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[The Shogun]

Gonna ask one more time PC Gaf if I OC my i7 4770k to 4.5 - 4.7 ghz will I see an actual performance boost in games? Its running stock atm and I'm trying to decide if its worth overclocking. I will if it helps performance.

Thanks in advance.

 

[The Llama]

Gonna ask one more time PC Gaf if I OC my i7 4770k to 4.5 - 4.7 ghz will I see an actual performance boost in games? Its running stock atm and I'm trying to decide if its worth overclocking. I will if it helps performance.

Thanks in advance.

It depends on the game, but in some you definitely will.
And you really have no reason not to.

 

[Grums]

Hey gaf, need quick advice.

Im about to buy a 2nd hand budget GPU. GTX 670 MSI Power OC (£90) or a 7970 Sapphire Vapour X. (£100).

Which is the best buy? Thanks.

 

[zero shift]

Why is the Heaven benchmark so weird with it's minimum and maximum framerates?

(This is for the memory speed for my GTX 970 by the way)

+ 75 MHZ: 
FPS = 53.9 (23.9 to 119.7)
Score = 1358

+ 105 MHZ: 
FPS = 54.1 (24.2 to 119.5)
Score = 1363

+ 115 MHZ: 
FPS = 54.3 (24.6 to 119.1)
Score = 1367

+ 135 MHZ: 
FPS = 54.4 (24.4 to 121.3)
Score = 1371

+ 165 MHZ:
FPS = 54.6 (23.3 to 120.8)
Score = 1374

+ 180 MHZ:
FPS = 54.7 (24.8 to 121.1)
Score = 1378

Gonna ask one more time PC Gaf if I OC my i7 4770k to 4.5 - 4.7 ghz will I see an actual performance boost in games? Its running stock atm and I'm trying to decide if its worth overclocking. I will if it helps performance.

Thanks in advance.

It depends on the game. Some games not at all. Others there is a huge boost.

 

[RGM79]

What is the consensus on building a laptop? I've built several desktops, but never a laptop. My wife wants to buy a new laptop, but after having the last few fail (one a Dell and the other an Asus), I'm tempted to build her one myself.

Is it super hard? Any recommendations on parts?

Laptop building isn't really a thing. Not as much as building desktops, anyway. There are barebones laptop kits, where you get what is essentially a incomplete laptop missing the processor, memory, and hard drive (very rarely the video card chipset as well). These solutions are usually geared towards those with high budgets wanting a gaming laptop, because aside from 2.5" hard drives, laptop parts are quite expensive for the performance they give, relative to desktop computer parts. This is the only guide I found that wasn't outdated.

If your wife is using it for anything other than gaming, then barebone laptops aren't the solution. Depending on how your last laptops failed, it'd probably be easier if you went with a different brand.

Before I bite, any last changes?
I want,
Small form factor (though if I sacrifice this for a much better build, I could live with that)
Play new gen games as well as/better than my ps4/xbox one
Keeping it on most of the day so I can use it as my plex server.

Seasonic is a good brand for PSUs, but maybe switch that out for a modular PSU to cut down on cables and keep interior space open and clear. Seasonic Evo 650 watt for £68 or XFX XTR 650 watt for £77.

I have a 3770k and am replacing my 760 with a 970 that is arriving today. I have a pretty good SSD and plenty of RAM. Is my CPU going to be a bottleneck now, or can I comfortably expect 60fps max settings on most games at 1080? Do I need a 4xxxk CPU?

Your processor will be fine for the next few years, even longer if you overclock it. Most games nowadays will run fine even on i5 2500K, which is the generation before your 3770K.

Hey, just wanted to say thanks for this write up. You convinced me it'll probably be better to build my own a little later down the line.

=)

No problem. We'll be here when you need us.

 

[Grampa Simpson]

Done:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E3W16OU/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[Grampa Simpson]

Im sure but at $800 each that monitor is waaay too expensive for me.

I bought one. Worth the money, even on a 750ti. With the perceptive speedup that this has given me, I'm not exactly sure why I'm building a new computer.

Oh well. $2.5k already spent.

 

[RGM79]

If I get a ssd what to I need to do to get windows on it while keeping the stuff I have on my 1tb to untouched?

I'd like to know this as well. I just want to migrate windows 8.1 over. I upgraded my windows 8 from 7 when they were doing that promotion for really cheap so I don't even know how to do a clean reinstall.

The simple but dirty way is to just unplug the old hard drive, plug in the SSD, install Windows, then plug in the old hard drive after, alongside the new SSD.

