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[IceIpor]

I'm thinking of getting a 4k PC; that can play modern games at 30FPS at high settings. Is it worth buying now or waiting for HBM DX12 cards next year?

What's the weakest graphics card that can do this for most games?

Hrm. It would be the top end cards for you, 980ti or FuryX if you want 4k at decent FPS.
Unless you want to go SLI or something, which isn't really recommended.

Otherwise, wait until next year when the new 16nm cards are out.

I guess you could lower it a notch to 980 regular, and 290x/390x. But looking at Witcher 3, that required the top end cards to reach 30.

 

[Arex]

My MSI X99A SLI PLUS motherboard died on the third day after building my new rig... WTF Will switch to an Asus board now I don't trust msi!

My msi X99A krait has been ok so far (~2 months)
sorry to hear that isn't the case with yours. No way to RMA or replace them? :\

 

[Daffy Duck]

GAF, help me out, I'm on my second Asus VG248Q monitor because the first one had a stuck pixel, this one doesn't have a stuck pixel but it looks like something is trapped in the screen, there is no mark on the outside of the screen as I've checked that.

Should I send it back under the distance selling law and try a third time or as there is technically nothing wrong with it should I just live it?

It's only visible on white backgrounds and not visible in games from what I can see far.....

Edit: Decided to send it back, it would bug me to the point I'd eventually throw it out the window.

 

[nerodarknight]

planning to upgrade to a new graphic cards, on the fence whether to go for the gtx 960 or r9 380. In term of future proofing, which one do you think it's better

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Hrm. It would be the top end cards for you, 980ti or FuryX if you want 4k at decent FPS.
Unless you want to go SLI or something, which isn't really recommended.

Otherwise, wait until next year when the new 16nm cards are out.

I guess you could lower it a notch to 980 regular, and 290x/390x. But looking at Witcher 3, that required the top end cards to reach 30.

He said high settings not ultra, so a single non-reference 980 like the EVGA ACX 2.0 would get most modern games to 30 fps at 4K as long as you turn a few settings down (with no massive hit to image quality).

You can also overclock that at least 60 Mhz on the core clock and much more on the memory for a few more fps.

 

[Cookie Dough]

So I've got a question some of you might be about to give some advice on. I have planned on a building a new PC this year but due to serious illness (not me) that has become unlikely. However I have been thinking I could get a new video card now and use it for my new PC hopefully in the new year.

So my question is this, I'm thinking of buying a GTX970 4GB of some sort, I'm currently running a 7870 2GB, with an old arse i7 920 at 3.5Ghz with 16GB of RAM. Would I get a noticeable bump in performance by putting a new card in this machine? It's sort of a stop gap to tide me over until the new year, and to make use of it then. I feel like it is worth doing, especially coming into the release of some bigger games, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[kikonawa]

Yes you will. Later on you can upgrade the cpu ifneeded

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

My msi X99A krait has been ok so far (~2 months)
sorry to hear that isn't the case with yours. No way to RMA or replace them? :

I could but I already sent it back for a refund. I'll choose another x99 board I know I was unlucky cause that model got good reviews but now I'm kinda skeptical about getting another msi mobo

 

[ruttyboy]

Hi all, can anyone see anything wrong with the below build?

Notes:

I'm reusing my Antec case (the 212 should just fit), DVD, OS and storage drive.

There's no GFX card as I'm probably going to wait for Pascal etc. next year, but I want something nicer now. The onboard graphics on the 6700k will still be a big upgrade from my 8800GT

I've chosen the SM951 even though it's slightly more expensive because a) I think M.2 is cool and b) I'll buy another one when they are cheaper and put them in RAID 0.

The Silverstone FP32B-E is to add USB 3.0 front ports and audio because the front panel on my case is a bit wrecked.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£290.99 @ Dabs)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.95 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£119.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£114.29 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Samsung SM951 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£118.74 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Antec P180 ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£71.70 @ Amazon UK)
Other: Silverstone FP32B-E (£14.83)
Total: £755.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 13:24 BST+0100

 

[b0bbyJ03]

Random question: I read a while back that the Cherry patent for mechanical keyboard switches was suppose to expire this year. Is that true? if so, how will it affect the market/prices? Hope I didn't just imagine that.

