• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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

Status
Not open for further replies.

Kainazzo

Member
Thinking of possibly upgrading my PC for Total War: Attila. At 1200p extreme settings, Rome II just about maximizes what mine can do at 60fps. Has there been any word on how Attila will run in comparison? I've heard Attila will bring back MSAA, which will cripple my performance (but I sure will want it >_>).
 

mdsfx

Member
I've been running a 3570k OCd to 4.2 with a single 7870 xt (Tahiti) 2gb for a couple of years now. I haven't had any major issues running games on high-ish settings so far, but I'm wondering if I'm missing out on some added detail that might be worth upgrading. Thoughts?

Anyone? Is my hardware getting old?
 
Anyone? Is my hardware getting old?

If you can play all the games you want at reasonably high settings for now then I would just hold out. It's still a good GPU at 1080p.

A lot of it depends on what games you play. For instance, I am playing Quake Live right now. I think I'm good for GPU power. :lol
 

Addnan

Member
Suggestions for low profile CPU coolers please. Needs to fit in a CM Elite 120. Overclocking a Pentium so nothing particularly special required but would be nice to use the stock cooler. So cheap but good, nothing more than the price of the Evo 212. The GeminiII seems a bit pricey.
 

mkenyon

Banned
Oh man I just got a new job and I'm saving up for Black Friday/Cyber Monday to purchase my PC parts. Going to need help getting the right parts for my rig.
There's never been a good deal on BF/CM for PC Parts that wasn't available every week up to it. If you see a deal on something, grab it, it won't get any better.
 

Hindl

Member
UD3H. Arguably better NIC on the UD3H, and there's no tangible benefit to "overclocking" boards for standard cooling solutions. It would be beneficial if you were doing Phase Change or LN2 cooling.

I had the SOC-Force and hated it. The UEFI was a PITA and it's ugly as sin. If you are going to do LN2 OCing then go with it, otherwise save your money and get something else (I like Asus).

Ok thanks I think I'll be going with the UD3H. Unless there's a comparable Asus in price that's better?
 

bro1

Banned
Ok thanks I think I'll be going with the UD3H. Unless there's a comparable Asus in price that's better?

What do you want out of your mobo? To me the most imporant parts are going to be m.2 support, audio, LAN, and maybe 3 or 4 way SLi if you think you are going to go in that direction. Personally, I got the Sabertooth Z97 as I like their warranty but I wish it had better audio and m.2 support.
 

Hindl

Member
What do you want out of your mobo? To me the most imporant parts are going to be m.2 support, audio, LAN, and maybe 3 or 4 way SLi if you think you are going to go in that direction. Personally, I got the Sabertooth Z97 as I like their warranty but I wish it had better audio and m.2 support.

That's about all I want, although 3-way SLI is overkill I think I'll stick to probably just 2. And I'm just building the new computer now, so I'm just sticking with a single card and SLI later. So would the UD3H be good for 2-way SLI, m.2, audio and LAN?
 

appaws

Banned
you can still OC the anniversary Pentium with an H81 board actually, but I'd still go for Z97 for longetivity.

Oops. Thanks, I didn't know that.

Anyone? Is my hardware getting old?

Well, on the CPU side there really is not any reason yet for you to think about upgrading if we are just talking about games. The 3570k is a good chip and you can put a reasonable OC on it. No reason to upgrade there yet. That is still what I use on my main rig.

The 7870 is maybe where you would look to upgrade. Depending on how much you want to spend, I would think a 970 would be a great choice.

It all just depends on whether what you have is still able to do what you want it to do. There is no set timetable for upgrading or building a new rig. If you are more the "AAA" gamer type you would probably be more interested in upgrading more often to keep up with the fancy graphics.
 
so, after Zotac offered to replace my broken video card with one that was inferior. They offered to just replace it with the exact same one I sent in after I told them it was unfair. wtf was the point of that first offer. My card could have been in the mail back to me right now if they didnt do that
 

SugarDave

Member
For UK Gaffers, are the following websites reliable to order from? I've never used any of the ones appearing in my PC Part Picker list at the cheapest prices aside from Amazon of course.

CCL Computers
More Computers
Aria PC
Ebuyer
Novatech
Overclockers
Scan
 
For UK Gaffers, are the following websites reliable to order from? I've never used any of the ones appearing in my PC Part Picker list at the cheapest prices aside from Amazon of course.

CCL Computers
More Computers
Aria PC
Ebuyer
Novatech
Overclockers
Scan
Overclockers for sure, no idea about the rest tho
 
Z

ZombieFred

Unconfirmed Member
Is my CPU temp fine if it's idling in the 30s? This is with the H60 Corsair. GPUs idle are at 50 too.
 

Vibranium

Banned
Is the Corsair Carbide 200r Compact a really good case? I'm leaning towards it over the Fractal Define R4 because it doesn't have legs on the bottom. It seems nice and simple.
 

