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[kromeo]

Okay so last things to address, again sorry if I sound incredibly stupid asking these..

I am going with this Windows 10:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0111YEBY4/

I saw online that this USB can be pretty slow / buggy. So would I still be able to create my own bootable USB and just use the license key that comes on the box with the MS one?

Also this is a key which I hold onto ownership of right? I read the OEM one is tied to the motherboard and can't be used in future for fresh installs etc.

I purchased a 120GB SSD with the intention of installing the OS and some room left for my most used apps (maybe 60GB each)

Does anyone have a good guide for creating a partition when I am installing Windows? I looked online but couldn't really find anything.

I installed from that and it took minutes, not sure what the problems are supposed to be. It wouldn't work when it was plugged into the case usb slots but that was it.

I've already intstalled to 2 different motherboards so that shouldn't be a problem

 

[kikonawa]

7870 2gb, what kind of improvement would I see with a R9 380?

Worth it, or wait for newer cards?

Why wait for pascal.. its like the only option people blabber about the last 2 years. Check some benchmarks first. If you play 1080p especiallu

 

[Mad Season]

Don't set XMP, just set it all manually
Ram freq 1866
Ram voltage 1.6v
Primary timings 10-10-10-28 2N

Why not use xmp?

 

[Brandon F]

What are some of the top ATX mid tower cases out now? Looking to replace an old Haf 922

Fractal Design, Corsair, Phanteks, and NZXT all have very popular cases worth checking out. A good start is just looking at the lineup from each and seeing what intrigues you. Obviously there is way more out there to choose from, but the above four are the current heavy-hitters for case options.

 

[Mad Season]

What are some of the top ATX mid tower cases out now? Looking to replace an old Haf 922

love my new corsair vengeance c70. Check amazon reviews

 

[MikeE21286]

I'm at a crossroads here with my GPU upgrade.

I'm currently using a GTX 570 which I've had for quite a while now. It's been absolutely fantastic for the time, but is really starting to hamper my ability to game on my PC, and I am getting to the point where I really want to upgrade (Dark Souls III and The Division I'm looking at you).

I have a 4k TV, so I would like to hook it up to my computer to game at 4k. I also have interest in VR. I have a PSVR pre-ordered but may jump ship to Oculus if I had a gaming PC capable of powering it.

I don't fully understand all the leaks that came out on upcoming Nvidia HBM graphics cards, but it sounds like I should probably wait? I was looking at a 980Ti, and the best price right now looks to be $620 at Amazon. While that's pricey, it's not unbearable. The 980Ti doesn't seem to be a great single-card 4k solution though, based on some of the benchmarks I've seen (albeit it might be one of the only single-card 4k solutions).

I guess my overall question is for VR and 4K should I be waiting? And if so, what is it that I'd be waiting for specifically?

 

[kromeo]

I'm at a crossroads here with my GPU upgrade.

I'm currently using a GTX 570 which I've had for quite a while now. It's been absolutely fantastic for the time, but is really starting to hamper my ability to game on my PC, and I am getting to the point where I really want to upgrade (Dark Souls III and The Division I'm looking at you).

I have a 4k TV, so I would like to hook it up to my computer to game at 4k. I also have interest in VR. I have a PSVR pre-ordered but may jump ship to Oculus if I had a gaming PC capable of powering it.

I don't fully understand all the leaks that came out on upcoming Nvidia HBM graphics cards, but it sounds like I should probably wait? I was looking at a 980Ti, and the best price right now looks to be $620 at Amazon. While that's pricey, it's not unbearable. The 980Ti doesn't seem to be a great single-card 4k solution though, based on some of the benchmarks I've seen (albeit it might be one of the only single-card 4k solutions).

I guess my overall question is for VR and 4K should I be waiting? And if so, what is it that I'd be waiting for specifically?

The 980Ti isnt that great for 4k even with 2 in SLI, I would wait if 4k is a big deal for you

 

[SwordStruck]

What are some of the top ATX mid tower cases out now? Looking to replace an old Haf 922

I just finished building my new PC with a Fractal Design Define R5 and it's by far the quietest case I've ever used. Great quality too.

