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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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So I'm going to pick up a Samsung EVO 250g SSD but I have a few questions. Going to load Win 8.1 fresh on it, not going to obviously put all my files on it (main windows, steam, diablo 3 etc) is there some way to set windows to point where to keep apps or should the main drive contain those and my 1tb drive just hold media and music etc? Any advice is appreciated!
 
I want to replace the 2 rear-exhaust fans that came with an antec 1200 case (antec tri-cool 120mm). Could someone help me out? I am looking for something that moves a similar quantity of air but it quieter. Noctua F? Noctua S?

Noctua fans you can find cheap at this website platinummicro.com . If you're in LA they're located in SFV. But yeah they sell noctua stuff much cheaper than the other big sites. NF-S is for case cooling unless u have an area on your case like the bottom that might require more static pressure.
 

VE3TRO

Formerly Gizmowned
Guys my PC has been stored away for 10 months. No use what so ever. Will it be ok booting up or do I need to do anything first? Running a Hydro H100i with it.
 

mkenyon

Banned
anyone know when the r9 295x2 is supposed to be released? thinking about pulling the trigger on this and a 4k monitor.
Get two 780 Tis. The 295x2 seems so have some wonky issues at 4k. Check out TechReport's review.

SLI profiles are always released faster than Crossfire profiles too.
 

cyen

Member
Get two 780 Tis. The 295x2 seems so have some wonky issues at 4k. Check out TechReport's review.

SLI profiles are always released faster than Crossfire profiles too.

3GB is too short for 4k, i would go for 295x. Quieter and with less heat output.

In the summer the top card is always too hot (and noisy) for my taste.
 

NoRéN

Member
Anyone? thanks in advance

As someone who has built two PCs during black friday, I can speak from experience.

It is possible to save some cash if you wait for black friday? Is it guaranteed? not really? Maybe you will, maybe you won't. Too be honest, I see comparable deals for pc parts all the time. However, i was able to get a sweet set up for very cheap last year.

i think that focusing on price alone is a mistake. What YOU must ask YOURSELF is this: is waiting for black friday to save some cash worth putting off the enjoyment of having a gaming PC sooner? It's a question only you can answer for yourself.
 

Kysen

Member
Decided to buy the 780 in the end, cant wait till it arrives. Apparently its supposed to be up to 50% faster than my 580.
 

Relix

he's Virgin Tight™
GPU OC Question!

I have Gigabyte 670GTX OC Windforce. The normal clock speed is 980mhz. I am using OC GURU II to OC it, and so far all I've done is OC the normal clock to 1GHZ, up the memory to 6028mhz and the "power target" (whatever that means) to 109%. Can I push this further?
 

LilJoka

Member
GPU OC Question!

I have Gigabyte 670GTX OC Windforce. The normal clock speed is 980mhz. I am using OC GURU II to OC it, and so far all I've done is OC the normal clock to 1GHZ, up the memory to 6028mhz and the "power target" (whatever that means) to 109%. Can I push this further?

The only limiting factor is temps and volts, nobody can say if you can push it further or not. You have all info in front of you. Keep pushing till it starts producing artifacts in your GPU stress test software. Valley Bench is good to use as a stress tester, but my favorite is the old OCCT 3.1 GPU test. Crysis 2 with DX11 and High Res pack is also a really good test.
 

LilJoka

Member
I did that and I still dont get a signal. The EVGA manual says that this happens when the integrated graphics adapter is not disabled, but I already did that. The good thing is that when I boot into safe mode the 780 at least comes up as a device.

Your PSU should be enough, its not the best design as each 12v Rail has 20A, of which you have two. So hopefully each PCIE adaptor is connected to a separate rail.

To fix driver issues follow this:

Download Display Driver Uninstaller here and install it:
http://www.guru3d.com/files_get/display_driver_uninstaller_download,9.html

Click uninstall current and previous GPU drivers. That will clean up all AMD and nVidia files. Then on reboot it should detect and install the Windows drivers for the GPU. Once completed install the latest nVidia drivers.
 

mkenyon

Banned
3GB is too short for 4k, i would go for 295x. Quieter and with less heat output.

In the summer the top card is always too hot (and noisy) for my taste.
6GB cards are going to be out very very soon.

Regardless, look at the erratic frames in a number of these games:

crysis3-r9.gif

crysis3-gtx.gif


crysis3-fps.gif

crysis3-99th.gif


arkham-r9.gif

arkham-gtx.gif


arkham-fps.gif

arkham-99th.gif

arkham-50ms.gif


ghosts-r9.gif

ghosts-gtx.gif


ghosts-fps.gif

ghosts-99th.gif

ghosts-50ms.gif


bf4-r9.gif

bf4-gtx.gif


bf4-fps.gif

bf4-99th.gif

bf4-33ms.gif

Having that terribad performance in Arkham is just a drop in the bucket in terms of the kind of performance that you get when dealing with crossfire profiles and AMD's notorious frame timing issues with images over 2MP. Add to that that every 4K monitor is basically a dual monitor setup (two separate images), and I flat out would not consider AMD. They have a lot of work to do in that arena to be considered a safe bet.
 

cyen

Member
6GB cards are going to be out very very soon.

Regardless, look at the erratic frames in a number of these games:



Having that terribad performance in Arkham is just a drop in the bucket in terms of the kind of performance that you get when dealing with crossfire profiles and AMD's notorious frame timing issues with images over 2MP. Add to that that every 4K monitor is basically a dual monitor setup (two separate images), and I flat out would not consider AMD. They have a lot of work to do in that arena to be considered a safe bet.

Arkham is a terrible example, terrible optimized and a nvidia program game and COD Ghosts is even worse. Played crysis 3 with 290x crossfire without a problem and BF4 as well.

You got some point when mentioned driver support, but it may not be perfect but really improved from recent past. And the 4k performance issues will soon be solved im sure as it´s going to be more mainstream as the prices are going down, 6GB Ti will probably be on the 700€ range or more in price and i believe that in a couple of months the 295x will be more afordable.

I dont have experience with 4k as i dont have one but as a previous owner of 2x290x (sapphire Tri-X) Crossfire the vast majority of the games worked without an hitch.Personally a pair of cards carries alot of disavantages like high noise levels unless you watercool, specially in the summer times, i was getting 70C on the first card and 60C on a pair of 290x Tri-X and now even thou is spring the top card was already at 80C making alot of noise.

Downgraded to a single 290x instead.

If there was a 780tix2 (please not titan 3000$ fucking Z) then that would be the perfect option.
 

mkenyon

Banned
Arkham is a terrible example, terrible optimized and a nvidia program game and COD Ghosts is even worse. Played crysis 3 with 290x crossfire without a problem and BF4 as well.

You got some point when mentioned driver support, but it may not be perfect but really improved from recent past. And the 4k performance issues will soon be solved im sure as it´s going to be more mainstream as the prices are going down, 6GB Ti will probably be on the 700€ range or more in price and i believe that in a couple of months the 295x will be more afordable.

I dont have experience with 4k as i dont have one but as a previous owner of 2x290x (sapphire Tri-X) Crossfire the vast majority of the games worked without an hitch.Personally a pair of cards carries alot of disavantages like high noise levels unless you watercool, specially in the summer times, i was getting 70C on the first card and 60C on a pair of 290x Tri-X and now even thou is spring the top card was already at 80C making alot of noise.

Downgraded to a single 290x instead.

If there was a 780tix2 (please not titan 3000$ fucking Z) then that would be the perfect option.
Some more for you:




Frame spikes galore. The drivers and/or tech isn't mature enough for 4K yet. It's a terrible option for it.

Your 290X's aren't a great way to gauge how two 780Ti's would be with noise/heat. The TDP on 290x's is nearly 20% higher. With two reference 780Ti's in SLI, you don't really have to worry about one card getting overly hot.
 

cyen

Member
Some more for you:







Frame spikes galore. The drivers and/or tech isn't mature enough for 4K yet. It's a terrible option for it.

Thank you for the frametimes, but you are making it sound that the card cant even play games well. It was already mentioned by amd that this problem is beeing adressed.

At 1080p even if not perfect i never faced any problem with frame latency, of course that you can "feel" some spike here and there mas nothing that would hinder the gameplay since they were too far in between.

Crossfire and frame times improved alot now that the the card comunication is done trhu PCI-E, not perfect but yet but a great start since with improved alot the problems that 7970 and below faced when in crossfire mode.I still remeber the nightmares with the 4970, never done crossfire again until R9 series.

I am speaking of my personal experience, im not speaking from some frame latency graphs.

Maybe some people are more sensitive to this question than i am dunno.

Even with 20% less TDP you will run into heat\noise problems, in the summer you must choose one heat or noise unless you go WC. Just seach for 780ti sli temps and you will see plenty of statements, the same for 290x as well.
 

mkenyon

Banned
Thank you for the frametimes, but you are making it sound that the card cant even play games well. It was already mentioned by amd that this problem is beeing adressed.

At 1080p even if not perfect i never faced any problem with frame latency, of course that you can "feel" some spike here and there mas nothing that would hinder the gameplay since they were too far in between.

Crossfire and frame times improved alot now that the the card comunication is done trhu PCI-E, not perfect but yet but a great start since with improved alot the problems that 7970 and below faced when in crossfire mode.I still remeber the nightmares with the 4970, never done crossfire again until R9 series.

I am speaking of my personal experience, im not speaking from some frame latency graphs.

Maybe some people are more sensitive to this question than i am dunno.
Actually, AMD said they fixed it with the R9 series, and the beta drivers supposedly fix it for older GCN cards that use the crossfire cable.

1080p performance is not relevant to my very specific recommendation here. I don't mean to be overly harsh here, but you're talking about your anecdotal experience on a 1/4 mile drag race run when I'm talking about empirical data on autocross performance.
 

LilJoka

Member
Actually, AMD said they fixed it with the R9 series, and the beta drivers supposedly fix it for older GCN cards that use the crossfire cable.

1080p performance is not relevant to my very specific recommendation here. I don't mean to be overly harsh here, but you're talking about your anecdotal experience on a 1/4 mile drag race run when I'm talking about empirical data on autocross performance.

I agree, to add, it seems like AMD have had this problem for a long time, and i really dont see it getting fixed any time soon considering how long its been. Ive never ran SLI/Xfire myself, but i think from all the data nVidia is ahead, for single GPU setups it doesnt matter so much.
 
Could I fit a GTX 760 in my Antec Three Hundred Illusion?

I have an Antec Three Hundred Two. Not sure if the same exact dimensions, but I'm fairly sure I can fit a 12" card in there. I used to have a GTX 760 and had plenty of clearance on all sides in that case. If you go AMD you'll probably have to break out a ruler.
 

Aptos

Member
Let me preface this by saying that I'm definitely an anal gamer, especially when it comes to graphics.

Does anyone have the Asus VG248QE w/ G-Sync installed? How did you set up your color calibration?

I found a good .icm that brings gamma in line, but that only affects DWM on Windows (i.e. Windows Desktop). Fullscreen games still have fucked gamma even after playing with the in-game slider (sidenote: World of Warcraft actually has a setting to grab gamma from the desktop, in fullscreen mode, so that's cool). Using a custom .icm + softMSCC (to set sRGB on the monitor and adjust brightness and contrast) + fullscreen windowed is the only way I've been able to get games to look okay, but fullscreen windowed disables G-Sync, so fuck that.

Is there someone out there as anal as I am about color calibration? Please let there be someone who has solved this issue. Search engines have failed me.
 

Windam

Scaley member
I have an Antec Three Hundred Two. Not sure if the same exact dimensions, but I'm fairly sure I can fit a 12" card in there. I used to have a GTX 760 and had plenty of clearance on all sides in that case. If you go AMD you'll probably have to break out a ruler.

... T___T

I have an AMD Phenom II X4 965.
 

mkenyon

Banned
I agree, to add, it seems like AMD have had this problem for a long time, and i really dont see it getting fixed any time soon considering how long its been. Ive never ran SLI/Xfire myself, but i think from all the data nVidia is ahead, for single GPU setups it doesnt matter so much.
Yep, in terms of single card performance, 280X/290/290X all day. Dual card? Ehhh...
Let me preface this by saying that I'm definitely an anal gamer, especially when it comes to graphics.

Does anyone have the Asus VG248QE w/ G-Sync installed? How did you set up your color calibration?

I found a good .icm that brings gamma in line, but that only affects DWM on Windows (i.e. Windows Desktop). Fullscreen games still have fucked gamma even after playing with the in-game slider (sidenote: World of Warcraft actually has a setting to grab gamma from the desktop, in fullscreen mode, so that's cool). Using a custom .icm + softMSCC (to set sRGB on the monitor and adjust brightness and contrast) + fullscreen windowed is the only way I've been able to get games to look okay, but fullscreen windowed disables G-Sync, so fuck that.

Is there someone out there as anal as I am about color calibration? Please let there be someone who has solved this issue. Search engines have failed me.
Here's Durante's: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fbo3rtcoghkomb1/G-SYNC 241910 2014-02-25 D6500 sRGB M-S 3xCurve+MTX.zip
 

cyen

Member
Actually, AMD said they fixed it with the R9 series, and the beta drivers supposedly fix it for older GCN cards that use the crossfire cable.

1080p performance is not relevant to my very specific recommendation here. I don't mean to be overly harsh here, but you're talking about your anecdotal experience on a 1/4 mile drag race run when I'm talking about empirical data on autocross performance.

You were not beeing harsh really i understand your point. Btw i was using 2 290x for 144hz not for 1080p 60.

In other reviews at lower than 4k res (like guru3d and such) fcat measurements in BF4,Hitman,Tomb Raider and other games are actually better in 295x vs 780ti, i know that they were done at 2560x1440 not in 4k, but i believe that will be fixed in a future driver.

I would agree that as of today 18/04 i would not buy neither SLI 780ti 3G (low vram) or a 295x for 4k (Driver support) .

But in the long run and beeing a sinle PCB on a AIO unit i would probably buy one unless as stated earlier nvidia releases a 780ti Z.
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
So I'm going to pick up a Samsung EVO 250g SSD but I have a few questions. Going to load Win 8.1 fresh on it, not going to obviously put all my files on it (main windows, steam, diablo 3 etc) is there some way to set windows to point where to keep apps or should the main drive contain those and my 1tb drive just hold media and music etc? Any advice is appreciated!

when you install, just install to where you want the files to live. Honestly my 3TB WD My Book USB3 drive is fast enough to run games without a single issue (120MB/s real world sustained)

other option if you are ok with keeping a clean SSD is to just install and uninstall as needed. but honestly, as long as your system and application/file drive are separate, and especially if your system drive is SSD, you aren't going to notice a terrible difference between having a game installed on SSD or HDD outside of initial loading.
 
So I have a 4GB GTX 680 that I've been trying to sell for the longest time...Anybody interested?

I'd like to keep it local if possible...I live in Redmond, WA.
 

FLAguy954

Junior Member
Hey, what would you guys rate my rig? I've been slowly buying the parts for months trying to stay under $650 and getting good deals whenever possible:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($190.79 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (Purchased For $36.00)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Gene Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (Purchased For $130.00)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (Purchased For $50.00)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card (Purchased For $162.00)
Case: Thermaltake VM30001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $50.00)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $618.79
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-18 14:15 EDT-0400)
 
when you install, just install to where you want the files to live. Honestly my 3TB WD My Book USB3 drive is fast enough to run games without a single issue (120MB/s real world sustained)

other option if you are ok with keeping a clean SSD is to just install and uninstall as needed. but honestly, as long as your system and application/file drive are separate, and especially if your system drive is SSD, you aren't going to notice a terrible difference between having a game installed on SSD or HDD outside of initial loading.

Yeah, i figured. Ok cool, thanks for the headsup! Additionally, has anyone here tried intel smart response technology? Sounds like Apples Fusion Drive...
 

x3sphere

Member
Having that terribad performance in Arkham is just a drop in the bucket in terms of the kind of performance that you get when dealing with crossfire profiles and AMD's notorious frame timing issues with images over 2MP. Add to that that every 4K monitor is basically a dual monitor setup (two separate images), and I flat out would not consider AMD. They have a lot of work to do in that arena to be considered a safe bet.


Just an FYI, there is actually a single tile 4K monitor out now - the Samsung UD590. Agree with you on Crossfire though. SLI is still the way to go for multi GPU.
 
Having that terribad performance in Arkham is just a drop in the bucket in terms of the kind of performance that you get when dealing with crossfire profiles and AMD's notorious frame timing issues with images over 2MP. Add to that that every 4K monitor is basically a dual monitor setup (two separate images), and I flat out would not consider AMD. They have a lot of work to do in that arena to be considered a safe bet.

Actually AMD has better support for MST than Nvidia, and has had it for longer.

Not sure about MST Crossfire, though.
 

x3sphere

Member
Actually AMD has better support for MST than Nvidia, and has had it for longer.

Not sure about MST Crossfire, though.

I'm not sure about that. MST support is still shoddy on both. I had the Dell 31.5" and ran into some issues with power saving / half screen paired with my 780, but people on the Dell forums with AMD cards were also having the same problems...

At any rate with single tile 4K monitors now coming out I would avoid those with MST.
 
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