As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/
We're funding a new Acquisitions Incorporated series on Kickstarter right now! Check it out at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pennyarcade/acquisitions-incorporated-the-series-2

[Computer Build Thread] - Bitcoiners can't keep us down! 1440p or bust!

11920222425100

Posts

  • kaliyamakaliyama Left to find less-moderated fora Registered User regular
    edited April 2014
    kaliyama wrote: »
    Does anyone have suggestions for an nvidia solution for running 2-3x 1440p monitors? Tomshardware suggests two 770s.

    I was going to figure out how to crossfire my 7970 ghz edition. But I had my eyes opened as to what mining is doing to the amd market - that card, which I bought for 400 last summer, is now going for $100 MORE., and I can't even find my exact model.

    I would imagine your would be looking at 3 titans in SLI to do 3 x 1440p. 3 x 1440p is pushing more than 4k pixel wise.

    See http://www.anandtech.com/show/7120/some-quick-gaming-numbers-at-4k-max-settings. And you'll probably need to turn down settings quite a bit.

    Agreed. Or wait for the 6GB 780's or 780ti's to come out and double or triple SLI those. Would be substantially cheaper than Titans and probably better performing. At least the 780ti's would be (I think, right?).

    The fact that SLI doesn't add up the RAM from each card is the problem here. You're gonna need gobs of VRAM to handle all them pixels.

    A 780 can handle 1440p fairly well, a 780Ti does a pretty great job. So, for three screens, you'll need three 780s, or want three 780Tis. The 6GB models, obviously. There goes a couple of grand once you factor in the motherboard to run them and the PSU to power them.

    Thx. definitely not cost effective. It will be interesting to see how 4K pushes video card development.

    Like it says, a rumor at this point, but looks like we'll be waiting a while longer for new 800-series cards: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/133445-Rumor-Nvidias-20nm-Maxwell-GPUs-Delayed-to-2015

    kaliyama on
    fwKS7.png?1
  • DhalphirDhalphir don't you open that trapdoor you're a fool if you dareRegistered User regular
    edited April 2014
    Australian PC builders

    I'm planning to get an entirely new system.

    my normal process, and what I've done for the last three systems, is to give a list of parts to my local PC shop - Netplus Computers. They source them, put them together, and charge me $50 for their trouble. It's an easy way to mean that I don't have to spend any time at all putting things together. I know putting it together is easy, I've had this discussion many times, $50 is worth less to me than putting together the PC.

    With that in mind, is it even worth following this process this time, or should I just buy one of the PC Case Gear prebuilt systemS? They seem to have all of the essentials covered, and I'm not sure I'd pick anything substantially different in any of these systems.

    http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1411

    I was looking at either the $1500 one or the $1700 one. If there's any weak points in those systems, then I can use them as a starting point and buy the parts elsewhere to get them put together, but if one of those systems has everything I'm looking for, it's much more convenient for me to just do it that way.

    EDIT: I should say that the use cases for this system are 1080p gaming. I have a 27" monitor currently - I will be hooking up a spare 1900x1200 24" monitor to the new system, but that will be for no more than running web browsers off-screen while gaming.

    Dhalphir on
  • Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    What's wrong with your current setup?

  • DhalphirDhalphir don't you open that trapdoor you're a fool if you dareRegistered User regular
    What's wrong with your current setup?

    Nothing, really, but I tend to buy a new system every few years like clockwork.

    The current system is an i5 2500k, and GTX560. I considered dropping $500-600 on a new GPU and finally an SSD, but figured if I was going to spend that much, I might as well replace the system.

  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    I've been told that with Windows 7, it's possible to mount drive partitions as things like C:\Program Files and C:\Users, which would be really handy because we're using a 128gb SSD for Windows and don't want to fill it up by accident. I tried looking for a guide on how to do this, since it asks you to make an empty folder to mount as a drive, and the only guide I found involved some registry editing which I'm pretty reluctant to do as I've never touched it before and worry about cocking something right up. Anyone done this, and is that the only way to do it?

    forumsig.png
  • Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    Dhalphir wrote: »
    What's wrong with your current setup?

    Nothing, really, but I tend to buy a new system every few years like clockwork.

    The current system is an i5 2500k, and GTX560. I considered dropping $500-600 on a new GPU and finally an SSD, but figured if I was going to spend that much, I might as well replace the system.

    There's really no big reason to update from a 2500k if you're just gaming on it, though. A fat new video card and an SSD would make a big difference though!

    toloveistorebel schussan_altJebus314Griswold
  • schussschuss Registered User regular
    Dhalphir wrote: »
    What's wrong with your current setup?

