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[demosthenes]

Use one of the cable to extend your wireless network with a simple wireless access point, that's what I was trying to suggest

I'm not familiar with this. Is it just an 'extender' on the end of a cord? Link to one?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TQD2BYK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Seems like it does both.

 

[e90Mark]

Thanks for all the help! Hmm well since I got pretty unsure about vCore readings I settled for 4.4ghz at +0.035v offset now which seems to work stable. Temps are mostly around 65°C apart from some short single bursts to 80°C for a few seconds during some Prime segments.

4.5ghz was unstable at even +0.070 and going even higher didn't seem to be worth the trouble until I understand how to properly read vCore readings.

During my 4.4ghz test-run @ +0.035 I saw the following:

CPU-Z 1.136v
HWInfo64 CPU Status ViD: 1.1859

Now these are both not even 1.2v yet so I could likely hit 4.5ghz although these numbers really confuse me, how do I properly read my vCore? o.o

Look at Vcore and not ViD in Info64. Vcore on Info64 should be just about the same to what you're seeing CPU-Z say.

 

[Trojan]

I'm in the market for a water-cooled system and would love recommendations. I have a fairly high-end system (i7 6700k/Titan X) and want to keep it cool for more overclocking and also noise reduction.

I've hear that EK is one of the better options, and would like to know if there are other suggestions for a higher-end water cool system. I am looking for something that is not difficult to install and has a very low chance of leaking/required maintenance.

 

[LilJoka]

Hi guys, I am thinking of upgrading my PC, and need some help. These are the bits that I will be keeping:

BitFenix Prodigy M Case
Corsair CX500 PSU
Kingston SSDNow 240GB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB

And the new bits are:

Intel Core i7 6700k
Corsair H80i GT Liquid Cooler
Gigabyte GTX 1070 Mini ITX OC (ETA?)
Corsair Vengeance 16gb (8gb x 2) 3200Mhz RAM
Asus Z170M-PLUS Motherboard

I would appreciate any comments regarding about any incompatibilities, bottlenecks, etc.

A couple of questions:

1. Will the current PSU be enough in terms of wattage?
2. My current SSD is quite old, will it present a bottleneck or it is not worth replacing?
3. The GeForce GTX 1070 Mini is marked as an "ITX" videocard, will it still be compatible with the Asus Z170M-Plus (which is a micro ATX board) and my PSU?

Always try to fit the full size cards as itx cards are gimped on power and cooling.

 

[theRizzle]

Always try to fit the full size cards as itx cards are gimped on power and cooling.

The 1070 Mini is exactly the same as a regular 1070 power-wise.

 

[Arkanius]

Damn I'm undecided again between 6700K and the 5820K
The extra price of the 5820K seems tempting to win 2 more cores, and more... I've seen benchmarks where the 5820K beats the 6700K. (Is it due the cache?)

 

[LilJoka]

I currently have an i7-3770 processor, fitted for a LGA 1155 socket.

If I am looking at upgrading my processor to something like the i7-6700 or better, can my LGA 1155 motherboard still be supported? Or is the 1155 older tech that isn't supported anymore?

If you have a Z series board you should overclock that i7 3770 (non-K), you should get 4.3Ghz or around there very easily with some decent cooling. That chip does not need upgrading to a 6700K.

The i7 6700 will need a new motherboard and DDR4 RAM.

The 1070 Mini is exactly the same as a regular 1070 power-wise.

By power I do mean performance. How can its tiny cooler sustain the boost clocks? Your not going to get any overclock out of it either due to thermal throttling.

 

[theRizzle]

By power I do mean performance. How can its tiny cooler sustain the boost clocks? Your not going to get any overclock out of it either due to thermal throttling.

Don't ask me, ask Gigabyte. Clock speeds are Boost: 1746 MHz, Base: 1556 MHz in OC Mode.

I can't imagine they would bother clocking the card that high if it's just going to throttle down most of the time.

 

[ncslamm]

Not sure, but if it's true, it's not worth it.

Gsync + 144hz > 165 hz.

Thanks for all of your help. Not sure if it's a placebo effect but things seem to be running smoother with my monitor set on native 1440p 144hz. I was noticing some stuttering when running it at 165hz.

