"I Need a New PC!" 2014 Part 2. Read OP, your 2500K will run Witcher 3. MX100s! 970!

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turcy said:
guys, i think something might be up with my build.

i have my 4770k at 4.2GHz, and it's idling at 45-49 celsius.

that's a little ridiculous, right?

playing Titanfall will push them to 65-70, but no higher really.

running prime95 small FFT test is pretty much a no go, and if i try bumping voltage down [it's at 1.24 and level 5 LLC right now], i end up getting micro freezing in games, as well as completely fail the blend test in prime95 [ie - BSOD almost straight away]

i'm using an H60i as a cooler [i know, not the best], but it's the 2013 edition which should be performing MUCH better than what i'm seeing in my rig [based on reviews et al].

do i just have a bunk chip?

is my cooler not seated properly?

i actually opted to have NCIX put together my PC this time, specifically to avoid this sort of thing.

*i guess it's important to note than i'm in a non air conditioned home, if that makes any difference

anyway, i'm very, very, very new to this whole OC thing - not trying to push my system to crazy heights, but would definitely like to be able to sit at 4.2 safely.

any feedback on my current temps, and if i need to address them / how to address them would be super appreciated.
Click to expand...

Hm, could be a poor chip if you need that much voltage to only run at 4.2GHz. What are your temps and voltage at stock?
 
I also have a question about older AMD graphics drivers:

Does anyone know how to reliably get the IGP of my AM2+ mainboard (780G chipset) to work in addition to my Radeon 7870XT? As of now since the IGP only works with legacy drivers. Whenever I install the current drivers for the 7870 the IGP stops working in Windows 7. Annoying, as I would like to connect a 4th screen for video playback.

Regrettably my Google-skills leave something to be desired as I can't find anything remotely helpful. :(
 
Addnan said:
Budget?
Click to expand...

Lets say... $700 - $800.

LilJoka said:
Get a good CPU cooler and overclock the CPU first. A new GPU will be good. As for RAM, your X58 platform uses tripple channel so unfortunately its ideally best to get another 3x2GB kit if you can. Luckily they are pretty cheap on ebay, think i sold my 3x2GB kit of Crucial Ballistix for £30...
However remember the more RAM modules the lower the CPU overclock headroom. TBH i think even if you added a 2x2GB kit itll be fine for gaming.

PSU is not the best model from what im reading but cant find the exact specs, looks like this was a prebuilt? From my quick google im wondering how this PSU is still alive, seems like they are very bad units made by Ultra.

SSD is always a good idea, check out the Crucial MX100.
Click to expand...

"Get a good CPU cooler and overclock the CPU first." Which one would you recommend. And I have no idea how to overclock.
"As for RAM, your X58 platform uses tripple channel so unfortunately its ideally best to get another 3x2GB kit if you can" Should i get a better 3x2, or 3x4, or just stick with what I have?
"looks like this was a prebuilt?" Yes
"im wondering how this PSU is still alive" Holy shit its that bad?!
 
fifasnipe2224 said:
Lets say... $700 - $800.
"Get a good CPU cooler and overclock the CPU first." Which one would you recommend. And I have no idea how to overclock.
"As for RAM, your X58 platform uses tripple channel so unfortunately its ideally best to get another 3x2GB kit if you can" Should i get a better 3x2, or 3x4, or just stick with what I have?
"looks like this was a prebuilt?" Yes
"im wondering how this PSU is still alive" Holy shit its that bad?!
Click to expand...

Dont buy a better Ram kit as capacity is going to be a bigger factor than speed or timings.

For $800 you could actually build a decent haswell build, but that will mean your GPU wont be as powerful if you had decided to upgrade the current build. But the problem is, how far will the CPU stretch for new games and not bottlneck the GPU.

Overclocking your CPU isnt too hard, it will involve mainly raising the CPU Multiplier and CPU Base Frequency (bclk) and CPU Voltage (Vcore). 4GHz shouldnt be an issue with decent cooling, but that means youll want the best air cooling such as a Noctua D14 as these chips can get quite hot.

Heres an option for a build that i quickly put togethor to give you an idea of what 800$ would get you on a new build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CWCH7P

And if you were to upgrade your current build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/th8D7P

Although the 3x4GB is excessive, it will give a better overclock potential for the CPU. A 3x2GB would also be fine, and a lot cheaper, but reduces overclock headroom for the CPU. A GTX 780 is significantly faster than the R9 280, but will the CPU cope, that maybe more game and overclock specific.
 
