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[CreepingFear]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to ask this, but I'm trying to decide between building a desktop PC or buying a new laptop before college. I've never built a computer before and like the ability to upgrade it later, but It'd be more expensive. The laptop would be better then the one I have now and cheaper then the desktop, but I'm not sure I need it as all my classes I'd need a computer for provide one.

So does anyone have an thoughts or opinions?

I'm confused, your school will provide you a laptop for classes or are you talking about computers in a lab type environment? The key word you said was "college. If you are only having one computer, then a laptop makes more sense for studies. Normally, I would advise you to build a gaming desktop over a laptop because you get more power for your money and it's infinitely more upgradeable. Is it possible you could pull off a cheap chromebook and a gaming desktop for your dorm room?

 

[Pokemon Trainer Red]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to ask this, but I'm trying to decide between building a desktop PC or buying a new laptop before college. I've never built a computer before and like the ability to upgrade it later, but It'd be more expensive. The laptop would be better then the one I have now and cheaper then the desktop, but I'm not sure I need it as all my classes I'd need a computer for provide one.

So does anyone have an thoughts or opinions?

You need to be able to study outside of your room, so you would need a portability of a laptop.

Be careful where you bring your laptop because people will jack it if you leave your laptop unattended.

 

[Trojita]

When did routers start looking like Evangelion Angel rejects?

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Is he familiar with the pitfalls of 3-Way SLI?

He is. I kind of argued with him.

When the Titan X hit the scene, do doubt it was/is all kinds of badass. An amazing card for sure. But the 980 Ti was released, and in my opinion (and the opinion of many others) it's the better buy if you're not doing 4K.

But then he bought a second. I asked him why he didn't sell his X and save some money with two 980 Tis - he said he was ready half way there, and so it didn't "feel" awful spending more on a second X.

Fair enough. And I will say, even at 1440P, the single X couldn't always maintain 60fps on Witcher 3 or GTAV. While g-sync negates the hurt a little bit, I can understand it.

But then he just bought a 3rd. I honestly don't understand - he's aware of the pitfalls (and I made sure to remind him): poor scaling, lack of profiles at all, sometimes a need to totally disconnect the third; and my biggest point: Heat, and how they'll definitely throttle.

If it were up to me, I'd stick with either dual Titan Xs, or, if I were going three-way, and it was one or the other, I'd rather have three 980Tis, put them on water, and over lock the hell out of them while they stay cool and quiet.

But I digress - it's not my money. And at the end of the day, he's right that his computer is "better" than what I have and what I'd build myself (friendly competition). But, at the very least, I don't know why you'd have three grand worth of GPUs and not even consider making your way over to EKWB.com...


Edit: 1) sorry for all the mobile typos. 2) His last rig was a consumer haswell i7 with dual 680s, and before that a 920 with CF'd 5770s, so he's dealt with SLI/CFin the past, though just 2-way.

 

[btkadams]

looking to build a gaming pc and have zero experience. i have no parts and my budget is about 1500 CAD. the op - while informative - is a tad overwhelming. where do i begin? i'm looking to do emulation and play modern games at high/ultra settings.

 

[yami4ct]

Got my replacement Z97-E and have everything installed. Going to put it through a benchmark just to quadruple check temps are good, but they look OK so far. Then it'll be time to leave it off for 8 hours and see if the issue is fixed. I did notice the lights took a whole lot longer to go off on the board when I unplug it, so I take that as a good sign.

 

[kennah]

looking to build a gaming pc and have zero experience. i have no parts and my budget is about 1500 CAD. the op - while informative - is a tad overwhelming. where do i begin? i'm looking to do emulation and play modern games at high/ultra settings.

You want the basic 1000 build in the op. Did you need it built for you? Where in Canada are you?

 

[exmachina64]

When did routers start looking like Evangelion Angel rejects?

But just think of the signal strength.

 

[btkadams]

You want the basic 1000 build in the op. Did you need it built for you? Where in Canada are you?

i'm in calgary. i have a friend who actually offered to help me build it if i can get all the parts required (he's built a bunch of PCs).

i will check out that 1000 build then! thank you! i wasn't sure if the stuff in the OP was still 100% relevant with it saying it was last updated in november.

