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[Paznos]

Hey guys I'm going to build a new pc and it's been a long time since my last build(2006), I could use some suggestions

my current PC is:

CPU:Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4Ghz
RAM: 4GB RAM DDR2
MOBO: ASUS P5k Premium
GPU: GTX 460 w/768MB
PSU: OCZ GameXStream 700W
CASE: Thermaltake Armor VA8000BWS
HDD's: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB 16MB x2 RAID 0

Budget is between $700-800ish US.

Main Use: 4 Gaming/General use, my current monitor is a Dell 24" 2405fpw I'll be upgrading to a new one later on. Since I don't upgrade that often I'd like this to last for a while.

 

[Willectro]

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.

You will save money and end up with a better PC if you build it yourself. Shop around, some online retailers may offer cheap or free shipping. Also depending on where you live, Black Friday is coming up.

 

[paskowitz]

Just out of curiosity is there a tool that can check to see if a CPU is damaged (functioning, overclocking, but not performing as well as it should)?

 

[Telephoto999]

Just out of curiosity is there a tool that can check to see if a CPU is damaged (functioning, overclocking, but not performing as well as it should)?

CPU's really work or they don't, there's not much in there that can be fluctuating performance wise. It's almost always something else causing the symptoms. What are the problems you are seeing?

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Try a CMOS reset by removing the Motherboard battery for a few minutes.

I recommend to always load optimized defaults before and after the BIOS flash, then to overclock from scratch since the profiles tend to break afterwards.

Thaks, mate. The battery did the trick. although I'm still not sure is everything is 100% alright. It wouldn't boot windows unless all my drives were plugged in, rather than just the ssd with windows installed in it.

 

[gabrielt16]

I live in Puerto Rico. Newegg gives me a $50 shipping cost in most cases and the other places I checked wander around the $20s. Only place where I can get free shipping is Amazon and because of Prime but thanks for everyone's opinion. I have a few builds on pcpartpicker so I can check again how much it would be plus shipping.

 

[paskowitz]

CPU's really work or they don't, there's not much in there that can be fluctuating performance wise. It's almost always something else causing the symptoms. What are the problems you are seeing?

I have an i5 4670k at 4.4ghz (GPU: GTX980 OC'd to 1500mhz). When I run 3DMark Firestrike I seem to be stuck at a low 11k score (I should be high 12k based on what others are getting). My CPU score is often 5-6k and I have even gotten a 4k result on the CPU component of the benchmark. In general, in games, I notice that when my CPU comes under load, I get stuttering.

Now I would not really bat an eye at any of this... but this all started when I switched to water cooling. When I first installed my water cooler, the power cable was not properly attached, and did not cool my CPU. The temps jumped to 90c for a couple minutes while I was scrambling to figure out what is going on. Before this I had a stable 4.5ghz clock. Now I get BSOD's if I even sniff at 4.5ghz.

Should I just turn down my CPU clock? Would this have an effect on stability?

 

[RGM79]

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.

Where are you looking? Certain places have free shipping promotions. NCIX US does free shipping for orders over $100 and under 100 lbs.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

I have an i5 4670k at 4.4ghz (GPU: GTX980 OC'd to 1500mhz). When I run 3DMark Firestrike I seem to be stuck at a low 11k score (I should be high 12k based on what others are getting). My CPU score is often 5-6k and I have even gotten a 4k result on the CPU component of the benchmark. In general, in games, I notice that when my CPU comes under load, I get stuttering.

Now I would not really bat an eye at any of this... but this all started when I switched to water cooling. When I first installed my water cooler, the power cable was not properly attached, and did not cool my CPU. The temps jumped to 90c for a couple minutes while I was scrambling to figure out what is going on. Before this I had a stable 4.5ghz clock. Now I get BSOD's if I even sniff at 4.5ghz.

Should I just turn down my CPU clock? Would this have an effect on stability?

I have noticed something similar. When I OC my GPU and run fire strike the physics score drops from 16000 (which I get with a i7 5820 at 4.1ghz) to 13000 or as low as 9000, like if my CPU OC is being overwritten to default of 3.3 ghz or lower.

I'm using evga precision. Does anyone know if the program can interfere with CPU OC?

 

[gabrielt16]

Its been a while since I checked but some of those Free Shipping promotions usually dont apply to Puerto Rico.

