Jzero
Member
I would be devastated if that happened to me. I put too much money into mine.
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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
Yeah it bummed me out because it's only two years old and has been doing everything fine. It's nice having a new motherboard with ddr4 and other cool features, but I could have gone another year or maybe more before getting the upgrade bug again.
I haven't had to buy new parts in quite some time (about 8 years). I'm building a Skylake machine (GTX 980, 16GB RAM, etc), and I am looking for a motherboard. I'd like one with plenty of USB slots and a USB 3.1 slot. I'm not really sure what else to look for in a motherboard.
Looking for suggestions, prefer to spend less than $200.
Looking for suggestions, prefer to spend less than $200.
Sorry, I got home a while back but I had to take care of some other things first.
It's difficult to get a build cheap enough that includes a motherboard with integrated wifi, this was the best I could come up with and it doesn't include the cost of the OS yet. It's easier and cheaper to get an PCI-E or USB wifi adaptor instead. Here's what I recommend:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.99)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($42.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Toshiba Product Series
T01ACA 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ NCIX US) Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 4GB Video Card ($202.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($27.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $649.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-22 00:13 EDT-0400
That's about $25 cheaper than the mITX build, but still over budget. The motherboard and processor are priced as the bundle deal from Microcenter.
I hate to ask dumb questions, but you didn't forget the thermal paste, did you? It's grey goo/paste/grease that goes in between the heatsink and the CPU's surface, and it helps to transfer heat.
I doubt it's the grounding, usually that prevents computers from starting up in the first place. Or if there's something shorting out the motherboard (like a dropped screw under the motherboard) then jostling the case will cause it to short out. Besides, you actually got an error that said the CPU was overheating, so that seems to be the issue here.
Bad smell from power supply isn't a good sign. Can you tell us the rest of your system specs?
No need for manual settings, just enable a setting called XMP or memory profile.
Looks alright to me. If you want to save $20 you can go with G.Skill Ripjaws 4 3000MHz RAM for $135. But then again, after looking at your build, you probably don't mind spending a bit.
Are you thinking of doing some multi-monitor gaming across all three screens? You may want to consider SLI in the future.. and that means you would be looking for a power supply in excess of 800 watts. XFX, Seasonic, Super Flower, EVGA, and certain higher end models from other brands (Antec, Cooler Master, Corsair, etc) come to mind first when thinking of power supplies. This should be a good list for you to look at, it's all pretty much excellent. Even the cheapest model on that list I would happily recommend.
Optical drive.. if it's just a DVD drive, then just about any DVD drive will do (as long as it doesn't have awful reviews), there's nothing really special to consider. If you're getting a blu-ray drive, then take care to read the reviews and see if the drive comes with any software or not. There are some blu-ray drives that don't come with any blu ray movie disc playback software (sometimes marked as 'OEM') and that is an extra annoying step that also costs money to fix.
OS? That's up to you. Windows 7 is getting a bit old, though. Nothing really wrong with it, but as time goes on, support will start to thin out for Windows 7. Z170 motherboards already make you jump through a few hoops to allow Windows 7 installation, DX12 might not be supported under Windows 7, and Microsoft definitely wants everyone to move to Windows 10.
not after that. Didn't wanted risking burning anything else
Yes did applied the paste. Nothing else was connected just mobo cpu and amd 6790. Power supply was crossair 400 wat
Confrontation
Member
It finally arrived
boybrushdRED
Member
Hey guys. Will a R9 380 work on my 2010 PC? Or do I have to buy a new motherboard and CPU as well? My motherboard is a socket 1156 with i7 860. I'm on a budget so I'm just thinking of replacing my old Radeon 5850 if possible. Thanks.
Spikematic
Member
Hey guys,
I'm planning a new rig and finally managed to nab myself a Gigabyte GTX 980 TI G1 edition. Now for the other parts! I'm interested in a small form factor build now so will get a Corsair Carbide Air 240. Now for the questions:
1) I want a skylake build obviously. I'm assuming an i7 will not have any noticeable advantages over an i5?
2) What is the recommended motherboard for a matx skylake build?
3) Does it matter if it is DDR3 or DDR4? If DDR4 is better I'd rather be a little future proof and get that I think.
4) What cooler should I get for the skylake processor that can fit nicely in the carbide 240? I know that space is limited in this chassis so I don't wanna get something that makes things inside too snug.
