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[Haloid1177]

So I should have all my parts for my Skylake build Wed. Kinda bummed the 34" G Sync monitors won't be out until next month but I guess I'll wait.

 

[Credo]

I just put together a build on PartPicker and thought I'd see what you all thought. I've saved money for years for a new PC, so I don't have a limit budget-wise. I don't want to throw money away for negligible improvements, but I will pay more for a noticeable boost in performance. I have a few limits, which are (1) I only want to use a single video card, (2) I don't want to use liquid cooling under any circumstances, and (3) I'm useless when it comes to overclocking and/or tinkering, so I want the components to be as powerful as possible right out of the box.

Here's a link to the PartPicker build. I'll list the parts below:

CPU: Intel i7-6700K 4.0 GHz quad-core
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Motherboard: ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming ATX LGA1151
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2x8) DDR4-3200
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 1 TB SSD
Storage: Western Digital Black 2 TB HDD
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6 GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower
PSU: Cooler Master VSM 750W 80+ Gold Semi-Modular ATX
Optical Drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST DVD/CD Writer

I'm sure there are a lot of inefficiencies in there. This is just a result of throwing together a build pretty quickly. One thing I noticed after building this is that on the Newegg listings, the Samsung 850 EVO is listed as having a 5 year manufacturer warranty and the 850 Pro is listed as having a 10 year manufacturer warranty. I wonder if it's worth paying the extra money to get the 850 Pro and get another 5 years' worth of warranty.

Also, I'd rather have a WD Blue drive as my backup storage since it's quieter and would be used purely for storage, but I can only find it in 1 TB and 4 TB capacities. I wanted something in-between like 2 TB, so I had to go with a WD Black. It seems like the WD Black has a 5-year warranty compared to the WD Blue's 2-year warranty, so that's a positive at least. I guess I could opt for a WD Green, but I'm not sure how it compares to the other 2 models.

 

[Lockman_321]

I just put together a build on PartPicker and thought I'd see what you all thought. I've saved money for years for a new PC, so I don't have a limit budget-wise. I don't want to throw money away for negligible improvements, but I will pay more for a noticeable boost in performance. I have a few limits, which are (1) I only want to use a single video card, (2) I don't want to use liquid cooling under any circumstances, and (3) I'm useless when it comes to overclocking and/or tinkering, so I want the components to be as powerful as possible right out of the box.

Here's a link to the PartPicker build. I'll list the parts below:

CPU: Intel i7-6700K 4.0 GHz quad-core
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Motherboard: ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming ATX LGA1151
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2x8) DDR4-3200
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 1 TB SSD
Storage: Western Digital Black 2 TB HDD
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6 GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower
PSU: Cooler Master VSM 750W 80+ Gold Semi-Modular ATX
Optical Drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST DVD/CD Writer

I'm sure there are a lot of inefficiencies in there. This is just a result of throwing together a build pretty quickly. One thing I noticed after building this is that on the Newegg listings, the Samsung 850 EVO is listed as having a 5 year manufacturer warranty and the 850 Pro is listed as having a 10 year manufacturer warranty. I wonder if it's worth paying the extra money to get the 850 Pro and get another 5 years' worth of warranty.

Also, I'd rather have a WD Blue drive as my backup storage since it's quieter and would be used purely for storage, but I can only find it in 1 TB and 4 TB capacities. I wanted something in-between like 2 TB, so I had to go with a WD Black. It seems like the WD Black has a 5-year warranty compared to the WD Blue's 2-year warranty, so that's a positive at least. I guess I could opt for a WD Green, but I'm not sure how it compares to the other 2 models.

This is a good build. Much the same as mine except i have an i7 4790k. I have the same graphics card and havent overclocked it. I'm playing games @1440p 60fps ultra quality. For example the new mgsv phantom pain runs flawlessly at 1440p. Just mentioning that as its a new game. I havent tried 4k as i only have a 1440p monitor. However i have heard you can get 40fps plus at 4k.If You are planning to play games maxed out at 1080p or 1440p you will be very happy with that build. Hope this helps.

 

[Crisium]

...There's no rush for me, I have no problem waiting for next year's Pascal / Greenland releases if they're going to represent a significant step forward for GPU tech, though not knowing whether or not there'll be a real 970 or 390 successor (no refreshes) in that $300ish dollar price bracket is annoying to say the least.

-shrug-

Edit : So I guess the main question is, 290x, 970, or wait for Oculus/Vive to come out so we can get some real data on how well these cards perform in VR. By then we'd have more info on Pascal/Greenland anyway.

Seems like waiting works best for you if your budget is ~$300 and you won't buy again next year. The 290X is still the best stopgap card, imo. But by stopgap I mean you'd get great performance for your games now and upgrade to Arctic Islands or Pascal in 2016 or early 2017. But you don't seem interested in playing games before VR hits, and I didn't get the impression you want to upgrade again within the next year and a half. Long term 290X will show its age when next gen cards with HBM2 destroy it in efficiency.

