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[SkullHydra]

My brother is planning to build a gaming PC soon (He was going to do it months ago, but got busy), so I've been looking into various threads about getting him the best bang for his buck. His favorite games at the moment aren't too intensive (Dota 2, etc), but he'd like to be able to catch up on older games with mods as wall as play newer games at really nice settings and 1080p60. He has about a $14k budget, so I was primarily looking around the Enthusiast level build in the OP and made this rough draft:

CPU: *Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($164.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($334.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar DGX 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card ($27.49 @ Newegg)

Total: $1231.12

The GTX 760 seems like the best GPU for the price at the moment, but I'm not sure what the differences in vendors are. I've also heard pretty great things about the CPU and HDD setup. I know almost nothing about Motherboards, the PSU, or cooling units though, so help in those areas would be especially appreciated.

I don't know if there have been any substantial changes since the builds in the OP were last updated, or if are any important parts coming out that he should wait for. He doesn't really need the computer by any specific date, so waiting a month for a nice upgrade might not be too bad.

Any and all help would be amazing! Thanks.

 

[SocksForWoks]

I'm interested in this Sapphire R9 290x, it has 8gb of GDDR5 and only costs about $500.

Does it seem like a gimmick or would really be effective for 1080p maxed out gaming? I want to upgrade to something that will last a good couple of years from now.

 

[Xdrive05]

I'm pretty sure somewhat soon? I think I heard May or something? I could be totally wrong though

But no chance it will be out within the next month, right?

 

[The Llama]

I'm interested in this Sapphire R9 290x, it has 8gb of GDDR5 and only costs about $500.

Does it seem like a gimmick or would really be effective for 1080p maxed out gaming? I want to upgrade to something that will last a good couple of years from now.

As someone who owns a 290x, that's definitely a gimmick and I wouldn't bother. The only way I could see it being useful is for 4k gaming in CF. Otherwise, 4GB of VRAM is fine.

 

[Smokey]

I'm interested in this Sapphire R9 290x, it has 8gb of GDDR5 and only costs about $500.

Does it seem like a gimmick or would really be effective for 1080p maxed out gaming? I want to upgrade to something that will last a good couple of years from now.

You won't hit 8GB of VRAM without running out of GPU muscle first. You won't even it that amount of VRAM at 1080p. It's a gimmick.

I'd wait and see what the 300 series has to offer. We will probably see strides in power efficiency and a nice jump from the 200 series in performance.

 

[The Shogun]

But no chance it will be out within the next month, right?

Looks like mid February - March. So actually possibly next month after all.

 

[Xisiqomelir]

My 970 came!

Consider me to be this guy:

Aside from the Crises (and...Half-Life 2 and Portal), what do I buy?

 

[RGM79]

Thanks for the advice. I may consider going with a 4670K and a GTX 960.

Why the 4670K? Planning to buy used?

My brother is planning to build a gaming PC soon (He was going to do it months ago, but got busy), so I've been looking into various threads about getting him the best bang for his buck. His favorite games at the moment aren't too intensive (Dota 2, etc), but he'd like to be able to catch up on older games with mods as wall as play newer games at really nice settings and 1080p60. He has about a $14k budget, so I was primarily looking around the Enthusiast level build in the OP and made this rough draft:


The GTX 760 seems like the best GPU for the price at the moment, but I'm not sure what the differences in vendors are. I've also heard pretty great things about the CPU and HDD setup. I know almost nothing about Motherboards, the PSU, or cooling units though, so help in those areas would be especially appreciated.

I don't know if there have been any substantial changes since the builds in the OP were last updated, or if are any important parts coming out that he should wait for. He doesn't really need the computer by any specific date, so waiting a month for a nice upgrade might not be too bad.

Any and all help would be amazing! Thanks.

There's quite a few places to save a lot of money.
Motherboard doesn't need to be that expensive. RAM is a bit slow, 1866MHz or faster can be found for the same price.
The Enthoo Pro is a great premium case, but cheaper, less well-featured cases can be had that will get the job done.
I recommend the updated version of the same EVGA Supernova G series 750 watt power supply for only $10 more after rebate. If you don't mind giving up gold efficiency, a decent quality 750 watt power supply is the EVGA Supernova B2 model, which is only $50.
Does he even need a sound card? He'll only need one if he has audiophile quality headphones or something that onboard sound can't drive.

