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

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LilJoka

Member
What's considered the best CPU cooler? (Fan, not watercooled)

Noctua D15, Thermalright Silver Arrow Extreme are two of the best.

Well I enabled it and it is still playing up... I had turned it off before and overclocked fine with out it.

Usually when you change the multiplier to above stock the board automatically enabled Turbo, else its useless (as you discovered by manually disabling), so previously its likely the board switched Turbo on without you knowing. What motherboard is this? From a fresh CMOS setting, all you should have to do is set it to All Core Turbo and the Multiplier of desired amount.
 
Thats the problem, you overclock by Turbo on this platform. Enable Turbo and itll work as expected.

I fixed it, the BIOS was just being weird, I had to type in a load of random numbers until auto showed up for everything under turbo. I then turned turbo off, rebooted and realtemp is showing 4.4ghz so all is good.
 

xBladeM6x

Member
Whenever I upgrade my GPU, are there any steps I should take when swapping them? Like, anything beyond re-installing Nvidia divers.
 

Ac30

Member
Well, I'm having a shitty time with my 7-month old 290 Tri-X. Every driver after 13.12 instantly leads to a black screen after windows login, but 13.12 itself works perfectly -- performance is up to par and I experience no crashes; my card even overclocks totally stable. My card has Hynix memory so it can't be the Elpida errors that occurred in the beginning... Is it worth trying to flash a newer bios to the card? Can a bad card bios cause driver errors? There is a newer bios for the card up on Techpowerup.
 

Soodanim

Member
Damn. I'm close to getting the money I need for a new build, and I just read that the NVidia 800s will be out in March. That's too long to wait but quite soon...or is it? Given the improvements they're supposed to have, I'm probably going to want one. Or will I? Should I get a 750ti and sell it when the 800 hits? Or get a 760/770 and wait for the 900s?

I'm somewhat indecisive.
 
Damn. I'm close to getting the money I need for a new build, and I just read that the NVidia 800s will be out in March. That's too long to wait but quite soon...or is it? Given the improvements they're supposed to have, I'm probably going to want one. Or will I? Should I get a 750ti and sell it when the 800 hits? Or get a 760/770 and wait for the 900s?

I'm somewhat indecisive.
They're being announced about a week from Thursday and should hit store shelves by the end of the month. They may also be labelled as the 900 series for reasons, but lots of people think they're going to be very good price/performance cards. The only reason to wait until March is if they don't have a Maxwell card in your price range or if they delay the 8GB versions.
 

commissar

Member
Question about cases:

Is the Silverstone Fortress 2 still worth it for low noise+cooling (&style)?

Haven't kept up with cases so unsure if there's been something better.


Has this shit been posted? http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/news_archive/31.htm#144hz_ips
144 hz 1440p ips panel coming soon.
Oh man, I pray for backlight strobing and gsync/freesync support. I love using my VG248QE but it's not the best quality picture lol.

And the FG241 with its VA black crush and radial variation seems as though it'd be a deal breaker :/
 

mtodavk

Member
I haven't gamed on my actual PC monitor in a while, and I'm noticing now that when I've got my pc plugged into my monitor, the image appears to have LOTS of aliasing, but not so when I'm plugged into the tv.

So, can poor monitors cause your image to look aliased? I'm on an almost 10 year old viewsonic 1080p lcd.
 

billsmugs

Member
Generally all the reputable case manufacturers produce cases that dont suffer from any air flow issues. Therefore its not even needed to be concerned in this area. If your buying some cheap budget non-brand desktop case then you need to be worried, but you are buying something well above that. So the only things to look out for, is space efficiency, case layout, case cable management features and of course aesthetics. And you may also be concerned about the fan noise.

So I should be more concerned about the features and design of the case than the built in cooling? This review for that case mentions that the cooling isn't very good, but is that just nitpicking or is it likely to be a problem for a system with an i7 4790K CPU and a GTX 780Ti? Everything else about the case seems pretty good but I want the system to last me quite a while, so I'm a bit worried about it potentially getting too hot.
 
Generally all the reputable case manufacturers produce cases that dont suffer from any air flow issues. Therefore its not even needed to be concerned in this area. If your buying some cheap budget non-brand desktop case then you need to be worried, but you are buying something well above that. So the only things to look out for, is space efficiency, case layout, case cable management features and of course aesthetics. And you may also be concerned about the fan noise.

There are huge diffrences in cooling efficiency of different cases especially if someone doesn't want to spend extra cash on additional fans:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2014/08/12/phanteks-enthoo-luxe-review/3
 

LilJoka

Member
There are huge diffrences in cooling efficiency of different cases especially if someone doesn't want to spend extra cash on additional fans:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2014/08/12/phanteks-enthoo-luxe-review/3

Doesn't seem huge to me, look at the GPU results, like 80% of the cases are within 3*c, these results show that it really makes no difference. And buying better fans won't improve much in terms of price to cost ratio. Get the right flow and and most cases will have no problems.

And it also depends if you care about noise. Some of those results are using max fan speeds which will also have a poor noise to performance ratio, not worth it imo.
 

