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[finalflame]

Can someone recommend a good system builder? I was thinking about origin pc but I found some online reviews from people who said they are not that good...

Build it yourself. People in this thread (myself included) will be more than happy to help you out, and it's super easy.

 

[jtb]

Can you install Windows 10 off an image with a Windows 7 key?

 

[H4r4kiri]

hey guys,
Would you recommend upgrading from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10?

 

[finalflame]

hey guys,
Would you recommend upgrading from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10?

You will inevitably have to, so the question really is whether you want to do it now or later.

 

[joecanada]

Build it yourself. People in this thread (myself included) will be more than happy to help you out, and it's super easy.

I concur, people here are awesome. However you could also consider buying a pc, then swapping out some parts. From my research I found that the markup was pretty low on some good sale units. I just bought one off of newegg that I liked the CPU, mobo, and PSU, case, win 10, hdd.....
.... then the RAM was crappy , swapped that out, and the GPU sucks so I will be swapping that out.

As long as you are aware that the store will always advertise the best features only lol, like they may say

i5 inside !! , 12 G RAM!!!!!!! , monster gaming performance smoothy super awesome machine !!! .... then you do more research and find out it of course has like a 50$ GPU in it (mine had a GTX 720 p.o.s) .........

but like I said as long as you know what you are looking for, and looking at, you can come out pretty good. look at my post history and you can see the machine I bought... now doing some upgrades to the weak points.

 

[Gen.Grievous]

Can you install Windows 10 off an image with a Windows 7 key?

If you use a build newer than November 2015 yes. Retail key?

 

[jtb]

If you use a build newer than November 2015 yes. Retail key?

I think so. Got it through my university.

 

[tiijj]

What are your PC's specs? Planning some upgrades? What are you getting and how much do the parts cost, and what country are you in? Maybe we can figure out the best bang for your buck.

I'm actually doing 1 build and 1 upgrade/repair. The build is for my friend who wants to play gta v (and future gta games or anything similar to that), he hasn't given me any specific budget so I'm making a few variations, I still need to verify the budget and the stuff that he wants to use it for.

The upgrade/repair is for my current pc. I currently have a gigabyte 6870 and it has been good to me, it does my triple monitor and I usually just play guildwars2. The problem I had with it is one of the fans fell down so I'm running it with 2 fans and so far it's hanging there for now I guess, until the weather warms up.

So far these are the ones that I'm looking at for the upgrade/repair.

XFX Radeon R9 380 = $220 (240-20rebate)
EVGA GeForce GTX 960 = $240 (270-30rebate)
GTX950 = ~$200-220
MSI Radeon R7 370 (4GB) = $180 (190-10rebate)

 

[Crisium]

I'm actually doing 1 build and 1 upgrade/repair. The build is for my friend who wants to play gta v (and future gta games or anything similar to that), he hasn't given me any specific budget so I'm making a few variations, I still need to verify the budget and the stuff that he wants to use it for.

The upgrade/repair is for my current pc. I currently have a gigabyte 6870 and it has been good to me, it does my triple monitor and I usually just play guildwars2. The problem I had with it is one of the fans fell down so I'm running it with 2 fans and so far it's hanging there for now I guess, until the weather warms up.

So far these are the ones that I'm looking at for the upgrade/repair.

XFX Radeon R9 380 = $220 (240-20rebate)
EVGA GeForce GTX 960 = $240 (270-30rebate)
GTX950 = ~$200-220
MSI Radeon R7 370 (4GB) = $180 (190-10rebate)

380 make the most sense at those prices. 380 and 960 are about equal in GTA5 performance, so considering its cheaper and on average is just slightly faster in other games it seems best.

 

[Flaxh]

Intel's cracking down on it and getting motherboard manufacturers to remove support for it, it seems. So long as he doesn't mind paying for it, I'd recommend the i5 6600K rather than the 6500 especially if he -might- overclock a few years down the line and not right away.



