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[Jharp]

Can anyone help elaborate on why the price difference between these two drives is so incredibly steep? Non sale price on the EVO is $110 and the PRO is $150.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1|20-147-372^20-147-372,20-147-360^20-147-360

 

[RumblingRosco]

Oh, no wonder it's confusing. Don't call the cables by what the plug looks like on the power supply end. They are not PCI-E power cables, and the cables themselves are not called adaptors. Only the ones with red plugs are PCI-E power cables, the rest are just cables. Call the cables by what they look like on the end that plugs into the device you want to power. These are the correct names and will save us some confusion and trouble, most of them are correctly scaled to size, ignore the oversize SATA connector, that's just zoomed in to show what each individual pin does.

The two red PCI-E power cables are what you want to have plugged into your graphics card to power it, but as you say, one of them seems to be defective. I don't know how easy it is for you to contact OCZ and get a new cable for warranty purposes, but it is probably easier for you to get an adaptor. There's two types that you can use depending on what connectors you have available. There's twin molex to 6 pin and SATA to 6 pin.

What red cables are you referring to? For example, I have this cable:

Based on your chart, I figured this would be a PCIe cable, but it isn't red, so am I incorrect? Sorry, not trying to be obtuse, I just want to better understand the nomenclature for future discussions.

Also, I have a twin molex to 6-pin as you mentioned above. Can I power one of the two 6-pin power slots on my GPU by connecting the 6-pin end of the twin molex/6-pin cable into my PSU, then attach one of the male molex at the other end of that twin molex/6-pin to a female molex, with the other end of that female molex plugging into one of the two 6-pin ports on my GPU? I know I need to power by GPU by filling both 6-pin slots, I'm just wondering if using a molex connector connecting two cables is acceptable? I seem to recall that this is a bad idea for some reason. Earlier someone said the Molex adapter can melt, so my guess is that too much power is attempted to be drawn through there and basically roasts the thing.

 

[RGM79]

What red cables are you referring to? For example, I have this cable:

Based on your chart, I figured this would be a PCIe cable, but it isn't red, so am I incorrect? Sorry, not trying to be obstuse, I just want to better understand the nomenclature for future discussions.

Also, I have a twin molex to 6-pin as you mentioned above. Can I power one of the two 6-pin power slots on my GPU by connecting the 6-pin end of the twin molex/6-pin cable into my PSU, then attach one of the male molex at the other end of that twin molex/6-pin to a female molex, with the other end of that female molex plugging into one of the two 6-pin ports on my GPU? I know I need to power by GPU by filling both 6-pin slots, I'm just wondering if using a molex connector connecting two cables is acceptable? I seem to recall that this is a bad idea for some reason. Earlier someone said the Molex adapter can melt, so my guess is that too much power is attempted to be drawn through there and basically roasts the thing.

Huh, I thought they were red going by this picture of the PSU and accessories. But yes, the photo of the cable in your hand is correct and will work.

The twin molex to 6 pin "Y shaped adaptor" should plug directly into the 6 pin receptacle on graphics card, not the power supply. Then you connect the two molex ends to your power supply. Yes, you are also correct that drawing too much power through the molex is something to beware, that is why the adaptor has two separate molex ends and not just one. Ideally you should connect each molex end to a separate cable leading from the power supply.

Can anyone help elaborate on why the price difference between these two drives is so incredibly steep? Non sale price on the EVO is $110 and the PRO is $150.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1|20-147-372^20-147-372,20-147-360^20-147-360

They're using somewhat different technologies and the Pro is a higher end drive with longer warranty. This article should explain what the main technical differences are.

 

[N1nJar]

Im sorry im basically a nub when it comes to wireless networking. What is a AC based Router and card? My ISP wants us to use the router/modem that they provide. Believe me, Ive tried getting them to let us use our own router. I recently just moved out here and its a huge step down from where I used to live.

I got into our routers setup site and changed the channel to 11 but only see I slight gain in speeds on the PC, up to about 2.5 Mbps.

I dont get how my laptop runs fine right out of the box but no matter what card or usb adapter I try on my pcs it doesnt.

Both of the adapters you've tried in your PC have been 2.4Ghz only. It sounds like it'll be connecting over the 54Mbps "G" standard as you only see one channel (currently 11) on the router config. Your WiFi card is capable of using 2.4Ghz wireless "N" which allows up to 300Mbps by using 2 channels bonded together, but this needs to be set on the rotuer (e.g. channel 1 & 6). Chances are your router doesn't support this 2.4Ghz channel bonded "N" standard. If it does turn out to have this enabled, I'd suggest you try setting it to b/g only mode, and disable the N mode to see if that helps.

