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"I Need a New PC!" 2014 Part 2. Read OP, your 2500K will run Witcher 3. MX100s! 970!

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mauinho

Neo Member
After being out of the desktop world for quite a while decided to try to build myself a new PC so after much study this is what I came out with following some of the OP suggestions!

[PCPartPicker part list]

Type|Item|Price

**CPU** | [Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor] | £167.94 @ Aria PC
**CPU Cooler** | [Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler] | £80.99 @ Aria PC
**Thermal Compound** | [Gelid Solutions GC-Supreme 7g Thermal Paste] | £6.99 @ Amazon UK
**Motherboard** | [Asus MAXIMUS VII RANGER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard] | £125.96 @ Scan.co.uk
**Memory** | [Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory] | £67.06 @ Ebuyer
**Storage** | [Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive] | £149.41 @ Scan.co.uk
**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive] | £38.70 @ Aria PC
**Case** | [Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case] | £87.13 @ Scan.co.uk
**Power Supply** | [SeaSonic Platinum 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply] | Purchased For £90.00
**Optical Drive** | [Pioneer BDC-207DBK Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer] | £39.42 @ Aria PC
**Case Fan** | [Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan] | £15.98 @ Amazon UK
**Case Fan** | [Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan] | £15.98 @ Amazon UK
**Keyboard** | [Corsair Raptor K30 Wired Gaming Keyboard] |
**Mouse** | [Corsair Raptor M40 Wired Optical Mouse] 59.98 bundled together @ eBuyer.com
| | **Total**
| Price | £945.54

For monitor I will spin the coin with a korean Qnix 1440p
Graphics card Im not sure yet ill need your input on that I want to start with a single card but might SLI/Crossfire in future.

Budget: £1500 UK
Main Use: Rate 1-5. 5 being Highest: Gaming 5, General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback) 3.
Monitor Resolution: 1440p korean Qnix
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: I would like to run everything at Ultra at 60fps+ if possible game wise
Looking to reuse any parts?: I have a SeaSonic Platinum 860W 80+ Platinum and that's it
When will you build?: I'd like to have it built by end of August
Will you be overclocking?: Yes!!!

Thanks in advance for your advice
 

Arc07

Member
Motherboard, CPU cooler and PSU get here Thursday. Sorta kicking myself in the ass getting 3GB 780 Ti's but I think I'll be alright.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Best Buy)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($208.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($349.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($429.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($679.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($679.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair Air 540 ATX Desktop Case ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 1200W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($299.99 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Performance Edition (2-Pack) 63.5 CFM 120mm Fans ($26.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 37.9 CFM 120mm Fans ($24.98 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 37.9 CFM 120mm Fans ($24.98 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm Fan ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Other: ASUS ROG Front Base ($79.99)
Total: $3582.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Here's a preview for the time being.
What has arrived so far.
Case with fans installed.
 

JimPanzer

Member
is there some tutorial or tool I could use to correctly setup the calibration (contrast, gamma, brightness etc) of my monitor?
all games I play in native res are much too bright; if downsampled from 2560x1440 to 1920x1080 (using nvidia controls) they are displayed correctly though - any ideas?
 

Stubo

Member
After being out of the desktop world for quite a while decided to try to build myself a new PC so after much study this is what I came out with following some of the OP suggestions!

(Snip)

Budget: £1500 UK
Main Use: Rate 1-5. 5 being Highest: Gaming 5, General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback) 3.
Monitor Resolution: 1440p korean Qnix
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: I would like to run everything at Ultra at 60fps+ if possible game wise
Looking to reuse any parts?: I have a SeaSonic Platinum 860W 80+ Platinum and that's it
When will you build?: I'd like to have it built by end of August
Will you be overclocking?: Yes!!!

Thanks in advance for your advice
Maybe look for 16Gb of RAM and a 4790k for that sort of money. Would you be averse to a Noctua cooler instead of a h100i? I've put the R4 case in because it's my personal favourite, maybe worth a look for your purposes.

It's worth considering that if you definitely want a blu ray drive, you can get one also capable of writing to blu ray for an extra £10 or so.

Thermal compound is included with the Noctua coolers.