I had these builds around that I either copied or made with/from Logical Increments and ChooseMyPC. I mainly just want to game on Medium or High since I only have a laptop and I have to do most of my gaming in Low to get them running.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pMFvsY

Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 2GB Dual-X Video Card
Rosewill R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case
SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer
Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter


http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4Y3GnQ

Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Kingston Fury Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card
Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case
Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer
Linksys AE2500 802.11a/b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter
Arctic Cooling Arctic F8 PWM CO 31.0 CFM 80mm Fan

Thanks again!!

 

[LilJoka]

Thaks, mate. The battery did the trick. although I'm still not sure is everything is 100% alright. It wouldn't boot windows unless all my drives were plugged in, rather than just the ssd with windows installed in it.

By any chance did one of those old HDDs have Windows installed to it and plugged in whilst you installed Windows to the SSD?

If so the bootloader is on the HDD, meaning with that HDD unplugged the SSD wont boot!

 

[RGM79]

I have an i5 4670k at 4.4ghz (GPU: GTX980 OC'd to 1500mhz). When I run 3DMark Firestrike I seem to be stuck at a low 11k score (I should be high 12k based on what others are getting). My CPU score is often 5-6k and I have even gotten a 4k result on the CPU component of the benchmark. In general, in games, I notice that when my CPU comes under load, I get stuttering.

Now I would not really bat an eye at any of this... but this all started when I switched to water cooling. When I first installed my water cooler, the power cable was not properly attached, and did not cool my CPU. The temps jumped to 90c for a couple minutes while I was scrambling to figure out what is going on. Before this I had a stable 4.5ghz clock. Now I get BSOD's if I even sniff at 4.5ghz.

Should I just turn down my CPU clock? Would this have an effect on stability?

What are your CPU temperatures like when idle and under load? Sounds like it could be an improperly mounted cooler, bad thermal paste, or even a faulty water cooler. A few minutes at 90 degrees is not that big a deal - CPUs and motherboards have thermal sensors and safety guards that turn off the system if the CPU temperature is abnormally high.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

By any chance did one of those old HDDs have Windows installed to it and plugged in whilst you installed Windows to the SSD?

If so the bootloader is on the HDD, meaning with that HDD unplugged the SSD wont boot!

If that's the case, then I know exactly which drive it is. But I never had windows installed there, could it still be the case?

 

[LilJoka]

If that's the case, then I know exactly which drive it is. But I never had windows installed there, could it still be the case?

What happens if you unplug all HDDs, then go into the BIOS and select to boot the SSD? Do you get a no bootable media message? That pretty much confirms the bootloader is on the other drive.

 

[RedSwirl]

That's normal. My Windows system folder is just shy of 28 GB. Windows is a big girl.

How large is your SSD? If it's very small, consider using another drive for your OS and keep the SSD as a secondary drive just to store the games you want on it.

The main benefit of this SSD right now is how much faster it makes Windows 7. Right now it pretty much only contains Windows, My Documents (which is like 1GB), and all my main software (which also runs much faster due to the SSD). I guess 65GB is the most I'm ever going to be able to keep free (it's a 128GB SSD). I already have an HDD attached as a secondary drive, but I'm trying to see if I can squeeze Wolfenstein on to the SSD since I heard it get's a significant performance boost on it.

If things get really bad I guess I could just grab another 128GB SSD.

 

[Telephoto999]

I have an i5 4670k at 4.4ghz (GPU: GTX980 OC'd to 1500mhz). When I run 3DMark Firestrike I seem to be stuck at a low 11k score (I should be high 12k based on what others are getting). My CPU score is often 5-6k and I have even gotten a 4k result on the CPU component of the benchmark. In general, in games, I notice that when my CPU comes under load, I get stuttering.

Now I would not really bat an eye at any of this... but this all started when I switched to water cooling. When I first installed my water cooler, the power cable was not properly attached, and did not cool my CPU. The temps jumped to 90c for a couple minutes while I was scrambling to figure out what is going on. Before this I had a stable 4.5ghz clock. Now I get BSOD's if I even sniff at 4.5ghz.

Should I just turn down my CPU clock? Would this have an effect on stability?

Download CPUZ and watch it during your benchmark, you can monitor voltage and processor MHz from there to make sure it isn't down clocking during the run.

