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[MKUltra]

I built a build on a tight budget at the end of 2013 and am planning to upgrade sometime in the next few months now I have a job to play my games at higher settings, specifically MGSV:TP when it comes out and maybe some of my Gamecube/Wii collection on Dolphin. I already know I'll need to change CPU/MB/GPU but should it be okay to reuse the other parts?


ASRock FM2A88X Extreme4+ Motherboard (Socket FM2+
AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor
Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card
Corsair CX 430W Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Corsair CMX4GX3M1A1600C11 XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB)
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB Hard Drive
NZXT Source 210 Case

 

[Kayant]

Those look nice. Is it known if skylake cpus will support socket 1150?

 

[kennah]

Too big. Where is the itx

 

[mkenyon]

Those look nice. Is it known if skylake cpus will support socket 1150?

No it will not. Haswell/Broadwell were the Tick/Tock for 1150. Only two procs per socket now.

Do they suffer in frame pacing compared to nvidia though? I'll look it up when I get home but if you know the answer that saves a little time, on mobile ATM.

Nope. Depends on the game of course, but they're both great now for the most part.

 

[NeOak]

I built a build on a tight budget at the end of 2013 and am planning to upgrade sometime in the next few months now I have a job to play my games at higher settings, specifically MGSV:TP when it comes out and maybe some of my Gamecube/Wii collection on Dolphin. I already know I'll need to change CPU/MB/GPU but should it be okay to reuse the other parts?


ASRock FM2A88X Extreme4+ Motherboard (Socket FM2+
AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor
Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card
Corsair CX 430W Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Corsair CMX4GX3M1A1600C11 XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB)
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB Hard Drive
NZXT Source 210 Case

I think the PSU should be upgraded too.

No it will not. Haswell/Broadwell were the Tick/Tock for 1150. Only two procs per socket now.

Nope. Depends on the game of course, but they're both great now for the most part.

And 2011-v3 for Broadwell-E?

 

[RGM79]

I built a build on a tight budget at the end of 2013 and am planning to upgrade sometime in the next few months now I have a job to play my games at higher settings, specifically MGSV:TP when it comes out and maybe some of my Gamecube/Wii collection on Dolphin. I already know I'll need to change CPU/MB/GPU but should it be okay to reuse the other parts?

ASRock FM2A88X Extreme4+ Motherboard (Socket FM2+
AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor
Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card
Corsair CX 430W Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Corsair CMX4GX3M1A1600C11 XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB)
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB Hard Drive
NZXT Source 210 Case

You'll likely need a higher wattage power supply depending on what parts you get.

 

[mkenyon]

And 2011-v3 for Broadwell-E?

Yeah, if they ever release it. With the weird Broadwell desktop release, I have a feeling they might not.

 

[MKUltra]

I think the PSU should be upgraded too.

You'll likely need a higher wattage power supply depending on what parts you get.

Alright thanks, I wasn't sure if that would be the case or not.

 

[kharma45]

First Z170 motherboards pictured:

And some more:

I quite like the look of the ASRock and the Biostar.

 

[Zeyphersan]

Alright fuck it, I'm not waiting until Skylake

Edit: Well I actually am, but I'll just grab a Haswell refresh on the cheap. Unless the Z190 platform launches with all the stuff I need (mITX, integrated AC wifi/bluetooth/USB 3.0, ALC1150 sound). But those all seem like things added after launch than right at

 

[Mika]

How large of a drive do you want? A 1TB 7200RPM Toshiba drive goes for $45, while the 2TB version goes for $69.

If you do deal with discs every now and then you might as well just get a new DVD drive, better than dealing with external drives at least in my experience. This LG DVD drive is only $10, or you can go with the trusty Samsung model for $15.

Word of warning though, the Fractal Define S case doesn't have any optical drive bays. In that case you may want to go back to the Define R4.

Thanks again for all the advice, have a much better position to evaluate my build now. One last thing, your build has a note about the power usage of the memory. Is that something I need to worry about?

 

[LostMyNarbles]

Hmm, alright then. For Skylake products, does this include CPUs? I was thinking of getting an i7-4790k cpu, but after you mentioned it, I don't know if a better one will come out.

Skylake is specifically Intel's new CPU series. It'll take place on the new LGA 1151 motherboard chipset which is why some people are recommending you wait because the current motherboards won't be compatible.

