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[Lockjaw333]

Basically narrowed down to 2 options for GPU, both on Amazon:

MSI R9 290 OC Gaming: $269.99

EVGA SSC ACX 2.0 GTX 970: $339.99


The price of the 290 seems hard to ignore. I actually already ordered the 970 from Amazon and by the time I had found the 290 for that price it was too late to cancel, so I'll have to decide once the 970 gets here on Monday. I may return it and get the 290. Seems like a much better price for performance value.

Thoughts?

 

[TC McQueen]

If nothing else, I can keep using my old 260 indefinitely, but I'd like something newer. What in the way of Nvidia cards these days are approximately equivalent to a 560Ti and better than a 260 but are pretty cheap? I see that something like the 650 or 650Ti is pretty cheap when on sale, but I'm not sure how the whole numbering system works these days with Nvidia.

A GTX 750 TI should work, but the GTX 960 is only $200 with rebate from some retailers and should be enough if you play at 1080p and don't max out all the graphical bells and whistles.

 

[kharma45]

Ah, thank you for the recommendations. Those are much better prices.


Yeah, but I don't know that a 980 is justifiable to me with a $200+ increase compared to the 970. I'm not the pickiest of people when it comes to graphics, and I figure a 970 will be agreeable enough compared to my current system of "I can't play old games on the lowest settings". I suppose I could wait until something newer hits the market, but I don't really have it in me to wait.

970 is still a good card in my eyes. 290 and 290X are also well worth a look.

 

[Chinbo37]

Sorry dumb question, but what do you guys do with old computer parts?

For example, motherboards, processors, old graphics cards which might be too old to sell but work perfectly fine for older games?

 

[LiquidMetal14]

You went with the 970s even after VRAM-gate?

Got them both for 600 with free game. Saved about 150 and they both came complete. I bought them before the news broke as well. They will end up being stop gaps since I will basically have a huge budget for 2 high end GPU's and Oculus next year.

I kinda do Intel's tick/tock in the fact that I build the rig one year and then go all out with GPU's the following year since building the rig itself is costly. I talked myself out of a 5960x. Had it in the cart and couldn't bring myself to buy it so I got a slightly cheaper Amazon Warehouse deal on the 5930k just because the box was slightly damaged.

 

[Femmeworth]

Shit, Newegg is giving a $20 gift card with the purchase of a few 290x cards and they already have rebates. Also comes with Civilization: Beyond Earth.

Maybe that isn't that good of a deal if they already raised the prices back up.

 

[asdad123]

What are the quietest fans I could put into a Corsair 200r? The stock fans it came with are a little loud for my liking.

 

[Lockjaw333]

Shit, Newegg is giving a $20 gift card with the purchase of a few 290x cards and they already have rebates. Also comes with Civilization: Beyond Earth.

Maybe that isn't that good of a deal if they already raised the prices back up.

I saw that and commented on it.

They have an MSI R9 290x Gaming for $310 with $20 gift card and $30 rebate with that Civ game. Thats $260 for a 290x after all is said and done. Crazy deal.

 

[Femmeworth]

I saw that and commented on it.

They have an MSI R9 290x Gaming for $310 with $20 gift card and $30 rebate with that Civ game. Thats $260 for a 290x after all is said and done. Crazy deal.

I'd kick myself for ordering the GTX 970 but I guess that would really only be worth it if I had the money to buy two.

 

[El_Chino]

I've been given an old HIS HD6970 for free and figured this could be my way of starting to really build a PC. So my question is what's the best motherboard to get to work with the gpu and modern cpus?

 

[RGM79]

I've been given an old HIS HD6970 for free and figured this could be my way of starting to really build a PC. So my question is what's the best motherboard to get to work with the gpu and modern cpus?

Anything will do. Just about every desktop motherboard made in the last 8 years with a PCI-E slot is compatible.

What's your budget for parts? Do you have any other parts you'll be reusing?