 

[RGM79]

Hey guys I'm going to build a new pc and it's been a long time since my last build(2006), I could use some suggestions

my current PC is:

CPU:Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4Ghz
RAM: 4GB RAM DDR2
MOBO: ASUS P5k Premium
GPU: GTX 460 w/768MB
PSU: OCZ GameXStream 700W
CASE: Thermaltake Armor VA8000BWS
HDD's: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB 16MB x2 RAID 0

Budget is between $700-800ish US.

Main Use: 4 Gaming/General use, my current monitor is a Dell 24" 2405fpw I'll be upgrading to a new one later on. Since I don't upgrade that often I'd like this to last for a while.

You can reuse the power supply, hard drives, and case. Maybe even the video card if you're not playing anything recent. Here's two lists of parts that might fit you:

Excellent CPU, cooler, motherboard, 16GB RAM, without video card. i7 4790K, Corsair H80i, Gigabyte GA-Z97-UD5H, G.Skill 16GB DDR3, for $681. Only $120 left for a video card kind of sucks.

Great CPU, cooler, motherboard, 8GB RAM, and GTX 970 video card. i5 4690K, Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo, Gigabyte GA-Z97-UD3H, G.Skill 8GB DDR3, for $807. GTX 970 is a great video card.

Parts can be mixed and matched between the two to find a better balance. Maybe change the cooler and go with 8GB ram on the first one. I highly recommend the GTX 970 if possible.

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?

It's probably fine. Depends on the model, though. Power supplies can last longer than 6 years, I'd keep it for another 2 years, 750 watts is still quite good now, easily enough to run two of nearly any video card except the most power hungry.

 

[JetForceGemini]

Okay guys soon I will be upgrading my pc and right now I have a Pentium g3258 with a GTX 750 ti, my question is should I upgrade the cpu to an i5 4690k or the gpu to an GTX 970 or r9 280x?

 

[Paznos]

You can reuse the power supply, hard drives, and case. Maybe even the video card if you're not playing anything recent. Here's two lists of parts that might fit you:

Excellent CPU, cooler, motherboard, 16GB RAM, without video card. i7 4790K, Corsair H80i, Gigabyte GA-Z97-UD5H, G.Skill 16GB DDR3, for $681. Only $120 left for a video card kind of sucks.

Great CPU, cooler, motherboard, 8GB RAM, and GTX 970 video card. i5 4690K, Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo, Gigabyte GA-Z97-UD3H, G.Skill 8GB DDR3, for $807. GTX 970 is a great video card.

Parts can be mixed and matched between the two to find a better balance. Maybe change the cooler and go with 8GB ram on the first one. I highly recommend the GTX 970 if possible.



It's probably fine. Depends on the model, though. Power supplies can last longer than 6 years, I'd keep it for another 2 years, 750 watts is still quite good now, easily enough to run two of nearly any video card except the most power hungry.

Thanks for the help those two builds really helped, I can raise my budget to 900 which would help a little bit.

 

[paskowitz]

What are your CPU temperatures like when idle and under load? Sounds like it could be an improperly mounted cooler, bad thermal paste, or even a faulty water cooler. A few minutes at 90 degrees is not that big a deal - CPUs and motherboards have thermal sensors and safety guards that turn off the system if the CPU temperature is abnormally high.

The 90c was because the cooler was not even on. That is totally fixed now. I am basically just a little curious because it seems that my performance is less than other people with similar specs.

This is obviously nothing game breaking.

 

[RGM79]

Thanks for the help those two builds really helped, I can raise my budget to 900 which would help a little bit.

In that case, I recommend these parts then, coming in at $910. An i7 4790K will last you for a while longer than the i5. The heatsink will let you overclock and get even more performance out of the CPU, now or later down the road. The 1 x 8GB RAM is the lowest priced trusted model that I could find, and you'll have room to add more RAM for 16GB or more in the future. The motherboard is excellent value, with an original MSRP around $200, and the graphics card should prove to be able to tackle high end settings for the next few years.

 

[Felix Lighter]

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+.

My CPU is a bit of a dud. I can only get it stable at 4.1 even with water cooling. It's not really a Haswell E issue, it's just a silicon lottery issue for me.

 

[The Llama]

Okay guys soon I will be upgrading my pc and right now I have a Pentium g3258 with a GTX 750 ti, my question is should I upgrade the cpu to an i5 4690k or the gpu to an GTX 970 or r9 280x?

I'd overclock the CPU and get a GTX 970.

