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"I Need a New PC!" 2014 Part 1. 1080p and 60FPS is so last-gen and your 2500K is fine

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I'm building a new computer and I just finished installing the parts but have run into an issue that I can't just quite seem to figure out: my PC isn't turning on when I hit the power switch. The motherboard is showing a green light -indicating it's on standby and the motherboard is receiving some kind of power, I think - but nothing happens when I hit the power button. I'm confused because my fans, which are plugged directly into the power supply, aren't turning on as well. I also have checked to see if those one-pin connectors (LED, reset switch, power switch) are plugged in correctly, and I believe they are.

Does anyone have any solutions? What am I missing? Do I have a bad power supply?

Does it even act like it's trying to power on? Try connecting the reset switch to the power and using it to power the system on. Only time I ever had something that sounds like that was when I had a bad power button.
 

soultron

Banned
I'm building a new computer and I just finished installing the parts but have run into an issue that I can't just quite seem to figure out: my PC isn't turning on when I hit the power switch. The motherboard is showing a green light -indicating it's on standby and the motherboard is receiving some kind of power, I think - but nothing happens when I hit the power button. I'm confused because my fans, which are plugged directly into the power supply, aren't turning on as well. I also have checked to see if those one-pin connectors (LED, reset switch, power switch) are plugged in correctly, and I believe they are.

Does anyone have any solutions? What am I missing? Do I have a bad power supply?
What colour wire did you plug into the negative pins when you were plugging the 1 and 2 pin connectors from the front panel?

You can test your mobo power on switch by bridging the 2 power switch pins very briefly with your screwdriver when there's nothing plugged in on the pins, if you weren't aware.
 

Decado

Member
Anyone know why I can't navigate the bios menu with my Gigabyte Z77? It comes up no problem, but the mouse point that shows won't move and it won't accept any keyboard commands.

I can't tell if it is frozen or if controls just don't work. I haven't OCed or anything...I was planning on giving that a go.
 

GHG

Member
Anyone know why I can't navigate the bios menu with my Gigabyte Z77? It comes up no problem, but the mouse point that shows won't move and it won't accept any keyboard commands.

I can't tell if it is frozen or if controls just don't work. I haven't OCed or anything...I was planning on giving that a go.

What keyboard and mouse are you using?
 

Granadier

Is currently on Stage 1: Denial regarding the service game future
Thanks guys, got my PC put together and its runs awesome so far ...but gawd! i hate Windows 8.1 Pro =(

Here.
Set settings to boot to desktop.
Change start screen to only show programs instead of tiles. (If you use ClassicShell you won't have the start screen)

Really after removing the Metro crap 8.1 is amazing.
 

GHG

Member
Microsoft wireless comfort keyboard 2000
Microsoft intellimouse optical USB

Hmm... Those should work in the bios by default.

You can get into the bios using the corresponding key on the keyboard when you power the computer up right?
 
"System has experienced a boot failure possibly due to incorrect configuration. Previous settings in bios might not be compatible"

I clicked the "load optimized settings and boot" and that works fine

But it still shuts off after 30 seconds. Anyone know why
 

TheD

The Detective

All of those benchmarks are not real games loads (not even that 3DMark test).

Stuff like this. Another thread on GAF mentioned developers recommending the 8350.

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=543585

I would not put any stock in that.
The 360 had 3 cores/6 hardware threads (I think 5 usable) and the PS3 had 8 cores/9 hardware threads (8 usable), but that did not cause issues for the PCs at the time with 2 cores/2 hardware threads (1 per a core).

That guy also misses the fact that the PS4 and XB1 can not use all 8 cores in their CPUs for games, 1 or 2 cores are locked off for the OS (something that does not happen on PC).
 
Finally took the time to OC my 4770k.

Sitting at 4.2 GHz @ 1.23v. Ran through the Intel Burn Test 10 iterations on High, and 3 times on Maximum and sitting in Prime95 right now however it seems stable.