Confusingly there is also an N standard for the 5Ghz frequency that is not channel bonded, just a single fast channel on a nice clean frequency.

The 2.4Ghz frequency is often heavily congested, and you may find your issues are caused by interference from nearby WiFi networks (not helped if the router is weak). From experience, the 2.4Ghz "N" standard is terrible and usually results in worse performance if you have any interference issues like this. A good solution is to get a "dual band" adapter, capable of using the 5Ghz frequency, as this is normally much less congested. Example: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005JJS7IY/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Your laptop may already be connecting over the 5Ghz frequency. It's worth checking the router config to see if the same SSID name is used for both the 2.4 and 5Ghz networks. If it's the same SSID, the adapter will usually connect to 5Ghz, but drop down to 2.4 if it loses signal. Be a bit careful when changing this, some routers only support 2.4 OR 5ghz, not both simultaneously. It'll be clear from the router config if this is the case. If you set it to just use 5Ghz on the router it will prevent devices only capable of 2.4Ghz from connecting.

Sorry to ramble on a bit, hope it helps! I ended up switching most of my kit to 5Ghz and home plugs for longer distances after facing similar problems. If you can't enable both 2.4 and 5ghz networks on the router, and can't change the router, it's time for plan B. You could get a pair of home plugs to connect your PC to the router via ethernet. You can easily achieve a 100Mbps connection this way. Or you could see if you have an option to set the crummy ISP router into a modem only mode, and have it act as a modem for your own router (so still technically using the ISP kit).

 

[Celegus]

The parts I ordered last week all came yesterday, so I spent the night building!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($42.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380 4GB PCS+ Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($60.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $618.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-05 18:16 EST-0500

I already had the RAM and SSD, everything else was new. Prices were a lot better last week too, so that's not an accurate list really. Only had a couple small issues throughout the process, everything seemed great and ridiculously quiet compared to my old setup, fired up a game and.... buzzzzzzz. Looks like Mr. Power Supply is making some awful coil whine any time I start a game, apparently a pretty common problem with that model. Gonna send it back and ordered this EVGA 650W instead. Hopefully that does the trick.

Also realized the newest / prettiest game I even have on PC is Bioshock Infinite (which runs amazingly compared to the slog it used to be). Gonna need to work on that and put this thing to use!

 

[ampere]

Most of my parts have arrived, except for the processor! Shame, I wanted to put it all together this weekend.

I got really thrown off by the PSU install location in the Define S case, the fan faces down which was just weird to me. I wonder if it's a bad idea to have the case sitting on carpet then, though I guess it's an exit for air so maybe it doesn't matter. Could always get a mat to rest the case on if it's helpful

 

[kennah]

Most of my parts have arrived, except for the processor! Shame, I wanted to put it all together this weekend.

I got really thrown off by the PSU install location in the Define S case, the fan faces down which was just weird to me. I wonder if it's a bad idea to have the case sitting on carpet then, though I guess it's an exit for air so maybe it doesn't matter. Could always get a mat to rest the case on if it's helpful

It's the intake. It exhausts through the back. Just put it on a board or something.

 

[FLAguy954]

l see. Did you have to remove the PSU cover in order to use the bottom intake fan?

Yeah, I removed the PSU shroud in order for the bottom fan to be more effective.

Sounds very overkill, what is your hardware? I wouldnt be recommending 6 fans to anyone.

In what configuration would you recommend I set up my fans?

I have:

i5 4670K @ 4.5 GHz with a Hyper 212 Evo
MSI 290X Lightning @ 1150/1500
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM
1 TB HDD
128 GB SSD
Asus Maximus Gene VI Motherboard

 

[Unknown Soldier]

So my RAM is supposed to be 3200 but it's only running at around 2100. Whenever I try to overclock my RAM to 3200 my PC refuses to boot. I feel like I'm doing something wrong (first time builder and I'm still trying to figure out bios).

My RAM is the G.Skill Ripjaws V
My mobo is the Gigabyte Z170x-Gaming 5.

Edit - a little more info: my PC will "boot" but it won't boot to Windows. I get a screen that tells me to revert to my previous bios settings.

