Support NeoGAF

[legacyzero]

970 isn't enough of a jump for you? http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1349?vs=1355

I dunno, I love my 970. It does everything I ask of it, which for the most part is run things maxed out, or as close as can reasonably be, at 1080/60. I don't really see the whole "3.5GB" thing an issue, but potentially it could do in the future, I guess...

An overclocked 970 can run at 980-like performance levels for significantly cheaper, when overclocked. However if you're freaked out by the whole "half a gig runs slower than the rest" business with the 970, you might want to look into a 980 or switch to AMD. The 390X is priced somewhere between the two and IIRC, performs in that range, too.

I think the 970 is still a really good card for the money, especially OC'ed. That's what I'd go for but it kinda just depends on how much you're willing to spend, and what system you already have in place, to some extent.

Sure! That's what people keep telling me. I just worry that it's not as much a jump that it should be to prepare for some of the games that are up and coming.

Also, as for my CPU, I'm running an i5 3570k, which also worries me. Not sure if I'll need to upgrade that as well to accommodate a more powerful GPU.

 

[Crisium]

Ok, help me out GAF?

My 670 is starting to show it's age. 2GB Vram doesn't feel like enough these days, especially since I love to max my games out with at least 60 frames most often, AND I love to downsample.

I keep hearing about the 970, but with the 3.5 VRAM issue and (from what I can tell) isn't that much of a jump from the 670, I'm looking for something that will give me at least 4 GB Vram, and a jump in performance that'll make it worth upgrading. What's GAF recommend?

Two choices I think:

1) Refresh this page until you find a 980 in stock:
http://www.evga.com/Products/ProductList.aspx?type=8

A 980 for $360-$380 cannot be beat. Make sure you understand what B stock is though, but these are popular. Faster than a 970, full 4GB, and faster than Radeon 290 and 390 on average.

2) Look at AMD cards. Aftermarket 290s are about the same performance as a 970 but with a full 4GB. Aftermarket 290X ranges from about the same to slightly faster, again 4GB. And then there's the 390 which is about the same speed as a 290X but has 8GB which at the very least ensures you won't hit a VRAM bottleneck.

 

[legacyzero]

Two choices I think:

1) Refresh this page until you find a 980 in stock:
http://www.evga.com/Products/ProductList.aspx?type=8

A 980 for $360-$380 cannot be beat. Make sure you understand what B stock is though, but these are popular. Faster than a 970, full 4GB, and faster than Radeon 290 and 390 on average.

2) Look at AMD cards. Aftermarket 290s are about the same performance as a 970 but with a full 4GB. Aftermarket 290X ranges from about the same to slightly faster, again 4GB. And then there's the 390 which is about the same speed as a 290X but has 8GB which at the very least ensures you won't hit a VRAM bottleneck.

I'm looking at the 390X which seems to be a pretty good solution. Seeing a lot of heat and driver complaints, though...

 

[TheMink]

Before you think of replacing your motherboard, you could stop by a local computer shop and get them to test your PSU for you.

Good idea, thanks will do.

 

[kodecraft]

I'm looking at the 390X which seems to be a pretty good solution. Seeing a lot of heat and driver complaints, though...

Yep, choose your fate.

 

[kuYuri]

Ok, help me out GAF?

My 670 is starting to show it's age. 2GB Vram doesn't feel like enough these days, especially since I love to max my games out with at least 60 frames most often, AND I love to downsample.

I keep hearing about the 970, but with the 3.5 VRAM issue and (from what I can tell) isn't that much of a jump from the 670, I'm looking for something that will give me at least 4 GB Vram, and a jump in performance that'll make it worth upgrading. What's GAF recommend?

Look into the R9 390, it's often priced lower than 970, outperforms it in some scenarios, scales better when playing games beyond 1080p, and has 8GB of VRAM.

It is definitely nowhere near efficient as a 970 in terms of heat and wattage, doesn't have as good a driver support compared to Nvidia, and the 970 is a better overclocker I think.

 

[Hazaro]

Sure! That's what people keep telling me. I just worry that it's not as much a jump that it should be to prepare for some of the games that are up and coming.

Also, as for my CPU, I'm running an i5 3570k, which also worries me. Not sure if I'll need to upgrade that as well to accommodate a more powerful GPU.

Look into the R9 390, it's often priced lower than 970, outperforms it in some scenarios, scales better when playing games beyond 1080p, and has 8GB of VRAM.

It is definitely nowhere near efficient as a 970 in terms of heat and wattage, doesn't have as good a driver support compared to Nvidia, and the 970 is a better overclocker I think.