Monosukoi said:
I have the Dell P2314H and absolutely love it. Got mine for £142, but I reckon if you look around you could get it even cheaper.

Pretty much any 23" monitor from a decent brand will do, you just need to make the decision between IPS (better IQ) or TN (faster response). Personally I'd go IPS every time since I can't tell the difference in response time, but you might be different.
Click to expand...

why no VA? lgit question, I never see anyone in this thread talking about VA panels but Durante swears by them. from what I've read they seem like the perfect compromise between IQ from IPS and speed of TN...
 
Ordered my first SSD
aces-billy-bob.gif
 
ekgrey said:
friends don't let friends run stock! ;)

edit: also, isn't 10000 yen like 100 bucks American??
Click to expand...

Presumably meant 10万円 - 100,000 yen.

No idea about that specific PSU, but looks like a reasonable build to me. Only thing you'd really need to add to overclock is an aftermarket heatsink/fan.
 
fifasnipe2224 said:
My mobo can do SATA 3. Is it worth getting a SSD thats 6 Gb/s?
Click to expand...

Yes because random 4k read/write performance is only around the 100MB/s mark peak (1Gbps). And this is the most important statistic, not the advertised sequential speeds in excess of 400MB/s. You hard disk does a 100MB/s sequential, but only a messily 1MB/s random 4k R/W. That is where the performance is gained (20-50x).
 
Hello PCGaf

I am in the market for a mid range gaming laptop. I was wondering how this would stack up. I would like to be able to at least run Skyrim, Fallouts at med settings with good fps. Is that possible with a budget of ~$700? Thanks!
 
QP3 said:
Hello PCGaf

I am in the market for a mid range gaming laptop. I was wondering how this would stack up. I would like to be able to at least run Skyrim, Fallouts at med settings with good fps. Is that possible with a budget of ~$700? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Second Line of OP - Laptop Thread.
 
fifasnipe2224 said:
Getting a 500 GB SSD. is it worth getting Windows 8.1 or should i just reinstall Windows 7?
Click to expand...

IMO stick with Win 7 unless you can deal with Win 8's UI. Performance is negligible, im only going to go Win 8 when I get my start menu back. Also ive noticed Win 8.1 still is rough around the edges and have found a couple of bugs myself.
 
I got a ton of money from my graduation and I found two affordable things on Newegg to my liking, but I'd like input.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834131484
1. Samsung Chromebook
I've done plenty of research and I'm fully aware of the limitations of COS. It's just that my current laptop is really old and a POS that still works, but it's always tethered because of the degraded battery life, really hot and really slow. A Chromebook would be better and can do almost everything I do on it currently. But before I buy, is it really inferior to newer Chromebooks?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131578
2. PowerColor Radeon 6970
$99 for a 6970?! It's too good to be true, right? I currently have a 6850 and it would be awesome to have a power boost for so little money. Power consumption isn't a big deal, I have a 620W Bronze-certified PSU. Plenty of case room, too. I'm just worried it will die, but that's a risk for all graphics cards, right? They're just clearing inventory?
 
So I need more storage for my PC.

I have a 1tb samsung spinpoint so I'm going to keep that along with my SSD for gaming.

For my media is a wd 3tb Red or 4tb Green ok? Thinking of picking up one or two of them and using it just for media.
 
I'm having problems with my 270x. It's about 3 months old at this point and when it was new it could run BF4 on mostly high settings at 1080p perfect 60fps, at the moment I've got BF4 set to medium and it's not holding 60fps. It keeps dipping into the 50s, I'm really worried something is wrong :l I'm not sure if I'm getting worse performance over any other games, BF4 is the most intensive game I tend to play on a frequent basis, I was playing BL2 fully maxed at 1080p/60 with no problems at all earlier.

I'm playing the new DLC if it makes any difference.
 
Whelp, my PC is dying. 6 years old & only ever upgraded the ram in it.

Thinking of building one from the ground up.
Never done it before & have no idea on how to do it, so I'm asaking here.

Is it possible to build a PC more powerful than the PS4 for under $300?

I only have that Gamespot article to go on:
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/can-we-build-a-gaming-pc-on-a-console-budget/1100-6418829/
I feel that the article is already outdated.

Things that I won't be needing when building a PC:
-PC case (I can use my old bulky one)
-HDD (I have a lot of spare ones).
-Operating system (I have Windows 7 recovery discs & the product keys).

Everything else I need new.

With those 3 factors out of the equations, can I build a powerful PC that will out perform the PS4 for under $300 (standard being Battlefield 4 running at 1080p, ultra settings at max & a rock solid 60fps?

I will be using bhphotovideo.com or eBay to buy stuff (not from amazon or newegg), since those two site won't charge me tax.
 
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah!!!!!

I finally got my computer to work! Thank you guys so much!!!!!!!!!

The final problem was the RAM. I didn't push them down properly with the pins attached. (I was lifting the pins up manually).

Good thing I asked here or I would have ended up paying someone to look at it.
 
mkenyon said:
If you score good deals on used parts, yes. Otherwise, no.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing the deciding factor would be the GPU.
If I snag a good one for $100+, can I still build the rest for under $200 & still be as powerful as a PS4?

-Power supply.
-Motherboard (have no idea on what to get or what to even look for).
-CPU (ditto, absolutely no clue on where to start).
-RAM - I would be willing to live with just 4GB of RAM & update to 8 later in the year. Is DD3 a must or DD2 cheaper & just as good?


Already have & don't need to buy:
-DVD drive
-HDD
-PC case
-Windows 7


IS there anything else I'm missing sound card ethernet modem or whatever?
 
See You Next Wednesday said:
I'm guessing the deciding factor would be the GPU.
If I snag a good one for $100+, can I still build the rest for under $200 & still be as powerful as a PS4?

-Power supply.
-Motherboard (have no idea on what to get or what to even look for).
-CPU (ditto, absolutely no clue on where to start).
-RAM - I would be willing to live with just 4GB of RAM & update to 8 later in the year. Is DD3 a must or DD2 cheaper & just as good?


Already have & don't need to buy:
-DVD drive
-HDD
-PC case
-Windows 7


IS there anything else I'm missing sound card ethernet modem or whatever?
Click to expand...
Check out the OP, and see what choices in there fit in your budget. Parts are pre-screened, so it's pretty easy to mix and match (keeping the same socket).

You'd probably want to aim for the Pentium Anniversary Edition (G2358), and a cheap Z77 motherboard. You're still ~$50 over budget, and it will not play BF4 on Ultra at 60 FPS.
Ark said:
I'm having problems with my 270x. It's about 3 months old at this point and when it was new it could run BF4 on mostly high settings at 1080p perfect 60fps, at the moment I've got BF4 set to medium and it's not holding 60fps. It keeps dipping into the 50s, I'm really worried something is wrong :l I'm not sure if I'm getting worse performance over any other games, BF4 is the most intensive game I tend to play on a frequent basis, I was playing BL2 fully maxed at 1080p/60 with no problems at all earlier.

I'm playing the new DLC if it makes any difference.
Click to expand...
Any recent changes to the PC? Rest of your parts?
ChoklitReign said:
I got a ton of money from my graduation and I found two affordable things on Newegg to my liking, but I'd like input.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834131484
1. Samsung Chromebook
I've done plenty of research and I'm fully aware of the limitations of COS. It's just that my current laptop is really old and a POS that still works, but it's always tethered because of the degraded battery life, really hot and really slow. A Chromebook would be better and can do almost everything I do on it currently. But before I buy, is it really inferior to newer Chromebooks?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131578
2. PowerColor Radeon 6970
$99 for a 6970?! It's too good to be true, right? I currently have a 6850 and it would be awesome to have a power boost for so little money. Power consumption isn't a big deal, I have a 620W Bronze-certified PSU. Plenty of case room, too. I'm just worried it will die, but that's a risk for all graphics cards, right? They're just clearing inventory?
Click to expand...
That 6970 isn't much of a boost for your system.
 
My setup

A8-5500M
R9-270X 2GB
8GB DDR3

would this run Witcher 3 as well as a ps4? Trying to determine which version to get. Thanks
 
mkenyon said:
You'd probably want to aim for the Pentium Anniversary Edition (G2358), and a cheap Z77 motherboard. You're still ~$50 over budget, and it will not play BF4 on Ultra at 60 FPS.
Click to expand...
Code: 
MSI GAMING N750Ti TF 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5
$119.99 

Intel Pentium G3258 Haswell Dual-Core 3.2GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor 
$69.99

BIOSTAR Hi-Fi B85S3+ Ver. 6.x LGA 1150 Intel B85 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard 
$64.00

Team Elite 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM
$39.99

Antec VP-450 450W ATX 12V v2.3 Power Supply 
$37.99

$331.96 + $30 tax ($355 + $30 in tax if I don't include the rebate).
That's with no case, mouse, kb, HDD, OS.

At what expectations can I assume Battlefield 4 will run at?
 