 

[LilJoka]

Don't ask me, ask Gigabyte. Clock speeds are Boost: 1746 MHz, Base: 1556 MHz in OC Mode.

I can't imagine they would bother clocking the card that high if it's just going to throttle down most of the time.

Just talking from experience here. Small cooler, same TDP, similar clocks - maybe performs similar or a bit worse than the FE, add in a small case with not the best airflow, just going to make it all worse, more so with long gaming periods. Only buy the ITX card if you cant fit a full size card.

 

[e90Mark]

Damn I'm undecided again between 6700K and the 5820K
The extra price of the 5820K seems tempting to win 2 more cores, and more... I've seen benchmarks where the 5820K beats the 6700K. (Is it due the cache?)

Depends on what you're using it for.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-what-is-the-fastest-gaming-cpu

TL;DR - 6700k is the fastest for gaming

 

[Skyfireblaze]

Look at Vcore and not ViD in Info64. Vcore on Info64 should be just about the same to what you're seeing CPU-Z say.

Okay thanks I finally found it in the Sensors section. But now I wonder, how exactly does Offset Mode work on Ivy Bridge then, what exactly is the baseline? o.o

 

[FiveMinuteHero]

I thought I'd get the Gigabyte ITX version of GTX 1070 (which is OCed) as the lack of size would allow better air flow inside the case... or not? The normal GTX 1070 is 30 cm, it is a tight fit, but should fit inside the Prodigy M. Pricewise they are about the same.

One more question... is it worth the extra effort of getting an i7-6700k over just an i7-6700 (I am not interested in overclocking) considering the price difference and the fact that the 6700k does not come with a cooler included (adding more in price difference)?

Thanks!

Edit: I just checked inside the case and noticed that should I replace my PC with an RM650x as it was recommended I do (which is slightly longer @ 16cm), there is chance that the full size 1070 doesn't fit.

 

[e90Mark]

Okay thanks I finally found it in the Sensors section. But now I wonder, how exactly does Offset Mode work on Ivy Bridge then, what exactly is the baseline? o.o

Baseline voltage varies from CPU to CPU. Usually, you would peg the CPU to 100% @ stock then read the vcore and go from there.

Maybe your BIOS could tell you too. I think my 3570k maxed 1.25v @ stock clocks.

 

[Skyfireblaze]

Baseline voltage varies from CPU to CPU. Usually, you would peg the CPU to 100% @ stock then read the vcore and go from there.

Maybe your BIOS could tell you too. I think my 3570k maxed 1.25v @ stock clocks.

Well I measured my stock voltage when I OC'ed to 4.1ghz before and at stock 3.8ghz CPU-Z read 1.048v, with voltage at AUTO 4.1ghz vCore came out at 1.104v and my adjusted 4.1ghz vCore was 1,069v which was 100% stable, could it be that my 3570k can handle low voltages pretty well?

 

[Arkanius]

Depends on what you're using it for.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-what-is-the-fastest-gaming-cpu

TL;DR - 6700k is the fastest for gaming

Gaming and IT work when I have to work in home. Everything shows the i7 6700K is better now for games, but I usually stick with my platforms for a long time, I think the 5820K might have longer legs when DX12/Vulkan hits head on and multicore usage goes up.

 

[kevin1025]

I mentioned a couple days back that I was buying a new video card. Then I went looking at the prices here in Canada, and the options widened a little.

The RX 480 8GB card and the GTX 1060 (6GB) are virtually the same price here. I have decided to essentially go PC only from here on out, including the Xbox games, so I was wondering which of these would be the better choice. I play as much of everything as I can, and don't want to upgrade for another three or so years after this one. Basically, which of the two cards are more future proof, in your opinions?

Thanks for any help!

 

[LilJoka]

Okay thanks I finally found it in the Sensors section. But now I wonder, how exactly does Offset Mode work on Ivy Bridge then, what exactly is the baseline? o.o

VID is what the CPU is requesting at a particular multiplier. It is like a look up table built into the CPU for each Multiplier.

The Offset is applied to the VID, however you don't know Vdrop (Bios target Vcore difference to idle vcore at a given fixed Vcore) and Vdroop (Vcore drop from Idle to load at a given fixed Vcore), that causes 2 extra variables to play with, hence why your numbers don't add up just yet.