 

[kiyomi]

Nvidia's Pascal is still earmarked for 2016 as it has always been, while AMD just released their Fury cards not too long ago. There's nothing else new coming out this year.

Thanks. Any thoughts on how much I could conceivably get for my R7 265?

 

[Cute Dragon Here]

What would be the best CPU cooler with a good value, with a 150mm height limit? The stock Intel cooler can hit 79 degrees Celsius at peak when it's running 100% in the OCCT stress test, so I'm not too sure about the longevity of such a CPU if it's stressed out.

While we're at it, what are your thoughts on additional case fans? I'm thinking of getting a pair of 120mm fans.

 

[The Technomancer]

Newegg what the fuck? I placed a 3 day shipping order with expedited processing on Wednesday. Normally you would expect that via UPS that means Saturday delivery right? Well even though that expedited processing meant the order did go out that night, its not going to arrive until Tuesday. Why? Because when they say "we don't ship on weekends" they mean it entirely literally. If you're a normal person "we don't ship on weekends" means "we don't ship out on weekends", so if I order something on Saturday it doesn't ship out till Monday. Fine, whatever, that's absolutely reasonable. But it also means they don't deliver on Saturdays? Even when its via UPS, who delivers on Saturdays all the time?

 

[RGM79]

What would be the best CPU cooler with a good value, with a 150mm height limit? The stock Intel cooler can hit 79 degrees Celsius at peak when it's running 100% in the OCCT stress test, so I'm not too sure about the longevity of such a CPU if it's stressed out.

While we're at it, what are your thoughts on additional case fans? I'm thinking of getting a pair of 120mm fans.

See here for some of the best performing low height coolers. I think I'd recommend you the Cryorig H7 if it were available, it's a large tower cooler that somehow manages to fit in at 145mm (normally coolers of that type are about 160mm height) and costs $35 or less, but availability seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth (Newegg|Amazon). It's a new product that was released this year too, which is weird, I guess it's just some kind of manufacturing or supply delay.

Whether you need case fans or not will depend on what case and components you have, and how hot it gets. If you have a halfway decent case, then extra fans aren't really needed most of the time.

Thanks. Any thoughts on how much I could conceivably get for my R7 265?

No idea, it probably depends on a number of things like where you're located, what condition it's in, how long the warranty coverage will last for, and how much it's selling for online.

Hi all, can anyone see anything wrong with the below build? I'm reusing my Antec case (the 212 should just fit), DVD, OS and storage drive. There's no GFX card as I'm probably going to wait for Pascal etc. next year, but I want something nicer now. The onboard graphics on the 6700k will still be a big upgrade from my 8800GT I've chosen the SM951 even though it's slightly more expensive because a) I think M.2 is cool and b) I'll buy another one when they are cheaper and put them in RAID 0. The Silverstone FP32B-E is to add USB 3.0 front ports and audio because the front panel on my case is a bit wrecked.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£290.99 @ Dabs)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.95 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£119.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£114.29 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Samsung SM951 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£118.74 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Antec P180 ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£71.70 @ Amazon UK)
Other: Silverstone FP32B-E (£14.83)
Total: £755.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 13:24 BST+0100

Everything looks compatible to me.

Okay, so I'm not sure how to carry out overclocking, so yeah, I guess it would be wasted potential going with that. For this 'custom' rig from the store, they pretty much put it together and you can swap out some parts for others, but yeah, never heard of the power supply included in it, and I agree with the lack of reviews being a bit strange. I guess that also means that I don't need to bother with 16GB RAM with the system if the other parts are not that demanding?

Originally, I had this kind of build similar to a Haswell one in the OP, but had to bail because it went over budget, and like I said, I won't be the one using it most of the time.
http://nz.pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/ (it also didn't include the price of the 970, power supply, and DVD writer, which adds probably >$800 to the ~$1300.

Techspot released an article recently where they determined that for gaming, 8GB is the best for price to performance and that 16GB is overkill and unnecessary.

Your parts list link doesn't work. You can't just copy the text in the address bar, you'll need to use one of these options to share your parts list with us.


In any case, we can try to recommend you a parts list if you're open to building it yourself. If not, then the PC from Mighty Ape is alright. If you wanted to swap better parts in, then I suggest asking them about an i5 4460 and GTX 970. And maybe also ask them about what alternative power supplies they offer.

