• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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

Status
Not open for further replies.

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Ran memtest 86+ for 6 passes (took about 10 hours) and it came up clean, so I don't think my RAM is the issue of my BlueScreen errors (I never actually see a BS, the PC just freezes, screen goes black, then it reboots). Pretty sure it's the CPU since the crash dumps only mention "AuthenticAMD" and the only actual AMD part in my PC is the processor (Phenom II X4 955 BE). I'll try out another processor (an Athlon II). My PC crashed while I was typing this. Thank god for Firefox's session restore, restored all the text so no retyping. :D
Have you tried updating your chipset drivers and possibly your BIOS as well?
 

ArynCrinn

Banned
Hey guys, account just got approved. Glad to join in on all the discussion.

Anyone have an opinion on the 2GB of VRAM on the GTX 760 at 1080p? Upgrading from my recently sold 7850 and I'm torn between the 7950 3GB and 2GB GTX 760.

After having some driver issues with AMD (dx9 flickering etc.) I'd really like to grab the 760 but 2GB for next-gen games is making me a bit worried. I would hate to already feel the need to upgrade when BF4 hits later this year.

Honestly, right now the 780 is a gimped unloved stepchild of the GTX690/Titan, both in overall performance and memory size. I'd go for the 770 4GB right now, if you absolutely have to jump on the 700 series right now. Best price to performance ratio for the series atm, imo.
 

Windam

Scaley member
Have you tried updating your chipset drivers and possibly your BIOS as well?

I updated my BIOS to its latest firmware, but what my motherboard site and what Windows Update tells me about my AMD Sata Controller firmware conflicts, with WU supposedly offering a newer version. I wouldn't touch any driver updates from WU though. For reference, my motherboard is the ASUS M4A77TD
 
I'd go for the 770 4GB right now, if you absolutely have to jump on the 700 series right now. Best price to performance ratio for the series atm, imo.

I built my system at my office (better workspace than at my tiny, messy-ass apartment, lol) and so all my boxes are still sitting on my shelves. I've had two different coworkers order one this week after asking me about how I like mine, heh.
 

Smokey

Member
Hey guys, account just got approved. Glad to join in on all the discussion.

Anyone have an opinion on the 2GB of VRAM on the GTX 760 at 1080p? Upgrading from my recently sold 7850 and I'm torn between the 7950 3GB and 2GB GTX 760.

After having some driver issues with AMD (dx9 flickering etc.) I'd really like to grab the 760 but 2GB for next-gen games is making me a bit worried. I would hate to already feel the need to upgrade when BF4 hits later this year.

Welcome

I wouldn't get less than 3GB of VRAM on a card if I was buying right now.
 

I-hate-u

Member
Hello PCGaf, I am in search of a gaming desktop computer around $1000. It doesn't have to be high end but I want it to run everything on medium at minimum. I understand that building it myself is cheaper but I am afraid I have no knowledge of anything PC. I read the OP multiple times and I am still puzzled by some of the stuff.

Anyway, I was wondering to get an opinion on the best desktop manufacturers (HP/DELL etc).

Here are some PCs I have looked into and was hoping if someone has other recommendation. I reside in Canada so I will be only looking into vendors that ship to Canada (most companies do).

http://h20386.www2.hp.com/CanadaStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=H5P88AA&opt=ABA&sel=PCDT

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/CyberPower_Black_Pearl/

Thanks ya'll much appreciated.
 

Ferr986

Member
This is probably the best way to dual-boot, actually. You won't get a choice of which drive you want to boot from upon starting your PC, but everything should remain separate. Avoids dealing with the bootloader installed on a different drive from the OS and other fun stuff like that...

Thanks. That sounds exactly what I wanted.
 

kharma45

Member
Maybe it's just due to my card being a legacy card. But the installer rarely if ever detects anything new needs to be installed, sometimes doesn't even see my driver. I end up having to manually update everything and install the driver through .inf.

And why Tri-SLI Titans? Just because really, honestly I think I have a OCD problem with this, I missed almost the entire Steam Sale to pay for it and my final goal is Quad-SLI Titans with my Six-Core CPU OCed to 4.8 and my 32GB DDR3 RAM. But until maybe a year or two nothing is going to really push this rig at all...

Most likely that as AMD drivers are solid as fuck now, and just up until recently they pretty much had the best cards at every price point.

You're going to get diminishing returns after two Titans as well as more latency but...

The correct answer is...whynot?

why not I guess. If you want to do it by all means.

