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

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Guys, what am I gonna doooooo. I've posted here before but now the need is actually dire and I have to pull the trigger. My DK2 should be on it's way within the next few weeks and I'm still stuck with my old PC that I've posted before in the previous thread:

i7-920
HD5870
ASUS ROG Rampage II GENE motherboard
8GB Corsair XMS3 1333Mhz, which I just found out is only recognized as 4 by my PC.

What of this should I salvage and what should I take with? The advice I got previously was to perhaps watercool my CPU to get some extra life out of it? The videocard is definitely on it's way out and I'm thinking of replacing that with a 780 (Either 3GB or 6GB, I've heard VRAM might be a big deal after all?) Unfortunately I feel like by investing so heavily now I'll be missing out on the actually important series for a while (Like the 980 and the 20nm). I'm honestly torn on what the best option would be, someone please tell me! And finally the motherboard, is that worth holding on to? It's served me pretty well but I don't know what kind of advances have been made since.
 
garath said:
My work laptop would freeze waking up from sleep. It was incredibly frustrating as it seemed like mine was the only one despite everyone's model being exactly the same. I did tons of research, saw there were other Thinkpad models that did the exact same thing but no one could figure it out.

A couple years later, we all got a RAM upgrade. Brand new sticks. Henceforth I have been able to sleep the machine without issues.

Morale of the story, I'd look hardware now. But it'll be hard to guess what's causing the exact issue.
Click to expand...

Yeah, someone suggested I do a memory test, but no problems were found. I'm just gonna get some new RAM soon(ish) anyway. Until then, no sleep for my PC.
 
LilJoka said:
When i came from the first gen core to sandy bridge, i found that my Asus board automatically applied an Auto overclock so that all 4 cores Turbo's at the specified single core Turbo speed. This is exactly what your saying that your PC is doing, and due to that the board jacks up the Vcore. Looking at your manual, there is some CPU enhancement settings, try to set these to disabled because your PC isnt even following the Intel specification. Once the CPU is configured to work as spec, you should see the Vcore at normal levels without having to adjust it.

In your pics, try set K OC to Disabled.

As for the odd BIOS Vcore reading, its usually doing some odd CPU loads in the BIOS which can flick through different VIDs causing the BIOS to read differently. On my system i run a 4.8Ghz oc, but in BIOS with a +0.08v offset it reads 1.28v. But at load its 1.38v, so the BIOS reading is just the current reading of the Vcore being supplied, but this is an adaptive voltage so will always vary. You do not apply the offset to the vcore shown in BIOS. You apply the offset to the DVID which changes per multiplier.
Click to expand...

Is there any reason not to use the Enhanced Turbo option if temperatures are fine even with all four cores boosting to 4.4GHz? I'm not sure it actually poses a problem, though I'm not sure how useful it would be in practice anyway. I actually can't figure out which setting to change to change the behavior. K OC seems to be useful if you have a non-K processor according to some Google searches, but I'm still looking.
 
teiresias said:
Is there any reason not to use the Enhanced Turbo option if temperatures are fine even with all four cores boosting to 4.4GHz? I'm not sure it actually poses a problem, though I'm not sure how useful it would be in practice anyway.
Click to expand...

The only harm is the jacked up Vcore. Personally if you want 4.4Ghz all core turbo, just overclock it yourself (which is bascially what you did by changing to offset Vcore). Then you know exactly what the Vcore is doing and will be running close the minimum required Vcore which saves power, increases CPU longevity and reduces temps. And if that all works out then push for more =D Then you become OC addict like me lol. Find the minimum required Vcore by running Prime95, Aida64 is pretty good too, but Prime95 never has left me with a system that ive managed to crash. With Haswell its harder to use Prime95 because temps go out of control, so Aida is a good alternative. I tend to do a lot of tests, for example Unigene Heaven, Prime95, Realbench, Aida64. Heaven can be good to test the transitional states.

I always like to learn my chip from stock however, such as stock temps and vcore, and for that you got to turn these Auto enhancements off. Board manufacturers seem to be doing this to make it look like their board is faster than competitors, but in reality they are Auto overclocking the chips. They know Intel left a lot of headroom.
 
KlotePino said:
Guys, what am I gonna doooooo. I've posted here before but now the need is actually dire and I have to pull the trigger. My DK2 should be on it's way within the next few weeks and I'm still stuck with my old PC that I've posted before in the previous thread:

i7-920
HD5870
ASUS ROG Rampage II GENE motherboard
8GB Corsair XMS3 1333Mhz, which I just found out is only recognized as 4 by my PC.

