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[kiyomi]

(Gulp!) surely that's just for engineering purposes right? Thought one of the benefits of maxwell was going to be power consumption?

Yeah I will not be pleased if Maxwell power consumption stays the same as it is now.

 

[mkenyon]

I've been overclocking a bit, and OC genie upped my DRAM voltage from 1.5V->1.65V (now running at 859MHz per channel). I just ran the Blend test in Prime95 and it passed without fail.

Kind of worried about the voltage since my RAM is rated at 1.5V. But I've been using it for over a year now (but at stock) without any problems. Should I be okay?

I also have my 6300 up to 4.1GHz but I had to up the vcore to 1.4. Using the 970A-G46. I know it has VRM issues but my CPU is 95W so I'm thinking I should be okay. I also have air blowing right over the VRM's.

I notice that I get much better framerates (doesn't drop as much, at least) when using OC genie... manually setting the multiplier and vcore to support 4.1GHz doesn't help nearly as much. Must have to do with the NB and DRAM settings.

edit: Took it back down to 3750ish MHz with the DRAM voltage settings the same. Was unstable. I know this CPU is fine at 3.7-3.8 tho with my board. Just worried about the DRAM voltage... and I guess to a lesser extent NB but Prime95 keeps passing so that's a good sign.

RAM will be fine with 1.65. I can't speak to the NB, are you still having the same sort of heat problems that you were before?

OC'd to 4.2GHz I didn't win the CPU lottery it becomes unstable after that :/

What's your voltage at? Temps? I've never heard of a SB or IVB that couldn't OC past 4.2.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Is it me or has the GPU market been stagnant for a while? Outside of very high end ones, there's barely any changes for a long time. The 770 is overpriced for the duration its been in the market imo.

 

[mkenyon]

Is it me or has the GPU market been stagnant for a while? Outside of very high end ones, there's barely any changes for a long time. The 770 is overpriced for the duration its been in the market imo.

Yep. Process shrinks are slowing down immensely, so it's hard to have the same sort of gains at the same rate we used to have.

 

[SHADES]

Yeah I will not be pleased if Maxwell power consumption stays the same as it is now.

After buying a 750ti sc and seeing what that produces on 60w I had high hopes but now not so sure.

 

[riflen]

After buying a 750ti sc and seeing what that produces on 60w I had high hopes but now not so sure.

If it's real, it's an engineering sample. Its configuration means almost nothing, except an indication that GM204 is probably coming within 1 year.

 

[mkenyon]

After buying a 750ti sc and seeing what that produces on 60w I had high hopes but now not so sure.

The same kind of power savings don't necessarily carry over to a much larger die.

If it's real, it's an engineering sample. Its configuration means almost nothing, except an indication that GM204 is probably coming within 1 year.

This too.

 

[Qurupeke]

It's the first time I'm building a pc and I need some serious help. First of all, its main use will be gaming and I guess I won't use it in anything else that needs more power. Multitasking is important too, not something too demanding though. As an example, I'd like it to run smoothly something like Witcher 3 on max settings and preferably I'd like to keep that set up for at least 1-2 years. I know nothing of pc building and as a start I asked for an advice from a friend. So, please recommend something better or approve:

RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2X4GB) DDR3
Motherboard: ASROCK Z97 EXTREME3
CPU: Intel Core I5-4590 3.30 ghz LGA1150
GPU: Asus GTX760 DC2OC 2GD5 2GB DDR5
SSD: SAMSUNG MZ-7TE120BW 840 EVO SERIES SSD 120GB 2.5'' SATA3
HDD: SEAGATE BARRACUDA 7200.14 ST3000DM001 3TB SATA3
PSU: Coolermaster elite series 600w

Also, I'd like some help with the choice of the case and the cooling system. The budget is about 800 euros and with this I actually can spend more for something better. But the cheaper, the better.

