XShadows69
Member
So is the GTX960 gonna be good? What type of price range are we looking at as well.
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"I Need a New PC!" 2015 Part 1. Read the OP and RISE ABOVE FORGED PRECISION SCIENCE
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I'll probably give that a shot. It's pretty minor all things considered. WAY better than the Asus I returned. Just no way I'm paying over $50 to take a stab at this.
btw, welcome back. Haven't seen you around for awhile
The efficiency probably won't be affected very much by the cable, most power cords meant to be used with power supplies are made to the same standard.
That said, if you do pick up a cable from a general hardware store, make sure to get a cable that more or less matches the guage or thickness of the cable that came with the power supply. Years ago I made the mistake of picking up a random cable out of a box of miscellaneous parts to use with a power supply - it had the right connectors but the wiring was thinner and the cable was overall much lighter than most other "PSU" cables - after I plugged in the PC for a few seconds, there was a pop and crackle, and the power supply cable was smoking and melted. I switched to a proper, thicker power cable that I know was bundled with a power supply in the past and then it was fine.
If it's just for temporary use (I have no idea how long until you expect to find a job), you could probably find a cheaper graphics card. If you're playing at 1080p, something like the GTX 750 Ti might be better for your budget, it'll handle current games on medium or lower at respectable framerates.
How hot is the system getting when playing games?
Seems the 770's gotten a whooping 50 euros more expensive since the 960 was released, so I guess it stands between the 960 and the 280x
The 290 costs 2774 SEK ≈ 280-290 EUR.
The 280x costs 2200 SEK ≈ 240 EUR
The GTX 960 costs pretty much the same as the 280x.
Gonna assume you're recommending the 280x because it has 3gB of VRAM over the 960's 2?
Well I'm replacing my broken HD5870 (may it rest in peace) and kinda want to get a GPU with ab it more oomph
. I've done my budget on this already so. My motherboard recently died so I took the oppurtunity to upgrade my CPU.
Yep. I was a big fan of the 7970 over the 680/770 back when those were the top dogs, and still am.
Mostly because you can clock the 7970/280X to 1100+ MHz without breaking a sweat, and then it's an amazing card. The higher memory and memory bandwidth give it that extra edge too.
I had a Matrix 7970 as my main card for a year and a half, which is like an eternity for me.
*edit*
Additionally, you could look at the used market. ASUS, GB, MSI, and EVGA all have 3 year warranties based on serial number that transfers over.
Mostly because you can clock the 7970/280X to 1100+ MHz without breaking a sweat, and then it's an amazing card. The higher memory and memory bandwidth give it that extra edge too.
I had a Matrix 7970 as my main card for a year and a half, which is like an eternity for me.
*edit*
Additionally, you could look at the used market. ASUS, GB, MSI, and EVGA all have 3 year warranties based on serial number that transfers over.
Coulomb_Barrier
Member
That's my worst nightmare. Or that happening from inside the computer case from using the wrong cable!
Righty ok will heed your advice and see what I can buy.
Mechanized
Member
Cores go to high 40s-low 50s. GPU is about the same, I'd have to check again after playing something for a bit to be sure.
Case has really good airflow, like 5 fans in it.
Well, I guess it's not overheating, then, those really are very good load temperatures for games if true. Try a benchmark like Unigine Heaven or Furmark, you can keep an eye on temperatures in a program like GPU-Z and HWMonitor while the benchmark runs in a window. Furmark is supposed to push graphics cards harder than most games do.
That's a really good idea actually, I'll look into it, thanks.
Mechanized
Member
Mmm, how long do I let Furmark run for? lol
It's up to mid 70s in temp now and no crashes or instability.
After almost 15 mins it seems to hover between 75-77, not going any higher.
How long does it take for it to crash when playing games? Well at the very least, it's probably not crashing due to overheating then. We're back to assuming it's driver issues. Download the latest driver installer, then use Display Driver Uninstaller and after it runs through safe mode to remove everything and reboots, install the latest drivers.
Does every game crash or just some? Apparently Guild Wars 2 is fine? When it crashed the day after it ran just fine, was it GW2 or another game?
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
I paid for overnight shipping on an item and nowhere on the checkout page does it mention they don't do Saturday deliveries.
I guess I'm spoiled by Amazon; maybe I missed it but didn't even catch a delivery estimate when I ordered.
It broke up my orders into 2; a wifi adapter's coming tonight and the rest Monday. I talked to CS and they wouldn't help me. So lame.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
They don't give estimates, which sucks.
jfoul
Member
AMD dropped the price of the 290X to $299. You can grab the GIGABYTE GV-R929XOC for $279 right now on the Egg. Probably trying to flush these out of inventory.
AMD Cashes in On GTX 970 Drama, Cuts R9 290X Price
AMD Cashes in On GTX 970 Drama, Cuts R9 290X Price
Visualante2
Member
Grumble, purchased a cheap SSD bracket on eBay, arrives and the screws for my case don't fit in the holes. So annoying. I knew of the problem before I ordered I just assumed the bad reviews were from idiots. Gonna try and force the hole to be a bit bigger with a drill but I'm not hopeful from my initial attempt.
I'm not sure of this is the right place to ask but I'm having a very difficult time with my computer. I recently swapped out my twee sue to a broken power button on my old one. Everything seemed simple during the swap but now when I turn my computer on it won't recognize my video card (7970). I Google and tried lots of stuff but to no avail. If someone pc saavy can private message me to assist with a few questions so I don't shit up this thread it would be much appreciated.
What have you tried? GPU power cables secure and tight? Does the card's fans spin up? What about different PCI-E slots?
Definite weekend mood killer if it was me lol
I keep flip flopping on what video card to get. I want to get the i7 4790k and have 16GB of ram, for streaming and video editing. I originally wanted to spend no more than $1,200 (USD) but I'm thinking about going for the GTX 980. If I make the extra investment now, will I have a PC that'll last me 4-5 or so years?
all my parts just arrive. packaging was way lamer than I expected from alternate(the company I ordered from) three plastic bubble strips and that was it. Most of the stuff came in pretty decent packaging from the manufacturer so I've still got hope but in particular the dvd drive was just encased in a plastic bag. And the harddrive was wrapped in some soft cardboard. Somehow I feel like I'm off to a terrible start. Going to construct the testbench on the mobo box according to the guides I've seen. Will post back my progress so you guys can see novice building in action. Will post pictures of completed build/build in progress if I get there. Please pray for me GAF !
Ok so, i scratched the pre-assembled pc and started going for a personal build
-Case Midi Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Bianco 130,00
-Hard Disk Interno Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 2TB 3.5" 64MB SATA3 79,10
-SSD Samsung 840 Evo Basic 120GB 2.5" Lettura 540MB/s Scrittura 410MB/s SATA3 81,20
-Sistema Operativo Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit OEM DVD Italiano 142,90
-Alimentatore PC Seasonic S12G-650 650W 80+ Gold 123,90
-Masterizzatore Interno Blu-Ray Pioneer BDR-209DBK 16X BD/DVD/CD Sata Bulk Nero 68,70
-Scheda Madre MSI Z97 GAMING 7 Intel Z97 Socket 1150 DDR3 SATA3 USB3 ATX 175,00
-CPU Intel Core i7-4790 Socket 1150 3,6GHz 8MB HD Graphics 4600 Boxed 316,90
-VGA EVGA GeForce GTX 970 Superclocked ACX 2.0 Core 1165/1317MHz Memory GDDR5 7010MHz 4GB DVI HDMI DP 352,40
-RAM DDR3 Corsair Dominator Platinum 1600MHz (2x8GB) 16GB CL7 1,5V 247,80
Around 1.700 in total
Is there anything that i should fix? it would've been better around 1.4-1.5k but i didn't consider the OS wich threw me off
-Case Midi Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Bianco 130,00
-Hard Disk Interno Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 2TB 3.5" 64MB SATA3 79,10
-SSD Samsung 840 Evo Basic 120GB 2.5" Lettura 540MB/s Scrittura 410MB/s SATA3 81,20
-Sistema Operativo Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit OEM DVD Italiano 142,90
-Alimentatore PC Seasonic S12G-650 650W 80+ Gold 123,90
-Masterizzatore Interno Blu-Ray Pioneer BDR-209DBK 16X BD/DVD/CD Sata Bulk Nero 68,70
-Scheda Madre MSI Z97 GAMING 7 Intel Z97 Socket 1150 DDR3 SATA3 USB3 ATX 175,00
-CPU Intel Core i7-4790 Socket 1150 3,6GHz 8MB HD Graphics 4600 Boxed 316,90
-VGA EVGA GeForce GTX 970 Superclocked ACX 2.0 Core 1165/1317MHz Memory GDDR5 7010MHz 4GB DVI HDMI DP 352,40
-RAM DDR3 Corsair Dominator Platinum 1600MHz (2x8GB) 16GB CL7 1,5V 247,80
Around 1.700 in total
Is there anything that i should fix? it would've been better around 1.4-1.5k but i didn't consider the OS wich threw me off
I would just not screw it down. SSDs can be hidden any where like behind the motherboard tray etc.
