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[Quotient]

Unknown. MSRP will not drop, but who knows if individual retailers will offer sales. If we knew, we'd all be waiting to swoop down on that one deal.

My expectation is of retailer sales. I was curious if folks had seen any discounts on GPU's from past black-fridays from newegg, amazon, ncix etc.

 

[Mesoian]

So I have a question.

I'm in the market for a new GPU to update my current 680GTX. I've been looking at switching to a r9 390, but I've also been stumbling across some good 970 deals over the past few days which make me contemplate using the 680GTX as a physics card. Which would give me the better bang for the buck? I assume if I went with the R9, I wouldn't be able to use the 680GTX as a physics card, right?

 

[Vincent Alexander]

How viable is DDR4 at the moment? Friend is contemplating a new PC and isn't sure if now is a good time, or when it will be viable.

 

[RGM79]

Mostly mad max. Fallout 4. Just cause 3 n assassin creed syndicate. Mostky game at 1080p but do like to downsample sometimes which can cripple my 770.

Guessing for downsampling the r9 390vwould be better cos of video ram

Mad Max doesn't take too much to max it out, while everything else is still not out yet or unknown for PC performance. I'd be inclined to go towards the R9 390 as well.

Sweden, Europe, I would prefer not to go past what a H80i cost (~€90), but if I could stay at the price-range for 212 Evo it would be nicer (€35).
This if ofc for the CPU fan-cooler alone, I'm pretty much stuck at ~€300-350 for the GPU's.

And I'm not surprised about not finding info on the case, I bought it 5 years ago.

Are there any local retailers you would prefer to shop at? So you're looking to spend around ~€350-450 in all?

So I have a question.

I'm in the market for a new GPU to update my current 680GTX. I've been looking at switching to a r9 390, but I've also been stumbling across some good 970 deals over the past few days which make me contemplate using the 680GTX as a physics card. Which would give me the better bang for the buck? I assume if I went with the R9, I wouldn't be able to use the 680GTX as a physics card, right?

You cannot use Nvidia cards for Physx alongside AMD cards. Physx isn't something that Nvidia have been pushing lately, so I'm not inclined to think much of it. There is the potential effect that if you're playing a Physx game and have it enabled, a GTX 970 with the GTX 680 next to it might outperform the R9 390 handily.. but it won't work for all games, and results will vary with each game.

Unfortunately, I can't find any professional review sites doing Physx benchmarks. In any case, running two graphics cards can be a stressful load on your power supply, what model is it and how much wattage is it rated for?

How viable is DDR4 at the moment? Friend is contemplating a new PC and isn't sure if now is a good time, or when it will be viable.

Hmm, what do you mean by viable? What is it that your friend is looking to do? At the moment, RAM doesn't make too much of a difference for something like gaming as long as the computer has enough of it. It's not so much a question of whether you want DDR3 or DDR4, you choose the processor and motherboard you want and then you just get compatible RAM. If your friend is buying Haswell/Z97 parts, then he has to go with DDR3 RAM. If he's buying Haswell-E/X99 or Skylake/Z170 parts, then he has to go with DDR4.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

Hmm, what do you mean by viable? What is it that your friend is looking to do? At the moment, RAM doesn't make too much of a difference for something like gaming as long as the computer has enough of it. It's not so much a question of whether you want DDR3 or DDR4, you choose the processor and motherboard you want and then you just get compatible RAM. If your friend is buying Haswell/Z97 parts, then he has to go with DDR3 RAM. If he's buying Haswell-E/X99 or Skylake/Z170 parts, then he has to go with DDR4.

Gotcha. Thank you. When I built last year, DDR4 was still stupid expensive, and I wasn't sure if price-to-performance at this stage of life has made it more viable. Or intelligent? If that makes sense. He is going to be building a gaming PC, and looking to spend around $800. So I'm guessing DDR4 isn't something he should worry about. He was hoping to build around December, and was debating if he should wait for things to drop in price. I warned him that if he waits, it turns into an endless cycle of waiting for new hardware and price drops.

 

[Mithos]

Are there any local retailers you would prefer to shop at? So you're looking to spend around ~€350-450 in all?

Not really, just looking for suggestions that will allow me to do 3.8-4.0Ghz OC without burning the CPU, within the price-range I said, and hopefully the suggested coolers will fit in my case without having to change ram or cut stuff away from case.

 

[RGM79]

Gotcha. Thank you. When I built last year, DDR4 was still stupid expensive, and I wasn't sure if price-to-performance at this stage of life has made it more viable. Or intelligent? If that makes sense. He is going to be building a gaming PC, and looking to spend around $800. So I'm guessing DDR4 isn't something he should worry about. He was hoping to build around December, and was debating if he should wait for things to drop in price. I warned him that if he waits, it turns into an endless cycle of waiting for new hardware and price drops.