So basically, what processor, motherboard, ram, cooler should I get for my matx skylake build that has a GTX 980 TI motherboard.
Thanks in advance!
I'm planning a new rig and finally managed to nab myself a Gigabyte GTX 980 TI G1 edition. Now for the other parts! I'm interested in a small form factor build now so will get a Corsair Carbide Air 240. Now for the questions:
1) I want a skylake build obviously. I'm assuming an i7 will not have any noticeable advantages over an i5?
2) What is the recommended motherboard for a matx skylake build?
3) Does it matter if it is DDR3 or DDR4? If DDR4 is better I'd rather be a little future proof and get that I think.
4) What cooler should I get for the skylake processor that can fit nicely in the carbide 240? I know that space is limited in this chassis so I don't wanna get something that makes things inside too snug.
So basically, what processor, motherboard, ram, cooler should I get for my matx skylake build that has a GTX 980 TI motherboard.
Thanks in advance!
You can test the power supply by itself with the paper clip test.
Once that's sorted, then you can try the PC again with a working CPU fan (and maybe a replacement power supply if needed) to see if there are still any problems.
Yes it's compatible (as long as your case is large enough to fit the graphics card), no need for a new processor and motherboard just yet.
It'd also help to know what power supply you have, but the 5850 and R9 380 aren't too far apart in terms of power consumption.. I think. Both are said to run just fine with a 500 watt power supply.
What's your location and budget?
1. As for the current state of gaming, no. A game that runs well on the i7 6700K (4 cores and 8 threads through hyperthreading) won't be unplayable on the i5 6600K (4 cores and 4 threads, no hyperthreading) simply because of the hyperthreading. The rest of the differences in clock speed or cache are minimal and don't matter very much for gaming performance. In fact, if you look at some reviews, they come out more or less evenly matched for today's games (scroll down).
There's talk of DX12 finally making games more capable of taking advantage of multiple CPU cores and threads, but it won't be as if i5 processors will no longer be suitable for gaming.
2. There's not a lot of different mATX motherboards available for Skylake so far. As far as I know, there aren't many reviews for Z170 mATX motherboards available yet, except for a few focusing on the expensive Maximus VIII Gene.
3. What motherboard you get will determine what RAM you get. Skylake is intended to be used with DDR4 for mainstream use, but there will be some motherboards with DDR3 and/or DDR3L support. In any case, I don't see a reason to opt for DDR3 or DDR3L at this point when DDR4 is available. You might save some money going with DDR3 but you may end up regretting it if it turns out to be a bottleneck. And yes, DDR4 is going to be the new standard from now on, DDR3 is starting to be phased out.
4. The Air 240's internal design means that it only accepts air coolers with a height of less than 120mm, which limits your choices seeing as most of the higher end performance air coolers are much taller than that. The Corsair Air 240 is primarily meant to take a water cooler for the processor.
Anyway, if you can tell us your budget, we can come up with some definite parts suggestions.
Spikematic
Member
I'm getting my parts from the US and mostly relying on Amazon and Newegg. My budget is very flexible and I'm willing to spend whatever is needed to put together a nice setup that lasts me a couple of years (I do update my GPU every 2 years or so though). That doesn't mean I want to spend money carelessly though, that's why I think an i5 will be fine for me. Would be awesome if I could stick to the Carbide. I know the fractal is a bit bigger but it is a little tricky to import a chassis from the US compared to the other parts.
How about the corsair H100i cooler? Seems that can fit in the carbide? As for the motherboard, I guess the Asus Maximus VIII gene seems to be the only viable option for a skylake matx?
Is there a definitive thermal paste pattern to be used for skylake? I did the dot and I'm pretty sure I want to redo it with the line. Also, which paste is the one to use? I have the one that came with the evo 212 I didn't use, and some antec paste I used that I had from years and years ago.
Kingpin Rogers
Member
Hey guys, I've been looking into a new pc recently and was wondering how this is for 1080p maxed/high settings 60fps gaming.
Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card
Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case
EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
The main problem for me is the fact that this would cost £857.86.
I don't really know much about this stuff and just put this build together on pcpartpicker; so are there any parts I could change to lower the price but keep a similar performance?
Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card
Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case
EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
The main problem for me is the fact that this would cost £857.86.
I don't really know much about this stuff and just put this build together on pcpartpicker; so are there any parts I could change to lower the price but keep a similar performance?
Oh, I hope nothing has been damaged on your end. What PSU have you bought ?