I adjusted my fan profile to start spinning up faster for temps and I think that helped a bit. The Asus software reports much lower temps than RealTemp. Supposedly it's the average temp of both sensors below the CPU and the signals from the CPU, but tbh I trust RealTemp more. Better to be on the safe side I think. During stress testing I never peaked above 84c with the adjusted fan profiles, and it's only noisy once I reach about 80% RPM's on the fan which happen around 75c.

After IBT said things were looking stable, I then loaded up Planetside 2 and all seemed well. Unfortunately I don't know my FPS before/after, but I'm sure there was a slight increase as the game is CPU intensive. I also loaded up Thief and ran through that benchmark. Took me from 60fps average to 68fps average. Neat!

I'm positive I could push this more. However, I don't think I really want to. I went into this with the goal of 4.2 as that isn't overly taxing, but a nice performance bump. I question that I could see any big differences moving higher, plus I would have to increase the voltage which decreases the lifetime of the CPU.

*edit* Sigh... Literally 30 seconds after I post this I get a BSOD running Prime95. It was running so well for a while too! Oh well, bumped up the vCore by 0.02 and running it again.

*edit2* Okay, I ran an hour of Prime95 at 1.25v. All went well. During one of the tests the temps spiked to 90c for a split second on one core which was uncomfortable, but thankfully this is just a synthetic and it was only for a split second. I'm calling this final and locking it in. :)
 

SighFight

Member
Thanks. This is very helpful.

I don't plan on upgrading in the next threee-four years, even if I need to set things to mid (like I'm doing now). Do you think the 760 will last this long?

I may be wrong, but my gut feeling is that by mid 2015 4GB will be needed.

Care to elaborate? I'm used to see benchmark where AMD cards shine, followed by myriads of troubles. Is this any different now?

The need for vram will definitely increase but keep in mind the consoles only have 6-7 gb TOTAL memory. So I don't think it will happen to fast. And I expect the raw power and memory interface of the 770 to be limiting before the 2 gb. Meaning you will most likely encounter memory shortage in regions of already unplayable FPS.

As always I also could be wrong.
 

Tablo

Member
So if Microsoft decides to release Windows 8.1 for free, is it a worthwhile upgrade over 7?

It's a worthwhile upgrade any which way, especially considering you can get it cheaper upgrading from W7 afaik.
Do people still not grasp how much better 8.1 is at a technical level? UI is something you can optimize in minutes to mimic W7 so.....
Can't believe this is still a question people need to ask.
W8.1>* for gaming purposes atm
 

Decado

Member
Hmm... Those should work in the bios by default.

You can get into the bios using the corresponding key on the keyboard when you power the computer up right?
Yeah, I believe it is the delete button. Comes up no prob...I just can't do anything when I get in there!

Great intro to ocing. lol
 

S.W.

Member
Keep getting nvlddmkm error (near-BSOD) after migrating my GTX670 to new PC with 334.89 driver and everything. I wanna revert to older version but haven't been in touch with driver news nowadays. Which nV driver version is more stable recently?
 

maneil99

Member
Hey guys, I have a question but Liquid has gone to bed.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...301&nm_mc=AFC-IR&cm_mmc=AFC-IR-_-na-_-na-_-na

On this motherboard (already shipped as part of our new build), there are 2 USB 3.0 ports. It also has a USB 3.0 header, but the header is not compatible with the case. Do I still get the two on the rear? It says there are two, but would there be three if that weren't covered up?

Yes, the rear will still be accesible, I think you are confused. Why would the back ports not work because of a piece of plastic holding the computer together? The case's header may be 2.0 which will effect whats plugged in there but whatever is plugged directly into the MB will be 3.0. The case's USB's plug into a special section of the motherboard itself not the back where the USB's are
 

maneil99

Member
Keep getting nvlddmkm error (near-BSOD) after migrating my GTX670 to new PC with 334.89 driver and everything. I wanna revert to older version but haven't been in touch with driver news nowadays. Which nV driver version is more stable recently?

Doubtful that it's drivers preventing you from using it, you most likely have old drivers conflicting, have you done a clean install?
 