I just got some Ripjaws V for my MSI X99A Raider. It's X99 instead of Z170 but DDR4 with XMP profiles should all work the same way if the motherboard reads SPD correctly and they really should these days. All I did was activate the XMP in the BIOS and the computer is running it at 3200. Try that first instead of trying to overclock it manually.

 

[Jedi2016]

So... in general, could I expect something like a 980ti to be able to max pretty much any console port at 1440p higher than 60? (I have a 144Hz monitor) Minus the exceptions like Batman, of course.. I know that nothing can run everything perfectly. Ever since I upgraded to a 1440p monitor, my old 680 is struggling where it used to breeze through at 1080p. Might be time to finally put the old bird to rest if I can find something that I know will last through this console generation like the 680 did for the last one.

 

[RGM79]

So... in general, could I expect something like a 980ti to be able to max pretty much any console port at 1440p higher than 60? (I have a 144Hz monitor) Minus the exceptions like Batman, of course.. I know that nothing can run everything perfectly. Ever since I upgraded to a 1440p monitor, my old 680 is struggling where it used to breeze through at 1080p. Might be time to finally put the old bird to rest if I can find something that I know will last through this console generation like the 680 did for the last one.

What are the rest of your system specs? The CPU will also play a part in determining what kind of framerate you get. It will also matter what graphics settings you will be playing at, and even what game you play as not all perform equally of course. Some games are just better optimized than others.

If I had to say in general, it is definitely possible assuming no bottlenecks. If not, then just lower a few settings and you should be able to hit 60FPS in most if not all games.

The parts I ordered last week all came yesterday, so I spent the night building!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($42.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380 4GB PCS+ Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($60.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $618.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-05 18:16 EST-0500

I already had the RAM and SSD, everything else was new. Prices were a lot better last week too, so that's not an accurate list really. Only had a couple small issues throughout the process, everything seemed great and ridiculously quiet compared to my old setup, fired up a game and.... buzzzzzzz. Looks like Mr. Power Supply is making some awful coil whine any time I start a game, apparently a pretty common problem with that model. Gonna send it back and ordered this EVGA 650W instead. Hopefully that does the trick.

Also realized the newest / prettiest game I even have on PC is Bioshock Infinite (which runs amazingly compared to the slog it used to be). Gonna need to work on that and put this thing to use!

Yeah, we don't recommend Corsair CX power supplies around here very much, they're the budget product line and aren't the best quality you could be getting for your money. The EVGA G1 650 watt power supply you're looking at isn't bad at all, but I think an even better deal would be the EVGA B2 750 watt model which is $57 at Amazon, no rebate required. It comes from a somewhat more reputable OEM than the G1 model does. Jonny Guru reviewed both the B2 750 watt and the G1 650 watt, according to the scoring summary the B2 has better electrical performance, build quality, and a higher overall average score of 9/10. And for the sake of comparison, the Corsair CX750M as reviewed by that website scored a meh 7.1/10.

Also I don't mean to dampen your spirits, but that Kingston SSD is kinda so-so (assuming you have one of the later versions of that drive). If you ever want to upgrade, a decent SSD like a Samsung or Crucial model will offer up to three times the performance.

Anyway, enjoy your new PC! It already kicks a lot of ass and runs circles around your old AMD setup like it was standing still.

 

[Mordeccai]

I need to buy the last few things for my computer, the PSU and some cooling fans.

If I get an 850W psu (EVGA supernova), will that be enough for an overclocked 6600k and sli 980 tis? I only have one 980 ti right now but want to future proof the b uild and have room to throw another one in there.

Also does anyone have some tips on air flow. My last case was horribly dusty and I never got the air flow right. Need to find some good, quiet case fans too.

 

[Diablos]

I honestly think I may just end up buying a new CPU/mobo. I'm tired of having to work with 6+ year old hardware.

I'm looking at maybe an FX-6300 since it's sub-$100 and seems to get good reviews for gaming. Was also looking at the Pentium Anniversary CPU, but it's dial-core and some games won't even open up, lol/.

I have a 6300. If you want we can trade motherboards and CPU's, I am only partially joking here. You have a better CPU for gaming. Stick with your i5 750!

My 6300 has served me well but honestly AMD needs to phase it out and figure out what they want to replace these FX CPU's with, as they have been lingering for quite some time. It shouldn't be too hard for them to come up with something.

 

[RGM79]

I need to buy the last few things for my computer, the PSU and some cooling fans.

If I get an 850W psu (EVGA supernova), will that be enough for an overclocked 6600k and sli 980 tis? I only have one 980 ti right now but want to future proof the b uild and have room to throw another one in there.

Also does anyone have some tips on air flow. My last case was horribly dusty and I never got the air flow right. Need to find some good, quiet case fans too.

If I had to guess, it should work fine. The GTX 980 Ti cards will draw just over 250 watts each and an overclocked 6600K will maybe draw around 100 watts, depending on how far you go. Tom's Hardware and Anandtech established that the 6600K at stock will consume around 50~75 watts. That should leave plenty of wattage left to power the rest of your PC and leave some headroom available.

What are your system specs, what case and CPU cooler do you have, and did you put any extra fans in it? We can figure out some sort of optimal airflow configuration.

 

[Celegus]

Yeah, we don't recommend Corsair CX power supplies around here very much, they're the budget product line and aren't the best quality you could be getting for your money. The EVGA G1 650 watt power supply you're looking at isn't bad at all, but I think an even better deal would be the EVGA B2 750 watt model which is $57 at Amazon, no rebate required. It comes from a somewhat more reputable OEM than the G1 model does. Jonny Guru reviewed both the B2 750 watt and the G1 650 watt, according to the scoring summary the B2 has better electrical performance, build quality, and a higher overall average score of 9/10. And for the sake of comparison, the Corsair CX750M as reviewed by that website scored a meh 7.1/10.

Also I don't mean to dampen your spirits, but that Kingston SSD is kinda so-so (assuming you have one of the later versions of that drive). If you ever want to upgrade, a decent SSD like a Samsung or Crucial model will offer up to three times the performance.

Anyway, enjoy your new PC! It already kicks a lot of ass and runs circles around your old AMD setup like it was standing still.

Dang, guess I should have looked around a bit more. That one does look nice! The one I was originally going to get had just sold out so I ended up with the CX750 instead. Oops.

I've had the SSD for a year or so, that kinda sucks to hear. Wasn't super expensive at least, though at the time I didn't really know there was much of a difference in performance.

It really is a huge step up. I've never really had a PC that could run things on high and probably have a much higher tolerance to frame stuttering than most people on GAF.

 

[Mordeccai]

If I had to guess, it should work fine. The GTX 980 Ti cards will draw just over 250 watts each and an overclocked 6600K will maybe draw around 100 watts, depending on how far you go. Tom's Hardware and Anandtech established that the 6600K at stock will consume around 50~75 watts. That should leave plenty of wattage left to power the rest of your PC and leave some headroom available.

What are your system specs, what case and CPU cooler do you have, and did you put any extra fans in it? We can figure out some sort of optimal airflow configuration.

Yeah my biggest question was with overclocking the CPU too much, as I've read it adds anywhere from an additional 50-100W depending on how aggressive you go.

Case is the Corsair Air 540
Asus Z170-A mobo
16gb Corsair Vengeance DDR4 RAM
(2x) 850 EVO SSDs
980ti
i5 6600k w/ the CM Hyper 212 cooler

All I have are the fans that came with the case. I have room on the top and back of the case, I'm hoping the fans included for the front prove adequate

 

[Lys Skygge]

I just got some Ripjaws V for my MSI X99A Raider. It's X99 instead of Z170 but DDR4 with XMP profiles should all work the same way if the motherboard reads SPD correctly and they really should these days. All I did was activate the XMP in the BIOS and the computer is running it at 3200. Try that first instead of trying to overclock it manually.

I tried and it didn't work. I think I might have to tinker with the voltages. I managed to get it from 2100 to 2400 but I still can't get it to 3200.

 

[RGM79]

Yeah my biggest question was with overclocking the CPU too much, as I've read it adds anywhere from an additional 50-100W depending on how aggressive you go.

Case is the Corsair Air 540
Asus Z170-A mobo
16gb Corsair Vengeance DDR4 RAM
(2x) 850 EVO SSDs
980ti
i5 6600k w/ the CM Hyper 212 cooler

All I have are the fans that came with the case. I have room on the top and back of the case, I'm hoping the fans included for the front prove adequate

The Air 540 should be just fine as is. Check the temperatures when you're playing games or something and if it's too high, you can consider adding fans. HardOCP says the Air 540 packs massive airflow and cooling ability, although Anandtech did note that while not awfully loud it wasn't too quiet either.

 

[Nostremitus]

I have a 6300. If you want we can trade motherboards and CPU's, I am only partially joking here. You have a better CPU for gaming. Stick with your i5 750!

