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[zoku88]

Hey guys, I have a cousin who is in a bit of a pickle.

More or less, the only way he can get his computer to boot is if he clears the CMOS beforehand. If he doesn't clear it before a boot, I think the mobo gets to the DRAM part of the book sequenfce and shuts off almost immediately (instead of staying on, but having the DRAM led stay on like what usually happens with DRAM errors I've seen in the past.)

The mobo is a hand-me-down from me, so it was at least working as of 2-3 months ago...

We've tried changing the CMOS battery, but that didn't really do anything for us.

Anyone have any ideas? Somewhat worried that I might have did something bad to the board when I took it out of my computer...

 

[Assassin5twenty]

Im trying to build a pc for about $700.The main meat will be r9 270,but I dont know which mobo to pair it with and what cpu to match it,so it doesnt bottle neck.any tips?

 

[kennah]

I know I sound pathetic. I don't know much about PCs. I just want something that I can use for everyday work and art but have enough juice to play Tomb Raider with TressFX!

And I'm staying away from over locking because I think I'll so something wrong.

Thanks for your help so far though. I really appreciate it.

Read the OP, fill out the survey, let us come up with a build for you.

Im trying to build a pc for about $700.The main meat will be r9 270,but I dont know which mobo to pair it with and what cpu to match it,so it doesnt bottle neck.any tips?

Read the op. Bottlenecking is a myth.

 

[Assassin5twenty]

Read the OP, fill out the survey, let us come up with a build for you.



Read the op. Bottlenecking is a myth.

oh didnt see that.I wear glasses,so I missed that part.

 

[CRS]

Im trying to build a pc for about $700.The main meat will be r9 270,but I dont know which mobo to pair it with and what cpu to match it,so it doesnt bottle neck.any tips?

pcpartpicker.com is a great way to choose parts that are compatible.

 

[Assassin5twenty]

pcpartpicker.com is a great way to choose parts that are compatible.

Thanks.

 

[TheD]

Bottlenecking is a myth.

No it's not.

e.g If in a game the GPU is left waiting for the CPU to give it data to generate a frame from, it is CPU limited/bottlenecked. If a game stutters and objects take a while to load when you are moving around it's open world, then you are drive I/O limited/bottlenecked etc.

When people ask if something in their system is a bottleneck when they want to get a much faster GPU, they are asking if a fair amount of games will be heavily framerate limited due to the CPU not being able to process enough frames worth of game data to keep the GPU busy (sure you could try and up the rendering quality to make the GPU busier but that will not help the framerate, just make the game look better).

 

[rudieboy77]

Been waffling on a mobo choice, it's down to the G1.Sniper (not 5) or the GA-Z87X-UD4H. I understand this version of the G1 is like a month old so not many reviews on it and it also has the Killer NIC which I have heard nothing but poor comments about. Any experience on either board?

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

Sorry if I'm still asking advice for prebuilt systems:

1) ...what makes the Dell XPS 8700 MOBO bad? I don't mind not having SLI or over clocking. It's a z87 chip Haswell and has some limitations, such as lack of ram upgrades and HDD size, but if it's sufficient for a GTX780 upgrade with a good PSU and it works, I'd be cool with that.

Maybe down the line I'll go all out and build my own, but I think as a newbie it'd give me a headache.

With that in mind do you guys think this will be good for the time being?

2) How about the Asus m51?

3) Any other pre built desktops do you guys recommend with similar specs?

Thanks.

 

[kennah]

No it's not.

e.g If in a game the GPU is left waiting for the CPU to give it data to generate a frame from, it is CPU limited/bottlenecked. If a game stutters and objects take a while to load when you are moving around it's open world, then you are drive I/O limited/bottlenecked etc.

When people ask if something in their system is a bottleneck when they want to get a much faster GPU, they are asking if a fair amount of games will be heavily framerate limited due to the CPU not being able to process enough frames worth of game data to keep the GPU busy (sure you could try and up the rendering quality to make the GPU busier but that will not help the framerate, just make the game look better).

Everything is so ridiculously fast these days that nothing seriously slows down everything else. A slower CPU won't stop someone from benefiting from a faster video card. Yes the faster video card would improve performance MORE with a faster CPU, but you would still get benefit. Same thing for the other way around. Some games are CPU limited, some are GPU limited, everything is disk and ram limited.

