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"I Need a New PC!" 2015 Part 1. Read the OP and RISE ABOVE FORGED PRECISION SCIENCE

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kharma45

Member
I just don't like being forced into such things. I can sort of accept it for Google and android since syncing my contacts makes sense, but in this case I just don't want it. Especially if the option to not have one is hidden so deceptively.

Surely here easy back ups and restores should appeal? As well as sync between other devices if you were to have more than one W8.1 machine. Never bothered me in the slightest.
 

Skel1ingt0n

I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
Hey all, I'd like to grow more knowledgeable about something.

Can anyone here explain what BGA is in regard to laptops, and why it's a bad thing?

I was on another forum, and everyone was hating on Alienware's new 2015 laptops - saying they're nothing but BGA crap like everyone else now.

Now, I know BGA = ball grid array.

And I also know that Alienware used to use replacable parts - ie: you could theoretically flip out the video card for another. This is why their laptops were much thicker than those from Apple or up-and-coming Razer. That's in addition to having more cooling capabilities.

I'm assuming BGA just means that everything is one wafer board and soldered on - thus nothing is replacable, but things can get much thinner.

Is there more to it than that, though? I don't know if that's "Crap"... just a "crappier situation."
 

RGM79

Member
Hey all, I'd like to grow more knowledgeable about something.

Can anyone here explain what BGA is in regard to laptops, and why it's a bad thing?

I was on another forum, and everyone was hating on Alienware's new 2015 laptops - saying they're nothing but BGA crap like everyone else now.

Now, I know BGA = ball grid array.

And I also know that Alienware used to use replacable parts - ie: you could theoretically flip out the video card for another. This is why their laptops were much thicker than those from Apple or up-and-coming Razer. That's in addition to having more cooling capabilities.

I'm assuming BGA just means that everything is one wafer board and soldered on - thus nothing is replacable, but things can get much thinner.

Is there more to it than that, though? I don't know if that's "Crap"... just a "crappier situation."

This is just an assumption, but I read this Ars Technica article yesterday and someone who apparently knows the workings made a relevant post about what seems to be the problem.

Hamster_Black on Ars Technica said:
The GPU on an Xbox 360 is mounted using something called a ball grid array, where individual balls of solder connect a bare GPU's contacts to holes in the circuit board below. To understand why this can cause problems, you have to go back to when BGA mounts were invented, the 1990s. At that time, there was no mandate from the EU to use nonleaded solders, so BGA mounts weren't extensively tested using nonleaded solders.

The manufacturing technique for making solder balls doesn't check for the presence of voids (bubbles) inside them. Industry analyses of solder ball manufacture show a high rate of voids regardless of solder composition. However, the component that BGA mounts most typically use, GPUs, make that composition important.

GPUs have the most radical thermal shifts of surface mounted components on a motherboard, even compared to CPUs. They cycle hot/cold shifts repeatedly during use. Lead solders are pretty pliable but nonleaded (typically tin alloy-based) solders are considerably more brittle. When a nonleaded BGA solder joint has a large void inside it, it's like fast-heating and fast-cooling a hollow glass ball: do it repeatedly and eventually it cracks.

Reheating that joint will rejoin enough molecules to make a temporary fix but the crack is still there and will recur. Commercially, this is called reflowing and GameStop's doing this. It's an inferior, short-term solution.

Reballing (where the GPU is removed from the circuit board, the solder joints are heated and vacuum removed from the board, and then the GPU is reset using lead-based solder balls) is consistently more successful. It also requires more equipment than a heat gun and a technician usually charges about $150 for the procedure. If GameStop were to offer reballing services (either in-house or sent out) that would be impressive.

For those of you who suffered through 2011 MacBook Pro graphics failures, this is exactly the same problem. It also affected a number of HP laptops using the same GPU/mounts. Not surprisingly many of those failures occur in cold-weather months.

The reason this is a pandemic in devices with BGA GPUs is because the mean time before failure is coincidentally about a year, when most warranties have just expired.
 

blacklotus

Member
Will you be overclocking? And just to make sure, can you order from Amazon Espana, or would you prefer to go with that list of Portuguese retailers?

Why not novoatalho.pt? Dunno about overclocking. I'm only getting those components i mentioned, so, standard cooler for processor. Guessing i wont be overclocking for now, right?
If you can, just use novoatalho.pt for prices. If not, it's ok to use amazon spain. I just need components for a rough estimate of the budget i mentioned.
I need to know what to choose. Go Intel? Go amd? Etc.

Thanks a lot for this. I will be buying the parts in late March (it's when i get my payment from EA from being editor for FIFA), so if you think it's too soon to talk about this, ill re-post this closer to date.
Although i'm so anxious, just checking my options feels good. :D
 

rogue74

Member
I have an aging PC with an AMD Phenom II 965 and an Geforce 460. I don't have the money for a full replacement. I was wondering if my CPU was good enough to drive an R9 280. I was thinking of that as a possible upgrade.
 

jbpaz

Member

RGM79

Member
Why not novoatalho.pt? Dunno about overclocking. I'm only getting those components i mentioned, so, standard cooler for processor. Guessing i wont be overclocking for now, right?
If you can, just use novoatalho.pt for prices. If not, it's ok to use amazon spain. I just need components for a rough estimate of the budget i mentioned.
I need to know what to choose. Go Intel? Go amd? Etc.

Thanks a lot for this. I will be buying the parts in late March (it's when i get my payment from EA from being editor for FIFA), so if you think it's too soon to talk about this, ill re-post this closer to date.
Although i'm so anxious, just checking my options feels good. :D

Well, in that case..

Yes, Intel is preferred over AMD when it comes to game and framerate performance. I looked around and there were retailers offering some parts for a lower price than novoatalho.pt, but if you don't mind spending a bit more to get everything from one place, I think the difference is maybe around 50-75€. I will make some general recommendations. I used kuantokusta.pt to search for general pricing below.

For the CPU I recommend either the i5 4670K (~225€) or the 4690K (~245€). The latter is newer, but the performance difference is barely noticeable so if you can get the 4670K for cheaper, go for it. The former seems to be selling for a bit cheaper than the latter, about 20€ less in some cases. However, Amazon Spain has the 4690K for 222€, which is the best deal.

As for the motherboard, I can recommend Gigabyte, Asus, ASRock or MSI. I would suggest a Z97 model, the cheaper you find, the better. The "gaming" models just have extra marketing and pointless features that you probably won't need. Depending on the price (hopefully around 120€), some specific models to look for are:

Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI or GA-Z97X-UD3H
ASRock Z97 Pro4 or Extreme4
MSI Z97 PC MATE or Z97S SLI Plus

Concerning graphics cards, it will depend on how high your budget can go, but the Nvidia GTX 970 (370~400€) is a great recently introduced higher end model that will last for years. MSI Gaming 4G, Asus Strix, Gigabyte G1 Gaming, and EVGA SC/SSC/FTW are the preferred brands and models. As an alternative, the AMD R9 290 (200~300€) may be found for much cheaper and will perform about the same or slightly slower. The R9 290X is expensive, though.

For RAM, look for the cheapest 8GB sets that are rated at DDR3-1866 or DDR3-2133 (1866MHz or 2133MHz). If they cost a bit high then DDR3-1600 is ok, but 1866 and 2133 are preferred. Looks like 8GB of 1866MHz RAM can be had for about 80€.

Power supply is harder to recommend for as I don't know anything about product availability in Portugal. If you go with the GTX 970, you should look for 550-600 watts, and I recommend 700-750 watts if you want to run dual GTX 970 in the future. If you go with the R9 290, 650-700 watts is recommend for a single card, and 1000 watts for dual R9 290. For efficiency, 80+ bronze rating is OK, and modular or non-modular cables are up to you and make no difference except for money and convenience. Except for Seasonic, Super Flower and XFX (rebranded Seasonic), few power supply brands can be said to have all good products and be completely trustworthy. Antec, Cooler Master, Corsair, and EVGA range from bad to so-so to excellent (not in any order) depending on the exact model. Prices would seem to vary quite a lot depending on brand, model, efficiency, wattage, and modularity. Try not to spend more than 80-100€ if going for 550-700 watts.

I recommend using something other than the bundled Intel CPU cooler if you want low noise or to overclock, but that can be left for the future. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is 47€.
 

RGM79

Member
I have an aging PC with an AMD Phenom II 965 and an Geforce 460. I don't have the money for a full replacement. I was wondering if my CPU was good enough to drive an R9 280. I was thinking of that as a possible upgrade.

What power supply do you have? What games do you play? I don't really see any immediate problems with upgrading to the R9 280, provided your power supply can handle it. Your power supply will have to do 550 watts or better.

I currently have this psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151119

I have this 7970 currently http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127732

and I'm getting this 7970 to crossfire with. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127670

My CPU is an i5-4670k and I have a 7200 RPM HDD and a 840 EVO SSD. 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 ram as well.

Would I need to upgrade my psu? If so, what will be a good psu to get on a budget?

How much are you paying for that second 7970? You will need an 800 watt power supply to run dual 7970s. Is selling your existing 7970 and buying a single better graphics card an option for you?

The best priced decent quality power supply I can recommend you is the EVGA 850 watt Supernova B2 for $70 after $20 rebate. It's made by Super Flower, which is a high quality power supply manufacturer. I can't find any reviews for that specific model, but the 750 watt version was well-reviewed by Jonny Guru.
 

blacklotus

Member
Well, in that case..

Yes, Intel is preferred over AMD when it comes to game and framerate performance. I looked around and there were retailers offering some parts for a lower price than novoatalho.pt, but if you don't mind spending a bit more to get everything from one place, I think the difference is maybe around 50-75€. I will make some general recommendations. I used kuantokusta.pt to search for general pricing below.

