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[mkenyon]

Question time - I'm on the hunt for a new monitor but I have absolutely no clue where to start. A few things:

-I'll be using this for PC and PS4 play
-23" or 24" is probably sufficient as I'll be taking it to college with me
-1080p, and I don't plan on playing above 60FPS on any games
-Priced under $300 is what I'm after, $200 would be great

So, what am I looking for? I have no clue really about contrast ratios, refresh rates, etc. Can you guys point me in the right direction?

Check out the OP. Though really, you should take a look at 120Hz/144Hz monitors. You'd be surprised at the number of games that you're able to run with frame times lower than 16.7ms.

If I had to choose between my 120hz monitor and SSDs, I'd give up SSDs. That's how much I love them. Favorite new tech of the last 5+ years.

After getting some pretty awful fps in Metro: Last Light, I have come to the conclusion I need to upgrade my Radeon 5870 to something more powerful.

My problem is that I'm not quite sure what I am looking for in a graphics card specs-wise. My aim is 60 fps maxed out on current games, though anywhere between 30 and 60 is fine. I guess my price range is in the $300 range max.

Just in case, I have a AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Processor (3.2 GHZ, not overclocked, don't know why I haven't) and 8 GB of RAM. The rest of my parts are fine, my graphics card is my only real bottle neck.

That processor will bottleneck you in a number of games, though Metro is not really one of them.

GTX760 would be a solid upgrade, as would the 7950.

 

[Roland1979]

Question time - I'm on the hunt for a new monitor but I have absolutely no clue where to start. A few things:

-I'll be using this for PC and PS4 play
-23" or 24" is probably sufficient as I'll be taking it to college with me
-1080p, and I don't plan on playing above 60FPS on any games
-Priced under $300 is what I'm after, $200 would be great

So, what am I looking for? I have no clue really about contrast ratios, refresh rates, etc. Can you guys point me in the right direction?

This is the monitor that's on my list, 144hz, basically in 2 very similar models, with the BenQ being cheaper plus I like the foot (looks more stable) and frame (not glossy) better personally.

BenQ XL2411T

Asus VG248QE

Both up to 144Hz with almost zero input lag and response time (the combination is key).
Both most often recommended for gaming. Even more so if you want to squeeze out the most performance/dollar.

 

[Infinite Justice]

- Power Supply recommended: BP550 Plus 550W OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W
- My friends highly recommended that I look for a little more power than 550W, so I went for a 600W instead.
- I found: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017

The case, heatsink, and optical drive were a little easier, so I won't post the links for those. I hope I'm getting decent prices. They seem to be close to the ones on Hazaro's list.

Change this back plz, 550 is plenty for the build you have plus that particular 550 is a trooper.

If you really want to get a 600 or greater get a Seasonic and dump that OCZ

like this Seasonic M12II 620
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095

@Scogoth, Dennis, Sk3tch, Sethos, & Smokey:

TIME TO UPGRADE.

GODDAMN :O

Wait, fps? wtf mkenyon

 

[EatChildren]

So, err, call me stupid, but what's the point of getting a 60+hz monitor (like 120hz) if your framerate is 60 or below? All this time I've been under the impression that the value of 60+hz is tied to your framerate. If you're not hitting over 60fps, there's not much point getting one.

 

[helipilot22]

Nerd power thread, my kinda thread.

nice.

 

[Durante]

So, err, call me stupid, but what's the point of getting a 60+hz monitor (like 120hz) if your framerate is 60 or below? All this time I've been under the impression that the value of 60+hz is tied to your framerate. If you're not hitting over 60fps, there's not much point getting one.

The frequency of a VSync pulse is directly tied to monitor refresh rate. On a 60 Hz display, the time interval between VSyncs is 16 ms. So, when a frame is ready, you have to wait an additional 16 ms (in the worst case) until it is displayed. With 120 Hz, that delay shrinks to 8ms, and with 144 Hz it's 6.9 ms.

This also greatly reduces the amount of "judder" an inconsistent framerate causes.

 

[Roland1979]

And eliminates a lot of blur supposedly. The internet is filled with people claiming it's the best thing ever and they can never go back. Plus with a lot of NVIDIA cards you can watch 3D. I would never game in 3D unless it's sp, not in mp.

