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[RGM79]

Hey so i'm moving to a mini-itx build and im debating between two motherboard models.

The Gigabyte GA-Z97N-Gaming 5
and the
MSI Z97I GAMING ACK

The MSI is newer (being released around last december) and has M.2 support.
But the Gigabyte is apparently faster? (according to Bit-Tech) and has better audio.

I don't know which one to go for and there both similar price (though the gigabyte is slightly more expensive)
Anyone got any advice which one to go for?
Also is M.2 worth having?

I'm kind of annoyed with these benchmarks. I don't see much of a purpose, they all perform within about 5% of each other, any differences could be attributed to how the system was assembled or "silicon lottery". Not all hardware is exactly equal, some examples happen to perform better than other examples of the same design purely due to manufacturing tolerances and construction. Sorry, this has nothing to do with your questions, I just felt like saying that. I just don't see how these benchmarks are supposed to mean anything. You would never notice such differences in daily use. As long as it's not defective or faulty and performs at or reasonably near the advertised speed, then there's no problem.

In the US, there's a ~$45 difference between the two, the Gigabyte model is a bit less than $140 and the MSI model is about $185. The MSI model is so new that it doesn't have any user reviews at all, and no professional reviews besides the Bit-Tech review either. On the other hand, user reviews paint a not-so-good picture of the Gigabyte model. It has just 23 user reviews on Newegg, but 41% of them are negative. They consistently point to the motherboard being DOA, having issues with the wireless feature, or having faulty memory slots.

M.2 is nice to have. It's a new faster interface for very small SSDs, great for an extremely compact build, if you were considering one. M.2 SSDs are quite expensive though, even more than normal SATA SSD drives.

I'm a bit wary about purchasing the MSI ACK, hopefully it's all improved from the AC. They've improved the motherboard's physical layout, it's not the same as the AC model which had just a weird layout (CPU power connecter in the middle of the motherboard, SATA and power connectors at the top of the motherboard). However, with a lack of user and professional reviews, I'd maybe consider a different model or wait for more reviews.

Anyway, where are you buying the parts? Are there any other alternatives you're looking at? ASRock makes some decent Z97 mITX models, they appear to have far fewer negative reviews going by Newegg, at least.

 

[paskowitz]

Just want to double check that this 3DMark score is in line with my hardware.

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4073005

CPU: i74790k @4.8Ghz
GPU MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G 1371/1525Mhz base/boost clock, 8000Mhz Memory clock

 

[cyen]

Just want to double check that this 3DMark score is in line with my hardware.

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4073005

CPU: i74790k @4.8Ghz
GPU MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G 1371/1525Mhz base/boost clock, 8000Mhz Memory clock

Seems pretty good to me!

I´m getting a lower combined score probably due to my lower cpu speed.

msi 980 gaming@ 1500 boost / 7600mem

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4067220

 

[RGM79]

any other chipset besides z77 i should look into?

Z77 is the newest compatible motherboard chipset you can get, but the older Z68 and P67 chipsets are also compatible. If you do buy a P67 motherboard, make sure it says "B3" somewhere such as the model number, those P67 models don't have the same SATA flaw and are safe from SATA failure.

 

[Human_me]

Anyway, where are you buying the parts? Are there any other alternatives you're looking at? ASRock makes some decent Z97 mITX models, they appear to have far fewer negative reviews going by Newegg, at least.

I'd rather not go ASRock, Every motherboard(3) I've bought from them has failed within 10-14 months.

I'm in the UK and the Gigabyte here is £119 and the MSI is £110

M.2 support would be nice to have but I may not use it, Plus the better sound quality would be nice in the Gigabyte (plus I've had Gigabyte before and they have generally been good to me).

I would love the Asus Maximus VII Impact but I just don't see the value of it in the price. It seems too expensive considering its only got a couple extra features (unless i'm missing something).

 

[RGM79]

I'd rather not go ASRock, Every motherboard(3) I've bought from them has failed within 10-14 months.

I'm in the UK and the Gigabyte here is £119 and the MSI is £110

M.2 support would be nice to have but I may not use it, Plus the better sound quality would be nice in the Gigabyte (plus I've had Gigabyte before and they have generally been good to me).

I would love the Asus Maximus VII Impact but I just don't see the value of it in the price. It seems too expensive considering its only got a couple extra features (unless i'm missing something).

No, you're not missing something about the Maximus, it's far more expensive than what you should need to pay for a motherboard.

Fair enough about ASRock. How about the Asus Z97I-Plus? It goes for about £110 and user reviews seem fine, not very many negative reviews. Professional reviews are all good and generally approving of the Asus model's features for the price.

I suppose it's down to the Asus (looks decent) or the Gigabyte (you have good experience and luck with Gigabyte), or possibly the MSI model (if you don't mind being an early adopter).

 

[AEREC]

Sub'd...playing Evolve made me realize it's time to upgrade my First Gen i7-870 and GTX 760 2GB.

 

[doodle]

I haven't been paying attention to computer specs for the last couple of years. I am looking into getting a new computer, and wanted to build, but feel a bit overwhelmed! Is it really worth it to build my own if I am wanting something that plays non graphic-intensive games (LoL, HotS), or would buying pre-made be the better option?

