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[LilJoka]

To anyone who owns the Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 970:

Does this come with a back plate?
Any sagging of the pcba?

G1 has backplate, shouldnt sag.
Windforce OC doesnt have backplate and does sag.

 

[FreddieQuell]

You need to flag the partition on the drive as bootable. And then copy the extracted files from the ISO over to the USB drive, just copying the ISO on to the drive won't work.

Microsoft has a tool that will do the work for you. You just need to have the ISO and a USB drive. http://wudt.codeplex.com/

Alright, I was looking at that. Does it only work with 7 as the name implies? Or will it work with other versions as well?

 

[Mine01]

Hi guys, looking between finally upgrade my build or buying a next gen console, I would like a console but games are so damm expensive here so i might just upgrade my pc and use steam sales lol.

Anyway I answered this questionarre hopping you guys can help me build a nice and cheap pc .

[Basic Desktop Questions]
Your Current Specs: i7 2600 / 8gb / Stock HP / HD 7770 / 600 w random power supply / Stock Case / 2tb HDD
Budget: Mexico and well since I alredy have some parts im just looking to upgrade my mobo, case and gpu.
Main Use: 720p (my tv is 720p lol) Gaming, maybe 1080p.
Monitor Resolution: 720p, maybe getting a 1080p tv in 2015
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well:Going for 60 fps and not really interested on things like physX, maybe some supersampling .
Looking to reuse any parts?: Going to reuse my cpu, HDD and maybe my power supply.
When will you build?: Trying to get it build before christmas.
Will you be overclocking?: No.

 

[mdsfx]

G1 has backplate, shouldnt sag.
Windforce OC doesnt have backplate and does sag.

Thanks!!

 

[axb2013]

Alright, I was looking at that. Does it only work with 7 as the name implies? Or will it work with other versions as well?

Yes it work for win8, I think the procedure is different if you want XP.

 

[FreddieQuell]

Yes it work for win8, I think the procedure is different if you want XP.

Cool, I'm using Windows 8. Thank you for the info.

 

[axb2013]

I am doing all the steps here again myself to make sure nothing is missed.

 

[witchedwiz]

soooo gaf..
final conf is:
http://www.alternate.it/html/cart/loadSharedCart.html?id=123e54b97df671cc3f3159afc8907c43
grand total 1625 eur :L
Anything else i should consider?

 

[axb2013]

soooo gaf..
final conf is:
http://www.alternate.it/html/cart/loadSharedCart.html?id=123e54b97df671cc3f3159afc8907c43
grand total 1625 eur :L
Anything else i should consider?

Looks like a good setup to me but damn, those euro prices...

 

[Codeacious]

I've been lurking in here for a while; I just wanted to thank everyone who's helped out with the part lists in the OP. Everything's laid out so intelligently such that even a newbie could get a build going, and as someone who's informed, it was trivial to get my part list laid out with the lists there.

I swapped out the Enthoo for a Challenger, snagged a Gigabyte N970G1 (no idea how it wasn't sold out the first time I went to add a 970 to my cart), and went for the stuff listed under 'Excellent' for the rest (except RAM; I'm not convinced I need 16GB yet). A friend of mine found a couple deals around the web (he loves window shopping for PCs), so I managed to get my build down to ~$1150. My buddy and I are gonna have to take a dremel to the floppy drive bays of the Challenger so the N970G1 will fit, but hey, I've never gotten to put on a mask and use power tools to cut some metal before!

 

[kennah]

Playing Evolve right now, its using >9GB of RAM (and ~3.2GB of VRAM at 1080p). Time to upgrade to 16GB of RAM everyone!

Take out 8 gigs and see if you notice any difference at all. More likely that it expands to fill available memory

 

[Dance Inferno]

You'll get better cooling with a higher-end manufacturer's card vs. a reference looking model, which will help keep temps lower when overclocking. I think the only advantage with a reference looking model (other than price) is that it should exhaust more heat out of the case. This could be handy if your case temps are higher than desired.

I might be completely wrong, though. Bit of a beginner myself.

My advice,go with either a non stock card from MSI or Gigabyte.

The will run cooler, quieter and perform better vs the stock cards.

