Novum_Veritas
Member
Can't be said for sure, the Ti series never got a huge price drop even with the new GPU releases. Time will tell.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
"I Need a New PC!" 2015 Part 2. Read the OP. Rocking 2500K's until HBM2 and beyond.
- Thread starter Hazaro
- Start date
- Status
Can't be said for sure, the Ti series never got a huge price drop even with the new GPU releases. Time will tell.
Dick Justice
Banned
I currently have a Zotac 770, and my case is a Corsair Carbide 300r. Seems like the 970 G1 is quite a bit bigger, but I think I should have enough space for it. Is a 650w PSU enough?
What country are you in and how much of a budget do you have available to spend? We can find something to recommend to you.
Well, it's hard to go wrong with the i7 6700K if you're worried about performance. It's just expensive, that's all.
I tend not to worry as much about the brand of graphics card, any brand is capable of putting out good or bad products. The ZT-90101-10P has excellent user review ratings from North American retailers at the very least, I feel comfortable recommending it. It has consistently scored over 4/5 rating from Newegg, Amazon, and other places after many reviews.
hooijdonk17
Member
Location is the middle of nowhere so don't bother trying to look up prices where I am, but I'd be very open to suggestions for what would cost about the following would in the US:
OCZ ZS550W
Zalman ZM600-LX
Antec VP600P
Are any of these good PSUs by the way?
OriginofHysteria
Banned
Is this normal?
I ran Firestrike and I only got a score of 5000. When I had my old card my scores were double that.
My specs:
i5-4690k @ 4.5 GHz
8GB ram (1866hz)
Gigabyte G1 GTX 970 (I sold one back in September and re bought one on Saturday)
I had even oc'd my card too.
Any thought on what could be the issue?
I ran Firestrike and I only got a score of 5000. When I had my old card my scores were double that.
My specs:
i5-4690k @ 4.5 GHz
8GB ram (1866hz)
Gigabyte G1 GTX 970 (I sold one back in September and re bought one on Saturday)
I had even oc'd my card too.
Any thought on what could be the issue?
Lactose_Intolerant
Member
capped framerate
using a more demanding AA that overrides the applications settings
vsync
ISee
Member
650W is more than enough.
I prefer huge cases like my Thermaltake OVerseer RX-I, because my own logic tells me that big = better for cooling... (not necessarily true). So 'room' wasn't an issue while picking a card.
But specs and pictures tell me that you can easily fit a Gigabyte G1 (~300mm) in your case.
OriginofHysteria
Banned
So these are settings I can find in the Nvidia control panel?
Hello. I have a HTPC that I use mostly for streaming movies and TV, but I occasionally use it for some light gaming. The specs are:
Case: Silverstone SG05BB w/ 450W PSU
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI
CPU: AMD A10-7850K
RAM: G.SKILL 8GB DDR3 1600
Video card: AMD 5770
HD: Crucial MX100 256GB SSD & WD Blue 1TB SATA
I normally have this connected to my TV running at a custom resolution close to 720p (the TV does not support 1:1 pixel mapping), but I occasionally have it connected to a monitor running at 1080p. The video card was from a previous build and worked fine except when I wanted to run Divinity: OS EE in split-screen on the TV and it was a bit choppy. I assume that the video card is the bottleneck since it is several years older. Would the EVGA GeForce GTX 960 04G-P4-1962-KR 4GB SC GAMING video card be a good upgrade?
Case: Silverstone SG05BB w/ 450W PSU
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI
CPU: AMD A10-7850K
RAM: G.SKILL 8GB DDR3 1600
Video card: AMD 5770
HD: Crucial MX100 256GB SSD & WD Blue 1TB SATA
I normally have this connected to my TV running at a custom resolution close to 720p (the TV does not support 1:1 pixel mapping), but I occasionally have it connected to a monitor running at 1080p. The video card was from a previous build and worked fine except when I wanted to run Divinity: OS EE in split-screen on the TV and it was a bit choppy. I assume that the video card is the bottleneck since it is several years older. Would the EVGA GeForce GTX 960 04G-P4-1962-KR 4GB SC GAMING video card be a good upgrade?
IMACOMPUTA
Member
Yes. The 5770 is extremely dated nowadays. I just recently researched upgrades from a 5770 for a friend and was really surprised at the low performance.
An Nvidia 660 is about 200% performance of a 5770. 960 will wipe the floor with it.
