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[NeOak]

Got a GTX 1070 on the way, will there be any real bottleneck with a i5-2500k @4.2Ghz and 8GB of DDR3 RAM? Looking to see what I should focus on upgrading next, my motherboard is getting a little dated (ASRock z68 Extreme3 Gen3) and only supports PCI-e 2.0 but the 1070 is 3.0, that shouldn't cause a problem right?

No problem at all.

 

[BizzyBum]

What are you using to cool it?

Asetek 550LC 120mm liquid cooler.

Even for Broadwell-E that's low. 4.2/4.3 should be doable with a good cooler, but unless you've a particularly good chip or a custom water cooling setup, you'll need to be happy with load temps in the 70s or thereabouts. I've a 6800K myself and with a customised Corsair H110 (Noctua NF-A14s in place of the stock fans) my load temps sit in the low 70s at 4.3GHz and 1.344v (4.4GHz isn't even remotely stable until I push the voltage beyond 1.38v, which results in too much heat).

Might be my cooler, then. I didn't build this PC myself so it's possible the CPU cooler is shit or not installed properly. After playing Witcher 3 for hours I was getting 3.8GHz @ 1.15v with an average temp of around 78-80 for all the cores. Going by what you're getting mine is way to high.

 

[JaseC]

Might be my cooler, then. I didn't build this PC myself so it's possible the CPU cooler is shit or not installed properly. After playing Witcher 3 for hours I was getting 3.8GHz @ 1.15v with an average temp of around 78-80 for all the cores. Going by what you're getting mine is way to high.

Ah, yeah, that's far too high. I'm actually finishing up The Witcher 3 myself and even my hottest core never bounces any higher than the 60s.

 

[jonno394]

Even for Broadwell-E that's low. 4.2/4.3 should be doable with a good cooler, but unless you've a particularly good chip or a custom water cooling setup, you'll need to be happy with load temps in the 70s or thereabouts. I've a 6800K myself and with a customised Corsair H110 (Noctua NF-A14s in place of the stock fans) my load temps sit in the low 70s at 4.3GHz and 1.344v (4.4GHz isn't even remotely stable until I push the voltage beyond 1.38v, which results in too much heat).

Edit: If you're using Prime95 to hit 100% load, ensure you're not using a version beyond 26.6. Newer versions include AVX in their stress tests and this bumps up load temps by no small margin -- around 30 degrees in my case. It's recommended to use an older version as you're unlikely to ever find yourself in a real-world situation where your processor has a comparable load.

Didn't realise this, I installed an Evo 212x on my 4670k and was using the newest version of prime95 and getting temps in the high 80's when i'd overclocked to 4.2ghz and assumed i'd messed up with the installation, even though my idle was running 28-32 degrees, so I remove dthe OC.

Re-did the OC this morning and used version 26.6 and was getting low 70s, so not perfect but i'm a bit more confident that I don't need to re-do my CPU installation and thermal paste!

 

[Bloodember]

Asetek 550LC 120mm liquid cooler.

OK, that's just a Corsair H50, Asetek makes them for Corsair. You might need to try and reseat the cooler and new thermal paste or New fan on the Rad or add a second one. It is an entry level cooler though, so you may want to get a better cooler.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

Is Corsair H115i a entry level cooler? Very few reviews out for it. I love the way it looks, and I wonder if its dependable.

 

[The Hamburglar]

What do people think of this. Just bought a gtx 770 as a temp card until next year. Missed out on a good price 780 as I fell asleep (eBay). It's replacing a had 7870 mainly due to the fact I bought a gsync 1440p 144hz monitor lol. The 7870 gives off artefacts at frames higher than 95.

 

[JaseC]

Is Corsair H115i a entry level cooler? Very few reviews out for it. I love the way it looks, and I wonder if its dependable.

It's among the best as far as AIOs are concerned, especially when you consider its lower price. The reason for the lack of reviews is that it's just a rebranded H110i GTX albeit slightly tweaked for ITX compatibility.