As someone who went from a 670 to a heavily OC'd 290 (aka 390), back to a 670, then to a 970... get a 970.
Used preferably or a used 980. Nothing else makes that much sense in the price bracket (imo).

 

[kuYuri]

As someone who went from a 670 to a heavily OC'd 290 (aka 390), back to a 670, then to a 970... get a 970.
Used preferably or a used 980. Nothing else makes that much sense in the price bracket (imo).

My personal choice would be a 970 as well, I used it for a few months before upgrading to a 980 Ti. Plus, free games.

 

[Crisium]

I'm looking at the 390X which seems to be a pretty good solution. Seeing a lot of heat and driver complaints, though...

I'd recommend sticking with a regular 390. All that separates the 390 and 390X at heart is that the X has 10% more Shaders and TMUs. Both cards should more or less equalize clock speed (which also equalizes the same ROPs) and already have equal memory bandwidth. Shader and TMU performance rarely translates to 1:1 gains, so max OC the 390X is asking for $100 more for perhaps 4-9% more performance on average depending on how Shader intensive the game is.

Look into the R9 390, it's often priced lower than 970, outperforms it in some scenarios, scales better when playing games beyond 1080p, and has 8GB of VRAM.

It is definitely nowhere near efficient as a 970 in terms of heat and wattage, doesn't have as good a driver support compared to Nvidia, and the 970 is a better overclocker I think.

Quite true that the 970 is more power efficient by a lot. But at max OC the 970 doesn't quite catch up from the comparison of max oc vs max oc that I have seen:
https://youtu.be/k9cKZiJw6Pk?t=8m24s

If you want to find 390 power consumption, fan noise, temps, etc. then check out this 390 and 390X roundup to see what looks best:

http://www.computerbase.de/2015-10/neun-radeon-r9-390-x-partnerkarten-test/3/
Specifically those metrics are here:
http://www.computerbase.de/2015-10/neun-radeon-r9-390-x-partnerkarten-test/4/

The Powercolor 390 PCS+ seems the best by far, being very cool and very quiet and having tame power consumption for a 290/390 series: PCS+ 390 = 36 dBA @ 76*C, total system power usage (including CPU, etc) = 371W

 

[Hazaro]

Quite true that the 970 is more power efficient by a lot. But at max OC the 970 doesn't quite catch up from the comparison of max oc vs max oc that I have seen:
https://youtu.be/k9cKZiJw6Pk?t=8m24s

If you want to find 390 power consumption, fan noise, temps, etc. then check out this 390 and 390X roundup to see what looks best:

http://www.computerbase.de/2015-10/neun-radeon-r9-390-x-partnerkarten-test/3/
Specifically those metrics are here:
http://www.computerbase.de/2015-10/neun-radeon-r9-390-x-partnerkarten-test/4/

Normally I would compare max OCs but I could not take the 290 vomiting heat into my room (Nearly 200W more at 1200Mhz Core).

 

[legacyzero]

Yeah, Going by all this, and the better drivers/capabilities, I'll stay with Nvidia.

So that narrows me down to the 970, 980, and 980ti. Where can I find the best bench for games to measure these out? What do you all prefer?

 

[Ragingbegal]

After looking through the thread more and reading recommendations, I adjusted this prospective build I posted yesterday. Any thoughts on this, what it will be capable of and where the limitations will be?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/d7Dfbv
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/d7Dfbv/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($92.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($639.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($65.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($39.95 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($93.75 @ OutletPC)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar DGX 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-G300LX 802.11b/g PCI Wi-Fi Adapter ($10.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1535.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-11 15:05 EDT-0400

 

[Hazaro]

Yeah, Going by all this, and the better drivers/capabilities, I'll stay with Nvidia.

So that narrows me down to the 970, 980, and 980ti. Where can I find the best bench for games to measure these out? What do you all prefer?

Just comes down to how much you want to spend really.

After looking through the thread more and reading recommendations, I adjusted this prospective build I posted yesterday. Any thoughts on this, what it will be capable of and where the limitations will be?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/d7Dfbv
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/d7Dfbv/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($92.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($639.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($65.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($39.95 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($93.75 @ OutletPC)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar DGX 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-G300LX 802.11b/g PCI Wi-Fi Adapter ($10.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1535.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-11 15:05 EDT-0400

If your budget allows a 980Ti you might want to consider going with the new Intel board and chips. Alternatively getting a 970/980 and using the extra spare cash to get an HBM2 card next year is also an option.

Limitations with a 980Ti are... low to say the least.