Here's my version of your build, saved about $160.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($334.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.90 @ Directron)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1064.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-26 00:17 EST-0500

But no chance it will be out within the next month, right?

Doesn't seem likely. There hasn't been much news and so far the latest rumors still say Q2 2015.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

My 970 came!

Consider me to be this guy:

Aside from the Crises (and...Half-Life 2 and Portal), what do I buy?

What genres do you like?

In the shooter space:

F.E.A.R. (1)
Crysis (1)
Wolfenstein: The New Order

In the RPG/Shooter space:

Mass Effect series
Deus Ex: Human Revolution

 

[Anustart]

I'm wanting to upgrade my 4gb 760, but don't want a 960, scared of the 970s problem, and 980s are pricy. What to do? Also, would I need a psu upgrade for a 980? I have a 550w now.

 

[opticalmace]

I'm wanting to upgrade my 4gb 760, but don't want a 960, scared of the 970s problem, and 980s are pricy. What to do? Also, would I need a psu upgrade for a 980? I have a 550w now.

Your PSU is fine (assuming it's a decent brand). If I were you I would wait a few months and see what happens when AMD's new cards launch.

 

[The Llama]

I'm wanting to upgrade my 4gb 760, but don't want a 960, scared of the 970s problem, and 980s are pricy. What to do? Also, would I need a psu upgrade for a 980? I have a 550w now.

Even though I'm pretty mad at nVidia about the 970 situation, I'd still suggest one if you can afford it. I think it'd be a very good upgrade coming from a 760. You'd be fine with a decent 550w PSU.

Did a trip to Microcenter and came away with parts of my build. Still gotta get a cooler and a GPU but I have the bare essentials for now.


Mobo: Asus ROG Maximus VII Hero
CPU - Intel i5-4690k
Memory - Corsair Vengeance 8GB (4GBx2) RAM
SSD: Crucial MX100 128 GB
Case: NZXT H440 (love the look of this case btw, esp in white/back)
PSU: EVGA SuperNova G1 650W

Will post pics later.

Just looked up the H440, and wow that's a nice looking case. I love pretty much everything NZXT though, so I'm sort of biased haha. Good call on the white/black, that's also my favorite color scheme right now (my GTA5 garage has all my cars in that color scheme).

 

[OriginofHysteria]

Did a trip to Microcenter and came away with parts of my build. Still gotta get a cooler and a GPU but I have the bare essentials for now.


Mobo: Asus ROG Maximus VII Hero
CPU - Intel i5-4690k
Memory - Corsair Vengeance 8GB (4GBx2) RAM
SSD: Crucial MX100 128 GB
Case: NZXT H440 (love the look of this case btw, esp in white/back)
PSU: EVGA SuperNova G1 650W

Will post pics later.

 

[Xisiqomelir]

What genres do you like?

Space 4X, cRPG (will be getting Wasteland 2), jRPG, RTS, Fighting

 

[darthbob]

Why the 4670K? Planning to buy used?

Probably not, but they're fairly inexpensive.

 

[Anustart]

Figure ill ask here. I'm wanting to sell my 4gb 760 to offset my new gpu. Is 200$ a reasonable price? I bought it for a bit over 300 6 months ago

 

[RGM79]

Probably not, but they're fairly inexpensive.

Oh. As far as I know in North America, the 4670K is actually expensive because it was discontinued and replaced by the 4690K, retailers here like to jack up prices on discontinued items.

I think in European countries, the 4670K is less expensive than the 4690K.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Space 4X, cRPG (will be getting Wasteland 2), jRPG, RTS, Fighting

Galactic Civilizations II (w/ Twilight of Arnor)
Sins of a Solar Empire
Valkyria Chronicles
Company of Heroes 2
Mortal Kombat 9 (Just called MK)

All available on Steam.

 

[Starbuck2907]

Intel CPUs are recommended for Dolphin, as the official FAQ says, your FX-8350 will only get around half the performance of the 4670K/4690K. Upgrading to an Intel 4690K and motherboard will cost $300 USD, though. On the other hand, from what they say your current GPU should be enough for Dolphin.



