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"I Need a New PC!" 2015 Part 1. Read the OP and RISE ABOVE FORGED PRECISION SCIENCE
- Thread starter Hazaro
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Great deal if the tall heatspreader isn't an issue for heatsink clearance. Otherwise, there's low profile 2133MHz Patriot RAM for $60 and $120 respectively after mail in rebate.
8GB DDR3-2133
16GB DDR3-2133
hooijdonk17
Member
GAF, help me choose between two cases please:
Zalman Z3 Plus: http://www.zalman.com/global/product/Product_Read.php?Idx=821
Deep Cool Tesseract SW: http://www.deepcool.com/product/case/2014-05/9_840.shtml
I can get either for around $50, inc. tax..
Zalman Z3 Plus: http://www.zalman.com/global/product/Product_Read.php?Idx=821
Deep Cool Tesseract SW: http://www.deepcool.com/product/case/2014-05/9_840.shtml
I can get either for around $50, inc. tax..
I'd lead towards the Zalman but at the $50 mark the Corsair 200R is hard to look past.
Just the thread I was looking for.
I'm looking at getting a gaming PC capable of running the majority of games at a high setting and hopefully it would last me a couple of years. How's this one looking so far? I haven't bothered looking at thermal compounds or anything, I just mean in terms of the RAM, Video Card, CPU etc, is it good enough? I want to be able to play games like BF4 on ultra settings with a good frame rate and hopefully the newer releases for the next couple of years. http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/7RYcVn
I'm looking at getting a gaming PC capable of running the majority of games at a high setting and hopefully it would last me a couple of years. How's this one looking so far? I haven't bothered looking at thermal compounds or anything, I just mean in terms of the RAM, Video Card, CPU etc, is it good enough? I want to be able to play games like BF4 on ultra settings with a good frame rate and hopefully the newer releases for the next couple of years. http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/7RYcVn
H81 is an older motherboard platform - technically it'll work, but it may need a BIOS update to be compatible with the latest processors, which includes the 4690K. It's better to stick with newer H97/Z97 motherboards which will work out of the box with the 4690K for sure.
Also, you chose a small mATX model motherboard. It'll fit in the case, but you can either go with a smaller case (more compact computer), or go with a larger motherboard to match the case (more expandability for the future).
Ideally you'd want to go with 2 x 4GB RAM for dual channel mode, but a single stick running in single channel won't make that much of a difference.
That Corsair CX500 power supply isn't necessarily bad, but there are no professional reviews I can find besides an quick look from Anandtech. I'd consider another power supply.
Other than that, things look fine, but I have a few questions. Will you be overclocking? Do you want a more compact computer?
To be honest, I'm going to get it pre-built from an online store. I've had a look and the price is pretty much comparable except I'd be paying about £100 more for one that's pre-built, but then that would also come with the thermal paste, optical drive etc which I haven't factored in on that parts checker site and I'd get a 6 year warranty with it which is appealing for a noob like me. Overclocking is a no and I'm not too fussy when it comes to things like compactness. I'm more focused on the performance truth be told, would a PC with those components be good for say the next 4 years or so? It'll be used for gaming only, not video editing or anything else.
What store is it? Are you also buying all the parts from that same store? I was wondering because there are other retailers and parts you can go with to save a bit of money. For example, for just 1 more, you can get much better RAM.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f317000cl11d8gbxl
I'd also recommend a heatsink like this one to better cool the CPU instead of the stock heatsink, even if you aren't overclocking.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2
How much are they charging for assembly? If they say they will do systems checking for you when they assemble it, then it'll be alright to keep that H81 motherboard, they should update the BIOS and ensure that it works for you.
Thermal paste comes with every Intel processor. it's preapplied to the cooler in the box. Lots of heatsinks come with a packet or tube of thermal paste in the packaging, sometimes even preapplied for you.