 

[Raxanas]

After looking through the thread more and reading recommendations, I adjusted this prospective build I posted yesterday. Any thoughts on this, what it will be capable of and where the limitations will be?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/d7Dfbv
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/d7Dfbv/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($92.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($639.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($65.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($39.95 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($93.75 @ OutletPC)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar DGX 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-G300LX 802.11b/g PCI Wi-Fi Adapter ($10.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1535.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-11 15:05 EDT-0400

Build is great!I highly recommend changing the PSU though with an EVGA 750W G2 or Corsair 750 RMx or sth else....NEX psus are pretty bad and of low quality

 

[legacyzero]

Just comes down to how much you want to spend really.

Seems like the 980TI is the best option here. Will that be ok with my 3570k??

 

[Walpurgis]

I installed the drivers then upgraded to Windows 10 and finally finished setting my PC up. I took it for a spin yesterday with Star Wars: Battlefront (after installing the new Star Wars: Battlefront driver) and it was incredible. I was playing at 1200p on high graphics with a really solid framerate (I think 60 FPS). When I take it to ultra, it fluctuates between 40-60 but it's still awesome because of the graphics. I haven't tried it on my PS4 yet but I don't know if I can take the 900p and low graphics. I guess you could say that I have finally ascended to the master race! Thank you RGM79 for picking out my parts (like 3-4 times, lol) and thank you everyone else for helping me set things up. Now to see how well I run Crysis.

 

[Ryne]

Just a simple question: Is now a good time to build a new computer?

The last one I built was in 2011 with an i7 2600K @ 4.4ghz. It's still very quick, but I want to be able to start downsampling games and such, where my CPU won't cut it.

I do have a 980ti I can use in a new build, which will cut down my cost significantly. What do you guys think about building a PC now, or is there another architecture I should be waiting for?

 

[Arren]

Hey guys, I'm currently having a very unexpected and sudden issue with my gaming PC: basically out of the blue and without any reason my PC has started giving me occasional and entirely random startup loops when booting Windows.

I turn the PC on, see the usual BIOS message at startup, then Windows starts loading and after a second it goes black. Computer restarts entirely, the usual BIOS message appears once again, then it says that Windows could not be started because of an improper shutdown or a hardware / software change.

At this point I'm given two options: 1) run Windows diagnostic tools or 2) attempt to start Windows normally. If I pick the latter, two different outcomes can occur in a completely random way: either the loop restarts (black screen -> PC restart -> Windows loop -> boot options) or it manages to boot the OS.

Once I manage to get Windows to boot, everything seems absolutely perfect within the OS itself. No malfunctioning signs whatsoever.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Sorry to bring this up, but I'm still experiencing this weird, unexpected and admittedly enigmatic issue with my gaming PC.

I would be really grateful if someone could help me out with this, even by means of simply suggesting where to look and what to check. Thanks again!

 

[Oxn]

Just a simple question: Is now a good time to build a new computer?

The last one I built was in 2011 with an i7 2600K @ 4.4ghz. It's still very quick, but I want to be able to start downsampling games and such, where my CPU won't cut it.

I do have a 980ti I can use in a new build, which will cut down my cost significantly. What do you guys think about building a PC now, or is there another architecture I should be waiting for?

Even if you get a 6700k thats really only around a 30% difference or so.

 

[Ragingbegal]

Just comes down to how much you want to spend really.

If your budget allows a 980Ti you might want to consider going with the new Intel board and chips. Alternatively getting a 970/980 and using the extra spare cash to get an HBM2 card next year is also an option.

Limitations with a 980Ti are... low to say the least.

What kind of difference can I expect between an i5-4690K and an i5-6600K? I assume the latter is the new Skylake platform?

And thanks for the advice on the PSU, Raxanas.

 

[MisterNoisy]

New build finally done. Had a bad motherboard and had to wait for its replacement.

Specs:

Intel Core i5 6600K under a be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3
Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5
16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3000
MSI GTX970 100ME
Intel 730 240GB
Sandisk Ultra II 480GB
HGST 1TB 7200RPM
TP-Link Archer T8-E
eVGA SuperNova G2 750W
be quiet Pure Wings 2 fans (5x 140mm, 1x 120mm)
Win10 x64 Home
BitFenix Aegis

Holy fuck this thing is damn near silent - be quiet! makes some outstanding fans.

 

[Lion Heart]

Man what a frustrating experience. I got a new ssd, after absolutely no luck booting windows from a USB, I decided to clone my hdd and then I unplugged it and boot my pc with the ssd only. It comes up as no boot disk present. I made the necessary changes in the bios of course.

Could it be due to the drive letters? The cloned ssd is D: cause I didn't know what else to name it. My hdd is C:. Not sure how to get around that.