You can work out the Vdrop and Vdroop by setting a fixed Vcore in BIOS and checking the Vcore delta in the above scenarios.

For example:
4.5Ghz - VID = 1.2v
Vdrop = 0.02v
VDroop = 0.04v
Offset = 0.00v

Load Vcore = VID - vDrop - vDroop +/- vOffset = 1.14v

If Load Line Calibration is set to AUTO, then the behaviour of the offset voltage will be hard to predict since we do not know the compensation:

Load Vcore = VID - vDrop - vDroop -/+ vOffset + LLC Compensation

With ideal LLC Level set, LLC Compensation = vOffset +vDroop
Hence Load Vcore = VID +/- vOffset

Once you find a LLC level that is close to the vDrop + vOffset, then you are ready to twiddle with Offset and then be able to correlate it to the VID with more accuracy.

Knowing the Vdrop/Vdroop lets you overlock with a little but more understanding on how the voltages are being played with, and lets you set the optimal LLC setting.

With low Vcore such as yours, its better not to compensate the Vcore so much with LLC, since this can have a negative impact on the low multipliers, as the more LLC, the more likely you will run a negative Offset, causing lower multipliers to be starved of Vcore - and causing instability under close to idle loads. Generally you want to set LLC up so that the load vcore is close to idle, but always slightly lower than idle. That prevents the idle instability problem.

This problem is removed with adaptive Vcore in Skylake, as the offset is only applied to the OC's multipliers and not to the stock multipliers. It is why generally all chips before Skylake are more stable with fixed Vcore than offset (people setting LLC too high being partly the problem).

Intel always overvolt the chips, since it guarantees stability on all sorts of motherboard with varying Vdrop/Vdroop.
Each chip will have a unique voltage response and overclocking capability.

 

[KHlover]

After years of using a no-name 25" TV as monitor I made myself a birthday present and bought the Asus Rog Swift PG278Q. Got Doom with it for free, so I could directly compare between 60fps and 144fps by enabling/disabling VSynch...what a difference

I never thought I'd see a difference, but it was just worlds apart. So much smoother. GSynch also shined brightly, I set everything to Ultra, so my framerate fluctuated between 90 and 130 fps depending on the situation. Wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for the fps counter, image was perfect 100% of the time. Not one instance of screen tearing.

The monitor cost almost as much as my CPU and GPU combined, but it looks like it's worth it

 

[Syncytia]

I'm not familiar with this. Is it just an 'extender' on the end of a cord? Link to one?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TQD2BYK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Seems like it does both.

I have two of these in my house: https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Wi-Fi-Extender-Essentials-EX2700/dp/B00L0YLRUW/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1471381490&sr=1-1&keywords=wireless+extender

My main network is on an Apple Airport. Each one connects over wifi to my main network and uses that connection to create another wifi network. One of them I have the same name with -EXT at the end, the other one I gave a different name.

I have the Philips Hue bridge connected via ethernet to one of the extenders so the bridge has an internet connection.

Since you plan on using just wireless devices one of these should do exactly what you need. Plug it into an outlet near the outside range of your main network and create another network. Just be aware, depending on your location within the networks you may have to manually change networks for better signal to your device.

 

[Terbinator]

Anyone here have experience with those NVMe drives?

Reviews seem to be sparse and I'm considering an upgrade for my aging Crucial m4

 

[Dubz]

Strongly considering buying a 1070 this weekend, and I have some questions. Please be nice I'm not very up to date regarding PC gear. Here are my specs minus the card if interested

8GB RAM
i7 4770k

1) should I buy a cooler for the card or is the stock fan good enough?

2) what manufacturer should I buy from?

3) should I buy not RAM for my rig?

4) Is my 500 PSU good enough?


Thanks in advance

 

[e90Mark]

Well I measured my stock voltage when I OC'ed to 4.1ghz before and at stock 3.8ghz CPU-Z read 1.048v, with voltage at AUTO 4.1ghz vCore came out at 1.104v and my adjusted 4.1ghz vCore was 1,069v which was 100% stable, could it be that my 3570k can handle low voltages pretty well?

Definitely, seems like you got a good one. Let's just say you bumped it to 1.2, you could probably reach 4.5.. Maybe lol.

Anyone here have experience with those NVMe drives?

