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[ClayKavalier]

I'm not going to build a PC any time soon so this isn't urgent, but how possible is it to play games on two different monitors in different parts of a home from one PC?

I've decided that when there's a card that can reliably play games at 60fps, high settings, at 4K, and costs closer to $500 than a grand, I'm going to build a gaming PC and a 4K TV. I'm also really impressed by the 21:9 gaming thread, so what I'm imagining is I'll have the TV in the living room and a 21:9 monitor in my office. Most of the time I'll game on the TV, but if the TV is in use or I just want the more intimate setup, I can play in the office.

Is this doable? I know I could just run a really long HDMI cable through walls or something, but I really wouldn't want to. Are PC streaming devices acceptable? Remote play on Vita is nice to have but with my internet at least it doesn't work well through even a single wall.

What would you guys suggest for that kind of setup?

 

[Sarcasm]

Asking again my mobo is crapping out and wondering what are some good choices for an socket 1155 LGA I7 3770K? I am in Taiwan but listing parts should be okay. I do plan on using this pc for at min two more years cause it handles pretty much anything I throw at it.

 

[Bright-Light]

Hey guys, I'm going to buy the parts to build a pc this weekend.

I want to play games on my tv at 60fps, 1080p, max settings (for most games, I'm aware there are some games where this simply can't be achieved without huge power). I have basically copied these parts from a website http://www.falconcomputers.co.uk/systembuilder/build/102394318

SELECTED COMPONENTS:
Case: NZXT H340W Mid Tower - White
CPU: Intel Core I5-4690K Quad Core
Cooler: Intel Branded CPU Cooler
Board: Z97 Anniversary Motherboard
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz ELITE 1x8GB
GFX: 4GB NVIDIA GTX 970 Strix ASUS
HDD: 120GB Mushkin 550MB/s Fast SSD
HDD2: 2TB SATA 7200rpm 64Mb Cache
PSU: 500W Thermaltake Challenger 80+
DVD: No Optical Drive Required
OS: Microsoft Windows 8.1 64Bit
Warranty: 2 Year Parts 3 Year Labour Warranty
Audio: On Board Sound card - Standard
Network: On Board Network Card - Standard

This costs £899 on the website.

Finally, could anybody recommend the SMALLEST case that I could use with these components.

 

[lordfuzzybutt]

Hey guys, I'm going to buy the parts to build a pc this weekend.

I want to play games on my tv at 60fps, 1080p, max settings (for most games, I'm aware there are some games where this simply can't be achieved without huge power). I have basically copied these parts from a website http://www.falconcomputers.co.uk/systembuilder/build/102394318

SELECTED COMPONENTS:
Case: NZXT H340W Mid Tower - White
CPU: Intel Core I5-4690K Quad Core
Cooler: Intel Branded CPU Cooler
Board: Z97 Anniversary Motherboard
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz ELITE 1x8GB
GFX: 4GB NVIDIA GTX 970 Strix ASUS
HDD: 120GB Mushkin 550MB/s Fast SSD
HDD2: 2TB SATA 7200rpm 64Mb Cache
PSU: 500W Thermaltake Challenger 80+
DVD: No Optical Drive Required
OS: Microsoft Windows 8.1 64Bit
Warranty: 2 Year Parts 3 Year Labour Warranty
Audio: On Board Sound card - Standard
Network: On Board Network Card - Standard

This costs £899 on the website.

Finally, could anybody recommend the SMALLEST case that I could use with these components.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£96.74 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£52.48 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£74.09 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£41.87 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card (£258.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case (£62.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£49.14 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £835.06
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-28 08:47 GMT+0000

I swapped the SSD for a bigger one and the HDD for a smaller one as your SSD is too small and I don't know if you really need 2TB of HDD. Those 2 I picked are very often recommended around here.
Saved some money and you can find the link to buy a windows 8.1 key above in RGM's post.

 

[Bright-Light]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L12 37.8 CFM CPU Cooler (£38.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£87.56 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Fury Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£52.16 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£74.09 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£41.87 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card (£258.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Silverstone GD09B HTPC Case (£49.08 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£49.14 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £825.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-28 08:33 GMT+0000

I swapped the SSD for a bigger one and the HDD for a smaller one as your SSD is too small and I don't know if you really need 2TB of HDD. Those 2 I picked are very often recommended around here.
Saved some money and you can find the link to buy a windows 8.1 key above in RGM's post.

Thanks. Your case looks good too. Might just have to copy your build.

