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[RGM79]

I can't get at them right now - i know it's a Cooler Master but that doesn't help. If you want to either leave them out or to suggest a case and PSU if you're doing it now. i'll be able to tell you tomorrow.

On my way to see Hateful Eight

Well, here's what I recommend for now:

http://imgur.com/6OhVzhX
1 x Samsung SSD SM951-NVMe 512GB, M.2 (MZVPV512HDGL-00000)
1 x Intel Core i7-5820K, 6x 3.30GHz, boxed without cooler (BX80648I75820K)
1 x G.Skill RipJaws 4 blue DIMM kit 16GB, DDR4-3000, CL15-16-16-35 (F4-3000C15Q-16GRBB)
1 x Zotac GeForce GTX 970, 4GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort (ZT-90101-10P)
1 x MSI X99A SLI Plus (7885-023R)
1 x Cryorig H5 universal (CR-5HA)
1 x Fractal Design Define S, noise-insulated (FD-CA-DEF-S-BK)
Total of all best prices: £ 1107.11

Depending on what existing parts you already have, this could be cheaper. The SM951 is newer and better than the XP941, and while at first glance this parts list costs more, you do get a CPU cooler that your old list didn't have, and a much nicer and better case for airflow and noise dampening.

 

[bomblord1]

Hi guys I am attempting to do something kinda interesting and building a PC inside an OG Xbox! I have the console stripped already and am toying with parts that I need. A Mini ITX board and a dedicated GPU are what I would like. However fitting them in is the obvious problem. I have built PCs before, but something along these lines is new to me.

I have about 8cm X 22cm x 29cm to play with in the case

An m-ITX board is about 17cm2.
The GPU I would use is something like the 750Ti Mini. Which is also about 17cm long. It is too tall to fit vertically, so will need to be placed horizontally.

For the PSU space is obviously an issue. Therefore either an SFX PSU or a slim one like these

The problem as I have said, is space. Using the SFX Power Supply, the GPU would sit on top of the MoBo, but the problem then would be that there would be little, if any space for the heatsink/cooler. (GPU is 4cm thick).

Cooling is obviously an issue, but I would cross that bridge after I figure out how to get all these parts in the thing to start with. Any advice apprecciated

That's a a really cool idea. Is the 750ti the smallest GPU you could find? You could probably find some workstation class cards that are even smaller maybe even passively cooled. You could also go entirely integrated the latest intel graphics pack a pretty powerful punch.

 

[bomblord1]

Anyone own or seen reviews of this case? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112406&cm_re=lian_li-_-11-112-406-_-Product

It's a mini ITX lian li with a pretty unique form factor.

Or maybe this one? Same brand might make working with the Mini ITX form factor a bit easier.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=5682563&SID=

 

[openrob]

That's a a really cool idea. Is the 750ti the smallest GPU you could find? You could probably find some workstation class cards that are even smaller maybe even passively cooled. You could also go entirely integrated the latest intel graphics pack a pretty powerful punch.

Not exactly, just kind of know its a good, low priced card and was pretty small. If you could link some small GPUs that would be brill. Also, I am not sure how powerful Integrated graphics would be, but something I might check out (and wouldmake this whole thing suuuper easier)

 

[RGM79]

Not exactly, just kind of know its a good, low priced card and was pretty small. If you could link some small GPUs that would be brill. Also, I am not sure how powerful Integrated graphics would be, but something I might check out (and wouldmake this whole thing suuuper easier)

You might be interested in low profile versions of the GTX 750 Ti. MSI and Gigabyte make them.

 

[ph1l0z0ph3r]

Any news of a refresh of AMD CPUs? Need to upgrade mines badly since I'm still on an FX-4100 and its bottlenecking me. Looking at the 8350 since its cheaper then swapping everything out to Intel but don't want to grab one if there is something on the horizon.

 

[RGM79]

Any news of a refresh of AMD CPUs? Need to upgrade mines badly since I'm still on an FX-4100 and its bottlenecking me. Looking at the 8350 since its cheaper then swapping everything out to Intel but don't want to grab one if there is something on the horizon.