 

[Yautja_Warrior]

I wanted to buy the exact wires, can you link me to exactly where you got that please?

Got them from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004GHD15E/

 

[j0hnny_385]

Hey!

Need a new PC for a friend. He'll be moving into a new apartment and would like a fairly capable 1080p machine.

Budget is 1000 EUR
Shop is www.alzashop.com

Need everything (not just the "case" but monitor, kb+m and some cheap 2.1 speakers, too).
I was thinking something around i5 6500 and Radeon 480. That seems like a solid machine that could fit the 1000 EUR budget. I think... :/

 

[cyen]

Hey!

Need a new PC for a friend. He's recently moving in to a new apartment and would like a fairly capable 1080p machine.

Budget is 1000 EUR
Shop is www.alzashop.com

Need everything (not just the "case" but monitor, kb+m and some cheap 2.1 speakers, too).
I was thinking something around i5 6500 and Radeon 480. That seems like a solid machine that could fit the 1000 EUR budget. I think... :/

If you go 480 try to snag a 1080p freesync monitor.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

alright, so I have a decent paying job now and I'm looking to upgrade my rig that was built around 2011.

Currently have an i5 2500k... but I never actually got around to OC'ing it because I was lazy and didn't see any reason to at the time, so that's the first thing I'm going to be doing this week is getting it up to at least 4.2Ghz (I have a Noctua NH-D14 cooler so I should be able to keep this sucker cool enough, especially living in a basement where the summer heat isn't a factor for outside environment)

MB isn't anything special, but it works and I really don't see the need for tossing the i5/MB unless something happened and I missed some major news on the new chipsets.

GPU is old as fuck. 6970 reference version. Can't believe I'm playing with a nearly six year old card, but I guess these things happen.

Memory is just 8GB of two 4GB 1333.

So now the questions. I saw some benchmarks for overclocking an i5, and noticed a major uptick in frames when upgrading memory from 1333 -> 2133. Now my MB has this for memory support,

DDR3 2200(O.C.)/2133(O.C.)/1866(O.C.)/1600/1333/1066

Would it be able to handle 2133 sticks native?

Second question. GPU is old as shit and I've been out of the scene for half a decade, I know AMD is getting back on track with the latest release, however for 1080p gaming as of current, with the likelihood of upgrading to a 1440p screen in the near future, what is the best area for bang/buck in terms of current non-reference cards?

I see stuff ranging from R9 390, R9 380, R9 280, GTX 1060, GTX 970... they all seem pretty similar.

TLR

Upgrading RAM worth it?
Going from 6970 to something from this half decade, what would be the current best card on the market from the $250/$300 mid-range cards?

 

[The Hamburglar]

alright, so I have a decent paying job now and I'm looking to upgrade my rig that was built around 2011.

Currently have an i5 2500k... but I never actually got around to OC'ing it because I was lazy and didn't see any reason to at the time, so that's the first thing I'm going to be doing this week is getting it up to at least 4.2Ghz (I have a Noctua NH-D14 cooler so I should be able to keep this sucker cool enough, especially living in a basement where the summer heat isn't a factor for outside environment)

MB isn't anything special, but it works and I really don't see the need for tossing the i5/MB unless something happened and I missed some major news on the new chipsets.

GPU is old as fuck. 6970 reference version. Can't believe I'm playing with a nearly six year old card, but I guess these things happen.

Memory is just 8GB of two 4GB 1333.

So now the questions. I saw some benchmarks for overclocking an i5, and noticed a major uptick in frames when upgrading memory from 1333 -> 2133. Now my MB has this for memory support,



Would it be able to handle 2133 sticks native?

Second question. GPU is old as shit and I've been out of the scene for half a decade, I know AMD is getting back on track with the latest release, however for 1080p gaming as of current, with the likelihood of upgrading to a 1440p screen in the near future, what is the best area for bang/buck in terms of current non-reference cards?