    Nothing, really, but I tend to buy a new system every few years like clockwork.

    The current system is an i5 2500k, and GTX560. I considered dropping $500-600 on a new GPU and finally an SSD, but figured if I was going to spend that much, I might as well replace the system.

    There's really no big reason to update from a 2500k if you're just gaming on it, though. A fat new video card and an SSD would make a big difference though!

    Agreed. I switched my build plan from New Comp every few years to VidCard+random upgrade -> Chipset/RAM/MOBO, alternating the 2 every few years. You always feel current and never spend more than $500.

  • DhalphirDhalphir don't you open that trapdoor you're a fool if you dareRegistered User regular
    Dhalphir wrote: »
    What's wrong with your current setup?

    Nothing, really, but I tend to buy a new system every few years like clockwork.

    The current system is an i5 2500k, and GTX560. I considered dropping $500-600 on a new GPU and finally an SSD, but figured if I was going to spend that much, I might as well replace the system.

    There's really no big reason to update from a 2500k if you're just gaming on it, though. A fat new video card and an SSD would make a big difference though!

    So, any recommendations for videocard and SSD? Like I said, primary gaming will be a 27" 1080p, offscreen will be a 24" 1900x1200.

  • DarlanDarlan Registered User regular
    So, lately I've found that every single time I boot up the "Nvidia experience" and try to download a driver, I get a "unable to connect to NVIDIA" error message, even though my internet otherwise works fine. Has anyone else been seeing that?

  • SatanIsMyMotorSatanIsMyMotor Fuck Warren Ellis Registered User regular
    Delayed thanks to y'all. I posted some 2 threads back about video card upgrades. Based on your feedback I ended up switching to a GTX 780. It is absolutely fantastic - just melting everything I put it up to. Good times!

    toloveistorebel
  • DehumanizedDehumanized Registered User regular
    Darlan wrote: »
    So, lately I've found that every single time I boot up the "Nvidia experience" and try to download a driver, I get a "unable to connect to NVIDIA" error message, even though my internet otherwise works fine. Has anyone else been seeing that?

    I've been pretty unimpressed with patching in that software. Nowadays if it prompts me for shit I usually just uninstall it and download/install it again from their website.

  • kimekime Queen of Blades Registered User regular
    kime wrote: »
    I'm not even sure what's standard-ish these days. I haven't actually bought a monitor or such in a while. I'm replacing the old tv that's been acting as my monitor :P

    So it doesn't need to be super high-end, resolution-wise. I probably couldn't tell the difference anyways. What are some common sizes?

    Probably not looking to go much above $300 or so. I want a dual-screen setup, so that means two monitors (unless there's any combo thing that's worthwhile?). Is that a reasonable price?

    Was this too vague? I'm just not sure what to ask for with respect to size/resolution/etc since I don't know what is really available today. I can browse on my own, but that's hard so that's what you guys are here for :P

    Battle.net ID: kime#1822
    3DS Friend Code: 3110-5393-4113
    Steam profile
  • Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    Dhalphir wrote: »
    Dhalphir wrote: »
    What's wrong with your current setup?

    Nothing, really, but I tend to buy a new system every few years like clockwork.

    The current system is an i5 2500k, and GTX560. I considered dropping $500-600 on a new GPU and finally an SSD, but figured if I was going to spend that much, I might as well replace the system.

    There's really no big reason to update from a 2500k if you're just gaming on it, though. A fat new video card and an SSD would make a big difference though!

    So, any recommendations for videocard and SSD? Like I said, primary gaming will be a 27" 1080p, offscreen will be a 24" 1900x1200.

    So, Starcraft 2 on the 27 incher, and your desktop on the other screen? :wink:

    Well, for a decent upgrade from a GTX560, you could go for this: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/3nGAF - $635, which is unfortunately over your max budget by $35, I know. Prices in Australia are still stupid for no actual reason other than "fuck you guys, you live too far away".

    A GTX770 overclock model with 4GB of VRAM so your dual-screening doesn't chew into the frame buffer and cause any slowdowns on your main gaming screen, and a nice reliable and fast 240GB SSD to use as a primary drive to make your OS and all your games nice and snappy and responsive. You could save $80 by dropping down to the 2GB model of the video card, but I'm a little suspicious as to how well the smaller frame buffer will affect things in the future. See, the 4GB model is beefy enough that in 2 years time or so when the new CPU architecture Skylake drops (along with the requisite new socket), you will be able to carryover the graphics card with the new motherboard, CPU, and DDR4 RAM for another couple of years. This way you can get away with spending $6-700 every couple of years instead of $1500-1700.

  • toloveistorebel toloveistorebel Impressive. Most impressive. Central FLRegistered User regular
    edited April 2014
    kime wrote: »
    kime wrote: »
    I'm not even sure what's standard-ish these days. I haven't actually bought a monitor or such in a while. I'm replacing the old tv that's been acting as my monitor :P

    So it doesn't need to be super high-end, resolution-wise. I probably couldn't tell the difference anyways. What are some common sizes?

    Probably not looking to go much above $300 or so. I want a dual-screen setup, so that means two monitors (unless there's any combo thing that's worthwhile?). Is that a reasonable price?

    Was this too vague? I'm just not sure what to ask for with respect to size/resolution/etc since I don't know what is really available today. I can browse on my own, but that's hard so that's what you guys are here for :P

    It was pretty vague but that's ok :smile: If $300 is your budget you're probably looking at 2 $150 23"-24" monitors from either Asus or Dell. Since you're going the dual monitor route you will want something with a slim bezel around the screen. Stuff like contrast ratio and all that doesn't mean diddly squat so really what you want to look for is response time (1-5ms), resolution (something 1920x1080), and whether you want a TN panel (faster response times but crappy viewing angles, black levels, and color reproduction), or IPS (awesome color, better blacks, better viewing angles, but some exhibit "ghosting" and slower response time).

    I'll post some suggestions when not on my phone. Another idea is stepping up to a 27" 1440p monitor for somewhere between $350-$400.

    toloveistorebel on
    kime
  • ConstrictorConstrictor The Dork Knight SuburbialandRegistered User regular
    kime wrote: »
    kime wrote: »
    I'm not even sure what's standard-ish these days. I haven't actually bought a monitor or such in a while. I'm replacing the old tv that's been acting as my monitor :P

    So it doesn't need to be super high-end, resolution-wise. I probably couldn't tell the difference anyways. What are some common sizes?

    Probably not looking to go much above $300 or so. I want a dual-screen setup, so that means two monitors (unless there's any combo thing that's worthwhile?). Is that a reasonable price?

    Was this too vague? I'm just not sure what to ask for with respect to size/resolution/etc since I don't know what is really available today. I can browse on my own, but that's hard so that's what you guys are here for :P

    I bought one of these today. I own another ASUS 27 inch monitor that I bought 2 1/2 years ago for just over $400.00. This is like an updated version of that and it's $150.00 cheaper. The one from 2 1/2 years ago is still going strong and looks amazing. I need a 2nd monitor because my wife's computer monitor is starting to look like shit and we have a 3rd computer now.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236302

    kime
  • kimekime Queen of Blades Registered User regular
    Yeah, I think $270 for just one screen is gonna be a bit too steep, unfortunately. I'm trying really hard not to splurge on this :P

    When buying monitors, do I need to be careful for anything to ensure I won't have any problems getting them set up for dual-screen-ness? Will I typically need to buy any other cables/etc besides what they come with?

    Battle.net ID: kime#1822
    3DS Friend Code: 3110-5393-4113
    Steam profile
  • DhalphirDhalphir don't you open that trapdoor you're a fool if you dareRegistered User regular
    Dhalphir wrote: »
    Dhalphir wrote: »
    What's wrong with your current setup?

    Nothing, really, but I tend to buy a new system every few years like clockwork.

    The current system is an i5 2500k, and GTX560. I considered dropping $500-600 on a new GPU and finally an SSD, but figured if I was going to spend that much, I might as well replace the system.

    There's really no big reason to update from a 2500k if you're just gaming on it, though. A fat new video card and an SSD would make a big difference though!

    So, any recommendations for videocard and SSD? Like I said, primary gaming will be a 27" 1080p, offscreen will be a 24" 1900x1200.

    So, Starcraft 2 on the 27 incher, and your desktop on the other screen? :wink:

    Well, for a decent upgrade from a GTX560, you could go for this: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/3nGAF - $635, which is unfortunately over your max budget by $35, I know. Prices in Australia are still stupid for no actual reason other than "fuck you guys, you live too far away".

    A GTX770 overclock model with 4GB of VRAM so your dual-screening doesn't chew into the frame buffer and cause any slowdowns on your main gaming screen, and a nice reliable and fast 240GB SSD to use as a primary drive to make your OS and all your games nice and snappy and responsive. You could save $80 by dropping down to the 2GB model of the video card, but I'm a little suspicious as to how well the smaller frame buffer will affect things in the future. See, the 4GB model is beefy enough that in 2 years time or so when the new CPU architecture Skylake drops (along with the requisite new socket), you will be able to carryover the graphics card with the new motherboard, CPU, and DDR4 RAM for another couple of years. This way you can get away with spending $6-700 every couple of years instead of $1500-1700.

    $600 was far from a max budget, that looks good too. A kind PAer has offered to sell me his R9 280X, how would that compare with the 770?

  • LanglyLangly Registered User regular
    kime wrote: »
    Yeah, I think $270 for just one screen is gonna be a bit too steep, unfortunately. I'm trying really hard not to splurge on this :P

    When buying monitors, do I need to be careful for anything to ensure I won't have any problems getting them set up for dual-screen-ness? Will I typically need to buy any other cables/etc besides what they come with?

    it depends on your video card. For instance I'm running two ASUS 23' monitors from one GTX 770, and that card only has one HDMI port, and two DVI ports. So one is going to the HDMI and one to the DVI.

    if you have two cards you could run them to each card, I think.

    kime
  • LanglyLangly Registered User regular
    I really like the ASUS monitors, by the way. I've used one for about four years now, and it is considerably duller in comparison to my new model, but I also used the hell out of it. I feel like 23 inches is a pretty good size putting together multiple monitors. Not too much desk space, still look good, and with how close you sit, anything bigger starts to get a little hard to keep track of things on the screen.

    kime
  • LanglyLangly Registered User regular
    like tolove said, a TN screen is going to be preferable unless you want to use the monitor for professional art stuff.

  • ShaggyShaggy Registered User regular
    Question on SSDs: is it possible for me to run into any sort of compatibility issues? I've seen a lot of 2.5 inch ones on sale lately, but they look like they require an adapter to put into a desktop. Is this just how SSDs are? I've never used one before so I don't want to go out and buy something I can't use.

  • ZxerolZxerol for the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't do so i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered User regular
    edited April 2014
    It's just a physical mounting bracket so you can fit them into a 3.5" drive bay (most SSDs are in fact 2.5" form factor). Hell, if you're cool with duct tape and/or velcro, you technically don't even need it.

    Otherwise, it's just the standard serial ATA data and power connection that you'd find in any regular ol' hard drive.

    Zxerol on
    toloveistorebel
  • LanglyLangly Registered User regular
    So I ended up getting a super deal in some corsair 2x4gb vengeance ram. I got two sets to just never need ram again. But my motherboard is only seeing four gigs.

    It is a triple channel board, but the manual has a setting for four sticks. Whyyyy

    tanni0
  • StiltsStilts Registered User regular
    Langly wrote: »
    So I ended up getting a super deal in some corsair 2x4gb vengeance ram. I got two sets to just never need ram again. But my motherboard is only seeing four gigs.

    It is a triple channel board, but the manual has a setting for four sticks. Whyyyy

    Is there a BIOS setting you need to change?

    IKknkhU.gif
  • LanglyLangly Registered User regular
    I don't know! I jumped into this computer stuff head first like an idiot!

  • StiltsStilts Registered User regular
    edited April 2014
    Can you give me the brand of mobo so I can check out the manual myself?

    In the meantime, try taking one stick of RAM out so there's only RAM in the designated triple-channel slots and see if that bumps it up to 12 gigs.

    Stilts on
    IKknkhU.gif
    Donovan Puppyfucker
  • LanglyLangly Registered User regular
    It's the msi x58m

  • tsmvengytsmvengy Registered User regular
    You are running a 64-bit version of Windows, right?

    steam_sig.png
  • LanglyLangly Registered User regular
    Yeah I am

  • StiltsStilts Registered User regular
    edited April 2014
    Langly wrote: »
    It's the msi x58m

    It has six RAM slots total, correct?

    Okay, I looked at the manual, and they have a very specific way you need to install 4 sticks of RAM.

    You need to put your RAM into slots A1, A0, B0 and C0.

    So, going left to right, it looks like

    Y | Y | N | Y | N | Y

    Stilts on
    IKknkhU.gif
    Ioloan_alt
  • Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    Dhalphir wrote: »
    Dhalphir wrote: »
    Dhalphir wrote: »
    What's wrong with your current setup?

    Nothing, really, but I tend to buy a new system every few years like clockwork.

    The current system is an i5 2500k, and GTX560. I considered dropping $500-600 on a new GPU and finally an SSD, but figured if I was going to spend that much, I might as well replace the system.

    There's really no big reason to update from a 2500k if you're just gaming on it, though. A fat new video card and an SSD would make a big difference though!

    So, any recommendations for videocard and SSD? Like I said, primary gaming will be a 27" 1080p, offscreen will be a 24" 1900x1200.