Just some food for thought really :)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£233.94 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£64.98 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII RANGER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£125.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£119.52 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£149.41 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.70 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290X 4GB Tri-X Video Card (£389.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£64.98 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For £0.00)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer (£40.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Other: K30 and M40 Bundle (£59.98)
Total: £1287.84
 

Rebel Leader

THE POWER OF BUTTERSCOTCH BOTTOMS
GAF I need some hep, I can get the system on to select boot device but 2 fans are not going on. They both have molex connections. Do I have to connect them,?
 

mauinho

Neo Member
Thats right on my budget once I add the Qnix :)
I thought the AIO collers were quieter and better for overclocking?! I was actually interested in the new H220x from swiftech but they seem to be holding onto it...
You did save me quite a bit of money with that noctua cooler.
Also I do prefer the Phanteks Pro due the possibilities the case allows even if I ever want to go with a loop in the future it was either that or the corsair air 540.
 

hipbabboom

Huh? What did I say? Did I screw up again? :(
Regarding monitors what do people think is best, a 1440p monitor or those new 21:9 monitors? Leaning towards the 21:9 monitors as they look like they would enhance the game more but i've never actually seen a 1440p monitor before so im not sure.

Make sure you get the right 21:9 monitor. You're looking for 3440x1440 (not 2560x1440); don't be fooled!
 

Stubo

Member
Thats right on my budget once I add the Qnix :)
I thought the AIO collers were quieter and better for overclocking?! I was actually interested in the new H220x from swiftech but they seem to be holding onto it...
You did save me quite a bit of money with that noctua cooler.
Also I do prefer the Phanteks Pro due the possibilities the case allows even if I ever want to go with a loop in the future it was either that or the corsair air 540.
The Noctua cooler is really excellent, it is a little behind the 240mm radiator AIO coolers at high clocks depending on how well the chips are transferring the heat. There's more of a difference with custom loops. I mainly considered it because you'd added the NF-F12s to your build which made me think you were looking for their quiet properties.

Fair points on the case choice, I don't have water cooling experience so I'll leave the discussion of those cases to the experts, more radiators!!
All fans turn on now, I had the,m inverted but should I still have the molex connected?
They have a 3 pin and molex connections
Where does the molex cable lead? Maybe to a fan controller? You don't need to plug that in if you haven't got any fans plugged into the controller.
 

mauinho

Neo Member
The Noctua cooler is really excellent, it is a little behind the 240mm radiator AIO coolers at high clocks depending on how well the chips are transferring the heat. There's more of a difference with custom loops. I mainly considered it because you'd added the NF-F12s to your build which made me think you were looking for their quiet properties.

Fair points on the case choice, I don't have water cooling experience so I'll leave the discussion of those cases to the experts, more radiators!!

I picked the NF-F12s due to those fans being quite well rated when performing against a radiator and I read quite a bit of complaints on the stock fans of the h100i being noisy and not performing quite so well...of course its all theory atm.

Now devil's canyon i5 vs i7 in gaming only is the difference that substantial?
the same question goes for 8gb of Ram vs 16gb of Ram?
 
Another day, another build. How's this for a gaming build?

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme3
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB
Storage: Seagate Momentus Thin 500GB
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card
Case: Rosewill BLACKHAWK-BLUE
PSU: Rosewill Hive 750W
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-G300LX 802.11b/g PCI Wi-Fi Adapter
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate

Total: $1336.92 (Budget: 1327.07 / -9.85 over)
 
Another day, another build. How's this for a gaming build?

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme3
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB
Storage: Seagate Momentus Thin 500GB
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card
Case: Rosewill BLACKHAWK-BLUE
PSU: Rosewill Hive 750W
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-G300LX 802.11b/g PCI Wi-Fi Adapter
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate

Total: $1336.92 (Budget: 1327.07 / -9.85 over)

A bit of background info? We know the thread title says a 2500K is fine, but that doesn't mean you should buy it. I am assuming you are talking about an upgrade or something to something that is already built? Or are those used parts to save money?
 

