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[nightmare-slain]

I have the itch to upgrade again...

Looking at the Acer XB281HK Predator 4K 60Hz G-sync monitor (£400) and an EVGA 1080 Ti SC2 (£740).

My CPU is a 6700K and I have 16GB 2666 RAM. I have a GTX 1070...which I love but it will not be powerful enough for 4K 60fps. So I might try sell that to fund this upgrade. 1070's seem to be in demand right now so might get a good amount for it.

Could I possibly stick with the 1070 or a 1080 Ti a must? Would I be better waiting for nvidias next gen cards and hope that a "1170" is similar in terms of performance as a 1080 ti? I don't like the thought of playing at 1080/1440p on a 28" 4K screen...

Also what exactly does G sync do and is it worth it? There is another monitor for £310 without gsync.

 

[BasicMath]

Also what exactly does G sync do and is it worth it? There is another monitor for £310 without gsync.

It synchronizes the refresh rate of the monitor to the graphics card FPS output up to whatever limit the monitor has. So if the GPU is pushing out 70FPS, the monitor refresh rate will be 70Hz. If it's 55FPS, the monitor will do 55hz and such.

This has the effect of getting rid of screen tearing, so you no longer have to deal with Vsync. Vsync itself has issues like lag and stutter and such whenever your card hits sub-60 FPS.

I'd say it's worth the price difference.

I'd also say stick with the system for atleast a year longer. Afaik we'll see "Ryzen 2" next year. Not a big architectural jump, but rather some refinements + probably higher clock speeds. Plus whatever Intel does in the meantime.

I guess I'll wait a bit more.

That outlook is part of the reason why I was thinking about upgrading now. Waiting for that 8% IPC+OC increase makes no sense to me. I'm hoping Intel wakes up and pulls what they did with the Core2Quads (Q6600/Q6700) back in the day. Big price drops. But that seems unlikely.

 

[Jabronium]

Is it silly to consider Ryzen over the (presumably) upcoming Coffee Lake due in part to the forward compatibility of AM4? Still a few months out from building but I keep waffling on which way to go.

 

[RS4-]

Is it silly to consider Ryzen over the (presumably) upcoming Coffee Lake due in part to the forward compatibility of AM4? Still a few months out from building but I keep waffling on which way to go.

Not, not silly at all. Great way to save money over the next few years since you don't have to buy a new mobo and ram if you decide to change procs.

More money for a gpu or monitor upgrade, etc.

That's of course if the compatibility thing is something they stick with.

It's something I'm doing when I finally switch to ryzen. Then again I would've done it anyway because of the price/performance with ryzen.

 

[nightmare-slain]

It synchronizes the refresh rate of the monitor to the graphics card FPS output up to whatever limit the monitor has. So if the GPU is pushing out 70FPS, the monitor refresh rate will be 70Hz. If it's 55FPS, the monitor will do 55hz and such.

This has the effect of getting rid of screen tearing, so you no longer have to deal with Vsync. Vsync itself has issues like lag and stutter and such whenever your card hits sub-60 FPS.

I'd say it's worth the price difference.
I guess I'll wait a bit more.

That outlook is part of the reason why I was thinking about upgrading now. Waiting for that 8% IPC+OC increase makes no sense to me. I'm hoping Intel wakes up and pulls what they did with the Core2Quads (Q6600/Q6700) back in the day. Big price drops. But that seems unlikely.

thanks for the explanation! that sounds quite cool actually. so if my card was struggling to hold 60FPS at 4K then g sync would make it look smoother if it dropped to say 45-50fps?

i think i need one of these monitors!

 

[etta]

Isn't borderless supposed to eliminate screen tearing? I'm playing Rainbow Six Siege and Battlefield 1 in borderless and I still get screen tear. Windows 10, GTX 1080 Ti, latest drivers...etc.

 

[sikkinixx]

Will running my pc mirroring mode effect performance much? I'd like to have it on my monitor where I can play but also on my tv so my wife can watch certain games (kinda like a giant bomb couch setup) they'd both be at 1080p. Just use the built in windows 10 display switcher I'm guessing.

 

[Sami+]

1440p IPS/Gsync.

1440p IPS GSYNC without a doubt, especially if it's 120/144Hz.

If you don't mind clarifying- why? I've been looking at reviews for the Ultrawides and the upgrade and visual appeal is immediately noticeable. 2D games obviously have a huge gameplay and visual benefit, but pretty much everything just looks better in that aspect ratio. I've never tried IPS/Gsync (I'm relatively new to PC gaming) but I imagine it's just smoother? I've heard that Freesync isn't quite as good but still a good alternative.

