• PC Building Thread
    4,998 replies, posted
[QUOTE=dbk21894;47588290][t]http://puu.sh/hoNaC/3a4431450f.jpg[/t] I did a thing! First time liquid cooling, turned out pretty OK in my opinion. Triple 120 rad up top w/3 SP120s in a push config. Plan on cooling the video card next since a triple rad is wayyy overkill for just a CPU. I've got an Alphacool D5 pump on it too. CPU block is a limited edition gold plated EK block I got a while ago. Deets: ASUS Z97-A Motherboard i7-4790k overclocked to 4.6 16GB of some Geil RAM I had in my old system (will replace soon w/Corsair Dominator) EVGA GTX780 Superclocked w/some overclock Corsair AX760 4x 2TB WD Black HDDs in RAID5 128GB PCIe M.2 SSD for OS It's going to be kinda a fluid (ha) build and things will change over time. Kinda excited for water cooling though![/QUOTE] Your watercooling setup is pretty much literally mine but with an XSPC block.
I just noticed that my RAM runs at 439MHz would it be a good idea to upgrade?
What would be a better pick, an AMD R7 260X or the GTX 750?
[QUOTE=frdrckk;47590870]What would be a better pick, an AMD R7 260X or the GTX 750?[/QUOTE] 260x has tier 3 dx12 support (I think, its not clear enough about tiers anyway) and Mantle, Freesync etc. My friend has one and its fairly decent in performance.
[QUOTE=Xanoxis;47590917]260x has tier 3 dx12 support (I think, its not clear enough about tiers anyway) and Mantle, Freesync etc. My friend has one and its fairly decent in performance.[/QUOTE] A bit cheaper than the 750 too, might get one over the summer then, thanks.
Any recommendations for things I should buy for my PC? Doesn't necassarily have to be like a new component or anything, but even things for making my desk or whatever look slick. Cool LED lights and shit
Yeah the only reason you should be looking at a 750 or 750ti is in the case where you have a weak PSU that you don't want to upgrade, or you have a requirement for a low profile, low power system. In that market segment, amd offers better performance for the price, unless you need the power efficiency of maxwell.
Here's another reason I should of built my own PC: After having this computer for close to 7 months, I realized my water cooling fan wasn't working. Being a prebuilt, the wiring is horrible with confusing and pointless cable ties, so after about an hour of untying and digging around I found one stray wire tucked in a small gap between the PSU and case - this was the wire from my watercooling fan. I spent the next hour doing more searching to find a connector for this wire, turns out I don't have one. Whoever built this PC at Cyber Power just thought he'd tuck it away and hope I don't notice
Bought my evga 980, with the witcher 3 code. So excited. Just have to buy the rest of the parts.
I think I am going to go ahead with the mini itx build with the corsair 380t but I have run into a bit of a dilemma. The 380T has vented grating on the sides, the radiator is going to be set to exhaust from one side, the graphics card i've selected isn't a blower so it's also going to exhaust from the opposite side. Should I flip my back case fan (120mm) so it acts as an intake along with the front (200mm)? Or should I save $100 more for a reference blower card? [t]http://i.imgur.com/kC2qsbw.jpg[/t]
Hey all, could I get some feedback on a build I'm looking at? I need to replace a [url=http://i.imgur.com/Pj60o4u.png]dated 6+ year old system[/url], and I'd like to spring for a good gaming PC. I'm also getting into computer science and game development. My budget is $1500 USD. I'm starting fresh with this - no reusing parts from my current system. [quote][url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Czqff7]PCPartPicker part list[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Czqff7/by_merchant/]Price breakdown by merchant[/url] [b]CPU:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i74790k]Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor[/url] ($279.99 @ Micro Center) [b]CPU Cooler:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2]Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler[/url] ($28.89 @ OutletPC) [b]Thermal Compound:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/arctic-silver-thermal-paste-as535g]Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste[/url] ($6.79 @ OutletPC) [b]Motherboard:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z97extreme4]ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard[/url] ($101.98 @ Newegg) [b]Memory:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-hx316c10fbk216]Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory[/url] ($109.99 @ NCIX US) [b]Storage:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-internal-hard-drive-ct256mx100ssd1]Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive[/url] ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz) [b]Storage:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd2003fzex]Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive[/url] ($119.99 @ Newegg) [b]Video Card:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvn970wf3oc4gd]Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card[/url] ($295.00 @ Newegg) [b]Case:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/phanteks-case-phes614lbk]Phanteks Enthoo Luxe ATX Full Tower Case[/url] ($142.99 @ NCIX US) [b]Power Supply:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-120g10650xr]EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply[/url] ($64.99 @ NCIX US) [b]Optical Drive:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-optical-drive-drw24b1stblkbas]Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer[/url] ($19.49 @ OutletPC) [b]Operating System:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-wn700615]Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)[/url] ($87.79 @ OutletPC) [b]Total:[/b] $1366.88 [i]Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available[/i] [i]Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-25 02:21 EDT-0400[/i][/quote]
[QUOTE=biodude94566;47595923]Hey all, could I get some feedback on a build I'm looking at? I need to replace a [url=http://i.imgur.com/Pj60o4u.png]dated 6+ year old system[/url], and I'd like to spring for a good gaming PC. I'm also getting into computer science and game development. My budget is $1500 USD. I'm starting fresh with this - no reusing parts from my current system.[/QUOTE] I made a couple changes, mostly better quality mobo and PSU. I also dipped the case down to a nearly identical version, nothing wrong with the Luxe though, feel free to put it in. It's just not a necessary step up if you're looking to save money. Also I'd recommend dipping down to an i5 4690k. The i7 really isn't going to help you at all for gaming. [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nYxMdC]PCPartPicker part list[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nYxMdC/by_merchant/]Price breakdown by merchant[/url] [b]CPU:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i74790k]Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor[/url] ($326.99 @ SuperBiiz) [b]CPU Cooler:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2]Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler[/url] ($28.89 @ OutletPC) [b]Thermal Compound:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/arctic-cooling-thermal-paste-acmx4]Arctic Cooling MX4 4g Thermal Paste[/url] ($6.99 @ SuperBiiz) [b]Motherboard:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97xgaming5]Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard[/url] ($130.98 @ Newegg) [b]Memory:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-hx316c10fbk216]Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory[/url] ($109.99 @ NCIX US) [b]Storage:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-internal-hard-drive-ct256mx100ssd1]Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive[/url] ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz) [b]Storage:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd2003fzex]Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive[/url] ($119.99 @ Newegg) [b]Video Card:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvn970wf3oc4gd]Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card[/url] ($314.99 @ Amazon) [b]Case:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/phanteks-case-phes614pcbk]Phanteks PH-ES614PC_BK ATX Full Tower Case[/url] ($89.99 @ Amazon) [b]Power Supply:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-m12ii620bronze]SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply[/url] ($83.99 @ SuperBiiz) [b]Optical Drive:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-optical-drive-drw24b1stblkbas]Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer[/url] ($19.49 @ OutletPC) [b]Operating System:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-wn700615]Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)[/url] ($87.79 @ OutletPC) [b]Total:[/b] $1429.07 [i]Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available[/i] [i]Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-25 02:37 EDT-0400[/i]
