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[RGM79]

Today, when I got up and turned on my computer, it did a disk check that lasted hours. My PC has been slowing down and getting errors for well over a year now. I haven't touched the insides of my computer in the over four years since I built it with the help of the 2011 PC thread. It's time for an upgrade. This is what my PC has in it right now:

So, the main thing I want to do right this second is get an SSD and a new harddrive, as well as some RAM. I might break down and get a new graphics card as well. Maybe. So, my questions for GAF at this moment are:

1. To upgrade the RAM, all I need to do is order another two of those RAM sticks and stick them next to their brothers on the motherboard, right? If so, it's only about $30 on Newegg, so that would be super cheap and easy.

2. How should I go about upgrading my storage? I definitely want an SSD, but I probably want to get another large hard drive to store a lot of data. In order to get my system working off of an SSD, do I just insert the SSD, use my old Windows 7 DVD to install Windows on the SSD (assuming I could use the same serial code again), and I can still access all of the data on my old hard drive, no problem?

3. If I get another large HDD, should I clone over my data from the old and slow HDD? How should a person with limited technical experience go about this?

Any other advice for someone upgrading for the first time (and probably should have years ago)?

1. Yes, that's correct. That's all you need to do to upgrade your RAM, really. It's one of the easiest upgrades you can do.
2. Yes, you should install Windows on the SSD and your existing product key will work. We recommend that you unplug every other drive except for the SSD when installing Windows so as to prevent the old installation of Windows from interfering with the new installation on the SSD. Alternatively you could also clone your existing installation of Windows to the SSD (look at the two links below for instructions), but you may want to do a new installation to start fresh if your PC has been feeling sluggish.
   How to Upgrade Your Existing Hard Drive in Under an Hour
   How To Migrate Windows 7 to a Solid State Drive
3. See the two tutorial links above. They may be referring to SSDs but it also applies to regular hard drives as well (cloning software won't care and will work).

As for additional advice.. how large is your budget for upgrades, and where are you located? Maybe we can recommend some parts you to that'll make the best use of your money.

I'm having a problem with my bluetooth mouse on my new desktop. Whenever the processor is working decently hard... well, it feels as if I'm getting a framerate drop whenever I use my mouse to turn the camera, but if I move with the keyboard, it's perfectly smooth.

As far as I can tell, the mouse pointer itself is never jumpy, it only happens when I turn some kind of in-game camera. If I plug the mouse in (it can be used either wirelessly or wired), the problem goes away.

I'm using a USB bluetooth adapter.

I know that I shouldn't really be using a wireless mouse for gaming anyway, but i want to bring this desktop to college with me, and there's only one spot in my dorm room where I think it would fit. In order to put it there, because of how the room is laid out, I would need to use a bluetooth keyboard and mouse.

How about RF keyboards and mice instead? Might be less laggy than bluetooth, but won't know unless you try. Might also be the issue of the bluetooth adaptor itself, try a different set of drivers or even a different bluetooth adaptor.

Maybe you should tell us what bluetooth keyboard, mouse, and adaptor you're using.

Thank you for the build, RGM79. The look of the case doesn't matter to me. As long as the PC doesn't overheat In addition to Amazon/Newegg, I am able to buy parts from Microcenter. I was also informed of a good deal on a i5-4590 processor at Microcenter ($159.99) by a kind redditor, so I'll probably go with that. But yeah, one of my main priorities is to buy parts from reliable brands that have a lot of great reviews like the Crucial ram you mentioned. Was also thinking about going with an H97M motherboard. That's a good deal on the PSU, but I think I'd rather go with one that's semi-modular.

My budget is $850 after rebates, although I don't mind spending a little more than that for quality parts.

Oh if Microcenter is an option, then that definitely changes things. Yes, I would highly recommend you go there for local deals as well. I've also been told that Microcenter gives you a $20 discount if you buy both a motherboard and CPU from there, but I'm not totally sure and parts availability will probably differ by what each local store has. Still, here's an updated build incorporating the cheaper i5 4590 from Microcenter, an H97 motherboard (with 4 RAM slots), dual channel RAM (to take advantage of the extra RAM slots), and a modular power supply.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($159.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($67.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($329.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($61.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $844.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-31 02:50 EDT-0400

Is Seasonic S12II-520 (520W) a good choice for a i5-4690K, 8GB RAM, ASUS GTX 970, 1x SSD, 1x BDROM? I don't plan to upgrade for the next couple of years and I need a stable and reliable PSU that will handle 4690K and 970 down the line when I OC them (eventually)
JohnnyGuru gave it a glowing review...