It's still messy though, because there will be an old copy of Windows left on the hard drive. If you can, I'd recommend you copy or back up what you need from the hard drive and then format it, ensuring that it won't interfere with the new install of Windows (this can be done before or after installing Windows on the SSD, as long as the hard drive is unplugged when installing Windows to the SSD.) Having the old hard drive plugged in while installing to SSD and running Windows from the SSD can cause complications - as long as there's still a copy of Windows on the old hard drive, the computer may try to boot from it.

So building a new PC and so far what I am getting is

i5-4690k
GTX 980
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force

Main thing I am not sure about is memory. I was looking at getting this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Any other suggestions around the same price or cheaper?

There's Adata XPG V2 DDR3-1866 for $130, but the design is somewhat large and may interfere with air coolers. If you're looking for same speed, then I recommend this low profile Patriot memory for $137, it won't interfere with any cooling setups you have. It does have slightly slower timings, but it'll barely make a difference.

Hey guys, first time building a PC from scratch so I have some questions. Right now I have the following in mind:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.92 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($88.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($75.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($334.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $706.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-25 13:52 EST-0500

The RAM I had already bought it two years ago and its still sealed so I will settle with that, but I'm still missing the case and power supply.

For the case since I will buy these components in a trip to the US and then bring them back home, I would like a small form factor but without sacrificing too much air ventilation, so if a mATX case is not possible then a regular one is fine. There are a lot of cases listed in the OP so I'm kinda lost about which one to choose.

Then there is the PSU, from what I read 550w would be enough, and I don't think I would be doing SLI any time soon but I think going 750w is a good idea for future proofing.

Basically any recommendation about good components is appreciated, just keep in mind that I'm trying to not get too expensive so budget recomendations that don't sacrifice too much are welcome.

EDIT: forgot to add that I'm also interested in running dolphin games at 1080p+ and 60fps and I know dolphin is more CPU bound, so that CPU would be enough or should I go for something better?

When are you going to the US to buy parts? And where are you now, Canada? Prices may fluctuate during these couple of weeks due to sales. Some cheap parts I recommended to others a few pages back is already back up to expensive prices.

The motherboard you listed is ATX so it can't fit in a mATX case. By your wording I'm not sure if you mean you already bought everything except for the case and power supply or not, but if you can't change your motherboard, there are still compact ATX cases, just not as compact as mATX.

A 550 watt PSU is enough to for the computer, but depending on sales and availability, it's usually easy to find 600-750 watt power supplies on sale and you might as well get higher capacity if it comes out to only be a few dollars more, as it won't hurt to have options to expand in the future or reuse the power supply in a bigger build if one wanted.

What's your budget for case and power supply?

Yes, the CPU should be fine for Dolphin. Dolphin's FAQ mentions the older 4670K as being more than enough. Also, Anandtech tested the i5 4690K and i7 4790K on a Dolphin benchmark and both were about equal, so there's no point in getting the more expensive i7 when they have nearly the same performance.

Decided to get rid of my old i5 760

Very nice. I'm still on P55 over here, so I know exactly what you've been dealing with.

Gonna ask one more time PC Gaf if I OC my i7 4770k to 4.5 - 4.7 ghz will I see an actual performance boost in games? Its running stock atm and I'm trying to decide if its worth overclocking. I will if it helps performance.

Thanks in advance.

That will depend on what games you play. CPU bound games will benefit most - this usually includes strategy games, but occasionally some other types of games like FPS and tactical games can be CPU-heavy as well.

You have a very good recent CPU, is there a game that you find that isn't performing well enough? Overclocking a CPU is essentially a free performance boost (not counting the small extra electricity use), and as long as you have a decent CPU cooler, it's not a bad idea.

 

[gabrielt16]

Can someone recommend me a blu ray disc playing program??

 

[Miutsu]

When are you going to the US to buy parts? And where are you now, Canada? Prices may fluctuate during these couple of weeks due to sales. Some cheap parts I recommended to others a few pages back is already back up to expensive prices.

The motherboard you listed is ATX so it can't fit in a mATX case. By your wording I'm not sure if you mean you already bought everything except for the case and power supply or not, but if you can't change your motherboard, there are still compact ATX cases, just not as compact as mATX.

A 550 watt PSU is enough to for the computer, but depending on sales and availability, it's usually easy to find 600-750 watt power supplies on sale and you might as well get higher capacity if it comes out to only be a few dollars more, as it won't hurt to have options to expand in the future or reuse the power supply in a bigger build if one wanted.

What's your budget for case and power supply?

Yes, the CPU should be fine for Dolphin. Dolphin's FAQ mentions the older 4670K as being more than enough. Anandtech tested the i5 4690K and i7 4790K on a Dolphin benchmark and both were about equal, so there's no point in getting the more expensive i7 when they have nearly the same performance.

Wait, it seems that I was mixing sizes and what I thought was mATX is actually ATX (which is mid-regular size, right?), in that case ATX is actually what I need/want.