If you drop options like SLI and an SSD, you can get the 4790K with 16GB RAM and a GTX 980 for about $1280.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($316.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($96.48 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($120.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Toshiba Product Series
T01ACA 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($72.99 @ NCIX US) Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 4GB Twin Frozr Video Card ($549.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($41.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1278.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-30 05:08 EST-0500
For about $50 more, you could replace the GTX 980 with two Gigabyte R9 290X cards in crossfire ($280 each) thanks to the recent AMD price cuts. Or save some money and go for a more balanced build by dropping down to a single R9 290X to put the money towards an SSD and a better power supply for future crossfire with a second R9 290X.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($316.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($96.48 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($120.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($96.49 @ Newegg)
Storage: Toshiba Product Series
T01ACA 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($72.99 @ NCIX US) Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($279.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($41.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($95.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1150.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-30 05:12 EST-0500
Well, that's how OEM parts are. They are intended for system builders and stores to use as components in pre-assembled PCs for sale, so they have the bare minimum for packaging. It should still be enough to keep the parts safe.
Good luck with your first PC build.
What is the computer for? Just games, or will you also be doing more processor-intensive work like video editing? Are there any specific retailers you are looking at? I can see some ways to save money, but some of the parts you picked have a better price than what I found from PCPartPicker's Italian database which is mostly priced from amazon.it, I will mention which ones.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€229.68 @ Amazon Italia)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (€52.24 @ Amazon Italia)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€106.15 @ Amazon Italia)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (€139.73 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€99.99 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€71.36 @ Amazon Italia)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card (€307.91 @ Amazon Italia)
Case: BitFenix Outlaw USB3.0 ATX Mid Tower Case (€66.77 @ Amazon Italia)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (€84.23 @ Amazon Italia)
Total: €1158.06
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-30 11:33 CET+0100
Here's why I went with the different parts:
If you are just using the PC for games, then the i5 4690K is better choice. It can be overclocked for greater performance and longer useful life before you need to upgrade to a better processor. The i7 you chose cannot be overclocked and hyperthreading does not help unless you use programs that are specifically better suited for more than 4 processing threads, like some video editors or graphics rendering.
I recommend a better CPU cooler to use instead of the heatsink bundled with the Intel CPU, which can get hot and loud easily. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is decent, but seems to be fairly expensive from amazon.it, perhaps the stores you are looking at will have better or cheaper options.
You don't need to spend that much money on a motherboard. The ASRock Z97 Pro4 should have enough options to satisfy most people looking for a motherboard, unless you have a reason to prefer the 175€ Gigabyte model. If you prefer Gigabyte, then there's the GA-Z97X-UD3H for 130€ which has some more features than the ASRock model but is still cheaper than the Gaming 7.
The G.Skill RAM I picked is much cheaper yet still rated for a higher speed than the Corsair RAM you had listed. Paying 247€ for 16GB is absolutely overpriced.
With the money I had saved, I was able to fit the larger Crucial MX100 256GB SSD into your budget, it is a good brand and reliable model. I cannot recommend Seagate hard drives, the 2TB Toshiba model I picked out should be more reliable and also slightly cheaper.
For those on a budget, the R9 290 is very good value compared to the GTX 970. It is only slightly slower, and does not have the memory issue that the GTX 970 has. The GTX 970 is still a very good card, but the way Nvidia handled the recent affairs and the long term viability of the GTX 970 for higher resolution gaming and future games that need more VRAM make it easier to recommend the R9 290 instead.
I chose the Bitfenix Outlaw case mainly to save money. If you prefer the look of the Corsair 500R, that's your choice to make, and it will still fit in the budget. If you also want to save some money, consider the Corsair 400R instead, it is 102€ at amazon.it. Jonny Guru rated it very highly.
Seasonic makes excellent power supplies, but that model you picked is quite expensive at 124€. The XFX 650 watt power supply I chose is a very good model, it is actually built by Seasonic but badged by XFX, but costs less than 90€.
Windows 7/8.1 licenses can be purchased from reddit's microsoftsoftwareswap for $20 USD (~17€
or less, the sellers take paypal. These are fully working, unique Windows licenses from education programs like Technet or Dreamspark. Once you have the Windows key, you can easily get official Windows installers. The downside is that you are dealing with persons selling the keys themselves, not Microsoft, and they may or may not come in the Italian language out of the box. You may need to install the Italian language pack (1 & 2) if you prefer Italian and you find that the installer only provided an English interface.It is up to you if you want to save money by purchasing Windows on the cheap or simply get the more convenient Italian retail version for 142€.
Now, the one thing I left off, the blu-ray drive. PCPartpicker's Italian price database has next to no information on blu-ray drive prices, so you will need to look for it yourself, unfortunately. Some tips I can give you are that if you want to watch blu-ray movies, make sure the drive comes with blu-ray movie player software. Not having software can be troublesome as blu-ray is a licensed technology and free players like VLC, WMP, and MPC do not work with blu-rays without some kind of workaround.