I thought that opening a single thread for this would had been against the rules or just annoying, so here goes nothing The imminent releases of the Witcher III and Batman: Arkham Knight made me realize that I need a soft upgrade to my current desktop Now, the PC I'm currently using is a custom built desktop I ordered following the advices of a friend (he's studying engineering at university). I got it roughly two years and a half ago for the price of six hundred bucks circa. Here it is (I took this screenshot using Speccy): [IMG]http://s4.postimg.org/v7ajh4ezx/Immagine.png[/IMG] As you can see, I use my desktop mainly as a gaming PC: my line of work (law) doesn't require that much tech power. As of now, I can safely play one year old and older PC games at ultra settings without any problem and fraps drop whatsoever, but when it comes to the most recent games (I'm thinking about Assassin's Creed: Unity and Dragon Age: Inquisition) I have to somehow make a choice when it comes to advanced graphic options in order to make the games run smoothly (which mainly boils down to turn off or lower down stuff like AA or ultrasampling, nothing too severe) As I said, however, I fear that the new generation of PC games require a slightly more powerful rig than mine and I'd like to recive suggestions about what new pieces I should get, exactly The friend I mentioned above believe that I need some extra GPU power and RAM. He told me this because when I played Dragon Age: Inquisition with all options on ultra the game frequently crashed due to GPU stress Granted, I don't want to play the newest games on all ultra, super, uber and the kind. Personally, when it comes to PC gaming, I'm happy with having great textures and environments quality and totally shutting down a couple of advanced options I find useless (like motion blurr or, again, specific super samplings). My friend calls me a console paesant for this It's also worth mentioning that I have like 400 bucks to invest on this. Preferably. Thank you all in advance for your help
[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;47589497]no ddr calcs its frequency by half 439=878 just as long as it's DDR3 there shouldn't be a need to upgrade it unless you're running out[/QUOTE] I got my new motherboard, checked the user guide and in the "qualified vendors list", the lowest frequency it lists is 1333MHz. Does this mean it has only been tested with modules at that frequency and above, or does it mean it will just not run with lower frequency modules?
I dunno, I'd almost suggest new RAM. 8gb of 1600 can be had for around $60, and ~800mhz DDR3 is hella slow. I forgot they even made it that slow at launch. I mean that'd mid-grade DDR2 speeds.
[QUOTE=EliaMoroes;47596868]I thought that opening a single thread for this would had been against the rules or just annoying, so here goes nothing The imminent releases of the Witcher III and Batman: Arkham Knight made me realize that I need a soft upgrade to my current desktop Now, the PC I'm currently using is a custom built desktop I ordered following the advices of a friend (he's studying engineering at university). I got it roughly two years and a half ago for the price of six hundred bucks circa. Here it is (I took this screenshot using Speccy): [IMG]http://s4.postimg.org/v7ajh4ezx/Immagine.png[/IMG] As you can see, I use my desktop mainly as a gaming PC: my line of work (law) doesn't require that much tech power. As of now, I can safely play one year old and older PC games at ultra settings without any problem and fraps drop whatsoever, but when it comes to the most recent games (I'm thinking about Assassin's Creed: Unity and Dragon Age: Inquisition) I have to somehow make a choice when it comes to advanced graphic options in order to make the games run smoothly (which mainly boils down to turn off or lower down stuff like AA or ultrasampling, nothing too severe) As I said, however, I fear that the new generation of PC games require a slightly more powerful rig than mine and I'd like to recive suggestions about what new pieces I should get, exactly The friend I mentioned above believe that I need some extra GPU power and RAM. He told me this because when I played Dragon Age: Inquisition with all options on ultra the game frequently crashed due to GPU stress Granted, I don't want to play the newest games on all ultra, super, uber and the kind. Personally, when it comes to PC gaming, I'm happy with having great textures and environments quality and totally shutting down a couple of advanced options I find useless (like motion blurr or, again, specific super samplings). My friend calls me a console paesant for this It's also worth mentioning that I have like 400 bucks to invest on this. Preferably. Thank you all in advance for your help[/QUOTE] 400 bucks? Nice. First of all, what PSU? Secondly, CPU seems good, you don't need more RAM, unless you really enjoy playing games that use a lot of it, and I know only one, PA. It seems like you only need GPU to upgrade. Unless PSU is shitty. I would recommend 290x of course, you can get one for 250$ probably in US at least, in my country you can get one for 380$, so, close to your budget. 600W PSU should be fine for it, or a little bit more to be safe or to overclock.