 

[Hazaro]

i'm in calgary. i have a friend who actually offered to help me build it if i can get all the parts required (he's built a bunch of PCs).

i will check out that 1000 build then! thank you! i wasn't sure if the stuff in the OP was still 100% relevant with it saying it was last updated in november.

Will be updated after E3 with 980Ti/ SSD / AMD price changes / AMD 3xx stuff.
1k build shouldn't change in parts although cost should be a bit lower since it's only high end parts releasing.

 

[btkadams]

Will be updated after E3 with 980Ti/ SSD / AMD price changes / AMD 3xx stuff.
1k build shouldn't change in parts although cost should be a bit lower since it's only high end parts releasing.

oh, ok, so should i wait until after e3 is over before purchasing parts then? do the prices generally drop right after?

 

[kennah]

oh, ok, so should i wait until after e3 is over before purchasing parts then? do the prices generally drop right after?

Not in Canada. You're pretty safe. Being in Calgary gets you Memory Express and their EXCELLENT Clearance section.

EDIT:

Calgary NW Store

Motherboard
Gigabyte Z97X for $124
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Clearance/Item/f0a36ea1-e69b-4709-8ef0-f45fbc3c8291

Video Card
280X for $215
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Clearance/Item/00635eb9-1999-4ca5-9bb9-f668ee592195

Power Supply
EVGA 500B
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Clearance/Item/e6fcb81a-d7c1-4290-a4f0-09eddaf6a493

That's like $200 saved right there.

Calgary NE Store

Hard Drive
WD Blue 1tb for $60
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Clearance/Item/a051061f-71a6-47bd-afb2-e03bf6986c5b

 

[Fitts]

My first build has been completed. Everything fired up fine from first boot and now I'm just optimizing my system. The only drivers it seemed necessary to update/install were for the gpu (gtx 960) and everything's working great. I went into the BIOS and increased my fan settings from default and am entirely satisfied with the noise levels.(1 cpu fan, 2 front intake fans, and one exhaust that I opted to run at full speed; case is a Cooler Master N200) Idle temp of cpu is 35C per Gigabyte's bios using a Hyper 212 Evo and MX-4 paste.

Is that temp good? How can I monitor my system while in Windows? What would be a good way to test my system under load to ensure everything is running within acceptable tolerances? (temps, power draw, etc) what else should I do to optimize my system? (currently downloading Gigabyte's app center to see if there's anything useful)

Edit: Open Hardware Monitor has my idle cpu temp listed at 30C.

 

[EphemeralDream]

I have 4 gigs (2x2) DDR3 1333 RAM on Win 7 pro and have been getting a lot of low memory warnings the past few months, I think mostly from Chrome.

At first I wanted to try and troubleshoot but seems like it will keep happening and I'd rather just buy more RAM. I was planning to add 8 gigs (4x2), should I get the exact same model or does it not really matter?

 

[Trojita]

I have 4 gigs (2x2) DDR3 1333 RAM on Win 7 pro and have been getting a lot of low memory warnings the past few months, I think mostly from Chrome.

At first I wanted to try and troubleshoot but seems like it will keep happening and I'd rather just buy more RAM. I was planning to add 8 gigs (4x2), should I get the exact same model or does it not really matter?

I always get the same kind. I've heard some bad things about mixing. Sometimes it works though.

 

[Zeuanimals]

I'm gonna build my first PC ever and my budget is $500. Does it matter if I don't buy a quality case? Well, reviews for the one I'm buying are all claiming it to be a solid product but is there a point in buying a more expensive case other than "they look nicer".

Edit: Shit, I still have to buy a monitor and keyboard though. I'll buy a cheap keyboard since I've used mechanical ones and I didn't like the loud clicks of the keys, atleast on the few I've used. I'll be fine with a cheap one for now but I don't want to completely cheap out on a monitor.

 

[metareferential]

I'm gonna build my first PC ever and my budget is $500. Does it matter if I don't buy a quality case? Well, reviews for the one I'm buying are all claiming it to be a solid product but is there a point in buying a more expensive case other than "they look nicer".

