• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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

Status
Not open for further replies.

Sarcasm

Member
I have a 670 and I am running into the memory limit on new games, which is 2gb. It is causing stuttering in a few games too. My CPU barely gets used regardless as it is only bring used 20% even in DS3 and I need to somehow fix this without spending way too much money as I plan to build a new box at the end of two years from now.


If I were to upgrade but not the newest and not to spend much what to get?
 

Aruarian Reflection

Chauffeur de la gdlk
What would be a recommended cooler for i7-6700k in a Fractal Design R3? It looks like clearance in this case is ~165 mm so that excludes the ThermalRight Truespirit coolers I was looking at. (well the True 140 BW is 165.1 mm tall but that's too close for comfort I think)

Something that is very easy to install and quiet is preferred over something that does mega cooling since I'm not going to be doing any super overclocking. Maybe the Cryorig H7 or Noctua NH-U12S?
 
What would be a recommended cooler for i7-6700k in a Fractal Design R3? It looks like clearance in this case is ~165 mm so that excludes the ThermalRight Truespirit coolers I was looking at. (well the True 140 BW is 165.1 mm tall but that's too close for comfort I think)

Something that is very easy to install and quiet is preferred over something that does mega cooling since I'm not going to be doing any super overclocking

The Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO is always a good choice.
 

Jordan

Member
I had built a PC about two years ago and all of a sudden I got a random blue screen and then the machine shut off and I can't get back into Windows.

I took the SSD out of the machine and powered it back on and I was able to access the BIOS so I put the SSD back into the machine and it powered back up. I left it on overnight and Microsoft obviously released some updates and the machine went to reboot and failed to boot back up again. Again, I took the SSD out, booted into BIOS, put SSD back in and the machine works.

When the machine is refusing to boot it displays an error somewhere along the lines of "Could not find boot device, please reboot the system or push any key to continue." While it would have been helpful for me to get into BIOS when this is occurring, I am unable to use any USB device. No keyboard inputs work and none of my USB devices are actually getting power. But after reseating the SSD everything comes back to life.

Any ideas?

Edit: I guess the specs of the PC will help:
CPU - i5 4680K
Mobo - MSI Z87-G45
Memory - Avexir MPower Red 2x4GB DDR3 PC3-12800C9
PSU - Seasonic G 550W
GPU - MSI GTX 770
 

Vitanimus

Member
hello hello

built my first PC all the way in 2012 and now thinking of doing a sizeable upgrade whilst I have the spare cash. I already have a basic build in mind thanks to the OP, but some suggestions and downsizes would be welcome because it's probably overkill for what I'm wanting.

Your Current Specs: i3-3220 @ 3.3GHz/ 8GB / MSI B75MA-P45 / MSI 7850 2GB /XFX 450W Core Edition Bronze 80+ / Zalman Z9 / 500GB SSD
Budget: < £700 preferrably. UK.
Main Use: Rate 1-5. 5 being Highest: Gaming - 4/5, Emulation (PS2/Wii) - 2/3, Video Editing - 0, Streaming games in HD - 0, 3D/Model work (and what program) - 0, General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback) - 5.
Monitor Resolution: I've got a Dell U2412M that has outputs for 1920 x 1200.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: No specific games. 1080p and 60fps is the dream for most modern games and for a couples years to come.
When will you build?: Do you have a deadline? Not particularly. Sooner the better though! I'm not really keen on waiting a few months for new cards to come out, since I'm not that much of an enthusiast.
Will you be overclocking?: I don't have an interest/need.

Here are the parts I have in mind. It was very thoughtless and just stuck with the OP or whatever was high rated.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£163.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£121.63 @ More Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£63.70 @ More Computers)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£275.92 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£80.28 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£70.97 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £776.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-14 12:36 BST+0100
 
hello hello

built my first PC all the way in 2012 and now thinking of doing a sizeable upgrade whilst I have the spare cash. I already have a basic build in mind thanks to the OP, but some suggestions and downsizes would be welcome because it's probably overkill for what I'm wanting.

Your Current Specs: i3-3220 @ 3.3GHz/ 8GB / MSI B75MA-P45 / MSI 7850 2GB /XFX 450W Core Edition Bronze 80+ / Zalman Z9 / 500GB SSD
Budget: < £700 preferrably. UK.
Main Use: Rate 1-5. 5 being Highest: Gaming - 4/5, Emulation (PS2/Wii) - 2/3, Video Editing - 0, Streaming games in HD - 0, 3D/Model work (and what program) - 0, General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback) - 5.
Monitor Resolution: I've got a Dell U2412M that has outputs for 1920 x 1200.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: No specific games. 1080p and 60fps is the dream for most modern games and for a couples years to come.
When will you build?: Do you have a deadline? Not particularly. Sooner the better though! I'm not really keen on waiting a few months for new cards to come out, since I'm not that much of an enthusiast.
Will you be overclocking?: I don't have an interest/need.