 

[Maniac]

Right then, finally have funds for some parts without any emergencies having gotten in the way as of yet, so I'll ask in the new thread now that some time has passed: What's a good PSU to get (in Denmark) within a 1400~ Danish Kroner (DKK) budget? That's close to $200, mind. I've got a GTX 780ti, probably grabbing a Pascal GPU once those are out. Also rocking an SSD, an HDD and a 3770K at factory-clock. Thinking something in the range of 700~ watt, but I'm by no means an expert - - I would say that modularity is a must. Semi-modular is bare minimum for me.

And also, what would people recommend for CPU cooling? I'd like to overclock my 3770k a bit higher than the clock 3.5GHz, and I've been looking at the Noctua NH-D15 quite extensively. Are there any better options in the same general price-range, or is that the best to get? I've looked at the closed-loop liquid CPU coolers, but the actual performance increase doesn't seem to be much more than miniscule at best, while some of them are really loud. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

(Paging RGM :3)

 

[Raxanas]

Right then, finally have funds for some parts without any emergencies having gotten in the way as of yet, so I'll ask in the new thread now that some time has passed: What's a good PSU to get (in Denmark) within a 1400~ Danish Kroner (DKK) budget? That's close to $200, mind. I've got a GTX 780ti, probably grabbing a Pascal GPU once those are out. Also rocking an SSD, an HDD and a 3770K at factory-clock. Thinking something in the range of 700~ watt, but I'm by no means an expert - - I would say that modularity is a must. Semi-modular is bare minimum for me.

And also, what would people recommend for CPU cooling? I'd like to overclock my 3770k a bit higher than the clock 3.5GHz, and I've been looking at the Noctua NH-D15 quite extensively. Are there any better options in the same general price-range, or is that the best to get? I've looked at the closed-loop liquid CPU coolers, but the actual performance increase doesn't seem to be much more than miniscule at best, while some of them are really loud. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

(Paging RGM :3)

EVGA 750W G2 / Corsair RM750X....750 is kinda overkill but for futureproof and if u can afford it it is fine....Your alternatives are NH-D15 ,be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 3,Cryorig R1 Universal.They all have near identical performance....Beware that they fit your case/memory and if they dont block any pci-e slot since they are soooooo massive!!!!If u wanna go water go for NZXT Kraken X61 or Coolermaster Nepton 280L

 

[MisterNoisy]

EVGA 750W G2 / Corsair RM750X....750 is kinda overkill but for futureproof and if u can afford it it is fine....Your alternatives are NH-D15 ,be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 3,Cryorig R1 Universal.They all have near identical performance....Beware that they fit your case/memory and if they dont block any pci-e slot since they are soooooo massive!!!!If u wanna go water go for NZXT Kraken X61 or Coolermaster Nepton 280L

Dark Rock Pro 3 is a beast of a cooler, but the mounting system is kinda fiddly - you're pretty much mounting the motherboard to the cooler rather than the other way around.

 

[RGM79]

After looking through the thread more and reading recommendations, I adjusted this prospective build I posted yesterday. Any thoughts on this, what it will be capable of and where the limitations will be?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/d7Dfbv
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/d7Dfbv/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($92.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($639.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($65.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($39.95 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($93.75 @ OutletPC)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar DGX 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-G300LX 802.11b/g PCI Wi-Fi Adapter ($10.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1535.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-11 15:05 EDT-0400

Build looks good for the most part, but there are some alternatives I would definitely recommend instead:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($87.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($639.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($39.95 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($93.75 @ OutletPC)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar DGX 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($17.87 @ Newegg)
Total: $1530.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-11 21:15 EDT-0400

• I changed the RAM for a faster set for just a few dollars more.
• The Toshiba 3TB 7200RPM drive is faster yet cheaper than the WD Green 5400RPM drive. WD Green drives have the undesirable "head parking" feature anyway.
• You should get a GTX 980 Ti with an aftermarket open-type cooler. It'll run cooler and quieter than the reference blower type cooler. I substituted the EVGA model which costs the same as the one you had selected before.
• You had the older EVGA B1 750 watt PSU selected, the newer and better B2 750 watt model is available and cheaper. As Raxanas says, the B1/NEX type is not as good as more recent models from EVGA.
• That wifi card you had selected is a very old model that only supports wireless G. I changed it for a newer model that supports wireless N which is much faster.

One last thing to note - Do you really need a sound card? Motherboard integrated audio is quite enough for most people.

Right then, finally have funds for some parts without any emergencies having gotten in the way as of yet, so I'll ask in the new thread now that some time has passed: What's a good PSU to get (in Denmark) within a 1400~ Danish Kroner (DKK) budget? That's close to $200, mind. I've got a GTX 780ti, probably grabbing a Pascal GPU once those are out. Also rocking an SSD, an HDD and a 3770K at factory-clock. Thinking something in the range of 700~ watt, but I'm by no means an expert - - I would say that modularity is a must. Semi-modular is bare minimum for me.