More expensive cases give you more room to work, more space for hardware, more features (like led displays, lights, etc), better cable management (and more accessible slots), air inflow, protection against dust, etc.

That said, any case is a good case. Even cheaper ones. It depends on what you're looking for.

As a first build, a cheap one is the best option in my opinion. The one you linked seems ok.

Check the OP too for alternatives.

 

[brentech]

I'm gonna build my first PC ever and my budget is $500. Does it matter if I don't buy a quality case? Well, reviews for the one I'm buying are all claiming it to be a solid product but is there a point in buying a more expensive case other than "they look nicer".

The more expensive cases 'usually' have better cable management via more space and thought in their design for it. Usually more front port availability along with fan placement.

For the most part, you're totally fine going with a cheaper case if reviewed well. All that stuff isn't necessary, but it helps airflow and provides more options.

 

[NeOak]

Finally installed the Accelero Xtreme IV on my 7970. PC now looks like this

Took a while to set it up and two RAM chips don't have heatsinks because they kept falling off, but they will be fine.

 

[Cedec]

Hey guys, building a PC for the first time. It would be mainly for gaming. Here's what I have so far, mostly following from Haz's guide. Looking to keep it around this price.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/s2Xj99
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/s2Xj99/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-GAMING 7 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($138.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($112.14 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($249.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB FTW ACX 2.0 Video Card ($339.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($117.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($87.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VN248H-P 23.8" Monitor ($172.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1670.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-07 21:03 EDT-0400

Also can anyone recommend a good keyboard? It's hard to tell just from online pictures. Something not too expensive, and I don't really need macro buttons or anything too fancy.

 

[Hazaro]

Hey guys, building a PC for the first time. It would be mainly for gaming. Here's what I have so far, mostly following from Haz's guide. Looking to keep it around this price.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/s2Xj99
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/s2Xj99/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-GAMING 7 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($138.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($112.14 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($249.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB FTW ACX 2.0 Video Card ($339.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($117.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($87.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VN248H-P 23.8" Monitor ($172.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1670.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-07 21:03 EDT-0400

Also can anyone recommend a good keyboard? It's hard to tell just from online pictures. Something not too expensive, and I don't really need macro buttons or anything too fancy.

Why Gaming 7 over the SLI Mobo?
No point in 850 Pro imo since it's such a high markup vs the 850EVO / Crucial drive for little performance gain
PSU is overkill, but a good price
You are aware the MC price for CPU is pickup only, yeah?
I'm still a fan of air cooler over the 'cheaper' water coolers. There's no point unless it's for looks.

KB check OP. CM Storm mechanicals are the nice go to.

 

[Crisium]

Why Gaming 7 over the SLI Mobo?
No point in 850 Pro imo since it's such a high markup vs the 850EVO / Crucial drive for little performance gain
PSU is overkill, but a good price
You are aware the MC price for CPU is pickup only, yeah?
I'm still a fan of air cooler over the 'cheaper' water coolers. There's no point unless it's for looks.

KB check OP. CM Storm mechanicals are the nice go to.

Good points. Also Cedec, why the 970 instead of a 290 or 290x getting the same performance for less?

 

[RGM79]

www.nabava.net is a "pcpartpicker" of Croatia. It aggregates most of the stores, but the price differences are not that big.
IMHO, you shouldn't concern yourself with prices that much since I know the ranges, etc.
I'm more interested in the actual component choice.

I won't overclock right away, maybe in a year or so, so I can think about the PSU then? GTX 970 is power efficient, no? HX520 should handle it well?

In that case, I'll leave the choice of components to you. You don't seem to have any trouble in that regard. As long as you're not overclocking, 520 watts is alright.

 

[Trojita]

Really having a hard time choosing the Noctua NH-D15 or Swiftech H240-X AOI Liquid Cooler. Or just going for a cheaper smaller air cooler.

This is all for a 4790K.

 

[RGM79]

Really having a hard time choosing the Noctua NH-D15 or Swiftech H240-X AOI Liquid Cooler. Or just going for a cheaper smaller air cooler.

