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"I Need a New PC!" 2015 Part 2. Read the OP. Rocking 2500K's until HBM2 and beyond.

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holygeesus

Banned
Sorry to bump my own post, but any advice on motherboards to accompany the 6700k?

I've spent a bit of time researching, and it appears that the ASUS Z170 boards are very popular, but I'm having trouble determining which is the sweet spot.

Maybe the Z170-K? I would like more onboard USB 3.0 ports, though...

Any suggestions?

Couldn't be happier with my MSI Z170A GAMING M5
 

mulac

Member
What are the thoughts on the Cosmos2 case from CoolerMaster.

I have a fairly high spec machine but its sitting in an old Corsair case that is literally bulging on every side and the top...so got some spare cash and thinking of just splurging and getting a ridiculous-heavily future proofed FUN case...

Thoughts or alternatives? Reviews look solid and i'm ok with the weight/size...looked at the Corsair 900D but its fairly bland.

https://www.pccasegear.com/products/19128/coolermaster-cosmos-ii-ultra-tower

What are your experiences with this one?
 
I put this together over the weekend. It's a new case, motherboard, water cooler, and power supply. Otherwise the same computer. :p

It has a mini-ITX board, which is a first for me. Water cooling is also a first for me. I'm liking how small and quiet it is!
QGFakSP.jpg


Specs:
  • Intel Core i7-3770
  • Corsair XMS3 8GB DDR3 RAM
  • ASUS ATi HD7850 Graphics Card
  • ASUS P8H610I R2.0 Motherboard
  • Corsair CX430M Power Supply
  • Corsair Hydro Series H50 Watercooler
  • Cooler Master Elite 130 Case
 
What are the thoughts on the Cosmos2 case from CoolerMaster.

I have a fairly high spec machine but its sitting in an old Corsair case that is literally bulging on every side and the top...so got some spare cash and thinking of just splurging and getting a ridiculous-heavily future proofed FUN case...

Thoughts or alternatives? Reviews look solid and i'm ok with the weight/size...looked at the Corsair 900D but its fairly bland.

https://www.pccasegear.com/products/19128/coolermaster-cosmos-ii-ultra-tower

What are your experiences with this one?

Do you really want a 50 lb case? And I'm sure there must be something cooler looking out there. I bet kennah or someone will post up a fancy Caselabs case or something of the sort.

Wasn't there a really wicked looking transparent Lian Li? I'll see if I can find it.

edit: I think it was this one...
http://www.lian-li.com/en/dt_portfolio/pc-o8/
 

mulac

Member
Do you really want a 50 lb case? And I'm sure there must be something cooler looking out there. I bet kennah or someone will post up a fancy Caselabs case or something of the sort.

Wasn't there a really wicked looking transparent Lian Li? I'll see if I can find it.

edit: I think it was this one...

http://www.lian-li.com/en/dt_portfolio/pc-o8/

Thanks - yeah i saw that. TBH the case sits under a desk so i'm looking for something super functional; easy to use; great airflow and enough space for water cooling + future expansions.

Basically the last PC case I ever need to buy...
 
Will you be overclocking? I'd advise against the Asus Hero motherboard. Check out the Newegg user reviews, they indicate some common issues that a fair number of people are having, mainly RAM and system stability.

I'm considering it, although I've never messed around with it. Are you advising against just the Hero, or Asus in general? I had thought Asus was held in pretty high regard.

Thanks for the feedback.
 

RGM79

Member
I'm considering it, although I've never messed around with it. Are you advising against just the Hero, or Asus in general? I had thought Asus was held in pretty high regard.

Thanks for the feedback.

Just that motherboard. As for the brand, I don't want to discount Asus, but I'm not sure why it seems like (on Newegg at least) there's quite a lot of Asus Z170 motherboards that have common complaints about the motherboards having trouble handling higher speed RAM, as well as some issues about the BIOS. Gigabyte and MSI's Z170 models seem to be doing somewhat better with higher average review feedback and fewer complaints in those areas, but still.. When in doubt, don't look at the brand but at the product's own merits instead. Any company is capable of producing good and bad products.

Newegg user reviews aren't the end-all and be-all of product quality, but if a bunch of people are all complaining about the same thing then it makes sense to avoid it, right? There's also Amazon user reviews, but I didn't find a lot of reviews for the Asus Maximus VIII Hero under Amazon, though.
 

axb2013

Member
So, i have an H60 corsair liquid cooling solution and its too noisy! But the problem seems to be the fan rather than the pump. Is this common?