Here you go. The item names and numbers are visible in the picture.

Thanks for all the help once again! He ordered the parts today

 

[RGM79]

Can you install Windows 10 off an image with a Windows 7 key?

If the Windows 10 image you have is new enough, yes. Any new Windows 10 installers created now will support it. See here for more information under "Activating Windows 10 (Version 1511 or higher) using a Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1 product key".

I'm actually doing 1 build and 1 upgrade/repair. The build is for my friend who wants to play gta v (and future gta games or anything similar to that), he hasn't given me any specific budget so I'm making a few variations, I still need to verify the budget and the stuff that he wants to use it for.

The upgrade/repair is for my current pc. I currently have a gigabyte 6870 and it has been good to me, it does my triple monitor and I usually just play guildwars2. The problem I had with it is one of the fans fell down so I'm running it with 2 fans and so far it's hanging there for now I guess, until the weather warms up.

So far these are the ones that I'm looking at for the upgrade/repair.

XFX Radeon R9 380 = $220 (240-20rebate)
EVGA GeForce GTX 960 = $240 (270-30rebate)
GTX950 = ~$200-220
MSI Radeon R7 370 (4GB) = $180 (190-10rebate)

Those prices aren't USD, are they? Are you in Canada, Australia, or perhaps New Zealand?

Thanks for all the help once again! He ordered the parts today

No problem. If he has any issues or questions during building it, feel free to ask here.

 

[Foxtastical]

Quick question! Rocking an i5 760 with a 760, is it worth upgrading the video card to buy me some more time? Or will the CPU just bottleneck the shit out of it?

 

[FreddieQuell]

Stupid question I know, but what do I need to do to change CPUs? Do I just take the old one out, plop in the new one and restart? Do I need to do any other configuring?

 

[RGM79]

Quick question! Rocking an i5 760 with a 760, is it worth upgrading the video card to buy me some more time? Or will the CPU just bottleneck the shit out of it?

Depends on what games you're playing and what settings you want to play at. The i5 760 is okay, it has acceptable performance but you could definitely overclock it or upgrade from it and see a strong improvement.

Stupid question I know, but what do I need to do to change CPUs? Do I just take the old one out, plop in the new one and restart? Do I need to do any other configuring?

No configuring is needed. The motherboard will detect it and work automatically. You do need to have some thermal paste, though. It's what goes in between the CPU cooler and the surface of the CPU itself. You'll need to clean off the old paste when you remove the current CPU and then apply new paste when you put in the new CPU.

 

[Foxtastical]

Depends on what games you're playing and what settings you want to play at. The i5 760 is okay, it has acceptable performance but you could definitely overclock it or upgrade from it and see a strong improvement.



No configuring is needed. The motherboard will detect it and work automatically. You do need to have some thermal paste, though. It's what goes in between the CPU cooler and the surface of the CPU itself.

At this point, 1080p is good enough for me. And I usually aim to get most settings to high/ultra, but I obviously had to go down a bit for The Division.

I'm always scared to overclock a bit, haha.

 

[FreddieQuell]

Depends on what games you're playing and what settings you want to play at. The i5 760 is okay, it has acceptable performance but you could definitely overclock it or upgrade from it and see a strong improvement.



No configuring is needed. The motherboard will detect it and work automatically. You do need to have some thermal paste, though. It's what goes in between the CPU cooler and the surface of the CPU itself. You'll need to clean off the old paste when you remove the current CPU and then apply new paste when you put in the new CPU.

Thanks, got the paste so I guess I'm good to go.

Hooray, got the new processor in without breaking anything. Also figured out why my second hard drive wasn't showing up. Didn't realise you had to manually format it to see it in windows explorer.

 

[RGM79]

At this point, 1080p is good enough for. And I usually aim to get most settings to high/ultra, but I obviously had to go down a bit for The Division.

I'm always scared to overclock a bit, haha.

