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[Celcius]

Hi, PC-GAF. Is my i5 2500k still fine (for Witcher 3)?

Be sure to overclock it if you can.

 

[BlackEyes]

got another 970 gtx for the sli
now my problem is the FIRST card on the top can reach TO 90 DEEGRES in sli idk wtf is going on
but the second card is 60c lmao
and i even turned up the fans to 85% on both idk what's wrong with the first card, i heard the first card in sli runs hotter but damn this is insane
both of them are msi twin frozr 970 gtx
any idea what the hell is going on?

 

[Bony Manifesto]

got another 970 gtx for the sli
now my problem is the FIRST card on the top can reach TO 90 DEEGRES in sli idk wtf is going on
but the second card is 60c lmao
and i even turned up the fans to 85% on both idk what's wrong with the first card, i heard the first card in sli runs hotter but damn this is insane
both of them are msi twin frozr 970 gtx
any idea what the hell is going on?

That's just the way things are. Those coolers are designed to have some space around them so that the air can circulate, so when you have two cards right next to each other, the one in the first slot is going to struggle. You just have to make sure your case cooling is up to scratch.

 

[BlackEyes]

That's just the way things are. Those coolers are designed to have some space around them so that the air can circulate, so when you have two cards right next to each other, the one in the first slot is going to struggle. You just have to make sure your case cooling is up to scratch.

but god damn it man, 90c? that's insane im afraid to boot up a game and play right now X_X can i show u a picture in here of how it looks like and what can i do to make it better?
http://postimg.org/image/q62968v9t/
there

 

[Bumhead]

Just been looking at some of the small form factor builds, and thinking of going with the Fractal Design Node 304 case.

What's the deal with optical drives? Would be for the installation of Windows and then literally nothing after that. Best off to just grab an internal drive, hook it up for the installation and then disconnect it again when done?

 

[MisterNoisy]

got another 970 gtx for the sli
now my problem is the FIRST card on the top can reach TO 90 DEEGRES in sli idk wtf is going on
but the second card is 60c lmao
and i even turned up the fans to 85% on both idk what's wrong with the first card, i heard the first card in sli runs hotter but damn this is insane
both of them are msi twin frozr 970 gtx
any idea what the hell is going on?

Anything you can do to pull in more air around those cards is going to be a huge help. If your case has fan mounts on the door around that area, I'd fill them up. Similarly, if you have empty fan mounts up front, no reason not to load them up. I've got a nifty little bracket laying around that'll let you mount a fan above that area in most decently-sized tower cases (I got it with a Phanteks fan) that you can have if you want, but it does need a bit of room for it to be effective.

Edit: just saw the picture. Is there any way you can space the cards out more?

 

[BlackEyes]

Anything you can do to pull in more air around those cards is going to be a huge help. If your case has fan mounts on the door around that area, I'd fill them up. Similarly, if you have empty fan mounts up front, no reason not to load them up. I've got a nifty little bracket laying around that'll let you mount a fan above that area in most decently-sized tower cases (I got it with a Phanteks fan) that you can have if you want, but it does need a bit of room for it to be effective.

ahh my case is pretty old and i cant afford to buy a new one atm.. here is how it looks like: http://postimg.org/image/q62968v9t/
what can i do to make it better?, they are pretty damn close to each other

 

[Xplatformer]

OK...Windows OS question.

For my build I'm going with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. I'm building a system without an optical drive so that means I need another way to load my OS on my new driveless unit.


I just tried to create a bootable Win7 flash drive, but my process wouldn't load the boot sector that allows the computer to boot from flash drive.

I think it's because I run the 32-bit version of Windows on my current system, but I'm trying to create a 64 bit flash.


Does anyone know a work around other than me having to wipe my current system, do an install of the 64 bit of Windows on that...then repeat the process?