 

[thematic]

Ok cool, my MOBO has x2 PCIe x16 slots but it's only crossfire compatible, I'll look into it, thanks.

it will work, as long as Windows recognize your card, then it's a go for mining (or Physx card if you want)

(Gulp!) surely that's just for engineering purposes right? Thought one of the benefits of maxwell was going to be power consumption?

Yeah I will not be pleased if Maxwell power consumption stays the same as it is now.

After buying a 750ti sc and seeing what that produces on 60w I had high hopes but now not so sure.

obviously it's for sample only
Maxwell is "mobile first" architecture
main purpose for Maxwell is 2x performance Watt ratio than Kepler
as we already seen with 750 Ti.

I already sold my GTX 760 today
surprisingly GTX 750 Ti still managed to run Tomb Raider with TressFX and custom "normal" setting and Ultra texture @ 40-60 FPS. I guess I can wait a little longer for 20nm Maxwell next year

GTX 750 Ti is really recommended for cheap and efficient gaming card
I can OC it @ ~1350 MHz Core and 6 GHz VRAM. around 10-20% increase especially with scrypt mining. it's gone from 260 kh/S to 300 kh/s easy

 

[mkenyon]

It's the first time I'm building a pc and I need some serious help. First of all, its main use will be gaming and I guess I won't use it in anything else that needs more power. Multitasking is important too, not something too demanding though. As an example, I'd like it to run smoothly something like Witcher 3 on max settings and preferably I'd like to keep that set up for at least 1-2 years. I know nothing of pc building and as a start I asked for an advice from a friend. So, please recommend something better or approve:

RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2X4GB) DDR3
Motherboard: ASROCK Z97 EXTREME3
CPU: Intel Core I5-4590 3.30 ghz LGA1150
GPU: Asus GTX760 DC2OC 2GD5 2GB DDR5
SSD: SAMSUNG MZ-7TE120BW 840 EVO SERIES SSD 120GB 2.5'' SATA3
HDD: SEAGATE BARRACUDA 7200.14 ST3000DM001 3TB SATA3
PSU: Coolermaster elite series 600w

Also, I'd like some help with the choice of the case and the cooling system. The budget is about 800 euros and with this I actually can spend more for something better. But the cheaper, the better.

No one has any idea how that will perform on hardware. If that's your goal, it's probably a better idea to wait as new GPUs will likely be out before Witcher 3, and you'll get more for your money.

You'll want the 4670K or 4690K to OC at least.

 

[Himynameischris]

4590 > 4570 > 4460 > 4440 > 4430 > any of the S versions.

It's strange that they're so close together in price, but go 4590!

Awesome thanks!

 

[SHADES]

If it's real, it's an engineering sample. Its configuration means almost nothing, except an indication that GM204 is probably coming within 1 year.

Right OK, are there any current GPU's using that kind of power set up?

The same kind of power savings don't necessarily carry over to a much larger die.

This too.

Yeah that's what I thought. I wasn't expected like for like but the picture in my mind was something like 780ti performance levels but slightly less/improved tdp for example.

What will be will be I guess.

 

[Qurupeke]

No one has any idea how that will perform on hardware. If that's your goal, it's probably a better idea to wait as new GPUs will likely be out before Witcher 3, and you'll get more for your money.

You'll want the 4670K or 4690K to OC at least.

Nevermind Witcher 3, I'm just referring to something demanding. I want to run "next gen" games without a problem.

 

[mkenyon]

Right OK, are there any current GPU's using that kind of power set up?

The 780Ti KPE has two 8 pins and a 6 pin:

Nevermind Witcher 3, I'm just referring to something demanding. I want to run "next gen" games without a problem.

60 fps at 1080p? If so, then you're on the right track. I'm not too keen on the 760 for longevity, but it's a great value right now. You'll also want to increase that processor, as I said, to a K version. Having really high IPC at 4.2ish GHz will go a long way to maintaining a good frame rate for the forseable future.

 

[Qurupeke]

60 fps at 1080p?

Yep. Not interested to more than that.

