talking about monitors, what would you guys lean more towards . . . a 1080 120 hz model or a 2560 x 1600. For gaming, of course.

 

[kharma45]

That's correct! I'd be more comfortable with less than 400, but could break it if needed.

$315 for this, that deal on the PSU ends today

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Case: Fractal Design Core 3000 USB 3.0 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $315.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-19 20:48 EDT-0400)

Plenty of wiggle room there too if you wanted say a better case or a bigger SSD.

Since we're talking about monitors, what would you guys lean more towards . . . a 1080 120 hz model or a 2560 x 1600. For gaming, of course.

The former.

 

[Coldsnap]

Since we're talking about monitors, what would you guys lean more towards . . . a 1080 120 hz model or a 2560 x 1600. For gaming, of course.

120hz. Seems like that's the future of PC gaming instead of higher resolutions, for now. Also at that high of resolution from a 1' viewing distance is sorta ridiculous.

 

[SirButterstick]

Thanks guys . . . . I already have a BenQ 120 hz monitor that I love, I was just curious.

 

[kharma45]

Fractal R4 for $70 if anyone is looking for a case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352023

 

[Trasher]

Speaking of BenQ, if anyone want's "factory reconditioned" monitors from them, here you go: http://tech.woot.com/plus/benq-monitors

 

[ExigentContact]

Is it better to go with WD Blue or WD Black? With promos on Newegg a 1TB drive of the former and 500GB drive of the latter are the same price. Is there anything special about Black, or do I just jump on 1TB for $60?

 

[Jburton]

Ok going to throw this out as a preliminary post.

Over the past week my PC has developed an irritating fault ........... the keyboard and mouse have developed lag (delay when typing, pointer freezing and then catching up).

Some audio crackle and drops in FPS when playing games.

When running a game sometimes the keyboard becomes totally unresponsive.

Replaced keyboard and mouse, still same problem ...... updated and rolled back drivers, still same problem ......... reinstalled windows (3 times), still same problem.

Temps are well within range (around 50 - 55 c max GPU and around 60 c max CPU).

Memtest showed no errors, SSD's are in perfect health, voltages are fine.


After much head scratching and investigation I came across high DPC issues as a possible cause of the problems ...... installed latencymon which I ran while running tasks and hey presto ..... it reports that the values are high to cause issues with real time audio while running other tasks.


The GPU value was high as was USB.

Have disabled things, enabled, typed in commands in cmd prompt and all other suggested fixes ....... no fix.

Amazon are to refund the motherboard (z77a-g45, 5 months old) and if a new board does not fix it then I will need to rma the graphics card (gtx670, 1 year old).


Do any of you guys have any last minute advice before I go though the rma process? I am so pissed off I am really am considering selling it once I get the new / replaced gear back.

 

[kharma45]

Is it better to go with WD Blue or WD Black? With promos on Newegg a 1TB drive of the former and 500GB drive of the latter are the same price. Is there anything special about Black, or do I just jump on 1TB for $60?

Black is noisier, stick with Blue.

 

[Haku]

Well, I finished my build last week. I've been too busy working/overclocking/gaming to really post an update. I decided to go with a 250GB Samsung 840 SSD, since I found one for $160. It's been pretty amazing. Here's the results:

However, I think I might have a problem with my Western Digital Black 1TB. Whenever I'm playing music, my hard drive freezes randomly for 10 or so seconds. It happens every 30 or so minutes when I'm listening to music. It also happens when I'm playing games during the loading screens. The computer will freeze for 10 or so seconds (the loading music will completely stop in some games) and then resume normally 10 seconds later.

I've tested my drive with the Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows. It passes the quick test and I'm currently testing the extended test. I've been busy so I haven't necessarily had the time to explore all possibilities.

Any ideas of what's going on?

Edit: Passed the extended test. I've never had a problem like this with my past WD drives. Is this common to the Black drives?

 

[Azulsky]

Soon

 

[maneil99]

Switched the H80i for the Notcua D14, good move?

 

[Azulsky]

Switched the H80i for the Notcua D14, good move?

Temperature readings say?

 

[maneil99]

Temperature readings say?

Not sure, free installation from NCIX due to all the H80i issues

 

[Haku]

Switched the H80i for the Notcua D14, good move?

It's a great cooler, albeit extremely massive. For an air cooler, it can definitely hold its own against many self-contained water coolers.

 

[No Love]

If anybody in/around Los Angeles wants a brand new EVGA GTX 760 sealed in the box for $230, let me know via PM and I'll grab one for you.