Here are the parts I have in mind. It was very thoughtless and just stuck with the OP or whatever was high rated.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£163.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£121.63 @ More Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£63.70 @ More Computers)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£275.92 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£80.28 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£70.97 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £776.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-14 12:36 BST+0100

The CPU should be good enough for anything, really.

You likely can get away with DDR4-2133 and a normal motherboard of B150 or H170 heritage (just make sure they have required features) if you don't ever plan on going SLI. Though, DDR4-2133 RAM tends to be ugly if you buy the cheapest "generic" RAM... usually I just eat the very slight premium anyway for better RAM bandwidth and significantly better looks (if going with fitting parts).

Since the DDR4-3000 isn't much more expensive, I've went and sped it up. You probably didn't need too much case, unless you have a very specific reason for that. Or you can just save money at that and get DDR4-2400 with headspreaders. Your call.

Power supply looks good.

This looks pretty good. May I also suggest the 390 equivalent by MSI, too? Good thing to compare either camp. Both have their pros and cons, so don't let anyone sway you too much. Just ask yourself what you value more! (Really, so long as it's an open-air style large cooler on the GPU that can turn itself off, you'll be fine. They're overengineered to heck.)

If you need anything, feel free to ask.

Either way, this would be a slightly revised list while keeping fast RAM and SLI in the cards... I wonder if you swing this way more? You probably don't need an SLI board, though, and in that case, a featureful B150 or H170 might make more sense.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£161.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A SLI PLUS ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£104.72 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£67.98 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£275.92 @ Aria PC)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£66.98 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£70.97 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £748.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-14 17:50 BST+0100

And as a side thing: if this is allowed, what are good 7200RPM laptop drive choices?
 

LilJoka

Member
No reason for ATX in the above build, get an mATX board and Fractal Define mini R2. Much better use of space.

Also if you will never buy a K chip, buy a H series or B series board with the desired features.

Laptop drives: anything from the usual well known brands should be fine.
 

Cocaloch

Member
Hey GAF, I asked for help in this thread a few months back, but I had some financial difficulties so I wasn't actually able to get the money I needed together. Everything's worked out now so I'm looking to build in the next few weeks, but my budget has been reduced so I was hoping for some ideas about what parts I should be looking at.

Budget: < 850, US
Main Use: Gaming, emulation, and general usage
Monitor Resolution: 1080p, but I already have a monitor
Looking to reuse any parts?: No but I already have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse so I'm not factoring those into the budget.
When will you build?: Preferably before the end of May/
Will you be overclocking?: Maybe.

Notes: I definitely want a solid state drive, and I need to be able to use wifi.

Actually I just looked up the build I was reccomended last time and it seems to basically fit my budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B150M MORTAR Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 390 8GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($274.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Silencio 352 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($55.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($29.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $865.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-08 19:51 EST-0500

Does this still make sense as a build, or are their new parts that I should look at?
 

LordAlu

Member
Hey GAF, I asked for help in this thread a few months back, but I had some financial difficulties so I wasn't actually able to get the money I needed together. Everything's worked out now so I'm looking to build in the next few weeks, but my budget has been reduced so I was hoping for some ideas about what parts I should be looking at.

Budget: < 850, US
Main Use: Gaming, emulation, and general usage
Monitor Resolution: 1080p, but I already have a monitor
Looking to reuse any parts?: No but I already have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse so I'm not factoring those into the budget.
When will you build?: Preferably before the end of May/
Will you be overclocking?: Maybe.

Notes: I definitely want a solid state drive, and I need to be able to use wifi.

Actually I just looked up the build I was reccomended last time and it seems to basically fit my budget.



Does this still make sense as a build, or are their new parts that I should look at?
Prices have changed a little since then, so you can swap one or two out.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX200 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($63.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.77 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card ($299.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 88R MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($55.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($29.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $868.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-14 14:55 EDT-0400
  • This has a Z170 board, so if you decide to upgrade to the i5-6600K or i7-6700K in the future you can do the overclocking you've marked as "Maybe" :)
  • As you have a Z170 board you can have some faster RAM in there, so there's some 3000MHz DDR4 in now.
  • With the stock shortages on the EVO getting worse the price is climbing up again, so the Crucial BX200 is there now (you'd likely not notice the difference).
  • The R9 390 has gone up - the cheapest one is now $300, but the GTX 970 isn't significantly cheaper so it's not worth swapping it out.
  • There's a slightly nicer case, plus in your previous build you wouldn't have been able to use the Bluetooth functionality of your wireless card due to a lack of USB2.0 headers, but as there's no card reader on the case you can use it with this one.
  • Finally there's a better power supply, if slightly lower wattage.
 

paskowitz

Member
If anyone is looking for a cheaper alternative to Dominator Platinums...

F5Ha81i.jpg
IHbxF0R.jpg
*Excuse my Moto X's potato camera
 
I have done a really dumb thing. I have mixed up the power lead from my PSU and my monitor. I usually label them but as this is a new build I hadn't got round to it yet and I was excited setting up a new desk.

One plug has a 13A fuse and the other a 5A. My PSU is a EVGA Super NOVA 850W and my monitor is an Acer Xb281hk if that helps.

From the UK also if that makes any difference.

Edit: Reading online that it shouldn't matter either way, buy the 13A cord is the PSU one and the 5A the monitor. That's how I have already wired them up. So I guess it's OK.
 

Dipper145

Member
Just ordered the following:

INTEL® CORE&#8482; I5-6500 Processor (279.99)
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series F4-2133C15D-8GVR DDR4 2133MHZ 8GB(4GBX2) (44.99)
MSI Radeon R9 380 4GD5T OC 980MHZ 4GB (269.98)
EVGA 500B 80 PLUS BRONZE CERTIFIED 500W POWER SUPPLY (56.99)
Antec VSK-4000 Black Sgcc Steel USB3.0 ATX Mid Tower (price matched at 39.33)
GIGABYTE G1 Sniper B7 LGA 1151 DDR4 (109.99)
PC Assembly and Testing With 1 Year Limited NCIX System (49.98)

All prices in Canadian Dollars. Total including s/h and taxes was: $963.49
All prices were on sale for a reasonably good price, was going to get a z170 board and a gtx950 instead, but didn't need the extra features of the z170 and the savings let me get a better GPU (and the g1 sniper mobo was like 40$ off) Also almost got a gtx960 but I know the 380 edges it out, and the 960 was 20$ cheaper but only 2gb of ram, so I figured it was a decent upgrade for 20$. The video card also comes with a free copy of assassins creed india, and ashes of the singularity which is a nice bonus I suppose.

Going to be reusing my current HDDs, maybe pick up an SSD somepoint soon with the paypal money I have in that account. I also get free windows 7 and windows 10 through my university which is awesome and saves a lot of money.

I understand theres something weird about installing windows 7 on new skylack processors or something? What's the deal with that?

Super excited to try my new computer!


Also have a question for you folks, if I buy a SSD seperately, and the case does not have a 2.5" drive bay, do SSDs come with 3.5" adaptors, or how does that work? Do I need to buy one seperately?
 

Elitist1945

Member
I have the NZXT HUE+ Advanced lighting kit, and I don't know where I'm supposed to plug the cable into?

I also am unsure of where to plug the HD Audio cord.

I have EVGA 750 Gold PSU.

EDIT: Found the perif input on the PSU lol. And the HD Audio. Thanks though.
 

darthbob

Member
And where do I plug those into?

This is my motherboard:

The three PWMs look like they'd go near the top of your board. See the three 4pin connectors above your CPU?

Do you see like a little switch on your front panel connector? The eSATA would plug into a SATA power cable from your PSU.

Here's a diagram from the R5 manual.

b3UtJci.png


Edit: Don't try to plug those into your motherboard, for the love of god. I'm dumb. Those PWM connectors plug into your fans directly so your front panel can adjust them, rather than your motherboard.
 

Elitist1945

Member
I already have the 3 fans connected to the motherboard, but I still don't know where to plug the PWMs into. I don't see an area on the fans to put them/they wouldn't reach.
 
I already have the 3 fans connected to the motherboard, but I still don't know where to plug the PWMs into. I don't see an area on the fans to put them/they wouldn't reach.

You're supposed to plug those fans into that connector so that you can control fan speed from the case. The way you have it now being connected to the motherboard won't allow you to use the fan speed switch.
 

Elitist1945

Member
You said you have 3 fans connected to the mobo. Unplug those and plug them into that external connector.

OH. Okay haha. But how do the fans get power now? I feel super dumb lol.

EDIT: I connected an adapter to the eSata and connected it to the PSU. Is that what I was supposed to do?
 
OH. Okay haha. But how do the fans get power now? I feel super dumb lol.

EDIT: I connected an adapter to the eSata and connected it to the PSU. Is that what I was supposed to do?

That's not eSata from the manual. That's just standard sata power, so yes it should be connected to PSU for power to the fans.
 

Goretrail

Member
So I built a new rig tonight, 6600k with Corsair H100i v2 liquid cooling. When I opened Speed fan after an hour of so of getting stuff installed, my Cpu temp was floating around in the 60's-70's. I started to get worried, and downloaded corsair Link to try and see if I could tweak something to bring the temp down and while I saw no option to mess with fan speeds, the temp gauge on the Corsair program showed me a by core temp breakdown, and it seems much more reasonable with the temps sitting around 20c a piece.

So which one do I trust? Is Speed fan just adding all the core temps together and making it seem higher than it really is? Any help is appreciated!

http://i.imgur.com/gPULd9I.png
 

CJVaughn

Banned
Okay so this is my 'finished' build, being my first one. I know there's probably some things wrong which I hope can be pointed out. This is how it looks:

I'm not 100% sure if both of those connectors should be plugged into the 980ti?
They both should be. It requires more power than just one connector can provide.
 
Just set up my 6700k and Noctua D15. At idle the cpu is 18C, at full load (stock speeds) it's around 40 or 42C. Insanely good cooling, and that's only with one fan attached (and a default vcore of 1.26 or 1.27V).

Looking forward to doing some OC'ing!
 
So I built a new rig tonight, 6600k with Corsair H100i v2 liquid cooling. When I opened Speed fan after an hour of so of getting stuff installed, my Cpu temp was floating around in the 60's-70's. I started to get worried, and downloaded corsair Link to try and see if I could tweak something to bring the temp down and while I saw no option to mess with fan speeds, the temp gauge on the Corsair program showed me a by core temp breakdown, and it seems much more reasonable with the temps sitting around 20c a piece.

So which one do I trust? Is Speed fan just adding all the core temps together and making it seem higher than it really is? Any help is appreciated!

http://i.imgur.com/gPULd9I.png

HWinfo64
 
Downloaded it, and it shows temps consistent with the Corsair Link utility, does this mean I am good? Have not built a PC since about 2005, and have been on Macs for the last 5 years, till I realized I need to get off that train, so I am quite rusty and behind the times...

http://imgur.com/LmDSIAR

What you should do is load up something like prime95 to put a (100%) load on your CPU and then see what the temps are like.
 

CJVaughn

Banned
What you should do is load up something like prime95 to put a (100%) load on your CPU and then see what the temps are like.
I second this. What you've shown outside of the speedfan utility looks to be normal idle temps. If a stress test rises the CPU temp to the average safe temp of your CPU under load then chances are its working accurately.
 

RayStorm

Member
Okay so this is my 'finished' build, being my first one. I know there's probably some things wrong which I hope can be pointed out. This is how it looks:



I'm not 100% sure if both of those connectors should be plugged into the 980ti?

Not sure what you are trying to show with your second picture, but going by the first you plugged both power cables (6 pin and 8 pin) into your GPU so this is correct.

I think you would want your CPU-Fan on the other side of the CPU-cooler though as I imagine it is supposed to blow air onto the cooler and not suck it out from it. And in your setup with the case fan behind it, which probably sucks air out of the case you are doing yourself a disservice by having case fan and CPU-fan blow into different directions.
 

LordAlu

Member
Okay so this is my 'finished' build, being my first one. I know there's probably some things wrong which I hope can be pointed out. This is how it looks:

13009965_979914282116049_40367826_o.jpg


I'm not 100% sure if both of those connectors should be plugged into the 980ti?
Looks about right, but the graphics card should be slotted into the top most slot it can fit in (nearest the CPU).
 

Vaga

Member
Okay so this is my 'finished' build, being my first one. I know there's probably some things wrong which I hope can be pointed out. This is how it looks:
13009965_979914282116049_40367826_o.jpg

Move the video card in the top slot. It gets more air from underneath plus it will benefit from the frontal chasis cooler airflow.

And shouldn't you place the CPU cooler on the other side? So that it blows air through the heatsink towards the rear chasis cooler?
 

LordAlu

Member
Move the video card in the top slot. It gets more air from underneath plus it will benefit from the frontal chasis cooler airflow.

And shouldn't you place the CPU cooler on the other side? So that it blows air through the heatsink towards the rear chasis cooler?
Cooler fan is a good point. By default, the fan blows through the cooler, so it actually be blowing the wrong way.
 

OraleeWey

Member
Cooler fan is a good point. By default, the fan blows through the cooler, so it actually be blowing the wrong way.

You can put the fan on any side you want. Just make sure that it is exhausting to the rear chassis fan, that's all. Right now you have it in a pulll configuration. If it was on the other side that would be a push configuration.
 

Elitist1945

Member
Move the video card in the top slot. It gets more air from underneath plus it will benefit from the frontal chasis cooler airflow.

And shouldn't you place the CPU cooler on the other side? So that it blows air through the heatsink towards the rear chasis cooler?

I will move the video card. And I'll look into the cooler. I'm honestly surprised I got this far since I haven't much of a clue of what I'm doing lol.
 
You can put the fan on any side you want. Just make sure that it is exhausting to the rear chassis fan, that's all. Right now you have it in a pulll configuration. If it was on the other side that would be a push configuration.
Push is slightly more effective than pull.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom