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"I Need a New PC!" 2015 Part 2. Read the OP. Rocking 2500K's until HBM2 and beyond.

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RGM79

Member
Yeah I would rather use amazon only, also checked on newegg and the prices were the same (how much do you think I could save?), forgot about mentioning the graphics card, I already have one, is an old amd 6770, still does the job for me so I don't plan to replace it for now

If you live near a Microcenter store, you can pick up the same processor for $160 plus tax. When I said save money, I was going to recommend that you get an H81 or B85 motherboard because it'd cost less and you wouldn't be overclocking anyway. Something like the Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A, it's as cheap as $51 after $10 rebate elsewhere and it should meet your needs just fine.

You could also reuse your existing 4GB of RAM with the new motherboard and just add another 4GB for around $20 and have 8GB total.

what are the best ways to get a cheap OS? dont really feel like droppin 100+ on windows 10 though I will eventually go to windows 10

You can get cheap Windows keys from reddit. Here's my usual disclaimer:
Cheap Windows licenses can be bought from reddit's microsoftsoftwareswap for cheap, around $15 USD 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.​
 

neto

Member
If you live near a Microcenter store, you can pick up the same processor for $160 plus tax. When I said save money, I was going to recommend that you get an H81 or B85 motherboard because it'd cost less and you wouldn't be overclocking anyway. Something like the Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A, it's as cheap as $51 after $10 rebate elsewhere and it should meet your needs just fine.

You could also reuse your existing 4GB of RAM with the new motherboard and just add another 4GB for around $20 and have 8GB total.

Sadly there is no microcenter near me, anyway I think I will follow your advise and change the motherboard, thanks a lot!
 

MANGOD

Banned
Highly advise not buying either when i already gave a much better build here, with proper quality parts from a reputable reseller. You are paying £100 more for tacky case, crap power supply, and sub optimal SSD, plus the added bonus of having a massive ATX tower when its not needed anymore.

Just so you know, when they say "saving £500" that is complete bullshit.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=188933735&postcount=8187


Just went over this cheers. Ive ran this though and the build Ive put in is coming in more expensive not sure how. Trying to do this on my mobile the site isnt really mob frendly. If I take the overclock off its a little closer to the price but still more.
Ive came across pc specialist and have done a build that copys yours but I can get the case I want and its about £75 cheaper but it is not overclocked. The other disadvantage is it wont be ready till after christmas. Choices
 

JMTHEFOX

Member
Okay this time, for my next PC (which is my htpc) build, I chose an i5 quad core instead of an i3-4160. I was also thinking about getting the Wifi version of the ASRock H81M-ITX motherboard but it was sold out. I put a Belkin wireless adapter on the list to go along with the original H81M-ITX. I was also thinking about getting an GTX 960 but stayed with the GTX 950.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 950 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($149.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Silverstone ML07B HTPC Case ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Silverstone 300W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Wireless Network Adapter: Belkin F9L1001 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($5.99 @ Micro Center)
Keyboard: Logitech K400 Wireless Slim Keyboard w/Touchpad ($29.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $625.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-14 05:08 EST-0500

Any feedback, suggestions and comments is highly appreciated.
 

RGM79

Member
Okay this time, for my next PC (which is my htpc) build, I chose an i5 quad core instead of an i3-4160. I was also thinking about getting the Wifi version of the ASRock H81M-ITX motherboard but it was sold out. I put a Belkin wireless adapter on the list to go along with the original H81M-ITX. I was also thinking about getting an GTX 960 but stayed with the GTX 950.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 950 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($149.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Silverstone ML07B HTPC Case ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Silverstone 300W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Wireless Network Adapter: Belkin F9L1001 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($5.99 @ Micro Center)
Keyboard: Logitech K400 Wireless Slim Keyboard w/Touchpad ($29.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $625.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-14 05:08 EST-0500

Any feedback, suggestions and comments is highly appreciated.

If you're willing to compromise on the case and choose a larger one, you can save some money and possibly move up to a stronger graphics card. Here's what I'd recommend.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN823N 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($13.77 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Logitech K400 Plus Wireless Mini Keyboard w/Touchpad ($24.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $630.68
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-14 05:46 EST-0500

The R9 380 4GB is definitely better than a GTX 950, no question there. You'll have a better time with a 500 watt modular power supply than the 300 watt PSU when it comes to cable management and future upgrades. The TP-Link USB wifi adaptor is capable of higher speeds, I think it warrants the higher price as it will be better for any media streaming or file accessing over your home network that you may want to do.

