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[Flipside]

Hey everyone.

I’m currently looking into building a new PC and I’m quite overwhelmed by the immense amount of options available for every component. Currently I have a Q9450 on a Asus Rampage Formula. I built the PC in 2008 and I upgraded to a SSD (Samsung) and an MSI 770GTX Lightning Edition a few years ago. While it still works, it is really time for an upgrade. Hopefully some of you can point me in the right direction of what to do and what not to do.

I have a few general requirements/guidelines for the new PC:

• It has to be a bit future proof since I’m not upgrading every year.
• I’m mainly a console gamer but I would like to branch out to PC gaming too.
• Its main purpose will be development (things like Unity)
• Preferably no ASUS components (due to a very bad customer service experience where they weren’t replacing a monitor with parts falling off within warranty period)

When I built a PC with an online PC configurator I put this together:

CPU: i7 6800k
CPU Cooler: Scythe Mugen 4
Motherboard: MSI X99A Pro Gaming Carbon
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X 8G
Ram: Corsair Vengeance 32GB
SSD: Intel 750 series 400GB PCIe
HDD: Some 2TB drive
Power: Antec EDG650
Case: Fractal Design Define 5

I tried to create a combination which makes sense but I still have a lot of questions about it:

• Is an i7 (6800k) worth it? The performance gains over the 6700k don’t seem to be that noticeable and I also see the i5 6600k popping up as a popular CPU. However, the 6800k does have the latest architecture.
• Not sure if a Scythe Mugen 4 is the best choice. The most important thing is low temperatures and low noise. Contemplated water cooling but that seems to be noisier.
• What’s a good motherboard? This one is around 300 EUR but every brand has an immense range of boards and I have no idea what’s important and what isn’t. Should you spend 600 EUR or will one of 150 EUR also suffice?
• Is it worth spending the extra money on a 1080? Also, there are quite some versions of the 1080 (even within the MSI range).
• What RAM should I pick and how much?
• Is a PCIe SSD worth it?
• In the OT I see EVGA power supplies. Is that better than Antec? I would prefer fully modular (if this has no downsides).

Or is something significantly better around the corner (new architecture) and should I wait a bit longer or opt for a a less high end PC at this point?

Any input will be greatly appreciated

 

[LilJoka]

Was able to use the hardware change option and reactivate win10 on new build. Went super smooth. Never had to interact w/ a human.

Just finished installing new mobo/proc/ram/m2ssd and formatting old ssd now that I'm legit again.
Whew.

Thanks for all the help y'all.

Already did the ninite thing. Now re-downloading all the games I'm eager to test.
Super excited.

Gonna start with Cities Skylines and Crysis. Then do the RB:S benchmarks.

Update: Skylines still runs like shit. But I didn't dick around much.

Monitoring temps and stuff now. I think this cooler and my case need an upgrade..

Prime95 is supposed to peg everything, right? Using open hw monitor and rockets up to 100c pretty fast if I'm reading right. Then throttles?.
idle and d/ling shit about 50.
I need to play a game for awhile I guess.

It was also about 28c ~80f here in ATX today. WTF? We've been running the AC..

No it should not go to 100c, but 28c ambient is quite high. I would expect around 40c idle.

Hi, I've got a couple questions regarding a build I'm going to buy at the beginning of January.

CPU: i5-6500
RAM: G.SKILL NT Series 8GB 2133 DDR4
GPU: ?
Motherboard: MSI H110M-Pro-VD
Storage: PNY CS1311 240GB SSD + WD Black 1TB
PSU: Rosewill Capstone G 650W 80+ Gold
Case: Cooler Master N200

First question: I read a while back that some motherboards don't support just a single RAM module, and the motherboard specs say "Dual Channel memory." Is this actually an issue? Or can any modern Dual Channel system also run in single? I'll be buying a second identical stick of RAM in a month or so to hit 16GB as this motherboard only has 2 ram slots. A single module should work without a problem or does that spec mean only Dual Channel mode is functional?

Second: I'll be using a friend's old 650 Ti for the time being but I plan on spending $200-250 for a new GPU soon. Any recommendations between a 480, 1060 and a B-stock EVGA 970? I previously had one of the better b stock 970s with my 2500K and was really pleased with it but I'd guess those newer architecture cards will age better? My goal is 1080 and maybe 120hz down the line for multiplayer games which I'm usually not playing on high any way for a couple years.

I'd appreciate any advice thrown my way

You can run a single ram module just fine.