That being said if you want to build a PC now I wouldn't bother waiting for Skylake. To be honest the currently available Intel chip sets are going to be more than good enough for the next 4+ years of gaming and you can see this in the fact that the i5-2500k which launched in 2011 is still a very strong CPU for gaming.

 

[mkenyon]

Alright fuck it, I'm not waiting until Skylake

Edit: Well I actually am, but I'll just grab a Haswell refresh on the cheap. Unless the Z190 platform launches with all the stuff I need (mITX, integrated AC wifi/bluetooth/USB 3.0, ALC1150 sound). But those all seem like things added after launch than right at

There were some unlocked Broadwell chips recently released.

 

[NeOak]

That being said if you want to build a PC now I wouldn't bother waiting for Skylake. To be honest the currently available Intel chip sets are going to be more than good enough for the next 4+ years of gaming and you can see this in the fact that the i5-2500k which launched in 2011 is still a very strong CPU for gaming.

Pretty much.

 

[Kuldar]

I think I'm cursed.

I returned my Z97X-SLI motherboard since one of the PCIe slot wasn't working (the shop confirmed it) and the retailer send me a new one. I installed it and now I think I have a problem with one of my GTX 970 STRIX.

I didn't find the SLI option, then I looked if both cards were present in the device manager. They are here (unlike the last time) but one of the two GTX 970 is flaged as having a problem (the one on the second PCIe slot). In the properties of this card it says that Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems (coode 43).

I found that code 43 can a driver issue or a hardware issue.
I uninstalled the driver with DDU and then installed the driver provided with the GPU and code 43 is still present. I tried with the last version of the driver and it's the same. Finally I tried with the driver version proposed by windows update but the code 43 remains.
If I switch the two GTX 970 (one from the PCie 1 slot to the PCIe 2 slot and vice versa), it's the same card that have the code 43.
Can this be a driver incompatibility with another component? But if it was an issue with the driver, both cards would have the same problem don't they?

If it's a hardware issue I think I will never buy from this retailer again. -_-

Sorry for my english, it's late.

 

[opticalmace]

I think I'm cursed.

I returned my Z97X-SLI motherboard since one of the PCIe slot wasn't working (the shop confirmed it) and the retailer send me a new one. I installed it and now I think I have a problem with one of my GTX 970 STRIX.

I didn't find the SLI option, then I looked if both cards were present in the device manager. They are here (unlike the last time) but one of the two GTX 970 is flaged as having a problem (the one on the second PCIe slot). In the properties of this card it says that Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems (coode 43).

I found that code 43 can be a hardware issue or a driver issue.
So I uninstalled the driver with DDU and then installed the driver provided with the GPU and code 43 is still present. I tried with the last version of the driver and it's the same. Finally I tried with the driver version proposed by windows update but the code 43 remains.
If I switch the two GTX 970 (one from the PCie 1 slot to the PCIe 2 slot and vice versa), it's the same card that have the code 43.
Can this be a driver incompatibility with another driver component? But if it was an issue with the driver, both cards would have the same problem no?

If it's a hardware issue I think I will never buy from this retailer again. -_-

Sorry for my english, it's late.

Does it have the problem if you just have the one card in there?

 

[LostMyNarbles]

I think I'm cursed.

I returned my Z97X-SLI motherboard since one of the PCIe slot wasn't working (the shop confirmed it) and the retailer send me a new one. I installed it and now I think I have a problem with one of my GTX 970 STRIX.

I didn't find the SLI option, then I looked if both cards were present in the device manager. They are here (unlike the last time) but one of the two GTX 970 is flaged as having a problem (the one on the second PCIe slot). In the properties of this card it says that Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems (coode 43).

I found that code 43 can a driver issue or a hardware issue.
I uninstalled the driver with DDU and then installed the driver provided with the GPU and code 43 is still present. I tried with the last version of the driver and it's the same. Finally I tried with the driver version proposed by windows update but the code 43 remains.
If I switch the two GTX 970 (one from the PCie 1 slot to the PCIe 2 slot and vice versa), it's the same card that have the code 43.
Can this be a driver incompatibility with another component? But if it was an issue with the driver, both cards would have the same problem don't they?

If it's a hardware issue I think I will never buy from this retailer again. -_-

Sorry for my english, it's late.

