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[Kyne]

re-quoting for new page c;
I just want to make sure I'm getting the best value for my buck if anyone has anything to chime in on.

 

[Shady859]

I built my PC using this thread 2 years ago and finally took long overdue advice and picked up a Crucial MX100 256GB SSD. Going to keep my 2TB HD as storage and want the SSD for the normal operating system and Steam with my current fave games, etc. What's the best/easiest way to move the OS, Windows 8.1 Pro 64 bit if it matters.

I see the Steam mover tool in the OP. I've googled and see programs recommended that cost $$ while others say just fresh install or clone the drive with the included software. Can you choose what it clones or do I have to clone my whole current drive which means juggling a bunch of stuff? I do have another large external drive.

Advice greatly appreciated and sorry for nub questions.

 

[dryuriev7777]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a cheapo wifi adapter that would fit the GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 motherboard? I can't use the usb wifi thing I currently use, so I need something new.

 

[BeforeU]

Does anyone here have experience making their own PC case?
I am about to make my third build this summer. This time I want to make my own case. What materials should I use? any sort of guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[mkenyon]

Does anyone here have experience making their own PC case?
I am about to make my third build this summer. This time I want to make my own case. What materials should I use? any sort of guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks

I will post on this later (I'm on mobile right now), and I have been down this rabbit hole. About an hour or two from now I'll pull up my list of resources.

How fancy are you wanting to go?

 

[exmachina64]

re-quoting for new page c;
I just want to make sure I'm getting the best value for my buck if anyone has anything to chime in on.

If you're buying a new CPU and motherboard, you should really be looking at Intel instead of AMD.

Edit: I looked at what you posted on the last page, can you go to the thread's OP and fill out the form (i.e. budget, country of purchase, usage, minimum game requirements, etc.)?

 

[BeforeU]

I will post on this later (I'm on mobile right now), and I have been down this rabbit hole. About an hour or two from now I'll pull up my list of resources.

How fancy are you wanting to go?

hey thanks. I just want it to look badass and something I can show off Money isn't really an issue here, and I am willing to put time, and work into it.

 

[OriginofHysteria]

Progress so far as I don't have everything and things are still not set in place. I removed the back side 140mm out and put it next to the 2 SP140's so the whole top is out and there is 2 front, 1 bottom, and 1 rear intake. The top outs on the SP140's are for the H110iGT which will be in push/pull.



Haven't taken out the protective film on the side panel as I'm not done yet or else you would be able to see inside better.

Just curious with your build, do you leave the top panel on top of the case? If you do, are you getting any vibration noises?

 

[exmachina64]

re-quoting for new page c;
I just want to make sure I'm getting the best value for my buck if anyone has anything to chime in on.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($25.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($106.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($130.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Micro Center)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280X 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($229.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $863.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-09 21:00 EST-0500

This is roughly what you'd want.

Bit of flexibility in the GPU brand, but you'd want to go with a 280X over a regular 280.

Have you used PCPartPicker before? You can use it to check compatibility between parts. You didn't list a case or an HDD, so I take it you have those from another build you're bringing over. Plug those into PCPP to see if they work with any parts you're looking to purchase.

Also, you can find slightly better prices using PCPP to check retailers outside of Newegg.

Edit: You probably also have a bit of flexibility with what PSU you choose, since PCPP lists a power draw of only 441 watts with the parts list I assembled.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Just curious with your build, do you leave the top panel on top of the case? If you do, are you getting any vibration noises?

There are rubber pads that I moved to accommodate 3 140mm fans. There are 12 on top of the case. They basically absorb any movement vs being on the metal grill itself.

To answer your top panel inquiry, I plan on removing the panel as that whole top will outtake. I bought custom DEMCiflex filters for $50 to keep major dust out of my case. After using them for my 500r, I pretty Mich can't have a build without them. They are am enthusiast cheery on top but worth it for me as it keeps the innards cleaner for much longer as well as not cluttering it with bigger things like hair or even small insects.

 

[Grinchy]

It's sad because resident evil started as a series with so much atmosphere. Even thinking about 1,2, code Veronica, and 4 I have very vivid recollections. Revelations has about as much atmosphere as the gun savior and dead aim series. 6 is completely forgettable.

lol did someone click the wrong tab?

 

[Commodore]

Alright PC GAF, after a good 7 year stint with my now old iMac, and my tax refund, I'm finally moving back the PC side. PC Gaming has come a long long way, and its long overdue for me to get back into it.

I've been keeping a PCPartpicker build going over the years and I'd update it here and there as new things came out, or I'd heard of something from browsing the PC threads, but I didn't have the funds to make the jump for a while.

All I ask is if someone who is far more familiar than me can take a look at my build and if possible add something better while maintaining price. I'm mostly concerned with video card/processor/RAM/storage/motherboard recs, I want to make sure the core is solid. I'm going Micro ATX for the motherboard. And I want to run the OS via solid state. Any help would be highly appreciated.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Jander/saved/R3HhP6

 

[mkenyon]

hey thanks. I just want it to look badass and something I can show off Money isn't really an issue here, and I am willing to put time, and work into it.