Stubo

Member
Noctua fans are great for noise vs. performance, however there will be other suggestions made since they're not the best at higher RPM and many people consider them overpriced compared to their competition. I have Noctua fans, they've fit my needs well. I'm not saying that you shouldn't get a h100 or similar, just suggesting the option since it's so much more cost effective.

i7 has benefits in the minority of games for the moment, but we don't know what the future holds. Regardless of next gen console considerations as more time passes it's more likely that more studios will be making use of more CPU threads to improve the performance.

It's completely your choice of course but in my opinion if you're looking to drop that sort of money on a system and even add a 2nd GPU eventually it would be best not to be limited by your CPU.

It's generally accepted that 8Gb of RAM is the sweet spot for gaming right now, 16Gb is really a nice luxury to have for higher spec builds. You could always go the 8Gb route to save a bit of money since you would have slots to upgrade to 16Gb at a later date if you ever felt the need.
 
A bit of background info? We know the thread title says a 2500K is fine, but that doesn't mean you should buy it. I am assuming you are talking about an upgrade or something to something that is already built? Or are those used parts to save money?

No, building from the ground up with new parts. People in the thread were saying that an i5 would be fine for a gaming rig, so using PCPartpicker, I've been playing around with the idea. I probably won't actually be buying until after July 7th, so I'm playing around seeing what I can get for around my budget.
 

kharma45

Member
No, building from the ground up with new parts. People in the thread were saying that an i5 would be fine for a gaming rig, so using PCPartpicker, I've been playing around with the idea. I probably won't actually be buying until after July 7th, so I'm playing around seeing what I can get for around my budget.

Switch to the 4670K or 4690K, and a mobo from the OP.
 
No, building from the ground up with new parts. People in the thread were saying that an i5 would be fine for a gaming rig, so using PCPartpicker, I've been playing around with the idea. I probably won't actually be buying until after July 7th, so I'm playing around seeing what I can get for around my budget.

Alright, in that case follow the advice above and besides that I would look at some other storage option. 500GB Is not a whole lot nowadays, it can vary a lot how much space people need though so you can decide that best. The bigger issue is that it is pretty slow and at that budget it feels like a bit of a waste to not include a SSD.

Also I prefer Windows 8(.1) over Windows 7, but you'll have your reasons.

EDIT: Yes, that CPU is a better choice.
 

Brofist

Member
Another day, another build. How's this for a gaming build?

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme3
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB
Storage: Seagate Momentus Thin 500GB
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card
Case: Rosewill BLACKHAWK-BLUE
PSU: Rosewill Hive 750W
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-G300LX 802.11b/g PCI Wi-Fi Adapter
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate

Total: $1336.92 (Budget: 1327.07 / -9.85 over)

Are you really going to build a $1300+ PC with a 3 1/2 year old CPU?
 

riflen

Member
Do you guys know how to solve this problem I have? I made a thread about it here.

Firstly, the Acer S240HL is a 1920x1080 panel. Your surround resolution for 3 panels in landscape will be 5760x1080. Your GPU supports up to 7600x1600 in surround mode, so this should be fine. Any of the ports can be used for surround.

Do you have surround set in Windows? Have you only tried Assetto Corsa? You could just be dealing with a bug in that one game. Make sure the Nvidia Control Panel 3d profile for the game has Multiple Display Performance Mode set.
 
Are you really going to build a $1300+ PC with a 3 1/2 year old CPU?

That was an error on my part (for some reason it was the best i5 CPU on the list)

Might as well considering he's enamored with a 5 year old OS...

:p

Alright, in that case follow the advice above and besides that I would look at some other storage option. 500GB Is not a whole lot nowadays, it can vary a lot how much space people need though so you can decide that best. The bigger issue is that it is pretty slow and at that budget it feels like a bit of a waste to not include a SSD.

Also I prefer Windows 8(.1) over Windows 7, but you'll have your reasons.

EDIT: Yes, that CPU is a better choice.

I have 3.5TB worth of space on external hard drives, so really don't need much space in the system, just enough to hold Windows and a program or two. I guess I could look for a SSD for around the same price and not go with a standard hard drive at all.
 

Stubo

Member
Another day, another build. How's this for a gaming build?

