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[Ashhong]

Hey guys so my Amazon shipment of this ram that was on sale is going to go through soon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HAXNKK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

But I read that 2 8gb sticks is better than 4x4? Is this a good buy? It was only 53$ lol. I realize the price is a huge difference but if 2x8 is better by a lot I'd rather get that

 

[appaws]

nope. my laptop is crappy, although i am not too crazy about this gen's games anyways. played most of them on ps3 so i didn't miss out. laptop can play.the not too demanding indies, but i'm beginning to use it to play classics like nwn, diablo 2, orig deus ex, planescape, etc.

the point is it's an investment. the new gen is here so standards will get higher. not to start a war here, but the big aaa games are at the mercy of consoles. your pc sports a 2gb gddr5 yet besides graphics you're not getting any more sophisticated animations, ai, physics, etc. than the 256mb vram ps3 version. a new gen of consoles would mean newer everything on your pc games and not just better aa or sharper textures. especially now ps4 is sporting 5gb gddr5 and it may increase that allocation. we know that will get filled up and be surpassed. so just as games used and surpassed that 256mb vram on ps3, future games will reflect those changes on the ps4 which would mean on pc the reqs will only get higher. the cards right now are great for playing games, but in a year or two when those games will be using the minimum console specs which grew exponentially overnight, you'd want a card that's made for those games. ac5 alone looks to be a big jump. i just think a 2gb gddr5 isn't a good investment right now. games work fantastically on those cards but most games were built on last-gen engines with last-gen animations, physics, etc. then there are games like arms and witcher which come around once in a blue moon. one those games come out using the next-gen engines, we'll have to see.

OK man, that's cool. No wars here, just good friendly pc gaming and building advice exchange!

I would say that I don't think of it as an "investment" though...that implies some sort of effort at getting a return. It is consumer spending...not that there is anything wrong with that at all.

I am not sure we are going to see such generational jumps as you suppose. The consoles just released are not particularly powerful...and I think that the domination of 1920x1080 displays on both the console and PC sides is going to continue to be a limiting factor as far as what is going to be required of new hardware going forward. Of course there will be enthusiasts pushing the high end on the PC side...but if I had to venture a guess, I would say a PC built today for $1000us will be good for quite a long time, maybe with a moderate GPU upgrade down the line.

 

[Objectively Bad Opinion]

#dead

Hey guys so my Amazon shipment of this ram that was on sale is going to go through soon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HAXNKK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

But I read that 2 8gb sticks is better than 4x4? Is this a good buy? It was only 53$ lol. I realize the price is a huge difference but if 2x8 is better by a lot I'd rather get that

It's the same thing, 4x4 just takes up more slots. At 53 dollars it's a steal, omg

 

[Bii]

Hey guys so my Amazon shipment of this ram that was on sale is going to go through soon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HAXNKK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

But I read that 2 8gb sticks is better than 4x4? Is this a good buy? It was only 53$ lol. I realize the price is a huge difference but if 2x8 is better by a lot I'd rather get that

I made a post about this a page back because my order is preparing for shipment. But no, having 2x8 vs 4x4 is not a huge difference. Unless you plan on upgrading to 32GB and only have four RAM slots on your motherboard, then you should get 2x8 so you have room for two more 8GB sticks.

I'm surprised Amazon is honoring the price and not canceling it. Not sure if it was just a price error on their end or what.

 

[Chozolore]

Thank you very much for the reply, i've been googling a lot about this and didn't once come across pcpartpicker, usually just outdated build guides.

is r9 290 a much better option? tbh I aimed at the gtx 770 because nvidia seem to make the hierachy less confusing than amd, it was easier to see where it fit in if that makes sense.