And also, what would people recommend for CPU cooling? I'd like to overclock my 3770k a bit higher than the clock 3.5GHz, and I've been looking at the Noctua NH-D15 quite extensively. Are there any better options in the same general price-range, or is that the best to get? I've looked at the closed-loop liquid CPU coolers, but the actual performance increase doesn't seem to be much more than miniscule at best, while some of them are really loud. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

(Paging RGM :3)

Hmm, did you look into the PSU recommendations I gave you last time? Nothing new has come out recently that would change my earlier recommendations for brands and models. I don't remember if I gave you this link or not, but here's a general listing of power supplies by quality.

The Phanteks PH-TC14PE is an excellent rival to the Noctua NH-D15 in terms of performance and at least in the US can be found for quite a bit cheaper.. I don't know about Danish prices, though. Yes, I wouldn't really recommend liquid cooling either unless you really dislike the look of a radiator.

Man what a frustrating experience. I got a new ssd, after absolutely no luck booting windows from a USB, I decided to clone my hdd and then I unplugged it and boot my pc with the ssd only. It comes up as no boot disk present. I made the necessary changes in the bios of course.

Could it be due to the drive letters? The cloned ssd is D: cause I didn't know what else to name it. My hdd is C:. Not sure how to get around that.

No, the BIOS doesn't read drives according to drive letters as that's mainly a Windows thing, so it seems unlikely that drive letters are the issue. Have you only cloned the Windows partition or the entire disk? If the drive is missing a system partition, it will not boot even if the partition containing Windows was successfully cloned over. These guides should help:

How to Upgrade Your Existing Hard Drive in Under an Hour
How To Migrate Windows 7 to a Solid State Drive (parts of this guide also apply in general to other OS)

I checked your old posts and you don't seem to have mentioned any specifics like what your system specs are or how you tried to make a bootable Windows installer USB drive. If you could tell us that and what steps you took in the beginning, that'd help us narrow down any problems.

I installed the drivers then upgraded to Windows 10 and finally finished setting my PC up. I took it for a spin yesterday with Star Wars: Battlefront (after installing the new Star Wars: Battlefront driver) and it was incredible. I was playing at 1200p on high graphics with a really solid framerate (I think 60 FPS). When I take it to ultra, it fluctuates between 40-60 but it's still awesome because of the graphics. I haven't tried it on my PS4 yet but I don't know if I can take the 900p and low graphics. I guess you could say that I have finally ascended to the master race! Thank you RGM79 for picking out my parts (like 3-4 times, lol) and thank you everyone else for helping me set things up. Now to see how well I run Crysis.

Always good to hear that it went well.

 

[Lion Heart]

Thanks man, that's exactly what it was, I didn't have the partition. Although I figured it out a bit ago

My mobo seems to be such between a bios and Uefi system, like they introduced UEFI well after release, but I don't feel like flashing it. It could be the USB I suppose but this worked so I'm sticking with the clone.

 

[Ragingbegal]

Build looks good for the most part, but there are some alternatives I would definitely recommend instead:
~snipped for space~

Thank you for the recommendations. After taking your feedback, others from this thread and some comments on PC Part Picker, I think I've narrowed my build down to two scenarios. Basically, I'm looking at a choice between a Skylake CPU/motherboard and a 980Ti. I'll list the two builds below, but do you have any thoughts on the advantages of each approach? Which one will be easier to upgrade going forward, and what should I expect performance-wise when considering a i5-6600K with a GeForce 970 vs. a i5-4690K with a 980Ti?

I also have to budget for a monitor in this build. I'm fine with a 1080 display for now, but might want to upgrade in a year or two.

Option 1: 469W
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nqRyCJ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nqRyCJ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($87.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($639.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($39.95 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($93.75 @ OutletPC)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($17.87 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VS238H-P 23.0" Monitor ($132.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1633.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-11 22:30 EDT-0400

Option 2: 357W
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bj24bv
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bj24bv/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($257.42 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($149.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($88.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($87.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB 100 Million Edition Video Card ($304.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($39.95 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($93.75 @ OutletPC)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($17.87 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VS238H-P 23.0" Monitor ($132.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1423.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-11 22:31 EDT-0400

If prices fall by the end of November and I can find a cheaper version of Windows through an IT friend, that might push me toward option 2 with a 980TI card since it will be closer to my target budget.