I switched the older K400 out for the newer and slightly cheaper K400 Plus. The Plus model is lighter, has longer battery life, and has a different keyboard layout. You can read about the differences here and here.

The CM Elite 130 case is definitely less compact, that's the one major detraction.
 

JMTHEFOX

Member
If you're willing to compromise on the case and choose a larger one, you can save some money and possibly move up to a stronger graphics card. Here's what I'd recommend.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN823N 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($13.77 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Logitech K400 Plus Wireless Mini Keyboard w/Touchpad ($24.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $630.68
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-14 05:46 EST-0500

The R9 380 4GB is definitely better than a GTX 950, no question there. You'll have a better time with a 500 watt modular power supply than the 300 watt PSU when it comes to cable management and future upgrades. The TP-Link USB wifi adaptor is capable of higher speeds, I think it warrants the higher price as it will be better for any media streaming or file accessing over your home network that you may want to do.

I switched the older K400 out for the newer and slightly cheaper K400 Plus. The Plus model is lighter, has longer battery life, and has a different keyboard layout. You can read about the differences here and here.

The CM Elite 130 case is definitely less compact, that's the one major detraction.

Ah, this looks much better! I'll use this list! Thank you for the suggestions.
 

LilJoka

Member
Just went over this cheers. Ive ran this though and the build Ive put in is coming in more expensive not sure how. Trying to do this on my mobile the site isnt really mob frendly. If I take the overclock off its a little closer to the price but still more.
Ive came across pc specialist and have done a build that copys yours but I can get the case I want and its about £75 cheaper but it is not overclocked. The other disadvantage is it wont be ready till after christmas. Choices

Need the exact part lists to advise you. £75 cheaper maybe just because I included Windows?

What case are you looking to use? I chose the Node 304 because it's like the Bitfenix you originally mentioned just more efficient.
 

Athreous

Member
Ok guys, I really need your help!

This week I'll finally upgrade my PC, but I'm in a low budget, and I asked before if I should get an i5 4670k/90k/90, but things changed and I don't want to spend a lot of money since I'll mainly use my pc to play a few games.

I don't plan to upgrade my GPU and RAM for now, so I'm mostly looking for a mobo+core upgrade.

Any i5 overclock that can be safe and as good as an i5 4690k?

I'm mostly looking to play mmos and the witcher 3/ps2 emulator, so here's my current build:

Phenom x4 965 BE 3.4ghz
8gb ddr3 1666
GTX 680 2gb
Mobo is a Steelseries black edition
PSU Corsair GS 700
CPU cooler is a Corsair A70
 
Just a general question, but have PC cases moved towards the smaller side over the past few years? I feel like I see more mATX or mITX builds than I recall seeing when I more actively followed this thread around 2011-2012.
 

RGM79

Member
Guys, I can't find a cheap mobo for my i5 4690k >_<

all the z97 are expensive as hell here, around 200/250$...

Also, I have a tower, how can I know if the mobo will fit or not in it?

What country are you in? I tried looking through your other posts to figure it out, but is it Australia/NZ?

What case do you already have? Computer parts are labeled according to what size form factor they conform to. Both motherboards and cases are labeled ATX, micro ATX, mini-ITX, etc and if a motherboard and case have the same size label, they will always fit together. A larger case can almost always take a smaller motherboard as well.

What do you guys think? I want a new gaming pc for about 1000 Euro. Sadly the RAM price is not listed, but should be another 80 - 90. I will reuse my GTX 970 and the Fractal Define XL.

Anywhere to tweak?
Give me a few hours and I'll have a parts list for you from geizhals.de, there's definitely better parts for your money. You should be able to get higher end parts than that, and paying 152 Euros for that PSU although good quality seems ludicrously expensive.

Just a general question, but have PC cases moved towards the smaller side over the past few years? I feel like I see more mATX or mITX builds than I recall seeing when I more actively followed this thread around 2011-2012.

Yeah, there's also more mATX and mITX motherboards than before, and they seem more reliable and full-featured than when they first started appearing.
 

Athreous

Member
What country are you in? I tried looking through your other posts to figure it out, but is it Australia/NZ?

What case do you already have? Computer parts are labeled according to what size form factor they conform to. Both motherboards and cases are labeled ATX, micro ATX, mini-ITX, etc and if a motherboard and case have the same size label, they will always fit together. A larger case can almost always take a smaller motherboard as well.


Give me a few hours and I'll have a parts list for you from geizhals.de, there's definitely better parts for your money. You should be able to get higher end parts than that, and paying 152 Euros for that PSU although good quality seems ludicrously expensive.



Yeah, there's also more mATX and mITX motherboards than before, and they seem more reliable and full-featured than when they first started appearing.

