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[Übermatik]

OCCT has a built in PSU stress test: http://www.ocbase.com/index.php/download But have you experienced any problems since updating the BIOS?

Also it's hard to say why your PSU would not work. Could be that some component (maybe just a capacitor) is faulty and because of that (one of) the output rails drops under load, especially when the PSU gets hot.

I can only tell if things aren't right by playing a fairly intensive game for ~40 minutes, so I'll get back to you!

Will OCCT harm my system at all?

 

[Mad Max]

Will OCCT harm my system at all?

It shouldn't if everything is running stock and you have adequate cooling.

 

[GinoFelino]

I have my PC hooked up to my TV and a monitor.

Does it matter performance-wise what display option I choose to game on either? Meaning using the 'duplicate' option or just the 'display on 1/2' options?

Anyone?

 

[Chris Metal]

Anyone here have experience with HIS cards for noise and reliability? I'm looking to get a 480 for my build this month and need a GPU to be pretty quiet for running two relatively old monitors, 1920x1200 (I'm not going water cooling route). Would MSI Armor OC 8GB be a better choice? This isn't for primarily a gaming machine, but wouldn't mind running a few new titles ok but it'll also help with the programs I use which might push GPU on occasion.

Cheers.

 

[b0bbyJ03]

For those with 4k screens, how do games look running at 1440p? I've currently got a 1440p screen which I absolutely love but I'm pretty sold on one of the new 4K HDR gsync monitors that are coming soon. I usually prefer playing at higher frame rates so I think I'll probably want to play a lot of games (not all) at 1440p until I upgrade to a card that can do 4K at high frame rates. opinions?

 

[PlayALLtheGames]

Anyone?

Game is going to default to whatever the primary screen is. I guess if you do extended Desktop then run game in windowed mode on one you can do stuff on the other; if it's light stuff and depending on your GPU probably won't affect game performance. I'd just run the game in full screen though.

 

[JonnyDBrit]

Anyone?

Only in so much if you have things running in the background, as you would on a single screen. So for example, if you've got skype and chrome running on another screen, and you actively click out of the game, then yes that will be a drain on your resources. On most rigs built specifically for gaming you should have enough overhead that such is perfectly fine to do, but on a low end laptop, or if you're only marginally achieving 60 FPS at given settings, it's worth factoring in. It's why I close most other things when running Battlefront on my PC.

 

[GinoFelino]

Only in so much if you have things running in the background, as you would on a single screen. So for example, if you've got skype and chrome running on another screen, and you actively click out of the game, then yes that will be a drain on your resources. On most rigs built specifically for gaming you should have enough overhead that such is perfectly fine to do, but on a low end laptop, or if you're only marginally achieving 60 FPS at given settings, it's worth factoring in. It's why I close most other things when running Battlefront on my PC.

Game is going to default to whatever the primary screen is. I guess if you do extended Desktop then run game in windowed mode on one you can do stuff on the other; if it's light stuff and depending on your GPU probably won't affect game performance. I'd just run the game in full screen though.

Cheers guys/gals.

And Duplicate Window mode? Does that factor into performance? That's how I mostly run games now, seeing as my TV is in another room from my monitor.

 

[Alessandro]

I was looking to upgrade my pc and apparently the bill is around 1.6k euro.

Before I spend that kind of money, is it a good moment to upgrade or there's something coming before year's end?

 

[LilJoka]

I was looking to upgrade my pc and apparently the bill is around 1.6k euro.

Before I spend that kind of money, is it a good moment to upgrade or there's something coming before year's end?

Depends on your specs and what you plan to buy.

 

[Sectorseven]

I was looking to upgrade my pc and apparently the bill is around 1.6k euro.

Before I spend that kind of money, is it a good moment to upgrade or there's something coming before year's end?

There's Ryzen R5s at the end of the month, Vega GPU in May, maybe some kind of i7 variation in a few months.

None of those are necessarily better or worth waiting for, but it's going to depend a lot on your budget.

 

[Hey_Blinkin]

Is there a worthwhile $200 upgrade for a 7970 yet? I'm hoping to run the Witcher 3 at 1080 at 60 fps on ultra. Here's my current setup:

I7 4770k @ 4.2
16gb ram @ 1866
HD 7970 3gb slightly overclocked
Windows 10

I'm currently getting slightly above 30fps with some dips into the 20s.

 

[Colin.]

My 7950 unexpectedly decided to kick the bucket. Currently using an old card as a backup, for now. Based on my needs, and current pricing, I'm thinking about going with a RX 480. But I hear that the 580 release (basically, a 480 rebadge job) will be coming within the next couple of weeks. Would a price drop of the 480 be likely when it's released? If so, I could probably wait it out to be honest. Also, which variants of the 480 are considered to be the better ones? There's that many of them, so it would help to narrow it down a bit.

 

[IonicSnake]

I was looking to upgrade my pc and apparently the bill is around 1.6k euro.

Before I spend that kind of money, is it a good moment to upgrade or there's something coming before year's end?

There is always something new around the corner, like it was said above it depends on what you have now.

 

[Vipu]

For those with 4k screens, how do games look running at 1440p? I've currently got a 1440p screen which I absolutely love but I'm pretty sold on one of the new 4K HDR gsync monitors that are coming soon. I usually prefer playing at higher frame rates so I think I'll probably want to play a lot of games (not all) at 1440p until I upgrade to a card that can do 4K at high frame rates. opinions?

1440p will look pretty bad but 1080p will look fine.

 

[Übermatik]

It shouldn't if everything is running stock and you have adequate cooling.

Alright, strange update... I ran Unigine Heaven for about an hour and a half at max, and... no crash.

How could this possibly be a Battlefield 4 specific bug? It's not something to do with having Freeysnc on is it? Game running at 59.97Hz? Mantle/DirectX 11 related? Anything?
Nothing particular triggers it, it just crashed randomly after around 40 minutes of use...

I'll try another Unigine demo tomorrow for a longer period, and also hop into BF4 for an hour or so and see what happens. I'm more puzzled now than I was before.

 

[stb]

My current machine has been great for 8 years, which is incredible (the only upgrades I made were video cards; 4890 -> 6950/6970 -> 7950), but it's finally showing it's age when the CPU is a factor (AI, un-optimized games like the PUBG EA, etc.).

Current machine (circa 2009):

- CPU: i7-920
- CPU cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE cooler)
- Motherboard: Asus P6T SE
- RAM: 6 GB (3x2GB) OCZ DDR3 1600
- GPU: XFX AMD 7950
- PSU: Corsair 620HX
- HDD: WD Black 1TB
- SSD: Samsung 830 (120 GB, for the OS), Samsung 840 Evo (240 GB, for game storage)
- Case: I don't even remember. Some mid-tower ATX "quiet" case

It is used primarily for games, but also sound editing (2+ hour podcasts with ~3 tracks), Photoshop, and streaming games played on the same machine. Future use cases will probably include all the same, plus video editing.

Currently considering:

~$1,300 USD
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ff8BYr
- CPU: i7-7700k
- CPU cooler: Corsair H50 AIO
- Motherboard: Asus Prime Z270M-PLUS (Micro ATX)
- RAM: 16 GB (2x 8 GB) Corsair Vengeance LED DDR4-3000
- GPU: EVGA GTX 1060 6GB (2x fan open air)
- PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W
- HDD: WD Blue 2TB
- SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
- Case: Fractal Design Define Mini C

Some notes:
- Ryzen isn't a consideration.
- This machine is intended to last at least 4 years (assuming GPU upgrades every ~2 years), so the CPU choice reflects both my current use cases and desired longevity.
- I'd like for the machine to be quiet (hence the Define case, water cooling, open air fan, etc.) and realize I'm paying a slight premium in some spots for this. e.g. I *could* cannibalize the PSU, but the new PSU is considerably quieter at load
- I'm planning on running stock, but want the ability to safely do a modest OC (especially the CPU if I get the itch or find myself CPU-bound in 2 years)
- $5 premium for the "LED" version of the RAM doesn't really change my day. I'm not even getting a windowed case, but I'm anal about stuff matching and everything else that has lights are white.

Questions:
- any blatant mistakes here? I've done a decent amount of research, and pcpartpicker isn't pitching any fits about compatibility. Aside from that, it seems like it's pretty balanced considering my use cases and desire to "future proof" as much as is practical.
- any reason to hold off on buying any of these components? The only thing I can think of is that there may be an i7 update, but I don't want to wait 6 months.
- anything I can do more cheaply, but with the same results?

 

[ss_lemonade]

I currently have a 3570k that's oc'ed to 4.6ghz and a gtx 780. Would I still be able to get a lot out of a 1080ti for 4k gaming or should I consider looking into a new cpu as well (that might push back the gpu purchase a bit)

 

[Mozendo]

- any reason to hold off on buying any of these components? The only thing I can think of is that there may be an i7 update, but I don't want to wait 6 months.

I think AMD is releasing the 5XX series soon, but they're refreshes so it wont be a huge deal

- anything I can do more cheaply, but with the same results?

1.I would get the Reeven Justice, it's on par with $80 air and $100 liquid CPU coolers for
$50. That and 120mm liquid coolers are that great tbh
2. RAM. Just get any cheap DDR4-3000MHz ram, most if not all of them are backed by lifetime warranties, plus you have a non-windowed case so it doesn't really matter how it looks.
3. I would switch the HDD to a Toshiba P300 2TB.
Also I would consider a 480 if you don't mind having an AMD card.

 

[Celcius]

edit: nevermind

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

I am getting an FX-8370 to replace my Phenom II. I've heard that the Wraith cooler it comes with is pretty comparable to a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo. Is this accurate?

 

[PlayALLtheGames]

Final list of components purchased and price paid for this water build, with links included. A couple of smaller things I doubled up on because I couldn't decide on a color but I won't include that - I don't want to scare off potential water adopters!

Case: Thermaltake P5 Black - $99.99 (after sale and $30 MiR)
CPU: 7700k - $250 (purchased from friend)
CPU block: Aquacomputer Cuplex Cryos NEXT with Vision - $104.99
Motherboard: Maximus IX Code - $250 (purchased from friend)
GPU: EVGA 1080Ti FE (via Step-Up from 1080 Hybrid) - $30
GPU block: EK FC TXP - $135.49
GPU backplate: EK FC TXP Black - $34.99
PSU: Corsair 750RMi - $124.99
PSU custom cables: Bitfenix Alchemy 2.0 Red - $91.08
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LED 16GB - $129.99
SSD: Samsung 960 EVO 500GB NVMe - $249.99
Radiator: HW Labs SR2 MP 360mm - $119.95
Radiator fans: Corsair SP120 Quiet Edition (x3) - $45.18
Pump: EK D5 PWM G2 - $89.99
Reservoir: MMRS custom (tube, tension rods, pump cover, single port cap with dual side port, D5 pump cap, dual CCFL light, reservoir mounts) - (from Performance-PCs.com) - $174.93
Tubes: Monsoon PETG Hardline 1/2" x 5/8" - $16.95
Fittings, plugs, valve: Monsoon Black Chrome, Bitspower Black (from Performance-PCs.com) - $114.75
Fan Controller: Aerocool V12XT - $59.24
Lighting: NZXT Hue+ and DeepCool RGB350 - $76.98

Misc:
Tube bending/cutting kit - $59.99
Heat Gun $27.38
Case device mounts - $15.99
Fan extension cables - $7.95
CCFL Inverter - $23.99
Distilled water - $17.42
PrimoChill Liquid Utopia - $13.95
LED cable extensions and male connectors - $13.98
Small tools, thermal paste - ~$30

Total: $2410.13 (not including taxes and shipping).

So really a $3K rig if I didn't have the Step-Up. Yikes. Realistically though this build will last me a while; my current setup was mostly put together in 2012. I'll almost certainly continue to upgrade GPUs every ~1.5 years and buy a new display at least once in the next 3 years. Will be interesting to see how often cooling parts need replacing.

Been out of the PC upgrading game for more then a year now.

Will the 1080 ti get bottlenecked by my i7-3770k? I have it OC'd a decent amount.

No.

 

[Varna]

Been out of the PC upgrading game for more then a year now.

Will the 1080 ti get bottlenecked by my i7-3770k? I have it OC'd a decent amount.

 

[Weevilone]

Tomorrow I will receive my Evga 1080 ITX "upgrade". It exists only to open my step-up window.

I've never been less excited about a new video card.

 

[Weevilone]

Been out of the PC upgrading game for more then a year now.

Will the 1080 ti get bottlenecked by my i7-3770k? I have it OC'd a decent amount.

It's subjective. It'll look surprisingly competitive when you just look at average framerates. It is less so when you focus on frametimes and such.

Edit: Damn, sorry for not multi-quoting.

 

[goober]

Alright, I'm not sure if this is the place to post this but I have a question.

I'm new to PC gaming and I recently got an entry-level prebuilt for a decent price. I was playing the new Titanfall 2 multiplayer for the free weekend and my screen glitches out and I had to restart my computer.

Is this due to my power supply or did my card overheat? Or is there another problem I'm not thinking of?

PC specs: i5-6400, RX480 4gb, 8gb. Power supply is apparently 300W


Edit: this is the first time it's ever happened btw, I can play CSGO and other games no problem. I'll also add I was playing for maybe 2+ hours

 

[DiamondDog74]

I've got a standard 1980 x 1600 LCD monitor.
Evga 980 sl gpu and intel i5 4670k
I can handle doom at high 60fps.
So it is wise to upgrade?
I'd probably see decent gains from upgrading right?

 

[Kadey]

The long wait until the end of the coming week. I have so much work to do before I can finally put things together. 1080 ti won't arrive until Thursday.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Alright, I'm not sure if this is the place to post this but I have a question.

I'm new to PC gaming and I recently got an entry-level prebuilt for a decent price. I was playing the new Titanfall 2 multiplayer for the free weekend and my screen glitches out and I had to restart my computer.

Is this due to my power supply or did my card overheat? Or is there another problem I'm not thinking of?

PC specs: i5-6400, RX480 4gb, 8gb. Power supply is apparently 300W


Edit: this is the first time it's ever happened btw, I can play CSGO and other games no problem. I'll also add I was playing for maybe 2+ hours

Is this that HP Pavilion Desktop - 560-p015hvr from that deal in January? Anyway it could have been a gpu crash, can't tell if you have no error report. What did the glitch look like? Was there graphical artifacting? Polygon tearing? Weird geometrical colors?

 

[goober]

Is this that HP Pavilion Desktop - 560-p015hvr from that deal in January? Anyway it could have been a gpu crash, can't tell if you have no error report. What did the glitch look like? Was there graphical artifacting? Polygon tearing? Weird geometrical colors?

Yeah, that's the one. I googled some images and this is probably the closest thing to it

 

[Novum_Veritas]

Yeah, that's the one. I googled some images and this is probably the closest thing to it

Looks totally like the GPU is failing here, probably overheating or it's defective.

 

[Alessandro]

There's Ryzen R5s at the end of the month, Vega GPU in May, maybe some kind of i7 variation in a few months.

None of those are necessarily better or worth waiting for, but it's going to depend a lot on your budget.

There is always something new around the corner, like it was said above it depends on what you have now.

I come from:
i5-3570k
Asus P8Z77-V LE
Corsair 8gb ddr3 1600
Galax gtx 970
+ 1tb HDD + 250gb evo 830 + 128gb evo 830

I planned to change it with:
i5-7600k
MSI Z270 Pro
Corsair 16gb ddr4 3200
MSI Armor gtx 1070
+ 2tb HDD + 250gb evo 960 m.2 + ali + heatsink

Last upgrade was 5 years ago and I'm now struggling to keep 1080p-60fps on newer games.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[Zojirushi]

Is there a worthwhile $200 upgrade for a 7970 yet? I'm hoping to run the Witcher 3 at 1080 at 60 fps on ultra. Here's my current setup:

I7 4770k @ 4.2
16gb ram @ 1866
HD 7970 3gb slightly overclocked
Windows 10

I'm currently getting slightly above 30fps with some dips into the 20s.