 

[Lil'DigiOp]

How easy is it to switch CPUs on a build?

Does anything need to be reformatted or can you swap without penalty?

Edit: This is with the restraint that both CPUs are the same socket.

 

[DUFFMCWALIN]

How easy is it to switch CPUs on a build?

Does anything need to be reformatted or can you swap without penalty?

Edit: This is with the restraint that both CPUs are the same socket.

Nope! I just did this. All I did was pull off the cpu cooler, took the cpu out of the socket, cleaned the paste off the cooler and the old cpu, and put the new cpu in, applied paste, and put the cooler back on.

 

[Samaritan]

If you don't mind clarifying- why? I've been looking at reviews for the Ultrawides and the upgrade and visual appeal is immediately noticeable. 2D games obviously have a huge gameplay and visual benefit, but pretty much everything just looks better in that aspect ratio. I've never tried IPS/Gsync (I'm relatively new to PC gaming) but I imagine it's just smoother? I've heard that Freesync isn't quite as good but still a good alternative.

Well first off, to clarify something on G-SYNC/FreeSync. G-SYNC is exclusively for use with Nvidia cards, whereas FreeSync is exclusively for use with AMD cards. So keep that in mind, in case you're rocking an AMD card.

But back to your question. First off, I'm immediately hesitant on the ultrawide idea since you're talking about going with one of the cheaper Korean ultrawides, like the kind you see all over Ebay. The build and panel quality on a lot of those monitors is a total crapshoot in my experience.

Secondly, I personally consider an IPS panel with Free/G-SYNC and a higher (120/144Hz) refresh rate a much more substantial upgrade than an ultrawide, assuming any ultrawides you're looking at are 60Hz TN panels, without any Free/G-SYNC. Playing games without having to worry about any screen-tearing and never having to enable Vsync ever again is an incredibly liberating experience. And the jump in refresh rate from 60Hz to basically anything above 100Hz is really, really substantial, something I wasn't expecting until I got my own 144Hz monitor. It's not nearly as dramatic a jump as 30 to 60, where 30 ends up feeling sluggish and unresponsive in comparison, but it's still a significantly smoother looking and feeling upgrade.

Finally, ultrawide gaming can be really spectacular, when playing a game that natively supports it. But it can also be a hassle too. A lot of games don't support it or require .ini file edits to get it to work. Some games, like Overwatch, cheat their 21:9 support and just stretch and crop the screen. It's just one more thing you need to be conscious of when starting a new game for the first time.

Also, an IPS panel is just going to look better than a TN panel. Colors and contrast tends to pop a lot better on an IPS display, so if that's something that's important to you, be sure to keep that in mind. Not that some TN panels look bad necessarily. My monitor is a TN display and it looks fine, but plop it next to an IPS monitor and the differences would be immediately noticeable. Though one thing to be wary of with IPS displays is that they tend to be a little slower than TN, so be sure to take note of the input lag when looking at IPS.

Of course all of these things might mean more or less to you than they do me, so be thorough in your research and if you can, try to hunt down a Free/G-SYNC 120/140Hz display and see it for yourself.

 

[BasicMath]

thanks for the explanation! that sounds quite cool actually. so if my card was struggling to hold 60FPS at 4K then g sync would make it look smoother if it dropped to say 45-50fps?

i think i need one of these monitors!

It's actually perfect for the occasional dips and even small sustained excursions to that range. It'll appear much smoother than the alternative.

There's a limit to it obviously since there an outright lack of information. I mean, once you're flirting with the 30fps mark then there's not a whole lot it can do. It's great but it's not magical. Your GPU needs more of them horses, more power at that point.

 

[Sami+]

Well first off, to clarify something on G-SYNC/FreeSync. G-SYNC is exclusively for use with Nvidia cards, whereas FreeSync is exclusively for use with AMD cards. So keep that in mind, in case you're rocking an AMD card.

But back to your question. First off, I'm immediately hesitant on the ultrawide idea since you're talking about going with one of the cheaper Korean ultrawides, like the kind you see all over Ebay. The build and panel quality on a lot of those monitors is a total crapshoot in my experience.