480/1060 are fine, just check the benches to choose between them.

 

[Frankfurter]

Hi, I've got a couple questions regarding a build I'm going to buy at the beginning of January.

CPU: i5-6500
RAM: G.SKILL NT Series 8GB 2133 DDR4
GPU: ?
Motherboard: MSI H110M-Pro-VD
Storage: PNY CS1311 240GB SSD + WD Black 1TB
PSU: Rosewill Capstone G 650W 80+ Gold
Case: Cooler Master N200

First question: I read a while back that some motherboards don't support just a single RAM module, and the motherboard specs say "Dual Channel memory." Is this actually an issue? Or can any modern Dual Channel system also run in single? I'll be buying a second identical stick of RAM in a month or so to hit 16GB as this motherboard only has 2 ram slots. A single module should work without a problem or does that spec mean only Dual Channel mode is functional?

Second: I'll be using a friend's old 650 Ti for the time being but I plan on spending $200-250 for a new GPU soon. Any recommendations between a 480, 1060 and a B-stock EVGA 970? I previously had one of the better b stock 970s with my 2500K and was really pleased with it but I'd guess those newer architecture cards will age better? My goal is 1080 and maybe 120hz down the line for multiplayer games which I'm usually not playing on high any way for a couple years.

I'd appreciate any advice thrown my way

You can use 1 ram module and then later upgrade.

1060 (6GB)/480 (8GB) really is a close one. Most newer reviews put them neck and neck with 480 having a slight edge because of DX12. On the other hand 1060 draws way less power. Price wise both should be around the same.
Don't go with a 970. It has 3.5GB of fast VRAM and 0.5GB of very, very slow VRAM, which will cause problems sooner or later (rather sooner than later).

Do you still have that 2500k? Overclocked to ~4.5 Ghz it really isn't much slower than the i5-6500 you are planning to buy.

Btw. that PSUs wattage is way too much, unless you plan to do SLI/Crossfire in the future.

 

[K1LLER7]

Laptop crapped out on me and i've deceided to build a PC for the 1st time. Looking at the following parts for the build, but not sure if overkill on some parts or if cheaper alternatives will work just a effectively or better. Primarily going to be used for Gaming and the usual browsing. Want something that can last long term. Only looked into Overclocking a little but not something i'll look to do straight away and maybe will look at it in the future. Any feedback is appreciated!
-

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£315.95 @ Amazon UK)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£29.98 @ Amazon UK)

Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£129.95 @ Amazon UK)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£89 @ Amazon Uk)

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£144.28 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£66.00 @ Amazon UK)

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card (£399.93 @ Amazon UK)

Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.95 @ Amazon UK)

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£66.38 @ Amazon UK)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (£85)

Sound Card: Asus Xonar DG 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card (£23.99 @ Amazon UK)

Total: £1409.

Found this deal at Currys, seems to have similar specs to what i'm looking to build. CPU isn't the K, and not sure which motherboard. But can get it for £1350 with Windows.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/desktop-pcs/desktop-pcs/hp-omen-870-117na-gaming-pc-10154215-pdt.html

Good deal?

 

[Frankfurter]

Found this deal at Currys, seems to have similar specs to what i'm looking to build. CPU isn't the K, and not sure which motherboard. But can get it for £1350 with Windows.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/desktop-pcs/desktop-pcs/hp-omen-870-117na-gaming-pc-10154215-pdt.html

Good deal?

So pretty much the same price as your own build? It has a worse COU (no k version), no CPU cooler mentioned (i.e. it's probably the stock one or sth. cheap), no RAM speed mentioned (i.e. it's probably slower than what you chose), it doesn't mention what GTX 1070 it is (so it's probably a cheaper one than yours), 256GB SSD vs. 512, 3TB vs. 2 HDD, mainboard unknown but it's a Z170 one, and then there is a 300W PSU in it, probably a pretty cheap one.

I'd stick to yours. If you wanna save money, you could always go with a non-k (if you are not into OCing all that much) and maybe also go with a cheaper 1070 which still has a decent cooler.

 

[vector824]

Hey everyone.

I’m currently looking into building a new PC and I’m quite overwhelmed by the immense amount of options available for every component. Currently I have a Q9450 on a Asus Rampage Formula. I built the PC in 2008 and I upgraded to a SSD (Samsung) and an MSI 770GTX Lightning Edition a few years ago. While it still works, it is really time for an upgrade. Hopefully some of you can point me in the right direction of what to do and what not to do.

I have a few general requirements/guidelines for the new PC:

• It has to be a bit future proof since I’m not upgrading every year.
• I’m mainly a console gamer but I would like to branch out to PC gaming too.
• Its main purpose will be development (things like Unity)
• Preferably no ASUS components (due to a very bad customer service experience where they weren’t replacing a monitor with parts falling off within warranty period)

When I built a PC with an online PC configurator I put this together:

CPU: i7 6800k
CPU Cooler: Scythe Mugen 4
Motherboard: MSI X99A Pro Gaming Carbon
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X 8G
Ram: Corsair Vengeance 32GB
SSD: Intel 750 series 400GB PCIe
HDD: Some 2TB drive
Power: Antec EDG650
Case: Fractal Design Define 5

I tried to create a combination which makes sense but I still have a lot of questions about it:

• Is an i7 (6800k) worth it? The performance gains over the 6700k don’t seem to be that noticeable and I also see the i5 6600k popping up as a popular CPU. However, the 6800k does have the latest architecture.
• Not sure if a Scythe Mugen 4 is the best choice. The most important thing is low temperatures and low noise. Contemplated water cooling but that seems to be noisier.
• What’s a good motherboard? This one is around 300 EUR but every brand has an immense range of boards and I have no idea what’s important and what isn’t. Should you spend 600 EUR or will one of 150 EUR also suffice?
• Is it worth spending the extra money on a 1080? Also, there are quite some versions of the 1080 (even within the MSI range).
• What RAM should I pick and how much?
• Is a PCIe SSD worth it?
• In the OT I see EVGA power supplies. Is that better than Antec? I would prefer fully modular (if this has no downsides).

Or is something significantly better around the corner (new architecture) and should I wait a bit longer or opt for a a less high end PC at this point?

Any input will be greatly appreciated

Wait until CES when they announce the new Kaby Lake processors coming out. Even Ryzen from AMD might be a good choice since you're going to be using Unity.

I'm sure that cooler will be fine.

Anything by Gigabyte is fine, the MSI boards are good also. Look for one that has the features you like, and buy that one. I would AT LEAST get a board with Thunderbolt 3 USB C hubs.

It's performance per dollar isn't great, but that's what you get when you want the good stuff. Maybe again wait until the 1080ti is announced.

32gb is fine for what you're doing, just get 2400-3000mhz, I have 8gb 3000mhz DDR4 and it's enough.

An m.2 PCIe SSD is most definitely worth it. I have one and it's stupid fast. At the very least get a 960 Pro M.2 from samsung.

EVGA and Corsair are the two I would pick. I have the RMX 650, I would go for a 750 on that rig.

New tech coming (announcing) in a couple weeks is Kaby Lake, Ryzen CPUs, 1080ti and Vega GPUs from AMD and NVIDIA, Optane SSDs (soonish?) so I would wait to build until you have an idea when all of this is coming.

Edit: This is the route I would take. Just replace CPU and SSD with the newer tech. https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/xBvsM8

 

[Celcius]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157526

I use this PC as a small twitch streaming and gaming box.

Looks like your motherboard doesn't have an M.2 slot so you'll want a Sata3 based SSD and the Crucial MX300 you mentioned is a solid choice. You may also want to consider the Samsung 850 evo or pro.

 

[K1LLER7]

So pretty much the same price as your own build? It has a worse COU (no k version), no CPU cooler mentioned (i.e. it's probably the stock one or sth. cheap), no RAM speed mentioned (i.e. it's probably slower than what you chose), it doesn't mention what GTX 1070 it is (so it's probably a cheaper one than yours), 256GB SSD vs. 512, 3TB vs. 2 HDD, mainboard unknown but it's a Z170 one, and then there is a 300W PSU in it, probably a pretty cheap one.

I'd stick to yours. If you wanna save money, you could always go with a non-k (if you are not into OCing all that much) and maybe also go with a cheaper 1070 which still has a decent cooler.

Have been 50/50 with building my own at that price, mainly in fear I don't want to mess something up. Howver, think I'll got for it. Seen tutorials and doesn't seem too complicated. Got the help of some other Gaffers on here and think this is the build i'll go with:

PCPartPicker part list: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/CqyVf8
Price breakdown by merchant: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/CqyVf8/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£315.95 @ Amazon UK)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£29.98 @ Amazon UK)

Motherboard: Asus Z170I PRO GAMING Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard (£133.98 @ Amazon UK)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£89.97 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Crucial MX300 525GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£120.00 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£64.90 @ Amazon UK)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1070 8GB STRIX Video Card (£402.99 @ Ebuyer)

Case: Fractal Design Define Nano S Mini ITX Desktop Case (£55.47 @ Scan.co.uk)

Power Supply: Corsair RMx 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£80.97 @ Ebuyer)

Total: £1294.21

Only concern I have is the Cooler fan for the CPU. Seems quite large for the mobo and case, just hope it doesn't effect placement of other parts.