 

[lordfuzzybutt]

Thanks. Your case looks good too. Might just have to copy your build.

I updated my post. With a mini-ITX case. If you want that instead.

 

[RGM79]

I'm not going to build a PC any time soon so this isn't urgent, but how possible is it to play games on two different monitors in different parts of a home from one PC?

I've decided that when there's a card that can reliably play games at 60fps, high settings, at 4K, and costs closer to $500 than a grand, I'm going to build a gaming PC and a 4K TV. I'm also really impressed by the 21:9 gaming thread, so what I'm imagining is I'll have the TV in the living room and a 21:9 monitor in my office. Most of the time I'll game on the TV, but if the TV is in use or I just want the more intimate setup, I can play in the office.

Is this doable? I know I could just run a really long HDMI cable through walls or something, but I really wouldn't want to. Are PC streaming devices acceptable? Remote play on Vita is nice to have but with my internet at least it doesn't work well through even a single wall.

What would you guys suggest for that kind of setup?

Steam has their in-home streaming feature that allows even the weakest PCs to act as a client to access games from another computer in the house. All you need is for both PCs to be running Steam and connected on the same network. Wired ethernet connections are preferable, but wifi is also possible. The faster the connection, the better the streaming quality.

 

[RGM79]

Thanks. Your case looks good too. Might just have to copy your build.

Here's the supercompact option, if small size is preferable. It does cost more, though.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£96.74 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Kingston Fury Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£48.14 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£72.94 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£56.34 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Palit GeForce GTX 970 4GB JetStream Video Card (£260.94 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Silverstone ML07B HTPC Case (£51.00 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Silverstone 600W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply (£105.12 @ Scan.co.uk)
Other: Silverstone NT06-PRO 74.0 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£44.99)
Total: £910.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-28 09:31 GMT+0000

lordfuzzybutt's parts list is cheaper, easier to build, has better airflow, and is more upgradeable, though.

 

[Bright-Light]

Here's the supercompact option, if small size is preferable. It does cost more, though.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£174.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£96.74 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Kingston Fury Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£48.14 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£72.94 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£56.34 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Palit GeForce GTX 970 4GB JetStream Video Card (£260.94 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Silverstone ML07B HTPC Case (£51.00 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Silverstone 600W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply (£105.12 @ Scan.co.uk)
Other: Silverstone NT06-PRO 74.0 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£44.99)
Total: £910.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-28 09:31 GMT+0000

lordfuzzybutt's parts list is cheaper, easier to build, has better airflow, and is more upgradeable, though.

Thanks @rgm and @fuzzybutt.

would it make more sense to upgrade the i5 to an i7 OR upgrade the 970 to a 980?

 

[The Finest Brew]

Anyone mind telling me if my specs are going to require much in the way of updating? I built this computer years ago, and it's been going fairly strong for the most part.

Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 6870
RAM: 8 GB DDR3 (G.Skill is the listed brand, dunno much else)

(Yes this is kind of a repost, but I figure I should ask, since recent performance hiccups playing Resident Evil: Revelations 2 have made me wonder if it was time to upgrade)

 

[RGM79]

Thanks @rgm and @fuzzybutt.

would it make more sense to upgrade the i5 to an i7 OR upgrade the 970 to a 980?

The i5 4690K and i7 4790K have only a minor difference in most games, no more than ±5%. On the other hand, going up to a GTX 980 would be somewhere around a 15% improvement in framerate. According to review sites like Extremetech and Techgage, overclocking a GTX 970 would be the better solution it seems. However, lower end GTX 970 models may or may not overclock well, it'd be best to choose a GTX 970 with a more capable cooler.

Anyone mind telling me if my specs are going to require much in the way of updating? I built this computer years ago, and it's been going fairly strong for the most part.

Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 6870
RAM: 8 GB DDR3 (G.Skill is the listed brand, dunno much else)

(Yes this is kind of a repost, but I figure I should ask, since recent performance hiccups playing Resident Evil: Revelations 2 have made me wonder if it was time to upgrade)

A new graphics card would give you the largest boost, but I'd say you're at the point where you could consider building a new PC if you feel like spending the money. Intel's been the choice for higher framerate for the last few years, AMD's offerings are skewed more towards multi-threaded processing and offer less oomph for gaming framerate, considering that games don't take advantage of multiple cores as much as they should.

I have a friend with an AMD Phenom II X6 1055T who just recently got a R9 290 to upgrade his old GTX 560 Ti, he's waiting for some new games like GTAV to see if he also wants to upgrade the processor and motherboard. Intel's new Skylake CPU line will also be coming out in Q3/Q4 2015 and they will be incompatible with existing Z97 motherboards, so that may also be worth waiting for.

