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"I Need a New PC!" 2015 Part 2. Read the OP. Rocking 2500K's until HBM2 and beyond.
- Thread starter Hazaro
- Start date
- Status
@sersteven:
Weird, I followed his NCIXUS link but when I click on "preview & print" for a simple invoice of all the parts and how much they cost, it spit out a Canadian result for me. The "customize" page is in USD but the "invoice" is in CAD. I am in Canada, so it might be doing some kind of geographical lookup and forcing the result to be from the NCIX Canada website.
@The Lamonster:
I did that price comparison to show you how a $2000 custom PC build is priced and sold as a $2400 prebuilt PC elsewhere.
There's not much that would make me recommend a prebuilt PC from NCIX over one from another brand, if you have different preferences for another brand or local presence (in case you need to bring it in to get it fixed) then that's fine. As for the DDR4 RAM and CPU, I said "unless you can get all the parts in stock from there, they cannot assemble it fully for you." If they don't have those parts then they can't build the PC for you, so no point in ordering it from there.
I don't use NCIXUS for parts, I use PCPartPicker because it indexes several different computer parts retailers and lists the lowest price for each part.
What do you consider perfect 1080p gaming? What sort of settings are you looking for? Do you want 60FPS or is 30FPS ok?
Every setting on Ultra @ 60fps with no dips. I understand a better processor might be innvolved too, but let's just say CPU isn't a bottleneck for now.
Having something natively compatible with DX12 helps too.
Hey - how tight should I be fastening the CM Hyper 212X to the motherboard? I don't want to tighten the shit out of these things. it it just meant to be mounted ? i.e. I tightened everything until it was too hard to turn them again - any more tightening would be basically fixing them into place permanently...
Depends on the game, but you'd have to be considering the GTX 980 Ti or Fury X if dips are unacceptable. Maybe the latter as there's some talk of Maxwell not fully supporting asynchronous compute (a certain feature of DX12) according to the devs of the first DX12 game.
Then again, maybe wait and see for how well DX12 support turns out. And yes, I'm pretty sure your 7870 only does DX11.2 as it was added with the 14.1 graphics drivers, I haven't heard of any additional support for your 7870 beyond that.
That sounds fine. You don't need to tighten them any further. There are certain coolers where the manuals advise you to not tighten too far, but the 212 models don't say that.
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
PC-GAF, please tell me I did not dun goof.
As some of you know I've been contemplating upgrading from a 6850 to a reasonably priced GPU without totally rehauling the rest of my system (i3-2100 + 8GB RAM), so I've been looking at video cards in the $150-$250 range without being able to commit to anything.
I just ordered an EVGA GeForce GTX 960 02G-P4-2968-RX 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support FTW ACX 2.0+ Video Card for $154.99 (free tax and shipping). Only catch? It is a refurbished unit. However, the reviews seem promising.
I don't even know if this card will fit in my Rosewill Challenger case, but it seemed like the absolute best deal I could ask for in my situation. I think it will serve me very well at 1680x1050 res.
As some of you know I've been contemplating upgrading from a 6850 to a reasonably priced GPU without totally rehauling the rest of my system (i3-2100 + 8GB RAM), so I've been looking at video cards in the $150-$250 range without being able to commit to anything.
I just ordered an EVGA GeForce GTX 960 02G-P4-2968-RX 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support FTW ACX 2.0+ Video Card for $154.99 (free tax and shipping). Only catch? It is a refurbished unit. However, the reviews seem promising.
I don't even know if this card will fit in my Rosewill Challenger case, but it seemed like the absolute best deal I could ask for in my situation. I think it will serve me very well at 1680x1050 res.
According to this user review, the Rosewill Challenger will take graphics cards up to 11 3/8" in length. The graphics card you just bought is only 10.1" long according to the EVGA product page, so there should be over an inch of space left over, no issues there.
That's an ok graphics card for your needs. It still comes with a one year manufacturer's warranty (-RX suffix) so that's actually not bad for a refurbished card. A brand new GTX 960 would cost in the $175 and up range.
