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"I Need a New PC!" 2015 Part 1. Read the OP and RISE ABOVE FORGED PRECISION SCIENCE
- Thread starter Hazaro
- Start date
- Status
Garrett Hawke
Member
Between a GTX 960 2GB and a 280x 3GB, which is the better card? I've heard the 960 has a lot of overclocking potential but 2GB seems a little stingy nowadays. 
Yeah I heard the stuff about the Samsung's firmwares that's why I was asking too. Will get a Crucial then
Thanks.
Between a GTX 960 2GB and a 280x 3GB, which is the better card? I've heard the 960 has a lot of overclocking potential but 2GB seems a little stingy nowadays.
What price are they? Where are you buying?
Between a GTX 960 2GB and a 280x 3GB, which is the better card? I've heard the 960 has a lot of overclocking potential but 2GB seems a little stingy nowadays.
Maybe consider the 380. basically comparable to both of those cards and has 2GB and 4GB available.
Garrett Hawke
Member
Not sure yet, just looking
Alright, I'll take a look
I'm only aiming for 1080p anyway but I'm just scoping the field atm.
Mohonky
Member
Ok I finally figured fuck it, I cant handle looking at the 21:9 monitor thread anymore, I would love a 21:9 monitor and I'm thinking I'll go with the LG 34UM67. Would love a UC97 or 95 but I cant justify twice the price, basically I can get the UM67 and get the necessary video card I need to run the extra pixels of the 21:9 ratio for the price of the UC97, and then the UC97 with its even higher res would demand an even better video card, so its out of the question, I dont have $2.3k to throw at a monitor and video card....well I do but its simply not as high a priority when for $1.5k I can get what I need.
So, I have basically decided on the monitor, its the video card that is throwing me. Normally I would stick with the GTX970, but the ram thing, coupled with the extra resolution of 21:9 I am kind of leaning toward going another model up simply for the headroom, particularly as new engines come out etc, and thats where my biggest query lies. I am basically deciding between 2 cards, R9 390X and GTX980 (non ti)
Having looked around for comparisons of the cards, they seem to be trading blows fairly evenly but there are a few things bugging me about each and also that one seems to have over the other;
R9 390X
For: Good performer, $100 cheaper than 980, 8gb ram should be future proof, monitor is freesync compatible.
Cons: everytime I read about new game launches, if anyone has driver or performance issues, it seems that most of the times, its the AMD guys getting screwed, wont work with some nvidia gameworks stuff, still dont seem as on the ball as nvidia with getting drivers out for each new game or as quickly. Generally it just seems like the AMD cards can perform really well, but consistency across titles seems iffy. Power consumption heavy but I have an 850watt psu so shouldnt prove to be a huge issue.
GTX980
For: Game developer and driver support; Gameworks is obvious, but even titles with AMD backing in mind it never seems like nvidia cards have any real dramas with compatibility. Largest market share, just reliable as far as support for software support with game update drivers etc
Cons: $100 more, 4gb ram seems like the absolute minimum you want to be at so if future titles are ram hungry, potential problem, wont work with freesync but given gsync variants of 21:9 monitors are pricing $1200 upward here, doesnt seem like I would be in that ball park anyway.
So whats the story? I am leaning toward the 980 because I havent heard great things about AMD drivers. I hear they are better than the last time I had an ATi card but I am still a bit iffy, especially with how many games seem to fly the nvidia badge. But from a price and raw performance stand point, the 390X 'should' make more sense, especially with freesync, but I just cant for some reason convince myself I would be better off with it.
Am I being overly paranoid about the AMD driver and software issues? Because last I heard with games like Batman AK, nvidia performance was garbage and yet people still said it was superior to what the poor AMD guys were getting, and thats something I hear a bit too often
Also note I will NOT be overclocking, I am no good with that shit.
So, I have basically decided on the monitor, its the video card that is throwing me. Normally I would stick with the GTX970, but the ram thing, coupled with the extra resolution of 21:9 I am kind of leaning toward going another model up simply for the headroom, particularly as new engines come out etc, and thats where my biggest query lies. I am basically deciding between 2 cards, R9 390X and GTX980 (non ti)
Having looked around for comparisons of the cards, they seem to be trading blows fairly evenly but there are a few things bugging me about each and also that one seems to have over the other;
R9 390X
For: Good performer, $100 cheaper than 980, 8gb ram should be future proof, monitor is freesync compatible.
Cons: everytime I read about new game launches, if anyone has driver or performance issues, it seems that most of the times, its the AMD guys getting screwed, wont work with some nvidia gameworks stuff, still dont seem as on the ball as nvidia with getting drivers out for each new game or as quickly. Generally it just seems like the AMD cards can perform really well, but consistency across titles seems iffy. Power consumption heavy but I have an 850watt psu so shouldnt prove to be a huge issue.
GTX980
For: Game developer and driver support; Gameworks is obvious, but even titles with AMD backing in mind it never seems like nvidia cards have any real dramas with compatibility. Largest market share, just reliable as far as support for software support with game update drivers etc
Cons: $100 more, 4gb ram seems like the absolute minimum you want to be at so if future titles are ram hungry, potential problem, wont work with freesync but given gsync variants of 21:9 monitors are pricing $1200 upward here, doesnt seem like I would be in that ball park anyway.
So whats the story? I am leaning toward the 980 because I havent heard great things about AMD drivers. I hear they are better than the last time I had an ATi card but I am still a bit iffy, especially with how many games seem to fly the nvidia badge. But from a price and raw performance stand point, the 390X 'should' make more sense, especially with freesync, but I just cant for some reason convince myself I would be better off with it.
Am I being overly paranoid about the AMD driver and software issues? Because last I heard with games like Batman AK, nvidia performance was garbage and yet people still said it was superior to what the poor AMD guys were getting, and thats something I hear a bit too often
Also note I will NOT be overclocking, I am no good with that shit.
Not sure yet, just looking
280X is the stronger card but it runs hotter, uses a lot more power and doesn't have all the nice features Nvidia has. I wouldn't be keen on a 2GB card at this stage though.
Between a GTX 960 2GB and a 280x 3GB, which is the better card? I've heard the 960 has a lot of overclocking potential but 2GB seems a little stingy nowadays.
A 280x is slightly faster in the majority of games, but in some newer games the 960 tends to do better relatively, especially when tessellation is used (the same can be said for the 380).
I'd pick a 960 or 380 over a 280x since the newer cards switch their fans off when idle, which matters to me more than a few FPS. You can get 4GB versions of both too.
If you're in Europe EVGA has a £20/25 euro cashback offer right now for their 960s, so they should be cheaper than the other brands.
Garrett Hawke
Member
Do the different manufacturer's have differences at all for the same card, apart from the cooling set up? Like, are some faster than others? Or do they all have the same spec but ship with different default clocks? Sorry, new-ish to this.
Yes, they tend to come with different factory overclocks, but usually there isn't a massive difference in performance between the lowest clocked card and the highest.
Felix Lighter
Member
Do the different manufacturer's have differences at all for the same card, apart from the cooling set up? Like, are some faster than others? Or do they all have the same spec but ship with different default clocks? Sorry, new-ish to this.
Outside of reference models (the models that follow AMD or Nvidia's reference design), the different models are different designs, with the key differences typically being cooling, factory overclock and power delivery. That being said, the GTX 960 is not really a hot card so any should probably do fine.
NeOak
Member
Don't count on Gameworks as something to count against AMD. Kepler cards get fucked over too and they are NVIDIA lol.
However, since your monitor is Freesync, the AMD will give you a best experience with the monitor.
Drivers aren't as bad as people make it seem however.
As for Batman Arkham Knight... even Nvidia had to fake 60fps man. The PC port is a turd and whoever claims it isn't needs to stop drinking the Kool-Aid.
Get a 970. 980 prices have come down but not massively so it is a weird in-between card. 970 and 980ti are better in terms of value for money. A 970 should be fine for 2560x1080. Not *that* many more pixels than 1080p and a 970 is fine with 1440p, especially with a nice overclock. You say NOT but I am not comfortable with that and overclocking my 970 was literally moving a couple of sliders to the right. No voltage unlocking or anything like that - honestly a piece of cake.
