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[RGM79]

I currently have an i7-920 and an Alienware Area51 motherboard.

I'm upgrading my Graphics card to a GeForce GTX 970 and figured I'd upgrade everything.


I have two questions:

1) Do I need to upgrade my processor for the card to work on my current set up(I have zero knowledge of pc parts and requirements)

2) I eventually plan to upgrade the cpu/motherboard, just preferably not on the same paycheck as the card. What are some good yet relatively cheap bundles to get. My budget for the motherboard/cpu is about £250-350. Though the cheaper the better.

I will be playing games like Divinity original sin and the Witcher.

I currently play Smite, Team Fortress 2, Civ5, FFXIV.

Much thanks.

1) No. As long as it fits in the case and the power supply has the cables to supply GPU power, you'll be fine. Might be a good idea to take a look in the case.

2) Sorry, I don't know too much about pricing in the UK, but if the exchange rate isn't too harsh, the i5 4690K and the i7 4790K is in your range with enough left over for an excellent motherboard.

Hey guys is there any way to mount a fan on the back of a hard drive cage ? Like a bracket or something like that ? I have a Cooler Master K280. Thanks.

I don't think there's a specific accessory you can buy to do that. On the other hand, you shouldn't really need to. What about improvising and securing a fan next to the drive cage with something like plastic ties?

Corsair CX600 80+

According to this, the CX600 should be able to handle it. What are the rest of your system specs?

 

[lordfuzzybutt]

I currently have an i7-920 and an Alienware Area51 motherboard.

I'm upgrading my Graphics card to a GeForce GTX 970 and figured I'd upgrade everything.


I have two questions:

1) Do I need to upgrade my processor for the card to work on my current set up(I have zero knowledge of pc parts and requirements)

Your CPU is a bit slow, overclock it if you can.

 

[atomic moth]

According to this, the CX600 should be able to handle it. What are the rest of your system specs?

I'll be running with
i5-4690k
R9 280x
8g ddr3
500 g regular HD
600w PSU
H61M mobo

I won't be overclocking and I won't be doing anything crazy. I'm just looking for 1080p 60fps on high to ultra settings.

 

[RGM79]

In regards to a 600w psu running that R9 280x, I found a thread on toms hardware saying since its a rebranded 7970 a good 500w would be the minimum.

I can't link it because my phone is acting up.

Does anyone agree with that?

Edit: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1834929/280x-psu-requirement.html

According to these two tests, the R9 280X can draw around 250-300 watts all by itself,
depending on how hard it's working and differences in model. Comparing it to a 7970 isn't totally wrong because they are rebadged design, but there may be some differences from the original.

http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/gigabyte_radeon_r9_280x,7.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-280x-r9-270x-r7-260x,3635-18.html

To that end, a (high quality) 500 Watt PSU will probably handle it, but that might not leave much room for overhead and expansion like overclocking or a second video card. As I said on the previous page, a quality 500 Watt PSU could handle a R9 290 at best, according to some benchmark and test results.

I'll be running with
i5-4690k
R9 280x
8g ddr3
500 g regular HD
600w PSU
H61M mobo

I won't be overclocking and I won't be doing anything crazy. I'm just looking for 1080p 60fps on high to ultra settings.

I assume you mean H81M. I feel confident that the 600 Watt power supply will handle it. At max load, I think your system will draw around 450-500 watts max, the processor will be about ~150 watts, and the 280X~ just under 300 watts, and the rest of the parts will amount to under 50 watts.

 

[atomic moth]

Appreciate it. You've been more than helpful.

 

[RGM79]

Appreciate it. You've been more than helpful.

No problem. Wattage requirements tend to be overstated by GPU manufacturers because honestly, they don't know what else you're running for hardware, and well.. they have to take all scenarios into account. If a person was running one of those overclocked AMD FX 9XXX processors, those things draw up to ~370 watts by themselves, so it's no wonder they mention "requirements" of 750 watts or more when the graphics card will draw less than 300 watts by itself.

 

[Lollipop Dave]

1) No. As long as it fits in the case and the power supply has the cables to supply GPU power, you'll be fine. Might be a good idea to take a look in the case.

2) Sorry, I don't know too much about pricing in the UK, but if the exchange rate isn't too harsh, the i5 4690K and the i7 4790K is in your range with enough left over for an excellent motherboard.

