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[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

Ok.

Overclocking.

Apart from dickwaving, what does it really bring to the table?

I currently now have a i5 4690k + GTX 970 combo.

If im only going to play my games Vsynced at 1080/60fps, does it really matter if a 0.5ghz over clock gives me an extra 10fps?

Right now my system is extremely cool, even under load (typically 40c at best so far)

Because of that, its extremely quiet, which is far more important to me.

Im just not sure overclocking brings anything more in real world benefits outside a system that runs hotter and noiser.

 

[diggmcbadass]

Pros and cons between the two, how much better is one to the other with being a similar price?

The first is a facebook machine, and the second is a powerful desktop capable of running games at 1080p for years and years into the future? There really isn't a comparison.

 

[LilJoka]

Ok.

Overclocking.

Apart from dickwaving, what does it really bring to the table?

I currently now have a i5 4690k + GTX 970 combo.

If im only going to play my games Vsynced at 1080/60fps, does it really matter if a 0.5ghz over clock gives me an extra 10fps?

Right now my system is extremely cool, even under load (typically 40c at best so far)

Because of that, its extremely quiet, which is far more important to me.

Im just not sure overclocking brings anything more in real world benefits outside a system that runs hotter and noiser.

Overclocking can be done without running too much hotter, and still maintaining the same noise profile. Your CPU can easily run 70-80c 24/7 and not have a problem, so there is no point jacking fans up to bring those temps down for no reason. Therefore adding a little voltage and giving the CPU a small speed boost wont incur any real penalty. You just need a decent CPU cooler.

As for the fps, its likely to have little difference to the max fps, but it will keep those minimum fps higher. If you look at the frametimes, youll notice a reduced variance, which can make for a much smoother experience. its not all about fps.

All my CPU overclocks always use the minimum fan speeds once ive finished stress testing. You only need max fan speeds whist running stress programs as they produce significantly more load ans therefore higher temps. Games get nowhere close.

 

[Faith]

Guys, what's the most badass looking LGA1150 mainboard for under 200$? It should be black, without LEDs

 

[nilbog21]

hey guys, anyone have this case and having case fans issues? I think its called the NZXT Phantom

The case fan on the top is SUPER loud, I tried using an air can to clean it up but it did not fix it.

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

Overclocking can be done without running too much hotter, and still maintaining the same noise profile. Your CPU can easily run 70-80c 24/7 and not have a problem, so there is no point jacking fans up to bring those temps down for no reason. Therefore adding a little voltage and giving the CPU a small speed boost wont incur any real penalty. You just need a decent CPU cooler.

As for the fps, its likely to have little difference to the max fps, but it will keep those minimum fps higher. If you look at the frametimes, youll notice a reduced variance, which can make for a much smoother experience. its not all about fps.

All my CPU overclocks always use the minimum fan speeds once ive finished stress testing. You only need max fan speeds whist running stress programs as they produce significantly more load ans therefore higher temps. Games get nowhere close.

Hmm.

At the moment nothing im playing dips under 55fps, currently I can live with that.

Maybe further down the line when games start to be more intensive, but as it stands, im still not convinced.

Thanks for your input regardless. I might alter my cooling so the fans dont kick in under 40c at all.

 

[LordAlu]

Guys, what's the most badass looking LGA1150 mainboard for under 200$? It should be black, without LEDs

For under $200? Probably the Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H-BK.

 

[Addnan]

What is the smallest matx case that can house a Gigabyte 770 Windforce cooler?

 

[Faith]

For under $200? Probably the Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H-BK.

Mmmmh nice. What do you think of the Asus Sabertooth Z87?

Should I even spend that much money on a mobo? I just want to replace my old one because I need SLI support.

 

[AndreH121]

Question, It's been a while since I built my PC, I remember one of the differences between an i5 and i7 being double the threads (4 cores/4 threads vs. 4 cores/8 threads). I also remember this feature being near useless for 3d gaming and sometimes even making it worse. Just wondering if this was still the case.