Not in the OP, just the shitting on the CX gear in the last couple of pages. It uses the same high quality .jp capacitors as the BP550 gear. I haven't had one fail to post on me or come back yet and I've done maybe half a dozen. Maybe I just got really lucky.

CX models use Chinese made Samxon caps and Teapo ones. Ain't nowt Japanese inside those things.

CX models have so many DOA reports and issues that crop up down the line like whine they're really not worth it unless it's your only option.

Thanks again for the input.

I'm getting close and feel pretty confident after the advice shared in this thread.

No problem. Keep asking questions until you're satisfied, that's what we are here for.

Hey guys, account just got approved. Glad to join in on all the discussion.

Anyone have an opinion on the 2GB of VRAM on the GTX 760 at 1080p? Upgrading from my recently sold 7850 and I'm torn between the 7950 3GB and 2GB GTX 760.

After having some driver issues with AMD (dx9 flickering etc.) I'd really like to grab the 760 but 2GB for next-gen games is making me a bit worried. I would hate to already feel the need to upgrade when BF4 hits later this year.

2GB will be fine for the next year I would imagine as most games coming out aren't designed for games with massive amounts of VRAM in mind. After that it is anyone's guess.

Hello PCGaf, I am in search of a gaming desktop computer around $1000. It doesn't have to be high end but I want it to run everything on medium at minimum. I understand that building it myself is cheaper but I am afraid I have no knowledge of anything PC. I read the OP multiple times and I am still puzzled by some of the stuff.

Anyway, I was wondering to get an opinion on the best desktop manufacturers (HP/DELL etc).

Here are some PCs I have looked into and was hoping if someone has other recommendation. I reside in Canada so I will be only looking into vendors that ship to Canada (most companies do).

http://h20386.www2.hp.com/CanadaStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=H5P88AA&opt=ABA&sel=PCDT

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/CyberPower_Black_Pearl/

Thanks ya'll much appreciated.

Having no knowledge of building doesn't mean you can't do it, it's remarkably straightforward to do. Look at some videos and guides of it and then see how you feel. If you're not comfortable then we're not going to push you to DIY build but it is nowhere near as daunting as it seems.
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Want to thank Kharma and kennah for pulling up the slack in my continued posting absence.
Hello PCGaf, I am in search of a gaming desktop computer around $1000. It doesn't have to be high end but I want it to run everything on medium at minimum. I understand that building it myself is cheaper but I am afraid I have no knowledge of anything PC. I read the OP multiple times and I am still puzzled by some of the stuff.

Anyway, I was wondering to get an opinion on the best desktop manufacturers (HP/DELL etc).
Put together the 'Great' $830 build on NCIX and have them assemble it for you. Best parts, best performance for your money, almost all those parts have a 2-3 year warranty.

You don't think you could do the 20 minute build video? Adult legos, etc.
 

I-hate-u

Member
Want to thank Kharma and kennah for pulling up the slack in my continued posting absence.

Put together the 'Great' $830 build on NCIX and have them assemble it for you. Best parts, best performance for your money, almost all those parts have a 2-3 year warranty.

You don't think you could do the 20 minute build video? Adult legos, etc.

Can you give me an idea on how Hazaro's 830 build can run say BF3 or metro?
 

kharma45

Member
Hello PCGaf, I am in search of a gaming desktop computer around $1000. It doesn't have to be high end but I want it to run everything on medium at minimum. I understand that building it myself is cheaper but I am afraid I have no knowledge of anything PC. I read the OP multiple times and I am still puzzled by some of the stuff.

Anyway, I was wondering to get an opinion on the best desktop manufacturers (HP/DELL etc).

Here are some PCs I have looked into and was hoping if someone has other recommendation. I reside in Canada so I will be only looking into vendors that ship to Canada (most companies do).

http://h20386.www2.hp.com/CanadaStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=H5P88AA&opt=ABA&sel=PCDT

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/CyberPower_Black_Pearl/

Thanks ya'll much appreciated.

Want to thank Kharma and kennah for pulling up the slack in my continued posting absence.

Put together the 'Great' $830 build on NCIX and have them assemble it for you. Best parts, best performance for your money, almost all those parts have a 2-3 year warranty.

You don't think you could do the 20 minute build video? Adult legos, etc.

Can you give me an idea on how Hazaro's 830 build can run say BF3 or metro?


That's quite a good service! I was just fiddling around and building your you can get this

From NCIX only sans rebates

oYD08V5.png

Although I see they do a price match thing so you might get it down a bit.

If you were to build yourself it'd be closer to this

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Amazon Canada)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.46 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Canada Computers)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.98 @ NCIX)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($94.99 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($259.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Cooler Master CM 690 II (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($47.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $985.13
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-24 06:14 EDT-0400)

I didn't know the motherboard was a factor in an OC. Why is it?

Power phases, capacitor quality and cooling.
 

Ferr986

Member
Guys, Im trying to install the SSD, disconnecting the old HDD, but when I boot up the computer... nothing happens. Not even the BIOS load. Anyone know what could be? Switching back to the old HDD makes the PC work again.
 

brentech

Member
Guys, Im trying to install the SSD, disconnecting the old HDD, but when I boot up the computer... nothing happens. Not even the BIOS load. Anyone know what could be? Switching back to the old HDD makes the PC work again.
Do you have motherboard diagnostic LEDs or numbers?
 
The big issue is that people think electronics age like wine, when it's more like milk. The best they're good for is keychains. As for upgrading old hardware, I wouldn't really bother. Many of the old computers you see on craigslist will be lucky to have a PCI-E port, and you'd still have to upgrade the terribly underpowered power supply that they usually come with, especially if they're prebuilt.

I'd just want to do it for fun someday, but only if I can find great deals. Make a Frankenstein computer if you will. An example: This person on youtube found a 1 or 2 year old laptop at an estate sale for $80. It had a core i5. All he had to do was get a new battery, reapply thermal paste, and he decided to buy an ssd for it. I probably wouldn't bother with really old computers like Pentium 4's, but it would be great to find a core 2 quad and see what I can do with it with other spare parts.
 
I would guess heavily modded Skyrim with multiple 4096 resolution texture packs .

Ah okay. Do these make a huge difference at 1080? If the textures are too large for a given screen resolution, you won't be able to make out all of the detail.

I've never used a high res texture pack, so I'm unfamiliar with how they're applied in-game.
 

Thorgal

Member
Ah okay. Do these make a huge difference at 1080? If the textures are too large for a given screen resolution, you won't be able to make out all of the detail.

I've never used a high res texture pack, so I'm unfamiliar with how they're applied in-game.

You can see the difference of texture resolutions very clearly at 1080.

Here's a quick comparison of vannila VS high res texture mod .


.
 

iavi

Member
I would guess heavily modded Skyrim with multiple 4096 resolution texture packs .

Ah okay. Do these make a huge difference at 1080? If the textures are too large for a given screen resolution, you won't be able to make out all of the detail.

I've never used a high res texture pack, so I'm unfamiliar with how they're applied in-game.

Many games are pushing right up to or past 1gb of Vram now. It doesn't require running at 4k resolutions and texture packs to do it either. At 1080p, I'm playing the Witcher 2 and it pushes up to a gig in vram usage regularly.
 

Thorgal

Member
Many games are pushing right up to or past 1gb of Vram now. It doesn't require running at 4k resolutions and texture packs to do it either. At 1080p, I'm playing the Witcher 2 and it pushes up to a gig in vram usage regularly.

Thats why the TITAN is so tempting to me.

6GB of sweetness.
 

Coldsnap

Member
I'd just want to do it for fun someday, but only if I can find great deals. Make a Frankenstein computer if you will. An example: This person on youtube found a 1 or 2 year old laptop at an estate sale for $80. It had a core i5. All he had to do was get a new battery, reapply thermal paste, and he decided to buy an ssd for it. I probably wouldn't bother with really old computers like Pentium 4's, but it would be great to find a core 2 quad and see what I can do with it with other spare parts.

Happen to live in NC?

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/sys/3956351377.html
 

frogg609

Member
I'm currently running the following;

Video: EVGA GTX 570
Processor: Intel Core i5 760 @ 2.8 (stock) LGA 1156
RAM 8Gb
Motherboard: Asus Maximus III Formula LGA 1156
PSU: Corsairs TX 750 Watt PSU Bronze

I just picked up the new Tomb Raider during the Steam sale, and was going to start playing it, but from reading to get it looking really pretty my rig may not handle it.

Would just upgrading my video card to a GTX 770 be enough? Or do I need to start replacing my processor and motherboard as well?
 
Alright guys. So there are only two internet providers in the area I'll be moving to in a couple weeks.

