PC Building Thread V6 - "running six RGB controller utilities at once" edition
999 replies, posted
It's a bummer that RTX logo isn't rgb. I really dig NZXT's white/purple scheme.
So my current video card, 7850, was new when it was a late Christmas gift back when it was released.
I'm incredibly fortunate that my system has been rock solid for the last 7 years, but I desperately need an upgrade, and one that will last.
I've had a long time to save, and have a budget of $1700 for this build.
What's most important to me is fast load times for heavily modded game , as those tend to be very unoptimized.
So I'm thinking lots of fast ram (DDR4, at least 3000, 16-32 gigs of it), and cards with lots of vram.
Second priority is 1440P 144hz monitor, and presumably the power to run it. I've been stuck with a 1080p monitor that claims 59-60hz, but I haven't seen performance close to that for ages, due mostly to my aging hardware. I want to experiance that silky smooth gameplay everybody talks about.
I'm hoping with the amount of money I've saved up for over half a decade for this, I'll be able to get a build that's mostly future proofed for at least five years, but who knows.
Budget: $1700
Need:
1440P 144hz monitor
Full PC build optimized for modding/high refresh rate monitor
Windows 10 OS
Already Have/do not need
Keyboard
Mouse
Headphones
Okay, I threw this together really quickly. I'm at work on my phone so I might not respond right away, and I definitely took the shortcut of reusing a few parts from my own PC, because I know they work well together.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/4bkjr6
Notes:
-Until recently, I wouldn't have recommended that motherboard, but a recent BIOS update fixed all my gripes with it. Make sure you update it. (and please do it the proper way with a USB drive, not through Windows.)
-Cheaper DDR4-3000 kits exist but I included that one because it's an uncommon example of an SK Hynix DRAM kit being able to actually hit advertised frequency on Ryzen.
-The case is totally up to you, I included the H500 because it's a safe default choice that most people will like. It's also excellent.
-The monitor is a shot in the dark and could justify its own thread. Monitors aren't a simple thing to buy at all, there's so much variation and personal preference. The Dell I use as an example is a safe choice for a gaming monitor, it has great motion blur performance and build quality but color accuracy isn't perfect. If that matters to you for professional reasons or something, then that's a whole thing in itself.
-If you wait a couple of months, new AMD CPUs are right around the corner. They might be a huge step up, they might not. We're not sure yet.
Ask me anything you want here and I'll get back to you as fast as I can, or yell at me on discord or somethin idk
Color accuracy isn't super important, no worries there, and that case looks fine.
I wouldn't mind waiting a few months, but I've been "waiting a few months" for years now, because there's always better PC hardware just on the horizon. So I committed that I'm going to at least put in the purchase within the week for this.
If I wanted to go the 32gb ram route, two stick of 16 of four of 8 is better you think?
I'm also considering throwing on another 2TB harddrive, but standard disk, to keep media on. So SSD for OS and gaming, and the other HDD for media. From a reliability perspective, is it better to get one 2TB or 2 1TB?
And please, if anyone else wants to chime in on my original request, no offense to Atomic, but I'm just looking see more opinions and options.
This is a pretty slow thread so definitely wait a few days for opinions to come in. I don't claim to be the end all be all of pc opinions soooo
2 sticks is better than 4 because you leave slots open for the future and you can't put RAM in quad-channel configuration anyway, dual channel is the most you can do with this hardware.
I'm not super up to date with hard drives because I've resolved to never again buy one, but I think a single 2TB is going to be cheaper than two 1TB disks. Don't worry about reliability too much, you need off-site backups for critical data anyway. Also consider that HDDs are louder than you think they are, and twice the disk is twice the noise.
So the latest MSI afterburner made it so I couldn't adjust the core clock on my RX 580, did anyone else get this weird little bug when updating?
So, a coworker got an absolutely overkill 240hz monitor for "eyestrain and related vision problems" reasons (they don't game), and I got to try it for a little bit with my laptop while I was visiting.
Oh. My. God. It is like a massage for my eyeballs, so damn smooth. Long story short, I want one now, and am expecting a decent chunk of tax refund change anyway, so... Any of you had any experience with 240 panels? Any recommended brands or specific models? I have an Nvidia GPU, so Gsync (or known 100% compatible freesync) would be highly preferred, at a 23-24 inch size.
Mostly not worth it. You can't play games at 240FPS with any setup short of dual 2080s or even more, and it's not too distinguishable from 144Hz in desktop work. And they're stupid expensive. I'd look for a 144Hz display instead.
240hz are only in 1080p from what ive seen and after using a 1440p 144hz display I barely even use my 1080p one
so unless you're only playing csgo or league of losers, theres no point since you won't hit that on any AAA game
the cheapest 240hz with gsync is 455$ while the cheapest 1440p 144hz with gsync is 377$ as well
I mean I do have a pretty big library of older titles I still enjoy from places like GOG that work fine with a completely unlocked framerate, and would easily hit that 200+ mark on a GTX1070. Also emulators with 120FPS support (via Vulkan renderer or via hex editing the game), combined with black frame insertion pass via software, would feel basically identical to playing on a 100+Hz CRT, if not better.
As newer games are going to be focusing on 60@1440p more and more, 1080p performance is probably going to go crazy, just like 720p did once GPUs started getting more than 3GB of VRAM. I don't sit close enough to my current 23" 60@1080p panel to pixel-peep either, and the biggest difference between 144 and 240 I can perceive is far less ghosting during fast-but-smooth motion - the 144 panels I've seen can either start to blur at the 120-144 range, or exhibit coronas when their motion compensation systems are cranked up, while 240 doesn't seem to perceptibly do either until right at the edge of its range, meaning even non-gaming applications almost never artifact.