I live in Brazil >_< This is my case =D
aerocool-xpredator-4.jpg
 
My computer doesn't go to sleep, but I have the screens turn off after 15 minutes of inactivity (Windows 10)

Sometimes the next day, computer is still on but the screens are off/sleeping, I'll move my mouse and the computer attempts to display the screens, and then it decides to restart instead. It's been happening a lot lately. I don't remember this happening until I got my 2560 x 1440 monitor that goes along with my 1920 x 1080.

I see the "Critical" System Log when it happened that says "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly."
after an "Error": The previous system shutdown at 8:43 AM on &#8206;12/&#8206;14/&#8206;2015 was unexpected. But those are the logs from when everything is booting back up. Nothing I can see from the few seconds it decides to restart instead of wake the monitors.

Edit: I may have a temp (or silly permanent) fix: http://www.tenforums.com/general-di...rts-when-idle-after-upgrade-windows-10-a.html

Or it might be since I installed my BitDefender... grrr.
 

Blitzhex

Member
Just a general question, but have PC cases moved towards the smaller side over the past few years? I feel like I see more mATX or mITX builds than I recall seeing when I more actively followed this thread around 2011-2012.

mATX is at the perfect spot right now. They don't have a bunch of useless pci-e slots that most people never touch.
You can sli on them, there are good overclocking matx boards with great vrm and they keep the form factor down. I have a matx board with a 980ti, a dedicated soundcard and a high OC, temps at 50c while gaming (using AIOs) and I couldn't ask for more.
 
I need your guys' thoughts on these two builds against one another? Is the more expensive one even worth it, just for the new CPU gen and better mobo/RAM? Or am I not getting much for the extra couple hundred?

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Jharp/saved/#view=j2Typg
https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Jharp/saved/#view=GPYj4D

Since some parts are manually added it's a bit hard to compare in terms of cost. And did you mean to add the 6700k instead of the regular 6700?

If the difference in cost is a couple hundred I would go Skylake and get the 6700k. BTW, the Haswell build doesn't have an SSD listed, I assume that was just a mistake?

I'm guessing the intention is to solely compare these?
6700k + mobo + ram versus 4790k + mobo + ram?
 

dareacher

Banned
guys i currently own a gtx970 on an i7 4790k. I want to start playing on 4k with all maxd out. Is it worth it for me to get a gtx980 if money is not the issue? If not, any other recommendation to ensure full 4k and hopefully 30 (or 60) fps?
 
guys i currently own a gtx970 on an i7 4790k. I want to start playing on 4k with all maxd out. Is it worth it for me to get a gtx980 if money is not the issue? If not, any other recommendation to ensure full 4k and hopefully 30 (or 60) fps?

Well don't even consider the 980, only think about the 980 Ti. Even then I don't think you'll be able to max out most games at 4k.

But, if you're willing to lower the settings some you could probably get a pretty good experience at 4k with a 980 Ti.
 
You can get cheap Windows keys from reddit. Here's my usual disclaimer:
Cheap Windows licenses can be bought from reddit's microsoftsoftwareswap for cheap, around $15 USD 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.​
what happens if a key is deactivated? do you have to reinstall the o/s or can you just plug in a new one?
 

dareacher

Banned
Well don't even consider the 980, only think about the 980 Ti. Even then I don't think you'll be able to max out most games at 4k.

But, if you're willing to lower the settings some you could probably get a pretty good experience at 4k with a 980 Ti.

thanks for the answer, now what would i need to do to max it up as much as possible, ram or processor?? And is the diff between the 970 and 980ti big enough for it to be worth it?
 
thanks for the answer, now what would i need to do to max it up as much as possible, ram or processor?? And is the diff between the 970 and 980ti big enough for it to be worth it?

Do you already have a 4k display? The 980 Ti is about 50 or 60% faster than the 970. What games do you play?

At 4k you're GPU limited, so to progress further you would probably need to go to SLI 980 Tis. But, I'm not a big fan of SLI.

I would recommend you search for benchmarks of games you care about playing and see how well the 980 Ti does at 4k and at which settings. Then decide if you would be happy with that performance.
 

RGM79

Member
thanks for the answer, now what would i need to do to max it up as much as possible, ram or processor?? And is the diff between the 970 and 980ti big enough for it to be worth it?

Your processor should be fine. RAM does not appear to affect many games as long as you have enough of it. As long as you have 8GB or more, you are all set when it comes to RAM.