Other retailers are more than ok. The whiter the items, the better, but in the end, I would rather go for performance than style

So yeah, did you really need a separate ethernet card? Also, the NZXT S340 doesn't have any slots for optical drives. I'll recommend another white case instead.

Which GTX 970 did you buy? I want to make sure it all fits.

 

[djblackice]

This one.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/nvidia-...45538312&cpncode=40-76409626-2&ref=25&loc=SHP

 

[TronLight]

Can anyone suggest a good not too expensive and not too noisy 120mm case fan? My exhaust one is gonna bite the dust soon I fear.

 

[Cute Dragon Here]

See here for some of the best performing low height coolers. I think I'd recommend you the Cryorig H7 if it were available, it's a large tower cooler that somehow manages to fit in at 145mm (normally coolers of that type are about 160mm height) and costs $35 or less, but availability seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth (Newegg|Amazon). It's a new product that was released this year too, which is weird, I guess it's just some kind of manufacturing or supply delay.

Interesting, I'll take a look at it. Hope it's available where I'm going to buy the part(s) from. I was thinking of the Cooler Master Hyper TX3 EVO which is definitely compatible and obtainable here, but being able to check out alternatives is a nice thing to have.

[Whether you need case fans or not will depend on what case and components you have, and how hot it gets. If you have a halfway decent case, then extra fans aren't really needed most of the time.

Mmm hmm. It's a Corsair 100R, but I've used the included 120mm fan as the rear exhaust fan instead of the suggested upper front intake fan. Was thinking of getting another 2 120mm fans so that my motherboard's case fan headers get used fully. The upper intake fan would end up blowing towards the Asus Strix GTX 970 that's in the system if there were one. (For reference, free fan mounts are 2x 120mm for the top, and 2x 120/140mm for the front.)

 

[RGM79]

This one.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/nvidia-...45538312&cpncode=40-76409626-2&ref=25&loc=SHP

That's a pretty bad deal. There are better GTX 970 models for $330 or less. For example, here's a white Asus GTX 970 for $315 after rebate. In any case.. here's what I recommend for your parts list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($115.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($43.65 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($75.60 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.00 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($382.98 @ Best Buy)
Case: BitFenix Comrade ATX Mid Tower Case ($53.10 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1046.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 12:33 EDT-0400

Unfortunately, it comes out at almost $1050. If you don't like the look of the Bitfenix case, then here's a list of some other white cases with case windows. Most of them are more expensive, though.

it would be possible to make some cuts here and there to bring the build under $1000. Maybe drop the SSD or Phanteks cooler for now? Or return the expensive reference GTX 970 and get the cheaper and better Asus Turbo model that also fits the build's white aesthetic.

Interesting, I'll take a look at it. Hope it's available where I'm going to buy the part(s) from. I was thinking of the Cooler Master Hyper TX3 EVO which is definitely compatible and obtainable here, but being able to check out alternatives is a nice thing to have.

Mmm hmm. It's a Corsair 100R, but I've used the included 120mm fan as the rear exhaust fan instead of the suggested upper front intake fan. Was thinking of getting another 2 120mm fans so that my motherboard's case fan headers get used fully. The upper intake fan would end up blowing towards the Asus Strix GTX 970 that's in the system if there were one. (For reference, free fan mounts are 2x 120mm for the top, and 2x 120/140mm for the front.)

The TX3 Evo is ok, but not great. Definitely cheap and functional but if you want better cooling performance, a cooler with a backplate is definitely recommended. The TX3 Evo's mounting design uses push-pins only, and push pins only do a so-so job at holding the cooler and CPU together for contact and heat transfer.

In your case, I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to get an extra fan or two.

 

[Shalashaska161]

How useful is a video card for Photoshop and video editing? Helping a buddy build a PC for those purposes and I'm considering telling him to just use onboard graphics for it. Would a video card make any real difference? From what I understand those two things are mostly dependant on CPU and RAM.

 

[RGM79]

How useful is a video card for Photoshop and video editing? Helping a buddy build a PC for those purposes and I'm considering telling him to just use onboard graphics for it. Would a video card make any real difference? From what I understand those two things are mostly dependant on CPU and RAM.

