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[Foxyone]

Is there any way to know for sure if a motherboard supports wake on lan?

My mate is trying to pick a motherboard for his new i7 4790K, but really would like that feature to turn his PC on remotely even if it's off. He's been eyeballing this MSI Z97 board:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=z97_motherboard-_-13-130-770-_-Product

but isn't sure if it supports wake on lan because it doesn't seem to explicitly say so. Anyone have any insight?

 

[RGM79]

The RAM dude posted can be overclocked to 2666 MHz.

Oh sorry, had no idea, didn't look into that specific model.

Seems to me the prices of GPUs went up. Week before last was like $340 for the 970, last week was $350 and this week it's $360.

Where are you looking and what country are you in? Prices haven't changed much according to PCPartPicker. Unless you meant before rebates.

Thanks guys, I guess I'll postpone the CPU upgrade to post-Zen and go for an R9 380 instead. Will it be terribly bottlenecked by my FX-6100?

Depends on the game. In general.. leaning towards yes. Have you overclocked the FX-6100? That can help somewhat.

Hi all, I was going through some boxes and found bits from from my my old PC, a GA-P55M-UD2 motherboard with an Intel G6950 2.80GHz CPU still in it. I was wondering if I could slap a cheap-ish graphics card, like a R7 265, with a 430w PSU and use it as a 2nd PC? Pretty much the only game it would be playing is World of Warcraft.

Can I MacGyver my old pieces into something useful? Or are the mobo and CPU just too old for that proverbial shit these days?

It can work on lower settings, yes. If you don't mind tinkering a bit and you have a decent heatsink, you can even overclock it to coax more performance out of what would be otherwise considered a low end Pentium. Back in 2010 the processor was capable of getting 60FPS on WoW, I'm not familiar with the game so I have no idea if it's changed drastically since then.

Is there any way to know for sure if a motherboard supports wake on lan?

My mate is trying to pick a motherboard for his new i7 4790K, but really would like that feature to turn his PC on remotely even if it's off. He's been eyeballing this MSI Z97 board:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=z97_motherboard-_-13-130-770-_-Product

but isn't sure if it supports wake on lan because it doesn't seem to explicitly say so. Anyone have any insight?

Wake on LAN is almost universally supported by every motherboard. I don't think I've heard of a modern motherboard that doesn't support it.

 

[Foxyone]

Wake on LAN is almost universally supported by every motherboard. I don't think I've heard of a motherboard that doesn't support it.

Are you sure it's proper Wake on lan? He's a bit skeptical. I think his old motherboard for his i3 530 supported it, but his current motherboard for his i3 2100 does not. Apparently anything that would just show up in a Windows menu and not a BIOS isn't what he's after. He wants to potentially turn on his PC even when abroad 3500 miles away, but he wants to be absolutely sure when spending $100-$150 on a motherboard that it's a BIOS-level thing. Wish I knew motherboards :/

 

[LilJoka]

Are you sure it's proper Wake on lan? He's a bit skeptical. I think his old motherboard for his i3 530 supported it, but his current motherboard for his i3 2100 does not. Apparently anything that would just show up in a Windows menu and not a BIOS isn't what he's after. He wants to potentially turn on his PC even when abroad 3500 miles away, but he wants to be absolutely sure when spending $100-$150 on a motherboard that it's a BIOS-level thing. Wish I knew motherboards :/

Lookup the motherboard manual, will be wake on PCIE usually, then look up the Ethernet controller and see if it has WOL. As said before jus very likely it will.

Don't think you can wake the PC from Internet without connecting via VPN maybe.

 

[Mad Season]

The guys at tested in the video below said he spreads the paste on the CPU to a very thin coat. I thought you were meant to just put a drop down and let the cpu spread it out itself?

https://youtu.be/guZ53cSUuOk?t=55m38s

 

[LilJoka]

The guys at tested in the video below said he spreads the paste on the CPU to a very thin coat. I thought you were meant to just put a drop down and let the cpu spread it out itself?

https://youtu.be/guZ53cSUuOk?t=55m38s

For very thick paste you might want to try and spread, for CLU you must spread.
For everything else just apply a pea sized drop and compress it with the heatsink.

Really though, this isnt exactly making a massive difference. Only reason to get OCD about it is for overclocking where each *C counts.

