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"I Need a New PC!" 2015 Part 2. Read the OP. Rocking 2500K's until HBM2 and beyond.
- Thread starter Hazaro
- Start date
- Status
Not bad, but the SSD is crap. Also, look for a 4GB version of the R9 380 or 380X, $200 is quite expensive for an R9 380 with just 2GB of VRAM. If possible consider Skylake parts like the i5 6600K and Z170 motherboard with DDR4 RAM. Of course, that means spending more as you can't reuse your old DDR3 parts.
The OCZ PSU is sorta okay, but it's been long enough that you may want to consider getting a new one.
I'll whip up an NCIX-oriented parts list, then. If you're getting their assembly service, you can relay instructions to them attached to the order so you can tell them what you want.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($278.26 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: MSI B150M BAZOOKA Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($124.98 @ NCIX)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($115.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($113.26 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 380 4GB SOC Video Card ($294.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($57.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($61.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($128.00 @ shopRBC)
Total: $1320.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-27 23:01 EST-0500
Now those prices are for different retailers, but NCIX should have all of them available, just perhaps not in immediate stock. Keep in mind that NCIX offers pricematching, here are the two policies[1][2]. Basically if you see the same item being offered elsewhere for a lower price, you can tell NCIX and they'll try to compete with it.
Take a look at this, then. It's just right at your budget.
We'd recommend an i5 processor when possible and within the budget just because it'll last a couple of years easily. When building a computer on a budget, it's best to get a strong processor and upgrade the graphics card later rather than the other way around. It's easier to change the graphics card and resell it compared to doing the same for the processor.
liliththepale
Banned
Sorry if this is the wrong thread for this, but I'm having something of a hard drive failure right now (question at the bottom; this rambling preamble might be irrelevant). It's still *mostly* readable, but there are a few corrupt sectors on the drive which are preventing my PC from booting, and which crashed my Macbook when I tried to access them there.
It's a 1TB hybrid HDD SSD. I didn't even know that was possible and I've not made a good effort to understand it more in the two years I've had it (~26mo). So I don't really know how it works on the inside, but I'm pretty sure the SSD portion is responsible for OS and Boot stuff while the HDD holds most of my regular files.
Anyway, I'm in the process of (and have nearly finished) copying all the files to a backup drive. It's not an external drive, but I popped my laptop's case, unseated the drive and am using a sleeve to convert it to an external for now. Originally I was copying the data via a separate W8.1 machine, but I had to halt that process a few hours ago and don't have access right now, so instead I'm copying the data via my Macbook and surprisingly enough it's giving me better information on the process. Like, instead of just halting the copy, it told me a certain file was corrupt. Sure enough, when I went to go look at the file in Finder, my Macbook crashed cold. It wasn't an important file, so I'm fine abandoning it. I selected all the files after it and resumed the copy operation.
This all started a couple weeks ago. In the middle of a save file operation my PC "randomly" crashed, but I was able to reboot fine. At the recommendation of another user on here, I scheduled one of the memory analyzing routines Windows 8.1 has available. There might be only one, I just don't remember what I did was called. Then yesterday, while playing The Witness, my computer randomly froze for about a minute. When it got unstuck, I tabbed out of the game to see if maybe I had run out of RAM and severe page cache issues had caused the freeze, but that didn't seem to be the case because I had 5GB RAM still free (of 16 total), so I went back to the game. It played fine for another twenty minutes or so before freezing again, but this time after waiting it actually crashed.
Then my computer rebooted and started the scheduled memory check (deep blue screen with two progress bars, and took about an hour to get to the end). It said it couldn't find any problems, so it unscheduled the routine and rebooted. Only this time it got stuck in some never-ending boot phase. After waiting about an hour, I gave up and pulled the drive out of the laptop to have a look at it on another machine. I ran chkdsk on the SSD portion of the drive and it found nothing. I ran chkdsk on the HDD portion and it found a few things, but it said it fixed them. I ran chkdsk again to be sure and came out apparently clean. So I reseated the drive in my laptop and booted it up, but again was greeted with the endless boot cycle.