Hmm.. you could have gone with a 4GB model so it wouldn't be as outdated and bottlenecked in the future too quickly, but for your needs and uses you probably won't be playing at really high settings and it's only 1680x1050, so the 2GB of VRAM isn't that big a deal I guess. It's just that at 1080p and higher settings, some triple-A games can already use up 2GB of VRAM or more, so if people are looking for a graphics card to last them a while at higher settings, we'd recommend something with 4GB of VRAM.
Damn..
So everything is built and in. Plugged it in, powered it on. Nothing on the monitor. Tried again, nothing. Tried a third time, and then the Asus flash screen showed, and then the American Megatrends screen.
It read my CPU, RAM, 3 SATA Drives and Motherboard type, and said press F1 to setup. I let it sit for a while, came to it and when I pressed F1, nothing happened. Turned it off, now I'm getting no monitor display, keyboard or mouse access (I know the KB isn't working because it's an LED ducky).
time to troubleshoot? I'm not noticing any weird smells.
If I turn it on and leave it, it keeps restarting after every 20 seconds..
So everything is built and in. Plugged it in, powered it on. Nothing on the monitor. Tried again, nothing. Tried a third time, and then the Asus flash screen showed, and then the American Megatrends screen.
It read my CPU, RAM, 3 SATA Drives and Motherboard type, and said press F1 to setup. I let it sit for a while, came to it and when I pressed F1, nothing happened. Turned it off, now I'm getting no monitor display, keyboard or mouse access (I know the KB isn't working because it's an LED ducky).
time to troubleshoot? I'm not noticing any weird smells.
If I turn it on and leave it, it keeps restarting after every 20 seconds..
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
Gotchya, but I hate dealing with rebates so let's see what happens.
This is one of the fastest 960s, I believe, so I think I'll be fine for a bit. From what I understand the 4GB version is bottlenecked by the 128-bit bus, but I don't know.BTW, what's this I hear about the SeaSonic S12II being incompatible with Haswell processors? What does that mean?
doing some troubleshooting. is my RAM destroyed lol? the LED light just sits on the RAM LED and then it starts resetting ..
scared I may have damaged my chips..TwistedMind
Neo Member
How is the quality of Seagate drives ! Are they still shoddy? . Since I'm looking for a 2 tb HDD drive for storage of media and games can you recommend a good one.
I see. Thanks for the input. I'm now seriously considering taking a down payment on getting the rest of the parts for this new rig...but I still feel inclined to wait for some of the more pricier items to go on sale, or if a GAFer is willing to sell secondhand ones for cheap. I'd be lucky if I could score an owned Fury X for much much lower that hasn't been overclocked.
That being said, I do have my PCPartsPicker list here. I'm hesitant about the CPU fan as it seems rather bulky/clunky and inefficient. I wish those Kinetic Coolers would come out sooner as they seem to be very efficient with its heat disipation. At the same time, I've heard that the Zalman CNPS9900 MAX (or another cheaper Zalman fan with similar configuration) might be better considering the fans would be facing the vent of the casing.
I'm also a little confused as to why I am also not able to select the G.Skill Ripjaw V in 32GB (2x16) variant, as clearly the motherboard does state it's able to support up to 32GB DDR4 RAM. (As you say though, 16GB would more than suffice, though I'd like to think 32GB is more for the multimonitor/multitasking functions I do, such as streaming illustrations while watching someting else on my other monitor.)
I also noticed the power draw only takes up 475ish Watts all in all, but would having 600W still be too overkill?
Ok so I've managed to access the BIOS in my build for today. For reference the parts I'm using:
i5 6600k
ASUS Z170 PRO Gaming Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK16GX4M2A2400C14 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 Black
When I use both of sticks of RAM in A2 and B2 DIMM slots as per the user manual, on power up it fails to boot and the RAM LED stays red. Sometimes it will reset on its own after 10-20seconds also.
If I use one stick in the A2 slot I manage to BOOT and I got into the BIOS.
In either case, all fans are on, including my GPU.
Is this a faulty stick? Do I need to update the BIOS to "fix" it? Is my B2 slot broken? If it's broken, how do I diagnose it? I don't have spare DDR4 lying around, only DDR3...