Just another input for you, I actually own the 970 Gaming G1 and to echo the above comments its a fanastic card. Cool temps and great overclocks (I'm running 1540 and 8000) but I unfortunately do get a bit of coil whine. Though from what I understand its a pot luck of not just the card itself but also the combo of which PSU you have.
SmartWaffles
Member
Are you sure you are running Firestrike, not Firestrike Extreme? Also I'd suggest installing MSI Afterburner and check the monitor window for the GPU frequency, make sure your GPU isn't stuck in low power mode, Rivatuner Statistics Server overlay works too.
opticalmace
Member
In what scenarios do you notice the coil whine?
On my MSI 970 I only noticed it when booting up games (when the FPS would go sky high). After setting a global FPS cap the coil whine went away.
A10-7850K isn't much a CPU either though it could easily be the systems bottleneck as well.
ISee
Member
Yes you can find settings for vsync and AA there and I really do not want to sound rude or unpolite. But as you have to ask where to find them makes me think that you never 'forced' a better AA solution, locked fps or forced vsync outside of a game before (and that's not a big deal or something that you have to do/know how to do).
1.) Are you sure you ran Firestrike and not Firestrike Extreme/Ultra?
2.) Did you ever download an overclocking tool like MSI Afterburner, something like the RTTS (Riva Tuner Static Server) or Nvidia Inspector?
Edit: and beaten
Osiris
I permanently banned my 6 year old daughter from using the PS4 for mistakenly sending grief reports as it's too hard to watch or talk to her
I cannot recommend the Fractal Design Define cases enough, the first one I got blew me away, build quality, access, sound proofing, dust filters, literally everything about it is awesome for the price.
It's a premium case at a less than premium price, IMO.
As to which model, depends on what you want, big tower (Define XL), mid-tower (Define R5), mid-tower no drive bays? (Define S)
I live in Israel.
Back when I built/upgraded this PC, I was looking for a CPU cooler and the EVO 212 was one of the suggestions. Pretty sure it was in stock in multiple stores back then, not sure what happened with that.
My current case is Antec 900 and spec are
i7-4790k
Z97X-Gaming 7
Gigabyte G1 970 (big ass card)
16GB (4x4)
I looked up some info on the Noctua NH-D15 and it's apparently huge and could have some issues with RAM which is why you can move one of the fans slightly upwards? I'm not sure if it would fit with my card and memory, but I'm possibly looking to get a new case as well. Haven't done any real research into it but I've seen the Corsair Air 540 mentioned as a good case a couple of times and I like the look of it. Not sure if my PC would fit in there tho.
IMACOMPUTA
Member
That OCZ model is apparently pretty decent. Can't say much for the rest, but they don't seem that good. All three of those power supplies are older models that are already discontinued in the US and aren't currently available for sale, except for the Zalman.
It might be a bit loud but it should be fine for no overclocking. In a worst case scenario (case with no ventilation, dusty interior, hot ambient room temperature, running CPU stress tests) then you'll run into issues with the CPU throttling itself and overheating.
The NH-D15 is surprisingly decent for RAM compatibility, there's a gap to allow for RAM to fit underneath and as you said, the fan is movable. The Air 540 should fit all of your existing parts and the NH-D15, but do you know what model of RAM you have?
Hi, PC-GAF. Question for you:
I'm still rocking:
CPU: 2500K (not overclocked currently w/ a water cooler)
RAM: 16GB DDR3
GPU: EVGA GTX 570 x2 (SLI)
HDD: 512GB SSD
Wondering if I would benefit at all from upgrading the SLI to a single 970. Also wondering if the consensus is that the 2500k is still good.
Thanks!
I'm still rocking:
CPU: 2500K (not overclocked currently w/ a water cooler)
RAM: 16GB DDR3
GPU: EVGA GTX 570 x2 (SLI)
HDD: 512GB SSD
Wondering if I would benefit at all from upgrading the SLI to a single 970. Also wondering if the consensus is that the 2500k is still good.
Thanks!
OriginofHysteria
Banned
Yes you can find settings for vsync and AA there and I really do not want to sound rude or unpolite. But as you have to ask where to find them makes me think that you never 'forced' a better AA solution, locked fps or forced vsync outside of a game before (and that's not a big deal or something that you have to do/know how to do).
1.) Are you sure you ran Firestrike and not Firestrike Extreme/Ultra?
2.) Did you ever download an overclocking tool like MSI Afterburner, something like the RTTS (Riva Tuner Static Server) or Nvidia Inspector?