So I created a recovery drive on a USB stick and told the BIOS to boot from there. When it went to look for a system restore point, it went to a blank blue screen for about ten minutes and then crashed. So now I'm looking at the nuclear option of formatting the drive.
Is it a bad idea to still be using this hard drive? Will formatting it fix the corrupt sectors or at least remove their addresses so it can't get caught up on them? Or should I invest in a new drive? And if so, what do I need to know about replacing the hard drive? The only thing I've ever replaced in a computer before is RAM.
It's a 1TB hybrid HDD SSD. I didn't even know that was possible and I've not made a good effort to understand it more in the two years I've had it (~26mo). So I don't really know how it works on the inside, but I'm pretty sure the SSD portion is responsible for OS and Boot stuff while the HDD holds most of my regular files.
Anyway, I'm in the process of (and have nearly finished) copying all the files to a backup drive. It's not an external drive, but I popped my laptop's case, unseated the drive and am using a sleeve to convert it to an external for now. Originally I was copying the data via a separate W8.1 machine, but I had to halt that process a few hours ago and don't have access right now, so instead I'm copying the data via my Macbook and surprisingly enough it's giving me better information on the process. Like, instead of just halting the copy, it told me a certain file was corrupt. Sure enough, when I went to go look at the file in Finder, my Macbook crashed cold. It wasn't an important file, so I'm fine abandoning it. I selected all the files after it and resumed the copy operation.
This all started a couple weeks ago. In the middle of a save file operation my PC "randomly" crashed, but I was able to reboot fine. At the recommendation of another user on here, I scheduled one of the memory analyzing routines Windows 8.1 has available. There might be only one, I just don't remember what I did was called. Then yesterday, while playing The Witness, my computer randomly froze for about a minute. When it got unstuck, I tabbed out of the game to see if maybe I had run out of RAM and severe page cache issues had caused the freeze, but that didn't seem to be the case because I had 5GB RAM still free (of 16 total), so I went back to the game. It played fine for another twenty minutes or so before freezing again, but this time after waiting it actually crashed.
Then my computer rebooted and started the scheduled memory check (deep blue screen with two progress bars, and took about an hour to get to the end). It said it couldn't find any problems, so it unscheduled the routine and rebooted. Only this time it got stuck in some never-ending boot phase. After waiting about an hour, I gave up and pulled the drive out of the laptop to have a look at it on another machine. I ran chkdsk on the SSD portion of the drive and it found nothing. I ran chkdsk on the HDD portion and it found a few things, but it said it fixed them. I ran chkdsk again to be sure and came out apparently clean. So I reseated the drive in my laptop and booted it up, but again was greeted with the endless boot cycle.
So I created a recovery drive on a USB stick and told the BIOS to boot from there. When it went to look for a system restore point, it went to a blank blue screen for about ten minutes and then crashed. So now I'm looking at the nuclear option of formatting the drive.
Is it a bad idea to still be using this hard drive? Will formatting it fix the corrupt sectors or at least remove their addresses so it can't get caught up on them? Or should I invest in a new drive? And if so, what do I need to know about replacing the hard drive? The only thing I've ever replaced in a computer before is RAM.
If you found the i5 6500 for £122, then that's a steal, it should be more expensive than that. I actually had a parts list put together as well, it's somewhat similar except with a better graphics card. Here it is in case you want to see for comparison's sake.
http://imgur.com/SqF79QP
http://skinflint.co.uk/eu/?cat=WL-635114&wlkey=53cb83d860166f0dbd01a2fde7e07ed1
1 x Samsung SSD 850 Evo 250GB, SATA (MZ-75E250B)
1 x Intel Core i5-6500, 4x 3.20GHz, boxed (BX80662I56500)
1 x Crucial DIMM kit 8GB, DDR4-2133, CL15-15-15 (CT2K4G4DFS8213)
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 380 Nitro OC, 4GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, lite retail (11242-13-20G)
1 x MSI B150M Mortar (7972-002R)
1 x Cooler Master N200 (NSE-200-KKN1)
1 x XFX TS Series 550W ATX 2.31 (P1-550S-GREN)
1 x Microsoft: Windows 10 Home 64bit, DSP/SB (English) (PC) (KW9-00139)
Here's my disclaimer:
Cheap Windows licenses can be bought from reddit's microsoftsoftwareswap for cheap, around http://skinflint.co.uk/eu/?cat=WL-635106&wlkey=5ea3a5db4e12b7da2a82aee4acb37d2e15 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.