I flight to the US on Nov 30 but I can start buying the parts online from today, as long as I can get everything or mostly everything before returning on January 5th. I currently live in Venezuela but early next year I'll be moving to Canada, which is why I'm interested in being able to transport the case with parts with me without having to pay extra at the airport (from US-Venezuela and then Venezuela-Canada), and well since I know things will get more expensive in Canada I want to buy the components in the US.

Right now the only thing I have is my current HDD (which I'll replace eventually but not yet for keeping budget as low as possible) and the RAM I bought before, my current setup is very old so I don't think I can use much else from it, maybe the optical drive, and my budget for everything else is around 1050-1100 USD max.

Thanks a lot for the reply and also for that dolphin tidbit! I hadn't yet caught that article in their site and now I feel more confident about going with the i5.

 

[LilJoka]

Why is the Heaven benchmark so weird with it's minimum and maximum framerates?

(This is for the memory speed for my GTX 970 by the way)

+ 75 MHZ: 
FPS = 53.9 (23.9 to 119.7)
Score = 1358

+ 105 MHZ: 
FPS = 54.1 (24.2 to 119.5)
Score = 1363

+ 115 MHZ: 
FPS = 54.3 (24.6 to 119.1)
Score = 1367

+ 135 MHZ: 
FPS = 54.4 (24.4 to 121.3)
Score = 1371

+ 165 MHZ:
FPS = 54.6 (23.3 to 120.8)
Score = 1374

+ 180 MHZ:
FPS = 54.7 (24.8 to 121.1)
Score = 1378

It depends on the game. Some games not at all. Others there is a huge boost.

Its very marginal so just within margin of error.

Are you hitting the power limit?
Also there is a thermal limit hit at around 68*c, irrespective of your set thermal limits (up to 91c).

Also give us clock speeds not offsets, it tells us nothing. You can use nVidia Inspector to get the clock speeds, or MSI Afterburner/EVGA Precision OSD.

 

[ColonialRaptor]

The biggest problem I have when playing games is that my graphics cards pump out so much heat that my playing room becomes unbearably hot. I've got an airconditioner in the room but it's one of those portable ones, it's effective but I'm constantly going from too hot to too cold. So frustration!!

 

[vocab]

Installing an evo 212 was pretty shit. Such a pain in the ass.

Got my 840 up and running. Not sure how much benefits I get from magician. I didnt try rapid mode yet. Not sure if I want to tbh.

Also not being able to use USB 3.0 to install windows sucked. Had to dig out a USB add-on to even get my PC going. I tried to mess with bios but none of the options helped.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Anyone ever ship a did overseas? Need some advice. Better to ship whole or to ship in smaller packages? Seems like shipping a while tower isn't worth the cost. Perhaps just send big the components in 2-3 smaller boxes and having the recipient buy a case locally would help. Shipping to Poland.

 

[Octavia]

Quick question for you folks. There's a decent deal on this case, the Rosewill Ranger

The dimensions are:
6.89" x 13.86" x 13.78" (W x H x D) (bezel not included)

With this build, do you think there will be heat issues?
-i3 4150
-8gb ram (4x2gb)
-550w psu
-6950 1gb (250mm in length)
-120gb SDD of some sort

I'm leaning on maybish to no, but I've never built such a compact PC before. The PSU position is annoying for sure.

 

[zero shift]

Its very marginal so just within margin of error.

Are you hitting the power limit?
Also there is a thermal limit hit at around 68*c, irrespective of your set thermal limits (up to 91c).

Also give us clock speeds not offsets, it tells us nothing. You can use nVidia Inspector to get the clock speeds, or MSI Afterburner/EVGA Precision OSD.

So far the highest stable. Still experimenting.

GPU Clock: 1264 MHZ

Memory Clock: 4185 MHZ

Heaven is fine except it gets janky at the part with the dragon statue. But it does that whether or nothing things are overclock and looking it up it seems like a common problem.
EDIT - Found the limit without Heaven crashing.

GPU Clock: 1274 MHZ

Should I increase voltage and/or "power target" to clock even higher?

 

[RGM79]

Wait, it seems that I was mixing sizes and what I thought was mATX is actually ATX (which is mid-regular size, right?), in that case ATX is actually what I need/want.

I flight to the US on Nov 30 but I can start buying the parts online from today, as long as I can get everything or mostly everything before returning on January 5th. I currently live in Venezuela but early next year I'll be moving to Canada, which is why I'm interested in being able to transport the case with parts with me without having to pay extra at the airport (from US-Venezuela and then Venezuela-Canada), and well since I know things will get more expensive in Canada I want to buy the components in the US.

Right now the only thing I have is my current HDD (which I'll replace eventually but not yet for keeping budget as low as possible) and the RAM I bought before, my current setup is very old so I don't think I can use much else from it, maybe the optical drive, and my budget for everything else is around 1050-1100 USD max.

Thanks a lot for the reply and also for that dolphin tidbit! I hadn't yet caught that article in their site and now I feel more confident about going with the i5.

Yes, ATX is considered middle/regular. I'm a Canadian and I wish I could get US deals. Sounds like you have this all figured out then, so I'll recommend US deals for you.

Your earlier parts list is fine to me. It only comes out to just over $700, so while you say you can spend up to $1100, you seem to want to keep it low, that's not a problem. A good case and motherboard won't run you more than $200, definitely less depending on what case you choose.

For budget, I recommend these:
NZXT Source 210 Elite - Covers all the bases, also comes in white, $42.
Corsair 300R - Good feature set and Corsair quality for $60.
Bitfenix Outlaw - Unconventional layout, but good cooling and nice matte surface treatment, $66.

Low noise or sound absorbing:
Fractal Define R4 - Option to go either sound muffling or more airflow, roughly $100 depending on color. New R5 is much improved and due to launch soon for probably similar price point.
Corsair 330R - Based on the 300R but with silence in mind, cheaper competitor to the Fractal R4, $88.

Higher end:
Corsair 450D - Window side panel, roomy and tall, excellent cooling, $100.
Fractal Arc Midi R2 - Good cooling, compact design, decent noise levels, well-featured interior, $85 or $110 with side window.

As for power supplies, there's the SeaSonic M12II 620 watt for $72, or the XFX ProSeries 750W for $78 outright, and the EVGA Supernova G2 750 watt for $89 after $20 mail in rebate.

Installing an evo 212 was pretty shit. Such a pain in the ass.

Got my 840 up and running. Not sure how much benefits I get from magician. I didnt try rapid mode yet. Not sure if I want to tbh.

Also not being able to use USB 3.0 to install windows sucked. Had to dig out a USB add-on to even get my PC going. I tried to mess with bios but none of the options helped.

Windows 7 has issues installing via USB 3.0 depending on the chipset. I have a utility USB drive for installing OS and running system tools set up with a USB 3.0 driver pack, but it doesn't work for installing OS via USB 3.0 on half the machines I've tried. Not sure what version you're installing, Windows 8 might be better, but I haven't done all that many Windows 8 installs.

Quick question for you folks. There's a decent deal on this case, the Rosewill Ranger


The dimensions are:
6.89" x 13.86" x 13.78" (W x H x D) (bezel not included)

With this build, do you think there will be heat issues?
-i3 4150
-8gb ram (4x2gb)
-550w psu
-6950 1gb (250mm in length)
-120gb SDD of some sort

I'm leaning on maybish to no, but I've never built such a compact PC before. The PSU position is annoying for sure.

The i3 should be just fine in that case. I'd worry if it was an i5 or i7. Are you going to be using the stock CPU cooler? Might be a good idea to get a 212 Evo for just $30. The Rosewill Ranger got a great review for airflow and heat performance, but I'm not sure about the Ranger-M, it's hard to say. Comprehensive testing and reviews are nonexistent.

 

[Rebel Leader]

The simple but dirty way is to just unplug the old hard drive, plug in the SSD, install Windows, then plug in the old hard drive after, alongside the new SSD.

It's still messy though, because there will be an old copy of Windows left on the hard drive. If you can, I'd recommend you copy or back up what you need from the hard drive and then format it, ensuring that it won't interfere with the new install of Windows (this can be done before or after installing Windows on the SSD, as long as the hard drive is unplugged when installing Windows to the SSD.) Having the old hard drive plugged in while installing to SSD and running Windows from the SSD can cause complications - as long as there's still a copy of Windows on the old hard drive, the computer may try to boot from it.

I thought as much.

 

[Octavia]

The i3 should be just fine in that case. I'd worry if it was an i5 or i7. Are you going to be using the stock CPU cooler? Might be a good idea to get a 212 Evo for just $30. The Rosewill Ranger got a great review for airflow and heat performance, but I'm not sure about the Ranger-M, it's hard to say. Comprehensive testing and reviews are nonexistent.

I'd like to use stock. I feel like the CPU will probably be fine (but who knows), but I'm worried more about my 6950. It didn't run hot, but it wasn't super cool by any means in my mid tower case. Either way, I guess for $25 it's not the end of the world if it doesn't work work out.

 

[MetalDeer]

I'd like to use stock. I feel like the CPU will probably be fine (but who knows), but I'm worried more about my 6950. It didn't run hot, but it wasn't super cool by any means in my mid tower case. Either way, I guess for $25 it's not the end of the world if it doesn't work work out.