This is all for a 4790K.

Those are all in different price ranges. I guess it'll depend on how much you want to spend and what you'll be doing with the processor.

 

[TUSR]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($275.00 @ Canada Computers)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($37.99 @ Canada Computers)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($133.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Crucial BX100 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($77.98 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($90.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($412.09 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $1312.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-08 00:02 EDT-0400

This is what I have settled on from the last time I posted. Though its been a while and I didn't pull the trigger on some good priced items.

Is there anything that is worth replacing to cut the cost a bit more, the PSU for example.

Thanks!

 

[RGM79]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($275.00 @ Canada Computers)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($37.99 @ Canada Computers)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($133.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Crucial BX100 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($77.98 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($90.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($412.09 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $1312.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-08 00:02 EDT-0400

This is what I have settled on from the last time I posted. Though its been a while and I didn't pull the trigger on some good priced items.

Is there anything that is worth replacing to cut the cost a bit more, the PSU for example.

Thanks!

When are you planning to buy the parts? If you're looking to cut costs, here's what I recommend:

The Asus Z97-E is a decent motherboard that has dropped down to $100 CAD three times in the last two months according to the price tracker on PCPartPicker. Right now it's $135, but it will probably drop in price again if you can wait a few weeks.

The best deal on higher speed DDR3 RAM at the moment is this 2x8GB kit of Mushkin Redline 1866MHz RAM for $121 CAD plus shipping. Again, if you're willing to wait, 1866/2133MHz RAM can be had for cheaper, like this 2x8GB kit of G.Skill 1866MHz RAM that was selling at $103 plus shipping about a week ago according to the price tracker.

As for the SSD, there are some decent deals right now, but they're reliant on coupon deals from shop.ca. There are two coupon codes as you can see here in this link: one for $40 off $100 purchase, and another one for $50 off $125 purchase. That means you can pick up a Samsung 850 Evo 120GB for $60 or the 850 Evo 250GB for $100. Shop.ca also has the Crucial BX100 models for the same prices at the same capacities, but the Samsung 850 Evo is more desirable for somewhat higher performance. If you're hesitant about ordering from shop.ca, it may be possible to get the 850 Evo for the same prices from Staples.ca after pricematching and staples coupon discount, but it's much more of a hassle as you have to contact customer service and they don't apply discounts until after you are charged the higher price for the item. See this Redflagdeals forum thread for details.

When it comes to the PSU, it's harder to find good deals in Canada. If you want 750 watts, there really isn't a cheaper decent alternative. However, 750 watts is overkill unless you plan to run two GTX 970 cards in SLI, as 500~550 watts is plenty for a single GTX 970 based system. If you don't mind a cheaper non-modular power supply, then there's the EVGA 600B power supply for $57 CAD after $10 rebate, that's enough wattage for your system including any moderate CPU and GPU overclocking you might do. The EVGA Supernova B2 750 watt model also might drop in price again, the price tracker says it was selling for $70 after rebate less than a week ago.

Anyway, if you are able to get these deals then you'll save just under $100 or so. It's up to you if it's worth waiting for, I have to say that price drops aren't guaranteed, I'm basing my advice off what I've seen in the last 2~3 months of price comparison shopping (I've been looking for parts for Canadian friends). PCPartPicker lets you set price alerts so you will be notified by email whenever prices drop to the level you want, so I recommend you set that for the motherboard, RAM, and PSU.

 

[Trojita]

Those are all in different price ranges. I guess it'll depend on how much you want to spend and what you'll be doing with the processor.

I mean I could spend it, but if it isn't worth it then no. Plus I might worry about the liquid cooler leaking. I was thinking about getting the H240-X and a waterblock for the GTX 980 TI later on, but if it isn't really worth it I don't know if I will.

The only problem with the noctua, having had the big 12 series one, is that it blocks a lot of the motherboard, isn't aesthetic (even though I know that doesn't really matter, but still), and the weight it puts on the rest of the system is a little unsettling especially at assembly.

My Noctua 12 is working great still though.

