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[OraleeWey]

I suppose, I thought the 540 was costly enough as is, but it does what it sets out to do. The only thing I don't like is the hole in the bottom of the main enclosure, but apart from that this ticks the perfect price/quality ratio for me.

And yeah, 400 dollars is... yikes. Well past the point of diminishing returns, imo.

I have the Corsair 540 and it is relatively not that dusty. However, I think that dust is coming from the bottom of my case from the hole because dust settles at the bottom of my case.

So I have been giving this some thought;

http://www.demcifilter.com/p0431/corsair-air-540-dust-filter-kit.aspx


It is rather expensive and shipping is an extra $17. But those filters should improve airflow because there is less plastic in the actual filter unlike the stock Corsair 540 air filters.

 

[Denali]

Odd issue here: I built my new machine a few days ago, and everything is running great. However, I'm sitting here reading, with the PC in sleep mode, and every 15-20 minutes it sounds like it's booting itself up briefly then turning back off. Sounds like all the fans kick on, the Windforce LED lights up, etc. Screen never comes on.

What settings should I check/modify for this? Motherboard is ASRock Z97 Extreme3 if that's important.

EDIT: I'm also running a wireless card. Is it possible this is related to some "Wake on LAN" functionality?

 

[Parmadillo Marshmallow]

Mmm the problem is i dont want to have the living room full of cables and things.
Is the Steam Link performance that bad over wifi? What about watching films and other things non gaming related? Will the films have lag or something like that?

Those use your houses internal power wiring to provide a wired connection. They are quite small.

 

[Azure Phoenix]

So unfortunately it seems my PC is showing signs that is going to die again, I had to replace the motherboard at Christmas after months worth of it telling me on boot that a new CPU has been installed eventually led to the whole thing dying. I had to spend over £100 to get a used identical replacement, but I don't see that it is a worthwhile pursuit this time around since it'll soon be heading on 4 years old.

I haven't kept up on parts, like at all, since when I built it back in 2011, so I have no idea what to aim for any more. My current build is an i5 2500k, 8gb DDR3 1600, MSI 560ti Twin Frozr, it does the job fairly well still but obviously if I bought something similar now it wouldn't last for long. I need something that is probably considered like mid-range now, but could be kept comfortably for like 3-4 years, it absolutely MUST have a micro ATX motherboard (I'll be re-using this tower, it's a unique sized one that cost a lot of money) and noise/heat levels are an issue - my current GPU is way too damn noisy even when not doing anything important. Also no Asus parts, they're absolute garbage.

I filled out the form in the OP if that'll be of any help:

Your Current Specs: i5 2500k - 8gb DDR3 1600 - MSI 560ti Twin Frozr II - ASUS P8P67-M - OS HDD is a Toshiba THNSNH128GCST, it was an OEM drive which was supposedly really good for the price a couple of years ago.
Budget: Like, £500 maximum? UK.
Main Use: Medium range gaming, streaming games on Twitch, day to day use. The usual.
Monitor Resolution: 1080p, keeping the old monitor. Unless 21:9 monitors stop being obnoxious expensive I'll never need to run higher than 1080p.
Looking to reuse any parts?: Case, it's a Silverstone FT03 which is required due to a small desk. It takes full size parts apart from the motherboard which must be Micro ATX, also has airflow almost on par with full size cases. Power supply is a bit iffy, I bought a Silverstone one designed to fit the case (500w I believe) but it seems it can take anything with one side vent and one big fan on the base. Might re-use that if needed.
When will you build?: Whenever this PC gives up the ghost, probably by the end of the year.
Will you be overclocking?: Unlikely, but I want a motherboard with the capability to do so if required (this one doesn't)

So yeah, could anyone recommend a build that is about as good now as my old one was back in 2011, which will be able to keep me going for a few years?

 

[Celcius]

I need this case omg

Lian Li PC-08 - $400

I'll just leave this here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQRunV2pBVU

 

[Pachimari]

I need a little help.

I have 6 extra USB 3.0 ports in the back of my desktop - in fact I just installed 3 new ports - but when my headset and USB dongle is connected to them, my Windows 7 won't start up. Only when I remove the two USB cables, it will start up.

Can I do anything specific? Because there's no other ports than the 6 extra I installed.

 

[RGM79]

Bought msi gtx 970, i5 4690 (not k I think), gigabyte h97m d3h because store employee said z97's difference is just slots for dual display cards (I think that's called sli?)
Hopefully they're not a lot worse than the one on OP's list :<

He missed one crucial difference, Z97 and a K-type processor can be overclocked for higher performance and longer useful life before the processor needs to be replaced. What you have now is by no means bad, but getting the 4690K and a Z97 processor probably wouldn't have cost a lot more and would have been preferable.