Spoiler

3D PORN

. Just Google it and inform yourself about it. Plus you should be able to get good fps if you don't have 3 monitors, a good GPU and super high res (i'm talking PC of course).

 

[mkenyon]

Wait, fps? wtf mkenyon

It's good for a really rough estimate of performance, which is all that this is

So, err, call me stupid, but what's the point of getting a 60+hz monitor (like 120hz) if your framerate is 60 or below? All this time I've been under the impression that the value of 60+hz is tied to your framerate. If you're not hitting over 60fps, there's not much point getting one.

Pretty much what Durante said.

Only the super graphics hogs can't get below 16.7ms frame times. The fidelity that the smooth illusion of motion provides is much more impressive to me than less jaggies or some obscure lighting/filter setting that would increase frame times.

 

[Eiji]

Which motherboard should I get?

MSI Z87-G45 Gaming or Asus Maximus VI Hero?

 

[Head of Vengarl]

8GB GDDR5!!!!

But seriously, having more VRAM allows the card to store more data on it. It's questionable as to whether it will actually be important with how intelligent a lot of engines are with caching game data, but with that little bump in price, it's a good safety precaution.

PCs run pretty cool and quiet these days. Overheating won't be an issue.

*edit*

Also, OCZ PSUs are generally not good options. 550W is plenty. Power consumption is going down, not up. You could run a Titan on a good 550W PSU.

So the benefit is questionable? And are you sure about not needing the fans? On Hazaro's build sheet he says: "Bigger (2-3 fan) custom coolers are highly recommended." Which is what I had chosen. But if the trade off of 2gb more RAM for having no fans is worth in then I will buy the one Mutagenic recommended.

Change this back plz, 550 is plenty for the build you have plus that particular 550 is a trooper.

Ok you guys win. I'm ordering the 550W.

Spoiler

I just hope you realize that my friends will have permanent "I told you so" status over me if it turns out I need more power

 

[t-ramp]

Ok you guys win. I'm ordering the 550W.

Spoiler

I just hope you realize that my friends will have permanent "I told you so" status over me if it turns out I need more power

Unless you go SLI or something down the road, you should be fine. And the OCZ 600W is probably worse than the Antec 550 in any case.

 

[diaspora]

550W will be fine unless you're going for an SLI/Crossfire setup...

 

[toadsworth]

Bought this monitor earlier today, now at the mercy of the postal service gods.

Now i just have to purchase the rest of my new pc.....

Spoiler

real close to using bill me later

 

[Smokey]

@Scogoth, Dennis, Sk3tch, Sethos, & Smokey:

TIME TO UPGRADE.

but..what if you are going the opposite way

 

[mkenyon]

So the benefit is questionable? And are you sure about not needing the fans? On Hazaro's build sheet he says: "Bigger (2-3 fan) custom coolers are highly recommended." Which is what I had chosen. But if the trade off of 2gb more RAM for having no fans is worth in then I will buy the one Mutagenic recommended.

The 760 is quiet enough to where it doesn't really make a significant difference.

4GB of RAM does make a difference in games with high texture mods like Skyrim. It'll also improve graphical fidelity in games that use intelligent caching, like BF3, but won't have a significant impact on performance.

but..what if you are going the opposite way

To buy a TV, too. How the mighty have fallen!

 

[tarheel91]

@Scogoth, Dennis, Sk3tch, Sethos, & Smokey:

TIME TO UPGRADE.

If I remember right with all the AA they've got going on, it's effectively rendering it at 8K. Also, notice the 1:1 gains for Titan and 7950 for multicard setups and the smaller than expected disparity between the two cards. Reason? Bandwidth is the bottleneck (as long as you've got 3GB of VRAM). 7950 is 81-84% performance of a Titan with 83% of the bandwidth. It's not until 4 Titans that you have enough bandwidth (~1TB/s).

 

[Roland1979]

Bought this monitor real close to using bill me later[/SPOILER]

but then you saw the interest rates...