Performance wise, those parts are fine. If you don't mind overclocking, it'll be slightly more expensive but you could get an extra year or two out of the machine. If not, then you could go with a non-K processor and maybe save a bit of money. Many motherboards make it easy to overclock, you literally click on a setting and it'll automatically overclock for you with safe settings.
Manual overclocking gives you more performance, but is more involved.
http://www.ukgamingcomputers.co.uk/morpheus-i5-custom-gaming-pc-p-167.html From there, and then I'll be changing the video card etc to match the ones I have listed on the parts checker site. I don't mind paying that bit extra if it comes assembled and everything with a 6 year warranty.
You mentioned a £100 difference, I don't see where it is. The parts you chose on PCPartPicker add up to £682, after 20% VAT it'll be £817.
On the UKGC website, if I set the parts to match the ones you have on the PCPartPicker list then it's £835 including taxes, but not including £16 for shipping.
The difference seems to only be £33. For a six year warranty, I say it's worth it.
Yeah, I suck at Maths haha. Ok that's awesome, I'll go ahead with the order then. Are there any games that a PC with those specs would struggle to run? I'm hoping it'll last me sort of 4-6 years.
Wait, is VAT normally included in prices? I'm Canadian, taxes in North America usually aren't included in price listings. It seems that parts already include VAT, although I'm not sure. If it is, then you could stand to save a lot of money. For example, I had this list of parts in case you were planning to build it yourself:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor (£149.15 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.85 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£71.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£58.00 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£259.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: BitFenix Neos Black ATX Mid Tower Case (£29.75 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£56.39 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.46 @ Aria PC)
Total: £696.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-17 14:30 GMT+0000
Just under £700 for the same performance. You would be paying £150 more just for the assembly and 6 year warranty, which I don't think is worth it. With £150 more to spend on your computer, you could get 16GB RAM, or a SSD for extremely fast loading times, a better case, etc.
As for performance, the list of parts as it is now is quite great, the only games it might not run well are Assassin's Creed Unity on ultra settings (arguably a poorly programmed game) and Arma 3 (requires insanely high end hardware for highest settings), but you can just turn down the graphics settings and you'll be fine. Everything else, like Battlefield 4, Crysis 3, Metro Last Light, Tomb Raider, etc will run well on even the highest settings.
Yes, in the UK VAT is included in the prices, though some shady retailers hide the full price until you've gone to checkout, or they put it in small print.
TerryLee81
Member
So when is the next big processor update going to happen?
I guess next year, but will it be just minor speed bumps or something big?
I'm on a 3770k and totally hapy at the moment, just wondering when I should expect to upgrade...
I guess next year, but will it be just minor speed bumps or something big?
I'm on a 3770k and totally hapy at the moment, just wondering when I should expect to upgrade...
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
Question!
I have had my laptop listed online for a few weeks now, and I found a guy who is looking to go the opposite way of me - go from Desktop to laptop. He has a pretty nice rig that he's offered to trade:
I'd be trading my Lenovo Y500 w/2x GT 750m and 1TB HD. I feel like it's a pretty fair trade, but what do you guys think about the PC? It SHOULD be plug and play until I want to upgrade the GPU and HD.
I have had my laptop listed online for a few weeks now, and I found a guy who is looking to go the opposite way of me - go from Desktop to laptop. He has a pretty nice rig that he's offered to trade:
- i7-4770k
- EVGA GTX 770
- MSI Z87-g45 mobo
- RAIDMAX Vampire case
- 16 GB RAM (not sure on brand, but it looks like 2x8GB)
- Cooler Master 800W 80+ gold PSU
- Water cooled (Corsiar brand, not sure which)
- 500 GB HD, 300 GB HD
I'd be trading my Lenovo Y500 w/2x GT 750m and 1TB HD. I feel like it's a pretty fair trade, but what do you guys think about the PC? It SHOULD be plug and play until I want to upgrade the GPU and HD.
Middle of next year, we're supposed to get new unlocked Broadwell processors for socket 1150 and a completely new platform which is locked Skylake processors on socket 1151 motherboard (incompatible with socket 1150).