What are the quietest fans I could put into a Corsair 200r? The stock fans it came with are a little loud for my liking.

The quieter the fans, the more expensive they are, and generally you won't get as much airflow. How many fans do you want to buy, and how much do you want to spend? Another option that could be cheaper is getting a fan controller if your motherboard doesn't allow you to control fan speed.

SilentPCReview has a list of recommended fans but it's a bit dated, although you should still be able to find most of those fans for sale via PCPartPicker's fan section.

 

[El_Chino]

Anything will do. Just about every desktop motherboard made in the last 8 years with a PCI-E slot is compatible.

What's your budget for parts? Do you have any other parts you'll be reusing?



The quieter the fans, the more expensive they are, and generally you won't get as much airflow. How many fans do you want to buy, and how much do you want to spend? Another option that could be cheaper is getting a fan controller if your motherboard doesn't allow you to control fan speed.

SilentPCReview has a list of recommended fans but it's a bit dated, although you should still be able to find most of those fans for sale via PCPartPicker's fan section.

It'll be over time project but I think $800 is about right.

 

[Lockjaw333]

I'd kick myself for ordering the GTX 970 but I guess that would really only be worth it if I had the money to buy two.

Well the 970 is still a better card, slightly in benchmarks and definitely in temps and power draw.

I actually just ordered a 970 today also... so I am slightly kicking myself. I may return it.

 

[RGM79]

It'll be over time project but I think $800 is about right.

When do you plan to buy which parts, then? If you'll be taking several months to buy parts, then I should say Intel is slated to release new processors and motherboard chipsets around this September. That's still over half a year from now, though. There probably won't be a lot of difference in performance, but it's just slightly better for future-proofing. Buying a decent processor and motherboard now is still fine if you don't want to wait, you'll still get a computer that will last you a couple of years before you need to entirely replace it.

 

[Femmeworth]

Well the 970 is still a better card, slightly in benchmarks and definitely in temps and power draw.

I actually just ordered a 970 today also... so I am slightly kicking myself. I may return it.

I also need a video card for 3D modeling and Nvidia generally does better in that department, or so I have heard.

 

[El_Chino]

When do you plan to buy which parts, then? If you'll be taking several months to buy parts, then I should say Intel is slated to release new processors and motherboard chipsets around this September. That's still over half a year from now, though. There probably won't be a lot of difference in performance, but it's just slightly better for future-proofing. Buying a decent processor and motherboard now is still fine if you don't want to wait, you'll still get a computer that will last you a couple of years before you need to entirely replace it.

Well I plan to buy the motherboard and cpu in two weeks.

 

[matrixman92]

would you recommend holding off on buying a 970 right now? Do you think there is anyway they will lower the price dramatically to compensate for the whole controversy?

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

would you recommend holding off on buying a 970 right now? Do you think there is anyway they will lower the price dramatically to compensate for the whole controversy?

Not sure how they will handle all the returned ones; there could be some second hand but perfectly good 970s for sale at some point. I have no clue really.

 

[RGM79]

Well I plan to buy the motherboard and cpu in two weeks.

Oh, never mind then, I'm speaking way too far in the future. Have you decided what you're getting exactly?

 

[El_Chino]

Oh, never mind then, I'm speaking way too far in the future. Have you decided what you're getting exactly?

Not sure honestly, any suggestions?

 

[exmachina64]

Hey, guys. After I plugged in the SSD's power cable, everything went well. I'm posting this from my new desktop. First one I've owned since seven years ago.

Thanks for all the help. I'll post an update later with pics.

Edit: And Comcast's delivering a good value for once. Over WiFi with my laptop, I would max out around 5MB/s (approximately the theoretical maximum for my 50Mb/s internet plan). Over ethernet with my desktop, I'm pulling down 8MB/s.

 

[RGM79]

Not sure honestly, any suggestions?

