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[joecanada]

are the intel cpu really worth the extra money?

Like how much better is an i5 6400 compared to an AMD A10 7800. just seems the intel ones are quite a bit more.... is it down to personal preference or are there compelling reasons? Like an i5 4460 is pretty much double the price of the similar performing amd ones.

 

[Taco_Human]

Hey guys, follow up from my last post in here on page 278. I', not sure what to do, but my W8 key doesn't work. Do I need to deactivate it on my currently installed drive or something? I borrowed an apricorn cloning cable from my friend, but the software to clone doesn't currently work on W10. I found the W8 key I bought, and tried to install that but no luck.

I'm looking at this link, that RGM79 linked me to. I'll try it out, but it seems so much more tedious than the apricorn software.

 

[bomblord1]

are the intel cpu really worth the extra money?

Like how much better is an i5 6400 compared to an AMD A10 7800. just seems the intel ones are quite a bit more.... is it down to personal preference or are there compelling reasons? Like an i5 4460 is pretty much double the price of the similar performing amd ones.

The i5 is 43% better in user CPU benchmarks which is pretty massive. If it's important to you though the 7850 has a better integrated GPU.

 

[Nostremitus]

are the intel cpu really worth the extra money?

Like how much better is an i5 6400 compared to an AMD A10 7800. just seems the intel ones are quite a bit more.... is it down to personal preference or are there compelling reasons? Like an i5 4460 is pretty much double the price of the similar performing amd ones.

The best AMD chips are comparable to i3 chips and in some cases even perform worse. AMD's new Zen processors are tracking to launch later this year. Hopefully it puts AMD back in the game, but who knows...

 

[RGM79]

Ideally around 38cm would be good for me..

I just put that cooler on the list out of paranoia really as i'm new to this.

What would you add / remove from my list to make it cheaper? I need have a different motherboard in but was getting compatibility messages about updating the BIOS or something which I didn't really understand.

Assuming you're working with a £500 budget.. I think I'd recommend this:

http://skinflint.co.uk/?cat=WL-645170&wlkey=1555bb883284d73f4f1617a48ff28a5e
1 x Western Digital WD Blue 1TB, 64MB cache, SATA 6Gb/s (WD10EZEX)
1 x Crucial BX100 250GB, SATA (CT250BX100SSD1)
1 x Intel Core i3-6100, 2x 3.70GHz, boxed (BX80662I36100)
1 x Crucial DIMM kit 8GB, DDR4-2133, CL15 (CT2K4G4DFS8213)
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 380 Nitro OC, 4GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, lite retail (11242-13-20G)
1 x Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H
2 x SilverStone Precision PS08 black (SST-PS08B)
1 x EVGA 500W ATX 2.3 (100-W1-0500-KR)
Total of all best prices: £ 511.45

It is a bit over £500, but you're getting a lot more for your money. The SSD is better and twice as large, the processor, motherboard, and RAM is newer, and the graphics card is much stronger. If you were to go down to a 120~128GB SSD then that would bring it down to just about £500 or a bit less, but I'd recommend that you go for the larger model if it means spending a little bit more.

If you definitely want to spend less.. I could work out a build with older parts.

My partner has just got a new job that will mean she has to go to college to get some certificates.

I have built a PC long ago and want to do it again, however I am totally lost with all the various codes for AMD processors and the like.

1) aside from internet and Microsoft Office, I would like the machine to run Photoshop
2) I would like a machine that could last 3 years without upgrading if possible
3)I have ps4 and Xbox One. Any games on PC will be RTS (like C & C, Topico 5 etc) or indie games.
4) is it worth looking in to DDR4 RAM? Can they fit on any motherboard?
5) price. We are unsure of how much to spend. I wouldn't want to spend more than £600 if possible. Although we could go higher if need be.
Price doesn't need to include Windows 10.

Thanks PCgaf!

1. For that I'd recommend an i5 processor.
2. Not an problem at all.
4. DDR4 only works with the latest generation Intel processor and motherboards.

I modified the parts list above a bit. This should meet your needs easily.

http://skinflint.co.uk/?cat=WL-645172&wlkey=19ddc5e1aff49810b5a55cacc329654d
1 x Western Digital WD Blue 1TB, 64MB cache, SATA 6Gb/s (WD10EZEX)
1 x Crucial BX100 250GB, SATA (CT250BX100SSD1)
1 x Intel Core i5-6500, 4x 3.20GHz, boxed (BX80662I56500)
1 x Crucial DIMM kit 8GB, DDR4-2133, CL15 (CT2K4G4DFS8213)
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 380 Nitro OC, 4GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, lite retail (11242-13-20G)
1 x Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H
1 x SilverStone Precision PS08 black (SST-PS08B)
1 x EVGA 500W ATX 2.3 (100-W1-0500-KR)
Total of all best prices: £ 538.46

Hey guys, follow up from my last post in here on page 278. I', not sure what to do, but my W8 key doesn't work. Do I need to deactivate it on my currently installed drive or something? I borrowed an apricorn cloning cable from my friend, but the software to clone doesn't currently work on W10. I found the W8 key I bought, and tried to install that but no luck.