But at the end of the day man... any hardware above the mid range is so far ahead of software that it doesn't really matter. And stuff at the mid range is so good and so cheap that there's no point in buying high end and/or worrying about bottlenecking because in two years when it feels slow you can spend $200-500 and have noticeable improvements in your performance.

So. Yes, it is something that happens, but for the purposes of buying hardware and playing games on it, it doesn't matter. (if you aren't buying low end shit)

 

[snack]

Looking for a R9 270/R9 270x, which brand is the best?

 

[kennah]

Looking for a R9 270/R9 270x, which brand is the best?

Gigabyte, MSI, Asus are the ones most recommended. Sapphire is good. Powercolour is ok. People say to avoid XFX.

 

[snack]

Gigabyte, MSI, Asus are the ones most recommended. Sapphire is good. Powercolour is ok. People say to avoid XFX.

I'm thinking this.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127761

Best rating on Newegg.

 

[TC McQueen]

Sorry if I'm still asking advice for prebuilt systems:

1) ...what makes the Dell XPS 8700 MOBO bad? I don't mind not having SLI or over clocking. It's a z87 chip Haswell and has some limitations, such as lack of ram upgrades and HDD size, but if it's sufficient for a GTX780 upgrade with a good PSU and it works, I'd be cool with that.

Maybe down the line I'll go all out and build my own, but I think as a newbie it'd give me a headache.

IIRC, that's a BTX mobo, which is un-upgradable and comes with a fuck huge CPU cooler. You might be able to covert it to ATX, but you'd have to cut off/remove the back plate and mobo-tray and replace them with stuff from Lian Li.

 

[kennah]

I'm thinking this.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127761

Best rating on Newegg.

Yep, that's a legit one

Also don't pay attention to ratings or reviews on shop sites. It'll drive you insane. Stick to the review sites mentioned in the OP.

 

[CRS]

Sorry if I'm still asking advice for prebuilt systems:

1) ...what makes the Dell XPS 8700 MOBO bad? I don't mind not having SLI or over clocking. It's a z87 chip Haswell and has some limitations, such as lack of ram upgrades and HDD size, but if it's sufficient for a GTX780 upgrade with a good PSU and it works, I'd be cool with that.

Maybe down the line I'll go all out and build my own, but I think as a newbie it'd give me a headache.

With that in mind do you guys think this will be good for the time being?

2) How about the Asus m51?

3) Any other pre built desktops do you guys recommend with similar specs?

Thanks.

Not sure what your budget is (you're getting a 780 so it should be high) but there are sites that build the PCs for you and send it out.

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

IIRC, that's a BTX mobo, which is un-upgradable and comes with a fuck huge CPU cooler. You might be able to covert it to ATX, but you'd have to cut off/remove the back plate and mobo-tray and replace them with stuff from Lian Li.

I don't know what that is.

But technically speaking, forgive me for sounding stupid here, but if I did upgrade to a gtx780 + 850w psu, would it work fine as a single gpu gaming pc?

Thanks.

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

Not sure what your budget is (you're getting a 780 so it should be high) but there are sites that build the PCs for you and send it out.

I managed to get the 780 a bit cheaper (don't know if it works yet). I'm still calculating my budget.

 

[kennah]

I don't know what that is.

But technically speaking, forgive me for sounding stupid here, but if I did upgrade to a gtx780 + 850w psu, would it work fine as a single gpu gaming pc?

Thanks.

I just really don't see the point in buying a prebuilt and then going through the trouble of replacing the power supply. Dell typically uses parts that don't work nice with other stuff. Cases that need specific power supplies, motherboards with weird power requirements, nowhere to put cables. Dell makes computers that are designed to only be serviced by Dell with Dell parts. The pain in the ass that your'e going to go through to replace that power supply with another one will be MORE than the work required to just go ahead and build a proper computer yourself.

And this isn't even getting into the random software and shit that they install on the computers that go out. Things that take away system resources or cause the computer to behave differently than normal ones.

The list goes on and on and on. There are reasons that you don't find many prebuilts recommended in this thread at all.

If you really want something already built for you - get this from the Buy Sell Trade thread.

$450 or $850 w/GTX 780 SC Shipped US48

Mini ITX PC(No Graphics Card)

This system is basically a great system for someone who wants to game, you can purchase it with an extremely beefy graphics card, or you can skip the graphics card and get whatever graphics card you want.