Specifics are unknown yet, but if Broadwell is in line with prior Intel generations, expect a minor difference, maybe 10-20% improvement at best. No idea about Skylake.
If you're happy right now, you could go for socket 1151, and wait for whatever the next line of processors after Skylake is (sometime in 2016, probably).
How much were you selling the laptop for?
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
$700 seemed fair.
I have the same cpu and I am waiting for ddr4 before upgrading. That cpu won't be a bottle neck anyime soon.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Was thinking of grabbing a G-Sync monitor after Christmas. Most of my games float between 30 - 60+ fps and (correct me if I'm wrong) I'll benefit in input lag and tearing for that fluctuating framerate.
In Australia I basically have two options;
1) ASUS PG278Q 27" 2560 x 1440 - $979
2) AOC G2460PG 24" 1920x1080 - $528
I want to go with the latter, but I'm unfamiliar with AOC. Anyone had any experience with their displays?
In Australia I basically have two options;
1) ASUS PG278Q 27" 2560 x 1440 - $979
2) AOC G2460PG 24" 1920x1080 - $528
I want to go with the latter, but I'm unfamiliar with AOC. Anyone had any experience with their displays?
If anything I'd say you are getting the better end of this deal based on what you were selling it for. Seems like a fair enough trade though and you're both getting a good machine for what you want. I'd probably do it.
NoRéN;143592532 said:
I have the same card and not a shadow of coil whine thus far. I've run multiple demanding games and benchmarks. It could certainly happen in the future, the card is also very silent under load (very light buzzing). No issues with fan either.
If the coil is really annoying send it back. I don't know if my card is from a more recent batch than yours.
TerryLee81
Member
opticalmace
Member
Talk to ThoseDeafMutes, he has the AOC monitor.
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
Cool - I'll get in touch with him then. My initial impression was that I would be getting a good deal, but I figured I'd ask. Thanks.
threetri333
Banned
Check the Buy Sell Trade thread.
So looks like Fiji XT will be the 380x and Bermuda XT is the 390x? Oh boy, nVidia better watch out, especially if AMD prices that 380x aggressively (~$350 or under)
Check out reddit's microsoftsoftwareswap ($20 or less) or the BST thread as threetri333 mentioned.
The keys from microsoftsoftwareswap are legitimate and unique keys - I think they're from educational programs like dreamspark and technet, which are for university students. Technically those people are breaking some EULA or licensing agreement by selling them, but there's no way to track unique keys being sold or not, so there's little chance if at all that they'll deactivate or invalidate Windows keys.
As for the procedure, backup and clean install is best.
A comparably spec'd brand new system would cost a lot more than $700. Small hard drives, but you're getting a decent system that can be upgraded in the future, so it looks good.
If all the parts are in good order, then go for it.
Cool thanks guys. I have an SSD just for the OS so it should be a simple swap I would hope.
TC McQueen
Member
Getting ready for my GPU upgrade at the end of the month/beginning of the new year, but I have a question: is it alright to put a GPU in the second PCIe 3.0 x16 slot instead of the first one? I've got an mATX board and after installing a Hyper 212 Evo, getting anything out of the primary slot becomes a massive pain in the ass.
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
Just ordered two Intel 730 240GB Drives.
Time to raid 0 these things.
I've never raided before. These are being added to a system that already has a SSD with the OS already on it. These will be used as my gaming storage. Is it pretty easy to make these 2 drives raided while the rest aren't?
Time to raid 0 these things.
I've never raided before. These are being added to a system that already has a SSD with the OS already on it. These will be used as my gaming storage. Is it pretty easy to make these 2 drives raided while the rest aren't?
This is completely pointless. It will make zero impact on game performance.
SpeedyDesiato
Neo Member
Awesome, thank you so much for the help. I've heard that it's a good idea to have a (relatively small, I guess) SSD to put the OS onto - If I wanted that, how should I adjust the other bits in order to come into the budget? Maybe trying to hit around the £900 mark - would I still be able to play new games at a good resolution and decent framerate etc?