I'm looking at this link, that RGM79 linked me to. I'll try it out, but it seems so much more tedious than the apricorn software.

Are you cloning your installation of Windows, or reinstalling Windows, or trying to upgrade to Windows 10? I'm not familiar with those Apricorn cloning kits.

 

[Taco_Human]

Are you cloning your installation of Windows, or reinstalling Windows, or trying to upgrade to Windows 10? I'm not familiar with those Apricorn cloning kits.

I would really like to just clone my W10 installation, but if I can't transfer it over I have no problem going back to 8.1. The apricorn cable is just a USB to SATA cable. It worked super easily for my laptop when I upgraded to the current hybrid drive I have. That laptop died and I extracted the hybrid drive I'm using on my desktop now.

Now, I have the SSD. It's smaller, it's 250 GB. I want to clone the whole windows installation. I like how I have things now, and I very much want to continue, but since their software doesn't work, I tried installing 8. I used a bad key I found online, and I didn't try using the 8 key I had already purchased because I just found it a few minutes ago. I'm planning on reinstalling 8 and retrying the key I purchased.

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

Im not really sure how my case wants me to be mounting an ssd.
no native 2.5 slots so i know ill be screwing into a 3.5 but its a tooless setup so its a bit odd.

What im currently looking at

 

[holygeesus]

Im not really sure how my case wants me to be mounting an ssd.
no native 2.5 slots so i know ill be screwing into a 3.5 but its a tooless setup so its a bit odd.

What im currently looking at

Have you any screw holes on the underside of the case i.e. under where the motherboard sits? My Fractal has space for two there - you screw them down flat. Works great as I can then ditch the cages completely.

 

[RGM79]

I would really like to just clone my W10 installation, but if I can't transfer it over I have no problem going back to 8.1. The apricorn cable is just a USB to SATA cable. It worked super easily for my laptop when I upgraded to the current hybrid drive I have. That laptop died and I extracted the hybrid drive I'm using on my desktop now.

Now, I have the SSD. It's smaller, it's 250 GB. I want to clone the whole windows installation. I like how I have things now, and I very much want to continue, but since their software doesn't work, I tried installing 8. I used a bad key I found online, and I didn't try using the 8 key I had already purchased because I just found it a few minutes ago. I'm planning on reinstalling 8 and retrying the key I purchased.

Okay, sounds like you have a plan, but reinstalling Windows just to use that software sounds tedious in itself. I don't find Macrium Reflect to be tedious, though. Is it that slow?

Im not really sure how my case wants me to be mounting an ssd.
no native 2.5 slots so i know ill be screwing into a 3.5 but its a tooless setup so its a bit odd.

http://i.imgur.com/N6eqWB1.jpg

What im currently looking at

What case is that?

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

Okay, sounds like you have a plan, but reinstalling Windows just to use that software sounds tedious in itself. I don't find Macrium Reflect to be tedious, though. Is it that slow?


What case is that?

Raidmax super viper

Also no cages.
the sides of the bays have protruding edges where an hdd or sdd would rest.
the idea is that you then use the tooless clamps on the side to lock them in as if they were floating.
I know im just spacing out and not seeing how a 2.5 sdd would sit yet

 

[Taco_Human]

Okay, sounds like you have a plan, but reinstalling Windows just to use that software sounds tedious in itself. I don't find Macrium Reflect to be tedious, though.

No, that's not what I'm doing. What I just attempted was reinstalling W8 on the SSD with my purchased key, but now since I already installed it, and formatted it, Windows left some shit behind, and it's detecting it and giving errors when I try to install all over again. I'll try the software out on my current drive with I'm trying to clone to the SSD.

 

[RGM79]

Raidmax super viper

According to the official product page, it has no 2.5" mounts for SSDs. That's not that much of a problem, though. SSDs have no moving parts and aren't sensitive to shocks or impacts. You could mount it anywhere in the case and it wouldn't matter. Some people use tape.