LilJoka

Member
So I should be more concerned about the features and design of the case than the built in cooling? This review for that case mentions that the cooling isn't very good, but is that just nitpicking or is it likely to be a problem for a system with an i7 4790K CPU and a GTX 780Ti? Everything else about the case seems pretty good but I want the system to last me quite a while, so I'm a bit worried about it potentially getting too hot.

Reason why this case has such high temps is because of the restricted intake. Most cases use a honeycomb grill to allow for easy flow, but this has a small grill on the side of the face of the case. That means the 120mm intake is starved to some extent.

If you ran a GTX 780 with aftermarket cooler like a Gigabyte Windforce edition, there shouldn't be an issue, I would use 2 exhaust fans and 2 intakes (negative pressure since the intakes are restricted). That will keep cold air flowing through the case without hot air lingering. I would also remove as many of the unused drive cages as possible.

The stock fan setup is not optimum that's for sure. Some cheap ~1000rpm Coolermaster fans will do the job.

You should also take into account that in the link you posted, the CPU &GPU is being passively cooled, having a fan here would probably change the whole picture.

Have you considered cases from Fractal Design, Lian Li, Silverstone, Coolermaster, Corsair, BitFenix?
 

billsmugs

Member
There are huge diffrences in cooling efficiency of different cases especially if someone doesn't want to spend extra cash on additional fans:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2014/08/12/phanteks-enthoo-luxe-review/3

Reason why this case has such high temps is because of the restricted intake. Most cases use a honeycomb grill to allow for easy flow, but this has a small grill on the side of the face of the case. That means the 120mm intake is starved to some extent.

If you ran a GTX 780 with aftermarket cooler like a Gigabyte Windforce edition, there shouldn't be an issue, I would use 2 exhaust fans and 2 intakes (negative pressure since the intakes are restricted). That will keep cold air flowing through the case without hot air lingering.

The stock fan setup is not optimum that's for sure. Some cheap ~1000rpm Coolermaster fans will do the job.

You should also take into account that in the link you posted, the CPU &GPU is being passively cooled, having a fan here would probably change the whole picture.

Have you considered cases from Fractal Design, Lian Li, Silverstone, Coolermaster, Corsair?

The main reasons I like the DS200 are the looks and the quietness, with the relatively low size and weight also being a plus (as I'll be transporting it between my home and my university accommodation quite a bit, which will involve carrying it up and down stairs and loading it into a car). The Phanteks Enthoo Luxe would probably be my second choice, although it's quite a bit louder and more expensive.

Would I be better off going with the Enthoo Luxe, or getting the DS200 with some extra fans?
 
I need recommendations for a computer. I'm not actually looking for a gaming machine but an art workstation. Since it needs to process 2D and 3D drawings and animations, the specs would pretty much be the same as needed for a gaming rig. I need to be as frugal as possible without sacrificing too much power so I guess I'm aiming for middle of the road in terms of costs. Something prefabricated would be preferable but I could probably find somebody to build one for me if the advantages are significant enough.


Any suggestions? Thanks!
 

Water

Member
I need recommendations for a computer. I'm not actually looking for a gaming machine but an art workstation. Since it needs to process 2D and 3D drawings and animations, the specs would pretty much be the same as needed for a gaming rig.
Not exactly. Compared to a gaming rig, you might be able to get by with a weak graphics card (depending on the specific work you are doing and the apps you are using), but also might benefit from CPU power that would be overkill for gaming, or get good value from an AMD CPU which you wouldn't ordinarily pick for a gaming box.

What's your rough budget?
 
Not exactly. Compared to a gaming rig, you might be able to get by with a weak graphics card (depending on the specific work you are doing and the apps you are using), but also might benefit from CPU power that would be overkill for gaming, or get good value from an AMD CPU which you wouldn't ordinarily pick for a gaming box.

What's your rough budget?

There is no budget at the moment. I'd been given this advice earlier:

"In order of priority: Max out RAM, invest in a speedy CPU, and pick up a solid discrete video card with a lot of vRAM (for GPU processing). You'll probably want solid state drive for your operating system & software + store everything else on hard drives."

As for my work, everything from graphic design to 3D modeling and animation. Software wise i either already have or am planning to pick up: Photoshop, Blender, Adobe Illustrator, TVPaint for starters.
 
Speaking of which, what kind of LEDs would you suggest? I've always wanted to get LED strips but never really looked into it. :p

Unfortunately I'm not the person to ask. I'm thinking about buying some myself and I've seen products around your price point. No first hand knowledge though.
 

Salty Hippo

Member
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but don't you need a rig capable of running a game on 144fps to take advantage of those 144hz monitors? Or are there also benefits for games that you run on 60fps?
 

The Llama

Member
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but don't you need a rig capable of running a game on 144fps to take advantage of those 144hz monitors? Or are there also benefits for games that you run on 60fps?

Well, you don't really get the benefits unless you run at >60FPS. But especially with older games its not that hard to get them to run at >60FPS.
 