 

[Paltros]

Hi PC GAF, I have a 6850 that is now starting to feel long in the tooth and have been looking towards buying a GTX 970 after hearing good things about it, however I have some questions before plunging in.

1) The Power supply is a Corsair 650 HX, will it be enough to run the GTX 970?

2) My case is a Cooler Master 690 Advanced II, will the GTX 970 fit in? And will I have to fiddle with removing the drive bays to make room?

3) From between these two, which one should I go for? Asus Strix GTX 970 or Gigabyte GTX 970?

3) How does the driver change from AMD to Nvidia work?

 

[LiquidMetal14]

My CPU is a bit of a dud. I can only get it stable at 4.1 even with water cooling. It's not really a Haswell E issue, it's just a silicon lottery issue for me.

Yea, that's what I figured. It really is all about the luck of the draw.

Call it superstition but that's why I want to stay with the 5930k instead of the 5820.

That and the 40 PCI lanes.

 

[HokieJoe]

Okay PCGAF-sigliere, I want to get back into some PC gaming.

I have a Gateway DX4860-UB33P. The important bits are:

• Intel Core i5 2320 (3.00GHz)
• 8GB DDR3
• 1TB HDD
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

I want to buy a good mid-grade GPU with some future-proofiness. I will buy a suitable PSU (Antec is my fave). And since upgrading my laptop to SSD, I'm thinking about upgrading my desktop now.

The games I most want to play are:
1) Company of Heroes- damn I've missed that game
2) World of Tanks
3) ARMA
4) A good sim-racer

I'd like to run these games @1080p with nice eye candy. Any suggestions?

 

[Deadly]

At what price is the 960 expected to launch? Will it be significantly better than a 760? Was hoping to get something on black Friday/cyber Monday

 

[Boss Man]

I just finished building this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB FTW ACX 2.0 Video Card ($385.66 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ Directron)
Total: $1364.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-20 17:49 EST-0500


It runs super cool and quiet. You can only hear the 970 churning if you run an intensive game and mute the sound.

Turns out I can't play games on PC because computers always feel like soul sucking work machines to me. I've seen people post about prebuilt machines here, so if anyone wants to avoid snapping parts together PM me.

 

[Felix Lighter]

That post took an unexpected turn at the end.

 

[Sorcerer Supreme]

I'm building a PC for my brother and he has a fairly small desk so I'm going with a Micro ATX motherboard and case on this build. Everything should work together right? Also any suggestions are welcomed.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/X6vrt6

 

[XBP]

Ok guys, I contacted NCIX and they were awesome enough to price match the lowest price for all my components. This is the final build I'm going with. Does everything look ok?


CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($414.89)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H105 73.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.89)
Motherboard: Asus X99-A ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($299.85)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($309.99)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($218.89)
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($104.89)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($418.95)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Luxe ATX Full Tower Case ($159.99)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($134.99)
Keyboard: Logitech K120 Wired Standard Keyboard ($11.25)
Mouse: Corsair Raptor M45 Wired Optical Mouse ($59.99)
Total: $2243.57

Plus 50$ for PC assembly = $2293 (+ 120 tax off course)

 

[SSJLuffy]

Just wondering, can the $500 build play modern games? I don't need to play at max settings or anything.

 

[Mikeside]

I've just built my new PC and it's gorgeous
Fractal Design Arc XL
i5-4690k (cooled by a Hydro H80i)
16GB Crucial Ballistix Tactical 1866
Corsair AX850i
2x Gigabyte GTX 970 Windforce
MSI Z97 GAMING 9 AC

I'm using 2 256GB SSDs (I forget the brand) in RAID 0 with 2x 1TB Seagate HDDs also in RAID 0 for a data lump


I've been told I should be looking at replacing the BIOS on my GPUs & I definitely need to overclock.

Does anyone have advice on where to look for a guide relating to my board & CPU combo?

The machine already plays Tomb Raider at 1440p max settings with tresfx on & runs like a dream

The only thing that's slowing down for me right now is Dragon Age Inquisition, which won't stay constant 60 even at 1080p with some settings reduced, but I'll look into that later.

 

[Cimarron]

Do guys its a good idea to pick up the gt 980 4gb now? Or wait until the 8gb versions come out? I am currently running I7-4960x @3.6ghz, 16gb ram, and sli gt 760ti 2gb (don't laugh). I want to get twin 980's for 3d gaming and 4k display.