970 has its own problems. Long term you have the 3.5GB bottleneck and there are impressions among some devs right now that AMD is better for VR. It could be nothing, but in case it is true then you'd make a mistake for no reason since you don't want to play games before VR anyway.

 

[Confrontation]

Last week I finally got my rig and I got a quick question.

Part of my PC is 8GB DDR4 3200 MHz RAM. When I go into my BIOS I see the following:

My Memory frequency is set at 2133 MHz. So I was looking around a bit and go to the following screen and options:

My question is, if this is the setting to let it run at a faster frequency (because the drop down menu goes all the way down to 4266 MHz), and if that's the case, should go for the full 3200 MHz or rather not?

Thanks!

 

[LordAlu]

Last week I finally got my rig and I got a quick question.

Part of my PC is 8GB DDR4 3200 MHz RAM. When I go into my BIOS I see the following:

My Memory frequency is set at 2133 MHz. So I was looking around a bit and go to the following screen and options:

My question is, if this is the setting to let it run at a faster frequency (because the drop down menu goes all the way down to 4266 MHz), and if that's the case, should go for the full 3200 MHz or rather not?

Thanks!

If you go back out of Advanced Mode to the starting screen of the BIOS, about halfway down the page on the left hand side you should see a box that's titled "X.M.P."

Select it and choose Profile 1 - that should set all your RAM speeds correctly for you.

 

[Confrontation]

If you go back out of Advanced Mode to the starting screen of the BIOS, about halfway down the page on the left hand side you should see a box that's titled "X.M.P."

Select it and choose Profile 1 - that should set all your RAM speeds correctly for you.

Fantastic, thanks! It changed a bunch of DRAM settings from Auto, which I guess is for the better.

 

[insane0hflex]

Silly question:

I'm building a second rig. This one is going to be a budget-ish build (below 700 or 800 if possible) with either a miniATX or a small midATX tower.

How come in the Haz PC Build's there are no AMD processors? Like this one seems killer for the pricepoint (I know that intel CPUs are more optimized than AMD, but 8cores for $180?)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113284&cm_re=amd-_-19-113-284-_-Product

I know intel is beast at optimizing their ISA and clock rate/cores isn't everything, but an intel i5-4400 4cores at 3.3ghz is about $200 as well.

This rig is mainly for video editing, some gaming @1080p, home theater stuff (1080p videos or higher), since it will be used more than just me.

 

[LilJoka]

Silly question:

I'm building a second rig. This one is going to be a budget-ish build (below 700 or 800 if possible) with either a miniATX or a small midATX tower.

How come in the Haz PC Build's there are no AMD processors? Like this one seems killer for the pricepoint (I know that intel CPUs are more optimized than AMD, but 8cores for $180?)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113284&cm_re=amd-_-19-113-284-_-Product

I know intel is beast at optimizing their ISA and clock rate/cores isn't everything, but an intel i5-4400 4cores at 3.3ghz is about $200 as well.

This rig is mainly for video editing, some gaming @1080p, home theater stuff (1080p videos or higher), since it will be used more than just me.

Because, as you've noted, an Intel quad core at lower price point will match/beat the Octocore AMD and be using way less watts. For really multithreaded programs, unlike games, the AMD can be better. Op builds really are designed for cost/perf in gaming.

Also the AMD build would lead to no upgrade path, it's a dead socket and the higher end models are not worth the upgrade compared to say an i5 4460 to i7 4790k.

 

[kennah]

Silly question:

I'm building a second rig. This one is going to be a budget-ish build (below 700 or 800 if possible) with either a miniATX or a small midATX tower.

How come in the Haz PC Build's there are no AMD processors? Like this one seems killer for the pricepoint (I know that intel CPUs are more optimized than AMD, but 8cores for $180?)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113284&cm_re=amd-_-19-113-284-_-Product

I know intel is beast at optimizing their ISA and clock rate/cores isn't everything, but an intel i5-4400 4cores at 3.3ghz is about $200 as well.

This rig is mainly for video editing, some gaming @1080p, home theater stuff (1080p videos or higher), since it will be used more than just me.

Because that 4 core i5 will best that 8core cpu in almost every task, use less power (important in small computers), and still have an upgrade path to an i7 for increased performance in the future.

That 8350 was released in October of 2012.

So in addition to the raw speed and power. Newer Intel based boards have more modern features like USB 3.1.

 

[LordAlu]

Silly question:

I'm building a second rig. This one is going to be a budget-ish build (below 700 or 800 if possible) with either a miniATX or a small midATX tower.

How come in the Haz PC Build's there are no AMD processors? Like this one seems killer for the pricepoint (I know that intel CPUs are more optimized than AMD, but 8cores for $180?)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113284&cm_re=amd-_-19-113-284-_-Product

I know intel is beast at optimizing their ISA and clock rate/cores isn't everything, but an intel i5-4400 4cores at 3.3ghz is about $200 as well.

This rig is mainly for video editing, some gaming @1080p, home theater stuff (1080p videos or higher), since it will be used more than just me.

As the thread is primarily aimed at builds for gaming PCs, the OP doesn't contain any AMD as Intel's processors beat them quite handily at similar price points, as well as run on new hardware and provide an upgrade path.