The sweet spot is an i5 4690K processor ($220) and an entry level Z97 motherboard ($110 USD or less), those will hold you over for quite a long time, especially when overclocked for extra performance. For overclocking, you may want to get a better CPU cooler (Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo for $30?) with the CPU and motherboard, or you can wait a while down the line before doing that.

Do you already have a computer case on hand, or is that another part you'll be buying? it's best to make sure it all fits together well.

 

[Windam]

So guys, I have an AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE running at stock 3.4Ghz. How much can I safely push it to? I'm using an Arctic Freezer 13 (IIRC) aftermarket heatsink for cooling.

Edit: Holy shit, HWMonitor is reporting my CPU is running from between 54-61 degrees while doing nothing other than using FireFox for GAF and patching Rift.

 

[RGM79]

So guys, I have an AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE running at stock 3.4Ghz. How much can I safely push it to? I'm using an Arctic Freezer 13 (IIRC) aftermarket heatsink for cooling.

Edit: Holy shit, HWMonitor is reporting my CPU is running from between 54-61 degrees while doing nothing other than using FireFox for GAF and patching Rift.

How hot does it get when playing games? Have you cleaned out the computer's insides recently?

 

[Windam]

How hot does it get when playing games? Have you cleaned out the computer's insides recently?

Cleaned it out in late November. I'll probably clean it out later today. Gonna pop into Rift [most demanding game on my PC atm since I uninstalled all my Steam games to focus on school (LOL)] for a bit and pop back. I haven't had any issues with the PC crashing or rebooting or anything, but those temps seem pretty high to me.

 

[RGM79]

Cleaned it out in late November. I'll probably clean it out later today. Gonna pop into Rift [most demanding game on my PC atm since I uninstalled all my Steam games to focus on school (LOL)] for a bit and pop back. I haven't had any issues with the PC crashing or rebooting or anything, but those temps seem pretty high to me.

They are high, which is why you should see what your load temperatures are when playing games or doing something else CPU intensive.

My own computer's pretty dusty and it idles at 45 degrees, I haven't cleaned it out in a couple of months. I never get above 70 degrees for games though, which is why I've been lazy and I haven't personally gotten around to a full cleaning/rebuilding/reinstalling.

 

[El_Chino]

The sweet spot is an i5 4690K processor ($220) and an entry level Z97 motherboard ($110 USD or less), those will hold you over for quite a long time, especially when overclocked for extra performance. For overclocking, you may want to get a better CPU cooler (Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo for $30?) with the CPU and motherboard, or you can wait a while down the line before doing that.

Do you already have a computer case on hand, or is that another part you'll be buying? it's best to make sure it all fits together well.

Thanks! I honestly just have the GPU that was gifted to me. So motherboard would be nice maybe something compact? Definitely not a full tower.

 

[v1lla21]

Hey dudes. So my friend wants to build a PC to pretty much play Counter Strike and MOBAs. The thing is his budget will include the monitor and OS.

His budget is at 650. He'd like to play at 1080p and if possible at 60fps.

 

[RGM79]

Thanks! I honestly just have the GPU that was gifted to me. So motherboard would be nice maybe something compact? Definitely not a full tower.

Here's what I recommend, I guess. Prices on parts can change, especially for RAM and power supply, but you can get a great compact PC for a bit under $700 USD before taxes.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($25.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($92.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($63.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($101.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: BitFenix Phenom M Midnight Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($48.00 @ Newegg)
Total: $683.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-08 01:40 EST-0500

 

[Crisium]

Hey dudes. So my friend wants to build a PC to pretty much play Counter Strike and MOBAs. The thing is his budget will include the monitor and OS.

His budget is at 650. He'd like to play at 1080p and if possible at 60fps.

750Ti excels at MOBAs and CSGO. Small, quiet, sips power, enabling you to go cheap on case and psu. Get that card as the base of your system, with an i3 41x0 and 8gb of ram.