If anybody can give some help, please let me know!
i5 6600k
ASUS Z170 PRO Gaming Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK16GX4M2A2400C14 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 Black
When I use both of sticks of RAM in A2 and B2 DIMM slots as per the user manual, on power up it fails to boot and the RAM LED stays red. Sometimes it will reset on its own after 10-20seconds also.
If I use one stick in the A2 slot I manage to BOOT and I got into the BIOS.
In either case, all fans are on, including my GPU.
Is this a faulty stick? Do I need to update the BIOS to "fix" it? Is my B2 slot broken? If it's broken, how do I diagnose it? I don't have spare DDR4 lying around, only DDR3...
If anybody can give some help, please let me know!
They have metal stops so you tighten till you hit them, it'll be very obvious when you do.
Put a known working ram module into the B2 slot with other slots empty to test the B2 slot.
If the slot works then you might have a dead ram module.
I would get into the bios and check the Ram settings that have been applied automatically and if they meet the specification. If they don't meet spec, then manually enter the info. Save and shutdown and try the modules installed in A2 and B2.
MisterNoisy
Member
Corsair Link Commander Mini, perhaps?
Can you get into the BIOS with the other RAM stick in A2 only?
MisterNoisy
Member
Edit: Double post
I need to test this when I get home. Really, I'm hoping I can't because that means the RAM is dead. If I can then I fear it means my B2 slot is fucked.
Gotchya, but I hate dealing with rebates so let's see what happens.
BTW, what's this I hear about the SeaSonic S12II being incompatible with Haswell processors? What does that mean?
Haswell came with new ultra low power states that some older power supply designs back then were not really designed to handle. It's a feature that can be turned on and off in the motherboard BIOS (usually labeled C6/C7 mode).
See here for what Seasonic models work and don't work.
Well, the GTX 980 Ti shouldn't be totally discounted. It's still a great graphics card, just that the asynchronous compute sorta casts some shadow on the full DX12 compatibility.
Hmm.. how about the Rosewill Neutron ($40) that MisterNoisy linked to a short while ago? While not as small as the other cases you've been looking, it seems to offer a lot more in terms of design and cooling. It won't be super cramped inside as the PSU is in a separate bottom section and won't interfere with the graphics card, making it easier to build and work in and less restrictive when it comes to graphics card choice. It also has four USB ports in the front, two 3.0 and two 2.0 ports. It has mesh vents and more options for fan placement, allowing much greater airflow and cooling. Also takes a standard ATX power supply easily so you can choose something cheaper and better. Not that the Silverstone PSU isn't good (it's great), but $120 for 600 watts is very expensive because it's a specialized tiny form factor, even if it's gold rated and fully modular. There are arguably better power supplies that are cheaper like an EVGA G2/GS or something else similar.
Unfortunately with air coolers, larger is better. The more surface area to dissipate heat, the better. Bulk is a good thing. I have heard good things about those round Zalman air coolers, that they're surprisingly effective. I'm not sure how well they compare to newer models, though.
As for the RAM, PCPartPicker doesn't have any G.Skill brand 2x16GB kits in their parts database yet. You'll have to find it for sale somewhere and then manually add it to your list as a custom part for now.
Having 600 watts wouldn't be overkill. Actually, it's best not to run a power supply right at it's limit as PSU efficiency and workload is best near the middle of it's rating. Here, look at the efficiency testing results for the Silverstone 600 watt PSU.
Look at the efficiency, it reaches its highest at just over 90% efficiency when the 600 watt PSU is only being used at around half of that wattage. That's true of just about any power supply, it peaks when it's not being pushed to the limit. It'd probably extend the PSU's lifespan and reduce heat as well. That doesn't mean I recommend you get double the wattage of what the PC will actually need, but I think 600~650 watts is quite good for the parts you have listed there.
Seagate's reputation isn't exactly great, but given that we don't actually know any concrete failure rates for specific hard drive models, it's hard to say. The only thing we have to go on are user reviews. Newegg's listing for the Seagate 2TB is not good, only 3/5 stars after ~1034 reviews. Amazon's listing fares better with 4.1/5 stars after ~5600 reviews. Maybe they were different batches or from different factories, who knows.