I see stuff ranging from R9 390, R9 380, R9 280, GTX 1060, GTX 970... they all seem pretty similar.

TLR

Upgrading RAM worth it?
Going from 6970 to something from this half decade, what would be the current best card on the market from the $250/$300 mid-range cards?

nah forget the ram. Just buy a new GFX and when you do decide to upgrade the motherboard cpu and ram, you will already have the GFX card.

 

[Lockjaw333]

Got a GTX 1070 on the way, will there be any real bottleneck with a i5-2500k @4.2Ghz and 8GB of DDR3 RAM? Looking to see what I should focus on upgrading next, my motherboard is getting a little dated (ASRock z68 Extreme3 Gen3) and only supports PCI-e 2.0 but the 1070 is 3.0, that shouldn't cause a problem right?

You would see higher minimum frames and slight improvement in avg frames with a newer platform like skylake,but not enough to necessitate the upgrade if you don't have the cash.

If you bump the oc a bit to 4.5 territory and add 2133 mhz ram, you would see some improvement with your current setup. Otherwise you are fine.

 

[MarionCB]

All this talk about cooling has me wondering as I just ordered an i5 6600K: How good is the CM 212 EVO that is recommended in the builds? Any problems with the fact I'm in Australia and we're only a few k's from the surface of the sun during Summer? Could you even consider mild overclocking without going water cooling?

 

[vector824]

Is it better to get an M.2 SSD now or should I wait for prices to go lower?

I'll be going to the shops later to buy the final parts (PSU and gfx card) for my build and thought would it be worth the extra money to get a 256GB M.2 SSD. Also, once I start the build without the M.2, there will be no easy way of installing it later. I already got a Samsung EVO 850 SATA SSD. Is it really a huge upgrade?

I would wait. The new 961 M.2 card is MUCH faster and cheaper than the 950 Pro. It's on backorder from RamCity at the moment, so it looks like september before they're coming back. Unless you're doing heavy video editing or LARGE file transfers then you wont notice much of a difference.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/samsung-sm961-ssd,4608.html

 

[leng jai]

About to pull the trigger on these parts unless anyone here has a better suggestion:

I7 6700 non K
Gigabyte Z170-HD3 Motherboard
Kingston HyperX Fury Black DDR4 (2133mhz) 2x8GB
500GB Samsung EVO 850 SSD
Fractal Design Define S
EVGA 650W SuperNOVA G1 PSU

Not planning to OC this time around so I'm just getting an i7 and using the stock cooler that comes with it. Will be adding my 1070 and old 1TB Sata HDD.

 

[Ganzor]

So i manged to find a RX 480 MSRP in my country (239$ + 25% vat), firs time it have been listed for this so i orderede it. Would you guys say i should go for the RX 480 Nitro OC instead, it will be in stock next week. The thing is here it costs 82$ more and i heard the fan is not that silet? I don't know how bad the RX 480 stock fan is if i undervolt the card?

 

[knitoe]

About to pull the trigger on these parts unless anyone here has a better suggestion:

I7 6700 non K
Gigabyte Z170-HD3 Motherboard
Kingston HyperX Fury Black DDR4 (2133mhz) 2x8GB
500GB Samsung EVO 850 SSD
Fractal Design Define S
EVGA 650W SuperNOVA G1 PSU

Not planning to OC this time around so I'm just getting an i7 and using the stock cooler that comes with it. Will be adding my 1070 and old 1TB Sata HDD.

First, stock coolers are crap. They run hot and loud. For $20-30, it's worth getting a after market cooler. Secondly, OC a 6700K makes a difference in today's games. Just google for videos. And, as time goes by, that OC will be even more important.

 

[gl0w]

What are the big differences between going with 16gb RAM 1x16 vs 2x8 ? Board supports dual channel.
Thanks

 

[knitoe]

What are the big differences between going with 16gb RAM 1x16 vs 2x8 ? Board supports dual channel.
Thanks

When using only 1 stick, your memory bandwidth would be half. It's better to us 2 stocks for dual channel, 3 for triple, 4 for quad and so on.

