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

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MCasey

Member
There's a Black Friday deal for an "Intel Core i5 357OK & MSI Z77A-G41 Processor & Motherboard Combo" for $188.
Is this a good deal? Does the mobo allow for upgrades 3 years down the line? I plan on getting a GTX 760.

Thanks
 

Barzul

Member
There's a Black Friday deal for an "Intel Core i5 357OK & MSI Z77A-G41 Processor & Motherboard Combo" for $188.
Is this a good deal? Does the mobo allow for upgrades 3 years down the line? I plan on getting a GTX 760.

Thanks

The motherboard is based off the older Ivy Bridge architecture, so it doesn't support Haswell chips. It's still a pretty insane deal and one I'd jump on if I'd known it existed. Where is this deal from Microcenter?
 

MCasey

Member
The motherboard is based off the older Ivy Bridge architecture, so it doesn't support Haswell chips. It's still a pretty insane deal and one I'd jump on if I'd known it existed. Where is this deal from Microcenter?

It's from the Frys Black Friday ad. It's not live on the site yet. Actually, I'm not sure if it's an in-store only deal or something you can buy online. When I locate both parts on their website it says "Coming 11/28."
 

NoRéN

Member
why the RAMs faster than 1600 got huge discounts like this?
is it its latency being so high and thus they're able to do more discounts on it than the lower 1600's latency ?

---

all these SSD are round the same price, which is the best and which is the least good?? and why ?-please arrange them if possible- :

Intel SSD 530 Series

Neutron Series

SSD 840 EVO

SSDNow V300

HyperX 3K SSD

SanDisk SSD

Chronos Deluxe

2.5” SATA III 6Gb/s (Premium)
EVO
Sandisk(extreme)
Intel
Kingston

Not too familiar with the rest.
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
After walking into a Micro Center and actually getting a look at a bunch of desktop tower cases firsthand, I'm just now realizing the case I plan to order is big as fuck. It's the NZXT Phantom. I guess I didn't realize that most pre-built desktops are actually mid towers.

To be honest I probably don't absolutely need a full tower, but I just decided to get one to be absolutely sure everything would fit (the motherboard I'm getting is the Z87 by the way). Plus I'll probably get better airflow this way. One of the biggest problems with my Dell has been airflow since I packed an HD 6850 into its unusual case design. I've had to dust it out twice.

On the subject, does anybody still make horizontally-oriented cases? If so, are any able to be used within an enclosed media center shelf? Assuming the door isn't closed while it's running of course. Lastly, does anybody make self-loading disc drives for PCs?
 

jfoul

Member
Volcanic Islands just came out, so I don't think we'll see Pirates Islands any time soon (Rx 300 series).
NVIDIA will release Maxwell (GeForce 800 Series) in Q1/Q2 2014, AFAIK...

I'm really trying to hold out for Maxwell to make my decision. Looking forward to the Radeon R9 290 with aftermarket coolers.
 

Jibbed

Member
I need some overclocking help if anyone has a minute, just wondering how exactly I should go about it because my system (well, GPU more than anything) has been showing it's age lately.

i7 2600K at 3.4GHz (stock)
GTX 560Ti 1GB at 822/2004/0.987v (stock)
16GB Corsair Vengeance RAM at 1600MHz (stock)

I've got Afterburner installed for my GPU, and I can use the ASUS motherboard tools to bump my CPU up. What values should I aim for? Not really sure what I'm doing to be honest, I've messed with AB in the past but I've never really pushed this GPU far at all and don't know it's limits.
 

jfoul

Member
Corsair Store is offering 50% off accessories (Example).

They're also offering an additional discount by tier.

10% off 2 items
20% off 3 items
25% off 5 items

Any item at the store qualifies for the tier discount, which also includes the Corsair Factory Outlet (Refurb). The outlet has water cooling, cases and power supplies. The outlet AX760, Carbide 300R, and Hydro H60 comes to just under $150 with shipping for me.


Warranty: Corsair offers a 1 year, replacement-only warranty for refurbished or factory reconditioned PSUs, Cases and Cooling units.
 

kharma45

Member
So whats the story with the MSI G-45 Gaming, is that a relatively good board, especially for some beginner overclocking?

Or should I go with the Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H? What's the difference between that and the D3H?

Sorry, have twenty minutes or so to get the parts order in on Amazon and I'm hoping to make it for delivery tomorrow.

Edit: I got the answers I need. Looks like the UD3H should be the board to go with. I trust Gigabyte as I'm coming from that now.

Yeah the UD3H is a much better board, the G45 has crappy VRMs.
 
What is the best heatsink fan on the market that is affordable, looks OK, and isn't a loud piece of shit at around 1100RPM?

It seems to be a cage match between the Corsair SP120, Noctua NF-F12, some Cougar fan and the old Gentle Typhoons. I'm wonder if someone has actually tested all four properly because I can't find anything on Google that isn't just fanboy bickering.

Welp, found this on Youtube. Should have looked harder I guess.
 

Irobot82

Member
Yes, all of the outlet store is refurb. I bought an H60 refurb from corsair before, and it was like new.