That's not to say the AMD FX range doesn't have its uses - it can be very good for video or media encoding for example, due to actually having 8 physical cores. However, physical cores don't matter so much for gaming, instructions per cycle do, so if you were building a gaming based rig had the choice between the FX-8350 and the Core i5-4460, you'd pick the Core i5 every time.

If your rig is going to be mainly video editing, with some single player gaming on the side, the FX-8350 may be something to look at, although bear in mind you could always get the i5-4460 now and then switch out to an i7-4790 later for a nice boost, whereas you're pretty much picking the best of AMD already in the FX-8350.

Edit: Beaten so hard.

 

[LilJoka]

One more thing, the higher end AMD parts need higher end boards. The cheap boards don't usually support more than 100W processors officially.

Basically there's just no reason to do it.

I'm pretty sure AMD cores are sharing parts that lead to its failure to Intel counterparts, and it's therefore not even truly an 8 core CPU.

 

[insane0hflex]

Thanks guys for the replies and info. I didnt realize that the AMD motherboards are tricky. Also, the CPU upgrade idea is cool and maybe a possibility too.

I'll stick with a non-K intel i5 cpu.

Next up is whether to buy a r9380 or GTX 960. Both seem kinda similar performance wise, with the 380 just a few frames above the 960 during some games. But that was just one video review I watched. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTpNZEW31G0

Does anyone own a 380? It's still overkill for 1080p gaming probably, but I might want to upgrade the TV/monitor to 1440p. Not sure yet, since I haven't bought or looked yet

 

[demented]

I have a cooler Master comsos 1000 case but it's beginning to be a nuisance, it's too big. Didn't matter before but now when I had to take it with me several times it's gotten annoying. I need my pc with me if I'm spending months at a place and since I study at neighbouring country I take it with me for duration of that and take it back during summer. But then I also go for few months to my summer home so I gotta take it there too. So yeah long story short I need a recommendation for a good case that has nice airflow and is bit lighter and smaller. I have 2 hdds and ssd so need space for those, 7970 graphics card which is big and was planning on getting another one for crossfire but yeah, unlikely, maybe some day with new pc and new cards.

Anyone?

Also, I'll buy a new 1 or 2 TB hdd to backup everything, getting smart errors often (even if they don't say what kind of error) via hdd regenerator running in background, so I was wondering what do I do with those HDDS? I never really lack space, I stock up on stuff and slowly delete it, not really into backing up tv shows/movies so not sure hm.

 

[LilJoka]

Thanks guys for the replies and info. I didnt realize that the AMD motherboards are tricky. Also, the CPU upgrade idea is cool and maybe a possibility too.

I'll stick with a non-K intel i5 cpu.

Next up is whether to buy a r9380 or GTX 960. Both seem kinda similar performance wise, with the 380 just a few frames above the 960 during some games. But that was just one video review I watched. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTpNZEW31G0

Does anyone own a 380? It's still overkill for 1080p gaming probably, but I might want to upgrade the TV/monitor to 1440p. Not sure yet, since I haven't bought or looked yet

Not even a 980Ti is overkill for 1080p 60fps. Just prioritise the goal of the build, here the GTX 960 consumes about 50W less than a R9 380. Remember the 380 is a rebrand of their 2xx cards.

When looking at GPU benches, stick to good old tables/graphs and particularly look at the frametime results. Consistant frametimes are the difference between a microstuttery 60fps or a butter smooth experience.

 

[soulassssns]

Fan in my PSU is loud now. Is it a sign of its upcoming death?

 

[insane0hflex]

Not even a 980Ti is overkill for 1080p 60fps. Just prioritise the goal of the build, here the GTX 960 consumes about 50W less than a R9 380. Remember the 380 is a rebrand of their 2xx cards.

When looking at GPU benches, stick to good old tables/graphs and particularly look at the frametime results. Consistant frametimes are the difference between a microstuttery 60fps or a butter smooth experience.

Thanks. What are some sites that have these frametime results for their reviews? I don't think I've seen many of those. Usually its all about "FPS". Should I just look at 960 vs r9 280 comparisons then? If the rebranding from 280 to 380 wasn't really any real upgrade at all.

 

[ahoyle77]

Reposting for new page...

Trying to get my son a gaming pc for his birthday. Honestly at first he will mostly play minecraft. We have 1680x1050 monitor it will be on.