Secondly, I personally consider an IPS panel with Free/G-SYNC and a higher (120/144Hz) refresh rate a much more substantial upgrade than an ultrawide, assuming any ultrawides you're looking at are 60Hz TN panels, without any Free/G-SYNC. Playing games without having to worry about any screen-tearing and never having to enable Vsync ever again is an incredibly liberating experience. And the jump in refresh rate from 60Hz to basically anything above 100Hz is really, really substantial, something I wasn't expecting until I got my own 144Hz monitor. It's not nearly as dramatic a jump as 30 to 60, where 30 ends up feeling sluggish and unresponsive in comparison, but it's still a significantly smoother looking and feeling upgrade.

Finally, ultrawide gaming can be really spectacular, when playing a game that natively supports it. But it can also be a hassle too. A lot of games don't support it or require .ini file edits to get it to work. Some games, like Overwatch, cheat their 21:9 support and just stretch and crop the screen. It's just one more thing you need to be conscious of when starting a new game for the first time.

Also, an IPS panel is just going to look better than a TN panel. Colors and contrast tends to pop a lot better on an IPS display, so if that's something that's important to you, be sure to keep that in mind. Not that some TN panels look bad necessarily. My monitor is a TN display and it looks fine, but plop it next to an IPS monitor and the differences would be immediately noticeable. Though one thing to be wary of with IPS displays is that they tend to be a little slower than TN, so be sure to take note of the input lag when looking at IPS.

Of course all of these things might mean more or less to you than they do me, so be thorough in your research and if you can, try to hunt down a Free/G-SYNC 120/140Hz display and see it for yourself.

Thanks for the explanation! I've never seen anything above 60fps, so I just don't really know what to expect and I don't mind tinkering with .ini stuff or looking up mods for that extra screen real estate. I'll post in here again when I pick something, for the extra recommendations, it's just a weird spot to sit in where I trust y'all's word on this stuff but I just have no idea what to even expect with going above 60hz, and I'm not sure if it's even good for me anyway since I live in hot, humid ass Florida and don't wanna play with fire when it comes to pushing the card super super hard and generating too much heat. I'd really rather cap at 60fps which is already more than enough for me as a console player making the switch to PC and having that extra piece of mind. I don't overclock for the same reason - Florida. Really don't want to take risks regarding heat haha.

I'm planning on getting a Gigabyte G1 1080, so G-Sync would work, but I saw in a Linus vid that Freesync still works as well? You just have to flip a setting? Maybe I misunderstood.

 

[Samaritan]

Thanks for the explanation! I've never seen anything above 60fps, so I just don't really know what to expect and I don't mind tinkering with .ini stuff or looking up mods for that extra screen real estate. I'll post in here again when I pick something, for the extra recommendations, it's just a weird spot to sit in where I trust y'all's word on this stuff but I just have no idea what to even expect with going above 60hz, and I'm not sure if it's even good for me anyway since I live in hot, humid ass Florida and don't wanna play with fire when it comes to pushing the card super super hard and generating too much heat. I'd really rather cap at 60fps which is already more than enough for me as a console player making the switch to PC and having that extra piece of mind. I don't overclock for the same reason - Florida. Really don't want to take risks regarding heat haha.

I'm planning on getting a Gigabyte G1 1080, so G-Sync would work, but I saw in a Linus vid that Freesync still works as well? You just have to flip a setting? Maybe I misunderstood.

That's definitely a reasonable concern to have in a hot state like Florida. You're still going to end up generating a lot of heat on a 3440x1440 ultrawide at 60Hz though, so I wouldn't be too worried about it; it might even end up being a wash in regards to how hard your card has to work.

Like I said before, I really do recommend trying to track down a high refresh rate monitor that you can see for yourself before deciding one way or another, because you really won't know how much of a difference that'll end up being to you until you see it with your own eyes.

As for the FreeSync thing, I've never heard of any way to get an Nvidia card to work with a FreeSync display, and couldn't find any examples of it after some quick searching I did just now.

EDIT: I should also mention that the types of games you play makes a pretty big difference on how much you'll get out of a high refresh rate monitor. If you're prone to playing competitive shooters, or really any'ol shooters in general, you're going to see a huge difference in responsiveness and clarity than, say, a game like the Witcher III. That's not to say that higher refresh rates don't benefit slower games like the Witcher, it's just that they shine the brightest with faster titles.

 

[Sami+]

That's definitely a reasonable concern to have in a hot state like Florida. You're still going to end up generating a lot of heat on a 3440x1440 ultrawide at 60Hz though, so I wouldn't be too worried about it; it might even end up being a wash in regards to how hard your card has to work.

Like I said before, I really do recommend trying to track down a high refresh rate monitor that you can see for yourself before deciding one way or another, because you really won't know how much of a difference that'll end up being to you until you see it with your own eyes.