One is Century Link, and I believe they only offer DSL.
The other is MCTV, previously known as Clear Picture, and while they have cable internet, they have this written on the page:

MCTV Internet said:
*All speeds listed are maximum speeds. Your speeds may vary depending on the site visited or time of day. If you do not have Cable TV service with MCTV and wish to only have High-Speed Internet service, you will be charged an additional $10.00 a month Cable Access Fee. Taxes not included. The Normal Residential Transfer Limitation on Economy Internet is 20 GB/month. The Normal Residential Transfer Limitation on Mega Internet is 50 GB/month. The Normal Residential Transfer Limitation on High Velocity is 100 GB/month. When Transfer Limitations are exceeded, $1.00 per GB will be charged. You will be notified when the normal transfer limitations are exceeded. You can also purchase an extra 10 GB/month for $5.00 (must have either Economy, Mega or High Velocity Internet service for this feature to be added). Call for details.

I've never had data limits set on my internet before, nor do I know how much data I typically use.. Between downloading games on steam, watching lots of youtube/netflix, playing games on line, and of course, refreshing neoGAF, I feel like I'm going to be exceeding the data limit even on the High Velocity Internet.

Also, I just read that part about an extra 10 bucks a month if you don't have cable television service with them. I don't want your tv. Shouldn't I pay less for not having that service too?
 

kharma45

Member
I'm currently running the following;

Video: EVGA GTX 570
Processor: Intel Core i5 760 @ 2.8 (stock) LGA 1156
RAM 8Gb
Motherboard: Asus Maximus III Formula LGA 1156
PSU: Corsairs TX 750 Watt PSU Bronze

I just picked up the new Tomb Raider during the Steam sale, and was going to start playing it, but from reading to get it looking really pretty my rig may not handle it.

Would just upgrading my video card to a GTX 770 be enough? Or do I need to start replacing my processor and motherboard as well?

Get a good cooler and overclock your CPU. It should handle it well enough then if my i5 750 and 7850 could when I played it with it. If that doesn't give you the desired results then look to upgrade your GPU. I wouldn't splurge on a GPU yet until you see how it plays yourself, all I would do is OC that CPU to 3.8-4 GHz.
 

frogg609

Member
Get a good cooler and overclock your CPU. It should handle it well enough then if my i5 750 and 7850 could when I played it with it. If that doesn't give you the desired results then look to upgrade your GPU. I wouldn't splurge on a GPU yet until you see how it plays yourself, all I would do is OC that CPU to 3.8-4 GHz.

Thanks. I'm currently running this cooler: ZALMAN CNPS9500. Would that allow me to overclock to 3.8, or do I need something else?
 
I'm thinking about getting back into the PC scene relatively soonish. And figured I'd start with something a bit easy. Right off the top of my head, I'm thinking about the following for 1080p gaming. Some of these seem un-neccessary but I figured I'd ask away anyhow.

Mobo - Asus Sabertooth Z87 LGA 1150 (I like the dust protection offered by this board if for the only reason, plus I need a board that supports the 1150 chipset)

Graphics Cards - I'm thinking a pair of Gigabyte GTX 760's, the performance to dollar seems amazing, and I might be able to muscle the microstutter at 1080p gaming with these.

CPU - i7 4770 - I've read that the 4770k doesn't have TSX, how critical that would be I'm honestly not too certain. But overclocking the cpu doesn't appeal too much to me.

Case - I'm kinda spit-balling it here, but my friends got a 300r he's not using, I might give it a go.
 

mkenyon

Banned
I'm thinking about getting back into the PC scene relatively soonish. And figured I'd start with something a bit easy. Right off the top of my head, I'm thinking about the following for 1080p gaming. Some of these seem un-neccessary but I figured I'd ask away anyhow.

Mobo - Asus Sabertooth Z87 LGA 1150 (I like the dust protection offered by this board if for the only reason, plus I need a board that supports the 1150 chipset)

Graphics Cards - I'm thinking a pair of Gigabyte GTX 760's, the performance to dollar seems amazing, and I might be able to muscle the microstutter at 1080p gaming with these.

CPU - i7 4770 - I've read that the 4770k doesn't have TSX, how critical that would be I'm honestly not too certain. But overclocking the cpu doesn't appeal too much to me.

Case - I'm kinda spit-balling it here, but my friends got a 300r he's not using, I might give it a go.
Only SLI when you need performance you cannot otherwise get with a single card. So, if you want to spend $500, get a GTX770 or a GTX780.

I highly suggest overclocking. It will drastically improve performance in a number of titles, most notably all Blizzard, UE3, Source, and multiplayer games.