 

[Rebel Leader]

Sounds like a power problem, do same thing as first response above. Could also run a memtest 86+ burned to a CD / boot from USB.

I have ran memtest and no problems showed

and the temps are completly normal

high 40s low 50s under heavy load

and I have unplugged and repluged the connections

 

[Bright-Light]

However, lower end GTX 970 models may or may not overclock well, it'd be best to choose a GTX 970 with a more capable cooler.

Could you point me towards a particular model.

Sorry to be a pain, first time building a pc, I barely have a clue what I'm doing.

Thanks

 

[LilJoka]

Could you point me towards a particular model.

Sorry to be a pain, first time building a pc, I barely have a clue what I'm doing.

Thanks

MSI Gamer, Asus Strix, Gigabyte G1 or Windforce.

 

[kennah]

Asking again my mobo is crapping out and wondering what are some good choices for an socket 1155 LGA I7 3770K? I am in Taiwan but listing parts should be okay. I do plan on using this pc for at min two more years cause it handles pretty much anything I throw at it.

You've been answered. That's three generations ago. There's nothing to recommend. Just get any z77 motherboard that you can find

 

[Sarcasm]

Thought it was to avoid asusrock. Currently down south so I must have missed it.


Yeah I only found one reply and it was to avoid

http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=157708279

 

[lordfuzzybutt]

Could you point me towards a particular model.

Sorry to be a pain, first time building a pc, I barely have a clue what I'm doing.

Thanks

This EVGA SC ACX 2.0 is also very good.

 

[Bright-Light]

This EVGA SC ACX 2.0 is also very good.

Thanks.

One last question, and I'm probably making a fool out of myself.
The motherboard doesn't appear to have an optical port to support my turtle beach headset, how can I hook it up?


Edit: ignore my question, doesn't look like it's possible without specific sound cards.

 

[KillySG10]

Quick question guys.
I'm thinking about buying a new GPU, probably GTX 970, to upgrade my current comp, until i can afford the parts for a new one (if i do get the 970, itll end up in the new one i build), now some details:
Main parts are AMD Phenom II x4 955, 8GB ram, GTX 570
Suffice to say the PSU can handle it, and from what i understand, running a pcie 3 card in a pcie 2.0 slot shouldn't have much if any noticeable difference in performance, but my main question is, will the rest of my current parts, in specific the CPU, be a bottleneck that makes upgrading the card pointless, or will it be relatively fine? (main reason im after changing the card is Witcher 3 btw ;3)

 

[DietRob]

Quick Question:

So one of the RAM sticks from my Ballistix 8gb kit crapped out. So now I'm down to 1 4gb stick in here. I found a deal on one 8gb Ballistic stick with the same specifications as my 4gb stick. Both are DDR3-1600 CL9@1.5v

Could I put the 8gb stick in and also leave the good 4gb stick in as well to give me 12gb? Or would that cause issues because they aren't exactly the same.

 

[crazepharmacist]

I had mouse smoothing on by default in Windows for years and was totally unaware! Go to control panel>mouse>pointer options and uncheck enhance pointer precision. Mouse feels much more responsive.

 

[Pooya]

Quick Question:

So one of the RAM sticks from my Ballistix 8gb kit crapped out. So now I'm down to 1 4gb stick in here. I found a deal on one 8gb Ballistic stick with the same specifications as my 4gb stick. Both are DDR3-1600 CL9@1.5v

Could I put the 8gb stick in and also leave the good 4gb stick in as well to give me 12gb? Or would that cause issues because they aren't exactly the same.

It will work fine, they just won't work in dual channel mode.

 

[DietRob]

It will work fine, they just won't work in dual channel mode.

Gotcha. Thanks for the info. I guess if I run into any problems I'll just remove the 4gb stick completely. 8gb of Ram is plenty enough for me.

 

[RGM79]

Thanks.

One last question, and I'm probably making a fool out of myself.
The motherboard doesn't appear to have an optical port to support my turtle beach headset, how can I hook it up?

Edit: ignore my question, doesn't look like it's possible without specific sound cards.

You need a sound card that has an optical port and supports Dolby Digital Live (not just Dolby Digital), and last time I checked, the cheapest one would be the Creative Sound Blaster Z, which currently goes for about $78.

