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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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Kevyt

Member
Hello PC GAF... so today I decided to sell my PS3, PS4 and Vita to upgrade my PC... but I'm very sad I will no longer have consoles. :(

It's so sad, but maybe in the future I'll rebuy them.

I am very sad nonetheless, but it's all for a 970 SLI....
 
Long time lurker who just wanted to give a shout out of appreciation for the thread. I wasn't yet registered at the time I built my machine, but the information in here was very helpful and took out a lot of the mystery and uncertainty of building my new desktop. Thanks GAF!
 

Hente

Member
Is it a good idea to get an open box CPU from Microcenter? I want to buy a 3570k from there and they have an open box version thats $40 cheaper than a new CPU. Money is a bit tight for me so I'd be willing to opt for the open box one if it's good to work. Is this advisable? Does Microcenter run any checks to see if the thing still works when it's returned? Anything I should ask the sales rep if/when I go? Anything that I should just plain keep an eye out for?

I'm a bit worried that, worst case scenario, it would mess up my mobo somehow (I'm pretty computer illiterate so I don't know if this is even possible) with my old CPU not being able to work. Don't want to have to go out and get a new mobo, and at this point I'd probably just get a Haswell CPU + Mobo combo instead of getting another 1155 socket mobo. I think there is a 15 day return limit so I don't think I'd be too worried about wasting money completely.
 

Smokey

Member
My new PC is up and running now. One of my HDDs didn't survive the migration, but it didn't contain any important data. Still, that means I'm down to just 6TB of HDD space and 750 GB of SSD space :p

Whole thing:
20140919_141534q6q6w.jpg

The only point that disturbs me is the front panel audio cable hanging in the air right in the front. But it needs to go to the sound card, so I don't think there's much I can do about that.


Breh

Dat heatsink
 

Woffls

Member
where's your SSD?
There's two SSD mounts on the back. Took a photo.... cables are less tidy than I remember :(

Related question: why is it so damn difficult to get into UEFI on this board? I hit delete constantly on boot, and the first thing I see when the monitors finally turn on is Windows loading :\
 
Okay, here's my finished build. Mostly happy with the cable situation... I spent hours making sure the back was tidy as well but I don't have a photo. Had a lot of fun building this, and the R4 is a pleasure to work with.

In case it wasn't obvious, I was going for a black scheme! The PSU is slightly annoying by being half orange, but my case doesn't even have a window so whatever.

After a quick session on Black Flag, the CPU core temps get to 47-50, which seems alright. Not overclocked properly yet... just going to see how it goes for a few days. And yeah, that's only a 750 Ti SC :(

Untitled_zpse9dd47d0.png

Pretty! And yes, you will definitely be able to push that CPU hard.
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
My new PC is up and running now. One of my HDDs didn't survive the migration, but it didn't contain any important data. Still, that means I'm down to just 6TB of HDD space and 750 GB of SSD space :p

Wait 6TB? Do you have every single one of your Steam games installed at once?
 
Hello PC GAF... so today I decided to sell my PS3, PS4 and Vita to upgrade my PC... but I'm very sad I will no longer have consoles. :(

It's so sad, but maybe in the future I'll rebuy them.

I am very sad nonetheless, but it's all for a 970 SLI....

Well look at it this way. Not many games coming out over the next few months that won't be on PC. I have a PS4 but rarely use it. Played Destiny but that got boring fast. Next game I will probably buy for the system will be Bloodborne next year.
 
Hmmm... I'm still waiting on my 2x 970's to arrive, but the rest of my computer is built and running... Trying to decide whether to post pics now or wait until Monday for the 970's to arrive...

Wait 6TB? Do you have every single one of your Steam games installed at once?

I currently have about 10TB. When storage goes on sale on Black Friday, I can't help myself...
 

Woffls

Member
I have about 6TB as well. I will be filling up one of the drives with Steam backups so that I can just drag them onto my SSD in a couple of minutes rather than waiting half a day for a game to download. 10Mbit connection :(
 

Linkup

Member
Related question: why is it so damn difficult to get into UEFI on this board? I hit delete constantly on boot, and the first thing I see when the monitors finally turn on is Windows loading :\

Usually there is a start up delay option, could be set to something like 1 second by default.
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
I want to make sure the PC i am building will be Oculus-ready once it hits retail. Assuming everything else is up to snuff, is a single GTX 970 not going to be enough? Does Oculus play well with SLI if I just got two 970s? Or would 980 be a better way to go.
Depends when the launch is, what resoultion it will run, what Hz it will run, how well VR SLI is working across titles, etc.

A single 970 now I think is the smartest bet as the 980 alone isn't much of a boost at all.
 

tarheel91

Member
Here's the final results.