AMD should be launching their new Zen line this year, but we won't know anything concrete about performance until it actually launches. It won't be compatible with your existing motherboard anyway so you're going to have to swap out the motherboard, processor, and maybe the RAM as well. The best move for you depends on how much you want to spend and what kind of games you play or what work you're doing on your PC, but the FX-8350 isn't exactly solid nowadays either.

 

[Infinite Stars]

Hey PC GAF, my laptop is beginning to prove itself as less then adequate for games and I've been looking at building a desktop for a while.

Your Current Specs: Not applicable due to this being my first desktop.
Budget: $1200 Canada
Main Use: Rate 1-5. 5 being Highest: 5Gaming,4 Emulation (PS2/Wii), Video Editing, 3Streaming games in HD, 13D/Model work (and what program), 2General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback).
Monitor Resolution: What resolution will you be playing your games at? Are you going to upgrade later? Are you buying a new monitor? 1080p is my maximum due to budget issues. Having to buy a monitor since I don't have any that aren't 10 years old.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Is 30FPS acceptable? 60? 120? How important is PhysX / SuperSampling / CUDA to you? 60 FPS on something like Fallout 4 would be great if able. Applicationwise, I'd like to be able to run DeSmuME while recording it if possible.
Looking to reuse any parts?: List make and model (e.g. Corsair 520HX, 640GB SATA HDD, Antec 900)
When will you build?: Do you have a deadline? There's no big deadline, but I'd like to have it done soon. If there's a new wave of chips coming out in the near future, I'll wait.
Will you be overclocking?: Yes, No, Maybe (This means yes!) No.

 

[Ermac]

Mankind Divided won't be out for at least half a year and we don't know what the recommended requirements for it will be. However, you can play TW3 on a GTX 950 and achieve console level quality and 30FPS. This Digital Foundry article says a GTX 750 Ti or R7 260X is sufficient to reach that level of performance and quality, and the GTX 950 is somewhat stronger than the GTX 750 Ti.

Anyway, for $200 USD you can get a 4GB variant of the GTX 960 or R9 380. What power supply do you have? The GTX 960 is more power efficient and won't consume that much wattage, but the R9 380 is slightly faster in general, I hear. This Powercolor R9 380 PCS+ model is a good deal at $165 after $20 rebate, and has good professional reviews and user ratings as far as I can find.

Thanks for the info. My PSU is this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

Will i need to upgrade it as well if I get the 960 or equivalent?

 

[ChainsawFilms]

If you're getting an ultrawide 29" is really a minimum 29" is about as tall as a regular 21" monitor. 25" is even smaller than that.

Absolutely. 25" UW looks kind of silly. For the same budget you're best going for a regular 23" 16:9.

You're just about OK at 1080p on a 29" ultrawide but should really be considering 1440p at that size anyway. For me, 34" is the size ultrawide "comes to life" and the width doesn't overpower the height.

A 34" UW has the same height as a regular 27" monitor.

 

[RGM79]

Thanks for the info. My PSU is this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

Will i need to upgrade it as well if I get the 960 or equivalent?

No need to upgrade it. It's kinda old, but it is an excellent power supply. You can keep using it if you like, or replace it if you're worried about it being worn out and out of warranty. I'd probably just keep using it.

Hey PC GAF, my laptop is beginning to prove itself as less then adequate for games and I've been looking at building a desktop for a while.

Your Current Specs: Not applicable due to this being my first desktop.
Budget: $1200 Canada
Main Use: Rate 1-5. 5 being Highest: 5Gaming,4 Emulation (PS2/Wii), Video Editing, 3Streaming games in HD, 13D/Model work (and what program), 2General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback).
Monitor Resolution: What resolution will you be playing your games at? Are you going to upgrade later? Are you buying a new monitor? 1080p is my maximum due to budget issues. Having to buy a monitor since I don't have any that aren't 10 years old.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Is 30FPS acceptable? 60? 120? How important is PhysX / SuperSampling / CUDA to you? 60 FPS on something like Fallout 4 would be great if able. Applicationwise, I'd like to be able to run DeSmuME while recording it if possible.
Looking to reuse any parts?: List make and model (e.g. Corsair 520HX, 640GB SATA HDD, Antec 900)
When will you build?: Do you have a deadline? There's no big deadline, but I'd like to have it done soon. If there's a new wave of chips coming out in the near future, I'll wait.
Will you be overclocking?: Yes, No, Maybe (This means yes!) No.