Join the club of people with bad luck. I've returned 2 cases to Amazon because both of them were defective and the third one took 3 days longer to come then it was supposed to. Decided to open my other parts last night and the motherboard was broken due to having pins bent in it.

 

[Kuldar]

Does it have the problem if you just have the one card in there?

Just tried and yes. The one with the issue still have it when it's the only one and trying to uninstall/install driver didn't change anything.

At least if it's one of the GPU I have the other one and I will finally be able to play at The Witcher 3. ^^

Join the club of people with bad luck. I've returned 2 cases to Amazon because both of them were defective and the third one took 3 days longer to come then it was supposed to. Decided to open my other parts last night and the motherboard was broken due to having pins bent in it.

Arf, that's a lot of bad luck,

 

[mkenyon]

BIOS updated?

 

[Flaxh]

Hello guys!

Thanks to your help I built my first PC almost 2 years ago and now I'd like some tips on how to make sure that everything is still ok because warranty ends after 2 years here (Portugal). What kind of tests can I make? I haven't got much trouble with the rig so far, the only exception being my display which got traded by a new one 2 times already.

Also, I'm starting to have some troubles running the most recent games at 1080p60FPS with at least High settings and I'd love some feedback about possibles OCs (never done one) or upgrades. Here's the list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($31.24 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($330.76 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.97 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($405.76 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Asus MX239H 23.0" Monitor ($202.31 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Microsoft ANB-00001 Wired Slim Keyboard ($11.99 @ Directron)
Mouse: SteelSeries Sensei Pro MLG Edition Wired Laser Mouse ($100.98 @ Directron)
Headphones: Kingston HyperX Cloud II 7.1 Channel Headset ($95.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1642.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-01 19:08 EDT-0400


I know there's new GPUs coming out from AMD and Pascal hits next year, so what do you suggest?

Thanks in advance

 

[Kuldar]

BIOS updated?

Yes, its the last version.

Last thing I can try is with an other PC. I will try tomorrow.

 

[RS4-]

I'm still on a 2GB 6950. I can get a 970 Strix for 350 flat. Should I jump on that or just wait for the AMD, which I was doing anyway before I came across the 970.

I don't think I have to upgrade my 2600k for another year or two anyway.

 

[opticalmace]

I'm still on a 2GB 6950. I can get a 970 Strix for 350 flat. Should I jump on that or just wait for the AMD, which I was doing anyway before I came across the 970.

I don't think I have to upgrade my 2600k for another year or two anyway.

This one? http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-strixgtx970dc2oc4gd5

If you've waited this long I would probably wait to see what AMD announces, as that sounds like a kind of normal price. I'm in the same boat actually, got a 2GB 6950 and I'm looking to upgrade.

 

[Yudoken]

Skylake is specifically Intel's new CPU series. It'll take place on the new LGA 1151 motherboard chipset which is why some people are recommending you wait because the current motherboards won't be compatible.

That being said if you want to build a PC now I wouldn't bother waiting for Skylake. To be honest the currently available Intel chip sets are going to be more than good enough for the next 4+ years of gaming and you can see this in the fact that the i5-2500k which launched in 2011 is still a very strong CPU for gaming.

I agree!
I've recently "downgraded" my rig to an mATX setup and had to sell my i7 2600k and mainboard and bought an i7 4790k and there is no noticeable difference in framerates in my games at all (my i7 was oc to 4,4ghz).
Those 2500k's or stronger cpu's are gonna hold for a couple of years.
I personally recommend to stay on those.
First I wanted to buy an mATX board for my cpu and wasn't be able to get an fitting sli mATX mainboard and that's the main reason why I switched the cpu.

 

[Yudoken]

I'm still on a 2GB 6950. I can get a 970 Strix for 350 flat. Should I jump on that or just wait for the AMD, which I was doing anyway before I came across the 970.

I don't think I have to upgrade my 2600k for another year or two anyway.

Your cpu will probably at least hold another 4 years until it's worth it upgrading as far as it seems.
I would wait for the AMD lineup and if AMD doesn't bring something similar to a 970 go buy a 970.

 

[RS4-]

This one? http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-strixgtx970dc2oc4gd5

If you've waited this long I would probably wait to see what AMD announces, as that sounds like a kind of normal price. I'm in the same boat actually, got a 2GB 6950 and I'm looking to upgrade.