 

[SHADES]

it will work, as long as Windows recognize your card, then it's a go for mining (or Physx card if you want)







obviously it's for sample only
Maxwell is "mobile first" architecture
main purpose for Maxwell is 2x performance Watt ratio than Kepler
as we already seen with 750 Ti.

I already sold my GTX 760 today
surprisingly GTX 750 Ti still managed to run Tomb Raider with TressFX and custom "normal" setting and Ultra texture @ 40-60 FPS. I guess I can wait a little longer for 20nm Maxwell next year

GTX 750 Ti is really recommended for cheap and efficient gaming card
I can OC it @ ~1350 MHz Core and 6 GHz VRAM. around 10-20% increase especially with scrypt mining. it's gone from 260 kh/S to 300 kh/s easy

I'll look into it for sure just not sure if my psu will run both the 670 & the 750? and its primarily used for gaming.

The 780Ti KPE has two 8 pins and a 6 pin:



60 fps at 1080p?

I ought to have known better really lol, my novice searches turned up nothing but then again I was only looking at 780 ti & R9 290 power connections. Thanks.

 

[Schryver]

Yep. Not interested to more than that.

You mentioned max settings earlier. If you're talking about Ultra settings then I'm pretty sure that 760 will not 'last' you a year. You won't hit 60 fps on Crysis3/Metro:LL and those are over a year old. ignore 60 fps and you'll be okay I think

 

[Mrbob]

So with the 4670k sitting at £165 and the 4690k at £185, is the latter worth the extra £20? How about 4770k/4790k at £230/£250?

Between the 4670k and 4690k it doesn't really matter that much. If you can find the 4690k for a similar price go for it, but if the 4670K is cheaper that chip is fine too. Intels claims about the overclocking ability of the 4690K seems to be off. The chip doesn't overclock better than the 4670k at all. The 4690K has better integrated graphics but if you have a discrete video card this aspect doesn't matter.

 

[riflen]

Right OK, are there any current GPU's using that kind of power set up?



Yeah that's what I thought. I wasn't expected like for like but the picture in my mind was something like 780ti performance levels but slightly less/improved tdp for example.

What will be will be I guess.

PCI-E 3.0 spec states the 16x slot can deliver up to 75w. A 6-pin PCI-E power connector can also provide 75w and 8-pin can deliver 150w. Maximum draw for the spec is 300w.

The AMD R9 295x2 and NVIDIA Titan Z use 2 x 8-pin, which could pull up to 375w (the 295x2 peak power rating is a crazy 500w!), but these are both outside of PCI-E 3.0 spec. They are also dual GPU boards.

For a single GPU to draw 375w (16x slot +6+6+8) would be unprecedented and probably put it out of reach of the usual customers for the x80 product. I suspect that the extra power connector is so NVIDIA can explore the limits of the design.

EDIT: Not that unprecedented I see. The Kingpin has no power restrictions though. 450w max draw for that card. Jesus.

 

[mkenyon]

PCI-E 3.0 spec states the 16x slot can deliver up to 75w. A 6-pin PCI-E power connector can also provide 75w and 8-pin can deliver 150w. Maximum draw for the spec is 300w.

The AMD R9 295x2 and NVIDIA Titan Z use 2 x 8-pin, which could pull up to 375w (the 295x2 peak power rating is a crazy 500w!), but these are both outside of PCI-E 3.0 spec. They are also dual GPU boards.

For a single GPU to draw 375w (16x slot +6+6+8) would be unprecedented and probably put it out of reach of the usual customers for the x80 product. I suspect that the extra power connector is so NVIDIA can explore the limits of the design.

My feelings as well. It's probably there for the same reason that the high end/LN2 cards have additional power available.

 

[LilJoka]

Quoting my post for the new page. Any advice appreciated!

On the CPU GPU and SSD dilemma.
IMO 2GB cards may have a premature ending. So i would stick with the GTX 770, drop the SSD and buy it later. Yes its hassle switching OS to a new disk, but to maximise the rig potential i would drop it and go the i7/i5 K CPU and Z97 route and Hyper 212 if you can squeeze it. A setup like this could easily withstand the next 2-3 gens of GPUs.