If for now it's only Witcher 3 you want you should check your settings. I played that game with that exact GPU at 60fps with only a couple of things turned down or off.

Other than that, I upgraded to a used 980Ti from that GPU, might be worth checking what they go for now that the 1070 price has been dropped.

 

[Leezard]

I'm upgrading my R9 280x to an RX 480 today. Do I need to uninstall the drivers before putting in the new card or is it ok since both are amd cards?

 

[Novum_Veritas]

I'm upgrading my R9 280x to an RX 480 today. Do I need to uninstall the drivers before putting in the new card or is it ok since both are amd cards?

If you have the newest AMD dirvers you should be good, you don't have to uninstall them.

 

[Leezard]

If you have the newest AMD dirvers you should be good, you don't have to uninstall them.

All right, I'll check that I have the latest drivers before I install it then. Thanks.

 

[Vipu]

My current machine has been great for 8 years, which is incredible (the only upgrades I made were video cards; 4890 -> 6950/6970 -> 7950), but it's finally showing it's age when the CPU is a factor (AI, un-optimized games like the PUBG EA, etc.).

Current machine (circa 2009):


It is used primarily for games, but also sound editing (2+ hour podcasts with ~3 tracks), Photoshop, and streaming games played on the same machine. Future use cases will probably include all the same, plus video editing.

Currently considering:


Some notes:
- Ryzen isn't a consideration.
- This machine is intended to last at least 4 years (assuming GPU upgrades every ~2 years), so the CPU choice reflects both my current use cases and desired longevity.
- I'd like for the machine to be quiet (hence the Define case, water cooling, open air fan, etc.) and realize I'm paying a slight premium in some spots for this. e.g. I *could* cannibalize the PSU, but the new PSU is considerably quieter at load
- I'm planning on running stock, but want the ability to safely do a modest OC (especially the CPU if I get the itch or find myself CPU-bound in 2 years)
- $5 premium for the "LED" version of the RAM doesn't really change my day. I'm not even getting a windowed case, but I'm anal about stuff matching and everything else that has lights are white.

Questions:
- any blatant mistakes here? I've done a decent amount of research, and pcpartpicker isn't pitching any fits about compatibility. Aside from that, it seems like it's pretty balanced considering my use cases and desire to "future proof" as much as is practical.
- any reason to hold off on buying any of these components? The only thing I can think of is that there may be an i7 update, but I don't want to wait 6 months.
- anything I can do more cheaply, but with the same results?

Why not Ryzen?
It sounds much better option than 7700k for your usecase.

 

[nightmare-slain]

Why not Ryzen?
It sounds much better option than 7700k for your usecase.

"It is used primarily for games"

a 7700K is still good for video/sound editing and streaming and it's better for playing games. if they were primarily doing sound/video editing then yeah a Ryzen would be better. also 7700k is cheaper than a 1700X.

 

[ISee]

Hi GAF just a quick heads up, just in case someone in EU gaf land wants to buy a 1070 atm:

Some german retailers are selling the gigabyte gtx 1080 windforce OC for ~480€ (e.g. Mindfactory.de) and I know the windforce edition isn't great in particular, especially when it comes to overclocking (worse chips because better ones are preselected for the g1/extreme series and just 1x8 pin power connection). BUT it is still a 1080 with descent cooling and just 40€ more expensive then high end 1070 cards like the Asus strix or msi x/z. So the 1080 windforce will give you better performance at lower clock speeds then a high end 1070 at very high overclocks.

1070 @ 2050 mhz --> 7.87 tflops
1080 @ 1900 mhz (should be doable) --> 9.73 tflops + faster memory bandwidth.
That's about 24% more gpu power for just 40€ more.

I think that's a descent deal.
Btw is the nvidia ghost recon promo still available?

