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

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Hey folks, quick question here.

I've got a 1gb AMD 6850, but I can upgrade to a 2gb 6970 for about $90 bucks.

Is that a worthwhile upgrade, or am I better off just waiting for the newer cards to drop in price? I don't think I really want to spend more than $150, and that usually means going with an older card when prices are dropping... I can wait for the r9 series to drop in price, but that would mean waiting quite a while. I'd be tempted to just wait for DirectX 12 cards to come out.

Also, is having a directx 11 card, vs a card that supports directx 11.1 or 11.2 a big deal?

...What do you guys think?

edit: I game at 1080p. What is the recommended vram for that? 2gb enough?
 
Hey so recently I've noticed that my build has been performing a little different than usual. The main place I notice it is in MMO loading screens. Loading Guild Wars 2 zones takes wayyyy longer than it should. Same thing with WoW. My friend has a crappy laptop and it loaded faster than me.

My Specs

Is there something I can use to benchmark my system and see if something is wrong? I mean I usually have a few programs running at the same time but still.
That's going to be on your HDD or memory. Maybe defrag the HDD. You could run memtest and..... some sort of HDD health checker (anyone help here? I only use SSDs).
Quick question that wasn't answered on the last page: how are the sound levels on te Cooler Master Jetflo fans? Anything to worry about in a Define R4?
They're PWM, so you just cap the speed at 1200 RPM. Or use the included fan controller on the R4 to run them at lower volts.
 
Hey folks, quick question here.

I've got a 1gb AMD 6850, but I can upgrade to a 2gb 6970 for about $90 bucks.

Is that a worthwhile upgrade, or am I better off just waiting for the newer cards to drop in price? I don't think I really want to spend more than $150, and that usually means going with an older card when prices are dropping... I can wait for the r9 series to drop in price, but that would mean waiting quite a while. I'd be tempted to just wait for DirectX 12 cards to come out.

Also, is having a directx 11 card, vs a card that supports directx 11.1 or 11.2 a big deal?

...What do you guys think?

I'd just wait for a new card, or get an R9 270 if you can afford the $150 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

GCN cards, like the 270, will also support DX12.
 
Thanks all for the help. I ended up holding off on any monitor purchase until there was a single monitor that had exactly the features I want. Thanks to your suggetions I ended up switching out the samsung SSD for the Crucial MX100 since it was ~$50 cheaper and there didn't appear to be a huge difference between the two drives.

I freely admit there was a lot of fat in that build but I'm okay with that. :) Thanks again.
I'm right with you. I overspend on pretty/quality components too.
 
Do you want some honest advice, or do you just want a bunch of really expensive (and awesome, I partake in overkill myself and approve of it) parts?

No, please elaborate.
It's not like I build this PC for gaming. There's a reason why I choose that particular mobo/cpu.
I'm building it to develop with Unreal Engine/3D modeling so I need something beefy and that's what they recommend to use at Epic.
They do use a 770/780 instead of a 780Ti in those specs, but why not treat myself a little :)
Everything else is based off of internet research.
 
Hey so recently I've noticed that my build has been performing a little different than usual. The main place I notice it is in MMO loading screens. Loading Guild Wars 2 zones takes wayyyy longer than it should. Same thing with WoW. My friend has a crappy laptop and it loaded faster than me.

My Specs

Is there something I can use to benchmark my system and see if something is wrong? I mean I usually have a few programs running at the same time but still.

defrag your HD
 
Hey, guys, me asking for part advice again, but this time not for myself (I am currently waiting for a lot of my parts to come in the mail, actually). A friend of mine doesn't want to break bank too much, but he still wants a great PC to play most games on (he is strictly using this for gaming, nothing like video editing or HD game streaming). I put together this list for him and wanted to see what you guys thought about it:

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD3H
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K Haswell Quad-Core
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX750Ti 2GB Superclocked
Soundcard: Xonar DGX
RAM: G. Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB
SSD (for OS): Crucial MX100 128GB SSD
HDD (for storage): WD Blue WD10EZEX
PSU: CoolerMaster V750
Heatsink: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO
Case: CoolerMaster HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case
 
What monitor would GAF recommend at around $300? Looking for something with great color accuracy, easy on the eyes for long hours, decent response time. 120hz+ refresh rate is nice but not required. Anyone want to recommend some others outside the op's post?
 