 

[v1lla21]

750Ti excels at MOBAs and CSGO. Small, quiet, sips power, enabling you to go cheap on case and psu. Get that card as the base of your system, with an i3 41x0 and 8gb of ram.

Cool beans. He doesn't seem interested in upgrading after a while, so I guess that's good.

 

[zoltek]

Hi,

Question(s) for the experts...

I'm ready to get back into the PC building game. The last one I built was at least 10 years ago, so I'm going to be starting from scratch. New case, new monitor, etc...

Preliminary question. I've noticed all the builds people are recommending include both a SSD hard drive and an old-school traditional hard drive. Why is this? Is this necessary? Can I get away with just an SSD drive?

Moving on...

I'm in the US. The budget is $1200-$1500. The machine will be for gaming primarily; being able to emulate PS2 and/or Wii would be nice. I'm looking to be able to play games at at least 1920x1080 at 60 fps. I don't have a deadline per say (just the itch to get something constructed) and I'm completely naive to overclocking. Unless it's easier than it was 10 years ago, I will probably stay away. The build listed below seems right up my alley, does it not? I'd like the system to make sense with what a GTX 970 can provide (yes, I understand about the speed issue when utilizing the last 0.5 GB... I probably wouldn't know the difference). Lastly, if at all possible, I would prefer the case be smaller than larger, but don't need to go overboard if I'm forsaking price. Thanks in advance for any advice. Looking forward to it...

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($321.75 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($116.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($339.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($107.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1251.46

 

[Windam]

They are high, which is why you should see what your load temperatures are when playing games or doing something else CPU intensive.

My own computer's pretty dusty and it idles at 45 degrees, I haven't cleaned it out in a couple of months. I never get above 70 degrees for games though, which is why I've been lazy and I haven't personally gotten around to a full cleaning/rebuilding/reinstalling.

Just ran Prime95 for a little over 2 hours to see what my CPU temp would be under 100% load (which it never gets to during gaming) and the highest it went up to was 83 degrees C. Jesus. The heatsink is seated properly, the thermal paste was applied right... Aside from dust, my cable management is pretty godawful, but that's because my case (Antec 300 Illusion) kinda sucks when it comes to cable management. Could all the cables and shit inside be disrupting proper airflow?

 

[El_Chino]

Here's what I recommend, I guess. Prices on parts can change, especially for RAM and power supply, but you can get a great compact PC for a bit under $700 USD before taxes.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($25.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($92.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($63.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($101.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: BitFenix Phenom M Midnight Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($48.00 @ Newegg)
Total: $683.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-08 01:40 EST-0500

Great man thanks! Should I worry about a bronze certified power supply or does it really matter?

 

[XxCGSxX]

Noob question here. I just overclocked my AMD FX 8320 to 4.2 mhz. It's stable so I turned on Cool N Quiet again via the Bios. I noticed that the Cool N Quiet downclock kicks in only when Windows 8.1 is set to balanced on the power options, when it's set to high performance it runs at full speed always and ignores Cool N Quiet. My gpu is also overclocked with MSI afterburner. So my question is: when I'm about to play a game do I leave it at balanced and still get my maximum cpu and gpu overclock when the game requires it? Or do I need to manually set Windows 8.1 to high performance every time I want to play a game so I can get the best out of those overclocks?
Thanks Gaf!

 

[RGM79]

Cool beans. He doesn't seem interested in upgrading after a while, so I guess that's good.

Here's a parts list I put together, taking Crisium's recommendations to heart. This leaves about $150 for a inexpensive 1080p monitor and OS.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($106.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($63.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($129.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($36.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $499.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-08 03:48 EST-0500

Windows 7/8.1 licenses can be purchased from reddit's microsoftsoftwareswap for $20 USD or less, the sellers take paypal. These are fully working, unique Windows licenses from education programs like Technet or Dreamspark. Once you have the Windows key, you can easily get the official Windows installers from Microsoft. The downside is that you are dealing with persons selling the keys themselves, not Microsoft, so this is not an official or approved by Microsoft.