 

[opticalmace]

I haven't been paying attention to computer specs for the last couple of years. I am looking into getting a new computer, and wanted to build, but feel a bit overwhelmed! Is it really worth it to build my own if I am wanting something that plays non graphic-intensive games (LoL, HotS), or would buying pre-made be the better option?

Build for sure. Save money, get better parts, and it's fun.

 

[Disorientator]

Decided it's finally time to upgrade my aging rig. (i5-760, GTX 660)

The new rig will consist of:

CPU: Intel Core i7 i7-4790K
Cooler: Corsair H60 (already owned)
MB: ASUS Z97-A
Mem: Kingston HyperX FURY Series 16GB (2x 8GB) DDR3 1866MHz
GPU: Zotac GeForce GTX 970
PSU: Corsair RM650 80 Plus Gold 650W
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 200R (non-windowed)

Parts haven't arrived yet, but I'm already wondering what would be the optimum fan configuration with my setup. (my first bottom-mounted PSU case + so many fan grilles)

Any tips regarding fan number/positioning with this case that could save me some time? Also, is it generally a good idea to "close" unused fan grilles? (un-disturbed airflow/dust entry points/noise, etc)

 

[RGM79]

Decided it's finally time to upgrade my aging rig. (i5-760, GTX 660)

The new rig will consist of:

CPU: Intel Core i7 i7-4790K
Cooler: Corsair H60 (already owned)
MB: ASUS Z97-A
Mem: Kingston HyperX FURY Series 16GB (2x 8GB) DDR3 1866MHz
GPU: Zotac GeForce GTX 970
PSU: Corsair RM650 80 Plus Gold 650W
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 200R (non-windowed)

Parts haven't arrived yet, but I'm already wondering what would be the optimum fan configuration with my setup. (my first bottom-mounted PSU case + so many fan grilles)

Any tips regarding fan number/positioning with this case?

Also, is it generally a good idea to "close" unused fan grilles? (un-disturbed airflow/dust entry points/noise, etc)

Rule of thumb? Rear (or top) fan mounts are exhaust, while the rest are for intake. You want positive pressure inside the case (more air pulled in than exhausted out of the case) for less dust. The 200R comes with two 120mm fans, one in front already mounted as intake, and one in the rear, mounted as exhaust. Your Corsair H60 also comes with a single 120mm fan, and I guess you'll be reusing your existing case fans from your old PC? It'll depend on how many fans you have, but if possible, you'll want to move the Corsair's included rear fan to the bottom vent, mount the H60 cooler in the now-empty rear fan mount, and what old case fans you'll be reusing can be mounted in the remaining fan mounts at the top or even the sides of the case, as long as you have it set up so that you have more fans taking in air than exhausting it.

Unless you're really intolerant of noise, I wouldn't advise covering up any vents. If you have the case set up with positive pressure airflow, air will blow out of those unused vents, dust won't be getting inside.

 

[nightmare-slain]

sorry if this is a stupid question but once i've actually put all my parts together...is it just a matter of booting from usb/dvd to install windows onto the HD? i don't need to play about with anything in the BIOS, do i? then once windows has installed/updated i just install the motherboard + GPU drivers?

i feel fairly confident i can build the pc but just not sure what happens next. i always see people talking about checking the BIOS to check their RAM, hd, cpu/gpu etc.

thanks!

 

[Disorientator]

Rule of thumb? Rear (or top) fan mounts are exhaust, while the rest are for intake. You want positive pressure inside the case (more air pulled in than exhausted out of the case) for less dust. The 200R comes with two 120mm fans, one in front already mounted as intake, and one in the rear, mounted as exhaust. Your Corsair H60 also comes with a single 120mm fan, and I guess you'll be reusing your existing case fans from your old PC? It'll depend on how many fans you have, but if possible, you'll want to move the Corsair's included rear fan to the bottom vent, mount the H60 cooler in the now-empty rear fan mount, and what old case fans you'll be reusing can be mounted in the remaining fan mounts at the top or even the sides of the case, as long as you have it set up so that you have more fans taking in air than exhausting it.

Unless you're really intolerant of noise, I wouldn't advise covering up any vents. If you have the case set up with positive pressure airflow, air will blow out of those unused vents, dust won't be getting inside.

Excellent, thanks for that.

 

[RGM79]

sorry if this is a stupid question but once i've actually put all my parts together...is it just a matter of booting from usb/dvd to install windows onto the HD? i don't need to play about with anything in the BIOS, do i? then once windows has installed/updated i just install the motherboard + GPU drivers?

i feel fairly confident i can build the pc but just not sure what happens next. i always see people talking about checking the BIOS to check their RAM, hd, cpu/gpu etc.

thanks!

Yep, that's pretty much just it. Going over the BIOS is just to check if all the parts are detected or not.

Did you find a decent power supply? How's your build? You posted here just a few days ago with questions about your build and power supply recommendations, but it seems that you never mentioned anything about it after.

 

[nightmare-slain]

Yep, that's pretty much just it. Going over the BIOS is just to check if all the parts are detected or not.