 

[RGM79]

At what price is the 960 expected to launch? Will it be significantly better than a 760? Was hoping to get something on black Friday/cyber Monday

Rumours put the GTX 960 at around $250-275 USD, a bit below the GTX 970's MSRP and more or less where the current 760 is selling at. It won't be too far behind the capabilities of the 970, although by how much is uncertain.

It won't be arriving until sometime next year, so no chance of getting it this holiday season.

Okay PCGAF-sigliere, I want to get back into some PC gaming.

I have a Gateway DX4860-UB33P. The important bits are:

• Intel Core i5 2320 (3.00GHz)
• 8GB DDR3
• 1TB HDD
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

I want to buy a good mid-grade GPU with some future-proofiness. I will buy a suitable PSU (Antec is my fave). And since upgrading my laptop to SSD, I'm thinking about upgrading my desktop now.

The games I most want to play are:
1) Company of Heroes- damn I've missed that game
2) World of Tanks
3) ARMA
4) A good sim-racer

I'd like to run these games @1080p with nice eye candy. Any suggestions?

How much do you think you'll be able to spend on the video card and PSU altogether? Both WoT and CoH2 seem to do well at ultra settings with a GTX 770, but unfortunately all three of those games both rely on a fair amount of CPU power, and it's hard to say exactly how well your i5 2320 will do. Your processor seems to be a weaker version of the popular i5 2500k and cannot be overclocked. Looking at other users' results, I get the feeling that the processor might be a bottleneck.

 

[RGM79]

Just wondering, can the $500 build play modern games? I don't need to play at max settings or anything.

Yeah. Depends on the game and what processor you go with, but take a look at these test results for the 750 Ti and the R9 270X.

I've just built my new PC and it's gorgeous
Fractal Design Arc XL
i5-4690k (cooled by a Hydro H80i)
16GB Crucial Ballistix Tactical 1866
Corsair AX850i
2x Gigabyte GTX 970 Windforce
MSI Z97 GAMING 9 AC


I'm using 2 256GB SSDs (I forget the brand) in RAID 0 with 2x 1TB Seagate HDDs also in RAID 0 for a data lump

Very nice specs.

I've been told I should be looking at replacing the BIOS on my GPUs & I definitely need to overclock.

Does anyone have advice on where to look for a guide relating to my board & CPU combo?

The machine already plays Tomb Raider at 1440p max settings with tresfx on & runs like a dream

The only thing that's slowing down for me right now is Dragon Age Inquisition, which won't stay constant 60 even at 1080p with some settings reduced, but I'll look into that later.

Unfortunately, BIOS modding is out of my league. I have no idea about any of the specifics, I can only direct you to the front page of the Overclock.net GTX 970 owner's thread which has links to BIOS modding information.

As for overclocking the processor, Guru3D's review of your motherboard has a page on overclocking a similar processor that can pass for a brief guide to getting your processor overclocked. Pair that with a general guide to 1150 overclocking and try to aim for the results that other people have already achieved with the 4690K. I believe 4.5GHz should be easily stable, you could get up to 4.8GHz if you got a lucky processor.

Apparently MSAA is a real pain to run fluidly, try turning that off if you want better framerates. You have a very potent system, others have reported that maxing out everything and not going with MSAA is the answer. Try the latest drivers as well if you don't already have them, those should help.

 

[Effect]

Anyone know or can tell what the difference between these two graphics cards are? Which one should one go for?

EVGA 02G-P4-3765-KR G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 760 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130953

ZOTAC ZT-70401-10P G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 760 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500306&cm_re=GTX_760-_-14-500-306-_-Product

Either of these would potentially replace my current GTX 560 but one is cheaper then the other and don't want to put money down on the wrong thing on this front. The 560 has worked and lasted surprisingly well for me over the last few years. I just think that if I'm going to upgrade the CPU I should go with something more powerful, within the budget, so I can run something like Dragon Age 3, The Witcher 3, and Star Citizen (hopefully if it scales well) and a few others at least more comfortably. I'm not running things at really high resolutions and I'm okay with not getting Ultra settings as long as Very High, High and Medium if I have to still look nice. The comparisons at least seem to suggest the upgrade here would be somewhat significant and it's at least three tiers above what I have.

Due to the sale over at NewEgg I'm going to be going with the FX-8320 to replace my current AMD Phenom II X4 925.