 

[LeGourmand]

I manage to sold my GTX 770 for a good price last night. Now i'm looking at all the Canadian stores, all the 970/980 are sold out t.t

 

[av2k]

hey guys, anyone have this case and having case fans issues? I think its called the NZXT Phantom

The case fan on the top is SUPER loud, I tried using an air can to clean it up but it did not fix it.

I have this case for about four years and no issues. Have you tried turning off all the fans on the top of the case and isolating the troublesome one to see what the issue is?

 

[Crub]

I've had some weird issues with Steam lately that I believe to be hardware-related. I have to make multiple attempts before I am able to log onto Steam. This happens both on my Windows partition as well as my Linux partition, but not on my laptop. I have tried using both wired and wireless connection, getting the same result.

Any idea what could be the root of this problem?

 

[zyxwvu4321]

System (to get it out of the way): i7-4790k, MSI Z97 Gaming 5 (latest bios), Corsair H100i.

OK, I'm feeling a bit clueless on overclocking my CPU. So far what I've done is turn off EIST and C1E like in this guide, but I couldn't find C3/C6. Then I set all cores to 46x and changed Vcore to 1.200. I booted into windows, loaded up RealTemp, CPU-Z, and HWInfo, then ran a short, 5-minute stress test with Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. Tmax during those 5 minutes were 59/60/60/55. According to CPU-Z, voltage never changed from 1.200 during the whole run.

So questions:

1) When everything is sitting idle, should the clock speed still be limiting itself? Clock speed is mostly bouncing between 800/1100/1300 right now. HWInfo shows something called Uncore varying right now as well.

2) When trying to manually set a specific Vcore in the bios, it asked me to select a mode. I picked "Override" and changed only Vcore. Is that correct?

Thanks in advance!

 

[The Llama]

System (to get it out of the way): i7-4790k, MSI Z97 Gaming 5 (latest bios), Corsair H100i.

OK, I'm feeling a bit clueless on overclocking my CPU. So far what I've done is turn off EIST and C1E like in this guide, but I couldn't find C3/C6. Then I set all cores to 46x and changed Vcore to 1.200. I booted into windows, loaded up RealTemp, CPU-Z, and HWInfo, then ran a short, 5-minute stress test with Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. Tmax during those 5 minutes were 59/60/60/55. According to CPU-Z, voltage never changed from 1.200 during the whole run.

So questions:

1) When everything is sitting idle, should the clock speed still be limiting itself? Clock speed is mostly bouncing between 800/1100/1300 right now. HWInfo shows something called Uncore varying right now as well.

2) When trying to manually set a specific Vcore in the bios, it asked me to select a mode. I picked "Override" and changed only Vcore. Is that correct?

Thanks in advance!

I have the same CPU and mobo. That seems right to me. I'd run a longer stress test. At first I also used pretty much those same voltage and multiplier settings but I found it crashed after like 4 or 5 hours of Prime95 (or whatever) so i had to dial it back to 44x. Of course, it also depends on what level of stability you find acceptable.

 

[opticalmace]

Don't think I can connect the speakers to the mobo directly, as I'm going to connect a PS4 to the same monitor. The monitor has two HDMI inputs and one analog audio output. My plan is to use that output for my speakers (which aren't too fancy, they're Logitech Z2300's).

On my current PC, the onboard sound is connected to the speakers, via an analog connection. Hopefully, routing it through the monitor won't have any sound degradation.

Do you still recommend the ASRock in that situation?

If you're that curious you should read a review on each motherboard (I'm not familiar with them). Considering you're just using some cheap desk speakers though, I wouldn't pay extra for some fancy audio mobo stuff. And yeah, the monitor would be doing the digital to analog conversion for your speakers if you use its audio out, so your mobo wouldn't be processing the audio at all, AFAIK.

 

[Kamakazie!]

I'm putting a second ssd in my system to take photos / videos for editing.
Now I was going to go for a second MX100 but the write speeds on the 128gb are really low.

Would I be OK going with the Samsung 840 EVO despite the bug?

If not, what are my options around the £55 mark, baring in mind the primary usage?

Anyone?
Looking to order in the next few hours.