How does this look?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($249.74 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Team Dark 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Toshiba Product SeriesT01ACA 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ NCIX)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($401.49 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.88 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($69.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($123.00 @ shopRBC)
Monitor: Acer KN242HYL 60Hz 23.8" Monitor ($138.88 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $1192.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-13 17:43 EST-0500

 

[DUFFMCWALIN]

Alright this is getting done tonight for sure.

 

[bomblord1]

Alright this is getting done tonight for sure.

Congrats on getting your stuff looks like a good build

Unrelated

I've been looking at mini ITX cases all day and I think i found my dream mini case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811205011

Only 12" tall and has a custom integrated 500 Watt gold rated PSU so I won't have to give extra room in the case for one.. This is so tiny and it'll be perfect for my R9 Nano build.

 

[Ceadeus]

Hi everyone,

I need help right now. I've assembled a brand new PC and the only part that does not seem to be recognize is the GTX 970 EVGA.

Would anyone please tell me how to plug it correctly. I'm curently window updating for the first time so I'm waiting 2 min to shut off the PC and take a look.

Does it need more than one PCIE câble to power? Curently there is one 6 pin PCIE plugged to it.

 

[opticalmace]

Hi everyone,

I need help right now. I've assembled a brand new PC and the only part that does not seem to be recognize is the GTX 970 EVGA.

Would anyone please tell me how to plug it correctly. I'm curently window updating for the first time so I'm waiting 2 min to shut off the PC and take a look.

Does it need more than one PCIE câble to power? Curently there is one 6 pin PCIE plugged to it.

Yeah, there should be another plug beside the one you already put in (I think all regular length 970s require 2 plugs). Got a link to the exact video card?

 

[Ceadeus]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487086&cm_re=gtx_970-_-14-487-086-_-Product

I use Corsair CX500 and H97M Pro4 from ASRock.

 

[bomblord1]

Hi everyone,

I need help right now. I've assembled a brand new PC and the only part that does not seem to be recognize is the GTX 970 EVGA.

Would anyone please tell me how to plug it correctly. I'm curently window updating for the first time so I'm waiting 2 min to shut off the PC and take a look.

Does it need more than one PCIE câble to power? Curently there is one 6 pin PCIE plugged to it.

All open power inputs on the physical GPU should have something plugged into them as far as that goes. The GPU should slot firmly and flatly into a standard sized PCIE slot you should hear a little click when its in all the way. I'm assuming you have the monitor plugged into the GPU and not the mobos display out correct?

Edit: Probably the fastest way to troubleshoot this would be with a picture. Could you take a pic of the inside of the case and the back of the PC?

 

[Ceadeus]

All open power inputa on the physical GPU should have something plugged into them as far as that goes. The GPU should slot firmly and flatly into a standard sized PCIE slot you should hear a little click when its in all the way. I'm assuming you have the monitor plugged into the GPU and not the mobos display out correct?

Monitor plugged on MB. Oups? Then the PSU has 2xPCIE câble, so 2x6pin plus 2 more pin each that are separated from the 6 pin... I hope it's clear enough :S

 

[Smokey]

With my Rift preorder, I'm ready to jump back in.

Waiting for more details on that 6590x. Time to get off this X79 platform. Disappointed we didn't see DisplayPort 1.3 4k monitors at CES.

 

[Ceadeus]

All open power inputs on the physical GPU should have something plugged into them as far as that goes. The GPU should slot firmly and flatly into a standard sized PCIE slot you should hear a little click when its in all the way. I'm assuming you have the monitor plugged into the GPU and not the mobos display out correct?