Very similar to my build am going for expect with an i5 instead. You could go for an i5-4690k or i5-4570k which will save about £102 and will still be great for your needs. i7 is more for if you do things like streaming/gaming at the same time or lots of video editing but since you only rated it at 2 for video editing waiting a few more minutes shouldn't be much of a deal
at least not to justify the price increase from i5 to i7. General gaming performance should be very similar give or take 5fps. You could also look at a cheaper monitor which could save about £20+ based on alternatives and maybe a little less on the power supply. Will the money saved I would say investing in a small SSD for OS would be a great idea something like a Crucial MX100 120GB for like £52.
Honestly, there's absolutely no reason to bother with RAID 0 with SSD's for gaming (or for almost anything else).
To be honest, there's barely a reason to bother with SSDs at all for gaming, let alone RAID 0. It makes very little appreciable difference in loading times that I've seen for the games I currently have installed.
SpeedyDesiato
Neo Member
Very similar to my build am going for expect with an i5 instead. You could go for an i5-4690k or i5-4570k which will save about £102 and will still be great for your needs. i7 is more for if you do things like streaming/gaming at the same time or lots of video editing but since you only rated it at 2 for video editing waiting a few more minutes shouldn't be much of a deal
Will the money saved I would say investing in a small SSD for OS would be a great idea something like a Crucial MX100 120GB for like £52.
Brilliant, thank you. I'll also need a wireless internet card - are there any that are particularly recommendable?
TC McQueen
Member
The TP-WDN4800 (IIRC) is pretty good - I have one in my rig.
SpeedyDesiato
Neo Member
Aye, it has a pretty good reputation on that PC Parts Picker.
So if I were to build this, what sort of capability would it have? Particularly w regards to games and occasional possible streaming:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.50 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.95 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£106.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£59.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£52.08 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.60 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£272.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£74.64 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12G 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£73.49 @ Amazon UK)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£26.39 @ Aria PC)
Total: £896.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-17 21:17 GMT+0000
It's possible I just haven't played any games that have benefited from an SSD yet. What games have you noticed a difference in?
Just IMO but using an SSD for Windows but keeping the games on a separate HDD makes a pretty big difference in terms of stability and multi-tasking. I'm the type who keeps Chrome/Spotify/etc. open while I play games, though, so maybe I'm a bit of an outlier. But I find that having an SSD with all my apps and programs keeps my games much more stable. Otherwise, having everything run off the same HDD makes my system feel a LOT more clunky, for lack of a better word. It's just something I "feel" and can't really quantify, tbh.
You have a great computer that will last you 3-5 years before needing to upgrade depending on your needs. Expect to get good to excellent performance in games according to these benchmarks.
You could have just gone with a 480/500/512GB SSD instead of using RAID 0 to combine the two. Less hassle.
Powerline adapters, assuming your house/apartment/whatever has decent wiring.
Honestly though I game on WiFi and its really not nearly as big of a deal as people like to make it out to be. Sure, wired is preferable (and I wouldn't game competitively, like MLG level or whatever, on WiFi) but its really not bad at all.
Probably a powerline ethernet adapter kit.
There's a bunch out there. I don't have any first hand experience with them though I know there are some folks who have.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cription=powerline+networking&N=-1&isNodeId=1
Though if it's a house and you own it, I'd take the time to wire it properly.
So would something like this cover my needs?
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008IFXQFU/?tag=neogaf0e-20
edit: looking at the reviews it looks like it has really low download speeds
What the hell is this magic?
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
Some games simply benefit with having little to no loading screen. I noticed this In Diablo III and didn't even realize there was an actual loading screen until some people on Disk Drives complained.
Games that are designed to stream content as you traverse the world receive the greatest benefit to them. After getting my first SSD I was still playing WoW. Everything would load automatically even when flying at ridiculous speeds on my mount. Before there would be obvious texture loading accompanied by a jitter as tried to load them. I don't experience that with a SSD anymore.
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