Yes, it is a cycle. Looks like he'll be going with either Haswell and Z97 or Skylake and Z170, depending on how much stuff he'll be reusing from an old PC if he has one.

Not really, just looking for suggestions that will allow me to do 3.8-4.0Ghz OC without burning the CPU, within the price-range I said, and hopefully the suggested coolers will fit in my case without having to change ram or cut stuff away from case.

In that case, go with the 212 Evo and perhaps a newer, roomier case. It's kind of hard to do suggestions if we don't know where you'll be buying the parts, as we don't have any guidelines on how much they cost or what's available for you.

 

[Skii]

That would be incredibly weird and then you would only be able to blame the hardware, likely the motherboard.

Here's something else to try, boot into safe mode as that will only load the minimum software up.

As I feared, none of your final suggestions have worked. I also don't really know what you want me to do in safe mode. I can't access audio in that mode so can't test for the sound stutter when gaming.

Anyway, here's screenshots from that latencymon report just now.

Main view
Drivers

I don't know if you want anymore and I don't know if any of this info will be useful.

Could a bios update fix anything? I'd be shocked if it needed updating considering how new it is but I guess we could check for that. Do you know how to update the bios? I don't have the foggiest (Z170 motherboard).

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Maybe this gets asked a lot, but after quite a bit of searching I'm finding it difficult to get a license of Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit without having to peer into some shady looking resellers on eBay or worse. Does anybody have a reputable vendor to go to in this instance? Amazon lists it as either 'Currently unavailable' or only available at considerable markup for new and sketchy looking 'open box' offers from 3rd party sellers and NewEgg doesn't have it at all.

I'm in the US if that helps narrow it down.

 

[Mr. Robot]

Is a 4670k still good enough, or should i get a skylake i5?
i can get the 4670k for about $185 and the rest of the money would go to the gpu (im waiting to see how the R9 380x fares against the 290)

Also wanted to ask here, i used a PSU calculator and it shows that a 600w PSU can run the r9 290 fine along with an overclocked CPU, does anyone with this card can confirm this or should i go for a PSU with a higher wattage?

 

[opticalmace]

Is a 4670k still good enough, or should i get a skylake i5?
i can get the 4670k for about $185 and the rest of the money would go to the gpu (im waiting to see how the R9 380x fares against the 290)

Also wanted to ask here, i used a PSU calculator and it shows that a 600w PSU can run the r9 290 fine along with an overclocked CPU, does anyone with this card can confirm this or should i go for a PSU with a higher wattage?

Do you already have a Z97 board and DDR3 ram? The 4670K is still extremely capable. If you're buying brand new everything then I would go Skylake, but if you have everything but the CPU then for sure grab a Haswell.

600W is more than enough.

 

[Jordoon]

Hi guys. I've put together a build list for myself and am looking for some suggestions. The goal is to game at 1080p 60fps at max or very high settings for as long as possible, while staying at or below the current cost of this build. The only thing that is concrete about it right now is the case, it's a bit pricey but I like it. Anyway here's the list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($366.98 @ Newegg Canada)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H105 73.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($154.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Asus Z170M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($163.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($80.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($100.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($649.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($179.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($113.49 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($129.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $2036.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-09 18:48 EST-0500

Any suggestions for cost savings/better performance per dollar is welcome.
I don't really care about any specific colour scheme as long as everything matches and looks decent. For power supply modular is more ideal, and I would like the cables to be a solid colour of some kind (not mixed colours). Also, I will be overclocking.

 

[low-G]

I'm having a problem with my old work PC...

PC: it's a 2009-built Core 2 Duo 3 Ghz, 8GB RAM, 500GB & 1TB HDD...

Has worked since 2009 daily, some upgrades, reasonably well maintained.

I turn it on today, come back about an hour later and Windows is hard frozen, input does nothing. Looks like it froze during startup (apps that load at startup are frozen midway).

I try reset button. Black screen.

Hard reset leads to OS-loading time, which then complains about the master file table (or something like that, I just immediately assume my OS HDD has died).

I start up PC again, it won't even POST. Again no POST at all (black screen on power up, fans turn on, that's all).

I open up the case to see if any mobo lights come on. This time the PC starts up completely, but once in Windows for a minute I get a BSOD with something about pool_size or something. This time I figure it's RAM or the CPU.

So I hard start the computer again and now it's stable for >30 minutes. Back up important files etc.

I check SMART data on HDDs, it's all good (does that rule out HDD troubles?). I check temperatures, everything is good. I run malware scans (I do this regularly, and I don't think it can be related because of the no-POSTs, and it's clean anyways).

I shut down and start up the computer a few more times and now it is acting fine.