 

[Hindl]

Oh, in that case then this Gigabyte model is quite nice for a "cheap" wifi adaptor.


Given your budget and compact case, I'd recommend a GTX 970.

Ok great thanks! Although I'm not necessarily against opening the wallet if it means a better/more reliable card. Are there any other recommendations given that, or would you still go with the Gigabyte?

 

[RGM79]

Ok great thanks! Although I'm not necessarily against opening the wallet if it means a better/more reliable card. Are there any other recommendations given that, or would you still go with the Gigabyte?

There are more expensive and faster wireless AC PCI-E adaptors, but the next one up that doesn't have iffy review scores would be the D-Link DWA-582 ($50) but it doesn't have many reviews in the first place. Otherwise there's the Asus PCE-AC56 ($62) which has a large number of positive reviews, but costs twice as much as the Gigabyte model.

The Gigabyte model should have you covered for speed. It's more than enough to not bottleneck your internet connection.

Are you sure it's proper Wake on lan? He's a bit skeptical. I think his old motherboard for his i3 530 supported it, but his current motherboard for his i3 2100 does not. Apparently anything that would just show up in a Windows menu and not a BIOS isn't what he's after. He wants to potentially turn on his PC even when abroad 3500 miles away, but he wants to be absolutely sure when spending $100-$150 on a motherboard that it's a BIOS-level thing. Wish I knew motherboards :/

Wake on LAN is something that should be controlled by the LAN chipset, and not so much motherboard specific. I would imagine the BIOS having the ability to turn it on and off is more about security/control thing rather than a sign that it supports it or not. Just for the record, that MSI motherboard has the Killer NIC E2205 LAN chipset.

Well, I looked through the manual for that motherboard, and it does not list a wake on LAN option in the part of the manual that lists BIOS settings, just references to wake by PCI and PCI-E devices. I am not sure if the LAN chipset would be counted as PCI/PCI-E, so I guess look for another motherboard?

 

[LilJoka]

There are more expensive and faster wireless AC PCI-E adaptors, but the next one up that doesn't have iffy review scores would be the D-Link DWA-582 ($50) but it doesn't have many reviews in the first place. Otherwise there's the Asus PCE-AC56 ($62) which has a large number of positive reviews, but costs twice as much as the Gigabyte model.

The Gigabyte model should have you covered for speed. It's more than enough to not bottleneck your internet connection.



Wake on LAN is something that should be controlled by the LAN chipset, and not so much motherboard specific. I would imagine the BIOS having the ability to turn it on and off is more about security/control thing rather than a sign that it supports it or not. Just for the record, that MSI motherboard has the Killer NIC E2205 LAN chipset.

Well, I looked through the manual for that motherboard, and it does not list a wake on LAN option in the part of the manual that lists BIOS settings, just references to wake by PCI and PCI-E devices. I am not sure if the LAN chipset would be counted as PCI/PCI-E, so I guess look for another motherboard?

As far as I know, WOL is part of Wake on PCIE. Atleast until I enable Wake on PCIE on my Rampage Gene IV, WOL won't work.

 

[TheMWord]

Just found out I'm getting a retail Oculus Rift because I backed the kickstarter (!!!), and I'm looking to upgrade so I have a good experience with it. Budget is $800 give or take. Here's my current specs:

http://imgur.com/C9wbZhq

I'm thinking a GPU/CPU/RAM upgrade? Should I consider waiting for the next gen of GPUs?

Any help here is much appreciated.

 

[opticalmace]

Just found out I'm getting a retail Oculus Rift because I backed the kickstarter (!!!), and I'm looking to upgrade so I have a good experience with it. Budget is $800 give or take. Here's my current specs:

http://imgur.com/C9wbZhq

I'm thinking a GPU/CPU/RAM upgrade? Should I consider waiting for the next gen of GPUs?

Any help here is much appreciated.

Do you know when the rift will launch? I would go for a high end gpu like a 980 Ti. I don't know if pascal will launch with the 1080 Ti but if so that would be good too.

Also overclock your CPU if you haven't already.

 

[TheMWord]

Do you know when the rift will launch? I would go for a high end gpu like a 980 Ti. I don't know if pascal will launch with the 1080 Ti but if so that would be good too.

