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[Computer Build Thread] - Haswell? More like Has...damnit, I had something for this...

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Posts

  • tsmvengytsmvengy Registered User regular
    urahonky wrote: »
    Did... Did Amazon just drop the price of 770 $20 the day after I bought it!?

    Try calling customer service, sometimes you can get the discount as credit.

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    Iolo
  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    They refunded $20 to my account. :) I love Amazon.

    Commodore75
  • LD50LD50 Registered User regular
    The cpu is nice, the noctua cooler is fine too, but you may want to get one of the closed loop water coolers if you really want to play with overclocking.
    For the ram, most definitely get one of the 2 stick kits. You can start with 8 and expand later if you decide you want more. Faster ram is faster, but I don't think it's currently a bottleneck in pc gaming, so don't blow tons of money on it.

    For the mobo, the gigabyte and the asus both look fine. Go with whichever one you're more comfortable with. If you do have any issues, I'm sure the companies will rma the board. As for the two gigabyte boards, with the model numbers they have, I assume one is a newer revision of the same board.

    Overclocking the gpu is worth it, most definitely. Make sure to get a card with the acx cooler. 4 gigs of vram is unnecessary unless you're driving multiple monitors.

    For the PSU, depending on whether or not you get the 780, and depending on how many hard drives end up in that rig, when you sli your graphics cards 760w might not be enough.

  • IoloIolo iolo Registered User regular
    Hello Build thread! Long time no see. I'm still merrily enjoying my now, what, 3 year old build!

    I'm on the verge of getting a larger SSD. Are there any known stay away or overpriced or low reliability brands I should be aware of. I did a little poking around, especially on Tom's Hardward. The Samsung SSDs seem generally well regarded these days.

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  • tsmvengytsmvengy Registered User regular
    Iolo wrote: »
    Hello Build thread! Long time no see. I'm still merrily enjoying my now, what, 3 year old build!

    I'm on the verge of getting a larger SSD. Are there any known stay away or overpriced or low reliability brands I should be aware of. I did a little poking around, especially on Tom's Hardward. The Samsung SSDs seem generally well regarded these days.

    How big? Here are a couple of solid options at ~250GB:
    http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-internal-hard-drive-ct240m500ssd1
    http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250bw

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    Iolo
  • Knight_Knight_ Dead Dead Dead Registered User regular
    LD50 wrote: »
    The cpu is nice, the noctua cooler is fine too, but you may want to get one of the closed loop water coolers if you really want to play with overclocking.
    For the ram, most definitely get one of the 2 stick kits. You can start with 8 and expand later if you decide you want more. Faster ram is faster, but I don't think it's currently a bottleneck in pc gaming, so don't blow tons of money on it.

    For the mobo, the gigabyte and the asus both look fine. Go with whichever one you're more comfortable with. If you do have any issues, I'm sure the companies will rma the board. As for the two gigabyte boards, with the model numbers they have, I assume one is a newer revision of the same board.

    Overclocking the gpu is worth it, most definitely. Make sure to get a card with the acx cooler. 4 gigs of vram is unnecessary unless you're driving multiple monitors.

    For the PSU, depending on whether or not you get the 780, and depending on how many hard drives end up in that rig, when you sli your graphics cards 760w might not be enough.

    Closed loop water really doesn't get you much over a nice air cooler, and honestly i find they're quieter as there's no pump noise and the fans are further inside the system. My NH-D14 with 2 TY-140s is totally silent while running a 3.8ghz to 4.3 ghz oc on a 3570k, a notoriously hot processor when you push it.

    I'd go to 4gb of vram if you plan to go x1440 or x1600+, but if you're going to sit at x1080 or x1200 you're fine with 2gb yea.

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  • emp123emp123 Registered User regular
    I've said it before and I'll say it again, my only regret about going with my GTX 570 is that it doesn't have more VRAM (rocking 1.25GBs ooooh yeeeeah). I for one will most definitely grab a card with more than 2GBs of vram, partially because I'll probably upgrade to a x1600 at some point and partially because I'd really rather not regret not spending the $20-40.

  • Captain MarcusCaptain Marcus now arrives the hour of actionRegistered User regular
    What's a good site to pick out parts? There was a site posted on here once that had parts rated from fair to excellent, with little pictures of the item/price as you moused over it.