 

[TJ Bennett]

I'm thinking of building a PC, my first attempt since the mid 90s. Here's my survey:

• Your Current Specs: N/A
• Budget: $800 (including monitor)
• Main Use: Gaming (5)
• Monitor Resolution: Thinking of buying the Azus VS228H-P
• List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Dota 2 at 60fps and max settings
• Looking to reuse any parts?: No
• When will you build?: As soon as possible
• Will you be overclocking?: No

In doing some early research, here are some parts I'm considering:

CPU: Intel i5-4570
Motherboard: ???
RAM: 2x4gb
Graphics Card: ???
Hard Drive: WD Blue 1tb
Power Supply: ???
Case: Something compact
Opitical Drive: Steam + USB
Heat Sink: ???
Sound Card: Something basic
SSD: No
Keyboard: Good for Dota

Thanks in advance!

 

[Anton668]

last I heard, these were good correct?

COOLER MASTER Seidon 120

right now they are $24.99 after sale/rebate

 

[WonkyPanda]

Well, I finished my build last week. I've been too busy working/overclocking/gaming to really post an update. I decided to go with a 250GB Samsung 840 SSD, since I found one for $160. It's been pretty amazing. Here's the results:




However, I think I might have a problem with my Western Digital Black 1TB. Whenever I'm playing music, my hard drive freezes randomly for 10 or so seconds. It happens every 30 or so minutes when I'm listening to music. It also happens when I'm playing games during the loading screens. The computer will freeze for 10 or so seconds (the loading music will completely stop in some games) and then resume normally 10 seconds later.

I've tested my drive with the Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows. It passes the quick test and I'm currently testing the extended test. I've been busy so I haven't necessarily had the time to explore all possibilities.

Any ideas of what's going on?

Edit: Passed the extended test. I've never had a problem like this with my past WD drives. Is this common to the Black drives?

Any reason why you went with fan up on the PSU?

 

[StaSeb]

However, I think I might have a problem with my Western Digital Black 1TB. Whenever I'm playing music, my hard drive freezes randomly for 10 or so seconds. It happens every 30 or so minutes when I'm listening to music. It also happens when I'm playing games during the loading screens. The computer will freeze for 10 or so seconds (the loading music will completely stop in some games) and then resume normally 10 seconds later.

I've tested my drive with the Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows. It passes the quick test and I'm currently testing the extended test. I've been busy so I haven't necessarily had the time to explore all possibilities.

Any ideas of what's going on?

Edit: Passed the extended test. I've never had a problem like this with my past WD drives. Is this common to the Black drives?

If your OS is running on the SSD, as it should, it will send your HDD to hibernate if it is inactive. Then, when a programm is accessing the HDD, the whole system has that annoying freeze until the HDD spins up and reads that data. Your music-player seems to buffer half an hour and whenever it needs to read files again, it freezes your system by waking up your HDD: Playing around in the energy-saving-options is your best bet here.

 

[Coldsnap]

Soon

Let me know how you like duals 780s. I sorta want another if Titans will never get non referenced cooling.

 

[Conflict NZ]

So I was just checking my BIOS settings and I looked at the temperatures for everything and for some reason my IOH was sitting at 83 Celcius, how bad is this and should I do anything about it?

 

[Amagon]

Maybe someone can help me out here for a moment. Picked up a Creative D80 Bluetooth speaker for my PC (Windows 7). I want to be able to have sound coming through the speaker and also the headphones when I have it connect to the computer. But as of this time, I can only have one device connected as the Default Device and not have a multi-output.

Any solution to fix this problem?

 

[sk3tch]

Got my EVGA Pro SLI Bridge installed.



(click to enlarge)

 

[kharma45]

I'm thinking of building a PC, my first attempt since the mid 90s. Here's my survey:

• Your Current Specs: N/A
• Budget: $800 (including monitor)
• Main Use: Gaming (5)
• Monitor Resolution: Thinking of buying the Azus VS228H-P
• List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Dota 2 at 60fps and max settings
• Looking to reuse any parts?: No
• When will you build?: As soon as possible
• Will you be overclocking?: No

In doing some early research, here are some parts I'm considering:

CPU: Intel i5-4570
Motherboard: ???
RAM: 2x4gb
Graphics Card: ???
Hard Drive: WD Blue 1tb
Power Supply: ???
Case: Something compact
Opitical Drive: Steam + USB
Heat Sink: ???
Sound Card: Something basic
SSD: No
Keyboard: Good for Dota

Thanks in advance!

Do you have a Microcenter nearby? Is emulation important to you?

 

[Azulsky]

Let me know how you like duals 780s. I sorta want another if Titans will never get non referenced cooling.

Will do. Non subjective analysis will have to wait a bit until I get the U3014.

Sk3tch that pro bridge is sick. I think I will grab one when I order my backplates.