Really, the one thing holding you back is the graphics card, you need to run maybe twin GTX 980 Ti cards in order to play any recent triple-A game at 4K and maximum settings. 4K is simply not playable at maximum settings with any single graphics card, the framerates are too low.

what happens if a key is deactivated? do you have to reinstall the o/s or can you just plug in a new one?

You can just enter a different key.
 

dareacher

Banned
Do you already have a 4k display? The 980 Ti is about 50 or 60% faster than the 970. What games do you play?

At 4k you're GPU limited, so to progress further you would probably need to go to SLI 980 Tis. But, I'm not a big fan of SLI.

I would recommend you search for benchmarks of games you care about playing and see how well the 980 Ti does at 4k and at which settings. Then decide if you would be happy with that performance.

that makes sense...yeah i have a 4k display... for games to be honest i play pretty much everything....from the witcher to overwatch to older games...so its fairly broad henc me wanting the most optimal setup possible for 4k gaming...so its not exactly specific to 1 game.
 
Hello everyone,

I am in the market for a gaming PC and I was wondering what could be a machine that can play at high to max settings at a lower resolution such as 1400x900? Thanks for your help.
 
that makes sense...yeah i have a 4k display... for games to be honest i play pretty much everything....from the witcher to overwatch to older games...so its fairly broad henc me wanting the most optimal setup possible for 4k gaming...so its not exactly specific to 1 game.

How far off the pace is your 970 from producing acceptable framerates in your opinion?

If the answer is anything but "nowhere close" then I would probably just go buy a single 980 Ti.
 

dareacher

Banned
How far off the pace is your 970 from producing acceptable framerates in your opinion?

If the answer is anything but "nowhere close" then I would probably just go buy a single 980 Ti.

it does ok i guess...so witcher is playable but metro last light for example is unbearable....so yeah id guess that the 980ti is the best choice at this point....
 
it does ok i guess...so witcher is playable but metro last light for example is unbearable....so yeah id guess that the 980ti is the best choice at this point....

Unfortunately 4k is extremely demanding. Best you can do is to look up some benchmarks and decide for yourself what you'd be happy with.
 

Barzul

Member
So I'm upgrading my motherboard and CPU today which means my Windows 10 will probably get deactivated. I upgraded to Windows 10 via a Windows 8 key I bought from Reddit almost 2 years ago. After a lot of Internet sleuthing it appears that with the Windows 10 Novermber update, licenses can now be activated using Windows 7 & 8 keys. If it works I'll let GAF know if not I'll probably have to buy another key off Reddit/ convince MS support to activate my license.
 

dareacher

Banned
Unfortunately 4k is extremely demanding. Best you can do is to look up some benchmarks and decide for yourself what you'd be happy with.

ok cool thanks man! so if not 4k, whats the incentive in geting the 980ti vs the 970 i alrdy have....i can run all on ulta already.....id guess its more on the long term?
 
ok cool thanks man! so if not 4k, whats the incentive in geting the 980ti vs the 970 i alrdy have....i can run all on ulta already.....id guess its more on the long term?

What do you mean by the bolded? Do you mean when you drop the resolution quite a bit?

The 970 is a good card for 1080p and 1440p (**if you are OK with lowering some settings on the latter). The 980 Ti is really the primary choice when you are in 1440p or 4k territory (on Nvidia's side).

At 1080p with a 980 Ti you'll generally be able to max everything and possibly run bonus stuff like downsampling or maybe force some extra AA.
 

dareacher

Banned
What do you mean by the bolded? Do you mean when you drop the resolution quite a bit?

The 970 is a good card for 1080p and 1440p (**if you are OK with lowering some settings on the latter). The 980 Ti is really the primary choice when you are in 1440p or 4k territory (on Nvidia's side).

At 1080p with a 980 Ti you'll generally be able to max everything and possibly run bonus stuff like downsampling or maybe force some extra AA.

yeah i guess i overstated a bit but on reg resolution (1080p) i can run alot on ultra with my 970...now obviously when going to 1440 or 4k everything takes quite a drop....
 

RGM79

Member
Hello everyone,

I am in the market for a gaming PC and I was wondering what could be a machine that can play at high to max settings at a lower resolution such as 1400x900? Thanks for your help.

There's a short questionnaire in the first post of this thread, copy and paste it into a new post and fill it out for us please. It'll give us a better idea of what you're looking for and what we should recommend.
 
Yeah, there's also more mATX and mITX motherboards than before, and they seem more reliable and full-featured than when they first started appearing.

mATX is at the perfect spot right now. They don't have a bunch of useless pci-e slots that most people never touch.
You can sli on them, there are good overclocking matx boards with great vrm and they keep the form factor down. I have a matx board with a 980ti, a dedicated soundcard and a high OC, temps at 50c while gaming (using AIOs) and I couldn't ask for more.