It's a good choice, but a bit low on wattage when thinking about future upgrades and/or overclocking. Where are you located and what's your budget for a PSU? There are other great PSUs to choose from.

So any reason not to go Skylake when doing a new build?

It's more expensive due to DDR4 prices and Skylake parts being very new, certain parts like the processors are still in very short supply, and there appears to be an issue with Z170 motherboards and SLI not working properly at best performance (unknown if it's software/firmware/hardware, too early to tell).

 

[j0hnny_385]

It's a good choice, but a bit low on wattage when thinking about future upgrades and/or overclocking. Where are you located and what's your budget for a PSU? There are other great PSUs to choose from.

EU.
Budget around 80 EUR max (with shipping).
Found S12 II 620W for 73EUR, seems like a good deal.
EVGA is nowhere to be found here (Croatia) and Alzashop & et.al. are out of the budget.
If you have any alternative for the S12 II 620W under 80EUR I'd appreciate it (you don't have to look the at the shops, I'll do that, just say what to look for).

 

[RGM79]

EU.
Budget around 80 EUR max (with shipping).
Found S12 II 620W for 73EUR, seems like a good deal.
EVGA is nowhere to be found here (Croatia) and Alzashop & et.al. are out of the budget.
If you have any alternative for the S12 II 620W under 80EUR I'd appreciate it (you don't have to look the at the shops, I'll do that, just say what to look for).

Super Flower, Seasonic, and XFX are the brands that I can say offer excellent models all across their product lines. EVGA, Corsair, Antec, Cooler Master, Fractal, Rosewill, and Silverstone offer poor to excellent models depending on which model you look at. If you are looking for reviews, then RealHardTechX is a decent resource. Look at the top of the page for listings by brand, then you can search for specific models by name or model number. That link leads to the XFX page, you can see how just about all of their power supplies are highly rated (they are actually all manufactured by Seasonic).

Here are two examples I think I can recommend you that are probably close to your price range. Unfortunately I don't know Croatian so I don't know if the website includes shipping in the price figures, but they are just examples after all. They are listed in no actual order.

http://www.centro.hr/super-flower-fx-650w-80-plus-bronze-power-supply-sf-650p14he-p-n-nesf-043.aspx
http://www.centro.hr/napajanje-seasonic-ss-620gb-620w.aspx

 

[j0hnny_385]

Super Flower, Seasonic, and XFX are the brands that I can say offer excellent models all across their product lines. EVGA, Corsair, Antec, Cooler Master, Fractal, Rosewill, and Silverstone offer poor to excellent models depending on which model you look at. If you are looking for reviews, then RealHardTechX is a decent resource. Look at the top of the page for listings by brand, then you can search for specific models by name or model number. That link leads to the XFX page, you can see how just about all of their power supplies are highly rated (they are actually all manufactured by Seasonic).

Here are two examples I think I can recommend you that are probably close to your price range. Unfortunately I don't know Croatian so I don't know if the website includes shipping in the price figures, but they are just examples after all. They are listed in no actual order.

http://www.centro.hr/super-flower-fx-650w-80-plus-bronze-power-supply-sf-650p14he-p-n-nesf-043.aspx
http://www.centro.hr/napajanje-seasonic-ss-620gb-620w.aspx

Thanks!

You actually linked the Seasonic one that I'm after. On the same shop , too.

I think I'll go with Seasonic because XFX PRO 650 if 25EUR over the Seasonic 620W. :/
Thanks for the tip!

 

[Two Words]

Is there any measurable benefit to locking RAM to a higher frequency vs allowing it to dynamically change?

 

[SpeedySwaf]

So I'm currently in the middle of building my first PC. The good news is that I believe I got most of "core" stuff inside the case:

• CPU
• Cooler
• RAM
• Power supply
• SSD
• HDD

I only need to add the graphics card (an EVGA GTX 970) which I'm saving for last, and the CD reader--I'm embarssed to say that I'm having trouble figuring out how to get it inside the case, as the official manual for the case (Antec P-100) is kinda sparse on how to do it exactly. There's a cover on the front and I'm not sure how to remove it.

But the biggest thing I'm trying to figure out now are all the connections between the power supply, motherboard, and everything else. I'd work on it more, but I have to head out of town tomorrow and can't spend anymore time on it. It's currently all closed up and resting on my desk.