My 6300 has served me well but honestly AMD needs to phase it out and figure out what they want to replace these FX CPU's with, as they have been lingering for quite some time. It shouldn't be too hard for them to come up with something.

Zen comes out next year.

 

[Matty8787]

So I have a 1440p monitor coming soon and have the opportunity to straight swap my 2 970s for a 980ti which I think I am going to do.

Worth it?

 

[longdi]

Thinking of getting 512gb Samsung 950pro, but will it offer a noticeable improvement over Intel 730 in daily useage? Quite troublesome to reinstall an OS.

 

[Hazaro]

So I have a 1440p monitor coming soon and have the opportunity to straight swap my 2 970s for a 980ti which I think I am going to do.

Worth it?

I would take the jump to 980Ti

Thinking of getting 512gb Samsung 950pro, but will it offer a noticeable improvement over Intel 730 in daily useage? Quite troublesome to reinstall an OS.

Not really. Also you could just clone. Pickup a BX100 or something now while they are super cheap (100 not 200).

 

[LilJoka]

Yeah, I removed the PSU shroud in order for the bottom fan to be more effective.



In what configuration would you recommend I set up my fans?

I have:

i5 4670K @ 4.5 GHz with a Hyper 212 Evo
MSI 290X Lightning @ 1150/1500
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM
1 TB HDD
128 GB SSD
Asus Maximus Gene VI Motherboard

Start with bare minimum, 1 intake and 1 exhaust. You'll probably find temps are barely any different. Also run the fans at around 800 rpm for silence.

I have a lot more wattage in my ITX box (i7 3770 4.2ghz, GTX 970 1500/3900) and only have 2 90mm intakes and a 140mm exhaust. Gaming pushes temps on cpu and gpu to 70c peak.

 

[LilJoka]

So my RAM is supposed to be 3200 but it's only running at around 2100. Whenever I try to overclock my RAM to 3200 my PC refuses to boot. I feel like I'm doing something wrong (first time builder and I'm still trying to figure out bios).

My RAM is the G.Skill Ripjaws V
My mobo is the Gigabyte Z170x-Gaming 5.

Edit - a little more info: my PC will "boot" but it won't boot to Windows. I get a screen that tells me to revert to my previous bios settings.

Cpu supports only up to 2133mhz officially. You need to tweak settings further as the cpu memory controller is not good enough likely. Relax timings on ram, increase IMC voltage.

Running the ram over 2133 overclocks the cpu memory controller too. Both this and the ram need to be able to run those speeds. XMP usually does tweak the memory controller voltage but sometimes it's not enough or the cpu just isn't good enough.

 

[ISee]

Thinking of getting 512gb Samsung 950pro, but will it offer a noticeable improvement over Intel 730 in daily useage? Quite troublesome to reinstall an OS.

The 950 pro is one of the best m2.PCIE drives out there. So that's of course a huge improvement in all areas, no doubt about that. Is it worthwhile?
The 730 has one problem, a low sequential transfer rate which is needed for copying large amount of data (it's still not bad, there are just better ones). But when it comes to normal day useage transfer rates for small blocks and low request depth is much more important and the 730 is still pretty fast when it comes to this. So the question is: Are you copying large files on a daily basis? If yes, then upgrading will be worthwhile.
But when it comes to daily useage (gaming, office etc.) then probably not. That said the 950 pro will be faster, but I doubt you'll notice it, maybe in some games like Just Cause 3 (still under 10 secs on my old samsung 830s and your 730 is even better). But if your wallet says yes and you really want it, then go for it. The 950 pro is a fantastic ssd.

Edit: When it comes to reinstalling your OS. There is a dedicated samsung tool to mirror your OS partition onto a new sdd. It works pretty good. (never had the chance to test it with a m2 though and I am not sure if it is supported).

 

[hateradio]

This is the most boring part of a new PC build.

I want to play games NOW. But I know better. Time invested doing this now will pay off in the years to come. I was very thorough stress-testing my old i7-950 build when I first built it and it was absolutely rock solid for 6 years. I never had a single BSOD or crash of any kind caused by the CPU or mobo during those years of ownership.

I haven't gotten all my parts yet, but is it really worth the time to use that test tool after the PC has been built?

 

[LilJoka]

I haven't gotten all my parts yet, but is it really worth the time to use that test tool after the PC has been built?

He's overclocked though, if your stock then there's no need.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I haven't gotten all my parts yet, but is it really worth the time to use that test tool after the PC has been built?