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme3
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB
Storage: Seagate Momentus Thin 500GB
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card
Case: Rosewill BLACKHAWK-BLUE
PSU: Rosewill Hive 750W
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-G300LX 802.11b/g PCI Wi-Fi Adapter
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate

Total: $1336.92 (Budget: 1327.07 / -9.85 over)
I'll throw my opinion in the ring and suggest something like this:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($238.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($76.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290X 4GB Tri-X Video Card ($528.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.62 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1259.54

Just add Windows 8.1 Pro and some power line adapters. A 256Gb or 512Gb SSD if you can fit it in your budget, especially as it sounds like you've got media storage covered.

Edit: You could switch the case to a Fractal Design Define R4 for an extra $20
 
Well just installed the motherboard, hard drive and the Power Supply. Tomorrow, I am going to continue with the rest and hopefully finish it.
10511161_10152557411756967_1203698782306647592_n.jpg
 

Rebel Leader

THE POWER OF BUTTERSCOTCH BOTTOMS
I need some more help, I figured out my problem.

Sys_fan3 will not power any fan at all. Should I return the motherboard? Or what?

I have 2 fans I can hook up by molex

--

I know I said all fans turn on but I had one on molex
 

Josman

Member
Hi people, dumb question: is there any performance / power consumption impact if I have "duplicate these displays" always selected?

I have my PC between my monitor and TV, when I want to watch a show on the PC I just turn on the TV and the image is there. I'd select "show desktop on 1 or 2" but I get issues with audio, it shows the image on the TV but no audio and it's annoying (tv hooked via HDMI, monitor DVI with headphones).

side note: of all the things I bought for my PC, win 8 is the one I regret the most -_-
 
So today I went from this...


to this...


Please excuse my terrible cable management...

The old GPU was an HD 5570, new one is an R9 270 OC Dual-X
The new PSU is an EVGA 500B
And the intake fan (not visible) is a CM JetFlo.
The SSD is an Intel 530 240GB (Got it on sale, still overpaid...)
The 2.5 hardrive is my little Ubuntu drive from a dead laptop.
The case is a Logisys freebie...but hey, it has USB 3.0 and room for a front intake fan.
 

Genio88

Member
A bit of background info? We know the thread title says a 2500K is fine, but that doesn't mean you should buy it. I am assuming you are talking about an upgrade or something to something that is already built? Or are those used parts to save money?

Lol that's your fault gaf, thread should say 2500k could be fine, but i7 4770k would be better.
 

Rebel Leader

THE POWER OF BUTTERSCOTCH BOTTOMS
Lol that's your fault gaf, thread should say 2500k could be fine, but i7 4770k would be better.

Or

"I Need a New PC!" 2014 Part 2. Read the OP, your 2500K could be fine but i7 4770k would be better but it's out of date by the time witcher 3 is out.

=p
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
I'm horrible:

It was just to make sure everything worked but the I noticed Sys_fan3 is not working to it'll be better. Getting a replacement MB from amazon
Check if your fan RPM or speed % in BIOS is set to like 500RPM and your FAN won't start that low RPM/voltage?
 

Schryver

Member
Sooo I'm putting my PC together and I somehow don't have the screws to attach my motherboard to the case. Is it seriously possible that I lost them already? Not in the box? :/
 

metalshade

Member
Found this googling for BSODs related to atikmdag,sys, seems to have worked for this guy at least. Haven't had the issue myself.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers...sed-atikmdag-sys-windows-amd-radeon-7700.html

I had the same bsod i think, any 14.x drivers give me bsod during videos or anything hardware accelerated like movie maker. Using 13.12 drivers work fine though, weird

Thanks for the info guys, really appreciated.
After a couple of days of messing around and getting no results, I have tried simply uninstalling all amd drivers, driver sweeping, then reinstalling the old 13.12 drivers, and we shall wait and see how it goes.

In the event this doesnt fix it, I may well look into jumping to Nvidia immediately, So....as of right now, what cards do Nvidia offer that equal or better my AMD 7950, for a budget of about £325, or $560?

Edit: Having read the last few pages, it seems AMD is still ahead of Nvidia in terms of price/performance, and if I want to change cards, I would need a higher budget for the same performance right now. Damn. Ah well, lets just hope I have fixed the issue this time around.
 
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