Hey guys, first time posting here. I've currently got my big ol' computer sitting next to my TV and I've been toying with the idea of getting a smaller motherboard/case so its less of an eye-sore.
I've currently got a 2500k i5
2x4gb ram
750ti which i just bought when my old card died last month
1 ssd
1 hdd
I would like to use as much of my current hardware as possible.
I've never looked into mATX or any of the smaller form mother boards until now and I was hoping you guys could point me in the right direction. I'm also looking for a case that is vertical and thin, or lays flat and short.
There are HTPC cases that come with a 90 degree riser to lay the GPU over so they can be nice and flat like a console or BluRay player, but they are generally costlier and usually require special PSUs.
Looks good except that I need a mobo with an LGA1155 socket. Is my understanding correct that m-ITX is smaller than m-ATX? I would like to go for the smallest one possible but I can't seem to find and m-ITX board that have 1155 sockets on them.
Zxerolfor the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't doso i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered Userregular
hey yo thread
After months of my rig being KIA after years of service, I began the process of slowly pulling in new parts to build a new frankenrig; I figure there's no real rush. A GTX 970 came in yesterday. It's currently finding shelter inside a Sandy Bridge i3 Dell Optiplex. I stuck in a beefier PSU so it'll have something to chew on, but I can feel that it's hungry.
I'm taking a roadtrip this weekend which happens to be along the way to a Microcenter... so I'm deciding to fuck discretion. I'm picking up an i7-4790k and need a suitable motherboard to go with it. Suggestions for one (and for anything else like rams or whatever) is appreciated.
You, yes you, can help feed a poor starving GPU with just a post a day.
So I wound up going with the LG 24GM77 monitor thanks to a great deal on Amazon Warehouse+SquareTrade warranty. The reviews for it are sparse, but most seem pretty stellar.
If I'm thinking of overclocking a Core i5-4690K, should just get a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler or should I go for a watercooled solution like an H100i? Does anyone know what the difference would be in terms of cooling effectiveness?
I'm leaning towards the Cooler Master for my first dip into the overclocking world but will I be looking at watercooling it a couple months later?
I would go with a closed-loop watercooling setup for the ease of use and one-time purchase and, I hesitate to say it, future-proofing. It's not as dependent on your case choice as an air cooler when it comes to ability, and it gives you better OCing capability. I went with a closed-loop setup and I may not even overclock for a year or more because the 4770k I've got is about nine times faster than my old i3 laptop.
Bear in mind that there are people in this thread who know far more than I do and I was just approaching it from a logical perspective.
The only thing to watch out with the CM 212 is where your RAM is relative to the CPU -- on mine (ASUS z97-a motherboard) I had to move the fan up 1/4" or so relative to the heatsink to get things to fit on top of the RAM. That said, you _can_ move the fans up relative to the heatsink so it's not a big deal if so.
I've said it before -- and others have disagreed and said I maybe just got a bad H100i -- but if I could do it over I'd get a Hyper212 and not the H100i (or the H60 I had before that). I'm pretty sure the one remaining source of real noise coming from my PC is my H100i -- I have every other fan set to run at like 40% speed, and my SeaSonic PSU's fan is off under 50% load.
Plus it would've saved me the absolute torture of top-mounting my H100i.
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IceBurnerIt's cold and there are penguins.Registered Userregular
The ASUS GTX 970 came today. Runs at the highest settings my 560 TI did, plus Ambient Occlusion and MSAA instead of FXAA without even having to turn on its fans.
More than makes up for the marginal upgrade the 560TI was from my previous card.
My MSI GTX 970 100ME is supposed to be coming in today. Amazon delayed my monitor, displayport cable, and locking SATA cables "due to inclement weather." Fuckbeans.
I've said it before -- and others have disagreed and said I maybe just got a bad H100i -- but if I could do it over I'd get a Hyper212 and not the H100i (or the H60 I had before that). I'm pretty sure the one remaining source of real noise coming from my PC is my H100i -- I have every other fan set to run at like 40% speed, and my SeaSonic PSU's fan is off under 50% load.
Plus it would've saved me the absolute torture of top-mounting my H100i.
For whatever it's worth, I took @chrishallett83 's recommendation and swapped the fans that came with my H60 for Corsair SP120s. Well worth the ~$32 (for two) and took care of the noise problem.
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L Ron HowardThe duckMinnesotaRegistered Userregular
I'm looking for a new video card. I think my old one was on the way out, since I'd start getting random lag here and there, in places in video games that I previously didn't.