Will look for a Optical drive and Win10. Should take it to ~£1350.

 

[enewtabie]

Have been 50/50 with building my own at that price, mainly in fear I don't want to mess something up. Howver, think I'll got for it. Seen tutorials and doesn't seem too complicated. Got the help of some other Gaffers on here and think this is the build i'll go with:

PCPartPicker part list: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/CqyVf8
Price breakdown by merchant: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/CqyVf8/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£315.95 @ Amazon UK)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£29.98 @ Amazon UK)

Motherboard: Asus Z170I PRO GAMING Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard (£133.98 @ Amazon UK)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£89.97 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Crucial MX300 525GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£120.00 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£64.90 @ Amazon UK)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1070 8GB STRIX Video Card (£402.99 @ Ebuyer)

Case: Fractal Design Define Nano S Mini ITX Desktop Case (£55.47 @ Scan.co.uk)

Power Supply: Corsair RMx 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£80.97 @ Ebuyer)

Total: £1294.21

Only concern I have is the Cooler fan for the CPU. Seems quite large for the mobo and case, just hope it doesn't effect placement of other parts.

Will look for a Optical drive and Win10. Should take it to ~£1350.

That case handles 160mm. That cooler is 159,it's going to be close to the panel regardless.

 

[enewtabie]

dp

 

[Visualante2]

I couldn't find a lot of information about the Tesco recycled mouse pad online, other than it was better than the £1.15 eBay offerings. I picked it up and it makes a good first impression. The back is super grippy, and the top side has a nice feel to it. Certainly a step up from my old Allsop raindrop pad. The only catch is it's quite small at 220 x 190 x 2mm. It's black with a small recycled logo on it. For £3 it's a solid choice if you're not wanting to go £8+ on the QCK. Only downside is the limited sizing. I expect the recycled logo will peel off as time goes on.

 

[Ganondolf]

Slightly off topic but im looking to get an Xbox one controller for my pc but need the version with Bluetooth. How do you tell which ones have Bluetooth and which ones don't? The online store descriptions don't always say.

I think there is a white, black and blue one but what about the special editions like copper dawn?

 

[K1LLER7]

That case handles 160mm. That cooler is 159,it's going to be close to the panel regardless.

Will try another cooler. Thanks

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

So I'm thinking of replacing a 970 that is getting too hot because it has little to no room under it.

What are your opinions on hybrid cards like the MSI Sea Hawk. Would a 1070 Sea Hawk or EVGA hybrid be the type of model to choose in this case?

 

[tim.mbp]

Is it a #1 or #2 philips head screwdriver that's like the standard needed for PC building?

 

[alazz]

You can run a single ram module just fine.

480/1060 are fine, just check the benches to choose between them.

You can use 1 ram module and then later upgrade.

1060 (6GB)/480 (8GB) really is a close one. Most newer reviews put them neck and neck with 480 having a slight edge because of DX12. On the other hand 1060 draws way less power. Price wise both should be around the same.
Don't go with a 970. It has 3.5GB of fast VRAM and 0.5GB of very, very slow VRAM, which will cause problems sooner or later (rather sooner than later).

Do you still have that 2500k? Overclocked to ~4.5 Ghz it really isn't much slower than the i5-6500 you are planning to buy.

Btw. that PSUs wattage is way too much, unless you plan to do SLI/Crossfire in the future.

Thanks!! I sold my old computer back in June with the intention of buying a new laptop but I stuck it out with my aged MacBook instead and I'm pretty tired of barely being able to play League on low.

The PSU is overkill but it's on special bringing its price down to $35 after MIR. To be fair I haven't checked prices of lower wattage PSUs recently to see if sales+MIR would be a better deal.

 

[naib]

No it should not go to 100c, but 28c ambient is quite high. I would expect around 40c idle.

Well we got a cold front and wearing hoodies again. lol

It's around 40c idle now. Still might look into better cooling solution once the sting of all these upgrades wears off.