LordAlu

Member
Hey guys, I have a question but Liquid has gone to bed.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...301&nm_mc=AFC-IR&cm_mmc=AFC-IR-_-na-_-na-_-na

On this motherboard (already shipped as part of our new build), there are 2 USB 3.0 ports. It also has a USB 3.0 header, but the header is not compatible with the case. Do I still get the two on the rear? It says there are two, but would there be three if that weren't covered up?
You get two on the back of the motherboard case, but you won't get an extra one if you're not using the motherboard header. You could get this item which will use the internal header and provide you with another two ports in place of a slot at the back of your case. It looks like this:
USB3SPLATE.Main.jpg
 

Speevy

Banned
Yes, the rear will still be accesible, I think you are confused. Why would the back ports not work because of a piece of plastic holding the computer together? The case's header may be 2.0 which will effect whats plugged in there but whatever is plugged directly into the MB will be 3.0. The case's USB's plug into a special section of the motherboard itself not the back where the USB's are

It's possible I am confused. I'm only referring to the little message that pops up on PCPartspicker that says the mobo has a USB 3.0 header, but can't use it because of the case's front ports.
 

Speevy

Banned
You get two on the back of the motherboard case, but you won't get an extra one if you're not using the motherboard header. You could get this item which will use the internal header and provide you with another two ports in place of a slot at the back of your case. It looks like this:

Oh okay, thanks.
 

S.W.

Member
Doubtful that it's drivers preventing you from using it, you most likely have old drivers conflicting, have you done a clean install?

I installed Win 8.1 and then installed the said driver right away. Does that count? (Unless Windows Updater stabbed me in the back on that)

It's basically a slow death, my screen will turn black or shutter/freeze every 10 sec or so, and error logs keep popping up.
 

maneil99

Member
I installed Win 8.1 and then installed the said driver right away. Does that count? (Unless Windows Updater stabbed me in the back on that)

It's basically a slow death, my screen will turn black or shutter/freeze every 10 sec or so, and error logs keep popping up.

Did you go from 8-8.1?
 

maneil99

Member
It's possible I am confused. I'm only referring to the little message that pops up on PCPartspicker that says the mobo has a USB 3.0 header, but can't use it because of the case's front ports.

The Header will work (Front of the case = Header ) but it will run 2.0 instead of 3.0, mine does the same
 

S.W.

Member
I would try a very old driver from like a year ago. Did the GPU work fine in the old computer? Did you install windows with the GPU in or did you just put it in after the fresh install?
Yeah the GPU worked fine on the old one and I migrated it to new PC when I built it. The crash just got worse after I removed nv driver in safe mode and reinstall it. Now I can barely see my login screen, it turned black right after windows logo for a minute or two.

Edit:
It's normal now, for some reason.
I can''t get the rhythm of the crash. The only error log from even viewer is the old nvidia display driver has stopped working (and couple other process train-wrecked after the driver).
The log from GPU-Z looks pretty normal, no peak usage no low voltage no abnormal temperature....
 

S.W.

Member
So....the driver crash above was so irreversible that I resulted in "refreshing" my win8 installation. Lost all the previously installed applications but at least I got to install driver 314.22 cleanly. There are something seriously wrong with newer nvidia drivers...
 

JMPerona

Member
Looking for a new computer that can substitute my PS4. I have been thinking about selling my ps4 and get a PC for gaming. I just want a PC that can play moder games at 60fps and maybe 1080p (not a must).

Games that I will play:
Old games
Modern games like Thief, Assassins Creed IV, etc
I just play single player games and not too much multiplayer games.

What computer from the OP suits my interest best?

Mini PC is good for me. Not too expensive, please.
 

Pachimari

Member
I've had this happen. Grab a pair of blunt nosed pliers to grip the standoff...use screwdriver to remove screw.

Yeah I'm gonna do this later today. In the meantime I have installed the power supply unto the case, and I see so many cables, frightening really.

My computer looks like this now:


So I guess my next steps would be these:
01) install motherboard.
02) install water cooler on top of CPU.
03) install graphics card.
04) install wifi card.
05) connect all wires to motherboard.