I wouldn't really be remarking about it if it didn't seem like a big difference, but I guess to me it does. If there's a 144@1440p model out there with a really quality panel - good color, good brightness and contrast, very very low blur - at around the price range of a decent 240@1080p, I definitely wanna know about it.
Atomic's list is pretty good.
The only things I'd really look at doing differently would be going with a smaller/cheaper NVMe SSD, buking up to a 750 Watt PSU, and maybe seeing if a Radeon VII is worth your time.
Like, here's basically what I would pick - you'll notice it's super similar to Atomic's:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/B8NxBb
While measurable differences are hard to come by (most people just measure windows boot times), between my SATA and NVMe SSD systems, I can tell quite a bit - usually for application launching, and when stuff has to access a bunch of temp files (such as a chrome or firefox install with tons of shit in appdata).
I recommend NVMe because I think it's worth the extra cost. IMHO the best idea is to get moderate sized super-fast NAND (NVMe ~500 GB) and then bulk SATA QLC NAND.
Good catch on the price for that 650W, should be enough for a hungry VII as well.
Same w/ that memory kit, the G.skill was off by a couple letters from a different kit and I didn't notice.
I just installed everything into a new case, and I had to rotate my AIO thing, because it was pushing into my ram otherwise (I got more ram too).
But now I can... hear the liquid? I don't remember hearing it before? I could be going crazy, and it's not super loud, but when you're up close to it, you can hear the AIO's liquid. Should I be concerned about this? I have the cables routed a bit funky because of the new placement, is it okay to have them like this?
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/227099/0cacec85-6d8e-4469-8cc4-43e46c553ca2/53110474_1028575120662256_3080606262749036544_n.jpg
As long as you haven't kinked the hoses, AIO coolers should be fine, especially NZXT's with their braided tubing.
how would you even kink the hoses?
You know, I don't think it would hurt your ram if you re-positioned the pump to where it was. When I was using the X42, it was pushing slightly against the ram, though in your case(ha) it may have either more or less play.
When I googled sideways pressure on ram people seemed to say that it's not good for it and can damage it, so I figured better safe than sorry.
I'm definitely considering liquid cooling the Vii, but I'm worried re: my competency and voiding the warranty.
Hey guys, I just got some money and I'd like to do a bit of an upgrade
Specs:
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/237197/c69ef38d-d5e5-4696-a16b-b7b96b47a077/Screenshot_1.png
My goal is to get a cpu and gpu upgrade eventually but my understanding is I need a newer motherboard as mine isn't compatible with newer models. Would also like to ugprade my ram. I don't think I can afford a new gpu yet, but what would be a good motherboard/ram/cpu combo to get that still works with my current GPU and allows me to ugprade later? I have about 300 bucks right now but I can save a bit more if needed.
Any other suggestions appreciated. Thanks
ok ty, I will get those then I need more storage anyways.
will do, ty.
oh an also, my heatsink which i got ages ago when i got my cpu has lost a part holding it together and its kinda falling apart. I got one that came stock with my bf's cpu (i5-6500) but do you think it would fit my motherboard? I think it says I need a mb with LGA1151 socket, so am I gonna need to get a different one?
awesome, ty for all the help.
trying, but it's hard to find. My sticks' speed is 668MHz and most of what I find is above 1000MHz. Is it okay to mix these so long as they're all DIMM and same capacity?
ahh then i'm good. ty again
Getting a Ryzen-Based system is great for longevity, the socket doesn't change with each new gen, and the chipset can be pretty easily updated to support freshly-released Ryzen proccessors. If you are familiar with GPU bios flashing, or know someone who is, you could flash that 480 up to a 580.
Unrelated:
I have a feeling we're getting to a weird stage in computer building where DDR5 RAM is getting closer to reality, the PCIe 4.0 spec will arrive soon, and there's also the chance Intel or AMD could change to a new socket at any time because A. Intel's gonna go buckwild for 10nm releases and B. AMD is getting closer to it's projected end of AM4 use.
i'm legit scared, i heard this same noise about a month ago
https://youtu.be/uXs488OXgfU
Sounds like a fan is hitting a cable to me. Either that or a drive is dying but it's not the right kind of clicking.
To rule out the HDD I'd recommend checking the SMART data. Tools like crystaldisk make that relatively easy.
It's only really once in a blue fuckin moon that SMART will actually find anything wrong with a drive that will die tomorrow evening. It's worthwhile to check but don't assume things are all good because SMART tells you it's all good.
For checking HDDs we use SeaTools (seagate diagnostic tools) at work. There is a version for Windows and a somewhat faster bootable DOS version. In the Windows version run the Long Generic test. In the DOS version run the Long Test. It's pretty good at picking out a failing drive.
Thanks guys for the heads up, my list currently looks like this, after putting in the intel 660p, the seasonic 650, added an OS, and I want to add another data storage device.
Couple of follow up questions:
Am I understanding correctly that the only place I can get a R7 is directly from AMD right now?
Is that 32 GB of ram okay, or is there a different pair you all would recommend?
I want to add another drive for the purposes of data. Movies, pictures, etc, would probably end up having a lot of read/writing on it. At least 1TB in size, any recommendations?
I realize with these additions I've overshot my budget, but the R7 made me realize it will probably last me a long time to come, so I don't mind expanding data and ram a bit to accommodate longevity.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.