I have the H100, I would replace the stock one with a Noctua 120mm fan, even the round 140mm could possibly be mounted on the H60. If you care about color, the 120mm has a black/orange option. They cost more than other fans but has been worth every penny for me.

Thread title endured slight changes but IMO still rings true. Sandy Bridge made it into 2016, 2500K held up great for 5 years, the i7 pushed to 4GHz should serve well enough even with Pascal and Polaris cards. I can't remember the last time a CPU remained as competitive for as long as 2500K. Intel doing incremental upgrades in absence of AMD's competitive chips has done it's damage so to speak.
 
Just that motherboard. As for the brand, I don't want to discount Asus, but I'm not sure why it seems like (on Newegg at least) there's quite a lot of Asus Z170 motherboards that have common complaints about the motherboards having trouble handling higher speed RAM, as well as some issues about the BIOS. Gigabyte and MSI's Z170 models seem to be doing somewhat better with higher average review feedback and fewer complaints in those areas, but still.. When in doubt, don't look at the brand but at the product's own merits instead. Any company is capable of producing good and bad products.

Newegg user reviews aren't the end-all and be-all of product quality, but if a bunch of people are all complaining about the same thing then it makes sense to avoid it, right? There's also Amazon user reviews, but I didn't find a lot of reviews for the Asus Maximus VIII Hero under Amazon, though.

Yup, what you're saying makes sense. I did see more positive(ish) reviews of the Z170 pro and it looks like it's about $70 cheaper. I might head that route. I have zero experience with MSI and Gigabyte, though I hear great things about MSI video cards. Maybe I'll do some more research there...

Thanks again
 

kennah

Member
Anyone have any suggestions on a good free cd ripper/converter/burner? Doesn't have to do it all but would be nice.

I used to use ez cdda extractor like 10 years ago but I don't want to try drop $40 on something I'll only use very situationally (but a few times a year is likely).
iTunes would actually be decent at that.
Basically the last PC case I ever need to buy...
Expensive, but worth it. Look into Case Labs. They would be the last case you ever need to buy.
 

Manp

Member
just finished with my little upgrade.
went from 2x6970s to 2xR9 290s and upgraded the PSU to an EVGA Supernova P2 1200 with CableMod white sleeved cable kit from a Corsair HX750 with Corsair's own sleeved cables kit.

pretty happy with the result:

V0QCZFu.jpg


we just don't talk about the other side :|

one word about the CableMod kit. these are by far the best sleeved cables i've ever used, they are super soft and easy to work with. by comparison Corsair's own sleeved cables are trash.

:)
 

Terra

Member
What are the thoughts on the Cosmos2 case from CoolerMaster.

I have a fairly high spec machine but its sitting in an old Corsair case that is literally bulging on every side and the top...so got some spare cash and thinking of just splurging and getting a ridiculous-heavily future proofed FUN case...

Thoughts or alternatives? Reviews look solid and i'm ok with the weight/size...looked at the Corsair 900D but its fairly bland.

https://www.pccasegear.com/products/19128/coolermaster-cosmos-ii-ultra-tower

What are your experiences with this one?


Wow...Cosmos was the worst fuckig thing for me,

While it is obviously easy to manouever inside the thing. It's huge, ugly and heavy.

I cannot stress enough how dissatisfied I have been with this monstrosity. People have been wondering what that huge thing in my apartment is...and when moving, it's been one of the heaviest things.

I decided to go for a small, lightweight, budget case and went for Cooler Master Elite 430.
It was a nightmare to fit 2 120-fans, 1 hyper EVO, 1hdd and 2 ssd inside of it. And to top it off, a GTX 980.

The cable management is awful, but I have a sleek, nice and light to carry computer with great specs! :)
 

e90Mark

Member
one word about the CableMod kit. these are by far the best sleeved cables i've ever used, they are super soft and easy to work with. by comparison Corsair's own sleeved cables are trash.

:)

How is the shipping time from CableMod? I have EVGA's individually sleeved cables, but have been pretty interested in a kit from CM.
 

Manp

Member
How is the shipping time from CableMod? I have EVGA's individually sleeved cables, but have been pretty interested in a kit from CM.

no idea, got them from a local shop.
they're really good, you can basically bend them in any shape.

:)
 

Onemic

Member
How much of a big deal is intels nextgen CPU architecture going to be? Is it going to be like pascal where it's better holding off on upgrading until the new hardware hits, or is upgrading to skylake ok? Im trying to get my PC ready for VR.
 