MSI GTX 970 Gaming.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1516121/gtx-970-comparison-strix-vs-msi-gaming-vs-gigabyte-g1

Strix vs MSI vs G1 comparison there. MSI has the best compromise imo, best power delivery, good OOB power limit, and quiet. And pretty much everyone is hitting ~1500Mhz core with them.

Gigabyte Windforce OC has no backplate, and cooler is huge, so PCB sags. G1 has the backplate, more expensive and louder than the MSI Gamer. So for me MSI won it.

Cool, thanks guys. Looks like I'll be on the market for an MSI Gaming. Too bad they're basically sold out everywhere...

 

[ekgrey]

Take out 8 gigs and see if you notice any difference at all. More likely that it expands to fill available memory

i know this would be a bit annoying, but i'd really like to see the results if you could do this.

 

[FreddieQuell]

Posting on my new PC. Woohoo! Installing windows was fast as hell. Couldn't have been more than 5 minutes.

 

[jordn613]

Installed my MSI 970 into this http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HvW2FT/by_merchant/

On "Game Mode" using the MSI Game app, I score 1360 at about 58fps in Unigine Heaven; temps get to about 72C at peak. Seem like what I should be expecting given my rig?

I primarily need an answer to this because the card I bought at Microcenter turned out to have been returned. They gave me discount and the card was only $310, and was missing the Dvi to vga adapter. The connectors on the card were still covered with plastic and nothing else seemed strange but I just want to ensure its working correctly and giving me the expected benchmarks.

 

[axb2013]

Posting on my new PC. Woohoo! Installing windows was fast as hell. Couldn't have been more than 5 minutes.

Sweet. Knock out all the windows updates and drivers out of the way now.
Maybe browse this list for useful stuff: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/maximum_pcs_32_totally_essential_apps Enjoy.

 

[paskowitz]

Cool, thanks guys. Looks like I'll be on the market for an MSI Gaming. Too bad they're basically sold out everywhere...

Great deal on the EVGA.

http://slickdeals.net/share/android_app/t/7305966

 

[axb2013]

Great deal on the Gigabyte.

http://slickdeals.net/share/android_app/t/7305966

That's a EVGA card but cool deal nonetheless.

 

[zero shift]

Great deal on the Gigabyte.

http://slickdeals.net/share/android_app/t/7305966

Should I jump on this or wait for the next batch? I'm worried that it could be defective.

 

[The Llama]

Take out 8 gigs and see if you notice any difference at all. More likely that it expands to fill available memory

Just to clarify a bit, I meant my computer is using ~9GB of RAM, not just Evolve. And also this is only (IIRC) the second game that's made my computer use more than 8GB of RAM. It'd probably run fine with 8GB of RAM though, especially because I had Chrome/Spotify/etc. open in the background. Plus it doesn't really seem to be a very demanding game (limited to 60FPS but my 290x didn't even run at max clockspeed).

 

[Azzurri]

Still no mATX x99 is killing me (eVGA and ASrock don't count)

 

[SarBear]

[Basic Desktop Questions]

• Your Current Specs: Intel Q6600/DDR2 400MHz/Gigabyte P35-DS4/GeForce 8800GTX/Antec TruePower Quattro 850/ NZXT Case / 500GB Western Digital Caviar
• Budget: $1800 + USA
• Main Use: Light Gaming, Gaming, Emulation (PS2/Wii), General Usage
• Monitor Resolution: 1080p, maybe higher in the future. New Monitor (~25 inch)
• List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Newer games 1080p, at least 60fps
• How important is PhysX / SuperSampling / CUDA to you?: I don't know what this is.
• Looking to reuse any parts?: Not if I don't have to. Even need a new keyboard/mouse
• When will you build?: The next 45 days
• Will you be overclocking?: Maybe, with an aftermarket cpu cooler?

Once this thing is put together, i can't fathom sinking in anything else until I'm ready for a new build. How important is an aftermarket cpu cooler?