 

[C-Drive]

I think I'll be going with this build. Any comments from GAF?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($191.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.50 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Xion XON-560 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 500W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($63.30 @ Newegg)
Total: $643.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-04 20:43 EDT-0400

 

[MisterNoisy]

ahh my case is pretty old and i cant afford to buy a new one atm.. here is how it looks like: http://postimg.org/image/q62968v9t/
what can i do to make it better?, they are pretty damn close to each other

If you're in the US, I actually have a super cheap little mATX case laying around that does have open mesh over the GFX card area that you can have. When I say cheap, I mean super cheap - it's a Cougar Spike, which still uses an old-school top-mounted PSU. I picked it up for a reason I can't fully recall now, but you should be able to fit your Kuhler 620 in the exhaust slot and a fan or two right on top of your cards. It's not an ideal solution, but it would likely help get those temps down until you can replace it with a proper case down the road. I've even got some fans laying around I can chuck in there.

 

[BeekleMatter]

If you drop the DVD drive, and pick up an older Z77 ITX motherboard (probably the P8Z77-I Deluxe), then your only limit would be to make sure you could fit your video card in whatever case you are looking at. There's some cases that use smaller PSUs (SFX instead of ATX), in which case you'd need to get rid of that. Just look at some ITX cases and see what you like.

Thanks for the input. I'll do some lookin' around.

 

[BlackEyes]

If you're in the US, I actually have a super cheap little mATX case laying around that does have open mesh over the GFX card area that you can have. When I say cheap, I mean super cheap - it's a Cougar Spike, which still uses an old-school top-mounted PSU. I picked it up for a reason I can't fully recall now, but you should be able to fit your Kuhler 620 in the exhaust slot and a fan or two right on top of your cards. It's not an ideal solution, but it would likely help get those temps down until you can replace it with a proper case down the road. I've even got some fans laying around I can chuck in there.

hehe, i would have taken ur offer, but i'm from israel , hm.. any how, any suggestions on what i can do? maybe i'll move the card down to the PCI 8.0 slot meanwhile? can u suggest me a new case which is good but not too expensive?
just tried to move the card down to the 8x slot, it doesn't recognize it as sli X_X

 

[komplanen]

OK...Windows OS question.

For my build I'm going with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. I'm building a system without an optical drive so that means I need another way to load my OS on my new driveless unit.


I just tried to create a bootable Win7 flash drive, but my process wouldn't load the boot sector that allows the computer to boot from flash drive.

I think it's because I run the 32-bit version of Windows on my current system, but I'm trying to create a 64 bit flash.


Does anyone know a work around other than me having to wipe my current system, do an install of the 64 bit of Windows on that...then repeat the process?

What did you use to create the USB stick? Try Unetbootin and format the stick to FAT32 beforehand. I normally do this on a Mac, Windows, or Linux-on-a-stick install called PartedMagic (not free) and I have no problems. Though I guess all my systems have been 64-bit since years ago...

 

[mmazurkiewicz]

You're going to have to be more specific. What Asus motherboard are you comparing those two to? Generally, I recommend motherboards on a basis of what users require - which motherboard has the features you absolutely need?

I've never had a gaming PC and am trying to build something that can ran Witcher 3 and any upcoming releases at very high settings.

I'm waiting for the 980ti, going with 16gb DDR4, and the 4790k. I imagine I can get lesser motherboards, but if i'm spending so much already, I may as well get a good one.

Which features separate the top motherboards from the mid range ones? Just # of slots?

The ASUs motherboards I was referring to were just ones in the same price range.

 

[kennah]

Followed the Wirecutter's advice and got the TP-Link Archer C7 router. (Best router for 'most uses') to replace my decade old DIR-655 by D-Link.

Pretty great so far. Solid connection and even seems faster on my laptop. Hope this helps with some of our connectivity problems.

 

[luoapp]

hehe, i would have taken ur offer, but i'm from israel , hm.. any how, any suggestions on what i can do? maybe i'll move the card down to the PCI 8.0 slot meanwhile? can u suggest me a new case which is good but not too expensive?
just tried to move the card down to the 8x slot, it doesn't recognize it as sli X_X

drill some holes on the side panel, and install a fan on it?

 

[RGM79]

Just been looking at some of the small form factor builds, and thinking of going with the Fractal Design Node 304 case.

What's the deal with optical drives? Would be for the installation of Windows and then literally nothing after that. Best off to just grab an internal drive, hook it up for the installation and then disconnect it again when done?

I wouldn't even bother with buying a DVD drive. I'd just install Windows via USB drive.