So.. you think those are fine? I'm looking for a good deal on one for my GPU. I have my Sigma Cool bracket already. Although now NZXT just released the G10 which looks soooo nice.
 
Yeah the UD3H is a much better board, the G45 has crappy VRMs.

Considering my history with Gigabyte I think I may go with that one then... Thanks.

Is it foolish to skip on Windows 8.1 for now? I've got Windows 7 Pro 64-bit and I'm quite happy with it overall; are there significant advantages to using 8 over 7 with these newer parts?
 
Considering my history with Gigabyte I think I may go with that one then... Thanks.

Is it foolish to skip on Windows 8.1 for now? I've got Windows 7 Pro 64-bit and I'm quite happy with it overall; are there significant advantages to using 8 over 7 with these newer parts?
Well, you do miss out on a lot of backend improvements, like the massively improved copy/paste functionality, but it's not groundbreaking enough to say that Windows 7 is totally shit compared to it.
 

Interfectum

Member
Of course it's still a good card. I wouldn't say the 4GB version is worth it though unless you game on multiple monitors or at higher than 1080p.

I guess another question I have is, should my i5 2500k (OC'ed) hold up over the next couple years for gaming? I just want to make sure I'm not overkilling it with GPU if the CPU is holding me back.
 

rinker

Member
Yes, all of the outlet store is refurb. I bought an H60 refurb from corsair before, and it was like new.

I'm gunna grab an H100i from them for $60 (64.89 shipped), thanks for the heads up. A refurb cooler makes me a little nervous, but its such a solid price.
 
I need some overclocking help if anyone has a minute, just wondering how exactly I should go about it because my system (well, GPU more than anything) has been showing it's age lately.

i7 2600K at 3.4GHz (stock)
GTX 560Ti 1GB at 822/2004/0.987v (stock)
16GB Corsair Vengeance RAM at 1600MHz (stock)

I've got Afterburner installed for my GPU, and I can use the ASUS motherboard tools to bump my CPU up. What values should I aim for? Not really sure what I'm doing to be honest, I've messed with AB in the past but I've never really pushed this GPU far at all and don't know it's limits.

Every card is different. Find a guide for your card on overclock and read it. You'll be increasing core clock and memory clock in small increments balanced against voltage/heat/noise increases until you find the card's limit.
 
So, I'm looking to upgrade my two year old video card to a GTX760. My question is, is the 4 GB version worth the extra $50 over the 2 GB version? Right now I play at 1080p, but I'm curious to try downsampling, so my understanding is the extra memory will help with that (assuming my cheap monitor can handle it). However, I've seen some people online calling the extra 2GB a gimmick, saying that the 760 isn't powerful enough to handle all that available memory. Is there any truth to this?

Thanks for the help!

[edit]I suppose I should note, before anyone asks, I did update the motherboard, ram, and processor about a year ago, so I'm not trying to stick a brand new video card in a two year old system. Personally, I'd love to upgrade the mobo and cpu and go up to 16 GB of ram, but it's just not in the budget right now.
 

kennah

Member
So, I'm looking to upgrade my two year old video card to a GTX760. My question is, is the 4 GB version worth the extra $50 over the 2 GB version? Right now I play at 1080p, but I'm curious to try downsampling, so my understanding is the extra memory will help with that (assuming my cheap monitor can handle it). However, I've seen some people online calling the extra 2GB a gimmick, saying that the 760 isn't powerful enough to handle all that available memory. Is there any truth to this?

Thanks for the help!

[edit]I suppose I should note, before anyone asks, I did update the motherboard, ram, and processor about a year ago, so I'm not trying to stick a brand new video card in a two year old system. Personally, I'd love to upgrade the mobo and cpu and go up to 16 GB of ram, but it's just not in the budget right now.
We would be able to answer better if you let us know what you currently have and want to upgrade from.
 
We would be able to answer better if you let us know what you currently have and want to upgrade from.

[edit]Ignore everything I said, I'm all screwed up. This is what I get for working off my newegg purchase history from work rather than waiting until I get home. Turns out my entire system is a full three years old. I'll post accurate info this time in a few minutes.
 

grottomatic

Neo Member
I have a bitfenix prodigy setup right now:

i5 4670K with stable OC to 4.2ghz (probably mild for my chip) cooled with H100
Gigabyte ITX
8GB Corsair vengance 2133
Samsung SSD 250MB (looking to add another on RAID 0 over the holidays)
EVGA 650ti Boost superclocked (ran out of money on the setup and used the last PC guide to recommend this card)

Looking to update the graphics and thinking of sticking with Nvidia, as I would like to be at BF4 Ultra settings at 1080 and future proof, I feel like the 650ti boost is definitely the bottleneck for my rig right now.

I like the 650 ti boost, with the superclocked version from EVGA I'm running BF4 at high settings with 50-60 FPS via FRAPS. It really is a fantastic card for the money, but I notice that cooling is somewhat of an issue - it can get well above 80C.