Any ideas? I'm thinking RAM. I can't imagine what else it could be unless SMART data isn't reliable. Also, I imagined I wouldn't have POST trouble with a bad HDD.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Arrogant Bastard]

What's your current RAM usage like? If you prefer to keep a lot of programs open, another 4~8GB of RAM wouldn't hurt and it'd be fairly cheap. I know your motherboard would prefer to take RAM in sets of three, but the 3x1GB and 3x2GB kits aren't selling at the best price per GB. The more popular 2x2GB and 2x4GB kits are cheaper in that you get more RAM for a similar amount of money and will also work for your motherboard.

I really don't run that many programs at one time. Mumble, steam, a game, and chrome.

OC'd the 930 to 3.5ghz, can get it to 3.8ghz without much effort. Plan on getting a 980 ti around black friday. I could do a complete rebuild around Christmas, just really don't feel like I need to. How massive of a jump is it from OC 930 to a newer i5?

 

[Northeastmonk]

I have an Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz, 2661 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor. I've stuck to my standard 6 GB of DDR3 for a while. I just recently purchased two 4 GB sticks of Balistic RAM.

My question is: Can I just combine all this RAM together? How can I combine it, they're all compatible. I've done some searching and there's some naysayers saying the speed would be off and I couldn't hit the maximum potential. Then there's other people who say go a head since it's all compatible.

I'm going to be getting a new video card relatively soon, but I need to upgrade my RAM.

Let me clarify that I have three 2 GB sticks for the 6 GB.

Edit: Nevermind, had to test it out first.

 

[Ragingbegal]

Finished my build yesterday. Many thanks to everyone in this thread who helped me with the parts and provided the resources to put it all together. All in, I ended up spending just over $1,300.

]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($254.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($25.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($133.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($92.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($87.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($319.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($86.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($39.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: LG 25UM57-P 60Hz 25.0" Monitor ($179.00 @ B&H)
Total: $1361.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-09 22:12 EST-0500

 

[Wowfunhappy]

You cannot use Nvidia cards for Physx alongside AMD cards. Physx isn't something that Nvidia have been pushing lately, so I'm not inclined to think much of it. There is the potential effect that if you're playing a Physx game and have it enabled, a GTX 970 with the GTX 680 next to it might outperform the R9 390 handily.. but it won't work for all games, and results will vary with each game.

Speaking of, can you have a dedicated PhysX card without an SLI-specific motherboard? Not something I care about now, but maybe something I could try 3-4 years down the road.

 

[RGM79]

Maybe this gets asked a lot, but after quite a bit of searching I'm finding it difficult to get a license of Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit without having to peer into some shady looking resellers on eBay or worse. Does anybody have a reputable vendor to go to in this instance? Amazon lists it as either 'Currently unavailable' or only available at considerable markup for new and sketchy looking 'open box' offers from 3rd party sellers and NewEgg doesn't have it at all.

I'm in the US if that helps narrow it down.

Windows 7 has already passed the date of which new licenses can be normally bought. It's old stuff now and Microsoft wants everyone to move on. Is there a reason you specifically need a license for Windows 7 Ultimate? I think you're out of luck. I'd direct you to reddit, but there's some risk there as well. Here's my usual disclaimer:

Cheap Windows licenses can be bought from reddit's microsoftsoftwareswap for cheap, around $15 or less. Windows 10 licenses are also available for a bit more. 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. The 7/8/8.1 keys should be upgradeable to Windows 10, but confirm with the seller to be sure, of course.​

Is a 4670k still good enough, or should i get a skylake i5?
i can get the 4670k for about $185 and the rest of the money would go to the gpu (im waiting to see how the R9 380x fares against the 290)

Also wanted to ask here, i used a PSU calculator and it shows that a 600w PSU can run the r9 290 fine along with an overclocked CPU, does anyone with this card can confirm this or should i go for a PSU with a higher wattage?

In general, the R9 290 can be expected to draw around 250~300 watts under load, TechPowerUp and Guru3D support this. The 4670K overclocked to 4.6GHz will draw around 160 watts, according to Bit-Tech. Factor in another 50 watts for the motherboard and any hard drives and fans you'll be running, and you still won't reach 600 watts.

Hi guys. I've put together a build list for myself and am looking for some suggestions. The goal is to game at 1080p 60fps at max or very high settings for as long as possible, while staying at or below the current cost of this build. The only thing that is concrete about it right now is the case, it's a bit pricey but I like it. Anyway here's the list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($366.98 @ Newegg Canada)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H105 73.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($154.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Asus Z170M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($163.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($80.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($100.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($649.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($179.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($113.49 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($129.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $2036.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-09 18:48 EST-0500

Any suggestions for cost savings/better performance per dollar is welcome.
I don't really care about any specific colour scheme as long as everything matches and looks decent. For power supply modular is more ideal, and I would like the cables to be a solid colour of some kind (not mixed colours). Also, I will be overclocking.