[QUOTE=EliaMoroes;47596868]I thought that opening a single thread for this would had been against the rules or just annoying, so here goes nothing The imminent releases of the Witcher III and Batman: Arkham Knight made me realize that I need a soft upgrade to my current desktop Now, the PC I'm currently using is a custom built desktop I ordered following the advices of a friend (he's studying engineering at university). I got it roughly two years and a half ago for the price of six hundred bucks circa. Here it is (I took this screenshot using Speccy): [IMG]http://s4.postimg.org/v7ajh4ezx/Immagine.png[/IMG] As you can see, I use my desktop mainly as a gaming PC: my line of work (law) doesn't require that much tech power. As of now, I can safely play one year old and older PC games at ultra settings without any problem and fraps drop whatsoever, but when it comes to the most recent games (I'm thinking about Assassin's Creed: Unity and Dragon Age: Inquisition) I have to somehow make a choice when it comes to advanced graphic options in order to make the games run smoothly (which mainly boils down to turn off or lower down stuff like AA or ultrasampling, nothing too severe) As I said, however, I fear that the new generation of PC games require a slightly more powerful rig than mine and I'd like to recive suggestions about what new pieces I should get, exactly The friend I mentioned above believe that I need some extra GPU power and RAM. He told me this because when I played Dragon Age: Inquisition with all options on ultra the game frequently crashed due to GPU stress Granted, I don't want to play the newest games on all ultra, super, uber and the kind. Personally, when it comes to PC gaming, I'm happy with having great textures and environments quality and totally shutting down a couple of advanced options I find useless (like motion blurr or, again, specific super samplings). My friend calls me a console paesant for this It's also worth mentioning that I have like 400 bucks to invest on this. Preferably. Thank you all in advance for your help[/QUOTE] I'd grab a 970, it'll allow you to max out any game at your monitor's resolution.
[url]http://pcpartpicker.com/user/redBadger/saved/2n8CmG[/url] Any recommended changes? I'm not getting that exact motherboard though.
[QUOTE=redBadger;47598431][url]http://pcpartpicker.com/user/redBadger/saved/2n8CmG[/url] Any recommended changes? I'm not getting that exact motherboard though.[/QUOTE] Looks awesome, I think you nailed it.
Suppose you guys are talking to someone who doesn't know many computer engineering details. For instance, what exactly is a PSU? On a side note, the (again) friend I mentioned proposed two changes: - Buying a GTX970 - Adding 8 GB to my RAM
[QUOTE=redBadger;47598431][url]http://pcpartpicker.com/user/redBadger/saved/2n8CmG[/url] Any recommended changes? I'm not getting that exact motherboard though.[/QUOTE] Get [URL="http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003"]this[/URL] hard drive instead. The one you chose only has 32mb cache. Also that motherboard may not be compatible out of box and might need a normal haswell processor to flash it with an updated bios. [editline]25th April 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=EliaMoroes;47598583]Suppose you guys are talking to someone who doesn't know many computer engineering details. For instance, what exactly is a PSU? On a side note, the (again) friend I mentioned proposed two changes: - Buying a GTX970 - Adding 8 GB to my RAM[/QUOTE] A PSU is your power supply unit. It's what's plugged into the power port of everything in your computer. I second the 970, and 8gb more RAM is really unnecessary. In no gaming scenario will you hit 8gb RAM aside from a faulty install of a game or if you're trying to run 3 or more games at once.
[QUOTE=EliaMoroes;47598583]Suppose you guys are talking to someone who doesn't know many computer engineering details. For instance, what exactly is a PSU? On a side note, the (again) friend I mentioned proposed two changes: - Buying a GTX970 - Adding 8 GB to my RAM[/QUOTE] Please, don't buy more RAM if you don't know why. If you don't know, you don't need it. I would prefer 290x, but 970 is more or less fine for fullhd. Go with what is cheaper.
