Yes, if it's a game you're playing regularly and would like faster load times.
SteamTool is something you should definitely get. just takes a few clicks to transfer games between your SSD and any other drive.
SteamTool Library Manager 1.1
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"I need a New PC!" 2013 Part 2. Haswell = #IntelnoTIM, but free online. READ THE OP.
- Thread starter Hazaro
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Yes, if it's a game you're playing regularly and would like faster load times.
SteamTool is something you should definitely get. just takes a few clicks to transfer games between your SSD and any other drive.
SteamTool Library Manager 1.1
Dear PC Gaf
My cousin has been saving up for ages to get a "gaming" pc. I've said I can help him build it as I've installed components in desktops before and I'm fine with that.
Current: ~2008 laptop with intel graphics
Budget: £512 (to include the pc, windows and a monitor)
Main Use: gaming/school work
Monitor Resolution: not higher than 1080p
Games to run well: TF2, darksiders, just cause 2 (ideally to run current games at high settings at 1080p and 30+fps and last for a good few years to at least "run" titles)
Reusing Parts: nothing to reuse
Deadline: he would like it asap, 1 month?
Overclocking: doubt it
There's not going to be a huge amount to work with after getting windows and the monitor but hopefully someone can give me some pointers.
I have attempted to put one together which is coming up just over budget - http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2uUP6
Currently:
CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor (£41.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£58.62 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Value 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£24.00 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£36.96 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB Video Card (£105.88 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£38.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply (£53.94 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.98 @ Ebuyer)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£72.59 @ Ebuyer)
Monitor: Hannspree HE225DPB 21.5" Monitor (£89.94 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £534.55
Have I missed anything that is needed in order to build it / make it work?
If someone could give me some pointers to get this a little cheaper that would be great.
My cousin has been saving up for ages to get a "gaming" pc. I've said I can help him build it as I've installed components in desktops before and I'm fine with that.
Current: ~2008 laptop with intel graphics
Budget: £512 (to include the pc, windows and a monitor)
Main Use: gaming/school work
Monitor Resolution: not higher than 1080p
Games to run well: TF2, darksiders, just cause 2 (ideally to run current games at high settings at 1080p and 30+fps and last for a good few years to at least "run" titles)
Reusing Parts: nothing to reuse
Deadline: he would like it asap, 1 month?
Overclocking: doubt it
There's not going to be a huge amount to work with after getting windows and the monitor but hopefully someone can give me some pointers.
I have attempted to put one together which is coming up just over budget - http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2uUP6
Currently:
CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor (£41.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£58.62 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Value 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£24.00 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£36.96 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB Video Card (£105.88 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£38.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply (£53.94 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.98 @ Ebuyer)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£72.59 @ Ebuyer)
Monitor: Hannspree HE225DPB 21.5" Monitor (£89.94 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £534.55
Have I missed anything that is needed in order to build it / make it work?
If someone could give me some pointers to get this a little cheaper that would be great.
Know anyone in education who could get you Windows for free? If not this guy on Reddit sells them for around £15 for a W8.1 key http://www.reddit.com/r/softwareswa...etail_windows_81_pro_keys_w_paypal_225_sales/
Have a look at this
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor (£88.88 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card (£129.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£38.64 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£35.98 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Windows 8.1 Pro (£15.23)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-PLUS Motherboard (Socket 1150, Intel H81, DDR3, S-ATA 600, Micro ATX, PCI Express 2.0, HDMI, USB 3.0) (£41.63)
Monitor: LG 22EN33S-B 22-inch LED 1920 x 1080 VGA Monitor - Black (£83.47)
RAM: Integral 4GB DDR3-1333 DIMM CL9 Desktop Memory Module (£23.99)
Total: £501.80
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-03 16:47 GMT+0000)
If he wanted 8GB of RAM then you could go ~£20 over budget and get this http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-...66-(1333)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-9-9-9-24-15v
I used rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab. just get it lightly wet and wipe off the surface. you'll use a bunch of swabs if you take your time, but that makes it like a 0% risk factor.
Here's my attempt:
Nice banner. I honestly think Valve's logo should be on there as well.
VisceralBowl
Member
I made a few variations last night that were basically an evolution of the current banner:
(using up to date logos as well!)
(using up to date logos as well!)
Resolution
Member
Same here
"I Need a New PC" 2014 Thread of 1080p/60fps so last-gen.
Hey, Haz wanted a UK alternative to the VP450/EVGA 500B PSU, basically an ultimate budget PSU. He found the XFX Core 450/550, but if there's a better unit, please let me know or just add it to the spreadsheet.
Orange here. Very GAFey.
Hey, Haz wanted a UK alternative to the VP450/EVGA 500B PSU, basically an ultimate budget PSU. He found the XFX Core 450/550, but if there's a better unit, please let me know or just add it to the spreadsheet.