As for the FreeSync thing, I've never heard of any way to get an Nvidia card to work with a FreeSync display, and couldn't find any examples of it after some quick searching I did just now.

EDIT: I should also mention that the types of games you play makes a pretty big difference on how much you'll get out of a high refresh rate monitor. If you're prone to playing competitive shooters, or really any'ol shooters in general, you're going to see a huge difference in responsiveness and clarity than, say, a game like the Witcher III. That's not to say that higher refresh rates don't benefit slower games like the Witcher, it's just that they shine the brightest with faster titles.

Yeah I considered this since almost all of the reviews I watched talking about the benefits of the increased responsiveness show Overwatch/CS:GO/Battlefield footage and that's not what I'm into at all, haha. I play almost exclusively single player with the exception of some fighting games, racing, and co-op. I dipped my foot into the PC pool a few years ago towards the tail end of Gen 7 when I made my first build ever (GTX 760/i5 4690k) but when the PS4 came out I pretty much hard switched back into console gaming because my favorite games are "cinematic" single player stuff. My all time favorites are NieR Automata, Demon's Souls, Shadow of the Colossus, etc.

The game I'm MOST excited for right now, by far, is Sonic Mania next month and imagining that in 21:9... oh baby. I've had Dark Souls III sitting on my PS4 since launch and still haven't played past the first real boss, but I think the doubled framerate, increased resolution, and even the change in aspect ratio would be enough to make the experience novel enough to get all the way through it having played all the other games (except DkS2) at 1080p 30fps. I think I'm going to follow your advice and avoid the Korean ones though, maybe save up and get an LG. Definitely making sure to be absolutely positively it's a 3440*1440 haha.

I hope you don't mind me asking so many questions haha, but if that's cool, I do want some advice in regards to heat. My room is the one above the garage and is unfortunately the hottest in the house, and I didn't realize this until it was too late. I haven't had any issues with my PC in the few years I've had it- however, I've been having it sitting up on the top of my desk next to my monitor, which takes you a lot of space. I want to put it on the floor to free up some room but I'm worried the carpet floor will be really bad for it. I wouldn't mind taking a picture of my desk setup for advice as I want to know what the safest way is to maximize my desktop space without putting my computer at risk. Should I invest in water cooling or something? I've heard it's really difficult to set up which worries me. :/

Loaded post lol. Again I totally understand if I'm throwing too many questions out I've just got a lot bouncing around in my head and want to make the jump correctly. 😅

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

I am going to buy parts from microcenter and have them build it. This is the build I'm going with:

CPU

AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor

Motherboard

Gigabyte - GA-AB350-GAMING 3 ATX AM4 Motherboard

G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

Storage

Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Video Card

EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB SC GAMING Video Card

Buy
Case

NZXT - S340 (Black/Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case

Power Supply

EVGA - SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

Is this good for a budget under 900?

 

[nightmare-slain]

It's actually perfect for the occasional dips and even small sustained excursions to that range. It'll appear much smoother than the alternative.

There's a limit to it obviously since there an outright lack of information. I mean, once you're flirting with the 30fps mark then there's not a whole lot it can do. It's great but it's not magical. Your GPU needs more of them horses, more power at that point.

yeah i suppose but if it helps smooth out drops of 10-15fps that'd be great! i really want one now.

 

[NEO0MJ]

I am going to buy parts from microcenter and have them build it. This is the build I'm going with:

G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

Is this good for a budget under 900?

Why not go for faster RAM? There doesn't seem to be much price difference. I was also going to tell you to go for the 6GB 1060 but checking prices online it seems to have gone up $100

 

[kuYuri]

I am going to buy parts from microcenter and have them build it. This is the build I'm going with:

CPU

AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor

Motherboard

Gigabyte - GA-AB350-GAMING 3 ATX AM4 Motherboard

G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

Storage

Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Video Card

EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB SC GAMING Video Card

Buy
Case

NZXT - S340 (Black/Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case

Power Supply

EVGA - SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

Is this good for a budget under 900?

Would recommend faster RAM if budget allows, but for the love of anything, get an SSD in there if you aren't re-using one from an older build.

 

[RumblingRosco]

I am going to buy parts from microcenter and have them build it. This is the build I'm going with:

CPU

AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor

Motherboard

Gigabyte - GA-AB350-GAMING 3 ATX AM4 Motherboard

G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

Storage

Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Video Card

EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB SC GAMING Video Card

Buy
Case

NZXT - S340 (Black/Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case

Power Supply

EVGA - SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

Is this good for a budget under 900?

