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[Joco]

My latest BSOD error, happened after about 10 minutes of playing Overwatch.

http://imgur.com/dDfzP66

System service exception error? Seems like something's messed up at the core of my Windows.

Edit: And just now when I was using Chrome, another BSOD that I haven't seen before: Pool Corruption in File Area.

 

[anothertech]

Just looking at the topic header, is there anything out there with HBM2 yet?

 

[RamaTheVoice]

Are larger fans always preferred to smaller ones? Replacing my h60 with a noctua U12S so I need a rear case fan. I could use the stock bitfenix 120mm fan which I have lying around, or I could buy a 120/140mm noctua for lower noise and/or better exhaust performance. It will be my only exhaust fan - I have a spectre 230mm front fan as intake and the GPU will draw air in for the side panel. Top panel is empty but air can escape as it has a mesh top panel

Not to question your airflow choices, but I was under the impression that it was always better to have more exhaust than intake, since the exhaust removing air from the case forced the intake to pull in fresh air from the outside due to negative air pressure.

There are apparently diverging opinions on this, so if anyone wants to add their two cents I'd be happy to hear from you.

Other than that, yes, I do believe bigger fans are better, as the bigger the fan, the slower it has to spin to move the same amount of air, therefore making less noise.

 

[sfried]

SecuROM is driver based iirc.

Does it affect (SSD) boot time though? I might be forced to uninstal itcompletely even it it means risking not being able to play Dark Void...

I can confirm though that doing a safeboot brings back those 5 second boot times, so I'm suspecting something in the services that's really slowing it down. I still need some help diagnosing this issue.

 

[mrklaw]

Not to question your airflow choices, but I was under the impression that it was always better to have more exhaust than intake, since the exhaust removing air from the case forced the intake to pull in fresh air from the outside due to negative air pressure.

There are apparently diverging opinions on this, so if anyone wants to add their two cents I'd be happy to hear from you.

Other than that, yes, I do believe bigger fans are better, as the bigger the fan, the slower it has to spin to move the same amount of air, therefore making less noise.

I'd heard the opposite there are probably religions founded on both principles..

Positive airflow would push air out of gaps therefore reducing dust build up - especially if your intake fans are all filtered and your exhaust areas aren't

 

[badrang]

I was thinking about getting a RX 480 but I'm worried about how much of a bottleneck a fx 6300 would be. I have had it overclocked to 4.6 ghz stable before but have since left it at stock since I haven't gamed on my 560 ti 448 in a while.

Should I get the RX 480 or just save up for a new build?

 

[RamaTheVoice]

I'd heard the opposite there are probably religions founded on both principles..

Positive airflow would push air out of gaps therefore reducing dust build up - especially if your intake fans are all filtered and your exhaust areas aren't

I guess it's a matter of avoiding dust buildup v. optimizing cooling. I'm gonna follow a friend's advice and have front and bottom intakes (where there are dust filters) and rear and side exhausts (which combined will move more air). We'll see what happens

E: Getting all my parts today. I'm so excited! And also nervous, as it's been 8-9 years since I've built an entire PC from scratch. And the cable management in the Define R5 looks fantastic, so my inner neat freak is gonna be thrilled! Wish me luck!

 

[hooijdonk17]

I was thinking about getting a RX 480 but I'm worried about how much of a bottleneck a fx 6300 would be. I have had it overclocked to 4.6 ghz stable before but have since left it at stock since I haven't gamed on my 560 ti 448 in a while.

Should I get the RX 480 or just save up for a new build?

I'm in pretty much the same boat.. I'm planning on getting an RX 480 this summer, and I'm wondering just how bottlenecked it would be with my FX 6100 CPU at 3.9GHz. Would upgrading to a used FX 8350 help, or would the difference be marginal? I want to upgrade to AM4 and Zen eventually, but I'd like to delay that a bit if I can. Basically, if I can get more out of the X 480 with my current CPU than I can with say the RX 470, I'll go for it and delay the CPU upgrade a bit..

