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[Soodanim]

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£171.54 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.96 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus Z97I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£104.39 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£69.36 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£74.39 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£274.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case (£56.74 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12G 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£67.97 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £881.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-28 22:25 BST+0100

Amazon is the best for RMAs then everyone follows a fair bit worse with scan coming in 2nd imo.

Get a USB DVD rewriter if you only need it temporarily.


Too many issues with boards with Killer NICs, stick to boards with Intel NICs. Gigabyte GA-Z97N-WIFI is another good choice.

Corsair PSUs are ok, but not as good as they used to be in terms of the competition.

Thanks. I like the look of the 304, but I read a review after you posted and I'm not so keen now. The installation and cable management seems like it would be a lot of work in that small space (although I do like the size), and I like the idea of it being clean when it's finished. Plus air flow. Or am I misinformed? Truth be told I've only read one review and the guy doing it used a PSU bigger than Fractal said you should use, so he couldn't even fit a 560 in.

I might swap out the PSU for that gold one though, better power efficiency is always nice and I'd rather not use more power than I already will be using.

I have some 2.5" drives that were previously used in PS3's (a 160gb and a 120) that I could reuse for backups and/or music storage. Putting a 5400rpm drive in a machine that uses a 7200rpm drive wouldn't slow it down, would it? I'm assuming it would be fine as it would ruin the point of SSDs, but I have to ask as I have a 250gb WD MyBook that freezes on HDD activity if it hasn't been used in a few minutes, even if it isn't the external being accessed. I know that's not even the same issue, but I still wanted to ask. I could of course just get caddies for them.

 

[justsomeguy]

What's your goal with this? Gaming or pure home theater? You can build a dead silent PC even with powerful parts.

Spoiler

Go Gunners

Gaming.

Really silent? Fan noise bothers me... Would be looking at a twin frozr 979 most likely.

(thanks for the lucky point at the weekend!)

 

[Jimrpg]

Hey all - I'm trying to do some preliminary scouting for building a PC. Initially I wasn't going to build one this year as I had run out of funds and I wanted to wait until I could et 120fps on racing games, but the GTX970 has me pretty excited and looks like it will achieve it. It seems like there's a great performance to price ratio. The only trouble is I'm a console gamer normally so I really don't have much experience in picking parts and building one. So can someone please check my build and give me some tips. All prices in Australian dollars.

•Your Current Specs: None/No PC
•Budget: $1500 AU including monitor
•Main Use: Mainly Steam gaming. I have a 15' MacBook retina from 2012 that I will use for other things like browsing the web etc
•Monitor Resolution: 1080p/120/144hz
•List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: I will be playing racing games like Assetto Corsa, Project Cars etc. I want to run them on high settings at 1080/120fps. I don't play competitive games. I don't play FPS or MOBAs or MMOs. The next few games that are not racing games I will get are Civ: Beyond Earth, Divinity: Original Sin, GTA V. Id like to get 120fps on GTA V on high, but 60fps would do me. I don't know too much about PhysX and Supersampling and MSAA so I don't know about the performance hit I would get if I turned it on.
•Looking to reuse any parts?: List make and model - Nope
•When will you build?: Do you have a deadline? End 2014/2015 or will wait another year if I performance/price is not right.
•Will you be overclocking?: Maybe - it looks too hard for me, so if I can save some dollars I will probably do it.

Motherboard: ASUS z97m-PLUS - going with a mATX board here $139
CPU: i5-4690k $269 (i5-4590 is $219 though)
RAM: 16gb 1886hz Ram $169 (8gb is $80)
GPU: Gainward GTX 970 $429 (should I get the superclocked or overclocked ones?EVGA SC $469)
SSD: Sandisk Ultra II 256gb $120
HD: WD Blue 1TB $60
Case: Haven't picked one yet, something small and cheap $50
PSU: How much power do I need? Assuming I put another GPU in there further down the track too? $50 (do I need to spend more here?)
Heatsink - put one in now or later?
Monitor - BenQ z2411z or z2402z or Asus vg248qe? leaning towards the latter based on number of ppl here getting one $449
M&K - already have a mouse just get a kb - $10
Speakers - already have 2.1 speakers

Total - $1745

The BenQ monitor is $399 - so I could save $50 there. So I'm down to $1700. Maybe prices will go down a little after Christmas so hopefully it will be a little cheaper than $1700... I don't have a hard target for my budget, as long as I'm not too much over.