I'm having trouble keeping my new built PC on and show a image on my monitor.

When booted on it stays on for a few seconds with all fans going and then all fans just stop, then boot up again a seconds later and this repeats. No image shows up and we've tried HDMI, DVI, and VGA. We checked the processor to see if anything was bent and it was good, re-applied paste and put it back together. Removed parts and tried with some removed and re-plugged everything nice and snug. Still the same problems.

I've been told it could possibly be a DOA processor, motherboard or a bad power source. Is it possible that the power source is bad and its not letting things stay on long enough to show a image on screen?

Here are the specific specs for these parts:

i7 4790k
Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H
XFX PRO650W
 
Hey, guys, me asking for part advice again, but this time not for myself (I am currently waiting for a lot of my parts to come in the mail, actually). A friend of mine doesn't want to break bank too much, but he still wants a great PC to play most games on (he is strictly using this for gaming, nothing like video editing or HD game streaming). I put together this list for him and wanted to see what you guys thought about it:

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD3H
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K Haswell Quad-Core
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX750Ti 2GB Superclocked
Soundcard: Xonar DGX
RAM: G. Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB
SSD (for OS): Crucial MX100 128GB SSD
HDD (for storage): WD Blue WD10EZEX
PSU: CoolerMaster V750
Heatsink: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO
Case: CoolerMaster HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case

An R9 270 (which will overclock into a 270X) will be much better than the 750ti at around the same price. Or an R7 265 for right about the same price or lower should still outperform it.

And EVGA 500B should be fine as well, no need for the 750w PSU. (Or Rosewill HIVE for a modular PSU
I wish I'd chosen one.
)

8 gigs of RAM should be fine.

Have you considered going mATX with a smaller case?
 
I'm having trouble keeping my new built PC on and show a image on my monitor.

When booted on it stays on for a few seconds with all fans going and then all fans just stop, then boot up again a seconds later and this repeats. No image shows up and we've tried HDMI, DVI, and VGA. We checked the processor to see if anything was bent and it was good, re-applied paste and put it back together. Removed parts and tried with some removed and re-plugged everything nice and snug. Still the same problems.

I've been told it could possibly be a DOA processor, motherboard or a bad power source. Is it possible that the power source is bad and its not letting things stay on long enough to show a image on screen?

Here are the specific specs for these parts:

i7 4790k
Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H
XFX PRO650W

It could definitely be a mobo or PSU. Not sure about a CPU doing that unless the mobo is shutting itself off as a precaution. I would think with a bad CPU the mobo would completely shut your PC off to protect itself. So yeah, I think it could be a CPU since you said it reboots. If all your fans are not plugged into the mobo then that kinda narrows down the problem. I would guess a good start is if all your fans are shutting off it might be the PSU. If you have another one I would test it out to see if that's the problem.

Are you saying it shuts everything off and your PC reboots or is it just shutting the fans off and then shortly after it spins everything up again?
 
What monitor would GAF recommend at around $300? Looking for something with great color accuracy, easy on the eyes for long hours, decent response time. 120hz+ refresh rate is nice but not required. Anyone want to recommend some others outside the op's post?
120Hz will help with being easier on the eyes. There's been a couple of studies (which I can't find anymore) that showed the higher refresh rate caused less eye fatigue.
No, please elaborate.
It's not like I build this PC for gaming. There's a reason why I choose that particular mobo/cpu.
I'm building it to develop with Unreal Engine/3D modeling so I need something beefy and that's what they recommend to use at Epic.
They do use a 770/780 instead of a 780Ti in those specs, but why not treat myself a little :)
Everything else is based off of internet research.
So the Rampage IV Black Edition is designed for LN2 overclockers and people who are running 3-4 way GPU setups for benchmarks. You're paying for $250 worth of features that are of zero importance for your purposes.

The H110 is for 140mm fans, and takes up a huge amount of space. Realistically, something like an H80i is going to take you to your processor's likely limit of 4.5-4.7 GHz.

The 750D is primarily geared towards watercoolers and the like, but honestly, the build quality makes it just a really big $80 case. I'd highly advise something from the OP like the Phanteks Enthoo Pro, or one of the cases geared towards silence like the Fractal Define R4. Both accept EATX motherboards. Unless you're planning to use all 8 memory DIMMs, you could even go with an mATX build.