 

[Red]

I'm using an A10 5800k as my CPU. I think CPU requirements for games are overstated by the community. Not that I wouldn't like to upgrade, but performance seems bound more by the GPU in the majority of cases.

I'm thinking about upgrading to a nicer board/chip with around $350. Any suggestions? I have a mini ATX case.

 

[RamaTheVoice]

I'm using an A10 5800k as my CPU. I think CPU requirements for games are overstated by the community. Not that I wouldn't like to upgrade, but performance seems bound more by the GPU in the majority of cases.

I'm thinking about upgrading to a nicer board/chip with around $350. Any suggestions? I have a mini ATX case.

You're absolutely right about that. The minimum requirements for most modern games state that you need at least a third-gen i5/i7 but I've never had any trouble running anything on my first-gen i7. It does make a difference in terms of performance though: everything else (apart from ram) being equal, there's a 20fps gain in The Witcher 3 going from an i7 2600k to a 6700k for example, as well as more stable framerates in most games.

 

[Red]

Like I said to someone in the 480 announcement thread, it depends on your performance requirements. What is the min fps in The Witcher on the 2600k? If it's still above 30 fps I think most users would be pleased. If it's over 60 it's virtually a non issue.

Is there a certain setting that's especially CPU intensive?

Maybe I'm an outlier here because while I consider myself a gaming enthusiast, I think the game is paramount, visuals peripheral. I don't get hung up on visual compromise or inconsistency. Though I do value performance consistency.

I also tend to play games 2-3 years after release, once hefty discounts have set in. Maybe I simply haven't encountered more recent CPU-taxing games.

 

[d00d3n]

The fan plate of my water cooling setup does not cover the full opening on the top part of my chassi (leaves a long decimeter wide stretch to the side of it). Is it a good idea to try and close this gap (with tape I guess?)? It seems like this would lead to more "suction" for the air inside the case?

 

[Mareg]

Alright.

Quick question about motherboard. I've always been cheap on motherboard. For my next build, I plan to choose a quality board.

According to the PC builds suggested, I would be looking at a choice between those two board :
Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI
ASUS Z170-A

Thing is, the most important thing to me for a board is the quality of the sound chipset. I want the best sound quality out to my Senn HD headset.

With that in mind, I was looking at a different board in the same price range. The Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 5. There is also the Asus Z170 PRO GAMING.

So many choice.
I guess what I'm asking is if there is really an advantage to go with the "gaming" board for reasons of sound quality ?

 

[RamaTheVoice]

There's also the Gigabyte Z170X-UD3 (not sure of the exact nomenclature) which has a better sound chip and an SPDIF out for ~$30 over the XP-SLI. Otherwise it's the same board.

 

[asdad123]

How hard is it to swap a GPU cooler? I currently have a 980ti reference and am contemplating switching it out to the EVGA hybrid cooler. I can get it for $50 from Amazon.

I may do that and just over clock the card while I wait for the 1080ti instead of getting a 1080.

 

[MikeE21286]

I have a SLI question. I've never used SLI before so this may be an easy answer

I have a pre-order for an EVGA 1080 GTX FTW. It's the factory overclocked version of the 1080 with higher boost speeds than the "reference" Founders Edition.

Now I have a $400 Dell gift card that is going to be expiring within the next month or so and am exploring the possibility of using this gift card towards getting another 1080 and running it in SLI

Now Dell the only version of the 1080 that Dell has is the PNY "Founders Edition"

What (if any) issues will I run into with running these two cards in SLI?

Thanks for your help in advance!!

 

[e90Mark]

How hard is it to swap a GPU cooler? I currently have a 980ti reference and am contemplating switching it out to the EVGA hybrid cooler. I can get it for $50 from Amazon.

I may do that and just over clock the card while I wait for the 1080ti instead of getting a 1080.

Not hard. Just some small bits. I wouldn't worry, EVGA warranty is still intact with switching up coolers.

I have a SLI question. I've never used SLI before so this may be an easy answer

I have a pre-order for an EVGA 1080 GTX FTW. It's the factory overclocked version of the 1080 with higher boost speeds than the "reference" Founders Edition.