How much of a big deal is intels nextgen CPU architecture going to be? Is it going to be like pascal where it's better holding off on upgrading until the new hardware hits, or is upgrading to skylake ok? Im trying to get my PC ready for VR.

There hasn't been any real advances since Sandy Bridge, and, in all honesty, if AMD doesn't knock it out of the park with Zen and forces Intel's hand, then any high-end processor you've bought in the past 5 years is pretty much the last processor you'll ever need (until it fails).
 

Onemic

Member
There hasn't been any real advances since Sandy Bridge, and, in all honesty, if AMD doesn't knock it out of the park with Zen and forces Intel's hand, then any high-end processor you've bought in the past 5 years is pretty much the last processor you'll ever need (until it fails).

I have an AMD FX8320
 

NIN90

Member
My PC will sometimes stop recognizing my 850 EVO SSD, This will be in the middle of desktop usage, usually a few minutes after booting up. A reboot will usually fix this and it won't happen again until the next boot.
The SSD is about two months old. This behavior started to crop up a few days ago.
I upgraded my PC about a month ago (CPU+Mobo+RAM) so maybe a SATA cable came loose at some point? But why would it start to happen now and why would a reboot fix it?

Any pointers?
 

mulac

Member
Wow...Cosmos was the worst fuckig thing for me,

While it is obviously easy to manouever inside the thing. It's huge, ugly and heavy.

I cannot stress enough how dissatisfied I have been with this monstrosity. People have been wondering what that huge thing in my apartment is...and when moving, it's been one of the heaviest things.

I decided to go for a small, lightweight, budget case and went for Cooler Master Elite 430.
It was a nightmare to fit 2 120-fans, 1 hyper EVO, 1hdd and 2 ssd inside of it. And to top it off, a GTX 980.

The cable management is awful, but I have a sleek, nice and light to carry computer with great specs! :)

This. Agreed. I've spent the last 24hrs reading and watching everything I can on it and its not worth it.

Pulled the trigger on the InWin909 this morning! Looking forward to dismantling my mid tower and trying this sexy beast...

https://www.pccasegear.com/products/33773/in-win-909-aluminium-full-tower-case-black
 
Everything's still apparently going well as far as I know, fans seem fine, it's cool inside the unit, and games look and run fantastic. Also really dig the Node 304 case a lot.

Thanks to everyone who helped me choose parts and put this together. So cool finally having a proper gaming PC.
 

knitoe

Member
My PC will sometimes stop recognizing my 850 EVO SSD, This will be in the middle of desktop usage, usually a few minutes after booting up. A reboot will usually fix this and it won't happen again until the next boot.
The SSD is about two months old. This behavior started to crop up a few days ago.
I upgraded my PC about a month ago (CPU+Mobo+RAM) so maybe a SATA cable came loose at some point? But why would it start to happen now and why would a reboot fix it?

Any pointers?

First, use a different sata port. Second, try a different sata cable. Lastly, look and see if there's a firmware update.
 
How do I cut out the mesh grates over them on the front and back? With a dremel? Should I take all the components out? I bet so.

What is a reliable fan speed controller? I'll take PCI slot or front 3.5 bay.
 
So I am going to be upgrading my PC, there is no way I can afford to build a whole new PC to transition from AMD to Intel, so I have to work with what I have.

I have right now:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE standard clock
Radeon HD 6870 1GB Standard clock
8gb DDR3 1600 Ram
Corsair 600W PSU

I am looking to get:

AMD FX-8350 BE
Radeon R9 380 4GB
Corsair 850W Modular PSU

Thoughts? Could I get away with a cheaper and smaller wattage PSU?

Goals:
Play Dragon Age Inquisition, Star Wars Battlefront, Fallout 4, and Civ 6 (whenever that is) at 1600x900 at solid 60fps at highest settings possible.



Links
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113284
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202166
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139141
 

e90Mark

Member
Micro Center has the Acer XB240H right now for $300. Pretty cheap for a G-Sync monitor. I'm interested myself, but I already have an XL2411z and I think I'm going to wait for those 21:9 144hz monitors to hit the shelves.
 
So I am going to be upgrading my PC, there is no way I can afford to build a whole new PC to transition from AMD to Intel, so I have to work with what I have.