You'll want a stronger graphics card than that. To get a better cost to performance ratio I'd recommend cutting down on things that won't affect gaming performance like the $180 case and the $100 1TB hard drive. Here's what I'd recommend, it's based on your parts list but comes with a faster graphics card for ~$50 cheaper.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($328.31 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.31 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: Asus Z170M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($163.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.31 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($829.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($169.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($122.00 @ shopRBC)
Total: $1980.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-09 22:41 EST-0500

Edit: crap, I just realized everything in your parts list comes from Newegg. Do you prefer to order from Newegg, or are other retailers OK?

I really don't run that many programs at one time. Mumble, steam, a game, and chrome.

OC'd the 930 to 3.5ghz, can get it to 3.8ghz without much effort. Plan on getting a 980 ti around black friday. I could do a complete rebuild around Christmas, just really don't feel like I need to. How massive of a jump is it from OC 930 to a newer i5?

There's not a lot of websites that compare such an old processor to a new one, but in terms of synthetic tests and results the i5 6600K is quite a large leap forward. The gaming framerate performance between them isn't as large as that Cinebench test would imply, but the i5 6600K should provide for a more consistent and smooth experience than an overclocked first generation i7.

I have an Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz, 2661 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor. I've stuck to my standard 6 GB of DDR3 for a while. I just recently purchased two 4 GB sticks of Balistic RAM.

My question is: Can I just combine all this RAM together? How can I combine it, they're all compatible. I've done some searching and there's some naysayers saying the speed would be off and I couldn't hit the maximum potential. Then there's other people who say go a head since it's all compatible.

I'm going to be getting a new video card relatively soon, but I need to upgrade my RAM.

Let me clarify that I have three 2 GB sticks for the 6 GB.

Edit: Nevermind, had to test it out first.

Yes, you can combine it. It's not running optimally since your motherboard supports running RAM in triple channel mode for slightly faster performance, and having all that mismatching RAM means some of it's running in single channel mode. It's not a big deal because games don't care about dual or triple channel mode and aren't really limited by RAM speed in the first place.

Speaking of, can you have a dedicated PhysX card without an SLI-specific motherboard? Not something I care about now, but maybe something I could try 3-4 years down the road.

According to this link, no. Currently, SLI and crossfire are special in that it requires two cards working hand in hand and synchronized to render your games, they are working together to render by taking turns doing the work. Physx is different in that there's no need for turn-taking between the two cards, only the graphics card is doing the rendering while the job of handing Physx is kept separate and given to the Physx card.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

According to this link, no.

Thanks, good to hear!

 

[XenIneX]

I'm having a problem with my old work PC...

PC: it's a 2009-built Core 2 Duo 3 Ghz, 8GB RAM, 500GB & 1TB HDD...

Has worked since 2009 daily, some upgrades, reasonably well maintained.

I turn it on today, come back about an hour later and Windows is hard frozen, input does nothing. Looks like it froze during startup (apps that load at startup are frozen midway).

I try reset button. Black screen.

Hard reset leads to OS-loading time, which then complains about the master file table (or something like that, I just immediately assume my OS HDD has died).

I start up PC again, it won't even POST. Again no POST at all (black screen on power up, fans turn on, that's all).

I open up the case to see if any mobo lights come on. This time the PC starts up completely, but once in Windows for a minute I get a BSOD with something about pool_size or something. This time I figure it's RAM or the CPU.

So I hard start the computer again and now it's stable for >30 minutes. Back up important files etc.

I check SMART data on HDDs, it's all good (does that rule out HDD troubles?). I check temperatures, everything is good. I run malware scans (I do this regularly, and I don't think it can be related because of the no-POSTs, and it's clean anyways).

I shut down and start up the computer a few more times and now it is acting fine.

Any ideas? I'm thinking RAM. I can't imagine what else it could be unless SMART data isn't reliable. Also, I imagined I wouldn't have POST trouble with a bad HDD.

Thanks in advance!

In order of likelihood: PSU, RAM, or Motherboard.

Before everything, reset your BIOS to factory default to clear out any overclocks or tweaks.

Start with RAM, because it's easiest to diagnose without buying anything. Yank all the RAM sticks and reseat them, then see if it boots; it's possible that thermal cycling has managed to walk them out of the slots enough to become misseated. (Also, it's free.) If it still doesn't work, yank all but one stick and try booting; repeat with each stick until you find the bad one. Replace it.

If it's unstable with all of them, start investigating the PSU. Unplug everything that's not critical for boot from the power supply. If you can get it down to the motherboard, one stick of RAM, and the boot drive, that's best. (Yes, this includes disconnecting the power cables for the video card -- it should run in a reduced power mode, which is what we want. Even better would be to swap in a cheap, low-power card, if you have one lying around.) Boot up and check stability. If it's stable -- or less unstable -- it's probably the PSU dying. Replace it.