So my question after all this is - will it do 1080p at 120fps on high settings for racing games and other general gaming. Is there anything I'm missing here?

PS - how important is GSync? I hear Asus may come out with a vg248qe with gsync so maybe I should wait for that? I can't afford a Rog Swift though. I read in the other thread that tearing and stuttering isn't really that noticeable though on high frame rates.

EDIT: I also have a Logitech G27 which I just got and a x360 controller/ps4 controller too for gaming.

One more thing - is this fast enough for the Oculus Rift or would I need another graphics card in SLI?

 

[MJLord]

Hey guys I'm having a little trouble with my PC at the minute. I spent all of yesterday fixing a HDD failure and my PC in usual form presented me with more problems.

I seem to only be able to run my PC in integrated graphics with the graphics card out of the machine.

When I put the card in the PC boots to the motherboard screen then hangs for a while, I can't open the bios or do anything else while this is happening either. Then the screen goes black and nothing happens no matter how long I leave it.

Any suggestions as to what I can do to resolve it? The card is a brand new GTX970 and was working for the couple of days I had with it before my HDD failed.

 

[dcassell]

Has anybody had any experience installing a water CPU cooler in the NZXT Source 210 mid tower case? I'm tempted to get one of the corsair ones when they go on sale but I know next to nothing about installation and if I have space in my case for that. I currently have a DVD drive in a slot and three case fans, but those can be removed no problem. Any advice? I currently have this on my CPU: http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=35-186-134

Works pretty well, and I'm able to overclock my 4690k to 4.3 ghz. Would a water cooler get me any more performance? I'm getting about 60 degrees when gaming.

 

[Faith]

My Corsair Air 540 was delivered today.

The side-panel is looking like shit because of all the scratches. The SSD cage was just jumping around in the case while transporting. Nice, not?

 

[Inferno313]

Hey all, finally ready to order my 970.
I just can't find one... Anyone know where some are instock online?

 

[ekgrey]

Ok guys I have run into a little problem!

Boot camp fuxed up on my iMac so I need to reinstall Windows.

I cannot find a legit download of the 64 bit, Windows 8.1 Iso image for the life of me.

(I still have the product key from when I purchased 8.1 pro)

Anyone know where I can download this?

you can get it direct from MS. just did so last week. Google 8.1 ISO. should be towards the top. also pretty sure it's in the OP.

 

[demented]

I need some help with picking the monitor. My requirements are ips, 1440p, 27". Can't get rog swift or asus from OP because they are either unavailable or too expensive here.
Thought about Korean one but the wait time, pretty much no warranty etc just doesn't cut it for me right now.
So I've been researching what's available and came down to 1 choice and it's Dell U2713HM. I know it's not very fast (input lag ~22ms) and some have issues but I will have warranty and can take it to the store and replace it if it has any of the other issues including dead pixels.

What do you guys think, is it a good choice or?

Quoting for new page, need to decide today or tomorrow, want to get new monitor asap.

 

[Cuphead]

you can get it direct from MS. just did so last week. Google 8.1 ISO. should be towards the top. also pretty sure it's in the OP.

Got it thanks!

My issue was that I was on a mac at the time and the download from MS requires you to be on a machine running windows already.

 

[ekgrey]

i was planning to build in a Bitfenix Prodigy M but fell in love with this case.

that is gorgeous. not sure how I've never seen it before.

edit: oh right. derp. (Monday morning uuuuuuuuugh)

 

[LilJoka]

Thanks. I like the look of the 304, but I read a review after you posted and I'm not so keen now. The installation and cable management seems like it would be a lot of work in that small space (although I do like the size), and I like the idea of it being clean when it's finished. Plus air flow. Or am I misinformed? Truth be told I've only read one review and the guy doing it used a PSU bigger than Fractal said you should use, so he couldn't even fit a 560 in.

I might swap out the PSU for that gold one though, better power efficiency is always nice and I'd rather not use more power than I already will be using.