Did you find a decent power supply? How's your build? You posted here just a few days ago with questions about your build and power supply recommendations, but it seems that you never mentioned anything about it after.

thanks!

sorry! i ended up just sticking with the evga 750w. not sure if it was yourself who recommended a build that had it listed as cheaper than where i was intending to buy it from. i'm only over my budget by £10 now so it's not bad. i just got rid of the ssd i was gonna get in order to save a bit of money to accommodate the PSU. that brought the price down from £845 to £810.

 

[NoRéN]

The fan talk up there got my itching to replace the fans in my case with yate loons. Now, if I get a fan splitter to run 2 fans off one motherboard header, do both fans end up running at the same speed?

 

[Lockjaw333]

So i did some unofficial testing, and I'm not seeing a difference between my 2500k @ 4.4 ghz vs stock in games. I understand most games are not CPU limited and rely on the GPU, and my GTX 970 is slaying everything, so maybe its hard to see the difference.

I do however notice some weird things when I have my 2500k overclocked. Obviously the heat is higher, but at stock I sit around 48-50C under load, and OC'ed at around 60C, so its not that much higher.

Heat is not the issue...I just notice some other weird behavior. I hear that windows "device unplugged/plugged in" noise, like when you plug something into a USB port, during startup when I have my OC profile. At stock I don't hear that. I also notice slightly weird behavior in overall system stability, light programs tend to semi-lock up more often. They will eventually respond but I dont get that at stock.

I did notice that things seem fine if I run a modest OC of 4.0ghz just by upping the multiplier to 40. vcore doesn't rise much above what it does at stock during turbo boost, maybe 1.28 vs 1.24. I'll either stay at stock or stick with the x40 OC. I don't see any noticeable difference in games. I learned a lot the last two weeks researching this, but it didn't seem totally worth it haha.

 

[ChackanKun]

Ok, so I have a low-budget computer:

CPU: AMD FX-8350
RAM: 4GB DDR3
GRAPHICS: AMD R7 265
HDD: 1TB 7200rpm
MOBO: ASRock 970 Pro3 2.0

I have a very good, better than I expected, performance in almost every game I play.

I run Alien Isolation with highest settings flawlessly, BF4 likewise, Dragon Age Inquisition the same.

The only issue I've noticed is in games like Dying Light, Guild Wars 2, and some others, an annoying stutter.

For example: I'm playing GW2, all MAX, 40-60fps. Suddenly there is this stutter that lasts for some seconds, then it all goes back to normal. In Dying Light it happens a lot more frequently.

Is this ram wise? Is it the AMD CPU bottlenecking the system?

 

[reKon]

My PC is finally running! I'm almost embarassed to tell you guys what the issue was (and yes I did ensure everything was plugged in properly). My only problem now is that while I have a wireless keyboard. I need a wired one, to boot to USB and reinstall windows/ all the new drivers (I left windows on my old hard drive). A basic USB keyboard should work, right? I can just buy a cheap one from bestbuy

 

[SRG01]

Okay, so coming off of my previous posts on my build, I'm starting to come to the realization that I need to be spending slightly more because building the machine on a tight budget will only impair me for future (necessary) upgrades. So, with that in mind:

- What PSU do I need to accommodate both a 4790 and a relatively high-end video card?

- Are AMD's new cards worth waiting for (and the price premium attached?) or should I wait for a sale for a reasonable card?

- Is 16GB enough for rendering and video games? Or do I need more RAM in the future, and hence pick out a board that can support 32 GB?

 

[LilJoka]

So i did some unofficial testing, and I'm not seeing a difference between my 2500k @ 4.4 ghz vs stock in games. I understand most games are not CPU limited and rely on the GPU, and my GTX 970 is slaying everything, so maybe its hard to see the difference.

I do however notice some weird things when I have my 2500k overclocked. Obviously the heat is higher, but at stock I sit around 48-50C under load, and OC'ed at around 60C, so its not that much higher.

Heat is not the issue...I just notice some other weird behavior. I hear that windows "device unplugged/plugged in" noise, like when you plug something into a USB port, during startup when I have my OC profile. At stock I don't hear that. I also notice slightly weird behavior in overall system stability, light programs tend to semi-lock up more often. They will eventually respond but I dont get that at stock.

I did notice that things seem fine if I run a modest OC of 4.0ghz just by upping the multiplier to 40. vcore doesn't rise much above what it does at stock during turbo boost, maybe 1.28 vs 1.24. I'll either stay at stock or stick with the x40 OC. I don't see any noticeable difference in games. I learned a lot the last two weeks researching this, but it didn't seem totally worth it haha.

If you see this odd behaviour with offset and c states enabled, try with fixed and c states disabled. Possibly the vcore is not scaling so well with the different clock speeds. A lower load line calibration can help in offset overclocking in that case.

The fan talk up there got my itching to replace the fans in my case with yate loons. Now, if I get a fan splitter to run 2 fans off one motherboard header, do both fans end up running at the same speed?

Yes they will be connected in parallel so voltage will be the same and therefore speed. Take note not to exceed 1A current when running multiple fans off a single motherboard fan header.

I went through this fan stage some time ago. I learnt not to ever bother again. I had Yate loons too. Gains are negligible if you have the correct flow already.