I've never had a gaming PC and am trying to build something that can ran Witcher 3 and any upcoming releases at very high settings.

I'm waiting for the 980ti, going with 16gb DDR4, and the 4790k. I imagine I can get lesser motherboards, but if i'm spending so much already, I may as well get a good one.

Which features separate the top motherboards from the mid range ones? Just # of slots?

The ASUs motherboards I was referring to were just ones in the same price range.

The 4790K doesn't work with X99 motherboards or DDR4 RAM. If you want X99 and DDR4 RAM, you'll need to buy the i7 5820K instead. If you want to stick with the i7 4790K, that means you need a Z97 motherboard and DDR3 RAM instead.

Usually the more expensive motherboards have additional features or gimmicks that aren't really necessary nor add to performance or quality. Extra ports, software, certain color schemes and looks, things like that. Midrange motherboards are more than good enough for moderate overclocking.

What kind of a budget do you have, and are you just looking for a list of parts without the graphics card?

 

[Oscar]

The GTX 580 more than meets the requirements, so maybe something else is at fault here. Is your 2600K overclocked? Have you given your PC a cleaning recently? It could be getting dusty and running a bit too warm. Any issues in any other games?

Some people seem to be claiming that poor performance in Heroes of the Storm may be poor optimization or coding. Apparently lag can adversely affect framerate.

In that price range your best bang for buck option at the upper end of the budget would be the R9 290 4GB. The cheapest models on that list just meet your budget. The Powercolor PCS+ and Sapphire Tri-X OC are actually very nice models and generally keep very cool, although the triple fan cooler means they are quite long.

At the lower end of your budget, the R9 280 3GB sells for a bit under $160 at the cheapest, like this Sapphire Dual-X model for $158.

And the Nvidia option is the GTX 960 2GB/4GB, which sits in the middle of your price range. It's generally on par with or somewhat better than the R9 280, but falls behind the R9 290 by quite a bit. The 2GB model starts at $185 and the 4GB model starts at about $220. Given the price of the R9 290, I'd recommend it over the GTX 960 4GB. While the GTX 960 lacks in overall performance for its price, it does offer more efficient performance by being a lot less power hungry and also generates less heat, some models also have a passive fan mode for silent operation at low temperature. Being a newer card, it also stands to benefit from the latest driver updates - IIRC certain games have shown substantially better performance with the GTX 960 than the R9 280.

I can't actually find any GPU benchmarks for Heroes of the Storm. Apparently performance is said to vary with each patch.

Hey man, I really appreciate the detail you put into this post to help me out. I'll definitely take the R9 290 4GB into consideration when making my purchase.

 

[mercenar1e]

so it seems like Intel is quietly shipping Broadwell CPU's to vendors.. might be good to wait it out for benchmarks vs i7 4790K

http://wccftech.com/intel-broadwell-cpus-i5-5675c-i7-5775c-oem-listed/

Intels roadmap confirms Skylake for Q3 2015

 

[Xplatformer]

Well, since I really want to go with the EVGA 4GB GTX 960 within a Fractal Design Node 304 case...I'm going with the Cooler Master V550 instead of the EVGA 550. The Cooler Master has smaller dimensions and will allow me to install the GTX 960 without space concerns.

 

[Tomat]

Are they keyboards in the OP still solid recommendations? I had my Razer (lol) Blackwidow die on me finally after 3 years. I have some old plain keyboards lying around here that work just fine, but I'd rather get another mechanical keyboard. I don't need all the gaming crap (never used it to begin with). As far as bells and whistles go, I like the lights but that's all I'd really want.

I'm looking at the CM Storm QuickFire XT from the OP and it looks pretty good.

 

[m_shortpants]

Is it normal for a GPU to be...droopy? i 've given the power cable plenty of slack but the end looks like it's sloping down a bit.

 

[RGM79]

Well, since I really want to go with the EVGA 4GB GTX 960 within a Fractal Design Node 304 case...I'm going with the Cooler Master V550 instead of the EVGA 550. The Cooler Master has smaller dimensions and will allow me to install the GTX 960 without space concerns.

Looks alright to me. Can't find many reviews, but there doesn't seem to be anything negative about it, except for the cables being somewhat longer than they need to be, so just be careful with cable management.