Edit: Probably the fastest way to troubleshoot this would be with a picture. Could you take a pic of the inside of the case and the back of the PC?

You helped me found that I needed both PCIE cble plugged and monitor plugged on GPU, now it's working A1 thank you a lot.

 

[opticalmace]

PC Perspective has just launched a Patreon page/thingy:

https://www.patreon.com/pcper

One of my favourite tech sites, so it was an easy pledge.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Well, I bought the riser cable!
I guess maybe then I'll try to run my graphics card outside of my case over the weekend as proof of concept?
Has anyone ever seen any mods like that, with the card outside of the SFF case?

 

[darkwing-buck]

Alright this is getting done tonight for sure.

Looks good, have fun!

 

[Lunar FC]

Hey guys so I'm trying to upgrade my PC to get it ready for the Rift and it's honestly just old already. So I just wanted to run things by the guys in here who likely know way more about this stuff than I do.

My current peasant rig:

Core i5-750; 2.66 GHz (LGA 1156)
4 GB RAM
GTX 460
GA-H55-USB3 (LGA 1156)

What I'm looking to get currently:

Core i5-4690; 3.6-3.9 GHz (LGA 1150)
16 GB RAM
GTX 970
Gigabyte ATX DDR3 (LGA 1150) , so the problem that I did not foresee is that my old motherboard would not be compatible with my new chip. I was just looking around for a motherboard that satisfies the various PC/Rift requirements (USB 3.0 x 3, HDMI out, LGA 1150), and this guy was one that I found.

So would this do the trick guys? Is there anything I could substitute for a greater value to performance ratio?

Thanks!

 

[Tesseract]

my new build is fucked, the screen keeps flickering over and over at post / bios

i dunno what to do ...

 

[inner-G]

my new build is fucked, the screen keeps flickering over and over at post / bios

i dunno what to do ...

My Skylake build was being really weird in the BIOS and it ended up being the RAM. It was listed as compatible but having the guy at the shop switch it out for 2133mhz fixed it

Try unplugging everything but the essentials and see if it has any effect

 

[RGM79]

Hey guys so I'm trying to upgrade my PC to get it ready for the Rift and it's honestly just old already. So I just wanted to run things by the guys in here who likely know way more about this stuff than I do.

My current peasant rig:

Core i5-750; 2.66 GHz (LGA 1156)
4 GB RAM
GTX 460
GA-H55-USB3 (LGA 1156)

What I'm looking to get currently:

Core i5-4690; 3.6-3.9 GHz (LGA 1150)
16 GB RAM
GTX 970
Gigabyte ATX DDR3 (LGA 1150) , so the problem that I did not foresee is that my old motherboard would not be compatible with my new chip. I was just looking around for a motherboard that satisfies the various PC/Rift requirements (USB 3.0 x 3, HDMI out, LGA 1150), and this guy was one that I found.

So would this do the trick guys? Is there anything I could substitute for a greater value to performance ratio?

Thanks!

Do you prefer to order from Amazon only, or are other retailers okay? What's the most money that would you feel comfortable spending? What other parts do you have, such as the case and power supply? We should know what those are to see if they will work out or not.

The parts you linked to are okay, but there are better choices. If you're interested in overclocking, the i5 4690K is what you want. The non-K model cannot be overclocked. If not interested in overclocking, cheaper motherboards are available. The Z97 motherboard you chose is alright, but it is quite pricey at $141, comparable motherboards are available for cheaper.

This is what I recommend, assuming you don't mind other retailers and want the ability to overclock:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($227.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 KILLER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($92.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: PNY Anarchy 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($308.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $724.33
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-14 01:40 EST-0500

Otherwise we can tailor the recommendations to your wants.

Well, I bought the riser cable!
I guess maybe then I'll try to run my graphics card outside of my case over the weekend as proof of concept?
Has anyone ever seen any mods like that, with the card outside of the SFF case?

Sure, some people have done wall mounted PCs with each component isolated from each other and hung on the wall flat.