Don't bother with a CPU upgrade, your 2500K is still a potent processor. With a decent CPU cooler you should be able to get your 2500K up to 4.5GHz which puts it within spitting range of the latest i5 processors. Ocaholic did testing benchmarks for the 2500K, 3570K, and 4670K. The 4670K is only about 10~20% faster than the 2500K when comparing them at the same speeds.

The hyperthreading that upgrading to i7 2600K/3770K gives you is pointless for games, very few games take advantage of it.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8227/devils-canyon-review-intel-core-i7-4790k-and-i5-4690k/5
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i7-4790k-i5-4690k_5.html#sect0
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2014/07/03/intel-core-i5-4690k-review/5
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cpu/71265-intel-core-i5-4690k-devils-canyon-22nm-haswell/?page=7

A graphics card upgrade will do you better. The 2500K can work hard enough to get you 60FPS or better in most games including recent AAA titles, you just need a better graphics card to help your PC get there. What's your budget for a graphics card upgrade?

I'm looking at the $200 to $300 range. The way things are looking, I will probably have to spend $300 to get what I'd like. People have suggested a 970, but I've also debated waiting on the 300 series from AMD. The 970 memory problem doesn't seem like a huge issue to me, but I'm gonna hold out a few weeks and see if any more info comes out about the problem. I can get a 970 for about $300... but I still wanna hear more about the 300 series.

 

[RGM79]

I'm looking at the $200 to $300 range. The way things are looking, I will probably have to spend $300 to get what I'd like. People have suggested a 970, but I've also debated waiting on the 300 series from AMD. The 970 memory problem doesn't seem like a huge issue to me, but I'm gonna hold out a few weeks and see if any more info comes out about the problem. I can get a 970 for about $300... but I still wanna hear more about the 300 series.

The R9 290 is the current price-to-performance king for high end, $250 for slightly less performance than the GTX 970. If you don't need to upgrade soon, then waiting for the R9 300 series is also an option.

 

[Xisiqomelir]

Galactic Civilizations II (w/ Twilight of Arnor)
Sins of a Solar Empire
Valkyria Chronicles
Company of Heroes 2
Mortal Kombat 9 (Just called MK)

All available on Steam.

Already have bolded and love it.

I also own Valkyria for PS3 and usually never double-dip. Does the computer version have any very compelling new features/enhancements?

Thanks for the reccos!

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Already have bolded and love it.

I also own Valkyria for PS3 and usually never double-dip. Does the computer version have any very compelling new features/enhancements?

Thanks for the reccos!

Not sure about extra features for Valkyria, someone else might be able to give you more info. If you've never tried them, you could look into some Grand Strategy titles for a uniquely PC experience

And outside of those genres, Kerbal Space Program is worth recommending. It's heading into its 1.0 release very soon from memory but even in prerelease it was worth playing.

Also, check out Xenonauts, it's a lot of fun if you ever played the old X-com games. Speaking of X-com, the recent X-com: Enemy Unknown/Within are worth playing too!

 

[Crisium]

I'm wanting to upgrade my 4gb 760, but don't want a 960, scared of the 970s problem, and 980s are pricy. What to do? Also, would I need a psu upgrade for a 980? I have a 550w now.

If you cannot wait, the card to buy now is the 290. 980 is overpriced and is only for those that demand the best. 970 isn't overpriced in the fullest sense of the word, but for a card barely 5% faster than the 290 it sure charges a considerable premium.

The 290 is handily 40-50% faster than the 960/760, and has 4GB of VRAM for longevity to boot. 960 sometimes loses to a 760, don't even think about it!

As for the 970, I wouldn't worry about the 970's overblown "problem" - rather I'd consider if its worth the extra cost over the 290. The extra power efficiency of the 970 is unlikely to make up for the price difference, even over a long ownership, and quality aftermarket coolers (Tri X) can be just as quiet. If your case can handle some extra heat, then the 290 is always recommended from me. Virtually any 550W PSU can handle any single GPU, but which one specifically do you have?