Certain programs can take advantage of GPU acceleration to improve performance and speed.

For video editing it'll depend on what program you're using, some can and will benefit from certain graphics cards. As I recall, Sony Vegas likes AMD graphics cards and rendering times can receive a strong boost.


Photoshop has its Mercury engine which can use the graphics card to help process certain effects and provide a faster experience. See here for more information. Adobe Premiere also benefits from GPUs as well. Puget Systems has this older article that shows the difference between the absolutely weakest graphics card and mid-to-high end graphics cards at the time. There's quite a large boost to rendering/encoding speeds.

As I understand it now, Adobe programs should more or less work equally well on AMD or Nvidia graphics cards. The Puget Systems test dates back to when Nvidia was still preferred for Adobe's graphics card acceleration. Depending on your friend's budget, a graphics card could help with getting things done faster, but it isn't exactly required. If he's comfortable with waiting, then he could save the money.

 

[Cute Dragon Here]

The TX3 Evo is ok, but not great. Definitely cheap and functional but if you want better cooling performance, a cooler with a backplate is definitely recommended. The TX3 Evo's mounting design uses push-pins only, and push pins only do a so-so job at holding the cooler and CPU together for contact and heat transfer.

In your case, I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to get an extra fan or two.

Mmm. By the way, what difference can I expect with either cooler compared to stock?

 

[djblackice]

That's a pretty bad deal. There are better GTX 970 models for $330 or less. For example, here's a white Asus GTX 970 for $315 after rebate. In any case.. here's what I recommend for your parts list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($115.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($43.65 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($75.60 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.00 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($382.98 @ Best Buy)
Case: BitFenix Comrade ATX Mid Tower Case ($53.10 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1046.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 12:33 EDT-0400

Unfortunately, it comes out at almost $1050. If you don't like the look of the Bitfenix case, then here's a list of some other white cases with case windows. Most of them are more expensive, though.

it would be possible to make some cuts here and there to bring the build under $1000. Maybe drop the SSD or Phanteks cooler for now? Or return the expensive reference GTX 970 and get the cheaper and better Asus Turbo model that also fits the build's white aesthetic.



The TX3 Evo is ok, but not great. Definitely cheap and functional but if you want better cooling performance, a cooler with a backplate is definitely recommended. The TX3 Evo's mounting design uses push-pins only, and push pins only do a so-so job at holding the cooler and CPU together for contact and heat transfer.

In your case, I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to get an extra fan or two.

Sorry, I got it for $220. Thank you for the advice. I'll look it over and let you know if I have any questions.

One question - can I use your parts in the original case I picked out?

Also, is it better to get a motherboard with onboard wifi or just pick out a wifi adapter?

 

[ruttyboy]

Everything looks compatible to me.

Thanks RGM, I put quite a bit of research into it, but it's always good to get the GAF seal of approval

 

[Jag]

What's your budget?

Would like to stay under $300 if possible.

 

[RGM79]

Sorry, I got it for $220. Thank you for the advice. I'll look it over and let you know if I have any questions.

One question - can I use your parts in the original case I picked out?

Also, is it better to get a motherboard with onboard wifi or just pick out a wifi adapter?

Oh I see, I didn't know you got it used. From what you linked, I assume you bought it brand new. That means the build comes in at under $1000 then, that's good. You can use the same parts in the NZXT S340 you were looking at earlier, except for the white Phanteks air cooler. That is too large to fit into the S340.

Edit: You can definitely get another cooler and then maybe put a white fan on it if you wanted to keep the same aesthetic. Here's a list of partly or wholly white 120mm fans.

Also, the S340 cannot support any disc drives. Do you still need a disc drive?

As far as I know, only high end ATX motherboards or the smaller mITX motherboards come with built in wifi. You're going with the ATX size, so it's probably easier to just get a separate wifi adaptor rather than spend too much on an expensive motherboard or get a compact motherboard that kinda defeats the purpose of going with an ATX size case in the first place.

Mmm. By the way, what difference can I expect with either cooler compared to stock?

Depends on your specific setup and what you'll be doing, but either would be a good improvement in terms of temperatures. The Cryorig H7 or a Noctua model would be better, of course. Concerning noise, you'll want a larger cooler with a larger fan, as larger fans don't have to spin as quickly to move the same amount of air as a small fan (or they can move more air for the same amount of noise and speed).