I have some 2.5" drives that were previously used in PS3's (a 160gb and a 120) that I could reuse for backups and/or music storage. Putting a 5400rpm drive in a machine that uses a 7200rpm drive wouldn't slow it down, would it? I'm assuming it would be fine as it would ruin the point of SSDs, but I have to ask as I have a 250gb WD MyBook that freezes on HDD activity if it hasn't been used in a few minutes, even if it isn't the external being accessed. I know that's not even the same issue, but I still wanted to ask. I could of course just get caddies for them.

Yeah its a bit of work getting the cables tidy, but it isnt rocket science. Just use the case struts to route the wires and use plenty of zip ties. Fold the cables neatly and tie them to shorten their lengths.

I have picked a PSU that fits properly for the case. And in fact, even if your doesnt you can remove the PSU bracket for an extra 20mm or so, which means most PSUs would fit.

Air flow isnt an issue.

The HDDs are fine to connect to the PC, it doesnt matter if you use different rpm drives. Your PC feeezes on access to a HDD due to Windows allowing the HD to spin down to save power. Then Windows will freeze for a few seconds until that drive has spun up when accessing it. You can disable that through the power settings in control panel.

If you think it will be so challenging to get your cables done in an ITX case, look at mATX, such as the Silverstone TJ08E. Along with an Asus/Gigabyte mATX motherboard. Full ATX is really only needed if you are doing multi GPU setups and/or sound card or other PCIE addons. Waste of space otherwise.

 

[Hindl]

Is the Acer GN246HL any good? And are there any similar monitors with those specs without the 3d around that price?

EDIT: Actually looking at it I've decided on the ASUS VG248QE

 

[ekgrey]

so after buying a 212 EVO without even considering the possibility that such a common HSF wouldn't fit in an mATX case, I am in need of a different cooler for my Air 240. whoops.

thinking Corsair H60 might be my best bet? how loud is it? the stock fan is the loudest thing in my case right now so I figure it pretty much has to be an improvement.

4670K in case you're wondering.

 

[Cuphead]

you can get it direct from MS. just did so last week. Google 8.1 ISO. should be towards the top. also pretty sure it's in the OP.

Is there any way to download the ISO image from a computer that is not the same one I plan on upgrading?

 

[Danlord]

so after buying a 212 EVO without even considering the possibility that such a common HSF wouldn't fit in an mATX case, I am in need of a different cooler for my Air 240. whoops.

thinking Corsair H60 might be my best bet? how loud is it? the stock fan is the loudest thing in my case right now so I figure it pretty much has to be an improvement.

4670K in case you're wondering.

I have the Corsair H60 2013 model and it's really good. I've switched the stock fan to an 'Aerocool Dead Silence' and my i7 4790K is hovering 30-35 degrees, with the Balanced Power Options. The H60 is easy to install and it's really effective at keeping the CPU cool and not being a nuisance in terms of noise. I have the H60's stock fan on the side of my case, I know it's not ideal but I did first test the stock fan in front of the radiator and it was very quiet.

 

[HT UK]

So before I start buying this stuff later this week, is there anything you guys would recommend I change:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£249.95 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.96 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£104.36 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£114.98 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£74.39 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£289.95 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£289.95 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£84.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£75.01 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£70.56 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1416.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-29 15:18 BST+0100

 

[Goldenmoney]

So before I start buying this stuff later this week, is there anything you guys would recommend I change:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£249.95 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.96 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£104.36 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£114.98 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£74.39 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£289.95 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£289.95 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£84.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£75.01 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£70.56 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1416.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-29 15:18 BST+0100

Sweet build, I'm jealous. Make sure you have a great monitor for that pc.

 

[HT UK]

Sweet build, I'm jealous. Make sure you have a great monitor for that pc.

Getting a new monitor will have to go onto my to do list for now The one I have now (27" 1080p) is less than a year old so I'm not gonna get a new one just yet.

 

[PixelHorror]

Hi GAF!

I would like some opinions in which components should I upgrade for my rig, my current specs go like this:

Core i3 530 @ 3GHZ
MSI 560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC 1GB
Rosewill HIVE 80PLUS 550w modular
4 GB Ram
1TB HDD @ 7200RPM

I would like to upgrade both my CPU and GPU and I have a budget of about 500/600USD.