  • SoggybiscuitSoggybiscuit Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator Registered User regular
    edited January 2014
    What's a good site to pick out parts? There was a site posted on here once that had parts rated from fair to excellent, with little pictures of the item/price as you moused over it.

    www.pcpartpicker.com

    Soggybiscuit on
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  • RiusRius Globex CEO Nobody ever says ItalyRegistered User regular
    Think he's probably talking about Logical Increments

    Captain Marcus
  • BeltaineBeltaine BOO BOO DOO DE DOORegistered User regular
    edited January 2014
    Hey build thread! I think my GPU may be flaking out on me. Twice while browsing the web the screen kind of got a bunch of blinky lines across it and everything froze. Upon rebooting I had 2 bars of random characters running vertically down the screen during POST and while Windows loaded. Windows would never fully load. Just stop at a black screen.

    After the second time, I opened everything up. Reseated the GPU, reseated the RAM, blew all the dust out. The problem persisted. I could run in safe mode but the screen had lots of random lines all over in Windows.

    I turned it all off and got on my Ipad to browse for a new GPU. (This one is unfortunately out of warranty)

    After about 20 minutes I decided to give it another go and it booted fine. I'm writing this post on it now.

    At any rate, I want to replace it.

    My question is: Is there a current GPU equivalent or better than a 6970 in the $200 range?

    Beltaine on
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  • LD50LD50 Registered User regular
    So, it does sound like your gpu is dying, and a new card is in your future. It's also possible your card is overheating. It's also possible that both are happening at the same time. You might want to try taking the fan and heat sink assembly completely off the card, then use compressed air to clean all the dust out of the fan assembly and card, clean the thermal grease off the gpu and heat sink, and re-assemble the card/fan/heat sink with new thermal paste.

  • toloveistorebel toloveistorebel Impressive. Most impressive. Central FLRegistered User regular
    Yea, I have an i3 in my rig and can play skyrim on max settings with plenty of mods to boot. Not saying that the i5 isn't the better choice if you can swing it, but the i3 is no pushover either. Choosing a good graphics card will net you more gains.

    Yeah, before I upgraded to an i7 I was using a Ivy Bridge Pentium G2120 for about a year. Definitely was the most limiting part in my build. But getting that allowed me to beef up everything else till I had the money to get a better CPU. And my framrates weren't all that bad. For an "entry level" gaming PC like that I see no problem with an i3.

    (I'm actually hoping to use my old G2120 to build a little gaming PC for my wife/htpc pretty soon)

    Ok guys, so I'm probably going to be taking that G2120 and building that HTPC.

    Parts I need:

    1) Motherboard. I'm wanting a cheap Mini-ITX board. I don't need USB 3.0 or built in WiFi or anything fancy.
    I'm thinking this board.

    2) RAM. I think I'm going to start with 4GB and maybe add another 4 later on. Since M-ITX only has 2 slots should I just get one stick of 4GB to facilitate an easy upgrade later?
    I'm thinking this stick since its cheap and well rated.

    3) GPU. This I'm unsure about. I'm thinking a 7770 or 7790 for $100-$125. What do you guys think? What about Nvidia? Do they have anything that competes in that price range? I'm not really sure how the standard 650's measure up. I would really love to try out SteamOS and at the moment that requires an Nvidia GPU. So that may be best.

    4) PSU. I've got an old one that I was using with my old box HTPC. Its 350W I believe. Would that be enough for a 7770, 7790, or 650? It doesn't have any 6-8 pin GPU plugs. Really I should probably move my 500W Rosewill PSU from my gaming rig to this one and just get a better PSU for that PC. I don't foresee myself ever going Crossfire or SLI, should I shoot for about 500W again? I'm thinking a nice SeaSonic or something. Modular would be pretty nice.

    I think that's all I need. Any thoughts, critiques, or help would be appreciated. :D

  • IncindiumIncindium Registered User regular
    Iolo wrote: »
    Hello Build thread! Long time no see. I'm still merrily enjoying my now, what, 3 year old build!

    I'm on the verge of getting a larger SSD. Are there any known stay away or overpriced or low reliability brands I should be aware of. I did a little poking around, especially on Tom's Hardward. The Samsung SSDs seem generally well regarded these days.

    I'd go with one of the Samsung 840 EVO or the Crucial M500 models depending on your size and price preferences.

    steam_sig.png
    Nintendo ID: Incindium
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    Iolo
  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    Hey guys... Question. How do I make two monitors act as a single monitor? What I mean is that I have it Extended, but I want them to register as one 3840x1080 monitor... I swear I've done this before, but can't remember how to do it.