Hmm, my usual go-to suggestion would be this Toshiba 2TB drive, but Newegg lists it as 3/5 stars after ~220 reviews while Amazon has it at 4.2 stars out of 5 after ~300 reviews.
Fake edit: Nevermind, here's another Toshiba 2TB model that does have good reviews overall. Scored 4/5 stars at both Newegg and Amazon after a few hundred reviews. Not as many reviews as the above hard drives, but the average scores are promising.
Hey PC GAF, I need your help
Since a few days my PC is not working correctly anymore while gaming.
After an hour or so and after that earlier my rig just freezes. Sometimes the screen goes black and the sound stutters, sometimes the screen goes black, but the keyboard still responds in a way that I can press strg + alt + del or alt + tab, but I can't really do anything like that either.
I don't know, there seems to be some really competent PC guys in here, do you have any idea which part of my PC is faulting? Is that symptom enough to tell which part is giving up?
Is it the graphics card? Could it be a problem with too little power? Any idea how I can determine the best what part is done? The PC isn't half a year old so far -_-
Edit: It froze up on Ziggurat last, so its not only during demanding games...
Since a few days my PC is not working correctly anymore while gaming.
After an hour or so and after that earlier my rig just freezes. Sometimes the screen goes black and the sound stutters, sometimes the screen goes black, but the keyboard still responds in a way that I can press strg + alt + del or alt + tab, but I can't really do anything like that either.
I don't know, there seems to be some really competent PC guys in here, do you have any idea which part of my PC is faulting? Is that symptom enough to tell which part is giving up?
Is it the graphics card? Could it be a problem with too little power? Any idea how I can determine the best what part is done? The PC isn't half a year old so far -_-
Edit: It froze up on Ziggurat last, so its not only during demanding games...
Further to my issue I posted before: I just remembered. The first power on, on the third attempt, it got to the American Megatrends screen and told me there was 16GB of RAM, amongst the other components. Which leads me to believe there is something screwy going on with that B2 slot...how would I know if that slot was broken?
RubenCordeiro
Neo Member
Hey PC GAF, I need your help
Since a few days my PC is not working correctly anymore while gaming.
After an hour or so and after that earlier my rig just freezes. Sometimes the screen goes black and the sound stutters, sometimes the screen goes black, but the keyboard still responds in a way that I can press strg + alt + del or alt + tab, but I can't really do anything like that either.
I don't know, there seems to be some really competent PC guys in here, do you have any idea which part of my PC is faulting? Is that symptom enough to tell which part is giving up?
Is it the graphics card? Could it be a problem with too little power? Any idea how I can determine the best what part is done? The PC isn't half a year old so far -_-
Edit: It froze up on Ziggurat last, so its not only during demanding games...
Can you post the specs of your PC and the OS you're running? I'm sure people will try to help you.
OK, got home and managed to update the BIOS to version .0803 for the Z170 PRO GAMING. So at least it didn't shit itself there.
Right now, I'm about to try that second DDR4 8GB stick in the A2 slot and see if I can boot.
Does anybody know why on the third power on attempt, I got to the American Megatrends screen, it showed all my hardware (including the 16GB ram, A2 and B2 DIMM slots loaded), but then froze? And then all subsequent boots failed until I kept one stick in the A2 DIMM slot?
I think I'll go with a 650W PSU, just to be safe; 550-600-ish was cutting it a bit too close for my comfort. (Got another SSD on the way, have yet another WD Blue to install and also received 3 fans from NZXT a few days ago)
So I've been looking at EVGA's offerings because... Well, that warranty is ridiculous; what's the difference between the SuperNova GS and G2? And which one should I be getting?
I've laid all thoughts of platinum to rest since the 650W SuperNova P2 isn't sold outside of NA as far as I can tell. :|
Edit: Aaaaand my plans are down the sink. Apparently the 650W models don't have a 10-year warranty, that's only on the platinum model, whereas the 750W models are mostly 10-year warranty. Think I'll have to go for one of those instead, because it's... Kind of worth it, I imagine. (From the 650 Gold to 750 it's only about $13~, so it's not too bad I guess)
Yet another edit; Did some googling to find out about the whole G1, G2, GS business. Definitely going for the G2 (Superflower) one.
