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[Generic Power Ranger]

Upgraded my graphics card and ran into issues, now I'm probably going to replace the rest of the machine. Is it worth it to get a z170 when the z270 boards are supposed to come out right about now? I can't wait more than a few weeks..

 

[JCH!]

Man, I just got a Phanteks EVOLV ATX. Thing sure is pretty.

 

[thekonamicode]

Hey GAF, I just got back home from a week long work trip and my ancient 2010 build has finally bit the dust. I have a $1600 budget for a new build, not including monitors, keyboard or mouse.

Any help?

 

[chaosblade]

Upgraded my graphics card and ran into issues, now I'm probably going to replace the rest of the machine. Is it worth it to get a z170 when the z270 boards are supposed to come out right about now? I can't wait more than a few weeks..

Doesn't seem like it as far as I've seen. Main change is XPoint support. In general Kaby and Z270 have very minor changes over Skylake and Z170.


Good deal on a 8GB 480, $230 after a $10 rebate, and $205 after using the Masterpass promo. One of the quieter 480s but also the longest and doesn't have good power delivery for serious overclocking.

 

[NIN90]

What's a good cooler for an i5 6600k nowadays? I'm on my second CoolerMaster 212 now and both made a weird, irritating noise from time to time even during normal desktop use.
I kinda gave my PC case a smack today in a feeble attempt to make it stop making said noise (I swear this method worked before!) but now it permanently sounds like a freaking drill machine.

 

[LilJoka]

I sold my 970 to a friend and upgraded to a 1070, don't regret it at all. It was a large jump in performance.

You could always go to a 1080 if you wanted.

I game on a TV, its only 1024x768, I tend to play games in 1080p just for reduced aliasing, but hardly any reason to not tone it to 720p at times. I realised there's no game I struggle to run, so I'm going to wait for next gen. My 970 is putting out 980 performance also.

 

[brandonh83]

Is the difference between an R9 390 and GTX 1070/1080 significant? Thinking about getting one of those especially with the Gears 4 promo. Any good sites that do solid comparisons?

 

[chaosblade]

What's a good cooler for an i5 6600k nowadays? I'm on my second CoolerMaster 212 now and both made a weird, irritating noises from time to time even during normal desktop use.
I kinda gave my PC case a smack today in a feeble attempt to make it stop making said noise (I swear this method worked before!) but now it permanently sounds like a freaking drill machine.

Sounds like the fan is hitting the fins?

Cryorig M9i and H7 are similar and slightly better, respectively. If you are looking to spend more that opens up your options some.

Is the difference between an R9 390 and GTX 1070/1080 significant? Thinking about getting one of those especially with the Gears 4 promo. Any good sites that do solid comparisons?

It's a pretty nice improvement.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1747?vs=1731

 

[brandonh83]

It's a pretty nice improvement.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1747?vs=1731

The 390 does well enough, but I feel like I need something better for Gears 4 and on. Thanks, may look into it.

 

[Ally1987]

Why can't I increase the core voltage in Afterburner on my 1080 card? I have checked the voltage control in the settings

 

[opticalmace]

I game on a TV, its only 1024x768, I tend to play games in 1080p just for reduced aliasing, but hardly any reason to not tone it to 720p at times. I realised there's no game I struggle to run, so I'm going to wait for next gen. My 970 is putting out 980 performance also.

I thought in your other post you said you already sold the 970? And at that resolution... yeah, no reason to go higher.

 

[sn00zer]

First go. i7, 256gb SSD.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($294.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($137.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($79.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($121.99 @ Best Buy)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.71 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB WINDFORCE OC 6G Video Card ($249.00 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($84.88 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: NZXT Air Flow Series 83.6 CFM 140mm Fan ($7.99 @ Directron)
Case Fan: NZXT Air Flow Series 83.6 CFM 140mm Fan ($7.99 @ Directron)
Total: $1214.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-30 21:59 EDT-0400

And my favorite. i7 and wait for the 960 EVO M.2 SSD to drop in October for $129.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($294.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($100.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($79.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.71 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB WINDFORCE OC 6G Video Card ($249.00 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($84.88 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: NZXT Air Flow Series 83.6 CFM 140mm Fan ($7.99 @ Directron)
Case Fan: NZXT Air Flow Series 83.6 CFM 140mm Fan ($7.99 @ Directron)
Other: 960 Evo M.2 SSD 256gb ($129.00)
Total: $1184.07
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-30 22:11 EDT-0400

So I would like to go with one of these and possibly bump up to a 1070. Component-wise can I just swap the 1060 for a 1070 and if so, which 1070 would you recommend? Also when does the 960 Evo come out? Would like to get building within the next two weeks or so.

 

[LilJoka]

I thought in your other post you said you already sold the 970? And at that resolution... yeah, no reason to go higher.

I did, and I refunded the buyer =/

 

[Vuze]

I game on a TV, its only 1024x768, I tend to play games in 1080p just for reduced aliasing, but hardly any reason to not tone it to 720p at times. I realised there's no game I struggle to run, so I'm going to wait for next gen. My 970 is putting out 980 performance also.

I'm just curious, is it some sort of "special" TV? CRT? Plasma?
Do games even properly support 4:3 anymore? (I know you mentioned 1080p downsampling but again, curious )

Considering getting a PC instead of a ps4 pro but don'tont want to go balls deep straight away as I am concerned about easy of use on couch. Anyway my question is should I get a i3-6100 with a gtx1060 or rx480, or an i5-6500 with r7 360 or gtx 960. I would probably upgrade next year if I am enjoying the PC experience. Which would be best to compete with the pro

I would go with option A if you have to choose between the two. I wouldn't be too concerned about PC gaming on TV. Steam Big Picture Mode is great and you could always hook up a cheap Mouse/Keyboard AIO if you need a keyboard for chatting or whatever.
Just be aware that there is no Sony pixie dust magic available on PC that will do some upscaling shenanigans and you will not run the latest and greatest AAA games at native, real 4K30/60 with this setup. However, you will easily be able to revisit PS3/360 gen games or play indie games at these specs on your TV.

If you want to get a feel for what your specific combo can achieve in some games you are planning to play, you could always check for benchmark videos on YouTube. i3 6100/GTX1060 seems to be a popular midrange option.

 

[beastlove]

Considering getting a PC instead of a ps4 pro but don'tont want to go balls deep straight away as I am concerned about easy of use on couch. Anyway my question is should I get a i3-6100 with a gtx1060 or rx480, or an i5-6500 with r7 360 or gtx 960. I would probably upgrade next year if I am enjoying the PC experience. Which would be best to compete with the pro

 

[chaosblade]

Considering getting a PC instead of a ps4 pro but don'tont want to go balls deep straight away as I am concerned about easy of use on couch. Anyway my question is should I get a i3-6100 with a gtx1060 or rx480, or an i5-6500 with r7 360 or gtx 960. I would probably upgrade next year if I am enjoying the PC experience. Which would be best to compete with the pro

The i3 build would give you a more PS4 Pro-like experience out the gate, but would be a lot more expensive and difficult to upgrade. i5 build would not be comparable to a PS4 Pro (probably closer to a base PS4) but would be easier and cheaper to upgrade since you could just keep the 6500.

 

[Mozendo]

So I would like to go with one of these and possibly bump up to a 1070. Component-wise can I just swap the 1060 for a 1070 and if so, which 1070 would you recommend? Also when does the 960 Evo come out? Would like to get building within the next two weeks or so.

Is there a reason why you're considering a build with a Z170 and a non-K 6700?

 

[Hands of Stone]

Is 16 gb of ram the new standard?

 

[sn00zer]

Is there a reason why you're considering a build with a Z170 and a non-K 6700?

I have no idea what this means

 

[data]

I have no idea what this means

A z170 is a motherboard chipset which allows for overclocking.


Only unlocked CPUs can be overclocked. Those have a K behind the product name.

You picked a locked CPU which can't be overclocked, so a Z170 motherboard is overkill.

 

[chaosblade]

Z170 does have more features than B150 and H170 boards beyond overclocking. But yeah, he could probably swap that for a decent B150 board and not miss anything.

 

[LilJoka]

I'm just curious, is it some sort of "special" TV? CRT? Plasma?
Do games even properly support 4:3 anymore? (I know you mentioned 1080p downsampling but again, curious )


I would go with option A if you have to choose between the two. I wouldn't be too concerned about PC gaming on TV. Steam Big Picture Mode is great and you could always hook up a cheap Mouse/Keyboard AIO if you need a keyboard for chatting or whatever.
Just be aware that there is no Sony pixie dust magic available on PC that will do some upscaling shenanigans and you will not run the latest and greatest AAA games at native, real 4K30/60 with this setup. However, you will easily be able to revisit PS3/360 gen games or play indie games at these specs on your TV.

If you want to get a feel for what your specific combo can achieve in some games you are planning to play, you could always check for benchmark videos on YouTube. i3 6100/GTX1060 seems to be a popular midrange option.

It's a Pioneer PDP4280XD Kuro Plasma.
Lovely picture, awesome colours, but cannot match newer TVs in sharpness and overall detail with proper 1080p/4K sources.

It has rectangular pixels afaik and will therefore scale 16:9 content appropriately. The Pioneers had the best scalers around, and SD content looks undisturbed.

I run it in the main living room over the LG LED 1080p TVs I have.

I plan to wait for a 4K OLED, once LG get their act togethor and make a reliable and consistent panel.

 

[beastlove]

I would go with option A if you have to choose between the two. I wouldn't be too concerned about PC gaming on TV. Steam Big Picture Mode is great and you could always hook up a cheap Mouse/Keyboard AIO if you need a keyboard for chatting or whatever.
Just be aware that there is no Sony pixie dust magic available on PC that will do some upscaling shenanigans and you will not run the latest and greatest AAA games at native, real 4K30/60 with this setup. However, you will easily be able to revisit PS3/360 gen games or play indie games at these specs on your TV.

If you want to get a feel for what your specific combo can achieve in some games you are planning to play, you could always check for benchmark videos on YouTube. i3 6100/GTX1060 seems to be a popular midrange option.

To be honest, I just want to play the latest games at 60fps 1080p. have no interest at all in 4k at the moment

 

[LordAlu]

Hey GAF, I just got back home from a week long work trip and my ancient 2010 build has finally bit the dust. I have a $1600 budget for a new build, not including monitors, keyboard or mouse.

Any help?

Fill out the questions in the OP my friend, and we shall advise

Is 16 gb of ram the new standard?

Depends on cost, but in all honesty 8GB is fine. If you can afford to get 16GB and it means you don't have to skimp on something else, then sure, but it's also relatively cheap and easy to upgrade to 16GB later if you can't.

 

[shagia]

A z170 is a motherboard chipset which allows for overclocking.


Only unlocked CPUs can be overclocked. Those have a K behind the product name.

You picked a locked CPU which can't be overclocked, so a Z170 motherboard is overkill.

I have no idea what this means

here's a deece article on the difference between some chipsets and what they mean for you

and my own two cents on the mobo, I feel like this mobo would be more orientated towards what you're looking for and what vector recommended

 

[Stevey]

Is 16 gb of ram the new standard?

16 is minimum

 

[chaosblade]

here's a deece article on the difference between some chipsets and what they mean for you

and my own two cents on the mobo, I feel like this mobo would be more orientated towards what you're looking for and what vector recommended

I don't know that I'd recommend ITX unless someone specifically wants a small build. Even mATX offers a lot more expandability. Plus it makes for a harder build for an inexperienced builder.

 

[sn00zer]

Thanks for the replies. I would like to upgrade components in the future, but do not want an entirely new build for a looong time so expandable sounds nice

 

[Generic Power Ranger]

Doesn't seem like it as far as I've seen. Main change is XPoint support. In general Kaby and Z270 have very minor changes over Skylake and Z170.

Hmm. Yeah, thanks. I was also wondering if motherboards fall in price when new ones are introduced ? I've been hoping to get one of the better ones, but it's not really worth the wait if the prices will remain for the old mobos.

 

[kuYuri]

Hey GAF, I just got back home from a week long work trip and my ancient 2010 build has finally bit the dust. I have a $1600 budget for a new build, not including monitors, keyboard or mouse.

Any help?

Here you go. You can also replace the i5 with an i7 if you are doing video editing/rendering work and other CPU related tasks. Maybe also get a bigger HDD if you need it.

Consider answering some of the questions from the OP if you want more tailored opinions and suggestions!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($227.88 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($159.81 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($79.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($158.57 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card ($409.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($85.70 @ My Choice Software)
Total: $1368.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-01 17:07 EDT-0400

 

[sfried]

Are you using the optical bay?

http://www.overclock.net/t/1466816/silverstone-raven-rvz01-rvz02-ml07-ml08-ftz01-owners-club/4230#post_24446634

Yes, I've seen that thread. Right now my optical bay is being occupied by a BluRay drive.

 

[LilJoka]

Yes, I've seen that thread. Right now my optical bay is being occupied by a BluRay drive.

Pretty much stuck with the ITX GPUs then.
I guess if you want more performance or possibly lower heat output and noise, then the 1070 ITX is an option.

 

[Karspankey]

Hey guys! Got my GTX 1060 and it's been pretty sweet so far! I do, of course, have a question.

Is there much of a difference between the FX-6300 (what I have) vs the FX-8350 when it comes to gaming?

I just pre-ordered Mafia 3 after seeing that I meet or surpass all the system requirements except for the CPU, my 6300 against the recommended 8350. I just want to play the game at high settings at 30fps, so does anyone think that it won't matter if I have the FX-6300? Thanks!

 

[Hands of Stone]

Depends on cost, but in all honesty 8GB is fine. If you can afford to get 16GB and it means you don't have to skimp on something else, then sure, but it's also relatively cheap and easy to upgrade to 16GB later if you can't.

I've got a pretty solid build, (i5-4590/GTX970) I'm just looking at what else I can upgrade before I order my new GPU.

Ram and another SSD it is.

 

[lostsupper]

What's a good cooler for an i5 6600k nowadays? I'm on my second CoolerMaster 212 now and both made a weird, irritating noise from time to time even during normal desktop use.
I kinda gave my PC case a smack today in a feeble attempt to make it stop making said noise (I swear this method worked before!) but now it permanently sounds like a freaking drill machine.

That's because the fan is the cheapest thing the CoolerMaster could source. Your options are entirely dependent on your budget and case/motherboard setup. Like chaosblade said, the Cryorig H7 is the best direct replacement.

 

[sfried]

Pretty much stuck with the ITX GPUs then.
I guess if you want more performance or possibly lower heat output and noise, then the 1070 ITX is an option.

I was just wondering if I should wait for the price to drop, or given the fact that there aren't as many ITX GPUs, to snag one sooner than later?

 

[nightmare-slain]

Why can't I increase the core voltage in Afterburner on my 1080 card? I have checked the voltage control in the settings

You need to download the beta version of Afterburner. You can't adjust voltages in the standard version.

This is gonna be a stupid question but it's something I haven't noticed. My cpu core keeps fluctuating wildly even at idle. It'll go from 798Mhz to 2000mhz then jump down to 1k something then go back down to 798 for a bit chill for like...five seconds then hope to 3999mhz. Is that normal?

Because I swear it used to be able to calm down and stay calm until I opened something.

It's normal. My i7 jumps around anywhere between 0.8-4.5Ghz even when not doing anything crazy.

ok guys i need help in buying monitor for my 280x card......

I narrow it down to 4 monitors

1-Samsung S24F350FHM 24 = 163$
2-Samsung S24C750P 24 = 157$
3-Samsung S24D300HS 24 = 168$
4-BenQ RL2455HM 24 = 202$

i will use it for games and watching movies ...

I dont know about those samsung monitors but i have that benq and im happy with it. A lot of people complain it looks washed out but if you calibrate it you'll be fine. I play games and watch tv shows on it. Looks just fine.

 

[n0razi]

Just bought a PM961 1TB for $480 on ebay.. I couldnt wait for the 960 Pro/Evo


3,100 MB/s right off the bat so good enough for me

 

[ColdDeckEd]

Hey guys! Got my GTX 1060 and it's been pretty sweet so far! I do, of course, have a question.

Is there much of a difference between the FX-6300 (what I have) vs the FX-8350 when it comes to gaming?

I just pre-ordered Mafia 3 after seeing that I meet or surpass all the system requirements except for the CPU, my 6300 against the recommended 8350. I just want to play the game at high settings at 30fps, so does anyone think that it won't matter if I have the FX-6300? Thanks!

It depends if the game the game engine is highly multithreaded, then the 8350 will run the game better. On most games though, there isn't much of a difference between the two.

 

[nightmare-slain]

I'm thinking of upgrading my monitor and I'm dreading it. It got me wondering if anyone else has a particular part they dread shopping for when it comes to building a pc.

For me the worst parts are monitors and motherboards. Monitor because well it's the part you're staring at all the time so you need to worry about things like dead/bright pixels, uneven backlight bleed, and tinting. Never had a faulty motherboard myself but I always worry something will be wrong. Also, when it comes to finding what ones are well built and reviewed it can be quite bothersome. I just hate shopping for them. Buying parts like ssd/cpu/ram are no problem and you really can't go wrong.

Maybe it's a stupid question but it's just something I think about. I'm going to try my luck again with thr Dell U2515H monitor. First time I bought it there was dead pixels and the screen was all scratched.

 

[n0razi]

I'm thinking of upgrading my monitor and I'm dreading it. It got me wondering if anyone else has a particular part they dread shopping for when it comes to building a pc.

Heatsink... you have to take EVERYTHING apart.

 

[Karspankey]

It depends if the game the game engine is highly multithreaded, then the 8350 will run the game better. On most games though, there isn't much of a difference between the two.

That's what I'm guessing that since it is also on the PS4 and ONE. Hoping that the recommended specs are with 60fps in mind! Found a video of the PC version and it seems to run well, although the specs of the PC and the settings are unknown. Here's the video if anyone is interested https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dPofpyhr-M&feature=youtu.be

Thanks for replying again, Ed!

 

[RootCause]

I've been curious. When exactly does trim garbage collection kicks in?

I've been told when it's idle on the start screen, and no apps/programs are running, and on bios.

 

[ColdDeckEd]

That's what I'm guessing that since it is also on the PS4 and ONE. Hoping that the recommended specs are with 60fps in mind! Found a video of the PC version and it seems to run well, although the specs of the PC and the settings are unknown. Here's the video if anyone is interested https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dPofpyhr-M&feature=youtu.be

Thanks for replying again, Ed!

While it may be made for consoles, you have to keep in mind the CPUs on these consoles are like 8 core netbook cpus, even the fx6300 makes them look slow.

 

[Arkanius]

Finally finished my new Build

However, the PC is absolutely unstable or simply does not boot when my second 8GB DRR4 ram is installed. I think it's bad. I'm going to try to use memtest but it sounds clearly faulty. Just one 8GB stick is working fine and everything looks stable.

 

[xkramz]

So are rgb fans yay or nay? Thinking of getting the nzxt aer fans.

 

[chaosblade]

So are rgb fans yay or nay? Thinking of getting the nzxt aer fans.

Personal preference. I avoid lights because I find them kind of tacky. My sound card has LEDs (didn't realize that when I bought it) so when I upgrade I'll be covering or removing them.

 

[xkramz]

Personal preference. I avoid lights because I find them kind of tacky. My sound card has LEDs (didn't realize that when I bought it) so when I upgrade I'll be covering or removing them.

Oh alright. Thanks. Also instead of covering or removing them, download Nvidia led visualizer to control your gpu lights and even turn off

 

[Triforce141]

Question about moving old hard drives and SSDs to a new computer, is there anything special I need to do? I've reformatted the thing via the settings reset, can I take it out and put it into my other PC, no problem?

It's fine. If you are installing Windows on the SSD, make sure to not have any other drives connected to the motherboard until after the Windows installation is done.

The SSD is the primary drive with the OS on this computer, I'm going to have Windows Media Creation Tool on a flash drive, just in case if I need it.

 

[Echoes]

Just bought a PM961 1TB for $480 on ebay.. I couldnt wait for the 960 Pro/Evo


3,100 MB/s right off the bat so good enough for me

Did you have to do anything special in terms of BIOS, etc? I installed mine in a Angelbird Wings PX1 and I'm getting disappointing results. (Post 1, post 2, post 3.)