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"I Need a New PC!" 2016 Plus Ultra! HBM2, VR, 144Hz, and 4K for all!

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Vuze

Member
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ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 STRIX ADVANCED GAMING for 566€ starting today 12:00

629€ right now on Alternate.de's eBay store (Alternate is a highly reputable store and the card is brand new)
10% off EBay PowerWOW! PayPal coupon available starting 12:00 (you can order now and pay later with the coupon)

Also, you get to take advantage of the Watch Dogs 2 promo. Crazy deal.
Limited quantities, so get in quick if you are looking for a 1080.

Brought to you by mydealz
 
Hi GAF, what do you think of the build below?

I'm building my first PC and this is as much as I could fit into my budget of 1500 euro. I looking at 1440p gaming at ultra settings and 60 fps. I will be gaming on it primarily, but also some video encoding.

I want the build to be as clean, quiet and relatively small as possible (not into case modding, RGB lighting and stuff), that's why I opted for the Define Nano case.

Case: Fractal Design Define Nano S Zwart
Case fan: Fractal Design Dynamic GP-14 White blades
Mobo: Asus Z170I Pro Gaming
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 550 GS (V2)
CPU: Intel Core i7 6700K
CPU cooler: Noctua NH-U12S
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 1070 AERO 8G OC
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2x8GB) @ 3GHz
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO M.2 500GB
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home NL 64bit OEM
 

jon bones

hot hot hanuman-on-man action
OK - RAM question time!

my ram is 3000mhz (ddr4). in my mobo bios, i set the XMP profile so it's using this higher clock speed.

i checked CPU-Z and i see SPD Ext. is set to XMP 2.0 and the XMP-2998 profile has a Frequency of 1499 Mhz. Double that for DDR and i get 2998Mhz - almost exactly as advertised.

does that make sense? i want to make sure i'm taking advantage of the higher lcock sspeed.

EmHFd7v.png




Go to Settings, devices, bluetooth and make sure it is on,and it will show what you can connect too.

i've done all that, it connects but keeps disconnecting. i think it honestly might be because of the distance/desk in between the BT reciever in my pc and the controller itself
 
Is the 1070 beefy enough to run GSync at 144Hz on 1440p, ie. the Asus PG278Q?

Depends on the game and settings, but it will be workable for just about anything with a bit of tweaking. If you want to be full-ultra no compromises and stay over 100 fps all the time, then it's not quite. But as long as you don't care about turning a couple settings down it is fine.
 

Nachtmaer

Member
OK - RAM question time!

my ram is 3000mhz (ddr4). in my mobo bios, i set the XMP profile so it's using this higher clock speed.

i checked CPU-Z and i see SPD Ext. is set to XMP 2.0 and the XMP-2998 profile has a Frequency of 1499 Mhz. Double that for DDR and i get 2998Mhz - almost exactly as advertised.

does that make sense? i want to make sure i'm taking advantage of the higher lcock sspeed.

EmHFd7v.png

Yeah. It's because the baseclock isn't always running exactly at 100MHz which is why it's a bit off.
 

Vuze

Member
If the monitor is 144Hz. Does it mean it can only achieve GSync at 144 fps?
No, Gsync range is roughly 30-144 (I think there might be slight differences to when it kicks in on the lower end depending on the model but you wouldn't want to play in that range anyway eh).
Also this would defeat the whole purpose of Gsync which to a large extent is to smooth out framerate variances and all the unpleasant side effect that comes with on fixed refresh rate displays.
 

ElyrionX

Member
Below 144fps.

G-Sync wouldn't work above 144fps.

No, Gsync range is roughly 30-144 (I think there might be slight differences to when it kicks in on the lower end depending on the model but you wouldn't want to play in that range anyway eh).
Also this would defeat the whole purpose of Gsync which to a large extent is to smooth out framerate variances and all the unpleasant side effect that comes with on fixed refresh rate displays.

Wait. So if I get the Asus monitor with the 144Hz refresh, I can just play at 60fps and still get the god-like GSync effect that everyone talks about?

If that's the case, why does everyone talk about maintaining 144fps for this monitor?
 

Raw64life

Member
Was hoping to see the Dell S2417DG fall before $400 and then I was gonna get it, but now it's gone up to $500. This is not how Black Friday deals are supposed to work :\

How good is pcpartpicker with tracking deals? Do they show up on there instantly or does it take a bit for it to update?
 

Vuze

Member
Wait. So if I get the Asus monitor with the 144Hz refresh, I can just play at 60fps and still get the god-like GSync effect that everyone talks about?

If that's the case, why does everyone talk about maintaining 144fps for this monitor?
Uhm, you just set up the game and leave it running without a FPS cap and Gsync gets rid of tearing, input lag (that Vsync would cause in exchange for no tearing) and GPU-induced framerate stutter/variances within its range (as stated above, roughly 30fps-max refresh).
You have to forget about the 60fps-or-bust mentality that is pursued with traditional fixed refresh rate monitors. I'm not sure how else to describe it lol

I don't think anyone is ever talking about pushing any monitor at native 144fps+ because that's just not feasible at all in AAA games. It's just great for competitive players, desktop use and is a nice bonus for older games that can be pushed that far on a modern GPU.
 

ElyrionX

Member
Uhm, you just set up the game and leave it running without a FPS cap and Gsync gets rid of tearing, input lag (that Vsync would cause in exchange for no tearing) and GPU-induced framerate stutter/variances within its range (as stated above, roughly 30fps-max refresh).
You have to forget about the 60fps-or-bust mentality that is pursued with traditional fixed refresh rate monitors. I'm not sure how else to describe it lol

I don't think anyone is ever talking about pushing any monitor at native 144fps+ because that's just not feasible at all in AAA games. It's just great for competitive players, desktop use and is a nice bonus for older games that can be pushed that far on a modern GPU.

Many thanks. I've been misunderstanding GSync then.
 

BadAss2961

Member
Was hoping to see the Dell S2417DG fall before $400 and then I was gonna get it, but now it's gone up to $500. This is not how Black Friday deals are supposed to work :\
Sucks... I've been eyeing the 27 inch, which appears to have gone way up in price as well.

Quick question guys... On average, how much worse does 1440p look on a 4K monitor than it would natively? Planning on gaming mostly at 1440p, but wouldn't mind doing 4K with less demanding games.
 

microdot

Member
Crucial MX300 750GB SSD - $99.99
Samsung 1TB 850 Evo - $214.99

I can't decide if the cost of the Samsung 850 is justified over the Crucial MX300. Or if keeping the two SSD's would be worth it. Are SSD speeds noticeable?
 
Hi GAF, what do you think of the build below?

I'm building my first PC and this is as much as I could fit into my budget of 1500 euro. I looking at 1440p gaming at ultra settings and 60 fps. I will be gaming on it primarily, but also some video encoding.

I want the build to be as clean, quiet and relatively small as possible (not into case modding, RGB lighting and stuff), that's why I opted for the Define Nano case.

Case: Fractal Design Define Nano S Zwart
Case fan: Fractal Design Dynamic GP-14 White blades
Mobo: Asus Z170I Pro Gaming
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 550 GS (V2)
CPU: Intel Core i7 6700K
CPU cooler: Noctua NH-U12S
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 1070 AERO 8G OC
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2x8GB) @ 3GHz
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO M.2 500GB
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home NL 64bit OEM

Super solid. You can fit the NH-U14S in that case, which is slightly better than the NH-U12S.
 

Werd

Member
The Dell P2715Q was briefly available for $275 on Staples.

Put in an order to lock the price but don't know if I actually want it yet. Has anyone been following the 4K monitor market closer and have a comment on if this is a particularly notable deal or just kind of standard among the Black Friday options? Only 60 HZ, but IPS appeals to me.
 

Pagusas

Elden Member
Almost done! The Gpu is just temporary until the 1080ti comes out. Should be up in running tonight (this is still early, haven't fully tucked wires and no glass panel or stand on yet)

Specs:

I7 6700k
Asus ROG Maximus Impact VIII motherboard
G.skill 32gb 3200 CAS 14 ddr4
Lian Li 750watt SFX power supply
Case: Lian Li PC-05sx
Samsung 850evo 512gb (may pick up a 1tb ssd today)
770gtx (to be swapped out for a 1080ti soon as they are released)
Corsair 100i v2 water cooler

So far all of this has cost me under 1k thanks to hitting sales at all the right times! The ti will probably add $800 to that though.
 

Zel3

Member
Almost done! The Gpu is just temporary until the 1080ti comes out. Should be up in running tonight (this is still early, haven't fully tucked wires and no glass panel or stand on yet)


Specs:

I7 6700k
Asus ROG Maximus Impact VIII motherboard
G.skill 32gb 3200 CAS 14 ddr4
Lian Li 750watt SFX power supply
Case: Lian Li PC-05sx
Samsung 850evo 512gb (may pick up a 1tb ssd today)
770gtx (to be swapped out for a 1080ti soon as they are released)
Corsair 100i v2 water cooler

So far all of this has cost me under 1k thanks to hitting sales at all the right times! The ti will probably add $800 to that though.

I love cases like the one you got. Very unique and I like seeing the fan on the GPU. :D
 

Costia

Member
Any recommendations for a wireless keyboard?
I have a logitech K260 and i would prefer something with full height keys.

A while ago i ordered a wired mechanical keyboard (razer). The shift button stopped working within a week so i returned it.
Anyway, it was quite heavy, so i don't think a wireless mechanical will be good for me.
 

Sotha_Sil

Member
Welp, finally pulled the trigger on the rest of my parts. By the end of next week, I should have:

CPU: 6600k
CPU Cooler: 212 Evo cooler
GPU: AMD 480 4GB (Sapphire Nitro+)
Memory: 16 GB DDR4 3000mhz
SSD: 480 GB
Hard Drive: 1 TB HD
Motherboard: MSI Z170-A
Monitor: ViewSonic XG2401 monitor (144hz, freesync)

Some parts I already had from prior sales. Right now I'm under 1k costs (not counting $50 in rebate cards coming), but I still need Windows 10 and a case. Any PC-GAF thoughts on:

1 - I was originally looking at Phanteks Eclipse 400 but I might just go with their Enthoo Pro full tower case. It doesn't cost too much more, but there's some better fans, more space, and a few extra USB slots. Any experiences with these cases?

2- What's the best way to get Windows 10? Since I won't have an optical drive, it sounds like USB download is the only option, but shit, those are around $120 from what I'm seeing right now.

In any case, can't wait to get it all running. I already have all the games I'll need for many, many months between GOG (Witcher 3 GOTY, SOMA, Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Vamp: The Masq - Bloodlines), Steam (Dishonored DE, Deus Ex: MD, Skyrim, STALKER bundle, South Park: Stick of Truth), and free promos (Civilization VI).
 
I live in an apartment building. If I get a powerline adapter, could someone in another apartment intercept my internet? Could it pose a security risk?
 
I know very very little about PC specs and whatnot so seeing some of these PC building guides is tough to digest to say the least lol. That said the new MBPs ridiculous price has really tempted me to get a PC, and seeing as it's Black Friday tomorrow as well I might be able to pick up everything needed for even cheaper. What's the best I could get for like £1.5k (including monitor, mouse etc, so everything)?
 

tm24

Member
So i need a drive solely dedicated to my games, what's a good large storage drive? Dont need an SSD since i can have about 3 games on my OS SSD and switch in and out as needed
 

Mr Swine

Banned
So I just ordered a i7 6700k, 8GB DDR4 ram 2666mhz and a ASUS Pro 1051 motherboard on Black Friday sale here in Sweden. I thought of getting a GTX 1070 but I'll wait for the next gen instead, my 970 will last me a bit longer :)

Edit: screw it, got second thoughts and cancelled my order, think I'll wait a bit longer before upgrading :/ rather buy a larger SSD
 

Bloodember

Member
Hi GAF, what do you think of the build below?

I'm building my first PC and this is as much as I could fit into my budget of 1500 euro. I looking at 1440p gaming at ultra settings and 60 fps. I will be gaming on it primarily, but also some video encoding.

I want the build to be as clean, quiet and relatively small as possible (not into case modding, RGB lighting and stuff), that's why I opted for the Define Nano case.

Case: Fractal Design Define Nano S Zwart
Case fan: Fractal Design Dynamic GP-14 White blades
Mobo: Asus Z170I Pro Gaming
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 550 GS (V2)
CPU: Intel Core i7 6700K
CPU cooler: Noctua NH-U12S
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 1070 AERO 8G OC
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2x8GB) @ 3GHz
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO M.2 500GB
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home NL 64bit OEM

Welp, finally pulled the trigger on the rest of my parts. By the end of next week, I should have:

CPU: 6600k
CPU Cooler: 212 Evo cooler
GPU: AMD 480 4GB (Sapphire Nitro+)
Memory: 16 GB DDR4 3000mhz
SSD: 480 GB
Hard Drive: 1 TB HD
Motherboard: MSI Z170-A
Monitor: ViewSonic XG2401 monitor (144hz, freesync)

Some parts I already had from prior sales. Right now I'm under 1k costs (not counting $50 in rebate cards coming), but I still need Windows 10 and a case. Any PC-GAF thoughts on:

1 - I was originally looking at Phanteks Eclipse 400 but I might just go with their Enthoo Pro full tower case. It doesn't cost too much more, but there's some better fans, more space, and a few extra USB slots. Any experiences with these cases?