This gives you room to play with to say get a Gold rated PSU like the Cosair RM or a different CPU cooler

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£163.94 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.95 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£121.00 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£95.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.50 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (£238.52 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: NZXT H230 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£56.68 @ Scan.co.uk)
Other: Crucial BLT2CP4G3D1869DT1TX0CEU Tactical 8GB Kit (4GBx2), Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR3-1866 PC3-14900 Memory Module (£59.99)
Other: Be Quiet! Pure Power L8 530W Power Supply (£60.36)
Total: £865.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-01 21:14 GMT+0000)

You could also change the GPU to an R9 290 as well within your budget, they're around £330 or so like this ASUS one with BF4 http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...tm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=PCPartPicker

It's a very power hungry card though and whilst that Be Quiet! should be enough you could move up to a good 650w for it and still come within budget. All depends on what you want to spend.

Everything is here apart from the RAM, yes, I forgot to order it. getting nervous about attaching the CPU / Cooler..

 

[Inanna]

It is weird to get an old socket now. 4770K is the way to go.

2400 Mhz probably will not have a benefit but be significantly higher in price.

A SSD is definitely recommended, the thing is that most people only get a smaller one for what needs to be fast (OS, many used programs) and a normal drive for all the media stuff.

I would expect that you would need a whole lot of capacity for video editing so you might want to go for a 500GB or even 250GB SSD and then pick a larger second drive. It kind of depends on how much benefit you have by having video that you use for video editing on your SSD, I am not sure of that. I think only the scratch disk part gives benefits.

Also, you mentioned there still need to come monitors, keyboard and such. You might want to give more details on that. Monitors can vary a lot in price, and multiple ones would be a significant expense. I also don't know how important color representation is, because otherwise you would need to look at IPS monitors, with costs extra.

EDIT: Oh, 4770K out of stock, that is a bit weird. Can't you just order it somewhere else?

EDIT 2: I might have been wrong and having all the video files on a SSD may give a better experience. Still you might want to get extra capacity at the cost of a smaller SSD. While you are working on something you can keep the project on the SSD and when you are done you move it to the slower drive.

Thank you and everyone else for the advice! We were able to find 4770k from another place, and the total cost has now gone upto £1860 with includes one monitor (we'll get the second monitor next month) and other stuff which isn't too bad considering we were able to get SSD and 780Ti. Thank you guys once again!

 

[mkenyon]

Thank you and everyone else for the advice! We were able to find 4770k from another place, and the total cost has now gone upto £1860 with includes one monitor (we'll get the second monitor next month) and other stuff which isn't too bad considering we were able to get SSD and 780Ti. Thank you guys once again!

Are you having it built by someone?

 

[Inanna]

Are you having it built by someone?

Yep, a friend is going to help us but he's on holidays currently. We've been thinking about building one for a while but didn't have enough money. We were able to save enough this month and went to research what parts to get and what not. He's on holidays for another week or so which is why I posted here instead of asking him.

 

[mkenyon]

Yep, a friend is going to help us but he's on holidays currently. We've been thinking about building one for a while but didn't have enough money. We were able to save enough this month and went to research what parts to get and what not. He's on holidays for another week or so which is why I posted here instead of asking him.

Well, you could probably shave that down quite a bit if you're interested. A full part list would be helpful.

 

[Prophet Steve]

Yep, a friend is going to help us but he's on holidays currently. We've been thinking about building one for a while but didn't have enough money. We were able to save enough this month and went to research what parts to get and what not. He's on holidays for another week or so which is why I posted here instead of asking him.

Especially when there isn't an immediate rush and you have a few days just put the full part list here so people can keep giving advice. Also, you might get parts cheaper at different stores if you use PCPartPicker or something (although I do not know how well it works for the UK).

 

[Pachimari]

Got myself a Corsair Hydro H60 heatsink today - gonna install it tomorrow.

 

[NoRéN]

Anyone here with this case?
Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl

Kind of tempted to get it.

 

[metareferential]

Anyone here with this case?
Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl

Kind of tempted to get it.

I have the titan grey; the R4 is magnificent, you'll love it.

Plenty of users here with one.

 

[mkenyon]

Anyone here with this case?
Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl

Kind of tempted to get it.

Yeah, it's the case to get still.

 

[kennah]

Yep, a friend is going to help us but he's on holidays currently. We've been thinking about building one for a while but didn't have enough money. We were able to save enough this month and went to research what parts to get and what not. He's on holidays for another week or so which is why I posted here instead of asking him.