Quick question guys.
I'm thinking about buying a new GPU, probably GTX 970, to upgrade my current comp, until i can afford the parts for a new one (if i do get the 970, itll end up in the new one i build), now some details:
Main parts are AMD Phenom II x4 955, 8GB ram, GTX 570
Suffice to say the PSU can handle it, and from what i understand, running a pcie 3 card in a pcie 2.0 slot shouldn't have much if any noticeable difference in performance, but my main question is, will the rest of my current parts, in specific the CPU, be a bottleneck that makes upgrading the card pointless, or will it be relatively fine? (main reason im after changing the card is Witcher 3 btw ;3)

The GTX 970 will definitely be a big improvement over the 570, but I wonder if you should wait for the Witcher 3 to launch before deciding to upgrade your processor or not. CPU bottlenecking depends on the games you play. Some require more GPU power, others place more importance on the CPU like strategy/simulation games.

The Witcher 3's minimum specs don't make sense to me, they listed the i5 2500K and Phenom II X4 940 under minimum requirements. Those processors aren't really equal to each other, the 2500K is a much stronger processor by far. Yet if they listed processors as specific as that instead of just saying "AMD/Intel quad core recommended", I wonder if they do mean that it'll run decently on an old Phenom.

Quick Question:

So one of the RAM sticks from my Ballistix 8gb kit crapped out. So now I'm down to 1 4gb stick in here. I found a deal on one 8gb Ballistic stick with the same specifications as my 4gb stick. Both are DDR3-1600 CL9@1.5v

Could I put the 8gb stick in and also leave the good 4gb stick in as well to give me 12gb? Or would that cause issues because they aren't exactly the same.

Crucial offers a lifetime warranty on their RAM, so I'd look into contacting them and arranging for an RMA.

Yes, you can install RAM with mismatched sizes and it'll run. The only thing you lose out on is dual channel mode. Running memory in single channel mode is fine, it amounts to a 0~10% difference in benchmarking and does not affect most games, you'll never know the difference in actual use.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Guys, I have a question.

I decided a while back to pimp up my PC with visual mods. I'm swapping out some fans on my Air 540, getting some LED lighting and now I'm looking at hand-sleeved cables.

Yet to decide on the colour but my question is this: what is the difference between, for example, an 8-Pin EPS12V Extension Cable and the 8-Pin EPS12V Cable you get with your PSU?

It seems that when looking at individual hand-sleeved cables instead of sets, like the set from Corsair, the cables I see are all 'extensions' and this is putting me off a bit. Are these simply extensions to be plugged into the end of your PSU's 8-Pin EPS/24-pin ATX/etc cable? Wouldn't this add unnecessary length to your cables and thus be less efficient as the power has to travel further? I would just buy a set for my PSU but I don't think they would be compatible with my PSU, which is the SuperFlower Leadex Gold 650W 80+ rated.

 

[RGM79]

Guys, I have a question.

I decided a while back to pimp up my PC with visual mods. I'm swapping out some fans on my Air 540, getting some LED lighting and now I'm looking at hand-sleeved cables.

Yet to decide on the colour but my question is this: what is the difference between, for example, an 8-Pin EPS12V Extension Cable and the 8-Pin EPS12V Cable you get with your PSU?

It seems that when looking at individual hand-sleeved cables instead of sets, like the set from Corsair, the cables I see are all 'extensions' and this is putting me off a bit. Are these simply extensions to be plugged into the end of your PSU's 8-Pin EPS/24-pin ATX/etc cable? Wouldn't this add unnecessary length to your cables and thus be less efficient as the power has to travel further? I would just buy a set for my PSU but I don't think they would be compatible with my PSU, which is the SuperFlower Leadex Gold 650W 80+ rated.

Assuming it's the same pinout, nothing is different. If you're not buying really poorly made cables, you don't really have to worry about inefficiency.

 

[DietRob]

Appreciate the info RGM. I've contacted Cruicial via live chat and they are doing an RMA

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Assuming it's the same pinout, nothing is different. If you're not buying really poorly made cables, you don't really have to worry about inefficiency.

Ok thanks. I've got my eye on a BitFenix range, so these should be good quality. Will post what it looks like when I complete it all

 

[mStudios]

Anyone can offer me a good build for a 800 budget(no monitor, keyboard or mouse, only the Tower)?
All I want is to run Metro Last Light and the new Metal Gear when it comes out.

 

[crazepharmacist]

Yes, you can install RAM with mismatched sizes and it'll run. The only thing you lose out on is dual channel mode. Running memory in single channel mode is fine, it amounts to a 0~10% difference in benchmarking and does not affect most games, you'll never know the difference in actual use.