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/cooler-master-hyper-tx3-cpu-cooler-review/6/
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/6958/cryorig-h7-cpu-cooler-review/index6.html

 

[Shalashaska161]

Certain programs can take advantage of GPU acceleration to improve performance and speed.

For video editing it'll depend on what program you're using, some can and will benefit from certain graphics cards. As I recall, Sony Vegas likes AMD graphics cards and rendering times can receive a strong boost.


Photoshop has its Mercury engine which can use the graphics card to help process certain effects and provide a faster experience. See here for more information. Adobe Premiere also benefits from GPUs as well. Puget Systems has this older article that shows the difference between the absolutely weakest graphics card and mid-to-high end graphics cards at the time. There's quite a large boost to rendering/encoding speeds.

As I understand it now, Adobe programs should more or less work equally well on AMD or Nvidia graphics cards. The Puget Systems test dates back to when Nvidia was still preferred for Adobe's graphics card acceleration. Depending on your friend's budget, a graphics card could help with getting things done faster, but it isn't exactly required. If he's comfortable with waiting, then he could save the money.

Interesting information. I'll pass it along. Thanks!

 

[djblackice]

Oh I see, I didn't know you got it used. From what you linked, I assume you bought it brand new. That means the build comes in at under $1000 then, that's good. You can use the same parts in the NZXT S340 you were looking at earlier, except for the white Phanteks air cooler. That is too large to fit into the S340.

Edit: You can definitely get another cooler and then maybe put a white fan on it if you wanted to keep the same aesthetic. Here's a list of partly or wholly white 120mm fans.

Also, the S340 cannot support any disc drives. Do you still need a disc drive?

As far as I know, only high end ATX motherboards or the smaller mITX motherboards come with built in wifi. You're going with the ATX size, so it's probably easier to just get a separate wifi adaptor rather than spend too much on an expensive motherboard or get a compact motherboard that kinda defeats the purpose of going with an ATX size case in the first place.



Depends on your specific setup and what you'll be doing, but either would be a good improvement in terms of temperatures. The Cryorig H7 or a Noctua model would be better, of course. Concerning noise, you'll want a larger cooler with a larger fan, as larger fans don't have to spin as quickly to move the same amount of air as a small fan (or they can move more air for the same amount of noise and speed).

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/cooler-master-hyper-tx3-cpu-cooler-review/6/
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/6958/cryorig-h7-cpu-cooler-review/index6.html

Yes, I still need a disc drive. I'm trying to find a case that is white and would give a minimalistic look. Do you have any other case options? Also, is the motherboard I initially chose good or should I look for something else
FYI - just wanted to say thanks for all your help. It's truly a nice learning experience.

 

[baphomet]

Newegg what the fuck? I placed a 3 day shipping order with expedited processing on Wednesday. Normally you would expect that via UPS that means Saturday delivery right? Well even though that expedited processing meant the order did go out that night, its not going to arrive until Tuesday. Why? Because when they say "we don't ship on weekends" they mean it entirely literally. If you're a normal person "we don't ship on weekends" means "we don't ship out on weekends", so if I order something on Saturday it doesn't ship out till Monday. Fine, whatever, that's absolutely reasonable. But it also means they don't deliver on Saturdays? Even when its via UPS, who delivers on Saturdays all the time?

UPS don't normally deliver on Saturday.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

PCGaf, when you play "crappy" PC ports, are you usually able to just bruteforce good performance, or is it normal to always get frame-rate drops no matter how good your hardware is?

I have an i5 6600k @ 4.4 Ghz paired with a GTX 970 and a 1080p @ 60hz screen. I've been trying to play Alice: Maddness Returns and Sonic Generations, both of which are known for being pretty awful ports, but I figured that with my hardware it wouldn't matter.

Both games are giving me frame-rate drops, despite tweaking. Is this just the games being crap or is something else happening?

 

[The Technomancer]

UPS don't normally deliver on Saturday.