Jzero
Member
I'm actually going to buy myself a UPS because of you.
Corsair 540 is huge but either way getting it to $650 before rebates is difficult with 4790k and z97 without sacrificing the GPU, which is not really the best thing to do. Here's after rebates using ITX.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($200.00)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($104.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.49 @ Amazon)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.56 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 4GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($27.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $655.01
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-22 06:00 EDT-0400
Lightning struck and kissed my girlfriend's PC goodbye. The damage was calculated at 620 (what's been damaged might be worth half of that - funny how that works...) and she'll get that amount from her insurance. Now she's not sure if she should get the PC repaired or if she should just take the money and buy a new one.
Her current PC:
GTX 660 Ti
i5 3570
8GB RAM
128GB SSD
1TB HDD
GPU, RAM, HDD and SSD are still working. The PSU, motherboard and CPU got killed. The repair service offers her to replace the broken parts with:
ASUS Z97-P 1150 motherboard
i7 4790 @ 3.6Ghz
Cooler Master G650M 650 Watts
And now she's not sure if she should go for that or if she should rather invest an additonal ~350 to replace the whole PC. It'd be a good opportunity, after all, since she'll get the 600 anyway. She'd want to buy a complete system and not individual components, though. She's fond of this offer since she has made good experience with the store's service in the past:
i5-4460
GTX 970
8GB RAM
120GB SSD
1TB HDD
Link
She's afraid that the lightning strike might have actually damaged the other hardware - that's supposedly still working - as well and wonders if it wouldn't be best to just replace everything. She fears that otherwise everything else would just start to fail in the next couple months.
On the other hand, though, she could also just accept the repair offer, buy an additional GTX970 and benefit from a better CPU compared to the new PC she'd buy (and maybe ask for a i5 4690 instead of the i7 4790 to save a couple bucks). I'm not sure if it's even a good idea to upgrade the GPU right now, since I vaguely remember the controversy that surrounded the 970 earlier this year. So... maybe just get the PC repaired right now and replace the GPU in a year or so?
So, GAF, any advice for her? Because I don't really know. I'd just get her PC repaired and upgrade it sooner or later (and with the motherboard, PSU and CPU getting replaced, what other components could fail in the near future anyway? The GPU she would like to replace anyway? The dirt cheap RAM?), but she's not sure and would like to hear what you have to say.
Her current PC:
GTX 660 Ti
i5 3570
8GB RAM
128GB SSD
1TB HDD
GPU, RAM, HDD and SSD are still working. The PSU, motherboard and CPU got killed. The repair service offers her to replace the broken parts with:
ASUS Z97-P 1150 motherboard
i7 4790 @ 3.6Ghz
Cooler Master G650M 650 Watts
And now she's not sure if she should go for that or if she should rather invest an additonal ~350 to replace the whole PC. It'd be a good opportunity, after all, since she'll get the 600 anyway. She'd want to buy a complete system and not individual components, though. She's fond of this offer since she has made good experience with the store's service in the past:
i5-4460
GTX 970
8GB RAM
120GB SSD
1TB HDD
Link
She's afraid that the lightning strike might have actually damaged the other hardware - that's supposedly still working - as well and wonders if it wouldn't be best to just replace everything. She fears that otherwise everything else would just start to fail in the next couple months.
On the other hand, though, she could also just accept the repair offer, buy an additional GTX970 and benefit from a better CPU compared to the new PC she'd buy (and maybe ask for a i5 4690 instead of the i7 4790 to save a couple bucks). I'm not sure if it's even a good idea to upgrade the GPU right now, since I vaguely remember the controversy that surrounded the 970 earlier this year. So... maybe just get the PC repaired right now and replace the GPU in a year or so?
So, GAF, any advice for her? Because I don't really know. I'd just get her PC repaired and upgrade it sooner or later (and with the motherboard, PSU and CPU getting replaced, what other components could fail in the near future anyway? The GPU she would like to replace anyway? The dirt cheap RAM?), but she's not sure and would like to hear what you have to say.
Just stick the card in and install the latest drivers from Nvidia's website.
Never heard of anyone reformatting for a GPU before.
JoeyJungle
Banned
It finally arrived
I'm so jelly!
If you find a good one, let me know. I keep seeing mixed reports about some due to newer PSUs not playing well with battery backups. I am thinking that's only ones that use simulated sine wave, though.
Is that a Node 304? How long is the card?