Really? I have an i7920 with 3x2gb sticks which are in triple channel setup. Most games nowadays are calling for 8gb which has been leaving me choked for memory. I was thinking about swapping one 2 gb stick out for a 4gb. That would work okay?

 

[RGM79]

Anyone can offer me a good build for a 800 budget(no monitor, keyboard or mouse, only the Tower)?
All I want is to run Metro Last Light and the new Metal Gear when it comes out.

Country?

Really? I have an i7920 with 3x2gb sticks which are in triple channel setup. Most games nowadays are calling for 8gb which has been leaving me choked for memory. I was thinking about swapping one 2 gb stick out for a 4gb. That would work okay?

It will run in single channel mode instead of triple channel mode, that's it.

 

[wege12]

So I'm currently in the market to build my first gaming PC. I went ahead and picked out some specs:

CPU: i7-4790k ($335)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KPRWAX8/?tag=neogaf0e-20

GPU: R9 290x 4GB TRI-X OC ($350)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJOKARI/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Motherboard: ASUS z97-A ATX ($154)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K2MAU5Q/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Power Supply: Corsair CX Series 750 Watt ($80)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ALK3KEM/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Case: Antec Twelve Hundred V3 ATX Full ($160)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004INH0FS/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Disc Drive: LG 16x Blu-ray Disc Rewriter ($66)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E7B08MS/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Ram: Kingston 16GB 1866MHz ($124)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J8E8Y5C/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Hard Drive: I already own a Seagate 750GB 7200RPM SSHD

Total Cost: $1,268.93

My Budget: $1,300 is my absolute max


I do have several questions as I've never built a PC before:

1. What do you guys think of this build spec wise?
2. Do you reccomend buying a CPU cooler as well? EX: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A0HZMGA/?tag=neogaf0e-20
3. I know this is a ridiculous question, but how does this compare to my PS4?
4. Do I have all the parts needed to build a gaming PC?
5. Im tempted to wait for the updated AMD 300 GPU's with HBM. Opinions on this?
6. Any suggestions and/or comments?

Thank you so much!

 

[mStudios]

Country?

U.S

 

[The Finest Brew]

The i5 4690K and i7 4790K have only a minor difference in most games, no more than ±5%. On the other hand, going up to a GTX 980 would be somewhere around a 15% improvement in framerate. According to review sites like Extremetech and Techgage, overclocking a GTX 970 would be the better solution it seems. However, lower end GTX 970 models may or may not overclock well, it'd be best to choose a GTX 970 with a more capable cooler.



A new graphics card would give you the largest boost, but I'd say you're at the point where you could consider building a new PC if you feel like spending the money. Intel's been the choice for higher framerate for the last few years, AMD's offerings are skewed more towards multi-threaded processing and offer less oomph for gaming framerate, considering that games don't take advantage of multiple cores as much as they should.

I have a friend with an AMD Phenom II X6 1055T who just recently got a R9 290 to upgrade his old GTX 560 Ti, he's waiting for some new games like GTAV to see if he also wants to upgrade the processor and motherboard. Intel's new Skylake CPU line will also be coming out in Q3/Q4 2015 and they will be incompatible with existing Z97 motherboards, so that may also be worth waiting for.

Money's an issue for me at the moment, so I can probably only upgrade about one part at a time, unfortunately. To be fair, I also don't really do extensive modern gaming either (Revelations 2 was the newest game I've played, and it's honestly the first I bought in a while besides Life is Strange, which runs flawlessly). If I were to get a new graphics card though, which would you suggest?

 

[Idba]

Thank you so much!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($100.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Corsair Force LS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290X 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom 530 (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($120.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Micro Center)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1151.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-28 16:15 EDT-0400

Left room price wise for other stuff like monitor, mouse etc. and added a wifi & bluetooth adapter. Also added a ssd cause yolo

 

[DoT2]

So I know I posted a few days ago about gsync monitors and what not, I thought I finally settled on a choice but now I have other options, was just wondering what you guys would do. Currently running a 980gtx with a asus pb278q 1440p monitor. My options are; get a rog swift, stick with my current monitor and buy another 980 to maximize the 1440p experience, or to buy the 1080p benq gsync monitor and stick with 1 980 and experience gsync along with 144hz. Thanks for your opinions gaf.

 

[KillySG10]

Thanks for the help rgm, ill hold off on buying till Witcher 3 is out then, see what kinda specs people find actually works with the game, i mean, theres no rush for me to get the 970 otherwise, and it'll have been somewhat pointless if the CPU ends up not being up to par.