There's a vent on the side and back, and the front intake fan will be blowing right onto your 6950, it should be fine. Just make sure it's a good intake fan.

 

[kmfdmpig]

Hi,
I've lurked, but I don't think I've posted in this thread before. I thought this would be a good place to ask, however.
I have a computer that's about 4-5 years old (Core i7-860 + AMD 5850). I don't game a ton, so it's plenty fast enough for what I need.
The problem is that I use it as a work computer and recently it's begun to crash. It seems like it's video card related as I get crashes in Chrome which fix themselves (telling me the device driver crashed and reset itself) as well as (recently) crashes + system resets.

The error information from WhoCrashed is below.

Reading online it seems like people with the same crash have either a motherboard problem or a video card problem. I'd rather not deal with swapping a motherboard, but don't really want to buy a video card if that's not going to fix the problem. Any ideas on which is more likely the culprit? I've downloaded the newest video drivers and that hasn't helped.


On Wed 11/26/2014 1:52:09 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\112514-13125-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: dxgkrnl.sys (dxgkrnl+0x1946D)
Bugcheck code: 0xEA (0xFFFFE00083BAE500, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\dxgkrnl.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: DirectX Graphics Kernel
Bug check description: This indicates that a thread in a device driver is endlessly spinning.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.

 

[grkazan12]

Hey PC Gaf, I finally found out that I have finger tip grip. I just never took the time to assess what my grip was.

I'm upgrading from the 518 and I narrowed it down to the 3 choices.

Steelseries Sensei?
Logitech G402?
or Logitech G400/s?

 

[RGM79]

Hi,
I've lurked, but I don't think I've posted in this thread before. I thought this would be a good place to ask, however.
I have a computer that's about 4-5 years old (Core i7-860 + AMD 5850). I don't game a ton, so it's plenty fast enough for what I need.
The problem is that I use it as a work computer and recently it's begun to crash. It seems like it's video card related as I get crashes in Chrome which fix themselves (telling me the device driver crashed and reset itself) as well as (recently) crashes + system resets.

The error information from WhoCrashed is below.

Reading online it seems like people with the same crash have either a motherboard problem or a video card problem. I'd rather not deal with swapping a motherboard, but don't really want to buy a video card if that's not going to fix the problem. Any ideas on which is more likely the culprit? I've downloaded the newest video drivers and that hasn't helped.


On Wed 11/26/2014 1:52:09 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:WINDOWSMinidump112514-13125-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: dxgkrnl.sys (dxgkrnl+0x1946D)
Bugcheck code: 0xEA (0xFFFFE00083BAE500, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER
file path: C:WINDOWSsystem32driversdxgkrnl.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: DirectX Graphics Kernel
Bug check description: This indicates that a thread in a device driver is endlessly spinning.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.

Keep an eye on system temperatures, the computer may be overheating. I recommend HWMonitor, it will read CPU, motherboard, and GPU temperatures.

Solutions in order of ease, from easy to difficult:
1. Use Display Driver Uninstall to get rid of existing drivers and reinstall latest drivers.
2. Try older drivers, the latest drivers aren't always best, and may not work as well with older hardware when focus is usually on the latest hardware and games. Go back several months if you have to, or up to 2 years. Use DDU to remove existing drivers.
3. Reinstall Chrome and any other programs that crash. It's unlikely that the programs are the problem, but it's easier than to...
4. Backup, format, and reinstall Windows. The simplest solution to irreversible or undetectable software/driver conflicts. Unless something is inherently wrong with the software or hardware in the first place.
4. Clean out the computer's inside. This is the option to jump to if the system is overheating. Check for any loose connections, if fans are spinning properly, and for clogged dust in vents and heatsinks.
5. Try the graphics card in another slot or even another computer if possible. Also try a spare or different graphics card in your PC, using DDU to reinstall drivers, of course.
6. Power supply might be failing. This is annoying to check, as it's a sealed box that not even techies should poke inside, given the dangers of electricity. Also annoying to move to another computer to check. You may want to try a different power supply to see if issues stop. This could be related to graphics if the power supply isn't feeding the graphics card properly, but not very likely at all.
7. Dying motherboard. Easier to check than a power supply, but even more annoying to remove and replace. Bulging capacitors are a sign of impending death. If it's not the video card, it may be the PCI-E slot. Unfortunately, P55/H55 motherboards are rare, even used. At least for me they are. I'm on a Gigabyte P55 with broken RAM slots.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

So far the highest stable. Still experimenting.

GPU Clock: 1264 MHZ

Memory Clock: 4185 MHZ

Heaven is fine except it gets janky at the part with the dragon statue. But it does that whether or nothing things are overclock and looking it up it seems like a common problem.
EDIT - Found the limit without Heaven crashing.