I know I likely should be going for an i5 4430 or higher. I understand that after reading what people have been saying. It might force me to get a new motherboard when I upgrade again. Have read as many comparisons as I could over the past few days I just don't think it's going to be worth the money with going with the more expensive option. The numbers don't seem that drastic enough, at least when I know what I'd be okay with performance wise, to justify spending close to another hundred for the processor. Knowing full well if I do upgrade again it's not going to be for another few years hopefully. By then things might be cheaper. There are also other things I want to do after having the parts and I can't honestly make the numbers ($) work within the time frame I want to work within.

I'm really trying to make this work in the end by using as many parts I do have (case, ram, psu, etc) and what I can buy that will be significant upgrades while still not costing a lot. Upgrade path really isn't important at the moment. If this works out this stops me from caving on a PS4 and XBO to match my WiiU in a few days. The PC will be good enough for newer games going forward even if I'm on Very High/High instead of Ultra or higher. I'm okay with that. Now it's a question of how long will Windows 7 last me or will I be forced to go to 8.1 sooner rather then later.

 

[RGM79]

Anyone know or can tell what the difference between these two graphics cards are? Which one should one go for?

EVGA 02G-P4-3765-KR G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 760 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130953

ZOTAC ZT-70401-10P G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 760 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500306&cm_re=GTX_760-_-14-500-306-_-Product

Either of these would potentially replace my current GTX 560 but one is cheaper then the other and don't want to put money down on the wrong thing on this front. The 560 has worked and lasted surprisingly well for me over the last few years. I just think that if I'm going to upgrade the CPU I should go with something more powerful, within the budget, so I can run something like Dragon Age 3, The Witcher 3, and Star Citizen (hopefully if it scales well) and a few others at least comfortably. I'm not running things at really high resolutions and I'm okay with not getting Ultra settings as long as Very High, High and Medium if I have to still look nice. The comparisons at least seem to suggest the upgrade here would be somewhat significant and it's at least three tiers above what I have.

I'd go with the EVGA. Their reputation for their Superclocked cards is excellent, and so is their customer service. Not to put down Zotac, but my perception of them is that they mainly offer lower cost products (not that they're worse than reference designs) that don't perform as well as models like EVGA, Gigabyte, etc.

Due to the sale over at NewEgg I'm going to be going with the FX-8320 to replace my current AMD Phenom II X4 925.

I know I likely should be going for an i5 4430 or higher. I understand that after reading what people have been saying. It might force me to get a new motherboard when I upgrade again. Have read as many comparisons as I could over the past few days I just don't think it's going to be worth the money with going with the more expensive option. The numbers don't seem that drastic enough, at least when I know what I'd be okay with performance wise, to justify spending close to another hundred for the processor. Knowing full well if I do upgrade again it's not going to be for another few years hopefully. By then things might be cheaper. There are also other things I want to do after having the parts and I can't honestly make the numbers ($) work within the time frame I want to work within.

I'm really trying to make this work in the end by using as many parts I do have (case, ram, psu, etc) and what I can buy that will be significant upgrades while still not costing a lot. Upgrade path really isn't important at the moment. If this works out this stops me from caving on a PS4 and XBO to match my WiiU in a few days. The PC will be good enough for newer games going forward even if I'm on Very High/High instead of Ultra or higher. I'm okay with that. Now it's a question of how long will Windows 7 last me or will I be forced to go to 8.1 sooner rather then later.

Windows 7 will still be around for a couple of years, at least. Windows 8 failed to gain any large market share and Windows 10 is still on the horizon for now. There's talk of DirectX 12 not running on Windows 7, but companies are wary of the fact that there will be huge backlash if WIndows 7 support is dropped, so for now it's safe.

 

[DemiMatt]

Hey PC Gaf!

With the new requirements of MGS5 Ground Zeros, I really want to build a new rig (mine is currently 6 years old). I want it to be able to play Ground Zeroes & The Witcher 3, and I want to use it has a computer for my living room for gaming.

My question is . . . are the following GFX Card & Processor too much for what I need or just enough? Also what Motherboard would you recommend and what small case would you recommend? I want something that could potentially be the size of a console, nothing super huge.

GFX Card - EVGA GeForce GTX760

Processor - Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor 3.4

I want to say my budget would be around 800 bucks or so, but any and all help is welcome. If I can go cheaper components for the GFX Card & Processor that would be awesome. Thanks Gaf!