No concerns about dot pitch? I have a 27" 1080p monitor but lots of people think that is too large for that many pixels.
I'm considering an AOC 34" 21:9 3880x1440 and I have a GTX970. I figure if I can't drop detail to get a playable framerate, I can run it at 2560x1080 and it still looks good. Also for Lightroom and photoshop I think I'll enjoy the additional working space.
Mohonky
Member
Nah not really concerned about dot pitch. I won't be doing anything too much with the vertical spacing so going to 1440 doesn't seem like a big issue for me. I'm on 1080p now and happy enough. Can always up AA for jaggies etc but for detail and such I don't think its a massive issue for me. I use my PC for Gaming, Media and browsing the web, so I don't need super fine detail for editing or other suites, I don't even know how to use photoshop or lightroom lol. Most I would do is some basic video editing from a gopro when I take my quadcopter out and I haven't been doing a lot of that lately and I want to save some money so I can get back into my RC collection again (everything in RC is a money pit). I like my gaming, but I don't need to go uber on it. Plus not working atm due to anxiety, so I don't want to throw money around.
Then there is the cost involved. In AUS, the monitor I want is $699, the AOC is $899, then the AOC requires more oomph to run with the video card, so I would be maybe be stepping into 980 Ti territory, which is $1100. That's why I am keeping it at 1080p, everything gets a lot more expensive at the next level. It's not a very linear cost scale unfortunately, it goes from 'justifiable' to 'need to be really invested in it' territory fast.
interesting about the 970 vs 980 thing. Don't make me go over all these cards again, it's already doing my head in when I justified to myself just saying fuck it do the 980 lol.
Edit: Trigger pulled:
LG 34UM67
Gigabyte G1 GTX970
Plus a 140mm and 200mm fan, the 200mm my NZXT Phantom 820 has a slot for the optional second so might as well, also the 140mm at the rear needed replacing so might as well kill all those birds with one stone.
Anyone still buying GTX670's I wonder, wouldn't be worth much. Can I use it as a physx card?
Is there anything I can do to keep this a bit cheaper without sacrificing power?
This is me attempting to build a pc.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LgrjD3
This is me attempting to build a pc.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LgrjD3
Thanks for the clarification of what you use it for - 2560x1080 34" sounds perfect for you in that case. Good call on the 970
Cheaper case, PSU, and SSD would help. The Samsung 850 Pro is a very good SSD, but the price is high, I'd recommend a Crucial BX100/MX100/MX200 or Samsung 850 Evo instead. If your budget is limited, maybe skip the CPU cooler and SSD for now, you can always add them to your PC later. If you absolutely need to cut costs as low as possible while retaining strong parts, you could opt for 1x4GB for now and get a second stick of 1x4GB later for a total of 2x4GB.
How about a build like this?
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: Kingston Savage 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($24.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.56 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($317.44 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($42.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $807.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-12 16:03 EDT-0400
Add more RAM, a CPU cooler, and an SSD in the future. This build retains the same processor and a good graphics card, so gaming performance-wise it's still just as good as your initial build, but limited at first as it only has 4GB of RAM, of course, which is the absolute minimum I'd feel comfortable going with. Some games will be OK with just 4GB, others not so much, so you may want to stick with 8GB instead.
Nostremitus
Member
So PC GAF - whats everyones general take on the MSI R9 390?
I was at Best Buy and after talking with a guy there he mentioned a Newegg Price Match on the EVGA GTX 970 and they honored the $299 price for their SSC ACX 2.0+
Paired with my i7-3770 its been a major improvement over my GTX 660 but something about 8gb of VRAM makes me get warm and fuzzy feelings (but the temp and PSU requirements of AMD cards make me very uneasy)
I was at Best Buy and after talking with a guy there he mentioned a Newegg Price Match on the EVGA GTX 970 and they honored the $299 price for their SSC ACX 2.0+
Paired with my i7-3770 its been a major improvement over my GTX 660 but something about 8gb of VRAM makes me get warm and fuzzy feelings (but the temp and PSU requirements of AMD cards make me very uneasy)
Good work. I just wanted to keep it under $1,000. I'm just going to add an SSD. I'll check the options you mentioned above.
Mohonky
Member
Thanks for the clarification of what you use it for - 2560x1080 34" sounds perfect for you in that case. Good call on the 970
Yeh well I looked at it from the point of view that the 980 was $200 more. I would be better off saving that $200 knowing the next round of nvidia cards are likely put whatever the equivalent 970 is above the current gen 980 and being the cards have been out for a bit it cant be a huge way aways and if my 670 has been running games fine to this point a 970 is still a marked improvement over that, except games and setting I was getting 30-40fps I hope to get 60 locked. I have been running pretty much high on all games so even if I keep the same settings but get that locked 60 I am happy, if I can bump up the details and still maintain that, bonus.
Been hearing a few guys are getting the gigabyte g1 up nearly 200mhz over the oc clock from factory, so maybe I will download msi and ramp it up a little. So long as I dont fuck about with voltage its mostly fine yes? As my understanding thats when things get weird. Should be a few videos out there to help.
Now, best way to unload a 670 and a 24" monitor......
Ok then, here we go:
Your Current Specs: i5 2500k @stock/ 8gb @ 1333mhz / gigabyte z68ma-d2h/ on-board gpu /cheap 750w psu / unbranded but well ventilated case / ocz agility 3 120gb and Samsung 2tb 7200rpm
Budget: UK, not really a price more of a value proposition, maybe up to £1k if it requires
Main Use: the main use for this will be attaching it to my 4k tv, this will include gaming and streaming only, pure entertainment box. I'd like to game at 4k30fps. I'll probably be playing games like assassins creed watchdogs and the Witcher on this rig.
Monitor Resolution: 4k over hdmi so limited to 30fps, which I'm fine with, anything over 30fps will therefore be not required.
Looking to reuse any parts?: hopefully re use mobo, cpu, hard drives, case
When will you build?: hopefully within the week, before August at least.
Will you be overclocking?: Yes - probably the cpu if it can stay, I have had this cpu running stable at 4.5 in a friends rig (tested when arrived) so im happy to OC that.
So the question is if I buy:
390x
http://m.novatech.co.uk/products/co...hicscards/amdr9390xseries/r9390xgaming8g.html
2x 8gb@1866mhz
http://m.novatech.co.uk/products/co...3memory/ddr3pc3-149001866mhz/hx318c10fw8.html
Oh and likely need a more reliable psu, so suggestions for that would be great.
And some kind of cooler which I'm totally unsure what to get to clock the cpu around 4.5ghz, where do you think I'd be performance wise for 4k@30fps?
Your Current Specs: i5 2500k @stock/ 8gb @ 1333mhz / gigabyte z68ma-d2h/ on-board gpu /cheap 750w psu / unbranded but well ventilated case / ocz agility 3 120gb and Samsung 2tb 7200rpm
Budget: UK, not really a price more of a value proposition, maybe up to £1k if it requires
Main Use: the main use for this will be attaching it to my 4k tv, this will include gaming and streaming only, pure entertainment box. I'd like to game at 4k30fps. I'll probably be playing games like assassins creed watchdogs and the Witcher on this rig.
Monitor Resolution: 4k over hdmi so limited to 30fps, which I'm fine with, anything over 30fps will therefore be not required.
Looking to reuse any parts?: hopefully re use mobo, cpu, hard drives, case
When will you build?: hopefully within the week, before August at least.
Will you be overclocking?: Yes - probably the cpu if it can stay, I have had this cpu running stable at 4.5 in a friends rig (tested when arrived) so im happy to OC that.
So the question is if I buy:
390x
http://m.novatech.co.uk/products/co...hicscards/amdr9390xseries/r9390xgaming8g.html
2x 8gb@1866mhz
http://m.novatech.co.uk/products/co...3memory/ddr3pc3-149001866mhz/hx318c10fw8.html
Oh and likely need a more reliable psu, so suggestions for that would be great.