What do you guys recommend?

 

[Fauv]

Hello everyone!

I just (mostly) finished my first build on Saturday. (I'm still waiting for my 970, which should be arriving today). Everything was going great until yesterday when I noticed all of the audio started sounding strange. I unplugged my headphones to use for something else and when I plugged them back in, all of the audio was garbled. It sounds really low bit-rate or something and when I play like a YouTube clip with someone speaking, they sound really distant and muffled.

I tried checking my headphones, and they're fine on other devices. I also tried both the rear audio port and the front panel port and there was no difference. I tried reinstalling the audio drivers and nothing changed. At this point I'm worried that it's a motherboard issue. I have a Biostar Hi-Fi B85S3+ motherboard with Realtek audio, and I'm running on Windows 8.1. Any suggestions? Would something like this be a workaround if it is a motherboard issue?

 

[riflen]

So before I start buying this stuff later this week, is there anything you guys would recommend I change:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£249.95 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.96 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£104.36 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£114.98 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£74.39 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£289.95 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£289.95 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£84.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£75.01 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£70.56 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1416.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-29 15:18 BST+0100

I would replace that PSU. It looks like it's the "G1" version, which has 4 x 12v rails @ 20A each. It would probably work, but many rails at lower rating can be problematic and is sometimes an indication of poor quality components or design.

There is a "G2" version which is manufactured by Super Flower (a very good PSU manufacturer) and reviewed excellently.
If you can't get the G2, then try to find a comparably-priced unit with a single 12v rail and 80+ Gold rating. A couple of good sites for PSU reviews are http://www.hardwaresecrets.com and http://www.jonnyguru.com imo.

 

[NOKYARD]

that is gorgeous. not sure how I've never seen it before.

I know, right?

I can't speak for the quality of the Xigmatek box yet but they do make some nice cases. They seem to be available in the UK and Canada but are scarce in the USA. It could be licensing or distribution issues if they are a parts supplier for a larger company.

About to pull the trigger on my build. Can anyone answer this before i finalize my budget.

I have basic home tools and the nearest good pc parts store is an hours drive away. When i start to build i don't want to have to put the build on hold to pickup unforeseen items. What extras (cables, brackets, special tools, adapters, cable ties, etc.) will i need to complete the build, or do the individual components come with everything i need?

 

[ricki42]

About to pull the trigger on my build. Can anyone answer this before i finalize my budget.

I have basic home tools and the nearest good pc parts store is an hours drive away. When i start to build i don't want to have to put the build on hold to pickup unforeseen items. What extras (cables, special tools, adapters, cable ties, etc.) will i need to actually build this, or do the individual components come with everything i need?

I was worried about the same thing, but then I ended up needing only a screwdriver. Both my motherboard and PSU came with cable ties, the motherboard came with 4 SATA cables and a number of screws for mounting several hard drives and SSDs. The PSU had a number of additional cables and adapters that I didn't need (yet). I would say just order the parts and check what's in the boxes.

 

[garath]

I was worried about the same thing, but then I ended up needing only a screwdriver. Both my motherboard and PSU came with cable ties, the motherboard came with 4 SATA cables and a number of screws for mounting several hard drives and SSDs. The PSU had a number of additional cables and adapters that I didn't need (yet). I would say just order the parts and check what's in the boxes.

Yep. You're not likely to need any additional components at all. Between the case and the motherboard, you should have all the pieces you need for a successful build. Just have a philips head screwdriver handy to screw in the motherboard mounts.

 

[Goldenmoney]

Hi GAF!

I would like some opinions in which components should I upgrade for my rig, my current specs go like this:

Core i3 530 @ 3GHZ
MSI 560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC 1GB
Rosewill HIVE 80PLUS 550w modular
4 GB Ram
1TB HDD @ 7200RPM

I would like to upgrade both my CPU and GPU and I have a budget of about 500/600USD.

What do you guys recommend?

If you upgrade your cpu, you'll probably need a new motherboard as well. Perhaps 4 more gb of ram too.

i5-4690k and gtx 970 are probably the best value right now.