 

[Strazyplus]

NZXT seems to be having a mess with orders as they are failing to give people the products they paid for on-time. I purchased a S340 Black and blue case on the 20th of January, I will finally get the case after the 20th of February as they finally shipped it less than two days ago, it involved me calling their support repeatedly though the month of wait.

and Its not just me its everyone who is purchasing S340 cases. and I was lucky!

Dear Valued Customers,
We would like to inform everyone that due to an unexpected shipping delay on the S340 Black + Red, we are expecting these to arrive Early March.
The S340 Black + Blue and S340 Black + Red were expected around Feb 9th - 13th. The S340 Black + Blue did indeed arrive Monday Feb 9th. Unfortunately the S340 Black + Red have not arrived. We have a new estimated date of March 10th for the S340 Black + Red.
We really appreciate everyone's patience in this and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.
Feel free to contact us directly at 1-800-228-9395 or visit our support site for any other questions or concern.
Estimated Ship Date: 3/10/2015

I feel like I was given a horrible service I was told I would have the case within 3-6 days, not a complete month later.

I have called and emailed but nothing comes out of it I also had other problems causing them to charge my account multiple times when I paid them a month ago and they tried to charge me a second time( a day ago) and actually put me in overdraft warning with my bank until I caught that mess and have them fix it.


So buyer beware?
or is this normal? should they of done something to make up for this mess? or am I just being entitled?

 

[appaws]

Thanks, I had my eye on some of those actually. I might grab some 140mm ones.



I did find a cheap 4-pack of fans on amazon for like $13, but they were sleeve bearing. I don't know that much about fans but I'm under the impression that those are bad.

I love Cougar Vortex at the cheaper end of the fan spectrum. They look good and come in cool LED varieties as well.

I do not recommend that you buy ASRock Z77 motherboards. There is a problem with them, they do not properly read core voltage.

Appaws helpfully pointed this out when I once recommended an ASRock Z77 model to another poster. He himself has experienced the problem, as have others. All ASRock Z77 model motherboards seem to be affected by it.

Where are you looking for replacement motherboards? PCPartPicker has a list, but after checking the reviews it seems that the cheapest one that isn't riddled with consistent 1 and 2 star reviews indicating dead motherboards on arrival is the Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X 5.x which costs a bit over $150 USD.

Hello everyone. Sorry I've been missing from the thread for so long. Work has been killing me. Trials galore.

Yeah, Asrock had a problem with voltage reporting (under-reporting DANGER!!!) on their Z77 boards. It really sucked too because if you remember back to 2012 the extreme 4 was THE recommended board for gaming builds under $1500. They never fixed it, and tried to just ignore the problem. It was found on all of their Z77 boards.

Thankfully, the problem did not continue on to later boards. It seems to me that they make boards with a lot of features for the money. Reviews seem solid, so I would not shy away from their newer stuff.

 

[appaws]

Okay, so coming off of my previous posts on my build, I'm starting to come to the realization that I need to be spending slightly more because building the machine on a tight budget will only impair me for future (necessary) upgrades. So, with that in mind:

- What PSU do I need to accommodate both a 4790 and a relatively high-end video card?

- Are AMD's new cards worth waiting for (and the price premium attached?) or should I wait for a sale for a reasonable card?

- Is 16GB enough for rendering and video games? Or do I need more RAM in the future, and hence pick out a board that can support 32 GB?

-For a single video card I would say 550 watts would do you well. Especially on the Nvidia side, new cards have great power efficiency.

-New AMD cards might be worth waiting for. No real way to tell until we get a look at them. I am hearing that they might be great on price/performance but beastly as far as power consumption.

-I would say 16GB is enough. Gaming side for sure. But I am no expert on rendering software and what kind of memory demands it may have.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

How much better is an R9 290 over a 750ti?

The price difference is about 120 dollars (750ti) vs 160-180 dollars for a 280 after rebates.

 

[SRG01]

-For a single video card I would say 550 watts would do you well. Especially on the Nvidia side, new cards have great power efficiency.

-New AMD cards might be worth waiting for. No real way to tell until we get a look at them. I am hearing that they might be great on price/performance but beastly as far as power consumption.

-I would say 16GB is enough. Gaming side for sure. But I am no expert on rendering software and what kind of memory demands it may have.

I've done renders locally and on EC2 and I haven't even come close to any memory limits... but that's partially because I'm only doing amateur/indie level stuff. The most I've seen is maybe 1.5G.

I suppose I'll do a wait and see approach for the cards. Besides, older cards will drop accordingly in price, theoretically right?

 

[Buburibon]

Seems pretty good to me!

I´m getting a lower combined score probably due to my lower cpu speed.

msi 980 gaming@ 1500 boost / 7600mem

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4067220

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears your CPU score is about 25% higher than his/hers. Your combined score is lower because your "graphics score" isn't as high.

 

[Hazaro]

Ok, so I have a low-budget computer:

CPU: AMD FX-8350
RAM: 4GB DDR3
GRAPHICS: AMD R7 265
HDD: 1TB 7200rpm
MOBO: ASRock 970 Pro3 2.0

I have a very good, better than I expected, performance in almost every game I play.

I run Alien Isolation with highest settings flawlessly, BF4 likewise, Dragon Age Inquisition the same.