Sorry, I forgot to post it. I have an 800W power supply. I will check the cables though. Thanks.

Your CPU is a bit slow, overclock it if you can.

I'll try over clocking it during the month gap and see how it runs, thanks.

 

[RGM79]

I'll try over clocking it during the month gap and see how it runs, thanks.

Overclocking it might not be viable - I think the computer case is a slimline design, so the heatsink and fan might not be very accommodating of heat increases. Also, I wonder how good the motherboard is for overclocking..

Still, give overclocking a try, the worst that can happen is that it'll run hot, unstable, and you just need to go back to default settings.

 

[sammelito]

Just recieved my new PC parts and id like to ask you guys about your opinions.

ASUS Z97-A - ATX / Z97
Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GB DDR3 1866MHz (2x4GB)
EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2 750W
Sapphire Radeon R9 290 TRI-X OC
Cooler Master CPU Cooler Hyper 212 Evo
Crucial MX100 SSD 256GB
NZXT S340
WD Blue 1TB SATA III
Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz S1150

I based my purchase on the "great" PC in the OT. The r9 290 sapphire was 20% off so I went for it.
The case includes 2 fans but im wondering if I should replace them.

 

[Couchaddict]

I want to remain with Team Green but need a GPU upgrade. Do I buy a 760 or wait for the 960s in 2015?

(Can't afford a 400$CA 970)

 

[Hanzou]

Because I'm stupid, I didn't hop on the R9 280 deal that happened a couple weeks ago. Now, I'm staring down the barrel of the Sapphire R9 280X. It's $200, but with certain maneuvering, I'll be bringing the total cost down to ~$170. (e: ~185 because fuck you NewEgg for destroying the google wallet promo)

I think I'm gonna jump on this since it looks to be the cheapest this card has ever been. (and it's better than the 280 which would be pretty great in the long run)

e: bought it. Will report results when upgrade is complete.

What exactly was this deal? My brother is looking for one of these cards so I can keep my eye on this and maybe it will go on sale again.

 

[larvi]

fyi one of the Amazon gold box deals today is a core I7 4790 for $249:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J56YSLM/?tag=neogaf0e-20

It's not an unlocked processor but a pretty good deal for a non overclocked build

 

[LilJoka]

Just recieved my new PC parts and id like to ask you guys about your opinions.

ASUS Z97-A - ATX / Z97
Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GB DDR3 1866MHz (2x4GB)
EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2 750W
Sapphire Radeon R9 290 TRI-X OC
Cooler Master CPU Cooler Hyper 212 Evo
Crucial MX100 SSD 256GB
NZXT S340
WD Blue 1TB SATA III
Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz S1150

I based my purchase on the "great" PC in the OT. The r9 290 sapphire was 20% off so I went for it.
The case includes 2 fans but im wondering if I should replace them.

For what reason would you replace them? They are perfectly good fans. The only reason to replace is noise. If temps are high, remove the side panel and see if temps drop drastically. That shows poor flow, and a better fan configuration needs to be found.

 

[Hari Seldon]

fyi one of the Amazon gold box deals today is a core I7 4790 for $249:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J56YSLM/?tag=neogaf0e-20

It's not an unlocked processor but a pretty good deal for a non overclocked build

Thanks bro, I was just debating the unlocked 4790 or the 5820k, but this is going to force my hand and save me hundreds of dollars. Hopefully only a small hit in gaming performance.

 

[kennah]

Thanks bro, I was just debating the unlocked 4790 or the 5820k, but this is going to force my hand and save me hundreds of dollars. Hopefully only a small hit in gaming performance.

It's 20-50 pct slower.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I was hoping that Linus's Haswell E Overclock video would give me some possible insight on how to get more out of my CPU but it confirmed that I did pretty much everything I could and my CPU is still a turd.

How much is your 5820 getting you? As much as I want to save money, I have the 3930k now and don't want to take steps back as far as PCI lanes. That's why I'm going 5930k.

Linus results were very good and I noticed some new voltage settings there that I will have to read up on. The last 3 Intel CPU's have all been able to hit 4.8 with the right settings. Excited to see a lower vcore to get to 4.6+.

 

[M.D]

I took all the old parts out of the case and cleaned it up and about to put in the new ones, some help would be appreciated!

Anything particular I should be careful about while putting the motherboard into the case and all the parts on it?

Any particular I should look out for while connecting all the PSU wires to the motherboard?