Addnan

Member
For UK Gaffers, are the following websites reliable to order from? I've never used any of the ones appearing in my PC Part Picker list at the cheapest prices aside from Amazon of course.

CCL Computers
More Computers
Aria PC
Ebuyer
Novatech
Overclockers
Scan

Never used More computers but all the others are good. Scan is my usual go to computer parts when Amazn doesn't have it buy have bought from all the others too.
 

Iacobellis

Junior Member
How is MSI for NVIDIA cards? I'm kind of leaning their way for the 970 mainly because it would better match the white/red/black color scheme of my upcoming build. Most of EVGA's cards this year are just bad looking.
 

Kainazzo

Member
How is MSI for NVIDIA cards? I'm kind of leaning their way for the 970 mainly because it would better match the white/red/black color scheme of my upcoming build. Most of EVGA's cards this year are just bad looking.

I've never had any issues with MSI cards. Currently have 2 780s that have worked great.
 

LordAlu

Member
For UK Gaffers, are the following websites reliable to order from? I've never used any of the ones appearing in my PC Part Picker list at the cheapest prices aside from Amazon of course.

CCL Computers
More Computers
Aria PC
Ebuyer
Novatech
Overclockers
Scan
I've never used More Computers so I don't know about them, but I have used Scan, Overclcokers and Ebuyer with no issues and have heard good things about Aria and Novatech. Can't comment on CCL without bias though since I work there :D
 

Addnan

Member
I've never used More Computers so I don't know about them, but I have used Scan, Overclcokers and Ebuyer with no issues and have heard good things about Aria and Novatech. Can't comment on CCL without bias though since I work there :D

Hey you. You sent my RAM in an envelope and it came lose. Still worked, but I am complaining directly :p
 
so, after Zotac offered to replace my broken video card with one that was inferior. They offered to just replace it with the exact same one I sent in after I told them it was unfair. wtf was the point of that first offer. My card could have been in the mail back to me right now if they didnt do that

lol. Remind me not to get a zotac. ~_~

Is my CPU temp fine if it's idling in the 30s? This is with the H60 Corsair. GPUs idle are at 50 too.

Yep.
 

SugarDave

Member
Sounds good, I'll go ahead and order from them when I'm ready then. The RAM in my list from More Computers is only a few quid more at Amazon so I'll just pay that for peace of mind, I think.
 
I've never used More Computers so I don't know about them, but I have used Scan, Overclcokers and Ebuyer with no issues and have heard good things about Aria and Novatech. Can't comment on CCL without bias though since I work there :D
I can vouch for CCL with unbiased opinion.
Always been very good for me.

Scan, Overclockers and Ebuyer have also served me well.

No idea on after service apart from Overclockers though and that one took a while to sort. Still use them though if they are cheapest.
 

riflen

Member
For UK Gaffers, are the following websites reliable to order from? I've never used any of the ones appearing in my PC Part Picker list at the cheapest prices aside from Amazon of course.

CCL Computers
More Computers
Aria PC
Ebuyer
Novatech
Overclockers
Scan

Scan are great, I've used them for 15 years. I've no personal experience of the others.
 
Guys is 8GB RAM enough these days still?
I have an

3570 @ 4.4
8GB RAM
Win 8.1
Crucial m4 SSD

And often programs take ages to start. Like a minute ago I was watching twitch stream and surfing, and wanted to open another tab. It took a few full seconds. Than I wanted to see if something was using up CPU, and task manager took even longer to start up.

Now everything is as it should be. But sometimes it really slows down.

Would more RAM help? Or is problem somewhere else?
 

Iacobellis

Junior Member
Guys is 8GB RAM enough these days still?
I have an

3570 @ 4.4
8GB RAM
Win 8.1
Crucial m4 SSD

And often programs take ages to start. Like a minute ago I was watching twitch stream and surfing, and wanted to open another tab. It took a few full seconds. Than I wanted to see if something was using up CPU, and task manager took even longer to start up.

Now everything is as it should be. But sometimes it really slows down.

Would more RAM help? Or is problem somewhere else?

Sounds more like an SSD issue. 8GB of RAM is still enough for what you're doing.
 
I've been looking at motherboards but I was wondering how do you decide what features you want? Like.. I just run single graphics cards, I have a firewire port in my case but I guess that is useless nowadays. I also have an external hard drive with eSATA but my guess is few if any motherboards support that these days. Guess I'm living in the past.
 

tarheel91

Member
Guys is 8GB RAM enough these days still?
I have an

3570 @ 4.4
8GB RAM
Win 8.1
Crucial m4 SSD

And often programs take ages to start. Like a minute ago I was watching twitch stream and surfing, and wanted to open another tab. It took a few full seconds. Than I wanted to see if something was using up CPU, and task manager took even longer to start up.

Now everything is as it should be. But sometimes it really slows down.

Would more RAM help? Or is problem somewhere else?

Just sounds like a problem with flash TBH. Does it only happen when you're watching twitch or youtube?
 