I have right now:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE standard clock
Radeon HD 6870 1GB Standard clock
8gb DDR3 1600 Ram
Corsair 600W PSU

I am looking to get:

AMD FX-8350 BE
Radeon R9 380 4GB
Corsair 850W Modular PSU

Thoughts? Could I get away with a cheaper and smaller wattage PSU?

Goals:
Play Dragon Age Inquisition, Star Wars Battlefront, Fallout 4, and Civ 6 (whenever that is) at 1600x900 at solid 60fps at highest settings possible.



Links
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113284
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202166
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139141
Instead of the AMD chip and new PSU you could just reuse your old PSU and get a Haswell CPU and motherboard for the same price. Way better for games.
 
Any specific CPU and mobo in mind?

Depending on your budget I would be looking at the i5-4460/4590 (or 4690k if you can find a deal around, but that's pushing it a bit relative to the prices you listed before). Not sure about motherboard.

In fact, what's your total budget for your upgrade? CPU/mobo/GPU.
 
Depending on your budget I would be looking at the i5-4460/4590 (or 4690k if you can find a deal around, but that's pushing it a bit relative to the prices you listed before). Not sure about motherboard.

In fact, what's your total budget for your upgrade? CPU/mobo/GPU.
$500. With the PSU I was pushing it close there.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
CPU-Z says my ram is running at 666.3mhz (so doubling that, 1333mhz). The RAM is DDR3-2133. I can obviously fix this by rebooting and specifying the memory frequency, but is there a reason this wasn't properly detected automatically?
 

e90Mark

Member
CPU-Z says my ram is running at 666.3mhz (so doubling that, 1333mhz). The RAM is DDR3-2133. I can obviously fix this by rebooting and specifying the memory frequency, but is there a reason this wasn't properly detected automatically?

XMP has to be enabled manually.
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
CPU-Z says my ram is running at 666.3mhz (so doubling that, 1333mhz). The RAM is DDR3-2133. I can obviously fix this by rebooting and specifying the memory frequency, but is there a reason this wasn't properly detected automatically?
So your computer boots first. You can select the XMP setting in BIOS or enter it manually.
 
Expensive, but it works. I know you said you'll buy the graphics card later, but I'll just say that $650 for that EVGA Superclocked+ model isn't great when the faster EVGA FTW+ is $640 at Amazon. No idea when you're buying.

RGM79 thanks for your help!!

I ended up getting a larger build, using a Maximus VIII Hero motherboard, a Noctua NH-D15S heatsink, and a Desire R5 case, which I love. Screw mATX and ITX.

The integrated GPU in the 6700K, the HD 530, is a piece of shit though. I can't even get 30 FPS out of Sam & Max at 1080p.

I'm thinking of getting a GPU ASAP, so I've been looking into getting a dirt cheap GPU until Pascal comes out (<$100). But, it may be a long wait so I'll probably just get the FTW this week. Is there anything better than that at the price range. The Classified is $10 more bucks but it's probably not worth it.

Will you be overclocking? I'd advise against the Asus Hero motherboard. Check out the Newegg user reviews, they indicate some common issues that a fair number of people are having, mainly RAM and system stability.

Well, fuck!
 

Dmax3901

Member
just finished with my little upgrade.
went from 2x6970s to 2xR9 290s and upgraded the PSU to an EVGA Supernova P2 1200 with CableMod white sleeved cable kit from a Corsair HX750 with Corsair's own sleeved cables kit.

pretty happy with the result:

V0QCZFu.jpg


we just don't talk about the other side :|

one word about the CableMod kit. these are by far the best sleeved cables i've ever used, they are super soft and easy to work with. by comparison Corsair's own sleeved cables are trash.

:)

Those two R90s must be louder than standing under a waterfall.
 
Newegg sent me an email saying Save on Intel 6th Gen Core. I guess this meant they were in stock so I clicked through and had a look.

Core i7-6700K - $381

I chortled and closed the link. The pricing on Skylake is still this absurd so long after launch? Just how low is the yield on these things anyways?

Out of curiosity I checked and Core i7-5820K is $390. Yeah, okay. I just don't know sometimes Intel.
 
Ugh, front panel audio on the Maximus VIII Hero has some weird faint electrical noise, and the headphone impedance detection thinks everything I plug into has 832 ohm.
 

DiscoDave

Member
Does anyone one know if a 80 plus standard rate 600watt psu with 504 watt in 12th rails and 4x18amps be enough for a r9 390 and I 2500k. Also would a zotac 390 fit in a in inwin buc 101 case with p8z68-v lx motherboard as I have seen it takes up 3 slots.
 
Use back + extension, front almost always sucks.

I'm pissy that the amp was supposed to adapt to the impedance of the plugged in headphones, but it doesn't work so it defaults to max amplification which can damage all my phones as they are all low impedance.

I'm sending this back for a refund.
 

RGM79

Member
I'm pissy that the amp was supposed to adapt to the impedance of the plugged in headphones, but it doesn't work so it defaults to max amplification which can damage all my phones as they are all low impedance.

I'm sending this back for a refund.
This is totally anecdotal and incidental, but it just strengthens how much I don't want to recommend Asus for Z170 motherboards.. for ATX size, anyway. Maybe their more expensive models are better, but I almost never recommend a motherboard over $200 USD in the vast majority of parts list recommendations that I do. At least the Asus Maximus VIII Gene motherboard you originally picked out had generally higher review scores.

Does anyone one know if a 80 plus standard rate 600watt psu with 504 watt in 12th rails and 4x18amps be enough for a r9 390 and I 2500k. Also would a zotac 390 fit in a in inwin buc 101 case with p8z68-v lx motherboard as I have seen it takes up 3 slots.

Are you overclocking? What brand and model of power supply is that you're referring to? Well, 500 watts is a bit low but should be enough if you're not overclocking.

The official product page for the Inwin BUC 101 says it can accommodate graphics cards up to 300mm in length. Uh... Zotac doesn't manufacture any AMD graphics cards. I don't know what card you're referring to when you say "zotac 390".
 
This is totally anecdotal and incidental, but it just strengthens how much I don't want to recommend Asus for Z170 motherboards.. for ATX size, anyway. Maybe their more expensive models are better, but I almost never recommend a motherboard over $200 USD in the vast majority of parts list recommendations that I do. At least the Asus Maximus VIII Gene motherboard you originally picked out had generally higher review scores.

I blindly picked the Hero because it looked like a Gene with a larger form factor.

Lesson learned :(
 

DiscoDave

Member
This is totally anecdotal and incidental, but it just strengthens how much I don't want to recommend Asus for Z170 motherboards.. for ATX size, anyway. Maybe their more expensive models are better, but I almost never recommend a motherboard over $200 USD in the vast majority of parts list recommendations that I do. At least the Asus Maximus VIII Gene motherboard you originally picked out had generally higher review scores.



Are you overclocking? What brand and model of power supply is that you're referring to? Well, 500 watts is a bit low but should be enough if you're not overclocking.

The official product page for the Inwin BUC 101 says it can accommodate graphics cards up to 300mm in length. Uh... Zotac doesn't manufacture any AMD graphics cards. I don't know what card you're referring to when you say "zotac 390".

Sorry I've been looking at that many and gtx 970s I got confused I meant the powercolor r9 390. Was wondering if that case and mobo would fit it. The PSU is a fsp 600 80epn it has a simple 80 plus rating. No over clocks I plan on swapping out the PSU, ram and overclock it in a couple of months.
 
Everything's still apparently going well as far as I know, fans seem fine, it's cool inside the unit, and games look and run fantastic. Also really dig the Node 304 case a lot.

Thanks to everyone who helped me choose parts and put this together. So cool finally having a proper gaming PC.

We did it!
The scrubs triumphed!
 

RGM79

Member
Sorry I've been looking at that many and gtx 970s I got confused I meant the powercolor r9 390. Was wondering if that case and mobo would fit it. The PSU is a fsp 600 80epn it has a simple 80 plus rating. No over clocks I plan on swapping out the PSU, ram and overclock it in a couple of months.

Oh, you asked us a similar question around two weeks ago. The answer is still the same. Your power supply will be fine for now as long as you're not overclocking.

I think you're talking about this Powercolor R9 390, it measures 305mm long so it's a bit too large for that case.

Hey guys, here's my current build.

I'd like to upgrade to an i7-6700K, but my poor old motherboard just wouldn't be able to handle it. Any suggestions? The cheaper, the better.

What are you doing on your PC that you want to get an i7 6700K? You could get the i7 4790K (as low as $300) for cheaper and it would perform fairly similarly to the i7 6700K. You would be able to reuse your existing RAM and motherboard with it as well.

An even cheaper solution would be the Xeon E3 1231v3 ($245 at the lowest). It's similar to an i7 processor it that it's also a quad core model with hyperthreading, but it does have a lower clock speed of 3.4GHz to 3.8GHz.
 
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