If it's just as unstable, it could still be the PSU, and you may need to buy one just for a diagnostic swap. But before you fork out the cash for a replacement, pull everything that obstructs your view from the motherboard and do a visual inspection of all the capacitors. If you see any that are bulging, or leaking, I'd start looking at a motherboard replacement. (i.e., Time for a new PC build.)

 

[jsrv]

So I'm going to help build a couple of PCs for some relatives this month for gaming purposes. Their budget is about 1k-1.2k USD per machine but I was told they'd really only play F2P games and Blizzard games which have pretty low requirements so I feel like I could save them some money and probably just pick out the best value build from the OP post

Since it's still Haswell though (I'm guessing skylake chips/mobos are still low stock for whatever reason and have price mark ups) what feature sets are they going to be missing out that an average joe might use besides USB-C? I actually kinda feel bad picking out haswell instead of skylake since that is newer but if it's insignificant it's probably fine

Also I think they could really use wifi built in their motherboard, are there any Z97s that have this built in that isn't 200+ USD? Asus had a nice basic non-pro/premium Z77 board that was exactly this but I can't find a Z97 equivalent

 

[Wowfunhappy]

SAlso I think they could really use wifi built in their motherboard, are there any Z97s that have this built in that isn't 200+ USD? Asus had a nice basic non-pro/premium Z77 board that was exactly this but I can't find a Z97 equivalent

Is there any real advantage to having it on the motherboard over getting a PCI Wifi card or a USB adapter?

 

[MizzouRah]

What are the suggested required downloads for PC health these days? Back in the Windows XP and Windows 7 era, I knew that things like AdAware and Malware bytes were helpful, but these days I'm not up to speed with malware prevention, and there are plenty of fishy looking suggestions that arise from a quick Google search that have kept me from installing any.

Does anyone have suggestions for Windows 10 PC protection?

 

[jsrv]

Is there any real advantage to having it on the motherboard over getting a PCI Wifi card or a USB adapter?

Just saves slots/money, all of the USB ones I've used before died within a year and a half though so I'm kind of reluctant to get them one

 

[LilJoka]

As I feared, none of your final suggestions have worked. I also don't really know what you want me to do in safe mode. I can't access audio in that mode so can't test for the sound stutter when gaming.

Anyway, here's screenshots from that latencymon report just now.

Main view
Drivers

I don't know if you want anymore and I don't know if any of this info will be useful.

Could a bios update fix anything? I'd be shocked if it needed updating considering how new it is but I guess we could check for that. Do you know how to update the bios? I don't have the foggiest (Z170 motherboard).

I wanted to see the latencymon screenshot in safe mode.

I still have a feeling it's the Intel lan driver. Could you go to device manager and uninstall your Intel LAN driver, when it asks to delete the driver click yes.
Relevant info here
https://communities.intel.com/mobile/mobile-access.jspa#jive-content?content=%2Fapi%2Fcore%2Fv3%2Fcontents%2F246118
Make sure Windows doesn't automatically install a driver whilst you get a latencymon screenshot.

Bios update could help, just put the bios file on a usb stick, enter the bios, select asus qflash and choose the file on the usb to update too.

 

[RGM79]

So I'm going to help build a couple of PCs for some relatives this month for gaming purposes. Their budget is about 1k-1.2k USD per machine but I was told they'd really only play F2P games and Blizzard games which have pretty low requirements so I feel like I could save them some money and probably just pick out the best value build from the OP post

Since it's still Haswell though (I'm guessing skylake chips/mobos are still low stock for whatever reason and have price mark ups) what feature sets are they going to be missing out that an average joe might use besides USB-C? I actually kinda feel bad picking out haswell instead of skylake since that is newer but if it's insignificant it's probably fine

Also I think they could really use wifi built in their motherboard, are there any Z97s that have this built in that isn't 200+ USD? Asus had a nice basic non-pro/premium Z77 board that was exactly this but I can't find a Z97 equivalent

Yeah, a computer around 1/2th to 2/3rds of their budget would work out well for their needs. Need any help choosing parts?

The midrange Skylake motherboards have features like USB 3.1 which is twice as fast as USB 3.0, and Skylake will have forthcoming improved power saving tech, but that's not too important for desktop PCs. Other than that, there's not much that they'll be noticing if they're not really tech-savvy in the first place.

Does it have to be wifi built into the motherboard, I'd just recommend a low-to-mid range motherboard and a PCI-E wifi adaptor card instead, it's cheap and simple.