That's a very good build. If you have any budget wiggle room, there are three things to consider:

1) Get a small SSD (120 or 240 GB) for your boot drive.

2) Grab a 6 GB 1060 instead of a 3 GB.

3) Get 3000 or 3200 MHz RAM.

None are necessary, but they seem like the best potential upgrades if you wanted to go any further with the build. I'd say the SSD would be the biggest bang for your buck option.

But it's a good build and don't get talked into overspending your budget!

 

[Rex_DX]

Ok but the RAM is not "unseated" when you re-seat it, right? It's not like it's coming out of its slots?

Is your RAM on the QVL for your memory? Is your BIOS up-to-date? Do you get an error code?

This is correct. The RAM appears to be be fully seated. It's on the QVL.

I'm not sure how to check if my BIOS is up to date but I only built this machine in December of last year.

There is no error code. The system starts and the fans spin up but the monitors don't recognize a signal. Removing and reseating the RAM fixes this issue every time.

 

[killertofu]

So I have a 3570k . What's the best card I can pair with it before hitting any bottlenecks?

 

[Samaritan]

Yeah I considered this since almost all of the reviews I watched talking about the benefits of the increased responsiveness show Overwatch/CS:GO/Battlefield footage and that's not what I'm into at all, haha. I play almost exclusively single player with the exception of some fighting games, racing, and co-op. I dipped my foot into the PC pool a few years ago towards the tail end of Gen 7 when I made my first build ever (GTX 760/i5 4690k) but when the PS4 came out I pretty much hard switched back into console gaming because my favorite games are "cinematic" single player stuff. My all time favorites are NieR Automata, Demon's Souls, Shadow of the Colossus, etc.

The game I'm MOST excited for right now, by far, is Sonic Mania next month and imagining that in 21:9... oh baby. I've had Dark Souls III sitting on my PS4 since launch and still haven't played past the first real boss, but I think the doubled framerate, increased resolution, and even the change in aspect ratio would be enough to make the experience novel enough to get all the way through it having played all the other games (except DkS2) at 1080p 30fps. I think I'm going to follow your advice and avoid the Korean ones though, maybe save up and get an LG. Definitely making sure to be absolutely positively it's a 3440*1440 haha.

I hope you don't mind me asking so many questions haha, but if that's cool, I do want some advice in regards to heat. My room is the one above the garage and is unfortunately the hottest in the house, and I didn't realize this until it was too late. I haven't had any issues with my PC in the few years I've had it- however, I've been having it sitting up on the top of my desk next to my monitor, which takes you a lot of space. I want to put it on the floor to free up some room but I'm worried the carpet floor will be really bad for it. I wouldn't mind taking a picture of my desk setup for advice as I want to know what the safest way is to maximize my desktop space without putting my computer at risk. Should I invest in water cooling or something? I've heard it's really difficult to set up which worries me. :/

Loaded post lol. Again I totally understand if I'm throwing too many questions out I've just got a lot bouncing around in my head and want to make the jump correctly. ��

It definitely sounds like you'd get a lot out of an ultrawide, so that seems like the way to go for you. It's also certainly a good idea to steer clear of "too good to be true" lower-priced monitors, even it means waiting longer to afford a name-brand.

Regarding your case dilemma, if you want to keep your desktop off your desk, I recommend buying a slab of wood or some other flat, thin surface you can place on the ground and prop your computer up on. That way it won't sink into your carpet and affect your intake airflow. That's literally how have my desktop positioned, sitting on my carpeted floor atop a wood IKEA desk divider I had but didn't use.

As for keeping your computer cool, the best thing you can do is get a good piece of monitoring software for monitoring your different component's temperatures. I personally use Speccy, but there are 400,000 options out there. Find out what your CPU, motherboard, and GPU are idling at. Finding out what your ambient room temperature would also be useful. Monitor these temps when idling and when in-game and take note of them. Feel free to shoot your temps my way and I'll let you know if they look out of line or not.

And don't worry about it, I hope I've been of some help to you!

 

[Magwik]

I am going to buy parts from microcenter and have them build it. This is the build I'm going with:

CPU

AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor

Motherboard

Gigabyte - GA-AB350-GAMING 3 ATX AM4 Motherboard

G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

Storage

Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Video Card

EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB SC GAMING Video Card

Buy
Case

NZXT - S340 (Black/Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case

Power Supply

EVGA - SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

Is this good for a budget under 900?

Seems fair. Though you should swap out the WB Blue 1TB for a WD Black 1TB (The Black series is better for gaming).