 

[lordfuzzybutt]

So I'm currently in the market to build my first gaming PC. I went ahead and picked out some specs:
CPU: i7-4790k ($335)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KPRWAX8/?tag=neogaf0e-20
GPU: R9 290x 4GB TRI-X OC ($350)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJOKARI/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Motherboard: ASUS z97-A ATX ($154)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K2MAU5Q/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Power Supply: Corsair CX Series 750 Watt ($80)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ALK3KEM/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Case: Antec Twelve Hundred V3 ATX Full ($160)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004INH0FS/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Disc Drive: LG 16x Blu-ray Disc Rewriter ($66)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E7B08MS/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Ram: Kingston 16GB 1866MHz ($124)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J8E8Y5C/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Hard Drive: I already own a Seagate 750GB 7200RPM SSHD

Total Cost: $1,268.93

My Budget: $1,300 is my absolute max


I do have several questions as I've never built a PC before:

1. What do you guys think of this build spec wise?
2. Do you reccomend buying a CPU cooler as well? EX: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A0HZMGA/?tag=neogaf0e-20
3. I know this is a ridiculous question, but how does this compare to my PS4?
4. Do I have all the parts needed to build a gaming PC?
5. Im tempted to wait for the updated AMD 300 GPU's with HBM. Opinions on this?
6. Any suggestions and/or comments?

Thank you so much!

If it is for gaming only:

1. Your build is not optimized for price. The CPU and 16 GB RAM are not very necessary. I replaced it with a i5 and 8GB ram.
2. Yes, you can overclock very easily and squeeze some extra juice out of the machine.
3. My build will be around 4 PS4 stapled together.
4. You do now.
5. Might help drive the price down. If you can wait.
6. Your PSU is also not the best with that price.

I dropped the dvd drive because you don't need one nowadays. I put in the 980 as opposed to the 290x for cooling purpose.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($227.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($58.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.89 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 4GB Twin Frozr Video Card ($549.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($58.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1195.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-28 16:59 EDT-0400

Note: I often try to save cost but some will prefer higher quality parts. With all that money saved, you can use it to replace some parts, depends on what you want. But for gaming it should be very fine.

 

[Damerman]

I need a little help with updating my bios, namely whether its even necesary. I updated chipset drivers and everything else. But Updating the bios means " Support 5th-Generation Intel Core Processors".

I have an asus Z97i-plus with version 2105 for the bios... whats confusing though is that diferent bios version seem to be doing something different. 2502 fixes CPU and CPU fan compatibility, while version 2603 only mentions PCIe enhancements in its description. I don't have a disc drive so i won't be able to use the disc included with the MOBO.

 

[Damerman]

So I know I posted a few days ago about gsync monitors and what not, I thought I finally settled on a choice but now I have other options, was just wondering what you guys would do. Currently running a 980gtx with a asus pb278q 1440p monitor. My options are; get a rog swift, stick with my current monitor and buy another 980 to maximize the 1440p experience, or to buy the 1080p benq gsync monitor and stick with 1 980 and experience gsync along with 144hz. Thanks for your opinions gaf.

personally, since i was kind of tight for money, i went with 1 970 and a 1080p 27 inch 144hz monitor. If i had the option to go with the ROG swift, i would do it. I'm sure the 980 will handle 1440p very well.

 

[RGM79]

U.S

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($227.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 Red 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($57.18 @ Amazon)
Storage: Toshiba Product SeriesT01ACA 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card ($269.99 @ Amazon)
Case: BitFenix Comrade ATX Mid Tower Case ($46.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $797.10
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-28 17:14 EDT-0400

Money's an issue for me at the moment, so I can probably only upgrade about one part at a time, unfortunately. To be fair, I also don't really do extensive modern gaming either (Revelations 2 was the newest game I've played, and it's honestly the first I bought in a while besides Life is Strange, which runs flawlessly). If I were to get a new graphics card though, which would you suggest?

Depends on your power supply model, budget and what sort of graphics and settings you want to play at. The best bang for your buck in the higher end segment would be the R9 290, for midrange 1080p gameplay I'd go for an R9 280/280X, for even less than that the R7 260X is a nice budget card.

Yes, they're all AMD as they tend to be competitively priced compared to Nvidia's offerings at the same performance level. Nvidia does have power-efficient options (GTX 750 Ti, GTX 960, GTX 970) if your power supply isn't adequate and you don't want to replace it yet, though.