 

[Tesseract]

My Skylake build was being really weird in the BIOS and it ended up being the RAM. It was listed as compatible but having the guy at the shop switch it out for 2133mhz fixed it

Try unplugging everything but the essentials and see if it has any effect

seems to work fine over dvi, might it be a driver issue? hdmi is the culprit.

also, 4790k is idling at 40c with a hyper 212 evo, isn't that a bit high? pretty sure i seated it well, 5mm dollop of silver

 

[Lunar FC]

Do you prefer to order from Amazon only, or are other retailers okay? What's the most money that would you feel comfortable spending? What other parts do you have, such as the case and power supply? We should know what those are to see if they will work out or not.

The parts you linked to are okay, but there are better choices. If you're interested in overclocking, the i5 4690K is what you want. The non-K model cannot be overclocked. If not interested in overclocking, cheaper motherboards are available. The Z97 motherboard you chose is alright, but it is quite pricey at $141, comparable motherboards are available for cheaper.

This is what I recommend, assuming you don't mind other retailers and want the ability to overclock:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($227.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 KILLER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($92.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: PNY Anarchy 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($308.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $724.33
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-14 01:40 EST-0500

Otherwise we can tailor the recommendations to your wants.

Awesome, thanks for this man. Yeah, overclcking is a little out of my comfort zone but I will definetly look at these other cheaper component options.

 

[exmachina64]

Alright this is getting done tonight for sure.

Congrats.

 

[TheLegendOfMart]

I currently have a 2GB 7870XT which uses a cut down Tahiti core of the 7950 that has 1536 cores compared to 1280 of regular 7870, specs wise it is somewhere inbetween 7870 and 7950.

I think I already know the answer to this but I'm guessing a 4GB R9 380 wouldn't be much faster?

 

[RGM79]

I currently have a 2GB 7870XT which uses a cut down Tahiti core of the 7950 that has 1536 cores compared to 1280 of regular 7870, specs wise it is somewhere inbetween 7870 and 7950.

I think I already know the answer to this but I'm guessing a 4GB R9 380 wouldn't be much faster?

It's a small boost. The 7870XT is a slightly slower 7950, and the R9 380 is a slightly faster rebadge of the R9 285 which was on par with the R9 280 which was a slightly faster rebadge of the 7950..

I need sleep. But if I'm thinking it over correctly, it's maybe a 20% performance improvement at best? Hard to say. Comparable performance benchmarks of the 7870XT are sorta hard to find, at least when trying to compare them to current graphics cards.

 

[TheLegendOfMart]

Yeah I've been struggling and trying to extrapolate, if its around 20% and I can sell mine for £50 would £100 on top be worth it for 4GB of VRAM and a more modern, quieter and cooler card like the Sapphire 380 Nitro?

Or would it be better just to stick it out 6 months more and wait for Polaris/Pascal hopefully to show their face?

 

[Finaika]

also, 4790k is idling at 40c with a hyper 212 evo, isn't that a bit high? pretty sure i seated it well, 5mm dollop of silver

My 6700K idles around the same temperature too, although where I live the ambient temperature can go up to 34c.

 

[ISee]

Yeah I've been struggling and trying to extrapolate, if its around 20% and I can sell mine for £50 would £100 on top be worth it for 4GB of VRAM and a more modern, quieter and cooler card like the Sapphire 380 Nitro?

Or would it be better just to stick it out 6 months more and wait for Polaris/Pascal hopefully to show their face?

People ask this question so often...
We do not know how performance will be or when the new gpu generation is going to hit store shelves. So it's really hard to recommend anything.
Best answer (imo) is: Are you satisfied with your current pc setup or are there currently games you'd like to play on better settings right now (or in 4-12 weeks)? And do you think you'll be able to get the £ 50 for your old card in 6-8 months too?

Also: The r9 380 seems to cost around £ 160, but you can get the r9 380x for around £180-200. And this might be worthwhile as you get another 15% - 20% increase in performance for 'just' 30ish pounds. So in total a + ~40% increase in performance.