  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    urahonky wrote: »
    Hey guys... Question. How do I make two monitors act as a single monitor? What I mean is that I have it Extended, but I want them to register as one 3840x1080 monitor... I swear I've done this before, but can't remember how to do it.
    That should be part of your video driver installation. There should be software where you make one "display" out of two monitors.

  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    Yeah I'm looking all around NVIDIA Control Panel but not seeing anything useful...

  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    Hmm. It looks like NVIDIA only allows you to do that with 3 monitors?

  • EshEsh Tending bar. FFXIV. Motorcycles. Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    urahonky wrote: »
    Hmm. It looks like NVIDIA only allows you to do that with 3 monitors?

    Check your Windows display properties.

  • The_InfidelThe_Infidel Registered User regular
    Thanks for all the advice. This is the build I went with:

    CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
    CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($73.50 @ Amazon)
    Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz)
    Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($99.99 @ Newegg)
    Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($147.98 @ SuperBiiz)
    Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
    Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($529.99 @ Amazon)
    Case: Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
    Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($183.98 @ SuperBiiz)
    Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit - OEM (64-bit) ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
    Total: $1695.37

  • FoomyFoomy Registered User regular
    Woah, that is one overkill and overpriced psu you went for. 860W is something you would only need if you planned on sticking another 3 780's in that later. and the motherboard is a bit crazy as well, your really paying a lot for quad sli/crossfire support over any other z87 board.

    But if you've already placed the order, then I guess you'll be happy.

    Steam Profile: FoomyFooms
  • Forever ZefiroForever Zefiro cloaked in the midnight glory of an event horizonRegistered User regular
    edited January 2014
    Hey dudes and/or dudettes, I've been wanting to upgrade my PC, I've had it for several years. I don't need anything super fancy, but I do want it to play most games with highish graphics

    Is this a solid deal?

    I like that it's all basically presetup with parts that are compatible, because looking through that stuff and trying to piece something together gives me a migraine

    Forever Zefiro on
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  • The_InfidelThe_Infidel Registered User regular
    edited January 2014
    Foomy wrote: »
    Woah, that is one overkill and overpriced psu you went for. 860W is something you would only need if you planned on sticking another 3 780's in that later. and the motherboard is a bit crazy as well, your really paying a lot for quad sli/crossfire support over any other z87 board.

    But if you've already placed the order, then I guess you'll be happy.

    Oops, yeah, I actually went with the 760W for about $50 less...

    Those prices in general are all a bit higher than I paid, but I did err on the side of overkill.

    The_Infidel on
  • LD50LD50 Registered User regular
    Foomy wrote: »
    Woah, that is one overkill and overpriced psu you went for. 860W is something you would only need if you planned on sticking another 3 780's in that later. and the motherboard is a bit crazy as well, your really paying a lot for quad sli/crossfire support over any other z87 board.

    But if you've already placed the order, then I guess you'll be happy.

    That isn't actually true, unfortunately. You'll need at least that much to drive two of them, and I believe he is planning on getting another one later on down the road. (Especially when you factor in age-related wattage loss a year or so down the road.) It also depends on how many hard drives he plans on throwing in the system. It is a rather expensive psu, however.

    Hey dudes and/or dudettes, I've been wanting to upgrade my PC, I've had it for several years. I don't need anything super fancy, but I do want it to play most games with highish graphics

    Is this a solid deal?

    I like that it's all basically presetup with parts that are compatible, because looking through that stuff and trying to piece something together gives me a migraine

    A 660 is a generation old already, and isn't going to give you much staying power over time. There's already games out that can push that card to it's limit. I don't think that processor is overclockable (although it could be, I'm not familiar with the p designation), which means the z series board is a waste of money. The processor is also a generation old. Sketchy PSU.

    If you're not inclined to put together the build yourself, you could always look at the last few pages of the forums and copy a build put together by someone else.

  • tsmvengytsmvengy Registered User regular
    Beltaine wrote: »
    Hey build thread! I think my GPU may be flaking out on me. Twice while browsing the web the screen kind of got a bunch of blinky lines across it and everything froze. Upon rebooting I had 2 bars of random characters running vertically down the screen during POST and while Windows loaded. Windows would never fully load. Just stop at a black screen.

    After the second time, I opened everything up. Reseated the GPU, reseated the RAM, blew all the dust out. The problem persisted. I could run in safe mode but the screen had lots of random lines all over in Windows.