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

23.6" ASUS VE247H 1080p HDMI LED Monitor $89 after $20 Rebate + Free Shipping

Is this a decent monitor for budget gaming purposes?

 

[knitoe]

Thanks man, that's exactly what it was, I didn't have the partition. Although I figured it out a bit ago

My mobo seems to be such between a bios and Uefi system, like they introduced UEFI well after release, but I don't feel like flashing it. It could be the USB I suppose but this worked so I'm sticking with the clone.

Just use the free Macrium Reflect. With a few clicks, it clones your entire HDD to SSD and sets it up appropriately. Afterward, all you have to entire the Bios, select your SSD as boot drive and you are done.

 

[RGM79]

Thank you for the recommendations. After taking your feedback, others from this thread and some comments on PC Part Picker, I think I've narrowed my build down to two scenarios. Basically, I'm looking at a choice between a Skylake CPU/motherboard and a 980Ti. I'll list the two builds below, but do you have any thoughts on the advantages of each approach? Which one will be easier to upgrade going forward, and what should I expect performance-wise when considering a i5-6600K with a GeForce 970 vs. a i5-4690K with a 980Ti?

I also have to budget for a monitor in this build. I'm fine with a 1080 display for now, but might want to upgrade in a year or two.

Option 1: 469W
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nqRyCJ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nqRyCJ/by_merchant/

Option 2: 357W
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bj24bv
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bj24bv/by_merchant/

If prices fall by the end of November and I can find a cheaper version of Windows through an IT friend, that might push me toward option 2 since it will be closer to my target budget.

Skylake's the option to go for if you want the latest tech (USB 3.1 and type C, M.2, etc) and future-looking compatibility (DDR4 and socket 1151 compatibility), but Haswell isn't a bad choice as it costs less yet offers nearly the same performance. The difference between the i5 4690K and i5 6600K is not that great, but the GTX 980 Ti is quite a lot stronger than the GTX 970 so I'd expect the i5 4690K and GTX 980 Ti to perform better than the i5 6600K and GTX 970.

I also forgot to ask, but do you need the blu-ray drive as well? I kind of figured that you probably need it to read blu-ray discs, but if you don't then you could save some money by dropping it. Also consider going with 8GB of RAM for now. Although you are doing video editing, if it's very light then 8GB will be just fine for video editing.

There are other case options as well. At the very cheapest, I'd recommend the NZXT Source 210 Elite ($43). There's the Enthoo Pro M ($75) which does a decent job of keeping up quality while being a cheaper spin on the regular Enthoo Pro. There's also the white version of the Fractal Design Define R4 ($75) which is nice for silence. A middle point would be the Corsair Graphite 230T ($60).

If you can't get Windows for cheap through your friend, then consider buying a cheap Windows license off reddit. It's a bit risky, so here's my usual disclaimer:

Cheap Windows licenses can be bought from reddit's microsoftsoftwareswap for cheap, around $15 or less. Windows 10 licenses are also available for a bit more. These are most likely legitimate keys that are resold from educational programs like Technet or MSDNAA/Dreamspark. However, you are dealing with a person instead of a retailer, and informal Windows keys sales are not approved by Microsoft and probably breaking some licensing agreement, but it's not illegal. The risks involved are that the person could be selling you a fake or used key, or that Microsoft may refuse to give you support and/or deactivate your license and refuse to reactivate it. That's not very likely, usually it only happens if the seller and their list of sold keys was caught. We've had people here using those keys without issues for a long time and others who say Microsoft deactivated their key after several months. The 7/8/8.1 keys should be upgradeable to Windows 10, but confirm with the seller to be sure, of course.​

Office licenses are also available there, but if you want something safe and official then check here for a cheap office deal that you might be able to get through a University or workplace email address.

23.6" ASUS VE247H 1080p HDMI LED Monitor $89 after $20 Rebate + Free Shipping

Is this a decent monitor for budget gaming purposes?

It has an excellent rating at the displaylag input lag database and has excellent average score of 4+ stars out of 5 after hundreds of reviews on Amazon and Newegg, so it seems safe to say that it's a good budget monitor. Where are you seeing the $20 rebate? And it seems like the deal is dead?

 

[Nostremitus]

So, what is the best cooler for the Elite 120?

I made the mistake of buying an Antec Kuhler H2O 650 when I built my HTPC. It sounds like a jet engine halfway through a movie.

Basically, what's a good but quiet cooler with a very low profile? Preferably an air cooler...

I was looking at the Noctua nh-l9i but it doesn't seem to cool any better than stock.

