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[ColonelSkills]

Definitely.

The way most hybrids work is by moving your most accessed data (which it determines using it's own algorithms) to the SSD cache, and it'll tend to be boot and whatever it has space for with regards to your most used applications. However, a lot of caches aren't terribly large, and if you use a variety of applications, many of them won't benefit. If you only played DOTA or something, you'd see faster loads, but if you're swapping about a lot, it is definitely *not* worth the cost premium.

With a full SSD you can just put whatever on it and you know you'll gain the speed benefits.

 

[parski]

As unorthodox it might be I thought I'd show some OS X love in this thread.

The GTX 970 I got for this machine was DOA so I decided to stick with my old 660 for another year or so and upgrade to a then current card in a lower price range. I reckon I'll be able to get a greater bang for my buck that way.

Apart from the GPU it's built in accordance with the tonymacx86 Buyer's Guide with a GA-Z97X-UD3H and an i7 4790K. I really recommend it for UNIX users who don't mind tinkering during the install process.

 

[One-Shot]

PC is done!

NZXT S340 Case
EVGA GTX 980
Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC Force
16GB G.Skill Ripjaw Z
500GB Samsung 840 EVO
1TB WD Black HDD
H100i

 

[nicoga3000]

Definitely.

The way most hybrids work is by moving your most accessed data (which it determines using it's own algorithms) to the SSD cache, and it'll tend to be boot and whatever it has space for with regards to your most used applications. However, a lot of caches aren't terribly large, and if you use a variety of applications, many of them won't benefit. If you only played DOTA or something, you'd see faster loads, but if you're swapping about a lot, it is definitely *not* worth the cost premium.

With a full SSD you can just put whatever on it and you know you'll gain the speed benefits.

Cool - thanks.

Only other questions I have are if I should get a mobo that will eventually be able to have a second card for SLI and if I should get an additional CPU heatsink/fan.

 

[hoserx]

If anyone wondered, I ended up buying a BenQ XL2420Z to sit beside my 30" ips hp zr30w........ I need some high framerates in my life, why not?

 

[garath]

Cool - thanks.

Only other questions I have are if I should get a mobo that will eventually be able to have a second card for SLI and if I should get an additional CPU heatsink/fan.

SLI is generally a "do it now or never" sort of thing. By the time you'd be inclined to throw a second card in there, there will be a more powerful single card available. It's always better to go with the more powerful single card than SLI. I wouldn't worry too much about SLI support unless you are intending to do it now.

Since you aren't overclocking, I wouldn't worry about an aftermarket HSF (heatsink/fan).

 

[SniperHunter]

how does one go about buying a motherboard? I want a good one for my i7 4790k. Seems like Asus hero seems to be the most popular, but it is too expensive

 

[Godan]

Unsure of where to ask this so will do it in this thread at its to do with my computer.


What I am looking to do is get my ps4 and pc to come through the one headset as I want to get rid of my speakers for my pc which are also my only sound scource for my ps4. Is there something where I would plug my ps4 and pc into as inputs and have my headset as an output so all i would do is just switch like channel or something? Much like a HDMI switch kinda thing.

 

[nicoga3000]

SLI is generally a "do it now or never" sort of thing. By the time you'd be inclined to throw a second card in there, there will be a more powerful single card available. It's always better to go with the more powerful single card than SLI. I wouldn't worry too much about SLI support unless you are intending to do it now.

Since you aren't overclocking, I wouldn't worry about an aftermarket HSF (heatsink/fan).

I never got into SLI, mostly because I always felt like it was cost prohibitive. I wasn't sure if it was a thing worth investigating. That said, I'm going to ignore it for what it's worth. I appreciate the info!

And yeah, I don't want to bother with OC since I don't imagine I'm going to EVER need it. I'm not looking to build a PC that will melt faces...If I can play some recent titles on high settings and future titles on decent settings, I'll be content.

 

[LaneDS]

Those with a Samsung 850 Pro, how do you feel about RAPID mode?

After doing a little research on my current rig (2500K, ASUS P8P67 Deluxe, 8GB DDR3 1600, GTX 770, Crucial M4 256GB + 2TB HDD) I came away seeing my Crucial M4 was wildly outclassed by newer SSDs which surprised me and lead me down the path of wanting to upgrade it. My two considerations are either the Samsung 840 Evo (price to performance seems fantastic) and the Samsung 850 Pro, and then the question of whether I might try a RAID 0 setup with either (details are hazy there, but getting a couple $100 840 Evo drives seems pretty promising... probably wouldn't bother with a RAID 0 on the 850 Pro as it's a lot of money and possibly wasteful).

Any feedback on the above would be appreciated!

 

[Dance Inferno]

Okay, so I should be getting our stuff tomorrow. The only part I'm nervous about is installing the OS without an optical disc drive.

Any good videos on how to do that? Ideally, I would just plug a fucking USB into it or use an external DVD drive, but I'm pretty nervous about the whole thing.

I wonder if I need to borrow someone's PC laptop or something?

(z97 motherboard BTW)

Oh boy. Let me regale you with my tales of woe as I tried to create a bootable Windows USB using a Mac. Actually, let me not. Long story short, you can't create a bootable Windows USB on a Mac, probably because of the way Mac formats the USB drive. It took me several days and tens of tries to figure this out.

What I ended up doing, and what you should do too, is create a bootable Linux USB on your Mac (I went with Ubuntu). Install Linux on your new PC and use it to download WinUSB, which is a Linux program that lets you create bootable Windows USBs. Create your Windows install USB using this program, and then restart your PC and use it to install Windows. You're going to have to format the drive completely in order to get rid of the Linux installation you did earlier.


In other news, I finally got around to overclocking my GPU. I managed to overclock my R9 280 from its base 850/1150 MHz to 1040/1400 MHz and it seems to be stable, with the temperature hovering around 77C. I ran the Heaven 4.0 benchmark for a solid 30 minutes and didn't see any graphical artifacts. I assume this is a good temperature for the GPU to hover at?

 

[The Llama]

Oh boy. Let me regale you with my tales of woe as I tried to create a bootable Windows USB using a Mac. Actually, let me not. Long story short, you can't create a bootable Windows USB on a Mac, probably because of the way Mac formats the USB drive. It took me several days and tens of tries to figure this out.

You literally can though and it's super easy. I've already explained this. You just use the Bootcamp utility.

 

[Sanjay]

This is a cheap PC UK.

Add a low profile card (750ti) and its gaming.

 

[jordn613]

He's not talking about the case there. He's talking about the motherboard. It appears your motherboard only supports 2 SATA drives.

Ah, meant to say mobo not case. But anyway, if the case has 2 SATA III and 4 SATA II ports, why would it only allow for two SATA drives?

 

[Afro]

Is the process of transferring my Steam library from an HDD to SSD painless? I want those short load times and have never experienced SSD speeds.

 

[riflen]

You literally can though and it's super easy. I've already explained this. You just use the Bootcamp utility.

He said he tried it and it didn't recognise his USB memory stick. I wonder if it's to do with whether the device already has a GPT or MBR partition table present and if Bootcamp requires one or the other (probably GPT).

 

[appaws]

PC is done!

NZXT S340 Case
EVGA GTX 980
Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC Force
16GB G.Skill Ripjaw Z
500GB Samsung 840 EVO
1TB WD Black HDD
H100i

Nice. Congrats.

how does one go about buying a motherboard? I want a good one for my i7 4790k. Seems like Asus hero seems to be the most popular, but it is too expensive

There are recommendations in the OP, or you could look at the Techreport.com system guide. What is your budget for the motherboard?

Is the process of transferring my Steam library from an HDD to SSD painless? I want those short load times and have never experienced SSD speeds.

It is easy. I used a program called steam mover to move things back and forth between the two.

 

[reSpec Gaming]

I decided to buy an Alienware Alpha as I was looking to build a system with something around a 750 TI anyway and pricing out the parts, the Alpha actually came out for cheaper. I mostly just play LoL and SC2 and the portability stood out for me for LAN.

Anyway, I pushed for the model that includes an i7-4765T but I have an i5-2500k in my current computer. I want to use my current computer for work (I'm a videographer). Does it make sense to move the i7 to my "work" computer and move my 2500k to the Alpha? Does hyperthreading really make that much of a difference for Adobe Premiere? Then the 2500k will sit in my Alpha for gaming until I purchase a 4770k or something? I'd like to hear your advice.

Thanks!

 

[OrlanisWorks]

I've been thinking and wondering whether or not 16GB of RAM (2x 8GB sticks) is worth having.

I don't do video editing, but I do use FL Studio and Photoshop (I would enjoy bigger Photoshop files and would like FL Studio to handle a lot more plugins).

More RAM make a difference on those terms? Worth going to 16GB or would it be a waste?

 

[LilJoka]

I decided to buy an Alienware Alpha as I was looking to build a system with something around a 750 TI anyway and pricing out the parts, the Alpha actually came out for cheaper. I mostly just play LoL and SC2 and the portability stood out for me for LAN.

Anyway, I pushed for the model that includes an i7-4765T but I have an i5-2500k in my current computer. I want to use my current computer for work (I'm a videographer). Does it make sense to move the i7 to my "work" computer and move my 2500k to the Alpha? Does hyperthreading really make that much of a difference for Adobe Premiere? Then the 2500k will sit in my Alpha for gaming until I purchase a 4770k or something? I'd like to hear your advice.

Thanks!

Cant do it even if it was a good idea since they use different CPU sockets (1155 vs 1150).

I've been thinking and wondering whether or not 16GB of RAM (2x 8GB sticks) is worth having.

I don't do video editing, but I do use FL Studio and Photoshop (I would enjoy bigger Photoshop files and would like FL Studio to handle a lot more plugins).

More RAM make a difference on those terms? Worth going to 16GB or would it be a waste?

My sister does an Art degree and eats up 10Gb easily whilst doing the usual Photoshop and After Effects jobs. So its worth it.

 

[reSpec Gaming]

Cant do it even if it was a good idea since they use different CPU sockets (1155 vs 1150).

Ah! Didn't notice that, thanks

 

[Dance Inferno]

You literally can though and it's super easy. I've already explained this. You just use the Bootcamp utility.

I know you have, and I've tried it multiple times and it didn't work for me. I tried the Bootcamp utility, I tried Terminal commands, nothing worked for me. It could be that I was doing something wrong but I doubt it since I used the exact same Terminal commands to make an Ubuntu USB that worked. Just to be sure, I then tried to make a Windows USB using the same method that gave me a successful Ubuntu USB and the result was, as it had always been, a USB that my PC would not recognize as a bootable drive.

 

[DodgyGeezerFella]

Just got my SSD, 512GB MX100, havent kept track of SSD related things. I assume I just whack it in and start a fresh windows install. No tools to run or firmware updates afterwards is there ?

 

[garath]

Ah, meant to say mobo not case. But anyway, if the case has 2 SATA III and 4 SATA II ports, why would it only allow for two SATA drives?

Ah sorry. I'm not sure. I was just interpreting. I haven't checked out your mobo manual yet. I'd actually imagine you could use all of them. Check the manual to make sure though.

 

[DPhentom]

Kind of a off topic question, but if I have windows 8.1 on my surface pro would there be a way to transfer that license To a PC I just built or would I need to buy a product key?

 

[Thrakier]

Hey there, one question about the xb1 controller for pc - could I just buy the wireless one and connect it via USB for now and once the wireless one comes out I just buy a dongle or adapter to use it without the usb cable?

 

[Dance Inferno]

Hey there, one question about the xb1 controller for pc - could I just buy the wireless one and connect it via USB for now and once the wireless one comes out I just buy a dongle or adapter to use it without the usb cable?

Pretty sure you can attach a regular X1 controller to a PC using a USB cable and it will work. I opted to buy the official Xbox One Controller for Windows because it comes with a longer cable, although it doesn't include batteries since you will never be able to use it wirelessly.

 

[nicoga3000]

I took the other build and swapped the processor out for one that could eventually OC. I always thought it would be neat to one day water cool my computer...Not something I would do immediately, but having the processor that would allow it would be nice. Keeps it at $700. I can upgrade the GPU later. Also had to toss in an optical drive because I don't have one.

Outside of the GPU, will this be a relatively capable gaming/media PC?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($40.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $699.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-02 13:42 EST-0500

 

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

I got all of my PC components today. Can't wait to put it together when I get home.

The annoying thing is that I may not be able to get my Win 8 key from work until tomorrow or later. If that happens I might just cave and buy one, which would be gross. Actually I'm going to dual boot ubuntu so I guess I could just load that first.