Honestly, the performance-enthusiast GPU market right now is pretty cut and dry except for the 290 vs 970. 280 has the under $200 market, 280X has the just about $200, 290 has the ~$240-$280 (depending on sales), and the $330 is for those that justify an inferior price-to-performance ratio 970 for whichever features* they happen to accept paying a premium for. And then the 980 for those that desire the single gpu king.

*Shadowplay is still the best. Nvidia's 3D is still the best. G Sync is actually here, now. They produce less heat and less wattage. On the AMD side though, VSR seems to be beating DSR is subjective opinions, and Mantle can sometimes be an improvement. I'd choose a 970 over a 290 at the same price, but given the price premium, I tend to feel the 970 gets too much hurrah around here.

But I would wait. You obviously choose the 4GB version of the 760 (and payed a serious premium) for a reason: longevity. Let's see what 2015's real cards have to offer.

 

[sonicmj1]

Looks like every HDD bench I've run. Speeds lowering is because of where it's reading data from (physical section of platter).

The overall trend line being negative makes sense as it moves towards the outer edge of the platter.

What looks weird about my chart compared to, say, the example in the manual, is the amplitude, where read times can move between 5 Mb/s and 100 Mb/s on adjacent sectors of the drive. As far as I can tell, that shouldn't be happening. One breakdown I saw online said that the minimum read speed shouldn't be below 25% of the maximum, and mine is far worse than that.

 

[IMACOMPUTA]

Dear everyone looking to upgrade from a 780ti,
It's a great idea! Please do it!
Oh, and sell me your 780ti for $200, too! I really want a second one.

Thanks!

 

[TeaFan]

Is it worth me upgrading from my 770 2gb to a 980 for gaming at 1080 120hz, or should I wait? I don't want to sli

 

[thespot84]

So i think my load plate on my mobo is bent. Is this even really possible? It seems that one of the inside corners is a little higher than everything else, and based on smearing of the thermal paste my cooler is making contact with it, possibly before making contact with the cpu. I'm thinking of removing the load plate entirely to lay it flat on something and confirm that it's raised or not. Advisable?

 

[RGM79]

So i think my load plate on my mobo is bent. Is this even really possible? It seems that one of the inside corners is a little higher than everything else, and based on smearing of the thermal paste my cooler is making contact with it, possibly before making contact with the cpu. I'm thinking of removing the load plate entirely to lay it flat on something and confirm that it's raised or not. Advisable?

Take photos and contact motherboard manufacturer for support if still under warranty. Don't take it apart if you can't put it back on, otherwise you'll have no way to secure and lock the CPU in place, making the motherboard useless unless you plan to run it always lying flat and not upright in a case. And I think removing it yourself would probably void warranty.

If warranty is out.. Maybe you can salvage a non bent load plate from another motherboard? Check craigslist or electronics recycling depots.

 

[HaleStorm]

I have quite a few recommendations to get a better machine for the price.

At that price point, you might as well move up to X99 motherboard, processor, and DDR4 RAM. This will help with future proofing, as well as last longer before needing to upgrade. The i7 4790K is a very "entry level" i7. It's actually not very different from the best i5 processor except that it has hyperthreading. With Z97, you only have quad core processing at best, the hyperthreading which doesn't help in games, only in certain applications. On X99 platform, you get hexa and octo core processors which do provide more of a real boost when it comes to processing power, especially when it comes to 3D modelling and CAD.

Changed to the 5820K processor, as well as matching motherboard and RAM. The 5930K processor is only advisable if you intend to get triple SLI. I think that after a couple of years the point that GTX 980 is so low performing that you need triple SLI, you should be upgrading to other better future graphics cards rather than getting a third GTX 980.

I changed the WD Black 2TB drive to a Toshiba 2TB model. They're both 7200RPM with 64MB cache, so you shouldn't see much of a difference in performance, even though the Toshiba costs only about half as much.

Changed from Gigabyte Windforce GTX 980 to the MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G. The MSI model is also very highly reviewed and praised, yet also costs $70 less for each card, you'll save $140 switching to MSI with no real negatives as it's about the same performance and can also overclock easily and very well.