    I turned it all off and got on my Ipad to browse for a new GPU. (This one is unfortunately out of warranty)

    After about 20 minutes I decided to give it another go and it booted fine. I'm writing this post on it now.

    At any rate, I want to replace it.

    My question is: Is there a current GPU equivalent or better than a 6970 in the $200 range?

    Your GPU is overheating. Take it out and use a can of air to blow all the dust out of the heatsink.

    I would say get a GTX 760 or the R9 270. But they are not going to be a huge upgrade over what you have now, so getting that working is a better option.

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  • tsmvengytsmvengy Registered User regular
    Hey dudes and/or dudettes, I've been wanting to upgrade my PC, I've had it for several years. I don't need anything super fancy, but I do want it to play most games with highish graphics

    Is this a solid deal?

    I like that it's all basically presetup with parts that are compatible, because looking through that stuff and trying to piece something together gives me a migraine

    This is a better build if around $650 was what you were expecting to spend.
    http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2vrzK

    steam_sig.png
    toloveistorebel
  • RiusRius Globex CEO Nobody ever says ItalyRegistered User regular
    @The_Infidel can you cancel the PSU from Superbiiz, has it shipped yet?

    http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/comments/1uasp1/power_supply_seasonic_ss760xp2_760w_80_plat_fully/

    Seasonic 760w 80+ Plat PSU for $100 after instant code and $20 MIR, good through tomorrow. I mentioned earlier in the thread that I have the 660w version of this PSU and it's great.

    Hell, I'm tempted to pick up this 760 and upgrade to it and sell the 660. Even though I already picked up the 660 and upgraded to that and have the 650 to sell. Fuckin' Newegg.

  • The_InfidelThe_Infidel Registered User regular
    edited January 2014
    Rius wrote: »
    @The_Infidel can you cancel the PSU from Superbiiz, has it shipped yet?

    http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/comments/1uasp1/power_supply_seasonic_ss760xp2_760w_80_plat_fully/

    Seasonic 760w 80+ Plat PSU for $100 after instant code and $20 MIR, good through tomorrow. I mentioned earlier in the thread that I have the 660w version of this PSU and it's great.

    Hell, I'm tempted to pick up this 760 and upgrade to it and sell the 660. Even though I already picked up the 660 and upgraded to that and have the 650 to sell. Fuckin' Newegg.

    Thanks for the heads-up - newegg is actually where I ordered from. Though now I'm going back and forth on getting a 860W, as one of the power calculators I ran shows the system needing about 835W max when I put in the second 780 down the road...

    The_Infidel on
  • Forever ZefiroForever Zefiro cloaked in the midnight glory of an event horizonRegistered User regular
    LD50 wrote: »
    Hey dudes and/or dudettes, I've been wanting to upgrade my PC, I've had it for several years. I don't need anything super fancy, but I do want it to play most games with highish graphics

    Is this a solid deal?

    I like that it's all basically presetup with parts that are compatible, because looking through that stuff and trying to piece something together gives me a migraine

    A 660 is a generation old already, and isn't going to give you much staying power over time. There's already games out that can push that card to it's limit. I don't think that processor is overclockable (although it could be, I'm not familiar with the p designation), which means the z series board is a waste of money. The processor is also a generation old. Sketchy PSU.

    If you're not inclined to put together the build yourself, you could always look at the last few pages of the forums and copy a build put together by someone else.

    Ugh, there's so many different versions of things, this is so frustrating. But like I said, I don't need to play everything on ultra, and I've never overclocked something in my life, I just want something that'll run upcoming games smoothly at medium to high. My computer now runs Saints Row 3 at like medium and it's choppy : (
    tsmvengy wrote: »
    Hey dudes and/or dudettes, I've been wanting to upgrade my PC, I've had it for several years. I don't need anything super fancy, but I do want it to play most games with highish graphics

    Is this a solid deal?

    I like that it's all basically presetup with parts that are compatible, because looking through that stuff and trying to piece something together gives me a migraine

    This is a better build if around $650 was what you were expecting to spend.
    http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2vrzK

    Hey thanks, I was not aware of this site, that'll help a lot

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    XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
  • tsmvengytsmvengy Registered User regular
    edited January 2014
    LD50 wrote: »
    Hey dudes and/or dudettes, I've been wanting to upgrade my PC, I've had it for several years. I don't need anything super fancy, but I do want it to play most games with highish graphics

    Is this a solid deal?