Mmm the problem is i dont want to have the living room full of cables and things.
Is the Steam Link performance that bad over wifi? What about watching films and other things non gaming related? Will the films have lag or something like that?

It's just the AC outlet adaptor and the single Ethernet cable. Ethernet connections are just a lot more stable than wifi and can offer higher speeds without worrying about signal strength, signal interference, wifi speeds, stuff like that. There's no reason why a fairly strong wifi connection wouldn't work, but I can see Valve wanting to cover their bases and not deal with complaints about "why doesn't this work on my wifi connection?!" just because people didn't have an issue with their network before.

Sooo, I have a technical question.
Today I've discovered that my RAM work at 1333Mhz instead of 1600.
This is my ram: DDR3 Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 1600MHz 8GB (2x4GB) CL9.
I have an i5-2500 (not K) @ 3.30 Ghz and an Asus P8Z68-V/GEN3.
I've started the BIOS and under AI Tweaker, the profile is set on "auto" with target speeds:
- CPU @ 3.70 Ghz
- RAM @ 1333 Mhz.
If I change the profile with "XMP" it changes into:
- CPU @3.70 Ghz
- RAM @ 1600 Mhz.
So my question is, to work with 1600Mhz do I just set the XMP profile? Or there are other things? Do I risk something?

All you need is XMP, nothing else.

Interesting.

How about video encoding?

The 860K should have an advantage in multithreaded video encoding and rendering, especially if overclocked. It's as simple as 4 cores being greater than 2 cores.

http://benchmarks-tests.com/reviews/processors/amd_athlon_x4_860k/cinebench.php

Is there any reason to have DDR4 RAM over DDR3 RAM? The performance difference seems kinda negligible in gaming; does it even have a potential future of better gaming performance than DDR3? One of the main things about it seems to be increased speed of the RAM, but is there currently some sort of technological limitation holding back any potential benefit from faster RAM or something?

For gaming it barely makes a difference. Games are more reliant on VRAM than system RAM, but in the odd case that the game needs to access system RAM, higher speed RAM can help reduce any potential bottlenecking as system RAM is a lot slower than VRAM.

 

[RGM79]

So unfortunately it seems my PC is showing signs that is going to die again, I had to replace the motherboard at Christmas after months worth of it telling me on boot that a new CPU has been installed eventually led to the whole thing dying. I had to spend over £100 to get a used identical replacement, but I don't see that it is a worthwhile pursuit this time around since it'll soon be heading on 4 years old.

I haven't kept up on parts, like at all, since when I built it back in 2011, so I have no idea what to aim for any more. My current build is an i5 2500k, 8gb DDR3 1600, MSI 560ti Twin Frozr, it does the job fairly well still but obviously if I bought something similar now it wouldn't last for long. I need something that is probably considered like mid-range now, but could be kept comfortably for like 3-4 years, it absolutely MUST have a micro ATX motherboard (I'll be re-using this tower, it's a unique sized one that cost a lot of money) and noise/heat levels are an issue - my current GPU is way too damn noisy even when not doing anything important. Also no Asus parts, they're absolute garbage.

I filled out the form in the OP if that'll be of any help:

So yeah, could anyone recommend a build that is about as good now as my old one was back in 2011, which will be able to keep me going for a few years?

Sorry, I'll need a bit more info than that. Going on what you said, it sounds like what you need is a new processor, motherboard, and graphics card at the bare minimum, and you will be reusing the rest of your old PC. That should be definitely doable on your £500 budget.

What power supply do you have, though? So far, these are my recommendations:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£177.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.48 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£109.00 @ Aria PC)
Total: £310.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-01 19:47 BST+0100

Knowing what power supply you have will tell me if it needs to be replaced, and what graphics card will fit into the rest of your budget.

Odd issue here: I built my new machine a few days ago, and everything is running great. However, I'm sitting here reading, with the PC in sleep mode, and every 15-20 minutes it sounds like it's booting itself up briefly then turning back off. Sounds like all the fans kick on, the Windforce LED lights up, etc. Screen never comes on.

What settings should I check/modify for this? Motherboard is ASRock Z97 Extreme3 if that's important.

EDIT: I'm also running a wireless card. Is it possible this is related to some "Wake on LAN" functionality?

I kind of doubt it's related to WOL, usually the PC would need to receive a specific type of packet to be woken up and it would wake up all the way, not just turning on and off again. You can try going into your wifi adaptor's properties page from device manager and disable wake on lan to see if that does anything for you, though.

Could be power supply related for all I know. Some PCs will do a quick power on test and then power off if they lose AC power and get reconnected again. Check your motherboard settings for an option listed as "Restore on AC/Power Loss" or something similar along those lines.