Going from what I've seen, your current processor should be good enough to hit 60FPS in The Division, as long as the graphics card is also capable of it and not bottlenecking the performance. Your GTX 760 definitely can't handle high and ultra settings, though.

What are your system specs? How much would you want to spend on upgrades? A decent new processor would be in the $200~250 range, but you would also need to buy a new motherboard ($50~100 minimum) and perhaps new RAM (cost depends on how much you want). On the other hand, you could spend just $200~300 and get a good boost to performance.

 

[tiijj]

380 make the most sense at those prices. 380 and 960 are about equal in GTA5 performance, so considering its cheaper and on average is just slightly faster in other games it seems best.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Those prices aren't USD, are they? Are you in Canada, Australia, or perhaps New Zealand?

CAD, I'm in Canada.

 

[InfernoNR]

Anyone ever run into the nvidia "Nvidia kernel driver crashed and has recovered" issue? 25 percent of the time I tab into chrome my video driver crashes displaying that message. My video card is then seemingly set into safe mode as it won't go above 400mhz and my performance dropped like a rock. Anyone know a fix for this? Or does anyone know how to remove the video card from safe mode, or whatever it is?

I'm running on:
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3rMXD3
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3rMXD3/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($244.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($25.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($131.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0 Video Card ($334.98 @ Directron)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Cooler Master VSM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1169.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-10 19:05 EST-0500

 

[RGM79]

Anyone ever run into the nvidia "Nvidia kernel driver crashed and has recovered" issue? 25 percent of the time I tab into chrome my video driver crashes displaying that message. My video card is then seemingly set into safe mode as it won't go above 400mhz and my performance dropped like a rock. Anyone know a fix for this? Or does anyone know how to remove the video card from safe mode, or whatever it is?

I'm running on:
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3rMXD3
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3rMXD3/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($244.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($25.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($131.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0 Video Card ($334.98 @ Directron)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Cooler Master VSM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1169.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-10 19:05 EST-0500

What driver version are you running? The latest Nvidia drivers have bugs and will even cause Windows 10 installations running dual monitors to not boot.

Thanks for the suggestion.

CAD, I'm in Canada.

Oh, I'm Canadian as well. Where are you seeing those prices? Everywhere I look, it's a bit higher than that.

 

[tiijj]

Oh, I'm Canadian as well. Where are you seeing those prices? Everywhere I look, it's a bit higher than that.

I use pricefinder.ca to check multiple online stores.

So if you search the R9 380, it shows NCIX at $220 which includes the $20 rebate, so it's $240 - $20 rebate.

 

[GodlyTwins]

Don't know if this is the right place to ask, but can someone help me with choosing a GPU? Deciding on whether I should get a 390x or gtx 970 for my 6700k.

I just want to be able to play 1080p (or console resolutions if needed for better performance) 60fps on most current games on high or ultra settings. If neither can achieve that, recommend me something.

 

[InfernoNR]

What driver version are you running? The latest Nvidia drivers have bugs and will even cause Windows 10 installations running dual monitors to not boot.



Oh, I'm Canadian as well. Where are you seeing those prices? Everywhere I look, it's a bit higher than that.

Currently on the latest drivers. Tried a bunch of previous drivers and a clean install to no avail.

 

[Anastasis]

With all this talk about the 950, Newegg has the EVGA SC+ for $120 after rebate. I like to keep my upgrades under $150 and I currently have a 650 ti boost. Would the 950 be a solid upgrade or should I wait for the new stuff about to drop? I'd like to play in 1440p if at all possible (Street Fighter V, Dark Souls III). Thanks!

 

[RGM79]

With all this talk about the 950, Newegg has the EVGA SC+ for $120 after rebate. I like to keep my upgrades under $150 and I currently have a 650 ti boost. Would the 950 be a solid upgrade or should I wait for the new stuff about to drop? I'd like to play in 1440p if at all possible (Street Fighter V, Dark Souls III). Thanks!