 

[potatohead]

The 980Ti isnt that great for 4k even with 2 in SLI, I would wait if 4k is a big deal for you

Only wait if you don't resell your high-end GPU.

Without reselling quick upgrades are expensive AF.

I don't resell personally so I generally wait like 4 or 5 years between upgrades.

 

[Cyriades]

The 980Ti isnt that great for 4k even with 2 in SLI, I would wait if 4k is a big deal for you

Ultra settings perhaps but normal and high graphic settings the 980 ti can get you 4k 60fps.

 

[thenexus6]

Thinking about buying an additional fan for my build.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002KTVFTE/

I assume this doesn't come with the cables and I need to buy the "
Frequently Bought Together" suggestion underneath?

 

[Garrett Hawke]

ugh so for the past week or so (since the most Nvidia drivers debacle) my screen has just been turning black at random intervals and I get a "no signal" notif on the display, but any sound that's playing keeps going, so it's like my computer is still running fine but the GPU is just turning off or something.

I checked the Event Viewer and according to it, in the past 24 hours I have had 2 "Event ID 4101" errors - and it has done this twice in the past 24 hours, so I assume it's that.

I have a 970 and it's not overclocked and temps are good and everything, and it can be from anything as intensive as modern AAA games to just watching a video on YouTube, and it's completely random when and how it happens. :/

Any advice? It's like the driver crashes but never recovers because the screen never comes back on.

 

[LostMyNarbles]

Can anyone recommend a low-profile CPU cooler that doesn't break the bank and can fit inside a Corsair 250D. Would also help if it is easy to install because in my current case I tried replacing the stock CPU cooler with an Evo212 and broke the cooler and the whole experience was super frustrating.

 

[kuYuri]

Can anyone recommend a low-profile CPU cooler that doesn't break the bank and can fit inside a Corsair 250D. Would also help if it is easy to install because in my current case I tried replacing the stock CPU cooler with an Evo212 and broke the cooler and the whole experience was super frustrating.

If you are looking for budget air coolers, you'd have to go with something like the Cooler Master Gemini II or Vortex Plus, which are significantly shorter in height than the 212 EVO.

 

[bbd23]

Hey guys I just bought a 1TB hdd and an ssd today

the ssd loaded up windows fine

but my hdd is showing as offline and I cant initialize it? gives me an i/o error

it shows up in the bios and device manager... what should I do

 

[RGM79]

Hey guys I just bought a 1TB hdd and an ssd today

the ssd loaded up windows fine

but my hdd is showing as offline and I cant initialize it? gives me an i/o error

it shows up in the bios and device manager... what should I do

Anything more specific? What does the I/O error look like? Make sure the cables are secure?

ugh so for the past week or so (since the most Nvidia drivers debacle) my screen has just been turning black at random intervals and I get a "no signal" notif on the display, but any sound that's playing keeps going, so it's like my computer is still running fine but the GPU is just turning off or something.

I checked the Event Viewer and according to it, in the past 24 hours I have had 2 "Event ID 4101" errors - and it has done this twice in the past 24 hours, so I assume it's that.

I have a 970 and it's not overclocked and temps are good and everything, and it can be from anything as intensive as modern AAA games to just watching a video on YouTube, and it's completely random when and how it happens. :/

Any advice? It's like the driver crashes but never recovers because the screen never comes back on.

System specs? Maybe power supply related, but make sure your drivers are up to date as well.

Thinking about buying an additional fan for my build.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002KTVFTE/

I assume this doesn't come with the cables and I need to buy the "
Frequently Bought Together" suggestion underneath?

All PC fans will always come with cables to connect them to either the motherboard or power supply. They just photoshopped the cables out for whatever reason. Here's what it should look like (not the same model).

 

[Thraktor]

I would wait for pascal the improvement would be marginal. If you were on a 1gb 7850 it would have been worthwhile though.

Marginal? The 380 is about twice as powerful. Obviously everyone has their own standards for what's a worthwhile upgrade, but marginal would mean barely noticeable. You'd definitely notice a jump from a 7850 to a 380.

 

[RGM79]

Marginal? The 380 is about twice as powerful. Obviously everyone has their own standards for what's a worthwhile upgrade, but marginal would mean barely noticeable. You'd definitely notice a jump from a 7850 to a 380.

Eh, it's not twice as powerful. Typically somewhere around 50% faster, going by these benchmarks. Definitely noticeable, though.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

System specs? Maybe power supply related, but make sure your drivers are up to date as well.

2x8GB DDR3 btw.
PSU is: EVGA 100-W1-0500-KR - 500W 80 Plus Power Supply

I'm on the latest Nvidia drivers but it only started happening after them :/ since that happened I uninstalled the drivers using DDU and stopped W10 from automatically installing new ones, and then I installed the latest Nvidia drivers again.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Hey everyone. Was hoping someone could give me some piece of mind.

The wife is giving me the green light to go snag an R9 Nano for $425.

Do you think 4GB of HBM is fine going forward? Or do you expect Pascal to top that with their 970 successor?

 

[Oxn]

Hey everyone. Was hoping someone could give me some piece of mind.

The wife is giving me the green light to go snag an R9 Nano for $425.

Do you think 4GB of HBM is fine going forward? Or do you expect Pascal to top that with their 970 successor?

Id wait for 1070.

 

[LilJoka]

Why not use xmp?

Because the XMP is pushing 2400Mhz, that will impact the maximum CPU OC potential as you stress the Intel Memory Controller to its limits. And the 2400Mhz RAM OC is hardly going to have much benefit over 1866Mhz CL9, and in return you might be able to get 100Mhz more out the CPU, or run lower Vcore at the same clocks. That is something to atleast investigate.

 

[Arulan]

I have a 950 Pro installed, and honestly the difference for "gaming" from a standard SSD is totally negligible. I mean it is faster but in real-world testing I have barely seen that much of a change.

The real purpose for these drives benefit most from productivity needs where large amounts of data need to be transferred on a regular basis(video editing/archiving and such). Loading up a map or level in a PC game...well my old SSD was practically just as snappy.

Windows 10 does load a few seconds faster on boot, but the difference is also minor compared to the jump from a standard HDD to an SSD. Limit expectations is all..

Probably no significant difference other than load times. It does load stuff really fast, but outside of that probably not much difference.

You might as well get one since you're going to be building on the bleeding edge of platforms, at least for a boot drive/most used apps since the smallest drive is 256gb. The 512 seems a bit much for the space, IMO.

Games don't really take advantage of the performance benefit of a 950 Pro but you can see improvements across the board in system loading and response times. Honestly where this sort of drive shines is situations where you might hit it with a lot of load like multi-user scenarios or working with big datasets and some more advanced productivity applications. But for gaming it might not be worth it and you'd be better off waiting for newer NVMe drives when they drop in price.

Two more things to note. NVMe has a very big performance advantage in parallelisation so you will see an increase in performance moving between say an i5 and i7 or 6/8 core. Also if you are thinking of getting the 950 Pro and want to subject it to heavy workloads, especially the faster 512GB version you need to ensure it is adequately cooled as its performance makes it so it thermally throttles. A heatsync and/or a fan can help here. This shouldn't matter in real world usage unless you are doing very big transfers at full tick.

Thanks for the replies. It doesn't seem like I'll be making the most use of it, but I'll have to see where the price difference stands around June.

 

[Theonik]

Thanks for the replies. It doesn't seem like I'll be making the most use of it, but I'll have to see where the price difference stands around June.

You should also note that it will use up to 4 PCI-E 3.0 lanes so make sure you have enough spare. You will need either a Skylake CPU or an E class platform.

 

[bbd23]

Anything more specific? What does the I/O error look like? Make sure the cables are secure?

x8007045d is the error code

I returned the hdd i bought and the guy tested it on their service thing and it wasnt working so I got a new one and its the same issue? I have no idea whats happening.

things are plugged it properly. the bios sees it and device manager sees it

is there a bios setting i need to change or something?

 

[rykomatsu]

Building a new htpc / gaming rig.

I can get an i7-4790K for $285 or so today (only). Worth the price differential to go with an i7-6700k?

 

[roadrunn3r]

Building a new htpc / gaming rig.

I can get an i7-4790K for $285 or so today (only). Worth the price differential to go with an i7-6700k?

For 70$ less or so the 4790K is fine. Sure it's an older platform but the performance differences are very small.

 

[Oxn]

Building a new htpc / gaming rig.

I can get an i7-4790K for $285 or so today (only). Worth the price differential to go with an i7-6700k?

Well whats the price you can get the 6700k at? If you can get it at 350 or so, i would just do so for a little future proofing so you wouldnt buy old ddr3 ram.

 

[rykomatsu]

Well whats the price you can get the 6700k at? If you can get it at 350 or so, i would just do so for a little future proofing so you wouldnt buy old ddr3 ram.

HM...
285+tax = ~$310 (local store)

The least expensive reliable place I can get a 6700k is 365, no tax, free shipping

 

[Oxn]

HM...
285+tax = ~$310 (local store)

The least expensive reliable place I can get a 6700k is 365, no tax, free shipping

Yea i would just go with the 6700k personally, while also getting the benefits of the newer chipset.

 

[Kevin]

Installed a new GPU and now Windows immediately boots into a repair program saying "repairing disk errors. This might take over an hour to complete". Windows 10. Any idea as to whats going on with this?

 

[roadrunn3r]

Installed a new GPU and now Windows immediately boots into a repair program saying "repairing disk errors. This might take over an hour to complete". Windows 10. Any idea as to whats going on with this?

It can't be related to the GPU as it's mostly a storage drive/system files corruption issue. If you can boot in safe mode, run "sfc /scannow" on the command prompt.

 

[Lashley]

What are some good programs for keeping my drivers up to date?

 

[Thraktor]

Eh, it's not twice as powerful. Typically somewhere around 50% faster, going by these benchmarks. Definitely noticeable, though.

Fair enough, I was going on memory, but looking over the benchmarks again it seems the greater benefits are largely at 1440p+, which the poster is unlikely to be running. Still a noticeable jump, though.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

Installed a new GPU and now Windows immediately boots into a repair program saying "repairing disk errors. This might take over an hour to complete". Windows 10. Any idea as to whats going on with this?

Hard drive's probably dead.

 

[usp84]

Sorry if dumb question but my friend got a new PC with these parts:

i5-6400 2.7GHz
AMD R9 380 4GB
Gigabyte Socket 1151 GA-B150M
8 GB of RAM
Carbide Series SPEC-01 Tower
Also an SSD

Will he need extra cooling or is he alright?He mainly plays games like Witcher 3 etc.

 

[LilJoka]

What are some good programs for keeping my drivers up to date?

The only driver you need to keep up to date is your GPU.

 

[ndawgdrake]

PC-GAF, my Windows 8.1 install decided to fuck itself. Thinking of upgrading to Windows 10. What's the consensus?

 

[roadrunn3r]

PC-GAF, my Windows 8.1 install decided to fuck itself. Thinking of upgrading to Windows 10. What's the consensus?

You will be fine if you can accept fully automatic updates. Otherwise the pro version gives you control on when/if to install them and group policy management.

 

[Kevin]

It can't be related to the GPU as it's mostly a storage drive/system files corruption issue. If you can boot in safe mode, run "sfc /scannow" on the command prompt.

Didn't work, just errors out. Drive is being detected. It's an SSD drive that may be a year and a half old. I don't think it burned up right at the same time I install a new gpu. Not really sure whats going on.

 

[Lashley]

The only driver you need to keep up to date is your GPU.

Yeah, just updated it there

 

[roadrunn3r]

Didn't work, just errors out. Drive is being detected. It's an SSD drive that may be a year and a half old. I don't think it burned up right at the same time I install a new gpu. Not really sure whats going on.

What didn't work? Can you boot up windows or it gets stuck on repairing?
If sfc /scannow gives errors you could try to repair them with "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth" Or you could just try a simple restore to a previous date.

 

[Kevin]

Finally got my computer working. To be honest? Not even sure what the issue was. I think Windows 10 corrupted in the installation when detecting new hardware. A reformat fixed the issue.

So I am looking for a large hard drive to store my games. I have had four external USB drives and they keep croaking on me:

---
They will stop working, I unplug, switch cables with different cables and different power cables, it will work for a few minutes and then croak again. My guess is something inside the external shell is damaged and I really don't have the expertise to repair something like that. This has happened to two drives now that are not that old. Looking at reviews on Newegg, this seems to be a widespread issue among these portable drives as the reviews are very low across the board.
---

For those who do major gaming, what drives do you guys buy? Anything out there that isn't junk like these external drives? I need/want something reliable for storage. Internal or external. Also something fast enough to run PC games from.

What are you guys using for your major storage needs?

 

[RGM79]

Finally got my computer working. To be honest? Not even sure what the issue was. I think Windows 10 corrupted in the installation when detecting new hardware. A reformat fixed the issue.

So I am looking for a large hard drive to store my games. I have had four external USB drives and they keep croaking on me:

---
They will stop working, I unplug, switch cables with different cables and different power cables, it will work for a few minutes and then croak again. My guess is something inside the external shell is damaged and I really don't have the expertise to repair something like that. This has happened to two drives now that are not that old. Looking at reviews on Newegg, this seems to be a widespread issue among these portable drives as the reviews are very low across the board.
---

For those who do major gaming, what drives do you guys buy? Anything out there that isn't junk like these external drives? I need/want something reliable for storage. Internal or external. Also something fast enough to run PC games from.

What are you guys using for your major storage needs?

Is there a reason why you want to run games off an external hard drive? If it's just the external enclosure that is breaking down, you can just open it up, take out the hard drive, and connect it directly to your computer via SATA which is much faster and more reliable.

 

[Kevin]

Is there a reason why you want to run games off an external hard drive? If it's just the external enclosure that is breaking down, you can just open it up, take out the hard drive, and connect it directly to your computer via SATA which is much faster and more reliable.

Well the super weird thing is the drive still shows up in Windows and I can even view the contents. When I go to click on a video or something it will just say something like "file read failed". On a rare occasion it will still play a segment of a video and then stop.

I really have no idea what is going on with it. This happened after I took my computer apart to put in some new parts. So I figured a cable came lose but I changed cables around and such and no luck. Both USB and power cables.

 

[RGM79]

Well the super weird thing is the drive still shows up in Windows and I can even view the contents. When I go to click on a video or something it will just say something like "file read failed". On a rare occasion it will still play a segment of a video and then stop.

I really have no idea what is going on with it. This happened after I took my computer apart to put in some new parts. So I figured a cable came lose but I changed cables around and such and no luck. Both USB and power cables.

Let's try to narrow down what the issues may be. Don't use a USB enclosure, connect one of the hard drives directly to your computer via SATA cables. If it works then it's the external enclosure that is broken. If it doesn't, then the hard drive itself may be failing.

 

[Kevin]

Let's try to narrow down what the issues may be. Don't use a USB enclosure, connect one of the hard drives directly to your computer via SATA cables. If it works then it's the external enclosure that is broken. If it doesn't, then the hard drive itself may be failing.

Is there any free programs that can test hard drive integrity and whether or not the hard drive is failing or not?

EDIT: Drive just disappeared again. If I unplugged it and plugged it back in it would likely appear but then just croak again. I think I'm just going to look for another drive. Maybe explore internal options.

 

[RGM79]

Is there any free programs that can test hard drive integrity and whether or not the hard drive is failing or not?

There's the free version of HD Tune, it does some basic checking. I'm not sure how useful it can be if you have problems reading from the hard drive, though. You may not even be able to run the tests.

If you want recommendations for reliable hard drive storage, around here we tend to go toward Western Digital, Hitachi, HGST, and Toshiba. They are generally decent brands to buy. Seagate can also be good, depending on the model. I don't think there are universal/globally applicable statistics for hard drive failure rate, and hard drive failure is not dependent on just the brand but also factors like how the hard drives are being used and how they are stored.

 

[Kevin]

Alright, I'll explore some options. Thanks for the feedback and suggestions.

 

[usp84]

Sorry if dumb question but my friend got a new PC with these parts:

i5-6400 2.7GHz
AMD R9 380 4GB
Gigabyte Socket 1151 GA-B150M
8 GB of RAM
Carbide Series SPEC-01 Tower
Also an SSD

Will he need extra cooling or is he alright?He mainly plays games like Witcher 3 etc.

Anybody?