Now I have a $400 Dell gift card that is going to be expiring within the next month or so and am exploring the possibility of using this gift card towards getting another 1080 and running it in SLI

Now Dell the only version of the 1080 that Dell has is the PNY "Founders Edition"

What (if any) issues will I run into with running these two cards in SLI?

Thanks for your help in advance!!

No, but the clocks will default to the common denominator. Meaning the FTW, will most likely be matching the clocks of that FE.

 

[HowardRoark]

Seems expensive. Any absurdities here that I can cut? Trying to create a monster aircooled computer.

Pulled the the trigger on my non-monitor, non-GPU parts with some slight tweaks:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For $354.99)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (Purchased For $101.14)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste (Purchased For $6.99)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (Purchased For $118.98)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (Purchased For $65.55)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For $127.49)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $68.17)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $129.98)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $85.98)
Monitor: Acer XB271HU bmiprz 27.0" 165Hz Monitor ($749.99 @ Micro Center)
Other: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW GAMING ACX 3.0 Graphics Cards 08G-P4-6286-KR (Purchased For $679.99)
Other: Steam Link and Controller Bundle (Purchased For $99.99)
Other: Microsoft Xbox Wireless Adapter for Windows (Purchased For $24.50)
Total: $2613.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-02 11:57 EDT-0400

 

[appaws]

I was thinking about getting a RX 480 but I'm worried about how much of a bottleneck a fx 6300 would be. I have had it overclocked to 4.6 ghz stable before but have since left it at stock since I haven't gamed on my 560 ti 448 in a while.

Should I get the RX 480 or just save up for a new build?

I'm in pretty much the same boat.. I'm planning on getting an RX 480 this summer, and I'm wondering just how bottlenecked it would be with my FX 6100 CPU at 3.9GHz. Would upgrading to a used FX 8350 help, or would the difference be marginal? I want to upgrade to AM4 and Zen eventually, but I'd like to delay that a bit if I can. Basically, if I can get more out of the X 480 with my current CPU than I can with say the RX 470, I'll go for it and delay the CPU upgrade a bit..

I would say the answer for both of you depends. Of course on the amount of money you want to spend. If you want to spend only 250 bucks or less and get a massive upgrade...then the 480 is going to be the way to go it seems.

The bottlenecking issue is dependent on the specific game you are playing. A good overclock would help, of course.

 

[appaws]

Anyone watching the coverage of Computex on different youtube channels like Paul's Hardware, Hardware Canucks, or Awesomesauce...?

I am blown away by EVGA's gorgeous 1080/1070 ACX 3.0 design. Fantastic...

Also the thing that you can use as an adapter to hide your GPU power cables around the side...

Phanteks getting into the water cooling components game is pretty awesome as well...

 

[MikeE21286]

No, but the clocks will default to the common denominator. Meaning the FTW, will most likely be matching the clocks of that FE.

Gotcha, ok :/

Thanks for the info

Edit:

It's my understanding I need one of the new SLI bridges for the 1080 if I want to use SLI?

How do I know which size SLI bridge I need?
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/10series/geforce-gtx-1080

 

[Vinter]

Looking at CPU's at the moment. What is the best option if you are going for a strictly gaming build that runs anything at 1440/60, preferably on high/ultra. Its no goal in itself to run everything on max, but since I finally can afford to build a high end pc, I want to build something to last the next 3 years.

 

[Ozorov]

Why is 1440p/144Hz-monitors still so damn expensive?

 

[sfried]

Did you add the HDD later on? With each HDD, it greatly increase Windows startup time.

My wife's built Intel Core I3-4160 with a Samsung 830 SSD has a 5 sec bootup. It's 3-4x faster than my Intel 5930K@4.5GHz with a M.2 Samsung SM951, but the 3 HDDs holds it back. Disconnect the HDD and you will see the 5 sec boot again.

Just wondering, do the boot times increase the more the HDDs/extra SDD's get filled?

I did start installing a couple of gigabytes worth of games on the HDD along with Crysis on the SDD (it runs it with everything maxed out on native 1366x768). I'm not sure if the sudden increase in the program list that could be causing it.