 

[Bricky]

Hi GAF!

I would like some opinions in which components should I upgrade for my rig, my current specs go like this:

*Snip*

I would like to upgrade both my CPU and GPU and I have a budget of about 500/600USD.

What do you guys recommend?

First things first: get a SSD as boot drive and for your most used programs/games. This is an essential buy when changing your rig in 2014, don't prioritize any other possible upgrade. I'd recommend getting 128GB+ but even a small drive will change your life.

About your other components: Your CPU is a bit of a problem. You'll need another motherboard to make a serious upgrade. In fact; every part of your PC but the powersupply and HDD have become outdated. I think you'd be better of building an entirely new system and selling your old one. It might even be smart to wait and save a bit more money before you do that since this one should be capable of surviving another year or so.

If you don't want to wait though, here's what you can do right now:
1) Buy an SSD.
2) Seriously, buy an SSD.
3) Swap your 560 Ti with an 970. I did the same last week and the price/performance is insane (within your budget too!). It might get bottlenecked by your CPU a bit, but a card like the 970 should last you a few years and is transferable to your new system if you decide to build one later down the road (you'd just be buying one new part early).
4) Buy another 4GB of the same RAM. 4GB doesn't leave much headroom nowadays, especially if you like multitasking.

 

[Erebus]

Is it worth paying an extra 20€ for the 850 Pro over the older 840 Pro Samsung SSD?

 

[Reckless Onion]

Pc keeps crashing on me but only ingame. What can i do to find out what is causing it?

 

[PixelHorror]

If you upgrade your cpu, you'll probably need a new motherboard as well. Perhaps 4 more gb of ram too.

i5-4690k and gtx 970 are probably the best value right now.

Thank you, I'm thinking about the same path.

First things first: get a SSD as boot drive and for your most used programs/games. This is an essential buy when changing your rig in 2014, don't prioritize any other possible upgrade. I'd recommend getting 128GB+ but even a small drive will change your life.

...

Thanks, great advice. I really want to invest in a SSD boot drive too. They've become cheap so it won't hurt as much.

So, new CPU + MOBO + SDD for now as my 560ti still works for my use case

 

[Inferno313]

I know, right?

I can't speak for the quality of the Xigmatek box yet but they do make some nice cases. They seem to be available in the UK and Canada but are scarce in the USA. It could be licensing or distribution issues if they are a parts supplier for a larger company.

About to pull the trigger on my build. Can anyone answer this before i finalize my budget.

I only got 2 Sata cables with my Motherboard, so make sure you're going to have enough. The MX100 doesn't come with one. That's the only problem I ran into, and thankfully I had an extra sata lying around.

 

[Danlord]

Pc keeps crashing on me but only ingame. What can i do to find out what is causing it?

Perhaps run FurMark to see if your GPU is failing and run prime95 to test your CPU. That's always the first thing I tell friends if they have the same problem.

 

[ekgrey]

Is there any way to download the ISO image from a computer that is not the same one I plan on upgrading?

yeah, that's what I did since it was a new build. just have to make sure the computer you're using is 64 bit if you're downloading the 64 bit version. have an empty USB drive (it'll erase anything on it.) process was amazingly smooth and fast.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

use the "create installation media" option.

I followed those steps exactly, except it says "run" instead of "save" in step 2 and my mother-in-law's PC didn't give me option to do anything but save. just deleted the tool from her desktop when I finished.

 

[Reckless Onion]

Perhaps run FurMark to see if your GPU is failing and run prime95 to test your CPU. That's always the first thing I tell friends if they have the same problem.

thanks i'll try that

 

[ekgrey]

I know, right?

I can't speak for the quality of the Xigmatek box yet but they do make some nice cases. They seem to be available in the UK and Canada but are scarce in the USA. It could be licensing or distribution issues if they are a parts supplier for a larger company.

About to pull the trigger on my build. Can anyone answer this before i finalize my budget.

looking at their site, they have some of those awful G4M3R designs but the one you linked is really nice. also like the look of the nebula for mini-ITX. shame they're not readily available in the US. suppose that'd explain why I hadn't seen them haha.