At the 450w level there is nothing bar the CX 430/CX 430M.
Be Quiet! do a unit that undercuts the XFX Core 550w by a fiver but it's the only thing I can find. The EVGA 500B is listed for sale here but nowhere seems to have stock.
The XFXs are a safe bet here, always plenty of stock.
Thank you so much!
Has anyone had any experience with the $15 Windows 8 keys? I'd hate to get it for him and have it stop working after a month or so due to a dodgy license (well I'd end up buying him a real one most likely out of my own pocket, not what I want to do).
This one is only 35 inc VAT, which is a bit under the CX430m.
seems like the setup guy installed my Windows 8.1 Pro in BIOS mode instead of UEFI
is it worth reinstalling to get UEFI (and all those Fastboot stuff?)
----
hmm my SSD is my OS drive
so my Steam games should primarily be on my HDD right, and use SteamMover/Tool whenever necessary to move them to the SSD?
is it worth reinstalling to get UEFI (and all those Fastboot stuff?)
----
hmm my SSD is my OS drive
so my Steam games should primarily be on my HDD right, and use SteamMover/Tool whenever necessary to move them to the SSD?
Phrased that badly. Nothing else that competes with the XFX Core 450 bar the CX 430 units.
For entry level in the UK we have
450w XFX for £36 http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005FPT38U/
Corsair CX 430M for £36.66 when it's in stock http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ALYP208/
For the ~550 units
EVGA 500B £37.75 (it's on back order it seems) http://www.dabs.com/products/evga-5...4_1388770535_b5a0b34736102c4741f6e9ad983a128a
EVGA 600B for £49 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/600w...0mm-quiet-fan-single-rail-eps-12v-fan-atx-psu
XFX 550w for £50 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/550w...us-bronze-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-quiet-fan-atx
Be Quiet! 500w for £45 http://www.ebuyer.com/520266-be-quiet-pure-power-l8-500w-bn223
VisceralBowl
Member
You don't really need them on your SSD (if that is your boot drive). Keep programs and the OS on the SSD, and games/other space eaters on the HDD.
thanks! will just install the Steam/Origin games on the HDD and move them via SteamTool/SteamMover whenever I need the boost
any takes on the UEFI bit?
EDIT: what's the best way to reformat a SSD? would the usual Windows way of just deleting the partition work?
Using BIOS almost certainly means being chained to the legacy MBR partitioning scheme for your boot disk. MBR has limitations with partition size (2TB) and number of partitions (no more than 4 primary partitions) amongst other things.
GPT is the replacement partition scheme for MBR and it's part of the UEFI standard. If you're building a new PC and your motherboard supports UEFI, the question should be why use BIOS and MBR?
Regarding the SSD; there is no best way to format an SSD. Treat it like a HDD in that regard.
Be careful where you do this.
Many years ago, I made the mistake of cleaning it right over top of my mobo and a small piece of dried thermal paste fell into the CPU socket. I tried to get the piece out with plastic tweezers and a cotton swab but ended up damaging one of the pins. (The piece of TP wouldn't come out of the mobo via vigorous shaking upside down.)
I made the dumb mistake and Captain Obvious'd this post so you don't suffer the same misfortune.
Be careful where you do this.
Many years ago, I made the mistake of cleaning it right over top of my mobo and a small piece of dried thermal paste fell into the CPU socket. I tried to get the piece out with plastic tweezers and a cotton swab but ended up damaging one of the pins. (The piece of TP wouldn't come out of the mobo via vigorous shaking upside down.)
I made the dumb mistake and Captain Obvious'd this post so you don't suffer the same misfortune.
>.<
doh!
Dave_6
Member
Be careful where you do this.
Many years ago, I made the mistake of cleaning it right over top of my mobo and a small piece of dried thermal paste fell into the CPU socket. I tried to get the piece out with plastic tweezers and a cotton swab but ended up damaging one of the pins. (The piece of TP wouldn't come out of the mobo via vigorous shaking upside down.)
I made the dumb mistake and Captain Obvious'd this post so you don't suffer the same misfortune.
Ugh, hope this doesn't happen to me. I took mine apart back in November to sell some of the parts but never got around to it so I'm going to attempt to put it back together tonight. This is the first time I will be removing old paste and applying new paste.