Hi,

Question(s) for the experts...

I'm ready to get back into the PC building game. The last one I built was at least 10 years ago, so I'm going to be starting from scratch. New case, new monitor, etc...

Preliminary question. I've noticed all the builds people are recommending include both a SSD hard drive and an old-school traditional hard drive. Why is this? Is this necessary? Can I get away with just an SSD drive?

Moving on...

I'm in the US. The budget is $1200-$1500. The machine will be for gaming primarily; being able to emulate PS2 and/or Wii would be nice. I'm looking to be able to play games at at least 1920x1080 at 60 fps. I don't have a deadline per say (just the itch to get something constructed) and I'm completely naive to overclocking. Unless it's easier than it was 10 years ago, I will probably stay away. The build listed below seems right up my alley, does it not? I'd like the system to make sense with what a GTX 970 can provide (yes, I understand about the speed issue when utilizing the last 0.5 GB... I probably wouldn't know the difference). Lastly, if at all possible, I would prefer the case be smaller than larger, but don't need to go overboard if I'm forsaking price. Thanks in advance for any advice. Looking forward to it...

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($321.75 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($116.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($339.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($107.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1251.46

About the SSD and HDD combo - that will depend on your needs. Some people already have old hard drives they'll carry over to the new PC, some want the storage space for their work or media, others are building purely gaming PCs. When you're spending close to $1000 or more, it's relatively easy to plunk down the extra money for an SSD or HDD. SSDs won't be replacing hard drive anytime soon. If you don't mind the cost, there are also 1TB SSDs for under $400, it's up to you.

Yes, overclocking is relatively easy. It is already easier now than it used to be 5 years ago. There's lots of information out there, like this Overclock.net thread for the PC you'll be running.

Now, looking at your build, it's pretty solid. Still, there are some things to change and optimize here and there. You said a budget of $1200~1500, does that mean you prefer to spend less if possible? For up to ~$1500, you could get a GTX 980 or a second GTX 970 in there.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($25.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($117.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Kingston Fury Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($120.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($339.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($81.08 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1205.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-08 04:12 EST-0500

The 4790K is basically a slightly faster and more expensive 4690K with hyperthreading, both are very similar. Hyperthreading when the processor is already a quad core doesn't help in games, so the cheaper 4690K is the better cost-effective option. If you were doing video editing or 3D rendering then the 4790K would be a better suggestion. The 212 Evo is the newer version of the old 212 Plus cooler. To make for a smaller PC, I went with a mATX motherboard to fit the mATX Corsair case. That 1866MHz memory is faster for just a few dollars more. Not a huge difference, but there's no reason not to spend the extra $4. Going with the bronze rated power supply was a cost savings move, it's still a high quality power supply.

All in all, it came out cheaper while including a case and slightly better components all round, the only "downgrade" was the 4690K processor which has the same performance for games as the 4790K and the EVGA bronze power supply which received very high rating and review from Jonny Guru.

 

[OFFIS]

Noob question here. I just overclocked my AMD FX 8320 to 4.2 mhz. It's stable so I turned on Cool N Quiet again via the Bios. I noticed that the Cool N Quiet downclock kicks in only when Windows 8.1 is set to balanced on the power options, when it's set to high performance it runs at full speed always and ignores Cool N Quiet. My gpu is also overclocked with MSI afterburner. So my question is: when I'm about to play a game do I leave it at balanced and still get my maximum cpu and gpu overclock when the game requires it? Or do I need to manually set Windows 8.1 to high performance every time I want to play a game so I can get the best out of those overclocks?
Thanks Gaf!

Leave it at balanced, it does everything for you automatically(atleast in win7).