Found this and finding it tough to beat on newegg. They have an open box for 599. Anything I should worry about with that? Most negative review mention heat issues and loud fans. Seems I could easily spend 50 and improve all that?
http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?it...82E16883102057

ABS Stalker ALA011 Desktop PC AMD FX-8350 (4.0GHz) 8GB DDR3 1TB HDD GTX 960 2GB Win 8.1 64-Bit

Any advice? Thanks

 

[sssstententen]

• Your Current Specs: 955 Black Edition/ATI 5850/8GB DDR3 1333hz/Gigabyte GA790XTA/Cooler Master 650/CM HAF 922/3+ HDD's
• Budget: $2000/USA
• Main Use: Rate 1-5. 5 being Highest: Light Gaming 5, Gaming 5, Emulation 5, Video Editing 1, Streaming games in HD 4, 3D/Model work 1, General Usage 5.
• Monitor Resolution: 1080/60. Want to upgrade to 1440/144/ASYNC in the near future, or immediately.
• List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Want to finally be able to play Witcher 3/MGS5 at 60fps (or higher) at 1080, and I play tons of Dota 2/FFXIV, I'd love to be able to throw those on ultra and never have to worry about it again. I also like to play games with Twitch/HD Video on at the same time, possibly streaming in the future. Also just run any future current gen games at least at 60. Like Dark Souls 3/Deus Ex/etc.
• Looking to reuse any parts?: I have a 64GB SSD and multiple HDD's. I'll probably ditch the SSD but reuse all the HDD's, and I am always looking for more.
• When will you build?: Now. Can wait a week or two if I have to for parts.
• Will you be overclocking?: Yes, didn't before, definitely want to this time.

This is the rough pc part picker build I threw together, gonna give thanks to Credo since I stole the framework from his build posted last page.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($359.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($83.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($673.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($115.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1688.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-13 19:45 EDT-0400

Main concerns.
Ram? Is that good? I know CAS timings generally are pretty important. There's a model of that with CAS15? DDR4 is tough right now because there are barely any reviews.
Case? I know the r5 is supposedly solid. I like the basic minimalist mid tower, kinda looking for something flat and simple after my HAF 922, but will this one cool just as well? Dont' really care about noise since I use headphones.
Card? Is the G1 980ti still top dog? Or should I go with the EVGA Classy? Or another option?
Cooling! I know the 212 is basically revered status at this point, but is there anything better? Should I even consider AIO? I was before but read some stuff that set me back to straight air. Should I consider?
CPU. I'm mainly worried that I'll kick myself for losing out on performance if I don't go with the 6600k. I know i5's are great for games, but I also like long term solid performance in just general computing. As in, will the 6700k give me a leg up when it comes to stuff like that (streaming/browsing/etc) or will it be so negligible that the 6600 will be perfectly adequate until my next upgrade?


If anyone can answer any of those questions, or just rate it in general, I'd greatly appreciate it. I left some budget wiggle room. Super excited after having lurked in these threads since almost 2012 to finally be building again.

 

[low-G]

Every so often on this computer and on my previous mobo/CPU, when I go to reboot, if I have my DDR4 memory clocked at DDR4-3000, it won't boot, will say overclocking failed.

So far I've never had that problem with a setting of DDR4-2900.

Note, this only happens SOMETIMES. If I get the problem after rebooting once odds are I'll have to set it at 2900 for my computer to POST.

It is G.Skill Ripjaw V DDR4-3000 memory, and the XMP has it set to 3000, but it won't always boot like that. Have to manually go 2900...

So, I'm guessing on top of all the other problems I've had, my RAM is a bit off? I already did a fair amount (hours) of RAM stress tests and never got any errors, even at 3000...

Doing no overclocking right now BTW.

 

[toadsworth]

So I'm looking to upgrade my Radeon 7970 but I'm in no rush. My question is this: When is the best time to buy a new video card? I know some new cards are coming out soon, so would it be better to buy the last gen cards or just bite the bullet and get the new ones?

 

[Shawn128]

Is it all or nothing when it comes to running hard drives in raid?

Specifically, I want to keep my SSD as the main bootable OS. I have two WD 2TB Black drives that I want to run in raid 0 as a second drive. Every time I set my bios to raid, I can put the two SATA drives in raid, but then Windows 10 won't boot my SSD. When I put it back to achi, Windows 10 boots, but the raid drive isn't recognized anymore.

I have an Asus Z170 Deluxe if it helps.

 

[Hazaro]

I've gotten burned a little by not asking GAF before the fact on some major PC purchases so I figured I'd do my due diligence this time around ...

Edit : So I guess the main question is, 290x, 970, or wait for Oculus/Vive to come out so we can get some real data on how well these cards perform in VR. By then we'd have more info on Pascal/Greenland anyway.

After running an OC'd 290 there's no way I'm putting that much heat in my room again. I'd go with the 970 between those, although imo it's more of a 290 budget savings vs a 970 option.
That said the new VR stuff is also something I'm looking at and 2nd gen Vive/Oculus are going to be pushing some big hardware needs as the resolution needs to be bumped up one more time after these launch models coming out (imo).

I just put together a build on PartPicker and thought I'd see what you all thought. I've saved money for years for a new PC, so I don't have a limit budget-wise. I don't want to throw money away for negligible improvements, but I will pay more for a noticeable boost in performance. I have a few limits, which are (1) I only want to use a single video card, (2) I don't want to use liquid cooling under any circumstances, and (3) I'm useless when it comes to overclocking and/or tinkering, so I want the components to be as powerful as possible right out of the box.