 

[bro1]

Hi guys,

I'm really torn! I currently have a rig with 2 GTX 780 TI Classified in SLi which I can sell for about $500 a piece. I could use the cash but I'm torn if I am going to dissapointed by the performance. I run all of my games at 1440P and mostly at ultra. I know I will be able to go SLi again but am not sure if it's worth the hit.

Is running 1 card really worth the performance loss? I don't play new games really much but work on my steam backlog. Thoughts guys?

 

[zyxwvu4321]

I have the same CPU and mobo. That seems right to me. I'd run a longer stress test. At first I also used pretty much those same voltage and multiplier settings but I found it crashed after like 4 or 5 hours of Prime95 (or whatever) so i had to dial it back to 44x. Of course, it also depends on what level of stability you find acceptable.

Right, that was just a short test to make sure things would run at all with the changes I made. Doing a 4 hour run now. I just wanted to see if I was needing to make any other changes in the settings or if the ones I had made so far were correct.

 

[kennah]

Hi guys,

I'm really torn! I currently have a rig with 2 GTX 780 TI Classified in SLi which I can sell for about $500 a piece. I could use the cash but I'm torn if I am going to dissapointed by the performance. I run all of my games at 1440P and mostly at ultra. I know I will be able to go SLi again but am not sure if it's worth the hit.

Is running 1 card really worth the performance loss? I don't play new games really much but work on my steam backlog. Thoughts guys?

Take one out and try it without for a couple days?

 

[Azzurri]

I'm getting impatient here. I want to go X99 but I don't like any of the mATX boards, and I don't know when MSI, Asus or Gigabyte will release them if at all. I can hold off a bit longer, but it's hard LOL.

Should I just got Z97 instead?

 

[LilJoka]

I'm getting impatient here. I want to go X99 but I don't like any of the mATX boards, and I don't know when MSI, Asus or Gigabyte will release them if at all.

Should I just got Z97 instead?

Afaik, Asus arent making one.

 

[ironmang]

Hey, I'm looking to upgrade my standalone mic to something slightly better quality. Budget is pretty small though... looking to spend $30 or less. Anybody have any suggestions? Seems hard to find one without the headset attached.

 

[Azzurri]

Afaik, Asus arent making one.

Still leaves Gigabyte and MSI

 

[Faith]

Hey, I'm looking to upgrade my standalone mic to something slightly better quality. Budget is pretty small though... looking to spend $30 or less. Anybody have any suggestions? Seems hard to find one without the headset attached.

What about the ModMic?

 

[LilJoka]

Still leaves Gigabyte and MSI

What is you budget, what are you using the PC for, and what specifically are you going to use 6/8 cores for? Are you going to SLI/Xfire now/later?

 

[Azzurri]

What is you budget, what are you using the PC for, and what specifically are you going to use 6/8 cores for? Are you going to SLI/Xfire now/later?

SLI now. It's most for high end gaming.

 

[garath]

I'm getting impatient here. I want to go X99 but I don't like any of the mATX boards, and I don't know when MSI, Asus or Gigabyte will release them if at all. I can hold off a bit longer, but it's hard LOL.

Should I just got Z97 instead?

mkenyon has been saying a Gigabyte one is coming pretty soon.

 

[Azzurri]

mkenyon has been saying a Gigabyte one is coming pretty soon.

If that's true then I can wait.

 

[ironmang]

What about the ModMic?

Only seeing it for $50 on the site. looking for a little cheaper.

 

[garath]

Hey, I'm looking to upgrade my standalone mic to something slightly better quality. Budget is pretty small though... looking to spend $30 or less. Anybody have any suggestions? Seems hard to find one without the headset attached.

What headset? I have the vmoda boom mic but it requires a headset with a replaceable 3.5mm cable.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BJ17WKK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[zyxwvu4321]

OK, failed the stress test at 4600 MHz/1.200 Vcore. Somewhat concerning observation during the couple of hours the test was running: Occasionally the sensor status of HWinfo would report Core #0 as dropping to 0 MHz/ 0 volts. Would this be something majorly wrong, or a sign that I just need to bump of Vcore, or something else? Either way, I think I may hold off on the overclocking until my Intel protection plan kicks in.

 

[LordAlu]

Mmmmh nice. What do you think of the Asus Sabertooth Z87?