The windows 10 media creation tool shuts down every time it finishes creating media, so getting back to windows 10 is becoming a chore. I made a usb drive out of the creation tool and was going to install that way but I only have a windows 8.1 pro key. If I install without a key, does it automatically activate itself or do I need to get this tool working?
Edit: I ran the setup.exe on the usb drive through windows instead of booting to usb which made it not ask me for a cd key. I am back up and running Windows 10 now.
Edit: I ran the setup.exe on the usb drive through windows instead of booting to usb which made it not ask me for a cd key. I am back up and running Windows 10 now.
Hey guys straight to the point heres the deal:
Currently my pc stands as follows:
i5 - 2500k at 4,3-4,4 Ghz oced with proper new cooler
Asus Gtx 670 2gb
Corsair TX650W 650 W
8 GB Ram
i want to upgrade to play all current and future games at 1080p in 60 fps if possible.
Im considering if i should upgrade reasonably (~400 Euros) or go for a ground up new build?
1) i guess the 2500k at that clock wont be a bottleneck and still holds up?
2) 970 best card to get?
3) Do I NEED a new PSU? ( its about 8 years old and doesnt have 8-pins)
thanks in advance
straight to the point heres the deal:Currently my pc stands as follows:
i5 - 2500k at 4,3-4,4 Ghz oced with proper new cooler
Asus Gtx 670 2gb
Corsair TX650W 650 W
8 GB Ram
i want to upgrade to play all current and future games at 1080p in 60 fps if possible.
Im considering if i should upgrade reasonably (~400 Euros) or go for a ground up new build?
1) i guess the 2500k at that clock wont be a bottleneck and still holds up?
2) 970 best card to get?
3) Do I NEED a new PSU? ( its about 8 years old and doesnt have 8-pins)
thanks in advance
MillionStabs
Banned
I believe Crossfire through PCIe, I attached them both to the Mobo but only one of them has an actual port for a cable that runs to the PSU, I think that's because one is XFX and one is Sapphire (the one with the plug)
opticalmace
Member
The 2500k is fine, you just need a new video card. At the moment the 970 or 980 Ti are the cards to get. No one can guarantee 1080p60 in future titles, but they are excellent choices now.Hey guys
Currently my pc stands as follows:
i5 - 2500k at 4,3-4,4 Ghz oced with proper new cooler
Asus Gtx 670 2gb
Corsair TX650W 650 W
8 GB Ram
i want to upgrade to play all current and future games at 1080p in 60 fps if possible.
Im considering if i should upgrade reasonably (~400 Euros) or go for a ground up new build?
1) i guess the 2500k at that clock wont be a bottleneck and still holds up?
2) 970 best card to get?
3) Do I NEED a new PSU? ( its about 8 years old and doesnt have 8-pins)
thanks in advance
My old TX750 has 6+2 pluhs I think, does yours not? You can always get adapters as well.
Just realised they idd are 6+2. So its safe to keep using that PSU with a 970? (from what i heard its an excellent one?)
Would be cool to just buy the gpu now, and upgrade my psu along with my mainboard and cpu in 1-2 years.
Cheers. Successfully overclocked it. Before, when I tried, it overclocked it to 3090Mhz for some reason. Thought it would happen again but this time, it went to 3000Mhz. So all good.
I have a slight problem. Can anyone tell me if my motherboard (Z170-a) has bluetooth? Checked the settings and the drivers and I can't seem to find it. Want to use bluetooth on my DS4 and Bose bluetooth speakers.
If it does support bluetooth, what do I need to do to activate it?
Thanks.
Daffy Duck
Member
Thoughts on this:
Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor - £199.99
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler - £24.95
Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard - £116.78
G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory - £127.99
Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive - £62.15
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive £49.14
MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card £247.19
NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case £88.98
EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply - £63.31
Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor £223.99
Total Cost - £1204.47
Worth the Skylake over an I5-4690k?
Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor - £199.99
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler - £24.95
Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard - £116.78
G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory - £127.99
Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive - £62.15
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive £49.14
MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card £247.19
NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case £88.98
EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply - £63.31
Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor £223.99
Total Cost - £1204.47
Worth the Skylake over an I5-4690k?
opticalmace
Member
Yup, just grab yourself a new video card and upgrade your cpu in the future sometime. That's where I'm at, 2500k and a 970.