Awesome to hear, thanks. I'm expecting to graduate in May and as a celebration I may build a new PC for myself. Looks like it will be time to ditch my old Thermaltake ATX. (http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemNumber=N82E16811133183)

Dang thing doesn't have crud for cable management. Wish I'd realized that before I bought it, but hey, it was my first build (back in 2011) and I've learned a bit since then.
 
Two things:

I currently have a Corsair H100 liquid cooler setup, but it never worked correctly as the drivers for that didn't work correctly with Windows 8. My temps aren't as good as I want and over time they've gotten higher, which means the system is on the way out. So I was looking at the H100i but I'm thinking that I would be better off with a air cooler instead. Any recommendations for a quiet yet provides enough CFM? I was looking at the the standby Evo 212 or either the Noctua D15 and Phanteks TC12-DX. My processor is a i5-3570k that is sitting at 4.4Ghz currently and would be going in to a Define R5.

Secondly, if anyone is looking for a cheap video card, I swapped out my GTX 780 SC out of my HTPC and installed a GTX 970 from my SLI setup. So done with SLI's for the moment and will be jumping up to a GTX 980 Ti.

The GTX 780 will be in the sale/trade tread.
 
Two things:

I currently have a Corsair H100 liquid cooler setup, but it never worked correctly as the drivers for that didn't work correctly with Windows 8. My temps aren't as good as I want and over time they've gotten higher, which means the system is on the way out. So I was looking at the H100i but I'm thinking that I would be better off with a air cooler instead. Any recommendations for a quiet yet provides enough CFM? I was looking at the the standby Evo 212 or either the Noctua D15 and Phanteks TC12-DX. My processor is a i5-3570k that is sitting at 4.4Ghz currently and would be going in to a Define R5.

Secondly, if anyone is looking for a cheap video card, I swapped out my GTX 780 SC out of my HTPC and installed a GTX 970 from my SLI setup. So done with SLI's for the moment and will be jumping up to a GTX 980 Ti.

The GTX 780 will be in the sale/trade tread.

I would go 212 Evo to save some cash.
 
Hello everyone,

I am in the market for a gaming PC and I was wondering what could be a machine that can play at high to max settings at a lower resolution such as 1400x900? Thanks for your help.

[Basic Desktop Questions]
Your Current Specs: Basic Windows 10 PC for Genral Usage only
Budget: $800-1000. USA

Main Use: Rate 1-5. 5 being Highest:
Light Gaming (4)
Gaming (5)
Emulation (PS2/Wii) (3)
Video Editing (0)
Streaming games in HD (0)
3D/Model work (and what program) (0)
General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback) (5)

Monitor Resolution: I will be playing my games at a 1400x900 resolution. I am currently happy with my monitor so I don't see myself upgrading any time soon.

Some games that I would like to run well are games such as The Witcher 3 and 30FPS is fine but would not be opposed to 60 FPS. I don't know anything about PhysX/SuperSampling/ CUDA so I don't know how important that is to me.

I want to get this for my birthday so anywhere around January or Februrary.

I don't know what overclocking means or the benefits so I am unsure about wether or not I would be.
 

RGM79

Member
Two things:

I currently have a Corsair H100 liquid cooler setup, but it never worked correctly as the drivers for that didn't work correctly with Windows 8. My temps aren't as good as I want and over time they've gotten higher, which means the system is on the way out. So I was looking at the H100i but I'm thinking that I would be better off with a air cooler instead. Any recommendations for a quiet yet provides enough CFM? I was looking at the the standby Evo 212 or either the Noctua D15 and Phanteks TC12-DX. My processor is a i5-3570k that is sitting at 4.4Ghz currently and would be going in to a Define R5.

Secondly, if anyone is looking for a cheap video card, I swapped out my GTX 780 SC out of my HTPC and installed a GTX 970 from my SLI setup. So done with SLI's for the moment and will be jumping up to a GTX 980 Ti.

The GTX 780 will be in the sale/trade tread.

The NH-D15 comes highly recommended. If you want to spend a little less, then the larger Phanteks PH-TC14PE (as low as $65 in a variety of colors) is also excellent. According to X-Bit Labs, the TC14PE competes on par with the Noctua NH-D15, but isn't quite as silent. That said, the Phanteks still might be quiet enough for you if you set the fan speed low enough. I have no reason to doubt that both will handle an i5 3570K just fine without needing to run the fans at higher speeds.