See You Next Wednesday said:
Code: 
MSI GAMING N750Ti TF 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5
$119.99 

Intel Pentium G3258 Haswell Dual-Core 3.2GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor 
$69.99

BIOSTAR Hi-Fi [B]B85[/B]S3+ Ver. 6.x LGA 1150 Intel B85 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard 
$64.00

Team Elite 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM
$39.99

Antec VP-450 450W ATX 12V v2.3 Power Supply 
$37.99

$331.96 + $30 tax ($355 + $30 in tax if I don't include the rebate).
That's with no case, mouse, kb, HDD, OS.

At what expectations can I assume Battlefield 4 will run at?
Click to expand...
You're definitely going to want a Z87 or Z97 motherboard to overclock that CPU.
 
See You Next Wednesday said:
Code: 
MSI GAMING N750Ti TF 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5
$119.99 

Intel Pentium G3258 Haswell Dual-Core 3.2GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor 
$69.99

BIOSTAR Hi-Fi B85S3+ Ver. 6.x LGA 1150 Intel B85 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard 
$64.00

Team Elite 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM
$39.99

Antec VP-450 450W ATX 12V v2.3 Power Supply 
$37.99

$331.96 + $30 tax ($355 + $30 in tax if I don't include the rebate).
That's with no case, mouse, kb, HDD, OS.

At what expectations can I assume Battlefield 4 will run at?
Click to expand...
Without a Z87 or Z97 board, you can't overclock the processor. Performance will be playable with settings turned down for sure.
Ark said:
I haven't actually overclocked though. Unless you mean the GPU's overclock?
Click to expand...
I did not, and you should get on that. That'll help multiplayer performance immensely.

Perhaps there were recent BF4 patches that alter performance? Maybe a setting was changed in game?
 
mkenyon said:
That 6970 isn't much of a boost for your system.
Click to expand...
What percentage better? It's just 100 dollars. The other parts are mid-end (i3 2100, 4GB) and a 6970 would make a few games I own (Witcher 2, Crysis 3, BF3) fly compared to what I have now. I want to upgrade in increments to play next-gen games by the winter or early 2015 and a $100 GPU would be a boon for my budget ($500 from my grandmother).
 
If you want to upgrade to play games in winter or early 2015, save the money, and snag something off of GAF B/S/T, HardOCP, or Overclock.net. I'd imagine we'll see 7970s around $150 by then.
 
mkenyon said:
I did not, and you should get on that. That'll help multiplayer performance immensely.

Perhaps there were recent BF4 patches that alter performance? Maybe a setting was changed in game?
Click to expand...

Alright I'll get on that CPU overclock tomorrow afternoon. Will report back then.
 
Stubo said:
You're definitely going to want a Z87 or Z97 motherboard to overclock that CPU.
Click to expand...

Ugh, another extra +$40 on the Motherboard thgen & I'll have to overclock the GPU to get any performance out of that?
This is creeping closer & closer to being more expensive than a PS4 & not even guaranteeing to have as good performance.


Maybe I should wait it out until a more efficient GPU comes out & becomes affordable.
 
See You Next Wednesday said:
Ugh, another extra +$40 on the Motherboard thgen & I'll have to overclock the GPU to get any performance out of that?
This is creeping closer & closer to being more expensive than a PS4 & not even guaranteeing to have as good performance.


Maybe I should wait it out until a more efficient GPU comes out & becomes affordable.
Click to expand...
Your requirement was 60 fps in BF4 on Ultra at 1080p. PS4 runs it on not-ultra at 900p with dips into the 30s.

The aforementioned build will run it at 900p at not-ultra with above 30fps multiplayer.

Getting a Z87 or Z97 board not only gives you more performance now with overclocking the processor, but it will also allow you to upgrade to a 4670K or 4790K down the line and get the most out of it.

If you're really budget hunting, think about getting a used board from GAF/OCN/HardOCP.
 
mkenyon said:
Your requirement was 60 fps in BF4 on Ultra at 1080p. PS4 runs it on not-ultra at 900p with dips into the 30s.

The aforementioned build will run it at 900p at not-ultra with above 30fps multiplayer.

Getting a Z87 or Z97 board not only gives you more performance now with overclocking the processor, but it will also allow you to upgrade to a 4670K or 4790K down the line and get the most out of it.

If you're really budget hunting, think about getting a used board from GAF/OCN/HardOCP.
Click to expand...

I think the only the shadows were not set at Ultra on the PS4, but everything else was.
Could I even lower the resolution of a PC game to something like 900p?
Any resolution that is above 720p, but below 1080p?
 
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