What are the suggested required downloads for PC health these days? Back in the Windows XP and Windows 7 era, I knew that things like AdAware and Malware bytes were helpful, but these days I'm not up to speed with malware prevention, and there are plenty of fishy looking suggestions that arise from a quick Google search that have kept me from installing any.

Does anyone have suggestions for Windows 10 PC protection?

I use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, and SUPERAntiSpyware.

 

[Rootbeer]

Skylake will have forthcoming improved power saving tech

With Skylake, Intel's newest 6th generation Core processors, this changes. The processor has been designed in a way that with the right commands, the OS can hand control of the frequency and voltage back to the processor. Intel is calling this technology 'Speed Shift'. We’ve discussed Speed Shift before in Ian’s Skylake architecture analysis, but despite the in-depth talk from Intel, Speed Shift was noticeably absent at the time of the launch of the processors. This is due to one of the requirements for Speed Shift - it requires operating system support to be able to hand over control of the processor performance to the CPU, and Intel had to work with Microsoft in order to get this functionality enabled in Windows 10. As of right now, anyone with a Skylake processor is actually not getting the benefit of the technology, at least right now. A patch will be rolled out in November for Windows 10 which will enable this functionality, but it is worth noting that it will take a while for it to roll out to new Windows 10 purchases.

Oh wow... well that update comes out tomorrow if they mean Threshold 2 (or maybe Thursday... estimates are varying.)

 

[RGM79]

Oh wow... well that update comes out tomorrow if they mean Threshold 2 (or maybe Thursday... estimates are varying.)

Better yet, the bottom of the Anandtech article says the latest insider build of Windows 10 already has it enabled, so it is close to mainstream release now.

 

[jsrv]

Yeah, a computer around 1/2th to 2/3rds of their budget would work out well for their needs. Need any help choosing parts?

The midrange Skylake motherboards have features like USB 3.1 which is twice as fast as USB 3.0, and Skylake will have forthcoming improved power saving tech, but that's not too important for desktop PCs. Other than that, there's not much that they'll be noticing if they're not really tech-savvy in the first place.

Does it have to be wifi built into the motherboard, I'd just recommend a low-to-mid range motherboard and a PCI-E wifi adaptor card instead, it's cheap and simple.

I just have bad experiences with USB wifi adapters so I tend to stay away from them, never tried PCI-E ones though; I just think it'd be simpler and cheaper if it was integrated with the motherboard, but if there aren't any Z97 ones then a PCI-E one would have to do, no idea which brand would be good though

Assuming they'll go with haswell builds I got these so far:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($118.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Red 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($80.47 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($326.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $753.43

Haswells still come with stock coolers (I think they dropped them with skylake?) so cooler's covered. Not sure about storage yet, are WD Black drives still the way to go as far as mechanical ones? I'm going to look around my house to see if I have any spare power supply I can just hand them but SeaSonic M12IIs used to be the go to ones if those are still around.. Not sure about the case either I guess I'll have to ask them about it but I don't think they care to get a mini ATX build or anything. I might drop the GPU to a 280 or 290 as well (I'm guessing Sapphire is still the go to brand for AMD cards?)

Thanks

 

[Jordoon]

You'll want a stronger graphics card than that. To get a better cost to performance ratio I'd recommend cutting down on things that won't affect gaming performance like the $180 case and the $100 1TB hard drive. Here's what I'd recommend, it's based on your parts list but comes with a faster graphics card for ~$50 cheaper.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($328.31 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.31 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: Asus Z170M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($163.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.31 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($829.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($169.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($122.00 @ shopRBC)
Total: $1980.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-09 22:41 EST-0500

Edit: crap, I just realized everything in your parts list comes from Newegg. Do you prefer to order from Newegg, or are other retailers OK?

Thanks for the response. I'm on mobile so I'll take a better look later today when I get home. I choose all from newegg to group the order as much as possible to reduce shipping costs.

 

[CoachKevin]

Can you guys take a look at this build? Been on 1 15" rMBP, but with the current state of console versions of games I think PC might be best route. Also I edit video in Premiere and After Effects, so I could make use of that power too.

This is all started from wanting to play Just Cause 3 and I am concerned about the PS4/ONE versions.

Only thing I am guessing is that I should bump the CPU down to an i5?

 

[Skii]

I wanted to see the latencymon screenshot in safe mode.

I still have a feeling it's the Intel lan driver. Could you go to device manager and uninstall your Intel LAN driver, when it asks to delete the driver click yes.
Relevant info here
https://communities.intel.com/mobile/mobile-access.jspa#jive-content?content=%2Fapi%2Fcore%2Fv3%2Fcontents%2F246118
Make sure Windows doesn't automatically install a driver whilst you get a latencymon screenshot.

Bios update could help, just put the bios file on a usb stick, enter the bios, select asus qflash and choose the file on the usb to update too.