However, Haswell-E/X99 should be out within a month, given that the processor SKUs are finalized and showing up on some websites for preorders. You should be able to get an 8 core part at pretty much the same price you're looking at getting the 6 core part for. Plus, DDR4.

This is shaping up to be one of those really big leaps we haven't seen since the i7 920/980X days, and I'd really suggest waiting for it.
 
It could definitely be a mobo or PSU. Not sure about a CPU doing that unless the mobo is shutting itself off as a precaution. I would think with a bad CPU the mobo would completely shut your PC off to protect itself. If all your fans are not plugged into the mobo then that kinda narrows down the problem. I would guess a good start is if all your fans are shutting off it might be the PSU. If you have another one I would test it out to see if that's the problem.

Yeah, all the fans shut off at the same time making me think its the PSU. The red LED that indicates it is on shuts off and then comes back on. Would it be possible that the fact that they're not on long enough that it doesn't give it enough to send a signal to the monitor?
 
I'm having trouble keeping my new built PC on and show a image on my monitor.

When booted on it stays on for a few seconds with all fans going and then all fans just stop, then boot up again a seconds later and this repeats. No image shows up and we've tried HDMI, DVI, and VGA. We checked the processor to see if anything was bent and it was good, re-applied paste and put it back together. Removed parts and tried with some removed and re-plugged everything nice and snug. Still the same problems.

I've been told it could possibly be a DOA processor, motherboard or a bad power source. Is it possible that the power source is bad and its not letting things stay on long enough to show a image on screen?

Here are the specific specs for these parts:

i7 4790k
Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H
XFX PRO650W
From OP:

Check your manual for beep codes or debug LED display codes
Shutoff your PC, switch off the PSU, and unplug the power cable. Wait 10s and hold the power button to drain the remaining power out of the system
Check your power is on I and the correct Voltage (120V/240V)
Check that you plugged in the extra motherboard power (4 or 8 pin)
Reconnect all your cables (Data and Power)
Try a single stick of memory in the first RAM slot (read your manual), then try the other
Check for any loose screws or bits in the case and behind the motherboard
Check that you installed the motherboard standoff screws (Some cases have these pre-installed)
Remount the GPU on another PCI-E slot, or try no GPU
As a last step assemble the bare minimum outside the case (PSU, CPU, Heatsink, 1 stick of RAM, nothing else)
 
Yeah, all the fans shut off at the same time making me think its the PSU. The red LED that indicates it is on shuts off and then comes back on. Would it be possible that the fact that they're not on long enough that it doesn't give it enough to send a signal to the monitor?

Is your GPU plugged into the PSU? If so, then absolutely because it's a faulty PSU hurting the GPU's capability of displaying on your monitor. I will just speculate here but if EVERYTHING with a fan is not operating correctly and you don't have all your fans plugged into the mobo then the likely culprit is a bad PSU.
 
Is your GPU plugged into the PSU? If so, then absolutely because it's a faulty PSU hurting the GPU's capability of displaying on your monitor.
Nope. It could be bad memory, bad DIMM, their possible listed options, a bad PCI-E slot, bad PSU, or even something shorting.
 
Nope. It could be bad memory, bad DIMM, his possible listed options, a bad PCI-E slot, bad PSU, or even something shorting.

True. It's hard to pinpoint problems sometimes but a bad PSU could definitely do as he's describing. I had a bad PSU that did something similar on my PC. I've had 2 bad PSUs in my life. One would shut my PC down completely after staying on for awhile and the other would do similar to what he was describing in that it wanted to work but didn't.

You're absolutely right though, it could be what you mentioned or even a combination. Hope that's it not multiple problems. Sometimes those can be hard to figure out.
 
True. It's hard to pinpoint problems sometimes but a bad PSU could definitely do as he's describing. I had a bad PSU that did something similar on my PC. I've had 2 bad PSUs in my life. One would shut my PC down completely after staying on for awhile and the other would do similar to what he was describing in that it wanted to work but didn't.

You're absolutely right though, it could be what you mentioned or even a combination. Hope that's it not multiple problems. Sometimes those can be hard to figure out.