Are you overclocking? If so, yes.

If you're at stock, then no.

You shouldn't be at stock though. Stock is boring. And slow. Boring and slow. Overclocking is fun. And fast. Fun and fast.

I tried and it didn't work. I think I might have to tinker with the voltages. I managed to get it from 2100 to 2400 but I still can't get it to 3200.

Yeah, sounds like you should give it more of that voltage juice. Try feeding 1.4v to your RAM and see how it goes.

 

[CrazedProfessional]

Is there any reason at all to go AMD CPUs? The black editions are lowering in price and seem somewhat tempting.

 

[ISee]

Is there any reason at all to go AMD CPUs? The black editions are lowering in price and seem somewhat tempting.

You said it, the pricing. Performance wise (for games!) not really, maybe when you're looking for better integrated GPU performance (AMD APUs might be the better choice here). But in general: Often i5s are outperforming the AMD FX 9590 and they are priced very close to each other. Also DX12 might significantly improve AMD CPU performance, but also Intel CPUs should be able to get a performance boost, so...

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Is there any reason at all to go AMD CPUs? The black editions are lowering in price and seem somewhat tempting.

Intel wipes the floor with AMD across all price points in CPU. That's why the build recommendations in the OP of this thread don't recommend any AMD CPUs.

I tried and it didn't work. I think I might have to tinker with the voltages. I managed to get it from 2100 to 2400 but I still can't get it to 3200.

I thought of somethng. Did you make sure to lock your Uncore/Cache ratio to stock? Set it manually, a lot of mobo will try to overclock it if you leave it on Auto and play with your CPU multiplier.

If you haven't see this guide, read this one and see if it helps you out with your memory:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1570313/skylake-overclocking-guide-with-statistics/0_100

 

[Nostremitus]

Just saw this, don't know if it's been mentioned before... Skylake CPU's bending when shipped with some coolers already installed.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/skylake-cpus-damaged-by-coolers,30690.html

 

[Finaika]

Just saw this, don't know if it's been mentioned before... Skylake CPU's bending when shipped with some coolers already installed.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/skylake-cpus-damaged-by-coolers,30690.html

Damnit, should I change to Haswell?

 

[RumblingRosco]

Huh, I thought they were red going by this picture of the PSU and accessories. But yes, the photo of the cable in your hand is correct and will work.

The twin molex to 6 pin "Y shaped adaptor" should plug directly into the 6 pin receptacle on graphics card, not the power supply. Then you connect the two molex ends to your power supply. Yes, you are also correct that drawing too much power through the molex is something to beware, that is why the adaptor has two separate molex ends and not just one. Ideally you should connect each molex end to a separate cable leading from the power supply.

I did ultimately get it all working, so thanks for all your help!

Unrelated question: My new GPU allows for "Dynamic Super Resolution" (DSR), which is basically generating an image that's at a higher resolution than my monitor allows, but then shrinks the game down to my monitor's native resolution (1080p). I'm using a DVI cable that I bought ~5 years ago. Is that cable capable of transmitting a signal at a resolution greater than 1080p (2715x1527, to be precise)? A quick Google search seems to say that only some DVI cables can do above 1080p. Should I pick-up an HDMI 2.0 cable or something instead just to be safe?

EDIT: Looking into it further, I guess HDMI is just DVI with audio? So maybe my DVI cable is OK?

 

[longdi]

Not really. Also you could just clone. Pickup a BX100 or something now while they are super cheap (100 not 200).

The 950 pro is one of the best m2.PCIE drives out there. So that's of course a huge improvement in all areas, no doubt about that. Is it worthwhile?
The 730 has one problem, a low sequential transfer rate which is needed for copying large amount of data (it's still not bad, there are just better ones). But when it comes to normal day useage transfer rates for small blocks and low request depth is much more important and the 730 is still pretty fast when it comes to this. So the question is: Are you copying large files on a daily basis? If yes, then upgrading will be worthwhile.
But when it comes to daily useage (gaming, office etc.) then probably not. That said the 950 pro will be faster, but I doubt you'll notice it, maybe in some games like Just Cause 3 (still under 10 secs on my old samsung 830s and your 730 is even better). But if your wallet says yes and you really want it, then go for it. The 950 pro is a fantastic ssd.

Edit: When it comes to reinstalling your OS. There is a dedicated samsung tool to mirror your OS partition onto a new sdd. It works pretty good. (never had the chance to test it with a m2 though and I am not sure if it is supported).

Not going to copy big files since it is an OS drive for launching programs and files.

Guess i will stick with 730 for another year. Next Black Friday we should be seeing $199 512GB nvme SSD or 1TB at current prices.

 

[longdi]

Damnit, should I change to Haswell?

Nay, i will stick with Skylake, it is better.

 

[ISee]

Damnit, should I change to Haswell?

Nah it's okay. Just do not carry your PC around (a lot) while having a heavy cooler installed and do not use coolers with a very high contact pressure (there are some special ones out there).

According to Pcgameshardware.de the substrate of the CPU might be the problem area (the printed circuit board on the underside, which establishes the actual electrical connection between the silicon chip and the contacts in the socket). Under certain conditions this board can be bent into the socket. An important factor here seems to be the smaller thickness (=lower mechanical stability) compared to previous generations.

 

[Burgess_101]

So I am looking to get a new PSU. My Antec Truepower New 650w was amazing for the price but its at the edge of its capabilities with my current set up.

I am just thinking about what wattage is best. I was thinking 1000w just to make sure I don't have to upgrade for a long time but I don't know if that's a bit overkill. I do overclock and I am looking for a fully modular unit.

I have an i7 2700k and R9 390 to power.

I had my eye on the Corsair HX1000 for about £120.

 

[RGM79]

I did ultimately get it all working, so thanks for all your help!

Unrelated question: My new GPU allows for "Dynamic Super Resolution" (DSR), which is basically generating an image that's at a higher resolution than my monitor allows, but then shrinks the game down to my monitor's native resolution (1080p). I'm using a DVI cable that I bought ~5 years ago. Is that cable capable of transmitting a signal at a resolution greater than 1080p (2715x1527, to be precise)? A quick Google search seems to say that only some DVI cables can do above 1080p. Should I pick-up an HDMI 2.0 cable or something instead just to be safe?

EDIT: Looking into it further, I guess HDMI is just DVI with audio? So maybe my DVI cable is OK?

You should be fine. As I understand it, the graphics card does all of the special work in rendering a game at a higher resolution then squeezing it down to 1080p to send to your monitor. As far as the monitor and DVI cable is concerned, it's receiving a 1080p signal and image, it doesn't know or care that it's in DSR mode or that the image was originally much higher resolution.

So I am looking to get a new PSU. My Antec Truepower New 650w was amazing for the price but its at the edge of its capabilities with my current set up.

I am just thinking about what wattage is best. I was thinking 1000w just to make sure I don't have to upgrade for a long time but I don't know if that's a bit overkill. I do overclock and I am looking for a fully modular unit.

I have an i7 2700k and R9 390 to power.

I had my eye on the Corsair HX1000 for about £120.

The R9 390 will draw a bit less than 300 watts when under load. Your i7 2700K if overclocked might draw somewhere a bit over 100 watts. You shouldn't have an issue powering everything with your existing 650 watt PSU, but if you really want to upgrade, there are some excellent 750~850 watt power supplies for far less than £120. Here's some:

XFX XTR Series 750 watt bronze for £86
EVGA G2 750 watt gold for £83
Corsair RMx Series 750 watt for £87

As far as I can see, the Corsair HX1000 is an old discontinued design dating back to 2008. It was very good quality back then though. There's a new HX1000i that was released in 2014 that according to recent reviews is also an excellent power supply, but costs about £160 at the lowest that I can find. If you want alternatives in the 1000 watt range, then consider these:

XFX Pro Series gold for £110
EVGA GQ gold for £117

 

[REMAINSILLY]

I have a 6300. If you want we can trade motherboards and CPU's, I am only partially joking here. You have a better CPU for gaming. Stick with your i5 750!

My 6300 has served me well but honestly AMD needs to phase it out and figure out what they want to replace these FX CPU's with, as they have been lingering for quite some time. It shouldn't be too hard for them to come up with something.

A lot of people have told me that my CPU is good enough (well, except for big-name PC websites), so I think I'll stick with it! Guess I just need to upgrade my GPU, then. I have a GTX 960 2GB. Income tax I guess I can upgrade to a better, 4GB card.

Thanks for the response!

 

[opticalmace]

A lot of people have told me that my CPU is good enough (well, except for big-name PC websites), so I think I'll stick with it! Guess I just need to upgrade my GPU, then. I have a GTX 960 2GB. Income tax I guess I can upgrade to a better, 4GB card.

Thanks for the response!

If I were you I would go for a new cpu/mobo and ride it out with your 960 for a while.

 

[RumblingRosco]

You should be fine. As I understand it, the graphics card does all of the special work in rendering a game at a higher resolution then squeezing it down to 1080p to send to your monitor. As far as the monitor and DVI cable is concerned, it's receiving a 1080p signal and image, it doesn't know or care that it's in DSR mode or that the image was originally much higher resolution.

Thanks!

 

[Saty]

Hey guys, what would be the consequence of putting 2 sets of DDR3 RAM sticks from different manufactures? Specifically these two:

http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f3-1866c9d-8gab
http://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/HX318C10FK2_16.pdf

Thanks.

 

[webkatt]

Would it be possible to build a 4K gaming machine out of this?

http://store.hp.com/wcsstore/hpusstore/pdf/j4v91aa.pdf


i5 4750
12gb Ram ddr3

1x pcie 16x
3x pcie 1x
460 psu

Edit

I know I have to buy some crazy gfx cards and probably a psu to get some gaming done. My question was about SLI/crossfire setup I guess.
I can get this tower for $400 but I'd like to make sure I can play stuff. What about 1080p on ultra/60fps. If I throw a beefy card in it can I at least do that?

As for the monitor I have a 4K TV so I'm set in that front.

Please forgive me if my questions are dumb but I'm not super tech savvy. lol.

 

[LilJoka]

Would it be possible to build a 4K gaming machine out of this?

http://store.hp.com/wcsstore/hpusstore/pdf/j4v91aa.pdf

Define 4K? Ultra settings? 60fps?

If you tried for something reasonable at 4K, it would probably need a something on the GTX 970 -> GTX 980Ti level. Then youll probably need a new PSU. And then youll be betting on their case having decent airflow.

So, no would be my recommendation. Youll just spend more money and time making it work.

 

[paskowitz]

Would it be possible to build a 4K gaming machine out of this?

http://store.hp.com/wcsstore/hpusstore/pdf/j4v91aa.pdf

Absolutely not. 4K gaming requires specific, high end hardware (1 or more Nvidia GTX 980 Ti). It also requires a 4K monitor or TV ($500+) and if you have the money for that... well you might as well do things properly and build a custom PC.

At the present moment, there is no such thing as 4K gaming on budget. Next year's Nvidia Pascal GPUs should provide the horse power to run 4K at 60fps on a single card but they won't be affordable until at least late 2017.

 

[Shifty Capone1]

Alright so I managed to somehow just win one of the best monitors out there from a work raffle. (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016GNX4SE/?tag=neogaf0e-20)
I currently have a 970 that I literally bought 3 days ago. I obviously did not expect to win a 4K G-Sync Curved monitor. For great 4K gaming, would it be wiser to just buy another 970 (saving some money) and SLI that. Or sell the 970 I just bought and buy a 980ti? Would I really get a big enough performance jump from spending an extra $100 + hassle to sell my card? Thanks!


Also, would getting another 970 and OCing them both be a valid idea too?

 

[Lys Skygge]

I thought of somethng. Did you make sure to lock your Uncore/Cache ratio to stock? Set it manually, a lot of mobo will try to overclock it if you leave it on Auto and play with your CPU multiplier.

If you haven't see this guide, read this one and see if it helps you out with your memory:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1570313/skylake-overclocking-guide-with-statistics/0_100

Hmmm...This is my first time ever trying to OC anything (I come from a MacBook Pro) so this stuff sounds really complicated to me haha. I might stick to default settings until I'm comfortable with BIOS and understand what everything does. I'm really worried about accidentally bricking my newly built PC haha.

 

[REMAINSILLY]

If I were you I would go for a new cpu/mobo and ride it out with your 960 for a while.

Which (cheaper) CPU/mobo would you suggest?

 

[opticalmace]

Alright so I managed to somehow just win one of the best monitors out there from a work raffle. (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016GNX4SE/?tag=neogaf0e-20)
I currently have a 970 that I literally bought 3 days ago. I obviously did not expect to win a 4K G-Sync Curved monitor. For great 4K gaming, would it be wiser to just buy another 970 (saving some money) and SLI that. Or sell the 970 I just bought and buy a 980ti? Would I really get a big enough performance jump from spending an extra $100 + hassle to sell my card? Thanks!


Also, would getting another 970 and OCing them both be a valid idea too?

980 Ti 100%. Much better than SLI.