I need a little help.

I have 6 extra USB 3.0 ports in the back of my desktop - in fact I just installed 3 new ports - but when my headset and USB dongle is connected to them, my Windows 7 won't start up. Only when I remove the two USB cables, it will start up.

Can I do anything specific? Because there's no other ports than the 6 extra I installed.

What do you mean it won't start up? The PC is completely dead? Or does it hang or freeze on startup and prevent Windows from loading?

 

[chualie]

I got a 970 earlier but I am thinking of selling it and downgrading to a GTX 960 since I don't need the extra horsepower.

What would a fair price for a eVGA SSC ACX GTX 970 be? Stock, used for less than a month.

 

[Azure Phoenix]

Sorry, I'll need a bit more info than that. Going on what you said, it sounds like what you need is a new processor, motherboard, and graphics card at the bare minimum, and you will be reusing the rest of your old PC. That should be definitely doable on your £500 budget.

What power supply do you have, though? So far, these are my recommendations:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£177.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.48 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£109.00 @ Aria PC)
Total: £310.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-01 19:47 BST+0100

Knowing what power supply you have will tell me if it needs to be replaced, and what graphics card will fit into the rest of your budget.

Sure, sorry about that. I didn't actually know exactly what PSU I have since I just bought the one that I knew was designed for this case. It's apparently a 700W PSU, this is the exact model: http://silverstonetek.com/product.php?area=en&pid=295

And yes, you're correct. I need motherboard, processor, cooler, memory (this RAM is dodgy, sometimes it doesn't let the PC boot) and graphics card (preferably a quieter one). Maybe PSU too if you say the current one isn't useable. I'm keeping the case, hard drives, optical drive and monitor.

 

[King Gilga]

Okay, so I did a quick and dirty OC from 3.5 to 4.5 on 1.2 voltage on my i5-4690k.

I did an hour stress test with aida 64, went absolutely fine, but I accidentally closed it, so i did another one, and after 1/2 an hour it got an 'out of system resources' and stopped.

I googled it but couldn't find anything about it.

So then I did a 4 hour prime95 blend torture test which went flawlessy, along with another 2 and a 1/2 hour aida64 stress test and a hyper pi 32mill mem test both of which also were perfectly fine.

Should I be worried? Or allow it? Also, besides changing voltage from manual to adaptive is there anything else I need to do? Like I said literally all I did was change the cpu multiplayer to 45 and the cpu voltage to 1.20.

 

[StarlordDial]

Hmmmm.. Been bothering me for a bit now but i've been checking out my ram speeds and frequency for a while now ... I bought a gskill ripjaw 4 series 16gb 3000 ram (4 channels) for my x99s gaming 7 mobo .... I checked out cpu-z and also thr bios but i'm certain mine is not running at 3000mhz but instead 2133 ...
Edit: but cpu-z does show 3000mhz for my memory ?! Wtf
Anyone can help me here ?

 

[Smokey]

I'll just leave this here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQRunV2pBVU

That's actually where I learned of the case

 

[RGM79]

I got a 970 earlier but I am thinking of selling it and downgrading to a GTX 960 since I don't need the extra horsepower.

What would a fair price for a eVGA SSC ACX GTX 970 be? Stock, used for less than a month.

The GTX 960 isn't really recommended if you can afford the GTX 970. Extra horsepower isn't exactly wasted, it does mean you can go longer before having to upgrade again.

I dunno about pricing.. depends on where you are and what the market for used GTX 970s are like.. but MSRP minus 10~15% sounds like it'd be worth a try if it's in such excellent condition.

Sure, sorry about that. I didn't actually know exactly what PSU I have since I just bought the one that I knew was designed for this case. It's apparently a 700W PSU, this is the exact model: http://silverstonetek.com/product.php?area=en&pid=295

And yes, you're correct. I need motherboard, processor, cooler, memory (this RAM is dodgy, sometimes it doesn't let the PC boot) and graphics card (preferably a quieter one). Maybe PSU too if you say the current one isn't useable. I'm keeping the case, hard drives, optical drive and monitor.

The PSU is ok, not great but not awful. It's actually only capable of about 550 watts for 12V (12V is the important PSU output that powers stuff like graphics cards) which is still OK. You can save some money by not replacing the PSU.

Are you sure the RAM itself is bad and that it's not the old motherboard? If you could reuse the RAM as well, that'd leave more money left for a good graphics card. Sometimes you just need to physically remove and reinstall the RAM and/or try different RAM slots.