Is it normal for a GPU to be...droopy? i 've given the power cable plenty of slack but the end looks like it's sloping down a bit.

That's common with larger graphics cards. Not really an issue to be honest, but some people prefer to prop up or hang up the corner of the graphics card with a cable.

 

[m_shortpants]

Looks alright to me. Can't find many reviews, but there doesn't seem to be anything negative about it, except for the cables being somewhat longer than they need to be, so just be careful with cable management.



That's common with larger graphics cards. Not really an issue to be honest, but some people prefer to prop up or hang up the corner of the graphics card with a cable.

Ah, ok, thanks. Also another question. If I was to add another 970 to SLI at some point in the future, would the 650w PSU cut it?

Also, do you need the same brand or will any 970 work?

 

[njean777]

You know what sucks, building a Pc and the motherboard is DOA, with a bent USB 3 pin... Oh and on top of that having the USB 3 case cable be damaged also. Stuck in RMA land with New Egg now. Though I will admit they are being cool about it and sending me a replacement case (Fractal R4) and refunding the motherboard (MSI z97).

What is a good motherboard maker (intel)? I am not getting another MSI as I didn't care for the layout of the board. I generally in the past have used ASUS and Gigabyte, should I just stick to either of those two? I am just running one 970 right now, and probably will not SLI at all.

Will be testing the other components of my build on my family PC I built for them about a year ago just to make sure everything else works. Well everything other than the CPU.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Also, do you need the same brand or will any 970 work?

you can SLI different brands if the memory is the same (not an issue here with existing 970s), but you may have to play with the clock speeds to make sure they are both stable iirc.

 

[RGM79]

Ah, ok, thanks. Also another question. If I was to add another 970 to SLI at some point in the future, would the 650w PSU cut it?

Also, do you need the same brand or will any 970 work?

If you won't be overclocking at all, 650 watts might work out. The power consumption of each GTX 970 would be a bit less than 200 watts each, according to Guru3D. They do point out that they recommend a 750 watt PSU for twin SLI, though.

Technically you could run any model of GTX 970 in SLI with another 970, but ideally you'd want two of the same model so they run at the same speeds and match up better and you might not encounter as much instability or microstutter.

You know what sucks, building a Pc and the motherboard is DOA, with a bent USB 3 pin... Oh and on top of that having the USB 3 case cable be damaged also. Stuck in RMA land with New Egg now. Though I will admit they are being cool about it and sending me a replacement case (Fractal R4) and refunding the motherboard (MSI z97).

What is a good motherboard maker (intel)? I am not getting another MSI as I didn't care for the layout of the board. I generally in the past have used ASUS and Gigabyte, should I just stick to either of those two? I am just running one 970 right now, and probably will not SLI at all.

Will be testing the other components of my build on my family PC I built for them about a year ago just to make sure everything else works. Well everything other than the CPU.

Everyone has positive and negative experiences with different brands. If MSI doesn't work for you then it's fine to go back to Asus and Gigabyte.

 

[Ventara]

So Gaf, my boss at work is tossing out some old computers and said I could take them home with me if I want. I'm gonna take one, but I was wondering if there was some part I should keep an eye out for in case he decides to scrap the rest. Without knowing what's inside, is there anything you guys would recommend I look to salvage?

 

[RGM79]

So Gaf, my boss at work is tossing out some old computers and said I could take them home with me if I want. I'm gonna take one, but I was wondering if there was some part I should keep an eye out for in case he decides to scrap the rest. Without knowing what's inside, is there anything you guys would recommend I look to salvage?

Hard to say without knowing anything about the specs. If nothing else, they're probably still useful as HTPCs or low end work. Hard drives are always useful for extra storage. Business class power supplies are probably low wattage and not worth saving unless you want to have one for DIY work (I use a spare power supply to power a set of ventilation fans at home).

 

[ChrisMahoney]

Do integrated graphics have advantage of communication between the CPU and GPU being faster? Is that a thing?

 

[RGM79]

Will I need a new motherboard to support NVLink?

Most likely yes. It's not even available yet, I'm not expecting it to appear until motherboard chipsets after Z170 come out.