The 212 Evo should also be able to handle your overclocked processor just fine, but I'm not sure if you'll like the stock fan speeds and noise? I have no idea what you consider too noisy. Then again, the Corsair H100 can get quite loud, but you did say the drivers for the Corsair link interface didn't work properly, so I have no idea what speed your H100 cooler's fans were being run at.

I live in Brazil >_< This is my case =D
aerocool-xpredator-4.jpg

Oh. Well, any standard motherboard labeled ATX will fit, as will any smaller motherboard. Do you have any links to online retailers that you prefer to order from? I don't mind looking through there to see if there's anything worth recommending.
 

Athreous

Member
The NH-D15 comes highly recommended. If you want to spend a little less, then the larger Phanteks PH-TC14PE (as low as $65 in a variety of colors) is also excellent. According to X-Bit Labs, the TC14PE competes on par with the Noctua NH-D15, but isn't quite as silent. That said, the Phanteks still might be quiet enough for you if you set the fan speed low enough. I have no reason to doubt that both will handle an i5 3570K just fine without needing to run the fans at higher speeds.

The 212 Evo should also be able to handle your overclocked processor just fine, but I'm not sure if you'll like the stock fan speeds and noise? I have no idea what you consider too noisy. Then again, the Corsair H100 can get quite loud, but you did say the drivers for the Corsair link interface didn't work properly, so I have no idea what speed your H100 cooler's fans were being run at.



Oh. Well, any standard motherboard labeled ATX will fit, as will any smaller motherboard. Do you have any links to online retailers that you prefer to order from? I don't mind looking through there to see if there's anything worth recommending.

I'm mostly looking here =)

http://www.newegg.com/
 

RGM79

Member
Hello everyone,

I am in the market for a gaming PC and I was wondering what could be a machine that can play at high to max settings at a lower resolution such as 1400x900? Thanks for your help.

[Basic Desktop Questions]
Your Current Specs: Basic Windows 10 PC for Genral Usage only
Budget: $800-1000. USA

Main Use: Rate 1-5. 5 being Highest:
Light Gaming (4)
Gaming (5)
Emulation (PS2/Wii) (3)
Video Editing (0)
Streaming games in HD (0)
3D/Model work (and what program) (0)
General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback) (5)

Monitor Resolution: I will be playing my games at a 1400x900 resolution. I am currently happy with my monitor so I don't see myself upgrading any time soon.

Some games that I would like to run well are games such as The Witcher 3 and 30FPS is fine but would not be opposed to 60 FPS. I don't know anything about PhysX/SuperSampling/ CUDA so I don't know how important that is to me.

I want to get this for my birthday so anywhere around January or Februrary.

I don't know what overclocking means or the benefits so I am unsure about wether or not I would be.

Because you plan to buy and build in January or February, there's still quite a bit of time for prices to change. I can give you a general parts list as a guideline, but the prices will probably be out of date by then. You can post back about a week before you want to do this so we can give you an updated parts list with current pricing.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($289.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($119.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team Dark 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($51.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 380 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($183.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($41.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($55.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $813.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-14 12:59 EST-0500

It would also be possible to move up to a GTX 970 or R9 390 while staying a bit under $1000.
 
The NH-D15 comes highly recommended. If you want to spend a little less, then the larger Phanteks PH-TC14PE (as low as $65 in a variety of colors) is also excellent. According to X-Bit Labs, the TC14PE competes on par with the Noctua NH-D15, but isn't quite as silent. That said, the Phanteks still might be quiet enough for you if you set the fan speed low enough. I have no reason to doubt that both will handle an i5 3570K just fine without needing to run the fans at higher speeds.

The 212 Evo should also be able to handle your overclocked processor just fine, but I'm not sure if you'll like the stock fan speeds and noise? I have no idea what you consider too noisy. Then again, the Corsair H100 can get quite loud, but you did say the drivers for the Corsair link interface didn't work properly, so I have no idea what speed your H100 cooler's fans were being run at.


I swapped out the fans on the h100 with ENERMAX T.B. Silence UCTB12P 120mm and have them running off the mobo cpu fans, it's pretty quiet to be honest, even if I kick it up. And the R5 is sound proofed so most noises are contained in the case. I do have a 212 Evo on my kids PC with the same ENERMAX T.B. Silence UCTB12P 120mm and it's really quiet, but wasn't sure if it was up to keeping that modest OC on the 3570k without causing overheating issues.
 

pulsemyne

Member
Okay this time, for my next PC (which is my htpc) build, I chose an i5 quad core instead of an i3-4160. I was also thinking about getting the Wifi version of the ASRock H81M-ITX motherboard but it was sold out. I put a Belkin wireless adapter on the list to go along with the original H81M-ITX. I was also thinking about getting an GTX 960 but stayed with the GTX 950.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 950 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($149.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Silverstone ML07B HTPC Case ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Silverstone 300W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Wireless Network Adapter: Belkin F9L1001 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($5.99 @ Micro Center)
Keyboard: Logitech K400 Wireless Slim Keyboard w/Touchpad ($29.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $625.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-14 05:08 EST-0500

Any feedback, suggestions and comments is highly appreciated.