Okay, 40c idle but it's pegging out at 100c in RB6:S... Could it be as simple as crappy thermal paste?
I think I need a better cooler.

 

[AmyS]

Analysis: Emerging Trends in the PC and Hardware Industry for 2017 – What Do Intel, Nvidia and AMD Have in Store?

So what will 2017 hold for the gaming technology industry? Well, we are certainly not going to get a node shrink again (TSMC will shift to the 10nm process, but that won’t trickle into the gaming circle just yet), that is for sure. But we will be seeing a much more mature 14nm/16nm node which will bring with it a flurry of performance and power efficiency gains thanks to our good buddy: physics. The current die limit (under the optimization constraints for a 300 mm2 wafer) for our processes is roughly 600mm2 and the mainstream GPUs we have seen currently are still quite a ways off from this very limit (this is more true for AMD then it is for Nvidia).

* Expect significant performance gains driven by bigger die sizes up to ~70% for high-end GPUs for Nvidia (as compared to the GTX 1080) and up to a 100% for AMD (as compared to the RX 480).
* Expect slight clock speed improvements.
* Nvidia will have the option to shift to HBM2 memory and will probably introduce Volta architecture.
* AMD will introduce the Vega architecture and will have the option to roll out bigger GPUs than Vega in the same year.

This means that with 2017, will come a perfected 14nm/16nm node with inherently stronger GPUs. Nvidia will be launching its 1080 Ti graphics card in 2017 and will introduce Volta GPUs close to the year end. AMD will be introducing its Vega based graphics card and has the option to introduce bigger GPUs as well with the availability of the mature node. As far as the memory tech goes, Nvidia will have the option to finally make the shift to HBM2, something it has been avoiding for quite some time now

http://wccftech.com/analysis-emerging-trends-pc-hardware-industry-2017-intel-amd-nvidia/

 

[masterkajo]

Analysis: Emerging Trends in the PC and Hardware Industry for 2017 – What Do Intel, Nvidia and AMD Have in Store?



http://wccftech.com/analysis-emerging-trends-pc-hardware-industry-2017-intel-amd-nvidia/

So I should wait to upgrade... I know that is not the right thing to say as there is always the next big thing on the horizon but new Nvidia gpus with hbm2 and new cpus kaby lake should really give the best 14nm/16nm has to offer.

 

[tim.mbp]

Replaced my stock Intel cooler with a Cryorig C7. Nice to have a bit quieter fan.

 

[Retsudo]

Analysis: Emerging Trends in the PC and Hardware Industry for 2017 – What Do Intel, Nvidia and AMD Have in Store?



http://wccftech.com/analysis-emerging-trends-pc-hardware-industry-2017-intel-amd-nvidia/

So is there any motherboard already out expected to be able to handle all this new stuff coming out? I'm just waiting for CES to start building a new computer from scratch, but would like to be as future proof as much as possible, seeing as a lot of new and exciting stuff seems to be coming.

 

[Plum]

So here's the PC I'm building in January for use in University, mainly because the case is much easier to carry around than. I'm planning to use this for 1080p/60hz gameplay which I know is quite overkill but as I've explained elsewhere a locked 60fps is what I want most out of PC games, so a beefy CPU and GPU will make sure of that for at least 2 years. Is there anything you'd recommend me change or should I go ahead with it?

 

[desmax]

Hey, I would just like to thank you all.

Just finished building up my PC, everything working fine so far

 

[LilJoka]

So here's the PC I'm building in January for use in University, mainly because the case is much easier to carry around than. I'm planning to use this for 1080p/60hz gameplay which I know is quite overkill but as I've explained elsewhere a locked 60fps is what I want most out of PC games, so a beefy CPU and GPU will make sure of that for at least 2 years. Is there anything you'd recommend me change or should I go ahead with it?

Very good choices.
I would not buy a reference blower style GPU, get any non reference card as they will be quieter.

You should be able to pickup windows from your university for free.

 

[Kayant]

So here's the PC I'm building in January for use in University, mainly because the case is much easier to carry around than. I'm planning to use this for 1080p/60hz gameplay which I know is quite overkill but as I've explained elsewhere a locked 60fps is what I want most out of PC games, so a beefy CPU and GPU will make sure of that for at least 2 years. Is there anything you'd recommend me change or should I go ahead with it?

Nah that looks very solid to me if you really want you could save some money and get a slightly cheaper motherboard like this MSI board and or get a slightly cheaper PSU with no real loss in quality and features(- corsair link but based on your build that is useless).