CPU fan speed could possibly be controlled through the motherboard, whether it can or cannot depends on your motherboard model. Graphics card fan speed can be controlled via an option in the Catalyst/Crimson control panel. Take a look for those and see if you can adjust it.
As I understand it, it's best to do a reinstall if you want to change SATA controller modes. If you want to try a potentially messier route that doesn't require reinstalling, then there is this method. It involves using a Microsoft tool called sysprep that is meant to help deploy Windows to other computers. Of course, I'm not responsible if this breaks your Windows installation, so make a backup of your OS drive if you're unsure about this.
The sysprep tool has an ability called "generalize" which uninstalls most of the system drivers which should include SATA AHCI/RAID. Make it so the options match the screenshot, and then click "OK" to begin the process. When it's done the PC will turn off. Then restart the PC, go into the BIOS, and change the SATA controller mode. Hopefully it should boot back into Windows and run through the initial setup screens. During that process, it will reinstall most of the required drivers for you, but you should check device manager to be sure.
VanillaCakeIsBurning
Member
Awesome, this is just what I need. I kept the motherboard from the first list you gave me just because it seems that the newer one you have listed here is in limited/no stock (the price also seems to be pretty similar as well).
I'm going to order this tomorrow. With any luck I'll be able to report how it went once it's arrived.
Overall you've been more helpful than I could have imagined. I really appreciate the help you've given me here RGM.
Anyone know much about NAS device for home use because I know almost nothing? I will mainly use it for backup, and maybe, streaming. I am looking at the GNAP 453A and adding 8GB of ram because googling says it has very good hardware for the price.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017YB7T6U/?tag=neogaf0e-20
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017YB7T6U/?tag=neogaf0e-20
D
Deleted member 22576
Unconfirmed Member
My girlfriend and j were just noticing my power supply has a slight buzz when the PC is off. Is this a very bad thing? Never noticed it before.
Hm, I'm on mobile right now but it says "Wish list non-existent".
Thank you! Looking good.
BorntoPlay
Member
Hey guys, this is my current build:
Core i5-6500 3.2Ghz (OC 4.0Ghz) CPU
Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 2666MHz RAM
Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD
Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB HHD
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 CPU Cooler
Cooler Master CM 690 Case
Corsair TX850 Power Supply
Lite-On IHAS124-04 24X RW Dual Layer Drive
I'm looking for a new GPU, because i recently sold my evga NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB Graphics Card for $150...
But dont know if the GTX 960 4GB is a decent upgrade, spend a "little" more for a GTX 970 or should wait for Pascal... AMD is out of question...
Core i5-6500 3.2Ghz (OC 4.0Ghz) CPU
Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 2666MHz RAM
Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD
Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB HHD
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 CPU Cooler
Cooler Master CM 690 Case
Corsair TX850 Power Supply
Lite-On IHAS124-04 24X RW Dual Layer Drive
I'm looking for a new GPU, because i recently sold my evga NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB Graphics Card for $150...
But dont know if the GTX 960 4GB is a decent upgrade, spend a "little" more for a GTX 970 or should wait for Pascal... AMD is out of question...
Burgess_101
Member
You may as well just wait at this point. What it is wrong with AMD?
The jump up to the GTX 960's performance levels from the GTX 660 isn't bad, but whether that's enough depends on what sort of performance you're looking for. What games do you want to play and at what resolution, graphics settings, and framerate?