 

[opticalmace]

Just to clarify a bit, I meant my computer is using ~9GB of RAM, not just Evolve. And also this is only (IIRC) the second game that's made my computer use more than 8GB of RAM. It'd probably run fine with 8GB of RAM though, especially because I had Chrome/Spotify/etc. open in the background. Plus it doesn't really seem to be a very demanding game (limited to 60FPS but my 290x didn't even run at max clockspeed).

How much memory was just Evolve using though?

 

[Omega]

So I've been debating on going with 970 SLI. I was looking at benchmarks and with some games it's advantages are obvious but with other games like Wolfenstein it does nothing. In fact it performed worse

Is Wolfenstein the exception or is SLI an issue?

 

[Kintaro]

Managed to get an order for the Asus ROG Swift in. Awwww yeah. =D

 

[bro1]

So I've been debating on going with 970 SLI. I was looking at benchmarks and with some games it's advantages are obvious but with other games like Wolfenstein it does nothing. In fact it performed worse

Is Wolfenstein the exception or is SLI an issue?

Wolfenstein doesn't support SLi.

 

[arne]

i7-4790k + Samsung 840 Pro 512GB for $625 shipped to me
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1947804


Not to penny pinch, but is the 840 worth the about +$23 price difference over the i7+MX100 combo?

 

[DarkoMaledictus]

Playing Evolve right now, its using >9GB of RAM (and ~3.2GB of VRAM at 1080p). Time to upgrade to 16GB of RAM everyone!

Got that loud and clear a while ago . On 32 gigs now =)!

Vid ram is also going to go bunkers in 2015-2016... expect 4 gigs to be peasant cards .

Edit: Note, don't bother however with 980 or 290x 8 gig variants. Its like putting 10k mags on a Pinto , wait for next year when the reference cards come at 8 gigs, then things will start to change!

 

[Felix Lighter]

i7-4790k + Samsung 840 Pro 512GB for $625 shipped to me
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1947804


Not to penny pinch, but is the 840 worth the about +$23 price difference over the i7+MX100 combo?

Practically, you would probably not notice much of a difference.

 

[xBladeM6x]

I've been getting this issue, where sometimes my PC will just start skipping, and within seconds it completely locks up, and the audio that was playing gets more and more robotic until it's just a solid static tone. The only way to stop it, is to unplug the PC. This all takes place in the period of like 5 seconds. From what I've read this is either a CPU / RAM issue.

 

[FreddieQuell]

Speccy says my motherboard is at 117C, that doesn't seem right to me. My processor is at 25C. should I be worried about this?

 

[Ac30]

I've been getting this issue, where sometimes my PC will just start skipping, and within seconds it completely locks up, and the audio that was playing gets more and more robotic until it's just a solid static tone. The only way to stop it, is to unplug the PC. This all takes place in the period of like 5 seconds. From what I've read this is either a CPU / RAM issue.

I had this earlier and it was a RAM issue, try memtest on individual sticks and see if you get repeated errors?

 

[xBladeM6x]

I had this earlier and it was a RAM issue, try memtest on individual sticks and see if you get repeated errors?

Is there any particular program used to do a memtest, or is it a BIOS thing?

Spoiler

It's one of those few things I never got around to learning. Lol

 

[kennah]

Just to clarify a bit, I meant my computer is using ~9GB of RAM, not just Evolve. And also this is only (IIRC) the second game that's made my computer use more than 8GB of RAM. It'd probably run fine with 8GB of RAM though, especially because I had Chrome/Spotify/etc. open in the background. Plus it doesn't really seem to be a very demanding game (limited to 60FPS but my 290x didn't even run at max clockspeed).

So. Misleading post was misleading? ;-)

Got that loud and clear a while ago . On 32 gigs now =)!

Vid ram is also going to go bunkers in 2015-2016... expect 4 gigs to be peasant cards .

Edit: Note, don't bother however with 980 or 290x 8 gig variants. Its like putting 10k mags on a Pinto , wait for next year when the reference cards come at 8 gigs, then things will start to change!

Or buy midrange now and then buy midrange in a couple years. There is no point in waiting, you'll wait forever.

 

[opticalmace]

So. Misleading post was misleading? ;-)

Or buy midrange now and then buy midrange in a couple years. There is no point in waiting, you'll wait forever.