Instead of a blower style gpu you could go for something like the Asus strix

You could also consider going for a single 16GB dimm if you wanted to do some heavy duty stuff in the future to you can have 64GB

Personally I would go for more space on the SSD and get something like the Crucial MX300

In terms of HDD I would go for a SSHD instead like the Seagate Firecuda and get the benefit of some caching so your HDD can be faster at some tasks once cached. You also just opt for the bule Western Digital series or another reliable brand like Seagate, HGST, etc.

Edit -
As LilJoka mentioned just go to https://imagine.microsoft.com/en-us/catalog/webstore or your Uni website and register and you should be able to get multiple versions of windows and other free software.

 

[kennah]

Tempted to swap my 780 for a 290 so I can get a free sync monitor instead of a gsync one.

 

[Kayant]

Tempted to swap my 780 for a 290 so I can get a free sync monitor instead of a gsync one.

Am heavily debating that for when I upgrade at some point because the variety of freesync monitors you can get at different budgets + the fact am not mustily locked to a monitor with just DP especially at lower models is great.

 

[Plum]

Very good choices.
I would not buy a reference blower style GPU, get any non reference card as they will be quieter.

You should be able to pickup windows from your university for free.

Nah that looks very solid to me if you really want you could save some money and get a slightly cheaper motherboard like this MSI board and or get a slightly cheaper PSU with no real loss in quality and features(- corsair link but based on your build that is useless).

Instead of a blower style gpu you could go for something like the Asus strix

You could also consider going for a single 16GB dimm if you wanted to do some heavy duty stuff in the future to you can have 64GB

Personally I would go for more space on the SSD and get something like the Crucial MX300

In terms of HDD I would go for a SSHD instead like the Seagate Firecuda and get the benefit of some caching so your HDD can be faster at some tasks once cached. You also just opt for the bule Western Digital series or another reliable brand like Seagate, HGST, etc.

Edit -
As LilJoka mentioned just go to https://imagine.microsoft.com/en-us/catalog/webstore or your Uni website and register and you should be able to get multiple versions of windows and other free software.

Thanks for the advice both of you! The reason I'm looking at a blower style is because with the Mini-ITX case and the normal-sized power supply another design would barely get any air as the GPU is incredibly close to the PSU below it. This video uses the exact case and it seems that a blower style would be better in my situation.
I'll also be getting three Noctua 120mm fans to put in the front and back that will hopefully get some better air flow to the GPU and CPU.

The other Mobo you suggested is actually about £50 more expensive

As for RAM; 16gb is all I've ever needed before and seeing as the motherboard only has two DIMM slots the most I could ever get is 32gb anyway which I doubt will become necessary any time soon.

I will definitely look at getting that 512gb SSD; means I can put Windows along with a few bigger games and all of my programs without really sacrificing all that much. I'm not too worried about performance; but is the longevity there? I don't really want to have to change my Windows hard drive for at least 3 years or so; I've done it before and it isn't fun having to reinstall everything. Looking at it again my budget would allow for 2 of these with mass storage of pictures, movies, etc being done by an external. I don't really have many games installed at one time and my internet isn't bad at all so a setup like this would be great and make building in the case so much easier.

Unfortunately I'll still have to pay for Windows 10 as I looked and my school in the university doesn't offer Windows; it's only Mathematics and CompSci that seems to get it.

EDIT: Another question: This PC will be getting moved quite a distance (about 1 and a half hours in the car) a few times each year. Would an AiO cooler like the Corsair H100i V2 be affected by that at all? I'm considering buying one of those instead of the Noctua fan I'm putting on now as that would let a lot more air to flow around the case and would help with noise.

 

[Frankfurter]

Tempted to swap my 780 for a 290 so I can get a free sync monitor instead of a gsync one.

480 is the better buy in pretty mich every single aspect.

 

[LilJoka]

Thanks for the advice both of you! The reason I'm looking at a blower style is because with the Mini-ITX case and the normal-sized power supply another design would barely get any air as the GPU is incredibly close to the PSU below it. This video uses the exact case and it seems that a blower style would be better in my situation.
I'll also be getting three Noctua 120mm fans to put in the front and back that will hopefully get some better air flow to the GPU and CPU.

The other Mobo you suggested is actually about £50 more expensive

As for RAM; 16gb is all I've ever needed before and seeing as the motherboard only has two DIMM slots the most I could ever get is 32gb anyway which I doubt will become necessary any time soon.