On the case situation, i recommend the Node 304, looks sleek and minimalistic, the corsair is ok but i hate plastic, and the Bitfenix is BIG (proven by the fact it also fits mATX (Bitfenix Phenom)). Optical drives arent really needed nowadays, games are digital, and all software/divers can be downloaded from the net. Windows can be installed via USB thumb drive.

The PSU will be fine for the rig. Get 2x4GB 1600Mhz CL9 RAM, itll be plenty for atleast 2 years. In a year DDR3 price should drop significantly with the DDR4 dropping early next year most probably.

Use scan.co.uk and their Today only section. Get 25 posts at hexus forums to get free next day shipping at scan. Then scout the today only section and pick up the deals through the week, usually the parts repeat each week. But normally i can pick up most of the parts on a single day for a whole build.

What games will your friend be playing and will he be emulating anything?

 

[michaelius]

For a single GPU to draw 375w (16x slot +6+6+8) would be unprecedented and probably put it out of reach of the usual customers for the x80 product. I suspect that the extra power connector is so NVIDIA can explore the limits of the design.

Extreme overclocking - power draw rises with square of voltage so once you apply voltages like 1,8-1,9V under LN2 power draw of normal 250w card will go through the roof.

 

[Stubo]

I'm looking for a bit of advice regarding a gaming PC build for a friend. He's visiting next weekend, and I need to build this PC for him to take home. In order to save him a bit of money, I'm hoping to reuse some components from his old PC which he will be bringing with him, but it's possible that I could order some parts to be delivered here to assemble ahead of time instead of waiting to do it all at the weekend.

The budget is £700.

The plan is to make a Mini ITX build, either using a BitFenix Prodigy or Corsair 250D case.

I'm hoping to reuse his existing PSU, which is a Coolermaster iGreen 600W from 2008 (that should be ok, right?).

I can reuse his optical and 500GB hard drive too, and I'm considering an MX100 256GB SSD if funds allow.

He wants the best CPU and GPU possible basically, but will only be running a single 1080p screen (for now). So I'm suggesting an H97 mobo, i7 4790 (3.6GHz, stock cooler) and GTX770, 8GB RAM. The case and components would come to about £630, which leaves just about enough budget for that SSD.

If we avoid the SSD, that £80 or so could be spent on a basic overclocking effort, swapping out the H97 for a Z97, maybe an i7 4770K instead, and a decent cooler.

What do you think? Is an i7 4790 overkill to be paired with a GTX770, in which case trying to overclock a 4770K would also be unnecessary? And therefore... would it make more sense to drop to something like an i5 4690, avoid the SSD and overclocking, and use the budget on a GTX 780 instead?

I'd definitely suggest going for a Z97 and 4690k:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.94 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£94.90 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£59.45 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£76.80 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Tri-X Toxic Video Card (£232.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (White) Mini ITX Tower Case (£64.99 @ Aria PC)
Total: £697.06

 

[kiyomi]

Between the 4670k and 4690k it doesn't really matter that much. If you can find the 4690k for a similar price go for it, but if the 4670K is cheaper that chip is fine too. Intels claims about the overclocking ability of the 4690K seems to be off. The chip doesn't overclock better than the 4670k at all. The 4690K has better integrated graphics but if you have a discrete video card this aspect doesn't matter.

Nope.

 

[Qurupeke]

You mentioned max settings earlier. If you're talking about Ultra settings then I'm pretty sure that 760 will not 'last' you a year. You won't hit 60 fps on Crysis3/Metro:LL and those are over a year old. ignore 60 fps and you'll be okay I think

Well, I guess it's an overkill atm to want more than that, so mid settings may be fine then. I want to be able to play a very demanding game even in low/mid settings without a problem for the next two years then. Is that setup good enough for that?