 

[RGM79]

Just ran Prime95 for a little over 2 hours to see what my CPU temp would be under 100% load (which it never gets to during gaming) and the highest it went up to was 83 degrees C. Jesus. The heatsink is seated properly, the thermal paste was applied right... Aside from dust, my cable management is pretty godawful, but that's because my case (Antec 300 Illusion) kinda sucks when it comes to cable management. Could all the cables and shit inside be disrupting proper airflow?

Yeah, 83 degrees is not good. Most CPU cooler reviews usually don't have good things to say if the heatsink they're reviewing gets that high in tests. That said, it's probably just the dust and cabling in there. I'd see how well the system does after you give it a good dusting. If it's still running hot, then well, clearly overclocking wouldn't be an option.

I used to have an Antec 300 myself, the older non-Illusion model. Yeah, I know just how little space there is inside for cable management - I used to stuff all the cables into empty hard drive bays. It is definitely possible for cables to restrict and block airflow.

That said.. did you add any fans in there? I wonder how the airflow is, too. If you dust everything off and it's still warm, try opening up the side panel. If it gets cooler when you do that, then that means there's an inadequate flow of cool air getting in to the case.

Great man thanks! Should I worry about a bronze certified power supply or does it really matter?

Bronze rating makes no difference when it comes to the quality of the power supply. Gold/silver/bronze/80+ is just a rating system for energy efficiency. Even if you were running the PC 24/7 for about a year, it wouldn't change very much in your electric bill, as it's just single digit percentage difference in efficiency.

It's just that a lot of companies who sell power supplies will usually have their best flagship model also be gold rated - that doesn't mean that all gold rated power supplies are necessarily good.

Noob question here. I just overclocked my AMD FX 8320 to 4.2 mhz. It's stable so I turned on Cool N Quiet again via the Bios. I noticed that the Cool N Quiet downclock kicks in only when Windows 8.1 is set to balanced on the power options, when it's set to high performance it runs at full speed always and ignores Cool N Quiet. My gpu is also overclocked with MSI afterburner. So my question is: when I'm about to play a game do I leave it at balanced and still get my maximum cpu and gpu overclock when the game requires it? Or do I need to manually set Windows 8.1 to high performance every time I want to play a game so I can get the best out of those overclocks?
Thanks Gaf!

You can keep it on balanced. Windows will know to put the CPU at high clock when playing games or doing other intensive applications.

 

[mugwhump]

Arrgh, just built a new machine with an APU and I'm not getting any video (it's not the monitor). It turns on and the cpu fan spins, but not seeing anything. Tried switching the RAM so I don't think it's that.

Also to turn it off I need to switch off the PSU, can't just hold down the power button, dunno if that's related lol.

 

[RGM79]

Arrgh, just built a new machine with an APU and I'm not getting any video (it's not the monitor). It turns on and the cpu fan spins, but not seeing anything. Tried switching the RAM so I don't think it's that.

Also to turn it off I need to switch off the PSU, can't just hold down the power button, dunno if that's related lol.

Specs?

 

[megateto]

I'm looking for an upgrade for the included fans in my Fractal R4. I want them powerful and silent, and don't care for the looks. Are the Noctua NFA-14 PWM as good as they seem?
Thank you!

 

[mugwhump]

Specs?

AMD A8 6000 with a gigabyte GA-F2A88XM

 

[Erebus]

I see that Samsung's 850 EVO SSDs are not present in the OP build sheet. Is anything wrong with them?

Is the MX100 really preferable than the 850 EVO if price is not an issue?

 

[RGM79]

AMD A8 6000 with a gigabyte GA-F2A88XM

Is the 8 pin CPU power cable plugged in? If it isn't, that can cause black screens on startup.

Not being able to turn off the computer is odd as well, could be a motherboard issue. Although Newegg lists this with a 4/5 star rating, there are a fair number of 1 and 2 star reviews pointing out motherboards being dead on arrival or having failing parts (failing USB, audio, and LAN chipsets), so it may be defective.