What of this should I salvage and what should I take with? The advice I got previously was to perhaps watercool my CPU to get some extra life out of it? The videocard is definitely on it's way out and I'm thinking of replacing that with a 780 (Either 3GB or 6GB, I've heard VRAM might be a big deal after all?) Unfortunately I feel like by investing so heavily now I'll be missing out on the actually important series for a while (Like the 980 and the 20nm). I'm honestly torn on what the best option would be, someone please tell me! And finally the motherboard, is that worth holding on to? It's served me pretty well but I don't know what kind of advances have been made since.
Click to expand...
Upgrade just your gpu now. Do the rest if it feels slow. Motherboard won't support a new cpu anyway.
 
LilJoka said:
The only harm is the jacked up Vcore. Personally if you want 4.4Ghz all core turbo, just overclock it yourself (which is bascially what you did by changing to offset Vcore). Then you know exactly what the Vcore is doing and will be running close the minimum required Vcore which saves power, increases CPU longevity and reduces temps. And if that all works out then push for more =D Then you become OC addict like me lol. Find the minimum required Vcore by running Prime95, Aida64 is pretty good too, but Prime95 never has left me with a system that ive managed to crash. With Haswell its harder to use Prime95 because temps go out of control, so Aida is a good alternative. I tend to do a lot of tests, for example Unigene Heaven, Prime95, Realbench, Aida64. Heaven can be good to test the transitional states.

I always like to learn my chip from stock however, such as stock temps and vcore, and for that you got to turn these Auto enhancements off. Board manufacturers seem to be doing this to make it look like their board is faster than competitors, but in reality they are Auto overclocking the chips. They know Intel left a lot of headroom.
Click to expand...

I'm not a stranger to overclocking in general - had one of the "magic" celerons back in the day and did overclock my i7-870 to 4GHz - and this will probably be the first CPU I don't feel like overclocking at all. The behavior here is just all sorts of confusing even when trying to run stock, lol!!
 
kennah said:
Upgrade just your gpu now. Do the rest if it feels slow. Motherboard won't support a new cpu anyway.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks, I've heard some people joke about being able to buy 780's cheap once the 880's come out. Is there really going to be a significant dump in price? I could buy a 3GB 780 for about 434 euro right now which seems...reasonable? And would the upgrade to 6GB VRAM be worth it? Especially in combination with it having to power an Oculus Rift (I'm not intending to run anything above 1080p though).
 
For fans of aluminum and mATX, looks like the Phanteks Evolv should be coming out within the next month.

phanteks-enthoo-evolv.jpg


phanteks-enthoo-evolv-inside.jpg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3m2DQmmTX4
 
KlotePino said:
Guys, what am I gonna doooooo. I've posted here before but now the need is actually dire and I have to pull the trigger. My DK2 should be on it's way within the next few weeks and I'm still stuck with my old PC that I've posted before in the previous thread:

i7-920
HD5870
ASUS ROG Rampage II GENE motherboard
8GB Corsair XMS3 1333Mhz, which I just found out is only recognized as 4 by my PC.

What of this should I salvage and what should I take with? The advice I got previously was to perhaps watercool my CPU to get some extra life out of it? The videocard is definitely on it's way out and I'm thinking of replacing that with a 780 (Either 3GB or 6GB, I've heard VRAM might be a big deal after all?) Unfortunately I feel like by investing so heavily now I'll be missing out on the actually important series for a while (Like the 980 and the 20nm). I'm honestly torn on what the best option would be, someone please tell me! And finally the motherboard, is that worth holding on to? It's served me pretty well but I don't know what kind of advances have been made since.
Click to expand...

Upgrade the GPU, overclock your CPU, and figure out why your computer isn't recognizing all 8GB of RAM (are you not using a 64bit version of Windows?) and you'll be fine for another 2-3 years before you'll need a new computer.
 
The Llama said:
Upgrade the GPU, overclock your CPU, and figure out why your computer isn't recognizing all 8GB of RAM (are you not using a 64bit version of Windows?) and you'll be fine for another 2-3 years before you'll need a new computer.
Click to expand...
Not sure about this. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but the DK2 requires a pretty high sustained framerate, yes?

The IPC of a 4.0 GHZ 920 doesn't really cut it for 120 FPS gaming.
 
Yo.. I'm debating whether to get a WD caviar Green or not... I wouldn't use as a boot drive or anything, just mass storage. Any good? If not, what's the best? I can get one of these really cheap so I'm quite tempted.
 
If it's storage that you absolutely can't afford to lose, just double down and RAID 1 it.

If it's storage that you could afford to lose, just get a Blue. Greens have a slightly higher fail rate.
 
mkenyon said:
If it's storage that you absolutely can't afford to lose, just double down and RAID 1 it.

If it's storage that you could afford to lose, just get a Blue. Greens have a slightly higher fail rate.
Click to expand...