Asus AMD Radeon R9 380X STRIX 4GB ~ £ 180

 

[bodyboarder]

Any thoughts on the best video card to match with a i7 2600/k

 

[Tesseract]

fixed the flashing nonsense, was driver related

any benchmark stress test apps i should be aware of?

i think my temps are okay, but it's hard to tell

i'll post temps when i can, gotta leave it idling overnight (arctic silver sealing)

 

[ISee]

Any thoughts on the best video card to match with a i7 2600/k

What's your budget?
Is your CPU overclocked?

fixed the flashing nonsense, was driver related

any benchmark stress test apps i should be aware of?

i think my temps are okay, but it's hard to tell

i'll post temps when i can, gotta leave it idling overnight (arctic silver sealing)

For CPU i like to use prime95, but there is currently a prime95 skylake bug so this might be not the right one for you.
For GPU stress testing I like to use furmark and/or the firestrike graphic benchmarks on ultra settings in a loop.

 

[TheLegendOfMart]

People ask this question so often...
We do not know how performance will be or when the new gpu generation is going to hit store shelves. So it's really hard to recommend anything.
Best answer (imo) is: Are you satisfied with your current pc setup or are there currently games you'd like to play on better settings right now (or in 4-12 weeks)? And do you think you'll be able to get the £ 50 for your old card in 6-8 months too?

Also: The r9 380 seems to cost around £ 160, but you can get the r9 380x for around £180-200. And this might be worthwhile as you get another 15% - 20% increase in performance for 'just' 30ish pounds. So in total a + ~40% increase in performance. [/URL]

I know you can't say but I am stuck not wanting to blow £400 on a high end GPU with the promise, on paper at least, of much more powerful GPUs in the near future and a GPU that is starting to show its age.

There is nothing I want to play just yet, though more FPS in Arma 3 would be nice, but in March there is Far Cry Primal, The Division and Hitman and I don't think my GPU will cut it in high detail anymore at 1080p.

The bearings in my AIO watercooler are shot so I need to replace it so I can't really go any higher than £150 for a gpu.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Well, here's what I recommend for now:

http://imgur.com/6OhVzhX
1 x Samsung SSD SM951-NVMe 512GB, M.2 (MZVPV512HDGL-00000)
1 x Intel Core i7-5820K, 6x 3.30GHz, boxed without cooler (BX80648I75820K)
1 x G.Skill RipJaws 4 blue DIMM kit 16GB, DDR4-3000, CL15-16-16-35 (F4-3000C15Q-16GRBB)
1 x Zotac GeForce GTX 970, 4GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort (ZT-90101-10P)
1 x MSI X99A SLI Plus (7885-023R)
1 x Cryorig H5 universal (CR-5HA)
1 x Fractal Design Define S, noise-insulated (FD-CA-DEF-S-BK)
Total of all best prices: £ 1107.11

Depending on what existing parts you already have, this could be cheaper. The SM951 is newer and better than the XP941, and while at first glance this parts list costs more, you do get a CPU cooler that your old list didn't have, and a much nicer and better case for airflow and noise dampening.

The SM951 was an OEM-only product which is officially succeeded by the 950 Pro NVMe SSD which is intended for purchase by retail customers.

The SM951 comes with no end-user warranty like most OEM products, the 950 Pro has a 5-year warranty.

 

[ISee]

I know you can't say but I am stuck not wanting to blow £400 on a high end GPU with the promise, on paper at least, of much more powerful GPUs in the near future and a GPU that is starting to show its age.

There is nothing I want to play just yet, though more FPS in Arma 3 would be nice, but in March there is Far Cry Primal, The Division and Hitman and I don't think my GPU will cut it in high detail anymore at 1080p.

The bearings in my AIO watercooler are shot so I need to replace it so I can't really go any higher than £150 for a gpu.

Well in this case just wait till march and try to save up some more money, or if you're on a tighter budget this year (and you are willing to wait another 3 months for Far Cry) then waiting for Polaris/Pascal is reasonable in my opinion.

 

[bodyboarder]

What's your budget?
Is your CPU overclocked?

$300-$400.

It's not OCd. After a quick Google seems I could buy a 980ti and it not be too badly bottlenecked.