Which processor model do you have exactly? It can be important. It might be that the motherboard needs a BIOS update before it will work with your CPU. It's not very likely because according to the product support page the motherboard should support all APU models in the "A8-6xxx" range, but it's better to know for sure.

 

[Celcius]

Just for fun I thought I would see how my rig handles 4k gaming. I enabled DSR in the nvidia control panel and then started downsampling from 4k to 1080p (don't have a 4k monitor). As expected, Ultra SF4 & Borderlands TPS ran easily, but BF4 was a different story. With my 780ti at stock and full ultra settings enabled, the in-game system test said I was getting 17 fps. Then I overclocked the card to 1200mhz core / 7300 mhz mem & turned off the 4x msaa & antialiasing postprocessing and it said I only went up to 20 fps lol. Even though I've had my current 1080p monitor for about 5 years, I guess I'll just continue to hold onto it until 4k becomes mainstream.

 

[SneakyStephan]

So guys, I have an AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE running at stock 3.4Ghz. How much can I safely push it to? I'm using an Arctic Freezer 13 (IIRC) aftermarket heatsink for cooling.

Edit: Holy shit, HWMonitor is reporting my CPU is running from between 54-61 degrees while doing nothing other than using FireFox for GAF and patching Rift.

phenom II's do not like heat, if I remember right you're not supposed to go over 60 degrees.

That temp is not normal btw at idle, either the measurment is wrong or your heatsink is not properly connected to the cpu
Mine goes up to 54 degrees under full load at 3.4ghz with the fan profile forced to 50 percent fanspeed under load on an arctic freezer

 

[Windam]

Thinking of upgrading my PC case from an Antec 300 Illusion to Corsair Carbide 330R Titanium when I have the cash to do so. Good choice, or are there better cases (HDD, SSD, optical drive and cable management wise) for the same/similar price?

Yeah, 83 degrees is not good. Most CPU cooler reviews usually don't have good things to say if the heatsink they're reviewing gets that high in tests. That said, it's probably just the dust and cabling in there. I'd see how well the system does after you give it a good dusting. If it's still running hot, then well, clearly overclocking wouldn't be an option.

I used to have an Antec 300 myself, the older non-Illusion model. Yeah, I know just how little space there is inside for cable management - I used to stuff all the cables into empty hard drive bays. It is definitely possible for cables to restrict and block airflow.

That said.. did you add any fans in there? I wonder how the airflow is, too. If you dust everything off and it's still warm, try opening up the side panel. If it gets cooler when you do that, then that means there's an inadequate flow of cool air getting in to the case.

Didn't add any. Just have what came with it. Also since it's winter, I've got the heat in my room in, possibly the two front fans are taking in the warm air?

phenom II's do not like heat, if I remember right you're not supposed to go over 60 degrees.

That temp is not normal btw at idle, either the measurment is wrong or your heatsink is not properly connected to the cpu
Mine goes up to 54 degrees under full load at 3.4ghz with the fan profile forced to 50 percent fanspeed under load on an arctic freezer

Welp...

Gonna do a clean out in a few and report back.

 

[Xdrive05]

Yeah 60c sounds about right for upper limit on a Phenom. I used a Phenom II 965 for like 5 years man. Great CPU!

Freaked me out when my i7 replacement would hit 80c+ in Prime when overclocked.

 

[knitoe]

I see that Samsung's 850 EVO SSDs are not present in the OP build sheet. Is anything wrong with them?

Is the MX100 really preferable than the 850 EVO if price is not an issue?

I would assume it's because the MX100 are cheaper and the 850 EVO performance doesn't justify the increase price.

 

[michaelius]

Yeah 60c sounds about right for upper limit on a Phenom. I used a Phenom II 965 for like 5 years man. Great CPU!

Freaked me out when my i7 replacement would hit 80c+ in Prime when overclocked.

Phenom II has single temperature probe somewhere inside cpu.
Intel cpus have sensors directly in each core.

They are showing diffrent tempratures.