Don't they? I swear to god I've gotten UPS packages on Saturday before

 

[derder]

Yes, I still need a disc drive. I'm trying to find a case that is white and would give a minimalistic look. Do you have any other case options? Also, is the motherboard I initially chose good or should I look for something else
FYI - just wanted to say thanks for all your help. It's truly a nice learning experience.

I just built a white case build with the phantecs and the define r5. I'll post some pics tonight.

 

[WhiskeyDiver]

I'm not sure what to do with the build I'm planning for in the next month, but there are too many brands and products out there. It has been awhile since I built my last PC, so I'm confused as all fuck when it comes to buying the best parts for the best price.

Here are the basics.
I have a budget limit of around $2000. I want to spend a bit under this much for a new PC.

Motherboard (A quality board with DDR 4 support would be fantastic)
CPU - (I7 k series is most preferable) + Aftermarket cooler,
RAM -( 16 gigs of DDR 4 is what I'm aiming for)
SSD - (Around 250gigs or so just for OS and a few select programs
HDD - (2 TB or so)
PSU - (650w or more)
GPU (I have my heart set on a gtx 980ti )
Case/Tower
OS (I'm going with windows 10 home edition)
Monitor (Looking to get a 1440p monitor)

My PC will have multiple uses: Gaming, Video editing, Video capture, 3D model rendering, and possibly streaming at some point in time if I feel like it.

It doesn't need to be like $1500 or anything like that. I'm just trying to get the most I can out of the $2000 limit I'm willing to spend. I'm sure I can make a beefy enough system that will serve me well for quite some time. Please help me GAF. You are my only hope. PC part picker only makes me angry with the myriad of choices. I defer to those with much greater knowledge than I.

 

[Etria]

Techspot released an article recently where they determined that for gaming, 8GB is the best for price to performance and that 16GB is overkill and unnecessary.

Your parts list link doesn't work. You can't just copy the text in the address bar, you'll need to use one of these options to share your parts list with us.


In any case, we can try to recommend you a parts list if you're open to building it yourself. If not, then the PC from Mighty Ape is alright. If you wanted to swap better parts in, then I suggest asking them about an i5 4460 and GTX 970. And maybe also ask them about what alternative power supplies they offer..

Thanks. I have a ton of questions, so I hope you don't mind.

Here's the parts list that I was originally going for:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($399.00 @ 1stWave Technologies)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($63.00 @ 1stWave Technologies)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($251.84 @ PB Technologies)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($222.18 @ Aquila Technology)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.55 @ PC Force)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Mighty Ape)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($179.00 @ 1stWave Technologies)
Total: $1319.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-04 08:07 NZST+1200

Of course, strangely the 970, power supply and writer don't have a price provided, so the total needs probably >$800 added to it.

Yeah, I'll flick them a message and see what their reply is. With a GTX 960, would 2GB be enough to run most modern games on high/ultra at a decent framerate instead of a 970? Don't need the best graphics or anything, just smooth performance.
And for the power supply, would it need to be >500W? Here's the possible PSUs that they could swap the current one for.
Is the motherboard alright and not need replacing with these alterations?

Another question is whether there is room for adding and swapping out parts in the future with the current case?

 

[SteveO409]

Anybody here familiar with X99 motherboards? I have an Asus X99-a and trying to install a noctua nhd14 cpu cooler on it. I can't put in the backplate because it's filled solid(motherboard holes). I cant find much info about it since it's like a recently new motherboard. I have the 2011 socket thing but I think my cpu(5820k) fits 2011-3.

 

[RGM79]

Anybody here familiar with X99 motherboards? I have an Asus X99-a and trying to install a noctua nhd14 cpu cooler on it. I can't put in the backplate because it's filled solid(motherboard holes). I cant find much info about it since it's like a recently new motherboard. I have the 2011 socket thing but I think my cpu(5820k) fits 2011-3.

LGA 2011-v3 motherboards already come with a backplate. Do you have the standard NH-D14 or the NH-D14 SE2011 edition? The standard NH-D14 doesn't come with parts to mount on a 2011-v3 motherboard.

Thanks. I have a ton of questions, so I hope you don't mind.