This thing is dead silent at idle. I can't tell whether it's on or off unless I'm looking at it. Radiator fans idle at 300RPM. Case fans around 500RPM. While the build quality of this case is amazing, there are a few things I'm really peeved about. First, the PSU stand is terribly done. It's just the shit metal folded up vertically. Makes it very hard to keep it steady as you screw it in. Second, there needs to be another 5mm of space on the back side. I spent 30 mins rearranging cables to get the back cover on.

5820K at 4.4Ghz and 1.265V.
295X2 at stock clocks (no need for more).
 

Kevyt

Member
Here's the final results.



This thing is dead silent at idle. I can't tell whether it's on or off unless I'm looking at it. Radiator fans idle at 300RPM. Case fans around 500RPM. While the build quality of this case is amazing, there are a few things I'm really peeved about. First, the PSU stand is terribly done. It's just the shit metal folded up vertically. Makes it very hard to keep it steady as you screw it in. Second, there needs to be another 5mm of space on the back side. I spent 30 mins rearranging cables to get the back cover on.

5820K at 4.4Ghz and 1.265V.
295X2 at stock clocks (no need for more).

That looks absolutely beautiful. Simple and elegant.

Well look at it this way. Not many games coming out over the next few months that won't be on PC. I have a PS4 but rarely use it. Played Destiny but that got boring fast. Next game I will probably buy for the system will be Bloodborne next year.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. The only exclusive games I'm interested right now are U4 and Bloodborne. Other than that everything else is on PC, and I rather just play most of my games on PC. The only thing I was playing on my PS4 was the Last of Us Remastered which I finished in two sittings, lol.
 

NJDEN

Member
So does anyone have any information on the EVGA 970 FTW model?

I can't find anyone selling them; I'm not sure if its just due to the high demand or that they haven't actually started selling it yet.

Plus their website has been hit or miss over the past two days.
 

Woffls

Member
I've gone up to 4Ghz with my 5820K and the core speed reading in CPU-Z seems to drop to 1.2Ghz every now and then, with the core voltage dropping as well to 0.81, and the multiplier to 12. I've not done any overclocking in a long time... is this normal behaviour? Core temps 27-31 idle, 49-57 doing Cinebench - everything else seems normal. Is CPU-Z just giving inaccurate readings?
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
I've gone up to 4Ghz with my 5820K and the core speed reading in CPU-Z seems to drop to 1.2Ghz every now and then, with the core voltage dropping as well to 0.81, and the multiplier to 12. I've not done any overclocking in a long time... is this normal behaviour? Core temps 27-31 idle, 49-57 doing Cinebench - everything else seems normal. Is CPU-Z just giving inaccurate readings?
SpeedStepping / C1E
 

Durante

Member
I've gone up to 4Ghz with my 5820K and the core speed reading in CPU-Z seems to drop to 1.2Ghz every now and then, with the core voltage dropping as well to 0.81, and the multiplier to 12. I've not done any overclocking in a long time... is this normal behaviour? Core temps 27-31 idle, 49-57 doing Cinebench - everything else seems normal. Is CPU-Z just giving inaccurate readings?
That's just Speedstep.

CPU-z is a bit stupid since it only shows you core 0 frequency. As the Windows scheduler likes to move around busy threads any given core could have any load at any point, leading to large speedstep fluctuations.
 

knitoe

Member
I've gone up to 4Ghz with my 5820K and the core speed reading in CPU-Z seems to drop to 1.2Ghz every now and then, with the core voltage dropping as well to 0.81, and the multiplier to 12. I've not done any overclocking in a long time... is this normal behaviour? Core temps 27-31 idle, 49-57 doing Cinebench - everything else seems normal. Is CPU-Z just giving inaccurate readings?

Run HWinfo and Prime95 for OC stability testing. Cinebench barely pushes the CPU.
 

Woffls

Member
SpeedStepping / C1E
That's just Speedstep.

CPU-z is a bit stupid since it only shows you core 0 frequency. As the Windows scheduler likes to move around busy threads any given core could have any load at any point, leading to large speedstep fluctuations.

Run HWinfo and Prime95 for OC stability testing. Cinebench barely pushes the CPU.
Thanks, all. Ran Prime95 and core voltage was at a constant 1.174 - I assume that implies stability?. Max core temp rage was 67-80, which I'm guessing is quite high, but I'm not expecting much from an H60.
 

knitoe

Member
Thanks, all. Ran Prime95 and core voltage was at a constant 1.174 - I assume that implies stability?. Max core temp rage was 67-80, which I'm guessing is quite high, but I'm not expecting much from an H60.

If your computer doesn't crashed from running Prime95 after a few hours, it's pretty much stable. What speed is the CPU running at?
 
Thanks, all. Ran Prime95 and core voltage was at a constant 1.174 - I assume that implies stability?. Max core temp rage was 67-80, which I'm guessing is quite high, but I'm not expecting much from an H60.

80 in torture test is ok as you won't reach so high tempratures in normal usage
 
Just replaced my PSU and now my PC won't turn on :( Any help?

Where's the PSU's I/O switch supposed to be btw?

I'm sure you've already checked this, but did you flip the switch on the back of the PSU to on?

Other than that, you might have knocked the power button connector off the motherboard. Or you could have not seated the power connectors fully for the motherboard. I'd just double check all connections, it's too easy to knock something loose.
 

Splenivore

Neo Member
Does anybody know if this L337 Gaming Z97-MACHINE motherboard is any good? It's $92 after rebate, which seems like a pretty good deal.

I intend to put an i5-4690K and a GTX 970 in it. My hope is that down the road I can get a big, easy performance boost by overclocking the i5-4690K and putting a second GTX 970 in SLI. It's not clear to me if SLI is possible in this board. It's not mentioned as "supported," and the board doesn't include an SLI bridge, but it does have two PCI-E 3.0 x16 ports.

If this "L337" motherboard isn't well-suited for that, are there any other boards in the $100-$120 range that would work? I don't want to be too cheap, but I also feel like the extra money would be better spent on components that impact performance more (CPU, GPU, SSD, or RAM).
 

Woffls

Member
If your computer doesn't crashed from running Prime95 after a few hours, it's pretty much stable. What speed is the CPU running at?
Only 4Ghz. I ran it for like five minutes then I terminated it.

What's the best way to change my memory speed? Is it even worth it? Just from 2133 to 2400, voltage would stay at 1.2.
 

LilJoka

Member
Only 4Ghz. I ran it for like five minutes then I terminated it.

What's the best way to change my memory speed? Is it even worth it? Just from 2133 to 2400, voltage would stay at 1.2.

Through the BIOS, something like DRAM Frequency. You would usually need to change the primary ram timings and ran voltage too depending on speed. Check what your ram is rated at then go from there. XMP profile may work if your RAM has it, but this is not always ideal.
 

knitoe

Member
Does anybody know if this L337 Gaming Z97-MACHINE motherboard is any good? It's $92 after rebate, which seems like a pretty good deal.

I intend to put an i5-4690K and a GTX 970 in it. My hope is that down the road I can get a big, easy performance boost by overclocking the i5-4690K and putting a second GTX 970 in SLI. It's not clear to me if SLI is possible in this board. It's not mentioned as "supported," and the board doesn't include an SLI bridge, but it does have two PCI-E 3.0 x16 ports.

If this "L337" motherboard isn't well-suited for that, are there any other boards in the $100-$120 range that would work? I don't want to be too cheap, but I also feel like the extra money would be better spent on components that impact performance more (CPU, GPU, SSD, or RAM).
SLI support is not listed and reviewers say NO. If you plan on OC, spend more for a better MB that also includes SLI.
 

Woffls

Member
Through the BIOS, something like DRAM Frequency. You would usually need to change the primary ram timings and ran voltage too depending on speed. Check what your ram is rated at then go from there. XMP profile may work if your RAM has it, but this is not always ideal.
It was tested at 1.2v, 2400Mhz and has XMP2. I tried using XMP a few times, and setting manually, but I kept running into issues. Since overclocking the CPU, I've tried XMP again and everything is fine at 2400Mhz, which is odd.
 
The h100i will have slightly lower cooling power than the h110 due to the smaller radiator and the smaller fans. Is the h105 in stock? It has a thicker radiator which should keep it close to the h110 in cooling.

If the h100i is your only option, it's still a great cooler and should work just fine for you unless you plan on overclocking over 4.5GHz on the chip.

No unfortunately they don't have that in stock either, maybe I'll wait for the h110 or just suck it up and go with Noctua DH-15, however making no room for DDR4 ram expansion in the future is bad.(same thing happened with the Noctua DH-14)

I'll see how long it takes for the H110 to be in stock if they say October 3rd+ then maybe I need to

Thanks Mordecai.
 

Dezben

Banned
My current PC is hand-built but a few years old now-I wanna say I put it together either late 2011 or in 2012. Mainly curious if there any useful areas to upgrade in right now, here's a readout of what I got:

http://valid.x86.fr/rp4vcn

I'm also running a 512GB SSD with two SATA hard drives for media storage, since it doesn't say so there. Suggestions are appreciated!
 

Someglan

Banned
hey guys! First, I want to say that I love this thread and that the topic post has helped me TREMENDOUSLY with choosing parts. After about a month of research, I have come up with this build.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2YQnXL

I want to use this build for some good gaming and streaming with a multi-monitor set up. I've also been interested in video editing and general media stuff.

Do these parts seem sufficient? Are there any glaring problems?
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
Good news: HDD went right in and Windows recognized it immediately. Didn't even have to format.

Bad news: It added like five seconds to my PC's startup time. Fuck. Can't wait for big-ass affordable SSDs to get here.
 
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