 

[Smokey]

SLI Titans lookin like hot trash at 4k lolz

 

[toadsworth]

but then you saw the interest rates...

basically, i could definitely pay it off in 6 months but im not taking that risk. yet.

is this newegg supercombo a good deal? I really want the i5 4670k and the mobo and RAM seem solid enough.

 

[Mutagenic]

After getting some pretty awful fps in Metro: Last Light, I have come to the conclusion I need to upgrade my Radeon 5870 to something more powerful.

My problem is that I'm not quite sure what I am looking for in a graphics card specs-wise. My aim is 60 fps maxed out on current games, though anywhere between 30 and 60 is fine. I guess my price range is in the $300 range max.

Just in case, I have a AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Processor (3.2 GHZ, not overclocked, don't know why I haven't) and 8 GB of RAM. The rest of my parts are fine, my graphics card is my only real bottle neck.

You have the same computer I'm upgrading from. Is that a Dell?

 

[Infinite Justice]

It's good for a really rough estimate of performance, which is all that this is

just keeping you on your toes

So the benefit is questionable? And are you sure about not needing the fans? On Hazaro's build sheet he says: "Bigger (2-3 fan) custom coolers are highly recommended." Which is what I had chosen. But if the trade off of 2gb more RAM for having no fans is worth in then I will buy the one Mutagenic recommended.



Ok you guys win. I'm ordering the 550W.

Spoiler

I just hope you realize that my friends will have permanent "I told you so" status over me if it turns out I need more power

As said by the others already if you are gonna do some SLI (2 or more Nvidia GPUs running as "one") or CrossFire (2 or more AMD GPUs running as "one") then it wouldn't hurt having a bigger PSU.

Also to be fair I did give a suggestion of a > 600W power supply if you really want to and that will be a better pick over that OCZ you selected.

 

[Roland1979]

basically, i could definitely pay it off in 6 months but im not taking that risk. yet.

is this newegg supercombo a good deal? I really want the i5 4670k and the mobo and RAM seem solid enough.

It's not about being able to pay it back, it's about not throwing money away. I only have a debit card which get accepted almost everywhere as a credit card and never buy something if I don't have the money. There's a book about how the wealthy use there money versus the lower and middle class. It's a big difference. They pay off mortgage as soon as possible and put as much as they can in there 401k (or similar) program, they build there credit status as best as possible and the list goes on and on. The rich get richer and all the while they tempt us to be foolish with our wealth and assets. "A fool and his money are easy to separate".

 

[rybrad]

Just about have my new build pulled together but I have a few questions on miscellaneous items that hopefully you folks can help me out with.

Case
My PC is in a fairly hot (80F regularly) and dusty environment so I need a case that is very easy to take apart/clean and has really good airflow, noise is not a concern. I also prefer a full tower as I prefer the room to work in.

It seems the Fractal cases keep getting the most recommendations so I was looking at a Fractal Design Define XL R2 but I am open to better options that might meet my criteria. My current case is an Antec 1200 which is a pain in the ass to clean every 3 weeks.

Mouse
I currently have a Cyborg R.A.T. 7 and I love the weight and feel of it but the reliability has been awful (had to RMA it twice already). I would like to get another mouse that has a similar weight/heft to it and has a matte finish on the buttons instead of smooth.

Keyboard
I currently use a cheapish Rosewill mechanical keyboard. Is there any reason to spend money on a "better" mechanical keyboard or would the difference be in features only?

Monitor
I use my PC for work as well as play so I am switching from a dual-monitor setup to triple-monitor setup to make my work life easier. I have decided to get a 120hz or 144hz monitor. My inclination is to go for 144hz but are there any downsides to this? I had heard something previously about 120hz being better because if a game is capped at 60fps it will have less tearing but I have no idea about this stuff.

Related to the monitor situation, can I run 3 monitors off one GTX770? I would only use one monitor for gaming so I figured I could plug one monitor into the HDMI port.

Sorry for all of the probably dumb questions but I agonize over this stuff since I only upgrade every few years so I need to get it right the first time.

 

[RoKKeR]

Check out the OP. Though really, you should take a look at 120Hz/144Hz monitors. You'd be surprised at the number of games that you're able to run with frame times lower than 16.7ms.