I'll be a GTX 970 and it seems there are 2 PCI-E ports on, do I need to connect both of them?

First time SSD user - should I follow everything from this guide SSD Setup and tweak guide [SSDReview] ?

Is there anything to do other than setting everything up correctly? anything that needs to be doe in BIOS on first boot or in general? Any other tip would be appreciated as well. Thanks!

 

[Hari Seldon]

It's 20-50 pct slower.

I wouldn't mind paying extra for the newer one if it was just the CPU price, but the DDR4 and mobo additional prices make the 4970 build like half the price.

 

[besada]

I recently bought a PC, based on the recommendations of this thread, and wanted to drop in and thank everyone. So thanks!

 

[garath]

I wouldn't mind paying extra for the newer one if it was just the CPU price, but the DDR4 and mobo additional prices make the 4970 build like half the price.

If you get an unlocked 4970k then you can OC and it's no longer a 20% difference. Still using DD3 and the like. I don't think it'd be a good idea to get a locked CPU at such a low clock speed though. That's where you're losing out on the gaming performance.

 

[Sanjay]

I recently bought a PC, based on the recommendations of this thread, and wanted to drop in and thank everyone. So thanks!

You mean made right.

 

[Glass Shark]

I built my first PC from scratch two years ago, and I unfortunately made some pretty big mistakes that hurt my upgradeability. I used a microATX mobo and case that only had one PCI Express slot, so I can't do SLI right now. But I also went with an i3 instead of an i5 or i7.

Now I'm getting ready to do some upgrades and I'm struggling with what to do first. At this point I can basically choose between upgrading the case + mobo or the CPU, but not both. The mobo will give me more room to upgrade in the future, but it also means I have to stick with the same CPU socket that I'm using right now, which may not be ideal in the future.

I'm stuck.

 

[LilJoka]

I built my first PC from scratch two years ago, and I unfortunately made some pretty big mistakes that hurt my upgradeability. I used a microATX mobo and case that only had one PCI Express slot, so I can't do SLI right now. But I also went with an i3 instead of an i5 or i7.

Now I'm getting ready to do some upgrades and I'm struggling with what to do first. At this point I can basically choose between upgrading the case + mobo or the CPU, but not both. The mobo will give me more room to upgrade in the future, but it also means I have to stick with the same CPU socket that I'm using right now, which may not be ideal in the future.

I'm stuck.

Exact specs?

 

[besada]

You mean made right.

I could say I had more money than time, but really it's just because I was too lazy.

 

[Fawoosh]

While I don't have the exact numbers on me, my current setup includes:

i7 processor
GTX 560 Ti
16g RAM
500g HD
500w PSU

It's a good rig and it has handled just about everything I've thrown at it on ultra-very high with little to no issue (only time it has really given me trouble was with Wolfenstein when there were tons of enemies on screen). I've been considering swapping the 560 Ti for a GTX 760 but I'm wondering if I really need it.

 

[Lockjaw333]

Mulling over a GPU upgrade next year. Do you think it would be worth it to upgrade my GPU to a GTX 970?

i5-2500k @ 3.3 Ghz
8GB RAM
GTX 670 2GB

The 2500k won' be a bottleneck, right? Or should I just wait for my next full build to upgrade?

 

[Prophet Steve]

Mulling over a GPU upgrade next year. Do you think it would be worth it to upgrade my GPU to a GTX 970?

i5-2500k @ 3.3 Ghz
8GB RAM
GTX 670 2GB

The 2500k won' be a bottleneck, right? Or should I just wait for my next full build to upgrade?

Would be a worthwhile upgrade. I'd recommend getting a CPU cooler if you don't have a different one and overclocking your CPU though. You'll can get 20% faster clock speeds.

 

[OrlanisWorks]

What exactly was this deal? My brother is looking for one of these cards so I can keep my eye on this and maybe it will go on sale again.

The deal I missed was the Sapphire R9 280 for about $160 or so, which was quite a steal yet I didn't buy it. It was on NewEgg. Keep an eye on PCPartPickers video card category. That's how you can find good deals. Maybe that card sill get an encore.

How did you bring this down to 170? I'm looking at that exact card at that exact price range.

Roommate is buying two of the free games off me for $30. It'll be ~185 because I couldn't get the google wallet promo due to the rebate on the card.

I wouldn't be able to get away with a 600W power supply running that thing would I?