You'll see a definite improvement in performance but the GTX 950 is still more of a "latest games on 1080p at medium settings" graphics card. If you want to play games at 1440p, you'd have to spend at least $300 on a GTX 970 or R9 390 for something that can handle higher framerate and/or settings at 1440p.

Don't know if this is the right place to ask, but can someone help me with choosing a GPU? Deciding on whether I should get a 390x or gtx 970 for my 6700k.

I just want to be able to play 1080p (or console resolutions if needed for better performance) 60fps on most current games on high or ultra settings. If neither can achieve that, recommend me something.

The R9 390X should cost a lot more than a GTX 970, and perform better. Both models are good for 1080p gaming at higher settings and a decently high framerate. Specific performance will depend on what games you play at what setting. What country are you in? What's your budget?

I use pricefinder.ca to check multiple online stores.

So if you search the R9 380, it shows NCIX at $220 which includes the $20 rebate, so it's $240 - $20 rebate.

Oh, it didn't show up on PCPartPicker. I forget that it can take a while for it to be updated with the latest prices.

 

[Crisium]

With all this talk about the 950, Newegg has the EVGA SC+ for $120 after rebate. I like to keep my upgrades under $150 and I currently have a 650 ti boost. Would the 950 be a solid upgrade or should I wait for the new stuff about to drop? I'd like to play in 1440p if at all possible (Street Fighter V, Dark Souls III). Thanks!

A GTX 950 at 1440p will require a lot of sacrifice in settings, as RGM79 said you generally want at least a Radeon 390 or GTX 970 for that resolution. But any game should definitely be playable at 1440p if you lower enough settings but be prepared to do so.

It's hard to find comparsons to the 650 Ti Boost. But Guru3D had 650 Ti Boost scores in a couple of their games from their 950 review:
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/asus_geforce_gtx_950_strix_review,17.html
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/asus_geforce_gtx_950_strix_review,16.html

37-42% improvement with a stock 950, and a factory OC showing 44%-52%. Likely more than this in many newer games that are more optimized for Maxwell over Kepler.

 

[Anastasis]

You'll see a definite improvement in performance but the GTX 950 is still more of a "latest games on 1080p at medium settings" graphics card. If you want to play games at 1440p, you'd have to spend at least $300 on a GTX 970 or R9 390 for something that can handle higher framerate and/or settings at 1440p.

A GTX 950 at 1440p will require a lot of sacrifice in settings, as RGM79 said you generally want at least a Radeon 390 or GTX 970 for that resolution. But any game should definitely be playable at 1440p if you lower enough settings but be prepared to do so.

It's hard to find comparsons to the 650 Ti Boost. But Guru3D had 650 Ti Boost scores in a couple of their games from their 950 review:
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/asus_geforce_gtx_950_strix_review,17.html
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/asus_geforce_gtx_950_strix_review,17.html

37-42% improvement with a stock 950, and a factory OC showing 44%-52%. Likely more than this in many newer games that are more optimized for Maxwell over Kepler.

Thank you both!

 

[boredandlazy]

OK, random question regarding CPU fan cooling.
I have a Coolermaster TX3 aftermarker cooler on my Core i7 6700 CPU, and I just replaced the stock fan that came with it with 2x Noctua NF-A9x14 fans (Push-pulling the air through the heatsink).
Problem is that the CPU seems to be running a few degrees hotter doing video encoding than it did before, but the fans are running slower. The fans are rated for running at 2200rpm but they're sitting at about 1850rpm, whilst the old stock fan always maxed itself out at 2200rpm.
Now the temps are not really a worry(yet) since they're currently hitting 60c max at load, but I'm just wondering why the fans aren't cranking at full speed like the old one?

Edit: Oh, and since I'm using a splitter on the PWM cable I left the plug that carries the sensor information on the intake fan for the CPU(one of the PWM plugs on the splitter has a pin missing as expected).

Double Edit: And I just noticed that inside the Corsair link software the maximum reported speed for the fan is 1880rpm rather than 2200... I wonder why.

 

[Echoplx]

Hey so I just installed the latest Nvidia driver ( 364.61) but the control panel, dxdiag and nvidia inspector are all saying version 358.91 is installed, even though the last driver I had installed was version 362.

The Nvidia installer says version 364.51 is currently installed but everything else tells me it isn't.

Anyone know what's going on?

EDIT: Okay i installed it again, this time it asked me to restart during the installation and now it's working fine with the latest driver installed. No idea how it installed that random driver in the first place, really confused.

 

[TeaFan]

I need a bit of advice. I'm thinking of investing in a new monitor and going up to 1440p. I have a single 980, what kind of performance should I expect i.e will I have to turn lots of settings down or should I stick to a 1080 monitor?

 

[lem0n]

I want to get an ultrawide monitor. My rig is running a GTX 970. Will I be able to take advantage of the monitor and still nearly max games out at 60fps? Or will I need to upgrade my GPU. I've got DiRT Rally, Skyrim, and GTA V in mind as my usual suspects.

Edit: seems I'm not the only one with a question like that tonight! Haha! ^

 

[Kudo]

I need a bit of advice. I'm thinking of investing in a new monitor and going up to 1440p. I have a single 980, what kind of performance should I expect i.e will I have to turn lots of settings down or should I stick to a 1080 monitor?

I'm running 1440p with single GTX 780 just fine, there's some games every now and then that won't run satisfactory and I have to turn down the resolution to 1080p to achieve 60fps, but usually I can play with native resolution on Med-High settings, really depends on the game a lot. For example The Division and Xcom 2 didn't run 60fps even on the lowest settings, but MGSV and Fallout 4(most locations) I was able to get 1440p60 with some tweaks to High settings. Your card has lot more juice so go for it.
If you're going from 1080p TN-panel to 1440p IPS, definitely recommended and your eyes will thank you too.

I want to get an ultrawide monitor. My rig is running a GTX 970. Will I be able to take advantage of the monitor and still nearly max games out at 60fps? Or will I need to upgrade my GPU. I've got DiRT Rally, Skyrim, and GTA V in mind as my usual suspects.

Edit: seems I'm not the only one with a question like that tonight! Haha! ^

For 2560x1080 single GTX 970 should be fine for most cases with some tweaks, 3440x1440 I'd probably get another for SLI or 980TI if you want to run games with High settings.

 

[lem0n]

I'm running 1440p with single GTX 780 just fine, there's some games every now and then that won't run satisfactory and I have to turn down the resolution to 1080p to achieve 60fps, but usually I can play with native resolution on Med-High settings, really depends on the game a lot. For example The Division and Xcom 2 didn't run 60fps even on the lowest settings, but MGSV and Fallout 4(most locations) I was able to get 1440p60 with some tweaks to High settings. Your card has lot more juice so go for it.
If you're going from 1080p TN-panel to 1440p IPS, definitely recommended and your eyes will thank you too.



For 2560x1080 single GTX 970 should be fine for most cases with some tweaks, 3440x1440 I'd probably get another for SLI or 980TI if you want to run games with High settings.

Good to know, thank you. I had the Predator in mind, just because of how awesome it is. But I'm not sure I can stomach a rent payment for a computer monitor. What is the best, reasonably priced ultrawide out right now? Still that LG that Linus on youtube likes so much? I forget the name of it.

 

[Kudo]

Good to know, thank you. I had the Predator in mind, just because of how awesome it is. But I'm not sure I can stomach a rent payment for a computer monitor. What is the best, reasonably priced ultrawide out right now? Still that LG that Linus on youtube likes so much? I forget the name of it.

Depends on your priorities to be honest. Linus likes the LG 34UC98 (Or the earlier model) and I think it looks like a great monitor too but seems tad bit overpriced for just 60hz IPS.
If you want ultrawide gaming monitor I think they're mostly comparable to each other currently, so can't go too wrong with anything, just check user reviews and make sure it has all the features you want.
Don't have any first hand recommendations to make as I've only dreamed of owning one, hopefully you can pick the right one!

 

[Dascu]

Nvidia's Pascal and AMD's Polaris are two new graphics card product lines coming this year, but I think the chances of them launching the mid to high end cards before the summer are slim. Intel's Kaby Lake line of processors are also sorta similarly far away, at best it'll be sometime in the second half of this year.

What country are you in? Do you have any retailers you prefer to order from?

I'm in Belgium. Last time I ordered PC parts (a few years ago), I used www.komplett.be. So I think that, plus European Amazon (DE, FR, UK) will be the options I'm looking at.

 

[mrklaw]

I want to get an ultrawide monitor. My rig is running a GTX 970. Will I be able to take advantage of the monitor and still nearly max games out at 60fps? Or will I need to upgrade my GPU. I've got DiRT Rally, Skyrim, and GTA V in mind as my usual suspects.

Edit: seems I'm not the only one with a question like that tonight! Haha! ^

You'd need to upgrade to keep max settings. Unless uou got a 2560x1080 then you might be ok. I run a 3440x1440 with a 970 and I have to turn settings down. But I'm fine with that. For some games I'm even fine with - shudder - 30fps

Waiting on a 1080ti or equivalent before upgrading. Could be waiting another 12 months but that's ok


I went for the aoc 34" as it had more adjustability options (height adjustable being the most important). You can even rotate into portrait mode!

 

[LilJoka]

OK, random question regarding CPU fan cooling.
I have a Coolermaster TX3 aftermarker cooler on my Core i7 6700 CPU, and I just replaced the stock fan that came with it with 2x Noctua NF-A9x14 fans (Push-pulling the air through the heatsink).
Problem is that the CPU seems to be running a few degrees hotter doing video encoding than it did before, but the fans are running slower. The fans are rated for running at 2200rpm but they're sitting at about 1850rpm, whilst the old stock fan always maxed itself out at 2200rpm.
Now the temps are not really a worry(yet) since they're currently hitting 60c max at load, but I'm just wondering why the fans aren't cranking at full speed like the old one?

Edit: Oh, and since I'm using a splitter on the PWM cable I left the plug that carries the sensor information on the intake fan for the CPU(one of the PWM plugs on the splitter has a pin missing as expected).

Double Edit: And I just noticed that inside the Corsair link software the maximum reported speed for the fan is 1880rpm rather than 2200... I wonder why.

Firstly I'm wondering why you don't just let the CPU run hotter so that the fans aren't screaming loud?

Fan speeds can be over rated. Possibly due to the push pull itself it could cause airflow restrictions.

I'm also wondering why a new Heatsink wasn't bought instead of noctua fans. Doesn't seem very cost effective.

Have the ambient temperatures changed?

 

[boredandlazy]

Firstly I'm wondering why you don't just let the CPU run hotter so that the fans aren't screaming loud?

Fan speeds can be over rated. Possibly due to the push pull itself it could cause airflow restrictions.

I'm also wondering why a new Heatsink wasn't bought instead of noctua fans. Doesn't seem very cost effective.

Have the ambient temperatures changed?

The Noctua fans aren't loud, that's why I bought them.
I did buy a new heatsink as the first port of call, and that did exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately the fan that came with the new heatsink made an audible high pitched noise when running at full speed hence why I thought to the replace the CPU cooler fan with Noctua silent ones.
But now that I've installed the fans they're running a lot slower than what they're rated for, and I don't know why.
The ambient temperature isn't the problem either. I checked the temperatures at load before installation and after and it's definitely running warmer. And the lower fanspeed is just the more obvious thing that stood out.

 

[LilJoka]

The Noctua fans aren't loud, that's why I bought them.
I did buy a new heatsink as the first port of call, and that did exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately the fan that came with the new heatsink made an audible high pitched noise when running at full speed hence why I thought to the replace the CPU cooler fan with Noctua silent ones.
But now that I've installed the fans they're running a lot slower than what they're rated for, and I don't know why.
The ambient temperature isn't the problem either. I checked the temperatures at load before installation and after and it's definitely running warmer. And the lower fanspeed is just the more obvious thing that stood out.

Test the fan speed without the fan mounted on the Heatsink, such that it is unobstructed in both directions.

What about the rest of the setup, what case and what fans, in what config?

I don't know the specs off the top of my head, but if the CM fan has more static pressure than the Noctua's then it may perform better. I would also test without the Pull fan.

Even 1 degree hotter ambient will cause a couple of degrees extra load temp. Personally I think you just have maxed out the amount of heat you can extract from that Heatsink.

2200rpm is ridiculous by the way, no matter the fan, it's loud. Quiet is 1000rpm, silent is below 700rpm.

 

[boredandlazy]

Test the fan speed without the fan mounted on the Heatsink, such that it is unobstructed in both directions.

What about the rest of the setup, what case and what fans, in what config?

I don't know the specs off the top of my head, but if the CM fan has more static pressure than the Noctua's then it may perform better. I would also test without the Pull fan.

Even 1 degree hotter ambient will cause a couple of degrees extra load temp. Personally I think you just have maxed out the amount of heat you can extract from that Heatsink.

2200rpm is ridiculous by the way, no matter the fan, it's loud. Quiet is 1000rpm, silent is below 700rpm.

OK, I've done some testing and it seems to be that it's just that the PWM on the Noctua fans is actually working properly.
I went into the BIOS and set the fans to run at maximum all the time and now they run at 2200. I was thrown off because the old fan ran at 2200 regardless.
I don't plan on keeping them at that speed but I'll monitor the temps for a little just to see if I notice anything out of the ordinary.
I do think you're onto something regarding potentially removing the 'pull' fan though. The two exhaust fans on the case are probably only 15cm from the back of the heatsink, so having the pull fanbetween them might actually make things worse for airflow.

 

[LilJoka]

OK, I've done some testing and it seems to be that it's just that the PWM on the Noctua fans is actually working properly.
I went into the BIOS and set the fans to run at maximum all the time and now they run at 2200. I was thrown off because the old fan ran at 2200 regardless.
I don't plan on keeping them at that speed but I'll monitor the temps for a little just to see if I notice anything out of the ordinary.
I do think you're onto something regarding potentially removing the 'pull' fan though. The two exhaust fans on the case are probably only 15cm from the back of the heatsink, so having the pull fanbetween them might actually make things worse for airflow.

May not make it worse, but if it's not making it better what's the point? In my testing the pull fan made hardly any difference, you always get twice the noise though.

 

[boredandlazy]

May not make it worse, but if it's not making it better what's the point? In my testing the pull fan made hardly any difference, you always get twice the noise though.

Thanks for the tips. I appreciate it.

One thing though, temps of 60-65 whilst under load are well within the realms of safety for an i7 6700 CPU? What are temps I should be worried about?

 

[TeaFan]

I'm running 1440p with single GTX 780 just fine, there's some games every now and then that won't run satisfactory and I have to turn down the resolution to 1080p to achieve 60fps, but usually I can play with native resolution on Med-High settings, really depends on the game a lot. For example The Division and Xcom 2 didn't run 60fps even on the lowest settings, but MGSV and Fallout 4(most locations) I was able to get 1440p60 with some tweaks to High settings. Your card has lot more juice so go for it.
If you're going from 1080p TN-panel to 1440p IPS, definitely recommended and your eyes will thank you too.

Thanks ill invest then was looking at the 27" Asus PG278Q ROG Swift

 

[LilJoka]

Thanks for the tips. I appreciate it.

One thing though, temps of 60-65 whilst under load are well within the realms of safety for an i7 6700 CPU? What are temps I should be worried about?