 

[Hazaro]

I mean I could spend it, but if it isn't worth it then no. Plus I might worry about the liquid cooler leaking. I was thinking about getting the H240-X and a waterblock for the GTX 980 TI later on, but if it isn't really worth it I don't know if I will.

The only problem with the noctua, having had the big 12 series one, is that it blocks a lot of the motherboard, isn't aesthetic (even though I know that doesn't really matter, but still), and the weight it puts on the rest of the system is a little unsettling especially at assembly.

My Noctua 12 is working great still though.

Water stuff is only good for the AMD stuff that lets you do whatever you want with voltages and when the Vregs get into the 90C range (290 says hi) and need cooling. nVidia stuff you can just 'max' everything and be completely safe and it runs cool so there's no point.

 

[Rembrandt]

guys, I have a really dumb question. My desktop PC is acting all weird and won't boot to the desktop. I'm guessing Windows is corrupted or my hard drive is failing. It's basically asking me to reinstall windows because when I try to launch start up repair, it goes on forever and then fails. I lost my Windows 7 disc, so I was wondering if it would be possible for me to download an ISO to my laptop and then hook that up to my PC and install Windows 7 from USB?

 

[RGM79]

guys, I have a really dumb question. My desktop PC is acting all weird and won't boot to the desktop. I'm guessing Windows is corrupted or my hard drive is failing. It's basically asking me to reinstall windows because when I try to launch start up repair, it goes on forever and basically fails. I lost my Windows 7 disc, so I was wondering if it would be possible for me to download an ISO to my laptop and then hook that up to my PC and install Windows 7 from USB?

Yes, just make sure you're getting the correct ISO for the version of Windows you have. I don't think it's illegal to share torrent links to ISO files (because license keys are what's important when it comes to Windows activation and not the installer ISO), so take a look at this link and find the version that you had running on the PC.

 

[Rembrandt]

Yes, just make sure you're getting the correct ISO for the version of Windows you have. I don't think it's illegal to share torrent links to ISO files (because license keys are what's important when it comes to Windows activation and not the installer ISO), so take a look at this link and find the version that you had running on the laptop.

That's a relief. Thanks! I'll check this out in the morning.

 

[Mystic654]

I need to replace my 140mm exhaust stock fan with something better. I had a Corsair AF140 fan. I had problems getting the screws to catch. Going try a different company.

Thinking of Noctua. I'm a little confused. Whats the difference between NF-A14 FLX and NF-A14 PWM? I'm assuming one is for Static Pressure and the other is for High Air Flow. What Noctua fan would be the best for exhaust fan?

 

[TUSR]

When are you planning to buy the parts? If you're looking to cut costs, here's what I recommend:

The Asus Z97-E is a decent motherboard that has dropped down to $100 CAD three times in the last two months according to the price tracker on PCPartPicker. Right now it's $135, but it will probably drop in price again if you can wait a few weeks.

The best deal on higher speed DDR3 RAM at the moment is this 2x8GB kit of Mushkin Redline 1866MHz RAM for $121 CAD plus shipping. Again, if you're willing to wait, 1866/2133MHz RAM can be had for cheaper, like this 2x8GB kit of G.Skill 1866MHz RAM that was selling at $103 plus shipping about a week ago according to the price tracker.

Anyway, if you are able to get these deals then you'll save just under $100 or so. It's up to you if it's worth waiting for, I have to say that price drops aren't guaranteed, I'm basing my advice off what I've seen in the last 2~3 months of price comparison shopping (I've been looking for parts for Canadian friends). PCPartPicker lets you set price alerts so you will be notified by email whenever prices drop to the level you want, so I recommend you set that for the motherboard, RAM, and PSU.

I actually just jumped on ordering the SSD right now. The $50 off coupon worked, easy.
Went with the 250GB BX100.

Changed over to the EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply.
Not too concerned about it not being modular.

Going to keep the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard.

Holding out on RAM right now, see what happens in the next week or so. If a deal pops up ill jump on it right away.

Thanks for the help again.