BorntoPlay
Member
Don't like because AMD cards always had drivers and overheating problems...
Burgess_101
Member
Fair enough. It was a rocky road when I first got my 390. I had a 780 and a 680 before that, the 780 was my favourite GPU that I had ever had but it was showing its age at 1440p. AMD's drivers have really improved now, it all works really well.
As for overheating I have luckily never had that problem. My card runs hot but that is because my room is the hottest place on earth.
Silent_Ocarina
Member
I recently upgraded my CPU, motherboard, and RAM, but I'm keeping my old R9 270 for the time being. It's really tempting to just go out and get a new GPU to complete the build, but I decided to wait until Pascal to come out. Even if I don't opt for a Pascal GPU, I can at least hope for a price drop on the GTX 970/980/980ti at that time.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Is it wise to use NVidia Control Panel -> Desktop Colour Settings -> Use NVIDIA Settings if you want to tweak gamma or whatever?
I ask because I'm using an ICC profile for my g-sync monitor from Bornstellar, and I love the colours and overall gamut, but it's too dark in the grand scheme of things and appears to be a gamma issue on my end.
I don't really know how to fix it beyond editing via the Nvidia control panel.
I ask because I'm using an ICC profile for my g-sync monitor from Bornstellar, and I love the colours and overall gamut, but it's too dark in the grand scheme of things and appears to be a gamma issue on my end.
I don't really know how to fix it beyond editing via the Nvidia control panel.
Finaika
Member
Don't the consoles have 8 cores?
Burgess_101
Member
I think 2 are reserved for OS fuctions.
Yes, and Intel i3 dual core processors are usually more than a match for them when running cross platform titles.
BorntoPlay
Member
The performance i am looking for is 1080p, 60 fps, High/Ultra settings...
You are lucky, but my amd experience is not too great....
Yes, my original plan was to keep the GTX 660 until Pascal launched but i got this offer from a friend who needed the card right away, so now i am playing with the Intel HD Graphics 530 Skylake IGP...XD
Then depending on the games you play, you will most likely need a GTX 970 for the latest games. Maybe the GTX 960 can handle high to ultra settings on somewhat older games.
Thanks, I'll have a look when I have time and I'll let you know.
Isn't there a risk that my components will run too hot and fry, though?
Prime crotch
Banned
I've recently moved to London, and as such, I left my top of the line gaming desktop back home, but, I'm considering making a smaller gaming rig here and was considering getting used parts. Having no idea where to go here, any shop or sellers any gaffer can recommend?
Finaika
Member
Burgess_101
Member
Gavin Robertson
Neo Member
AV Forums is worth checking out
I'm moving back to my home country soon (Singapore to Indonesia), and I want to bring my desktop pc with its monitor back.
http://pcpartpicker.com/b/QcKZxr
Are there any precaution to take for shipping a pc?
I'll be taking out the GPU, hard drives, and maybe RAMs and carry them with my on the airplane, but I'd prefer not take the others off as I wasn't the one who assembled it.
Any pointers on how to pack the rest? Is it okay for the corsair H80 to be left inside?
I still have the original boxes and packaging. Are additional bubble wraps enough?
My monitor is the DELL U2515H, which I'd think maybe too big to be carried on the airplane also, so I might ship it too lol.
Sorry for the many questions, it'll be my first time moving a pc haha
http://pcpartpicker.com/b/QcKZxr
Are there any precaution to take for shipping a pc?
I'll be taking out the GPU, hard drives, and maybe RAMs and carry them with my on the airplane, but I'd prefer not take the others off as I wasn't the one who assembled it.
Any pointers on how to pack the rest? Is it okay for the corsair H80 to be left inside?
I still have the original boxes and packaging. Are additional bubble wraps enough?
My monitor is the DELL U2515H, which I'd think maybe too big to be carried on the airplane also, so I might ship it too lol.