 

[gl0w]

When using only 1 stick, your memory bandwidth would be half. It's better to us 2 stocks for dual channel, 3 for triple, 4 for quad and so on.

Damn.. Then I make that mistake. Should I be worried about performance hit on my gaming?

 

[spleenpoker]

Hey guys,

Just a quick question

For external sound cards like the Asus Xonar U7, can you connect it to the pc and use all the inputs, outputs and volume controller without having to install the drivers/software on the PC?

I just hear the ASUS/Creative Sound card drivers are horrible and never get updated

Thanks all

 

[knitoe]

Damn.. Then I make that mistake. Should I be worried about performance hit on my gaming?

If you use a video card for gaming, it make almost no difference since game the data is loaded in the card's VRAM. However, it does make a difference if you are using the onboard graphics, and/or do other stuff that needs higher memory bandwidth.

 

[ehead]

Damn. I feel so bad about my purchase. I had a choice between a 1070 + shady 550w PSU or 1060 + EVGA 850 G2. I chose the latter because of GAF recommendations and also tomshardware. I am one of those impulse buyers. Did I make a mistake? I really wanted to get the 1070 but the cash I had on hand was only good for either one. I tried my best to barter (its that kind of shop) but failed. I wanted to future-proof my system for additional years and get VR maybe next year. Should I return the 1060?

 

[opticalmace]

Damn. I feel so bad about my purchase. I had a choice between a 1070 + shady 550w PSU or 1060 + EVGA 850 G2. I chose the latter because of GAF recommendations and also tomshardware. I am one of those impulse buyers. Did I make a mistake? I really wanted to get the 1070 but the cash I had on hand was only good for either one. I tried my best to barter (its that kind of shop) but failed. I wanted to future-proof my system for additional years and get VR maybe next year. Should I return the 1060?

Shady is not what you want in a PSU... if you can afford the 1070 I'd return the 1060 and get one.

You seem to only present extremes on PSUs there: an expensive 850 G2 and a crappy sounding one.. you could go for one in the middle so it's not too much more (overall budget-wise) to get the 1070.

 

[Haloid1177]

Weird Windows 10 question to ask...

Has anyone run into the issue of Windows 10 not allowing separate wallpapers to be set for dual monitor setups. The personalization screen recognizes I have two monitors, but it does not give me the option to set a wallpaper for monitor 1 or monitor 2, just to set it as the desktop background. Super annoying considering I'd like to have the wallpaper of the monitor I have in portrait mode not look like shit.

 

[ehead]

Shady is not what you want in a PSU... if you can afford the 1070 I'd return the 1060 and get one.

You seem to only present extremes on PSUs there: an expensive 850 G2 and a crappy sounding one.. you could go for one in the middle so it's not too much more (overall budget-wise) to get the 1070.

The clerk said it really wasn't bad but I doubt it. The PSU he was offering looked way too old. If only they had the 650 or 750 version, I swear I could get the 1070.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try to get a few more bucks and get the 1070 tomorrow. I feel really bad about it. I was already decided about the build I wanted then I folded like some amateur.

 

[opticalmace]

The clerk said it really wasn't bad but I doubt it. The PSU he was offering looked way too old. If only they had the 650 or 750 version, I swear I could get the 1070.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try to get a few more bucks and get the 1070 tomorrow. I feel really bad about it. I was already decided about the build I wanted then I folded like some amateur.

Even a 550W PSU would be quite a bit more than needed... the Pascal cards are ridiculously power efficient.

In any case, go for the 1070. It's clearly what you want. I'd do it.

 

[ehead]

Even a 550W PSU would be quite a bit more than needed... the Pascal cards are ridiculously power efficient.

In any case, go for the 1070. It's clearly what you want. I'd do it.