The only issue I've noticed is in games like Dying Light, Guild Wars 2, and some others, an annoying stutter.

For example: I'm playing GW2, all MAX, 40-60fps. Suddenly there is this stutter that lasts for some seconds, then it all goes back to normal. In Dying Light it happens a lot more frequently.

Is this ram wise? Is it the AMD CPU bottlenecking the system?

Keep task manager and GPU-Z or MSI Afterburner open.

My guess is it would be system RAM. 4GB is very low. If it was GPU RAM I'd expect to see it pop up in BF4 too, but you never know.

My PC is finally running! I'm almost embarassed to tell you guys what the issue was (and yes I did ensure everything was plugged in properly). My only problem now is that while I have a wireless keyboard. I need a wired one, to boot to USB and reinstall windows/ all the new drivers (I left windows on my old hard drive). A basic USB keyboard should work, right? I can just buy a cheap one from bestbuy

Try the wireless on a USB 2.0 port. If that doesn't work still, then yes.

Okay, so coming off of my previous posts on my build, I'm starting to come to the realization that I need to be spending slightly more because building the machine on a tight budget will only impair me for future (necessary) upgrades. So, with that in mind:

- What PSU do I need to accommodate both a 4790 and a relatively high-end video card?

- Are AMD's new cards worth waiting for (and the price premium attached?) or should I wait for a sale for a reasonable card?

- Is 16GB enough for rendering and video games? Or do I need more RAM in the future, and hence pick out a board that can support 32 GB?

550W is enough.
Probably, depending on your budget, but a 290 know is insane value and I can't see it being beaten by a new product launch.
Yes, also most mobos support 32GB.

NZXT seems to be having a mess with orders as they are failing to give people the products they paid for on-time. I purchased a S340 Black and blue case on the 20th of January, I will finally get the case after the 20th of February as they finally shipped it less than two days ago, it involved me calling their support repeatedly though the month of wait.

and Its not just me its everyone who is purchasing S340 cases. and I was lucky!



I feel like I was given a horrible service I was told I would have the case within 3-6 days, not a complete month later.

I have called and emailed but nothing comes out of it I also had other problems causing them to charge my account multiple times when I paid them a month ago and they tried to charge me a second time( a day ago) and actually put me in overdraft warning with my bank until I caught that mess and have them fix it.


So buyer beware?
or is this normal? should they of done something to make up for this mess? or am I just being entitled?

I'd buy everything from Amazon/NCIX/Newegg unless they didn't have that case/color.

How much better is an R9 290 over a 750ti?

The price difference is about 120 dollars (750ti) vs 160-180 dollars for a 280 after rebates.

A lottttttttttttttt

 

[Jarsonot]

My computer is put together and seems blazing fast. It certainly boots fast.

I read through the OP for this, but didn't see much... What should I do now? I've verified that everything is working, and detected, and updated my drivers. What would YOU do?

I know I should run some diagnostic tests, maybe some benchmarks, and there are a lot listed in the OP. Are there some that are crucial and some that are just for bragging rights basically? I'm thinking I should create a folder for benchmarking/diagnostics and wondering what I should put in there. It seems the big concern is heat, and prime95 seems like the go-to program to stress test my CPU. Anything else I should really do while this baby is fresh and shiny and new? =)

Edit: what I went with
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC12DX 68.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($117.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($134.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Micro Center)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB FTW ACX 2.0 Video Card ($585.91 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 350D Window MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1653.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-14 22:34 EST-0500

 

[Fracas]

My computer is put together and seems blazing fast. It certainly boots fast.

I read through the OP for this, but didn't see much... What should I do now? I've verified that everything is working, and detected, and updated my drivers. What would YOU do?

I know I should run some diagnostic tests, maybe some benchmarks, and there are a lot listed in the OP. Are there some that are crucial and some that are just for bragging rights basically? I'm thinking I should create a folder for benchmarking/diagnostics and wondering what I should put in there. It seems the big concern is heat, and prime95 seems like the go-to program to stress test my CPU. Anything else I should really do while this baby is fresh and shiny and new? =)

I'm probably dumb but as soon as I made sure everything worked right, I just started using it lol. I've kept an eye on usage/temps though.

 

[Paracelsus]

Seeking to push this thing at least at 4.5 since I've had it for 3 years and never even tried to

Middle is 4.5 during blend on P95, bottom is at 4.4, respectively while Dolphining and idle. What is a solid voltage to keep for a theoretical 24/7?

 

[opticalmace]

How much better is an R9 290 over a 750ti?

The price difference is about 120 dollars (750ti) vs 160-180 dollars for a 280 after rebates.

290 or 280?

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

290 or 280?

280, sorry. Mistype.

 

[Jarsonot]

I'm probably dumb but as soon as I made sure everything worked right, I just started using it lol. I've kept an eye on usage/temps though.

=) I built it and almost immediately went away for the weekend. Haven't really had the time to sit down and play with it. But I've been thinking about it a lot (it's calling to me, lol) and I figure This is the perfect time to do things right. I don't want to have a scenario later where I learn that I really should've done "x" when I had the thing clean and pristine.

But yeah, I also really want to put it through the paces and see what it can do.