Oh okay. I'm out at the moment but will post back here tonight when I can get on my computer.

So I'll do a Latencymon in safe mode. Will I be able to access games to stress the computer so we can see if the DPC latency persists?

I don't think I have the intel LAN drivers installed. I'll post a screenshot of my drivers but I'm sure I don't have intel LAN drivers. I do have my 3rd party WLAN drivers there if you meant for me to uninstall those.

I'll research tonight for the bios update.

 

[lordfuzzybutt]

Can you guys take a look at this build? Been on 1 15" rMBP, but with the current state of console versions of games I think PC might be best route. Also I edit video in Premiere and After Effects, so I could make use of that power too.

This is all started from wanting to play Just Cause 3 and I am concerned about the PS4/ONE versions.

Only thing I am guessing is that I should bump the CPU down to an i5?

If budget is not a problem then stay with the i7, it will serve your video editing purpose better, plus it clocks at 4 Ghz by default so you don't need to overclock it if you don't want to. But this is recommended.

Some changes I suggest you can make:

- Buy a aftermarket CPU cooler, the stock one is hot and loud, even at stock.
- Buy a low profile set of RAM, so that it doesn't interfere with the CPU cooler.
- Buy a better PSU, like this one.
- Buy a better case, like this one.

 

[LilJoka]

Oh okay. I'm out at the moment but will post back here tonight when I can get on my computer.

So I'll do a Latencymon in safe mode. Will I be able to access games to stress the computer so we can see if the DPC latency persists?

I don't think I have the intel LAN drivers installed. I'll post a screenshot of my drivers but I'm sure I don't have intel LAN drivers. I do have my 3rd party WLAN drivers there if you meant for me to uninstall those.

I'll research tonight for the bios update.

You do have them installed if you have an Intel NIC, which I believe your motherboard does. Windows updates would have automatically installed them. It just doesn't install the extras and therefore doesn't show in control panel.

You won't be able to run games in safe mode.

 

[MikeDown]

Hey guys I'm working on a build for my sister, it is on a budget and she plans to do video editing as well as some intense gaming like Witcher 3 and Black Desert.
She isn't looking to max all the video settings out, probably mid-high ranged settings with a steady 30 fps. Anybody see any issues or any better parts to buy?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($183.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-GAMING 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($41.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 950 2GB Dual WindForce Video Card ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($93.91 @ Amazon)
Total: $564.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-10 11:57 EST-0500

 

[low-G]

information

Thank you very much. FWIW I have other PCs to work on, but I'd like to keep this one going if I can. I'll check all that out!

 

[ampere]

Been mulling over that part list RGM posted for me, but I think I'm trying to hold off for Black Friday deals. New Egg has had some good deals in the past, so it seems worth waiting for.

 

[APZonerunner]

Hmm. I'm currently working a GTX 770 2gb. If I'm at the point where I'm looking at my budget and feeling an upgrade isn't out of the question, in PC GAF's opinion what should I be looking at and should I even bother for the current slate of releases? The rest of the PC is pretty beefy as I use it for video production and stuff - so lots of RAM, solid processor, etc.

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

Dear Fellas,
When will be released the first games taking advantage of direct X 12?

 

[Quotient]

Does Nvidia have any free game promotion going for buying a GTX-9** series card?

EDIT: Seems like the do: http://www.geforce.com/BULLETSORBLADES

Bullets or Blades, you get to pick either Rainbow Six: Siege or Assasins Creed syndicate.

 

[CoachKevin]

If budget is not a problem then stay with the i7, it will serve your video editing purpose better, plus it clocks at 4 Ghz by default so you don't need to overclock it if you don't want to. But this is recommended.

Some changes I suggest you can make:

- Buy a aftermarket CPU cooler, the stock one is hot and loud, even at stock.
- Buy a low profile set of RAM, so that it doesn't interfere with the CPU cooler.
- Buy a better PSU, like this one.
- Buy a better case, like this one.

Awesome, thanks for the feedback. I got the case and the PSU. What ram (16GB) and aftermarket heatsink do you recommend?

 

[abracadaver]

Dear Fellas,
When will be released the first games taking advantage of direct X 12?

Ashes of the Singularity is the first game. It's already available on Steam.


ARK should be getting a DX12 update this month

 

[rawrbot]

Currently running a machine with an 3.33GHz 6 Core Intel Xeon W3680 CPU with a GTX660 and looking to upgrade to a GTX980.

Or should I instead first upgrade my CPU to the new Skylake hotness and do GPU later?

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

Ashes of the Singularity is the first game. It's already available on Steam.


ARK should be getting a DX12 update this month

Do you think most 2016 games will support dx 12?