Here's the parts list that I was originally going for:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($399.00 @ 1stWave Technologies)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($63.00 @ 1stWave Technologies)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($251.84 @ PB Technologies)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($222.18 @ Aquila Technology)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.55 @ PC Force)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Mighty Ape)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($179.00 @ 1stWave Technologies)
Total: $1319.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-04 08:07 NZST+1200

Of course, strangely the 970, power supply and writer don't have a price provided, so the total needs probably >$800 added to it.

Yeah, I'll flick them a message and see what their reply is. With a GTX 960, would 2GB be enough to run most modern games on high/ultra at a decent framerate instead of a 970? Don't need the best graphics or anything, just smooth performance.
And for the power supply, would it need to be >500W? Here's the possible PSUs that they could swap the current one for.
Is the motherboard alright and not need replacing with these alterations?

Another question is whether there is room for adding and swapping out parts in the future with the current case?

When it comes to graphics cards today, even at 1080p certain games can use up more than 2GB of VRAM especially at higher settings. For longevity, I'd recommend going with a graphics card that has 4GB of VRAM so you won't feel as bottlenecked in the future.

As for the power supply, 450~500 watts would be easily enough to cover a non-overclocking i5 processor and the GTX 950 or 960. However, you may want something stronger in the future to better support upgrades, you never know what you're going to upgrade to and it's not a given that future graphics cards will be quite as power efficient. Something in the 600~650 watt range would have you covered well. The selection isn't great, but the Corsair VS650 should be alright for your needs.

The motherboard is fine. Seems to have good reviews and no glaring issues. Same goes for the case, nothing hugely wrong with it either.

 

[Etria]

When it comes to graphics cards today, even at 1080p certain games can use up more than 2GB of VRAM especially at higher settings. For longevity, I'd recommend going with a graphics card that has 4GB of VRAM so you won't feel as bottlenecked in the future.

As for the power supply, 450~500 watts would be easily enough to cover a non-overclocking i5 processor and the GTX 950 or 960. However, you may want something stronger in the future to better support upgrades, you never know what you're going to upgrade to and it's not a given that future graphics cards will be quite as power efficient. Something in the 600~650 watt range would have you covered well. The selection isn't great, but the Corsair VS650 should be alright for your needs.

The motherboard is fine. Seems to have good reviews and no glaring issues. Same goes for the case, nothing hugely wrong with it either.

Okay, sounds good. I'm just waiting for them to give me a quote and will have to follow up and change the power supply, but hopefully can get that sorted asap.

For the 970, which would you recommend? There are so many to choose from.

 

[RGM79]

Okay, sounds good. I'm just waiting for them to give me a quote and will have to follow up and change the power supply, but hopefully can get that sorted asap.

For the 970, which would you recommend? There are so many to choose from.

Either of these three will do you very well:

https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/EVGA-GTX-970-4GB-Graphics-Card-with-ACX-Cooler/22998982
https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/Asus-STRIX-GTX-970-4GB-Graphics-Card/22831145
https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product...-Graphics-Card-with-Windforce-Cooler/22974094

It looks like Mighty Ape does pricematching, so ask them if they can lower their price to match these prices and save yourself a bit more money.

 

[Etria]

Either of these three will do you very well:

https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/EVGA-GTX-970-4GB-Graphics-Card-with-ACX-Cooler/22998982
https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/Asus-STRIX-GTX-970-4GB-Graphics-Card/22831145
https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product...-Graphics-Card-with-Windforce-Cooler/22974094

It looks like Mighty Ape does pricematching, so ask them if they can lower their price to match these prices and save yourself a bit more money.

Yeah, I'll see if I can price match. Since I'm not purchasing the parts separately, they might be unwilling to do that but we'll see.
Probably go with the ASUS Strix GTX 970.

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

Man after playing Witcher 3 at 60fps on ultra @2k resolution will be hard to turn my ps4 back on. Just amazing. Better Framerate makes suck a big difference I'm stoked

 

[Frostburn]

Yeah, I'll see if I can price match. Since I'm not purchasing the parts separately, they might be unwilling to do that but we'll see.
Probably go with the ASUS Strix GTX 970.

Chiming in to say the Asus Strix GTX 970 has been my favorite video card to date as far as performance/price. The thing is silent on the desktop and when playing very light games. Even when the fans are going I can't hear it from where I sit. Amazing card!

 

[Mystic654]

Whats the better case to buy Thermaltake Core X9 or LIAN LI PC-O8? I'm starting out with only air then upgrade to water down the road.

