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[Vulcano's assistant]

I just got a new pc. But it only has 256GB SSD. I plan on getting a 2TB HDD.
But the cable management might be a problem. (also nervous taking the front panel off of my case NZXT S340).

Do I put the HDD in the shelf or the chassis?

Sorry i don't know if this is the right pc building thread.

Edit: i can try to take a pic real quick if needed. I have one but it's not exactly clear.

in here if it is a 3.5"

but you could also get a 2.5" HDD and have it in front by the SSD if you don't want to use an extra power cable. That or move the SSD to that same cage in the back using a 2.5" to 3.5" mount/dock.

 

[dr_mario]

Glad that helps a bit. For the fans, you can plug that 3-pin connector into the 4-pin headers on the board, and they will still work. The plug should still fit, and it is shaped to get you on the correct 3 pins. Fans with a 4-pin connector use an extra signal to control the fan speed, which is a bit nicer. You might need to play around with the BIOS to get any sort of speed control working.

The additional 2 pin/ 4pin connector looks like an option that allows the fans to connect directly to the power supply.

You are correct on the USB- that's an extra plug in case your MB doesn't have 3.0, so for you it just dangles unconnected.

Okay, great, thanks so much! I was confused about the 2pin-thing because there WERE actual 4 Pin power-connectors (the other black ones). So, there might be a possibility for controlling the fan speed with 3 pins, but it's not easy?

Also, I remember I scrolled through this thread one night and seeing a "problem" that was intriguing me:

Is a M2 really not faster than just SATAing an SSD? So I can just buy what pleasures me most? I already bought a Hybrid 2TB, but I want a system-partition SSD.

 

[ChazGW7]

Friend of mines new PC parts arrive today for his new build and its giving me that itch so bad. Heres what hes getting:

Ryzen 7 1700 (Gonna be overclocked)
MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon
Kingston Savage 16GB DDR4 RAM (3000Mhz)
Gigabyte Aorus GTX 1080ti
Super Flower Leadex II 850w Gold Modular PSU
NZXT S340 Elite (White)

Really tempts me to update my i7-4790k and 980ti but I know these parts have plenty life in them yet...

 

[ISee]

Friend of mines new PC parts arrive today for his new build and its giving me that itch so bad. Heres what hes getting:

Ryzen 7 1700 (Gonna be overclocked)
MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon
Kingston Savage 16GB DDR4 RAM (3000Mhz)
Gigabyte Aorus GTX 1080ti
Super Flower Leadex II 850w Gold Modular PSU
NZXT S340 Elite (White)

Really tempts me to update my i7-4790k and 980ti but I know these parts have plenty life in them yet...

Of course they have. Still a wonderfull gaming machine.

 

[John Dunbar]

So I built my first PC, and as expected I must have fucked something up. When I boot the system, it seems to be working fine, all the fans spinning, graphics card and motherboard light up and so forth, but there is nothing on my monitor. I used a HDMI cable, and I tried the same cable and monitor on a different PC and it works fine. I also tried to connect the HDMI to both the motherboard and the graphics card, but the only thing that appears on the screen is "No signal, going to sleep".

Could it work if I tried DVI or DisplayPort instead? I think that would be too simple, and would like to know why the HDMI is not working.

Another thing that worries me is that the yellow DRAM light is lit up if there is RAM in the second slot. It does not appear if there's just one in the fourth. But since I am not getting anything on the screen and I can't check the BIOS or such, so I don't know what is going on there.

My specs:

MB: Asus Z702F Gaming
Graphics card: MSI GTX 1080
RAM: 2x8GB Kingston HyperX 2666mhz
Processor: Inter i-7 7700K
SSD: 500GB 960 Evo
Power supply: Corsair RM650

 

[tenderbrew]

Wondering when I'll need to do a new PC. Hoping to make it through 2017-2018 with my current system that I built a few years ago. As of right now I can still play most new games at mid/high settings. I figure the bottleneck at this point is the 780? When do you guys think I'll need to rebuild? Maybe just replacing graphics card will be fine in the next 2 years?

i7 4930k @ 3.40GHz
32 GB DDR3
GTX 780

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

So I built my first PC, and as expected I must have fucked something up. When I boot the system, it seems to be working fine, all the fans spinning, graphics card and motherboard light up and so forth, but there is nothing on my monitor. I used a HDMI cable, and I tried the same cable and monitor on a different PC and it works fine. I also tried to connect the HDMI to both the motherboard and the graphics card, but the only thing that appears on the screen is "No signal, going to sleep".