So I've been looking at EVGA's offerings because... Well, that warranty is ridiculous; what's the difference between the SuperNova GS and G2? And which one should I be getting?
I've laid all thoughts of platinum to rest since the 650W SuperNova P2 isn't sold outside of NA as far as I can tell. :|
Edit: Aaaaand my plans are down the sink. Apparently the 650W models don't have a 10-year warranty, that's only on the platinum model, whereas the 750W models are mostly 10-year warranty. Think I'll have to go for one of those instead, because it's... Kind of worth it, I imagine. (From the 650 Gold to 750 it's only about $13~, so it's not too bad I guess)
Yet another edit; Did some googling to find out about the whole G1, G2, GS business. Definitely going for the G2 (Superflower) one.
OK, just tried to boot off the second stick. Didn't work (in the A2 slot).
When I take the "working" stick, I can boot even if I plug it into B2 DIMM - so I know that the slot is working at least. Is this supposed to be a simple setting in the BIOS that I need to tick?
Further to all this, I now end up with an error saying "Overclock failed!" on the American Megatrends screen....whyyyyyyyyyy!!! I'm at my wits end and my GF is getting pissed that I'm still trying to solve all this - if anybody has insight - please let me know!!
MisterNoisy
Member
Sounds like a bad stick of RAM. Return/replace. Don't worry about the error message just yet. Bad RAM makes shit behave strangely.
I hate to add another wrinkle to your purchase decision, but that Xigmatek Nebula has come down in price to $49. I'd personally go for the Neutron, but if you're dead-set on a super-small case with clean design, $49 is pretty tempting.
MisterNoisy
Member
Damn it.
Are these problems symptomatic of other hardware related issues?
Like, if this is happening, could it mean that the CPU/GPU/HDD/SDD aren't configured correctly? Or is it directly related?
Guess I'm gonna have to return it.
Let's say I replace it though and the error persists - what does that mean then? Have I potentially made an error with some other part of the build?
Why me 😰 why couldn't it be easy 😓😓😭
Im pretty sure only the R9 series of cards will support DX 12.
A 7970 Ati card will only do DX 11.1 or 11.2. Id go with the 380 if I was you, as far as I know they're not that much more expensive than a 280
If replacing the RAM doesnt work my bet would that a bad motherboard is the culprit.
MisterNoisy
Member
Not saying that there aren't possibly other issues, but you know with a pretty solid degree of certainty that you've got a bad DIMM, which can cause all sorts of wonky shit to happen anyway. Odds are very good that once you have two good sticks in place, everything will come up roses.
RMA/replace the memory, get it put back together, do a clear CMOS just in case and then worry about any issues that crop up afterwards. You'll just drive yourself nuts (trust me, I know/have been there) if you start worrying about what else could possibly be wrong. One thing at a time.
MisterNoisy
Member
I found a couple of images online and they look like pretty bog-standard ITX form factor.
They're refurbished but the store offers warranty (and trusted store too) and priced really cheap. I'm just making sure that they're the usual h61 mobo and without catches like during the time when i had a motherboard with an AGI instead of an AGP! Lol those were the days.
This would be my recommended build. Order these parts from Ncixus
And let them build it for you for 50$
http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=7842&vpn=PC-ASSEMBLY&manufacture=NCIXPC
Buy the Ram from another site and put it in yourself. It's just a matter of 1 minute and is really the easiest part of assembling a PC. You can buy it from Ncixus too of course but the Ram's are horribly overpriced there for whatever reason.
Windows is missing from my build but I don't really know what it takes to get Windows 10. I think buying Windows 8 and then upgrading to Windows 10 works but I'm not sure. Or maybe there's a cheaper way to get Windows 10 I don't know. Maybe others can help.
With the Ram, windows and assembly you would be at around 1950$
Also do you plan on overclocking your CPU? If not you could save a little more money on the CPU, CPU cooler and Motherboard. I would recommend buying an i7-6700k at that price range but Ncixus doesn't have them.