Here's a link to the PartPicker build. I'll list the parts below:

CPU: Intel i7-6700K 4.0 GHz quad-core
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Motherboard: ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming ATX LGA1151
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2x8) DDR4-3200
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 1 TB SSD
Storage: Western Digital Black 2 TB HDD
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6 GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower
PSU: Cooler Master VSM 750W 80+ Gold Semi-Modular ATX
Optical Drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST DVD/CD Writer

I'm sure there are a lot of inefficiencies in there. This is just a result of throwing together a build pretty quickly. One thing I noticed after building this is that on the Newegg listings, the Samsung 850 EVO is listed as having a 5 year manufacturer warranty and the 850 Pro is listed as having a 10 year manufacturer warranty. I wonder if it's worth paying the extra money to get the 850 Pro and get another 5 years' worth of warranty.

Also, I'd rather have a WD Blue drive as my backup storage since it's quieter and would be used purely for storage, but I can only find it in 1 TB and 4 TB capacities. I wanted something in-between like 2 TB, so I had to go with a WD Black. It seems like the WD Black has a 5-year warranty compared to the WD Blue's 2-year warranty, so that's a positive at least. I guess I could opt for a WD Green, but I'm not sure how it compares to the other 2 models.

Good overall build. I'd stick with the EVO still. Common failures will most likely happen >95% of the time in 5 years. Read/Writes are on average good for 15-30yrs depending on usage so it's not a concern.

Fan in my PSU is loud now. Is it a sign of its upcoming death?

Blow it out? What brand/model/age?

Anyone?

Also, I'll buy a new 1 or 2 TB hdd to backup everything, getting smart errors often (even if they don't say what kind of error) via hdd regenerator running in background, so I was wondering what do I do with those HDDS? I never really lack space, I stock up on stuff and slowly delete it, not really into backing up tv shows/movies so not sure hm.

Any full tower is going to be big, so... look on websites / OP case listing and pick one out? I'm a big fan of Fractal's offerings and the Enthoo.

Thanks. What are some sites that have these frametime results for their reviews? I don't think I've seen many of those. Usually its all about "FPS". Should I just look at 960 vs r9 280 comparisons then? If the rebranding from 280 to 380 wasn't really any real upgrade at all.

TechReport and PCPER mainly do it correctly.

Reposting for new page...

Trying to get my son a gaming pc for his birthday. Honestly at first he will mostly play minecraft. We have 1680x1050 monitor it will be on.

Found this and finding it tough to beat on newegg. They have an open box for 599. Anything I should worry about with that? Most negative review mention heat issues and loud fans. Seems I could easily spend 50 and improve all that?
http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?it...82E16883102057

ABS Stalker ALA011 Desktop PC AMD FX-8350 (4.0GHz) 8GB DDR3 1TB HDD GTX 960 2GB Win 8.1 64-Bit

Any advice? Thanks

Pretty decent prebuilt with OS for $600, there's a small return windows for openbox TMK. Probably just need to swap the heatsink out with a 212 evo or something that fits and you'll be okay even if it runs a bit warm.

• Your Current Specs: 955 Black Edition/ATI 5850/8GB DDR3 1333hz/Gigabyte GA790XTA/Cooler Master 650/CM HAF 922/3+ HDD's
• Budget: $2000/USA
• Main Use: Rate 1-5. 5 being Highest: Light Gaming 5, Gaming 5, Emulation 5, Video Editing 1, Streaming games in HD 4, 3D/Model work 1, General Usage 5.
• Monitor Resolution: 1080/60. Want to upgrade to 1440/144/ASYNC in the near future, or immediately.
• List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Want to finally be able to play Witcher 3/MGS5 at 60fps (or higher) at 1080, and I play tons of Dota 2/FFXIV, I'd love to be able to throw those on ultra and never have to worry about it again. I also like to play games with Twitch/HD Video on at the same time, possibly streaming in the future. Also just run any future current gen games at least at 60. Like Dark Souls 3/Deus Ex/etc.
• Looking to reuse any parts?: I have a 64GB SSD and multiple HDD's. I'll probably ditch the SSD but reuse all the HDD's, and I am always looking for more.
• When will you build?: Now. Can wait a week or two if I have to for parts.
• Will you be overclocking?: Yes, didn't before, definitely want to this time.

This is the rough pc part picker build I threw together, gonna give thanks to Credo since I stole the framework from his build posted last page.

Main concerns.
Ram? Is that good? I know CAS timings generally are pretty important. There's a model of that with CAS15? DDR4 is tough right now because there are barely any reviews.
Case? I know the r5 is supposedly solid. I like the basic minimalist mid tower, kinda looking for something flat and simple after my HAF 922, but will this one cool just as well? Dont' really care about noise since I use headphones.
Card? Is the G1 980ti still top dog? Or should I go with the EVGA Classy? Or another option?
Cooling! I know the 212 is basically revered status at this point, but is there anything better? Should I even consider AIO? I was before but read some stuff that set me back to straight air. Should I consider?
CPU. I'm mainly worried that I'll kick myself for losing out on performance if I don't go with the 6600k. I know i5's are great for games, but I also like long term solid performance in just general computing. As in, will the 6700k give me a leg up when it comes to stuff like that (streaming/browsing/etc) or will it be so negligible that the 6600 will be perfectly adequate until my next upgrade?