System includes:

(Prices if bought new)

Case- Red Bitfenix Prodigy ITX ($80)
CPU- Intel 2500k OC'd to 4.5GHz completely stable ($180)
RAM- Corsair Vengeance Pro 2133MHz ($70)
Motherboard- ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe ($160)
HDD- 120GB Mushkin Chronos SSD ($80)
Cooler- Corsair H80i ($80)
PSU- Corsair 750M(semi-modular) ($70)
Graphics- None or EVGA ACX GTX 780 SC+$400 ($500)
Cooling- 3 addition Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm fans ($40)

Roughly $750-$1250 worth of kit brand new, like I said basically everything but the CPU and Fans are only 2-3 months old.

$450 or $850 shipped

 

[NoRéN]

Dudes!

Posting from my new build! Fuck yeah!

Wanted to thank everyone for being such a great community.

Special thanks to kennah and Kharma for letting me bother them with my questions.

Thank you all!

 

[kennah]

Dudes!

Posting from my new build! Fuck yeah!

Wanted to thank everyone for being such a great community.

Special thanks to kennah and Kharma for letting me bother them with my questions.

Thank you all!

FINAL SPECS AND PICS

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

I just really don't see the point in buying a prebuilt and then going through the trouble of replacing the power supply. Dell typically uses parts that don't work nice with other stuff. Cases that need specific power supplies, motherboards with weird power requirements, nowhere to put cables. Dell makes computers that are designed to only be serviced by Dell with Dell parts. The pain in the ass that your'e going to go through to replace that power supply with another one will be MORE than the work required to just go ahead and build a proper computer yourself.

And this isn't even getting into the random software and shit that they install on the computers that go out. Things that take away system resources or cause the computer to behave differently than normal ones.

The list goes on and on and on. There are reasons that you don't find many prebuilts recommended in this thread at all.

Thanks. I didn't get it yet. Just want a i74770 and looking for something sufficient.

Also isn't there some risks with building my own like warranty issues, etc.?

 

[TC McQueen]

I don't know what that is.

It's a proprietary motherboard configuration used by mainstream prebuilt PCs that's designed to mount to the left side of the case (if you look at it from the front), instead of the right side like ATX motherboards do.

But technically speaking, forgive me for sounding stupid here, but if I did upgrade to a gtx780 + 850w psu, would it work fine as a single gpu gaming pc?

I think that should work, but you may or may not be able to find a PSU that has screw holes that line up with the ones on the back of the case.

 

[kennah]

Thanks. I didn't get it yet. Just want a i74770 and looking for something sufficient.

There is much more to a PC than the CPU and video card. You have good choices there, but the rest of what you're doing is just... frustrating, lol

As for warranty issues - parts all have warranties. The only issues you'd run into are trying to troubleshoot software problems. Everything you purchase would have between a 1 and 3 year warranty.

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

It's a proprietary motherboard configuration used by mainstream prebuilt PCs that's designed to mount to the left side of the case (if you look at it from the front), instead of the right side like ATX motherboards do.

I think that should work, but you may or may not be able to find a PSU that has screw holes that line up with the ones on the back of the case.

Thanks.

There is much more to a PC than the CPU and video card. You have good choices there, but the rest of what you're doing is just... frustrating, lol

As for warranty issues - parts all have warranties. The only issues you'd run into are trying to troubleshoot software problems. Everything you purchase would have between a 1 and 3 year warranty.

Alright, thanks for the info. I'll keep all these in mind.

All I have is the GPU. I don't even have a PSU because I have to return it for a better name brand.

 

[NoRéN]

FINAL SPECS AND PICS

Case: Corsair Carbide 200R $55
CPU: I7-4770k $175
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H ATX Motherboard $132
RAM: G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB DDR3 1600 $52
Graphics: MSI Twin Frozr OC HD7850 2GB from old build
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO Series 250GB $140
PSU: Rosewill HIVE Series 750W Modular PSU $71
Optical: Asus 24x DVD-RW DRW-24B1ST from old build
Heatsink: CM Hyper 212 EVO $27
Monitor: Asus VS248H-P 24” Monitor $157
OS: Windows 7 64-Bit $88

Total $897

Prices include Californai sales tax. And all my rebates have been received and verified so that's some cash back on its way.

I only have an ipod touch so pics will suck once I get around to it. Hopefully I'll be overclocking this week.

 

[Felix Lighter]

Dudes!

Posting from my new build! Fuck yeah!

Wanted to thank everyone for being such a great community.

Special thanks to kennah and Kharma for letting me bother them with my questions.

Thank you all!

Awesome. Congratulations!