The card lights and fans spin . I tried different slots and Same thing. Here is more in depth link from link that I put up. The only thing different that I did this time was connect the tower fans all directly to the power supply to get that control of the fan speed via the knob on top of my tower. Perhaps because of this there's not enough power for the gpu?
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2488343/fresh-install-7970-recognized.html
If you think it may be the power supply, then can you tell me what model of power supply you have?
I kind of doubt it has to do with the fans. The PSU was already powering the fans before indirectly through the motherboard, it shouldn't stop working just because you plugged them in a different way. Each fan generally only uses up a few watts by itself.
Are you able to test the graphics card in another PC? A friend's computer, maybe?
Holy answer, much apprecciated will give it a read once i'm home!
Would be, but it's a tad long in the tooth now. What's your GPU budget?
Well, I really don't play a huge amount of games. Some random Steam bits but nothing major. Path of Exile is currently my time consuming project haha.
I am thinking about just buying a pre-built PC because I really cannot be bothered to build another PC.
Is there a more capable card I should try and upgrade to that might last a bit longer?
Did you verify that your video card isn't the problem?
I have bought from them without any issues. They have very good ebay rating. Just know that if the monitor has problems, returning it would cost you almost $300 to ship back.
Well, I really don't play a huge amount of games. Some random Steam bits but nothing major. Path of Exile is currently my time consuming project haha.
I am thinking about just buying a pre-built PC because I really cannot be bothered to build another PC.
Is there a more capable card I should try and upgrade to that might last a bit longer?
It all depends on what you're looking to spend.
I would say £150 max probably. Again, I don't play that many games but it is nice to have a moderately good card to deal with random bits I might want to try down the line.
This is the biggest fear I have with these monitors. If I get one that's messed up, I'm completely screwed. I'll have to consider whether or not it's worth the risk.
If you aren't set on Nvidia then you could get an R9 280 for £140.
I don't really have a preference. Over the years I have had ATI/AMD and Geforce stuff. Had the Gt8800 last time and while it was good, it had some tech issues which caused me to upgrade.
I will check out the R9 280 then.
Also just ordered an MX100 128gb SSD. They seem to have had a good write-up, so I am getting one ready for my new system.
MX100 is solid.
The R9 285 is £150 http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...ium=affiliate&utm_campaign=1018132_HotUKDeals Uses less power and has more modern features (easy downsampling, TrueAudio) but less VRAM.
The thing with the 660 is the 2GB model is effectively a 1.5GB so it's a bit hard to recommend now.
Ok, I have checked the Radeon R9 285 and that does seem like a more logical choice to go for since it will last longer than the GTX660.
Thanks for your advice!
Hey again, the website i'll order my pc from is http://www.e-key.it/
Already got a lot of stuff from them and they're great at assembling and resolving problems after the purchase
I tried to remake the configuration you suggested on the website trying to stay as close as possible with what they had
this is what i got in the end
Only one thing tho, is the power supply enough for a 290? the 750w required on the card page got me worried :/
Thanks again
It's a toss up between it and the R9 280 http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IRTXPBM/
I'm leaning to the 280 as it saves a tenner, but it depends on whether the newer features of the 285 are worth it to you. Plenty of reviews out there to help you decide.
Manufacturers tend to overstate power supply requirements to stay on the safe side. The R9 290 will not run up more than 300 watts by itself, the 750 watt requirement assumes worst case scenario like some kind of inefficient (AMD? Overclocked?) CPU consuming 200+ watts and a dozen hard drives or something. The 650 watt power supply is more than enough for a single R9 290. Testing by Tweaktown and Anandtech showed totally system power consumption with the R9 290 to be less than 500 watts, your PC may consume a bit more.
The Haf 912 Plus is a decent case.
Good call on that Sapphire Tri-X model, that is one of the best R9 290 models you can get.
Overall the price is a little higher than the list I recommended, but much better than the original list of parts. I looked at the selection at e-key.it, I recommend these alternative parts instead to save more money or to perform better:
I wouldn't go for that NH-C14 cooler. Noctua makes very good coolers, but the model you chose is a bit old and there are better ones. On e-key.it they have the newer and better Noctua NH-D14 for 84€, the same price as the NH-C14 you chose. If you want to save some money, this Dark Rock 3 cooler is 63€ but will still perform well.
This Kingston HYperX Fury RAM is only 131€ and is the same speed as the one I recommended earlier from amazon.it and the one you picked from from e-key.it.
The non-modular version of the same XFX power supply is available for 81€
The Cooler Master N500 case (66€
is the cheapest case I can recommend. There's a slightly cheaper version of more or less the same graphics card, just with a slightly lower clock speed. It costs 30€ less.
About 100€ was saved.
Visualante2
Member
That's what I've done for the past couple of months I just don't feel comfortable about it.
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