Anyone want to recommend a better cooler than a Hyper 212 EVO on a Maximus VII Hero for a 4790k or do you think that is good enough for the mobo? I know it's good value for the price but it seems I should get a more powerful cooler for that motherboard to get the most out of it.
 

garath

Member
So I'm a little ignorant in this dept. I have a 1920x1080 monitor @ 60hz. I just grabbed a new 970 and am planning on doing a little down sampling. Turns out my dvi cables to my monitors are both single link. Am I going to have an issue down sampling without a dual link dvi cable or am I fine because the actual monitor is only displaying at 1920x1080?

I'd prefer not to waste money now getting cables I don't need if I can avoid it. I'll be grabbing a 144hz monitor over the new year and will likely use display port for that.
 

chixdiggit

Member
Just ordered a GTX 980 and noticed it has 1 HDMI, 1 DVI, and 3 displayports. What on earth would you need 3 displayports for? Isn't one of the main draws of displayport to daisy chain?
 

Ronabo

Member
Bought all this at Micro Center an hour ago. I had two personal shoppers grab everything for me. It was a rather fun and unique shopping experience. Didn't get the GPU yet as they were out of stock but they are supposed to get some in tomorrow morning and I'm getting one held. Overall I'll end up spending about $150 more than I planned because of getting the keyboard and mouse and sales taxes. Regardless I'm gonna build this tomorrow with or without the GPU. I think I did good. Gonna be fun doing my first build I hope :)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master RR-T4-18PK-R1 70.0 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.99)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ Micro Center)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($359.99)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Micro Center)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Micro Center)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99)
Keyboard: ROCCAT Isku FX Wired Gaming Keyboard ($79.99)
Mouse: ROCCAT Kone Pure Wired Laser Mouse ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $1230.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-09 21:08 EDT-0400[
 
So I'm a little ignorant in this dept. I have a 1920x1080 monitor @ 60hz. I just grabbed a new 970 and am planning on doing a little down sampling. Turns out my dvi cables to my monitors are both single link. Am I going to have an issue down sampling without a dual link dvi cable or am I fine because the actual monitor is only displaying at 1920x1080?

I'd prefer not to waste money now getting cables I don't need if I can avoid it. I'll be grabbing a 144hz monitor over the new year and will likely use display port for that.
Yeah the final signal will be 1920x1080@60, so no problem there. It's just a very pretty 1920x1080. :)
 

chixdiggit

Member
Would you be able to daisy chain 2560x1440 144/120Hz monitors like the ASUS ROG Swift?

Looks like that monitor only has one displayport so I guess not. I was under the assumption that all high end monitors would have two displayports. After a bunch of image searching I see that's not the case at all.
 
My desktop that was a screamin' beast when I got it in 2009 really needs an upgrade. Here are the specs:

Intel Core I5CPU 750 @ 2.68 GHZ 2.66 GHZ

8 gigs of RAM, Windows 7 64

Radeon HD 5700

I'm an idiot when it comes to this stuff, but I'm thinking the best value would be to buy a new card? I'm looking to spend between $ 300-400 max. What card would be a good suggestion? Do I really need more RAM?

Any advice is appreciated.

EDIT: I mainly use my PC for games. I'm a sucker for 60fps, even if I have to drop down the graphical settings. I play stuff like Divinity, and also multiplatform action games. I used to get those all on PC but now I'm finding that they're running on my PS4 as well as they are on PC. I wanna get my PC to the point where I can go back to getting multis on it and get 60fps whenever possible.
 
My desktop that was a screamin' beast when I got it in 2009 really needs an upgrade. Here are the specs:

Intel Core I5CPU 750 @ 2.68 GHZ 2.66 GHZ

8 gigs of RAM, Windows 7 64

Radeon HD 5700

I'm an idiot when it comes to this stuff, but I'm thinking the best value would be to buy a new card? I'm looking to spend between $ 300-400 max. What card would be a good suggestion? Do I really need more RAM?

Any advice is appreciated.

Ram should be fine but overclocking that CPU will help considerably. i5 750 can approach 4.0 Ghz and can still hold out a bit longer. The 5770 probably could use an upgrade. The GTX 970 is probably the best card in that range. It would be a massive upgrade. What's your power supply?
 
hyper 212 evo is fine, but if you want better noctua nh-d14 is top of the line for air cooling.

Probably a stupid question but what's the best known thermal paste that reacts the best with the Hyper 212 Evo? I know thermal paste doesn't make a big difference but I figure why not just get the best paste that works with the heatsink.
 
Ram should be fine but overclocking that CPU will help considerably. i5 750 can approach 4.0 Ghz and can still hold out a bit longer. The 5770 probably could use an upgrade. The GTX 970 is probably the best card in that range. It would be a massive upgrade. What's your power supply?

I honestly have no idea what my power supply is. How do I find that out?

(like I said, I'm an idiot with this stuff)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom