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[Nostremitus]

I'm about to re-install Windows 8.1 on my SSD.

Now running from the SSD, things seem a bit snappier.

...and I pulled the trigger on the Sapphire R9 270. It should be a pretty big upgrade from my HD 5570.

 

[kharma45]

Now running from the SSD, things seem a bit snappier.

...and I pulled the trigger on the Sapphire R9 270. It should be a pretty big upgrade from my HD 5570.

It'll be a fantastic upgrade.

 

[Nostremitus]

You too.

Kharma's build is $20 over my budget (when you take out the mail-in rebates, since my budget doesn't take them into account), and doesn't include a copy of Windows (or an optical drive of any description) but it gives me something to work from at least.

Windows for ~$10 on Reddit, and I can't remember the last time I put a CD/DVD/BluRay in my drive.

 

[Syphon Filter]

I still use my Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS in my current rig. As long as your motherboard has at least one old PCI slot then you can use it. While old PCI slots are getting scarce on new motherboards these days, you can still find them on some of the current boards.

The Audigy 2 ZS is such a good sound card compared to most of the sub $100 cards of today and you can get em for like $10-15 used on eBay.

The motherboard i have is the p8p67 pro. Also do you need to disable the onboard audio chipset? Or can both work simultaneously?

 

[Tablo]

What are some alternatives to the Corsair 350D?

 

[The Llama]

One more question about voltage. I set my voltage to 1.150 in the BIOS. In HWMonitor under "VID" is lists 1.150. But under "CPU VCORE" it lists 1.176. Is that basically because my CPU actually needs more voltage than I gave it so its automatically using more? Just wondering if I'm basically at my voltage limit or I should bother going lower (and whether it'll actually do anything, in terms of temperatures).

 

[kharma45]

What are some alternatives to the Corsair 350D?

Silencio 352, N200, Define Mini, Arc Mini, FT03, Prodigy M.

 

[Lonewolf_92]

Optical drives? This isn't the 2000s

But some of the games I like to play are. Why did you go for the Gigabyte GTX 780 over the Zotac version I'd selected? The Zotac is $20 cheaper without taking the mail-in into account (which I don't as I generally can't claim them, having to use a P.O. box for mail sucks in that regard).

 

[ramoisdead]

I took the friendly advice from someone and decided to wait until I have enough to order the parts I need so I can build my PC at once. Probly take about two or so months.

 

[MysticX]

I am looking to make some upgrade to my pc, and according to anandtech, only upgrading my gc should be enough?

I have:
965BE
7770 1GB
16GB RAM 1333mhz
120GB SSD

according to anandtech specs, the 965BE holds really well, or maybe that´s just amd size of things?

I was looking into R9-270 I believe which is a best accoring to benchmarks between those 2, should I then be ready for the coming year of gaming???

 

[Lonewolf_92]

Windows for ~$10 on Reddit, and I can't remember the last time I put a CD/DVD/BluRay in my drive.

Really? I generally don't go on Reddit, so where would I look for that?

 

[Rebel Leader]

Between 8.1 and 7 what's better? Or it doesn't matter.

 

[Nostremitus]

Really? I generally don't go on Reddit, so where would I look for that?

PM the OP

 

[kharma45]

But some of the games I like to play are. Why did you go for the Gigabyte GTX 780 over the Zotac version I'd selected? The Zotac is $20 cheaper without taking the mail-in into account (which I don't as I generally can't claim them, having to use a P.O. box for mail sucks in that regard).

I'd trust Gigabyte more. If you can't use MIRs then the Zotac will be fine.

I'd probably need to change up that build too

Between 8.1 and 7 what's better? Or it doesn't matter.

8.1

 

[tsunami643]

I've been having an issue recently waking my computer from sleep and I think I've isolated the problem. It seems that if I have too many things connected to USB slots when I wake the computer up, my display won't come on. I have a 550W Seasonic PSU with a Sapphire Vapor-X 280X, so I am cutting it somewhat close on power. And at worst, I do have quite a few things connected via USB: PS3 controller, webcam, microphone, keyboard, mouse, external HDD, sometimes a flash drive. So would that really be the problem?

 

[Sarcasm]

I've been having an issue recently waking my computer from sleep and I think I've isolated the problem. It seems that if I have too many things connected to USB slots when I wake the computer up, my display won't come on. I have a 550W Seasonic PSU with a Sapphire Vapor-X 280X, so I am cutting it somewhat close on power. And at worst, I do have quite a few things connected via USB: PS3 controller, webcam, microphone, keyboard, mouse, external HDD, sometimes a flash drive. So would that really be the problem?

You might actually kill your PSU. I did two weeks ago and thankfully just the PSU blew up in smoke. Haggled for a better PSU..only like 100w more than I had but better..forgot the word where it actually can do what it says.

 

[Bleepey]

Hi what are the Witcher 3's specs?

 

[Schryver]

Hi what are the Witcher 3's specs?

Doesn't come out until February so we won't know for a while

 

[Rebel Leader]

Let me get this straight:

Get an ISO of either Windows 7 or Windows 8.

I click on windows 8 and then do I click on the in tall 8.1 and I click on the exe file, input the serial number and it'll download the IOS file I need?

Then I use the tool mover to either move it on to a USB or DVD drive?

 

[kennah]

Hi what are the Witcher 3's specs?

If you have to ask, you can't play it.

Spoiler

Game comes out next year. Everyone should chill.

 

[Bleepey]

If you have to ask, you can't play it.

Spoiler

Game comes out next year. Everyone should chill.

Ok I wasn't sure if some new info was released or if it was a joke.

 

[Azulsky]

They should just put up the 880GTX TI preorders and include W3 with it.

 

[Lonewolf_92]

What would you consider a proper size SSD for just Windows 7 Ultimate? Still playing with kharma45's build from earlier in the thread.

PM the OP

Thanks for this!

 

[Sarcasm]

Let me get this straight:



I click on windows 8 and then do I click on the in tall 8.1 and I click on the exe file, input the serial number and it'll download the IOS file I need?

Then I use the tool mover to either move it on to a USB or DVD drive?

Yea but I would just use this:

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool

You can take the ISO and make a bootable USB from it. It works with W8 & 8.1 confirmed since I did it.

What would you consider a proper size SSD for just Windows 7 Ultimate? Still playing with kharma45's build from earlier in the thread.



Thanks for this!

What do you plan to use it as? If its just a OS drive should be fine with 90gb (aka buy the 120gb), as the install with nothing disabled is 20GB..which shrinks when you disable stuff that you dont' want enabled on a SSD.

 

[Lonewolf_92]

What do you plan to use it as? If its just a OS drive should be fine with 90gb (aka buy the 120gb), as the install with nothing disabled is 20GB..which shrinks when you disable stuff that you dont' want enabled on a SSD.

Yeah, it would just be a OS drive, gonna have a 1TB HHD (and I have a 2TB external and a 1.5 TB external on top of that) so space isn't an issue. Why go 120GB if the install is 20GB? Do paging files and such take up the rest?

 

[Sarcasm]

Yeah, it would just be a OS drive, gonna have a 1TB HHD (and I have a 2TB external and a 1.5 TB external on top of that) so space isn't an issue. Why go 120GB if the install is 20GB? Do paging files and such take up the rest?

Don't know where you live but where I do..120gb is way more common and can actually haggle. I got mine for near the price of lesser one. Pretty sure you can get a better deal on a 120gb one than one below that.

 

[Hawk269]

Hi everyone, I need audio assistance for my computer. I do my gaming on a HDTV and ran the HDMI cable to my receiver which then was routed to my TV. I easily had 5.1 audio as it was just plug and play and had no issues. However, I recently moved to a 4k display with Display Port, so I needed a way to run audio at 5.1. I have been successfully using a Creative Labs external sound card that plugs into my USB port and then run an optical cable from it to my receiver.

However, Watch Dogs for some unknown reason is not giving me any audio. I get audio when the Ubi Soft splash screen appears, I get audio in the menu's prior to loading the game, but once the game is loaded it goes silent. I then decided to go back to HDMI for testing purposes and as soon as I loaded the game, I had audio at 5.1. It is just when I use my external sound card and with this game that I get no Audio. I am not sure what to do. Every other game works fine via the external sound card.

Any suggestions? Are there better external sound cards I can use? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[appaws]

Is the Windforce cooler supposed to be good? My 290X Windforce hits 94C on load :\

That seems high to me. The windforce coolers are really good. Do you have good case airflow? Dust? How fast are the fans going?

Now I can't make up my mind. I'm thinking an evga 760. This good?