My build is about 3 years old. I have an nvidia 560 TI currently that I want to replace. My mobo only has PCI Express 2.0 x16, if that makes any difference. Though I've read that it's all backward compatible and doesn't matter anyway.
Any suggestions?
I'm looking for a new video card. I think my old one was on the way out, since I'd start getting random lag here and there, in places in video games that I previously didn't.
My build is about 3 years old. I have an nvidia 560 TI currently that I want to replace. My mobo only has PCI Express 2.0 x16, if that makes any difference. Though I've read that it's all backward compatible and doesn't matter anyway.
Any suggestions?
R9 280 or GTX 960. How much do you want to spend?
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L Ron HowardThe duckMinnesotaRegistered Userregular
I should have included that. Obviously, the cheaper the better. Been eyeing the nvidia GTX 700 series, because those are mostly less than $200. Maybe the GTX 750. I don't know if that's a good one, or what.
The 900 series nvidias are well into the $400+ range, and I don't want to spend that much, given that my computer is several years old. I think that'd be too much for the rest of the computer. The rest of the computer wouldn't be able to give the graphics card all that it wants or needs or could use.
I also can't get into my newegg account to post the stuff on my build, and I'm not near my home computer so I can't look it up there, which leaves me in this weird position where I can't post specifics. If I can get in, I'll send links to all the stuff I have.
The GTX 960 non-reference designs seem to max out at $210. My "limited edition" GTX 970 was $349, and it's pretty much the most expensive version of the card. A 960 is great on power consumption and thermals and is good for 1080p gaming. I stepped to the 970 because I sold my rifle for more than I expected and want to be able to get an Oculus Rift when the retail version drops.
L Ron HowardThe duckMinnesotaRegistered Userregular
I was thinking maybe the 900 series would be too much for the PCI-E 2.0 slot that I have?
I can't find any real research on performance figures for 2.0 vs 3.0, so I don't know for certain.
I also didn't even see the 960s. I saw the 970's that are extremely expensive, so, my bad for missing those.
I was thinking maybe the 900 series would be too much for the PCI-E 2.0 slot that I have?
I can't find any real research on performance figures for 2.0 vs 3.0, so I don't know for certain.
I also didn't even see the 960s. I saw the 970's that are extremely expensive, so, my bad for missing those.
Your PCI-E 2.0 slot is fine. We are not yet at the point where any single graphics card can fully saturate one PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot.
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L Ron HowardThe duckMinnesotaRegistered Userregular
That's awesome!
If I had unlimited funds, I would SLI two video cards together to see what happens...
Thanks all for the help. I think I'll get the 960.
Can't go wrong with an MSI Gaming Edition card or an Asus Strix card. They're both slightly OCed out of the box. The Strix in particular has amazing cooling and is dead silent unless you're really pushing it.
I've said it before -- and others have disagreed and said I maybe just got a bad H100i -- but if I could do it over I'd get a Hyper212 and not the H100i (or the H60 I had before that). I'm pretty sure the one remaining source of real noise coming from my PC is my H100i -- I have every other fan set to run at like 40% speed, and my SeaSonic PSU's fan is off under 50% load.
Plus it would've saved me the absolute torture of top-mounting my H100i.
For whatever it's worth, I took @chrishallett83 's recommendation and swapped the fans that came with my H60 for Corsair SP120s. Well worth the ~$32 (for two) and took care of the noise problem.
I have two Cougar Vortex 120mm fans on there, running at a really low-RPM curve.
I really doubt it's the fans that are emitting the low-but-still-distinctly-audible whine I'm hearing.
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Wooo got a bonus at work so time to finally upgrade my ancient C2D 6420 and 8800GTS.
Just bought an i5 4690 with mobo and 8 gigs of RAM, and my buddy gave me his Radeon 5770 from his previous system. Should run games much better now.
Honestly if Cities: Skylines runs well at 1080p now I'll be pleased.
Hey guys. I just got an SSD and did a clean install of Windows 8.1. I've installed the mobo and gpu drivers, updated windows defender and installed malware bytes. Anything else I should do to optimize things? I like Windows Security Essentials so that's why I went with Defender. I haven't updated the bios as I did not so last time (kept the same board/cpu) and did not have any issues.
Let me know if you guys recommend anything to make the most of 8.1 for gaming, first time using it at home.
I've said it before -- and others have disagreed and said I maybe just got a bad H100i -- but if I could do it over I'd get a Hyper212 and not the H100i (or the H60 I had before that). I'm pretty sure the one remaining source of real noise coming from my PC is my H100i -- I have every other fan set to run at like 40% speed, and my SeaSonic PSU's fan is off under 50% load.