Switched to the EVGA Supernova G2 to save some money. It's also a very highly rated and reviewed power supply, gold rated efficiency and fully modular like the Corsair model you chose. Nothing wrong with the Corsair, but you can save over $100 if you don't mind getting "just" gold efficiency instead of platinum efficiency.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($373.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($128.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus X99-A ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($240.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Kingston 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($284.49 @ Directron)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($198.86 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Micro Center)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 4GB Twin Frozr Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 4GB Twin Frozr Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair Air 540 ATX Mid Tower Case ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2617.23
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-23 21:35 EST-0500

Overall, I saved you $200 while getting better or equal performing parts all around, except for the EVGA power supply which was a very slight downgrade. The real improvement is the 5820K processor which is a much better choice over the 4790K. The X99 motherboard is a bit more future proof, seeing as Z97 and socket 1150 is on the way out after 2015, while X99 was released not too long ago and should see CPU upgrades for a couple of years.

If you want to save a little more money, I'd recommend getting an air cooler instead of a water cooler, but that's up to you, and it does change the aesthetics of the parts inside. You seemed to be going for all dark colors, so I did the same for the X99 parts and water cooler I recommended here. If you don't mind getting an air cooler, I recommend this black version of the Phanteks PH-TC14PE ($80), one of the best air coolers you can get. Going with that will save you another $50.

I appreciate the input!

I have spent the weekend comparing my build to your suggestions and I can definitely see the improvements. I will probably go with the EVGA PSU, but I may opt for a higher output model just to keep the load low.

I think its worth noting that if you go with the 5820k, you should definitely overclock it. At stock, the 4790k will outperform it in most games due to its higher clock speed.

This was one of the reasons I initially decided to go with the 4790k. After looking at some benchmarks for the 5820k, it looks like I should be able to OC to at least 4GHz with a little patience and luck, so that is definitely the route I will go.

 

[jayvo]

PCGAF, I have this PSU (The CX 750M) currrently. Is it sufficient enough for SLI with two GTX 970's these or two GTX 980's these?

 

[CBTech]

So what's the current state of hardware right now? Is it a good time to buy or are there some new innovations or developments coming out in the next year that I should hold out for? I'm looking to upgrade soon, but I can wait if needed. Right now I'm just trying to decide whether to upgrade my MB and CPU first or my GPU first.

 

[Tomodachi]

Total SSD newbie here, I just got my first one. It's a Crucial MX100 256GB.
So, I followed this guide (except the part about updating those intel drivers, step 2: I couldn't find the intel ahci controller in my device manager list) and then tested it with crystaldisk mark.
These are the results:

Are they acceptable? I tried searching for the speeds I should be getting with no luck. Thanks!

 

[Mohasus]

Already have bolded and love it.

I also own Valkyria for PS3 and usually never double-dip. Does the computer version have any very compelling new features/enhancements?

Thanks for the reccos!

VC for PC includes all the DLC, arbitrary resolution support, up to 120Hz support and damn fast loading screens. Also, it is on sale right now on steam.

 

[riflen]

Does anyone know if the GTX 980 4GB can output three 1080p monitors in surround AND a 4k supplemental monitor at the same time?

Go here and plug in what you want.

If I understand the tool, you should be OK, as the maximum supported resolution is 11520x2160. Check what connections your displays have though. The card features 1 x Dual Link DVI-I, 1 x HDMI and 3x DisplayPort 1.2. You may need DP/DVI adapters.

 

[nicoga3000]

I'm having a strange issue that I can't quite nail down.

When playing Warframe (I need to test other games to see if it's that game or something else), the game will do a hard freeze every once in a while for about 1-2 seconds. All the animations and movements stop on screen (mouse input freezes as well), but then everything goes right back to normal. It's never caused a crash or anything, but it happens enough to be frustrating.

Any idea what might cause this? Game is running of an SSD, so I can't imagine that's the problem (unless the SSD is failing or something).

 

[_13500]

This is all there is. Generally, mATX and 280mm radiator mounts do not mix, it's a rare combination.

Instead of the Corsair H110i GT, may I recommend the NZXT Kraken X61 ($130) instead which costs the same amount of money but is already available now? It's also a 280mm radiator, but I'm almost sure it will perform better than the H110i GT. The H110i GT likely just adds fan monitoring and control, it is probably just the same radiator as the two year old H110 radiator.