Well, I mean I can get a 3tb WD Green for like 65 quid, i just saw a 2tb WD blue for just under 60... Is the fail rate a well known issue?
 
mkenyon said:
Not sure about this. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but the DK2 requires a pretty high sustained framerate, yes?

The IPC of a 4.0 GHZ 920 doesn't really cut it for 120 FPS gaming.
Click to expand...

Missed that he was interested in the DK2, woops.

Yeah, for the DK2 he'll need something new.
 
The Llama said:
Missed that he was interested in the DK2, woops.

Yeah, for the DK2 he'll need something new.
Click to expand...

Damn, was definitely hoping that would be something I could take over to my new build. From what I heard 60-90fps or higher would be desirable for the DK2 and that i7 920 wouldn't be able to do that? Any suggestions for me on the CPU front then?
 
HoFT013 said:
It just freezes. I occasionally get a BSoD when watching HD videos in full screen, but not very often.

My HDD: 465GB Seagate ST500DM002-1BC142 ATA Device (SATA)
Click to expand...

Getting a BSOD maybe unrelated to your issue, but it definatly seems like there is a hardware problem. Lets investigate the BSOD anyways as its the last clue we have. If you have had a BSOD recently then download BSODViewer and double click the latest BSOD entry. Then screenshot and post the information.

The only other piece of information ive found is here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/977178/en-us
Which i found from the support page of your motherboard.
 
KlotePino said:
Damn, was definitely hoping that would be something I could take over to my new build. From what I heard 60-90fps or higher would be desirable for the DK2 and that i7 920 wouldn't be able to do that? Any suggestions for me on the CPU front then?
Click to expand...

The problem is you'd also need a new mobo to support a newer CPU.
 
LilJoka said:
He could go for the Xeon Hex Cores on LGA1366, they can be found pretty cheap on ebay. If you can e that to 4.2Ghz itll be enough id think.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-XEON-X5670-SLBV7-2-93Ghz-12Mb-6-cores-FCLGA1366-/231289524479?pt=CPUs&hash=item35d9ee10ff
Click to expand...
Those are still the same kind of IPC though.
KlotePino said:
Damn, was definitely hoping that would be something I could take over to my new build. From what I heard 60-90fps or higher would be desirable for the DK2 and that i7 920 wouldn't be able to do that? Any suggestions for me on the CPU front then?
Click to expand...
The 920 can do that in a number of games, but it would have issues sustaining the higher frame rate in some games. Basically, just overclock it to 4.0ish GHz for now (disable Hyper Threading if need be to get there). Upgrade your GPU. Then start saving for mobo/CPU upgrade.
 
LilJoka said:
Getting a BSOD maybe unrelated to your issue, but it definatly seems like there is a hardware problem. Lets investigate the BSOD anyways as its the last clue we have. If you have had a BSOD recently then download BSODViewer and double click the latest BSOD entry. Then screenshot and post the information.

The only other piece of information ive found is here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/977178/en-us
Which i found from the support page of your motherboard.
Click to expand...

I haven't had a recent BSoD, but I downloaded the BlueScreen Viewer.

Would that hotfix work with my PC? I run 8.1.
 
Most overclocked systems get totally borked with most sleep states. Well, that used to be true. As a result, I've made a habit of just always disabling sleep. Considering booting takes 10-15 seconds, I don't really find any issues with not using it.
 
mkenyon said:
Most overclocked systems get totally borked with most sleep states. Well, that used to be true. As a result, I've made a habit of just always disabling sleep. Considering booting takes 10-15 seconds, I don't really find any issues with not using it.
Click to expand...

Why is sleep a bad thing? I've never heard this
 
puffyshirt said:
Why is sleep a bad thing? I've never heard this
Click to expand...

Its not a bad thing but the C States can cause problems with transient loads when the CPU is overclocked causing the PC to crash.

I didnt know his CPU was overclocked as that would explain it. However using a manual voltage usually does leave sleep functionality in tact when overclocking compared to adaptive/offset voltage.
 
LilJoka said:
Its not a bad thing but the C States can cause problems with transient loads when the CPU is overclocked causing the PC to crash.

I didnt know his CPU was overclocked as that would explain it. However using a manual voltage usually does leave sleep functionality in tact when overclocking compared to adaptive/offset voltage.
Click to expand...

Ahh. For rigs that aren't overclocked, it's nothing to worry about though?
 
puffyshirt said:
Ahh. For rigs that aren't overclocked, it's nothing to worry about though?
Click to expand...
There's some sleep/hibernate states that write the memory to the main storage drive. If you have an SSD, that's unneeded flash life cycles being used up. Not something to be concerned about for MOST SSDs, but it's still something I would avoid.
 
puffyshirt said:
Ahh. For rigs that aren't overclocked, it's nothing to worry about though?
Click to expand...