If anyone can answer any of those questions, or just rate it in general, I'd greatly appreciate it. I left some budget wiggle room. Super excited after having lurked in these threads since almost 2012 to finally be building again.

That's fine, or some speed step lower with tighter timings is also fine.
Computers don't really get hot as much anymore so you'll be fine.
No point on Classified if you aren't going to voltmod/water/LN2 it imo.
For 6xxxK you could consider something slightly better than a 212, but it's big diminishing returns. I don't think it's that worth it and I have a 280mm AIO.
6700K is fine choice given build price and future game threading prospects + streaming.
I'd also bump up the SSD to 500GB.

Every so often on this computer and on my previous mobo/CPU, when I go to reboot, if I have my DDR4 memory clocked at DDR4-3000, it won't boot, will say overclocking failed.

So far I've never had that problem with a setting of DDR4-2900.

Note, this only happens SOMETIMES. If I get the problem after rebooting once odds are I'll have to set it at 2900 for my computer to POST.

It is G.Skill Ripjaw V DDR4-3000 memory, and the XMP has it set to 3000, but it won't always boot like that. Have to manually go 2900...

So, I'm guessing on top of all the other problems I've had, my RAM is a bit off? I already did a fair amount (hours) of RAM stress tests and never got any errors, even at 3000...

Doing no overclocking right now BTW.

Could be a deadzone where it doesn't like some frequencies. Did you try also tightening/loosening the timings and double checking proper voltages? Happens sometimes. *shrug*

So I'm looking to upgrade my Radeon 7970 but I'm in no rush. My question is this: When is the best time to buy a new video card? I know some new cards are coming out soon, so would it be better to buy the last gen cards or just bite the bullet and get the new ones?

Fill out the questions in the OP to get a better answer.
Though when mainstream HBM2 cards hit next year, that'll probably be the best time in forever.

Is it all or nothing when it comes to running hard drives in raid?

Specifically, I want to keep my SSD as the main bootable OS. I have two WD 2TB Black drives that I want to run in raid 0 as a second drive. Every time I set my bios to raid, I can put the two SATA drives in raid, but then Windows 10 won't boot my SSD. When I put it back to achi, Windows 10 boots, but the raid drive isn't recognized anymore.

I have an Asus Z170 Deluxe if it helps.

Unless you need the write speed for recording Raid 0 secondary drive :/// Unless you are one of those people that puts whatever data on it and you don't care I wouldn't do it. Just a heads up!
I'm not familiar with how that board has its software raid setup.

 

[ahoyle77]

Thanks Hazaro!

 

[Hazaro]

Thanks Hazaro!

Apparently it has a 120mm cooler already, so maybe just an extra case fan or two to help airflow inside is all it needs (hopefully).

When you get it I'd keep some paper towels under the pump/res in case shipping damaged it to be safe.

 

[noonche]

So, here's a machine that I've had for a long time and I'm debating about upgrading it or just building a new one. If I upgraded I'd probably boost the ram, buy a 1 TB SSD and get a video card. My concern is if I'll just wind up needing to replace the rest of the system in 6 months anyway...

Your Current Specs: i7-920, 6 GB DDR3, NVidia GTX 260, 2 1TB HDDs, gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R (it only supports SATA-2 which is a bit of a concern, I think?)
Budget: Not sure yet + United States
Main Use: Rate 1-5. Gaming is probably a 3, development (mostly Unity lately) is a 4.
Monitor Resolution: 1080p, though I'd like to upgrade to a dual-monitor setup.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Unity, Visual Studio, Maya, Illustrator.
Looking to reuse any parts?: That's what I'm curious about.
When will you build?: Sometime in the next month or so. Do you have a deadline? Not really.
Will you be overclocking?: No.

Any thoughts?

Edit: I'd also appreciate recommendations for a pair of decent 23-inch (or around there) monitors.

 

[knitoe]

Is it all or nothing when it comes to running hard drives in raid?

Specifically, I want to keep my SSD as the main bootable OS. I have two WD 2TB Black drives that I want to run in raid 0 as a second drive. Every time I set my bios to raid, I can put the two SATA drives in raid, but then Windows 10 won't boot my SSD. When I put it back to achi, Windows 10 boots, but the raid drive isn't recognized anymore.

I have an Asus Z170 Deluxe if it helps.

You have to convert the Windows install from ACHI to Raid for it to work. Google is your best bet for instructions on how to.

And, don't listen to people saying raid 0 is bad. I hve been running them for many builds now without issues. Hard to beat twice the performance. The issue everyone points to is double the failure rate, since obviously, you are using 2 drives. Personally, I have never had any drives failed in raid compare to a few running normally.

 

[drotahorror]

Can someone help me with a sound issue?

When I play music on winamp and watch say, youtube, or really any other sound happens, winamp lowers it's volume by like 50% or so.

I've already gone into Sound > communications tab and made sure that when windows detects communications activity to > Do nothing. (this was the first thing I made sure was set).

Is there anything else I can do? It doesn't make sense that this is happening.

Btw, this ONLY happens in winamp. If I use a different media player it does not lower the volume. Only winamp.