If I had to choose between my 120hz monitor and SSDs, I'd give up SSDs. That's how much I love them. Favorite new tech of the last 5+ years.

This is the monitor that's on my list, 144hz, basically in 2 very similar models, with the BenQ being cheaper plus I like the foot (looks more stable) and frame (not glossy) better personally.

BenQ XL2411T

Asus VG248QE

Both up to 144Hz with almost zero input lag and response time (the combination is key).
Both most often recommended for gaming. Even more so if you want to squeeze out the most performance/dollar.

Damn, didn't think it'd be something to even consider. So is it worth toning down the settings to push up FPS? And it sounds like playing at 60fps is a smoother experience with a faster refresh time?

Hm, interesting. And what about the impact on console gaming? I'll only be on my PC with the monitor during the summer, so this will be hooked up to my PS4 at school for the majority of the year.

 

[vilmer_]

Damn, didn't think it'd be something to even consider. So is it worth toning down the settings to push up FPS? And it sounds like playing at 60fps is a smoother experience with a faster refresh time?

Hm, interesting.

It's a massive upgrade brother, in many ways And they are priced extremely well on top of it all. I'm just waiting for some 27"+ers as I'm so used to these monitors that going back down to 24" wouldn't feel right

 

[toadsworth]

It's not about being able to pay it back, it's about not throwing money away. I only have a debit card which get accepted almost everywhere as a credit card and never buy something if I don't have the money. There's a book about how the wealthy use there money versus the lower and middle class. It's a big difference. They pay off mortgage as soon as possible and put as much as they can in there 401k (or similar) program, they build there credit status as best as possible and the list goes on and on. The rich get richer and all the while they tempt us to be foolish with our wealth and assets. "A fool and his money are easy to separate".

Ok, you're right. Im starting a spreadsheet this month to track all of my finances. Thank you for calming me down, lol. I also only buy what I can afford, only overdrawn my checking account once. Gonna have to cut back on beer, food, vidya and weed if i want to build a new beast.

 

[luiztfc]

So Gaf, what's the best sub $150 wireless router? I'm getting 100 mbit (I hope I'm not confusing terms) and my old warrior WRT 54G is dying (even after DD-WRT micro).

 

[vilmer_]

So Gaf, what's the best sub $150 wireless router? I'm getting 100 mbit (I hope I'm not confusing terms) and my old warrior WRT 54G is dying (even after DD-WRT micro).

This is a solid router.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320091

 

[Head of Vengarl]

Thanks for the tips guys. You were all a great help. Here's what I ended up ordering:

POW! Right in the wallet... Thankfully I got my heatsink and power supply for free because apparently I had a $180 gift card balance on Amazon. Woohoo! And I qualify for $55 worth of rebates so that's nice. I'll definitely be taking advantage of those.

 

[Mutagenic]

Damn, didn't think it'd be something to even consider. So is it worth toning down the settings to push up FPS? And it sounds like playing at 60fps is a smoother experience with a faster refresh time?

Hm, interesting. And what about the impact on console gaming? I'll only be on my PC with the monitor during the summer, so this will be hooked up to my PS4 at school for the majority of the year.

My friend recently purchased a 144hz monitor and its a dream. He gets 250fps in CS:GO so playing that game on it is heaven. I purchased one myself last night after trying out his. Dota2 also plays great on it. But bewarned, even after calibration, the colors don't look great.

 

[RoKKeR]

My friend recently purchased a 144hz monitor and its a dream. He gets 250fps in CS:GO so playing that game on it is heaven. I purchased one myself last night after trying out his. Dota2 also plays great on it. But bewarned, even after calibration, the colors don't look great.

I was worried about this. Are they noticeably bad? Or is it Judi "could be better"?

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Alright, so my brother's graphics card overheated.

He had this one which was bought about a year and a half ago

So I was looking to replace it with this one

Is it a fair trade? An upgrade? A downgrade? Is there a better card around 100-150 dollars to replace his old one?

 

[kennah]

Get a 7790. Not amazing but would he an upgrade on what he had.

 

[Mutagenic]

I was worried about this. Are they noticeably bad? Or is it Judi "could be better"?