 

[BoboBrazil]

So I found my old power supply I want to put in my pc, but I've lost the modular 6 pin power cords that go to it. They connect into a 6 pin socket on the power supply. Is there anywhere I can buy these cables? Looking online hasn't turned up anything for me unless I'm looking in the wrong place.

-edit- this is the back of my power supply

 

[RGM79]

So i did some unofficial testing, and I'm not seeing a difference between my 2500k @ 4.4 ghz vs stock in games. I understand most games are not CPU limited and rely on the GPU, and my GTX 970 is slaying everything, so maybe its hard to see the difference.

I do however notice some weird things when I have my 2500k overclocked. Obviously the heat is higher, but at stock I sit around 48-50C under load, and OC'ed at around 60C, so its not that much higher.

Heat is not the issue...I just notice some other weird behavior. I hear that windows "device unplugged/plugged in" noise, like when you plug something into a USB port, during startup when I have my OC profile. At stock I don't hear that. I also notice slightly weird behavior in overall system stability, light programs tend to semi-lock up more often. They will eventually respond but I dont get that at stock.

I did notice that things seem fine if I run a modest OC of 4.0ghz just by upping the multiplier to 40. vcore doesn't rise much above what it does at stock during turbo boost, maybe 1.28 vs 1.24. I'll either stay at stock or stick with the x40 OC. I don't see any noticeable difference in games. I learned a lot the last two weeks researching this, but it didn't seem totally worth it haha.

I'm honestly not very familiar with overclocking 2500K or newer processors, but from what I've heard, it should be easy for the 2500K to get up to 4.5GHz, maybe you need to try playing around with core voltage - go as high as 1.30~1.35 volts as long as it's stable, but of course the lower the better. I don't know about the hardware disconnecting and reconnecting sound when you overclock that high, though.

Ok, so I have a low-budget computer:

CPU: AMD FX-8350
RAM: 4GB DDR3
GRAPHICS: AMD R7 265
HDD: 1TB 7200rpm
MOBO: ASRock 970 Pro3 2.0

I have a very good, better than I expected, performance in almost every game I play.

I run Alien Isolation with highest settings flawlessly, BF4 likewise, Dragon Age Inquisition the same.

The only issue I've noticed is in games like Dying Light, Guild Wars 2, and some others, an annoying stutter.

For example: I'm playing GW2, all MAX, 40-60fps. Suddenly there is this stutter that lasts for some seconds, then it all goes back to normal. In Dying Light it happens a lot more frequently.

Is this ram wise? Is it the AMD CPU bottlenecking the system?

Is the stuttering predictable in any way (happens every time certain things happen or during certain situations)? Does turning down the graphics settings reduce or fix the stutter? Can you check RAM usage while playing games? 4GB is somewhat low, lots of games do recommend 8GB.

My PC is finally running! I'm almost embarassed to tell you guys what the issue was (and yes I did ensure everything was plugged in properly). My only problem now is that while I have a wireless keyboard. I need a wired one, to boot to USB and reinstall windows/ all the new drivers (I left windows on my old hard drive). A basic USB keyboard should work, right? I can just buy a cheap one from bestbuy

Wireless keyboard doesn't work? Are you using a bluetooth keyboard or something? I've been able to access BIOS and boot to Windows installers using wireless RF keyboards before.

I've done renders locally and on EC2 and I haven't even come close to any memory limits... but that's partially because I'm only doing amateur/indie level stuff. The most I've seen is maybe 1.5G.

I suppose I'll do a wait and see approach for the cards. Besides, older cards will drop accordingly in price, theoretically right?

R9 380/380X if the spec sheet leak was true will be rebadged R9 290/290X graphics cards. I'm expecting the rebadged models to cost a bit higher than the R9 290/290X currently cost, but that means you can pick up a cheap R9 290/290X, I guess.

 

[RGM79]

280, sorry. Mistype.

The R9 280 is generally about 50% faster than the GTX 750 Ti. It's up to you if the higher price is worth it, at 1080p these performance figures are like the difference between being able to play at medium or high settings.

So I found my old power supply I want to put in my pc, but I've lost the modular 6 pin power cords that go to it. They connect into a 6 pin socket on the power supply. Is there anywhere I can buy these cables? Looking online hasn't turned up anything for me unless I'm looking in the wrong place.

-edit- this is the back of my power supply

You can contact Antec online to see about ordering replacement PSU cables. Although you could order generic replacements, it's best to get them from the manufacturer, you never know if they swapped the pinout so it may not be compatible. According to this thread some people got additional cables free of charge, although the OP of that thread had to pay some money for his replacement cables.

 

[BoboBrazil]

The R9 280 is generally about 50% faster than the GTX 750 Ti. It's up to you if the higher price is worth it, at 1080p these performance figures are like the difference between being able to play at medium or high settings.



You can contact Antec online to see about ordering replacement PSU cables. Although you could order generic replacements, it's best to get them from the manufacturer, you never know if they swapped the pinout so it may not be compatible. According to this thread some people got additional cables free of charge, although the OP of that thread had to pay some money for his replacement cables.