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

According to the official product page, it has no 2.5" mounts for SSDs. That's not that much of a problem, though. SSDs have no moving parts and aren't sensitive to shocks or impacts. You could mount it anywhere in the case and it wouldn't matter. Some people use tape.

Lol holy shit.
basically if i can screw it in and not have it rattling around im good?
I can manage that

 

[RGM79]

No, that's not what I'm doing. What I just attempted was reinstalling W8 on the SSD with my purchased key, but now since I already installed it, and formatted it, Windows left some shit behind, and it's detecting it and giving errors when I try to install all over again. I'll try the software out on my current drive with I'm trying to clone to the SSD.

That's odd, if it was formatted then nothing at all should be left. What errors are you getting?

Lol holy shit.
basically if i can screw it in and not have it rattling around im good?
I can manage that

Yep. In my old work PC, I put an 2.5" SSD by in a 3.5" bay by just screwing in a single screw, lining up a hard drive hole with the mounting hole in the side of the SSD.

 

[Taco_Human]

That's odd, if it was formatted then nothing at all should be left. What errors are you getting?

It's giving me a Windows start up screen with "attempting to repair" on it. I'm formatting again right now. I think the problem was doing a quick format. I unchecked that and it's going right now.

Edit: GOD Damnit, I did a complete format. I try to boot from the SSD, and windows still gives me "Attempting to repair" and then it fails and gives me the options to shut down or to continue starting up. UGHHH

Checking the drive says I'm using 124 MB. But It also tells me it's empty. Those 124 MB have to be Windows installation files don't they?

 

[joecanada]

The i5 is 43% better in user CPU benchmarks which is pretty massive. If it's important to you though the 7850 has a better integrated GPU.

The best AMD chips are comparable to i3 chips and in some cases even perform worse. AMD's new Zen processors are tracking to launch later this year. Hopefully it puts AMD back in the game, but who knows...

ah thanks. I think I looked it up on CPU Boss or something it didn't seem that apparent there....

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

Ok solved it.
just bolted in the sdd.
its pretty much levitating

 

[roadrunn3r]

ah thanks. I think I looked it up on CPU Boss or something it didn't seem that apparent there....

That site (and many similar to that) are horrible and pretty useless. Just use something like the Anandtech bench or just search the major sites for cpu benchmarks/reviews.

 

[brandonh83]

Getting all my parts added to my Amazon cart and thought the price was way high for what I was getting, so I've been looking over it and trying to figure out what the hell's going on. Turns out I had two of the same motherboards in my cart lol

Okay. Going to quadruple cross check everything and bite the bullet.

 

[thenexus6]

Assuming you're working with a £500 budget.. I think I'd recommend this:

http://skinflint.co.uk/?cat=WL-645170&wlkey=1555bb883284d73f4f1617a48ff28a5e
1 x Western Digital WD Blue 1TB, 64MB cache, SATA 6Gb/s (WD10EZEX)
1 x Crucial BX100 250GB, SATA (CT250BX100SSD1)
1 x Intel Core i3-6100, 2x 3.70GHz, boxed (BX80662I36100)
1 x Crucial DIMM kit 8GB, DDR4-2133, CL15 (CT2K4G4DFS8213)
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 380 Nitro OC, 4GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, lite retail (11242-13-20G)
1 x Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H
2 x SilverStone Precision PS08 black (SST-PS08B)
1 x EVGA 500W ATX 2.3 (100-W1-0500-KR)
Total of all best prices: £ 511.45

It is a bit over £500, but you're getting a lot more for your money. The SSD is better and twice as large, the processor, motherboard, and RAM is newer, and the graphics card is much stronger. If you were to go down to a 120~128GB SSD then that would bring it down to just about £500 or a bit less, but I'd recommend that you go for the larger model if it means spending a little bit more.

If you definitely want to spend less.. I could work out a build with older parts.

Thanks, i've edited a few things to fit my research / price better.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/F6Jszy

This + the same case and ram you picked from Amazon comes to £431.37 without Windows which I am happy with..

Is there much between the i3 4170 and the 6100? Also are these CPUs okay with the stock cooler?

 

[Collateral22]

What's a GTX 960 like in comparison to a 970? Had something come up and I had to cancel my 970 order due to lack of funding in my budget. I will be getting a pascal card once they come out but just want something that will run games at 1080/60 on high/ultra on most things.

 

[Hazaro]

What's a GTX 960 like in comparison to a 970? Had something come up and I had to cancel my 970 order due to lack of funding in my budget. I will be getting a pascal card once they come out but just want something that will run games at 1080/60 on high/ultra on most things.