Yeah that one. Oh, 350 CAD. They're still going for 420 + tax, so I'm saving about $100. Which isn't much. I think I'll wait, most of my time is spent with Dota anyway. And if the HBM cards don't pan out or more expensive than I'd like, I'll just look for a 970 again.

 

[opticalmace]

Yeah that one. Oh, 350 CAD. They're still going for 420 + tax, so I'm saving about $100. Which isn't much. I think I'll wait, most of my time is spent with Dota anyway. And if the HBM cards don't pan out or more expensive than I'd like, I'll just look for a 970 again.

Ah, I'm in Canuckistan too. I assume that 350 price was through a friend? Otherwise I might be a little tempted too.

 

[CHC]

Skylake is specifically Intel's new CPU series. It'll take place on the new LGA 1151 motherboard chipset which is why some people are recommending you wait because the current motherboards won't be compatible.

That being said if you want to build a PC now I wouldn't bother waiting for Skylake. To be honest the currently available Intel chip sets are going to be more than good enough for the next 4+ years of gaming and you can see this in the fact that the i5-2500k which launched in 2011 is still a very strong CPU for gaming.

Yeah this is spot on. CPUs are already so far ahead in terms of what is required for gaming, and more games are depending more heavily on the GPU to do everything anyway. I'm still using a 2500k that I bought right when it came out and it's as fast as it needs to be.

 

[Yudoken]

Thanks for the response. Honestly you've kinda convinved me to hold onto the idea of SLI'ing lol. Most old games run like an absolute dream on my 770 so i'd only be looking at new releases and you're suggesting they're becoming better optimised. Whens this whole DX12 thing coming out, it sounds epic.

I've made a error (you probably noticed it), I meant total of 8gb (or 7gb fast, 1gb of slow 970 GDDR5 ram).
Currently, you can only use 4 if you sli your cards (or 3,5gb, the last 0,5 are almost never used).
If all works according to DX12 plan SLI will be fantastic and 970's will be the best bang for the buck (from Nvidia) if you want to buy a graphics card for gaming.
Buying the way more expensive 980/980ti or Titan X for gaming (best bang for bucks) doesn't make sense if devs adapt X12.
And even if you want it to use it now most AAA games work well with SLI, there are exception (especially on launch days) but there are way less problems than before.
And as we know W10 will be free for almost everyone and it doesn't look like that there is a reason (other than 7 to 8) to not upgrade.
There are already a few games announced which are going to be updated/based on X12.

 

[mkenyon]

Hello guys!

Thanks to your help I built my first PC almost 2 years ago and now I'd like some tips on how to make sure that everything is still ok because warranty ends after 2 years here (Portugal). What kind of tests can I make? I haven't got much trouble with the rig so far, the only exception being my display which got traded by a new one 2 times already.

Also, I'm starting to have some troubles running the most recent games at 1080p60FPS with at least High settings and I'd love some feedback about possibles OCs (never done one) or upgrades. Here's the list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($31.24 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($330.76 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.97 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($405.76 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Asus MX239H 23.0" Monitor ($202.31 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Microsoft ANB-00001 Wired Slim Keyboard ($11.99 @ Directron)
Mouse: SteelSeries Sensei Pro MLG Edition Wired Laser Mouse ($100.98 @ Directron)
Headphones: Kingston HyperX Cloud II 7.1 Channel Headset ($95.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1642.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-01 19:08 EDT-0400


I know there's new GPUs coming out from AMD and Pascal hits next year, so what do you suggest?

Thanks in advance

Solid. Only thing to do would be to add some more memory. 16GB can be helpful in some situations.

Gaming is a great test to make sure everything is working well. That build should last you awhile longer.

 

[zeroeffect]

Anyone play Witcher 3 on a GTX 980 without crashes? I wonder if NVIDIA has some bad drivers.

Anyone else with an nVidia GPU getting a ton of "Display driver has stopped responding" errors since the last 2 driver updates?

Do you have an EVGA 900 series? If so I can about guarantee you if you're getting these errors you have a bad GPU especially if it's the SC series. They undoubtedly had a bad batch as you can Google it yourself it's a very common problem on their GPUs. This 900 series has really been disappointing. TW3 also has major problems with this error and it's hard to say if it's a driver or bad GPUs because this was a common problem before the game came out. A lot of people say TW3 is the only game that crashes on them so it makes you wonder if NVIDIA just laid an egg on drivers.