So before you go down this route, I just want to make a number of really great case makers known that are a little off the beaten path.

First, there's CaseLabs.

While all of the cases have an industrial look to them, it's all super thick aluminum and everything can be modded and chopped together to make exactly the case that you want.

There's also Little Devil which I personally love. Again, a simplistic design, but really it's there to be a quality blank canvas.

And then of course, Lian Li, which is well known. But they do have a number of super enthusiast type chassis. The fit and finish is unrivaled. When you touch that beautiful brushed aluminum, you know where your $ went.

Now with all of that out of the way, there's a few places that will sell bits and pieces of what you need in order to make the case usable.

The aforementioned CaseLabs has a bunch of parts that you can buy which add functionality or even form the core of what you're building, like the motherboard tray.

MountainMods has a ton of different parts as well, though a bit more dated and simplistic.

If you're in the US, FrozenCPU and Performance PCs have a ton of different parts, from fan controllers to motherboard trays, to cables, sleeving, tools, literally everything you would need to piece something together.

MNPC Tech also has a bunch of fun goodies, though their stuff can be a bit ostentacious, the knowledge of the guys there is almost unmatched. They also have a ton of great tools to make the modding/building easier.

Finally, there's MDPC-X which focuses primarily on cable management, sleeves, and tools to make your own cables.

Spoiler

Once you buy something from them, you get a username and password to their forum which is filled with all of the top talent in case modding, as well as some really amazing guides. But I'm not supposed to tell people that.

For inspiration, check out some of the builds at MDPC. http://www.million-dollar-pc.com/

In terms of designing the thing, I highly suggest Google Sketchup. There's an inventory of tons of parts to choose from so you know that your dimensions are working with the parts as intended. Totally invaluable. That's what I used to draw up my design:

In terms of what materials to use, aluminum, wood, and acrylic seem the most often used for scratch builds because they're fairly easy to work with and shape to get you what you want.

Good luck.

*edit*

I almost forgot Parvum Systems

 

[Jarsonot]

Argh! All my parts (well, except for wifi card) are finally here, so I decided to put together my PC.

I *think* I did everything right, but forgot to bring a mouse & keyboard home from work!! I plan on using Bluetooth mouse & keyboard, so I don't have a cabled keyboard I can use to install OS & things...

But all the fans are working, and I get a screen telling me to install my OS, so so far so good. =)

I've made a bootable USB with windows 8.1 on it, but don't have a key yet. I'm assuming I can run it for something like 30 days before I need the key?

 

[exmachina64]

Alright PC GAF, after a good 7 year stint with my now old iMac, and my tax refund, I'm finally moving back the PC side. PC Gaming has come a long long way, and its long overdue for me to get back into it.

I've been keeping a PCPartpicker build going over the years and I'd update it here and there as new things came out, or I'd heard of something from browsing the PC threads, but I didn't have the funds to make the jump for a while.

All I ask is if someone who is far more familiar than me can take a look at my build and if possible add something better while maintaining price. I'm mostly concerned with video card/processor/RAM/storage/motherboard recs, I want to make sure the core is solid. I'm going Micro ATX for the motherboard. And I want to run the OS via solid state. Any help would be highly appreciated.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Jander/saved/R3HhP6

Swap out that power supply for this.

Besides that, I'd recommend going for something like the 280X because it's close in price to the GPU you've selected (in the $230-$240) range. You can find benchmarks here. The problem is that the hard drive cage and the ODD mounts will probably get in the way of a 280X, but it's your call.

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

So before you go down this route, I just want to make a number of really great case makers known that are a little off the beaten path.

First, there's CaseLabs.





While all of the cases have an industrial look to them, it's all super thick aluminum and everything can be modded and chopped together to make exactly the case that you want.

There's also Little Devil which I personally love. Again, a simplistic design, but really it's there to be a quality blank canvas.





And then of course, Lian Li, which is well known. But they do have a number of super enthusiast type chassis. The fit and finish is unrivaled. When you touch that beautiful brushed aluminum, you know where your $ went.





Now with all of that out of the way, there's a few places that will sell bits and pieces of what you need in order to make the case usable.

The aforementioned CaseLabs has a bunch of parts that you can buy which add functionality or even form the core of what you're building, like the motherboard tray.

MountainMods has a ton of different parts as well, though a bit more dated and simplistic.

If you're in the US, FrozenCPU and Performance PCs have a ton of different parts, from fan controllers to motherboard trays, to cables, sleeving, tools, literally everything you would need to piece something together.

MNPC Tech also has a bunch of fun goodies, though their stuff can be a bit ostentacious, the knowledge of the guys there is almost unmatched. They also have a ton of great tools to make the modding/building easier.