The card is 295mm long and your case is limited to gpus with a max of 290mm. I do think that it's still going to fit but you may want to rethink that decision. Wanted to go with the Air 240 myself but there's barely any space for gpus.
1. Depends on the purpose. You're a normal gamer? Then take the i5 it's sufficient enough.
2. 1151 mainboards are required for Skylake. Unfortunately there are not that many reviews for them yet. I saw some positive reviews for the Asus 170 pro gaming and I went with it. Couldn't test it yet but if you want to spend ~140 on a mainboard it will be enough for gamers according to reviews.
Edit: oh wait you're looking for mATX. Can't give you any recommendations for mAtx boards, sorry.
3. DDR 4 is the way to go. It will be the new standard and you will get better performance with it. Would recommend those
4. Well yes, your space is pretty damn limited but there are still some good possibilities. The noctua NH d9l is a good solution for limited space. However it is not really possible to overclock with such small CPU coolers. If you consider overclocking you have to go with liquid cooling but if you don't even need to overclock the n the d9l will be enough for gaming.
Jag
Member
Here's my first attempt at a Skylake build. Used Haz's new Skylake build as a template. Primarily for 1080 gaming, maybe 1440 down the road. Been an AMD guy for years, so I'd like to give NVIDIA a shot this time. Building this for newer games at high res. Fallout, Battlefront, W3, etc.
One thing I'm not sure about is the case. I like the Phanteks, but totally open to other suggestions. Maybe something a bit smaller if airflow isn't an issue.
Will most likely buy the Gigabyte 970 from Newegg this weekend since it's currently on sale, before I finish the rest of the build.
Help me GAF, how's my build???
One thing I'm not sure about is the case. I like the Phanteks, but totally open to other suggestions. Maybe something a bit smaller if airflow isn't an issue.
Will most likely buy the Gigabyte 970 from Newegg this weekend since it's currently on sale, before I finish the rest of the build.
Help me GAF, how's my build???
so tigerdirect has the 6700K in stock for $400
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9788451&CatId=11862
who's going for it?
and they have a $10 off coupon
Here
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9788451&CatId=11862
who's going for it?
and they have a $10 off coupon
Here
Haloid1177
Banned
When is Amazon gonna put the 6700k up? Last piece of my build I need.
Who but Amazon employees would know?
So my PSU is ~ 7 years old. Can i still run that with a 970 or will i put my house on fire?
opticalmace
Member
Should be fine. If you're curious your local computer shop might have a tool for checking it out, that's what I did after a molex connector melted on me.So my PSU is ~ 7 years old. Can i still run that with a 970 or will i put my house on fire?
Hmmm alright. Friend of mine told me its risky running such an old psu on new hardware
Not really PC related but I need a decent NAS system. Having all my media on my PC sucks when I want to watch whole series or play music on my other devices. Transferring everything to SD cards/external drives is inconvenient.
Can someone recommend a decent setup for under £400, with at least DNLA?
Can someone recommend a decent setup for under £400, with at least DNLA?
JoeyJungle
Banned
I'm tempted, but $50 above msrp is kinda a lot, plus I've read bad things about tigerdirect taking a few days to ship stuff out. I'm thinking it's better to wait for Newegg to get them back in stock, and if they get some before the end of the month (and sell them outside of combos) I'll be able to use this $25 off coupon http://promotions.newegg.com/nepro/15-3618/index.html.
If you're going to replace the graphics card every two years, then we'd recommend something like a GTX 970 instead of the GTX 980 Ti, but you've already purchased it and don't seem to mind the extra cost, oh well. Yes, you can definitely keep the Air 240 case on your list, it's definitely usable. Also yes, the Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti G1 Gaming should fit in there, even with a 240mm radiator in the front. Looks like Corsair just decided to play it safe with GPU length recommendations.
The H100i should do just fine. The newer H100i GTX is available for just a few dollars more, though. I'll put it on a potential parts list for you below.
Well, normally we don't recommend motherboards costing as much as the Asus Maximus VIII Gene, because it's quite expensive and often more than not most people will be just fine with a motherboard in the $100~150 range, even considering gaming and overclocking. It's just that there's a lack of information on Z170 motherboards in general, and it's somewhat uncomfortable to recommend motherboards solely on specs and without any kind of actual reviews. I don't think there are that many bad motherboards and it's unlikely that you'll run into any issues.. but still not something we tend to do. For example, these Biostar Z170 motherboards are poorly designed in terms of PCI-E system layout and connectivity. While not a huge issue, it would present an unexpected bottleneck for those who didn't know and were going to use multiple GPUs. I guess for now I'll put the Maximus VIII Gene on the list unless you decide otherwise.