 

[crap monkey]

Hey guys, I've been thinking about doing a big upgrade for my PC around fall of this year. Currently my build is:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Motherboard:ASUS M4A79XTD EVO
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1600
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB
Case: APEX Vortex 3620 SGCC / ABS ATX Mid Tower
Power Supply: Antec NeoECO C NeoECO 520C 520W

My issue is that I'm not sure whether to sit on this build for a bit longer until significantly more powerful parts start showing up or if fall would be a good time to start doing major upgrades. Most noticeably my CPU is old (2010) and I feel like it's holding me back, even on games from only a few years ago and that it's in need of a major upgrade. The reason I've waited so long to change it is because it's such a hassle to replace both a CPU and Mobo that I might as well go big when I decide to replace them.

I plan on transferring over the RAM and my two 1 TB HDDs and will buy a small SSD to run windows and certain games on it. I also don't mind sitting on my 760 for a bit since I only bought it early last year, but at the same time I bought it with the mindset of it being a short term stop-gap between my old Radeon 5770 and something stronger down the line.

Essentially I want to know if my build is still ok for now. With games that are well optimized I can run them at pretty high settings, but have started to stray into medium on some games (Far Cry 4, Black Flag, Wolfenstein) but I know that UBI games are optimized like garbage. I'm not really sure just how well my build is aging and whether upgrading this fall is better than waiting another year for a new set of cards and processors to hit the market. Thoughts?

 

[Hazaro]

Anyone else feeling a GTX970Ti release in two weeks?

 

[lordfuzzybutt]

Anyone else feeling a GTX970Ti release in two weeks?

Hmm, what price point it will fit in then? I think unlikely.

 

[NeOak]

Anyone else feeling a GTX970Ti release in two weeks?

Rebadged 980?

 

[Trojita]

Rebadged 980?

lol

 

[RGM79]

Hey guys, I've been thinking about doing a big upgrade for my PC around fall of this year. Currently my build is:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Motherboard:ASUS M4A79XTD EVO
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1600
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB
Case: APEX Vortex 3620 SGCC / ABS ATX Mid Tower
Power Supply: Antec NeoECO C NeoECO 520C 520W

My issue is that I'm not sure whether to sit on this build for a bit longer until significantly more powerful parts start showing up or if fall would be a good time to start doing major upgrades. Most noticeably my CPU is old (2010) and I feel like it's holding me back, even on games from only a few years ago and that it's in need of a major upgrade. The reason I've waited so long to change it is because it's such a hassle to replace both a CPU and Mobo that I might as well go big when I decide to replace them.

I plan on transferring over the RAM and my two 1 TB HDDs and will buy a small SSD to run windows and certain games on it. I also don't mind sitting on my 760 for a bit since I only bought it early last year, but at the same time I bought it with the mindset of it being a short term stop-gap between my old Radeon 5770 and something stronger down the line.

Essentially I want to know if my build is still ok for now. With games that are well optimized I can run them at pretty high settings, but have started to stray into medium on some games (Far Cry 4, Black Flag, Wolfenstein) but I know that UBI games are optimized like garbage. I'm not really sure just how well my build is aging and whether upgrading this fall is better than waiting another year for a new set of cards and processors to hit the market. Thoughts?

Hmm, how much do you have budgeted for an upgrade and what country are you in? And what new parts are you thinking of getting? A new processor and motherboard is a no brainer, but upgrading now means you can reuse that 8GB of RAM whereas waiting for new parts means you'll need to buy new DDR4 RAM. Granted, not needing to buy RAM means you're only saving around $50~60 USD, but depending on your budget it might mean being able to get a new graphics card, especially if you could sell the GTX 760.

On the other hand, waiting for Skylake ([due out in a couple of months, Z170 motherboards are already being shown off) would be beneficial if you wanted to wait for a bigger upgrade. DDR3 and Z97 will be on the way out in favor of Skylake's DDR4 and Z170 motherboard, and I'm hoping Z170 will have things like USB 3.1 and USB type C which are already beginning to appear on some new Z97 motherboard models. That said, Z97 and Z170 will apparently coexist for a while because Z170 won't be replacing Z97 outright, so I'm wondering if Z97 won't be cheaper or Z170 will be more expensive.

