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[Kevin]

I am in the same position as you. We both know the best option is to wait. We have time.

Yeah that is what I thought but I saw this article:

http://wccftech.com/nvidia-pascal-3dmark-11-entries-spotted/

and it seems like the first two Pascal cards to be released will have lower specs then the 980ti in terms of performance and that the two higher end cards (980ti successor and Titan successor) isn't due out until the fall at the earliest.

If I knew for sure that the May Pascal cards would be better then the 980ti then waiting would be easy but it seems that the 980ti will be the fastest card until the fall Pascal card releases.

I really don't want to wait all year for a better card. Especially since I'll have my Rift by June.

Any thoughts on that article and this "speculation"?

 

[ThanksVision]

Loving my PC. Need to start thinking about purchasing my own monitor, however, as I've been borrowing a nice-ish Asus panel from a friend.

I'm not sure if I should go for refresh rate or a prettier display. 1440p on a 27 inch display sounds awesome, but a 1080p 24 inch display at 144hz is less expensive. What would you guys recommend when it comes to gaming? Either way, any suggestions?

 

[Sky Chief]

Yeah that is what I thought but I saw this article:

http://wccftech.com/nvidia-pascal-3dmark-11-entries-spotted/

and it seems like the first two Pascal cards to be released will have lower specs then the 980ti in terms of performance and that the two higher end cards (980ti successor and Titan successor) isn't due out until the fall at the earliest.

If I knew for sure that the May Pascal cards would be better then the 980ti then waiting would be easy but it seems that the 980ti will be the fastest card until the fall Pascal card releases.

I really don't want to wait all year for a better card. Especially since I'll have my Rift by June.

Any thoughts on that article and this "speculation"?

See my edit above and http://www.evga.com/support/stepup/

 

[Kevin]

See my edit above and http://www.evga.com/support/stepup/

This does make it seem more reasonable to just go ahead and grab the 980ti. Especially since the Pascal is rumored to be out lat May or early June which would fit into the time frame quite nicely.

 

[Ac30]

I've been using 10 with no problems. Windows 8.1 isn't really that bad to me either, once I turn off the default tile view and install a start menu replacement. Microsoft does want everyone to move to 10, though.



There's the smaller M9i model ($20) and the larger H7 model ($35). Both are fairly easy to install.

Damn, neither are available in Canada, thanks though :/

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I feel like getting my 980 Ti when it launched last year was an amazingly lucky decision. I've been enjoying 4K gaming for a year, I'm ready for my Rift, and the rumors about first gen Pascal and Polaris make it sound like it has legs possibly through 2016. Great purchase all around.

 

[RGM79]

Damn, neither are available in Canada, thanks though :/

Whoops, I forgot you're in Canada. For best price to performance, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo ($42) comes well recommended, but it can be tricky to install for the first time. There's the similar Hyper T4 ($28) which has a crossbar securing method that I think should be easier.

 

[Zera_Bloodwinter]

Ok so here's my current rig which was built in 2011:

CPU - Intel i5-2500k Sandy Bridge that is being oc'ed to 4.2 ghz based off CPU-Z
Mobo - ASUS P8P67 Rev 1.xx
GPU - GTX 770 4GB GDDR5
Memory - 16 GB Corsair DDR3 9,9,9,24
PSU - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-850TX 850W
HD - Intel 730 Series 2.5" 480GB SATA 6Gb/s MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SSDSC2BP480G4R5

I'm seriously considering getting the 980ti as Dark Souls 3 is coming next month and I want to run that thing on Max. At this point I see lots of people saying wait for the Pascal but will the first released Pascals be more powerful than the current 980ti? Will the i5-2500k be enough in today's market? I'd need to check if my PSU has enough cables to support the 980ti as well.... ANY help or thoughts you guys/gals can provide would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Bboy AJ]

Yeah that is what I thought but I saw this article:

http://wccftech.com/nvidia-pascal-3dmark-11-entries-spotted/

and it seems like the first two Pascal cards to be released will have lower specs then the 980ti in terms of performance and that the two higher end cards (980ti successor and Titan successor) isn't due out until the fall at the earliest.

If I knew for sure that the May Pascal cards would be better then the 980ti then waiting would be easy but it seems that the 980ti will be the fastest card until the fall Pascal card releases.

I really don't want to wait all year for a better card. Especially since I'll have my Rift by June.

Any thoughts on that article and this "speculation"?

They say this before every launch. Whatever. They said it pre 970. And that was so wrong. Best to wait it out and see, especially since you won't have VR for a bit.

 

[Jimrpg]

Yeah that is what I thought but I saw this article:

http://wccftech.com/nvidia-pascal-3dmark-11-entries-spotted/

and it seems like the first two Pascal cards to be released will have lower specs then the 980ti in terms of performance and that the two higher end cards (980ti successor and Titan successor) isn't due out until the fall at the earliest.

If I knew for sure that the May Pascal cards would be better then the 980ti then waiting would be easy but it seems that the 980ti will be the fastest card until the fall Pascal card releases.

I really don't want to wait all year for a better card. Especially since I'll have my Rift by June.

Any thoughts on that article and this "speculation"?

The article speculates that new Nvidia cards will be announced at GTC 2016. Nvidia CEO Jen Hsun Huang will be doing a keynote on April 5th, so its not long to wait for information on the cards.

 

[Zushin]

Hey guys,

I'm going to be building my first PC soon, always got a mate to build my old ones but decided to take the plunge. Just had a bit of a random question before I bought anything and started. Regarding fanheaders and watercooling, I am planning on getting a Corsair 350D, a H110i GT closed loop cooler and a Gigabyte Z170mx. Would I plug the front intake, rear exhaust and 1 of the radiator fans into the 3 system fan headers, then plug the other radiator fan into CPU_OPT header and finally the pump into CPU fan header. Sorry for the silly question, but yeah, bit of a novice.

Whilst on the subject of fans, my room tends to get a bit dusty and would like to have the fans set up optimally to keep as much dust out as possible. Any suggestions?

 

[//DEVIL//]

I have a quick question. I was thinking about upgrading my processor to the I7 6k series
I have a kraken X60 water cooler. do you guys think the socket will fit ? I honestly tried google search and I am not getting any results. can you guys help ?

thanks

 

[Elitist1945]

If I wanted to essentially take all the parts out of my Alienware X51 and put it into a new case, is that possible? Or are there custom parts by Dell that I wouldn't be able to transfer over.

 

[metareferential]

Anyone else in here game in 120/144Hz? Just wondering if my purchase of the ASUS VG278HE was a good one in that regard.

It's a great monitor, high refresh rate is a must these days.

I would have gone for a g-sync display, but at 1080p you probably have enough horsepower to always hit 120/144.

 

[Bloodember]

I have a quick question. I was thinking about upgrading my processor to the I7 6k series
I have a kraken X60 water cooler. do you guys think the socket will fit ? I honestly tried google search and I am not getting any results. can you guys help ?

thanks

Yes it will fit. All Socket 115x mounts are all the same. I also have a Kraken X60 water cooler on my I7 6700K.

 

[e90Mark]

Hey guys,

I'm going to be building my first PC soon, always got a mate to build my old ones but decided to take the plunge. Just had a bit of a random question before I bought anything and started. Regarding fanheaders and watercooling, I am planning on getting a Corsair 350D, a H110i GT closed loop cooler and a Gigabyte Z170mx. Would I plug the front intake, rear exhaust and 1 of the radiator fans into the 3 system fan headers, then plug the other radiator fan into CPU_OPT header and finally the pump into CPU fan header. Sorry for the silly question, but yeah, bit of a novice.

Whilst on the subject of fans, my room tends to get a bit dusty and would like to have the fans set up optimally to keep as much dust out as possible. Any suggestions?

There's a y splitter that the pump will have where you will plug the 2 fans you are using for the radiator into, and then the male part of the splitter into the OPT header.

I have a z170mx and h100i, good stuff.

 

[daninthemix]

Planning a new build and looking for feedback on the parts:

Super Flower Leadex Platinum 550w
Intel 6700k
Asus Z170-A
Noctua NH-U14S
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series F4-3000C15D-16GVR
Fractal Design Define S

GPU and SSD will come over from my current build. I will not be overclocking the 6700k (not now at least) as my priorities are: reliability > longevity > noise > heat > speed.

 

[LilJoka]

Planning a new build and looking for feedback on the parts:

Super Flower Leadex Platinum 550w
Intel 6700k
Asus Z170-A
Noctua NH-U14S
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series F4-3000C15D-16GVR
Fractal Design Define S

GPU and SSD will come over from my current build. I will not be overclocking the 6700k (not now at least) as my priorities are: reliability > longevity > noise > heat > speed.

Go mATX or ITX, swap the case for a Arc Mini R2 fo mATX.

There is nothing to worry about in terms of longvity, and if you test the OC porperly itll be reliable. Should OC day 1

 

[daninthemix]

Go mATX or ITX, swap the case for a Arc Mini R2 fo mATX.

There is nothing to worry about in terms of longvity, and if you test the OC porperly itll be reliable. Should OC day 1

I only understood the second sentence

Why and what is mATX?

 

[Flagg]

Heres my opinion, you seem to be building like most built 5-6 years ago.
So some questions:
Whats your current rig? Did you SLI? Why?
You seem to be building this rig for future expansion such as SLI, is there any other future proofing aspects you considered, or required?
Are you aware Pascal (nvidias next gen cards) is arriving this year (maybe Q3)?

In my opinion, SLI/Xfire isnt the cleanest solution. More heat, more noise, more power consumption. Its advised to SLI now, or never, and i suspect you never SLI'd your current rig. Its better to just buy the single most powerful gpu you can afford, and sell it to fund the next card. This allows you to build a smaller rig, mATX or mITX.

Are you looking to overclock? How much? CPU and GPU?

Dont get that seagate, just get a Hitachi (Deskstar), WD (Bue) or Toshiba (ACA) drive.

DVD drive for?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£289.98 @ Ebuyer)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£26.99 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£99.84 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston FURY 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£69.98 @ Novatech)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£67.02 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£48.90 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card (£549.92 @ More Computers)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£62.95 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£80.66 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1296.24
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-19 20:45 GMT+0000

Also do some research on the 980Ti, i dont think the EVGA is the best here, check MSI/Gigabyte/Asus in the same price range. Think they have better cooling.

I really appreciate your advice here, thank you. I take your point re: the HDD, and will look into the video card manufactures. How much of an advantage will the CPU you suggested give me vs. the i5-6600K?

I was mainly working from the Enthusiast build from Logical Increments website http://www.logicalincrements.com
My current rig is laughable, a dual core 2.6GHz, 4 GB ram (only 2.25 usable), 1Gb (I think) ATI Radeon HD. I didn't SLI, even if it was possible it didn't seem worth it.

I'm not aware of geforce's next card tech, and tbh I feel that if I put this build off until then that it may never happen. I'll look into it. In terms of future proofing I was thinking of having at least one USB 3.1 port, and a minimum of 3 USB 3.0 ports to take both the Oculus display and controller. The motherboard you suggested does not have a 3.1 port, so I think I'll look for another. I'm not looking to SLI.

I take from your advice that I'm better off going for a smaller form factor. What advantages does that have for me? I'm not being funny by asking that question, I was just under the assumption that a bigger case would give better airflow vs. a smaller case offering simply better aesthetics? My current PC is a full ATX, and to be fair there is a lot of wasted space in the case.

I know very little about overclocking and so would only look into it when required (if ever). I was going to go for an optical drive to install old pc games that I've collected over the years.

As I said, thank you for your input, I really appreciate it.

 

[Novum_Veritas]

I only understood the second sentence

Why and what is mATX?

mATX stands for microATX, means the mainboard is 25% smaller as an ATX board.
It is best for Home Theater PC's.
ATX is also the form factor called.

 

[daninthemix]

mATX stands for microATX, means the mainboard is 25% smaller as an ATX board.
It is best for Home Theater PC's.
ATX is also the form factor called.

Gotcha. Bear in mind the cooler I chose there is pretty big...don't want it to occlude the RAM slots or GPU slot.

 

[Novum_Veritas]

Gotcha. Bear in mind the cooler I chose there is pretty big...don't want it to occlude the RAM slots or GPU slot.

Yeah, I know the Noctua cooling solutions, their coolers are pretty huge but have a decent cooling system.

 

[LilJoka]

I really appreciate your advice here, thank you. I take your point re: the HDD, and will look into the video card manufactures. How much of an advantage will the CPU you suggested give me vs. the i5-6600K?

I was mainly working from the Enthusiast build from Logical Increments website http://www.logicalincrements.com
1)My current rig is laughable, a dual core 2.6GHz, 4 GB ram (only 2.25 usable), 1Gb (I think) ATI Radeon HD. I didn't SLI, even if it was possible it didn't seem worth it.

2)I'm not aware of geforce's next card tech, and tbh I feel that if I put this build off until then that it may never happen. I'll look into it. In terms of future proofing I was thinking of having at least one USB 3.1 port, and a minimum of 3 USB 3.0 ports to take both the Oculus display and controller. The motherboard you suggested does not have a 3.1 port, so I think I'll look for another. I'm not looking to SLI.

3)I take from your advice that I'm better off going for a smaller form factor. What advantages does that have for me? I'm not being funny by asking that question, I was just under the assumption that a bigger case would give better airflow vs. a smaller case offering simply better aesthetics? My current PC is a full ATX, and to be fair there is a lot of wasted space in the case. All of these futureproofing features you mention (USB 3.1 etc) can be found on mATX and ITX boards.

4)I know very little about overclocking and so would only look into it when required (if ever). I was going to go for an optical drive to install old pc games that I've collected over the years.

As I said, thank you for your input, I really appreciate it.

Its hyperthreaded, so can be very useful going forwards as games start to use more threads. We already see the 6 core CPUs having an advantage in some games. If you can get that i7 within budget, then you should go for it.

1) Your rig was pretty top notch at one point however, yet you never thought about throwing in a Q6600 and a 2nd ATI card, as you point out, it just isnt worth it.

2)I wouldnt wait either. I would buy the 980Ti, and in 1.5yrs sell it and buy the next GPU.

3)Aesthetics mainly, its smaller. But since TDPs have reduced since the old days (130W CPU vs 80W now, 350W GPU vs 250W now), you can easily get away with mATX or even ITX without suffering cooling problems. As you say, ATX are just empty space half the time, and i dont understand what the point of that is anymore if cooling is not an issue these days.
Cheapest mATX board with USB 3.1 is ASRock Z170M Extreme4.

4)Thats fair on both points. I would definitleey get the K CPU and Z board for overclocking in the future, itll get that chip an easy few extra years of life with a day or 2 of tweaking/reading.

Gotcha. Bear in mind the cooler I chose there is pretty big...don't want it to occlude the RAM slots or GPU slot.

Your cooler isnt big by any means, a Noctua D15 is big. Every board will accomodate that Cooler, cases will need to be slightly more careful as its the 140mm version thats taller, but again shouldnt have an issue with mATX.

As an example, i have a i7 3770 and GTX 970 in an ITX build (Fractal Node 304). Even mATX isnt needed, but can be easier for installation as there is a bit more space. An ITX build needs a bit more forethought and planning.

 

[daninthemix]

I'm actually thinking now about a Be Quiet Silent Base 800. I know it's huge but I really want good sound proofing (particularly at idle) as I work at my PC.

Any other silent / quiet case recommendations?

 

[Novum_Veritas]

I'm actually thinking now about a Be Quiet Silent Base 800. I know it's huge but I really want good sound proofing (particularly at idle) as I work at my PC.

Any other silent / quiet case recommendations?

I can recommend the R5 by Fractal Design, it has also noise canceling, and is a compatible with different ATX types.
http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/define-series/define-r5-black

Or the Silent Base 600 by Be Quiet, it is a little bit cheaper than the Base 800.
http://www.bequiet.com/en/case/642

 

[LilJoka]

I'm actually thinking now about a Be Quiet Silent Base 800. I know it's huge but I really want good sound proofing (particularly at idle) as I work at my PC.

Any other silent / quiet case recommendations?

Any case is silent if the fans are limited/controlled in speed. IMO sound proofing does little except build up heat in the case.

My build has fans off mode. So when doing work/idle it has only the CPU fan spinning.

 

[daninthemix]

Any case is silent if the fans are limited/controlled in speed. IMO sound proofing does little except build up heat in the case.

My build has fans off mode. So when doing work/idle it has only the CPU fan spinning.

Right, I had planned to use Fan Expert to keep the fans off until, what, 50c maybe? Seems like a good plan.

 

[Novum_Veritas]

Right, I had planned to use Fan Expert to keep the fans off until, what, 50c maybe? Seems like a good plan.

Yeah you can configure that in the BIOS no problem should be fine.

 

[LilJoka]

Right, I had planned to use Fan Expert to keep the fans off until, what, 50c maybe? Seems like a good plan.

Exactly that.
And why not pickup a PSU that has a hybrid fan as well, i chose the Corsair RM650x for my build.
Review:
http://www.hardwareinsights.com/wp/corsair-rm550x-review/

If the fans are PWM type (4pin), you can run them slower, if they are Voltage controlled (3pin), you can still control them, but they will not be able to run properly at such low speeds (500rpm or lower), so tend to run ~600rpm minimum
The CPU fan will be PWM, so no worries there, you can run the Noctua very low speed for silence using Fan Xpert.

 

[daninthemix]

Exactly that.
And why not pickup a PSU that has a hybrid fan as well, i chose the Corsair RM650x for my build.
Review:
http://www.hardwareinsights.com/wp/corsair-rm550x-review/

If the fans are PWM type (4pin), you can run them slower, if they are Voltage controlled (3pin), you can still control them, but they will not be able to run properly at such low speeds (500rpm or lower), so tend to run ~600rpm minimum
The CPU fan will be PWM, so no worries there, you can run the Noctua very low speed for silence using Fan Xpert.

Pretty sure the PSU I chose is fanless until it heats up. TomsHardware said in the review "We deliberately compared this Leadex model with two passive PSUs because it has such low noise output that its operation reminds us of a pure passive PSU."

Also I'm a bit of a nerd and think the 92% efficiency is really cool

 

[LilJoka]

Pretty sure the PSU I chose is fanless until it heats up. TomsHardware said in the review "We deliberately compared this Leadex model with two passive PSUs because it has such low noise output that its operation reminds us of a pure passive PSU."

Also I'm a bit of a nerd and think the 92% efficiency is really cool

The PSU you chose is extremely good, didnt notice it was hybrid, but if it is then go for it.
In fact the only reason i didnt get that PSU myself is because it couldnt fit it in the space.

 

[daninthemix]

I watched Linus' silent build video and he used a Be Quiet cooler without the fan on a 5960x and it did work and was viable. Amazing stuff.

 

[LilJoka]

I watched Linus' silent build video and he used a Be Quiet cooler without the fan on a 5960x and it did work and was viable. Amazing stuff.

Sure it will work, but for how long... Itll thermally throttle after some time for sure. Not something i would recommend.

 

[cerulily]

I was just looking to get some quick feedback on a build i am doing for my primary gaming/streaming PC.
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/cmFpZL

I think my primary question is... is there any reason to go for the Skylake i5 6600k over a more powerful and cheaper last gen i7?

1500 CAD is basically my entire budget (i have some wiggle room)
I will probably be building it within the month, so i don't expect any major price changes.
My biggest hope is that i can run Dark Souls 3 at 60fps and stream some games while holding decent framerates (i couldn't play RE5 @ 60fps while streaming at 30 fps 720p, for instance)
Everything i play is 1080P, and i don't expect to go any higher in the future.

edit: Updated my list, because i decided to just get the vid card now.

 

[masterkajo]

So I have a rather unusual question, I guess.

I have an old PC at home

1x Asus P8H67
1x i5-2500K @ 3.3GHz
2x RAM 2GB DDR3 @ 1033MHz
1x AMD Radeon HD7850 2GB
1x SSD 128GB
1x SSD 512GB
1x HDD 256GB
Win 7

which I use for work and gaming. I was satisfied with its performance until I started playing the Witcher 3. It wouldn't run "smoothly" in 30FPS so I asked a nerd friend of mine if he could lend me his old PC to play it

1x Asrock z77 Pro4
1x i5-3570k @ 3.4GHz
3x RAM 4GB DDR3 @ 1033MHz
1x Geforce GTX 680 2GB
1x SSD 60GB
1x SSD 120GB
1x HDD 512GB
Win 8.1

I now have two PCs but mainly use my old one since I have a lot of programs I need on it. Since I got an opportunity to get a VR device (from work) I want to upgrade the second one with a GTX970 to test out VR.

My questions now: Should I migrate my work related stuff, watching movies and surfing the net to the new VR ready machine and mainly use that one? Or would you say it is smarter to have a work machine (main machine with everything and low end gaming just like now) and a gaming machine (just for high end gaming and VR)? I am torn now before upgrading to Win 10 and doing clean installs. Thanks for your feedback!

 

[//DEVIL//]

Yes it will fit. All Socket 115x mounts are all the same. I also have a Kraken X60 water cooler on my I7 6700K.

thank you dear

 

[opticalmace]

Ok so here's my current rig which was built in 2011:

CPU - Intel i5-2500k Sandy Bridge that is being oc'ed to 4.2 ghz based off CPU-Z
Mobo - ASUS P8P67 Rev 1.xx
GPU - GTX 770 4GB GDDR5
Memory - 16 GB Corsair DDR3 9,9,9,24
PSU - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-850TX 850W
HD - Intel 730 Series 2.5" 480GB SATA 6Gb/s MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SSDSC2BP480G4R5

I'm seriously considering getting the 980ti as Dark Souls 3 is coming next month and I want to run that thing on Max. At this point I see lots of people saying wait for the Pascal but will the first released Pascals be more powerful than the current 980ti? Will the i5-2500k be enough in today's market? I'd need to check if my PSU has enough cables to support the 980ti as well.... ANY help or thoughts you guys/gals can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Your CPU and PSU are fine. Whether you get the 980 Ti or wait for something else is up to you. No one knows for sure which Pascal cards are going to get released when. My personal expectation is that we won't get a card faster than the 980 Ti for a while (maybe early next year), but who knows.

 

[Darknight]

Need Help!

Im installing an H110i GT onto an x99 motherboard. Now after putting the thermal paste, I go to screw the block+bracket onto the 4 screw areas. I do it but there remains a gap between the bracket and CPU block.

It concerns me because if I move the thick liquid lines connected to the block, the CPU block shifts also a little downward/upward.

Is this normal or is there something wrong here?

Gap on bottom of block and the bracket: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_y2xjLWr8uEYjljT2ZfWFlURHc/view?usp=sharing

From left view(gap seen at the bottom): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_y2xjLWr8uEV1djUHZWdzlwakk/view?usp=sharing

Edit: And I followed the steps. Since its a 2011-3 mobo, I didnt need the back bracket, just the screw "stubs" (the one with one short side and one long side).

 

[Ac30]

Whoops, I forgot you're in Canada. For best price to performance, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo ($42) comes well recommended, but it can be tricky to install for the first time. There's the similar Hyper T4 ($28) which has a crossbar securing method that I think should be easier.

Ordering the T4 then, thanks a lot!

 

[Flagg]

Its hyperthreaded, so can be very useful going forwards as games start to use more threads. We already see the 6 core CPUs having an advantage in some games. If you can get that i7 within budget, then you should go for it.

1) Your rig was pretty top notch at one point however, yet you never thought about throwing in a Q6600 and a 2nd ATI card, as you point out, it just isnt worth it.

2)I wouldnt wait either. I would buy the 980Ti, and in 1.5yrs sell it and buy the next GPU.

3)Aesthetics mainly, its smaller. But since TDPs have reduced since the old days (130W CPU vs 80W now, 350W GPU vs 250W now), you can easily get away with mATX or even ITX without suffering cooling problems. As you say, ATX are just empty space half the time, and i dont understand what the point of that is anymore if cooling is not an issue these days.
Cheapest mATX board with USB 3.1 is ASRock Z170M Extreme4.

4)Thats fair on both points. I would definitleey get the K CPU and Z board for overclocking in the future, itll get that chip an easy few extra years of life with a day or 2 of tweaking/reading.

Thanks for this. I've tweaked my build as shown below, but I'm struggling to find a mATX form factor case that will accommodate the card. From what I've read the Fractal Design Arc Mini you suggested may require both hard drive bays to be removed for the card to fit. Do you have another case recommendation? I'm thinking that perhaps an ATX mid-tower case would be good, presuming it's compatible with the motherboard. Cheers.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£289.98 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£26.99 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£139.03 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£52.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£60.00 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£48.90 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB STRIX Video Card (£559.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£80.66 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer (£29.59 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1288.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-20 20:24 GMT+0000

 

[LilJoka]

Thanks for this. I've tweaked my build as shown below, but I'm struggling to find a mATX form factor case that will accommodate the card. From what I've read the Fractal Design Arc Mini you suggested may require both hard drive bays to be removed for the card to fit. Do you have another case recommendation? I'm thinking that perhaps an ATX mid-tower case would be good, presuming it's compatible with the motherboard. Cheers.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£289.98 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£26.99 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£139.03 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£52.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£60.00 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£48.90 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB STRIX Video Card (£559.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£80.66 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer (£29.59 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1288.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-20 20:24 GMT+0000

Arc Mini R2 only needs the top HDD cage removed, leaving the bottom (3HDD) cage in tact allowing for 400mm length GPUs.

With the top cage removed, graphics cards up to 400mm in length may be installed

Theres also 2 SSD slots behind the motherboard tray.

Go with the 2666Mhz RAM, itll help those minimum frame rates.

 

[DaxMedFlax]

My brother just built a new rig and gave his old PC to me. It has an i5 2500k 3.3ghz CPU, 16 gigs DDR3 RAM and a Radeon HD 7850 2gb GPU.

My question is, do you guys think Dark Souls 3 might be a better experience on this machine than on the PS4/XBO?

 

[Gen.Grievous]

Your GPU is a little weaker than the one in the PS4 and PC ports of From games tend to be badly optimised so I'm going with no here.

 

[Flagg]

Arc Mini R2 only needs the top HDD cage removed, leaving the bottom (3HDD) cage in tact allowing for 400mm length GPUs.



Theres also 2 SSD slots behind the motherboard tray.

Go with the 2666Mhz RAM, itll help those minimum frame rates.

Thanks again. I've changed to 2666Mhz RAM and opted for the Mini R2 case. Going to pull the trigger tonight or tomorrow. Can't wait!

 

[vall03]

Hey PC GAF!

Just need some advice for a gaming PC. I'm looking into saving up and investing for a new PC later this year. However, My biggest issue is whether to build one or just get a capable laptop. While surely building one might be cheaper and can be future-proof, my problem is that I don't really play a lot of PC games, heck, the only games I'm really looking forward right now on PC are Xanadu Next and Trails in the Sky the 3rd which are games that doesn't even need high specs and my current laptop can still run both games with no problems at all. I just want a more capable one since I'm kinda annoyed with the performance of my laptop and I want to be able to play more games properly. A couple of examples would be that it struggled at playing games like Pillars of Eternity and Ori and Blind Forest last year, I somehow finished the latter game but I would have loved it more if I completed it with no hardware issues. Oh, I'm also willing to lower down settings if possible to get the best performance possible, I'm not really gunning for the 4K 60fps at Max settings.

So, back to the main point, Build a PC or just a good capable laptop? An ultrabook maybe?

 

[DaxMedFlax]

Your GPU is a little weaker than the one in the PS4 and PC ports of From games tend to be badly optimised so I'm going with no here.

I see..

I have the option of getting a 'MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4GB' for a pretty good price. Will that card work well with the rest of my machine even though the parts are getting old(ish)?

It currently consists of;

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 motherboard
Intel Core i5-2500K Processor, Quad Core, 3.3GHz
Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600MHz 16GB CL9
SAMSUNG EVO 850 120GB SSD
Fractal Design Define R3 Black Pearl case


If I were to buy the 970, my hope would be that I could play current and upcoming games at 1080p at 30-60fps, essentially replacing my consoles for multiplats. (I'd probably sell the Xbone to largely finance the GPU).

 

[mulac]

Whats the opinion on gaming chairs? Living in Australia anything "Decent" is stupidly expensive but I've nailed down to DXRacer as a good solid choice.

I work from home alot at the same desk which houses my battlestation so important to have a good comfy chair that supports back/neck.

Narrowed it down to these: Anyone got any opinions or experience (for the record i'm 6ft 2inch, 178pounds (81kg).

https://www.pccasegear.com/products/31844/dxracer-k-series-pc-office-gaming-chair-fnatic-edition

https://www.pccasegear.com/products...ries-pc-office-gaming-chair-black-carbon-grey

https://www.pccasegear.com/products/31841/dxracer-r-series-pc-office-gaming-chair-black-white

 

[opticalmace]

I see..

I have the option of getting a 'MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4GB' for a pretty good price. Will that card work well with the rest of my machine even though the parts are getting old(ish)?

It currently consists of;

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 motherboard
Intel Core i5-2500K Processor, Quad Core, 3.3GHz
Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600MHz 16GB CL9
SAMSUNG EVO 850 120GB SSD
Fractal Design Define R3 Black Pearl case


If I were to buy the 970, my hope would be that I could play current and upcoming games at 1080p at 30-60fps, essentially replacing my consoles for multiplats. (I'd probably sell the Xbone to largely finance the GPU).

Yup, you can use it just fine. How much would you be paying for it? If you haven't already, overclocking your CPU would be very beneficial.

About 1080p/30-60fps, you'll be fine, though you won't be maxing things out for the latter in general. If you can get the 970 for a deal I would do it.

 

[Dusktildawn48]

So i just upgraded to a 6700k and completely redid my pc. (fresh install) and im only getting 9000 on firestrick benchmark and steamvr benchmark is putting me in the middle category. Any ideas whats wrong? 980ti btw.