 

[Samaritan]

Hey, so I'm building a rig for a friend and would appreciate some input from you guys. I've been out of the PC-building game for a couple years now, and haven't really kept up, so if anyone could offer some feedback on this build, that'd be much appreciated!

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 Haswell Quad-Core 3.5GHz
Motherboard: ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO
Memory: G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Video Card: EVGA 04G-P4-2978-KR GeForce GTX 970 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5
Storage: Crucial MX100 CT512MX100SSD1 2.5" 512GB SATA III
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive-650, Hive Series 650W Modular Power Supply

Haven't picked a case out yet cause I need to get some feedback from my friend about that, but any recommendations on that would be super appreciated!

I'm trying to keep this in the ballpark of $1300.

 

[Reckoner]

Hey, so I'm building a rig for a friend and would appreciate some input from you guys. I've been out of the PC-building game for a couple years now, and haven't really kept up, so if anyone could offer some feedback on this build, that'd be much appreciated!

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 Haswell Quad-Core 3.5GHz
Motherboard: ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO
Memory: G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Video Card: EVGA 04G-P4-2978-KR GeForce GTX 970 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5
Storage: Crucial MX100 CT512MX100SSD1 2.5" 512GB SATA III
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive-650, Hive Series 650W Modular Power Supply

Haven't picked a case out yet cause I need to get some feedback from my friend about that, but any recommendations on that would be super appreciated!! Thanks~

with that board, shouldn't you want an unlocked cpu? choose the k version over that.

 

[RGM79]

Hey, so I'm building a rig for a friend and would appreciate some input from you guys. I've been out of the PC-building game for a couple years now, and haven't really kept up, so if anyone could offer some feedback on this build, that'd be much appreciated!

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 Haswell Quad-Core 3.5GHz
Motherboard: ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO
Memory: G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Video Card: EVGA 04G-P4-2978-KR GeForce GTX 970 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5
Storage: Crucial MX100 CT512MX100SSD1 2.5" 512GB SATA III
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive-650, Hive Series 650W Modular Power Supply

Haven't picked a case out yet cause I need to get some feedback from my friend about that, but any recommendations on that would be super appreciated!! Thanks~

Do you prefer to order from Newegg or are other retailers OK? What's the overall budget?

 

[Samaritan]

Do you prefer to order from Newegg or are other retailers OK? What's the overall budget?

Trying to keep this in the $1300 ballpark.

@Reckoner: Good point! I'll go with the K; the price difference is almost negligible.

 

[RGM79]

Trying to keep this in the $1300 ballpark.

@Reckoner: Good point! I'll go with the K; the price difference is almost negligible.

The Asus Maximus is an expensive motherboard, I sorta doubt you need something that pricey. The Trident RAM is very tall, I don't know what cooler you're planning to use but smaller RAM is preferable if you'll be getting an air cooler. Heatspreader size doesn't make a lot of difference when it comes to RAM performance or temperatures, especially if it's just running at 1600MHz. I found faster RAM for cheaper, anyway. The newer Crucial MX200 is cheaper than that MX100 for the same size. The Rosewill Hive is a bit expensive, there are cheaper models that have better specs.

Something like this will work well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-E ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX200 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($198.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1030.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-05 01:24 EDT-0400

A bit under $300 left in the budget for the case and any changes or upgrades you may want to make.

Microcenter has a nice in-store deal on CPU and motherboard bundles if you are located near one of their locations.

 

[Samaritan]

Something like this will work well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-E ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX200 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($198.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1030.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-05 01:24 EDT-0400

A bit under $300 left in the budget for the case and any changes or upgrades you may want to make.

Microcenter has a nice in-store deal on CPU and motherboard bundles if you are located near one of their locations.

So I'm guessing the motherboard I had picked out was far more than what I needed, huh? I've always had trouble picking out motherboards with my previous builds...

 

[RGM79]

So I'm guessing the motherboard I had picked out was far more than what I needed, huh? I've always had trouble picking out motherboards with my previous builds...

I updated my earlier post with some explanations for my choices.

Nothing particularly wrong with the Asus Maximus motherboard if you want to spend that much, it's just more than most people will need. The Z97-E is already adequate for moderate overclocking. Higher end motherboards have more ports and miscellaneous features and overclocking capability, but if you and your friend aren't into enthusiast features like that then it's probably unnecessary.