I have a somewhat similar setup to this PC but with an older i5-3350. I also use the older coolermaster elite 120. I have a 970GTX in it and use a Antec radiator cooler (they are tricky to fit in the case but it can be done and fits very well). All this means that I have a powerful PC (that 970 is a great card) and have no problems with cooling (even under full load the CPU never goes over 50 Celsius and the card never over 80). If you can get a second hand 970 then go for it. It'll last you much longer than the 950.
Hell I rock games at 3440x1440 and it does the good just fine.
 

RGM79

Member
Helping a coworker out. They are set on a 2 gb 960.

ZOTAC GeForce GTX 960 2GB GDDR5 ZT-90301-10M

$169.99
Gigabyte GTX 960 Mini ITX Overclocked 2GB GDDR5 GV-N960IXOC-2GD
$179.99

Any reason to lean towards one or the other? Both have glowing reviews on amazon and newegg. The mini ITX design seems pretty neat and would open up even more room in the case.

What case does your coworker have? Is his case that cramped that leaving extra room is preferable? I'd pick the Zotac because it's likely to have better cooling.

Could you convince him to get a 4GB graphics card instead? it'd be better in the long run and wouldn't be bottlenecked as easily in the future. There are games today that will use up close to or even over 2GB of VRAM easily at 1080p and highish settings.

I'm mostly looking here =)

http://www.newegg.com/

Oh, Newegg US? There are plenty of cheaper Z97 motherboards for less than $200. Are you paying some kind of hefty import taxes and duties that bring up the cost?

I recommend the MSI Z97 PC Mate or the ASRock Z97 Killer if you're looking for lower priced Z97 motherboards.

Did you decide exactly which processor you want? If you're going to get a non-overclocking model like the i5 4460/4590/4690, then you can go with an even cheaper H81/B85 motherboard like the Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A.

I swapped out the fans on the h100 with ENERMAX T.B. Silence UCTB12P 120mm and have them running off the mobo cpu fans, it's pretty quiet to be honest, even if I kick it up. And the R5 is sound proofed so most noises are contained in the case. I do have a 212 Evo on my kids PC with the same ENERMAX T.B. Silence UCTB12P 120mm and it's really quiet, but wasn't sure if it was up to keeping that modest OC on the 3570k without causing overheating issues.

I'm not familiar with those Enermax fans so I have no idea if they're just quiet or if they're also good at radiator cooling, but the 212 Evo can generally handle the heat of recent i5 processors overclocked up to 4.5GHz without problem. There are even some i7 and AMD FX-83xx processors listed there with fairly high overclocks and up to 1.5 volts (?!) running at fairly good temperatures, although some of them are using high end and twin fans.
 

Athreous

Member
What case does your coworker have? Is his case that cramped that leaving extra room is preferable? I'd pick the Zotac because it's likely to have better cooling.

Could you convince him to get a 4GB graphics card instead? it'd be better in the long run and wouldn't be bottlenecked as easily in the future. There are games today that will use up close to or even over 2GB of VRAM easily at 1080p and highish settings.



Oh, Newegg US? There are plenty of cheaper Z97 motherboards for less than $200. Are you paying some kind of hefty import taxes and duties that bring up the cost?

I recommend the MSI Z97 PC Mate or the ASRock Z97 Killer if you're looking for lower priced Z97 motherboards.

Did you decide exactly which processor you want? If you're going to get a non-overclocking model like the i5 4460/4590/4690, then you can go with an even cheaper H81/B85 motherboard like the Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A.



I'm not familiar with those Enermax fans so I have no idea if they're just quiet or if they're also good at radiator cooling, but the 212 Evo can generally handle the heat of recent i5 processors overclocked up to 4.5GHz without problem. There are even some i7 and AMD FX-83xx processors listed there with fairly high overclocks and up to 1.5 volts (?!) running at fairly good temperatures, although some of them are using high end and twin fans.

Yeah, I pay +60% of it's price.

This is from my post above xD

Ok guys, I really need your help!