 

[CreepingFear]

Bought my PSU today. Going to buy the rest of my parts a week from Friday. This is my final build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($93.19 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-DELUXE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($319.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($228.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($193.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Classified ACX 2.0+ Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $0.00)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit) ($139.95 @ B&H)
Total: $1376.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 18:23 EDT-0400

 

[Etria]

Chiming in to say the Asus Strix GTX 970 has been my favorite video card to date as far as performance/price. The thing is silent on the desktop and when playing very light games. Even when the fans are going I can't hear it from where I sit. Amazing card!

Great to hear

 

[Fmal]

I have all the parts for my PC except for the 6700k, which is sold out literally everywhere in Canada as far as I can tell. I feel like I should preorder from an online store, but I can't get a straight answer on availability from any of them.

 

[Brohan]

Has anyone used the Asus cpu installation tool? It seems very handy but at the same time it seems there is no other way to get the cpu inside the little bracket without touching the bottom of the cpu which doesn't seem like a great plan.

Interested to hear some user experiences.

On a different note, i'm planning to get the Asus Z170-A mobo but i have read about it possibly having ram issues... could anyone chime in on that aswell?

 

[LilJoka]

Has anyone used the Asus cpu installation tool? It seems very handy but at the same time it seems there is no other way to get the cpu inside the little bracket without touching the bottom of the cpu which doesn't seem like a great plan.

Interested to hear some user experiences.

On a different note, i'm planning to get the Asus Z170-A mobo but i have read about it possibly having ram issues... could anyone chime in on that aswell?

Line the CPU up and drop it in, don't need any tools... Fine to touch the bottom of the CPU it's easily the hardest part to damage out of everything, but obviously try not too, just don't be overly cautious such that you do things awkwardly.

 

[MillionStabs]

Gaf, I feel like shooting myself in the foot. I ordered a new processor after my old one wasn't cutting it anymore, and my PC still won't boot. I just said "fsck it" and decided to buy a new premade computer since my old one was getting...well, old anyway. I know buying a premade machine is an affront to all that is 1337, but I'm just not wanting to deal with the hassle.
The machine I'm looking at is the ABS Berserker Z. For those that don't like clicking, the specs are:
Processor
AMD FX-8320 3.5 GHz
Memory
8 GB DDR3 1600
Chipset
AMD 970
Memory
8GB DDR3
Storage
2 TB SATA III
Graphics
AMD Radeon R9 380 4 GB
Power Supply
600W
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64-Bit

It looks great to me. I'm looking for a machine that will be my main gaming piece for the next 7-10 years and this looks like it should be able to run Fallout 4, Street Fighter 5 and The Witcher 3 no problem.
If anyone can think of a better build, I'm open to suggestions.

 

[XBP]

Gaf, I feel like shooting myself in the foot. I ordered a new processor after my old one wasn't cutting it anymore, and my PC still won't boot. I just said "fsck it" and decided to buy a new premade computer since my old one was getting...well, old anyway. I know buying a premade machine is an affront to all that is 1337, but I'm just not wanting to deal with the hassle.
The machine I'm looking at is the ABS Berserker Z. For those that don't like clicking, the specs are:
Processor
AMD FX-8320 3.5 GHz
Memory
8 GB DDR3 1600
Chipset
AMD 970
Memory
8GB DDR3
Storage
2 TB SATA III
Graphics
AMD Radeon R9 380 4 GB
Power Supply
600W
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64-Bit

It looks great to me. I'm looking for a machine that will be my main gaming piece for the next 7-10 years and this looks like it should be able to run Fallout 4, Street Fighter 5 and The Witcher 3 no problem.
If anyone can think of a better build, I'm open to suggestions.

Why not get the best value build from the OP and pay a company like NCIX to assemble and ship it to you? You'd get a better system, custom made, already assembled and it'll be sent to you.

 

[MillionStabs]

I wasn't aware there were companies who would assemble a PC for you after you pick the parts. Googled, but I didn't find anything. I'll check them out.

 

[XBP]

I wasn't aware there were companies who would assemble a PC for you after you pick the parts. Googled, but I didn't find anything. I'll check them out.

This is NCIX's service

http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=7842