80c+ is when you need to worry.

 

[boredandlazy]

80c+ is when you need to worry.

So I've set my motherboard back to default fan settings and removed the 'pull' fan. Seems to be running about the same temps.
So my determination is that it's running a little warmer than before because with the Noctua fan the system is actually doing what it's supposed to and slowing down the fan when it doesn't need to crank it.
Before with the stock fan it was just running at max all the time, which of course kept things cooler but was also louder than it needed to be.
In a couple of days it's going to be 36c, so it's a good opportunity to test out the new fan with high ambient temperatures to see if it speeds up correctly.

 

[Lilalaunebaer]

Hi, i´m about ready to order.

Currently have, i5-3450, R9-290x, BeQuiet! 650W 80+, Corsair Air 540 Case, 850EVO 500GB ssd, 2TB WDBlue.

1080p, 60fps mandatory. Will buy a VR-headset in the near future.

GPU, PSU, ssd, hdd and case stay, rest goes out and will be replaced with this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($362.07 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110i GT 113.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($105.09 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($153.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $716.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-11 08:08 EST-0500

Question about the motherboard. The Z170 PRO GAMING, ASUS Z170 - A and ASUS Z170I Pro Gaming are 150€ +- 3€ here in Austria. Is one over the other recommended? Since they basically cost the same. Will overclock.

Thanks.

 

[junpei]

so i don't know much about computers i was just wondering if someone here could tell me if it would be smarter to build a new PC or to upgrade my current one. I am looking to run games like xcom 2, the new tomb raider , just cause 3 and the new deus ex on high settings.

current motherboard MSI p67a-g43
Current GPU GeForce GTX 550 Ti
current cpu Intel i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz
current power supply 500 w dynex
hdd WD caviar blue 1 tb

Just get a new GPU (GTX 970?) and a 700+ Watt PSU and you should be good.

Sorry for the late reply but I have been saving and upgrading my computer in the past few weeks . bought a evga 600b power supply , cooler master CPU cooler, and a msi gtx 970 . I haven't had many issues so far but now I am trying to install the gtx 970 and I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. I put the new card in and put in the power cable. when I boot up the computer I don't get any signal on the monitor. I don't know what step I am missing . my mother board does not have integrated graphics. The card lights up but the fans don't spin .

 

[boredandlazy]

Sorry for the late reply but I have been saving and upgrading my computer in the past few weeks . bought a evga 600b power supply , cooler master CPU cooler, and a msi gtx 970 . I haven't had many issues so far but now I am trying to install the gtx 970 and I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. I put the new card in and put in the power cable. when I boot up the computer I don't get any signal on the monitor. I don't know what step I am missing . my mother board does not have integrated graphics. The card lights up but the fans don't spin .

Do you know what key you need to mash to get into the BIOS? Try hitting that anyway and see if it pops up.

 

[cHinzo]

Sorry for the late reply but I have been saving and upgrading my computer in the past few weeks . bought a evga 600b power supply , cooler master CPU cooler, and a msi gtx 970 . I haven't had many issues so far but now I am trying to install the gtx 970 and I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. I put the new card in and put in the power cable. when I boot up the computer I don't get any signal on the monitor. I don't know what step I am missing . my mother board does not have integrated graphics. The card lights up but the fans don't spin .

Don't think the fans spin when it's not under load and under like 60 degrees.

 

[bomblord1]

Sorry for the late reply but I have been saving and upgrading my computer in the past few weeks . bought a evga 600b power supply , cooler master CPU cooler, and a msi gtx 970 . I haven't had many issues so far but now I am trying to install the gtx 970 and I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. I put the new card in and put in the power cable. when I boot up the computer I don't get any signal on the monitor. I don't know what step I am missing . my mother board does not have integrated graphics. The card lights up but the fans don't spin .

Can you take a photo of both the inside of the case and where you have the video cable attached.