Otherwise the Swiftech H220-X or H240-X is better than both, I hear. Those models are difficult to buy, though. NCIXUS has them only on 3-6 week special order wait.

http://www.ncix.com/detail/swiftech-h220-x-all-in-one-liquid-cooling-6b-93547.htm
http://www.ncix.com/detail/swiftech-h240-x-all-in-one-liquid-cooling-6d-102715.htm

X99 and mATX is also a rare combination, although I suppose you have already picked an mATX X99 motherboard if you're set on getting a 5960X with an mATX case.

Thanks for your reply. I've already bought the CPU (5960X) and the mobo (GA-X99M-Gaming 5).

Next step is to get a case that fits a 280mm (320mm) radiator.

I can wait for the Corsair H110i GT if it is worthwhile (the improves), although I've found some bad opinions about the 'Corsair Link' software and more recommendations as yours to get the H110 or the NZXT Kraken X61.

This one, the X61, is available now in a local store. I'm not sure how it performs each one with the 8-core intel cpu. Do you have the Kraken X61 installed & running?

 

[garath]

I'm having a strange issue that I can't quite nail down.

When playing Warframe (I need to test other games to see if it's that game or something else), the game will do a hard freeze every once in a while for about 1-2 seconds. All the animations and movements stop on screen (mouse input freezes as well), but then everything goes right back to normal. It's never caused a crash or anything, but it happens enough to be frustrating.

Any idea what might cause this? Game is running of an SSD, so I can't imagine that's the problem (unless the SSD is failing or something).

Any chance you have a program with an overlay running at the same time? I've experienced that exact issue with certain Origin games while running Afterburner/Rivatuner's overlay. If I disable Rivatuner's overlay then the game runs smooth as silk. It seemed like the Origin overlay was conflicting with the Rivatuner one. Disabling Origin's overlay completely also seemed to help.

I'm not familiar with Warframe so not sure if that would be the same issue.

 

[H4r4kiri]

Here I am again. This offer just got posted ait seems very good. I just want you opinion for it . it would cost 499€

Tower: Xigmatek Asgard
Mainboard: FaTal1TY B85 KILLER
Prozessor: i5-4670 3,4 GHz
Prozessor Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper T4
Graphics: AMD gigabyte HD 7870 OC 2GB GDDR5
RAM: 8GB G.Skill SNIPER DDR3-1866
Harddrive: Seagate Barracuda 500 GByte HD
Discdrive: LG MODISC DVD-Brenner
Power: Be quiet! Straight Power E6 550W
Monitor: 24 zoll ASUS VS247NR Full HD LED 50.000.000:1
OS Win 7 pro 64 bit

He also gives the following extras than 545€

Tatatur: LOGITECH G11 - Gaming Tastatur
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder - Gaming Mause
Mousspad: steelseries QCK - Gaming Mauspad

 

[RGM79]

PCGAF, I have this PSU (The CX 750M) currrently. Is it sufficient enough for SLI with two GTX 970's these or two GTX 980's these?

Your PSU is fine, just 700 watts is recommended for both GTX 970 SLI and GTX 980 SLI.

So what's the current state of hardware right now? Is it a good time to buy or are there some new innovations or developments coming out in the next year that I should hold out for? I'm looking to upgrade soon, but I can wait if needed. Right now I'm just trying to decide whether to upgrade my MB and CPU first or my GPU first.

Intel's high end X99 is safe to buy. It came out about half a year ago and has a long life ahead. On the other hand, Intel has two new midrange consumer CPU lines coming out around September this year. Broadwell-K will be for the current socket 1150 Z97 motherboards, while Skylake (not overclockable) will come with the brand new socket 1151 Z170 motherboard platform which will eventually replace socket 1150 Z97. For best future upgrade path without needing to buy a New motherboard, wait for Skylake.

Intel Z97 will probably not see any more updates after Broadwell-K. However, Z97 is still good to go with and more than viable for a computer that will last a few years, just keep in mind that CPU upgrades are limited if you choose to get Z97 now, not that it's a hard cap on performance or anything, so in the future you will need to replace both motherboard and CPU at the same time when it comes to it.