Plus it would've saved me the absolute torture of top-mounting my H100i.
For whatever it's worth, I took @chrishallett83 's recommendation and swapped the fans that came with my H60 for Corsair SP120s. Well worth the ~$32 (for two) and took care of the noise problem.
I have two Cougar Vortex 120mm fans on there, running at a really low-RPM curve.
I really doubt it's the fans that are emitting the low-but-still-distinctly-audible whine I'm hearing.
Hey guys. I just got an SSD and did a clean install of Windows 8.1. I've installed the mobo and gpu drivers, updated windows defender and installed malware bytes. Anything else I should do to optimize things? I like Windows Security Essentials so that's why I went with Defender. I haven't updated the bios as I did not so last time (kept the same board/cpu) and did not have any issues.
Let me know if you guys recommend anything to make the most of 8.1 for gaming, first time using it at home.
MSE is pretty crap now, just fyi. Defender doesn't seem much better. Something like Bit Defender is probably a better idea.
What SSD did you get? May be some manufacturer program you can get to spruce it up (like Samsung Magician).
Hey guys. I just got an SSD and did a clean install of Windows 8.1. I've installed the mobo and gpu drivers, updated windows defender and installed malware bytes. Anything else I should do to optimize things? I like Windows Security Essentials so that's why I went with Defender. I haven't updated the bios as I did not so last time (kept the same board/cpu) and did not have any issues.
Let me know if you guys recommend anything to make the most of 8.1 for gaming, first time using it at home.
MSE is pretty crap now, just fyi. Defender doesn't seem much better. Something like Bit Defender is probably a better idea.
What SSD did you get? May be some manufacturer program you can get to spruce it up (like Samsung Magician).
Hmm I'll check out Bit Defender then.
I actually did get a Samsung 850 EVO. I'll also check out Samsung Magician, thank you!
Hey guys. I just got an SSD and did a clean install of Windows 8.1. I've installed the mobo and gpu drivers, updated windows defender and installed malware bytes. Anything else I should do to optimize things? I like Windows Security Essentials so that's why I went with Defender. I haven't updated the bios as I did not so last time (kept the same board/cpu) and did not have any issues.
Let me know if you guys recommend anything to make the most of 8.1 for gaming, first time using it at home.
MSE is pretty crap now, just fyi. Defender doesn't seem much better. Something like Bit Defender is probably a better idea.
What SSD did you get? May be some manufacturer program you can get to spruce it up (like Samsung Magician).
It's not so much that mse is crap, it's just that microsoft gives away all of it's detection rules for free to other anti-virus companies. So any other product should protect as much as mse, plus some more things.
Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
Defender is built into Windows. If you don't specifically shut it all down when you set up Windows, it just does its thing in the background and you'd never even know it was there unless it 'saw' a suspect action or file.
Hey guys. I just got an SSD and did a clean install of Windows 8.1. I've installed the mobo and gpu drivers, updated windows defender and installed malware bytes. Anything else I should do to optimize things? I like Windows Security Essentials so that's why I went with Defender. I haven't updated the bios as I did not so last time (kept the same board/cpu) and did not have any issues.
Let me know if you guys recommend anything to make the most of 8.1 for gaming, first time using it at home.
MSE is pretty crap now, just fyi. Defender doesn't seem much better. Something like Bit Defender is probably a better idea.
What SSD did you get? May be some manufacturer program you can get to spruce it up (like Samsung Magician).
It's not so much that mse is crap, it's just that microsoft gives away all of it's detection rules for free to other anti-virus companies. So any other product should protect as much as mse, plus some more things.
In any case MSE also misses a lot more stuff for whatever reason. That makes it fairly crap. It's better than nothing, but if you get an AV there's almost no reason for it to be MSE at this point unlike when it first came out.
Do you think Tom's Hardware's Best Graphics Card / CPU for the Money article will be much different this month? I don't really keep up with hardware releases and price drops. I will probably spend less than $200 on each.
I'm wanting to get started on ordering the parts so I can work on it next weekend, buut I also want to get the right parts, from a performance-price perspective.
Do you think Tom's Hardware's Best Graphics Card / CPU for the Money article will be much different this month? I don't really keep up with hardware releases and price drops. I will probably spend less than $200 on each.
I'm wanting to get started on ordering the parts so I can work on it next weekend, buut I also want to get the right parts, from a performance-price perspective.