Huge difference. I'd go 970, buy used if you need to. MSI/ASUS/GB warranty carries over with the card and some eVGA.

 

[jediyoshi]

What's a GTX 960 like in comparison to a 970? Had something come up and I had to cancel my 970 order due to lack of funding in my budget. I will be getting a pascal card once they come out but just want something that will run games at 1080/60 on high/ultra on most things.

Relative chart

 

[Collateral22]

Huge difference. I'd go 970, buy used if you need to. MSI/ASUS/GB warranty carries over with the card and some eVGA.

Yeah was originally going with an MSI GTX 970 w/Twin Frozr V cooler. Maybe I can drop my i5-6600k down to a 6600 and get a lesser Mobo since I don't really plan on OCing, just wanted the better base speed, but they both have a turbo boost to 3.9Ghz if needed. You don't need a Z170 Mobo if you aren't OCing right?

 

[Ferr986]

I took out the bios and left it out for +5 mins. I guess it counts as a reset?
Anyways, it didnt work

I dont know what to do

Edit: wait , ihad a slight oc on the cpu (nothing big, its a 955 black edition) and the oc is still up after the reset. Shouldnt be at default?

Updating, I did another IOS reste, CPU OC still didn't resert but anyways, now I'm able to see the BIOS boot up, only using my TV (via HDMI).

Basically, right now, PC works as expected if I use my TV, but nothing shows on my monitor (via DVI) no matter what.

Could it be that the DVI from the card got fucked up? I mean , I only changed the RAM....

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

Jesus i can already tell i suck at cable management

 

[Hikami]

So after ordering all my parts, I have around $80 left in my budget.. thinking of spending that on an SSD. What's the best I could get for that much?
(Preferably from Amazon)

 

[Manp]

Ok solved it.
just bolted in the sdd.
its pretty much levitating

get something like this if you want it to look a bit better.

no difference functionality wise

 

[Taco_Human]

Jeez, now I don't know what I did. I checked disk management, and I saw there were two partitions. One clearly being leftover windows installation files, and the rest of it empty. I deleted the partition, tried creating a new volume. Couldn't install W8. I deleted that partition, so the whole thing is un-allocated. Still cannot install W8. I'm so annoyed right now. I'm starting to think I should have kept the shitty nongenuine Windows 8 installed.

The drive doesn't show up in explorer anymore. I'm confused.


Edit: I googled how to reset the drive to factory settings. I was able to set up windows 8 to install with my purchased key. Now the pc restarted and is scanning at repairing the ssd at 0 percent for a fee minutes now. No idea what to do.

Edit 2: yup, gives me a cannot boot error after restarting multiple times. Fucking hell. I should have left that first install.

 

[opticalmace]

So after ordering all my parts, I have around $80 left in my budget.. thinking of spending that on an SSD. What's the best I could get for that much?
(Preferably from Amazon)

Either of these would be good.
850 evo
BX 100

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

So all parts are in...now what i fear.
wiring

 

[Hikami]

Either of these would be good.
850 evo
BX 100

Thanks Had my eye on that second one, will go with that then.

 

[Bloodember]

Updating, I did another IOS reste, CPU OC still didn't resert but anyways, now I'm able to see the BIOS boot up, only using my TV (via HDMI).

Basically, right now, PC works as expected if I use my TV, but nothing shows on my monitor (via DVI) no matter what.

Could it be that the DVI from the card got fucked up? I mean , I only changed the RAM....

If your OC isnt resetting, your bios isnt resetting. Have you tried a different cable on your monitor? I cant see the dvi port going bad. You may also try taking the card out and reseating it. You may have bumped it.

 

[RGM79]

Thanks, i've edited a few things to fit my research / price better.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/F6Jszy

This + the same case and ram you picked from Amazon comes to £431.37 without Windows which I am happy with..

Is there much between the i3 4170 and the 6100? Also are these CPUs okay with the stock cooler?

There's not a huge difference between them, I think. The i3 6100 is a bit faster. Yes, they'll be fine with the stock cooler, unless you're stressing them with heavy workloads like video encoding and whatnot all the time.

Yeah was originally going with an MSI GTX 970 w/Twin Frozr V cooler. Maybe I can drop my i5-6600k down to a 6600 and get a lesser Mobo since I don't really plan on OCing, just wanted the better base speed, but they both have a turbo boost to 3.9Ghz if needed. You don't need a Z170 Mobo if you aren't OCing right?

What does your parts list look like? Yeah, if you're not overclocking then you could go with a cheaper motherboard and RAM as well.

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

These multi tiered sata cables.
does it not matter which one and which tier i plug into the ssd?

 

[knitoe]

These multi tiered sata cables.
does it not matter which one and which tier i plug into the ssd?

Not sure what you mean by multi tiered. They are just one cable per storage device. For SSD, you just want to plug the cable into a SATA3 port.

 

[bomblord1]

Not sure what you mean by multi tiered. They are just one cable per storage device. For SSD, you just want to plug the cable into a SATA3 port.

He probably is referring to the Hard Drive power cables which have multiple connectors and one cable. And you can plug the power in in whatever order you want

 

[RGM79]

These multi tiered sata cables.
does it not matter which one and which tier i plug into the ssd?

Tiered? You mean some that are mounted above others? No difference. Just start from whichever one is lower, SATA 0 or SATA 1.

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

Not sure what you mean by multi tiered. They are just one cable per storage device. For SSD, you just want to plug the cable into a SATA3 port.

Ssd to sata on mb
and then ssd power to PSU
the power is the one im referring to.
my mistake

Im really dealing with about 5 or so cables left to connect.
Diagram you fail me.
Anyone able and willing to help the new guy finish this off with a skype guide?

 

[RGM79]

Ssd to sata on mb
and then ssd power to PSU
the power is the one im referring to.
my mistake

Im really dealing with about 5 or so cables left to connect.
Diagram you fail me.
Anyone able and willing to help the new guy finish this off with a skype guide?

All power cables are the same, there's no tier system where one is preferable, you can use any one as long as it fits properly and works.

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

All power cables are the same, there's no tier system where one is preferable, you can use any one as long as it fits properly and works.

No sata 1+2 but a sata express.
usable?
Any additional hookups needed if so?

 

[RGM79]

No sata 1+2 but a sata express.
usable?
Any additional hookups needed if so?

SATA Express just uses two SATA ports and a smaller extra connector. Those normal SATA ports are still usable as normal SATA ports.

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

SATA Express just uses two SATA ports and a smaller extra connector. Those normal SATA ports are still usable as normal SATA ports.

So no numbered priority here?
I can just connect ssd to sata 3?
Or should i in fact use the express

 

[RGM79]

So no numbered priority here?
I can just connect ssd to sata 3?
Or should i in fact use the express

Just plug it into whichever has the lowest number. Usually 0 or 1.

Edit: The numbered thing isn't required, it's just easier to keep track of. It'll still work just fine if you plug it into any port. And when you install Windows, it will list the drives in the order of the numbered SATA connectors you plugged them into.

 

[Collateral22]

There's not a huge difference between them, I think. The i3 6100 is a bit faster. Yes, they'll be fine with the stock cooler, unless you're stressing them with heavy workloads like video encoding and whatnot all the time.



What does your parts list look like? Yeah, if you're not overclocking then you could go with a cheaper motherboard and RAM as well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€233.40 @ Mindfactory)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (€36.48 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€127.94 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (€63.83 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€46.98 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€54.27 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (€344.76 @ Mindfactory)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (€69.81 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €977.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-24 01:27 CET+0100


That's it atm, minus a case. Want to have a max budget of €1000 for everything, as I still need a desk and monitor, but they can come a week or two after I build it.

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

970 has 2 6 pin power slots
im dealing with 2 pci cables that are 6 each but with a +2 pin attached.

Just use both 6s and ignore the +2s?

 

[Crisium]

970 has 2 6 pin power slots
im dealing with 2 pci cables that are 6 each but with a +2 pin attached.

Just use both 6s and ignore the +2s?

Correct.

 

[Mikeside]

970 has 2 6 pin power slots
im dealing with 2 pci cables that are 6 each but with a +2 pin attached.

Just use both 6s and ignore the +2s?

bingo

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

So uh....i think im done?
I mean i dont have alot to hook in since im using no optical,only an ssd for now and stock fan.

Let me post a pic of this fan cables ending.
its just loose and bugging me.
I just gotta ziptie this trainwreck of cables.
avert your eyes gaf

This thing.
Small port plugs into sysfan1 and then the larger end has no port?
Am i going blind here?

 

[bomblord1]

So uh....i think im done?
I mean i dont have alot to hook in since im using no optical,only an ssd for now and stock fan.

Let me post a pic of this fan cables ending.
its just loose and bugging me.
I just gotta ziptie this trainwreck of cables.
avert your eyes gaf

This thing.
Small port plugs into sysfan1 and then the larger end has no port?
Am i going blind here?

Is that a molex? Nothing in your case should connect to a 4 pin molex and you'll have plenty of power supply cables that don't connect to anything in most cases.