Is it like this? Hopefully I can finish it today.

While I wait to pick up the tool to get the screw out, how do I mount my copy of Windows 7 64-bit to a USB? Is there a tutorial somewhere? I would prefer not to install my DVD drive now. :)
 

nicjac

Member
Hey guys,

posted this in the STEAM thread but it moves way too quickly in there so I thought I would give it a chance here.

As I do not yet have room for an additional monitor in my flat, I am currently using a 42" 1080p Samsung LCD as my main screen. It works fine as I have one of those 'gaming chairs' low on the ground and I can use the coffee table as a surface for the mouse. It is not ideal but definitely workable for now.

To best accommodate this setup, I need to invest in a wireless keyboard and mouse. I know that most gamers do not want wireless (mostly because of latency and battery life I assume?) but I don't really have a choice for now.

I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations? From what I have read, the Logitech K750 and K800 seem pretty good. For the mouseI am not sure, so much choice out there. I suppose having 2 Logitech devices would make it easier as they can share the same USB dongle thingie.
 

appaws

Banned
Looking for a new computer that can substitute my PS4. I have been thinking about selling my ps4 and get a PC for gaming. I just want a PC that can play moder games at 60fps and maybe 1080p (not a must).

Games that I will play:
Old games
Modern games like Thief, Assassins Creed IV, etc
I just play single player games and not too much multiplayer games.

What computer from the OP suits my interest best?

Mini PC is good for me. Not too expensive, please.

I think the answer has a lot to do with your budget. I would say to pick the one from the OP that comes closest to what your budget will be and go from there as a starting point.
 

kharma45

Member
Yeah I'm gonna do this later today. In the meantime I have installed the power supply unto the case, and I see so many cables, frightening really.

My computer looks like this now:



So I guess my next steps would be these:
01) install motherboard.
02) install water cooler on top of CPU.
03) install graphics card.
04) install wifi card.
05) connect all wires to motherboard.

Is it like this? Hopefully I can finish it today.

While I wait to pick up the tool to get the screw out, how do I mount my copy of Windows 7 64-bit to a USB? Is there a tutorial somewhere? I would prefer not to install my DVD drive now. :)

make sure your PSU fan is facing down which i don't think it is.
 
I've got about $500 and need a new CPU/Mobo/RAM combo. Looking at the provided spreadsheet it seems like a good bet is:

i5 4670K 4C/4T
BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z87W
16 GB RAM

Should I stick with that or maybe only get 8GB of RAM for a nicer mobo?
 

LJ11

Member
Stupid question coming up so bare with me.

I want to reinstall WIndows 8, should I just format and reinstall or should I use the Remove and Reinstall WIndows from the Update and Recovery menu?

Thinking of just using the tried and true old school method, but thought I'd ask before pulling the trigger.
 

Diablos

Member
So I upgraded to Windows 8.1 yesteday (well, more like reformatted and installed).

I don't know why it gets so much hate. I used to be on that bandwagon, very recently in fact, probably because it sucked at launch. But that is in the past. Frankly, Win8 is a lighter OS. Faster, too. I also tend to notice better performance in games, not exactly in higher fps per se, but everything is more consistent. Plus if you have a SSD you will be on the desktop in less than 10 seconds (I think it takes about 6-7 for me). I also was impressed by how fast it installed off an incredibly slow (but reliable) MicroSD card.

Anyone building a new machine should really consider overlooking the hyperbole about how awful 8.1 is and buy it over 7. I hate the new "start" screen and corner menus too, so I downloaded classicshell which is free and very easy to configure.

Regarding SpeedFan, I'm glad it was removed from the OP. Even YEARS ago with now ancient builds it would sometimes misrepresent some obscure temp reading that didn't mean anything and confused an awful lot of people. I think by now it would be notorious for giving inaccurate data.
 

Speevy

Banned
Looking for a new computer that can substitute my PS4. I have been thinking about selling my ps4 and get a PC for gaming. I just want a PC that can play moder games at 60fps and maybe 1080p (not a must).