[QUOTE=Levelog;47598594]Get [URL="http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003"]this[/URL] hard drive instead. The one you chose only has 32mb cache. Also that motherboard may not be compatible out of box and might need a normal haswell processor to flash it with an updated bios. [editline]25th April 2015[/editline] A PSU is your power supply unit. It's what's plugged into the power port of everything in your computer. I second the 970, and 8gb more RAM is really unnecessary. In no gaming scenario will you hit 8gb RAM aside from a faulty install of a game or if you're trying to run 3 or more games at once.[/QUOTE] I'll probably be getting this instead [url]http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=13-132-510[/url]
[QUOTE=Xanoxis;47599001]Please, don't buy more RAM if you don't know why. If you don't know, you don't need it. I would prefer 290x, but 970 is more or less fine for fullhd. Go with what is cheaper.[/QUOTE] As far as I can tell, my friend's advice about the RAM comes from my disastrous experience with Dragon Age: Inquisition on ultra settings (basically, the game crashed at every cutscene period due to a DirectX error, which my friend believed was due to too much stress on the GPU. I managed to run the game smoothly with no problem by setting all the options on ultra and lowered some of the more advanced options)
[QUOTE=EliaMoroes;47599214]As far as I can tell, my friend's advice about the RAM comes from my disastrous experience with Dragon Age: Inquisition on ultra settings (basically, the game crashed at every cutscene period due to a DirectX error, which my friend believed was due to too much stress on the GPU. I managed to run the game smoothly with no problem by setting all the options on ultra and lowered some of the more advanced options)[/QUOTE] Too much stress on the GPU wouldn't have anything to do with 8gb of RAM being too little.
64 gigs of ram or go home.
[QUOTE=redBadger;47599048]I'll probably be getting this instead [url]http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=13-132-510[/url][/QUOTE] Alright, just don't expect to do too much overclocking on that board. I'm also doubting the utilization of USB 3.1. I feel like it's going to be skipped over in favor of type C, I don't think we're going to see many 3.1 devices at all.
[QUOTE=EliaMoroes;47599214]As far as I can tell, my friend's advice about the RAM comes from my disastrous experience with Dragon Age: Inquisition on ultra settings (basically, the game crashed at every cutscene period due to a DirectX error, which my friend believed was due to too much stress on the GPU. I managed to run the game smoothly with no problem by setting all the options on ultra and lowered some of the more advanced options)[/QUOTE] Sounds like your friend have no idea what he says. Cutscenes often are prerendered, so it could be just something bad in game or drivers. DX error can be anything, really. When there is not enough RAM either game crashes, or entire PC freeze and its hard to do anything. Personal experience (Again PA, yes, that game actually use all the RAM. Mostly thousands of units and many "maps" at once. No limit at all.). If there is not enough VRAM, there is just stutter or game crashes. What stress on GPU means? If GPU overheats entire PC just shut down. Stable GPU will not crash game, it will just make less framerates when its "in stress" and settings are too high.
[QUOTE=Levelog;47599880]Alright, just don't expect to do too much overclocking on that board. I'm also doubting the utilization of USB 3.1. I feel like it's going to be skipped over in favor of type C, I don't think we're going to see many 3.1 devices at all.[/QUOTE] Adapters. Could you recommend any other motherboards though for a similar price range? NO usb2 allowed. Also, decided to get a larger ssd instead of a small ssd and HDD. Spent the same amount, I got a good deal on that ssd [editline]25th April 2015[/editline] [url]http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10/dp/B006EWUO22/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1430005612&sr=1-2&keywords=corsair+vengeance[/url] Also this 16gb ram is on sale. Is this a good buy?
[QUOTE=redBadger;47600489]Adapters. Could you recommend any other motherboards though for a similar price range? NO usb2 allowed. Also, decided to get a larger ssd instead of a small ssd and HDD. Spent the same amount, I got a good deal on that ssd [editline]25th April 2015[/editline] [url]http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10/dp/B006EWUO22/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1430005612&sr=1-2&keywords=corsair+vengeance[/url] Also this 16gb ram is on sale. Is this a good buy?[/QUOTE] Not really many boards with USB 3.1. Also [URL="http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f31600c9d16gxm"]this[/URL] RAM is cheaper and better, though marginally.
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