Finally, there's MDPC-X which focuses primarily on cable management, sleeves, and tools to make your own cables.

Spoiler

Once you buy something from them, you get a username and password to their forum which is filled with all of the top talent in case modding, as well as some really amazing guides. But I'm not supposed to tell people that.

For inspiration, check out some of the builds at MDPC. http://www.million-dollar-pc.com/

In terms of designing the thing, I highly suggest Google Sketchup. There's an inventory of tons of parts to choose from so you know that your dimensions are working with the parts as intended. Totally invaluable. That's what I used to draw up my design:



In terms of what materials to use, aluminum, wood, and acrylic seem the most often used for scratch builds because they're fairly easy to work with and shape to get you what you want.

Good luck.

*edit*

I almost forgot Parvum Systems

That Lian Li case looks phenomenal.

 

[RGM79]

I built my PC using this thread 2 years ago and finally took long overdue advice and picked up a Crucial MX100 256GB SSD. Going to keep my 2TB HD as storage and want the SSD for the normal operating system and Steam with my current fave games, etc. What's the best/easiest way to move the OS, Windows 8.1 Pro 64 bit if it matters.

I see the Steam mover tool in the OP. I've googled and see programs recommended that cost $$ while others say just fresh install or clone the drive with the included software. Can you choose what it clones or do I have to clone my whole current drive which means juggling a bunch of stuff? I do have another large external drive.

Advice greatly appreciated and sorry for nub questions.

Disk cloning usually means copying the entire contents of a drive/partition to another drive/partition. This is a decent guide to follow for drive cloning. If your OS drive's used space is larger than the SSD you want to move it on, then that's going to present a challenge. You should try to move as many personal files as you can off to an external drive until the space the OS drive takes up is smaller than the SSD, then you can clone it.

If you find that to be a hassle or cannot move enough stuff off the drive to make it fit, then you should just perform a clean install of Windows to the SSD instead. Open up the PC and disconnect the hard drive containing Windows, if it is still connected and powered, the existing copy of Windows could interfere with the installation of another copy of Windows. Once you finish installing Windows to the SSD, you can connect the hard drive containing the old copy of Windows and all your user files, and move what you need over. I recommend formatting the hard drive and/or deleting all of its partitions - doing that ensures that the old copy of Windows is gone along and will not interfere with the copy of Windows on the SSD. This guide to Windows Disk Management will help you with that.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a cheapo wifi adapter that would fit the GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 motherboard? I can't use the usb wifi thing I currently use, so I need something new.

How cheap are we talking? I like this Gigabyte wifi adaptor, for $25 you get a lot of features like bluetooth, support for wireless a/b/g/n/ac, and an antenna on a wire that allows for superior signal reception compared to any of those black small plastic covered sticks because you can place it where you can get a signal best, preferably high.

 

[Commodore]

Swap out that power supply for this.

Besides that, I'd recommend going for something like the 280X because it's close in price to the GPU you've selected (in the $230-$240) range. You can find benchmarks here. The problem is that the hard drive cage and the ODD mounts will probably get in the way of a 280X, but it's your call.

Doing a bit of reading, it looks like it definitely would be worth it to for a little bit more in price for the 280X. Though PCPartpicker kicks me back an incompatibility flag with my chosen case.

"The BitFenix Prodigy M Midnight MicroATX Mini Tower Case supports video cards up to 320mm long, but video cards over 250mm may block drive bays. Since the Asus Radeon R9 280X 3GB DirectCU II Video Card is 284mm long, some drive bays may not be usable."

Given I'm just doing one 2TB 3.5, and one Solid State, and I have 5 bays with the BitFenix case so I guess I still should be fine? If anyone knows a better Micro ATX case, do tell.

 

[dryuriev7777]

How cheap are we talking? I like this Gigabyte wifi adaptor, for $25 you get a lot of features like bluetooth, support for wireless a/b/g/n/ac, and an antenna on a wire that allows for superior signal reception compared to any of those black small plastic covered sticks because you can place it where you can get a signal best, preferably high.

$25 is good. Which Gigabyte wifi adapter in particular are you talking about? Something like this? As long as it does a good enough job getting me to the internets, I'm fine with whatever.

 

[RGM79]

Alright PC GAF, after a good 7 year stint with my now old iMac, and my tax refund, I'm finally moving back the PC side. PC Gaming has come a long long way, and its long overdue for me to get back into it.

I've been keeping a PCPartpicker build going over the years and I'd update it here and there as new things came out, or I'd heard of something from browsing the PC threads, but I didn't have the funds to make the jump for a while.

All I ask is if someone who is far more familiar than me can take a look at my build and if possible add something better while maintaining price. I'm mostly concerned with video card/processor/RAM/storage/motherboard recs, I want to make sure the core is solid. I'm going Micro ATX for the motherboard. And I want to run the OS via solid state. Any help would be highly appreciated.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Jander/saved/R3HhP6

Doing a bit of reading, it looks like it definitely would be worth it to for a little bit more in price for the 280X. Though PCPartpicker kicks me back an incompatibility flag with my chosen case.

Given I'm just doing one 2TB 3.5, and one Solid State, and I have 5 bays with the BitFenix case so I guess I still should be fine? If anyone knows a better Micro ATX case, do tell.

I can see some parts of the build to be optimized, I'll recommend alternative parts.

Changed the memory to faster Patriot low profile 2133MHz RAM for just $5 more..
Can't recommend Seagate at all, their failure rates are just too high now, Toshiba is more reliable and their $72 2TB drives are cheaper.
I agree that Seasonic is a good brand, but there are cheaper models than that $63 Seasonic that are just as good, like this Antec 620 watt modular model for $48 after rebate which is actually manufactured by Seasonic.
The DVD drive can be safely dropped to save the cost, optical drives are seeing a lot less use these days with digital distribution and USB drives having more or less replaced it.

Anyway, with all the money saved, you could pick up a MSI R9 290X for $280 after $30 rebate which is better and newer than the R9 280X.

The Bitfenix Phenom M case is also a cube PC case, but is cheaper and doesn't seem to have issues with long graphics cards.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.89 @ OutletPC)
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: Patriot Viper 3 Low Profile Red 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($279.99 @ Newegg)
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)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($249.95 @ B&H)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse ($58.80 @ Amazon)
Total: $1431.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-09 23:27 EST-0500

Equal or better parts all around, and much stronger graphics card performance for games. If you want to save money, you could drop down to a MSI R9 290 instead for $240 after rebate which brings the cost of the build down to about $1390, making it cheaper than the original build yet still better.

 

[reKon]

PNY not giving a fuck

 

[RGM79]

$25 is good. Which Gigabyte wifi adapter in particular are you talking about? Something like this? As long as it does a good enough job getting me to the internets, I'm fine with whatever.

Oh wow, I completely forgot the link. Yes, that's the adaptor I'm talking about.

The $25 price from Superbiiz is after a $5 promo code listed on that link, but the savings is canceled out by the fact that shipping is $7 which makes it $32 in the end. You might as well just get it from Newegg which tends to have better customer service than Superbiiz.

If you haven't already used it, I think Newegg offers a free trial of their Newegg Premier service, you can get free fast shipping with the trial.

 

[Commodore]

I can see some parts of the build to be optimized, I'll recommend alternative parts.

Changed the memory to faster Patriot low profile 2133MHz RAM for just $5 more..
Can't recommend Seagate at all, their failure rates are just too high now, Toshiba is more reliable and their $72 2TB drives are cheaper.
I agree that Seasonic is a good brand, but there are cheaper models than that $63 Seasonic that are just as good, like this Antec 620 watt modular model for $48 after rebate which is actually manufactured by Seasonic.
The DVD drive can be safely dropped to save the cost, optical drives are seeing a lot less use these days with digital distribution and USB drives having more or less replaced it.

Anyway, with all the money saved, you could pick up a MSI R9 290X for $280 after $30 rebate which is better and newer than the R9 280X.

The Bitfenix Phenom M case is also a cube PC case, but is cheaper and doesn't seem to have issues with long graphics cards.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.89 @ OutletPC)
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: Patriot Viper 3 Low Profile Red 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($279.99 @ Newegg)
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)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($249.95 @ B&H)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse ($58.80 @ Amazon)
Total: $1431.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-09 23:27 EST-0500

Equal or better parts all around, and much stronger graphics card performance for games. If you want to save money, you could drop down to a MSI R9 290 instead for $240 after rebate which brings the cost of the build down to about $1390, making it cheaper than the original build yet still better.

Rad. Will chew on those recommendations and come back if I can any questions. Thanks for taking the time.

 

[RGM79]

PNY not giving a fuck

That's a pretty good deal. Don't be pulled in by the inflated regular price of $350 though, the PNY XLR8 SSD is $90 by itself and the 16GB of PNY XLR8 RAM is $117, so this deal is more like $57 off instead of $200 off.

 

[Shady859]

Disk cloning usually means copying the entire contents of a drive/partition to another drive/partition. This is a decent guide to follow for drive cloning. If your OS drive's used space is larger than the SSD you want to move it on, then that's going to present a challenge. You should try to move as many personal files as you can off to an external drive until the space the OS drive takes up is smaller than the SSD, then you can clone it.

If you find that to be a hassle or cannot move enough stuff off the drive to make it fit, then you should just perform a clean install of Windows to the SSD instead. Open up the PC and disconnect the hard drive containing Windows, if it is still connected and powered, the existing copy of Windows could interfere with the installation of another copy of Windows. Once you finish installing Windows to the SSD, you can connect the hard drive containing the old copy of Windows and all your user files, and move what you need over. I recommend formatting the hard drive and/or deleting all of its partitions - doing that ensures that the old copy of Windows is gone along and will not interfere with the copy of Windows on the SSD. This guide to Windows Disk Management will help you with that.

Thank you very much for your help, it is appreciated!
I will give all this a good read now so i'm ready for tomorrow.

 

[RedSwirl]

Is there any hardware or something you can install that will let you remotely power a PC on and off? I mean actual shut down/boot up sequence. Would it be a keyboard thing or a separate remote? They gotta make these things for HTPCs right?

My keyboard has a sleep button but I can never get my PC to stay asleep.

 

[thespot84]

Is there any hardware or something you can install that will let you remotely power a PC on and off? I mean actual shut down/boot up sequence. Would it be a keyboard thing or a separate remote? They gotta make these things for HTPCs right?

My keyboard has a sleep button but I can never get my PC to stay asleep.

truly off, not just sleep? most board s have WOL (Wake on lan) and you can configure it to turn on from a network request.

For remotely controlling with my phone, I like unified remote for android/windows machines

 

[Kyne]

If you're buying a new CPU and motherboard, you should really be looking at Intel instead of AMD.

Edit: I looked at what you posted on the last page, can you go to the thread's OP and fill out the form (i.e. budget, country of purchase, usage, minimum game requirements, etc.)?

Why do you suggest going Intel over AMD ?

Budget: $850 (US)
Main Use: (5) Gaming/Streaming
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Evolve/GTA/Battlefield Hardline
When will you build?: This coming weekend.
Will you be overclocking?: Maybe


Thanks again for the feedback. I do already have a HD/Case. This is the case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0AJ2J25140&cm_re=azza-_-11-517-004-_-Product

 

[Femmeworth]

Installed the GTX 970 and redid the cooler. Ran Prime95 for roughly 20 minutes.

:|

 

[reKon]

That's a pretty good deal. Don't be pulled in by the inflated regular price of $350 though, the PNY XLR8 SSD is $90 by itself and the 16GB of PNY XLR8 RAM is $117, so this deal is more like $57 off instead of $200 off.

Well I guess you'll save even more with this code:

COMEBACK15

Gives 15%. Damn, I would have bought back when I was buying parts lol

 

[RGM79]

Why do you suggest going Intel over AMD ?

Budget: $850 (US)
Main Use: (5) Gaming/Streaming
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Evolve/GTA/Battlefield Hardline
When will you build?: This coming weekend.
Will you be overclocking?: Maybe


Thanks again for the feedback. I do already have a HD/Case. This is the case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0AJ2J25140&cm_re=azza-_-11-517-004-_-Product

Intel's been leading in the enthusiast/performance segment for the last two years or so when it comes to processors for games. In just about nearly every game, an Intel i5 K model processor will beat or at least match any FX processor, including the fastest FX-9xxx models. Also socket AM3+ has already been a dead platform with no foreseeable upgrades since mid 2013, whereas the current socket 1150 for midrange Intel CPUs still has some life in it. For a budget of $850, Intel will fit in there easily.

Now, as for CPU performance considerations, gamegpu.ru has done testing with the most recent betas for Evolve and Battlefield Hardline.

Evolve has fairly low CPU requirements and capped framerate at 60FPS (they recommend an 8.5 year old dual core CPU) so AMD FX will do just fine, although Battlefield Hardline has considerable performance gains with Intel. There is no beta or test of GTA V so we don't have any performance figures, but recommended specs indicate that the older Intel i5 3470 or the FX-8350 will do just fine. However, it's still hard to recommend the FX-8350 knowing that it will not see any upgrades and future replacements will require a new motherboard anyway. I recommend this, based on exmachina64's build but with some changes for stronger graphics card:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Antec KUHLER H2O 650 Liquid CPU Cooler ($37.49 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($106.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($63.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($101.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($279.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($48.00 @ Newegg)
Total: $853.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-10 00:51 EST-0500

I'd normally recommend the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo air cooler, but the Azza Solano 1000 won't fit it, the official FAQ says it will only fit 150mm CPU coolers or smaller. The 230mm fan on the side panel will definitely interfere with the top of the CPU cooler, and I don't know if removing the fan will give enough room, so it's best to not bother removing fans to try and make it fit.

Sorry mkenyon, I just can't find any CPU comparisons for Battlefield Hardline or Evolve other than the ones from gamegpu.ru, no one really seems to bother with testing AMD and Intel CPUs, most PC game performance articles almost always go with Intel and just test different graphics cards.

 

[BasicMath]

I just found out about Haswell and Prime95 28.5. Is it still the way to go to stress test? It seems unnecessarily harsh. I mean, more than usual. Those AVX2 extensions possibly overvolting and adding 8-10C by itself is crazy.

What are you guys using?