No not at all, Intel design them for them to work right. Sleep is great and a lot of overclocked systems strive for settings which still allow them to save power too. The C States are intel tech which allows the CPU to reduce its frequency and voltage under light loads which also saves power. They are designed to do this.

As mkenyon said, probably good to turn Hibernate off, and just use the normal sleep.
 
mkenyon said:
Those are still the same kind of IPC though.

The 920 can do that in a number of games, but it would have issues sustaining the higher frame rate in some games. Basically, just overclock it to 4.0ish GHz for now (disable Hyper Threading if need be to get there). Upgrade your GPU. Then start saving for mobo/CPU upgrade.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, time to start saving up so I can really do this right. Any last tips on GPU, I'm thinking 780 right now but I'd be open to any Ati suggestions if they're stronger right now. Should the 780 be 3 or 6 gigs VRAM, I've heard it's become more important than anticipated and I don't know if it would help performance on DK2 particularly?
 
The res on the DK2 is 1080p right? 3GB isn't going to be a limiting factor there.

The R9 290 is the absolute best buy for the money, being on par with the 780 in performance. NVIDIA is a bit more feature rich though, and the 780 is also a good buy if you can nab one around $400-450.
 
mkenyon said:
The res on the DK2 is 1080p right? 3GB isn't going to be a limiting factor there.

The R9 290 is the absolute best buy for the money, being on par with the 780 in performance. NVIDIA is a bit more feature rich though, and the 780 is also a good buy if you can nab one around $400-450.
Click to expand...

When you say "on par", how on par are we talking? I see some people say they are the same, but I have a couple friends that swear the GTX 780 is the way to go. Maybe I'm just weened on consumerism, but it seems odd that the $100 difference is completely negligible.
 
puffyshirt said:
When you say "on par", how on par are we talking? I see some people say they are the same, but I have a couple friends that swear the GTX 780 is the way to go. Maybe I'm just weened on consumerism, but it seems odd that the $100 difference is completely negligible.
Click to expand...
NVIDIA marks up their products because of a feature set. There's PhysX, CUDA, G-Sync, better downsampling, Shadowplay, and perceived better/faster driver updates.

If you played on a 290 and a 780 back to back, you would not be able to point out which was which in a blind test.

Crysis3_1920x1080_PLOT.png


A lot of the new non-reference 290s that cool more efficient are also clocked to perform ~10-15% better than that too.
 
mkenyon said:
NVIDIA marks up their products because of a feature set. There's PhysX, CUDA, G-Sync, better downsampling, Shadowplay, and perceived better/faster driver updates.

If you played on a 290 and a 780 back to back, you would not be able to point out which was which in a blind test.

Crysis3_1920x1080_PLOT.png


A lot of the new non-reference 290s that cool more efficient are also clocked to perform ~10-15% better than that too.
Click to expand...

I've heard that compatibility can be an issue with the R9 290 compared to the 780? Is that just bullshit?

So between this R9 290 and this GTX 780, would I be insane for going GTX 780?

*Edited to link to the actually cheaper 290 ;)
 
puffyshirt said:
I've heard that compatibility can be an issue with the R9 290 compared to the 780? Is that just bullshit?

So between this R9 290 and this GTX 780, would I be insane for going GTX 780?
Click to expand...

Compatibility? idk who told you that but they were talking crap. I would say definitely go for the 290 there. Honestly unless you really want/need some of the nVidia exclusive features or money truly doesn't matter, its always better to go 290/290x instead of 780/780ti
 
I've been using a gaming laptop since 2009 and I think now is the perfect time for me (or in a couple of months when I have the money) to build a gaming desktop

My budget is 1200 to 1500 usd

I need something that's great for streaming and editing and of course plays games at max settings at 1080p and 60fps or higher

Thanks
 
The Llama said:
Compatibility? idk who told you that but they were talking crap. I would say definitely go for the 290 there. Honestly unless you really want/need some of the nVidia exclusive features or money truly doesn't matter, its always better to go 290/290x instead of 780/780ti
Click to expand...

If you're going to be gaming in OpenGL (Linux, Blizzard, id Tech games, some emulators, etc), AMD is terrible.
 
mkenyon said:
Blargh, confused you with another poster.

Sorry :P

So I can better rec the 290 or 780, what is your display situation? Any future plans on it?
Click to expand...

It'll be connected to a TV pretty much exclusively, so 1080P (can I even go to a higher resolution than that?). It will be used solely for gaming (and watching some downloaded shows), and I'd like it to be able to run games at good settings for at least a few years.
 
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