Could it work if I tried DVI or DisplayPort instead? I think that would be too simple, and would like to know why the HDMI is not working.

Another thing that worries me is that the yellow DRAM light is lit up if there is RAM in the second slot. It does not appear if there's just one in the fourth. But since I am not getting anything on the screen and I can't check the BIOS or such, so I don't know what is going on there.

Sounds like the RAM. Happens to me every time. Make sure if they are properly installed. Try one at time if need be.

 

[John Dunbar]

Sounds like the RAM. Happens to me every time. Make sure if they are properly installed. Try one at time if need be.

That was the advice I found after Googling, but I have tried putting a single stick of RAM several times. I might be stunningly bad at this though.

 

[Drakhoran]

Is a M2 really not faster than just SATAing an SSD? So I can just buy what pleasures me most? I already bought a Hybrid 2TB, but I want a system-partition SSD.

It depends. I'm not an expert but I believe there are two different protocols for SSDs to talk to the motherboard, and at least four different physical connectors they can be plugged into. It's all a bit complicated.

Anyway, a M.2 slot can talk to an SSD by way of either the SATA or the NVMe protocol. A SATA M.2 drive like the 850 Evo or the WD Blue will be limited by the 600 MB/s speed of the SATA controller. A NVMe M.2 drive like the 960 Evo or the WD Black can connect at up to PCIe 4x speed (3.94 GB/s).

 

[Bloodember]

That was the advice I found after Googling, but I have tried putting a single stick of RAM several times. I might be stunningly bad at this though.

Make sure you inserting them all the way, it does take some force and they will click in.

 

[John Dunbar]

So it is possible that poorly installed RAM can cause the monitor to not get a signal? Huh, thought it would at least show something.

 

[Bloodember]

So it is possible that poorly installed RAM can cause the monitor to not get a signal? Huh, thought it would at least show something.

Yes

 

[John Dunbar]

Well, I tried to put the RAM in better. I tried multiple times, one RAM into different slots, and I pressed down until I heard the click when the lock thing closed, and they seemed to be down pretty good. Still nothing, and now every time I boot it that yellow DRAM led thing is on. This is getting rather upsetting. I doubt both sticks can be faulty.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Ok this can be really annoying to do, if it ends up not being the case, but it could be possible that your mobo has bent pins that are not connecting with the ram slots. You could take the heatsink and the CPU out to check underneath for that.

 

[kmfdmpig]

I just got a new pc. But it only has 256GB SSD. I plan on getting a 2TB HDD.
But the cable management might be a problem. (also nervous taking the front panel off of my case NZXT S340).

Do I put the HDD in the shelf or the chassis?

Sorry i don't know if this is the right pc building thread.

Edit: i can try to take a pic real quick if needed. I have one but it's not exactly clear.

I made a build yesterday (first build) with a friend using the S340.

You have three slots (under the shelf, in which case you'd screw in from underneath the case) or the bottom or top part of the open shelf. In the Elite version of the case there's an SSD caddy in front of that (facing the window), but I don't think there is one in the standard S340. If there is you'd probably want to keep the top slot in the HDD shelf open so you can get the cables through to the SSD.

 

[Bloodember]

Well, I tried to put the RAM in better. I tried multiple times, one RAM into different slots, and I pressed down until I heard the click when the lock thing closed, and they seemed to be down pretty good. Still nothing, and now every time I boot it that yellow DRAM led thing is on. This is getting rather upsetting. I doubt both sticks can be faulty.

Whats your motherboard manual say what that yellow light stands for?

 

[kuYuri]

Wondering when I'll need to do a new PC. Hoping to make it through 2017-2018 with my current system that I built a few years ago. As of right now I can still play most new games at mid/high settings. I figure the bottleneck at this point is the 780? When do you guys think I'll need to rebuild? Maybe just replacing graphics card will be fine in the next 2 years?

i7 4930k @ 3.40GHz
32 GB DDR3
GTX 780

You can easily ride this build out another couple of years just by upgrading the GPU. A GTX 1070 or used 980 Ti would be a great fit with that CPU. It will allow you to do 1080p/1440p gaming on high settings. If you want to pay a little less, an RX 580/GTX 1060 is also viable.

 

[John Dunbar]

Whats your motherboard manual say what that yellow light stands for?

It just says that if an error is found, the critical component's LED stays lit up until the problem is solved, and that yellow is DRAM_LED (yellow).

Ok this can be really annoying to do, if it ends up not being the case, but it could be possible that your mobo has bent pins that are not connecting with the ram slots. You could take the heatsink and the CPU out to check underneath for that.