 

[jevity]

Yay, so now I have welcomed the new beast into our home.

http://postimg.org/image/c1wc2v1lt/

http://postimg.org/image/leh5rz2gj/

The card in the machine at the moment is what the seller called a "ghetto-hd 6970".
Which he tells me is basically an unlocked hd 6950 with some custom cooling.

He also showed me how to clock the 5820k to a stable 4.0 and that the
corsair AX1500i PSU is dead silent unless you start using more than 500watt.

So now it's all about the card. I am getting 2 Zotac 980 ti AMP extreme edition, but I am a
little bit worried about finding the space for them on the board. The board is the Asus X99-a, and it says it's 3-way sli ready, but I want to ask if its okay that the cards might end up so close that they (almost) touch each other.

I can add that the rest of the cooling is a Fractal Design Kelvin s36 on the cpu
as well as Noctua NF-F12 PWM x6 in Push/Pull ( not really sure yet what exactly that entails :Op )

This is the entire spec list :

Konig Computer stand on wheels
NZXT H440 White
Intel Core i7-5820K
ASUS X99-A, Socket 2011-3
HyperX Predator DDR4 2800MHz in Quad Channel.
Samsung SSD 850 PRO 256GB x2/Raid 0
2 Gb Seagate TB HDD
(and I think I will add 2 more 4 Gb drives)
Corsair AX 1500i
Fractal Design Kelvin S36 CPU cooling
Noctua NF-F12 PWM x6
Creative Soundblaster Z
Wi-fi Usb
(also adding a bluetooth Usb)

I also have a couple of other questions :O)

Do any of you have experience with Zotac 980 ti AMP extreme edition ( or Zotac as a brand)

Is the Astro - A50 the beast headset for gaming on the pc ?

What is the best curved 34" 21:9 screen, when it comes to color and black levels and general "immersivenes". I don' think 60hz+ is important to me, since I dont play twitch shooters. But I could be wrong. I would love to hear what you guys think ?

And my last question. How do I insert a picture without turning it into a link ? :O)

 

[Drop]

Dont buy that SSD, get a crucial or samsung SSD.
You should get 60fps with that rig with a mix of medium/high settings at 1080p, and easily 720p60.

Thank you for answering, can I ask what the problem with that ssd is? It seemed like a good deal and it has positive reviews, but if it has some fundamental flaws I'll certainly pay a bit more for a better one.

If anyone else has other inputs on the build I'll gladly accept them.

 

[JimPanzer]

I have a strange issue with the nvidia control panel. After enabling SLI in it, I can't open it after I start my PC. All the processes are there, but the control panel won't open if I click on it in the taskbar or via the desktop shortcut. The strange thing is, after I restart my computer via the start menu (not shutting him down completely and starting anew via pressing the power button) the control panel works normally. Any idea what can cause this?
I thought that maybe my PC has problems recognising the two GPU if he's started for the first time and he only "knows" that there are two if I had already started him once before.

 

[knitoe]

I have a strange issue with the nvidia control panel. After enabling SLI in it, I can't open it after I start my PC. All the processes are there, but the control panel won't open if I click on it in the taskbar or via the desktop shortcut. The strange thing is, after I restart my computer via the start menu (not shutting him down completely and starting anew via pressing the power button) the control panel works normally. Any idea what can cause this?
I thought that maybe my PC has problems recognising the two GPU if he's started for the first time and he only "knows" that there are two if I had already started him once before.

Reinstall the Nvidia drivers using Custom > Clean option.

 

[Skyfireblaze]

Quick question, is the Logitech G19s keyboard about to be discontinued? o.o

Everywhere I look the price skyrocketed to 200€+ with very limited availability. I ask because I still have the original G19 and while it still works, it's quite damaged since 2010 (two drink incidents may have "helped" with that...) and I wanted to hold out till it fully breaks before I replace it.

However if it's now discontinued I might snatch the last G19s my local store still has for 90€.

 

[Credo]

Thanks, Lockman and Hazaro, for your responses. I guess I need to hurry and order the parts because this PC has decided to fail to boot up once every 3 or 4 tries. On top of that, I got a BSOD last night with the message UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPTION, so it seems something's up with this rig.

 

[Windam]

Hey guys, I got a small issue. Whenever I boot my PC, I get a screen that says CPU Fan Error! Press F1 to continue. When I monitor my temps in HWMonitor, they're fine. The CPU cooler I'm using is a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO and I have an AMD Phenom II 965 BE. Any advice?

 

[Skyfireblaze]

Hey guys, I got a small issue. Whenever I boot my PC, I get a screen that says CPU Fan Error! Press F1 to continue. When I monitor my temps in HWMonitor, they're fine. The CPU cooler I'm using is a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO and I have an AMD Phenom II 965 BE. Any advice?

What pin-header did you connect the Cooler Master to? Are you sure it's connected to CPU_FAN (1)?

 

[Windam]

What pin-header did you connect the Cooler Master to? Are you sure it's connected to CPU_FAN (1)?

Yup. This hasn't been an issue until yesterday, when the problem first appeared.