Ok thanks. I opened a ticket there, but depending on price, it might make more sense to just buy a new power supply if they aren't cheap. I found this with more searching http://www.moddiy.com/products/Antec-Modular-PSU-Sleeved-PCIe-6%2dPin-to-6%2dPin-Cable.html but I've never heard of that site before, plus 2 cables would put me at $30, which isn't worth it.

 

[RyuKanSan]

What's a good power supply that can run a 290x for a decent price? I've debating between these two:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182294

and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438025

or is there something better for me?

 

[RGM79]

What's a good power supply that can run a 290x for a decent price? I've debating between these two:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182294

and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438025

or is there something better for me?

Are you limited to ordering from Newegg, or are other retailers alright? You only need 600 watts for an R9 290X so there are definitely cheaper solutions.

The cheapest power supply I can recommend is the EVGA 600B 600 watt model for $35 after $10 rebate, a low cost model that covers all the basics, TechPowerUp liked it.

Next step up would be the Corsair CX600M for $50 after $20 rebate from Newegg. Usually the CX line is budget stuff, but Guru3D and TechPowerUp gave it good reviews.

For higher wattage at a lower price, the Antec High Current Gamer 750 watt modular model goes for $60 after $20 rebate from Newegg. It's a rebadged Seasonic design, so it's very well-made and reliable. Jonny Guru is a prolific power supply reviewer who knows his stuff, and he rated it very highly.

 

[RyuKanSan]

Are you limited to ordering from Newegg, or are other retailers alright? You only need 600 watts for an R9 290X so there are definitely cheaper solutions.

The cheapest power supply I can recommend is the EVGA 600B 600 watt model for $35 after $10 rebate, a low cost model that covers all the basics, TechPowerUp liked it.

Next step up would be the Corsair CX600M for $50 after $20 rebate from Newegg. Usually the CX line is budget stuff, but Guru3D and TechPowerUp gave it good reviews.

For higher wattage at a lower price, the Antec High Current Gamer 750 watt modular model goes for $60 after $20 rebate from Newegg. It's a rebadged Seasonic design, so it's very well-made and reliable. Jonny Guru is a prolific power supply reviewer who knows his stuff, and he rated it very highly.

I have a biased for Newegg is what it really boils down too.

But seriously I only need 600w, I just read that article lol. How the hell did I miss that tidbit. Now I feel quite silly. But thanks again RGM for the incredible save.

 

[Tesseract]

is the good, very capable < $600 build still good?

 

[RGM79]

is the good, very capable < $600 build still good?

Yep, nothing new has come out to really change it. When are you planning to buy parts? I'd be happy to spec out a parts list of current prices for you.

 

[RyuKanSan]

So here's what I intend on buying on friday. I love Newegg and the parts mentioned, Newegg was always 2nd best. Any adjustments or am I good? I'm debating on whether or not I need the 2nd monitor in exchange for a cheap laptop. I started streaming on Twitch recently and it seemed like a dual monitor setup would make things easier.

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/389LHx) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/389LHx/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690k) | $239.99 @ Newegg
**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2) | $29.99 @ Newegg
**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97xsli) | $96.98 @ Newegg
**Memory** | [Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-hx318c10fk28) | $60.99 @ Newegg
**Video Card** | [MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB LIGHTNING Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r9290xlightning) | $343.98 @ Newegg
**Case** | [DIYPC Shadow-H01-BK ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/diypc-case-shadowh01bk) | $59.99 @ Newegg
**Power Supply** | [Antec HCG M 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/antec-power-supply-hcg750m) | $59.99 @ Newegg
**Monitor** | [Acer H226HQLbid 60Hz 21.5" Monitor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/acer-monitor-umwh6aa002) | $120.98 @ Newegg
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1087.89
| Mail-in rebates | -$75.00
| **Total** | **$1012.89**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2015-02-15 01:25 EST-0500 |

 

[Objectively Bad Opinion]

is the good, very capable < $600 build still good?

[IM]http://i.imgur.com/spuf6Rc.png[/IMG]

Yes, but definitely spring for the i5. Anything less than a quadcore cpu in 2015 is bad times.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

The R9 280 is generally about 50% faster than the GTX 750 Ti. It's up to you if the higher price is worth it, at 1080p these performance figures are like the difference between being able to play at medium or high settings.

Well, it's up to my friend but I get what you're saying.

They're putting together a build that's CPU heavy + relatively cheap GPU, missing a lot of stuff they can add later in the year / next year. The intent is to replace the GPU in 12 months or so when they have more cash. But at the same time they want to be able to play Arkham Knight. Obviously there's no official reqs released but I'm thinking the 750ti might be in serious danger there. OTOH those are typically Nvidia sponsored games

Will there be any issues on a 600w PSU with i5 4690 + 280?

 

[NoRéN]

Yes they will be connected in parallel so voltage will be the same and therefore speed. Take note not to exceed 1A current when running multiple fans off a single motherboard fan header.

I went through this fan stage some time ago. I learnt not to ever bother again. I had Yate loons too. Gains are negligible if you have the correct flow already.

Thanks for your input. Maybe I will just stick to one input fan then. Still upgrading to the Yate loon though. I wouldn't mind trying the noctua or cougar but brown or orange would just add more color to an already convoluted color scheme.

These are the fans I'm looking at on Amazon.