 

[Snowdrift]

Is anyone using a 21:9 monitor? The LG 29EA73 is on sale at Ncix and I'm torn on whether I should upgrade or not.

Game support seems a bit limited at the moment.

 

[kennah]

Noren. That is an amazing 900$ build. I'm really impressed and a little proud

Well done.

 

[tarheel91]

Thanks.

Alright, thanks for the info. I'll keep all these in mind.

All I have is the GPU. I don't even have a PSU because I have to return it for a better name brand.

Why not just go to a PC Builder site, build the PC you want, and select the cheapest graphics card?

 

[NoRéN]

Awesome. Congratulations!

Thank you. I always get so nervous but it's such a rewarding feeling when you plug it in and it powers on.

Noren. That is an amazing 900$ build. I'm really impressed and a little proud

Well done.

Thank you! Can't wait to finally play Metro Last Light!

 

[kennah]

Thank you! Can't wait to finally play Metro Last Light!

These things play games? Who knew! I just use mine as a space heater.

Spoiler

Two kids, no time to game, but it's a nice media server though

 

[CRS]

These things play games? Who knew! I just use mine as a space heater.

Spoiler

Two kids, no time to game, but it's a nice media server though

This is such a great feature.

My main source of heat in my house at the moment.

 

[Imperial]

Thinking of upgrading my GPU. Do you guys think the GTX 760 would be fine playing the upcoming next-gen games?

 

[kennah]

Thinking of upgrading my GPU. Do you guys think the GTX 760 would be fine playing the upcoming next-gen games?

What are you upgrading from and what is your budget?

 

[jediyoshi]

Damn. I knew I shouldn't have sat on getting a 270x. The sapphire one on newegg I was looking at sold out x_x

 

[Imperial]

What are you upgrading from and what is your budget?

Upgrading from a HD 7850. Around the $300 mark. I've also thought about buying a used 670 or R9 280x.

 

[kennah]

Damn. I knew I shouldn't have sat on getting a 270x. The sapphire one on newegg I was looking at sold out x_x

Hard to get any AMD GPU right now, they're selling out super quick thanks to the bit coin bubble.

Upgrading from a HD 7850. Around the $300 mark. I've also thought about buying a used 670 or R9 280x.

Hmm.. Would be an upgrade for sure, but maybe not a huge huge one. A 760 is basically a slightly slower 670 (literally same chip with a new sticker). The 280X would be faster than either (it is a 7970 GHZ with a different sticker). Get whatever you can find cheapest of the three, or the 280X if you can a) find one, b) money doesn't matter.

EDIT: Also your 7850 is worth a few bucks these days, make sure to look into selling it. EBAY if possible, because people are going nuts over there.

 

[ss_lemonade]

I've been thinking of getting my first mechanical keyboard and almost bought a Razer Blackwidow Ultimate earlier after trying it out at BestBuy but I don't know if it was a good deal (it was around $110). I heard good things about the Ducky Shine series and after searching around a bit, I found the red switch Ducky Shine 3 for $120 at ncix. Still seems to be more expensive than other mechanical keyboards but is it worth it?

 

[kennah]

I've been thinking of getting my first mechanical keyboard and almost bought a Razer Blackwidow Ultimate earlier after trying it out at BestBuy but I don't know if it was a good deal (it was around $110). I heard good things about the Ducky Shine series and after searching around a bit, I found the red switch Ducky Shine 3 for $120 at ncix. Still seems to be more expensive than other mechanical keyboards but is it worth it?

A lot of 'worth it' with mechanical keyboards is really up to your personal preference and how much you really want things to be 'just so'.

That said. A good mechanical starts at around $100, so unless you're buying used they won't be much cheaper than you're looking now.

 

[Rsinart]

Thinking about doing some upgrades in the new year, any suggestions? This is what I currently have. Haven't been using it for games like I had hoped but thinking next year I might.

CPU: Intel i7 3770
Mobo: Asus P8Z77-V LK
RAM: 4x4gb G.skill Ripjaws DDR3-1866
GPU: XFX HD 7970 3GB Double Dissipation
HDD1: Hitachi 2tb
PSU: Corsair 750
Case: NZXT Guardian
Mon: ViewSonic VX2770Smh
Mouse: Logitech GX9
KB: Corsair K90

 

[kennah]

Thinking about doing some upgrades in the new year, any suggestions? This is what I currently have. Haven't been using it for games like I had hoped but thinking next year I might.