You might be able to get buy but it depends on his much hardware you have in there. You might be cutting it close. My full build will only be about 500w of power used of my 600w psu. I'd say put together your build in pcpartpicker and see the estimated wattage use.

 

[tm24]

Hmm, i wasn't thinking of getting a new power supply for my new build since my old one was holding up fine, but it does a good deal

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EB7UIRS/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Modular would help my very shitty cable management skills

 

[RGM79]

I took all the old parts out of the case and cleaned it up and about to put in the new ones, some help would be appreciated!

Anything particular I should be careful about while putting the motherboard into the case and all the parts on it?

I don't know what parts you're replacing, so I'm just going to give some general advice.
If your cooler has a bracket for the underside of the motherboard, it's usually easier to attach it to the motherboard first then put the motherboard into the case. It's up to you if you want to install the heatsink onto the motherboard before or after you put the motherboard into the case.

Don't use more brass standoff screws than the motherboard has mounting holes for. Some people think they should fill every hole in the motherboard tray with them so they can prop up the motherboard from underneath and prevent the board from flexing under pressure, but that's unnecessary and can cause short circuiting.

Parts should fit together relatively easily. However, sometimes the parts don't quite fit exactly due to varying fit and alignment, and a bit of elbow grease may be needed to get some things in all the way. A small amount of temporary flexing is alright for circuit boards.

Any particular I should look out for while connecting all the PSU wires to the motherboard?

Try planning a bit and exercising some cable management as space allows. Figure out where cables need to be plugged in, and the best way to connect them without tangling cables. Tie them down and out of the way, and try to tuck them either behind the motherboard or in an empty drive bay, or against the walls of the case if nothing else. It'll look nice, allow for more airflow and keep things tidy.

I'll be a GTX 970 and it seems there are 2 PCI-E ports on, do I need to connect both of them?

Yes. Your power supply should have a set of cables with connectors marked "VGA" or "PCI-E", only those cables fit the ports.

If not, the GTX 970 likely came with Y shape cable adaptors in the box. Don't connect both ends of the Y to the same power supply cable, connect each to a separate cable.

First time SSD user - should I follow everything from this guide SSD Setup and tweak guide [SSDReview] ?

The guide looks fine. There are a few things to consider, though.

Disabling the page file can result in some programs, including some games, to refuse to run because the page file doesn't exist. Re-enabling the page file will fix that, or just keep it enabled but set to a low size (1~2GB)

Setting NO GUI may hamper troubleshooting efforts in the future. The amount of time saved is just a few seconds, so it's up to you how you want to set it.

Turning off drive indexing, windows search, write caching, and superfetch won't really impact SSD operation very much if at all. The guide author prefers that they be disabled, I prefer to keep them enabled. Again, kinda subjective and up to you.

AHCI and TRIM are the most important things to ensure are working for a SSD. Windows 7 and 8 should be able to detect that certain drives are SSDs and accordingly apply certain options, like TRIM, automatically. Doesn't hurt to check, though.

Is there anything to do other than setting everything up correctly? anything that needs to be doe in BIOS on first boot or in general? Any other tip would be appreciated as well. Thanks!

AHCI should be enabled and selected in BIOS before installing Windows.

 

[SniperHunter]

Which mobo do I go without? Seems like the asus maximum hero is really popular atm

 

[RGM79]

I built my first PC from scratch two years ago, and I unfortunately made some pretty big mistakes that hurt my upgradeability. I used a microATX mobo and case that only had one PCI Express slot, so I can't do SLI right now. But I also went with an i3 instead of an i5 or i7.

Now I'm getting ready to do some upgrades and I'm struggling with what to do first. At this point I can basically choose between upgrading the case + mobo or the CPU, but not both. The mobo will give me more room to upgrade in the future, but it also means I have to stick with the same CPU socket that I'm using right now, which may not be ideal in the future.

I'm stuck.

Are you set on running SLI? SLI sounds great in theory and can be a cheap way to augment your existing video card, but not all games work well with SLI (and crossfire for that matter), and scaling isn't consistent. Some games benefit more, some don't at all. The best surefire way to get better performance and compatibility is to get a better single video card.

If you do want to replace your current CPU and motherboard, maybe you can sell it as used on Craigslist or Ebay. Micro ATX and an i3 processor make for a excellent compact HTPC or non-gaming home computer.

The current 1150 Intel socket is fine and will be viable for quite a few years. Intel plans to support it through to the end of 2015, at least. Broadwell socket 1150 processors are slated to arrive by the middle of 2015. Yes, a new motherboard socket is also planned to be released at the same time as Broadwell, but that is for the Skylake platform of processors, and is a separate platform.

What are your current computer specs?

While I don't have the exact numbers on me, my current setup includes:

i7 processor
GTX 560 Ti
16g RAM
500g HD
500w PSU

It's a good rig and it has handled just about everything I've thrown at it on ultra-very high with little to no issue (only time it has really given me trouble was with Wolfenstein when there were tons of enemies on screen). I've been considering swapping the 560 Ti for a GTX 760 but I'm wondering if I really need it.

That's not bad. How much would the GTX 760 be? Honestly, you could pass on the GTX 760 and wait and see how the GTX 960 will turn out to be, it's due out Q1 2015 which is a few months from now.

 

[IceIpor]

The guide looks fine. There are a few things to consider, though.

Disabling the page file can result in some programs, including some games, to refuse to run because the page file doesn't exist. Re-enabling the page file will fix that, or just keep it enabled but set to a low size (1~2GB)

Setting NO GUI may hamper troubleshooting efforts in the future. The amount of time saved is just a few seconds, so it's up to you how you want to set it.

Turning off drive indexing, windows search, write caching, and superfetch won't really impact SSD operation very much if at all. The guide author prefers that they be disabled, I prefer to keep them enabled. Again, kinda subjective and up to you.

AHCI and TRIM are the most important things to ensure are working for a SSD. Windows 7 and 8 should be able to detect that certain drives are SSDs and accordingly apply certain options, like TRIM, automatically. Doesn't hurt to check, though.


AHCI should be enabled and selected in BIOS before installing Windows.

If you have a regular HDD also, move the pagefile to that drive instead of disabling it.

 

[M.D]

.

Thank you! really appreciate the detailed answers
I'm a bit tired so I'll be putting the PC together tomorrow morning, hopefully all goes well

These are the parts I'm putting in

i7-4790K
GIGABYTE Z97X-GAMING 7
GIGABYTE GTX 970 G1
Kingston HyperX FURY 4x4GB DDR 3 1600MHz
Patriot BLAZER SSD 240GB
Western Digital 2TB

Using an ANTEC 900 case with CORSAIR 650TX

One last question - I had a UPS that stopped working a year or 2 ago, and I'm pretty sure I just need to replace the battery because it was fine until it turned off one day and kept turning off after some time if I turned it back on

The UPS says 480W and 1000VA
Is that good enough if I want to use it for the PC & PS3?

 

[rtcn63]

If the CORSAIR 650TX is an Active PFC PSU, you may need a pure sinewave UPS. Else it'll just shut the computer off when it goes to switch to battery. (Speaks from experience)

I have a Seasonic 430w, had to buy a Cyberpower 1500va UPS. My old APC 550v wasn't compatible.

 

[RGM79]

Hmm, i wasn't thinking of getting a new power supply for my new build since my old one was holding up fine, but it does a good deal

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EB7UIRS/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Modular would help my very shitty cable management skills

That's got good reviews and it's fully modular too. However, if you don't mind semi-modular and slightly lower efficiency, there are these two power supplies that are rated at 750 watts and are slightly cheaper, also having good reviews.

$77.99 XFX Pro Series 750W 80+ Silver, free shipping, no rebates

$79.99 Antec High Current Gamer 750W 80+ Bronze, free shipping, after $10 mail in rebate

If you have a regular HDD also, move the pagefile to that drive instead of disabling it.

Yes, that will definitely work too.

However, page file from hard drive is slow, so ideally the setup should be either no page file, or a small page file on SSD because it will be faster and won't have to read from the page file on the slower hard drive.

If SSD space is low, then setting a small page file on a secondary hard drive is fine, the performance hit isn't very often and usually only happens with high memory usage.

Thank you! really appreciate the detailed answers
I'm a bit tired so I'll be putting the PC together tomorrow morning, hopefully all goes well

These are the parts I'm putting in

i7-4790K
GIGABYTE Z97X-GAMING 7
GIGABYTE GTX 970 G1
Kingston HyperX FURY 4x4GB DDR 3 1600MHz
Patriot BLAZER SSD 240GB
Western Digital 2TB

Using an ANTEC 900 case with CORSAIR 650TX

Those are nice parts. Have fun with your new computer.