Should I even spend that much money on a mobo? I just want to replace my old one because I need SLI support.

There's no real need, no. Just go with the board you like the most that has the features you need.

Anyone?
Looking to order in the next few hours.

The EVO is fine, it's only with very old data that the bug surfaces. By the time your data becomes "old" there will likely be a firmware fix.

 

[RedSwirl]

What kind of deals usually show up for HDD's on Black Friday anyway? Last year I just saw the usual deals that are probably up on Amazon right now -- 1TB drives for $60. You guys keep talking about how cheap storage is around BF, and it looks like my current HD might keel over any day now.

Different heatsinks will perform better or worse. The oft-mentioned Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is one of the best budget heatsink and will handle light to moderate overclocking no problem.

Adding voltage isn't overclocking. In the BIOS menu there will be options to specifically change certain operating aspects of the processor, changing those numbers will over or under clock a processor. Generally, processors need a bit more juice to keep stable when overclocking, so CPU voltage increases (also manually set from BIOS menu) usually go hand in hand with overclocking.

As for "good" chips, the meaning behind that is that while all processors are manufactured to the same operating specs, variances in factory production and sometimes luck means some processors are just capable of overclocking better, even for the exact same model.

The higher the overclocking, the more voltage is needed. Higher voltages make the CPU run hotter, so better cooling is needed to keep the system stable.

Oh, so basically you have to test your own card to see how far it will go before you get instability? I also heard Haswells in particular run hot. The only time I've checked my CPU temps though (on stock cooling) was last night after playing some Far Cry 2 (pretty old game). It said my CPU's max was around 62C.

So most people with Haswells just stop at around 4.2GHz? I keep hearing a lot of people talk about 4.5 or even 5.0 but I guess that's with a lot more cooling (and liquid cooling). Maybe that's not necessary since I'm just trying to get decent framerates in ONE game.

In ArmA III when there's a lot of stuff happening on Altis I'm usually stuck at around 32fps regardless of the more GPU-intensive settings. Sometimes it'll bounce to 60 or 90 for a bit. And that game runs almost entirely on one thread from what I hear.

Lastly, in the guides I also hear about memory speed. Do I need to worry about that? I've heard stories that ArmA III is also memory bottle-necked.

hey guys, anyone have this case and having case fans issues? I think its called the NZXT Phantom

The case fan on the top is SUPER loud, I tried using an air can to clean it up but it did not fix it.

My computer is in this case but I actually haven't ever had any of the top fans turned on. Haven't had any problems. My GPU pretty much never goes above 32C when idle or 71C when under load. Would turning on those fans help with OC'ing?

 

[ironmang]

What headset? I have the vmoda boom mic but it requires a headset with a replaceable 3.5mm cable.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BJ17WKK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00007E7C8/?tag=neogaf0e-20

My limited knowledge of electronics are suggesting that won't work lol. Mostly why I was hoping to find a good standalone mic so there's no complications.

 

[Marc]

I'd take that and make a few changes:

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 (£24.19 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£68.36 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£119.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£74.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (£74.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£149.71 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Aerocool DS Cube White Edition Silent Cube MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£60.72 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£35.38 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £779.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-05 20:34 BST+0100

• There's the K version of the 4690 for overclocking, along with a better cooler in the Hyper 212 EVO (now that it can fit!)
• I've changed the RAM slightly to save a bit of money - in terms of performance difference though it would be <1%
• Swapped the Seagate 3TB for a Western Digital - the Seagate drives have far too high a failure rate for my liking.
• Don't need a modular power supply with the Aerocool case so swapped that for something a bit cheaper that will still do just fine.
• Upgraded the video card to a 760 for better performance, although I'd still recommend AMD - in your budget you could fit a 3GB R9 280 in there.

Bloody hell, this is becoming a pain in the butt and getting more expensive every time I research things. haha

Yeah, looking at the 760 it trashes the 750 in benchmarks. I am not against a Radeon, just had the preference of Nvidia. Seems a lot closer between a 760 and a R9 280. So this made me look at the crossfire support which sounds cool and 'easy' to expand with in the future to keep up and hit those potential 1440p '120 FPS' oculus consumer version that is rumoured. This then made me look at the motherboard which doesn't support it, and notice the connectors are rather plain jane too. No optical out for a start, so now looking at the MSI Z97M-G43 motherboard instead.