Sure:
400 Watt be quiet! Straight Power 10 Non-Modular
a Core I-5 4460 @ 3.20 not overclocked,
Silverstone Nitrogon NT06-Pro Topblow Kühler
8 GB Ram
Asus GeForce GTX 970 STRIX OC
Mainboard: ASRock Z97M-ITX
Win 10 Pro
I guess it could be the be quiet psu, but I haven't had problems in the beginning with this rig...
Appreciate the help! Guess this is what I have to do, return the sticks and get some new ones. In the mean time while I wait for the return to process I may as well install Windows and all my drivers, right? Or should I not bother if I may have to reset the CMOS?Not saying that there aren't possibly other issues, but you know with a pretty solid degree of certainty that you've got a bad DIMM, which can cause all sorts of wonky shit to happen anyway. Odds are very good that once you have two good sticks in place, everything will come up roses.
RMA/replace the memory, get it put back together, do a clear CMOS just in case and then worry about any issues that crop up afterwards. You'll just drive yourself nuts (trust me, I know/have been there) if you start worrying about what else could possibly be wrong. One thing at a time.
hmm so I have a friend looking for a graphics card in the sub £200 category.
we seem to have decided that the r9-280x will give him the best oomph for his money. with the gtx960 and r9-380 not being as powerful and the gtx970 and r9-390 being out of price range.
does anyone have any suggestions? I hear talk of a r9-380x releasing soon which might be ideal? but its not a solid.
we seem to have decided that the r9-280x will give him the best oomph for his money. with the gtx960 and r9-380 not being as powerful and the gtx970 and r9-390 being out of price range.
does anyone have any suggestions? I hear talk of a r9-380x releasing soon which might be ideal? but its not a solid.
Dirtyshubb
Member
Hi all, hope someone can confirm something for me. I'm looking into getting an elgato hd60 but need to get myself a new pc and wanted to know if this one would be good enough for it http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/compu...vilion-550-056na-desktop-pc-10134917-pdt.html.
I think it is but I'm not very experienced with pc tech stuff so I figured it's best to ask here.
Thanks for any help.
I think it is but I'm not very experienced with pc tech stuff so I figured it's best to ask here.
Thanks for any help.
Unfortunately that isn't it. Sorry, I should've mentioned that it was, small and solid black. It looked like it was as big as the Phanteks PWM hub or the one in the NZXT cases. Material was probably metal or aluminium.
Maybe the guy just fabricated a nice cover for it lol
I just ran the Windows RAM Diagnostics program, that doesn't seem to be it...
I'm now going for 3D Mark 2013, no idea if that's the right approach though. Already tried FurMark, but that doesn't seem to be a real test for the card. The Ram doesn't load over 11% and the temperature doesn't rise above 68°...
MisterNoisy
Member
Up to you, though if you bought the RAM as a set, you might have to send both sticks back - depends on the vendor. Clearing CMOS may not even be necessary, tbh and shouldn't affect anything else - basically all you're doing is resetting your BIOS to defaults.
Thanks again for the explanasion. I guess the 600W range is indeed ideal. You are right though: I think I don't need to spend that much on a power supply.Well, the GTX 980 Ti shouldn't be totally discounted. It's still a great graphics card, just that the asynchronous compute sorta casts some shadow on the full DX12 compatibility.
Hmm.. how about the Rosewill Neutron ($40) that MisterNoisy linked to a short while ago? While not as small as the other cases you've been looking, it seems to offer a lot more in terms of design and cooling. It won't be super cramped inside as the PSU is in a separate bottom section and won't interfere with the graphics card, making it easier to build and work in and less restrictive when it comes to graphics card choice. It also has four USB ports in the front, two 3.0 and two 2.0 ports. It has mesh vents and more options for fan placement, allowing much greater airflow and cooling. Also takes a standard ATX power supply easily so you can choose something cheaper and better. Not that the Silverstone PSU isn't good (it's great), but $120 for 600 watts is very expensive because it's a specialized tiny form factor, even if it's gold rated and fully modular. There are arguably better power supplies that are cheaper like an EVGA G2/GS or something else similar.
Unfortunately with air coolers, larger is better. The more surface area to dissipate heat, the better. Bulk is a good thing. I have heard good things about those round Zalman air coolers, that they're surprisingly effective. I'm not sure how well they compare to newer models, though.