Might be that I have to give it a shot.

 

[kuYuri]

Hi there, first time to PC Building. Trying to get out of console gaming as my main form of gaming, and I want to stop using my old laptop, as it's meant for workstation processes, not for gaming.

For baby's first PC, my budget is around ~$1200 (USA), though I can go up or down a few hundred if necessary. It'll mostly be used to play 6 month old games around high-ultra settings, though the most important thing is a consistent 1080p, 60 fps. I'm also hoping to be able to stream low impact games like League of Legends at a consistent 60 if possible. Some Autodesk usage will be added at some point as well. No plans to overclock right now, maybe if I get more knowledge about it in the future.

Feel free to add any thoughts and suggestions, perhaps either to get the price down or to add efficiency. Thanks :^)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor ($239.88 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Jet)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($126.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($107.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card ($393.89 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design - Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($78.89 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: Asus - DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.69 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte - GC-WB867D-I PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1339.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-31 20:06 EDT-0400

Meant to address this one. Along with the other suggestions, the one thing that stands out to me is the case, Define R4. It's a great case if a bit old, but I would highly recommend the newer Define R5. It makes some changes to the R4 that makes it way better imo.

 

[jim2point0]

I just replaced my 16GB Crucial Ballstix 3000mhz RAM with.... flashy LED RAM. So if anyone wants to buy that off me, I can maybe help ya save a little money. It's a month old.

$80?

PM me if interested. Don't want to clog the thread up

 

[Buggy Loop]

Holy shit, the mITX boards for Ryzen situation is sad.

What's up with the mITX tax over mATX or ATX anyway? Less slots, lesser of everything, but generally more expensive..

 

[hitgirl]

Done! Decided to do things a little different from my past builds and move the htpc/gaming machine into my tv stand.

Fractal Node 605
i7-6700k delidded
Noctua NH-U9S
Asus Z170-A
G. Skill TridentZ 16GB 3200 CAS14
Asus Strix 1070 Smokey Edition
Seasonic 650 Titanium
Intel 600p 512GB M.2
2x Noctua NF-F12 intake, 2x Noctua NF-A9 exhaust
Cablemod cables

 

[Wowfunhappy]

Kind of crazy that some games maxed out at 1080p still drop close to below 60 at 1080p on a 1080ti and decent CPU. Thought the Ti was overkill but it doesn't look like it from some of the benchmarks I've watched.

What games are dropping below 60 fps at 1080p with a 1080 Ti?

 

[Blam]

I'm wondering if there's a 6 way sata connector so I don't need to actually bend these sata cables for my harddrives.

 

[vector824]

Kind of crazy that some games maxed out at 1080p still drop close to below 60 at 1080p on a 1080ti and decent CPU. Thought the Ti was overkill but it doesn't look like it from some of the benchmarks I've watched.

What games are dropping below 60 fps at 1080p with a 1080 Ti?

I have an AMD Rx480 (which is way below a 1080ti) and this rarely happens to me, if ever, on an i5. Sounds like there something more to this.

 

[Branson]

What games are dropping below 60 fps at 1080p with a 1080 Ti?

The benchmark I watched had GTAV maxed but they had 8x MSAA which is a bit of a frame killer and not really worth it but the game was hitting 45-60 in the grassy areas just outside the city which surprised me. It could be a setting that wasn't worth it or not noticeable making it do that.

 

[Freeman76]

Guys help I need to upgrade my old chugger but only have £150 to spend.

i5
8GB
GTX660

Expert help requested

 

[jim2point0]

The benchmark I watched had GTAV maxed but they had 8x MSAA which is a bit of a frame killer and not really worth it but the game was hitting 45-60 in the grassy areas just outside the city which surprised me. It could be a setting that wasn't worth it or not noticeable making it do that.

You'd probably get better performance running the game at 4K with no MSAA. That's how expensive that setting is

 

[RS4-]

Guys help I need to upgrade my old chugger but only have £150 to spend.

i5
8GB
GTX660

Expert help requested

Unfortunately, I think a 1060 is a bit more than 150. The 1050ti is around your price range, but it probably isn't that big of an upgrade at all.

What i5 are you using.

 

[Sectorseven]

Guys help I need to upgrade my old chugger but only have £150 to spend.

i5
8GB
GTX660

Expert help requested

Buy a used PS4 and duct tape it to your case.

 

[Branson]

You'd probably get better performance running the game at 4K with no MSAA. That's how expensive that setting is

Right. That's what I figured and I know ultra grass is a big thing in that game too. Which still surpass me is still a problem with a 1080ti. I also noticed Wildlands would drop to like 61fps when he was scanning a base or something. Which wasn't as much overhead as I was believing the card to have at 1080p.

 

[NEO0MJ]

Holy shit, the mITX boards for Ryzen situation is sad.

What's up with the mITX tax over mATX or ATX anyway? Less slots, lesser of everything, but generally more expensive..

Sometimes just getting something small enough has its own price. I imagine that's the situation with micro ITX.

 

[Bloodember]

It just says that if an error is found, the critical component's LED stays lit up until the problem is solved, and that yellow is DRAM_LED (yellow).



Might be that I have to give it a shot.

Yeah, take the CPU out and make sure you don't have bent pins, if you do try to straighten them, as most waranties don't cover bent pins. If that's not the problem try booting without the GPU in the system, might want to try that first. Also make sure you have both power cables connected to the motherboard, plus the cable or cables to the GPU. It might be a bad PSU, is that new also?

 

[jim2point0]

Right. That's what I figured and I know ultra grass is a big thing in that game too. Which still surpass me is still a problem with a 1080ti. I also noticed Wildlands would drop to like 61fps when he was scanning a base or something. Which wasn't as much overhead as I was believing the card to have at 1080p.

The Wildlands beta ran really poorly for me even on SLI 980TIs. I think SLI support was garbage though. I've been looking to try it again once I can find the game on a good sale. But from what I can tell, it's up there with Quantum Break and Mankind Divided in terms of optimization.

There's no such thing as overkill in games like that

 

[sikkinixx]

So I got this motherboard to go along with my Ryzen 1600

and I'm having a hell of a time finding RAM that is on the support list (and it's crazy expensive) There are a ton of different SKUs but none match up. And the board does up to 3000mhz but most of the support is for 2133 instead. Though a few pages back someone showed a video that 3000mhz ram actually does make a difference.

 

[Branson]

The Wildlands beta ran really poorly for me even on SLI 980TIs. I think SLI support was garbage though. I've been looking to try it again once I can find the game on a good sale. But from what I can tell, it's up there with Quantum Break and Mankind Divided in terms of optimization.

There's no such thing as overkill in games like that

Which is why I never thought it was overkill. If you're barely getting over 60 on games like that at 1080p, that's why I wanted to go with a 7700 and a 1080ti. They thought I wanted to do 4k when I'm aiming for maxed 60 at 1080p right now.

 

[Bloodember]

So I got this motherboard to go along with my Ryzen 1600

and I'm having a hell of a time finding RAM that is on the support list (and it's crazy expensive) There are a ton of different SKUs but none match up. And the board does up to 3000mhz but most of the support is for 2133 instead. Though a few pages back someone showed a video that 3000mhz ram actually does make a difference.

Just because it's not on the list doesn't mean it won't work. Companies can't check all ram. If you have to get some that's not on the list the worst you'll have to do is return them and try another set.

 

[John Dunbar]

Yeah, take the CPU out and make sure you don't have bent pins, if you do try to straighten them, as most waranties don't cover bent pins. If that's not the problem try booting without the GPU in the system, might want to try that first. Also make sure you have both power cables connected to the motherboard, plus the cable or cables to the GPU. It might be a bad PSU, is that new also?

Yes, everything is new. I will probably try seeing how it works without the GPU and then checking for bent pins. If none of that works I sort of know someone who knows computers, so maybe they can take a look.

Is it possible that the motherboard just doesn't like the type of RAM I have?

 

[Bloodember]

Yes, everything is new. I will probably try seeing how it works without the GPU and then checking for bent pins. If none of that works I sort of know someone who knows computers, so maybe they can take a look.

Is it possible that the motherboard just doesn't like the type of RAM I have?

Yes, that is possible.

 

[dr_mario]

It depends. I'm not an expert but I believe there are two different protocols for SSDs to talk to the motherboard, and at least four different physical connectors they can be plugged into. It's all a bit complicated.

Anyway, a M.2 slot can talk to an SSD by way of either the SATA or the NVMe protocol. A SATA M.2 drive like the 850 Evo or the WD Blue will be limited by the 600 MB/s speed of the SATA controller. A NVMe M.2 drive like the 960 Evo or the WD Black can connect at up to PCIe 4x speed (3.94 GB/s).

Great, thanks for your help!

 

[sikkinixx]

Just because it's not on the list doesn't mean it won't work. Companies can't check all ram. If you have to get some that's not on the list the worst you'll have to do is return them and try another set.