If you want to save a bit more swap the PSU out for the Corsair CX650M.

I'd say look into grabbing a 6GB 1060 instead if you can find one in the store for a decent price, but the 3GB version will still get you a lot of mileage.

I also don't see the RAM listed anywhere on the Microcenter site. And looking at the 2400 variant I don't see it listed as supported by the board you have picked out either. Might want to look a bit more into that.

That's a very good build. If you have any budget wiggle room, there are three things to consider:

1) Get a small SSD (120 or 240 GB) for your boot drive.

2) Grab a 6 GB 1060 instead of a 3 GB.

3) Get 3000 or 3200 MHz RAM.

None are necessary, but they seem like the best potential upgrades if you wanted to go any further with the build. I'd say the SSD would be the biggest bang for your buck option.

But it's a good build and don't get talked into overspending your budget!

Ah yeah higher clocked RAM is definitely important too.

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

Why not go for faster RAM? There doesn't seem to be much price difference. I was also going to tell you to go for the 6GB 1060 but checking prices online it seems to have gone up $100

Would recommend faster RAM if budget allows, but for the love of anything, get an SSD in there if you aren't re-using one from an older build.

That's a very good build. If you have any budget wiggle room, there are three things to consider:

1) Get a small SSD (120 or 240 GB) for your boot drive.

2) Grab a 6 GB 1060 instead of a 3 GB.

3) Get 3000 or 3200 MHz RAM.

None are necessary, but they seem like the best potential upgrades if you wanted to go any further with the build. I'd say the SSD would be the biggest bang for your buck option.

But it's a good build and don't get talked into overspending your budget!

The RAM is 3200. I just picked the wrong one on pcpartspicker.

The 6gb version of 1060 is nice but a little pricey.

Which SSD brand is better: Kingston, Intel or SanDisk?

Is this good SSD? http://www.microcenter.com/product/461722/540s_Series_240GB_SATA_25_Internal_Solid_State_Drive

 

[kuYuri]

So I have a 3570k . What's the best card I can pair with it before hitting any bottlenecks?

GTX 1070 or below for Nvidia. RX 580 or below for AMD if you can find one for decent price.

Used GTX 970/980/980 Ti might also be worth it, or used R9 Fury/390/380X/380 from AMD.

Also might be worth waiting for RX Vega to launch soon.

 

[Sami+]

It definitely sounds like you'd get a lot out of an ultrawide, so that seems like the way to go for you. It's also certainly a good idea to steer clear of "too good to be true" lower-priced monitors, even it means waiting longer to afford a name-brand.

Regarding your case dilemma, if you want to keep your desktop off your desk, I recommend buying a slab of wood or some other flat, thin surface you can place on the ground and prop your computer up on. That way it won't sink into your carpet and affect your intake airflow. That's literally how have my desktop positioned, sitting on my carpeted floor atop a wood IKEA desk divider I had but didn't use.

As for keeping your computer cool, the best thing you can do is get a good piece of monitoring software for monitoring your different component's temperatures. I personally use Speccy, but there are 400,000 options out there. Find out what your CPU, motherboard, and GPU are idling at. Finding out what your ambient room temperature would also be useful. Monitor these temps when idling and when in-game and take note of them. Feel free to shoot your temps my way and I'll let you know if they look out of line or not.

And don't worry about it, I hope I've been of some help to you!

Will do! And thank you so much dude, I appreciate it.

I just hooked up my new RAM (going from 4GB to 16GB &#128170 and was gonna put in my HDD/SSD hybrid drive only to find out my case only came with one SSD bracket lol. Guess that's gonna have to be postponed. Productive day though! Felt good to open the case up and fiddle with it again.

 

[RS4-]

The RAM is 3200. I just picked the wrong one on pcpartspicker.

The 6gb version of 1060 is nice but a little pricey.

Which SSD brand is better: Kingston, Intel or SanDisk?

Is this good SSD? http://www.microcenter.com/product/461722/540s_Series_240GB_SATA_25_Internal_Solid_State_Drive

Even though magwick recommended swapping the blue for a black, keep the blue or green (or hgst brand for an HDD); the price difference between a non-black and black means you can just buy a larger SSD instead.

Out of the three, Intel. But it's also the most expensive most likely.

You can always get a Samsung branded SSD as well.

 

[Samaritan]

Will do! And thank you so much dude, I appreciate it.

I just hooked up my new RAM (going from 4GB to 16GB &#128170 and was gonna put in my HDD/SSD hybrid drive only to find out my case only came with one SSD bracket lol. Guess that's gonna have to be postponed. Productive day though! Felt good to open the case up and fiddle with it again.

No worries! I'll keep an eye on this thread for any updates you have on the case.

 

[LegendX48]

I'm getting some money soon and I'm kinda hankering to upgrade/revamp my pc. I currently have a 3770k and an AMD RX 480 8gb. I plan on sticking with my 480 unless Vega impresses.

I don't do video editing but I do work with photoshop and will be using Adobe animate fairly extensively along with lots of gaming and occasional streaming (of games and photoshop).

edit: is it worth upgrading at all or should I just stick to my 3770k for a few more years?

 

[RS4-]

I'm getting some money soon and I'm kinda hankering to upgrade/revamp my pc. I currently have a 3770k and an AMD RX 480 8gb. I plan on sticking with my 480 unless Vega impresses.

I don't do video editing but I do work with photoshop and will be using Adobe animate fairly extensively along with lots of gaming and occasional streaming (of games and photoshop).

edit: is it worth upgrading at all or should I just stick to my 3770k for a few more years?

what games do you play/plan on playing and streaming?

 

[LegendX48]

what games do you play/plan on playing and streaming?

the usual AAA stuff. As for streaming, mainly tekken 7 or street fighter 5 every once in a while, along with drawings/paintings in photoshop .

 

[RumblingRosco]

The RAM is 3200. I just picked the wrong one on pcpartspicker.

The 6gb version of 1060 is nice but a little pricey.

Which SSD brand is better: Kingston, Intel or SanDisk?

Is this good SSD? http://www.microcenter.com/product/461722/540s_Series_240GB_SATA_25_Internal_Solid_State_Drive

Intel is generally better than the other two. That specific SSD isn't particularly fast compared to other SSDs in the price range, but honestly, any new SSD from any of those three brands will be a massive speed increase over your hard drive, especially if you put Windows on the SSD.

I have a Kingston SSDNow 240GB and it works very well. Feels snappy enough to me. Got it for around $85 from Microcenter a few months ago. You'll be good whatever you choose, and that 3200 MHz RAM will be nice for Ryzen.

 

[darkslayer101]

Gaf I have a question on thermal paste and corsair H100i v2.

I know that it comes with stock thermal paste and does not require to use one but I plan to use mine either way.

My question is do I clean of the thermal paste already on it or just apply my paste and move on with it?

 

[Samaritan]

Gaf I have a question on thermal paste and corsair H100i v2.

I know that it comes with stock thermal paste and does not require to use one but I plan to use mine either way.

My question is do I clean of the thermal paste already on it or just apply my paste and move on with it?

If you're wanting to apply your own, then you'll need to remove any thermal paste already on the cooler. I recommend using a microfiber cloth and 99% isopropyl alcohol for removing/cleaning a cooler before reapplying thermal compound.

 

[Jezbollah]

Gaf I have a question on thermal paste and corsair H100i v2.

I know that it comes with stock thermal paste and does not require to use one but I plan to use mine either way.

My question is do I clean of the thermal paste already on it or just apply my paste and move on with it?

I did this recently when I upgraded from my i7 3770k to i7 7700K. I removed the stock thermal paste from both CPU and H100i cooler and applied Artic Silver to the 7700k when re-attaching.

As Samaritan said, having a microfibre cloth and alcohol will make the job much easier, but it's not mandatory. just make sure you apply a few drops to the cloth and then clean from there.

 

[OCD Guy]

Gaf I have a question on thermal paste and corsair H100i v2.

I know that it comes with stock thermal paste and does not require to use one but I plan to use mine either way.

My question is do I clean of the thermal paste already on it or just apply my paste and move on with it?

If you're planning on using your own thermal compound then clean off the pre-applied one before applying your own.

However Corsair tend to use very good quality thermal compound on their coolers, so for ease of use you could just use what comes on it.

Not that cleaning and then applying thermal compound is time consuming.

I like to use this to clean off thermal compound https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000BKP306/

What thermal compound are you planning on using?

 

[darkslayer101]

If you're planning on using your own thermal compound then clean off the pre-applied one before applying your own.

However Corsair tend to use very good quality thermal compound on their coolers, so for ease of use you could just use what comes on it.

Not that cleaning and then applying thermal compound is time consuming.

I like to use this to clean off thermal compound https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000BKP306/

What thermal compound are you planning on using?

I have IC diamond 7 carat diamond. Not sure if its of quality, just happened to borrow it from a friend. I am still debating on sticking with the stock paste since I don't plan to overclock anytime soon, but I did get the 7700k.