GPU Clock: 1274 MHZ
[IMG ] http://i.imgur.com/aiQH6Iq.png[/IMG]

Should I increase voltage and/or "power target" to clock even higher?

Voltage could be a bit more risky, but the the "power target" bar in the middle doesn't go higher than 110%, which I imagine is still within rather safe limits, so one of the first things I did was get it to 110% and test. (I got my EVGA SSC sitting comfortably at 1291mhz, but i have not really done much testing, and may probably get it to 1300mhz without changing anything else)

 

[Miutsu]

Yes, ATX is considered middle/regular. I'm a Canadian and I wish I could get US deals. Sounds like you have this all figured out then, so I'll recommend US deals for you.

Your earlier parts list is fine to me. It only comes out to just over $700, so while you say you can spend up to $1100, you seem to want to keep it low, that's not a problem. A good case and motherboard won't run you more than $200, definitely less depending on what case you choose.

For budget, I recommend these:
NZXT Source 210 Elite - Covers all the bases, also comes in white, $42.
Corsair 300R - Good feature set and Corsair quality for $60.
Bitfenix Outlaw - Unconventional layout, but good cooling and nice matte surface treatment, $66.

Low noise or sound absorbing:
Fractal Define R4 - Option to go either sound muffling or more airflow, roughly $100 depending on color. New R5 is much improved and due to launch soon for probably similar price point.
Corsair 330R - Based on the 300R but with silence in mind, cheaper competitor to the Fractal R4, $88.

Higher end:
Corsair 450D - Window side panel, roomy and tall, excellent cooling, $100.
Fractal Arc Midi R2 - Good cooling, compact design, decent noise levels, well-featured interior, $85 or $110 with side window.

As for power supplies, there's the SeaSonic M12II 620 watt for $72, or the XFX ProSeries 750W for $78 outright, and the EVGA Supernova G2 750 watt for $89 after $20 mail in rebate.

Thanks a lot again for the suggestions! I decided to go with the Corsair 300R for the case and the XFX ProSeries 750W for the PSU, they seem like good choices and with that I think I'll have a good starting build. Later on when the budget isn't as tight I'll look into improving some areas like storage and such, and fall into the deep hole that is PC gaming/performance.

 

[zero shift]

Voltage could be a bit more risky, but the the "power target" bar in the middle doesn't go higher than 110%, which I imagine is still within rather safe limits, so one of the first things I did was get it to 110% and test. (I got my EVGA SSC sitting comfortably at 1291mhz, but i have not really done much testing, and may probably get it to 1300mhz without changing anything else)

Well even if I up the power, if I go 5mhz more with the GPU clock then artifacts appear. Maybe I should lower the memory clock in trade for a higher GPU clock?

 

[kmfdmpig]

Keep an eye on system temperatures, the computer may be overheating. I recommend HWMonitor, it will read CPU, motherboard, and GPU temperatures.

Solutions in order of ease, from easy to difficult:
1. Use Display Driver Uninstall to get rid of existing drivers and reinstall latest drivers.
2. Try older drivers, the latest drivers aren't always best, and may not work as well with older hardware when focus is usually on the latest hardware and games. Go back several months if you have to, or up to 2 years. Use DDU to remove existing drivers.
3. Reinstall Chrome and any other programs that crash. It's unlikely that the programs are the problem, but it's easier than to...
4. Backup, format, and reinstall Windows. The simplest solution to irreversible or undetectable software/driver conflicts. Unless something is inherently wrong with the software or hardware in the first place.
4. Clean out the computer's inside. This is the option to jump to if the system is overheating. Check for any loose connections, if fans are spinning properly, and for clogged dust in vents and heatsinks.
5. Try the graphics card in another slot or even another computer if possible. Also try a spare or different graphics card in your PC, using DDU to reinstall drivers, of course.
6. Power supply might be failing. This is annoying to check, as it's a sealed box that not even techies should poke inside, given the dangers of electricity. Also annoying to move to another computer to check. You may want to try a different power supply to see if issues stop. This could be related to graphics if the power supply isn't feeding the graphics card properly, but not very likely at all.
7. Dying motherboard. Easier to check than a power supply, but even more annoying to remove and replace. Bulging capacitors are a sign of impending death. If it's not the video card, it may be the PCI-E slot. Unfortunately, P55/H55 motherboards are rare, even used. At least for me they are. I'm on a Gigabyte P55 with broken RAM slots.

Thank you very much! The temperatures look good, and I'll go through the other suggestions you mentioned. Hopefully it's just a driver issue as that sounds not too bad.

 

[Cimarron]

Does anyone think a gtx 980 sli setup overkill for 1080p 3d gaming?