Since there's so much money left over, there are quite a few things you could consider. I think there's enough money to move up to an Intel hexa core processor like the i7 5820K which would go with an X99 motherboard and DDR4 RAM. Or you could consider a higher end CPU cooler and a stronger graphics card. Maybe a 2TB hard drive for extra storage? If your friend wants aesthetics, it's possible to go with a case with a window and parts with matching colors.

 

[Samaritan]

I updated my post with some explanations for my choices.

Nothing particularly wrong with the Asus Maximus motherboard if you want to spend that much, it's just more than most people will need. The Z97-E is already adequate for moderate overclocking.

Since there's so much money left over, there are quite a few things you could consider. I think there's enough money to move up to an Intel hexa core processor like the i7 5820K which would go with an X99 motherboard and DDR4 RAM. Or you could consider a higher end CPU cooler and a stronger graphics card. Maybe a 2TB hard drive for extra storage? If your friend wants aesthetics, it's possible to go with a case with a window and parts with matching colors.

I want to keep it to one drive for simplicity's sake, so I think I may use the extra for a larger capacity SSD and/or a good cooler. Appreciate the help greatly!!

 

[megarockexe]

Just stopping by with a quick question.
Now that I have a bit of extra cash, is it worth trading out my 128GB SSD on my main rig with something bigger like a 250 or 500 GB drive? I hate reinstalling and I would almost want to wait for Windows 10, but things could get confusing then.

 

[XBP]

My pc's aio cooler sometimes makes this weird sound like gurgling water. Doesn't happen all the time, maybe once a day or something? Is this normal or should I do something about it?

 

[Hazaro]

My pc's aio cooler sometimes makes this weird sound like gurgling water. Doesn't happen all the time, maybe once a day or something? Is this normal or should I do something about it?

Air bubbles are trapped in the flow and are trying to move, can be pretty common, they are all sealed so not much to do about it except take it apart or beg for a return. Still a pain. Another reason to go air imo.

You can try moving some of the tubes around a bit while it's off.

 

[XBP]

Air bubbles are trapped in the flow and are trying to move, can be pretty common, they are all sealed so not much to do about it except take it apart or beg for a return. Still a pain. Another reason to go air imo.

You can try moving some of the tubes around a bit while it's off.

Hm... would the bubbles cause any problems with the cooler in the long run? Returning it would be a pain so I'd rather not go that route unless its something that'll affect the pc's performance.

 

[Hazaro]

Hm... would the bubbles cause any problems with the cooler in the long run? Returning it would be a pain so I'd rather not go that route unless its something that'll affect the pc's performance.

Last time I did a quick lookup when I was having the issue was it's fine, but annoying.

 

[Chance Hale]

For other people with Rog Swifts, does running at 144Hz via the desktop cause your video card to constantly work? At 120 I idle at around 30-35C depending on the room temperature but if I jump to 144Hz it hovers around the mid 40s.

 

[Gambit61]

Which GTX 970 do you guys recommend? I think I'll jump on one now that the Batman/Witcher deal is live. Thanks!

Edit: Hmm, I see the EVGA SC was recommended on the last page. I think I'll go with that.

 

[matrixman92]

i told myself i would never buy another zotac after my last one died and they tried to replace it with an inferior one. But can anyone recommend their 970? or have any experience with it? Its currently the cheapest 970 I can find. Trying to jump on that arkham knight/witcher 3 deal

 

[lordfuzzybutt]

i told myself i would never buy another zotac after my last one died and they tried to replace it with an inferior one. But can anyone recommend their 970? or have any experience with it? Its currently the cheapest 970 I can find. Trying to jump on that arkham knight/witcher 3 deal

Lots of people on this board have it. They seem ok.

 

[matrixman92]

Lots of people on this board have it. They seem ok.

alright cool. Think I will give it a go

 

[Fantastapotamus]

I'm buying a new processor (i5 4690, not K) and need a motherboard with a 1150 socket.
Is there anything wrong with a "MSI B85M-E45"?

It's in stock at a local shop were I have an expiring gift coupon so if there aren't any major problems I'd buy that. Not looking to overclock the i5.