New Lian Li Desk Chassis
Seems like the 860 unit has a much higher reporting of it. I'd feel pretty safe about it.
in 8.1 there is.. first google find.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2043243/how-to-boot-to-desktop-mode-in-windows-8-1.html
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
You can just use Classic Shell and get rid of Metro if you don't like it.
i have a question and i am not sure where to ask. so i figured i would do it here. sorry if its a little OT.
i have mac book pro late 2009 laptop. 17 inch. 2.8 Intel Core 2 Due
and its great. i changed the HDD to SDD and put 8 gig of ram. this laptop is little bit over the full HD screen 1920 x 1200. with amazing colors and lighting as expected.
however. i was offered to trade it with Alien ware MX14 i think its called. it has a second generation I7 or third generation one " doesn't matter much to me"
and of course better graphics card. better cache memory and HDD. in general. its awesome laptop. but. i do not like the screen as much.
i mean, i don't get my laptop out much. and i don't even play games at all in the laptop. i have a decent desktop and i still don't play games on it.
my question, is it worth the trade ? sacrificing the awesome screen of macbook pro 17 for better spec hardware in general ?
note i am fine with both MAC OS and Windows. i can use both with no issues.
i have mac book pro late 2009 laptop. 17 inch. 2.8 Intel Core 2 Due
and its great. i changed the HDD to SDD and put 8 gig of ram. this laptop is little bit over the full HD screen 1920 x 1200. with amazing colors and lighting as expected.
however. i was offered to trade it with Alien ware MX14 i think its called. it has a second generation I7 or third generation one " doesn't matter much to me"
and of course better graphics card. better cache memory and HDD. in general. its awesome laptop. but. i do not like the screen as much.
i mean, i don't get my laptop out much. and i don't even play games at all in the laptop. i have a decent desktop and i still don't play games on it.
my question, is it worth the trade ? sacrificing the awesome screen of macbook pro 17 for better spec hardware in general ?
note i am fine with both MAC OS and Windows. i can use both with no issues.
It must be the wiring in my house, but I'm having terrible luck with home plugs. Despite spending a decent amount on 200Mbps (then upgrading to 500Mbps as I thought it would help the speed), my connection keeps cutting out. Pages stop loading, and the network error in the Windows toolbar, then ~30 seconds later it comes back.
Long story short, can anyone recommend me a decent wireless N card? The whole reason I went with home plugs is because I thought they'd be more reliable...
Long story short, can anyone recommend me a decent wireless N card? The whole reason I went with home plugs is because I thought they'd be more reliable...
Totally your call. I have the same laptop you do in the 15" version and while it is getting a little long in the tooth for gaming anything recent, the screen and the touchpad especially make it a great daily driver. I wouldn't take the trade myself if you're just doing daily use. Use that MacBook until it dies!
that is one thing that is bugging me .. how long till it dies? lol. i mean, i dont think there is even batteries for it if mine decided not to work one day.
i agree its a great laptop when it comes to screen and touchpad. which is why i wanted to ask for opinions here.
You can still easily get replacement batteries. They aren't even hard to put in.
Personally I have trouble using any other touch pad.. they're so amazing.
Auto-Reply
Member
I tried to use the "Put your own parts together for a new PC" website in the op but i hit a wall early on, i don't even know how to differentiate between all the stuff that is available there..
My limit is 1500 Euro (2.038 US dollar).
It needs to have an i7 over 3ghz
16 gig RAM
It needs to have 3 hhd's (1 for the system os and apps, 1 for storage and 1 has to be a small ssd as it will be used as a scratch disk)
It's only secondary for gaming but i'd like a good Nvidea Card in there but i dont know which one i should choose.
I have no idea what mainboard to choose but i guess it has to be ready to support all the stuff i want it to support (3 hdd) and it needs to have usb3 ports.
Anyone can tell me what brands they would choose for these parts and how do i know what tower case all this stuff will fit in?
Is all that even doable for the money i'm planning to spend, am i forgetting something important? (I have bought 1 PC in my life and 1 laptop) I mainly want to use it for image and video editing.
My limit is 1500 Euro (2.038 US dollar).
It needs to have an i7 over 3ghz
16 gig RAM
It needs to have 3 hhd's (1 for the system os and apps, 1 for storage and 1 has to be a small ssd as it will be used as a scratch disk)
It's only secondary for gaming but i'd like a good Nvidea Card in there but i dont know which one i should choose.
I have no idea what mainboard to choose but i guess it has to be ready to support all the stuff i want it to support (3 hdd) and it needs to have usb3 ports.
Anyone can tell me what brands they would choose for these parts and how do i know what tower case all this stuff will fit in?
Is all that even doable for the money i'm planning to spend, am i forgetting something important? (I have bought 1 PC in my life and 1 laptop) I mainly want to use it for image and video editing.