Reviews seem to be sparse and I'm considering an upgrade for my aging Crucial m4

I have a Samsung 950 Pro, and I don't really notice a difference compared to my SATA SSDs for gaming.

If you do large file transfers a lot, you'd see a benefit. Generally, you won't.

 

[Bloodember]

I mentioned a couple days back that I was buying a new video card. Then I went looking at the prices here in Canada, and the options widened a little.

The RX 480 8GB card and the GTX 1060 (6GB) are virtually the same price here. I have decided to essentially go PC only from here on out, including the Xbox games, so I was wondering which of these would be the better choice. I play as much of everything as I can, and don't want to upgrade for another three or so years after this one. Basically, which of the two cards are more future proof, in your opinions?

Thanks for any help!

The RX480 it has better directX 12 performance and AMD cards usually don't get performance hits as high as nvidia when they bring out new replacement cards.

 

[Accoun]

So, there's a promotion in one of the local stores that brings the multiple 970s' price to a similar point as the freshly released 470s (a few bucks cheaper, in fact - at least the 8GB versions). I'm reading up the reviews ATM, but is it worth considering overall?

 

[demosthenes]

Strongly considering buying a 1070 this weekend, and I have some questions. Please be nice I'm not very up to date regarding PC gear. Here are my specs minus the card if interested

8GB RAM
i7 4770k

1) should I buy a cooler for the card or is the stock fan good enough?

2) what manufacturer should I buy from?

3) should I buy not RAM for my rig?

4) Is my 500 PSU good enough?


Thanks in advance

Stock is fine.
I got this one and I'm very happy:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125871
RAM you're fine at 8.
Assemble your current PC on pcpartpicker.com and it will tell you if you're fine on PSU (I think you will be).

 

[kevin1025]

The RX480 it has better directX 12 performance and AMD cards usually don't get performance hits as high as nvidia when they bring out new replacement cards.

Ah, did not know that! I've had two AMD cards now so I was leaning that way to begin with, thanks!

 

[Aztechnology]

So, there's a promotion in one of the local stores that brings the multiple 970s' price to a similar point as the freshly released 470s (a few bucks cheaper, in fact - at least the 8GB versions). I'm reading up the reviews ATM, but is it worth considering overall?

I'd say yes, depending in your other hardware, chiefly your CPU.

 

[Copper]

I guess I can skip the Bluetooth requirement.
I'll settle with the cheapest that can OC well and has reinforced PCI slots. (And allows me for VT-D)

Any recommendations?

ASUS z170 A is pretty good I just got it. Was able to OC my I5 6600k to 4.6 easily.

Or the MSI Gaming M5

 

[Nesses]

So after 5 years I finally built a new box...



Core i5 6500k
EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 SC GAMING ACX 3.0, 8GB
16GB G.Skill Ripjaws V
Samsung M.2 950
ASUS TUF SABERTOOTH Z170 MARK 1
Cooler Master HAF XB EVO
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Acer Predator X34 Curved IPS NVIDIA G-sync

 

[shanafan]

If you have a Z series board you should overclock that i7 3770 (non-K), you should get 4.3Ghz or around there very easily with some decent cooling. That chip does not need upgrading to a 6700K.

The i7 6700 will need a new motherboard and DDR4 RAM.

Thanks for the tip! My processor is a i7-3770 (non-K), with ASRock Z77 mobo and Corsair H110v2 cooling system. I would assume I would be all set?

EDIT: My mobo's utility has a OC section, and it shows I can just enable No-K OC. Is it really that simple?

 

[Skyfireblaze]

VID is what the CPU is requesting at a particular multiplier. It is like a look up table built into the CPU for each Multiplier.

The Offset is applied to the VID, however you don't know Vdrop (Bios target Vcore difference to idle vcore at a given fixed Vcore) and Vdroop (Vcore drop from Idle to load at a given fixed Vcore), that causes 2 extra variables to play with, hence why your numbers don't add up just yet.

You can work out the Vdrop and Vdroop by setting a fixed Vcore in BIOS and checking the Vcore delta in the above scenarios.