Games that I will play:
Old games
Modern games like Thief, Assassins Creed IV, etc
I just play single player games and not too much multiplayer games.

What computer from the OP suits my interest best?

Mini PC is good for me. Not too expensive, please.

I'm having a PC built that is mostly similar to your needs.

It has a i5 3350 and a Nvidia GTX 660

These are not the least expensive options, however.

For you, I would recommend an i3 4130 and a Nvidia 750 Ti. Go to www.pcpartpicker.com and start with those options, then fill in the rest as it meets your specific needs.

You should be able to build something that can play most games at stable framerates on high settings. You could possibly play most new games on medium settings for a couple of years. This is my plan until I buy a new GPU/CPU.
 
I'm having a PC built that is mostly similar to your needs.

It has a i5 3350 and a Nvidia GTX 660

These are not the least expensive options, however.

For you, I would recommend an i3 4130 and a Nvidia 750 Ti. Go to www.pcpartpicker.com and start with those options, then fill in the rest as it meets your specific needs.

You should be able to build something that can play most games at stable framerates on high settings. You could possibly play most new games on medium settings for a couple of years. This is my plan until I buy a new GPU/CPU.

he's going to need a beefy quad core cpu for assassin's creed if he wants to play at 60 fps
I'd recommend an i5 (k or non k depending on the budget)

not sure why you recommend the 750ti either, there's better performance in that price bracket on amd and since a 750ti is a low end gpu he wouldn't have to worry about the lack of downsampling/sgssaa support with amd either
 

Speevy

Banned
he's going to need a beefy quad core cpu for assassin's creed if he wants to play at 60 fps
I'd recommend an i5 (k or non k depending on the budget)

That's true. I don't really know a lot about this stuff, but I am learning as I read this thread more and more.

I looked up some benchmarks, but I can't really figure out the gaming difference between the i5 Ivy Bridges and the i3 Haswells.
 
I have a friend I am building a computer for who thinks he should go with an AMD CPU over an Intel. I have tried my best to show him benchmarks and comparisons to show that it is not worth it to save the $40 or so to drop down to a FX 6300. I decided to post this so he can see PC gaf's response to all this not just my own opinion.

CPU: i5 4670k motherboard and processor bundle from Microcenter $219.98
GPU: Asus GTX 760 2GB DC2OC - $249.99
MOBO: MSI Z87-G41 (just wants a decent mobo not looking to overclock) included in CPU price
RAM: 8GB (1 x 8GB) Kingston DDR3 1600 - $63.99
PSU: Corsair Builder 600 Watt 80+ Bronze PSU - $37.99
HDD: 1TB Hitachi HDD 7200RPM - $51.00
CASE: Corsair Graphite 230T Orange - $69.99
DD: LG DVD/CD Writer - $15.99
MONITOR: Samsung S22C150N 21.5" 1080p Monitor - $109.99

TOTAL: $818.92

He doesn't want to spend the extra money for an SSD right off the bat, however I may convince him to get a hybrid drive. Also, he will be sticking with stock Intel heatsink for now, however if I decide to overclock his comp at all I will make him buy an aftermarket cooler.

Let me know what you guys think, or if you think you can save me any money anywhere. BTW I don't need any software as he and I are a part of Microsoft Dream Spark.
 

Speevy

Banned
not sure why you recommend the 750ti either, there's better performance in that price bracket on amd and since a 750ti is a low end gpu he wouldn't have to worry about the lack of downsampling/sgssaa support with amd either

I'm just going with the general lack of AMD recommendations in this thread. Also, isn't that the new GPU that's supposed to be perfect for people who are just getting into PC gaming?
 
I'm just going with the general lack of AMD recommendations in this thread. Also, isn't that the new GPU that's supposed to be perfect for people who are just getting into PC gaming?

It is supposed to be a very efficient card in the performance/watt sense. While in reality it is a mid range card. The main reason its not as easy to recommend is that the R7 265 just announced at the same price beats it handily in almost all scenarios.
 
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