Performance-wise it seems that Skylake isn't going to be a major leap ahead of Haswell/Broadwell, so it's up to you whether you want the newer motherboard tech or prefer to upgrade sooner.

 

[Hazaro]

Rebadged 980?

Anyone else feeling a GTX980 SE release in two weeks?

 

[NeOak]

Anyone else feeling a GTX980 SE release in two weeks?

Oh, a GTX 970 Ultra with the FlowFX?

 

[yami4ct]

Hey, my computer cold boots after a long time off now! Yay! My best, pretty uneducated guess, is that the old board had some sort of capacitor that was slowly leaking power over time. It would get recharged on a power cycle, which is why it would only act up after being off for a long while.

 

[Cedec]

Why Gaming 7 over the SLI Mobo?
No point in 850 Pro imo since it's such a high markup vs the 850EVO / Crucial drive for little performance gain
PSU is overkill, but a good price
You are aware the MC price for CPU is pickup only, yeah?
I'm still a fan of air cooler over the 'cheaper' water coolers. There's no point unless it's for looks.

KB check OP. CM Storm mechanicals are the nice go to.

Good points. Also Cedec, why the 970 instead of a 290 or 290x getting the same performance for less?

Thanks Hazaro, I'll make some changes. Water cooler was kinda for looks but I'd rather go with air if it'll do better. MC merchant was a mistake, I'm seeing it for $325 from SuperBlitz.

Crisium I'm just sticking to what I'm familiar with, but also from what I've researched the 970 looks slightly better than the 290.

 

[Mahnmut]

Hello, I want to upgrade my GPU.
I have a GTX 670 and want to buy a 980 (non ti).

The plan is to build a brand new rig when I'll have a 4K TV and when hardware will allow 4K@60fps without having to sell an organ, so in a few years.

Is it a good idea ?

 

[Alethebeer]

Hello, I want to upgrade my GPU.
I have a GTX 670 and want to buy a 980 (non ti).

The plan is to build a brand new rig when I'll have a 4K TV and when hardware will allow 4K@60fps without having to sell an organ, so in a few years.

Is it a good idea ?

Honestly, i would not do it. If you are planning to do the next upgrade in few years i would personally go to a 970 4gb, if you want to stay on Nvidia's field.

 

[Mahnmut]

Honestly, i would not do it. If you are planning to do the next upgrade in few years i would personally go to a 970 4gb, if you want to stay on Nvidia's field.

Ok but I was thinking that I would sell the whole system and the 980 will have more value. Plus who knows if the 3,5go + 500mb thing will affect more heavy games.

 

[mrklaw]

(obviously IMO) the 980 isn't a good value for money card - although I haven't seen how much prices have dropped since the intro of the 980ti. 970 is a great 1080p card and very much the sweet spot. 980 is in no mans land. A little extra performance for too much extra money. 970 or 980ti are the options in Nvidia land IMO.

and why sell the entire system when you upgrade? Just add another GPU to go SLI, or just sell just the GPU and replace that with whatever is the best value for money at that time

 

[j0hnny_385]

LookingIntoMyCrystalBallPost.jpg

When AMD reveals R3XX series, is it safe to assume that NVIDIA (or at least the retailers themselves) will drop the price on 970, especially if AMD cards turn out to be well priced (and possibly better in performance than NVIDIA counterparts because of HBM?)

 

[Mashing]

Really having a hard time choosing the Noctua NH-D15 or Swiftech H240-X AOI Liquid Cooler. Or just going for a cheaper smaller air cooler.

This is all for a 4790K.

I just got the H240-X, it's pretty good. Right now I'm at a mild OC of 4.5Ghz and my highest temp in OCCT 64-bit with AVX (extremely demanding test, even more than Prime95 or Aida64 FPU test) was about mid 70's. My lowest idle (with power saving set to maximum performance and all but 1 C state disabled) was 22 (24 on the package).

The 240-X is hard to fine. I had to call the manufacturer to find out where I could buy it (Performance-PCs.com was where I purchased mine--their shopping cart is ass, I couldn't get it to work right with Firefox).

It's also $150, which is too high for some people.