As for the RAM, PCPartPicker doesn't have any G.Skill brand 2x16GB kits in their parts database yet. You'll have to find it for sale somewhere and then manually add it to your list as a custom part for now.
Having 600 watts wouldn't be overkill. Actually, it's best not to run a power supply right at it's limit as PSU efficiency and workload is best near the middle of it's rating. Here, look at the efficiency testing results for the Silverstone 600 watt PSU.
Look at the efficiency, it reaches its highest at just over 90% efficiency when the 600 watt PSU is only being used at around half of that wattage. That's true of just about any power supply, it peaks when it's not being pushed to the limit. It'd probably extend the PSU's lifespan and reduce heat as well. That doesn't mean I recommend you get double the wattage of what the PC will actually need, but I think 600~650 watts is quite good for the parts you have listed there.
By no means am I trying to discount the GTX 980 Ti. Its a great card, but I was more after the smaller form factor of the latest AMD lineup (in fact, I wouldn't mind a Nano either instead of a Fury X, but again it all comes down to good deals). If nVidia does intend to release similarly small but also very powerful cards on their lineup down the line, I'd definitely look into those.
I also checked out the Rosewill Neutron, and like the idea of it being fully vented. That said, its dimensions are basically no different, if not slightly larger, than my current case (and I'm running a miniATX mind you), which I still find to be rather huge for my tastes. (I also don't see a point for the graphics card window.) It doesn't help MisterNoisy pointed out the Xigmatek being on sale just right after you replied...
In the end, "as small as you can get with good airflow". I know it seems mutually exclusive, and you do have a point that the case might need to be larger for airflow, although I think it might be just down to looking for a quiet but powerful fan. The Nebula looks to be really appealing in terms of form factor. I just hope it doesn't suffer from venting issues.
The difference is that the the GS line is made by Seasonic and the G2 is made by Super Flower, although it seems you were able to find that information out yourself. I'd consider them to be nearly equal in terms of quality, but I guess there might be a little bit that makes the G2 slightly better (mostly the longer warranty.)
The 7 year warranty on the G2 650 watt model isn't bad, that's still quite good. Most people will have replaced their power supply or relegated it to less important duties after that long a time.
CrashPrime
Member
I have a Phenom II X3 build sitting inches away from me that is largely unused. It has a janky 4870 card (sometimes throws a critical error after 2+ hrs gaming) but otherwise in serviceable condition.
Best Buy has an AMD 260x card for $75 that I feel may breath life into this aging wonder. Opinions? Worth the effort to bring this beast back?
Best Buy has an AMD 260x card for $75 that I feel may breath life into this aging wonder. Opinions? Worth the effort to bring this beast back?
Well, that's a very good price for that video card. Just don't expect great things given the aging CPU.
Spike Spiegel
Member
Apologies for the crappy phone pic, but I just finished installing my new fans!
After taking hockeypuck's advice into consideration I decided to move the top-mount fan toward the back of the case, and to add the fifth fan to the back of the drive cage to assist the front-mounted intake fan. I also removed some of the empty drive cages, though I don't know if that will do anything to improve airflow.
RubenCordeiro
Neo Member
Ok, I'm assuming you monitored the temperature of your CPU and GPU, am I correct?
In order to test your RAM modules, you can use memtest86: http://www.memtest.org/#downiso
In order to exclude any software anomalies, I would advise you to reset windows after backing up your data. Do you remember upgrading your GPU drivers recently?
Let's try to exclude these factors first before anything else.
StreetDisciple
Member
Got a new i5-4690k for $200 at Microcenter today.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/434177/Core_i5-4690K_35GHz_LGA_1150_Boxed_Processor
Now I'm just trying to find a good deal on a new 970, motherboard, PSU and case.
I just keep thinking that I will find better deals during black Friday Cyber Monday.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/434177/Core_i5-4690K_35GHz_LGA_1150_Boxed_Processor
Now I'm just trying to find a good deal on a new 970, motherboard, PSU and case.
I just keep thinking that I will find better deals during black Friday Cyber Monday.
Sevenfold
Member
Does your board have a "MEM OK!" button?
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