Sorry for the many questions, it'll be my first time moving a pc haha
So I made a clip of the sound http://vocaroo.com/i/s1Q8pQvW27ru
Fans and HDD are unplugged so they arent making the noise. It also isnt the PSU. I can pinpoint the sound near the CPU/GPU area and its really weird.
The PC has run for some time with a broken GPU fan that causes a lot of noise and vibration so that might be the cause for some kind of damage but I still have no idea whats causing that sound (GPU fan was off when I was recording)
Fans and HDD are unplugged so they arent making the noise. It also isnt the PSU. I can pinpoint the sound near the CPU/GPU area and its really weird.
The PC has run for some time with a broken GPU fan that causes a lot of noise and vibration so that might be the cause for some kind of damage but I still have no idea whats causing that sound (GPU fan was off when I was recording)
Only one now.
EVA UNIT 01
Member
So here it is.
Comment on this PC first timers first build and let me know if anything can be swapped for cheaper prices with no performance loss.
CPU: intel core i5-6500 3.2 GHZ quad core processor-199.98@ OutletPC
CPU cooler: Cooler master hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM sleeve bearing cpu cooler 24.88 @ OutletPC
Motherboard: MSI Z170-A pro ATX LGA1151 motherboard 79.99 @ amazon
Memory: G.skill NT series 16gb(2x8) DDR4-2133 mem 67.99 @ newegg
Storage: Sandisk SSD plus 120gb 2.5 solid state drive 44.99 @ amazon
Storage: Seagate barracuda 500gb 3.5 7200rpm internal hard drive 39.95 @ amazon
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4gb 305.89 @ OutletPC
Case: NZXT Source 210 (black) ATX mid tower case 36.99 @ superbiiz
Power supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ bronze cert. ATX power supply 44.99 @ amazon
Optic drive: Asus drw-24B1ST/BLK/B/ASDVD/CD writer 17.78 @ OutletPC
Total-$963.43
(OS windows 10 is factored in here at 100$ but simply not listed)
Also thanks to bomblord for builds while i just swapped pieces around.
Edit: WTF is with my missing links?
Will re edit. In the meantime please comment(and rip apart)
Comment on this PC first timers first build and let me know if anything can be swapped for cheaper prices with no performance loss.
CPU: intel core i5-6500 3.2 GHZ quad core processor-199.98@ OutletPC
CPU cooler: Cooler master hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM sleeve bearing cpu cooler 24.88 @ OutletPC
Motherboard: MSI Z170-A pro ATX LGA1151 motherboard 79.99 @ amazon
Memory: G.skill NT series 16gb(2x8) DDR4-2133 mem 67.99 @ newegg
Storage: Sandisk SSD plus 120gb 2.5 solid state drive 44.99 @ amazon
Storage: Seagate barracuda 500gb 3.5 7200rpm internal hard drive 39.95 @ amazon
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4gb 305.89 @ OutletPC
Case: NZXT Source 210 (black) ATX mid tower case 36.99 @ superbiiz
Power supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ bronze cert. ATX power supply 44.99 @ amazon
Optic drive: Asus drw-24B1ST/BLK/B/ASDVD/CD writer 17.78 @ OutletPC
Total-$963.43
(OS windows 10 is factored in here at 100$ but simply not listed)
Also thanks to bomblord for builds while i just swapped pieces around.
Edit: WTF is with my missing links?
Will re edit. In the meantime please comment(and rip apart)
Hands of Stone
Member
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TIJLF0I/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Anybody got experience with this monitor?
Anybody got experience with this monitor?
I just bought the 21.5 version for my first PC build. I'm also curious on its quality for $99.
I'll let you know once I get mine tomorrow though.
Hands of Stone
Member
Oh cool. Hope it works great for ya
Thanks for the heads up on the graphics card and ssd!
For the processor, I'm actually going with the Xeon now (a friend of mine is hooking me up with one for really cheap.)
Here is the latest build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bmVWxr
If I dont keep the PSU, what would what you guys recommend for the parts given (wattage and brand). Thanks!