 

[Aylinato]

Less then 700, playing Starcraft 2, using word, and playing roller coaster tycoon.(so gaming)
OS, idk I like Windows
I would enjoy 8 gigs of ram/ability to upgrade the computer


I also can use my brothers old case as well, he had speakers but I'm unsure if they work.
Things I have, mouse, keyboard, monitor

 

[RGM79]

So, what is the best cooler for the Elite 120?

I made the mistake of buying an Antec Kuhler H2O 650 when I built my HTPC. It sounds like a jet engine halfway through a movie.

Basically, what's a good but quiet cooler with a very low profile? Preferably an air cooler...

I was looking at the Noctua nh-l9i but it doesn't seem to cool any better than stock.

The NH-L12 should work as long as only the bottom fan is mounted. This person installed a NH-L12 into his CM Elite 130 and it fits easily with a bit of room to spare. The Elite 120 and 130 have the same internal design and cooler master says they both have 65mm of height for a CPU cooler.

Less then 700, playing Starcraft 2, using word, and playing roller coaster tycoon.(so gaming)
OS, idk I like Windows
I would enjoy 8 gigs of ram/ability to upgrade the computer

I also can use my brothers old case as well, he had speakers but I'm unsure if they work.
Things I have, mouse, keyboard, monitor

Any idea what case is it? We need to know so we know what fits in it.

 

[Ragingbegal]

~Lot's of good advice~

You've been incredibly helpful. Thank you.

 

[Aylinato]

The NH-L12 should work as long as only the bottom fan is mounted. This person installed a NH-L12 into his CM Elite 130 and it fits easily with a bit of room to spare. The Elite 120 and 130 have the same internal design and cooler master says they both have 65mm of height for a CPU cooler.



Any idea what case is it? We need to know so we know what fits in it.

I PMed my brother

 

[Nostremitus]

The NH-L12 should work as long as only the bottom fan is mounted. This person installed a NH-L12 into his CM Elite 130 and it fits easily with a bit of room to spare. The Elite 120 and 130 have the same internal design and cooler master says they both have 65mm of height for a CPU cooler.

Ooh, nice, thanks. I wonder if I can fit a larger fan on the bottom...

Only one way to find out, I'll order it and see if I can coax a Gentle Typhoon on there.

Edit: never mind, looking at an image of it, looks like there's an area cut into the bottom fins for the small fan.

Would I be better off with a CM Nepton 120XL? It's supposed to max at 27decibels versus the 46 decibels of my Antec AIO. This case just seems too small for any worthwhile air cooling options.

 

[RGM79]

Ooh, nice, thanks. I wonder if I can fit a larger fan on the bottom...

Only one way to find out, I'll order it and see if I can coax a Gentle Typhoon on there.

Edit: never mind, looking at an image of it, looks like there's an area cut into the bottom fins for the small fan.

Would I be better off with a CM Nepton 120XL? It's supposed to max at 27decibels versus the 46 decibels of my Antec AIO. This case just seems too small for any worthwhile air cooling options.

As long as you aren't overclocking, the NH-L12 should do just fine. I don't know about 120mm water coolers as I'm not much of a fan of them. I can't find many professional reviews of the Nepton 120XL from sites that I trust, except for this Hardware Secrets review showing that while the Nepton 120XL performed well, the cooler was quite loud at 54dB. If you really want water cooling and don't mind extra costs, consider getting a cheap 120mm AIO and using some guaranteed-to-be-quiet fans with it, like some Noctua models?

 

[Nostremitus]

As long as you aren't overclocking, the NH-L12 should do just fine. I don't know about 120mm water coolers as I'm not much of a fan of them. I can't find many professional reviews of the Nepton 120XL from sites that I trust, except for this Hardware Secrets review showing that while the Nepton 120XL performed well, the cooler was quite loud at 54dB. If you really want water cooling and don't mind extra costs, consider getting a cheap 120mm AIO and using some guaranteed-to-be-quiet fans with it, like some Noctua models?

OK, thank you. I appreciate it.

 

[Maniac]

Hmm, did you look into the PSU recommendations I gave you last time? Nothing new has come out recently that would change my earlier recommendations for brands and models. I don't remember if I gave you this link or not, but here's a general listing of power supplies by quality.

I don't ever think we got around to taking a proper look at the higher priced PSUs last time around, did we? Anyway, that's... One big ole list. Are there any on said list you'd specifically recommend or have heard good things of? Within the budget, ofcourse.

Also took a look at the Phantec, which seems to be largely unavailable outside of the US - - Haven't found a single site able to sell it to Scandinavia, at the very least. But even then, the Noctua NH-D15 is actually surprisingly cheap here; cheaper than the Phantec is in the US.

 

[wakajawaka]

I'll try again as I don´t know what to do with this still.