Total SSD newbie here, I just got my first one. It's a Crucial MX100 256GB.
So, I followed this guide (except the part about updating those intel drivers, step 2: I couldn't find the intel ahci controller in my device manager list) and then tested it with crystaldisk mark.
These are the results:

Are they acceptable? I tried searching for the speeds I should be getting with no luck. Thanks!

Try comparing Anandtech's testing results with yours.

I'm having a strange issue that I can't quite nail down.

When playing Warframe (I need to test other games to see if it's that game or something else), the game will do a hard freeze every once in a while for about 1-2 seconds. All the animations and movements stop on screen (mouse input freezes as well), but then everything goes right back to normal. It's never caused a crash or anything, but it happens enough to be frustrating.

Any idea what might cause this? Game is running of an SSD, so I can't imagine that's the problem (unless the SSD is failing or something).

What are system temperatures like in game?

 

[nicoga3000]

Any chance you have a program with an overlay running at the same time? I've experienced that exact issue with certain Origin games while running Afterburner/Rivatuner's overlay. If I disable Rivatuner's overlay then the game runs smooth as silk. It seemed like the Origin overlay was conflicting with the Rivatuner one. Disabling Origin's overlay completely also seemed to help.

I'm not familiar with Warframe so not sure if that would be the same issue.

Steam would be the only thing running, however Malware Bytes may also be active scanning. I should try turning that off and see if the issue persists.

What are system temperatures like in game?

Last I checked it was somewhere in the 30-34C max. Is there a good tool that I can run in the background to clock max/min/avg speeds during heavy gaming?

Actually, are there any other good tools I can run to check other facets of my PC? I'd like to see how my rig is performing (especially with that whole 970 debacle going on right now).

 

[Chitown B]

Why do the top of the line X99 motherboards have to look so bad? Tempted by the ASUS X99 Workstation motherboard just because of it's classy looks. Thoughts on these 3 motherboards PC gaf?

who cares what MB's look like? They're closed in a case.

 

[RGM79]

Steam would be the only thing running, however Malware Bytes may also be active scanning. I should try turning that off and see if the issue persists.



Last I checked it was somewhere in the 30-34C max. Is there a good tool that I can run in the background to clock max/min/avg speeds during heavy gaming?

Actually, are there any other good tools I can run to check other facets of my PC? I'd like to see how my rig is performing (especially with that whole 970 debacle going on right now).

Steam has the shift-tab overlay enabled and hidden by default, try turning that off.

Temperatures of 30-34 degrees Celsius would be your idle temperature. What's important is how hot your system gets when it's working hard, such as when running games or benchmarks. If you don't have a second monitor to display temperatures, I'd have recommended an overlay like Rivatuner to let you see what graphics card temperatures and usage are like.

Hmm, you should look into NVIDIA Inspector. I've heard of it, but never used it myself as I have AMD graphics cards instead. If it's half as useful as RadeonPro, it should do temperature and framerate monitoring.

As for benchmarks, there's 3DMark Fire Strike, Unigine Heaven, Furmark, etc.

Do the framerate drop predictably or in certain sections of the game?

 

[BasicMath]

So what's the current state of hardware right now? Is it a good time to buy or are there some new innovations or developments coming out in the next year that I should hold out for? I'm looking to upgrade soon, but I can wait if needed. Right now I'm just trying to decide whether to upgrade my MB and CPU first or my GPU first.

Very simple version

x99 was released recently. Affordable 6-core is available but the platform is still expensive due to DDR4 and MOBo pricing.

Nvidia's 900 series was also released recently. 970 and 980 are the only cards worth looking at. 970 has some issues and you really should wait until they're resolved.

AMD has an interesting release ahead in a few months(1-2 is expected but officially I believe it's Q2). If you don't care too much about the green team or you're already loyal to Team Red, I suggest waiting to see what they have to offer.

Intel doesn't have much for the mainstream. Broadwell release is upcoming (Q2) but Skylake will follow it soon after (Q4/Q1). It's best to wait for Skylake unless you need the upgrade.

 

[LilJoka]

Steam would be the only thing running, however Malware Bytes may also be active scanning. I should try turning that off and see if the issue persists.

Last I checked it was somewhere in the 30-34C max. Is there a good tool that I can run in the background to clock max/min/avg speeds during heavy gaming?