Guys, I need help picking a motherboard for my new build. I will be using a i7 4790. I want to be able to overclock easily couple of years down the road to extend the life and performance of my rig.
With my current rig that I built back in 2008, I'm running a Q9550 overclocked to 3.8 on an Asus P5Q deluxe. The match motherboard-cpu has been great and I am looking for similar compatibility.
Budget is around 200$ cnd and will be buying from ncix.
Thanks!
With my current rig that I built back in 2008, I'm running a Q9550 overclocked to 3.8 on an Asus P5Q deluxe. The match motherboard-cpu has been great and I am looking for similar compatibility.
Budget is around 200$ cnd and will be buying from ncix.
Thanks!
If you're not overclocking you can get away with the stock cooler that comes with your CPU.
Pretty sure you can get 1tb hard drive for like $10 more.
You can try and get your windows 10 key from Reddit Microsoft software swap for around $40 if you want to save some money. Win 8.1 is $20 (and has a free upgrade to win 10).
I read skylake doesn't come with a stock cooler.
Blackage
Member
The K series(The ones that overclock) doesn't come with a stock fan, the non-K, IE CPU: intel core i5-6500 3.2 GHZ quad core processor-199.98@ OutletPC in your post(That does not overclock) does.
The K series(The ones that overclock) doesn't come with a stock fan, the non-K, IE CPU: intel core i5-6500 3.2 GHZ quad core processor-199.98@ OutletPC in your post(That does not overclock) does.
Oh well then looks like he can trim that off the build then. Save a few bucks.
QuantumSquid
Member
Here's my current part list:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($41.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin ECO2 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 950 2GB FTW ACX 2.0 Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define S ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $540.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-28 11:31 EST-0500
Looks pretty good to me. Finding a toolless case that isn't expensive is hard. Definitely open to suggestions if there are toolless cases for less than the $80-90 the Define S costs.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($41.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin ECO2 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 950 2GB FTW ACX 2.0 Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define S ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $540.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-28 11:31 EST-0500
Looks pretty good to me. Finding a toolless case that isn't expensive is hard. Definitely open to suggestions if there are toolless cases for less than the $80-90 the Define S costs.
Any particular reason your going with the 4460 instead of a skylake? I mean it's fine if you want to I'm just curious.
So my sisters PC broke and I helped her get a new Mobo, CPU (i3-6320), 8GB ram and a new power supply. I haven't installed the parts yet but I wonder what will happen to Windows 10 Pro upgrade she had installed on her PC with the old parts. Will the license transfer over or does she need to buy a brand new Windows 10 key?
Make sure you have the license key. If you bought a copy of windows it should be on the disc, or in the box it came in. If it was a prebuilt it should be somewhere on the PC. You will then have to call Microsoft to transfer the license.
You will have to find a good balance. Otherwise you're going to have to replace some parts with quieter fans or simply just move the PC farther away for less noise.
If you're worried, it's safer to take it out. If you had an air cooler for your CPU, I'd advise removing it and boxing it separately. Movement and forces while shipping can cause damage to the CPU socket and cooler. I don't think the same can be said for AIO water coolers though, so that should be fine to leave as-is. You may want to consider taking out the graphics card to ship inside its own box, though.
Depends on how much you want to spend. The EVGA 500B ($35 after $15 rebate) and 600B ($45) is one of the cheapest models I'd recommend. Up from that there's the EVGA B2 750 watt model ($60 after $30 rebate) that I think is one of the best for price and performance. In between there isn't much that I think I'd recommend..
Do you have an i7 4790 or the i7 4790K? Only the K model can be overclocked.
In your budget, I'd recommend the MSI Z97 PC Mate ($124 after $10 rebate), the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H-BK ($150), and the Asus Z97-E/USB3.1 ($170).
QuantumSquid
Member
If I wanted to get a Skylake, I'd have to get one that isn't quad core, and I value quad core more than hyperthreading. I'm trying to keep the costs down on this PC as much as possible.
She has the license key, she got the upgrade from MS when Win 10 Pro was free.
Yes, it's the K model.
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