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Well even if I up the power, if I go 5mhz more with the GPU clock then artifacts appear. Maybe I should lower the memory clock in trade for a higher GPU clock?

That may work I have my memory clock set at +243. I have not tested yet with offset around 300 or so without lowering the clock speed to less than ~1300, so I got crashes those times.

 

[EmptySpace]

when is amd's hbm card coming out? ugh. i want it to come out sooner.

 

[RGM79]

when is amd's hbm card coming out? ugh. i want it to come out sooner.

No earlier than Q2 2015, I'd say, if it's not delayed.

 

[EmptySpace]

No earlier than Q2 2015, I'd say, unless it's delayed.

i honestly cannot wait any longer. we need that leap already (or hopefully there is a leap).

i want that 980 but seriously new tech offerings are very enticing.

it isn't like there are so many games that will come out between now and q2.

and a 980 pretty much is an improved 780. next round of gpus are 20nm and 3d mem stacked.

 

[paolo11]

I need help ASAP. I just finished building my Steam box.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Paolo11/saved/7K62FTi

When I plugged my Box to the TV thru HDMI, TV states no signal. Is there anything wrong? I got no PC monitor.

Also I haven't installed the OS yet. It's a fresh build.

 

[RGM79]

I need help ASAP. I just finished building my Steam box.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Paolo11/saved/7K62FTi

When I plugged my Box to the TV thru HDMI, TV states no signal. Is there anything wrong? I got no PC monitor.

Also I haven't installed the OS yet. It's a fresh build.

Fans spin up? Motherboard LED on? Which HDMI port are you plugging the cable into? To be clear, there are three different HDMI ports on the back of your computer - one on the motherboard I/O panel, and one on each GTX 980. You should be plugging in the HDMI cable into the GTX 980 in the top-most slot of the motherboard.

 

[paolo11]

😫

Fans spin up? Motherboard LED on? Which HDMI port are you plugging the cable into? To be clear, there are three different HDMI ports on the back of your computer - one on the motherboard I/O panel, and one on each GTX 980. You should be plugging in the HDMI cable into the GTX 980 in the top-most slot of the motherboard.

That's what I did. Still no signal. Led is on. Fans spin up. I connect 1 6x2 cable to each 980gtx.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

That's what I did. Still no signal. Led is on. Fans spin up. I connect 1 6x2 cable to each 980gtx.

Is everything well plugged in? We all make small mistakes from time to time. On my latest built I didn't push the GPU well enough into its socket so the plastic clip didn't lock it, and that was enough for it to not boot.

 

[J.W.Crazy]

Maybe this is a good place to ask, if not ignore me.

My brother currently has a Phenom II x4 965 BE OC'd to 4.0ghz. Is just swapping that out for an FX 8350 BE going to give him a noticeable improvement in games? He'd almost definitely be OCing that as well and it's going to be water-cooled. His GPU is only a 550ti and obviously holding him back but I've pretty much been given the money by his boyfriend and told, "This is what he wants, don't tell him," so I don't have a lot of wiggle room. Is it going to make much of a difference?

 

[RGM79]

That's what I did. Still no signal. Led is on. Fans spin up. I connect 1 6x2 cable to each 980gtx.

What do you mean by "1 6x2 cable"? Each GTX 980 should have two of these cables directly from the power supply plugged in. Do NOT use these power adapters that came with the video card.

Maybe this is a good place to ask, if not ignore me.

My brother currently has a Phenom II x4 965 BE OC'd to 4.0ghz. Is just swapping that out for an FX 8350 BE going to give him a noticeable improvement in games? He'd almost definitely be OCing that as well and it's going to be water-cooled. His GPU is only a 550ti and obviously holding him back but I've pretty much been given the money by his boyfriend and told, "This is what he wants, don't tell him," so I don't have a lot of wiggle room. Is it going to make much of a difference?

Game performance depends on what games he's playing. Some games benefit more from stronger CPU, other games do better with a GPU upgrade. If I had to go with one or the other, I'd go with a GPU upgrade. Here's some direct comparison benchmarks and game tests between the two. The charts don't account for the Phenom being overclocked and the 8350 is at normal speed and isn't a black edition, but the differences are roughly that much.

How much money?

 

[J.W.Crazy]

Game performance depends on what games he's playing. Some games benefit more from stronger CPU, other games do better with a GPU upgrade. If I had to go with one or the other, I'd go with a GPU upgrade. Here's some benchmarks and game tests. The charts don't account for the Phenom being overclocked and the 8350 is at normal speed and isn't a black edition, but the differences are roughly that much.

How much money?

He gave me $200 to cover the CPU and shipping. If there's a better upgrade in that price range I'd definitely try to talk him into getting that instead.