The Sabertooth is a ripoff in terms of value. It is pretty though. I suggest taking a look at the recommended Haswell boards in the OP.

The only time I'd suggest Haswell over Ivy is in the case of emulation being a part of the core usage of the machine.

I personally dislike the 300R a lot, but if it's free, it's perfectly serviceable.
 
Only SLI when you need performance you cannot otherwise get with a single card. So, if you want to spend $500, get a GTX770 or a GTX780.

I highly suggest overclocking. It will drastically improve performance in a number of titles, most notably all Blizzard, UE3, Source, and multiplayer games.

The Sabertooth is a ripoff in terms of value. It is pretty though. I suggest taking a look at the recommended Haswell boards in the OP.

The only time I'd suggest Haswell over Ivy is in the case of emulation being a part of the core usage of the machine.

I personally dislike the 300R a lot, but if it's free, it's perfectly serviceable.

Awesome, will consider. I was just wondering if the performance of a single 770 would give me 1080/60 maxed out. I have a feeling the 780 would have no issue with that, but it's a bit more pricey. Not that I couldn't set aside a tad bit more money though realistically.
 

mkenyon

Banned
Awesome, will consider. I was just wondering if the performance of a single 770 would give me 1080/60 maxed out. I have a feeling the 780 would have no issue with that, but it's a bit more pricey. Not that I couldn't set aside a tad bit more money though realistically.
In what games?

A 770 can push 8.3ms frame times in almost all games outside of the graphics hogs. 'Maxed' is very rarely much different than 'High' settings for huge performance hits.
 

kharma45

Member
Thanks. I'm currently running this cooler: ZALMAN CNPS9500. Would that allow me to overclock to 3.8, or do I need something else?

I can't find anything online with that pairing to give any estimates. My advice is try it and see what happens, aim for a more conservative 3.5 at the start and work your way up from there.
 
In what games?

A 770 can push 8.3ms frame times in almost all games outside of the graphics hogs. 'Maxed' is very rarely much different than 'High' settings for huge performance hits.

In general any multi-plat title of interest in the future. I'm thinking at the moment, of a bunch of un-released games. Battlefield 4, watchdogs, titanfall etc etc. I'm just not sure what kinda tech would be useful going forward y'know. The 770 I'm definitely interested in, but I'm not opposed to the 780 either. I was just wondering if it would be better to start out with an SLI setup to give me more initial power to cost. @1080p I'm sure I'm making it more of a deal than it really is lol.
 
Am thinking of making the jump to 780s... but I'm running an EVGA x58 mobo. The 780s run on PCI-E 3.0, while the mobo is PCI-E 1.0 from the looks of it.

Is it dumb of me to wonder if the 780s are compatible with the mobo given this difference in PCI-E?

Do I need to build a new rig for this switch? Thanks PCGAF!
 

mkenyon

Banned
SLI has a host of issues that make it hit or miss, especially on new titles.

In some cases, you might have to wait a week to a month to play a new title with properly working SLI, unless you want to spend 30+ minutes making sure that the workaround you found on google is working properly. Even then, it's still reduced performance.

But, if you are building a PC to play a bunch of games that are unreleased, you might consider waiting until Q3 when new AMD and NVIDIA cards may be hitting. Radeon R9 series (new naming scheme to go alongside their proc naming scheme) is supposed to hit in October. Maxwell might be out in December or January.

Or, just get a hold-me-over card until then and resell it. Like a single 760.
Am thinking of making the jump to 780s... but I'm running an EVGA x58 mobo. The 780s run on PCI-E 3.0, while the mobo is PCI-E 1.0 from the looks of it.

Is it dumb of me to wonder if the 780s are compatible with the mobo given this difference in PCI-E?

Do I need to build a new rig for this switch? Thanks PCGAF!
Your motherboard *should* be PCI-E 2.0

They are not currently bottlenecked by PCI-E 2.0, but they would definitely be bottlnecked by 1.0, and very severely.

With that kind of an upgrade, you might want to look at replacing your mobo/cpu at some point anyway. There's a lot of games that will thank you for it, especially if you play a lot of multiplayer games.
 
Yeah I'm not building right away, I wanted to wait for news and such, interestingly enough, I was considering building mid fall lol. In your personal opinion, what should I do about the motherboard? Should I jump on the 1150 for 4th gen Intel? Or should I stick with the established 3rd gen structure? As of right now there doesn't seem to be much of a performance gain, but time will separate the gap I feel.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom