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[OrangeOak]

The better drivers thing is a nonsense now. Nvidia's are more feature rich though.

Your frame rate does seem odd

Could it be the PhysX effects dragging down your 770 in Borderlands 2? They'd be disabled normally on an AMD card.

Could also be heat or a bad card if you're getting glitches.

Thanks for response.
I have seen these graphs before but it's hard for me to draw conslusions because there is no minimal fps here.
I was searching on google yesterday and there are some people with similar problems but either there is no answer to that or it is not helpful in my case.
I have V-Sync on and I have 60fps for 95% of time so it's not that bad but I was expecting steady framerate especially after reviews and benchmarks.
There is also no difference with physx set to low or high.
Temperatures are OK and card is OK(no glitches outside JC2 and that JC2 glitch from what I found is "normal" in some cases for Nvidia cards)
What is weird though is that my GPU usage is at around 70% in Borderlands 2 even after framerate drops and I don't think that mu cpu(i5 3570K) is bootlenecking anything here.
I asked here because I thought that maybe someone had similar experience.

 

[Azure Dream]

I screwed up the link in my post on the last page, fixed it:

My sister's video card (HIS HD 5770) has apparently decided to start frying itself, we've discovered. We suspected this, so she put together a list of a few that stuck out at her. (Ones that reviewed well, etc. I recommended she go with Nvidia.) I went to check with the OP list, but I saw it was last updated Jan 4th, before CES. Any good announcements there, or price drops in response to those announcements? If not, any opinions to offer on the three finalists, or better Nvidia recommendations (please don't get hung up on the fact we're avoiding ATI)? She said she's willing to spend money to make sure she has something good. She doesn't game as much, but I think she still wants something powerful (it does have to handle 1080p video playback and Photoshop like a breeze, but I assume the latter is more CPU and memory limited).

 

[MisterM]

If she doesn't game much all of those cards are extreme overkill. I think Kharma said the onboard Intel graphics would do her fine and I'm inclined to agree.

You'll get 1080p video playback out of one fine and Photoshop is more CPU/Memory intensive.

Maybe a 7770/90 or something if she wants to dabble in gaming. Not sure what the Nvidia equivalent is, a 650Ti Boost?

 

[chaosblade]

I screwed up the link in my post on the last page, fixed it:

I definitely wouldn't spend that much on a 2GB 770. And it's kind of debatable whether the 4GB model is worth it. 760 seems to be more recommended than the 770 since the performance difference isn't huge and the 760 is quite a bit cheaper.

If she doesn't game much I don't really see a point in buying a 780 either, seems like a waste of money unless she really cares about playing at high settings and resolutions when playing the occasional game.

 

[kharma45]

If she doesn't game much all of those cards are extreme overkill. I think Kharma said the onboard Intel graphics would do her fine and I'm inclined to agree.

You'll get 1080p video playback out of one fine and Photoshop is more CPU/Memory intensive.

Maybe a 7770/90 or something if she wants to dabble in gaming. Not sure what the Nvidia equivalent is, a 650Ti Boost?

650 TiB is roughly on par with the 7850.

Photoshop can be GPU accelerated by anything so you're not limited there.

I screwed up the link in my post on the last page, fixed it:

Those cards are far, far too overkill for what she needs.

For $120 you can get a 7850 that'd suit her down to the ground. I know you're looking at Nvidia rather than AMD but they've nothing that comes close in that price bracket.

Also it's not because it's an AMD card that it went wrong, that's down to the OEM which in this case is HIS. The fault lies with them, not AMD.

 

[brickwalker0]

Im about to start building my first PC and Ive only owned laptops so im way out of the loop on these things.

When it comes to choosing a case, is there an option for one that sits horizontally? I'm going to use my TV as the monitor and the only spot it can fit is below the TV stand which is plenty of room for it horizontally but not vertically. I imagine ventilation is the biggest concern here but I'm wondering if theres a workaround.

Also, I really don't want a disk drive, is there a way to load windows through USB or something?

 

[kharma45]

Im about to start building my first PC and Ive only owned laptops so im way out of the loop on these things.

When it comes to choosing a case, is there an option for one that sits horizontally? I'm going to use my TV as the monitor and the only spot it can fit is below the TV stand which is plenty of room for it horizontally but not vertically. I imagine ventilation is the biggest concern here but I'm wondering if theres a workaround.

Yes. An ITX build would be what you're looking at in this sort of set up, have a look at the SFF guide in the OP. There's plenty of case options out there and even a good pre-built one in the shape of the Alienware X51, eBay or Dell Outlet can have some good deals.

Also, I really don't want a disk drive, is there a way to load windows through USB or something?

You can. Fastest way to install Windows.

 

[MikeJAMoran]

I think I'm going to buy a new PC over the next couple months. Thinking of building my own but don't think I could cope with buying a couple of things with each pay-packet without having a functional machine! Wish I could just buy a base unit and add stuff on, but it wouldn't make sense to do that.

 

[kharma45]

I think I'm going to buy a new PC over the next couple months. Thinking of building my own but don't think I could cope with buying a couple of things with each pay-packet without having a functional machine! Wish I could just buy a base unit and add stuff on, but it wouldn't make sense to do that.

You'll pick up some good deals doing it that way. It will all be worth it in the end.

 

[MikeJAMoran]

You'll pick up some good deals doing it that way. It will all be worth it in the end.

Yeah but it's so frustrating! Then again I said this on the previous version of this thread about 5 months ago and if I had started then, I'd have it by now!

 

[IllumiNate]

My PC 363D headset just arrived today! Gonna take her 4 a spin and test it also with the PS4. I'm now broke haha.
Took the new rig for a 3DMark test stock no OC and scored 15,350. Not 2 shabby!
What's a good OC for the 4770k? Should I try and push it to 4.5?

@CottonBaller Can I ask why you've got a mouse and a trackpad/keyboard? Are you making some kind of Steam Machine/desktop hybrid?

Yeah the keyboard with trackpad was mainly for when my PC is set up to the TV. Good way to access origin (Titanfall) and Some blizzard games without having to bring a mouse along. <3 Steam Big Picture

 

[Granadier]

I think I'm going to buy a new PC over the next couple months. Thinking of building my own but don't think I could cope with buying a couple of things with each pay-packet without having a functional machine! Wish I could just buy a base unit and add stuff on, but it wouldn't make sense to do that.

Yeah but it's so frustrating! Then again I said this on the previous version of this thread about 5 months ago and if I had started then, I'd have it by now!

What exactly are you frustrated about in regards to purchasing the parts for the PC? Are you wanting to build one slowly by buying each part individually when you can afford them?

 

[riflen]

Is it normal that I have minimal framerate of 45fps on GTX 770(after light OC) in Borderlands 2? Is there something wrong with this game or are there some effects that are badly optymised? I heard that there can me something wrong with AO but I don't know if this is true.I know that 770GTX isn't that great but I had almost the same minimal framerate on HD7850.
I switched from my old 7850 to 770GTX yesterday and I thought I will be more happy with this card especially after all this "better drivers" talk on the internet .
I never had any problems (outside of supersampling) on AMD cards and now I have this weird glitches in Just Cause 2 and pretty bad minimal framerate in BD2 and it's only second day with this card.
Shadowplay is amazing though.

It's just the game. It dips below 60fps occasionally for me using 2 x GTX 780 Ti and 3570k @ 4.5Ghz. I always play with performance OSD running and when the game dips, CPU and GPUs have plenty of headroom remaining. I play at resolutions up to 2560x1600, it doesn't seem to matter and still drops below 60fps occasionally at 1680x1050.

Fire up MSI Afterburner and configure it to display an OSD. You'll probably find your system is not breaking a sweat. There are some areas on certain maps that tank the fps no matter what.

 

[Irobot82]

I broke a fan blade on my GPU last night while cleaning it. *sigh*. Good news is it gave me an excuse to buy a Corsair H55 to water cool my GPU.

 

[riflen]

I broke a fan blade on my GPU last night while cleaning it. *sigh*. Good news is it gave me an excuse to buy a Corsair H55 to water cool my GPU.

Interesting. Are you going to use something like the NZXT Kraken G10?

 

[Irobot82]

Interesting. Are you going to use something like the NZXT Kraken G10?

I would have if that was out before I got a Sigma Cool from Kepler Dynamics. I'll probably need to buy some RAM heatsink and maybe a small fan but we'll see what the VRAM temps come to.

 

[OrangeOak]

It's just the game. It dips below 60fps occasionally for me using 2 x GTX 780 Ti and 3570k @ 4.5Ghz. I always play with performance OSD running and when the game dips, CPU and GPUs have plenty of headroom remaining. I play at resolutions up to 2560x1600, it doesn't seem to matter and still drops below 60fps occasionally at 1680x1050.

Fire up MSI Afterburner and configure it to display an OSD. You'll probably find your system is not breaking a sweat. There are some areas on certain maps that tank the fps no matter what.

I have afterburner installed and like I said in one of my posts my gpu usage is 70% max when I play Borderlands 2 so you are probably right that it's just game fault
Thanks for your reply now I am a little more calm.

 

[Hazaro]

I would have if that was out before I got a Sigma Cool from Kepler Dynamics. I'll probably need to buy some RAM heatsink and maybe a small fan but we'll see what the VRAM temps come to.

This G10 review from Pudget really shows why VRM cooling is super important, slap some heatsinks on them.

 

[Irobot82]

This G10 review from Pudget really shows why VRM cooling is super important, slap some heatsinks on them.

WORD THANKS! They're cheap enough. I just need to remember the website. lol

Edit: Blah. Here! http://koolance.com/video-ram-heat-sinks

 

[disappeared]

Close to pulling the trigger on a mid-range desktop. I mixed and matched from the mid-tier and $1000+ categories.

i5 4570 @ 3.2GHz
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H
8GB Corsair Vengeance Low Profile
GTX 660 OC (Gigabyte)
Seasonic 650W PSU
WD Caviar Blue 1TB
Carbide 200R case

Just under $1000, Canadian funds.


Just a few questions left;

Is it worth jumping to the 4770K for ~$40 more? It's a .2GHz increase. Not sure how much it'll impact my games (mostly open-world stuff like Skyrim w/mods, Just Cause 2, etc)

Should I bother with a better heatsink, or will the Intel stock PSU be alright for this setup?

And with the Carbide case, how many fans would be advisable? I'm thinking three 120mms.

 

[kharma45]

Close to pulling the trigger on a mid-range desktop. I mixed and matched from the mid-tier and $1000+ categories.

i5 4570 @ 3.2GHz
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H
8GB Corsair Vengeance Low Profile
GTX 660 OC (Gigabyte)
Seasonic 650W PSU
WD Caviar Blue 1TB
Carbide 200R case

Just under $1000, Canadian funds.


Just a few questions left;

Is it worth jumping to the 4770K for ~$40 more? It's a .2GHz increase. Not sure how much it'll impact my games (mostly open-world stuff like Skyrim w/mods, Just Cause 2, etc)

Should I bother with a better heatsink, or will the Intel stock PSU be alright for this setup?

And with the Carbide case, how many fans would be advisable? I'm thinking three 120mms.

Change to a 4670K and get a Hyper 212 to overclock it,

The fans that come with the 200R are sufficient. Got a link to the RAM, PSU and GPU so I can do a quick price check on stuff?

 

[disappeared]

Change to a 4670K and get a Hyper 212 to overclock it,

The fans that come with the 200R are sufficient. Got a link to the RAM, PSU and GPU so I can do a quick price check on stuff?

Thanks, yeah I think I meant 4670K in my original post. That's the price I remember. And $35 for the Hyper 212 is alright enough. Thanks.


RAM - http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=75211

PSU - http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=76943

GPU - http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=76367 (there's a coupon code to knock $20 off)

 

[Hazaro]

WORD THANKS! They're cheap enough. I just need to remember the website. lol

Edit: Blah. Here! http://koolance.com/video-ram-heat-sinks

Just make sure those will have enough clearance, VRMs are taller than RAM chips. Might need some of those weird long slim ones that came with the Accelero S1 cooler.

 

[kharma45]

Thanks, yeah I think I meant 4670K in my original post. That's the price I remember. And $35 for the Hyper 212 is alright enough. Thanks.


RAM - http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=75211

PSU - http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=76943

GPU - http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=76367 (there's a coupon code to knock $20 off)

Save yourself $12 and swap to this stuff for the RAM http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B006YG962C/

Your PSU is overkill, and if you want to do overkill do it right and get this XFX for $10 less http://products.ncix.com/detail/xfx...-24pin-atx-psu-80-gold-cert-4f-78946-1217.htm

Enough power to do SLI and it can shut off the fan when not being taxed hard. Otherwise this is plenty http://products.ncix.com/detail/ant...lar-active-pfc-power-supply-18-41979-1217.htm

 

[disappeared]

Save yourself $12 and swap to this stuff for the RAM http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B006YG962C/

Your PSU is overkill, and if you want to do overkill do it right and get this XFX for $10 less http://products.ncix.com/detail/xfx...-24pin-atx-psu-80-gold-cert-4f-78946-1217.htm

Enough power to do SLI and it can shut off the fan when not being taxed hard. Otherwise this is plenty http://products.ncix.com/detail/ant...lar-active-pfc-power-supply-18-41979-1217.htm

Thanks for the info. I'll swap out the RAM and PSU.

I honestly was eying up that Antec Basiq for a long time, but then just the other day a buddy told me 550W might not be enough. I kinda hesitated to agree with him but went with 100W overhead anyway. No idea it was going to be almost double the price.

 

[kharma45]

Thanks for the info. I'll swap out the RAM and PSU.

I honestly was eying up that Antec Basiq for a long time, but then just the other day a buddy told me 550W might not be enough. I kinda hesitated to agree with him but went with 100W overhead anyway. No idea it was going to be almost double the price.

550w is plenty for that set up. You could run it off 450w and still be fine.

 

[MisterM]

Yeah the keyboard with trackpad was mainly for when my PC is set up to the TV. Good way to access origin (Titanfall) and Some blizzard games without having to bring a mouse along. <3 Steam Big Picture

Nice. I love BPM too. My gaming PC is permanently hooked up to the HDTV and boots straight into BPM with XBMC as a 'non Steam game' for media. I don't really game on much else. Enjoy your kit.

 

[kharma45]

If you could navigate the W8 tiles with a controller I'd probably build a cheapy HTPC.

 

[Clott]

It's hard for me to find an external hard drive with exactly what I want so I am instead of buying a bare drive and a enclosure.

I am looking at this Enclosure: ICY DOCK MB662U3-2S Aluminum 3.5"

Now what 4TB drive would I stick into it to truly make it sing? As I said this is for film editing of really large redcode files, what would be my best bet?

 

[MisterM]

If you could navigate the W8 tiles with a controller I'd probably build a cheapy HTPC.

You can navigate XBMC with a controller and have the PC boot directly into that or Steam BPM. Works a treat. You never see windows past the initial boot up which in itself isn't long with an SSD...which is ideal for an HTPC

 

[kharma45]

You can navigate XBMC with a controller and have the PC boot directly into that or Steam BPM. Works a treat. You never see windows past the initial boot up which in itself isn't long with an SSD...which is ideal for an HTPC

Tempting.

 

[kennah]

It's hard for me to find an external hard drive with exactly what I want so I am instead of buying a bare drive and a enclosure.

I am looking at this Enclosure: ICY DOCK MB662U3-2S Aluminum 3.5"

Now what 4TB drive would I stick into it to truly make it sing? As I said this is for film editing of really large redcode files, what would be my best bet?

It doesn't matter. Don't buy anything that is RED or NAS unless you are buying two of them to RAID. Get a WD Black if you aren't worried about noise.

 

[Finster]

I definitely wouldn't spend that much on a 2GB 770. And it's kind of debatable whether the 4GB model is worth it. 760 seems to be more recommended than the 770 since the performance difference isn't huge and the 760 is quite a bit cheaper..

Wat? http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-760-review-gk104,3542-9.html

That's a pretty big performance difference in my book.

 

[kennah]

Wat? http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-760-review-gk104,3542-9.html

That's a pretty big performance difference in my book.

If you are playing on a 60 Hz monitor the difference is.....?

(None)

Certainly not $100 worth.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

Sorry if this is a dumb question but I haven't had a decent gaming rig in a while so im still catching up with stuff. I had a dell laptop with a 555m for a few years which let me enjoy some PC gaming but nothing like what I have now which is:

4770k i7
770 gtx
8 gigs ram


For the time being, I'm going to hook my PC up to my 1080p TV until I can eventually get a desk for it. I'm also waiting to see how all this Freesync/Gsync stuff pans out before buying a monitor.

My questions related to downsampling: Is my rig capable of it? Or should I just be contented with 1080p gaming and some AA instead? Why would one use downsampling vs AA? Is using both at the same time even possible, or necessary? Thanks in advance for any responses.

 

[jonno394]

Hey GAF just ordering most of the components for my build, and looking at keyboards. This might sound like a silly question but can I use a wireless USB keyboard for my first boot up, or do I have to go wired?

Im reading conflicting things on the internet so I thought i'd ask you guys.

 

[thespot84]

Sorry if this is a dumb question but I haven't had a decent gaming rig in a while so im still catching up with stuff. I had a dell laptop with a 555m for a few years which let me enjoy some PC gaming but nothing like what I have now which is:

4770k i7
770 gtx
8 gigs ram


For the time being, I'm going to hook my PC up to my 1080p TV until I can eventually get a desk for it. I'm also waiting to see how all this Freesync/Gsync stuff pans out before buying a monitor.

My questions related to downsampling: Is my rig capable of it? Or should I just be contented with 1080p gaming and some AA instead? Why would one use downsampling vs AA? Is using both at the same time even possible, or necessary? Thanks in advance for any responses.

I can downsample BF4 on ultra pretty easily with this setup, but not at 200%. I'd recommend starting at 125 or so and working your way up until it craps out.

 

[diaspora]

If someone were to switch from Intel to AMD or AMD to Intel, would they have to re-install Windows 8.1?

 

[kharma45]

I would advise doing so.

 

[MisterM]

If someone were to switch from Intel to AMD or AMD to Intel, would they have to re-install Windows 8.1?

Yes, you would.

 

[Sajjaja]

How are the drivers for the R7 260X or that line in general? I heard they weren't stable, but that was like 2-3 months ago.

 

[kennah]

http://www.drobo.co.uk/products/capacity-calculator/#Drobo5Bay

I'd go with Drobo or Synology. It depends on your budget really, the sky is the limit. Obviously you'll want an off-site backup of everything too for DR purposes.

Do you have cabs? Something rack mounted might be more ideal?

We're ending up going with a 12 bay Synology, thanks for the suggestion

 

[Irobot82]

How are the drivers for the R7 260X or that line in general? I heard they weren't stable, but that was like 2-3 months ago.

Who did you "hear" that from? AMD hasn't released an "unstable" driver in years.

 

[IllumiNate]

Anyone know of any place to get MS office for a decent price?

 

[Jibbed]

Can anyone point me in the right direction in regards to calibrating my new monitor?

I've just picked up the ASUS VE247H and I've been flipping through the various 'splendid' modes.. settled on standard for now but I could do with some further tweaking tips.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Anyone else using fast bootup in Windows 8.1? Running an SSD and wondering if it's even recommended.

 

[HoosTrax]

why VRM cooling is super important, slap some heatsinks on them

Don't I know it -- I was using some Swiftech GPU-only sink, along with a Swiftech full coverage heatsink designed specifically for the card in question (a reference design 2-series GTX from maybe 5 years ago). Whoever at Swifty designed it was an idiot because the heatsink did not coverage the chokes (the half-inch cubical things are what I assume are the chokes), and eventually two of them exploded clean off the face of the PCB. When I removed the card after smelling the magic smoke, I could feel them rattling around underneath the heatsink.

 

[Big Chungus]

People with the Bitfenix Prodigy case...does the wobble bother you?

 

[TheD]

If you are playing on a 60 Hz monitor the difference is.....?

(None)

Certainly not $100 worth.

The difference is much more than "none"!
Not only do games respond faster with a higher frame rate above 60 FPS (it is not just vsync that causes input lag), but not all games are going to perform as well as BF3!

 

[Granadier]

The difference is much more than "none"!
Not only do games respond faster with a higher frame rate above 60 FPS (it is not just vsync that causes input lag), but not all games are going to perform as well as BF3!

I think he was referring to the fact that your game would be refreshing faster than you monitor could refresh.