Long story short, I wanted to build a pc for about 550€ for light 1080 gaming on my tv, kodi and stuff. My brother gave me a P9X79 and I´m trying to build around it without spending too much.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4820K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor (€344.00)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 103 43.1 CFM CPU Cooler (€19.95) (@PCcomponentes
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard (Purchased For €0.00)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (€46.60 @ Amazon Espana)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€78.95 @ Amazon Espana)
Total: €489.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-12 14:40 CEST+0200

For the Graphics Card I thought I could use a HD3850 I have around and buy a decent one later. I have a 500gb mechanical drive for extra storage.

I need help choosing the case and psu, but would greatly appreciate any ideas.My country is Spain

 

[OkayRene]

I'm in the process of compiling a shopping list for my PC while also getting into high quality audio. Does a good soundcard negate the need to get an external DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter)? And if the answer is yes, are there motherboards that have great ones built in?

 

[Thorgal]

when doing a full Virus scan of your PC , does that include and Overwrite files that where tagged as Exclude from scan ?

Only reason i am asking is because there are some files in there that are completely safe but might set off a virus scanner .

 

[TimHortons]

I'll try again as I don´t know what to do with this still.

Long story short, I wanted to build a pc for about 550€ for light 1080 gaming on my tv, kodi and stuff. My brother gave me a P9X79 and I´m trying to build around it without spending too much.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4820K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor (€344.00)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 103 43.1 CFM CPU Cooler (€19.95) (@PCcomponentes
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard (Purchased For €0.00)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (€46.60 @ Amazon Espana)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€78.95 @ Amazon Espana)
Total: €489.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-12 14:40 CEST+0200

For the Graphics Card I thought I could use a HD3850 I have around and buy a decent one later. I have a 500gb mechanical drive for extra storage.

I need help choosing the case and psu, but would greatly appreciate any ideas.My country is Spain

I don't know about this build, you're handicapping yourself with that free Motherboard. You can get a Intel-Core-i5-4690K and another Motherboard for cheaper than your current processor pick. http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-4820K-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4690K/1675vs2432

Also draws quite a bit less wattage so runs cooler, on chip GPU and you can also pick out another Mobo more to your preferences etc... Just tossing this suggestion into the mix.

 

[Vuze]

Not 100% on topic I guess but I'm looking for an internal capture card with as low latency as possible since I'll use it to play consoles on my PC monitor (which has no HDMI in). I've been looking at the AVERMEDIA 61C9850000AR Lite Live Gamer HD Capture Card so far, seems just like what I need and is about 80 bucks which fits my budget. But maybe somebody has other suggestions. As said, low delay has top priority but obviously it should be highly reliable too.

 

[arts&crafts]

Budget: $1500ish Canadian
Primary Use: Gaming
Current Specs:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Processor 3.40 GHz
GPU: Radeon 5800 series (0x6899) - I don't know exactly this card as I built this PC 6 years ago and forget.
RAM: 8GB DDR2

I can run games decently now (currently playing Mad Max at 1980x1020 on mediumish settings) I am wondering if there is enough of an upgrade to be had to build a new PC now.
I am thinking a GTX 970 but I don't know the different types of that card and have been out of the loop way to long on a new CPU.

 

[Foddzy]

Video capture cards have pass-through that should have essentially zero delay. View your stream on the computer output, and use the capture card's output to play. On a monitor with no HDMI in though... not sure, maybe use a HDMI to Display Port or DVI converter? FWIW I've got the Avermedia Live Gamer HD and while the latency through the card's processing is low, its still way to high for crisp playability IMO.

 

[kiyomi]

Seems like the 980TI is the best option here. Will that be ok with my 3570k??

3570K will be fine if you overclock it. Just look at the thread title

 

[pax217]

Does your motherboard have another output, e.g. VGA or HDMI? Can you try one of those?

If it boots when you have the GPU out, then leave the GPU out for now while you test it. Also, take a careful look at your motherboard's manual, might have some tips/peculiarities you need to know.

Tried it on HDMI (and another monitor, just in case), no go. I really have no clue what's up.

Will look through the manual. Thanks again.

 

[wakajawaka]

I don't know about this build, you're handicapping yourself with that free Motherboard. You can get a Intel-Core-i5-4690K and another Motherboard for cheaper than your current processor pick. http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-4820K-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4690K/1675vs2432

Also draws quite a bit less wattage so runs cooler, on chip 'GPU and you can also pick out another Mobo more to your preferences etc... Just tossing this suggestion into the mix.

To be honest I thought about that, but I did not know that i7 was worse than cheaper i5's. So not even worth it with other 2011 socket processor, then?

Will do that in that case, maybe try and sell the mobo.