For example:
4.5Ghz - VID = 1.2v
Vdrop = 0.02v
VDroop = 0.04v
Offset = 0.00v

Load Vcore = VID - vDrop - vDroop +/- vOffset = 1.14v

If Load Line Calibration is set to AUTO, then the behaviour of the offset voltage will be hard to predict since we do not know the compensation:

Load Vcore = VID - vDrop - vDroop -/+ vOffset + LLC Compensation

With ideal LLC Level set, LLC Compensation = vOffset +vDroop
Hence Load Vcore = VID +/- vOffset

Once you find a LLC level that is close to the vDrop + vOffset, then you are ready to twiddle with Offset and then be able to correlate it to the VID with more accuracy.

Knowing the Vdrop/Vdroop lets you overlock with a little but more understanding on how the voltages are being played with, and lets you set the optimal LLC setting.

With low Vcore such as yours, its better not to compensate the Vcore so much with LLC, since this can have a negative impact on the low multipliers, as the more LLC, the more likely you will run a negative Offset, causing lower multipliers to be starved of Vcore - and causing instability under close to idle loads. Generally you want to set LLC up so that the load vcore is close to idle, but always slightly lower than idle. That prevents the idle instability problem.

This problem is removed with adaptive Vcore in Skylake, as the offset is only applied to the OC's multipliers and not to the stock multipliers. It is why generally all chips before Skylake are more stable with fixed Vcore than offset (people setting LLC too high being partly the problem).

Intel always overvolt the chips, since it guarantees stability on all sorts of motherboard with varying Vdrop/Vdroop.
Each chip will have a unique voltage response and overclocking capability.

Whoa alright thanks for the very detailed explanation, much appreciated! That's alot to take in and I'll try these calculations tomorrow

Definitely, seems like you got a good one. Let's just say you bumped it to 1.2, you could probably reach 4.5.. Maybe lol.

Well that's reassuring For now I reached 4.4ghz truly stable on +0.045, at first I thought +0.035 was enough but FFXIV kept crashing so I bumped it up and the crashes were gone. And well yeah it seems like I could hit 4.5ghz easily but I would need to creep past +0.070 and I'm not sure that's worth it for another measly 100mhz All I hoped to accomplish was to counter the random framedrops to 65fps in Battlefield 4 but even 4.4ghz can't do this with a GTX 1070 :/

 

[Klotera]

I mentioned a build I was considering a few pages back. I finally pulled the trigger and built a new PC for the first time in a long time. It's not the exact build I had mentioned, but fairly close. My previous PC was a Dell I bought for non-gaming purposes and ended up upgrading.

My build:
Case: Fractal Design Define R5
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI
CPU: i7-6700K
Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4

I re-used the following parts I had upgraded my last PC with:
Power Supply: Corsair RM650
SSD: Samsung 850 Evo 250GB
HDD: WD Red 2TB (which was itself reclaimed when I upgraded my NAS storage)
Video Card: Evga GTX 970 FTW

The 970 will be upgraded to a 1070 or 1080 soon,

The main limit in all of this is that SSD size. However, it's not that old of a drive and I have all this unused HDD space, so I'm not really looking to replace it just yet. The only thing that will take significant space for me will be games. I was not a big PC gamer before, but will likely be going more heavily in that direction, so storage will become a bigger issue. So, I'm thinking that I can play games the first time on the SSD, then use Steam Mover to move them to the HDD when I'm mostly done with them. This would leave them accessible if I want to go back to them and take advantage of the space I have on that HDD that is mostly going unused, as I generally have no need to store anything else on there since my NAS is my primary file storage.

Anyone else use a strategy like this to manage space on a small-ish SSD or have any other suggestions on better ways to manage the space games take up?

 

[Zushin]

Hey guys,

I'm gonna give the inside of my PC a good clean and just wanted some advice. For the general cleaning of dust would something like a paintbrush be okay to gently dislodge the dust and then blow it out with some canned air?

Second of all, I'm going to replace the thermal paste on my heatsink. What would be the best way to go about cleaning the dust out of the heatsink properly? I'm using a Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO. Im using some Arctic Arcticlean to clear off the old thermal paste on the heatsink and the CPU metal cap, am I right to leave the CPU in the socket whilst applying to the metal cap?

Cheers

 

[Lord Griegous]

So, I am considering pulling the trigger on that i7-6700k.

I have been looking into motherboards and I think that I will opt for the Asus Z170-A

For memory I will be getting: G.Skill Trident Z DDR4 3466 PC4-27700 16GB 2x8GB CL16

Would that be an OK combination? There are always so many MBs out there that I never really know if I am picking the most suitable one.

 

[Strafebogey]

EVGA's version of the HB SLI Bridge.

 

[Choppasmith]

So I wanted to ask those experienced with PC hardware. I want to get a gaming rig for my living room. I already have a nice little HTPC for Kodi use. It's an ITX setup with an i3 and 4GB of RAM and that's really about it. I've fiddled around with running PCSX2 and it seems like it just barely managed to run PS2 at default res. I want to get something better. It's easy to look at Haz's Builds and want the Enthusiast build, but as time goes on, I just don't think I can scrounge up the $1000-1500 for a build like that. There more I think about it, the more I think it might be overkill.

I don't have much experience with picking out good gaming PC hardware. So I'm asking you PC GAF, which of Haz's Builds would be right for me?

To reiterate what I'm looking for

-Primary for media streaming with Kodi (something that can handle my 1080p Blu-ray Rips flawlessly, my current HTPC does this great, but I notice a little bit of stutter here and there mostly in slow camera pans)
-Emulation (Something that could easily handle the likes of GameCube, Wii and PS2, I know from the various Emulation threads I've seen people with builds that allow them to have 8x Internal Res with resolutions way over 1080p, considering this is a HTPC hooked to a 1080p TV, I don't think I need that high of quality)
-Steam Gaming (I know a lot of people go to PC gaming because the graphics quality can be much higher than consoles, I just want something comparable to current consoles)

I'd appreciate any advice and recommendations

 

[Skunkers]

So I wanted to ask those experienced with PC hardware. I want to get a gaming rig for my living room. I already have a nice little HTPC for Kodi use. It's an ITX setup with an i3 and 4GB of RAM and that's really about it. I've fiddled around with running PCSX2 and it seems like it just barely managed to run PS2 at default res. I want to get something better. It's easy to look at Haz's Builds and want the Enthusiast build, but as time goes on, I just don't think I can scrounge up the $1000-1500 for a build like that. There more I think about it, the more I think it might be overkill.

I don't have much experience with picking out good gaming PC hardware. So I'm asking you PC GAF, which of Haz's Builds would be right for me?

To reiterate what I'm looking for

-Primary for media streaming with Kodi (something that can handle my 1080p Blu-ray Rips flawlessly, my current HTPC does this great, but I notice a little bit of stutter here and there mostly in slow camera pans)
-Emulation (Something that could easily handle the likes of GameCube, Wii and PS2, I know from the various Emulation threads I've seen people with builds that allow them to have 8x Internal Res with resolutions way over 1080p, considering this is a HTPC hooked to a 1080p TV, I don't think I need that high of quality)
-Steam Gaming (I know a lot of people go to PC gaming because the graphics quality can be much higher than consoles, I just want something comparable to current consoles)

I'd appreciate any advice and recommendations

How old is your current machine? Without specs it's hard to tell, but you might be able to just upgrade the processor for whatever socket you have, throw in another 4GB of RAM, and put in a modest little video card if there's room in your ITX case. Your demands are not high.

 

[Rizific]

I got that Xonar DG 5.1 sound card today that a couple of you suggested and I'm really happy with it, a nice bump over my onboard for sure, it's considerably louder for a start, and just very clear. It took 2 minutes to download and install the ASUS Windows 10 driver and I was up and running, a much easier process than on my old Creative sound card which just doesn't work properly on Windows 10. And to top it off it was brand new, still all sealed up so I basically got it for £10 off, sometimes 0 feedback sellers are legit on eBay apparently.

I used this guys guide to set it up and it sounds really good now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbLgqOKAPIg

I just put together my 6600k Asus z170a earlier today and the pci slot for the sound card sits way close to my gpu almost completely blocking one of the fans. I decided to not use the xonar dg and try the on board sound. It was pretty decent, but still noticeably worse than the xonar dg. That cheap sound card makes a good bit of difference. Ill put it back in tomorrow and see what kind of effect it has on my gpu Temps.

 

[Choppasmith]

How old is your current machine? Without specs it's hard to tell, but you might be able to just upgrade the processor for whatever socket you have, throw in another 4GB of RAM, and put in a modest little video card if there's room in your ITX case. Your demands are not high.

I actually got it over 4 years ago (Jan 2012) already used from another Gaffer.

It should be this motherboard:
http://www.game-debate.com/motherboard/index.php?mot_id=1744&motherboard=GigaByte GA-H55N-USB3

And it's got an i3 530 @ 2.93 Ghz

Oh and I was mistaken it has 8GB of RAM, sorry.

I was thinking of doing what you suggested, but when I upgraded the RAM, the space is already crazy tight, and the temperature is already running in the 70s, so I concluded I should probably go with a bigger case so that I wouldn't be so restricted in space and GPU selection.

 

[Accoun]

I'd say yes, depending in your other hardware, chiefly your CPU.

i5 6400

 

[kromeo]

EVGA's version of the HB SLI Bridge.

Looks like an early 2000s phone, do they really need to be that big?

 

[mcmmaster]

Currently planning to upgrade from my old GTX 680 to a 1080, spoiled for choice though as I have no idea which 1080 to go for and what I should factor in when picking one.

Here's my set up...
CM Storm Enforcer
i7 2600k
Gigabyte Z68X-UD5
12GB ram
650W

Just looking for one that would be able to handle 1400p gaming, any recommendation on which 1080 variation to go for and any other areas my rig may need upgrading? Thanks!

 

[Mareg]

Currently planning to upgrade from my old GTX 680 to a 1080, spoiled for choice though as I have no idea which 1080 to go for and what I should factor in when picking one.

Here's my set up...
CM Storm Enforcer
i7 2600k
Gigabyte Z68X-UD5
12GB ram
650W

Just looking for one that would be able to handle 1400p gaming, any recommendation on which 1080 variation to go for and any other areas my rig may need upgrading? Thanks!

Any of them would easily.
However, unless you're dead on getting a 1080, for 1440p, I would save much money and go for a nice 1070 and overclock it near 1080 specs.

The 1070 is more than enough for 1440p.

 

[Fasty]

I'm thinking of getting an 8BG 1070 myself.

However, my current system is a few years old, with an i5-3350 3.3GHz and 8GB ram.

Will the 1070 be capable of playing games (for instance, Arkham Knight, Elite Dangerous, any current gen console PC port) at 1080p with all settings max, or will the rest of the system be a bottleneck?

 

[Zushin]

Hey guys,

I'm gonna give the inside of my PC a good clean and just wanted some advice. For the general cleaning of dust would something like a paintbrush be okay to gently dislodge the dust and then blow it out with some canned air?

Second of all, I'm going to replace the thermal paste on my heatsink. What would be the best way to go about cleaning the dust out of the heatsink properly? I'm using a Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO. Im using some Arctic Arcticlean to clear off the old thermal paste on the heatsink and the CPU metal cap, am I right to leave the CPU in the socket whilst applying to the metal cap?

Cheers

Just quoting for a new page.

 

[Fasty]

Hey guys,

I'm gonna give the inside of my PC a good clean and just wanted some advice. For the general cleaning of dust would something like a paintbrush be okay to gently dislodge the dust and then blow it out with some canned air?

Second of all, I'm going to replace the thermal paste on my heatsink. What would be the best way to go about cleaning the dust out of the heatsink properly? I'm using a Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO. Im using some Arctic Arcticlean to clear off the old thermal paste on the heatsink and the CPU metal cap, am I right to leave the CPU in the socket whilst applying to the metal cap?

Cheers

I use a paintbrush, but I've tried canned air and found it to be pretty useless. I ended up taking my PC into a local shop and they blew the whole thing out with their powered air compressor in 2 seconds for free. It had never been so clean. Might be worth asking around.

 

[V1LÆM]

i've been thinking about getting a new monitor for a while. the dell U2515H (1440p 60hz) in particular. it looks fantastic. it would replace my benq rl2455hm (1080p 60hz).my PC is an i7-6700K, 16GB, GTX 1070 so yeah my PC can handle 1440p 60fps right now but i'm not sure if it's worth buying a new monitor because i'll have to start lowering settings much sooner than i would if i stay at 1080p.

for example, the 1070 can do ~84fps in Battlefield 4 at 1440p but at 1080p it can do ~130fps. what if, say for example, Battlefield 1 is way more demanding and can only do 50fps at 1440p and at 1080p it can manage 96fps? i'd be better staying at 1080p so i can keep the 60fps and visuals. the only thing i'm sacrificing is resolution.

SO...my question is what if i want to play a game at 1080p on the new 1440p monitor? will it look awful? i tried playing some games at 720p on my 1080p monitor and it looked horrid. should i expect the same playing 1080p on a 1440p monitor? right now what i'm doing is experimenting with downsampling games. this way i can play at 1080p native if 1440p is too demanding or downsample 1440p > 1080p. but i'd guess a native 1440p is way better than downsampled. as i see it my options are:

1. keep doing what i'm doing: play at 1080p for games that are too demanding at 1440p and downsampling games from 1440p > 1080p where i can.
2. buy 1440p monitor/play exclusively at that resolution and just deal with lowering settings much sooner.
3. reverse of option 1: buy 1440p monitor and play at 1440p for games that can do it and upscale demanding games from 1080p > 1440p.

also i should note that i'm a bit hesitant to get rid of my current monitor, buy a 1440p monitor, and then buy a 4K monitor when i build my next PC. my next one will be aimed towards playing at 4K 60fps. i'd rather save my money and not have 3 monitors. sorry for such a long post! it's just a few people have told me how bad my monitor is for my PC ("a 1070 is overkill for 1080p 60fps!") and it has been bugging me. i can justify it to myself for keeping the 1080p monitor but if 1080p games really don't look too bad on a 1440p monitor i'd upgrade because a higher resolution screen would be nice.

 

[Raxanas]

i've been thinking about getting a new monitor for a while. the dell U2515H (1440p 60hz) in particular. it looks fantastic. it would replace my benq rl2455hm (1080p 60hz).my PC is an i7-6700K, 16GB, GTX 1070 so yeah my PC can handle 1440p 60fps right now but i'm not sure if it's worth buying a new monitor because i'll have to start lowering settings much sooner than i would if i stay at 1080p.

for example, the 1070 can do ~84fps in Battlefield 4 at 1440p but at 1080p it can do ~130fps. what if, say for example, Battlefield 1 is way more demanding and can only do 50fps at 1440p and at 1080p it can manage 96fps? i'd be better staying at 1080p so i can keep the 60fps and visuals. the only thing i'm sacrificing is resolution.

SO...my question is what if i want to play a game at 1080p on the new 1440p monitor? will it look awful? i tried playing some games at 720p on my 1080p monitor and it looked horrid. should i expect the same playing 1080p on a 1440p monitor? right now what i'm doing is experimenting with downsampling games. this way i can play at 1080p native if 1440p is too demanding or downsample 1440p > 1080p. but i'd guess a native 1440p is way better than downsampled. as i see it my options are:

1. keep doing what i'm doing: play at 1080p for games that are too demanding at 1440p and downsampling games from 1440p > 1080p where i can.
2. buy 1440p monitor/play exclusively at that resolution and just deal with lowering settings much sooner.
3. reverse of option 1: buy 1440p monitor and play at 1440p for games that can do it and upscale demanding games from 1080p > 1440p.

also i should note that i'm a bit hesitant to get rid of my current monitor, buy a 1440p monitor, and then buy a 4K monitor when i build my next PC. my next one will be aimed towards playing at 4K 60fps. i'd rather save my money and not have 3 monitors. sorry for such a long post! it's just a few people have told me how bad my monitor is for my PC ("a 1070 is overkill for 1080p 60fps!") and it has been bugging me. i can justify it to myself for keeping the 1080p monitor but if 1080p games really don't look too bad on a 1440p monitor i'd upgrade because a higher resolution screen would be nice.

I have the U2515H paired with a 980Ti.The resolution is sooo much better than 1080p that if u sacrifice some AA or stuff you can maintain high FPS and have a more beautiful game than at 1080p.For me try to sell the old monitor and go for the U2515H.
Beware though with buying a VESA dp cable because Dell is quite picky with connections

 

[nailbombxx]

I need a budget PC ($600-700ish) and I think I'm just going to settle with an AMD RX 470 gpu since they are more available than the 480s that have become out of my price range.

Any suggestions for CPUs and motherboard if I go this route?