I think the 760 is just a terrible buy. I posted a little earlier in the thread a link to a 280 that is $199 after rebate....and it outperforms the 760.

Honestly, I'm fine with a standard HDD and load times. Adding an SSD later and sticking with an i7 seems like a better choice to me.

No. Just no. I am old also. My first computer was a Vic-20 with a cassette tape drive. There is no reason to relive bad times.

How is it "unbalanced" and what stuff is "a little junky"? What would you replace them with while staying within my budget while focusing on making the best gaming system possible? I'm in this thread looking for advice to improve what I have selected so far, noting is set in stone (although I'm sticking with those two aforementioned high-end components, because price-wise those two parts would be the most costly to replace later on and I'm pretty low income, and I'm not really sold on the apparent need of a SSD).

If you are low income and looking to maximize your budget, being brand dedicated and refusing to consider AMD is just silly. They rule the price/performance ratio right now and you should buy the best bang for your buck. Love and fidelity is for wives and sports teams, not giant corporations. They don't give a crap about you. You should be looking at an R9 290.

But some of the games I like to play are. Why did you go for the Gigabyte GTX 780 over the Zotac version I'd selected? The Zotac is $20 cheaper without taking the mail-in into account (which I don't as I generally can't claim them, having to use a P.O. box for mail sucks in that regard).

Gigabyte makes excellent GPUs...the windforce cooler is excellent. Zotac is not a top tier brand.

 

[Arkaerial]

Well Amazon shipped my i7 4790k and should have it by Monday.

 

[Diablos]

I need a good ATX case for <$50-70. PSU at the bottom, SSD compatibility. I've asked before but no dice. But I really, really need to replace my old Antec case because it is falling apart.
Suggest away, please.

 

[frbrr]

I need a good ATX case for <$50-70. PSU at the bottom, SSD compatibility. I've asked before but no dice. But I really, really need to replace my old Antec case because it is falling apart.
Suggest away, please.

Check out the Fractal Design Core 3xxx series

 

[Renekton]

I'm sorry that you feel that way. An SSD makes the entire windows experience faster. It's more than just load times and boot times. You're way better off getting the SSD first and a hard drive later. You just have a lot of weird choices in your build for no good reason other than 'budget'. But a good build is more than just getting an i7 and a 780. It's about having a balanced computer. You would have a much better experience overall with a quality built i5 with a 290.

But hey. It's your money.

It's okay to me.

I can understand him wanting the best CPU and GPU to simply focus on the gaming utility. Things like SSD are more QoL stuff, unless we can prove it significantly impact his framerate .

 

[Rebel Leader]

Since My motherboard has HDMI can I set up the computer though a TV?
---


Also how can DDR3-1866 work with a motherboard that has Memory Type: DDR3-1333 / 1600? PCparttaker is showing no issues.

 

[The Llama]

Since My motherboard has HDMI can I set up the computer though a TV?
---


Also how can DDR3-1866 work with a motherboard that has Memory Type: DDR3-1333 / 1600? PCparttaker is showing no issues.

Yeah, but you'd be using the integrated graphics, not your GPU. Check if your GPU has one.

Just means the RAM won't run at full speed (but you could run it at DDR3-1600 at tighter timings). Won't be incompatible. Probably not worth it to buy RAM that speed unless its the same price as slower RAM.

 

[Brofist]

Is there a consensus on what the best under $200 Z97 board is? I'm thinking of going Asus Z97-A. Was looking at the MSI Gaming 5, but no optical out is no buy for me.

 

[Azulsky]

I'm sorry that you feel that way. An SSD makes the entire windows experience faster. It's more than just load times and boot times. You're way better off getting the SSD first and a hard drive later. You just have a lot of weird choices in your build for no good reason other than 'budget'. But a good build is more than just getting an i7 and a 780. It's about having a balanced computer. You would have a much better experience overall with a quality built i5 with a 290.

But hey. It's your money.

SSD is the easiest to upgrade later in the sense that the cost/benefit for purchasing an i7 once you already have an i5 is terrible, same for a 780/290.

If he is playing multiplayer match type games then load times dont really matter because you are in a weakest link scenario.

If i had a fixed sum build SSD would be the first thing nixed in favor of GPU/CPU too

 

[Rebel Leader]

Yeah, but you'd be using the integrated graphics, not your GPU. Check if your GPU has one.