    I like that it's all basically presetup with parts that are compatible, because looking through that stuff and trying to piece something together gives me a migraine

    A 660 is a generation old already, and isn't going to give you much staying power over time. There's already games out that can push that card to it's limit. I don't think that processor is overclockable (although it could be, I'm not familiar with the p designation), which means the z series board is a waste of money. The processor is also a generation old. Sketchy PSU.

    If you're not inclined to put together the build yourself, you could always look at the last few pages of the forums and copy a build put together by someone else.

    Ugh, there's so many different versions of things, this is so frustrating. But like I said, I don't need to play everything on ultra, and I've never overclocked something in my life, I just want something that'll run upcoming games smoothly at medium to high. My computer now runs Saints Row 3 at like medium and it's choppy : (
    tsmvengy wrote: »
    Hey dudes and/or dudettes, I've been wanting to upgrade my PC, I've had it for several years. I don't need anything super fancy, but I do want it to play most games with highish graphics

    Is this a solid deal?

    I like that it's all basically presetup with parts that are compatible, because looking through that stuff and trying to piece something together gives me a migraine

    This is a better build if around $650 was what you were expecting to spend.
    http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2vrzK

    Hey thanks, I was not aware of this site, that'll help a lot

    Here is another option with the i5-3350P:
    http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2vBrq

    The other question is: do you already have a hard drive? If so you could use that as a storage drive and get an SSD for your OS and some programs if you want to spend a little more. E.g. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2vBy9

    tsmvengy on
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  • Captain MarcusCaptain Marcus now arrives the hour of actionRegistered User regular
    Rius wrote: »
    Think he's probably talking about Logical Increments

    Exactly it, thanks!

  • IoloIolo iolo Registered User regular
    Incindium wrote: »
    Iolo wrote: »
    Hello Build thread! Long time no see. I'm still merrily enjoying my now, what, 3 year old build!

    I'm on the verge of getting a larger SSD. Are there any known stay away or overpriced or low reliability brands I should be aware of. I did a little poking around, especially on Tom's Hardward. The Samsung SSDs seem generally well regarded these days.

    I'd go with one of the Samsung 840 EVO or the Crucial M500 models depending on your size and price preferences.

    Perfect, thanks!

    For anyone else in the market for an EVO, there's a one day deal for a 250GB one for $140: http://m.deals.ebay.com/?_trksid=p1468660.m2212&deal=5000901635

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  • nexuscrawlernexuscrawler Registered User regular
    How bad is cold on a machine that's being built

    the computer I'm building is currently sitting out in my very cold(probably like 45 F) living room. Will it fuck it up when I finally boot the thing?

  • SmasherSmasher Starting to get dizzy Registered User regular
    Cold is fine, the only issue might be condensation.

    Banzai5150
  • EliminationElimination Registered User regular
    Is there a way to make PCPartPicker work for outside of the US? It's pretty worthless if it's always referring me to US only sites when I am in Canada and there's a price difference.

    PSN: PA_Elimination 3DS: 4399-2012-1711 Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/id/TheElimination/
  • Banzai5150Banzai5150 Registered User regular
    Smasher wrote: »
    Cold is fine, the only issue might be condensation.

    When bringing something to room temp give it a little extra time to warn up so there is no condensation.

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  • SnicketysnickSnicketysnick The Greatest Hype Man in WesterosRegistered User regular
    Is there a way to make PCPartPicker work for outside of the US? It's pretty worthless if it's always referring me to US only sites when I am in Canada and there's a price difference.

    There is a drop down menu in the top right that has Canada as an option, which works ok for the UK, if a little inconsistent.

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  • OrganichuOrganichu poops peesRegistered User regular
    can anyone recommend a place to unload new PC parts? i have an unopened b85 motherboard that i want to get rid of but i don't know if i should try a forum marketplace or craigslist or what. i guess i could try ebay? have heard a lot of horror stories about how all the protections available arefor buyers.

  • MarthMarth Registered User regular
    So I've been using the new PC for about a month (build here). It is so freaking wonderful compared to my old laptop. I still need to connect the DVD drive to the mobo and PSU, so I'll need to dive back in for that. I'll see if I can take pictures of it then.

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  • Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    Organichu wrote: »
    can anyone recommend a place to unload new PC parts? i have an unopened b85 motherboard that i want to get rid of but i don't know if i should try a forum marketplace or craigslist or what. i guess i could try ebay? have heard a lot of horror stories about how all the protections available arefor buyers.

    You can't return it for a refund?

This discussion has been closed.