I hope so too. :(

My first ever built PC
 
Feel better knowing our country works us to death so we don't get to really truly enjoy these things !
This. I work 50 hour weeks (well, a good part of that is while browsing GAF too), and take about a week vacation a year.

Wooooo.
I've just booked a free doctor's appointment to try and make me feel better about that price.
That'll be $300 here :P
Maybe I overlooked it, but I'm not finding anything in the OP about a Raven case.
Silverstone RVZ01, third post of thread.
 
Thats definitely high. I have mine at 4.4GHz (not much of an OC, I know haha) at 1.18 and I think I can definitely get it lower.

If its not dropping when its idle, sounds like a BIOS setting might be wrong.

Just going to post verbatim my post from hardforum where I also inquired about this:

Just ran AIDA64 again and realized I must have been looking at the wrong column in HWinfo, as it does drop the core voltage down to about 0.723 on lower workloads. I corroborated this with CPU-Z.

Still, at full load with all four cores running @ 4.4GHz the Vcore goes to 1.237. The setting set in the Gigabyte BIOS when I load optimized defaults is 1.224 (and the current status Vcore when in the BIOS reads at 1.215V). Perhaps this isn't really high, or maybe it actually would be stable at a lower voltage if I were to manually set it and Gigabyte just overcompensates.

I do find it odd that under a full 4-core load all four cores go to 4.4GHz when in the BIOS the 4-core multiplier is like x42 (x44 for 1-core or 2-core boost, x43 for 3-core boost, and x44 for 1 core boost). So it's like the boost doesn't perform like I'd expect based on the BIOS settings - not that I'm complaining, all cores stay under 75C during an AIDA64 stress test (with FPU, CPU, and cache stressing checked), which doesn't seem horrible to me.
 
So the Rampage IV Black Edition is designed for LN2 overclockers and people who are running 3-4 way GPU setups for benchmarks. You're paying for $250 worth of features that are of zero importance for your purposes.

The H110 is for 140mm fans, and takes up a huge amount of space. Realistically, something like an H80i is going to take you to your processor's likely limit of 4.5-4.7 GHz.

The 750D is primarily geared towards watercoolers and the like, but honestly, the build quality makes it just a really big $80 case. I'd highly advise something from the OP like the Phanteks Enthoo Pro, or one of the cases geared towards silence like the Fractal Define R4. Both accept EATX motherboards. Unless you're planning to use all 8 memory DIMMs, you could even go with an mATX build.

However, Haswell-E/X99 should be out within a month, given that the processor SKUs are finalized and showing up on some websites for preorders. You should be able to get an 8 core part at pretty much the same price you're looking at getting the 6 core part for. Plus, DDR4.

This is shaping up to be one of those really big leaps we haven't seen since the i7 920/980X days, and I'd really suggest waiting for it.

Thank you :)
You are absolutely right about the Rampage IV Black Edition, I don't even need the Wlan module coming with the x79 Deluxe, let alone the oc lcd panel coming with the rampage.
The only validation it had over the x79 Deluxe was that it looked better, but that definitely doesn't justify the premium price. Will def go with the deluxe.

H110 was purely because I thought that something smaller like the H80i might not cut it for that particular cpu.

R4 case looks really fine.

Somebody already suggested waiting for the Haswell-E/X99 but it will definitely come at a premium, not to mention DDR4 and my rig is already expensive as it is. and unless I have my new rig, development of my project stalls which I don't want to halt it any further.

aka I've been hovering over the buy button for the last couple of days thinking if I should hold off.
Realistically I can wait till September, I read it's supposed to come out in Q3 but no definite release date + pricing makes it hard to make a final call.
 
All the info about Z97 VRMs you could ever want here http://www.overclock.net/t/1490142/z97-vrm-info

Thank you very much.

Case: Corsair Carbide 200R Closed (49.5€)
PSU: Seasonic S12II-Bronze 520W (48.5€)
MB: ASRock Z97 Anniversary (77€)
CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 Boxed (59.8€)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (27.95€)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GB (2x4) BLT2C4G3D1608ET3LX0CEU (67€)
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti (127.5€)
Storage: WD Blue WD10EZEX, 1TB (45.91€)

Total: 503.16€

Just placed my order, there were a few changes.