 

[Kyne]

Intel's been leading in the enthusiast/performance segment for the last two years or so when it comes to processors for games. In just about nearly every game, an Intel i5 K model processor will beat or at least match any FX processor, including the fastest FX-9xxx models. Also socket AM3+ has already been a dead platform with no foreseeable upgrades since mid 2013, whereas the current socket 1150 for midrange Intel CPUs still has some life in it. For a budget of $850, Intel will fit in there easily.

Now, as for CPU performance considerations, gamegpu.ru has done testing with the most recent betas for Evolve and Battlefield Hardline.



Evolve has fairly low CPU requirements and capped framerate at 60FPS (they recommend an 8.5 year old dual core CPU) so AMD FX will do just fine, although Battlefield Hardline has considerable performance gains with Intel. There is no beta or test of GTA V so we don't have any performance figures, but recommended specs indicate that the older Intel i5 3470 or the FX-8350 will do just fine. However, it's still hard to recommend the FX-8350 knowing that it will not see any upgrades and future replacements will require a new motherboard anyway. I recommend this, based on exmachina64's build but with some changes for stronger graphics card.:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Antec KUHLER H2O 650 Liquid CPU Cooler ($37.49 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($106.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($63.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($101.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($279.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($48.00 @ Newegg)
Total: $853.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-10 00:51 EST-0500

I'd normally recommend the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo air cooler, but the Azza Solano 1000 won't fit it. The 230mm fan on the side panel will definitely interfere with the top of the CPU cooler, and I don't know if removing the fan will give enough room.

Sorry mkenyon, I just can't find any CPU comparisons for Battlefield Hardline or Evolve other than the ones from gamegpu.ru, no one really seems to bother with testing AMD and Intel CPUs, most PC game performance articles almost always go with Intel and just test different graphics cards.

Mhmm wow. Thanks so much for all the input. Something to note (because you brought it up) is that heatsinks were indeed a problem when I first put the case together. I actually did remove the fan on the side panel and now I'm rocking this thing:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118019

I'm not very comfortable with water cooling as I'm not really up to speed with how it works, but I'll probably be reusing my CPU up there (if that's okay? Is it okay to reuse a heatsink?)

I'll definitely switch my build to Intel though.. thanks for the insight. =)

edit: I did have one question; you suggested a Radeon GPU. Does that not interfere or anything with the Intel gear? I thought it always kinda went Nvidia -> Intel and Radeon -> AMD.

 

[RGM79]

Mhmm wow. Thanks so much for all the input. Something to note (because you brought it up) is that heatsinks were indeed a problem when I first put the case together. I actually did remove the fan on the side panel and now I'm rocking this thing:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118019

I'm not very comfortable with water cooling as I'm not really up to speed with how it works, but I'll probably be reusing my CPU up there (if that's okay? Is it okay to reuse a heatsink?)

I'll definitely switch my build to Intel though.. thanks for the insight. =)

edit: I did have one question; you suggested a Radeon GPU. Does that not interfere or anything with the Intel gear? I thought it always kinda went Nvidia -> Intel and Radeon -> AMD.

Did you put the side fan back on when you installed that round Zalman cooler?

The Zalman cooler is a bit dated, but if you prefer to keep the Zalman cooler to save money it will be compatible. You will need to have the old mounting parts for it because AMD and Intel use different mounting systems. When you bought it, it came with a bunch of additional parts in the box for mounting onto Intel motherboards. I'm not sure how well it will handle overclocking the i5 4690K, though.

No, it does not make a difference whether you mix and match Intel, AMD, or Nvidia. There is no performance boost or potential hardware conflict to having different manufacturers' parts match up.

 

[Kyne]

Did you put the side fan back on when you installed that round Zalman cooler?

The Zalman cooler is a bit dated, but if you prefer to keep the Zalman cooler to save money it will be compatible. You will need to have the old mounting parts for it because AMD and Intel use different mounting systems. When you bought it, it came with a bunch of additional parts in the box for mounting onto Intel motherboards. I'm not sure how well it will handle overclocking the i5 4690K, though.

No, it does not make a difference whether you mix and match Intel, AMD, or Nvidia. There is no performance boost or potential hardware conflict to having different manufacturers' parts match up.

I did not put the fan back on :c (it didn't fit)

If you think it's outdated I suppose I can spend a few bucks on a new one. I don't know if I have the old mounting brackets that it came with.

 

[RGM79]

I did not put the fan back on :c (it didn't fit)

If you think it's outdated I suppose I can spend a few bucks on a new one. I don't know if I have the old mounting brackets that it came with.

Well, it doesn't seem to be a bad cooler, I just meant that it was listed as being released in 2006 so it was a bit hard to find info about how well it'd work for current motherboards and processors. If you don't have the other mounting parts then you can't really reuse it anyway.

It's odd that the 230mm side fan didn't fit with the Zalman cooler. From what I did find, it should fit with about 8mm to spare as it has a 142mm height and the case allows for 150mm tall coolers.