Also overclock your CPU if you haven't already.

Last I heard was "Q1" which I guess means by end of March.

 

[Foxyone]

Wake on LAN is something that should be controlled by the LAN chipset, and not so much motherboard specific. I would imagine the BIOS having the ability to turn it on and off is more about security/control thing rather than a sign that it supports it or not. Just for the record, that MSI motherboard has the Killer NIC E2205 LAN chipset.

Well, I looked through the manual for that motherboard, and it does not list a wake on LAN option in the part of the manual that lists BIOS settings, just references to wake by PCI and PCI-E devices. I am not sure if the LAN chipset would be counted as PCI/PCI-E, so I guess look for another motherboard?

Well I guess it's fortunate that there was another good motherboard he had in mind that directly references the wanted feature; he just wanted that particular MSI one because it looked a bit cooler than the alternative. As usual though, thank you for the help :3

 

[RGM79]

Well I guess it's fortunate that there was another good motherboard he had in mind that directly references the wanted feature; he just wanted that particular MSI one because it looked a bit cooler than the alternative. As usual though, thank you for the help :3

No problem. What other motherboard is he looking at?

 

[TCRS]

does anyone have a good reccomendation for 2.0 speakers or am I in the wrong thread? I know there is a headphone thread but still. It's time to retire my nine year old 20 quid 2.1 Logitech system.

looking to spedn 50-80 euros.

 

[angrywoodchuck]

I was planning on getting a new PC this past fall to specifically play VR games and arcade emulators. The year came and went and I didn't jump in to get a new PC yet, and I don't feel the overwhelming rush to do it right now. I will get the PSVR to hold me over, but is there any new technology (motherboards, processors, etc) that are coming this year that I should wait for? Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[RGM79]

I was planning on getting a new PC this past fall to specifically play VR games and arcade emulators. The year came and went and I didn't jump in to get a new PC yet, and I don't feel the overwhelming rush to do it right now. I will get the PSVR to hold me over, but is there any new technology (motherboards, processors, etc) that are coming this year that I should wait for? Thanks in advance for your input.

Nvidia will launch their Pascal graphics cards sometime this year.

 

[Ceadeus]

HI guys, I have seen a refurbished GTX 970 that interest me a lot on newegg.

Can I trust the refurbished status? What does it really mean?

Thabk you.

 

[Raxanas]

HI guys, I have seen a refurbished GTX 970 that interest me a lot on newegg.

Can I trust the refurbished status? What does it really mean?

Thabk you.

Can you link me the card? It has to say factory-refurbished otherwise i wouldnt really trust it...Also it depends on the price.If its the same as a r9 390 i would prefer that
Refurbished generally means that it had some defect(fans usually).It got repaired and they sell it cheaper

 

[Ceadeus]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487162&_ga=1.186422057.1014669875.1448391659

There you go. I think newegg can be trusted! It's canadian money also.

Would say 225$ US if we convert.


Edit: also, I chose the 970 route instead of r9 290 because od power consumption. Does the 390 need less power than the 290?

 

[Raxanas]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487162&_ga=1.186422057.1014669875.1448391659

There you go. I think newegg can be trusted! It's canadian money also.

Would say 225$ US if we convert.

It has -RX on code.That means it is factory refurbished.It has one year warranty.Personally i would pay 100$ more to get a new r9 390 or a new 970 and have a 3 year guarranty.If you are low on cash u can consider it but as always buying refurbished has its own risk.
Think about it carefully.

edit :No but it does have better performance now since GCN is still being optimized and will propably kinda age better.I would buy the 390 instead of a 970 atm if i was in the market for a gpu

 

[Ceadeus]

Thank you.

 

[JoeyJungle]

Wait, I'm not sure if I understand you correctly, but does this happen only when you use the iMac normally or only as a monitor? If it's just the former then that means the iMac's video is going bad. If it does that while acting as a monitor, then I suspect the iMac display itself.

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. It happens when it's being used as a monitor, as well as when it's being used normally. Thanks for the update, if it's the display itself then I think I'll stick with it for a while longer. I was worried that it was the video card and it would one day fail completely and being stuck without a montior. If it's just the display then I'm expecting it to slowly fail until it's just unbearable to look at.