I doubt much will change - I don't think there were any new releases.
turns out phanteks decided to launch a itx case perfect for me
200mm front fan, plenty of space for watercooling on the top, full atx psu, harddrive space, nice looking
and 70 bucks? yes please. now to save up for a itx mobo, the case, a modular psu, and the tools to do some custom cabling.
Looks cool, but at 34L volume it really isn't that small.
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BouwsTWanna come to a super soft birthday party?Registered Userregular
I've always built in full tower cases with expandability in mind, and it's never really served me well. Either the case looks empty because I've never had the funds to triple SLI and fill up that dead space, or something dies any way and I have to start a new build because THAT much time has passed. Next is small form factor, with silence being the ultimate goal.
Between you and me, Peggy, I smoked this Juul and it did UNTHINKABLE things to my mind and body...
I've used full tower cases in the past because they're generally a lot easier to work in after the fact. Just a bit more space to maneuver around if/when you're upgrading/rerouting stuff.
But now, my current system I've had for a bit over 5 years (still running an i7 920, thing is rock solid, but I'm due for an upgrade with skylake I think) and I've needed to open it up to do upgrades exactly 3 times. video card, which the extra space is kinda nice but in all honesty not a big deal, Ram, which is whatever, and replacing a dead PSU. The PSU thing definitely benefits from more space when trying to pull and round cables again, but again when I've had to do it once in 5 years, it's probably not worth the size of a full tower case.
My next build will be a mATX board in a mATX case, if i can find a mATX motherboard with what I want in it, otherwise a mid tower will be as big as I want to go. I'm done with full tower cases.
The PSU thing definitely benefits from more space when trying to pull and round cables again, but again when I've had to do it once in 5 years, it's probably not worth the size of a full tower case.
My next build will be a mATX board in a mATX case, if i can find a mATX motherboard with what I want in it, otherwise a mid tower will be as big as I want to go. I'm done with full tower cases.
This. I am a little concerned about cable management in a smaller case, but a fully modular PSU should help that, and I agree. For the scope of my builds, mid-tower should serve me very well. I do like my Switch 810 though. I'll probably just keep it around for a bonkers build, slowly accumulating fittings, pump, reservoir, etc and make a show piece out of it in the next 5 years...
And there I go again, day-dreaming about what I COULD do in a full size tower, with not a shred of the funds to complete it. Thank you, PC building hobby.
Between you and me, Peggy, I smoked this Juul and it did UNTHINKABLE things to my mind and body...
We really aren't far from the ability to have SSD's as the only/primary storage in all but the most extreme cases, like a high capacity NAS or something similar.
Posts
Ah, yeah. Sorry! Try this instead.
After months of my rig being KIA after years of service, I began the process of slowly pulling in new parts to build a new frankenrig; I figure there's no real rush. A GTX 970 came in yesterday. It's currently finding shelter inside a Sandy Bridge i3 Dell Optiplex. I stuck in a beefier PSU so it'll have something to chew on, but I can feel that it's hungry.
I'm taking a roadtrip this weekend which happens to be along the way to a Microcenter... so I'm deciding to fuck discretion. I'm picking up an i7-4790k and need a suitable motherboard to go with it. Suggestions for one (and for anything else like rams or whatever) is appreciated.
You, yes you, can help feed a poor starving GPU with just a post a day.
XBL : lJesse Custerl | MWO: Jesse Custer | Best vid ever. | 2nd best vid ever.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/lg-24gm77-gaming-monitor,4082.html
http://www.digitalversus.com/lcd-monitor/lg-24gm77-p21911/test.html
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824025009&cm_re=lg_24gm77-_-24-025-009-_-Product
XBL : lJesse Custerl | MWO: Jesse Custer | Best vid ever. | 2nd best vid ever.
I'm leaning towards the Cooler Master for my first dip into the overclocking world but will I be looking at watercooling it a couple months later?
SteamID: edgruberman GOG Galaxy: EdGruberman
Bear in mind that there are people in this thread who know far more than I do and I was just approaching it from a logical perspective.
XBL : lJesse Custerl | MWO: Jesse Custer | Best vid ever. | 2nd best vid ever.
Plus it would've saved me the absolute torture of top-mounting my H100i.
More than makes up for the marginal upgrade the 560TI was from my previous card.
PSN: theIceBurner, IceBurnerEU, IceBurner-JP | X-Link Kai: TheIceBurner
Dragon's Dogma: 192 Warrior Linty | 80 Strider Alicia | 32 Mage Terra
XBL : lJesse Custerl | MWO: Jesse Custer | Best vid ever. | 2nd best vid ever.