And some kind of cooler which I'm totally unsure what to get to clock the cpu around 4.5ghz, where do you think I'd be performance wise for 4k@30fps?
After spending hundreds of pounds on a prebuilt a few years ago, having problems, buying a new graphics card, mobo, processor, ram and SSD over the years I'm at my fucking wits end.
Blue screens (either dxdiag or atikmdag related) and just straight crashes with no error messages and no auto restart all while playing games.
The temperatures are fine, the drivers are all up to date. I've rolled back, tried older versions, tried beta versions and no luck.
At this rate I'm going to sell it and stick to a fucking gameboy.
Blue screens (either dxdiag or atikmdag related) and just straight crashes with no error messages and no auto restart all while playing games.
The temperatures are fine, the drivers are all up to date. I've rolled back, tried older versions, tried beta versions and no luck.
At this rate I'm going to sell it and stick to a fucking gameboy.
Nostremitus
Member
Did up upgrade your PSU? Prebuilts normally don't have a lot of extra headroom on the power supply, it could be having trouble powering your additions.
That's gonna be the last thing I do - I'm reviewing the pre-build order and this
PSU: 700W OCZ
Is my PSU - people have told me it's sufficient? I suppose it couldn't help to try - I'm just wary of spending even more money on this.
Nostremitus
Member
What's your current part list? Big difference between Intel and AMD CPU wattage, especially when overclocked.
Barring a high overclock on an 8 core AMD CPU, your PSU should be fine, though.
Also, does you PSU have a single rail or multiple? Is there a chance you are overusing a rail if it does have amps spread across several?
Current part list looks something like:
CPU: Intel Core i5 4690K Processor
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows 7 Home
Premium 64-bit
Gigabyte Z97X-SLI Intel LGA1150 Z97 ATX Motherboard
8GB DDR3 1333mhz (2x 2GB)
Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB)
Hard Drives: 1TB S-ATAII 3.0Gb/s
Crucial CT128MX100SSD1 128GB SSD
Optical Drive: 22x DVD±RW DL S-ATA
Graphics card: SAPPHIRE AMD R9 280 Graphics Card (3GB, DDR5)
Sound card: Onboard 7.1 Audio
Internet: Wireless 802.11G PCI card
Keyboard and mouse: Keyboard, mouse and speakers
Accessories: DVI to HDMI cable
Case: Xigmatek Asgard Included
PSU: 700W OCZ
Give or take?
It's not overclocked I don't think - I haven't touched any settings or anything. And I don't know what a rail is - sorry.
Kaffeemann
Banned
I don't think the 390x is worth it over the 390. I mean the 390x is about 8% faster but 25% more expensive.
But both should be fine for 4K/30FPS in most games.
zeroeffect
Member
Can you guys tell me how to read CrystalDiskInfo for my SSD? It says under health status 100% "good".
I don't think anything is wrong with my SSD I'm just trying to understand how to read this because the other day when I booted up from a cold boot it did a random error check which had me worried. It did this once in May too I remember so I don't know what it means but I haven't noticed any erratic behavior at all on the SSD.
Is there something I should read under CrystalDiskInfo specifically for the SSD other than the health saying it's 100% okay? How do I read the SMART data from the program...or is it already doing all that since it says status as 100% good? Looking at raw values the only thing that pokes out to me is :
Unused Reserve NAND Blocks: 000000001133
That bad? Stuff like Raw Read Error Rate and Reallocated Sectors Count is 0 across the raw values tab. I'm guessing all is well because the reserve bands are used when cells are dying right?
I don't think anything is wrong with my SSD I'm just trying to understand how to read this because the other day when I booted up from a cold boot it did a random error check which had me worried. It did this once in May too I remember so I don't know what it means but I haven't noticed any erratic behavior at all on the SSD.
Is there something I should read under CrystalDiskInfo specifically for the SSD other than the health saying it's 100% okay? How do I read the SMART data from the program...or is it already doing all that since it says status as 100% good? Looking at raw values the only thing that pokes out to me is :
Unused Reserve NAND Blocks: 000000001133
That bad? Stuff like Raw Read Error Rate and Reallocated Sectors Count is 0 across the raw values tab. I'm guessing all is well because the reserve bands are used when cells are dying right?
Gemüsepizza
Member
Your RAM configuration seems a bit strange? The capacity doesn't add up:
And sometimes you can get problems when mixing different RAM sticks. Have you tested the RAM for errors? Or tried to only run with two of the same sticks, for example 2x4 Corsair? But on the other hand the bluescreen messages seem to be related to graphics hm...
Great minds think alike
Gemüsepizza
Member
I would remove them. It's only 2x2GB and you still have 8 GB left, which is plenty for today's games. Having different RAM sticks can negatively affect system stability and even performance to a certain degree.
You should also make sure that they are in the correct slot for dual channel usage (and that they have the right settings in the BIOS), this should be explained in the mb manual, but usually they will have the same color. I would also try to test the RAM for errors just to be sure.
When dealing with such problems it's always a good idea to try to eliminate as many potential sources for errors as possible.
Gemüsepizza;171697844 said:
Thanks man I appreciate the help - I get the red mist occasionally on crashes (after spending about 1200 total on the machine over the years) so I don't tend to think logically and eliminate potential problems.
I'll try it tomorrow just in case it doesn't work tonight and I end up breaking it though.
What's wrong with your PSU? that should be enough to power most things?
I'd get a 980ti or possibly a Fury X if they are around yet and you have space in the case for the radiator. Then any change you can use for other things.
I'd consider getting an SSD too for your OS if possible. Then when streaming it won't need to spin your HDD up and it'll be quieter. Possibly look at a PSU that shuts down the fans if not needed which will help keep it quiet too. Similarly if you go for a GTX980ti with better cooler, they may be passive cooling when used just for streaming video.
Nostremitus
Member
I thought you were talking to yourself for a moment, then I saw the names.
Nostremitus
Member
Shouldn't be any issues... I'm using a PC I built in the U.S. (I'm in Southeast Asia)
OK thanks !
MHWilliams
Member
Do I spring for the G-Sync compatible AOC 24" for $399 or an Asus 24" TN panel for $269? This monitor will pair with a GTX 970.
metareferential
Member
I'm partial, but I'd say go g-sync. It's a tremendous benefit for any gaming rig (especially if you can't keep higher framerates).
Sure, it's pricey. But so worth it.
Smushroomed
Banned
Any relatively easy way to upgrade to win 10 right now?
Is replacing my PSU cables for custom ones a good idea? I want to get these ones but my psu is a cooler master and these are obviously not the cables that come with it. Has anybody done this?
There are kits now for the V series, but I can't seem to track them down
Mine is a V series. I've also been looking for them but I can't find them either.
So currently I'm running a 2500k and a 6950 2GB and was thinking about upgrading to the following:
CPU: i5-4960k
GPU: MSI GTX 980ti
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO/Crucial CT256MX100SSD1
RAM: 8/16GB 1866Mhz
MB: Gigabyte Z97X
PSU: Corsair CP-9020055
Case: NZXT S340
I'm aware the 980ti might be overkill for what I'm looking to do, mainly MP games at 120hz, but it's just something I'd like to spoil myself with. The question is, is it worth going all out now or should I just keep going with my 2500k & 6950 until the new year?
Any suggestions for replacements for that list are welcome since I'm not 100% about the case & PSU.
CPU: i5-4960k
GPU: MSI GTX 980ti
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO/Crucial CT256MX100SSD1
RAM: 8/16GB 1866Mhz
MB: Gigabyte Z97X
PSU: Corsair CP-9020055
Case: NZXT S340
I'm aware the 980ti might be overkill for what I'm looking to do, mainly MP games at 120hz, but it's just something I'd like to spoil myself with. The question is, is it worth going all out now or should I just keep going with my 2500k & 6950 until the new year?
Any suggestions for replacements for that list are welcome since I'm not 100% about the case & PSU.
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