One last question - I had a UPS that stopped working a year or 2 ago, and I'm pretty sure I just need to replace the battery because it was fine until it turned off one day and kept turning off after some time if I turned it back on

The UPS says 480W and 1000VA
Is that good enough if I want to use it for the PC & PS3?

Sorry, I don't know that much about UPS. I did some cursory searching, and 1000VA seems to be plenty for both PS3 and PC. I don't know the model you have or the electrical specs, but it'll probably keep the system running for a couple of minutes as long as you're not in a game or something. The main point of a UPS is to allow time for you to save data and shutdown equipment instead of being abruptly turned off after a power failure, so 1000VA should be fine for the short amount of time you need to turn off your PC.

 

[Just_myles]

Hey pcGAF I'm back with another question. These 2 current 'budget builds' are for my brother and I wanted some feedback where we can improve this build. The budget is at 600USD. Let me know what you think.

Build 1

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Biostar Hi-Fi B85S3+ Ver. 6.x Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($64.00 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ Directron)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $487.94


Build 2

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($109.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Directron)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ Directron)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair SPEC-03 White ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $583.42


Thanks in advance!

 

[michaelius]

The UPS says 480W and 1000VA
Is that good enough if I want to use it for the PC & PS3?

Forget about that 1000VA rating real power is that 480W.

And that's before PSU so in reality that's maybe 400W. I'd say that's 50/50 if this will work with this pc (when gaming).

 

[gabrielt16]

Hey Im trying to buy a new computer and I was wondering if I could get a second opinion on this one. Ideally I would build one myself but the shipping from buying parts separately would be about $100, I'd rather buy a pre-built and then upgrade when necessary.

Intel Core i5-4440 processor 3.1GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.3GHz
8GB DDR3 Memory (4GB x 2)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX745 Graphics with 4GB of Discrete Video Memory
1TB 7200RPM SATA3 Hard Drive


Here is the link to the computer:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K0K9PBA/?tag=neogaf0e-20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103960
http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/model/DT.SPXAA.014

Thanks in advance!!

 

[M.D]

If the CORSAIR 650TX is an Active PFC PSU, you may need a pure sinewave UPS. Else it'll just shut the computer off when it goes to switch to battery. (Speaks from experience)

I have a Seasonic 430w, had to buy a Cyberpower 1500va UPS. My old APC 550v wasn't compatible.

Not sure what actually means, but here

Newegg


It says

CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI CrossFire 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply & New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready[/QUOTE]

I think that's an updated model of the one I have (bought at in 2008) so not sure if its the same for my model?

On the official website it also says

99% Active Power Factor Correction provides clean and reliable power to your system

I have an Opti TS1000B UPS
It says here in the manual it uses 'Simulated Sine Wave'
It won't work then?

Those are nice parts. Have fun with your new computer.


Sorry, I don't know that much about UPS. I did some cursory searching, and 1000VA seems to be plenty for both PS3 and PC. I don't know the model you have or the electrical specs, but it'll probably keep the system running for a couple of minutes as long as you're not in a game or something. The main point of a UPS is to allow time for you to save data and shutdown equipment instead of being abruptly turned off after a power failure, so 1000VA should be fine for the short amount of time you need to turn off your PC.

Yup, feels good upgrading after more than 6 years
Only bad part is I don't have any money for new, full priced games that I want to play ;p

So my UPS is good enough, but it looks like it won't actually work with my PSU... :<

Forget about that 1000VA rating real power is that 480W.

And that's before PSU so in reality that's maybe 400W. I'd say that's 50/50 if this will work with this pc (when gaming).

It seems like I need a new UPS anyway

I already overspent by A LOT

 

[Fawoosh]

That's not bad. How much would the GTX 760 be? Honestly, you could pass on the GTX 760 and wait and see how the GTX 960 will turn out to be, it's due out Q1 2015 which is a few months from now.

The 760 is just over $200 on Amazon. I might as well save it for the 960 because as I said, my current set up has given me very little trouble (and that was more likely driver issues than hardware).

 

[witchedwiz]

Pc get and assemblee...
Doing the usual driver/download stuff but so far so good..
There goes 1700 eur

 

[Broadbandito]

Building a super budget pc for my parents for christmas. With new knowledge of the pentium g3258 I put together two builds.They will be using for email, internet surfing, youtube, fantasy football. Any changes I should make? Don't need a z97 board for this one.

Then I also have my friend's build that I am still working on.

Is the GPU overkill for the build? He pretty much wants to play all blizzard games at 60 fps and use visual editor.

 

[appaws]

I'm looking into building a new PC in the spring. I don't have all the money yet so I'm thinking about getting a CPU or GPU now. Which category typically has the better deals during holiday sales?

Don't do it. Just save the money and put it away somewhere until you are ready to buy the whole thing. A lot can change between now and spring.

I want to remain with Team Green but need a GPU upgrade. Do I buy a 760 or wait for the 960s in 2015?

(Can't afford a 400$CA 970)

This depends on whether you are able to put off whatever games you might want to play between now and then. The 760 is a good card for 1080p gaming.

Hey Im trying to buy a new computer and I was wondering if I could get a second opinion on this one. Ideally I would build one myself but the shipping from buying parts separately would be about $100, I'd rather buy a pre-built and then upgrade when necessary.

Intel Core i5-4440 processor 3.1GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.3GHz
8GB DDR3 Memory (4GB x 2)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX745 Graphics with 4GB of Discrete Video Memory
1TB 7200RPM SATA3 Hard Drive


Here is the link to the computer:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K0K9PBA/?tag=neogaf0e-20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103960
http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/model/DT.SPXAA.014

Thanks in advance!!

No, don't buy that. It has a very underpowered GPU and a very limiting unnamed 300 watt power supply. For 700 bucks you could build something nice.

 

[gabrielt16]

The problem I have with building a PC is that shipping alone would be $100+. I'd rather buy a prebuilt and upgrade/replace from there.

 

[tm24]

That's got good reviews and it's fully modular too. However, if you don't mind semi-modular and slightly lower efficiency, there are these two power supplies that are rated at 750 watts and are slightly cheaper, also having good reviews.

$77.99 XFX Pro Series 750W 80+ Silver, free shipping, no rebates

$79.99 Antec High Current Gamer 750W 80+ Bronze, free shipping, after $10 mail in rebate

I think ima stick with the corsair just because I have credit on amazon and can use my card for more bonuses.

Here's what my build is right now. Reusing my RAM, Hyper 212 Evo, HDD and my 660ti. Hoping my 970 hints pay off for my bday.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair Air 540 ATX Mid Tower Case ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($86.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $536.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-20 14:25 EST-0500

So what i'm having trouble is deciding on a mobo. This is what i'm down too

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128707
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128714

Basically i don't know what im paying the premium for, so just go for the cheaper one?

 

[RGM79]

The 760 is just over $200 on Amazon. I might as well save it for the 960 because as I said, my current set up has given me very little trouble (and that was more likely driver issues than hardware).

$200? USD?

Hey pcGAF I'm back with another question. These 2 current 'budget builds' are for my brother and I wanted some feedback where we can improve this build. The budget is at 600USD. Let me know what you think.

Build 1

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Biostar Hi-Fi B85S3+ Ver. 6.x Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($64.00 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ Directron)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $487.94


Build 2

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($109.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Directron)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ Directron)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair SPEC-03 White ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $583.42


Thanks in advance!

Both are pretty close builds. Let's just consolidate it into one list of parts. Keep everything that's the same between both lists. You can get a XFX 550 Watt power supply for $55. Instead of a Z97 or B85 motherboard, you should go for H97 as a better in-between choice. The Z97's overclocking won't be necessary and B85 is an older business type. The ASrock H97 Pro4 is newer and goes for $88. Either of the two cases are fine.

 

[appaws]

The problem I have with building a PC is that shipping alone would be $100+. I'd rather buy a prebuilt and upgrade/replace from there.

Trust me, you would be getting ripped off by more than $100 if you bought that thing.

Where do you live?

 

[SniperHunter]

I have a solid 750 watt PSU from 2008, i was wondering if its ok to keep using it? I am gonna swap out the mobo and CPU and keep the case and the PSU. Good idea?

 

[Seanspeed]

The problem I have with building a PC is that shipping alone would be $100+. I'd rather buy a prebuilt and upgrade/replace from there.

PCPartsPicker prices include shipping as default, just so you know. You can get many parts with little or no shipping costs as well. Either way, the site will give you the cheapest options including shipping.