 

[RGM79]

Hey PC Gaf!

With the new requirements of MGS5 Ground Zeros, I really want to build a new rig (mine is currently 6 years old). I want it to be able to play Ground Zeroes & The Witcher 3, and I want to use it has a computer for my living room for gaming.

My question is . . . are the following GFX Card & Processor too much for what I need or just enough? Also what Motherboard would you recommend and what small case would you recommend? I want something that could potentially be the size of a console, nothing super huge.

GFX Card - EVGA GeForce GTX760

Processor - Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor 3.4

I want to say my budget would be around 800 bucks or so, but any and all help is welcome. If I can go cheaper components for the GFX Card & Processor that would be awesome. Thanks Gaf!

What are your old computer's specs? There are possibly parts that can be reused.

The GTX 760 meets your needs, but there are cheaper deals elsewhere ($180 after $20 mail in rebate at NCIX US, or alternatively R9 270X/280 for $140-180), but the processor is an older model and won't fit new/current motherboards.

 

[DemiMatt]

What are your old computer's specs? There are possibly parts that can be reused.

The GTX 760 meets your needs, but there are cheaper deals elsewhere ($180 after $20 mail in rebate at NCIX US, or alternatively R9 270X/280 for $140-180), but the processor is an older model and won't fit new/current motherboards.

Currently I am running . . .

Processor - Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8

GFX Card - MSI GeForce GTX560 Ti 1 GB DDR5 2DVI/Mini HDMI PCI-Express Video Card N560GTX TI TWIN FROZR II OC

Ram - Corsair Dominator GT 6 GB PC3-16000 2000Mhz Triple Channel Core i3, i5, i7 DDR3

 

[RGM79]

Currently I am running . . .

Processor - Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8

GFX Card - MSI GeForce GTX560 Ti 1 GB DDR5 2DVI/Mini HDMI PCI-Express Video Card N560GTX TI TWIN FROZR II OC

Ram - Corsair Dominator GT 6 GB PC3-16000 2000Mhz Triple Channel Core i3, i5, i7 DDR3

Speaking from a money saving point of view..

The 560 Ti graphics card is still an alright option today, it exceeds Ground Zeroes' minimum requirements by a bit, but it's your call if you want to upgrade. That said, they've actually withdrawn the leaked requirements and have said that official system requirements will be revealed soon.

If your motherboard is decent quality and micro ATX size, then it may be possible to keep using the same system and just get a better CPU cooler and overclock the i7 920 for an added boost. The 920 is still a capable processor that is "old" but not quite obsolete.

The RAM is definitely reusable.

Any details on the power supply?

 

[DemiMatt]

Thank you for the help, it's super great to hear my GFX Card is still a viable option. Based on my mobo, what kind of CPU Fan would you recommend? Would it be as simple as just placing one on without having to take off the processor (of course removing the previous thermal paste)?

Motherboard

Power Supply

Once again thank you so much for your help!

 

[GHG]

Do guys its a good idea to pick up the gt 980 4gb now? Or wait until the 8gb versions come out? I am currently running I7-4960x @3.6ghz, 16gb ram, and sli gt 760ti 2gb (don't laugh). I want to get twin 980's for 3d gaming and 4k display.

I would wait. That's what I'm doing anyway. I'm not too certain about the longevity of the 970/980 cards for higher resolutions when it comes to the VRAM.

 

[RGM79]

Thank you for the help, it's super great to hear my GFX Card is still a viable option. Based on my mobo, what kind of CPU Fan would you recommend? Would it be as simple as just placing one on without having to take off the processor (of course removing the previous thermal paste)

Yeah, that's exactly how it works. The processor doesn't have to come out, it's just a matter of cleaning off the old thermal paste, applying new paste (usually comes with new CPU coolers) and replacing the cooler on top of the processor.

Depending on the design of the cooler and your case, you might have to take the motherboard out to install a backpack on the underside for the CPU mount. Not too difficult.

Motherboard

Power Supply

The power supply seems fine, 650 watts is more than enough for the flagship Nvidia GTX 980 if you ever wanted to get that. Definitely reusable.

The motherboard can be reused. But it'll tie into what kind of case you will be getting, as well as the cooler. Questions below.

Once again thank you so much for your help!

No problem.

I just realized that I forgot to mention some things and ask you more questions. The Witcher 3 doesn't have official PC requirements yet, but it seems likely that the 560 Ti will run it on medium settings.