I remember the first graphics card I bought with the saved lunch money I had years ago. It was a Radeon 9800 and I just put it in our old pre-assembled desktop. My stupid self didn't know any better and the computer died because the PSU couldn't handle it. Now, I'm hoping to make things right.

 

[BizzyBum]

OK, that's just a Corsair H50, Asetek makes them for Corsair. You might need to try and reseat the cooler and new thermal paste or New fan on the Rad or add a second one. It is an entry level cooler though, so you may want to get a better cooler.

I'll probably end up buying a new cooler eventually. For now I'll just remove the OC.

 

[The Dear Leader]

How much real game performance difference is there between a reference GTX 1070 and a Gigabyte GTX 1070 G1? I have the opportunity to get a reference GTX 1070 today for about $25 cheaper than the Gigabyte model. If it's not much of a performance difference I might just get it.

 

[Dubz]

So I'm going to take the plunge and get a 1070. Problem is, I don't know which one to get. It's been a while since I bought a GPU, and there seem to be several versions. The lowest price I found was $429. Any real difference between that and the $479 model?

Also I have a 500w Power supply. Is that going to be enough? And lastly, do I need to get an additional cooler for the card?


Thanks in advance, GAF.

 

[opticalmace]

How much real game performance difference is there between a reference GTX 1070 and a Gigabyte GTX 1070 G1? I have the opportunity to get a reference GTX 1070 today for about $25 cheaper than the Gigabyte model. If it's not much of a performance difference I might just get it.

I'd definitely go for the after market card for $25 more. They will cool better, which means you can boost higher on average. Also will generally be quieter because of the better cooling solutions. You'd have to look up specifics on the G1... but yeah. AIB all the way imho.

 

[The Dear Leader]

I'd definitely go for the after market card for $25 more. They will cool better, which means you can boost higher on average. Also will generally be quieter because of the better cooling solutions. You'd have to look up specifics on the G1... but yeah. AIB all the way imho.

Yeah you're right the G1 is probably the better buy.

 

[DonMigs85]

First, stock coolers are crap. They run hot and loud. For $20-30, it's worth getting a after market cooler. Secondly, OC a 6700K makes a difference in today's games. Just google for videos. And, as time goes by, that OC will be even more important.

Also he should get 2666 or 3200Mhz RAM. Otherwise there's little point in getting a Z170 board.

 

[theRizzle]

Hey guys,

Just a quick question

For external sound cards like the Asus Xonar U7, can you connect it to the pc and use all the inputs, outputs and volume controller without having to install the drivers/software on the PC?

I just hear the ASUS/Creative Sound card drivers are horrible and never get updated

Thanks all

I believe you can get just the drivers separate from the software. Also, if I recall correctly there was a guy making his own versions of the drivers which a lot of people seemed to think were better. I used them any never had any issues, for what that's worth.

Found them. Maybe have a look there.

 

[Bloodember]

Weird Windows 10 question to ask...

Has anyone run into the issue of Windows 10 not allowing separate wallpapers to be set for dual monitor setups. The personalization screen recognizes I have two monitors, but it does not give me the option to set a wallpaper for monitor 1 or monitor 2, just to set it as the desktop background. Super annoying considering I'd like to have the wallpaper of the monitor I have in portrait mode not look like shit.

press Windows Key + R to bring up the Run command type this in: control /name Microsoft.Personalization /page pageWallpaper

That will allow you to change your wallpaper on both screens, just right click on an image and choose which monitor.

 

[BizzyBum]

Anyone have a site with some good native 4K wallpapers?

 

[opticalmace]

Anyone have a site with some good native 4K wallpapers?

google image search, and set required image size to exactly 4k.

 

[kionedrik]

Hi guys. I'm considering building the following PC:

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 412S 52.6 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill TridentZ Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3400 Memory
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply

I chose the 6600 over the 6600k because I have no intention of overclocking. However I'm not sure about the following:
- Should I get an i7 6700 instead of the i5 6600?
- Will the 6600 bottleneck the 1070 @ 60Hz1080p?
- Regarding the GPU, is MSI a good choice or is another manufacturer a better choice?
- Any overall mistake?