Assuming that we'll keep the existing PSU and RAM.. well, to stay under budget you'll have to consider either the GTX 960 or R9 380. I recommend the 4GB versions, the 2GB models are lacking in terms of VRAM as games on higher settings at 1080p are already capable of using more than 2GB of VRAM.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£177.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.48 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£109.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card (£177.07 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £487.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-01 22:31 BST+0100

That MSI model is the cheapest R9 380 4GB that has a silent fan mode and has decent reviews (80% positive on Newegg). If you prefer Nvidia, then the corresponding GTX 960 recommendation would be the Gigabyte GTX 960 4GB Windforce 2X (£181), it also has a silent fan mode.

Well.. I should say that the GTX 970 represents a much better performance-to-price ratio compared to the GTX 960 and R9 380 and it also has silent fan modes, but it would cost you over £500 in total.
If you weren't going to overclock right away, you could drop the cooler for now and go with the GTX 970.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£177.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£109.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£249.98 @ Aria PC)
Total: £535.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-01 22:46 BST+0100

Hmmmm.. Been bothering me for a bit now but i've been checking out my ram speeds and frequency for a while now ... I bought a gskill ripjaw 4 series 16gb 3000 ram (4 channels) for my x99s gaming 7 mobo .... I checked out cpu-z and also thr bios but i'm certain mine is not running at 3000mhz but instead 2133 ...
Edit: but cpu-z does show 3000mhz for my memory ?! Wtf
Anyone can help me here ?

By default X99 officially supports 2133MHz. To run RAM at higher speeds, you need to go into your motherboard's settings and enable an option called XMP or set the XMP profiles to the speed you want. Hardware Canucks did a review of your motherboard and their article touches a bit on where the XMP option is.

 

[LilJoka]

Okay, so I did a quick and dirty OC from 3.5 to 4.5 on 1.2 voltage on my i5-4690k.

I did an hour stress test with aida 64, went absolutely fine, but I accidentally closed it, so i did another one, and after 1/2 an hour it got an 'out of system resources' and stopped.

I googled it but couldn't find anything about it.

So then I did a 4 hour prime95 blend torture test which went flawlessy, along with another 2 and a 1/2 hour aida64 stress test and a hyper pi 32mill mem test both of which also were perfectly fine.

Should I be worried? Or allow it? Also, besides changing voltage from manual to adaptive is there anything else I need to do? Like I said literally all I did was change the cpu multiplayer to 45 and the cpu voltage to 1.20.

I think your fine, nice chip to get prime to run for 4 hours. I would leave it be, or if your bored, reduce vcore and find the minimum required.

 

[King Gilga]

I think your fine, nice chip to get prime to run for 4 hours. I would leave it be, or if your bored, reduce vcore and find the minimum required.

Thanks, that's a load of my mind. But yeah I'd rather not mess with anything if I don't have to.

Cheers.

 

[Azure Phoenix]

The PSU is ok, not great but not awful. It's actually only capable of about 550 watts for 12V (12V is the important PSU output that powers stuff like graphics cards) which is still OK. You can save some money by not replacing the PSU.

Are you sure the RAM itself is bad and that it's not the old motherboard? If you could reuse the RAM as well, that'd leave more money left for a good graphics card. Sometimes you just need to physically remove and reinstall the RAM and/or try different RAM slots.

Assuming that we'll keep the existing PSU and RAM.. well, to stay under budget you'll have to consider either the GTX 960 or R9 380. I recommend the 4GB versions, the 2GB models are lacking in terms of VRAM as games on higher settings at 1080p are already capable of using more than 2GB of VRAM.

*snip*

Well.. I should say that the GTX 970 represents a much better performance-to-price ratio compared to the GTX 960 and R9 380 and it also has silent fan modes, but it would cost you over £500 in total.
If you weren't going to overclock right away, you could drop the cooler for now and go with the GTX 970.

*snip*

First of all thanks for your help with this, although I need to bone up on PC parts again, if this PC just decides never to boot again come tomorrow then I really needed something in mind that I could build.

I'm not honestly sure if the RAM is bad, it doesn't ever throw up problems during any memory checks I run. It's just that sometimes the PC simply won't boot at all until I yank a stick of RAM out for a bit and then change the slots around. After that it works fine for months.

Just a question regarding both of those graphics cards, how much heat would they put out relative to the 560ti? Although the case I use has good airflow, it's not quite on par with full size towers so I don't want to risk running a volcano inside there, particularly if I run stock cooler for a while to cut immediate costs. £500 isn't a complete hard limit though, I would prefer to run Nvidia than ATI so I could spring a little bit more (like for the 970) if needed to get an Nvidia.

 

[RGM79]

First of all thanks for your help with this, although I need to bone up on PC parts again, if this PC just decides never to boot again come tomorrow then I really needed something in mind that I could build.