 

[Anton668]

I'm thinking of building a PC, my first attempt since the mid 90s. Here's my survey:

• Your Current Specs: N/A
• Budget: $800 (including monitor)
• Main Use: Gaming (5)
• Monitor Resolution: Thinking of buying the Azus VS228H-P
• List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Dota 2 at 60fps and max settings
• Looking to reuse any parts?: No
• When will you build?: As soon as possible
• Will you be overclocking?: No

In doing some early research, here are some parts I'm considering:

CPU: Intel i5-4570
Motherboard: ???
RAM: 2x4gb
Graphics Card: ???
Hard Drive: WD Blue 1tb
Power Supply: ???
Case: Something compact
Opitical Drive: Steam + USB
Heat Sink: ???
Sound Card: Something basic
SSD: No
Keyboard: Good for Dota

Thanks in advance!

Sound card? you dont need one unless your a audiophile. onboard sound has come along way! take the money you would put to a soundcard and get a SSD!

 

[Zaph]

Any recommendations for a cooler similar to the H60 but with no pump whine? Or is that just an inherent problem for all-in-one's?

When I'm working my CPU idles a lot and most of the fans turn off, aside from that whine which becomes even more pronounced. Reports on Corsair's forum this is to be expected. Sounds similar to an old HDD.

 

[Azulsky]

Sound card? you dont need one unless your a audiophile. onboard sound has come along way! take the money you would put to a soundcard and get a SSD!

Realistically most motherboards have pretty decent sound on them. Higher end boards are even taking proper isolation seriously now. If you have a specific set of headphones, say a BT770 250Ohms then I would check to make sure that your motherboard or add in soundcard can power them. If they can I would just settle unless you want to fork out money to take it to the next level.

Otherwise If you want to be picky about it use USB/Optical Out to push the sound data to an external DAC+AMP. I do this with the Fiio E17 + E09K stack. Audio is one of those areas where you start hitting the expensive end of the price/performance curve pretty quickly.

 

[Haku]

Any reason why you went with fan up on the PSU?

To keep it from smothering. I hook up my PC to my 42" Plasma on the weekends and the only place to store it is vertically on my carpeted floor. If I used it on my desk 100% of the time, I would have definitely mounted it down.

If your OS is running on the SSD, as it should, it will send your HDD to hibernate if it is inactive. Then, when a programm is accessing the HDD, the whole system has that annoying freeze until the HDD spins up and reads that data. Your music-player seems to buffer half an hour and whenever it needs to read files again, it freezes your system by waking up your HDD: Playing around in the energy-saving-options is your best bet here.

Thanks. And yeah, I'm running my OS from my SSD. Just disabled sleep mode on my HDD. I won't be able to test it until later this evening. Hopefully, this should fix my problem.

 

[sk3tch]

Sk3tch that pro bridge is sick. I think I will grab one when I order my backplates.

Yeah, the price is right, too! $30 for the 3-way version. They could have easily gouged us for at least $40. Cool on them.

 

[Anton668]

Realistically most motherboards have pretty decent sound on them. Higher end boards are even taking proper isolation seriously now. If you have a specific set of headphones, say a BT770 250Ohms then I would check to make sure that your motherboard or add in soundcard can power them. If they can I would just settle unless you want to fork out money to take it to the next level.

Otherwise If you want to be picky about it use USB/Optical Out to push the sound data to an external DAC+AMP. I do this with the Fiio E17 + E09K stack. Audio is one of those areas where you start hitting the expensive end of the price/performance curve pretty quickly.

um, hes trying to get a whole sys (monitor included) for $800
something tells me sound/HQ headset isnt gonna be high on his list...

 

[sk3tch]

Realistically most motherboards have pretty decent sound on them. Higher end boards are even taking proper isolation seriously now. If you have a specific set of headphones, say a BT770 250Ohms then I would check to make sure that your motherboard or add in soundcard can power them. If they can I would just settle unless you want to fork out money to take it to the next level.

Otherwise If you want to be picky about it use USB/Optical Out to push the sound data to an external DAC+AMP. I do this with the Fiio E17 + E09K stack. Audio is one of those areas where you start hitting the expensive end of the price/performance curve pretty quickly.

Are there any mobo sound cards that can power a set of cans like that? I'd stay away. Probably better to get 25 or 80 Ohms if you're using mobo audio (most don't have suitable amps) - but it's dumb either way if you're using mobo audio (and nothing else) - kind of a waste.

The one issue with your Fiio combo is that it's stereo only. If someone is a gamer and wants virtual surround (and I imagine, as an audiophile, you're anti, but I get - but it is great for gamers) then they are out of luck with the Fiio gear. Although it will sound fantastic with music/movies/games...just stereo.

For me, since motherboard space was at a premium (tri-SLI) I had to go with a USB solution...so I grabbed the Sound Blaster Recon3D. It may make some shudder, but it's an excellent card for the money (you can get them for cheap) and the sound is pretty fantastic (mine is paired with Sennheiser PC 360s). Does virtual surround and still has driver support from Creative. Plus I think I only paid sixty bucks for it new.