DDU is a good program to make sure it completely removes drivers from your system. I wouldn't recommend third-party but rather manually check the registries yourself but I've never had a problem with DDU.

 

[Quote]

Alright, everything is ordered and some of it is here waiting to be installed.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($338.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($97.49 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($125.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($177.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($324.30 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair Air 240 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec TruePower New 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM (64-bit) ($92.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Samsung S32D850T 60Hz 32.0" Monitor ($601.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1909.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-01 20:44 EDT-0400

This is everything more or less, some things I got cheaper because I waited for a sale. I already had some of the stuff, I just made a list to detail what will be the end result. So the PSU, Windows 7 are being reused from an old build. The CPU I was able to pick up for super cheap from an Intel accommodation.

The display and 970 are here already, so hooked them up with my old AMD Phenom II x4 3.0 PC, and it already runs things really well, so I can't wait to see how it improves with the better processor.

The only thing I bought kind of on an impulse was the RAM. I have no idea if its any good or not for that price but oh well.

 

[appaws]

Fun watching the vendors reveal 980ti variants. The Asus Poseidon one looks really awesome if you are into water cooling. And the Gigabyte G1 if you want to stick with air.

I think this is a weird card though tough, market wise. So many people are clinging on to 1080p as the gaming standard....will single card solutions that can push the pixels for 4k be the spur to mass market adoption?

If not, how many 980ti and Radeon Fury cards are going to sell at these high prices...?

 

[BlazinAm]

So I got the main Hard Drive on my computer giving me a Smart error: The Bad Backup Replace. When I rtied to F1 and manual boot to the drive from the bios I get a disc read error... I adready know the drive is on the way out but is there a way to get pass this and boot into the drive so I can get important files off?
I already am planing to overnight the new drive but yeah i'm pretty much fucked right?

 

[AJLma]

I'd try the Guru3D cleaner and a fresh install.

Anyone play Witcher 3 on a GTX 980 without crashes? I wonder if NVIDIA has some bad drivers.

Do you have an EVGA 900 series? If so I can about guarantee you if you're getting these errors you have a bad GPU especially if it's the SC series. They undoubtedly had a bad batch as you can Google it yourself it's a very common problem on their GPUs. This 900 series has really been disappointing. TW3 also has major problems with this error and it's hard to say if it's a driver or bad GPUs because this was a common problem before the game came out. A lot of people say TW3 is the only game that crashes on them so it makes you wonder if NVIDIA just laid an egg on drivers.

DDU is a good program to make sure it completely removes drivers from your system. I wouldn't recommend third-party but rather manually check the registries yourself but I've never had a problem with DDU.

I have a Titan X. I did the clean re-install after running Guru3D and everything is good so far, so hopefully it's just the drivers.

 

[RGM79]

Thanks again for all the advice, have a much better position to evaluate my build now. One last thing, your build has a note about the power usage of the memory. Is that something I need to worry about?

It's compatible, the warning just means that to run at the rated speed, it will require just a bit more voltage than normal. All high speed RAM above a certain speed is technically overclocked and will run at 1.60~1.65V. If you wish, you can run the high speed RAM at a lower speed and 1.5V by changing the settings in the BIOS.

Well, 1.65V RAM will run a bit warmer by a few degrees compared to lower voltage RAM, as you can see here in this Puget Systems test. As long as your case has decent ventilation, it's not a problem at all.

 

[mullet2000]

Hey guys!

I just put together a build with the help of a friend and I was wondering if I could get some advice/criticism about it. This is my first time building a PC. I was hoping to be around 900-1000$ before my monitor/keyboard/mouse, but I've gone a bit above that. Anywhere I could reasonably cut cost without much dip in quality would be great. Any equally priced parts you feel are better are something I'd like to consider as well. Keep in mind when looking at the prices that I am in Canada.

PCPartPicker part list
Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.75 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.05 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5"; Solid State Drive ($65.75 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5"; 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.95 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($403.19 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: BitFenix Shinobi Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($66.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($99.99)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0"; Monitor ($329.00 @ Canada Computers)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($23.99 @ NCIX)

Total: $1574.64

The monitor is definitely jacking the total up a bit, but I'm quite tempted by that sweet sweet 144hz.

 

[holygeesus]

You might need a better GPU then.