    So, Starcraft 2 on the 27 incher, and your desktop on the other screen? :wink:

    Well, for a decent upgrade from a GTX560, you could go for this: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/3nGAF - $635, which is unfortunately over your max budget by $35, I know. Prices in Australia are still stupid for no actual reason other than "fuck you guys, you live too far away".

    A GTX770 overclock model with 4GB of VRAM so your dual-screening doesn't chew into the frame buffer and cause any slowdowns on your main gaming screen, and a nice reliable and fast 240GB SSD to use as a primary drive to make your OS and all your games nice and snappy and responsive. You could save $80 by dropping down to the 2GB model of the video card, but I'm a little suspicious as to how well the smaller frame buffer will affect things in the future. See, the 4GB model is beefy enough that in 2 years time or so when the new CPU architecture Skylake drops (along with the requisite new socket), you will be able to carryover the graphics card with the new motherboard, CPU, and DDR4 RAM for another couple of years. This way you can get away with spending $6-700 every couple of years instead of $1500-1700.

    $600 was far from a max budget, that looks good too. A kind PAer has offered to sell me his R9 280X, how would that compare with the 770?

    Some reviews put the 280x slightly in front, some put the 770 slightly in front. How used is the AMD card? Ask them to explain bitcoins to you, if they start trying to convince you to mine coins, then their card has likely spent thousands of hours running at 100% load and is likely to die soon. Personally I prefer Nvidia cards because Nvidia are pretty decent with their drivers, whereas even after nearly a decade of having a reputation for unstable GPU drivers AMD are still not as good at stability testing their drivers before release as they should be.

    Doez the AMD card on offer have the stock reference cooler on it? Those little radial fans are always noisier than a nice bespoke cooler setup like the one on the card I listed. My own card has the same cooler setup on it (GTX680), and even in the middle of summer in our non-a/c unit playing BF3 on maxed settings, I never heard the fans on the card spooling up. I checked to make sure they were actually working, and yeah, they're pretty damn quiet.

  • Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    Shaggy wrote: »
    Question on SSDs: is it possible for me to run into any sort of compatibility issues? I've seen a lot of 2.5 inch ones on sale lately, but they look like they require an adapter to put into a desktop. Is this just how SSDs are? I've never used one before so I don't want to go out and buy something I can't use.

    I got four words for you man:

    adhesive
    backed
    Velcro
    dots

    tsmvengytoloveistorebel
  • Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    Stilts wrote: »
    Can you give me the brand of mobo so I can check out the manual myself?

    In the meantime, try taking one stick of RAM out so there's only RAM in the designated triple-channel slots and see if that bumps it up to 12 gigs.

    If this works, you might want to get another set of the sticks you have and plug them all in for 24 gigs of triple-channel RAM goodness.

    Why? Because you can, damnit.

  • LanglyLangly Registered User regular
    Stilts wrote: »
    Can you give me the brand of mobo so I can check out the manual myself?

    In the meantime, try taking one stick of RAM out so there's only RAM in the designated triple-channel slots and see if that bumps it up to 12 gigs.

    If this works, you might want to get another set of the sticks you have and plug them all in for 24 gigs of triple-channel RAM goodness.

    Why? Because you can, damnit.

    Memory eternal

    Thanks stilts, I'm going to try that real quick.

  • LanglyLangly Registered User regular
    Hmmm

    It suddenly seems like the five a lot is the only one posting anything at all. I have non idea why.

  • emp123emp123 Registered User regular
    RE: IPS monitors, Ive been gaming on them exclusively since like 2005 and Ive never experienced ghosting. The monitor from 2005 is an ultrasharp though and my current monitor (HP 24zrw) is from like 2011 or something.

    toloveistorebel
  • LanglyLangly Registered User regular
    oh my gosh you silly computer

    so I did what you said stilts, and it was still posting just 4 gb. Then I reversed what you said, and when I booted, I got into the bios and it saw three sticks of the four sticks of ram. But only registered 8 gigs (should be 12 with what it saw)

    I'm planning on getting a new motherboard sometime anyway, which is why I got dual channel packs so that when I upgrade, they'll do better anyway. So I can just leave the unused sticks in the board for when that happens. Still, frustrating.

  • StiltsStilts Registered User regular
    That is super weird!

    IKknkhU.gif
  • LanglyLangly Registered User regular
    and now my generic system is telling me I have 8 gigs but cpuid is telling me i have 12 gigs in single channel fffffffffffff

  • SoggybiscuitSoggybiscuit Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator Registered User regular
    The AMD Radeo R9-295X

    What a beast. Equivalent to 2 290Xs in crossfire, and a good bit quieter to boot.

    And why cant more manufacturers start putting a AIO system on graphics cards? I would love a card with that.

    Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
Sign In or Register to comment.