 

[Skyfireblaze]

Yup. This hasn't been an issue until yesterday, when the problem first appeared.

Hmm that's strange then, all other ideas I have is to clean the pins and reseat the connector :/

 

[Lucael]

I have one question, I recently bought a Strix ASUS GeForce GTX 970 but my CPU is a Intel Core i5 3350P 3,1GHz (motherboard is a MSI 7798-010R). Do you think I should upgrade my CPU?

 

[sssstententen]

That's fine, or some speed step lower with tighter timings is also fine.
Computers don't really get hot as much anymore so you'll be fine.
No point on Classified if you aren't going to voltmod/water/LN2 it imo.
For 6xxxK you could consider something slightly better than a 212, but it's big diminishing returns. I don't think it's that worth it and I have a 280mm AIO.
6700K is fine choice given build price and future game threading prospects + streaming.
I'd also bump up the SSD to 500GB

Thanks for the reply. I definitely think I'll just stick with the 212. Hopefully we can get some 6700's in stock in america in the next few weeks.
I'll look into different timings for lower speed ram.

 

[JimPanzer]

Reinstall the Nvidia drivers using Custom > Clean option.

After that the control panel opens, but the only options I get are those for stereoscopic 3d

 

[Yoshichan]

I have no spare sata data cables and I need to hook my new SSD... anyone know a good solution? I have the "big" connector but not the second "small" one that's required..

 

[Rufus]

I have no spare sata data cables and I need to hook my new SSD... anyone know a good solution? I have the "big" connector but not the second "small" one that's required..

The data cable that connects to the motherboard? You can temporarily poach the one from your optical drive, should you have one. Otherwise, buy one.

 

[Yoshichan]

Thank you !

 

[NH Apache]

Anyone have a good read on a LGA1155 Mobo under 60 bucks? I have a 2600k, atx case.

 

[kennah]

Anyone have a good read on a LGA1155 Mobo under 60 bucks? I have a 2600k, atx case.

You would only be able to find that used.

 

[idlewild_]

Has anyone else had issues with dual monitors and nvidia cards/drivers on windows 10? I get huge performance issues when trying to play video on a second monitor while I have a game full screen on my primary (e.g. fps drops, lock ups.) I thought there might be something in the performance tab of the nvidia control panel, but I get a blue screen whenever I try to access that. I have tried reinstalling the gfx drivers twice, but the issues still show up. Any ideas?

 

[NH Apache]

You would only be able to find that used.

Thanks. I actually had a used one in my cart but it has since been sold out.

Sanity check on this micro ATX: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KW62WK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Will go with my 2600k, 8GB ddr3, 212+ Heatsink, atx case, and the below card:

Plan on picking up a 960 to go with it as a stopgap until a full new build next year. I believe my 6870 also fried which is why I'm picking up a 960 for my stopgap. I'm searching for a 2 GB 960. I should see a significant increase in perf as compared to my old card if passmark is to be trusted.

Amazon preferred.

Edit: I have no idea why, but the above link keeps changing to the canada Amazon upon page reload. I don't even live in canada.

Edit2: Found the original used Mobo I was going with. Updated link.

Edit3: I'm gonna go with a Strix from Amazon warehouse for 175. With the above mobo and thermal paste, I'm walking at 215 with Prime.

 

[LilJoka]

Thank you for answering, can I ask what the problem with that ssd is? It seemed like a good deal and it has positive reviews, but if it has some fundamental flaws I'll certainly pay a bit more for a better one.

If anyone else has other inputs on the build I'll gladly accept them.

This is the SSD which was released by kingston that was slower than its predecessor and priced very competitively to fool most buyers.
Crucial and Samsung offer much better performing SSDs at similar price and havent done anything stupid like this (lets exclude the Samsung 840 evo debacle - personally i favor Crucial due to this).

Thanks. I actually had a used one in my cart but it has since been sold out.

Sanity check on this micro ATX: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KW62WK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Will go with my 2600k, 8GB ddr3, 212+ Heatsink, atx case, and the below card:

Plan on picking up a 960 to go with it as a stopgap until a full new build next year. I believe my 6870 also fried which is why I'm picking up a 960 for my stopgap. I'm searching for a 2 GB 960. I should see a significant increase in perf as compared to my old card if passmark is to be trusted.

Amazon preferred.

Edit: I have no idea why, but the above link keeps changing to the canada Amazon upon page reload. I don't even live in canada.

Edit2: Found the original used Mobo I was going with. Updated link.

Edit3: I'm gonna go with a Strix from Amazon warehouse for 175. With the above mobo and thermal paste, I'm walking at 215 with Prime.

Board will work, but is B for Budget, cannot overclock the 2600K on it, which would be highly desirable right now. See what ebay has in the form of second hand Z77 ATX or mATX boards.

 

[Yoshichan]

Aiiight next question... I noticed since I reinstalled Windows 7 and reset everything that my start-thingy on the bottom of the screen isn't transparent - also, when I move around folders and stuff, it kinda "chugs" along.

I've installed the latest GPU drivers (by using nvidias auto detect program), what else can I do to fix this?