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"I Need a New PC!" 2017 The Ryzing of Kaby Lake and NVMwhee!

Deadly

Member
Could I get some help enabling 1 GBPS speed for the ethernet port? I have a Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H, I've tried enabling it in the ethernet connection properties but then it doesn't detect my cable. On the other hand, I went into the BIOS for the NIC configuration and the option for 1 GBPS is not there.

Could it be a cable problem or a motherboard problem? Also when it says "link partner" what does it refer to?
 
Could I get some help enabling 1 GBPS speed for the ethernet port? I have a Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H, I've tried enabling it in the ethernet connection properties but then it doesn't detect my cable. On the other hand, I went into the BIOS for the NIC configuration and the option for 1 GBPS is not there.

Could it be a cable problem or a motherboard problem? Also when it says "link partner" what does it refer to?

Have you tried installing the LAN driver for the motherboard? I don't think you normally need to do anything (other than possibly that).

What kind of speeds are you getting now?
 

Khaz

Member
How accurate is the Wattage indication on pcpartpicker? I made a mockup pc with a Ryzen R5, a mini-ITX motherboard, an RX480, and an M.2 SSD, and according to the website it's only 197W. Can I use a 300W power supply with it?
 
How accurate is the Wattage indication on pcpartpicker? I made a mockup pc with a Ryzen R5, a mini-ITX motherboard, an RX480, and an M.2 SSD, and according to the website it's only 197W. Can I use a 300W power supply with it?

It's probably a reasonable guess, but, here is what I would do (since I don't know the power usage of those parts off hand):

- check power consumption stats (in reviews) for the CPU and GPU, those are the biggest juice hogs. pay particular attention to OC'ing numbers if you're going to overclock, as it's easy to drain the juice that way.
- assuming you have nothing else too crazy (like a huge number of hdds or something?), the rest of your system probably isn't going to consume too much. you're fine using simple estimates online there.
- then I would pick a PSU that has maybe 50% more wattage than your intended usage. this also depends on what your upgrade plans are.... personally I like to go a bit overkill on the PSU and keep it for a long ass time. also keep in mind each PSU's efficiency is a function of its load percentage. some PSUs are happy to sit at 80-90% load and still be quite efficient IIRC, others like to be closer to 50% load.

Something to that effect. And make sure you don't cheap out on the PSU...!
 
Just built my first PC ever!

Been a Mac guy, and everything in the house is still Mac, but the only justification for a new computer would have been if I could make one faster than my wife's i7 6700k Retina iMac (especially for things like video work/AE rendering), soooo, went with a Ryzen 7 build. Also needed to upgrade my storage situation, so this will also function as the main file server once I get a few things sorted out, and having the ability t add many drives is a huge plus.

Ryzen 7 1700
ASRock Killer/AC
8GB Ram (for now, will add more soon, just needed to shave off a few buck at the moment. Single stick too as I do plan to go to 32GB)
Samsung 960 EVO 256gb (still figuring out the hard drive situation, but that's coming)
EGA 1060 SC 3gb (figure ill go for the next gen xx70 when it comes out)
TT 500W PS
Phantecks Eclipse P400 Tempered Glass. Quite a nice looking tower.

Building was super easy, only tricky bits were the cooler screws and figuring out the front panel connectors.


Plus the $280 1440p 27" on Monoprice, which I have to say is a great monitor. Only issue is no built in speakers, but I can live with that. Have a little bluetooth thing I am using for now.
 
Just built my first PC ever!

Been a Mac guy, and everything in the house is still Mac, but the only justification for a new computer would have been if I could make one faster than my wife's i7 6700k Retina iMac (especially for things like video work/AE rendering), soooo, went with a Ryzen 7 build.

Ryzen 7 1700
ASRock Killer/AC
8GB Ram (for now, will add more soon, just needed to shave off a few buck at the moment. Single stick too as I do plan to go to 32GB)
Samsung 960 EVO 256gb (still figuring out the hard drive situation, but that's coming)
EGA 1060 SC 3gb (figure ill go for the next gen xx70 when it comes out)
TT 500W PS
Phantecks Eclipse P400 Tempered Glass. Quite a nice looking tower.

Building was super easy, only tricky bits were the cooler screws and figuring out the front panel connectors.


Plus the $280 1440p 27" on Monoprice, which I have to say is a great monitor. Only issue is no built in speakers, but I can live with that. Have a little bluetooth thing I am using for now.
Nice! This is very similar to a build I made not long ago:

Ryzen 7 1700
960 Evo 256GB
Phanteks P400S tempered (IIRC)
..then the other stuff was different.

Actually the case and power supply went to my wife's computer, so I need to buy new ones. I'm leaning Phanteks again, they make really kickass cases. I also have an Enthoo Pro for my gaming rig. And we're basically an EVGA-only household now on power supplies. The last three or four builds have had the G2 or G3 power supplies.
 

dcx4610

Member
How accurate is the Wattage indication on pcpartpicker? I made a mockup pc with a Ryzen R5, a mini-ITX motherboard, an RX480, and an M.2 SSD, and according to the website it's only 197W. Can I use a 300W power supply with it?

You probably could but I wouldn't. Power supplies are cheap but one of the most overlooked parts of a build. I always recommend going 200w over what you think you need just to be safe and to have wiggle room. Your computer will only use what watts it needs so there's really no downside. If you don't have the watts you need though, the computer can crash or shut off.
 

Khaz

Member
It's probably a reasonable guess, but, here is what I would do (since I don't know the power usage of those parts off hand):

- check power consumption stats (in reviews) for the CPU and GPU, those are the biggest juice hogs. pay particular attention to OC'ing numbers if you're going to overclock, as it's easy to drain the juice that way.
- assuming you have nothing else too crazy (like a huge number of hdds or something?), the rest of your system probably isn't going to consume too much. you're fine using simple estimates online there.
- then I would pick a PSU that has maybe 50% more wattage than your intended usage. this also depends on what your upgrade plans are.... personally I like to go a bit overkill on the PSU and keep it for a long ass time. also keep in mind each PSU's efficiency is a function of its load percentage. some PSUs are happy to sit at 80-90% load and still be quite efficient IIRC, others like to be closer to 50% load.

Something to that effect. And make sure you don't cheap out on the PSU...!

Thanks! I don't want to cheap out, but I don't want to go overkill either. Most of the PSU talks I see are about 500-600W, so I was confused about was I really needed.

I'm thinking of using the SilverStone SST-ST30SF, which seems to have good reviews, and the SFX form factor I need.
 

Deadly

Member
Have you tried installing the LAN driver for the motherboard? I don't think you normally need to do anything (other than possibly that).

What kind of speeds are you getting now?
Yep already did. It is set to auto-negotiate right now and I'm getting 100mbps. I just tried a different cable and it's the same.
 

John Dunbar

correct about everything
been living in computer stone age for quite a long time, and my rig is ancient, so have been thinking about building a new pc for the first time. problem is i don't really know anything about any of this, so can someone tell me am i overlooking something if i order the following items (i tried to mainly go by the guide on the first page)?

Processor: Intel i7-7700K
Motherboard: Maximus IX Hero
Graphics: GTX 1080
RAM: HyperX 16GB 2666MhZ DDR 4
SSD: 500GB 960 EVO
Storage: WD Blue 1TB
Power supply: Corsair 650W RM650x
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 BlackOut Edition

meant as a high-end gaming pc, not doing any streaming or multitasking.
 
been living in computer stone age for quite a long time, and my rig is ancient, so have been thinking about building a new pc for the first time. problem is i don't really know anything about any of this, so can someone tell me am i overlooking something if i order the following items (i tried to mainly go by the guide on the first page)?

Processor: Intel i7-7700K
Motherboard: Maximus IX Hero
Graphics: GTX 1080
RAM: HyperX 16GB 2666MhZ DDR 4
SSD: 500GB 960 EVO
Storage: WD Blue 1TB
Power supply: Corsair 650W RM650x
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 BlackOut Edition

meant as a high-end gaming pc, not doing any streaming or multitasking.

Similar to my build, actually. Everything looks like it will be fine. I don't know much about the case though.

Make sure you get a CPU cooler as the 7700k does not ship with one.

Since you won't have a see-through window, you can go for the very effective albeit slightly ugly Noctua D15. There's a Noctua D14 cooler over in the buy\sell\trade thread.

Looks fine. I wouldn't recommend going stock CPU cooler.

K edition CPUs do not ship with a cooler anyways :p
 

dcx4610

Member
been living in computer stone age for quite a long time, and my rig is ancient, so have been thinking about building a new pc for the first time. problem is i don't really know anything about any of this, so can someone tell me am i overlooking something if i order the following items (i tried to mainly go by the guide on the first page)?

Processor: Intel i7-7700K
Motherboard: Maximus IX Hero
Graphics: GTX 1080
RAM: HyperX 16GB 2666MhZ DDR 4
SSD: 500GB 960 EVO
Storage: WD Blue 1TB
Power supply: Corsair 650W RM650x
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 BlackOut Edition

meant as a high-end gaming pc, not doing any streaming or multitasking.

Looks fine. I wouldn't recommend going stock CPU cooler. You'll need to add something there. Also, I'd recommend a 144hz monitor.
 
Ever since I installed my 1080ti, I've been getting occasional BSODs referencing the Nvidia driver and it happens only when running Chrome, specifically when changing tabs or switching displays while chrome is open and a video is playing. It has never occured while playing any games and I have played quite a few for long durations. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the driver, that didn't fix it. I tried disabling hardware acceleration in chrome, which seemed to work until just now when it happened again. I just uninstalled chrome and reinstalled to see if maybe that helps.

Any other suggestions?

After reinstalling Chrome I was BSOD free for like a 3 weeks and then suddenly I'm getting them again. Super frustrating. Cleaned and reinstalled driver, I even connected the card to a new PCIe slot. Still getting BSODs when nothing is running but Chrome and Discord. This has never happened in game, even after 100+ hours of PBUG since I got the card in addition to other games.

I guess I could reinstall Windows as the next step, which I actually just did recently before buying the card for a different reason. It's not something I want to do but the only step after that will be RMAing the card. I guess I have it lucky. I do have a spare 980ti still on hand so RMAing could be worse. My biggest issue with RMAing is the card seems so good outside of this one issue. Runs cool and boosts very well with no additional overclocking. No issues in games, just BSODs out of game caused by the NVidia graphic driver while running Chrome and Disccrd.
 

John Dunbar

correct about everything
Thanks for the info. I actually did mean to list the Cryorig H7 that was recommended on the first page for CPU cooling, but it seemed to have slipped my mind.

another question: if i attempt to put this together by myself, what are they odds i'll break something? basically, how idiot proof is this?
 

rtcn63

Member
been living in computer stone age for quite a long time, and my rig is ancient, so have been thinking about building a new pc for the first time. problem is i don't really know anything about any of this, so can someone tell me am i overlooking something if i order the following items (i tried to mainly go by the guide on the first page)?

Processor: Intel i7-7700K
Motherboard: Maximus IX Hero
Graphics: GTX 1080
RAM: HyperX 16GB 2666MhZ DDR 4
SSD: 500GB 960 EVO
Storage: WD Blue 1TB
Power supply: Corsair 650W RM650x
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 BlackOut Edition

meant as a high-end gaming pc, not doing any streaming or multitasking.

Motherboard: You could probably go for an Asus Prime series mobo if you don't plan on doing extreme overclocking (which you really shouldn't need to with the 7700K), although if the Hero has extra connections/bells and whistles that you need...

RAM: I'd recommend 3200mhz DDR4 if possible, Corsair and G.Skillz sticks seem to be about the same price as those HyperX (although I'm not sure if their timings are better)

Case: If you're not adding an internal optical drive, maybe consider a Fractal Design Define C.

Cooler: Maybe something like a low/mid-end Noctua. If you're going big and $$, a Noctua D15(S)

Thanks for the info. I actually did mean to list the Cryorig H7 that was recommended on the first page for CPU cooling, but it seemed to have slipped my mind.

another question: if i attempt to put this together by myself, what are they odds i'll break something? basically, how idiot proof is this?

Watch a lot of Youtube guides beforehand, preferably ones that mirror your build.
 
another question: if i attempt to put this together by myself, what are they odds i'll break something? basically, how idiot proof is this?

The worst thing you can do is zap something with static electricity.

Other than that, follow the manuals, watch some videos, and you should be alright. It's hard to break this stuff.

And don't forget the damn IO shield before mounting your motherboard to the case :(
 

BBboy20

Member
u1czriz.jpg


I noticed my screen was a bit smaller the usual so I tried changing resolution and it ended up being like this. Many months ago, those lines started to show up every with evry boot up but they were only a few and went away.

I tried turning the power off and then on from the monitor and it only worked once as it then squeezed itself within minutes. Is this the end or there still hope?
 

sleepnaught

Member
I haven't kept up with PC hardware in a while, is there a successor releasing to the 7700k soon? I'm thinking of upgrading in a couple weeks from my i7 920 platform, but would rather wait if something new and shiny is in the horizon. I use it strictly for gaming and need something especially good for Dolphin.
 
I can't afford to build my PC until September since I am moving, but trying to figure out if the 1080 will be worth buying by that point. I'm really hoping Vega is out by then and decently priced. If not, I may just get the 1080Ti since I plan to do 4K by the end of the year.
 

lem0n

Member
Is the jump from 1080p to 1440p worth the investment? Is 4k that much better? Thinking about upgrading my rig soon, got an i5 4690k/GTX 970/8gb build that I want a little more performance from.. ideas on what to do? Best bang for buck? Not opposed to getting another monitor. I have an ASUS 144hz one that I like but I want a little bigger of a screen. Not fussed about losing 144hz if I'm honest.
 
Is the jump from 1080p to 1440p worth the investment? Is 4k that much better? Thinking about upgrading my rig soon, got an i5 4690k/GTX 970/8gb build that I want a little more performance from.. ideas on what to do? Best bang for buck? Not opposed to getting another monitor. I have an ASUS 144hz one that I like but I want a little bigger of a screen. Not fussed about losing 144hz if I'm honest.

4K is fantastic. Far easier on the eyes and everything is so clear. I'm in the same boat as you, where I don't care if I have 144hz or not. The 4K resolution and bigger screen size is worth it.
 

NOKYARD

Member

jrush64

Banned
No, they are the wrong chipset. Your i5 uses a LGA 1150 socket. A Z97 board allows you to overclock your processor so you can extract the most out of it.

I'm not that interested in overclocking though. You're saying as long as it's 1150 motherboard that it should work?
 

Sarcasm

Member
So I am going to try here. I want to get away from 2 in 1 headset & mic setup (basically a headset with attached microphone).

So a separate headphone & separate mic solution, any suggestions?
 

dcx4610

Member
I haven't kept up with PC hardware in a while, is there a successor releasing to the 7700k soon? I'm thinking of upgrading in a couple weeks from my i7 920 platform, but would rather wait if something new and shiny is in the horizon. I use it strictly for gaming and need something especially good for Dolphin.

Kaby Lake seems disappointing from all accounts. It's not bad but it wasn't a huge upgrade. The next big upgrade is Coffee Lake which will be the first 6 core CPU from Intel. It's scheduled before the end of the year and I think that's when I'll bite.

I was considering Kaby but it's such a minor upgrade over my current i7-4790k, I'll just wait it out.
 

dcx4610

Member
So I am going to try here. I want to get away from 2 in 1 headset & mic setup (basically a headset with attached microphone).

So a separate headphone & separate mic solution, any suggestions?

Any reason? If you are going to be wearing headphones and want to chat with people, why would you not want a mic included?

If you want external mics, there are some solutions but they get pricey and they are going to pick up mouse and keyboard clicks.

Check out the Blue Microphones Yeti. Expensive though.
 

Sarcasm

Member
Any reason? If you are going to be wearing headphones and want to chat with people, why would you not want a mic included?

If you want external mics, there are some solutions but they get pricey and they are going to pick up mouse and keyboard clicks.

Check out the Blue Microphones Yeti. Expensive though.

Because...from experience they break so easily no matter how careful (even when I put it on my headphone stand). So maybe better chance with a separate solution.

Or if you can suggest a better 2in1 as I been through many.
 
So I am going to try here. I want to get away from 2 in 1 headset & mic setup (basically a headset with attached microphone).

So a separate headphone & separate mic solution, any suggestions?

Affordable "headsets":

(OPEN) Philips SHP9500 + V-MODA BoomPro Gaming

(CLOSE) Status Audio CB-1 + V-MODA BoomPro Gaming
 

Mozendo

Member
So I am going to try here. I want to get away from 2 in 1 headset & mic setup (basically a headset with attached microphone).

So a separate headphone & separate mic solution, any suggestions?

What's your budget, design type, and sound signature preference (bassy, bright, etc)?
 

jeffc919

Member
Really great thread. It's been 10+ years since I last built a PC and this helped me get the info I needed to get up to speed.

I've been playing console games ever since my last PC got out of date but there are some PC games I've had my eye on that I really want to try out. Also the console games that interest me have been drying up a bit lately.

Anyway, here's what I ordered with the help of this thread and pcpartpicker:

Monitor: Dell 27" S2716DG (~$450 - Dell/perksatwork)
Video Card: GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 WINDFORCE OC 8GB ($430 - Ebay/Newegg)
SSD: Samsung 960 EVO Series 500GB NVMe ($220 - Newegg)
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-3200 ($112 - Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define Mini C ($92 - Ebay/Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G3 650W Gold Certified Fully Modular ($80 - Newegg)
Heatsink: CRYORIG H7 ($35 - Amazon)

I still need to order a CPU and motherboard but this is what I have planned:
Intel i5 7600K 3.8GHz (~$230 - Amazon)
ASUS ROG STRIX Z270G GAMING LGA1151 DDR4 mATX (~$195 - Amazon)

Total: $1844
The monitor is a big chunk of that but I think this system would be wasted on my 10+ year old screen. Other than what I've listed I'll probably pick up a decent keyboard/mouse and some cheap speakers....and of course a few games. Pretty excited to be coming back home to PC after being away so long. :) Spent a little more (ok, more than a little more) than I expected but I'm hoping this system will be good for running everything I throw at it in 1440p with good frame rates for at least a couple years and the next time around shouldn't have to be a full scale replacement like this one.
 
Do you recommend an amp or something to go with this?

They do not need it like some more expensive models, but yes I do recommend an amp. I had to remove my sound card to fit a third GPU for work, and I am connected directly to the mobo with the Phillips and the difference very clear. I don't know what is the best amp around this price range, however, because I have been on a sound card for years.

-- on a side note, in terms of ergonomics the Status Audio CB-1 feel like Audio Tecnica's M50s, they may be more comfortable than the Phillips. The Phillips are huge and lie on top of your head without extra pressure than their weight, but the fabric of the headband is somewhat slippery so if you look down a lot they move every time, so I had to add some foam mods for them to stay in place.
 

grimmiq

Member
Should be getting my RX580 tomorrow, lately I've been hearing a noise that I don't think is good. A whiny buzzing noise that I can't quiet tell if it's coming from my PSU or my GPU. Under load it usually doesn't happen, but whenever I close a game and I guess CPU/GPU draw less power it kicks in for anywhere between 10 seconds and a minute. A few years ago I had a much louder noise that ended up being a tag attached to a cable barely touching a fan on my CPU cooler, can't see anything similar now. For some reason the place I bought it from years ago put in an 850W PSU (3570k and HD7870).

Would running a CPU stress test put enough load on the PSU to check if that's the issue?
 

Sarcasm

Member
What's your budget, design type, and sound signature preference (bassy, bright, etc)?
Budget is pretty much open but you know can't be gawdly cheap or expensive lol.
I always get the ones that cover my entire ear.
Sound, I listen to a variety of music so this is hard. I guess bass?

They do not need it like some more expensive models, but yes I do recommend an amp. I had to remove my sound card to fit a third GPU for work, and I am connected directly to the mobo with the Phillips and the difference very clear. I don't know what is the best amp around this price range, however, because I have been on a sound card for years.

-- on a side note, in therms of ergonomics the Status Audio CB-1 feel like Audio Tecnica's M50s, they may be more comfortable than the Phillips. The Phillips are huge and lie on top of your head without extra pressure than their weight, but the fabric of the headband is somewhat slippery so if you look down a lot they move every time, so I had to add some foam mods for them to stay in place.

Yea I been using USB as I always had issues with 3.5mm..
 
Should be getting my RX580 tomorrow, lately I've been hearing a noise that I don't think is good. A whiny buzzing noise that I can't quiet tell if it's coming from my PSU or my GPU. Under load it usually doesn't happen, but whenever I close a game and I guess CPU/GPU draw less power it kicks in for anywhere between 10 seconds and a minute. A few years ago I had a much louder noise that ended up being a tag attached to a cable barely touching a fan on my CPU cooler, can't see anything similar now. For some reason the place I bought it from years ago put in an 850W PSU (3570k and HD7870).

Would running a CPU stress test put enough load on the PSU to check if that's the issue?
Sounds like coil whine, which I'd pretty common (and can be very annoying). Stick your head in your case and use your ear to figure out where it's coming from. If it's the gpu you might be able to play with the clocks to help decrease it.

AFAIK it's about the interplay of components in your system, so some combinations of, e.g., psu, motherboard and gpu might cause it.
 

YaBish

Member
Hey there! I've never built a PC before, but I've always wanted to do so. Recently, I received some cash to spend on such a project, and I was hoping you fine folks could help me out. I ran through PC parts picker and the GAF recommendations, and this is what I came up with.

Your Current Specs:
CPU: Intel - Core i5-7600K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: ASRock - Z270M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING X Video Card
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Total: $894.64

Budget: $850-1050 + USA

Main Use: Rate 1-5. Light Gaming (1), Gaming (5), Emulation (PS2/Wii/Wii U)(3), Video Editing (2), Streaming games in HD (1), 3D/Model work (Zbrush, Maya)(4), General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback)(3).

Monitor Resolution: 1080p, maybe looking at upgrading down the line to 1440p. (Already own this)

List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: MUST be able to run entire Adobe Suite smoothly, with a lot of multitasking between programs (ie. Photoshop->Illustrator->InDesign). 30fps is acceptable, but the main goal for gaming with this build would be 60fps. Would like to be able to run modern AAA games at 1080/60 locked, such as Overwatch or Deus Ex:MD.

Looking to reuse any parts?: Monitor mentioned above is a Acer G6 Series G276HL Gbd Black 27" VA 6ms (GTG) 60 Hz Widescreen LED/LCD Monitor 1920 x 1080 FHD.

When will you build?: No real deadline, but I'd like to get it finished before Mid-August. If the community thinks I should wait for some mid-range price drops, I'm willing to wait up to a year.

Will you be overclocking?: Yes, hopefully!

My other main question is whether I should maybe snag an SSD instead, and use my portable HDD to store games I don't play often. My only concern then is backup storage for large project files. I think I'll probably stick with an HDD, but I wanted to hear some opinions.

I'm also not to versed in all the vernacular, so go easy on me, PC gurus!
 

ISee

Member
Hey there! I've never built a PC before, but I've always wanted to do so. Recently, I received some cash to spend on such a project, and I was hoping you fine folks could help me out. I ran through PC parts picker and the GAF recommendations, and this is what I came up with.

Your Current Specs:
CPU: Intel - Core i5-7600K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: ASRock - Z270M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING X Video Card
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Total: $894.64

Budget: $850-1050 + USA

Main Use: Rate 1-5. Light Gaming (1), Gaming (5), Emulation (PS2/Wii/Wii U)(3), Video Editing (2), Streaming games in HD (1), 3D/Model work (Zbrush, Maya)(4), General Usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback)(3).

Monitor Resolution: 1080p, maybe looking at upgrading down the line to 1440p. (Already own this)

List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: MUST be able to run entire Adobe Suite smoothly, with a lot of multitasking between programs (ie. Photoshop->Illustrator->InDesign). 30fps is acceptable, but the main goal for gaming with this build would be 60fps. Would like to be able to run modern AAA games at 1080/60 locked, such as Overwatch or Deus Ex:MD.

Looking to reuse any parts?: Monitor mentioned above is a Acer G6 Series G276HL Gbd Black 27" VA 6ms (GTG) 60 Hz Widescreen LED/LCD Monitor 1920 x 1080 FHD.

When will you build?: No real deadline, but I'd like to get it finished before Mid-August. If the community thinks I should wait for some mid-range price drops, I'm willing to wait up to a year.

Will you be overclocking?: Yes, hopefully!

My other main question is whether I should maybe snag an SSD instead, and use my portable HDD to store games I don't play often. My only concern then is backup storage for large project files. I think I'll probably stick with an HDD, but I wanted to hear some opinions.

I'm also not to versed in all the vernacular, so go easy on me, PC gurus!

Good build, just some possible upgrades:
The ASRock - Z270M Pro4 has no usb 3.1 port. It has a usb 3.0 type c though. You will be able to connect usb 3.1 devices to your PC this way, but they will perform a lot slower. Not a big deal right now, but one day you will maybe own a usb 3.1 HDD, a smartphone or something else. I'd take a better mb because of this, especially when building something new and going for the z270 chipset anyway. The Asus z270 a is a very good board for its price. It comes with full speed usb 3.1 support (not normal) and I’m very surprised about the quality of the onboard soundcard. It’s even better than my old soundblaster X-FI soundcard (only relevant if you don’t use sound over HDMI or a usb headset). But it is also $50 more expansive and there are no performance differences between the asus z270 a and the ASRock - Z270M Pro4.
Go for the SSD. The improvements in loading times and boot times are huge over a HDD. But I’d also hold on to the 1TB HDD for storage needs.
1440p is doable on a 1060, but you will need to lower settings to medium/high in many games to get a 60fps experience and games will need even more power in the future. Consider getting a stronger GPU like a 1070.

Getting a better GPU, Mainboard and SSD will bring you to your max budget of $1050, but you’d get better loading times, better sound quality (if you aren’t using hdmi or usb audio), full speed usb 3.1 support and much better performance at 1440p.
 

BBboy20

Member
edrmsc7m.jpg

20 years, you served me well. You will never be forgotten.

So: tell me about the latest in PC monitor technology and what to look for.
 

Everdred

Member
I recently RMA'd a 980 and EVGA was kind enough to send me a 980 TI as a replacement but my system won't stay on for more than 5 minutes.

I was using my 580 as a backup while I waited for the new card and everything was great. I put the new 980 TI in and the whole system locks up and nothing gets put in the event logs. I'm monitoring all temps on CPU and GPU and nothing seems out of the ordinary. I've got the latest drivers and updated my BIOS. I can't figure it out but I'm pretty frustrated at this point.

I also tried a full Windows 10 rebuild just in case.

Any suggestions?

ASRock P67 EXTREME4
Intel 2500K
Corsair 750w power
8 GB RAM
 
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