Should be good, right? Open to advice and suggestions.

 

[RGM79]

So here's what I intend on buying on friday. I love Newegg and the parts mentioned, Newegg was always 2nd best. Any adjustments or am I good? I'm debating on whether or not I need the 2nd monitor in exchange for a cheap laptop. I started streaming on Twitch recently and it seemed like a dual monitor setup would make things easier.

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/389LHx) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/389LHx/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690k) | $239.99 @ Newegg
**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2) | $29.99 @ Newegg
**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97xsli) | $96.98 @ Newegg
**Memory** | [Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-hx318c10fk28) | $60.99 @ Newegg
**Video Card** | [MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB LIGHTNING Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r9290xlightning) | $343.98 @ Newegg
**Case** | [DIYPC Shadow-H01-BK ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/diypc-case-shadowh01bk) | $59.99 @ Newegg
**Power Supply** | [Antec HCG M 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/antec-power-supply-hcg750m) | $59.99 @ Newegg
**Monitor** | [Acer H226HQLbid 60Hz 21.5" Monitor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/acer-monitor-umwh6aa002) | $120.98 @ Newegg
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1087.89
| Mail-in rebates | -$75.00
| **Total** | **$1012.89**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2015-02-15 01:25 EST-0500 |

There's a bit you can do to optimize costs. Also, not sure if you forgot it, but a hard drive wasn't listed. Are you reusing a hard drive you already have?

That MSI R9 290X Lightning model is very high end, but you can save about $50 going with the Gigabyte Windforce R9 290X ($294 after $20 rebate) instead.

While earlier I did recommend the same 750 watt power supply that you chose, you should change it for this build list. If you're only intended to run a single R9 290X, then you will be fine with just 600 watts, you could go with a lower end model to save a bit of money again. If you want the option for crossfire in the future, then you'll need 800 watts or so.

As for the case, I'm not sure about the quality. Newegg reviews are all over the place (one review for each star rating) and there are no professional reviews that I can find. It's just me, but I'd rather stick to better known brands. The Corsair 200R comes out $10 cheaper thanks to a $10 rebate.

With the money saved, you could spend the cost difference on a small SSD like the MX100 or go up to 16GB of RAM. Here's my version of your build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($96.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($293.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer H226HQLbid 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($120.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1013.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-15 01:46 EST-0500

Prices could still change in a week's time, especially for RAM and power supplies. Remind me on Wednesday or Thursday and I can go over it again in case any new sales have dropped the price for relevant parts.

Well, it's up to my friend but I get what you're saying.

They're putting together a build that's CPU heavy + relatively cheap GPU, missing a lot of stuff they can add later in the year / next year. The intent is to replace the GPU in 12 months or so when they have more cash. But at the same time they want to be able to play Arkham Knight. Obviously there's no official reqs released but I'm thinking the 750ti might be in serious danger there. OTOH those are typically Nvidia sponsored games

Will there be any issues on a 600w PSU with i5 4690 + 280?

It's always hard to say when games don't have requirements out yet. Are there any other games they plan to play?

Guru3D's tests with an R9 280 showed that power consumption was 200 watts or less, so a 500 watt power supply will do.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

It's always hard to say when games don't have requirements out yet. Are there any other games they plan to play?

Guru3D's tests with an R9 280 showed that power consumption was 200 watts or less, so a 500 watt power supply will do.

Their other reqs are super easy, LoL, Crusader Kings 2 etc. Stuff you can run on integrated. Other games will come up at some point but AK was one they were anticipating. They can get it on PS4, but it would be pretty crappy if they were buying their first PC and it was a comparable/inferior experience to PS4, assuming it ran on low/med @ 750ti. I understand that the 750ti straddles the line between sometimes offering comparable/better, but sometimes not.

 

[RyuKanSan]

There's a bit you can do to optimize costs. Also, not sure if you forgot it, but a hard drive wasn't listed. Are you reusing a hard drive you already have?

That MSI R9 290X Lightning model is very high end, but you can save about $50 going with the Gigabyte Windforce R9 290X ($294 after $20 rebate) instead.

While earlier I did recommend the same 750 watt power supply that you chose, you should change it for this build list. If you're only intended to run a single R9 290X, then you will be fine with just 600 watts, you could go with a lower end model to save a bit of money again. If you want the option for crossfire in the future, then you'll need 800 watts or so.

As for the case, I'm not sure about the quality. Newegg reviews are all over the place (one review for each star rating) and there are no professional reviews that I can find. It's just me, but I'd rather stick to better known brands. The Corsair 200R comes out $10 cheaper thanks to a $10 rebate.

With the money saved, you could spend the cost difference on a small SSD like the MX100 or go up to 16GB of RAM. Here's my version of your build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($96.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($293.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer H226HQLbid 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($120.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1013.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-15 01:46 EST-0500

Prices could still change in a week's time, especially for RAM and power supplies. Remind me on Wednesday or Thursday and I can go over it again in case any new sales have dropped the price for relevant parts.

Yeah I already have a custom desktop from 2010, and I have about 5 hard drives in it so I just planned on bringing about 3 of them over. So the ram would probably be a better choice for me.

I should be fine, as this is pretty cool. I could make some minor adjustments here and there if need be.