 

[CelticKnight]

It can work on lower settings, yes. If you don't mind tinkering a bit and you have a decent heatsink, you can even overclock it to coax more performance out of what would be otherwise considered a low end Pentium. Back in 2010 the processor was capable of getting 60FPS on WoW, I'm not familiar with the game so I have no idea if it's changed drastically since then.

Overclocking... haven't done that since I squeezed a few extra bits out of my first PC with an AMD Sempron. But I should have a decent cooler around here somewhere and I don't mind cooking this CPU to make it run better. As for WoW, it's basically the same game now as it was then. On "low" settings it could probably run on a toaster.

Thanks for the help. I'll be ordering the bits next week so I'll have to wait to see if I can Frankenstein a PC together out of some leftovers.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Nvidia will launch their Pascal graphics cards sometime this year.

I may or may not be ordering a Rift tomorrow and my GPU is woefully unprepared. I definitely want a GPU that can do 1080 120+hz.

Is this expected to be worth the wait?

 

[wiibomb]

guess I should ask here first.

if anyone has a PC near the "Excellent" or "outstanding" category here in this page and wants to sell it, please contact me.

it is currently cheaper for me to make a single shipment of a single rig instead of each part since I have to pay for every package forwarded to my country.

let me know with a PM please, thanks

 

[Robso]

Your processor is still kinda alright, but you could use a graphics card upgrade. How much you need to spend to reach 60FPS depends on what sort of graphics quality settings you'll want to play at, as well as what sort of games you want to play. A GTX 970 or R9 390 graphics card is recommended if you want to play most of the latest games at high-ish to ultra graphics settings at 1080p and 60FPS. If you don't mind playing those games at medium to high settings, then a GTX 960 or R9 380/380X will do just fine. Game performance and requirements will vary by the game, of course.

PC ports vary. Some like GTAV and MGSV:TPP are excellent, while others like Batman Arkham Knight are just awful. Other games like Just Cause 3 have their share of issues on all platforms, but are still mostly playable. You do need to look at each game on a game-by-game basis when it comes to playability, polish, and optimization.

Thanks for responding. Appreciate it. Well, if I'm not mistaken, high settings would beat what the consoles offer right? As they generally are at medium to sometimes high if I'm not mistaken.

The sort of games I'd want to play are definitely the major releases. Such as AC, Just Cause, Rainbow Six, Far Cry Primal etc. I also would like to play Indies, but they don't take a whole lot to run. I'd be looking at being able to play major releases at 1080p/60FPS and High if possible.

Do you think an MSI GTX 970 would do the job? You say my processor is 'kind of alright'... could you elaborate? Would I be looking to need to upgrade that as well really?

 

[Raxanas]

Thanks for responding. Appreciate it. Well, if I'm not mistaken, high settings would beat what the consoles offer right? As they generally are at medium to sometimes high if I'm not mistaken.

The sort of games I'd want to play are definitely the major releases. Such as AC, Just Cause, Rainbow Six, Far Cry Primal etc. I also would like to play Indies, but they don't take a whole lot to run. I'd be looking at being able to play major releases at 1080p/60FPS and High if possible.

Do you think an MSI GTX 970 would do the job? You say my processor is 'kind of alright'... could you elaborate? Would I be looking to need to upgrade that as well really?

I hope u dont mind a 2nd opinion.Medium with some settings on high is what the consoles are at.Ur cpu is kinda alright meaning its good enough but not amazing..U will propably not notice any bottleneck or u might a bit(lose some FPS maybe).U chose B75 chipset that means it is the really low end chipset.It does not have PCI Express 3.0 16x(doesnt really matter) but most important u cant overclock the CPU.It does not matter now but in 2-3 years the cpu will be kinda obsolete.The r9 390 beats a gtx 970 in most games but if u dont like AMD u can stick to it.
Also i believe that u need a new PSU.
Can u tell me how many years u have it and what brand is it?
U should buy the Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 or Sapphire r9 390 Nitro.

 

[RGM79]

I may or may not be ordering a Rift tomorrow and my GPU is woefully unprepared. I definitely want a GPU that can do 1080 120+hz.

Is this expected to be worth the wait?

You will probably want whatever the Pascal flagship graphics card will be. Nothing much is known about Pascal's performance yet.