Alright cool. I'll grab a set and give it a go then!

 

[tenderbrew]

You can easily ride this build out another couple of years just by upgrading the GPU. A GTX 1070 or used 980 Ti would be a great fit with that CPU. It will allow you to do 1080p/1440p gaming on high settings. If you want to pay a little less, an RX 580/GTX 1060 is also viable.

Great - thanks!

 

[RumblingRosco]

Swapped out my power supply from my working PC because the PSU was relatively old. New one is installed but can't get the system to post. When I press the power button I hear a "click" sound but nothing else, not even LED lights on the MB display. I did not remove any other hardware during this process. Things I've tried so far:

1) Different power cable from wall outlet to PSU.
2) Different outlet entirely.
3) Reseated the 24-pin MB connector on both ends.
4) Reseated the 12v MB connector on both ends.

I'm wondering if I somehow broke something? Or if the PSU is faulty? I may swap back in my old PSU at this rate and see if it will post.

Any other suggestions?

 

[enewtabie]

The new Phanteks Shift X case is the best looking case I've seen in a while. I was going to buy the White Corsair Limited 460,but I'm going to wait now.

 

[dcx4610]

Right. That's what I figured and I know ultra grass is a big thing in that game too. Which still surpass me is still a problem with a 1080ti. I also noticed Wildlands would drop to like 61fps when he was scanning a base or something. Which wasn't as much overhead as I was believing the card to have at 1080p.

MSAA will bring even games like World of Warcraft to its knees. Go FXAA or not AA at all. The higher the res, the less you need AA.

 

[dcx4610]

Swapped out my power supply from my working PC because the PSU was relatively old. New one is installed but can't get the system to post. When I press the power button I hear a "click" sound but nothing else, not even LED lights on the MB display. I did not remove any other hardware during this process. Things I've tried so far:

1) Different power cable from wall outlet to PSU.
2) Different outlet entirely.
3) Reseated the 24-pin MB connector on both ends.
4) Reseated the 12v MB connector on both ends.

I'm wondering if I somehow broke something? Or if the PSU is faulty? I may swap back in my old PSU at this rate and see if it will post.

Any other suggestions?

Is the power switch on your the PSU itself on? If it clicks, sounds little a bad PSU.

 

[RumblingRosco]

Is the power switch on your the PSU itself on? If it clicks, sounds little a bad PSU.

Unplugged the connectors (8 pin and 24 pin) to my MB. Unplugged PSU from outlet. Plugged old PSU into outlet and into the MB (8 pin and 24 pin) and nothing else. MB posts like a charm.

Gonna plug and unplug the new PSU a few more times, double-checking connections, but at this point I assume my new PSU was DOA.

 

[Bloodember]

Unplugged the connectors (8 pin and 24 pin) to my MB. Unplugged PSU from outlet. Plugged old PSU into outlet and into the MB (8 pin and 24 pin) and nothing else. MB posts like a charm.

Gonna plug and unplug the new PSU a few more times, double-checking connections, but at this point I assume my new PSU was DOA.

Are you using the cables that came with the new PSU? If your not then change them to the ones that came with it. Never use cables from another PSU.

 

[RumblingRosco]

Are you using the cables that came with the new PSU? If your not then change them to the ones that came with it. Never use cables from another PSU.

Old PSU was only semi-modular which included the MB cables (24 pin and 8 pin) being permanently attached. So, my only option with the new PSU was using the included cables. I appreciate the input though!

I've probably purchased 40+ components for PCs over the years and never had anything DOA. So, if this ends up being dead, I'd say it's probably within the acceptable means of failure across all the parts I've ever purchased.

 

[Condom]

Does somebody know a case that is good for cooling?

I got my old Fractal Define R3 but even with all possible fans installed I still don't feel like I get really good temps.

It doesn't annoy me at idle because I have set my PC to be almost silent at those temps but it's at load that my GPU especially (MSI, RX480) needs to amp it up and the result is noise.

Am I perhaps expecting too much from air cooling? Seeing as how the define R3 is still pretty solid AFAIK.

EDIT:
Setup is:
1 HDD/1 SSD
CPU: Ryzen 1600 OC 3.8ghz
GPU: MSI RX480 OC 1375/2175
Extra: SoundblasterZ (soundcard)
RAM: 2x 8gb DDR4
PSU: (650W)

Cooling: 5 intake fans, 1 exhaust (best for this case to have more intake from what I've read)
CPU cooler is the MUGEN 5 PCGH (2 fans)