 

[jordn613]

Ah sorry. I'm not sure. I was just interpreting. I haven't checked out your mobo manual yet. I'd actually imagine you could use all of them. Check the manual to make sure though.

Manual shows 2 SATA III and 4 SATA II, so I was thinking he might've been alluding to some reason they couldn't all be used for drives, but that seems incorrect.

Was just looking to clarify I could simply swap the HDD from a SATA III to a II slot so the new SSD could take the second SATA III without any issues.

 

[OrlanisWorks]

My sister does an Art degree and eats up 10Gb easily whilst doing the usual Photoshop and After Effects jobs. So its worth it.

Okay, just what I wanted to known. Thank ya!

 

[RumblingRosco]

By the way, what happened to RAM prices? In fall 2011 I built a PC for my wife and got that low-profile, super-overclockable, Samsung DDR3 2x4 GB for $32 brand new from Newegg. Now it seems like you can't get RAM of that quality anyway, let alone worse sticks for almost double that. Is it a shift towards DDR4?

 

[LaneDS]

Went ahead and pulled the trigger on a Samsung 850 Pro 512GB, which will be replacing my Crucial M4 256GB drive. Pretty excited as the benchmarks indicate it'll be quite the leap forward.

Now debating if I want to sell my GTX 770 and pick up a GTX 970. Which are the models that are least prone to coil whine?

Edit: Hopefully the Gigabyte GTX 970 G1, since that's what I went with.

 

[PetriP-TNT]

Hey guys, I was looking parts for my new PC and this one was on sale:

http://www.jimms.fi/tuote/GV-R929XOC-4GD

AMD Radeon R9 290X Windforce 3, 4GB GDDR5, 2xDVI/HDMI/DP, PCI-E 3.0

It's 349.00 €, making it cheaper than 970 or regular R9 290. Would that be a good choice for the Excellent build over the those other two?

 

[Dio Brando]

Maybe someone here can help me: recently, i started using two monitors. I did a little bit of research and found some programs to force borderless fullscreen on games.
i discovered a program called Borderless gaming. works as intended, but i cant make it start with windows. i read on the program github that it could be because windows ignores games that need administrative rights. Any tips? If not, any suggestions on a better program?

 

[Q8D3vil]

What is the best current mobo/cpu upgrade from 2500k. (get bloue screen every time i try to over clock beyond 4.0 and i need more to utilize my sli system).

 

[LilJoka]

What is the best current mobo/cpu upgrade from 2500k. (get bloue screen every time i try to over clock beyond 4.0 and i need more to utilize my sli system).

How are you overclocking, what settings are you changing and to what?
Ive yet to see a 2500k that cant do 4Ghz.

 

[yatesl]

Can anyone with a 144hz monitor give me some advice? When playing a game that's locked to 60fps (boo!), should I set my monitor resolution to 60, or 120hz? At first I was like "why is this stuttering?", until I realised that my monitor was set to 144hz, and obviously 144/60 = 2.4, not 2.

 

[The Llama]

Can anyone with a 144hz monitor give me some advice? When playing a game that's locked to 60fps (boo!), should I set my monitor resolution to 60, or 120hz? At first I was like "why is this stuttering?", until I realised that my monitor was set to 144hz, and obviously 144/60 = 2.4, not 2.

I've played a bunch of 60Hz locked games with my monitor set at 144Hz and haven't noticed much stuttering. I do notice flickering because of lightboost, though, so maybe that's what you notice?

But if it is stuttering, I'd go with 120Hz.

 

[RGM79]

The case has 4 additional SATA II ports, so this can't be right. Anyone else have input on this? Pretty sure I should be able to mount the SSD and connect the HDD to a SATA II.

He's not talking about the case there. He's talking about the motherboard. It appears your motherboard only supports 2 SATA drives.

Ah, meant to say mobo not case. But anyway, if the case has 2 SATA III and 4 SATA II ports, why would it only allow for two SATA drives?

Manual shows 2 SATA III and 4 SATA II, so I was thinking he might've been alluding to some reason they couldn't all be used for drives, but that seems incorrect.

Was just looking to clarify I could simply swap the HDD from a SATA III to a II slot so the new SSD could take the second SATA III without any issues.