I definitely know it's not my BIOS though. UEFI install is working just fine but I feel its more on the driver side...or soemthing else (perhaps SecuROM)?

 

[UmbraeCruxis]

I'm thinking about trying to build my first PC, and I generally wanted high-max settings at 1080. Preferably with $800 or below. I was thinking that the new 480 may be up my alley. Anyone have any builds or advice I should consider following?

 

[Nyteshade517]

small question...

If a graphics card has 2 8-Pin connections is it ok to use 2 cables with those connections instead of 1 with a split end?

(again, sorry if a lot of the questions I've been asking are dumb)

 

[mrklaw]

So everything plugged back in again, I think. Had to redo all the cabling as the sockets were in completely different locations. Why Asus thought it was a good idea to put two Sata ports right behind the ram, between the PCI express card and the CPU, I don't know. Any decent sized Colt was going to make that difficult to reach.

Asus z170i pro gaming ITX. Noctua u12S cooler fitted OK in the bitfenix prodigy with room for the optical drive. Ram was pretty damn close to the front fan but ok.

Not going to plug it in until tomorrow so I can have time for any troubleshooting etc. Also waiting on a noctua fan for the rear case exhaust. They actually have 4 pins these days which is good.


Any tips for bios setup? Should most of it be fairly automatic? Have three drives so might need to check which Sata port should be booted from. My ram is ddr4 3000 so I don't know if I need to do anything for that.

I'll look at overclocking another day once things have been working for a while.

 

[Arulan]

I plan to build soon and could use some advice on the fan setup.

I'll be using a Enthoo Primo case with a Asus x99-Deluxe II MB, and a Phanteks PH-TC14PE for my CPU cooler. As for fan placement, I'm planning to do 3x top intake, 2x bottom intake, 2x front intake, and 1x top rear exhaust. The front and bottom both have filters. Thoughts?

Secondly, I'm uncertain as to the best way to control the fans. The case comes with a PWM hub, that can supposedly handle up to 11 fans. The MB also comes with a fan extension card with 3 headers. Then of course the headers on the MB itself. I've heard mixed reports on the Phanteks PWM hub. Can anyone give first-hand advice on it? Is it safe to use that many fans on the PWM hub without risk of blowing out your header? I'll be using 8 case fans (3 pin), and 2 (4 pin) on the CPU cooler. How would you set it up?

Thanks.

Re-posting this to see if anyone can offer advice/thoughts.

 

[SilverVenom]

Cousin wanted to build a budget desktop wanted some help from you guys.

Your Current Specs: None
Budget: $400-$600 + United States
Main Use: Word processing, web browsing, movies (no games)
No monitor required.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Office and any media players
When will you build?: Don't have a deadline
Will you be overclocking?: No point this cousin can't game haha.

 

[mrklaw]

Cousin wanted to build a budget desktop wanted some help from you guys.

Your Current Specs: None
Budget: $400-$600 + United States
Main Use: Word processing, web browsing, movies (no games)
No monitor required.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Office and any media players
When will you build?: Don't have a deadline
Will you be overclocking?: No point this cousin can't game haha.

Intel i3 NUC?

 

[e90Mark]

Gotcha, ok :/

Thanks for the info

Edit:

It's my understanding I need one of the new SLI bridges for the 1080 if I want to use SLI?

How do I know which size SLI bridge I need?
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/10series/geforce-gtx-1080

You can use the old ones, if you want. The HB SLI bridges I would do a little reading on, as I'm not sure off the top of my head what you miss without using them.

Looking at CPU's at the moment. What is the best option if you are going for a strictly gaming build that runs anything at 1440/60, preferably on high/ultra. Its no goal in itself to run everything on max, but since I finally can afford to build a high end pc, I want to build something to last the next 3 years.

Overclocked 6600k.

small question...

If a graphics card has 2 8-Pin connections is it ok to use 2 cables with those connections instead of 1 with a split end?

(again, sorry if a lot of the questions I've been asking are dumb)

Yes, as long as both 8 pins get power.

 

[Kitsune86]

I'm currently running a single Geforce 960 GT OC 4GB on my main gaming rig. With the 1080 coming and the used price of the 960 about to fall like a rock I am considering picking up an additional 960 in a couple months once they hit about $100 CDN. Some of the videos I've watched online say that the 960 x 2 will get about the results of a 980 ti in SLI compatible games.

Wondering if anyone else on GAF uses this set-up?

 

[Jyrii]

Ok I think it is finally a time to build a new rig. Planning to play 1080p mostly, maybe with some downsampling. The PC will be mostly for gaming on couch.

I used the German version of PCpartpicker, but I live in Finland. I'll probably actually buy everything locally here. Here is what I have been browsing so far:
http://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/wc3D4C

I have already bought 500GB Samsung 850 Evo, and will buy a GTX 1070 once they are out. My old rig has Corsair CX600 PSU, but I guess that is not enough if I'll start overclocking.

I have few questions:
- Is there any complications with those components?
- Does anyone know if any ATX power supply will fit the case?
- Is there anything else I should be aware of?

 

[appaws]

Looking at CPU's at the moment. What is the best option if you are going for a strictly gaming build that runs anything at 1440/60, preferably on high/ultra. Its no goal in itself to run everything on max, but since I finally can afford to build a high end pc, I want to build something to last the next 3 years.

Strictly gaming...? Definetly an i5 6600k right now.

I'm thinking about trying to build my first PC, and I generally wanted high-max settings at 1080. Preferably with $800 or below. I was thinking that the new 480 may be up my alley. Anyone have any builds or advice I should consider following?

I think an i5 build with an RX 480 is probably your best bet. You can probably get it under $800...not including Windows or a Display. Start by looking at the builds in the OT.

Something like this...?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/DyxJ7h
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/DyxJ7h/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($233.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($102.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($42.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $802.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-02 17:52 EDT-0400

I put an R9 280 in there as a stand in for the 480...similar price.

 

[wowzors]

Waited all this time for broadwell-e seems like a kick in the nuts. The 6800k is really mediocre and heats easily for overclock, the 6850 is clearly better but $200 more for what amounts to 200mhz 12lanes and less heat, tough pill to swallow.

Thinking about dropping the whole x99 ship and going 6700k.

 

[Celcius]

Just looking at the topic header, is there anything out there with HBM2 yet?

Nope

 

[ekgrey]

So I posted a couple weeks back about wanting to upgrade ahead of possibly picking up a new GPU later this summer. The general advice was that my 4670K @ 4.0GHz with 16GB of DDR3-1600 was still entirely viable, apart from maybe an upgrade to faster RAM.

WELL. I have a buddy who wants a decent gaming PC after not having one for about a decade and I've got the itch. He was willing to buy my CPU, RAM and SSD, along with a spare mobo, CPU cooler and case that have been sitting here since I moved to mini-ITX almost a year ago. I'm rebuilding the PC in the larger case for him and in addition to paying me for parts and labor, he fronted me the cash to replace what I needed to replace. I am limited to buying from Amazon, so this is what I came up with. Nothing has shipped yet (and the CPU and SSD are out of stock for a couple more days) so I wanted to gather opinions and see if I need to cancel and replace anything.

Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming 5
i5-6600K
SanDisk X400 512GB SSD
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz (PC4-25600) C16

All of this is going in my Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX case with an XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Modular PSU, a Corsair H100i GTX cooler and an ASUS Strix 970 (for now). Anything egregiously wrong? Will that mobo allow me to get the full speed out of the RAM? Is the X400 okay compared to the EVO 850 I had been looking at? Thanks in advance, y'all.

 

[kevin1025]

This may be a silly question, but I figured I'd ask:

Realistically, do you think I could keep playing current games on my current system?

i5-3570k
8GB RAM
HD7870

I plan on picking up the new RX 480 sometime in the fall, I'm just wondering if I can keep my current CPU going with incoming games (things like Mafia III, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Dishonored 2, etc.). Basically I'm wondering if system requirements will start to pass me by.

 

[opticalmace]

This may be a silly question, but I figured I'd ask:

Realistically, do you think I could keep playing current games on my current system?

i5-3570k
8GB RAM
HD7870

I plan on picking up the new RX 480 sometime in the fall, I'm just wondering if I can keep my current CPU going with incoming games (things like Mafia III, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Dishonored 2, etc.). Basically I'm wondering if system requirements will start to pass me by.

Yup, just overclock it if you haven't already.

 

[knitoe]

Just wondering, do the boot times increase the more the HDDs/extra SDD's get filled?

I did start installing a couple of gigabytes worth of games on the HDD along with Crysis on the SDD (it runs it with everything maxed out on native 1366x768). I'm not sure if the sudden increase in the program list that could be causing it.

I definitely know it's not my BIOS though. UEFI install is working just fine but I feel its more on the driver side...or soemthing else (perhaps SecuROM)?

Each added HDD increase boot time. When I built my X99, start with just a SSD and fresh install Windows. 5 sec boot. Shutdown, add a HDD, and suddenly, it's now a 20 sec startup.

It probably has to do with how HDD initialize / verify by the bios and OS startup. Since SSDs are so much faster, they don't add noticeable time compare to HDDs.

 

[kevin1025]

Yup, just overclock it if you haven't already.

That's good news, thanks! I will probably be overclocking it in the near future.

 

[roadrunn3r]

So I posted a couple weeks back about wanting to upgrade ahead of possibly picking up a new GPU later this summer. The general advice was that my 4670K @ 4.0GHz with 16GB of DDR3-1600 was still entirely viable, apart from maybe an upgrade to faster RAM.

WELL. I have a buddy who wants a decent gaming PC after not having one for about a decade and I've got the itch. He was willing to buy my CPU, RAM and SSD, along with a spare mobo, CPU cooler and case that have been sitting here since I moved to mini-ITX almost a year ago. I'm rebuilding the PC in the larger case for him and in addition to paying me for parts and labor, he fronted me the cash to replace what I needed to replace. I am limited to buying from Amazon, so this is what I came up with. Nothing has shipped yet (and the CPU and SSD are out of stock for a couple more days) so I wanted to gather opinions and see if I need to cancel and replace anything.

Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming 5
i5-6600K
SanDisk X400 512GB SSD
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz (PC4-25600) C16

All of this is going in my Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX case with an XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Modular PSU, a Corsair H100i GTX cooler and an ASUS Strix 970 (for now). Anything egregiously wrong? Will that mobo allow me to get the full speed out of the RAM? Is the X400 okay compared to the EVO 850 I had been looking at? Thanks in advance, y'all.

That mobo supports up to 3333 DDR4 so it's fine. As for the rest looks good to me and you should see an improvement from that Haswell i5 but nothing huge, the DDR4 advantage is a lot bigger. No idea about that SSD though.

 

[pager99]

Strictly gaming...? Definetly an i5 6600k right now.



I think an i5 build with an RX 480 is probably your best bet. You can probably get it under $800...not including Windows or a Display. Start by looking at the builds in the OT.

Something like this...?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/DyxJ7h
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/DyxJ7h/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($233.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($102.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($42.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $802.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-02 17:52 EDT-0400

I put an R9 280 in there as a stand in for the 480...similar price.

thanks dude im in the exact same boat ,first time pc builder whos jumping on the rx480
i have a couple of more questions though,i see no network cards or sound cards in your build are they not neccessary and secondly a lot of builds on pcpartpicker dont use cpu coolers how do i know when i do and dont need one?

 

[nateify]

thanks dude im in the exact same boat ,first time pc builder whos jumping on the rx480
i have a couple of more questions though,i see no network cards or sound cards in your build are they not neccessary and secondly a lot of builds on pcpartpicker dont use cpu coolers how do i know when i do and dont need one?

Dedicated network/sound cards are ancient history. Just look at pics of the motherboard and you'll see ethernet and audio ports. As for CPU coolers, all CPUs come with them except for Intel 6xxxK ones, since they are meant for overclocking Intel doesn't bother to ship worthless coolers.

Almost positive PCPartPicker will tell you if your selected CPU needs a separate cooler.