*bangs head*

I would have to upgrade the PSU along with buying an additional 280 but not so bad an expense on its own down the road.

So this is the Radeon build, getting to my upper limit though so if I decide to go with this I will probably hold off on a few parts. I won't bother with the K chip as I don't plan to overclock and even when I have done it in the past it just made me paranoid about the heat, so kept checking temperatures. And the graphics card will likely just sit there for a few months doing nothing so can wait until christmas, or when I have enough for both that and a Rift. The price might go down or go down on newer models in that time too, who knows. But at least I have the option of the Radeon with this (I mean any future crossfire support). Memory I think I will stick with the faster option for a little bit more money as that is what is driving the new build more than anything as I could just stick a good videocard in my current set up but I am hitting walls with memory. The 3TB drive can wait too and may switch it to the WD as suggested. Appreciate all the work you've done to assist in making an informed buy.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£154.39 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.19 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: MSI Z97M-G43 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£71.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£126.00 @ Kustom PCs)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£74.39 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£71.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card (£151.14 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Aerocool DS Cube White Edition Silent Cube MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£60.72 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£35.38 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £770.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-06 20:48 BST+0100

This and ALUs builds are both fine.

Only 100% thing I would change is the CPU cooler to 212.

Done deal.

 

[zeroeffect]

I think I have my build that I want. I just want to say the recommendations in Haz's post on first page is damn good. Been going over a lot of parts and it's hard to argue with the value of everything posted in there. I'll probably end up getting several of those recommendations. Motherboard is still an issue for me. I might just settle with the SOC-Force as Haz recommends in my price range because it seems to be the best mobo value wise at that price. I do plan to overclock but I'm overlock noob. Someone suggested the MSI Gaming series for me as an easy overclock solution but I've read that it's not smart relying on one switch motherboards to overclock your system 20% as it can run into many problems doing that.

Just waiting on some non-reference GTX 980s to drop now. I hope it's soon.

 

[ekgrey]

I think I have my build that I want. I just want to say the recommendations in Haz's post on first page is damn good. Been going over a lot of parts and it's hard to argue with the value of everything posted in there. I'll probably end up getting several of those recommendations. Motherboard is still an issue for me. I might just settle with the SOC-Force as Haz recommends in my price range because it seems to be the best mobo value wise at that price. I do plan to overclock but I'm overlock noob. Someone suggested the MSI Gaming series for me as an easy overclock solution but I've read that it's not smart relying on one switch motherboards to overclock your system 20% as it can run into many problems doing that.

Just waiting on some non-reference GTX 980s to drop now. I hope it's soon.

yup, Haz is the man. mkenyon too.

 

[Kamakazie!]

Thanks to everyone for the help.
I ended up getting the following (from these merchants but for lower prices on the CPU, Mobo, Cooler & MX100) as I get free shipping from OcUK & Scan and OCuK had a deal on the CPU & Mobo bundle making it cheaper than my previous build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£269.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£30.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z97M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£119.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Fury Red Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£118.34 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£54.95 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£151.81 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £745.23
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-06 23:00 BST+0100

Just in case others are wondering the CPU & Mobo bundle is currently £351.98 so a good deal.

 

[bro1]

Dumb question alert!!!!!

How bad would a game look if you ran it at 2k on a 4k monitor?

 

[ratcliffja]

So I want to upgrade my graphics card because of newer games coming out, but I'm not sure if this is the right card or if I should make another part of my computer a priority.

Here's my current setup:
Intel Core i7-950 Processor 3.06GHz 8 MB Cache Socket LGA1366

Corsair 6 GB PC3-12800 1600MHz 240-Pin DDR3 Core i7 Triple Channel Memory Kit

EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Superclocked 1024 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 2DVI/Mini-HDMI SLI Ready Graphics Card, 01G-P3-1463-KR

Antec BP550 Plus 550W ATX12V V2.2 Modular Power Supply

EVGA 131-GT-E767-TR LGA1366/ Intel X58/ DDR3/ CrossFireX & 2-Way/3-Way SLI/ SATA3&USB3.0/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard

And the graphics card I want:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NI647NE/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Any thoughts?