Case: Cooler Master N200 (33€)
PSU: Seasonic S12II-Bronze 520W (48.5€)
MB: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-GAMING 5 (130.99€)
CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 Boxed (60.5€)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (27.83€)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GB (66,99€)
GPU: ASUS Radeon R7 260X 2GB (114.51€)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB (66.5€)

Total: 548.82€

Other options for the motherboard were:
- Asus Z97M-PLUS (6 phases)
- ASRock Z97M OC Formula (12 phases)

But neither were available at the same store and the 8 phases of the Gigabyte should be plenty. Other changes, I didn't need that big of a case (nor that "expensive",) won't be gaming on this much/long/... and thus don't need much of a GPU (yet I did pay a little more for an extra GB) and the SSD because I don't need that much storage and most importantly, I have no patience :P

Also got 5 Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-3000 PWM fans for my custom watercooling setup, which were somehow less expensive than the slower version. (Original Sin makes my ref 290 quite noisy.)
 
My parents would legitimately hate this. I don't get it, but they're like morally opposed to taking time off except the week around Christmas heh.

It's a hard life haha. We get 25 days of holidays, then 12 public holidays and a day off around Christmas too. Although the Christmas one is at my firm's discretion. We can also trade up to 30 days holidays through our benefits package at work if we want. The most you can use in a year though is capped at 35 if you carry ones over.
 
Thank you :)
You are absolutely right about the Rampage IV Black Edition, I don't even need the Wlan module coming with the x79 Deluxe, let alone the oc lcd panel coming with the rampage.
The only validation it had over the x79 Deluxe was that it looked better, but that definitely doesn't justify the premium price. Will def go with the deluxe.

H110 was purely because I thought that something smaller like the H80i might not cut it for that particular cpu.

R4 case looks really fine.

Somebody already suggested waiting for the Haswell-E/X99 but it will definitely come at a premium, not to mention DDR4 and my rig is already expensive as it is. and unless I have my new rig, development of my project stalls which I don't want to halt it any further.

aka I've been hovering over the buy button for the last couple of days thinking if I should hold off.
Realistically I can wait till September, I read it's supposed to come out in Q3 but no definite release date + pricing makes it hard to make a final call.
Now that we are seeing preorders pop up, I'd imagine it's going to be out before the end of August at the latest, perhaps early August even.

The prices of the procs are likely to remain the same, as are the motherboards. If not, they'll be within spitting distance of each other.

DDR4 is definitely the big question mark though.

*edit*

And also, unless you do want 8 DIMMs, you might want to take a gander at the Rampage IV Gene. It's quite a lovely board, and a great price.

I loved mine while it lasted:

q9iVRai.jpg
It's a hard life haha. We get 25 days of holidays, then 12 public holidays and a day off around Christmas too. Although the Christmas one is at my firm's discretion. We can also trade up to 30 days holidays through our benefits package at work if we want. The most you can use in a year though is capped at 35 if you carry ones over.
I'm my own boss, but if I leave for a day, there's literally no one to replace me. I did take half a day for a sick day this year.
 
I'm probably being an idiot here, but I had 2133MHz Corsair Vengeance Pro memory installed - does this mean it's only running at half speed for some reason? Screens from HWiNFO64:

SNDpnbu.png
n5jkAN5.png
 
I'm probably being an idiot here, but I had 2133MHz Corsair Vengeance Pro memory installed - does this mean it's only running at half speed for some reason? Screens from HWiNFO64:

SNDpnbu.png
n5jkAN5.png
2133MHz is the "effective" clock. The actual clock speed is always half of the designated speed (DDR = Double Data Rate).
 
Now that Radeon Pro isn't going to be updated anymore, what is the best alternative?

Is this true...? I hadn't heard....

I've been using it a lot lately to get the ridiculous tearing out of Far Cry 3, which I got at the steam sale. Radeon Pro is the only way I've been able to do it.

Does Raptr have these type of graphics features in it or no...?
 
Hey GAF, i'm looking for a monitor for gaming (PC and consoles). After some research, i'm considering these two models:


Which one would you recommend? Other suggestions around the 200€ mark (~160 pounds) are also welcomed.
 
I'm guessing trying water cooling for a first time build isn't recommended? I've been reading and it seems like water cooled builds run cooler and quieter, with the reduced noise being the biggest point for me. However it seems like there is also the potential for more things to go wrong. What does PC GAF think of it for a PC noob?
 
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