I'm not honestly sure if the RAM is bad, it doesn't ever throw up problems during any memory checks I run. It's just that sometimes the PC simply won't boot at all until I yank a stick of RAM out for a bit and then change the slots around. After that it works fine for months.

Just a question regarding both of those graphics cards, how much heat would they put out relative to the 560ti? Although the case I use has good airflow, it's not quite on par with full size towers so I don't want to risk running a volcano inside there, particularly if I run stock cooler for a while to cut immediate costs. £500 isn't a complete hard limit though, I would prefer to run Nvidia than ATI so I could spring a little bit more (like for the 970) if needed to get an Nvidia.

The GTX 970's power consumption is similar to the GTX 560 Ti (both around 160~180 watts depending on the model), so I'd expect it to be somewhat similar. The GTX 960 consumes even less power, somewhere around 120 watts. Power consumption is not a direct indication of heat and thermals (that'll vary by the GPU model and the cooler design) in general, I don't expect the GTX 960 or 970 to run hotter than the 560 Ti.

Edit: I fixed my earlier post to provide a link to the Gigabyte GTX 960 card I was talking about, as well as a price.

 

[mrklaw]

First of all thanks for your help with this, although I need to bone up on PC parts again, if this PC just decides never to boot again come tomorrow then I really needed something in mind that I could build.

I'm not honestly sure if the RAM is bad, it doesn't ever throw up problems during any memory checks I run. It's just that sometimes the PC simply won't boot at all until I yank a stick of RAM out for a bit and then change the slots around. After that it works fine for months.

Just a question regarding both of those graphics cards, how much heat would they put out relative to the 560ti? Although the case I use has good airflow, it's not quite on par with full size towers so I don't want to risk running a volcano inside there, particularly if I run stock cooler for a while to cut immediate costs. £500 isn't a complete hard limit though, I would prefer to run Nvidia than ATI so I could spring a little bit more (like for the 970) if needed to get an Nvidia.

Go for the 970 and i5 with the stock cooler if needed - it'll be plenty fast enough and then you can add a larger cooler in 6-12 months for overclocking to keep things fast. I have the MSI 4G 970 and it has a silent mode too, so no fans spin until it gets above a certain temperature. 970 is definitely a better value proposition than a 960 and will last you longer.

I'm using it in a bitfenix prodigy and it does vent some heat into the case, but that gets exhausted quickly enough. Although I have an AIO cooler for my CPU so maybe that helps avoid the CPU being affected by the GPU?

 

[CreepingFear]

If Skylake does indeed come out this month, the following list is what I'm going to build around the mobo, skylake i7 cpu, and ddr4 memory.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($93.04 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($249.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($202.85 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Classified ACX 2.0+ Video Card
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($183.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit) ($139.99 @ Directron)
Total: $958.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-01 18:29 EDT-0400

The goal is to double storage and memory. I'll go from a current 256GB Samsung 830, to 512 SSD, 16GB of DDR3 RAM to 32 GB of DDR4, and 2 TB porn storage drive to 4TB porn storage drive. I'm also aiming for a little more silence than my current PC. My current PC is a very loud Corsair 600t. It's served me well. Hopefully, the Noctual CPU cooler and the R5 make a big difference. I have $1400 saved. I'm guessing I'll need another $400 dollars. I can always sell a kidney.

 

[RGM79]

If Skylake does indeed come out this month, the following list is what I'm going to build around the mobo, skylake i7 cpu, and ddr4 memory.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($93.04 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($249.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($202.85 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Classified ACX 2.0+ Video Card
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($183.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit) ($139.99 @ Directron)
Total: $958.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-01 18:29 EDT-0400

The goal is to double storage and memory. I'll go from a current 256GB Samsung 830, to 512 SSD, 16GB of DDR3 RAM to 32 GB of DDR4, and 2 TB porn storage drive to 4TB porn storage drive. I'm also aiming for a little more silence than my current PC. My current PC is a very loud Corsair 600t. It's served me well. Hopefully, the Noctual CPU cooler and the R5 make a big difference. I have $1400 saved. I'm guessing I'll need another $400 dollars. I can always sell a kidney.

Those are very high end parts and they also cost a lot. If you didn't mind making a few concessions here and there for slightly lower end parts for a lot less money, you could save a lot. Something like this?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.75 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial BX100 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($167.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Toshiba 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Classified ACX 2.0+ Video Card
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($117.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit) ($139.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $725.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-01 18:53 EDT-0400

 

[BeEatNU]

I need this case omg

Lian Li PC-08 - $400

damn this looks crazy

 

[CreepingFear]

Those are very high end parts and they also cost a lot. If you didn't mind making a few concessions here and there for slightly lower end parts for a lot less money, you could save a lot. Something like this?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.75 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial BX100 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($167.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Toshiba 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Classified ACX 2.0+ Video Card
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($117.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit) ($139.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $725.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-01 18:53 EDT-0400

It would probably be wise to follow your advice, but I like to waste my money like Smokey

 

[Smokey]

It would probably be wise to follow your advice, but I like to waste my money like Smokey

 

[chualie]

The GTX 960 isn't really recommended if you can afford the GTX 970. Extra horsepower isn't exactly wasted, it does mean you can go longer before having to upgrade again.

I dunno about pricing.. depends on where you are and what the market for used GTX 970s are like.. but MSRP minus 10~15% sounds like it'd be worth a try if it's in such excellent condition.

Hmm.. Not sure.

I don't play any graphically intensively game.

What is the best card around the $150 - $200 mark?

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

I have the Corsair 540 and I love it so much. What were your problems with it?

What's wrong with the 540

But I agree, that's a nice case. It is just too expensive at $400. That's as much as a Ps4!

Sorry, I was just giving him a hard time. Corsair makes good cases, and the 540 is no exception. I just can't stand how they're pretty much 99% plastic. Once you use something like a mid-range or nicer Lian Li, it's really hard to accept anything less.

 

[RGM79]

Hmm.. Not sure.

I don't play any graphically intensively game.

What is the best card around the $150 - $200 mark?

What games do you play, and at what settings and resolution? Depending on what your actual needs are, you might be fine with even weaker/cheaper graphics cards.

At the upper end of your budget, you can get the EVGA GTX 960 4GB Superclocked model for $200 after $10 rebate.

For $180 you can get an XFX R9 280X 3GB which isn't a bad price, but it is an older design.

 

[Two Words]

I asked earlier about a good mechanical keyboard and I went with the Logitech G710 MX Blue Cherry keys. It's my first mechanical keyboard. It didn't take me long to get used to it, and I can definitely feel the difference between mechanical and membrane now. It's definitely noisy, but I kind of like it. There is a strange satisfying sound to each key press, and it definitely acts as a good feedback for keys. The only feature this keyboard doesn't have that the other keyboard had that was more than double the price is that you cannot individually select which LED key is lit for every game profile. But that seems like it won't be that necessary since I tend to never look at the keyboard. At least the WASD keys and arrow keys can be lit separately and are colored differently.

 

[Devildoll]

It's definitely noisy, but I kind of like it.

Well you got the blues, they are intentionally audible.
The browns are supposed to feel the same, without the initial audible click.

That said, i also have blues!


Since there are a couple of different mechanical switches available, i reccomend people to try the range out, instead of buying a keyboard in the dark.

 

[StarlordDial]

Sheesh...

so since I'm done with updating everything, installing everything I need,

does anyone know the best way or cheap way to buy microsoft office 2013? ;_;

I need it

 

[Dmax3901]

MSI 980 Ti: $1,089
VX24AH: $429 (+postage)

Stupppppiiiddly expensive purchase. But a combination of part of my tax return, and profit from selling off a bunch of games I no longer play, along with (now) selling my GTX 970. Still got a few games to sell off, and if those are successful I basically will have paid half the total price for two with my tax return.

Nice. That's more than I spent on my entire new PC and I had already bought the GPU

 

[RGM79]

Sheesh...

so since I'm done with updating everything, installing everything I need,

does anyone know the best way or cheap way to buy microsoft office 2013? ;_;

I need it

Best? If you're an employee or student of an eligible company or school, try the Microsoft Home Use Program, you can get Office for $11 USD. Don't worry if you don't have a program code, click on the blue link and try your work or university email address.

Cheap? You can buy a cheap license key off reddit, but let me mention my usual disclaimer on that:

Windows 7/8.1 (and Office) licenses can be bought from reddit's microsoftsoftwareswap for $20 USD or less. These are most likely legitimate keys that are resold from educational programs like Technet or MSDNAA/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.

 

[Pachimari]

What do you mean it won't start up? The PC is completely dead? Or does it hang or freeze on startup and prevent Windows from loading?

It just hanged on startup at a black screen. Though, it doesn't happen in Windows 10, so right now I'm good to go.

Anyway, I don't get the differences between WD Red, Blue and Green?
I currently have a 1TB Blue and it is not noisy at all, but I just ordered a 4TB green, and now I'm worried if it is gonna be more noisy than my 1TB Blue drive.

 

[knitoe]

It just hanged on startup at a black screen. Though, it doesn't happen in Windows 10, so right now I'm good to go.

Anyway, I don't get the differences between WD Red, Blue and Green?
I currently have a 1TB Blue and it is not noisy at all, but I just ordered a 4TB green, and now I'm worried if it is gonna be more noisy than my 1TB Blue drive.

I always recommend people to avoid the Greens. They have excessive head parking, due to power saving routine, that causes more problems then it's worth.

 

[RGM79]

It just hanged on startup at a black screen. Though, it doesn't happen in Windows 10, so right now I'm good to go.

Anyway, I don't get the differences between WD Red, Blue and Green?
I currently have a 1TB Blue and it is not noisy at all, but I just ordered a 4TB green, and now I'm worried if it is gonna be more noisy than my 1TB Blue drive.

Red is for server or enterprise type usage. Blue is the normal mainstream model for consumers. Green are low power type drives that run at (usually lower) variable speeds and are best used as secondary/storage drives rather than for OS.

I doubt a green drive will be too noisy. Red and green have some overlap in terms of features and usage role, but differ enough that WD sees fit to market it separately (and apparently make a profit). The following links should help you tell them apart.

Puget Systems comparison article on green and red models
Gamer's Nexus comparison article on black, blue, and green models
Anandtech review of the red models
SMB IT Journal WD drive comparison article on WD's entire lineup including red, blue, black, and green models

 

[LilJoka]

It just hanged on startup at a black screen. Though, it doesn't happen in Windows 10, so right now I'm good to go.

Anyway, I don't get the differences between WD Red, Blue and Green?
I currently have a 1TB Blue and it is not noisy at all, but I just ordered a 4TB green, and now I'm worried if it is gonna be more noisy than my 1TB Blue drive.

As knitoe says, don't buy Green, they are the least reliable due to excessive head parking.

If you want to quieten drives, mount them in bungee cord. New drives with lower number of platters also run quieter.

Sorry, I was just giving him a hard time. Corsair makes good cases, and the 540 is no exception. I just can't stand how they're pretty much 99% plastic. Once you use something like a mid-range or nicer Lian Li, it's really hard to accept anything less.

This is truth, everyone goes through the case and fan "phase", before finding Lian Li, case labs etc.

 

[Terbinator]

Can anyone recommend a good 'vertical' ITX case? Preferably with ATX PSU support (have an AX760i). By good I mean well constructed and classy.

I'll be jumping back in to PC gaming with Skylake and I've always like the Silverstone Fortress Mini but it's a bit long in the tooth now and the construction is also all steel AFAIK.

Ideas?

 

[LilJoka]

Can anyone recommend a good 'vertical' ITX case? Preferably with ATX PSU support (have an AX760i). By good I mean well constructed and classy.

I'll be jumping back in to PC gaming with Skylake and I've always like the Silverstone Fortress Mini but it's a bit long in the tooth now and the construction is also all steel AFAIK.

Ideas?

Tough one, try the Bitfenix range, otherwise all I can think of is Ncase M1. Parvum ITX cases maybe too.

 

[Pachimari]

I always recommend people to avoid the Greens. They have excessive head parking, due to power saving routine, that causes more problems then it's worth.

Red is for server or enterprise type usage. Blue is the normal mainstream model for consumers. Green are low power type drives that run at (usually lower) variable speeds and are best used as secondary/storage drives rather than for OS.

I doubt a green drive will be too noisy. Red and green have some overlap in terms of features and usage role, but differ enough that WD sees fit to market it separately (and apparently make a profit). The following links should help you tell them apart.

Puget Systems comparison article on green and red models
Gamer's Nexus comparison article on black, blue, and green models
Anandtech review of the red models
SMB IT Journal WD drive comparison article on WD's entire lineup including red, blue, black, and green models

As knitoe says, don't buy Green, they are the least reliable due to excessive head parking.

But the WD Green 4TB is already on its way from Amazon. =(

I plan on only using it to store all of my movies and play them in Plex, that's all. Wouldn't it be fine for that?

 

[LilJoka]

But the WD Green 4TB is already on its way from Amazon. =(

I plan on only using it to store all of my movies and play them in Plex, that's all. Wouldn't it be fine for that?

Personally I'd just refund, you can get better drives for the same money. Hitachi are at the top now generally. Toshiba too, but not sure if they do a 4TB.

 

[Pachimari]

Personally I'd just refund, you can get better drives for the same money. Hitachi are at the top now generally. Toshiba too, but not sure if they do a 4TB.

But don't I have to pay to send it back?
I'll try do that, but exact 4TB models should I take a look at for the same price?

WD is a personal fave company of mine when it comes to storage, and I thought they were supposed to be at the top.

 

[LilJoka]

But don't I have to pay to send it back?
I'll try do that, but exact 4TB models should I take a look at for the same price?

WD is a personal fave company of mine when it comes to storage, and I thought they were supposed to be at the top.

Not in the UK, not sure about elsewhere.
Hitachi, WD Red, Toshiba. Check the number of platters in the drive with Google powers before picking. Less platters the better. 1Tb platters are the highest afaik - so you want 4 maximum ideally for 4TB.

 

[Pachimari]

Not in the UK, not sure about elsewhere.
Hitachi, WD Red, Toshiba. Check the number of platters in the drive with Google powers before picking. Less platters the better. 1Tb platters are the highest afaik - so you want 4 maximum ideally for 4TB.

I don't understand, how I can see how many platters a hard drive comes with, like on this WD Green one?

 

[LilJoka]

I don't understand, how I can see how many platters a hard drive comes with, like on this WD Green one?

They are 1Tb platters, they aren't listed as spec you have to google around.

Seems like the hitachi 4tb 5400 is end of life, only the 7200 is for sale at about £125. WD red about the same.

 

[Pachimari]

Oh I see. You know what, I think I'm just gonna keep this WD Green one, as it is too much of a hassle for me returning it I think.
And in the near future I'll just add a WD Red 4TB hard drive if that's possible. And if it has those 4 platters.

The WD Green doesn't have a long longevity? Or is it at a higher risk at dying?

 

[LilJoka]

Oh I see. You know what, I think I'm just gonna keep this WD Green one, as it is too much of a hassle for me returning it I think.
And in the near future I'll just add a WD Red 4TB hard drive if that's possible. And if it has those 4 platters.

The WD Green doesn't have a long longevity? Or is it at a higher risk at dying?

It's somewhat less reliable, so yeah has higher risk of dying.

https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-reliability-update-september-2014/

See the table, green at 3.8% failure rate, Hitachi lot less.

In my experience, HDDs tend to die early (few months) or last a long time.

 

[Rad Agast]

I've decided to build a new PC after my dell laptop died on me last week. Can someone tell me what they think of this build?

MSI Z97A gamer 6 mobo
MSI 970GTX G4
Intel i7 6790K
16 GB (8×2) Kingston hypermax fury 1866
WD 2TB Red
Corsair hydro series h110
Corsair C70 mid tower case
Corsair 750 EM series psu (I think)

I'll be gaming and using this on a 1080p led samsung monitor. Figured that I don't need any extra power for now regarding the gpu.

 

[Übersandvich]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£168.93 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.48 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£76.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£35.86 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£49.90 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£32.34 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£259.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£59.84 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£44.99 @ Aria PC)
Total: £753.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-26 20:29 BST+0100

So I bought these parts with a Define Mini case instead of the Micro case, and I am having a bit of trouble pushing my GPU into the motherboard when the motherboard is inside the case. The CPU does fit in the case with one of the hard drive cases removed. I have managed to insert the whole GPU when the motherboard is not inside the case. Everything else seems to go fine, although I am still working out the wire placement.

I slit the GPU into the case slots. That works, but I cannot get the small connector of the GPU into the PCI port, although I can get the long connector in. It just does not seem to give. Is there a trick to using this case?

I hope I have explained my problem well, putting this PC together is starting to drive me crazy.

 

[LilJoka]

So I bought these parts with a Define Mini case instead of the Micro case, and I am having a bit of trouble pushing my GPU into the motherboard when the motherboard is inside the case. The CPU does fit in the case with one of the hard drive cases removed. I have managed to insert the whole GPU when the motherboard is not inside the case. Everything else seems to go fine, although I am still working out the wire placement.

I slit the GPU into the case slots. That works, but I cannot get the small connector of the GPU into the PCI port, although I can get the long connector in. It just does not seem to give. Is there a trick to using this case?

I hope I have explained my problem well, putting this PC together is starting to drive me crazy.

Make sure the 2 prongs that are going in towards the case at the end of the metal PCIE bracket of the GPU are sliding between the case and the motherboard.

Take some pics if you can.

 

[khaaan]

I'm sorry TechSupportGAF, I need help

Actually, my Uncle needs help but I'm the one who got lumped in tech support duty.

So he has this old Dell computer with Windows XP on it, and a "new" Dell computer with Windows XP on it. He wants to move data from computer 1 to computer 2 so he assumed he could just change hard drives and call it a day. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case, and he's trashed the old computer as well. What do I do GAF?

If it helps, I have the Windows XP installation disks that came with both computers. Should I try to do a Windows repair? He wants his data to be intact though, and didn't back anything up. I'm considering buying one of those data transfer cables, backing up his stuff on my machine, doing a fresh install, and then transfer all the data over.