Actually, are there any other good tools I can run to check other facets of my PC? I'd like to see how my rig is performing (especially with that whole 970 debacle going on right now).

Msi afterburner is what most use for the ok screen display whilst gaming.

 

[Kntj]

Bought a 290x matrix platinum for 319€. It heats up to at least 90 degrees C pretty fast while playing lords of the fallen (with v-sync off and max settings at 1440p). Should i worry about that?

Edit: Tested with Far Cry 4 and it goes up to 94 degrees.

 

[CBTech]

Intel's high end X99 is safe to buy. It came out about half a year ago and has a long life ahead. On the other hand, Intel has two new midrange consumer CPU lines coming out around September this year. Broadwell-K will be for the current socket 1150 Z97 motherboards, while Skylake (not overclockable) will come with the brand new socket 1151 Z170 motherboard platform which will eventually replace socket 1150 Z97. For best future upgrade path without needing to buy a New motherboard, wait for Skylake.

Intel Z97 will probably not see any more updates after Broadwell-K. However, Z97 is still good to go with and more than viable for a computer that will last a few years, just keep in mind that CPU upgrades are limited if you choose to get Z97 now, not that it's a hard cap on performance or anything, so in the future you will need to replace both motherboard and CPU at the same time when it comes to it.

Thanks. I think I'll wait for Skylake then. I've never overclocked my rig before, so I'm not sure how big of a deal it is to not hold out for the K version. Doing some quick research a year after Skylake there is going to be a die shrink to 10nm. I'm not sure how significant that is, but at the same time I'm not sure I can wait. My computer is 6 years old and is having motherboard issues so I want to upgrade soon.

As for GPU's nothing major coming out there to hold out for? What is this issue with the 970s I keep seeing mentioned?

Edit:

Very simple version

x99 was released recently. Affordable 6-core is available but the platform is still expensive due to DDR4 and MOBo pricing.

Nvidia's 900 series was also released recently. 970 and 980 are the only cards worth looking at. 970 has some issues and you really should wait until they're resolved.

AMD has an interesting release ahead in a few months(1-2 is expected but officially I believe it's Q2). If you don't care too much about the green team or you're already loyal to Team Red, I suggest waiting to see what they have to offer.

Intel doesn't have much for the mainstream. Broadwell release is upcoming (Q2) but Skylake will follow it soon after (Q4/Q1). It's best to wait for Skylake unless you need the upgrade.

I'm a little confused on what exactly X99 is. Is it a motherboard thing or a cpu thing? I'm seeing motherboards with x99 around. Will it be compatible with Skylake or is this for the current processors? Sorry, I'm not too familiar with this stuff.

 

[The Llama]

Bought a 290x matrix platinum for 319€. It heats up to at least 90 degrees C pretty fast while playing lords of the fallen (with v-sync off and max settings at 1440p). Should i worry about that?

Edit: Tested with Far Cry 4 and it goes up to 94 degrees.

That seems a bit too high, unless you have it overclocked a lot. You probably shouldn't really have it running higher than 85C or so, though it's not unsafe to run it at 90C.

 

[BasicMath]

I'm a little confused on what exactly X99 is. Is it a motherboard thing or a cpu thing? I'm seeing motherboards with x99 around. Will it be compatible with Skylake or is this for the current processors? Sorry, I'm not too familiar with this stuff.

x99 is the chipset. It's a motherboard thing but it affects what CPUs will be compatible with it. This platform will very likely only support Haswell-E and Broadwell-E processors.

No motherboard out right now will be compatible with Skylake.

 

[CBTech]

x99 is the chipset. It's a motherboard thing but it affects what CPUs will be compatible with it. This platform will very likely only support Haswell-E and Broadwell-E processors.

No motherboard out right now will be compatible with Skylake.

Thanks. I'll hold out on MB and CPU then and just upgrade my GPU in the meantime.

 

[Kntj]

That seems a bit too high, unless you have it overclocked a lot. You probably shouldn't really have it running higher than 85C or so, though it's not unsafe to run it at 90C.

I haven't overclocked yet. I seem to get 85C at most with vsync so I guess i should just keep that on.