 

[Betta Lines]

On the CPU GPU and SSD dilemma.
IMO 2GB cards may have a premature ending. So i would stick with the GTX 770, drop the SSD and buy it later. Yes its hassle switching OS to a new disk, but to maximise the rig potential i would drop it and go the i7/i5 K CPU and Z97 route and Hyper 212 if you can squeeze it. A setup like this could easily withstand the next 2-3 gens of GPUs.

On the case situation, i recommend the Node 304, looks sleek and minimalistic, the corsair is ok but i hate plastic, and the Bitfenix is BIG (proven by the fact it also fits mATX (Bitfenix Phenom)). Optical drives arent really needed nowadays, games are digital, and all software/divers can be downloaded from the net. Windows can be installed via USB thumb drive.

The PSU will be fine for the rig. Get 2x4GB 1600Mhz CL9 RAM, itll be plenty for atleast 2 years. In a year DDR3 price should drop significantly with the DDR4 dropping early next year most probably.

Use scan.co.uk and their Today only section. Get 25 posts at hexus forums to get free next day shipping at scan. Then scout the today only section and pick up the deals through the week, usually the parts repeat each week. But normally i can pick up most of the parts on a single day for a whole build.

What games will your friend be playing and will he be emulating anything?

Thank you for your advice! Is there much plastic on that Corsair? I thought it was mostly steel and aluminium... the Node looks pretty good too however. I've seen the Corsair is a good fit for cooling systems like the H100, is the Node better in this regard? It looks a tad smaller. My friend is looking to get into racing sims mostly, although he's a Nintendo fan too so perhaps Dolphin will appeal. My concern with overclocking is that we want to put this thing together smoothly at the weekend, and I don't want to spend the whole day running stress tests and the like. But perhaps it is still worth getting the Z97 mobo and K CPU even if left at stock for now, to be OC'ed in the future.

I'd definitely suggest going for a Z97 and 4690k:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.94 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£94.90 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£59.45 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£76.80 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Tri-X Toxic Video Card (£232.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (White) Mini ITX Tower Case (£64.99 @ Aria PC)
Total: £697.06

Thanks for this too, some good prices here.

 

[thematic]

I'll look into it for sure just not sure if my psu will run both the 670 & the 750? and its primarily used for gaming.



I ought to have known better really lol, my novice searches turned up nothing but then again I was only looking at 780 ti & R9 290 power connections. Thanks.

what is your PSU?
I ran GTX 760 and 750 Ti with NAXN 500W Bronze a few weeks and then switched to Seasonic X660 Gold. both run fine @ max load/mining. it's just Bronze PSU draw more Watt from the socket (380W vs 330W)

 

[Stubo]

Thank you for your advice! Is there much plastic on that Corsair? I thought it was mostly steel and aluminium... the Node looks pretty good too however. I've seen the Corsair is a good fit for cooling systems like the H100, is the Node better in this regard? It looks a tad smaller. My friend is looking to get into racing sims mostly, although he's a Nintendo fan too so perhaps Dolphin will appeal. My concern with overclocking is that we want to put this thing together smoothly at the weekend, and I don't want to spend the whole day running stress tests and the like. But perhaps it is still worth getting the Z97 mobo and K CPU even if left at stock for now, to be OC'ed in the future.


Thanks for this too, some good prices here.

Using the Node also makes it easier to fit a CPU cooler into the budget

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.94 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.25 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£94.90 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£59.45 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£76.80 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280X 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£203.14 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 (White) Mini ITX Tower Case (£56.00 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £682.48

(Add £7 for a black Node)

 

[Blitzhex]

What's the best z97 board for OCing I can get that is under $210? I'd prefer barebones mobo with good capacitors, everything else is useless for me.

 

[Leatherface]

Is it overkill to pay $500+ for a GTX 780 3GB? I feel like I may have screwed up after comparing with the 770, which is in the $300 range. Help me feel better GAF. I feel like I may have gone too deep and I'm just wasting money for a small performance gain. :'(

 

[The Llama]

Is it overkill to pay $500+ for a GTX 780 3GB? I feel like I may have screwed up after comparing with the 770, which is in the $300 range. Help me feel better GAF. I feel like I may have gone too deep and I'm just wasting money for a small performance gain. :'(

The correct answer is R9 290.

 

[Schryver]

Is it overkill to pay $500+ for a GTX 780 3GB? I feel like I may have screwed up after comparing with the 770, which is in the $300 range. Help me feel better GAF. I feel like I may have gone too deep and I'm just wasting money for a small performance gain. :'(

Get a 290 unless you're set on Nvidia

 

[Addnan]

Is it overkill to pay $500+ for a GTX 780 3GB? I feel like I may have screwed up after comparing with the 770, which is in the $300 range. Help me feel better GAF. I feel like I may have gone too deep and I'm just wasting money for a small performance gain. :'(

Naa, 780 is the high end Nvidia card you want to go for. 770 is in a bit of a no mans land.

 

[Schryver]

Woops didnt mean to quote myself

 

[Leatherface]

I was looking at the 290 but strayed away because honestly whenever I've had driver related issue with new games it's ALWAYS been with an AMD card. Admittedly, it's been awhile since my last AMD card, but it left a bad taste in my mouth with some of the buggy graphical issues I've had.

Edit:

Also the 290 runs really hot. The Asus GTX 780 I bought doesn't.

 

[Durante]

The correct answer is R9 290.

But then you have an AMD card.

 

[The Llama]

I was looking at the 290 but strayed away because honestly whenever I've had driver related issue with new games it's ALWAYS been with an ATI card. Admittedly, it's been awhile since my last ATI card, but it left a bad taste in my mouth with some of the buggy graphical issues I've had.

Understandable, but tbh if you're concerned at all about getting the best value in the $350-$450 price range (AKA exactly where you're looking), you really have to go AMD right now.

But then you have an AMD card with provides better value and roughly equivalent performance.

FTFY

 

[LilJoka]

Thank you for your advice! Is there much plastic on that Corsair? I thought it was mostly steel and aluminium... the Node looks pretty good too however. I've seen the Corsair is a good fit for cooling systems like the H100, is the Node better in this regard? It looks a tad smaller. My friend is looking to get into racing sims mostly, although he's a Nintendo fan too so perhaps Dolphin will appeal. My concern with overclocking is that we want to put this thing together smoothly at the weekend, and I don't want to spend the whole day running stress tests and the like. But perhaps it is still worth getting the Z97 mobo and K CPU even if left at stock for now, to be OC'ed in the future.


Thanks for this too, some good prices here.

Ah yes the 250D does have an aluminium front bezel, so its isnt so bad. Just think the Node 304 is a much neater solution. No need for a H100i, the cooler will do nothing because the thermal paste under the CPU lid will always be the limiting factor. And considering you probably arent going to test this for long periods, you are probably not going to overclock to the edge of stability, so the Hyper 212 is the solution to go for. Its quieter and performs excellent for a mid range OC like 4.4Ghz. It also cant break like the Corsair Hydro coolers are notorious for.
Overclocking will give a big boost to any emulator, so you should probably go with the K CPU, i5 or i7.

 

[tarheel91]

I was looking at the 290 but strayed away because honestly whenever I've had driver related issue with new games it's ALWAYS been with an AMD card. Admittedly, it's been awhile since my last AMD card, but it left a bad taste in my mouth with some of the buggy graphical issues I've had.

Edit:

Also the 290 runs really hot. The Asus GTX 780 I bought doesn't.

Reference 290 runs really hot. Third party 290s are fine.

 

[Sickbean]

So here's the build I think I'm going with, any comments/suggestions welcome -


Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97N-WIFI
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K Haswell Quad-Core
GPU: Gigabyte Windforce OC GTX 780
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB
SSD: Samsung 840 (Already own this)
PSU: Corsair CX550 (Already own this)
Heatsink: Corsair H50 (Already own this)
Case: Fractal Node 304

Any comments on this build? Looking for a 1080p 60fps machine that will last a couple of years.

 

[Leatherface]

Reference 290 runs really hot. Third party 290s are fine.

oh ok. So is this roughly the same power but a little cheaper? If so I'm okay with that because I prefer Nvidia. I think I was more concerned about the price difference between the 770 and 780. It doesn't seem like much of a jump when comparing FPS. Maybe I'm missing something..

 

[Leatherface]

Any comments on this build? Looking for a 1080p 60fps machine that will last a couple of years.

You are plenty fine sir.

 

[Corpsepyre]

A few of my games are tearing. Anyone know why that happens?

Main specs: Core I3 4130, Gigabyte AMD Radeon 270x, 4 GB DDR3 ram

DmC and Spec Ops are tearing a bit. I'm getting an average of 90-100 fps on Spec Ops, so maybe that's why? Should I turn Vsync on?

 

[jfoul]

Is it overkill to pay $500+ for a GTX 780 3GB? I feel like I may have screwed up after comparing with the 770, which is in the $300 range. Help me feel better GAF. I feel like I may have gone too deep and I'm just wasting money for a small performance gain. :'(

I think the 780 is overpriced and I definitely wouldn't spend 500+ on a card that debuted over a year ago. Awesome deals can be found on the used market though. I recently bought an EVGA GTX 780 ACX SC from GAF BST for $340. It's like new, runs great and has almost 2 years of warranty remaining.

If you're open to AMD, I've seen the Gigabyte 290 OC on Amazon Warehouse for $270. I also purchased the Gigabyte 290X OC for the ridiculous price of $330 a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately the serial number was from the UK and I had to return it to Amazon.

 

[Schryver]

oh ok. So is this roughly the same power but a little cheaper? If so I'm okay with that because I prefer Nvidia. I think I was more concerned about the price difference between the 770 and 780. It doesn't seem like much of a jump when comparing FPS. Maybe I'm missing something..

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7601/sapphire-radeon-r9-290-review-our-first-custom-cooled-290/3

I got this 290 for $400(after tax) this week

 

[freernnur5]

I have Cougar LED fans in blue. They are the best fans I have owned. They also make them in green. On sale now too....
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835553011
.

Awesome, thank you so much!

 

[RealityPales]

Do the cases they offer change??

I went to look at their custom builds, and I don't see that case in the options.

Not quite sure how it works. I made it from here: http://ironsidecomputers.com/index1234.php?main_page=index&cPath=28230

 

[Black Soma]

I was thinking about replacing my Athlon X4 640 with a new processor, and since I can't find a Phenom 965 anymore (not at a good price at least) I was looking for a FX 6300. Unfortunately I've heard that this CPU can cause throttling with my motherboard (ASRock 960GM-GS3 FX). So what should I do, risk and buy a FX 6300 or just stick with my Athlon 640 for now?

 

[LilJoka]

Any comments on this build? Looking for a 1080p 60fps machine that will last a couple of years.

Its a good build, i rather go with the Asus ITX boards, generally they just seem better made and look better too.

Rest is fine, only niggle is the PSU, not a fan of the CX series they are mediocre, but will still do the job. You can get better PSUs for same price, but since you own it no need to worry really.

 

[LilJoka]

I was thinking about replacing my Athlon X4 640 with a new processor, and since I can't find a Phenom 965 anymore (not at a good price at least) I was looking for a FX 6300. Unfortunately I've heard that this CPU can cause throttling with my motherboard (ASRock 960GM-GS3 FX). So what should I do, risk and buy a FX 6300 or just stick with my Athlon 640 for now?

The reason why this board has a tendancy to throttle the higher performance AMD CPUs is because its only made to handle 95W processors, and it has no North Bridge heatsinks.

The FX6300 is 95W so i dont know why it should throttle it even under maximum usage. If your case has decent airflow and you use a down facing fan then you shouldnt have an issue.

But I seriously recommend saving up for a new system than dump more money into a platform that really isnt going anywhere. What GPU do you have?