 

[roadrunn3r]

thanks dude im in the exact same boat ,first time pc builder whos jumping on the rx480
i have a couple of more questions though,i see no network cards or sound cards in your build are they not neccessary and secondly a lot of builds on pcpartpicker dont use cpu coolers how do i know when i do and dont need one?

NICs and soundcards are already integrated in almost every motherboard out there. If you don't have any particular needs then you don't need to buy one. As for the cooler most CPUs have stock ones which are usually sufficient if you aren't overclocking but even then I would advice to get a cheap aftermarket one like the Hyper 212 EVO, it's definitely worth it even on non overclockable CPUs.

 

[appaws]

thanks dude im in the exact same boat ,first time pc builder whos jumping on the rx480
i have a couple of more questions though,i see no network cards or sound cards in your build are they not neccessary and secondly a lot of builds on pcpartpicker dont use cpu coolers how do i know when i do and dont need one?

Dedicated network/sound cards are ancient history. Just look at pics of the motherboard and you'll see ethernet and audio ports. As for CPU coolers, all CPUs come with them except for Intel 6xxxK ones, since they are meant for overclocking Intel doesn't bother to ship worthless coolers.

Almost positive PCPartPicker will tell you if your selected CPU needs a separate cooler.

NICs and soundcards are already integrated in almost every motherboard out there. If you don't have any particular needs then you don't need to buy one. As for the cooler most CPUs have stock ones which are usually sufficient if you aren't overclocking but even then I would advice to get a cheap aftermarket one like the Hyper 212 EVO, it's definitely worth it even on non overclockable CPUs.

I always advise getting some kind of aftermarket cooler. The stock ones are complete garbage. Yes, they are "good enough" for use, but they are loud and temps will be higher. For 30 bucks, a CM212 (Evo or the new 212X is $35 I think) will get you a decent overclock. Put two quiet fans on that sucker and you will have a cool, quiet system.

 

[NMFried]

Just finished putting together my new PC and installed Windows onto it via bootable USB/ Now that everything is installed, I have no ethernet or usb drivers, and I only have an external disc drive, which can't be detected because of the no usb drivers issue.

If I mount my HDD into a friend's PC, drag my motherboard driver files to it and then mount it back into mine, should that solve the problem?

Thanks in advance.

 

[pager99]

Dedicated network/sound cards are ancient history. Just look at pics of the motherboard and you'll see ethernet and audio ports. As for CPU coolers, all CPUs come with them except for Intel 6xxxK ones, since they are meant for overclocking Intel doesn't bother to ship worthless coolers.

Almost positive PCPartPicker will tell you if your selected CPU needs a separate cooler.

thanks

NICs and soundcards are already integrated in almost every motherboard out there. If you don't have any particular needs then you don't need to buy one. As for the cooler most CPUs have stock ones which are usually sufficient if you aren't overclocking but even then I would advice to get a cheap aftermarket one like the Hyper 212 EVO, it's definitely worth it even on non overclockable CPUs.

i see thanks

I always advise getting some kind of aftermarket cooler. The stock ones are complete garbage. Yes, they are "good enough" for use, but they are loud and temps will be higher. For 30 bucks, a CM212 (Evo or the new 212X is $35 I think) will get you a decent overclock. Put two quiet fans on that sucker and you will have a cool, quiet system.

sorry but what uyou mean by 2 ? a stock and aftermarket or 2 aftermarket?

 

[Ace 8095]

Not much going on in the g-sync thread so I'll ask here. Does anyone have experience with this Dell monitor? I'm thinking of buying one for my 1070/1080 but wanted a little extra input. At $509 is significantly cheaper than the Acer in the OP yet seems to have the exact same specs.

 

[opticalmace]

Not much going on in the g-sync thread so I'll ask here. Does anyone have experience with this Dell monitor? I'm thinking of buying one for my 1070/1080 but wanted a little extra input. At $509 is significantly cheaper than the Acer in the OP yet seems to have the exact same specs.

I don't know anything about that Dell but note that it has a TN panel. The Acer (and the competing Asus) have IPS-type panels.