For whatever it's worth, I took @chrishallett83 's recommendation and swapped the fans that came with my H60 for Corsair SP120s. Well worth the ~$32 (for two) and took care of the noise problem.
My build is about 3 years old. I have an nvidia 560 TI currently that I want to replace. My mobo only has PCI Express 2.0 x16, if that makes any difference. Though I've read that it's all backward compatible and doesn't matter anyway.
Any suggestions?
R9 280 or GTX 960. How much do you want to spend?
The 900 series nvidias are well into the $400+ range, and I don't want to spend that much, given that my computer is several years old. I think that'd be too much for the rest of the computer. The rest of the computer wouldn't be able to give the graphics card all that it wants or needs or could use.
I also can't get into my newegg account to post the stuff on my build, and I'm not near my home computer so I can't look it up there, which leaves me in this weird position where I can't post specifics. If I can get in, I'll send links to all the stuff I have.
Basically, AMD 8-core AM3+ socket, 3.6gHz, 8GB RAM.
XBL : lJesse Custerl | MWO: Jesse Custer | Best vid ever. | 2nd best vid ever.
I can't find any real research on performance figures for 2.0 vs 3.0, so I don't know for certain.
I also didn't even see the 960s. I saw the 970's that are extremely expensive, so, my bad for missing those.
Your PCI-E 2.0 slot is fine. We are not yet at the point where any single graphics card can fully saturate one PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot.
If I had unlimited funds, I would SLI two video cards together to see what happens...
Thanks all for the help. I think I'll get the 960.
XBL : lJesse Custerl | MWO: Jesse Custer | Best vid ever. | 2nd best vid ever.
I have two Cougar Vortex 120mm fans on there, running at a really low-RPM curve.
I really doubt it's the fans that are emitting the low-but-still-distinctly-audible whine I'm hearing.
Just bought an i5 4690 with mobo and 8 gigs of RAM, and my buddy gave me his Radeon 5770 from his previous system. Should run games much better now.
Honestly if Cities: Skylines runs well at 1080p now I'll be pleased.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Let me know if you guys recommend anything to make the most of 8.1 for gaming, first time using it at home.
PSN: ShinyRedKnight Xbox Live: ShinyRedKnight
Defective water cooler pumps can whine.
MSE is pretty crap now, just fyi. Defender doesn't seem much better. Something like Bit Defender is probably a better idea.
What SSD did you get? May be some manufacturer program you can get to spruce it up (like Samsung Magician).
Hmm I'll check out Bit Defender then.
I actually did get a Samsung 850 EVO. I'll also check out Samsung Magician, thank you!
PSN: ShinyRedKnight Xbox Live: ShinyRedKnight
It's not so much that mse is crap, it's just that microsoft gives away all of it's detection rules for free to other anti-virus companies. So any other product should protect as much as mse, plus some more things.
In any case MSE also misses a lot more stuff for whatever reason. That makes it fairly crap. It's better than nothing, but if you get an AV there's almost no reason for it to be MSE at this point unlike when it first came out.
I'm wanting to get started on ordering the parts so I can work on it next weekend, buut I also want to get the right parts, from a performance-price perspective.
I doubt much will change - I don't think there were any new releases.
What's your parts list?
200mm front fan, plenty of space for watercooling on the top, full atx psu, harddrive space, nice looking
and 70 bucks? yes please. now to save up for a itx mobo, the case, a modular psu, and the tools to do some custom cabling.
Looks cool, but at 34L volume it really isn't that small.
But now, my current system I've had for a bit over 5 years (still running an i7 920, thing is rock solid, but I'm due for an upgrade with skylake I think) and I've needed to open it up to do upgrades exactly 3 times. video card, which the extra space is kinda nice but in all honesty not a big deal, Ram, which is whatever, and replacing a dead PSU. The PSU thing definitely benefits from more space when trying to pull and round cables again, but again when I've had to do it once in 5 years, it's probably not worth the size of a full tower case.
My next build will be a mATX board in a mATX case, if i can find a mATX motherboard with what I want in it, otherwise a mid tower will be as big as I want to go. I'm done with full tower cases.
This. I am a little concerned about cable management in a smaller case, but a fully modular PSU should help that, and I agree. For the scope of my builds, mid-tower should serve me very well. I do like my Switch 810 though. I'll probably just keep it around for a bonkers build, slowly accumulating fittings, pump, reservoir, etc and make a show piece out of it in the next 5 years...
And there I go again, day-dreaming about what I COULD do in a full size tower, with not a shred of the funds to complete it. Thank you, PC building hobby.