Question is whether I should wait for 2014 and the new Nvidia architecture or go with kepler, have been thinking about the EVGA 770 4gb superclocked ACX card to both get the performance at 1080 and get better cooling. My current budget is around 400 dollars and I have had more success with Nvidia and EVGA in the past so my loyalty lies there but I am not strictly tied to the brand. I also have some trepidation about springing for another GK104 part even if it is much more powerful than my current card. Thoughts?
 
We would be able to answer better if you let us know what you currently have and want to upgrade from.

So, as I said above, I was completely screwed up. Those components above were for something completely different, my actual system is a full three years old. As such, it'll be a lot easier to justify the expense of a more complete upgrade. So, my new question is this: given the parts in this new build, is the extra $50 worth it for the 4GB GTX 760 vs. the 2GB GTX 760?

For reference, I'm currently running a Phenom II X4 965, a Radeon HD 5870 1GB and 16 GB of ram off of an ASUS M4A89GTD PRO
 
How is the BIOS/uEFI for the UD3H? Anyone have some first-hand experience. I've read it's a bit cluttered. I'm just really intrigued by these new-fangled uEFI's :D. Coming from a DOS-like blue screen BIOS is going to be a delight.
 
It works...? There's nothing really to the GUI. Its a bit confusing where things are as its different from most old Gigabyte boards but you'll get used to it.

Most of it actually just works like any ordinary BIOS you see. Its just structured differently instead of the stuff you get from Asus or MSI.
 

mkenyon

Banned
How is the BIOS/uEFI for the UD3H? Anyone have some first-hand experience. I've read it's a bit cluttered. I'm just really intrigued by these new-fangled uEFI's :D. Coming from a DOS-like blue screen BIOS is going to be a delight.
If it's anything like the UEFI on my Z87 Sniper M5, it's great. I'm a big fan of Gigabyte BIOS/UEFI.

Personally, I find ASUS to be the most complex. Needing to go into three totally different menus to get to CPU overclocking options is ridiculous.
 
It works...? There's nothing really to the GUI. Its a bit confusing where things are as its different from most old Gigabyte boards but you'll get used to it.

Most of it actually just works like any ordinary BIOS you see. Its just structured differently instead of the stuff you get from Asus or MSI.

Fair enough, I've just been reading a few comments about it being cluttered to some people. I would have no issue figuring it out, I was just curious how people felt about it. For me it's a huge leap because I'm so used to the old BIOS screens.
 
I guess another question I have is, should my i5 2500k (OC'ed) hold up over the next couple years for gaming? I just want to make sure I'm not overkilling it with GPU if the CPU is holding me back.

I think with the 770 it'll be fine. Once you start to upgrade after that, might be a good idea to get a new CPU along with the GPU.
 
If it's anything like the UEFI on my Z87 Sniper M5, it's great. I'm a big fan of Gigabyte BIOS/UEFI.

Personally, I find ASUS to be the most complex. Needing to go into three totally different menus to get to CPU overclocking options is ridiculous.

Very good to hear this from you. Thanks. I think I've made my decision on the UD3H.
 
Spent a little more than I really wanted to, but I decided that this is a full-on upgrade simply because it's been a fair amount of years since I replaced everything and built a new machine. So fucking pumped right now!

Thanks for the help and suggestions everyone.
 
Maybe this doesn't belong here, but I have an architectural engineering friend looking for advice for building his own machine. The software he needs to use is Architectural Desktop, CAD Civil 3D, Revit, Inventor Fusion, Staad Pro, Retscreen Energy Mode, Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis. I'm not familiar with professional hardware recommendations.
 
Maybe this doesn't belong here, but I have an architectural engineering friend looking for advice for building his own machine. The software he needs to use is Architectural Desktop, CAD Civil 3D, Revit, Inventor Fusion, Staad Pro, Retscreen Energy Mode, Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis. I'm not familiar with professional hardware recommendations.
In all honesty, I think he might be fine with an i5 rig with a big HDD (1TB minimum), at least 8GB of RAM, and a workstation graphics card, but I'm not familiar enough with any of that stuff to be certain.
 

Anton668

Member
Tiger Direct has the Zalman CNPS10X Optima for $9.99 after $20 rebate. Looks a lot like the Hyper 212 models. Any reason not to jump on this?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8340648&CatId=493

I quess if youre desperate to save money.

and of course it looks like the 212. its a tower cooler. pretty much a stack of fins with a fan slapped to the side. it all comes down to design of fans/fins/pipes. little things you may not notice at first glance.

will it perform as well as the 212? highly doubt it or we would see outlets everywhere recommending it. but they dont, they recommend the 212 damn near every time at that price range
 

mkenyon

Banned
Wanted feedback on this build:

I can spend $50 more and I already bought the power supply. With this budget can I make it up much better?

I went this that CPU because the Microcenter is 20 minutes away and I can go pick it up.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/29EAQ
Newegg has the Fractal Arc Midi R2 for $50 w/ free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=11-352-031

Also, if you dropped your 4770K to a 4670K, added in a GTX 780, you'd be better off. That's a hair over the $50 though. I'd say R9-290, but those really need some non-reference coolers.
 
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