 

[Tesseract]

here's some data, input is wanted

gonna leave it idling overnight

 

[Unknown Soldier]

There's no point in leaving something idling overnight. You can't crash an overclock by idling.

Run Prime95 on it or loop 3DMark or something.

 

[Tesseract]

There's no point in leaving something idling overnight.

Run Prime95 on it or loop 3DMark or something.

ok, i'll run both in a minute

 

[ISee]

$300-$400.

It's not OCd. After a quick Google seems I could buy a 980ti and it not be too badly bottlenecked.

Yeah you can, especially if you oc your cpu a bit.

In this price range the 970 is a reasonable pick up.
Amazon.com has a Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1 Gaming for $ 340. If it fits in your case (longer than most 970s) than go for it. It's decently overclocked, has very good cooling and normally you can oc it even further. I'm really a fan of the current Gigabyte G1 series.

But you can also go for the Asus 970 strix, the MSI 970 GAMING 4G or for a EVGA 970 FTW.

 

[knitoe]

ok, i'll run both in a minute

Run one at a time. I would start with Prime95. Have HWinfo open, link in the OP, running sensor mode. Pay attention to cpu temps and core voltages. If it passes for a few hours, it's 99% stable which should be fine and you can start testing your GPU.

 

[Tesseract]

Run one at a time. I would start with Prime95. Have HWinfo open, link in the OP, running sensor mode. Pay attention to cpu temps and core voltages. If it passes for a few hours, it's 99% stable which should be fine and you can start testing your GPU.

ok, thanks

*edit*

i need to bone up on some stuff before i do this, i'll post results this time tomorrow morning

 

[murgo]

Hey guys,

I think it's time to upgrade some components in my rig. I want to get a new GPU and a new 1440p monitor. Maybe some new RAM. Here's what I have right now:

Your Current Specs: i5 3570K @ 3.4GHz / 8GB G.Skill NT Series DDR3-1333 / ASRock Z77 Extreme4 / Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB OC with Boost / 530W be quiet! Pure Power L7 80+ / Xigmatek Midgard / Crucial CT064M4SSD2 + 1000GB Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX
Budget: 500€ for the GPU + Germany
Main Use: Gaming 4, General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback) 4, VR in the future 4.
Monitor Resolution: I currently have a 24" 1080p Dell U2312HM, but I want to upgrade to a 27" 1440p monitor, preferably with G-Sync
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Rise of the Tomb Raider @ 60FPS at full detail
Looking to reuse any parts?: I'd like to reuse as much as possible.
When will you build?: Soon
Will you be overclocking?: Yes, if necessary.

I've been looking into GPU's like the GTX 970 and 980. Is the 980 worth the 150€ premium over the 970? Should I buy one of those now or should I wait for Pascal / Polaris?

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[SmartWaffles]

Hey guys,

I think it's time to upgrade some components in my rig. I want to get a new GPU and a new 1440p monitor. Maybe some new RAM. Here's what I have right now:

Your Current Specs: i5 3570K @ 3.4GHz / 8GB G.Skill NT Series DDR3-1333 / ASRock Z77 Extreme4 / Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB OC with Boost / 530W be quiet! Pure Power L7 80+ / Xigmatek Midgard / Crucial CT064M4SSD2 + 1000GB Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX
Budget: 500€ for the GPU + Germany
Main Use: Gaming 4, General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback) 4, VR in the future 4.
Monitor Resolution: I currently have a 24" 1080p Dell U2312HM, but I want to upgrade to a 27" 1440p monitor, preferably with G-Sync
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Rise of the Tomb Raider @ 60FPS at full detail
Looking to reuse any parts?: I'd like to reuse as much as possible.
When will you build?: Soon
Will you be overclocking?: Yes, if necessary.

I've been looking into GPU's like the GTX 970 and 980. Is the 980 worth the 150€ premium over the 970? Should I buy one of those now or should I wait for Pascal / Polaris?

Thanks in advance for any input.

Get a higher frequency RAM, that helps a lot in newer games. Also for Nvidia cards either buy a 970 or get a 980Ti, the OG 980 is not very cost effective.