CPU: Intel i7 3770
Mobo: Asus P8Z77-V LK
RAM: 4x4gb G.skill Ripjaws DDR3-1866
GPU: XFX HD 7970 3GB Double Dissipation
HDD1: Hitachi 2tb
PSU: Corsair 750
Case: NZXT Guardian
Mon: ViewSonic VX2770Smh
Mouse: Logitech GX9
KB: Corsair K90

... Nothing. Put in an SSD. Nothing you change will make a huge improvement.

EDIT: Except maybe switching your 3770 with a 3770K, but that seems like kind of a silly upgrade. If you have a K and you didn't mention it then over clock that puppy.

If you are big into emulation then you would see a big improvement with Haswell (the i7 4770k) but really... the new stuff is only 5-10% faster than what you have now clock for clock. The only video card you could put in that would give an improvement over the video card you have now would be either a 780(Ti) or 290(X). The 7970 is still very very current and powerful.

 

[Imperial]

Hmm.. Would be an upgrade for sure, but maybe not a huge huge one. A 760 is basically a slightly slower 670 (literally same chip with a new sticker). The 280X would be faster than either (it is a 7970 GHZ with a different sticker). Get whatever you can find cheapest of the three, or the 280X if you can a) find one, b) money doesn't matter.

EDIT: Also your 7850 is worth a few bucks these days, make sure to look into selling it. EBAY if possible, because people are going nuts over there.

Hey, thanks a lot for your suggestions! The 280x shall be my first choice then.

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

Why not just go to a PC Builder site, build the PC you want, and select the cheapest graphics card?

From what I'm getting at, it has pros and cons.

Probably more pros and I'm sure it's awesome, but the software headaches and my lack of knowledge with computers scare me a bit.

I'm still thinking about it. Still researching.

I'm not really a enthusiast or a hardcore pc gamer even though I love them and have a gtx 780 gpu on hand (don't know why I even got it, lol!)

Just need something that I can use it with, but not just straight gaming but also for everyday use.

That's why I'm leaning toward pre-built for now and then build one later on.

 

[Rsinart]

... Nothing. Put in an SSD. Nothing you change will make a huge improvement.

Alright with it being alittle over a year old wasn't sure if there was anything that would make a huge improvement at this time. A SSD was the plan from the start but never happen. Thanks for the suggestion don't keep up with the pc side of things as much as I should.

 

[NoRéN]

These things play games? Who knew! I just use mine as a space heater.

Spoiler

Two kids, no time to game, but it's a nice media server though

lol

no kids here. The only arguing over who gets to play is done by my spouse and I.

 

[Backlogger]

Thinking about doing some upgrades in the new year, any suggestions? This is what I currently have. Haven't been using it for games like I had hoped but thinking next year I might.

CPU: Intel i7 3770
Mobo: Asus P8Z77-V LK
RAM: 4x4gb G.skill Ripjaws DDR3-1866
GPU: XFX HD 7970 3GB Double Dissipation
HDD1: Hitachi 2tb
PSU: Corsair 750
Case: NZXT Guardian
Mon: ViewSonic VX2770Smh
Mouse: Logitech GX9
KB: Corsair K90

A higher res monitor? 1440p? Everything else seems really solid

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

So what's the highest GPU at the moment minus the SLI or xfire?

That Radeon card, is it more powerful yet cheaper than the Titan?

I was always under the impression that AMD and Radeon, although cheaper, isn't as durable as Intel or Nvidia.

 

[Sir Abacus]

Yes but you need to watch out for AA settings that will eat the VRAM alive.

Considering you have Nvidia you might want to wait on a GSync Monitor.

Yeah I already have a VG248QE ready to go for Gsync once the bloody modules arrive.

All signs are pointing that the reason it's under $1K is because it's using an TN panel, though...

My main panel is 144Hz so this isn't a downgrade for me.

 

[tarheel91]

From what I'm getting at, it has pros and cons.

Probably more pros and I'm sure it's awesome, but the software headaches and my lack of knowledge with computers scare me a bit.

I'm still thinking about it. Still researching.

I'm not really a enthusiast or a hardcore pc gamer even though I love them and have a gtx 780 gpu on hand (don't know why I even got it, lol!)

Just need something that I can use it with, but not just straight gaming but also for everyday use.

That's why I'm leaning toward pre-built for now and then build one later on.

That's less work than picking up a Dell and having to swap out all of that stuff. All you're doing is installing a new graphics card. It's literally like legos.