P3P5I

Member
Hey everyone, I have a little problem.

My last post was about getting a new router and switch. The router and switch work amazingly, I'm able to get great Wi-Fi signal from one side of the house to the other. I recently decided to run a 100 ft CAT 5e ethernet cable from the basement (where the modem and router are located) to an upstairs closet where the switch is now. If I plug an ethernet cord in from the router in the basement to my roommate A's computer, he is getting 89 mb/s down (which is great as I'm paying for 105 mb/s down).

When I plug my ethernet cord from my switch to my other roommate B's computer next to my room he is getting 89 mb/s down as well (which means the cord isn't pierced and the switch is working fine). When I take that same ethernet cord plugged into the same slot in the switch into my computer, I'm getting 20 mb/s down. What?! All my drivers are updated and I even tried re-installing my LAN drivers, no luck.

GAF, please help me experience super fast speeds. I'll post my computer specs if anyone needs it to help.
 

Fauv

Member
Hello everyone! I've never built a PC, though I've wanted to for a long time, and I've finally decided to give it a shot.


  • Current Specs: I've been using a laptop for the past couple of years so I feel like virtually anything will feel like a big upgrade to me.
  • Budget: Planning for around $900, capped at $1000 US
  • Main Use: Light Gaming - 4, Gaming - 5, Emulation - 3, Video Editing -1, Streaming games in HD - 1, 3D/Model work - 2 (Maya or Blender) , General Usage - 3.
  • Monitor Resolution: I have a 1080p monitor that I plan on using
  • Games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: I've been holding off on playing games like Skyrim, Sleeping Dogs, and The Witcher 2 until I had a more capable PC, and I think 60fps sounds nice, but I've gotten used to playing games at <20 so hitting 60 isn't absolutely necessary.
  • Looking to reuse any parts?: None other than peripherals.
  • When will you build?: Hoping to do it within the next couple of weeks.
  • Will you be overclocking?: I don't think so...
Also, because I'm moving around fairly frequently, I think I want to go for MicroATX. If that's a bad idea for a first build let me know. I also just generally like the idea of a smaller form factor.

Here's a possible build I threw together, but I'm not sure if that all works together or not.

Also I read that Nvidia is announcing new stuff soon so I probably shouldn't buy a video card right away, but I just wanted to get a build down on paper.

Thanks for any help or feedback!
 
Hello everyone! I've never built a PC, though I've wanted to for a long time, and I've finally decided to give it a shot.


  • Current Specs: I've been using a laptop for the past couple of years so I feel like virtually anything will feel like a big upgrade to me.
  • Budget: Planning for around $900, capped at $1000 US
  • Main Use: Light Gaming - 4, Gaming - 5, Emulation - 3, Video Editing -1, Streaming games in HD - 1, 3D/Model work - 2 (Maya or Blender) , General Usage - 3.
  • Monitor Resolution: I have a 1080p monitor that I plan on using
  • Games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: I've been holding off on playing games like Skyrim, Sleeping Dogs, and The Witcher 2 until I had a more capable PC, and I think 60fps sounds nice, but I've gotten used to playing games at <20 so hitting 60 isn't absolutely necessary.
  • Looking to reuse any parts?: None other than peripherals.
  • When will you build?: Hoping to do it within the next couple of weeks.
  • Will you be overclocking?: I don't think so...
Also, because I'm moving around fairly frequently, I think I want to go for MicroATX. If that's a bad idea for a first build let me know. I also just generally like the idea of a smaller form factor.

Here's a possible build I threw together, but I'm not sure if that all works together or not.

Also I read that Nvidia is announcing new stuff soon so I probably shouldn't buy a video card right away, but I just wanted to get a build down on paper.

Thanks for any help or feedback!

If you aren't overclocking, how about something like this?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($223.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($73.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.99 @ Micro Center)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($234.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy M Midnight MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($99.99 @ TigerDirect)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $969.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-07 23:44 EDT-0400

You could go ahead and build without the GPU, then see what Nvidia does with the 900 series in a month or so.
 

DTKT

Member
Hey everyone, I have a little problem.

My last post was about getting a new router and switch. The router and switch work amazingly, I'm able to get great Wi-Fi signal from one side of the house to the other. I recently decided to run a 100 ft CAT 5e ethernet cable from the basement (where the modem and router are located) to an upstairs closet where the switch is now. If I plug an ethernet cord in from the router in the basement to my roommate A's computer, he is getting 89 mb/s down (which is great as I'm paying for 105 mb/s down).

When I plug my ethernet cord from my switch to my other roommate B's computer next to my room he is getting 89 mb/s down as well (which means the cord isn't pierced and the switch is working fine). When I take that same ethernet cord plugged into the same slot in the switch into my computer, I'm getting 20 mb/s down. What?! All my drivers are updated and I even tried re-installing my LAN drivers, no luck.

GAF, please help me experience super fast speeds. I'll post my computer specs if anyone needs it to help.

Are you the only computer with issues? Has anyone set up bandwidth limits?
 
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