I disagree, I heard there's a killer nvidia GPU coming out in 2018. Don't waste your money now.

 

[Aiustis]

Can I put my new hard drive into any sata slot? It says sata 3 but my motherboard only has two and both are in use. Or do I move my disk drive to one of the sata 2 slots and put my hard drive in an sata 3 slot. Or does it not matter much.

 

[LordAlu]

Can I put my new hard drive into any sata slot? It says sata 3 but my motherboard only has two and both are in use. Or do I move my disk drive to one of the sata 2 slots and put my hard drive in an sata 3 slot. Or does it not matter much.

Is it a mechanical hard drive? If so, it doesn't matter.

 

[Omega]

Wolfenstein doesn't support SLi.

ok.

do most games support SLI? I don't want to spend close to $700 if only a few games properly support it.

 

[paskowitz]

Great deal on the EVGA.

http://slickdeals.net/share/android_app/t/7305966

That's a EVGA card but cool deal nonetheless.

Whoops

 

[RedSwirl]

40-50% signal strength is kinda weak. You might have to use another repeater to increase the range or get a better router with longer range.

5GHz N range really sucks. On the other hand, 5GHz AC is much better.

Oh shit. That repeater doesn't actually have to be wired to a computer all the time does it?

 

[Diablos]

Can we expect price drops on CPU's and GPU's after the holiday season?

 

[Aiustis]

Is it a mechanical hard drive? If so, it doesn't matter.

yeah it's mechanical, thanks.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Not sure if this has been posted here already, but PC Case Gear has some PAX Australia deals on right now. I just grabbed a 480gb SSD for $AUD279:

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1704_1707&products_id=4943

They also have a 240gb one for $AUD159:

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2635

edit: should add that they're Intel 730s

 

[Kevyt]

Hello PC Gaf! So I have a Rosewill Blackhawk ATX case and using a H100i to cool my CPU. The only thing is that it doesn't really fit in my case, so I had to modify it. What I did was to cut part of the top, removing the installed fan, in order to fit the radiator and the fans. But I'm not sure if this is effective because the fans are not making direct contact with the radiator. In addition, I think my temperatures are too high... Should I buy a Full Tower case to properly fit the H100i or is my "modified" version fine?

Specific temps would be helpful.

27 Celsius on idle (19 celsius room temperature), and 84 celsius on load at 4.2 Ghz (turbo boost, non-oc'd), full load running Prime95 stress test. Temperature info provided by CPUID HW Monitor.

 

[Rufus]

Specific temps would be helpful.

 

[Ultrabum]

Hello PC Gaf! So I have a Rosewill Blackhawk ATX case and using a H100i to cool my CPU. The only thing is that it doesn't really fit in my case, so I had to modify it. What I did was to cut part of the top, removing the installed fan, in order to fit the radiator and the fans. But I'm not sure if this is effective because the fans are not making direct contact with the radiator. In addition, I think my temperatures are too high... Should I buy a Full Tower case to properly fit the H100i or is my "modified" version fine?

How far away is the radiator from the fans? As long as significant air is flowing through the radiator it should be fine. You can maybe add a little bit of duct work to help.

 

[Kevyt]

How far away is the radiator from the fans? As long as significant air is flowing through the radiator it should be fine. You can maybe add a little bit of duct work to help.

There seems to be good air flow. The fans are close to the radiator but there's a small plastic chassis-like platform between the radiator and fans that had a dust filter.

 

[Ac30]

Is there any particular program used to do a memtest, or is it a BIOS thing?

Spoiler

It's one of those few things I never got around to learning. Lol

I used memtest86+, you can make a bootable USB with it!

 

[xBladeM6x]

I used memtest86+, you can make a bootable USB with it!

Thanks! Another random question is, if I plan to wipe a drive, would DBAN be the best tool for that?

 

[knitoe]

Update pictures of my PC:

In the front, added the Matrix Orbital LCD and a slot load Blu ray burner. Not sure why I got the burner. I don't remember the last time I used a disc. Guess, it looks good. Inside, I switch to the big ass CRYORIG R1 Ultimate cooler. Too bad, it didn't do much for higher OC.