You are kinda putting too much into areas that don't matter... The level of cpu that you are working from will be slowed down by your disk access speeds. To make full use of even a 4770k an 32gig of ram in video editing all of your materials need to be on SSD - striped if possible. You'll only be able to use about 40-60% of your cpu power and maybe 5-20% if gpu if ANY of the footage is on a hard drive.

If you can fill out the op survey, tell us exactly what hardware you are looking at and what software you are using we can probably save you hundreds of pounds while keeping the exact same performance...

 

[Ashhong]

I made a post about this a page back because my order is preparing for shipment. But no, having 2x8 vs 4x4 is not a huge difference. Unless you plan on upgrading to 32GB and only have four RAM slots on your motherboard, then you should get 2x8 so you have room for two more 8GB sticks.

I'm surprised Amazon is honoring the price and not canceling it. Not sure if it was just a price error on their end or what.

Ok cool thanks. Yea I expected it to be cancelled. I wasn't even going to build a new computer and instead save money for a new MacBook. But I may have to now...

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

Guys can I post a link to an Asus computer being sold at best buy and ask your opinion about it?

 

[Objectively Bad Opinion]

Guys can I post a link to an Asus computer being sold at best buy and ask your opinion about it?

of course

 

[turcy]

The Titan Black is essentially a 780 Ti with 6GB as far as games are concerned. You'll see here that the extra memory doesn't do anything for you in current games at QHD.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/02/26/nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan-black-review/5

A 6GB variation of the 780 Ti won't perform any differently than a 3GB variation. There have been hundreds of tests comparing such cards (2GB vs. 4GB versions etc) and even at high resolutions they almost never perform better. Don't believe me? Let's look at a comparison of a 4GB GTX 770 compared to the base 2GB models running Max Payne 3 and Hitman Absolution, 2 games known to devour VRAM, at 1440p with lots of AA. They perform exactly the same. In fact, for the premium you pay for the extra VRAM you could just as easily get the best 2GB variation with the best 3rd party cooler and overclock it to high hell leading to less of a headache overall.

Here's a similar card from a better source; a 4GB GTX 680 against a stock GTX 680 with 2GB. Now, the 4GB version edges the stock 2GB version out, but not really considering it has a 10% core clock OC, there is once again, no difference even at 2560x1600.

The simple fact is, any card that is made to run with 2GB of VRAM, or 3GB, or 4GB, is probably intentionally engineered to run that way. They decided on that amount because it probably means the GPU would choke before the VRAM became a bottleneck, so doubling the amount of VRAM on a 780Ti, or 770, or 680, is NOT going to make a difference regardless of resolution.

brilliant - thank you SO much guys.

damn i'm loving this forum lately - especially this thread.

 

[LilJoka]

Thank you and everyone else for the advice! We were able to find 4770k from another place, and the total cost has now gone upto £1860 with includes one monitor (we'll get the second monitor next month) and other stuff which isn't too bad considering we were able to get SSD and 780Ti. Thank you guys once again!

How are you managing to spend £1800 on a haswell system?

Anyway if this is for video editing I would definitely go for the 4930k. Dont see any reason go for a 4770k, since the extra 2 cores of the 4930k will give you much more performance increase than the difference in instructions per clock (Haswell vs Ivy-Bridge ~5-10%).
Itll only be the same with Broadwell too, small gains in single threaded applications due to the better efficiency of the architecture. 2 extra cores will still win for multi threaded tasks, especially with an overclock.

My build would go something like this
Asus P9X79 Pro
i7 4930K
32GB 1600Mhz ram CL8
GPU/s of choice
600-800W PSU depending on GPU/s
Case of choice, since such a large budget, maybe a Lian Li, or Corsair Obsidian
Water cooling - Maybe an XSPC Kit
HDDs for Video storage, SSD for OS

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

Could anyone help me and give an opinion about this computer!?? Pricewise and specswise?? http://m.bestbuy.com/m/e/product/de...24&pid=mp1309130924&pcatId=pcmcat287600050002

 

[exmachina64]

Could anyone help me and give an opinion about this computer!?? Pricewise and specswise?? http://m.bestbuy.com/m/e/product/de...24&pid=mp1309130924&pcatId=pcmcat287600050002

What's your usage scenario? Do you need 32GB of RAM?

 

[Bii]

Could anyone help me and give an opinion about this computer!?? Pricewise and specswise?? http://m.bestbuy.com/m/e/product/de...24&pid=mp1309130924&pcatId=pcmcat287600050002

Are you comfortable building your own PC? Because if you are, I'd suggest going that route. I do not recommend purchasing the pre-built you had linked to. With a $1400 budget, you can build a better spec'd PC. How about filling the questionnaire posted in the OP and we can help you from there?

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

Are you comfortable building your own PC? Because if you are, I'd suggest going that route. I do not recommend purchasing the pre-built you had linked to. With a $1400 budget, you can build a better spec'd PC. How about filling the questionnaire posted in the OP and we can help you from there?

I'm am, the only reason I was thinking about buying this computer is because I have a best buy credit card and I could use it to buy this computer. I don't have the money or a separate card to buy the parts and build one...

 

[Objectively Bad Opinion]

Could anyone help me and give an opinion about this computer!?? Pricewise and specswise?? http://m.bestbuy.com/m/e/product/de...24&pid=mp1309130924&pcatId=pcmcat287600050002

I wouldn't buy that just because of the ugly case.

It's also way too expensive. If you're not comfortable building your own, then contact a local computer shop. Lots of those offer assembly services. Even with the added fee from that, you'll still end up with a cheaper, fasterm better-looking computer than that prebuilt.

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

What's your usage scenario? Do you need 32GB of RAM?

Gaming at 1080p and 60fps!!

 

[exmachina64]

Gaming at 1080p and 60fps!!

Maybe you can buy the components through Best Buy?

You don't need 32GB of RAM for gaming and won't for many years.

Follow Bii's advice, read the OP, and fill out the template in that post.

You can easily save $500 and still get 1080p60.

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

Maybe you can buy the components through Best Buy?

You don't need 32GB of RAM for gaming and won't for many years.

Follow Bii's advice, read the OP, and fill out the template in that post.

You can easily save $500 and still get 1080p60.

Thanks for the advice maybe I can buy the parts at best buy than I will take a look!!

 

[exmachina64]

Thanks for the advice maybe I can buy the parts at best buy than I will take a look!!

I just checked. You should be able to get every component you need through their website. You won't get the best prices, but you could use your card and may only spend $100 more.

Anyway, just read the OP and we can help you.

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

I just checked. You should be able to get every component you need through their website. You won't get the best prices, but you could use your card and may only spend $100 more.

Anyway, just read the OP and we can help you.

Awesome thanks for your help!

 

[Dash Kappei]

I think I've decided to update my HTPC.
Would like to stay under €500.

One question tho, is this the right moment to buy a new GPU?
I'd like to get one to serve me for the remainder of the gen, just like my HD5850 served me right for 4+ years (and still does for most games), considering I don't need to go above 1080p but 60fps are mandatory and possibly some AA as well as very high/ultra settings (minus down sampling and such of course).
I mean, isn't DX12 just around the corner? Is it risky buying now a new GPU if you aren't going for the high end top of the line stuff?
Would like to stay in AMD, simply cause it serves me better for my HTPC needs (24p, proper YCbCr/RGB support, full multichannel HD/lossless audio non-downsampled bitstreaming through analog out in LPCM via fake .hdmi audio out "trick" etc,).

Will be back later with my current specs and a proper budget, but I'd like to know if I'm making a mistake in upgrading now.

 

[Bii]

I just checked. You should be able to get every component you need through their website. You won't get the best prices, but you could use your card and may only spend $100 more.

Anyway, just read the OP and we can help you.

Also, Best Buy has in-store price matching. So if there's a component in one of their stores, and you see it cheaper on Amazon.com or Newegg.com (there are other retailers that they price match as well), you can take the item to the Customer service counter and get it for that price.

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

Also, Best Buy has in-store price matching. So if there's a component in one of their stores, and you see it cheaper on Amazon.com or Newegg.com (there are other retailers that they price match as well), you can take the item to the Customer service counter and get it for that price.

That's a great idea I'll read the OP!

 

[exmachina64]

I think I've decided to update my HTPC.
Would like to stay under €500.

One question tho, is this the right moment to buy a new GPU?
I'd like to get one to serve me for the remainder of the gen, just like my HD5850 served me right for 4+ years (and still does for most games), considering I don't need to go above 1080p but 60fps are mandatory and possibly some AA as well as very high/ultra settings (minus down sampling and such of course).
I mean, isn't DX12 just around the corner? Is it risky buying now a new GPU if you aren't going for the high end top of the line stuff?
Would like to stay in AMD, simply cause it serves me better for my HTPC needs (24p, proper YCbCr/RGB support, full multichannel HD/lossless audio non-downsampled bitstreaming through analog out in LPCM via fake .hdmi audio out "trick" etc,).

Will be back later with my current specs and a proper budget, but I'd like to know if I'm making a mistake in upgrading now.

Depending what components you can bring over from your current build you should be fine.

That's a great idea I'll read the OP!

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/exmachina64/saved/4eTf

This is a quick example build.

All these parts are available online at Best Buy.

You could probably get away with 8GB of RAM instead of 16GB and halve the cost of that.

 

[LilJoka]

I think I've decided to update my HTPC.
Would like to stay under €500.

One question tho, is this the right moment to buy a new GPU?
I'd like to get one to serve me for the remainder of the gen, just like my HD5850 served me right for 4+ years (and still does for most games), considering I don't need to go above 1080p but 60fps are mandatory and possibly some AA as well as very high/ultra settings (minus down sampling and such of course).
I mean, isn't DX12 just around the corner? Is it risky buying now a new GPU if you aren't going for the high end top of the line stuff?
Would like to stay in AMD, simply cause it serves me better for my HTPC needs (24p, proper YCbCr/RGB support, full multichannel HD/lossless audio non-downsampled bitstreaming through analog out in LPCM via fake .hdmi audio out "trick" etc,).

Will be back later with my current specs and a proper budget, but I'd like to know if I'm making a mistake in upgrading now.

Things have moved on, Haswell actually gets 23.976fps spot on, whereas the GPUs still suffer from a small deviance.
Pretty much any GPU you buy will get you satisfactory results, so just depends on the budget.
Also Intel, AMD and nVidia can output LPCM or Bitstreamed Audio (DTS/DTS-HD etc) perfectly over HDMI without tricks. They also dont have issues with color space, never knew that they did.

Remember to turn off those AMD video enhancements they automatically apply =P

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

Depending what components you can bring over from your current build you should be fine.



http://pcpartpicker.com/user/exmachina64/saved/4eTf

This is a quick example build.

All these parts are available online at Best Buy.

You could probably get away with 8GB of RAM instead of 16GB and halve the cost of that.

Is 8gb of RAM enough to play most games at 1080p and a decent frame rate??

 

[Hazaro]

Is 8gb of RAM enough to play most games at 1080p and a decent frame rate??

Yes, just don't have your Browser open for 2 weeks straight and you'll be fine.
It's more of a fact if you run out of RAM you are boned than more performance.

 

[kennah]

How are you managing to spend £1800 on a haswell system?

Anyway if this is for video editing I would definitely go for the 4930k. Dont see any reason go for a 4770k, since the extra 2 cores of the 4930k will give you much more performance increase than the difference in instructions per clock (Haswell vs Ivy-Bridge ~5-10%).
Itll only be the same with Broadwell too, small gains in single threaded applications due to the better efficiency of the architecture. 2 extra cores will still win for multi threaded tasks, especially with an overclock.

My build would go something like this
Asus P9X79 Pro
i7 4930K
32GB 1600Mhz ram CL8
GPU/s of choice
600-800W PSU depending on GPU/s
Case of choice, since such a large budget, maybe a Lian Li, or Corsair Obsidian
Water cooling - Maybe an XSPC Kit
HDDs for Video storage, SSD for OS

Hardware is so far ahead that the major bottleneck in video editing right now is not cores but disk access. If the cores can't write the data then there is nothing that it can do to go faster. Anything higher than an i5 needs SSDs to write to or it is just lost performance.

 

[LilJoka]

Hardware is so far ahead that the major bottleneck in video editing right now is not cores but disk access. If the cores can't write the data then there is nothing that it can do to go faster. Anything higher than an i5 needs SSDs to write to or it is just lost performance.

A HDD gets 100MB/s sequential write speeds, so if you were able to encode a 10GB file at 100MB/s that would take 1.6 Minutes, i think you'll find it'll take a lot longer than that. On top of that youll see the CPU pegged at 100%, both of those things point to a processing deficiency.

I have a 4960X at 4.8Ghz, i can tell you it is not being bottlenecked when doing video encoding because the final processing speed is nowhere near my HDDs write speed let alone an SSD. It may take a short while to load in the video, but thats a fraction if the processing time.

 

[Dash Kappei]

Things have moved on, Haswell actually gets 23.976fps spot on, whereas the GPUs still suffer from a small deviance.
Pretty much any GPU you buy will get you satisfactory results, so just depends on the budget.
Also Intel, AMD and nVidia can output LPCM or Bitstreamed Audio (DTS/DTS-HD etc) perfectly over HDMI without tricks. They also dont have issues with color space, never knew that they did.

Remember to turn off those AMD video enhancements they automatically apply =P

Exactly, through HDMI. Not though analog out (re-read my post), which you can do on AMD cards through said trick.
I've worked for Hi-Fi and HT magazines for years reviewing equipment and software (Laserdiscs, DVDs, BRDs..) with luxury high-end components, don't worry I'm not going to crap out my chain's IQ with anything over raw source.

There's also no good results to speak of for anything chroma related for non-AMD cards, but I'm not interested in derailing the thread nor my request, I've only specified since I knew NV cards are popular and a good match for gaming so I had to say briefly why I can't consider them as an option (I also use such HT set-up for work, checking dailies and such), but it is what it is.
You can also take my post as a mean to do more research and who knows, you might feel differently. Or we can agree to disagree of course, no problem man! Thanks for the reply btw

 

[Jafku]

Hey guys so my Amazon shipment of this ram that was on sale is going to go through soon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HAXNKK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

But I read that 2 8gb sticks is better than 4x4? Is this a good buy? It was only 53$ lol. I realize the price is a huge difference but if 2x8 is better by a lot I'd rather get that

Mine shipped too . If two 8GB's is better I figure I could just resell these and pick up the two 8gb sticks

 

[exmachina64]

A HDD gets 100MB/s sequential write speeds, so if you were able to encode a 10GB file at 100MB/s that would take 1.6 Minutes, i think you'll find it'll take a lot longer than that. On top of that youll see the CPU pegged at 100%, both of those things point to a processing deficiency.

I have a 4960X at 4.8Ghz, i can tell you it is not being bottlenecked when doing video encoding because the final processing speed is nowhere near my HDDs write speed let alone an SSD. It may take a short while to load in the video, but thats a fraction if the processing time.

You assume that you'll utilize the HDD's entire sequential read ability and attribute any slowdown to your processor.

In the light video editing I've done, I can easily attest that the disk access has been the major bottleneck in working with multi-gigabyte files.

 

[Geneijin]

I made a post about this a page back because my order is preparing for shipment. But no, having 2x8 vs 4x4 is not a huge difference. Unless you plan on upgrading to 32GB and only have four RAM slots on your motherboard, then you should get 2x8 so you have room for two more 8GB sticks.

I'm surprised Amazon is honoring the price and not canceling it. Not sure if it was just a price error on their end or what.

Same here. I'm surprised Amazon honored this after they cancelled my Crucial M550. Now I wish I got greedy and ordered 2 like I originally thought...

 

[Kintaro]

Quick question. I'll be putting together my build tomorrow and I'm having a bit of trouble in understanding how to create a bootable USB drive with windows 8.1 on it for install. The op has a link for the USB installation utility, but the link says its for win7 only. Does this still work with 8.1?