I will only be using it for gaming, so having a high hz and no input lag makes it feel like a CRT, which far outweighs the colors for me. Also keep in mind its only 1920x1080.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Get a 7790. Not amazing but would he an upgrade on what he had.

this one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161434

 

[Hypron]

Hey guys,

I am currently looking for parts to build a new computer for my mother, and I'm a bit stuck when it comes to choosing a GPU.

The computer will be used for video and photo editing (right now her computer -phenom x2 550, 4gb ddr3, HD5570- takes way too long to encode videos). She gave me a budget of NZ$1,500-2,000 (which translates to US$1,160-1,550 - but everything is more expensive here) and wants something good that she'll be able to use for years.

Here is what I came up with so far, using the info in the OP and the parts that were available here in New Zealand:

The kit I found for option 2 is around the same price as buying the parts recommended in the OP for a high performance computer, except it contains a haswell CPU. I'm not planning on overclocking the CPU.

I tried to focus on getting a powerful CPU and an SSD since those will probably improve her user experience the most.

I really don't know what kind of graphics card I should put in the computer though. Since she's not going to play games, I doubt she needs something really high end... Would something along the lines of an hd7770 be enough for editing videos?

Cheers.

 

[Perfect Cha0s]

I got my 3570k and H60 cooler in today and installed them. I don't really understand what the TZ00, TZ01, SYSTIN, etc temps are, but the core temps seem high to me - maybe you guys will have some thoughts.

This was coming off of an about a half-hour to 45 minutes of The Witcher 2, and then playing 1080p video for about 10 minutes. Also, HWMonitor temps are really spiky for me, so I'm not even sure if it's reporting correct temps.

 

[Mad Max]

Hey guys,

I am currently looking for parts to build a new computer for my mother, and I'm a bit stuck when it comes to choosing a GPU.

The computer will be used for video and photo editing (right now her computer -phenom x2 550, 4gb ddr3, HD5570- takes way too long to encode videos). She gave me a budget of NZ$1,500-2,000 (which translates to US$1,160-1,550 - but everything is more expensive here) and wants something good that she'll be able to use for years.

Here is what I came up with so far, using the info in the OP and the parts that were available here in New Zealand:

The kit I found for option 2 is around the same price as buying the parts recommended in the OP for a high performance computer, except it contains a haswell CPU. I'm not planning on overclocking the CPU.

I tried to focus on getting a powerful CPU and an SSD since those will probably improve her user experience the most.

I really don't know what kind of graphics card I should put in the computer though. Since she's not going to play games, I doubt she needs something really high end... Would something along the lines of an hd7770 be enough for editing videos?

Cheers.

Get her an i7 in there like the 4770K, it'll help with encoding. You can probably do without a dedicated GPU entirely, since the iGPU is powerful enough when you're not gaming or doing 3d work. I'd also go with 16GB of memory (doesn't have to be the fastest stuff) instead of 8.

For the PSU I'd recommend you get something like the SeaSonic M12II-520Bronze, instead of that shitty corsair unit.

You could also look into doing an mATX or ITX build instead of going with a full ATX mobo and midtower. There really isn't a good reason to get such a large case if you don't need space for a big gpu or a ton of HDDs.

 

[Sid]

After half a day of use now my PC won't turn on,it just boots up for a split second and shuts off.Previously my 580 was fried and so was the fuse on my PSU,I got a new GPU and the PSU was repaired.Could it be a faulty PSU?BTW I tried booting it without ny new GPU,still no luck.

 

[scogoth]

@Scogoth, Dennis, Sk3tch, Sethos, & Smokey:

TIME TO UPGRADE.

Why? Its not 120fps

 

[Celdiruen]

Hi folks. I'm thinking of putting together a new rig as mine is getting a little long in the tooth, but I have a bunch of questions because I've been out of the loop for a while, and then I'll dump all my info into the template.

From what I understand Haswell runs hotter and OCs worse than SB/IB? What's the rationale for going with something like a 4670k over a comparable IB? Should I splurge on a 770 or get something a bit cheaper?