Thanks for responding. Appreciate it. Well, if I'm not mistaken, high settings would beat what the consoles offer right? As they generally are at medium to sometimes high if I'm not mistaken.

The sort of games I'd want to play are definitely the major releases. Such as AC, Just Cause, Rainbow Six, Far Cry Primal etc. I also would like to play Indies, but they don't take a whole lot to run. I'd be looking at being able to play major releases at 1080p/60FPS and High if possible.

Do you think an MSI GTX 970 would do the job? You say my processor is 'kind of alright'... could you elaborate? Would I be looking to need to upgrade that as well really?

A good place to look up console VS PC performance and graphics quality would be Eurogamer's Digital Foundry articles. They don't cover and analyze every game, but they usually cover the better known triple-A games. Here's their look at Assassin's Creed Syndicate, for example. Yes, a GTX 970 should be able to hit high-ish settings at 1080p and 60FPS fairly well.

No, you don't need to upgrade your i5 3470. There's nothing wrong, for some reason I was thinking it was a bit weak but after looking it up it's apparently slightly better performing than the venerable i5 2500K which handles most games just fine, although your processor does lack the ability to be overclocked.

What Raxanas says is on point. I'm not so sure you absolutely need a new PSU as 500 watts is enough to handle a GTX 970 and i5 processor at stock speeds, but knowing what model of PSU you have wouldn't hurt.

 

[Aztechnology]

Congrats to whoever got that sweet deal!

Thanks Fitts

 

[inner-G]

Ok GAF, I threw out the idea of upgrading a Dell XPS.

Any thoughts on this build:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($259.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B150 Gaming M3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($338.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($39.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Keyboard: Logitech MK120 Wired Slim Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($9.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1156.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-05 17:57 EST-0500

Last PC was blue might as well go red on this one

 

[appaws]

Hey Everyone!

Quick question, what drivers should always be installed after installing a new CPU/Mobo.

I just put in 6700k and Z170-A combo. Got up and running into windows, installed the ethernet driver. Just wondering which others I should do as a matter of course...?

 

[inner-G]

Hey Everyone!

Quick question, what drivers should always be installed after installing a new CPU/Mobo.

I just put in 6700k and Z170-A combo. Got up and running into windows, installed the ethernet driver. Just wondering which others I should do as a matter of course...?

Check the mobo manufacturer support page to see if you have a BIOS update available.

Then do your video card driver, then run Windows Update.

 

[RGM79]

Ok GAF, I threw out the idea of upgrading a Dell XPS.

Any thoughts on this build:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($259.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B150 Gaming M3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($338.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($39.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Keyboard: Logitech MK120 Wired Slim Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($9.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1156.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-05 17:57 EST-0500

Last PC was blue might as well go red on this one

You'll want to pair that i5 6600K with a Z170 motherboard for the overclocking ability. The Corsair H60 isn't that good for $60, there are better air coolers. I recommend a larger SSD if possible, 120GB can fill up very easily. Here, how about a build like this?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($259.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($118.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($46.97 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($319.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($39.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Keyboard: Logitech MK120 Wired Slim Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($9.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1163.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-05 18:12 EST-0500

This build is based on your parts list and costs almost the same, but you get a better motherboard, faster RAM, and a faster SSD that is twice as large.

Hey Everyone!

Quick question, what drivers should always be installed after installing a new CPU/Mobo.

I just put in 6700k and Z170-A combo. Got up and running into windows, installed the ethernet driver. Just wondering which others I should do as a matter of course...?

Check device manager, see if any drivers are missing. There's no reason not to install all available drivers.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

You will probably want whatever the Pascal flagship graphics card will be. Nothing much is known about Pascal's performance yet.

Thanks for the reply. I suppose I can wait a little longer.

 

[inner-G]

You'll want to pair that i5 6600K with a Z170 motherboard for the overclocking ability. The Corsair H60 isn't that good for $60, there are better air coolers. I recommend a larger SSD if possible, 120GB can fill up very easily. Here, how about a build like this?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($259.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($118.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($46.97 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($319.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($39.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Keyboard: Logitech MK120 Wired Slim Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($9.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1163.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-05 18:12 EST-0500

This build is based on your parts list and costs almost the same, but you get a better motherboard, faster RAM, and a faster SSD that is twice as large.