I'll be reading/watching more videos about how everything interconnects, and try to finish up when I get back him. Crossing my fingers.

 

[Daffy Duck]

Uhm, so this PC gaming lark is a bit good aint it?

I've never played on a good PC, as even the last C I had (2000) wasn't all that, but this thing, boy oh boy, gaming is going to be so good, cannot wait for TPP to unlock now. Fired up Half Life 2 as it's the only game I have and everything was default to high and it looked and played so crisp.

Even music sound s better.

One very happy ducky.

 

[DeliciousDoc]

Do you already have the 80+ bronze? Or are you comparing for a future purchase, in which case what models are you comparing?

Future purchase. Here is the platinum one

Enhance ATX-1860 (quiet) 600W / 80PLUS TITANIUM

bronze one
500W (quiet) AcBel / 80PLUS BRONZE

upgrading from that bronze on a build to order pc costs about 90 dollars.

thoughts?

 

[LilJoka]

That's not how it's supposed to work tho- especially if you BOUGHT your copy of Windows 7 or 8. Your Windows 10 key is supposed to transfer over regardless of how many hardware changes you make. Otherwise what's the point?

Anyways, I did a clean install of Windows 8 Pro and then I upgraded to Windows 10 from there and I have an activated key now. Although I suspect after a year that procedure won't work anymore and MS will want everyone who did the free upgrade to buy a new copy of Win 10 every time they make a major hardware upgrade or do a clean install.

People are going to shit a brick when they find that out.

It's not a secret, people just hope that common sense was used, but it rarely is from a corporation.

Future purchase. Here is the platinum one

Enhance ATX-1860 (quiet) 600W / 80PLUS TITANIUM

bronze one
500W (quiet) AcBel / 80PLUS BRONZE

upgrading from that bronze on a build to order pc costs about 90 dollars.

thoughts?

90 USD? You must be having a laugh? It's very shady that a platinum spec PSU only got a 80+ certification and is from China.

For that much you can get a seasonic.

 

[Ragona]

Hey guys, no idea where to ask, so Im gonna put it here:

I recently replaced my 7 year old psu with a be quiet! Straight Power 10-CM 500W and my gtx 670 with a Radeon 390 Nitro.

But now it seems like my pc is running completely unstable and Iam somewhat frustrated.
- First of all performance in games seems to be kinda normal
- After some time or heavy load my pc becomes incredibly slow, chrome doesnt load pages and programms just stop working or hang up
- When i then try to restart my pc, the fans just keep running and the pc wont shut down or restart until i press the power button.

Since iam not a real hardware expert I wonder what the issue could be and how I can fix it.
Thanks alot

 

[LilJoka]

Hey guys, no idea where to ask, so Im gonna put it here:

I recently replaced my 7 year old psu with a be quiet! Straight Power 10-CM 500W and my gtx 670 with a Radeon 390 Nitro.

But now it seems like my pc is running completely unstable and Iam somewhat frustrated.
- First of all performance in games seems to be kinda normal
- After some time or heavy load my pc becomes incredibly slow, chrome doesnt load pages and programms just stop working or hang up
- When i then try to restart my pc, the fans just keep running and the pc wont shut down or restart until i press the power button.

Since iam not a real hardware expert I wonder what the issue could be and how I can fix it.
Thanks alot

When you switched GPUs, did you use Display Driver Uninstaller to prepare the PC? If not, try that first.

http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

Since it seems like you are not getting any BSOD, we can try a few other things.

Try reset the BIOS to default settings.
Have a look in Event viewer for any errors.
Use a program like HDTune to check your HDD SMART statistics.

 

[Ragona]

When you switched GPUs, did you use Display Driver Uninstaller to prepare the PC? If not, try that first.

http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

Since it seems like you are not getting any BSOD, we can try a few other things.

Try reset the BIOS to default settings.
Have a look in Event viewer for any errors.
Use a program like HDTune to check your HDD SMART statistics.

Ive uninstalled the Nvidia drivers with the tool you mentioned, then changed gpu and installed the Amd drivers.
Ill test the HDD tool now

 

[DeliciousDoc]

It's not a secret, people just hope that common sense was used, but it rarely is from a corporation.



90 USD? You must be having a laugh? It's very shady that a platinum spec PSU only got a 80+ certification and is from China.

For that much you can get a seasonic.

Thanks. Since Im buying in Japan there are a lot of brands I dont know and everything seems overpriced. I will be careful with the psu.

 

[LilJoka]

Thanks. Since Im buying in Japan there are a lot of brands I dont know and everything seems overpriced. I will be careful with the psu.

See if you can get Enermax PSUs? They are made in Taiwan, maybe better value for you.

 

[Kiru]

Any suggestions for cheap silent 120mm case fans ? I'm leaning towards ARCTIC F12, cause 6€ and saw it mentioned here and there, but some reviews say it isn't that silent (thinking those people run it at max speed, of course it will be loud, lol) and has some peeping noises. Also is PWM worse or better ? Can't you just tell the fan to run at a certain speed even when PWM ?

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

Is there any guide to overclock an i 7 5820k?? Just build a new pc and never overclocked before... What software do I use?

 

[LilJoka]

Any suggestions for cheap silent 120mm case fans ? I'm leaning towards ARCTIC F12, cause 6€ and saw it mentioned here and there, but some reviews say it isn't that silent (thinking those people run it at max speed, of course it will be loud, lol) and has some peeping noises. Also is PWM worse or better ? Can't you just tell the fan to run at a certain speed even when PWM ?

PWM fans have the advantage of running at much lower Rpm without spin up problems. You should check if the 4pin header on your motherboard is actually a real PWM port by looking in the motherboard manual before going for this option. Also check the minimum fan speed percentage your motherboard software allows for chassis fans.

Some boards actually havs voltage controlled 4 pin headers (people assume it's PWM, but isn't in reality), the motherboard doesn't allow lower than 60% fan speed anyway to prevent spin up failure. So check this all first.

Is there any guide to overclock an i 7 5820k?? Just build a new pc and never overclocked before... What software do I use?

Try overclock.net, you use the BIOS to overclock the CPU and you use stress test software like Aida64 to test the stability. The main thing you will be adjusting is CPU Vcore and the CPU speed via the Multiplier setting.

 

[Evo X]

Anyone else obsessed with min/maxing when it comes to overclocking hardware? That is to say the maximum OC before hitting diminishing returns.

Before I used to just increase voltage to maximum safe levels and run my hardware at peak overclock.

Recently, I've become more interested in finding the optimum sweet spot of performance and voltage to manage noise and temps.

Got my CPU running now at 4.4Ghz using only 1.16v. I've had it running at 4.5 & 4.6 as well, but that requires 1.22v and 1.29v respectively to run 100% stable. A lot of extra voltage, for what I assume is an imperceptible performance increase in gaming and most other everyday tasks. From what I've gathered online, I lucked out on my chip. Most Haswell-Es I've seen require 1.25-1.3v to run 4.4Ghz stable. What has your experience been like?

Lowered other accompanying voltages in the BIOS as well before running some rigorous stress testing. CPU cores now idle at 27-29C and only reached 44-47C after 2 hours of Witcher 3. Even during the heaviest multi threaded benchmarks and encoding, the hottest CPU core doesn't go higher than 52C. That makes me irrationally happy. lol

Did the same with my Titan X. I've noticed after ~1360Mhz core, adding more voltage does not allow me to increase the max core proportionally. For example, 1400Mhz stable requires me to max out the voltage slider on Afterburner. Instead I dropped it down, which lowered max temps from 78C to 70C, along with a less aggressive fan curve.

Now my PC is almost silent, while providing amazing performance. The great airflow inside the Enthoo Luxe is helping a lot I think.

 

[Kiru]

PWM fans have the advantage of running at much lower Rpm without spin up problems. You should check if the 4pin header on your motherboard is actually a real PWM port by looking in the motherboard manual before going for this option. Also check the minimum fan speed percentage your motherboard software allows for chassis fans.

Some boards actually havs voltage controlled 4 pin headers (people assume it's PWM, but isn't in reality), the motherboard doesn't allow lower than 60% fan speed anyway to prevent spin up failure. So check this all first.

I found this online:

The ASUS Z97 Pro features six fan headers, five of which can be controlled in the UEFI and can operate in either DC (3-pin) or PWM (4-pin) modes. ASUS says the CPU fan header can change its mode from 3 to 4 pin (DC mode to PWM mode) automatically, which is a nice feature. The CPU_OPT fan header has no control.

I guess I could use either one ?

 

[LilJoka]

I found this online:

I guess I could use either one ?

You can always use either one on a 4 pin header, but why pay (usually) more for a PWM fan when it wont actually function as a PWM fan, meaning itll just work as a normal voltage controlled fan.

Have a look at the whole picture

As you can see, the CPU PWM headers have a different 1st pin compared tot he Chassis fans, a PWM signal vs a 5v signal.

Now possibly Asus have made their design better than my X79 Asus board, and that 5v signal is being used to prevent the fan spin up failure at low fan speed configuration. But either way its not a real PWM header.

The next thing to do is use Asus Fan XPert software to see how low in %age you can set the fans, in my case its only 60%. But i know Fan Xpert 3 had notable improvements here, and thats what that 5v pin might be there for (prevent fan spin up failure).

 

[LilJoka]

Anyone else obsessed with min/maxing when it comes to overclocking hardware? That is to say the maximum OC before hitting diminishing returns.

Before I used to just increase voltage to maximum safe levels and run my hardware at peak overclock.

Recently, I've become more interested in finding the optimum sweet spot of performance and voltage to manage noise and temps.

Got my CPU running now at 4.4Ghz using only 1.16v. I've had it running at 4.5 & 4.6 as well, but that requires 1.22v and 1.29v respectively to run 100% stable. A lot of extra voltage, for what I assume is an imperceptible performance increase in gaming and most other everyday tasks. From what I've gathered online, I lucked out on my chip. Most Haswell-Es I've seen require 1.25-1.3v to run 4.4Ghz stable. What has your experience been like?

Lowered other accompanying voltages in the BIOS as well before running some rigorous stress testing. CPU cores now idle at 27-29C and only reached 44-47C after 2 hours of Witcher 3. Even during the heaviest multi threaded benchmarks and encoding, the hottest CPU core doesn't go higher than 52C. That makes me irrationally happy. lol

Did the same with my Titan X. I've noticed after ~1360Mhz core, adding more voltage does not allow me to increase the max core proportionally. For example, 1400Mhz stable requires me to max out the voltage slider on Afterburner. Instead I dropped it down, which lowered max temps from 78C to 70C, along with a less aggressive fan curve.

Now my PC is almost silent, while providing amazing performance. The great airflow inside the Enthoo Luxe is helping a lot I think.

This is the main game of overclocking =D

 

[Kiru]

You can always use either one on a 4 pin header, but why pay (usually) more for a PWM fan when it wont actually function as a PWM fan, meaning itll just work as a normal voltage controlled fan.

Have a look at the whole picture

As you can see, the CPU PWM headers have a different 1st pin compared tot he Chassis fans, a PWM signal vs a 5v signal.

Now possibly Asus have made their design better than my X79 Asus board, and that 5v signal is being used to prevent the fan spin up failure at low fan speed configuration. But either way its not a real PWM header.

The next thing to do is use Asus Fan XPert software to see how low in %age you can set the fans, in my case its only 60%. But i know Fan Xpert 3 had notable improvements here, and thats what that 5v pin might be there for (prevent fan spin up failure).

Ok, thank you for your help, will check it later!
Btw, there doesn't seem to be a price difference between PWN or DC ones with the Arctic Fans.

 

[Evo X]

This is the main game of overclocking =D

Ha. Guess I'm used to the OCN method of squeezing every last bit of performance possible; Power consumption and temps be damned. Lol

 

[Felix Lighter]

Anyone else obsessed with min/maxing when it comes to overclocking hardware? That is to say the maximum OC before hitting diminishing returns.

Before I used to just increase voltage to maximum safe levels and run my hardware at peak overclock.

Recently, I've become more interested in finding the optimum sweet spot of performance and voltage to manage noise and temps.

Got my CPU running now at 4.4Ghz using only 1.16v. I've had it running at 4.5 & 4.6 as well, but that requires 1.22v and 1.29v respectively to run 100% stable. A lot of extra voltage, for what I assume is an imperceptible performance increase in gaming and most other everyday tasks. From what I've gathered online, I lucked out on my chip. Most Haswell-Es I've seen require 1.25-1.3v to run 4.4Ghz stable. What has your experience been like?

Lowered other accompanying voltages in the BIOS as well before running some rigorous stress testing. CPU cores now idle at 27-29C and only reached 44-47C after 2 hours of Witcher 3. Even during the heaviest multi threaded benchmarks and encoding, the hottest CPU core doesn't go higher than 52C. That makes me irrationally happy. lol

Did the same with my Titan X. I've noticed after ~1360Mhz core, adding more voltage does not allow me to increase the max core proportionally. For example, 1400Mhz stable requires me to max out the voltage slider on Afterburner. Instead I dropped it down, which lowered max temps from 78C to 70C, along with a less aggressive fan curve.

Now my PC is almost silent, while providing amazing performance. The great airflow inside the Enthoo Luxe is helping a lot I think.

4.4 Ghz at 1.16v is definitely very exceptional. If that is rock solid stable you got an extremely good chip. My 5820K is stable at 4.3 Ghz at 1.27v.

 

[knitoe]

Ha. Guess I'm used to the OCN method of squeezing every last bit of performance possible; Power consumption and temps be damned. Lol

If you can keep it under 1.30V and <75C, push and run fast as it can go. Power consumption is not a big deal because the PC will mostly be idling anyway. Now, if you stress test 24/7, that might be an issue.

And, your Titan X temps are amazing. Is it on the stock cooler? With the stock cooler, mine and everyone I have read hits 83C within 10 mins running Witcher 3 at 100% usage, and thus, they throttling. I had to buy EVGA's aftermarket cooler.

 

[Grassy]

Guys be aware of what looks like Z170 chipset issues with SLI. Just jumped in this mess with my upgrade

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=401782
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=402032
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=259785.0
https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/3i3skv/discussion_sli_seems_to_be_broken_on_z170/
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2765306/sli-performing-bad-brand-system.html#16527260
https://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20150816075401746&SLanguage=en-us&board_id=1&model=Z170-DELUXE&page=1

Hopefully will be fixed soon.

The new Metal Gear Solid V: TPP/Mad Max "Game Ready" drivers 355.82 seems to have fixed the SLI issue, give them a go!

http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/geforce-355-82-whql-driver-released

 

[Sectorseven]

Why are laptop and desktop ram different? It seems like they should be universal, especially in this day and age.

 

[LQX]

Why are laptop and desktop ram different? It seems like they should be universal, especially in this day and age.

How would that work though given the size differences?

 

[Sectorseven]

How would that work though given the size differences?

I don't know, I don't design the stuff

We've got hard drives now that can fit both. Seems like ram should be a simple enough part to be one size fits all as well.

 

[Devildoll]

Why are laptop and desktop ram different? It seems like they should be universal, especially in this day and age.

what'll happen is probably that someone will buy ram with a mega heatsink on it.
and then get bummed out when it doesnt fit in their laptop.

 

[Evo X]

4.4 Ghz at 1.16v is definitely very exceptional. If that is rock solid stable you got an extremely good chip. My 5820K is stable at 4.3 Ghz at 1.27v.

Yeah, it's been stable for the last few days.Played a bunch of games, did Aida64 stress test, encoded a bluray in Handbrake, tested 3Dmark/Heaven/Valley, and did some passes in Cinebench.

I'm pretty surprised and very happy with the chip.

If you can keep it under 1.30V and <75C, push and run fast as it can go. Power consumption is not a big deal because the PC will mostly be idling anyway. Now, if you stress test 24/7, that might be an issue.

And, your Titan X temps are amazing. Is it on the stock cooler? With the stock cooler, mine and everyone I have read hits 83C within 10 mins running Witcher 3 at 100% usage, and thus, they throttling. I had to buy EVGA's aftermarket cooler.

Nah. It's not the power consumption I care about so much as temp management. Running longer gaming sessions at max OC starts to heat up my room, even though CPU temps stay in the high 50s/low 60C range with the Kraken X61. Other than benchmarks, I doubt there is a perceptible difference between 4.4 & 4.7.

I'm running a stock EVGA Titan X. The reason temps are so good is because I have cool ambient air and zero obstruction from the massive 200mm intake fan blowing straight over the GPU. Removed the HDD cage since I'm running an SSD on a mount on the side of the case. Also have a custom fan profile in Afterburner and pretty sure I got lucky with yet another low voltage component.

 

[LilJoka]

Ha. Guess I'm used to the OCN method of squeezing every last bit of performance possible; Power consumption and temps be damned. Lol

I think a lot of people start with squeezing every drop of performance before coming back to it and optimising for temps/volts. At least that's what I tend to do.

 

[knitoe]

Nah. It's not the power consumption I care about so much as temp management. Running longer gaming sessions at max OC starts to heat up my room, even though CPU temps stay in the high 50s/low 60C range with the Kraken X61. Other than benchmarks, I doubt there is a perceptible difference between 4.4 & 4.7.

I'm running a stock EVGA Titan X. The reason temps are so good is because I have cool ambient air and zero obstruction from the massive 200mm intake fan blowing straight over the GPU. Removed the HDD cage since I'm running an SSD on a mount on the side of the case. Also have a custom fan profile in Afterburner and pretty sure I got lucky with yet another low voltage component.

Yeah, gaming wise, 4.4 vs 4.7 probably won't a difference, but with such low voltage and temps, I don't see why not. And, it's more likely the video card is the one heating up your room.

As for Titan X temps, it's more likely your custom fan profile than air flow. People have test it outside cases and they still hit 83C quickly under heavy load. Personally, people's custom fan profiles are usually too loud for my taste, even the non aggressive stock profile is too much. The EVGA aftermarket coolers are so much better.

 

[Guri]

Sorry to be quoting again, but can anyone help?

Hey, guys, I am asking this for a friend. What's the best choice now? Buy a high-end GPU (and, if so, which one, up to 450 euros?) or get something like a 960 and wait until next year to buy a new one? By the way, this is for a new PC, so it has to be a new card. Could be either AMD or Nvidia.

 

[Evo X]

Yeah, gaming wise, 4.4 vs 4.7 probably won't a difference, but with such low voltage and temps, I don't see why not. And, it's more likely the video card is the one heating up your room.

As for Titan X temps, it's more likely your custom fan profile than air flow. People have test it outside cases and they still hit 83C quickly under heavy load. Personally, people's custom fan profiles are usually too loud for my taste, even the non aggressive stock profile is too much. The EVGA aftermarket coolers are so much better.

I dunno. Even with max overclock and voltage, I have never seen my Titan X go over 78C. My custom fan profile is silent when browsing or working. Fan speed stays around 35%. Only ramps up under heavy gaming, where I still limit it to about 70%. Can't hear it over the game sounds.

I do miss my aftermarket GPUs though. My old ASUS DirectCUII GTX 570 was silent at full load, and my MSI Lightning GTX980 was pretty damn quite too. Sucks they only allowed the reference blower on the Titan X.

 

[opticalmace]

Sorry to be quoting again, but can anyone help?

It depends on what you're doing. What resolution/refresh rate will he be playing at? Modern games? What are his system specs?

 

[Wowfunhappy]

How about RF keyboards and mice instead? Might be less laggy than bluetooth, but won't know unless you try. Might also be the issue of the bluetooth adaptor itself, try a different set of drivers or even a different bluetooth adaptor.

Keyboard is an Apple Bluetooth Keyboard, mouse is a Razer Orochi 2013. I've been using both for years and I absolutely love them.

Bluetooth adapter is an "Azio BTD-V201 USB Micro Bluetooth Adapter, Class 1". I can buy another one if there's a decent chance it will actually make a difference.

Fwiw, I've noticed that the problem is less bad (but still very much present) if I use one of my computer's front usb ports as opposed to the back.

 

[RGM79]

Keyboard is an Apple Bluetooth Keyboard, mouse is a Razer Orochi 2013. I've been using both for years and I absolutely love them.

Bluetooth adapter is an "Azio BTD-V201 USB Micro Bluetooth Adapter, Class 1". I can buy another one if there's a decent chance it will actually make a difference.

Fwiw, I've noticed that the problem is less bad (but still very much present) if I use one of my computer's front usb ports as opposed to the back.

That's a decent bluetooth adaptor. Hopefully you don't have a lemon. Has it always been like this? Perhaps a new bluetooth adaptor will make a difference..

Do you still have problems if the adaptor is right next to the keyboard and mouse? I don't know exactly why you can't have it wired, but another thing you can try is a USB extension cable to put as little distance between the keyboard/mouse and the bluetooth adaptor. That might help.

 

[ignaciogc]

Hi everyone,

After using this main thread and some help on a couple questions that I posted before I have completed my build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3kHhcf

One thing that I did not add to that list and I do need is a Wireless Card. I was hoping to find one that would get WiFi and Bluetooth at the same time.

The best rated card on pcpartpicker is this one: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/tp-link-wireless-network-card-tlwdn4800
However, this one has bluetooth included (although I do not love the extended antenna): http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-wireless-network-card-gcwb867di

Any recommendations?

 

[inkls]

Hi, I'm trying to get this to fit within my 1,200$ CDN budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($275.74 @ DirectCanada)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($31.98 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($63.98 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($112.75 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($63.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($399.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.75 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.98 @ NCIX)
Total: $1252.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-31 13:45 EDT-0400

 

[Stubo]

You could switch out the PSU to the EVGA 600B to save some money, however are you sure that you want the 4690 and not the 4690k?

The CPU upgrade would basically counteract the PSU saving, but then you'd be able to overclock.

Sorry, that wasn't much help at all was it.

 

[dmix90]

The new Metal Gear Solid V: TPP/Mad Max "Game Ready" drivers 355.82 seems to have fixed the SLI issue, give them a go!

http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/geforce-355-82-whql-driver-released

Yup i can confirm that this driver fixed my issues as well. Yeah looks like they actually optimizing their drivers for each chipset :O

Thanks for a heads up!

 

[Wowfunhappy]

Has it always been like this?

No, it only happens on my new desktop&#8212;so, same bluetooth adapter (and mouse), but different actual computer. And yeah, it happens regardless of how close the adapter is.

 

[Guri]

It depends on what you're doing. What resolution/refresh rate will he be playing at? Modern games? What are his system specs?

She will be playing at 1080p, but she doesn't mind 30 fps. As for games, she plays a lot of action games (but not many multiplayer shooters), a few indies and also RPGs like Dragon Age Inquisition, Witcher 2 and soon 3. Her new PC will have a 6700 series CPU and 16 GB of RAM. So the question is to either buy a high-end GPU (and, if so, which one, up to 450 euros?) or get something like a 960 and wait until next year to buy a Pascal model, maybe? Again, it could be either AMD or Nvidia models. No preference.

 

[Shining Sunshine]

Oh man, I think my mobo is finally dead.

I think I shorted it trying to find out why my HDDs were popping up.
What happened is that an HDD stopped being detected. I went into BIOS utility and it wasn't showing up there.
I switched off the PSU switch, opened up the case, and made sure everything was plugged in correctly.
Switched the PSU switch back on and still nothing in BIOS.

Switched off again and tried switching cables from a working HDD to the one that doesn't show up. This is when it stopped working. MOBO power indicator light is lit, so I know it's getting power. I had also removed all my HDDs, leaving my SSD boot drive in, and it still isn't going.

Anyone have advice?

 

[LilJoka]

Oh man, I think my mobo is finally dead.

I think I shorted it trying to find out why my HDDs were popping up.
What happened is that an HDD stopped being detected. I went into BIOS utility and it wasn't showing up there.
I switched off the PSU switch, opened up the case, and made sure everything was plugged in correctly.
Switched the PSU switch back on and still nothing in BIOS.

Switched off again and tried switching cables from a working HDD to the one that doesn't show up. This is when it stopped working. MOBO power indicator light is lit, so I know it's getting power. I had also removed all my HDDs, leaving my SSD boot drive in, and it still isn't going.

Anyone have advice?

Reset CMOS first then if that fails, remove everything except bare minimum:
CPU and cooler
Board
Onboard GPU
1 stick RAM

See if it POSTs.

 

[Ragona]

So i have posted earlier, that my PC is running really unstable at the moment.
I ran memtest, but i have absolutely no idea, how to interpret the results, so:

 

[LilJoka]

So i have posted earlier, that my PC is running really unstable at the moment.
I ran memtest, but i have absolutely no idea, how to interpret the results, so:

Even a single error in memtest means either wrong ram configuration or defective ram module/s. Test each stick separately and test all slots atleast once.

 

[Bolivar687]

She will be playing at 1080p, but she doesn't mind 30 fps. As for games, she plays a lot of action games (but not many multiplayer shooters), a few indies and also RPGs like Dragon Age Inquisition, Witcher 2 and soon 3. Her new PC will have a 6700 series CPU and 16 GB of RAM. So the question is to either buy a high-end GPU (and, if so, which one, up to 450 euros?) or get something like a 960 and wait until next year to buy a Pascal model, maybe? Again, it could be either AMD or Nvidia models. No preference.

Well you can always sell that high end card to finance your upgrade later. But if she really doesn't mind, get a 380X or 960 for now, then take your pick once those HBM2 cards to start hitting the market next year.

 

[Ragona]

Even a single error in memtest means either wrong ram configuration or defective ram module/s. Test each stick separately and test all slots atleast once.

sorry for my noobishness, but thats all ram issues? caus the 600+ errors kinda made me nervous its something with my cpu