I will definitely look at getting that 512gb SSD; means I can put Windows along with a few bigger games and all of my programs without really sacrificing all that much. I'm not too worried about performance; but is the longevity there? I don't really want to have to change my Windows hard drive for at least 3 years or so; I've done it before and it isn't fun having to reinstall everything. Looking at it again my budget would allow for 2 of these with mass storage of pictures, movies, etc being done by an external. I don't really have many games installed at one time and my internet isn't bad at all so a setup like this would be great and make building in the case so much easier.

Unfortunately I'll still have to pay for Windows 10 as I looked and my school in the university doesn't offer Windows; it's only Mathematics and CompSci that seems to get it.

EDIT: Another question: This PC will be getting moved quite a distance (about 1 and a half hours in the car) a few times each year. Would an AiO cooler like the Corsair H100i V2 be affected by that at all? I'm considering buying one of those instead of the Noctua fan I'm putting on now as that would let a lot more air to flow around the case and would help with noise.

Interesting comparison on the GPU.
My only doubt is actually how good the EVGA is compared to Asus and MSI. But the FE was pretty quiet in comparison. FE also overclocks better, nvidia are cherry picking these.

No need to go AIO just because the PC is being moved.

I have the Asus Z170I, awesome board.

Try to get windows from Reddit, there's some other stores that also sell it for like £15.

 

[Plum]

Interesting comparison on the GPU.
My only doubt is actually how good the EVGA is compared to Asus and MSI. But the FE was pretty quiet in comparison. FE also overclocks better, nvidia are cherry picking these.

No need to go AIO just because the PC is being moved.

I have the Asus Z170I, awesome board.

Try to get windows from Reddit, there's some other stores that also sell it for like £15.

I've had MSI since my first PC build back in 2014 and they haven't failed me yet so I'm fine sticking with them; the black of the Aero version also looks a lot better than a typical reference

You misunderstand the AIO question, I was asking whether an AIO would be fine being moved because I'm looking at getting one instead of the Noctua fan.

I'll look around for Windows, yeah; £150 is ridiculous. I do want the Professional version though, no automatic updates is a deal-breaker for me on the regular one.

 

[Lexxism]

I'm actually thinking of buying the PG278Q. I currently have a i5-4670K + 980ti. There shouldn't be a problem reaching a stable 60 fps on 1440p? What current games that might reach a bottleneck for this setting?

 

[LilJoka]

I've had MSI since my first PC build back in 2014 and they haven't failed me yet so I'm fine sticking with them; the black of the Aero version also looks a lot better than a typical reference

You misunderstand the AIO question, I was asking whether an AIO would be fine being moved because I'm looking at getting one instead of the Noctua fan.

I'll look around for Windows, yeah; £150 is ridiculous. I do want the Professional version though, no automatic updates is a deal-breaker for me on the regular one.

AIO is fine for being moved around as is Air. Air will be quieter in general however. With AIO you have constant pump noise which to me was always louder than aby air cooler I owned. The only time I found AIO useful was for stress testing an overclock.

 

[Plum]

AIO is fine for being moved around as is Air. Air will be quieter in general however. With AIO you have constant pump noise which to me was always louder than aby air cooler I owned. The only time I found AIO useful was for stress testing an overclock.

I'll stick with the air cooler then. It's £50 cheaper and I won't be overclocking much more than 4.2Ghz.

 

[Shifty Capone1]

I've heard rumors here and there about HDR10 PC monitors debuting at CES, but has this been confirmed?

I currently have an x34 and absolutely love it, but would love to get another monitor preferably 4k/HDR10. Want to wait to see what CES has to offer though. Playing console exclusives on the Predator does not do it justice especially compared to anything on the PC.

 

[kennah]

480 is the better buy in pretty mich every single aspect.

Not when the 290 would cost me $220 Canadian with water block.

To get a 480 would be at least $500 after water block and taxes. At that point I may as well just get a gsync monitor and not swap cards.

 

[Bloodember]

Thanks for the advice both of you! The reason I'm looking at a blower style is because with the Mini-ITX case and the normal-sized power supply another design would barely get any air as the GPU is incredibly close to the PSU below it. This video uses the exact case and it seems that a blower style would be better in my situation.
I'll also be getting three Noctua 120mm fans to put in the front and back that will hopefully get some better air flow to the GPU and CPU.

The other Mobo you suggested is actually about £50 more expensive

As for RAM; 16gb is all I've ever needed before and seeing as the motherboard only has two DIMM slots the most I could ever get is 32gb anyway which I doubt will become necessary any time soon.