This week I'll finally upgrade my PC, but I'm in a low budget, and I asked before if I should get an i5 4670k/90k/90, but things changed and I don't want to spend a lot of money since I'll mainly use my pc to play a few games.

I don't plan to upgrade my GPU and RAM for now, so I'm mostly looking for a mobo+core upgrade.

Any i5 overclock that can be safe and as good as an i5 4690k?

I'm mostly looking to play mmos and the witcher 3/ps2 emulator, so here's my current build:

Phenom x4 965 BE 3.4ghz
8gb ddr3 1666
GTX 680 2gb
Mobo is a Steelseries black edition
PSU Corsair GS 700
CPU cooler is a Corsair A70
 

JMTHEFOX

Member
I have a somewhat similar setup to this PC but with an older i5-3350. I also use the older coolermaster elite 120. I have a 970GTX in it and use a Antec radiator cooler (they are tricky to fit in the case but it can be done and fits very well). All this means that I have a powerful PC (that 970 is a great card) and have no problems with cooling (even under full load the CPU never goes over 50 Celsius and the card never over 80). If you can get a second hand 970 then go for it. It'll last you much longer than the 950.
Hell I rock games at 3440x1440 and it does the good just fine.

Ah, interesting! I should get an GTX 970 later if I could afford it.
 

RGM79

Member
Yeah, I pay +60% of it's price.

This is from my post above xD

Ok guys, I really need your help!

This week I'll finally upgrade my PC, but I'm in a low budget, and I asked before if I should get an i5 4670k/90k/90, but things changed and I don't want to spend a lot of money since I'll mainly use my pc to play a few games.

I don't plan to upgrade my GPU and RAM for now, so I'm mostly looking for a mobo+core upgrade.

Any i5 overclock that can be safe and as good as an i5 4690k?

I'm mostly looking to play mmos and the witcher 3/ps2 emulator, so here's my current build:

Phenom x4 965 BE 3.4ghz
8gb ddr3 1666
GTX 680 2gb
Mobo is a Steelseries black edition
PSU Corsair GS 700
CPU cooler is a Corsair A70

Yes, that was the post I was talking about. Did you figure out what processor you want? Only K model processors can be overclocked.
 

Athreous

Member
Yes, that was the post I was talking about. Did you figure out what processor you want? Only K model processors can be overclocked.

I wanted a 4690k, but are there cheaper yet as good as options?

Also, I found a z97 msi g43 for 100$ including taxes, is it good?
 

RGM79

Member
I wanted a 4690k, but are there cheaper yet as good as options?

Also, I found a z97 msi g43 for 100$ including taxes, is it good?
The only other options that are cheaper than the i5 4690K cannot be overclocked. Is overclocking an option you want to have? If you won't be overclocking, then I recommend the i5 4460 and a cheap motherboard like the Gigabyte B85 model I linked above.

Is it the MSI Z97-G43 or MSI Z97M-G43? It looks like the first one is discontinued and I cannot find much about it. The second one seems okay, but it's out of stock at Newegg.
 

Athreous

Member
The only other options that are cheaper than the i5 4690K cannot be overclocked. Is overclocking an option you want to have? If you won't be overclocking, then I recommend the i5 4460 and a cheap motherboard like the Gigabyte B85 model I linked above.

Is it the MSI Z97-G43 or MSI Z97M-G43? It looks like the first one is discontinued and I cannot find much about it. The second one seems okay, but it's out of stock at Newegg.

the Z97 is the 1st one, found in a local store...

I'm thinking about overclock in the future, so I dont have to buy a new cpu
 

Blitzhex

Member
Awesome to hear, thanks. I'm expecting to graduate in May and as a celebration I may build a new PC for myself. Looks like it will be time to ditch my old Thermaltake ATX. (http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemNumber=N82E16811133183)

Dang thing doesn't have crud for cable management. Wish I'd realized that before I bought it, but hey, it was my first build (back in 2011) and I've learned a bit since then.

There are some really great matx cases out now that you can plan for. Check out the Corsair 350d, Air 240, Fractal arc mini r2 and if you want to go overboard, the Caselabs s5. I went from ATX and a giant HAF X down to this form factor and it was very refreshing. Check out some mitx cases and motherboards aswell, they might suit you better if you aren't into heavy overclocking.
 
How cheap can you go on a Z97 motherboard to get solid overclocking (say 4.5Ghz on all cores on a 4790k)? I usually go for nicer boards but I'm asking because it would be a lot cheaper to upgrade to a 4790k + mobo rather than Skylake (and reuse my DDR3 ram in the process).

Nice Z170 boards are about $180 CAD so it would have to be a good amount under that to make it worthwhile.
 
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