He plays mostly shooters, most recently Far Cry 4, but also lots of indie games. He definitely needs a new GPU but this particular CPU is what I was asked to get him. His boyfriend knows literally nothing about computers and even though I'm somewhat knowledgable it doesn't take much before I'm out of my element. I just don't want to get it and have my brother feel like it was a waste. The overclocking is what I'm worried about. I see people saying they've got their 8350 OC'd to 5ghz but I have no idea how performance scales with that kind of stuff.

 

[Majukun]

are the crucial mx100 SSD better than the samsung ones?why?

 

[Rubius]

So this year I bought a condo and my parents really helped me a lot. So I want to give them a gift by buying both a new PC and two monitors.
My Mother literally spend all her days playing Facebook games and watching Youtube videos.My father is an accountant that need his PC for work. So this is far from being a gaming pc for neither of them. The current pcs they have are old and my father PC have problem watching a video on youtube without lagging.

Any setup suggested ? All I want to have for sure is two monitor entry port so that my father can have two screens.

 

[RGM79]

are the crucial mx100 SSD better than the samsung ones?why?

I assuming you're talking about the MX100 compared to the 840 Evo. They're pretty close, as shown by this Anandtech benchmark. The MX100 leads some areas, and the Evo leads in other areas. You could go with either and it'd be fine.

A few months back, a particularly bad bug was discovered that affected the speed of Samsung SSDs concerning data in certain situations, so recently most SSD recommendations have gone to the MX100. Now it's fine, the problem with Samsung SSDs was patched a month ago.

 

[Archaonlotr]

I'm also building a new PC for fun - part of my usual 18 month upgrade

after a week of research, im down to this setup - good choices, or have i missed on something - the 970s will be heavily overclocked, cant justify the price of the 980s over it in SLi

i7 - 4790K
Corsair Hydro H105 w/ Noctua NF-F12s
Corsair 850W 80+ Gold PSU
MSI Z97 Gaming 5 Motherboard
MSI GTX 970 SLi
Samsung 500Gb EVO SSD
Kingston Hyper X 16Gb 1866 DDR3
Corsair 450D Case
All fans replaced with Noctuas (x2 NF-P14) + (x2 NF-P12)
Creative ZxR Soundcard

Korean Qnix IPS 27" OC @ 120Hz - 2560x1440

Thoughts?

 

[Majukun]

I assuming you're talking about the MX100 compared to the 840 Evo. They're pretty close, as shown by this Anandtech benchmark. The MX100 leads some areas, and the Evo leads in other areas. You could go with either and it'd be fine.

A few months back, a particularly bad bug was discovered that affected the speed of Samsung SSDs concerning data in certain situations, so recently most SSD recommendations have gone to the MX100. Now it's fine, the problem with Samsung SSDs was patched a month ago.

are the ones sold at the moment already payched or you need to find and install the patch yourself?
I'm kinda of a noob,so the less work i have to do,the better

 

[LilJoka]

are the ones sold at the moment already payched or you need to find and install the patch yourself?
I'm kinda of a noob,so the less work i have to do,the better

Let me out this in perspective and why SSD benches from the too guys don't really matter.

HDD random 4k ~1mbps 20ms seek time
SSD random 4k ~30mbps 2ms seek time

The relative performance increase from HDD to SSD is so great that the difference between SSDs become very negligible.

The only thing to look at is warranty and reliability. Intel Samsung and crucial really are the top dogs. So I always get the cheapest out of those, usually being the mx100.

It's very likely you will need to update the firmware on the Samsung SSD. But it's generally a good idea to do this on any SSD as they bring reliability improvements. It's easier to update samsung SSD through their windows program, for crucial it requires making a bootable USB stick.

 

[FreddieQuell]

I need help ASAP. I just finished building my Steam box.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Paolo11/saved/7K62FTi

When I plugged my Box to the TV thru HDMI, TV states no signal. Is there anything wrong? I got no PC monitor.

Also I haven't installed the OS yet. It's a fresh build.

Same thing happened to me with my build here recently. It turned out to just be a bad motherboard. Might want to consider that when you run out of troubleshooting ideas.

 

[LilJoka]

Same thing happened to me with my build here recently. It turned out to just be a bad motherboard. Might want to consider that when you run out of troubleshooting ideas.

He needs to plug 2 PCI power cables into each GPU. Only has 1 per GPU connected so it won't POST.

 

[Pakoe]

Compared to the 970, is the 980 worth the extra money?

 

[LilJoka]

Compared to the 970, is the 980 worth the extra money?

Not worth imo. Get the MSI Gamer 970 and run it at 1500/8000, will beat/match the 980.

 

[FreddieQuell]

He needs to plug 2 PCI power cables into each GPU. Only has 1 per GPU connected so it won't POST.

Oh alright, guess I was just excited to know something that might help someone here, haha