 

[Vex_]

Anyone play Witcher 3 on a GTX 980 without crashes? I wonder if NVIDIA has some bad drivers.



Do you have an EVGA 900 series? If so I can about guarantee you if you're getting these errors you have a bad GPU

Not true. I have downgraded after doing a bit of research on my brand new 980 and find that the 350 gtav drivers have yet to crash on me.

Before I was getting crashes even browsing in chrome. Even when just sitting on the desktop. CRASH.

Downgraded. Boom. Not one single crash.

 

[Quote]

Hey guys!

I just put together a build with the help of a friend and I was wondering if I could get some advice/criticism about it. This is my first time building a PC. I was hoping to be around 900-1000$ before my monitor/keyboard/mouse, but I've gone a bit above that. Anywhere I could reasonably cut cost without much dip in quality would be great. Any equally priced parts you feel are better are something I'd like to consider as well. Keep in mind when looking at the prices that I am in Canada.

The monitor is definitely jacking the total up a bit, but I'm quite tempted by that sweet sweet 144hz.

Hm, not sure that'll be good enough for 144hz, but I may be wrong. I only know/think that because I had a similar build but with an i7 (4790k) and was told that I would need to OC a bit to get 144hz working really well.

See below and follow the quotes:

So in a lot of games, a high frequency on your processor is the thing that will give you consistently low frame times. To really benefit from that 144Hz display, you need to over clock. Fortunately it is really easy.

So, you want a Z97 board. For the cooler in a Hadron, I recommend the Thermalright AXP 100. The EVGA Stinger is the board to get right now with its lower price and excellent CPU socket placement.

Someone who knows a lot more will probably chime in with options!

 

[j0hnny_385]

Question regarding the free Windows 10 upgrade.

Will we get a serial code or what? I really don't want to upgrade my Win 8.1, I prefer a clean install.

 

[Zeyphersan]

There were some unlocked Broadwell chips recently released.

Whoops, meant Broadwell

 

[Hip Hop]

Okay.

I think im doing this.

Want to reinstall Windows 8.1 on my new drives.

Gonna grab and ISO and use my product key that I'm using right now.

this should work, right? This is a key bought from the Microsoft store.

 

[RGM79]

Okay.

I think im doing this.

Want to reinstall Windows 8.1 on my new drives.

Gonna grab and ISO and use my product key that I'm using right now.

this should work, right? This is a key bought from the Microsoft store.

Yes, that works. You're getting the ISO from the Microsoft download tool, right?

Question regarding the free Windows 10 upgrade.

Will we get a serial code or what? I really don't want to upgrade my Win 8.1, I prefer a clean install.

Specific details aren't known yet. However, there's always a way to use upgrade keys for fresh installs, that's been the case for Windows 7 and 8/8.1, so I would expect it to be possible for Windows 10.

Hey guys!

I just put together a build with the help of a friend and I was wondering if I could get some advice/criticism about it. This is my first time building a PC. I was hoping to be around 900-1000$ before my monitor/keyboard/mouse, but I've gone a bit above that. Anywhere I could reasonably cut cost without much dip in quality would be great. Any equally priced parts you feel are better are something I'd like to consider as well. Keep in mind when looking at the prices that I am in Canada.

PCPartPicker part list
Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.75 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.05 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5"; Solid State Drive ($65.75 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5"; 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.95 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($403.19 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: BitFenix Shinobi Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($66.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($99.99)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0"; Monitor ($329.00 @ Canada Computers)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($23.99 @ NCIX)

Total: $1574.64

The monitor is definitely jacking the total up a bit, but I'm quite tempted by that sweet sweet 144hz.

Canadian prices are somewhat hard to work around. The Power supply and Windows OS price were manually set, does this mean you already bought the items? I'm assuming you already did.