 

[bro1]

Quick question. I'll be putting together my build tomorrow and I'm having a bit of trouble in understanding how to create a bootable USB drive with windows 8.1 on it for install. The op has a link for the USB installation utility, but the link says its for win7 only. Does this still work with 8.1?

Yes it will

 

[DoomGyver]

I've never built a PC before, the most I've done is upgraded memory. My parents are in need of a new PC, their current one is 10 years old running XP. My plan is to build them a PC, and then later this year I'll build myself a gaming PC. I have an 24" HP 1900x1200 monitor that I used to use for console gaming that I will give to my parents.

Their budget is ~$500 for the PC itself. I will need to purchase a copy of windows 8 and microsoft office, do they sell a family pack for multiple PCs that I can use when I build my gaming PC later in the year? I have no idea what parts would be best, it will be used for Web, Word, 1080p playback, no gaming. Needs to have a dvd burner and 750gb should be more than enough hdd space for them. It needs to be quiet.

The knowledge I gain from building this PC should give me the confidence in building my gaming PC later on. I have amazon prime, and a newegg account. Help me gaf!

EDIT: one thing I forgot to mention is it needs a wireless card. Its ~75 ft or so from the router.

I am still in need of a case that is in stock, I'd like to put this together this weekend. This is the haz budget build with some changes, how is this pci wireless card? Am I wasting money somewhere?

Case: ???
CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4 3 FCLGA 1150 Processor BX80646I34130
Motherboard: Gigabyte LGA 1150 Intel B85 HDMI SATA 6Gbps USB 3.0 Micro ATX DDR3 1600 Intel Motherboards GA-B85M-D3H
Ram: Crucial 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR3 1600 MT/s PC3-12800 CL11 SODIMM 204-Pin 1.35V/1.5V Notebook Memory Modules CT2CP25664BF160B
Graphics: Onboard
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive - WD5000AAKX
Power Supply: Corsair Builder Series CX 430 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS certified Power Suppy
Optical Drive: Asus 24x DVD-RW Serial-ATA Internal OEM Optical Drive DRW-24B1ST
Heatsink: Stock
Sound: Onboard
Other: Linksys Wireless-N PCI Adapter with Dual-Band (WMP600N)
Windows 8.1 System Builder OEM DVD 64-Bit

Total: 489.78

Do I need to buy thermal paste? Am I missing anything that is needed to put this thing together? 32 or 64 bit Windows? Sorry I'm just new to all of this. Will the onboard graphics be suitable? Any help would be much appreciated.

edit: not sure if that is the correct ram (notebook?), might go 8gb.

 

[Jafku]

Quick question. I'll be putting together my build tomorrow and I'm having a bit of trouble in understanding how to create a bootable USB drive with windows 8.1 on it for install. The op has a link for the USB installation utility, but the link says its for win7 only. Does this still work with 8.1?

It should.

stuff.

Do I need to buy thermal paste? Am I missing anything that is needed to put this thing together? 32 or 64 bit Windows? Sorry I'm just new to all of this. Will the onboard graphics be suitable? Any help would be much appreciated.

Have you bought Windows yet? if not I recommend heading to reddit.com/r/softwareswap for Windows. You can get an 8.1 key for $10. Office for like $30-$40. The stock cooler should have thermal paste pre-applied. Since you went with 4GB's of ram 8.1 32-bit should be fine. If you were using 8GB and above you would need 64-bit. Also wrong Ram: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004RFGALC/?tag=neogaf0e-20 You also listed that you needed 750GB, but you listed a 500GB for $53. Here's a 1TB for $60. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0088PUEPK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[Jafku]

double post. delete

 

[kennah]

You assume that you'll utilize the HDD's entire sequential read ability and attribute any slowdown to your processor.

In the light video editing I've done, I can easily attest that the disk access has been the major bottleneck in working with multi-gigabyte files.

Yep. And 'encoding' is a totally different beast than nonlinear editing.

 

[Kintaro]

Yes it will

Thanks. Oddly enough, the windows set up is offering to create a USB boot drive itself. This normal? Lol