Holy moly, thank you for the detailed reply!

I will probably go with something like that. Maybe different RAM just cause I don't like the graphics on it, lol.

If I plan on just having Windows on the SSD and doing all my Steam games on the tape drive, I may just save some $ and do the 120.

I'm just using this for gaming, my work computer is a Mac (designer)

 

[darthbob]

My new PC keeps shutting itself down and restarting when playing games.

i5-6500
GTX 970
Gigabyte H170 D3HP
Corsair 2x 4GB DDR4 2133MHz

I've stress tested my GPU and CPU in separate applications, like Furmark, Prime95, AIDA64, and they all pass, however if I run 3DMark 2013 and run Ice Storm (the super basic Dx9 test) it'll crash and reboot during that, however not during any of the other tests.

I thought it might be an issue with my PSU, but it's the same PSU I used in my last build, with an FX-8350 and GTX 570 and this issue did not occur, so I'm at a loss of what could be causing this.

Please help.

 

[opticalmace]

My new PC keeps shutting itself down and restarting when playing games.

i5-6500
GTX 970
Gigabyte H170 D3HP
Corsair 2x 4GB DDR4 2133MHz

I've stress tested my GPU and CPU in separate applications, like Furmark, Prime95, AIDA64, and they all pass, however if I run 3DMark 2013 and run Ice Storm (the super basic Dx9 test) it'll crash and reboot during that, however not during any of the other tests.

I thought it might be an issue with my PSU, but it's the same PSU I used in my last build, with an FX-8350 and GTX 570 and this issue did not occur, so I'm at a loss of what could be causing this.

Please help.

How hot is your GPU getting? Which exact model is it, and have you overclocked it?

 

[Raxanas]

My new PC keeps shutting itself down and restarting when playing games.

i5-6500
GTX 970
Gigabyte H170 D3HP
Corsair 2x 4GB DDR4 2133MHz

I've stress tested my GPU and CPU in separate applications, like Furmark, Prime95, AIDA64, and they all pass, however if I run 3DMark 2013 and run Ice Storm (the super basic Dx9 test) it'll crash and reboot during that, however not during any of the other tests.

I thought it might be an issue with my PSU, but it's the same PSU I used in my last build, with an FX-8350 and GTX 570 and this issue did not occur, so I'm at a loss of what could be causing this.

Please help.

It is 99% the psu.Dont compare power needs of a 570 with a 970.While Ice storm isnt heavy it does maximize the power draw and thats why ur pc reboots.I bet that if u severely underclock the card u wont have any issue.
Can you tell me what brand and how many watts your PSU is?

 

[darthbob]

How hot is your GPU getting? Which exact model is it, and have you overclocked it?

Not hot at all, like 50C max. It's an EVGA GTX 970 SC (P/N: 04G-P4-2974-KR)

It is 99% the psu.Dont compare power needs of a 570 with a 970.While Ice storm isnt heavy it does maximize the power draw and thats why ur pc reboots.I bet that if u severely underclock the card u wont have any issue.
Can you tell me what brand and how many watts your PSU is?

My PSU is an 850W Corsair HX850. I'll try downclocking the card.

Edit: I downclocked the card to stock clocks and the issue persists. It'll also happen if I'm playing a regular game for about 15-20 min, with Vsync on. So it could still be the PSU, I can't even recall when I got it it's been so long lol

 

[Raxanas]

Not hot at all, like 50C max. It's an EVGA GTX 970 SC (P/N: 04G-P4-2974-KR)



My PSU is an 850W Corsair HX850. I'll try downclocking the card.

Try downclocking/downvolting the 970 and report back.Also if u got a spare GPU install it and rerun the 3dmark.It may be possible that somehow the PSU needs RMA because it has been damaged somehow.If u tested the 970 with another PSU and it has no issues,then u have to contact Corsair to try and RMA it.850 is more than enough for a single card

 

[Robso]

I hope u dont mind a 2nd opinion.Medium with some settings on high is what the consoles are at.Ur cpu is kinda alright meaning its good enough but not amazing..U will propably not notice any bottleneck or u might a bit(lose some FPS maybe).U chose B75 chipset that means it is the really low end chipset.It does not have PCI Express 3.0 16x(doesnt really matter) but most important u cant overclock the CPU.It does not matter now but in 2-3 years the cpu will be kinda obsolete.The r9 390 beats a gtx 970 in most games but if u dont like AMD u can stick to it.
Also i believe that u need a new PSU.
Can u tell me how many years u have it and what brand is it?
U should buy the Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 or Sapphire r9 390 Nitro.

I don't mind at all. The more opinions the better. Thanks for responding. Yeah, at the time I was aware I couldn't overclock. I didn't want to risk it as I had no idea what to do (a friend put the whole PC together and this was my first proper PC). I wouldn't mind upgrading my CPU in a few years if need be. I was hoping for now it'll get me through for another couple of years.

I've had the PSU since 2013. This is the PSU - http://www.ebuyer.com/255692-cit-gold-500w-fully-wired-efficient-power-supply-psucit500ugold

A good place to look up console VS PC performance and graphics quality would be Eurogamer's Digital Foundry articles. They don't cover and analyze every game, but they usually cover the better known triple-A games. Here's their look at Assassin's Creed Syndicate, for example. Yes, a GTX 970 should be able to hit high-ish settings at 1080p and 60FPS fairly well.

No, you don't need to upgrade your i5 3470. There's nothing wrong, for some reason I was thinking it was a bit weak but after looking it up it's apparently slightly better performing than the venerable i5 2500K which handles most games just fine, although your processor does lack the ability to be overclocked.

What Raxanas says is on point. I'm not so sure you absolutely need a new PSU as 500 watts is enough to handle a GTX 970 and i5 processor at stock speeds, but knowing what model of PSU you have wouldn't hurt.

Ahh right. That's good to know. I'll check out DF's comparisons.

Here's the PSU - http://www.ebuyer.com/255692-cit-gold-500w-fully-wired-efficient-power-supply-psucit500ugold

 

[e90Mark]

I remember like one or two people, and myself, were having trouble with Corsair Link reporting the cooler fan as "0 RPM."

I just fixed this by setting the fan setting to "full speed" on the header you're using.

Hopefully you guys see this.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Hi all, I was going through some boxes and found bits from from my my old PC, a GA-P55M-UD2 motherboard with an Intel G6950 2.80GHz CPU still in it. I was wondering if I could slap a cheap-ish graphics card, like a R7 265, with a 430w PSU and use it as a 2nd PC? Pretty much the only game it would be playing is World of Warcraft.

Can I MacGyver my old pieces into something useful? Or are the mobo and CPU just too old for that proverbial shit these days?

My media PC is using my old Q6600 mated with a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P. I don't play games on it though. I had to buy a video card for it so I found a GTX 750 with dual-HDMI which was useful for my media PC build.

You'll need a case for it and yeah a 400-ish PSU will be fine for that. It depends on how much you're willing to spend to get old hardware running but cases are cheap and so are PSUs these days.

 

[darthbob]

Try downclocking/downvolting the 970 and report back.Also if u got a spare GPU install it and rerun the 3dmark.It may be possible that somehow the PSU needs RMA because it has been damaged somehow.If u tested the 970 with another PSU and it has no issues,then u have to contact Corsair to try and RMA it.850 is more than enough for a single card

I'll be setting up an RMA with Corsair, I'm leaning heavily toward the PSU being the culprit.

 

[jotun?]

Planning on doing some upgrades to everything but my video card (980 Ti) and SSD/HDD. Getting a 6700K and Z170, probably a Corsair 500R case, and undecided on the details of the rest. I've got a few questions:

1. I'm aiming to get 32GB of memory. Should I get 2x16 or 4x8? I'm thinking 2x16 just in case I ever need to add more, and because it creates less points of failure. But is there some benefit to 4x8 (other than saving $5) that I maybe haven't thought of?

2. I'm planning on overclocking the CPU, but I've been out of that game for a while. In my last experience, it was important to have high performance memory because OCing the CPU would also OC the memory as a side effect. Is that still the case, or can I OC the CPU without also having the "enthusiast" memory?

3. I seem to remember for DDR3, the actual speed of the memory made almost no difference other than the overclocking considerations (above). Is that still pretty much true for DDR4? What kind of speed is good to get, where anything above would give negligible improvements?

 

[Silent_Ocarina]

So, after that Firestrike/Oculus thread, I decided that I had a middling but very real interest in upgrading my PC. I still don't understand a lot of this stuff; I mostly relied on my cousin, but here's my current setup.

CPU: AMD FX-8320 Vishera

GPU: MSI R9 270

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P

RAM: Adata 2x4GB DDR3

Storage: WD Blue 1TB (I also have an SSD, but I am having trouble getting it set up)

Power Supply: OCZ 700W (Not sure if this is the exact model)

Case: Thermaltake Chaser

Cooler: Enermax Liqtech 240

So my question is, if I wanted to upgrade the CPU and GPU, how high can I go before I have to replace other components?

 

[Celcius]

Any word on the ROG Swift PG27AQ monitor now that we're in 2016? What's the top 4k gaming monitor these days?

 

[Mad Season]

hey all, are these video card and CPU temps ok for gaming under full load? PC feels hot and so does video card, but making sure. nothing is overclocked... I have a case fan on the side blowing air in and one on the back blowing air out.

VIDEO CARD IS A 6950

CPU IS AN I5 760

 

[RGM79]

I don't mind at all. The more opinions the better. Thanks for responding. Yeah, at the time I was aware I couldn't overclock. I didn't want to risk it as I had no idea what to do (a friend put the whole PC together and this was my first proper PC). I wouldn't mind upgrading my CPU in a few years if need be. I was hoping for now it'll get me through for another couple of years.

I've had the PSU since 2013. This is the PSU - http://www.ebuyer.com/255692-cit-gold-500w-fully-wired-efficient-power-supply-psucit500ugold



Ahh right. That's good to know. I'll check out DF's comparisons.

Here's the PSU - http://www.ebuyer.com/255692-cit-gold-500w-fully-wired-efficient-power-supply-psucit500ugold

I have doubts about the quality of that power supply. That PSU can only deliver 27 amps total on the dual 12V rails, which equals 324 watts. And while it's called "gold", it doesn't even say "80 plus" which means it failed to meet the most basic efficiency requirement for power supplies.

Planning on doing some upgrades to everything but my video card (980 Ti) and SSD/HDD. Getting a 6700K and Z170, probably a Corsair 500R case, and undecided on the details of the rest. I've got a few questions:

1. I'm aiming to get 32GB of memory. Should I get 2x16 or 4x8? I'm thinking 2x16 just in case I ever need to add more, and because it creates less points of failure. But is there some benefit to 4x8 (other than saving $5) that I maybe haven't thought of?

2. I'm planning on overclocking the CPU, but I've been out of that game for a while. In my last experience, it was important to have high performance memory because OCing the CPU would also OC the memory as a side effect. Is that still the case, or can I OC the CPU without also having the "enthusiast" memory?

3. I seem to remember for DDR3, the actual speed of the memory made almost no difference other than the overclocking considerations (above). Is that still pretty much true for DDR4? What kind of speed is good to get, where anything above would give negligible improvements?

1. No, there's no benefit.

2. No, overclocking RAM and CPU are separate now and one doesn't really affect the other.

3. Depends on what you'll be doing. High speed DDR3 could result in a small speed boost in certain situations. DDR4 is largely the same. Anandtech's DDR4 testing article recommends getting 2400MHz or higher. I recommend the same, as long as the cost isn't that much higher. I tend to recommend 2666/2800/3000MHz, whichever is at a good price.

So, after that Firestrike/Oculus thread, I decided that I had a middling but very real interest in upgrading my PC. I still don't understand a lot of this stuff; I mostly relied on my cousin, but here's my current setup.

CPU: AMD FX-8320 Vishera

GPU: MSI R9 270

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P

RAM: Adata 2x4GB DDR3

Storage: WD Blue 1TB (I also have an SSD, but I am having trouble getting it set up)

Power Supply: OCZ 700W (Not sure if this is the exact model)

Case: Thermaltake Chaser

Cooler: Enermax Liqtech 240

So my question is, if I wanted to upgrade the CPU and GPU, how high can I go before I have to replace other components?

You'll want to upgrade to an Intel processor and motherboard. If you want the latest generation of Intel parts, that means buying new DDR4 RAM as well. What you should get will depend on what your budget for new parts is.