Anyway, how about a parts list like this? I kept the parts selection to all Newegg or Amazon. Prices aren't too bad, except for maybe the power supply.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VIII GENE Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($230.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)
Case: Corsair Air 240 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($88.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($85.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $829.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-22 14:33 EDT-0400
Also, you didn't mention anything about storage.. are you reusing your existing drives?
If you want to retry, go ahead. I have also read that a line is preferable due to the shape of the die underneath the cover, but I don't think there's any testing data on that.. yet. There's not a large difference between different thermal pastes unless you're willing to spend a lot on high end thermal paste, so just use the newer paste that came with the 212 Evo.
Here's my version of your build. Similar performance, lower cost.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£178.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.95 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£33.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£62.15 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£34.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£247.19 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£33.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£64.98 @ Novatech)
Total: £770.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-22 19:50 BST+0100
rbanke
Member
After nearly 6 years I'm finally going to upgrade my gaming pc. I'm looking to move away from my Antec p183 to something smaller. Anyone have some recommendations for smaller cases? Looking to go to a Skylake build with a 980 2 (maybe 3) internal drive bays and don't need any external bays. Also hate cases with windows and lights and stuff so airflow & build quality are the only other important things I'm looking for. There's just too many cases out there these days to start looking blindly.
opticalmace
Member
Don't have any specific suggestions but there are some nice recommended cases in the op.
rbanke
Member
Yeah, I've been looking through them but wasn't sure how often that part of the OP is actually updated
Personally, I'd just go with the repair service's offer, it seems like a better deal. Is she uncomfortable with tinkering inside her computer if a component needed to be replaced or upgraded in the future?
Did Windows 10 activate itself properly? Check the activation status. As I understand it, you need to run the upgrade offer from Microsoft before you can install Windows 10. Windows 10 won't activate with any Windows 7/8/8.1 keys.
Your motherboard doesn't have bluetooth. You'll need to buy a bluetooth USB adaptor or add-in card to get bluetooth connectivity.Cheers. Successfully overclocked it. Before, when I tried, it overclocked it to 3090Mhz for some reason. Thought it would happen again but this time, it went to 3000Mhz. So all good.
I have a slight problem. Can anyone tell me if my motherboard (Z170-a) has bluetooth? Checked the settings and the drivers and I can't seem to find it. Want to use bluetooth on my DS4 and Bose bluetooth speakers.
If it does support bluetooth, what do I need to do to activate it?
Thanks.
I'd look for higher speed RAM, it only costs a few dollars more than what you have selected there.
Unless you mean you wanted to go smaller with mATX or mITX, I think the Fractal Define S is right up your alley. It has a subtle design, a windowless version, no external bays, and 5 internal bays (three 3.5" and two 2.5"). It emphasizes airflow, and I've never had anything to complain about concerning build quality from Fractal.
Hey guys, having a little problem. I built my PC last year ~13 months ago, and everything's been great until about 3 weeks ago, I'd say?
I noticed massive 2-3 seconds hitches while playing Dota 2 and I thought it was just the game being wonky/Valve's servers/whatever. However I've started to notice it in other games, as well. It seems like there's still sound, but nothing onscreen moves for a couple of seconds and then resumes as normal. It's not constant, but it does seem to happen once every few hours - I particularly notice it in Dota because I play so often.
Any ideas what could be causing this? My first thought was some program in the background, but I've been very careful as to what's installed and what's running - and from what I can tell, there's nothing that should cause such spikes. Is that still the most likely cause? Or could it be a HDD/GPU problem?
I noticed massive 2-3 seconds hitches while playing Dota 2 and I thought it was just the game being wonky/Valve's servers/whatever. However I've started to notice it in other games, as well. It seems like there's still sound, but nothing onscreen moves for a couple of seconds and then resumes as normal. It's not constant, but it does seem to happen once every few hours - I particularly notice it in Dota because I play so often.
Any ideas what could be causing this? My first thought was some program in the background, but I've been very careful as to what's installed and what's running - and from what I can tell, there's nothing that should cause such spikes. Is that still the most likely cause? Or could it be a HDD/GPU problem?
MisterNoisy
Member
Anyone know if nVidia has unfucked their drivers yet? I'm still sitting on 350.12.
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