 

[Mr. Robot]

In general, the R9 290 can be expected to draw around 250~300 watts under load, TechPowerUp and Guru3D support this. The 4670K overclocked to 4.6GHz will draw around 160 watts, according to Bit-Tech. Factor in another 50 watts for the motherboard and any hard drives and fans you'll be running, and you still won't reach 600 watts.

Do you already have a Z97 board and DDR3 ram? The 4670K is still extremely capable. If you're buying brand new everything then I would go Skylake, but if you have everything but the CPU then for sure grab a Haswell.

600W is more than enough.

Thanks and thanks, im building from scratch, i feel like it's better for my budget to go for the 4670K at $180 than the 6600k at $250/260, considering the main purpose will be gaming and that i dont plan to upgrade.

 

[Hands of Stone]

Any problems with zotax gtx 970?

I'm not familiar at all with the brand but I've found a brand new one for $250.

Seems like a steal unless..?

 

[RGM79]

I just have bad experiences with USB wifi adapters so I tend to stay away from them, never tried PCI-E ones though; I just think it'd be simpler and cheaper if it was integrated with the motherboard, but if there aren't any Z97 ones then a PCI-E one would have to do, no idea which brand would be good though

Assuming they'll go with haswell builds I got these so far:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($118.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Red 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($80.47 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($326.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $753.43

Haswells still come with stock coolers (I think they dropped them with skylake?) so cooler's covered. Not sure about storage yet, are WD Black drives still the way to go as far as mechanical ones? I'm going to look around my house to see if I have any spare power supply I can just hand them but SeaSonic M12IIs used to be the go to ones if those are still around.. Not sure about the case either I guess I'll have to ask them about it but I don't think they care to get a mini ATX build or anything. I might drop the GPU to a 280 or 290 as well (I'm guessing Sapphire is still the go to brand for AMD cards?)

Thanks

Those parts aren't bad, but there's always more ways to save money. If they won't be overclocking their PCs, then the i5 4460 and perhaps a weaker graphics card would be more than adequate for their needs. The R9 280 and 290 are discontinued and very limited in stock now, you would be looking for a GTX 960 or R9 380 4GB these days. WD Black is supposedly loud for their slightly better performance, a WD Blue is good enough. Going with 8GB of RAM is also an option.

Thanks for the response. I'm on mobile so I'll take a better look later today when I get home. I choose all from newegg to group the order as much as possible to reduce shipping costs.

Alright. If you still prefer to order from Newegg, it'd probably be possible to come up with a optimized parts list exclusively for Newegg.

Can you guys take a look at this build? Been on 1 15" rMBP, but with the current state of console versions of games I think PC might be best route. Also I edit video in Premiere and After Effects, so I could make use of that power too.

This is all started from wanting to play Just Cause 3 and I am concerned about the PS4/ONE versions.

Only thing I am guessing is that I should bump the CPU down to an i5?

Are you limited to ordering from Amazon, or are other retailers okay as well?

Hey guys I'm working on a build for my sister, it is on a budget and she plans to do video editing as well as some intense gaming like Witcher 3 and Black Desert.
She isn't looking to max all the video settings out, probably mid-high ranged settings with a steady 30 fps. Anybody see any issues or any better parts to buy?

Let me guess, Amazon or Newegg only? The motherboard you picked isn't available from either retailer.

Hmm. I'm currently working a GTX 770 2gb. If I'm at the point where I'm looking at my budget and feeling an upgrade isn't out of the question, in PC GAF's opinion what should I be looking at and should I even bother for the current slate of releases? The rest of the PC is pretty beefy as I use it for video production and stuff - so lots of RAM, solid processor, etc.

What's your budget and what do you want to do that the GTX 770 can't handle?

Currently running a machine with an 3.33GHz 6 Core Intel Xeon W3680 CPU with a GTX660 and looking to upgrade to a GTX980.

Or should I instead first upgrade my CPU to the new Skylake hotness and do GPU later?

What programs do you use and games do you play that you feel the Xeon isn't able to deal with?

Any problems with zotax gtx 970?

I'm not familiar at all with the brand but I've found a brand new one for $250.

Seems like a steal unless..?

Link? What model is it?

 

[VoxPop]

Hey guys I'm finally taking the plunge in moving one of my PCs to a Node 304 since its on sale. Any notes or criticism before I pull the trigger? Personally want a better mobo but this is the only one available that supports LGA1155. Do I need to get more thermal paste and whatnot if I'm moving my CPU to a diff mobo?

Current build is

i5 2500K
EVGA GTX 970
8GB RAM
Some Corsair 650W Power Supply

 

[Rebel Leader]

I'm upgrading my gpu from a 750ti to a 970

Is there anything I should do?

 

[Velcoro]

Need a new keyboard any recommendations? Was thinking of Razer BlackWidow Chroma or Corsair K70.