Edit: and beaten
I've sadly only used in game settings, I've hardly touched the nvidia control panel haha.
Also I'm definitely running firestrike, I don't have the option to run extreme. And yes I am running MSI Afterburner.
Before I left for work I also changed the power settings to performance in windows. When I get home I'll see if that also makes a difference.
opticalmace
Member
Yes and yes. But you should:
- overclock your 2500k
- possibly consider Pascal depending on how soon you want to upgrade. The 970 successor is likely to come out in maybe May/June (though those dates are debatable).
Finaika
Member
Its still good, hence the thread title.
The i5 2500K still kicks a lot of ass, especially overclocked. You'll have no trouble hitting 60FPS or higher in the latest games, provided there's no bottlenecking elsewhere. Performance will depend on what game you look at, but I think a GTX 970 will be able to provide better if not equal performance.
I'll look into OCing. It's been a while but shouldn't be too hard (especially with a water cooler).
As for the 970, I'm pretty sure I shouldnt' drop $350 on one, but if I can find a deal in the 200-250 range would it be worth jumping from the 570 SLI?
ISee
Member
It's not an issue. That's very exaggerated.
It is louder, more ugly (ok that's debatable) and it's not very efficient when it comes to heat dissipation but it gets the job done.
A better cooled CPU might live longer but if you do not plan for overclocking a stock cooler is enough.
If you're not adverse to buying used, there's one in the BST thread for $265. Around $300 is a pretty good deal for new retail right now.
So I'm ready to oc my I5 6600k, thing is my mobo(msi z170 Krait) came with an overwhelming number of utilities for overclocking. Should I just start with the mobo game boost (puts the 6600k to 4.1) or go the bios method and test stability with prime95 after every increase ?
Will really only need the benefit of performance increase for gaming.
Edit: will be my first time overclocking
Will really only need the benefit of performance increase for gaming.
Edit: will be my first time overclocking
Setting the BIOS options yourself is preferable if you don't mind doing some reading and following a guide or two. That said, I hear the automatic motherboard overclocking isn't bad these days.
flyinpiranha
Member
Do we have any hopes in seeing the i5-6600k or i7-6700k cone down to the MSRP? I can't find the i7 for anywhere near $350. Its $420-ish on Newegg and Amazon right now.
Edit: in the US
Edit: in the US
opticalmace
Member
Eventually, but it might be a few months, who knows.
ISee
Member
For ~250? Yeah go for it.
Two GTX 950s are about as fast as a single 970 and a single 570 lies somewhere between a 750Ti and a 950 (estimated). So you'd improve your overall performance, you'd have less problems with SLI (AAA SLI support has been more or less bad in 2015) and 4gb of VRAM would allow you to go for high res textures.
Novum_Veritas
Member
Don't bet on it, the i7 Skylake is pretty expensive since launch, and because of manufacturing problems and stock problems, the prices will not change any time soon.
flyinpiranha
Member
Damn. Ordered my mobo and ram, just need the CPU and cooler, might just hang tight with my current setup (i5-3570k) until I can piece it all together. That $100+ difference could be put towards a GPU.
if it makes you feel better, I paid $350 for the i5-6600k thanks to the Canadian dollar.
but yes, apparently low supply and high demand have increased prices.
thanks, leaning towards the BIOS route, will report back with results
Dumb question: How do you easily switch between outputting audio through headphones (USB) and the lime-green Stereo 2.1 connection on the motherboard??
If I want to play a game with my headphones(using Sony Pulse Elites via USB), I have to jump through so many godawful hoops every time I want to use them consisting of:
1) opening 'playback devices' in windows sound settings
2) selecting 'default' on the recognized Wireless headset
3) testing to make sure it actually is outputting sound to the headphones(its oftena crapshoot as the computer seems to not have any idea half the time where to direct my audio!)
4) Switching back when I finish playing the game has led to equal headaches and frustration and wasted time trying to get Windows to recognize my 2.1 speakers again!!!
Its so goddam aggravating that most of the time I consider just tossing my headphones in the garbage given the hassle of all this prep/post work to direct audio between the two sources. Hell Far Cry 4 even crashed my machine when I alt-tabbed last night because the audio was not going to either source for whatever reason when I loaded the game! This is rage-inducing stuff.
I MUST be missing something and need help!! Considering how much of GAF probably alternates between audio output devices, please share me your secret wisdom for Win 10!!!