Auto-Reply
Member
Germany, will be running GIMP, Krita, Hugin and Blender (would benefit the most from a good graphics card)
I tested by playing several rounds of BF4 on Ultra at 3360x2100. This always pegs the GPUs to 99% and is pretty tough on the CPU too. The draw peaked at about 560 watts.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
CPU: Intel Core i7-3820 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor (€257.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (€33.59 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X79-UP4 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard (€210.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (€143.01 @ Hardwareversand)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 60GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (€48.40 @ Amazon Deutschland) - CACHE
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (€83.90 @ Amazon Deutschland) - OS AND APPS
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€99.90 @ Caseking) - STORAGE
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (€459.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case (€97.14 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (€87.90 @ Caseking)
Total: €1522.52
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-03 22:13 CET+0100)
There's a good start. I'd recommend Socket 2011 over the consumer level stuff. Gives your i7 room to grow to the six core and beyond cpus. Also has quad channel ram and more PCIe lanes should you add another 780 later for more oomph. 22 euro over budget, but doesn't include an optical drive or OS. There's room to flex on cheaper stuff, (less nice case, less reliable PSU, etc) but this is the minimum I'd recommend really. The problem with pro machines is you need more power than gaming does
As well - get an external hard drive for daily backups of your work. Two if you can afford it. Data that exists in one place, doesn't exist at all.
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Thank you very much kennah, i will take that list as a guide and see if retailer near me can order me those parts (or similar) and put it together (i don't trust myself with that) i can add a couple of hundrets on it if necessary without going bankrupt.
Good build that. Only €20 more for a 4820K fwiw http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00EONU086/
Although that could play funny if the mobo isn't updated BIOS wise already for IB-E, and it is pushing the budget further north. RAM you can save €10 or so from a look around. It's 1.65v stuff but you could run it at 1.5v 1333MHz probably rather than 1.65v 1600.
Although that could play funny if the mobo isn't updated BIOS wise already for IB-E, and it is pushing the budget further north. RAM you can save €10 or so from a look around. It's 1.65v stuff but you could run it at 1.5v 1333MHz probably rather than 1.65v 1600.
Would the bigger cache on the 4820K and the quad channel memory make much a difference for what he's working with? It's a bit beyond my expertise, just something I'm throwing out.
4770K and a UD3H would come in at around 350 from a quick look and changing to two RAM DIMMs with it rather than the four needed in Socket 2011 would save 20 or so.
4770K and a UD3H would come in at around 350 from a quick look and changing to two RAM DIMMs with it rather than the four needed in Socket 2011 would save 20 or so.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Outstanding. Invaluable info and much appreciated.
I know I will likely go higher with my Haswell-E build but it's good to have the feeback and will likely go with a Seasonic 1000-1200w PSU for that as I'm transplanting an SSD and HDD with 2 780ti's to save on costs.
You're fine with a Seasonic/Corsair 860W.
Thanks, took this as a launching pad. What do you guys think? I went for the Extreme over Hero due to the flexibility of expansion (potential SLI for overuberness!)
Code:
EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti Superclocked 03G-P4-2883-KR Video Card
COOLER MASTER HAF X Blue Edition RC-942-KKN3 ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz LGA 1150 Quad-Core Desktop Processor
ASUS MAXIMUS VI EXTREME ATX Intel Motherboard
SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold ((SS-650KM Active PFC F3)) 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD ...
G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200) Desktop Memory Model F3-2400C11D-16GSR
Intel 530 Series SSDSC2BW240A4K5 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)Boards like the Maximus Extreme, Gigabyte OC Force, and MSI XPower are expensive because they include very pricey PLX chips. The purpose of these chips is to multiply PCI-E lanes, as socket 1150 and 1155 chips only have 16 lanes of PCI-E.
The reason why you would want one of those boards is to have 3 or 4 way SLI. Anything less, and it's a total waste. They don't offer better overclocking headroom, and they don't offer features that can't be found on $200 boards.
I definitely understand wanting to go for something insane on that end, but it really truly is a waste.
I'd suggest you look at the Maximus Hero (if you want the RoG features) or the MSI MPower. Those will satisfy the urge to drop a lot on a really nice board. If you are a tinkerer, the MSI would be my board of choice just because some of their really neat BIOS features. The Maximus Hero will have an overall better feature set, with cool stuff like native RAMDISK (creates a virtual drive with excess memory that your SSD offloads to, makes for insanely snappy performance).
Also, switch out the SSD for a Samsung 840 Evo or Crucial M500.
*edit*
Few more things, swap out the PSU for this one, or go for a 750/760 unit from Seasonic/Corsair/XFX/Coolermaster V series if you think you might go SLI in the future.
Also drop that case. The HAF series is long dead. Take a look at the cases here for a good updated list.
I really like the Corsair Air 540, if those aesthetics are up your alley. The Arc Midi R2 is pretty much everything someone would need in a case as well. The Corsair 750D is also p'good, but I still prefer the Arc Midi and Carbide Air over it.
Okay guys, here is my revised PC build, for my first ever gaming PC. Any quick thoughts before the order is put through for my parts to ship??
CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Pro3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card
Case: Zalman Z5 ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer
OS: Windows 8.1
I guess I could still forgo the optical drive to save a few bucks.
Does the manufacturer matter for the GTX 770? Mine is by "MSI" is that okay?
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