I will definitely look at getting that 512gb SSD; means I can put Windows along with a few bigger games and all of my programs without really sacrificing all that much. I'm not too worried about performance; but is the longevity there? I don't really want to have to change my Windows hard drive for at least 3 years or so; I've done it before and it isn't fun having to reinstall everything. Looking at it again my budget would allow for 2 of these with mass storage of pictures, movies, etc being done by an external. I don't really have many games installed at one time and my internet isn't bad at all so a setup like this would be great and make building in the case so much easier.

Unfortunately I'll still have to pay for Windows 10 as I looked and my school in the university doesn't offer Windows; it's only Mathematics and CompSci that seems to get it.

EDIT: Another question: This PC will be getting moved quite a distance (about 1 and a half hours in the car) a few times each year. Would an AiO cooler like the Corsair H100i V2 be affected by that at all? I'm considering buying one of those instead of the Noctua fan I'm putting on now as that would let a lot more air to flow around the case and would help with noise.

You can get Windows 10 here for $25.

 

[Plum]

You can get Windows 10 here for $25.

That seems too good to be true. Are Play Asia usually reputable?

 

[Bloodember]

That seems too good to be true. Are Play Asia usually reputable?

Yes

 

[Plum]

Yes

Alright, I think I'll try it out; it's Paypal anyway so it's not like you can get scammed that easily.

 

[Vipu]

I've heard rumors here and there about HDR10 PC monitors debuting at CES, but has this been confirmed?

I currently have an x34 and absolutely love it, but would love to get another monitor preferably 4k/HDR10. Want to wait to see what CES has to offer though. Playing console exclusives on the Predator does not do it justice especially compared to anything on the PC.

4k 144hz hdr gsync or no go

 

[Plum]

Yes

Just bought it; if I wake up tomorrow without a liver it's your fault

 

[demosthenes]

4k 144hz hdr gsync or no go

I can't leave gsync after getting it earlier this year. 4k hdr gsync in a few years when the price is reasonable.

 

[Celcius]

I've heard rumors here and there about HDR10 PC monitors debuting at CES, but has this been confirmed?

I currently have an x34 and absolutely love it, but would love to get another monitor preferably 4k/HDR10. Want to wait to see what CES has to offer though. Playing console exclusives on the Predator does not do it justice especially compared to anything on the PC.

I've heard the same rumor somewhere but I don't think anything's confirmed.

 

[CazTGG]

What's the consensus on the 6700K v. 7700K? Is it better to wait for the 7700K to launch and pick one up/see if the 6700K drops in price following in its launch, or is it a good idea to take advantage of some of the current boxing day deals and picking up a 6700K now?

 

[rrs]

What's the consensus on the 6700K v. 7700K? Is it better to wait for the 7700K to launch and pick one up/see if the 6700K drops in price following in its launch, or is it a good idea to take advantage of some of the current boxing day deals and picking up a 6700K now?

identical per clock speed, 7700K runs hotter and OCs better? Could get a 6600K now, or wait to see if the 7700K is water cooled silicon lottery for everyone. Also consider ryzen might be the real deal, if you are getting a new mobo, etc. but cheap SKUs might not be out for months

 

[The Argus]

What's a good high airflow 120mm fan to replace the dying one on my Evo 212? All the fans I'm seeing are case fans, are there any solid high-speed ones for that will fit the 212's brackets?

Thanks!

 

[BeardyChan]

So I'm making a new pc not for gaming, but a free nas/plex server. I'm going for quiet yet powerful.

Here is what I'm making so far:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xJfkqk

I've got a few questions about some parts.

M.2 drives how do you find out how fast they are? I don't know which one to get as I really am only gonna use it for dedicated plex caching.

Dual Lan is controlled by the motherboard not some windows software right?

Any additional insights into this build are more than welcome.

 

[iamblades]

What's a good high airflow 120mm fan to replace the dying one on my Evo 212? All the fans I'm seeing are case fans, are there any solid high-speed ones for that will fit the 212's brackets?

Thanks!

Noctua NF-F12 PWM of course, though it's a bit overkill for that cooler. Anything worth doing is worth doing overkill.

EK Vardar is a good second option.

 

[inner-G]

4k 144hz hdr gsync or no go

I just went 1440/144/g-sync and it's worth the hype (Dell S2716DG)

Will upgrade when I can get a 4K/120+/g-sync (hopefully IPS) panel