If you want to play Witcher 3 and Ground Zeroes on high end settings, then a graphics card upgrade is in order. However, it's not that bad an idea to wait until the games come out (or at least wait for PC requirements reveal) and then decide if you want an upgrade. Black Friday sales aren't always the best time of year to upgrade, and by the time Witcher 3 releases, the new Nvidia GTX 960 should be close to release. That would be an ideal upgrade for less than $300.

Now, the case, motherboard, and cooler. You said you wanted a small console-sized case. Unfortunately, it'll have to be bigger than that if you want to reuse your current motherboard. I don't recommend getting a smaller motherboard just for a smaller case, it'll be a waste of money to buy 6 year old motherboard technology, even if you buy a used one (used motherboard quality is subject to weardown and damage anyway).

There are small cases that I can recommend, as well as a decent water cooler for the processor that will fit in compact cases and allow you to overclock the processor. When you said you wanted it console sized, is it because you are planning to put it into the living room? There are home theatre style cases that look nice and not out of place in an entertainment setup. Or would a normal tower case be alright?

 

[tm24]

Had to redo my build after i decided on reusing my parts after a friend passed on my old pc and then having him tell another friend who now wants it so now i need some extra parts. Here's what I have now

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($33.46 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($108.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($77.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($349.95 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1035.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-21 03:06 EST-0500

Right now i just need a power supply after i cancelled my amazon gold box deal after deciding i didnt need it but should of honestly just waited 10 hours. Im thinking this

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00918MEZG/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Thoughts?

 

[RGM79]

Had to redo my build after i decided on reusing my parts after a friend passed on my old pc and then having him tell another friend who now wants it so now i need some extra parts. Here's what I have now

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($33.46 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($108.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($77.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($349.95 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1035.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-21 03:06 EST-0500

Right now i just need a power supply after i cancelled my amazon gold box deal after deciding i didnt need it but should of honestly just waited 10 hours. Im thinking this

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00918MEZG/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Thoughts?

Parts look fine to me. You can save $10 on the RAM by going with the DDR3-1600 version, as 1866MHz doesn't really make a speed difference when it comes to actual usage. Then again, it's just a minor cost difference, up to you.

As for the power supply, Seasonic is an excellent brand, can't go wrong with that. Alternatively you can go with the Corsair HX650 which is $89 outright but is $59 after a $30 mail in rebate. It has higher capacity, is also gold rated and has good reviews, but is semi-modular.

 

[element]

My main PC just stopped booting recently. Powers up and then restarts. Doesn't even post the BIOS. Ended up getting a new PSU and that didn't work. Next is going to get a new mobo battery. But if that doesn't work I'm left with some tough decisions.

Finding a 1155 matx mobo that can be OC'ed is next to impossible these days.

Try to rebuild on the cheap with current parts (2500k w/ 4 4GB sticks) OR upgrade to 4790k or 5820k OR wait out with my MacBook Air and wait for Skylake?

 

[RGM79]

My main PC just stopped booting recently. Powers up and then restarts. Doesn't even post the BIOS. Ended up getting a new PSU and that didn't work. Next is going to get a new mobo battery. But if that doesn't work I'm left with some tough decisions.

Finding a 1155 matx mobo that can be OC'ed is next to impossible these days.

Try to rebuild on the cheap with current parts (2500k w/ 4 4GB sticks) OR upgrade to 4790k or 5820k OR wait out with my MacBook Air and wait for Skylake?

The small coin battery won't change anything. It's just there to save BIOS settings when the computer is turned off and unplugged. The motherboard will still work regardless of if it's there or not. If you're looking for a new mATX overclockable motherboard, then you really only have one choice, and it's just over $100. You might be able to find one used off craigslist or ebay for cheap. I wouldn't bother with a used 1155 motherboard unless it was really cheap, less than $50, closer to $30.

As for rebuilding with Z97/X99, it might be worthwhile if you could sell your 2500K. You would only need a motherboard and CPU, and it'd be possible to reuse everything else in your PC (except your RAM if you go X99, of course).

Skylake might be DDR4 as well, so you might not be able to reuse your RAM. It's around 10 months away from release, it seems.

 

[SuicideUZI]

Would anyone be interested in purchasing this at a discounted price?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/sbfQhM

The motherboard / CPU / RAM are used, but everything else is new
It would come with Windows 7 Pro x64