In any case, the cheapest option would be to go with the water cooler I recommended. The one I recommended is an all-in-one kit, you don't need to do any assembly or filling as it's completely sealed and ready to use out of the box. All you need to do is mount the radiator where the fan goes and put the pump block on the CPU where the old heatsink used to go. There are videos you can refer to like this one which is for the 620 model which has the same mounting system.

If you would rather stick with an air cooler, then I'll have to recommend a more expensive compact model. There's the Silverstone NT06-PRO for $50. Various other options exist that perform even better like some compact Noctua coolers, but they run closer to $60~75. If you want to stay within the $850 budget and go with air cooling, you could go with a cheaper MSI R9 290 ($240 after rebate) instead of the R9 290X to save a bit of money.

 

[Easy_D]

OK guys, I'm about to the plunge on a R9 280x, any particular brand I should stick with? I've had good times with XFX back in my GeForce days, they still good?

I'm gonna couple it with a FX-6300 CPU and as far as I can tell there shouldn't be too much bottlenecking going on and it seems DX12 might mitigate the issue as well before it becomes a big deal.

Edit: Currently on a 9600 GT ;p. Gotta love dat 35-66 FPS @ 720p on medium to low settings gaming.

Spoiler

my real GPU died a horrible death

 

[Pachimari]

Would 8gb and an i5 processor be enough of I want to build a small computer which only purpose is to play 1080p movies with surround sound?

And which case is recommended for a small computer?

I would think I would put aside maximum $800.

 

[threetri333]

Asus RT-AC3200

Has anyone tried this router? It retails for $299 and it has coverage of 4500 square feet. How far can that reach?

 

[RGM79]

Would 8gb and an i5 processor be enough of I want to build a small computer which only purpose is to play 1080p movies with surround sound?

And which case is recommended for a small computer?

I would think I would put aside maximum $800.

More than enough. You could do it on 4GB of RAM and a Pentium G3220 or similar.

I put together a cheap HTPC with the same specs for less than $200 CAD about 5 months ago, although I'll admit I had a bunch of spare parts. It was able to play the MSG5 1080p 60FPS gameplay trailer buttery smooth without any problems.

The look of PC cases are fairly subjective, I just put my HTPC build in a cheap black mATX tower case that is lying on its side. Notable brands for HTPC cases I can recommend are Silverstone, Fractal, and I think InWin makes some inexpensive HTPC horizontal models. You could go mATX for a slightly larger case to hold extra hard drives and maybe a optical drive, or go super compact with mITX.

Just about any motherboard supports simple 5.1 surround sound output via 3.5mm and sometimes optical toslink, not sure about audio bitstreaming to a receiver.

OK guys, I'm about to the plunge on a R9 280x, any particular brand I should stick with? I've had good times with XFX back in my GeForce days, they still good?

I'm gonna couple it with a FX-6300 CPU and as far as I can tell there shouldn't be too much bottlenecking going on and it seems DX12 might mitigate the issue as well before it becomes a big deal.

Edit: Currently on a 9600 GT ;p. Gotta love dat 35-66 FPS @ 720p on medium to low settings gaming.

Spoiler

my real GPU died a horrible death

Heh, "never left the stone age".

Sapphire generally have great coolers as well, look around for their Dual-X, Triple-X, or Vapor models. Gigabyte's Windforce model also keeps very cool. Asus DirectCUII and XFX Double Dissipation are fine.

 

[RGM79]

Accidental double post.

 

[Easy_D]

Heh, "never left the stone age".

Sapphire generally have great coolers as well, look around for their Dual-X, Triple-X, or Vapor models. Gigabyte's Windforce model also keeps very cool. Asus DirectCUII and XFX Double Dissipation are fine.

I think I'll go with the XFX DD one, it's in stock and ships within 1-2 days. Found a TriX one for the same price, but shipping is more expensive, longer and they ship from France and that sounds like a logistical nightmare waiting to happen.

Is it worth it to go with the factory OC'd Black Edition or can I just up the clocks on the regular model?

And I assure you my tag has nothing to do with PC hardware :lol

Edit: Seems the Black Edition OC is pretty miniscule, I'ma go with a XFX Radeon R9 280X DD, a mere 20 euros over my budget. Just read that a good one keeps 28-32 C while idle..computer's gonna be really cool and quiet then, the 9600 is so horrible it sits at 50 degrees C while idle :lol

 

[RGM79]

I think I'll go with the XFX DD one, it's in stock and ships within 1-2 days. Found a TriX one for the same price, but shipping is more expensive, longer and they ship from France and that sounds like a logistical nightmare waiting to happen.

Is it worth it to go with the factory OC'd Black Edition or can I just up the clocks on the regular model?

And I assure you my tag has nothing to do with PC hardware :lol

Edit: Seems the Black Edition OC is pretty miniscule, I'ma go with a XFX Radeon R9 280X DD, a mere 20 euros over my budget. Just read that a good one keeps 28-32 C while idle..computer's gonna be really cool and quiet then, the 9600 is so horrible it sits at 50 degrees C while idle :lol

I wouldn't go with the black edition either, if you're willing to manually overclock, you could do it yourself and save a little money. Aside from the clock speed they ship at, they're the exact same card and cooler as far as I can tell.

 

[Easy_D]

I wouldn't go with the black edition either, if you're willing to manually overclock, you could do it yourself and save a little money. Aside from the clock speed they ship at, they're the exact same card and cooler as far as I can tell.

Yeah that seals the deal, thanks for the help dude.

Edit: Can't wait to finally be able to play Dark Souls 2 in fullscreen again :lol. And PvZ Garden Warfare at all..and finish Metal Gear Rising..so many games that I've been unable to play for over a month, hyped as hell!

 

[RGM79]

Would 8gb and an i5 processor be enough of I want to build a small computer which only purpose is to play 1080p movies with surround sound?

And which case is recommended for a small computer?

I would think I would put aside maximum $800.

Re-quoting this for a new page - Do you have any retailers that you would prefer to order from? You say $800 (USD?), but I don't think you'll be ordering from the US, are you?

 

[Femmeworth]

Been messing around with the original F.E.A.R.. Going by Steam's FPS counter I'm not getting the perfect 60 FPS I expected with the game completely maxed out. Maybe my expectations were too high. Though it does say that the game isn't optimized for higher resolutions. (My monitor is 1360 x 768.)

 

[Rufus]

That's not a high resolution, there's no way that's normal. Sure it's not running off of the internal GPU? What are your specs, anyway?

 

[Jibbed]

HELP!

My PC is being very weird lately. 9/10 times I try to start it up, I get no signal on either of my two monitors when plugged into the GPU (Gigabyte GTX 770), but I get signal just fine from the motherboard DVI and VGA ports. The GPU is definitely connected properly and has been fine for about 18 months now.. not sure what's going on. When I can get it working, it seems OK.

It randomly works every now and again if I just fuck around unplugging, restarting, and plugging back in cables etc. What gives?

Edit, specs:

Windows 8.1
i7 2600K (stock clocks)
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO Motherboard
GTX 770 2GB (stock clocks, latest Beta drivers)
16GB Corsair Vengeance RAM
CoolerMaster 850W Modular PSU
Corsair H50 cooler

 

[BeforeU]

So before you go down this route, I just want to make a number of really great case makers known that are a little off the beaten path.

First, there's CaseLabs.





While all of the cases have an industrial look to them, it's all super thick aluminum and everything can be modded and chopped together to make exactly the case that you want.

There's also Little Devil which I personally love. Again, a simplistic design, but really it's there to be a quality blank canvas.





And then of course, Lian Li, which is well known. But they do have a number of super enthusiast type chassis. The fit and finish is unrivaled. When you touch that beautiful brushed aluminum, you know where your $ went.





Now with all of that out of the way, there's a few places that will sell bits and pieces of what you need in order to make the case usable.

The aforementioned CaseLabs has a bunch of parts that you can buy which add functionality or even form the core of what you're building, like the motherboard tray.

MountainMods has a ton of different parts as well, though a bit more dated and simplistic.

If you're in the US, FrozenCPU and Performance PCs have a ton of different parts, from fan controllers to motherboard trays, to cables, sleeving, tools, literally everything you would need to piece something together.

MNPC Tech also has a bunch of fun goodies, though their stuff can be a bit ostentacious, the knowledge of the guys there is almost unmatched. They also have a ton of great tools to make the modding/building easier.

Finally, there's MDPC-X which focuses primarily on cable management, sleeves, and tools to make your own cables.

Spoiler

Once you buy something from them, you get a username and password to their forum which is filled with all of the top talent in case modding, as well as some really amazing guides. But I'm not supposed to tell people that.

For inspiration, check out some of the builds at MDPC. http://www.million-dollar-pc.com/

In terms of designing the thing, I highly suggest Google Sketchup. There's an inventory of tons of parts to choose from so you know that your dimensions are working with the parts as intended. Totally invaluable. That's what I used to draw up my design:



In terms of what materials to use, aluminum, wood, and acrylic seem the most often used for scratch builds because they're fairly easy to work with and shape to get you what you want.

Good luck.

*edit*

I almost forgot Parvum Systems

Oh shit...thanks man. Will look into these.

 

[Lockjaw333]

Been messing around with the original F.E.A.R.. Going by Steam's FPS counter I'm not getting the perfect 60 FPS I expected with the game completely maxed out. Maybe my expectations were too high. Though it does say that the game isn't optimized for higher resolutions. (My monitor is 1360 x 768.)

With a GTX 970 there's no way that's right. I'm getting near or over 100 fps in a lot of the current games I'm playing (Metro 2033 Redux, BF4, etc).

Did you do a fresh driver install after installing the GPU?