Thanks in advance.

 

[wowzors]

Is a zotac amp 1080 for 639.99 a really good deal or just meh? Micro center currently has one and I am struggling on the trigger pull.

 

[BlizzyAzz]

Hi guys. I'm considering building the following PC:

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 412S 52.6 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill TridentZ Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3400 Memory
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply

I chose the 6600 over the 6600k because I have no intention of overclocking. However I'm not sure about the following:
- Should I get an i7 6700 instead of the i5 6600?
- Will the 6600 bottleneck the 1070 @ 60Hz1080p?
- Regarding the GPU, is MSI a good choice or is another manufacturer a better choice?
- Any overall mistake?

Thanks in advance.

Check the comparison video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhaB1dqYv_I&list=PLY9cZ8nX4xmmJAMvagyNHVGMHE-dLc3NM&index=78

MSI is fine:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=msi+gtx+1070

 

[RootCause]

Two weeks, and my card hasn't shipped. It's not even preparing or anything.

is it normal to take that long for a card to ship? I placed my order minutes into it going live.

 

[Yautja_Warrior]

Is Corsair H115i a entry level cooler? Very few reviews out for it. I love the way it looks, and I wonder if its dependable.

I got one for my new build, only had it a about a week so far but I think its really good. 280mm Radiator so good cooling, fans can be a bit loud but easily swapped for better ones if needed. Keeps my i7 6700k idle around 21-23 degrees and load stays around 61-63 degrees so I'm well happy with it.

 

[SimpleGamer]

Hey PC GAF I'm going to start buying my parts this week but wanted to throw my build up for recommendations. My budget is a $1000 after tax and shipping.

Here's the build https://pcpartpicker.com/user/simplegamer344/saved/6gcQzy

 

[leng jai]

First, stock coolers are crap. They run hot and loud. For $20-30, it's worth getting a after market cooler. Secondly, OC a 6700K makes a difference in today's games. Just google for videos. And, as time goes by, that OC will be even more important.

Fair enough, the 6700K is too pricey though. Might drop down to the 6600K and CM TX3 HSF. How much worse is it than the 212? I'd rather have something decent that's fairly silent.

Also he should get 2666 or 3200Mhz RAM. Otherwise there's little point in getting a Z170 board.

Good tip. Is there any difference between 2666 and 3200? 3200 seems like a bit of a price hike whereas 2666 is only a few bucks more than 2133.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Hey guys, I think my PSU has died? Cross posting from steam thread

http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=212785818

Uh, the fuck??!

I come back home from work and get this...

My PC was totally fine!! D:

What do I do?

Its 2 years old, a Corsair 650W supply (can't remember exact type)
My setup is i7 4790k
Gtx 970
16gb RAM

 

[BlizzyAzz]

Hey PC GAF I'm going to start buying my parts this week but wanted to throw my build up for recommendations. My budget is a $1000 after tax and shipping.

Here's the build https://pcpartpicker.com/user/simplegamer344/saved/6gcQzy

I would drop the Asus board, pick the Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H and invest the money towards the GPU, meaning a AIB AMD 480 or maybe even a NVIDIA 1070. If you are using a Freesync monitor go the AMD route. Otherwise you could upgrade the ram up to 16GB or even better buy a small SSD for your OS and most frequently played games, it's a huge difference.

 

[BlizzyAzz]

Hey guys, I think my PSU has died? Cross posting from steam thread

http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=212785818



Its 2 years old, a Corsair 650W supply (can't remember exact type)
My setup is i7 4790k
Gtx 970
16gb RAM

Well there are a lot of people with the same problem, the actual cause can be different though. I read on a german forum, that the problem was the ram. So I would run memtest, otherwise you can also disable the anti surge function in the bios, maybe it gets triggered by something not important.

Maybe this will help you out:
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...d_id=1&model=M4A785T-M&SLanguage=en-us&page=2