If I want to play a game with my headphones(using Sony Pulse Elites via USB), I have to jump through so many godawful hoops every time I want to use them consisting of:
1) opening 'playback devices' in windows sound settings
2) selecting 'default' on the recognized Wireless headset
3) testing to make sure it actually is outputting sound to the headphones(its oftena crapshoot as the computer seems to not have any idea half the time where to direct my audio!)
4) Switching back when I finish playing the game has led to equal headaches and frustration and wasted time trying to get Windows to recognize my 2.1 speakers again!!!
Its so goddam aggravating that most of the time I consider just tossing my headphones in the garbage given the hassle of all this prep/post work to direct audio between the two sources. Hell Far Cry 4 even crashed my machine when I alt-tabbed last night because the audio was not going to either source for whatever reason when I loaded the game! This is rage-inducing stuff.
I MUST be missing something and need help!! Considering how much of GAF probably alternates between audio output devices, please share me your secret wisdom for Win 10!!!
It sucks. Micro Center used to offer the cheapest price, I think. Their prices are gradually going up.
Last time I checked, 6600k was at $270 and 6700k was at $400. I guess I should've bought a 6700k when it was $380
hmm, do you have some sort of audio manager in your system tray, in something like realtek audio manager it usually defaults to mute rear output when headset is plugged in, so all you have to do is plug in your headphones when you want to use them, and unplug them when you want to switch back to external speakers
ISee
Member
In games an overclocked i5 3570k is just as fast as an i5 6600k (@ stock clocks!) when paired with similar fast RAM.
So OC your i5 3570k to 4.2 (most of the time doable without having to increase voltage) or higher, cancel your order and wait for AMDs ZEN (may be good), Skylake-E and general lower prices.
edit:
I'm on an i5 3570k [@4.3ghz] and I'm definitely waiting for Skylake-E (or Zen...) before buying a new CPU.
4 of these
KHX1600C10D3B1/8G
Not sure why its marked as 8GB and says so in the PDF when it's actually 4.. weird
I use Audioswitch. It's a tiny program that sits in your system tray that you can click on to quickly change audio inputs. You can set up a custom keyboard shortcut to cycle through audio devices.
As for step #3, it's not so much the computer or Windows, but the game or program you're using. Some games and programs don't handle switching audio devices after you already started them. If you start it up and then change audio devices, it will be stuck on the output device that was already set when the game/program was started. The only foolproof method is to make sure you set the audio device you wanted and then start the game or program. I've noticed that Firefox/Youtube and Media Player Classic handle default audio device changing on the fly really well, but most games don't.
Kingston likes to label some of their RAM kits with the total memory capacity of the kit, not the actual size of the stick. E.g., they have a kit of 2x4GB, both sticks will be labeled with a "/8GB" on the end of the model number. I work as a hardware technician doing repairs and assembly, they are the only RAM brand that I've seen does this. It's annoying.
Anyway, that RAM is fine, it's actually quite short and should fit under the NH-D15 very easily. The PDF you linked to shows the Kingston RAM as being 30mm tall, while the Noctua NH-D15's compatibility guide shows that the heatsink itself allows for 64mm tall RAM and the fan will have 32mm of space underneath (and you can always adjust the fan to be mounted taller to leave more room underneath.)
DUFFMCWALIN
Member
Whats the easiest way of making a bootable windows 10 usb? Buying straight from Microsoft? I bought an new cd but I'm not putting in a disc drive and I don't have a usb plug in one.
It was $320 back around October for the 6700k. People definitely missed out on that.
flyinpiranha
Member
It's already shipped, plus SL-E seems pretty far off? Late 2016 or early 2017 are most estimates after some searching, but I could be wrong. I wanted DDR4 as my current board doesn't support it.
Guess I'll just bite the bullet on the $70 for the i7...
You have a Windows 10 product key, right? You can download the Windows 10 media creation tool by Microsoft, it's a program that will download the latest Windows 10 installation files for you and help you load it onto a USB drive. All you need is a decent sized USB drive (4GB minimum). Just choose home or professional edition and whether you want the Windows ISO file or for it to automatically copy the files to a USB drive for you, your choice. When it puts the Windows 10 installation files on the USB drive, it will format and delete everything before moving the files over, so be sure to save anything you need.
Do you have a reason to want DDR4? Not that many programs and games are bottlenecked by RAM speed.
- Status