2- What's the best way to get Windows 10? Since I won't have an optical drive, it sounds like USB download is the only option, but shit, those are around $120 from what I'm seeing right now.

In any case, can't wait to get it all running. I already have all the games I'll need for many, many months between GOG (Witcher 3 GOTY, SOMA, Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Vamp: The Masq - Bloodlines), Steam (Dishonored DE, Deus Ex: MD, Skyrim, STALKER bundle, South Park: Stick of Truth), and free promos (Civilization VI).

Get the key from here then go to Microsoft's website and download the windows media installer to get windows on a USB.
 
Ugh I'm completely stuck between a PS4 and significantly upgrading my PC (I'm rocking an AMD Phenom II X4 ffs). I can't do both, too much money, but I can do one now, and do planning on doing the other next year, it's just about what I can get now, they're both good deals and pretty equal in my eyes.

For PS4, I can get the Best Buy deal which a PS4 UC4 bundle with R&C and LoU Remastered for only 250$. I also plan on getting Bloodborne +DLC for about 40$ through PSN. I also plan on picking up FFXV and Last Guardian when they come out, also Persona 5 when it comes out in April. Altogether it'll cost me about 470$ with taxes

The PC issue is that I still have parts from 2010, only the GPU and HDD have gone through upgrades. So far, I've found and I5 6600K with a MOBO combo, case, ram, and PSU for only about 30$ more than what I would be spending on PS4 + games.

Here's how I mostly see it, with the PS4 I'd have instant gratification. I'd be able to play Bloodborne, which I've been desperate to play, along with UC4 and R&C tonight, and then be able to get those three other games as they come out. It'll be a nice steady flow, but idk what else I'd get on PS4 besides those games. It could very easily be a thing where I don't touch my PS4 for months at a time in between games.

With my PC I would have to wait days for the parts, and I would have no new games to go along with them, but I would be able to play more of the modern games, as well as certain emulators, at higher framerates. Games like DS3 and SFV consume 50% of my time playing games on PC. I'd be able to play tons of games with at least a 20 FPS increase thanks to the CPU upgrade alone. Games I own but haven't completed, partly because I want to play them at better settings such as Doom and Witcher 3 would basically be new experiences and I would get absorbed into them again, along with games that I would be interested in where I wasn't before, like BF1, Titanfall 2 and Space Hulk.

Any advice? Posted this in the black friday thread but didn't get much of a response.
 
I have an ITX case so the Strix is unfortunately too long.
What kind of ITX case is it? You might be better off with a blower style card or you'll deal with high temps and noise.

It really comes down to how much you currently play your PC vs how much you think you'll play the PS4. I think the PS4 has a lot of great games available and depending on how much playtime you have available it will probably take you quite a lot of time to get through the games you will be getting. You also want to think about the fact that the games you mentioned as wanting to play are not currently on or coming to PC (FF15/Persona 5). If you want my personal opinion I'd go for the PC upgrade because, for me I have the bad habit of buying a new console and then giving up on it in a month or two in favor of going back to my regular PC games like League of Legends. That being said I have played TLOU and Bloodborne and they are games definitely worth playing.
 
Almost done! The Gpu is just temporary until the 1080ti comes out. Should be up in running tonight (this is still early, haven't fully tucked wires and no glass panel or stand on yet)


Specs:

I7 6700k
Asus ROG Maximus Impact VIII motherboard
G.skill 32gb 3200 CAS 14 ddr4
Lian Li 750watt SFX power supply
Case: Lian Li PC-05sx
Samsung 850evo 512gb (may pick up a 1tb ssd today)
770gtx (to be swapped out for a 1080ti soon as they are released)
Corsair 100i v2 water cooler

So far all of this has cost me under 1k thanks to hitting sales at all the right times! The ti will probably add $800 to that though.

That's beautiful. I'm building an iTX inside the Fractal Define Nano. Going to do a custom loop because the cooling in my founders 1080 just isn't good enough. I was thinking about going with the Asus Maximus Impact like you did but decided on the Gigabyte Gaming iTX board because it has an M.2 slot in the back. I miss having that asus bios though. It's so elegantly designed compared to the gigabyte bios.

If I could offer one piece of advice, i think noctua fans are hit or miss. Some fans like the 140mm redux line are brilliant and others make a droning noise that drives me nuts. I'm going to be using Gentle Typhoon 120mm (non pwm) fans for my radiator and those things are silent while pushing an unbelievable amount of air through radiators at low RPM. If you find the noctuas too noisy try them out


Your case is beautiful. Might be difficult to fit a small custom loop inside it though

Edit** I guess I could fit a pump in front of the video card
 
It really comes down to how much you currently play your PC vs how much you think you'll play the PS4. I think the PS4 has a lot of great games available and depending on how much playtime you have available it will probably take you quite a lot of time to get through the games you will be getting. You also want to think about the fact that the games you mentioned as wanting to play are not currently on or coming to PC (FF15/Persona 5). If you want my personal opinion I'd go for the PC upgrade because, for me I have the bad habit of buying a new console and then giving up on it in a month or two in favor of going back to my regular PC games like League of Legends. That being said I have played TLOU and Bloodborne and they are games definitely worth playing.

With FF15 and Persona 5, I feel perfectly fine with waiting for those games. I am sure a year out we'll be seeing a repack of FFXV with DLC content and year after that similar stuff for Persona 5, which they've always done. Bloodborne would be the game I would really like to sink my teeth into,TLOU I've already played through on PS3 so it's not much of an incentive. My components, aside from GPU and RAM, are old as sin and a major bottleneck for performance in my rig. I would see major FPS improvement from a new CPU, especially since SFV is like your League of Legends, I will always drift back to that in some way, so I would benefit more from PC upgrades, but this PS4 deal is really good.
 
Hey guys just a quick question.

I just got a 4k tv and I'm planning to play a lot of PC games on it. I have a 980 ti so for a lot of games I'm probably going to sit around the 40-45 fps range.

What's the best way to deal with playing games at that kind of framerate? I'm use to compromising on settings until I have a solid 60 (and at 1440p I don't have to compromise much) but I'm guessing that won't be realistically viable at 4k.

Is this what adaptive v-sync is intended for?
 

CaLe

Member
Finally ready to pull the trigger on my new build.

Anything you guys think I should change ? Note: I have a 980Ti and 850W Power Supply that I'll be re-using, as well as a couple SSDs.

The only thing I'm not sure of is the RAM and case.

Thanks, your feedback is appreciated. It's a lot of money :)

Total: 1,113.89 CAD

 
Well, they will need your WiFi ssid and password in order to tap to your Internet as a start.

But you don't need a password to connect to ethernet, so that's my concern. Isn't it essentially the same as having an unsecured wifi network, because someone else could buy a powerline adapter and connect to the network?
 
That's beautiful. I'm building an iTX inside the Fractal Define Nano. Going to do a custom loop because the cooling in my founders 1080 just isn't good enough. I was thinking about going with the Asus Maximus Impact like you did but decided on the Gigabyte Gaming iTX board because it has an M.2 slot in the back. I miss having that asus bios though. It's so elegantly designed compared to the gigabyte bios.

If I could offer one piece of advice, i think noctua fans are hit or miss. Some fans like the 140mm redux line are brilliant and others make a droning noise that drives me nuts. I'm going to be using Gentle Typhoon 120mm (non pwm) fans for my radiator and those things are silent while pushing an unbelievable amount of air through radiators at low RPM. If you find the noctuas too noisy try them out


Your case is beautiful. Might be difficult to fit a small custom loop inside it though

Edit** I guess I could fit a pump in front of the video card

EK Vardar's move more air at a more pleasant acoustic tone than Scythe GT's.
 
Alright guys, I need your help!

My bro is a photographer and is looking to get a new computer to edit his stuff. I told him I would build a PC for him and he agreed. Thing is that he just went to a photography meetup and someone there is trying to tell him that they can build him a mac. I was like, bro, what? I didn't know you could do that. Still, I asked him what kind of magic he thinks a mac is going to add to his photos that wouldn't be there on a PC since they run the exact same software and he couldn't tell me but was still leaning towards having this total stranger build him a mac just because yeah, this guy is a photographer... I tried to tell him that a mac is going to cost like twice as much as a PC that I could build and would be half the power or less.

Thing is I know that he doesn't make much at the moment and I know that the mac ecosystem can be a huge money sink.

So, Gaf, help a brother out by helping me convince my brother that PC is the way to go. Unless I am completely wrong here... I will
un
graciously accept defeat if so.

He has about $400/$500 to play with and no need to worry about a GPU as I am selling him my R9 390 as well. So could you come up with something that I can show him? I figured there would be some great black Friday deals as well. I am gonna try to get him one of the crucial 750GB ssd's that go on sale tonight for $99 but could use some help on the rest since it's such short notice and I haven't done much black Friday research.
 
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