I just did my build a week ago and all I needed was a Philips head screwdriver and a credit card with some isopropyl alcohol and q-tips for removing the stock cooling paste. I had ties all ready to go but my case came with better/smaller ones.

only thing I ended up having to wait on was a PWM fan splitter since my case has three fans and my mobo only 2 sets of pins. so check that and you should be good to go.

 

[IMACOMPUTA]

When in god's name is the Phanteks Evolv being sold!?

 

[Smokey]

It's definitely irritating. I didn't even get to talk to anyone and I know they are open on the weekends. Their site has their hours. Nearly a hour of wasted time only to be thrown back to the original number in the first place is poor service.



Jesus

I've never had this happen but I have had to deal with them on a previous board RMA. It is one of the reasons I got the Microcenter protection plan. I did not want to deal with them again. Unfortunately MC doesn't stock the R4BE anymore. At least not from what I can see on their website.

Will head up to MC later and see what I can do.

Update:

Went up to MC. They do not carry the Rampage IV Black Edition anymore. So if I bring it back I would get store credit of $450.

I could use that $450 and jump on X99. That would take care of the motherboard, but then I'd have to come off of $499 for 5930k or $899 for 5960x and some DDR4. My 4930k would essentially be useless .

If I send the RIVBE to Asus for RMA then I lose my ability to get the credit at Microcenter via my protection plan.

Halp

 

[kennah]

Update:

Went up to MC. They do not carry the Rampage IV Black Edition anymore. So if I bring it back I would get store credit of $450.

I could use that $450 and jump on X99. That would take care of the motherboard, but then I'd have to come off of $499 for 5930k or $899 for 5960x and some DDR4. My 4930k would essentially be useless .

If I send the RIVBE to Asus for RMA then I lose my ability to get the credit at Microcenter via my protection plan.

Halp

DO IT. I'm sure you can sell your 4930K. Or make cufflinks out of it.

 

[riflen]

Update:

Went up to MC. They do not carry the Rampage IV Black Edition anymore. So if I bring it back I would get store credit of $450.

I could use that $450 and jump on X99. That would take care of the motherboard, but then I'd have to come off of $499 for 5930k or $899 for 5960x and some DDR4. My 4930k would essentially be useless .

If I send the RIVBE to Asus for RMA then I lose my ability to get the credit at Microcenter via my protection plan.

Halp

Ugh, that blows. That motherboard is still available elsewhere. I guess you could make an arrangement with someone you trust who could use something from MC. They can buy the mobo for you and you use your store credit to buy what they're after. Good job you didn't have a custom water loop, it'd make it all even more annoying.

 

[Mohasus]

About the bug in the 840 EVO, would a full anti-virus scan every 3 weeks prevent that? (While the fix isn't out)

edit: just found out the fix will be released on October 15th. I'll just wait.

 

[LilJoka]

About the bug in the 840 EVO, would a full anti-virus scan every 3 weeks prevent that? (While the fix isn't out)

I wouldn't do anything unless you notice a difference. I think the files need to be rewritten not jus accessed otherwise if you opened the program or file that would fix it. You have to copy the folder then delete the original and rename the copy. That will make that folder accessible at normal speeds again.

 

[shandy706]

How are Nvidia doing on the stock of the 970 and 980?

Anyone know?

Trying to guess how long I'm going to be in queue for my 980 step up.

I can't decide if I should be excited sooner or later...or much much later.

 

[Cuphead]

yeah, that's what I did since it was a new build. just have to make sure the computer you're using is 64 bit if you're downloading the 64 bit version. have an empty USB drive (it'll erase anything on it.) process was amazingly smooth and fast.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

use the "create installation media" option.

I followed those steps exactly, except it says "run" instead of "save" in step 2 and my mother-in-law's PC didn't give me option to do anything but save. just deleted the tool from her desktop when I finished.

Thanks! You're a life saver!

Shadow of Mordor here I come!

 

[Fauv]

Hello everyone!

I just (mostly) finished my first build on Saturday. (I'm still waiting for my 970, which should be arriving today). Everything was going great until yesterday when I noticed all of the audio started sounding strange. I unplugged my headphones to use for something else and when I plugged them back in, all of the audio was garbled. It sounds really low bit-rate or something and when I play like a YouTube clip with someone speaking, they sound really distant and muffled.

I tried checking my headphones, and they're fine on other devices. I also tried both the rear audio port and the front panel port and there was no difference. I tried reinstalling the audio drivers and nothing changed. At this point I'm worried that it's a motherboard issue. I have a Biostar Hi-Fi B85S3+ motherboard with Realtek audio, and I'm running on Windows 8.1. Any suggestions? Would something like this be a workaround if it is a motherboard issue?

Anyone? Any suggestions would be really appreciated. Thanks!

 

[riflen]

Anyone? Any suggestions would be really appreciated. Thanks!

Something you could try is to download Ubuntu, chuck it on a USB stick, boot up and see if audio is OK. If that works then you know your hardware is OK and you're looking at a software problem.

You could also check the motherboard manufacturer's website and see if there's a BIOS update available.

Also, where did you get the drivers you're using? CD, manufacturer's website, MS Windows?

 

[OrlanisWorks]

How does this card stack up today? EVGA SuperClocked Signature 2 02G-P4-2661-KR GeForce GTX 660 2GB

Also, would it be worth getting as a replacement for this, a GTX 460 SE?

Thank ya!

 

[NOKYARD]

I was worried about the same thing, but then I ended up needing only a screwdriver. Both my motherboard and PSU came with cable ties, the motherboard came with 4 SATA cables and a number of screws for mounting several hard drives and SSDs. The PSU had a number of additional cables and adapters that I didn't need (yet). I would say just order the parts and check what's in the boxes.

Yep. You're not likely to need any additional components at all. Between the case and the motherboard, you should have all the pieces you need for a successful build. Just have a philips head screwdriver handy to screw in the motherboard mounts.

Thanks guys, but what's a philips head screwdriver?

Spoiler

Just kidding, i thought i might have needed to buy some torx drivers.

I only got 2 Sata cables with my Motherboard, so make sure you're going to have enough. The MX100 doesn't come with one. That's the only problem I ran into, and thankfully I had an extra sata lying around.

I decided to spring for the Silverstone PP05 Short Cable Set and a modular PSU. Some of the google search build images for that case are downright ugly with non-modular and long cable PSUs. It's more than i wanted to spend but i know i will not regret the decision come upgrade time.

I just did my build a week ago and all I needed was a Philips head screwdriver and a credit card with some isopropyl alcohol and q-tips for removing the stock cooling paste. I had ties all ready to go but my case came with better/smaller ones.

I was wondering about cooling paste. Ended up finding a Silverstone TD03 for $50. If it doesn't come with good paste i can grab a tube when i pickup the remaining parts later this week.

 

[garath]

Thanks guys, but what's a philips head screwdriver?

Spoiler

Just kidding, i thought i might have needed to buy some torx drivers.

I decided to spring for the Silverstone PP05 Short Cable Set and a modular PSU. Some of the google search build images for that case are downright ugly with non-modular and long cable PSUs. It's more than i wanted to spend but i know i will not regret the decision come upgrade time.
I was wondering about cooling paste. Ended up finding a Silverstone TD03 for $50. If it doesn't come with good paste i can grab a tube when i pickup the remaining parts later this week.

Someone else with more first hand knowledge on that cooler can say better but I'm pretty sure using aftermarket paste is a thing of the past. Use whatever comes with the cooler.

edit: With the Pentium chip you're getting, the cooler itself may be overkill. It's usually recommended just to use the stock cooler for that.

 

[NOKYARD]

edit: With the Pentium chip you're getting, the cooler itself may be overkill. It's usually recommended just to use the stock cooler for that.

There's going to be an overclocked Broadwell in that socket next summer.

 

[Smokey]

DO IT. I'm sure you can sell your 4930K. Or make cufflinks out of it.

Yeah. I'd feel better if I had this planned though.

Ugh, that blows. That motherboard is still available elsewhere. I guess you could make an arrangement with someone you trust who could use something from MC. They can buy the mobo for you and you use your store credit to buy what they're after. Good job you didn't have a custom water loop, it'd make it all even more annoying.

+ 1 for being on air

If I move to x99 and I get screwed with something not working I'm retiring from the game.