Thanks for the help rgm, ill hold off on buying till Witcher 3 is out then, see what kinda specs people find actually works with the game, i mean, theres no rush for me to get the 970 otherwise, and it'll have been somewhat pointless if the CPU ends up not being up to par.

Yeah, if your parts aren't breaking down yet, you could wait it out for first impressions and check the inevitable gaming side's Witcher 3 PC performance thread.

I need a little help with updating my bios, namely whether its even necesary. I updated chipset drivers and everything else. But Updating the bios means " Support 5th-Generation Intel Core Processors".

I have an asus Z97i-plus with version 2105 for the bios... whats confusing though is that diferent bios version seem to be doing something different. 2502 fixes CPU and CPU fan compatibility, while version 2603 only mentions PCIe enhancements in its description. I don't have a disc drive so i won't be able to use the disc included with the MOBO.

The "5th generation support" refers to upcoming Broadwell CPUs that aren't out yet. You don't need to update the BIOS unless you have a problem that can only be solved via BIOS update (CPU/memory compatibility issues, etc). Each new BIOS version has incremental changes over the last version, the latest version will always have all changes to date. You don't need a disc to update the BIOS.

 

[SRG01]

How does $3 sound? Honestly, I'd just fold up a piece of paper or something. Don't cover the entire SSD like a blanket, that will insulate heat, but just place a small piece where needed to wedge it in place and stop the SSD from moving.

Hahaha, I'm afraid to look at the shipping for that $3 part. I may try the paper trick, or even just grab some thick tape or adhesive strips. Some person on the internet suggested weatherstripping, which may be a good idea since I have to do some maintenance on my house this year...

 

[Diablos]

Is there really any benefit to getting a GTX 960 with 4GB opposed to the standard 2? Seems like the 960 Strix 2GB is the best deal for the ~12% OC out of the box.

My 660 isn't cutting it for 1080p anymore, and given that my graphical needs are not too demanding (1080p at high or ultra 40-60fps with 2x FXAA or no AA) I think this card will be a good investment for the next two to three years at the most. I really would love to ditch my 6300, but this seems like a horrible time to upgrade your CPU, given what's coming down the line in the next couple years.

That said, I am wondering how badly my 6300 would bottleneck games like Witcher 3, even with a 960.

 

[SRG01]

Is there really any benefit to getting a GTX 960 with 4GB opposed to the standard 2? Seems like the 960 Strix 2GB is the best deal for the ~12% OC out of the box.

My 660 isn't cutting it for 1080p anymore, and given that my graphical needs are not too demanding (1080p at high or ultra 40-60fps with 2x FXAA or no AA) I think this card will be a good investment for the next two to three years at the most. I really would love to ditch my 6300, but this seems like a horrible time to upgrade your CPU, given what's coming down the line in the next couple years.

That said, I am wondering how badly my 6300 would bottleneck games like Witcher 3, even with a 960.

I've heard of ASUS having massive customer services or something, according to RFD. You could go with EVGA instead, since I've heard nothing but glowing reviews from them.

Aside from that, the reason why you'd want a 4GB card is if you have an application that absolutely needs to fit into VRAM -- such as rendering. The 128-bit bus critically limits the card at higher resolutions, and there were some reviews that actually showed its performance being lower than the 770 past 1080p.

One more thing to note: the 960 is not a cut die compared to the 970 so you actually can access the full 4GB with the same speed.

 

[Diablos]

I've heard of ASUS having massive customer services or something, according to RFD. You could go with EVGA instead, since I've heard nothing but glowing reviews from them.

Aside from that, the reason why you'd want a 4GB card is if you have an application that absolutely needs to fit into VRAM -- such as rendering. The 128-bit bus critically limits the card at higher resolutions, and there were some reviews that actually showed its performance being lower than the 770 past 1080p.

One more thing to note: the 960 is not a cut die compared to the 970 so you actually can access the full 4GB with the same speed.

Thanks for the info.

Also, I know the R9 280 is a better deal. The only problem is a I have a 500W Seasonic PSU and that's not going to cut it. I used a power supply calculator and have all my components 100% accurate and the power required is 550-600W with a R9 280.

I probably should get a new power supply since I got mine back in 2007... that being said, it was not in use for a good two and a half, maybe three years when I wasn't gaming at all on PC and used my laptop all the time. It's also a very good power supply which is probably why it has held up for so long.

 

[The Llama]

Thanks for the info.

Also, I know the R9 280 is a better deal. The only problem is a I have a 500W Seasonic PSU and that's not going to cut it. I used a power supply calculator and have all my components 100% accurate and the power required is 550-600W with a R9 280.