Just means the RAM won't run at full speed (but you could run it at DDR3-1600 at tighter timings). Won't be incompatible. Probably not worth it to buy RAM that speed unless its the same price as slower RAM.

I'm not getting a GPU yet, for a while it's gonna be a basic computer with integrated graphics (which will do me fine for a short while) getting an i3 or i5

Since I don't know what or how to do "tighter timings" I'll find 1600 ram

 

[Smushroomed]

I would choose ssd + cpu, with a weaker (but not weak) gpu, if i were on a fixed budget

ssd just make everything snappier

 

[Smushroomed]

Is there a consensus on what the best under $200 Z97 board is? I'm thinking of going Asus Z97-A. Was looking at the MSI Gaming 5, but no optical out is no buy for me.

I have this board, and it works fine for me

 

[Nostremitus]

It'll be a fantastic upgrade.

I'm hoping so.

 

[eek5]

That seems high to me. The windforce coolers are really good. Do you have good case airflow? Dust? How fast are the fans going?

Decent airflow but not the best, I guess. Fans were spinning at the max without user intervention (increasing speed w/ afterburner)

 

[Sullichin]

Will The Witcher 3 run on my 2500k... on weed?

 

[Rebel Leader]

DDR3 SDRAM will fit in a motherboard DDR3 DIMM slot?

 

[kennah]

SSD is the easiest to upgrade later in the sense that the cost/benefit for purchasing an i7 once you already have an i5 is terrible, same for a 780/290.

If he is playing multiplayer match type games then load times dont really matter because you are in a weakest link scenario.

If i had a fixed sum build SSD would be the first thing nixed in favor of GPU/CPU too

It's okay to me.

I can understand him wanting the best CPU and GPU to simply focus on the gaming utility. Things like SSD are more QoL stuff, unless we can prove it significantly impact his framerate .

I used to think like you guys. I really did. Now I can't do it. An ssd less computer is just painful to use now.

 

[Azulsky]

I used to think like you guys. I really did. Now I can't do it. An ssd less computer is just painful to use now.

If you havent had one before then skipping it until you can muster the $100 or so it takes for a 120GB boot drive is worth the wait instead of compromising CPU/GPU

If you already are used to SSD's then there is no going back. I have a 1TB coming tomorrow for my work laptop. 5400RPM be damned

 

[Hellix]

Hm, I am not quite sure what is wrong with my new 780 Ti. I am only getting around 30 fps at 1920x1080 playing Arma 3 with Ultra setting. Benchmarks I've seen showed at least 75 fps. Other games I am getting well below benchmarks.

 

[Tablo]

If you havent had one before then skipping it until you can muster the $100 or so it takes for a 120GB boot drive is worth the wait instead of compromising CPU/GPU

If you already are used to SSD's then there is no going back. I have a 1TB coming tomorrow for my work laptop. RPM be damned

Fixed ^_^

 

[Lonewolf_92]

If you havent had one before then skipping it until you can muster the $100 or so it takes for a 120GB boot drive is worth the wait instead of compromising CPU/GPU

If you already are used to SSD's then there is no going back. I have a 1TB coming tomorrow for my work laptop. 5400RPM be damned

Exactly my thoughts. I never had one, so it's not like I'll miss it.

 

[Josman]

Hey people, I finally built my first PC ever! I'm coming from a cheap AMD laptop and the difference is incredible (4670k + 840 EVO), everything seems fine so far, just some questions:

1.- I'm connected to a TV via HDMI as my monitor has not arrived, and I'm not getting audio at all, when I click sound devices it doesn't even show up. The same happened before with my Laptop and I just can't figure out why. Any suggestions?

2.- Best free Antivirus? something not intrusive and light on the system.

3.- How do you dissable Disk defrag? The guide in the OP says to disable it on the services list but Disk defragmentation is not even there (Windows 8.1)

Any help is much appreciated

 

[appaws]

Decent airflow but not the best, I guess. Fans were spinning at the max without user intervention (increasing speed w/ afterburner)

What were you running? Something like Furmark? Or something like Valley? Or just a standard game...? I'm just curious, because I can't imagine a card, even a hot chip like the 290x, getting to 94c with the fans spun up all the way....

I just googled and saw in some reviews that some of the reference cards run that hot under load....and throttled back performance. But not so much the windforce ones...guru3d for example had it maxed out at 77c....you might need to tinker around with the fan profiles a bit....

Or there could even be some problem with the TIM used on the card or something.