Your Current Specs: e8400 Wolfdale @ 3GHz / 2x2GB RAM @ 1333 / Asus P5QL Pro / Earthwatts 430W / ATI 5670 1GB / Antec Sonata III / 1TB HDD
Budget: $1000ish, Canada
Main Use: Gaming and general usage
Monitor Resolution: Keeping my old monitor, 1680x1050
No specific games I want to run perfectly, just want to run current and upcoming releases well.
Looking to reuse any parts?: Going to reuse my 1TB HDD.
When will you build?: No particular deadline, probably sometime in the coming month.
Will you be overclocking?: I'm not sure, as I've never done it before. Possibly, if the system starts to struggle down the road.

This is the parts list someone else suggested to me: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/1cqfX
Thank you for any and all help!

 

[MadOdorMachine]

Anyone having trouble with GeForce Experience after upgrading their GPU? I just installed a GTX 760 from a 560 Ti and it's no longer optimizing games. It says the new card is installed, but no supported.

 

[Addnan]

Anyone having trouble with GeForce Experience after upgrading their GPU? I just installed a GTX 760 from a 560 Ti and it's no longer optimizing games. It says the new card is installed, but no supported.

Have you installed drivers?

 

[Addnan]

Hi folks. I'm thinking of putting together a new rig as mine is getting a little long in the tooth, but I have a bunch of questions because I've been out of the loop for a while, and then I'll dump all my info into the template.

From what I understand Haswell runs hotter and OCs worse than SB/IB? What's the rationale for going with something like a 4670k over a comparable IB? Should I splurge on a 770 or get something a bit cheaper?

Your Current Specs: e8400 Wolfdale @ 3GHz / 2x2GB RAM @ 1333 / Asus P5QL Pro / Earthwatts 430W / ATI 5670 1GB / Antec Sonata III / 1TB HDD
Budget: $1000ish, Canada
Main Use: Gaming and general usage
Monitor Resolution: Keeping my old monitor, 1680x1050
No specific games I want to run perfectly, just want to run current and upcoming releases well.
Looking to reuse any parts?: Going to reuse my 1TB HDD.
When will you build?: No particular deadline, probably sometime in the coming month.
Will you be overclocking?: I'm not sure, as I've never done it before. Possibly, if the system starts to struggle down the road.

This is the parts list someone else suggested to me: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/1cqfX
Thank you for any and all help!

The build looks good if you want to go with haswell, but performance wise Ivy and Haswell are almost identical. If you want to overclock, Ivy is the better choice. You will be able to hit decent speeds and not get the quite high temperatures of Haswell.

 

[MadOdorMachine]

Have you installed drivers?

Yeah, it says all my drivers are up to date.I'm running 320.18. It's weird, because the card is being detected, but the GPU isn't supported for some reason. Under the "Games" tab in GFE, there's a check by all of my PC components except the GTX 760. It shows it right there too.

Here's a screen capture.

 

[Addnan]

Yeah, it says all my drivers are up to date.I'm running 320.18. It's weird, because the card is being detected, but the GPU isn't supported for some reason. Under the "Games" tab in GFE, there's a check by all of my PC components except the GTX 760. It shows it right there too.

Not sure then. You can try installing the latest drivers, 320.49 that came out 2 days ago. See if that helps.

 

[Smokey]

Why? Its not 120fps

shouldn't you be teaching young bucks bad habits and how to destroy their cpus?

 

[clav]

Anyone having trouble with GeForce Experience after upgrading their GPU? I just installed a GTX 760 from a 560 Ti and it's no longer optimizing games. It says the new card is installed, but no supported.

GTX 760 launched on beta drivers.

In before

OMG NVIDIA SUX I WILL NOT BUY ANOTHER NVIDIA CARD EVER AGAIN

 

[Kintaro]

Not looking to break the bank here, but should I (or could I) be looking for a good upgrade concerning these two parts? I play at 1080p as well.

CPU: i5 2500k
GPU: HD 6950 2 GB

 

[MadOdorMachine]

Not sure then. You can try installing the latest drivers, 320.49 that came out 2 days ago. See if that helps.

Yes! That's what it was. Thanks for the help. Odd that GFE didn't detect that driver, but it's working now. Thank you.