Anybody? I'm thinking my two biggest issues are the graphics card and memory. Will just upgrading my graphics card to a 970 be enough to run most games coming out at high settings or should I also look at improving something else?

 

[catabarez]

Hey guys I need help building a PC for a friend between 900 and 1000 dollars. Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU preferred. He'd be using it mostly for gaming.

 

[opticalmace]

Hey guys I need help building a PC for a friend between 900 and 1000 dollars. Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU preferred. He'd be using it mostly for gaming.

Read da OP.

 

[FunkyMunkey]

hey guys, anyone have this case and having case fans issues? I think its called the NZXT Phantom

The case fan on the top is SUPER loud, I tried using an air can to clean it up but it did not fix it.

I have the Phantom 410 and have no issues. The fan controller works great (low, medium, high speeds) and the air flow is good.

 

[zeroeffect]

Phantek Enthoo Pro has enough clearance for a Hyper 212 EVO right? I think the Phantek has 7.5 inches clearance for a CPU cooler so it should be enough. Anyone have that cooler in their Enthoo?

 

[Varna]

Thanks for all the help with the G-Synch questions. Decided I'm going to go with the Acer XB270H.

 

[CMojicaAce]

Hey everyone! A while back I posted a potential build but now that the 970 was released I'd figured I'd redo it. It will be primarily used for gaming and I have a budget of $1200.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($225.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($32.99 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.97 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($339.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1172.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-07 00:06 EDT-0400

(Already bought the DVD writer and will be using my TV as a monitor)

2 Questions:

1) How does this build look? Being that this is my first build ever I would like some input on these parts.

2) Is 600w enough? Is it too much? I'll probably overclock btw.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[zeroeffect]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NT9USXI/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Almost here guys almost here. The non-reference cards are coming!

 

[Hazaro]

I think I have my build that I want. I just want to say the recommendations in Haz's post on first page is damn good. Been going over a lot of parts and it's hard to argue with the value of everything posted in there. Just waiting on some non-reference GTX 980s to drop now. I hope it's soon.

I'm going over the mobo stuff again and it's all coming back to me how much bullshit there is that exists for no reason other than to fill a price gap of $10 or $20. It's infuriating.

Dumb question alert!!!!!

How bad would a game look if you ran it at 2k on a 4k monitor?

Probably not that bad since it scales 1 -> 2x2. I'm no expert here.
The easiest comparison would be saying how would you think 1080p would look on say a 27" (If thats the 4K size). Would that be ok?

4K is overrated anyway go for 120/Lightboost

Anybody? I'm thinking my two biggest issues are the graphics card and memory. Will just upgrading my graphics card to a 970 be enough to run most games coming out at high settings or should I also look at improving something else?

A good amount yes. Looks fine. OC your CPU if you haven't.

Hey everyone! A while back I posted a potential build but now that the 970 was released I'd figured I'd redo it. It will be primarily used for gaming and I have a budget of $1200.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($225.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($32.99 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.97 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($339.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1172.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-07 00:06 EDT-0400

(Already bought the DVD writer and will be using my TV as a monitor)

2 Questions:

1) How does this build look? Being that this is my first build ever I would like some input on these parts.

2) Is 600w enough? Is it too much? I'll probably overclock btw.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

Go Extreme4 ($123 AR) or the GB SLI if you dont want to rebate hassle.
I'd swap in the Seasonic M12II unit instead of the CX600, yes it'll be enough with an OC.

Phantek Enthoo Pro has enough clearance for a Hyper 212 EVO right? I think the Phantek has 7.5 inches clearance for a CPU cooler so it should be enough. Anyone have that cooler in their Enthoo?

I would hope so.
160mm vs 193mm listed

 

[EGG]

So I need to buy a USB WiFi dongle as I do not have access to ethernet for the next few months (and after that it's not guaranteed either). My build is nearly finished and this the last piece that I need to figure out.

So my question is are they more or less the same? Any specific recommendations? Thanks