Sorry, I gave you the wrong information. ASRock's website listed only 2 SATA ports in its own section in a table and then mentioned there were another 4 SATA ports tucked away in another section of the specs table. It does have 6 SATA ports total.

You will NOT need that SATA controller card.

Yes, you can move the hard drive to a SATA2 port and plug the SSD into the SATA3 port for best performance.

However, according to official specs on your case, your Fractal Core 1000 only has mounting points for the following drive configurations:

2 x 3.5" HDD or
3 x 2.5" SSD or
1 x 3.5" HDD and 1 x 2.5" SSD

You'll need to be a bit creative to mount that second SSD.

 

[Q8D3vil]

How are you overclocking, what settings are you changing and to what?
Ive yet to see a 2500k that cant do 4Ghz.

im at 4.0ghz currently but every time i overclock to 4.5 i get blue screen (even though i was doing 4.5 for like 2 years from when i bought it).
I saw youtube video guide and followed it by changing values and testing until i got it to be stable.

 

[yatesl]

I've played a bunch of 60Hz locked games with my monitor set at 144Hz and haven't noticed much stuttering. I do notice flickering because of lightboost, though, so maybe that's what you notice?

But if it is stuttering, I'd go with 120Hz.

It's hard to explain. It's not stuttering massively, just... not right. It does it with both Blur Reduction on or off.

 

[nicoga3000]

I've been reading this afternoon a bit more...

In my build above, is my mobo going to create any issues when I opt to OC the CPU?

 

[wowzors]

I've been reading this afternoon a bit more...

In my build above, is my mobo going to create any issues when I opt to OC the CPU?

from what I remember Z97's are for overclocking the H were the ones that couldn't. I try to buy the popular Mobo so there are lots of OC guides for it, makes it easier and less guess work.

 

[Naked Snake]

Hmm, I just ran 3DMark for the first time (testing my new GTX 970), and before the last (combined) test finished the program aborted because Intel Desktop Utilities produced a warning message saying that my CPU has reached a critical temperature of 88C.

That has never happened before, but then again I never really stressed this PC like this before. I hope this stays isolated to 3DMark and doesn't affect my gaming.

I have i5-2500 running at 3.3GHz (not overlockable) on stock cooler.

 

[Labombadog]

My GPU, 6950 2GB, is slowly dying. Overheating and it's throttling my games. I plan on buying a beefy card next year but right now I want to buy a decent card to replace it. Looking at spending about $150 but would prefer if it was something that outperforms my 6950 which of course shouldn't be hard at all.

Thank you.

 

[Lunar15]

Hey GAF: Good deal?

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 - $58.99 on Newegg ($27 off)

Or am I better off waiting for a really good deal on 16GB? I'm not in a particular rush, but this deal sounded pretty good and I don't think I really need 16GB. (I'm currently running 8GB of 1600 ram, but it's in a 4x2GB array which kind of leaves no room for upgrade in the future)

 

[hemtae]

By the way, what happened to RAM prices? In fall 2011 I built a PC for my wife and got that low-profile, super-overclockable, Samsung DDR3 2x4 GB for $32 brand new from Newegg. Now it seems like you can't get RAM of that quality anyway, let alone worse sticks for almost double that. Is it a shift towards DDR4?

Semi-recently there was a fire at some plant and prices skyrocketed after that. We're probably not still seeing the effects from that though.

 

[Kezen]

Hmm, I just ran 3DMark for the first time (testing my new GTX 970), and before the last (combined) test finished the program aborted because Intel Desktop Utilities produced a warning message saying that my CPU has reached a critical temperature of 88C.

That has never happened before, but then again I never really stressed this PC like this before. I hope this stays isolated to 3DMark and doesn't affect my gaming.

I have i5-2500 running at 3.3GHz (not overlockable) on stock cooler.

Stock cooler aren't very good, it does not surprise me your CPU reached critical temp on a very stressing benchmark.

 

[vocab]

Need SSD help. Maybe someone with an 840 EVO as well.

By default windows comes with its own AHCI controller, and my SSD functions without it. The thing I'm noticing is that when you install Intel's rapid storage technology, it comes with Inte's AHCI's drivers. So the question I have, which is better? Also, having IRST + Samsung magician redundant? What's the most optimal setup fro an ssd. Between this shit, and the power saving stuff in Magician is pretty confusing, and I'm not sure which nets the most performance.