 

[C00kie M0nster]

Hey guys. I have a quick question that I would really appreciate some help on. I just finished my new build but have a minor issue regarding my memory. Below is the motherboard and memory I use.

MOTHERBOARD
RAM

Both sticks work fine independently of each other in DIM Slot 2. When I put one in DIM 2 and the other in DIM3 or DIM 4 I get error code 55 (early memory initialization). Myself and my tech buddy altered a few settings in the BIOS which would make it work but no luck.

When I have one stick in, it can do everything. I've installed the OS and tried some games and left it on for a few hours before bed last night.

Any ideas or thoughts?

 

[sk3tch]

^ Have you tried each stick individually and verified that each stick is good by itself? It may be one bad stick. I always burn this to a disc (or USB key) and let it run through all its tests to verify my RAM prior to deployment - if you receive an error - then you know you have a bad stick. Exchange it or deal with Corsair. There's no reason that RAM would not work with that Z87 mobo - unless its defective.

http://www.memtest86.com/

EDIT: and even if they appear to work individually just fine - I'd test both fully with the above software to validate. Then you can rule out that the RAM is bad and move onto other things. If you end up working with either MSI or Corsair, they know memtestx86 as a valid test and will fast track your issue because they will know you're not just some Joe Blow that rebooted his shit and said it was broken.

 

[C00kie M0nster]

^ Have you tried each stick individually and verified that each stick is good by itself? It may be one bad stick. I always burn this to a disc (or USB key) and let it run through all its tests to verify my RAM prior to deployment - if you receive an error - then you know you have a bad stick. Exchange it or deal with Corsair. There's no reason that RAM would not work with that Z87 mobo - unless its defective.

http://www.memtest86.com/

I've tried both sticks individually and both work independent of each other. I'll try that software when I go home but I had each stick run for about 90 minutes prior which was why I was pretty confused.

 

[RSTEIN]

Samsung Pro 256 GB is today's Newegg shell shocker. $229.99.

 

[Danj]

The more I look at the Node 304 the more I wants one. Cute little case.

They are great, I have one and it's very portable - I just got back from an anime con with it. When transporting it do be careful though, you can scratch the paint if you're not.

 

[Azulsky]

um, hes trying to get a whole sys (monitor included) for $800
something tells me sound/HQ headset isnt gonna be high on his list...

Right. Like I said unless he has really high end cans mobo sound is perfectly fine.

Are there any mobo sound cards that can power a set of cans like that? I'd stay away. Probably better to get 25 or 80 Ohms if you're using mobo audio (most don't have suitable amps) - but it's dumb either way if you're using mobo audio (and nothing else) - kind of a waste.

The one issue with your Fiio combo is that it's stereo only. If someone is a gamer and wants virtual surround (and I imagine, as an audiophile, you're anti, but I get - but it is great for gamers) then they are out of luck with the Fiio gear. Although it will sound fantastic with music/movies/games...just stereo.

For me, since motherboard space was at a premium (tri-SLI) I had to go with a USB solution...so I grabbed the Sound Blaster Recon3D. It may make some shudder, but it's an excellent card for the money (you can get them for cheap) and the sound is pretty fantastic (mine is paired with Sennheiser PC 360s). Does virtual surround and still has driver support from Creative. Plus I think I only paid sixty bucks for it new.

Some really high end stuff might. Xonar or Xfi cant remember.
I still think that you would be better off getting one of the boards with the premium sound over a discrete card.

Biggest upgrade is always the cans themselves. Most brands have a low ohm version that would be best value.

 

[kennah]

I'm going to be grabbing a USB headset for mine when the dust eventually settles. Hoping there'll be something decent for under $100

 

[Azulsky]

I'm going to be grabbing a USB headset for mine when the dust eventually settles. Hoping there'll be something decent for under $100

My friend has a blue logitech usb headset that he likes. His mic audio is clear as day. I think he paid 60ish he said

 

[TJ Bennett]

Do you have a Microcenter nearby? Is emulation important to you?

There's a Microcenter about 45 minutes away in Tustin, CA (I'm in Santa Monica). Emulation is not important to me at all. I still have all of my old systems if I want to dig them out.

Good to know that sound cards are not important these days. Things sure have changed in the last 15 years.

Thanks for the help!

 

[SirButterstick]

Can anyone recommend a good desk / chair setup for a 6'4" guy? I'm looking to totally renovate my 'gaming space' and want to make a comfy area for myself. I'm also tinkering with the idea of getting a tri-monitor setup, but that's a secondary concern.

Is this a good thread to post a question like this in? Or should I make a new one.