 

[Shaldome]

I think that's a descent deal.
Btw is the nvidia ghost recon promo still available?

Yes until 18.04.2017.

 

[Sändersson]

Does anyone have any experience with g.skill trident Z rgb ram control software?

It seems that im in a pickle:

-I bought two sticks which are already on their way.
-I learned that g. skill's software doesnt work with Nzxt's cam software (I use it for kraken, fans and led strips.)
-I know that Asus aura can be used to control the colours of the sticks, BUT I have Z170-a which isnt an aura board so I guess the software doesnt work on it.

So im pretty sure aura software is out of the question and my only option to control the colours of the sticks is the g. skill's software which doesnt work with cam. Now is it possible to uninstall cam and install the g.skill software and change the colour of the sticks to something and then close the app down and basically never open it again? Or is it something that I need have open at all times.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Yeah, that's the one. I googled some images and this is probably the closest thing to it

Oh no, that looks like a gpu overheating problem. I had those geometric lines when one of my cards died a long time ago. Every time I used it after I'd get those lines all over the screen. So if you only got them one time, or every time you play Titan Fall 2 for too long it may just bee the card is getting too hot and crashes, could be a bad card if it won't try to downclock and cool itself off. Is the fan working?

 

[Kyne]

Now that Destiny 2 has been announced for PC I'm likely to build a new rig once it comes out.

Seeing as that's not going to be for another 6 months you think I should just wait until a couple of months prior?

I'll probably end up going with a 1070/1080 so I guess my real question is do you see any major price drops in the foreseeable future?

 

[Izuna]

Should I just get the Ti for +£275?

And will prices go down after the non-reference models come out?

 

[Übermatik]

Alright, strange update... I ran Unigine Heaven for about an hour and a half at max, and... no crash.

How could this possibly be a Battlefield 4 specific bug? It's not something to do with having Freeysnc on is it? Game running at 59.97Hz? Mantle/DirectX 11 related? Anything?
Nothing particular triggers it, it just crashed randomly after around 40 minutes of use...

I'll try another Unigine demo tomorrow for a longer period, and also hop into BF4 for an hour or so and see what happens. I'm more puzzled now than I was before.

So battlefield just died again, sooner this time. Unigine ran for much longer last night, so I'm puzzled as fuck. I'm actually going to install Titanfall 2 just t test the system, and also run OCCT.

 

[ISee]

Now that Destiny 2 has been announced for PC I'm likely to build a new rig once it comes out.

Seeing as that's not going to be for another 6 months you think I should just wait until a couple of months prior?

I'll probably end up going with a 1070/1080 so I guess my real question is do you see any major price drops in the foreseeable future?

Always hard to tell. As posted above some 'lower end' 1080s are already in a similar price range as 'high end' 1070s. At least in mainland Europe. I just ordered the gigabyte gtx 1080 windforce OC for 490€, a good match for 1440p even if it won't overclock to 2000+ mhz (probably, hard to find reviews for it). Other models are already available at ~450€.

Should I just get the Ti for +£275?

And will prices go down after the non-reference models come out?

Depends on your resolution and desired framerate. For 1080p/60 it is overkill, but for 1440p/60-144 or 4k/60? If you don'tmind the price tag? Sure. But keep in mind, a 450-500€ card will give you (probably) the same kind of performance next year.

 

[b0bbyJ03]

I've got a Corsair H100 liquid cooler in my current build with a 3770K. I'm upgrading to a 7700K next month. Does anyone know If i'll be able to just pull the H100 out and put it on the new board or is the clamp design different?

 

[e90Mark]

I've got a Corsair H100 liquid cooler in my current build with a 3770K. I'm upgrading to a 7700K next month. Does anyone know If i'll be able to just pull the H100 out and put it on the new board or is the clamp design different?

You won't have an issue, it's the same for 115x.

 

[The Hamburglar]

Much difference in a 7700k and i5 6700k if you oc both in pure gaming terms? Big price difference.

 

[b0bbyJ03]

You won't have an issue, it's the same for 115x.

Thank you!