 

[Samaritan]

As Samaritan said, having a microfibre cloth and alcohol will make the job much easier, but it's not mandatory. just make sure you apply a few drops to the cloth and then clean from there.

The important thing to make sure of, and this is why I recommended a microfiber cloth, is you want to be wary of any leftover fibers that a paper towel or tissue might leave behind.

 

[OCD Guy]

I have IC diamond 7 carat diamond. Not sure if its of quality, just happened to borrow it from a friend. I am still debating on sticking with the stock paste since I don't plan to overclock anytime soon, but I did get the 7700k.

There's no harm just using what comes pre-applied.

You can then always monitor temps, and when you get bored, clean it off and then apply your own one to compare.

Obviously not everyone likes to do that kinda stuff, but half of the fun with pc's for me is doing stuff like that, and experimenting with fans, push pull etc, radiator orientation and so on. I tend to have my pc case open every day lol.

To be honest in the grand scheme of things you're only talking a few degrees difference between thermal compound, and nowadays you tend to hit the limit of the silicon before temps are a real issue. My 6700k will not go past 4.5ghz, and I'm using a custom loop. So temps are not an issue at all, and no amount of vCore makes a difference.

You'll be able to overclock with the stock paste, infact you could actually overclock with a stock cooler. Obviously temps would become an issue much sooner, but what I'm getting at is if you're only planning moderate overclocks at best then you'll be fine just as you are.

 

[darkslayer101]

appreciate the answers OCD guy and Gaf

I guess I will wait and do the stuff later.

 

[RumblingRosco]

Question: How does the temperature of the backside of a GPU's PCB relate to the temperature of the VRMs, VRAMs, and main chip? I assume the back (directly behind any of the mentioned components) would be somewhat cooler than the actually component itself, but does anyone have an idea of how much? Even a ballpark estimate would be helpful.

 

[LilJoka]

Question: How does the temperature of the backside of a GPU's PCB relate to the temperature of the VRMs, VRAMs, and main chip? I assume the back (directly behind any of the mentioned components) would be somewhat cooler than the actually component itself, but does anyone have an idea of how much? Even a ballpark estimate would be helpful.

It depends on the component in question. VRM could be 20-40c hotter than the pcb.

 

[PlayALLtheGames]

This is correct. The RAM appears to be be fully seated. It's on the QVL.

I'm not sure how to check if my BIOS is up to date but I only built this machine in December of last year.

There is no error code. The system starts and the fans spin up but the monitors don't recognize a signal. Removing and reseating the RAM fixes this issue every time.

Weird. Well, there may certainly have been a BIOS update since then. You built the machine in December but your board was probably sitting on the shelves for a bit, so even if the most recent BIOS came out in Nov/Dec, doesn't mean your board has it.

Go into BIOS and look for the version number, then go to your motherboard's support/drivers page and compare. If out-of-date, then flash to the newest BIOS.

Also: are you OC'ing the RAM?

 

[opticalmace]

It depends on the component in question. VRM could be 20-40c hotter than the pcb.

On that note, is there any concern about M.2 drives getting too hot?

Mine is directly between/below my Noctua D15 and MSI Gaming X 1070 lol.

 

[fluffydelusions]

Got a used corsair case for free but it didn't have any of the mounting brackets or whatever they are called inside the bay drive to secure the HDD. Is it safe to just leave the HDD laying in the bottom of bay drive not screwed in?

 

[RumblingRosco]

It depends on the component in question. VRM could be 20-40c hotter than the pcb.

Ok, thanks. Appreciate the input!

 

[lucebuce12]

A ZOTAC 1080 8GB Mini for 540$ US is not a bad deal right now, right?

 

[opticalmace]

Got a used corsair case for free but it didn't have any of the mounting brackets or whatever they are called inside the bay drive to secure the HDD. Is it safe to just leave the HDD laying in the bottom of bay drive not screwed in?

I would put it on some little soft feet or something to insulate the vibrations at least. And I would construct some kind of make-shift way to keep it in place, as you don't really want it moving around ('cause of the spinning platter). But yeah it should be okay subject to those considerations (imho).

 

[Ieu]

Got a used corsair case for free but it didn't have any of the mounting brackets or whatever they are called inside the bay drive to secure the HDD. Is it safe to just leave the HDD laying in the bottom of bay drive not screwed in?

You can buy replacement parts from Corsair's website - while you can leave a SSD lying about, a hard drive should be secured as they are sensitive to knocks due to the moving parts.