I probably should get a new power supply since I got mine back in 2007... that being said, it was not in use for a good two and a half, maybe three years when I wasn't gaming at all on PC and used my laptop all the time. It's also a very good power supply which is probably why it has held up for so long.

Unless you're running a ton of harddrives and such, a 500W PSU would be fine for a 280.

 

[Diablos]

Unless you're running a ton of harddrives and such, a 500W PSU would be fine for a 280.

I'm running my 6300, with a mild OC to 3.7GHz as well as OCing the RAM to 1720MHz or so and OC'd the FSB a bit. Nothing extreme, though.

I have one ssd, one 750GB SATA internal hdd, two external 5400RPM USB drives, CD/DVD burner (lol I can't believe this is now about as worthless as a floppy drive). Using onboard sound so that helps a bit. GPU is as previously stated a GTX 660 with uses 140W at the most. So a 280 would add 60W more.

Everything I'm researching says I need at LEAST 550W, likely 600W to be safe with the R9 280. I'm also a bit turned off by its power draw, although it does have nice software for cutting that back when not gaming.

Given that my PSU is fairly old I am concerned it might not like having a power hungry 200W card running a lot considering it will be pushing the PSU more than it ever has been previously.

 

[SRG01]

... Today I learned that the i7-4790s at Microcenter is $249.99, in store pickup. That price is still lower than the Canadian price, taking into account the exchange rate. FML.

edit: I'm tempted to look for a Microcenter proxy (ie. someone to buy at their stores) but I'm not sure how sketchy those things can be. Anyone tried a proxy before? How does that work with RMAs?

 

[MildSoss]

Hey guys, i'm looking to upgrade my GPU and i'm trying to decide between a 290x or a 970, don't know if my power supply would cut it or i'd have to upgrade any thing else.

I know my cpu might be a bottle neck but if i can avoid buying a new one for the time being that would be nice. I'll also be installing an SSD so any recommendations are welcomed.

PSU: Raidmax 535W 80 Plus Bronze
CPU: AMD FX-8350
MOBO: Asus M5A97 R2.0
GPU: Radeon HD 7850

 

[RGM79]

I'm running my 6300, with a mild OC to 3.7GHz as well as OCing the RAM to 1720MHz or so and OC'd the FSB a bit. Nothing extreme, though.

I have one ssd, one 750GB SATA internal hdd, two external 5400RPM USB drives, CD/DVD burner (lol I can't believe this is now about as worthless as a floppy drive). Using onboard sound so that helps a bit. GPU is as previously stated a GTX 660 with uses 140W at the most. So a 280 would add 60W more.

Everything I'm researching says I need at LEAST 550W, likely 600W to be safe with the R9 280. I'm also a bit turned off by its power draw, although it does have nice software for cutting that back when not gaming.

Given that my PSU is fairly old I am concerned it might not like having a power hungry 200W card running a lot considering it will be pushing the PSU more than it ever has been previously.

What calculator are you using? I'm getting 450~500 watts recommended by the one I usually use including your overclocking settings, some slight capacitor aging, and the R9 280.

... Today I learned that the i7-4790s at Microcenter is $249.99, in store pickup. That price is still lower than the Canadian price, taking into account the exchange rate. FML.

edit: I'm tempted to look for a Microcenter proxy (ie. someone to buy at their stores) but I'm not sure how sketchy those things can be. Anyone tried a proxy before? How does that work with RMAs?

I've considered looking for one, thought they probably existed, but couldn't find one.

Hey guys, i'm looking to upgrade my GPU and i'm trying to decide between a 290x or a 970, don't know if my power supply would cut it or i'd have to upgrade any thing else.

I know my cpu might be a bottle neck but if i can avoid buying a new one for the time being that would be nice. I'll also be installing an SSD so any recommendations are welcomed.

PSU: Raidmax 535W 80 Plus Bronze
CPU: AMD FX-8350
MOBO: Asus M5A97 R2.0
GPU: Radeon HD 7850

Raidmax power supplies are kinda mediocre, going by what I've seen and what I've been led to believe. If you have the RX-535AP (it's the only 535 watt power supply they seem to have) then your power supply is only rated for 432 watts on the 12 volt rail according to the label, and probably puts out even less than that in real life usage.

It definitely can't run the R9 290X and I wouldn't try the GTX 970 even as power efficient as it is. First thing would be to upgrade your power supply, and then a graphics card according to your budget.