Here's my version of your build, about $130 would be saved with my changes. I'll list the reasons for some of the parts changes.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($218.25 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: ASRock B85 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.41 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Sandisk Solid State Drive 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($64.75 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.48 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($403.19 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.77 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($99.99)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($329.00 @ Canada Computers)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($23.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $1446.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-02 05:28 EDT-0400

1. The i5 4460 offers performance within 5~10% of the i5 4590, but costs a bit less. It's worth the tradeoff, I think.
2. Z97 motherboards should be paired with overclockable processors like the i5 4690K or the i7 4790K. If you'll be going with a non-overclocking processor like the i5 4460/4590, then you can go with a cheaper H81 or B85 model motherboard. They have fewer features but won't really limit CPU/GPU performance.
3. I found a slightly cheaper set of 2x4GB 1600MHz RAM.
4. The Kingston V300 SSD is not recommended at all, later versions were subject to a "bait and switch" where they released a substantially different and worse-performing product under the same name. I substituted in an entry level Sandisk SSD that should be much faster.
5. I found a cheaper Toshiba 1TB 7200RPM hard drive.
6. I changed the case to the slightly cheaper Corsair 100R, which also has a window. Cases are a subjective choice and the difference was only $12, so feel free to add back the Bitfenix case if you want.

I wasn't sure if the Windows OS license and PSU were already purchased or not, so I didn't touch them. There are cheaper alternatives for both, though.

Windows 7/8.1 licenses can be bought from reddit's microsoftsoftwareswap for $25 CAD or less. These are most likely legitimate keys that are resold from educational programs like Technet or Dreamspark. However, you are dealing with a person instead of a retailer, and informal Windows keys sales are not approved by Microsoft and probably breaking some licensing agreement, but it's not illegal. The risks involved are that the person could be selling you a fake or used key, or that Microsoft may refuse to give you support and/or deactivate your license and refuse to reactivate it. That's not very likely, usually it only happens if the seller and their list of sold keys was caught. We've had people here using those keys without issues for a long time and others who say Microsoft deactivated their key after several months.

As for the power supply, here are some recommendations that are cheaper (after rebate):
EVGA B1 500 watts for $50 after $10 rebate - bronze rated, non-modular cables, the cheapest PSU I'd recommend with just enough wattage for all of your parts.
EVGA 600B for $65 after $10 rebate - A step up from the last one, also bronze and non-modular but with more wattage in case you want to upgrade to more power-hungry parts in the future.
EVGA Supernova B2 750 watts for $70 after $30 rebate - bronze rated and semi-modular, with more than enough wattage than you'll need, plenty for future upgrades. Made by Super Flower, one of the better PSU OEMs.

 

[Sevenfold]

First Z170 motherboards pictured:

That second one is a sexy mobo.

 

[Rootbeer]

With the Skylake launch anticipated at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) on 15 August, how soon after this event can we expect it to hit market? Like immediately?

I will be building my first all-new PC in 5 years based around skylake. I'm really excited to get going. I have a lot of planning to do between now and then. Just now starting to research it seriously. Budget isn't really an issue but aiming for around 2000 (monitor, keyboard, mouse and storage not included in this budget as most will be migrated. Exception being 1 additional SSD of 500GB or larger for the OS drive)

For GPU my top contender is the 980 Ti (probably an Asus variant) unless we get something more interesting between now and mid-August?

I have a 1920x1200 monitor so I game at 1200p when possible, will likely jump up to 1440p since that's where a lot of people are at now. I'm putting 4K off for the time being as i'm more interested in pursuing VR in the coming year and will move up to 4K a year or so later when prices are more to my liking.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Would it be foolish to go with something like an i3 4170 CPU over an i5 model? I'm trying to keep costs down for my first build, but I'm wondering if its better to just go with an i5 as I'm guessing it's more future proof?

I'm not looking to build a beast, just looking to get my foot in the door with something that will run better than my PS4.

Is this any good?

Case- BitFenix Neos White/Blue ATX Mid Tower
CPU- Intel i3-4370
Motherboard- Asus H97m Pro LGA1150 mATX
Memory- Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600
PSU- EVGA 600B 600 watt 80+ Bronze
HDD- WD Blue 1TB
GPU- GTX 960 2GB

Might go with an R9 280X 3GB if I can get one for around $200.

 

[komplanen]

Corsair Bulldog

---

Corsair Lapdog

 

[Big Chungus]

so lets say i buy a ssd for my system, can i just re-install my OS on the SSD and leave my current OS install on my hard drive so I can move my old files(docs, game installs) over?

 

[ISee]

Not true. I have downgraded after doing a bit of research on my brand new 980 and find that the 350 gtav drivers have yet to crash on me.

Before I was getting crashes even browsing in chrome. Even when just sitting on the desktop. CRASH.

Downgraded. Boom. Not one single crash.

Exactly my experience but with a 970.