For the CPU I recommend either the i5 4670K (~225€) or the 4690K (~245€). The latter is newer, but the performance difference is barely noticeable so if you can get the 4670K for cheaper, go for it. The former seems to be selling for a bit cheaper than the latter, about 20€ less in some cases. However, Amazon Spain has the 4690K for 222€, which is the best deal.

As for the motherboard, I can recommend Gigabyte, Asus, ASRock or MSI. I would suggest a Z97 model, the cheaper you find, the better. The "gaming" models just have extra marketing and pointless features that you probably won't need. Depending on the price (hopefully around 120€), some specific models to look for are:

Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI or GA-Z97X-UD3H
ASRock Z97 Pro4 or Extreme4
MSI Z97 PC MATE or Z97S SLI Plus

Concerning graphics cards, it will depend on how high your budget can go, but the Nvidia GTX 970 (370~400€) is a great recently introduced higher end model that will last for years. MSI Gaming 4G, Asus Strix, Gigabyte G1 Gaming, and EVGA SC/SSC/FTW are the preferred brands and models. As an alternative, the AMD R9 290 (200~300€) may be found for much cheaper and will perform about the same or slightly slower. The R9 290X is expensive, though.

For RAM, look for the cheapest 8GB sets that are rated at DDR3-1866 or DDR3-2133 (1866MHz or 2133MHz). If they cost a bit high then DDR3-1600 is ok, but 1866 and 2133 are preferred. Looks like 8GB of 1866MHz RAM can be had for about 80€.

Power supply is harder to recommend for as I don't know anything about product availability in Portugal. If you go with the GTX 970, you should look for 550-600 watts, and I recommend 700-750 watts if you want to run dual GTX 970 in the future. If you go with the R9 290, 650-700 watts is recommend for a single card, and 1000 watts for dual R9 290. For efficiency, 80+ bronze rating is OK, and modular or non-modular cables are up to you and make no difference except for money and convenience. Except for Seasonic, Super Flower and XFX (rebranded Seasonic), few power supply brands can be said to have all good products and be completely trustworthy. Antec, Cooler Master, Corsair, and EVGA range from bad to so-so to excellent (not in any order) depending on the exact model. Prices would seem to vary quite a lot depending on brand, model, efficiency, wattage, and modularity. Try not to spend more than 80-100€ if going for 550-700 watts.

I recommend using something other than the bundled Intel CPU cooler if you want low noise or to overclock, but that can be left for the future. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is 47€.


Thanks a lot!
Couple of questions:
Shouldn't I be going i7 and DDR5 way?
 

RGM79

Member
Thanks a lot!
Couple of questions:
Shouldn't I be going i7 and DDR5 way?

If you can fit it in your budget, then yes, it'll be very good and last you another 8 years. However it will be quite expensive and leave less money for the other parts. Going by Amazon Spain, you're spending 600-650€ alone on the processor and motherboard.

bVVg1Tw.jpg
 

rogue74

Member
What power supply do you have? What games do you play? I don't really see any immediate problems with upgrading to the R9 280, provided your power supply can handle it. Your power supply will have to do 550 watts or better

My power supply is 750 watts.
 

blacklotus

Member
If you can fit it in your budget, then yes, it'll be very good and last you another 8 years. However it will be quite expensive and leave less money for the other parts. Going by Amazon Spain, you're spending 600-650€ alone on the processor and motherboard.

Understood. Thanks a lot for all the input. I'll get back to you in a couple of months when i finally upgrade.
 
I have an

i5 2500 (OC'd to 4.5)
Sapphire 7950 3GB
8 GB RAM
MAXIMUS IV GENE-Z MB

based on the above specs, the folks here told me that if I got a GTX 970 that would be the first next best thing to upgrade. My other question is, should I also upgrade the i5 2500 to a faster 2500 or is my OC to 4.5 good enough for now?
 
Not a home build, but I just got my new Alienware Area 51 desktop delivered today. (that was paid for by my department, of all things). Overclocked Haswell-E, 16 gigs of DDR4 Ram, and a GTX 980. Since my dept paid for the laptop, I used some of the savings to upgrade to a nice mechanical keyboard and a 27" 1440p IPS display.

Coming off a 5-year old processor w/ 6 gigs of ram and a 650ti, this all represents juuuuuuust a bit of an upgrade.

Time to go re-experience some games the way they were meant to be played.
 

RGM79

Member
My power supply is 750 watts.

You shouldn't have any problems powering the R9 280, then.

Understood. Thanks a lot for all the input. I'll get back to you in a couple of months when i finally upgrade.

Yes, that's probably the best thing to do.

I have an

i5 2500 (OC'd to 4.5)
Sapphire 7950 3GB
8 GB RAM
MAXIMUS IV GENE-Z MB

based on the above specs, the folks here told me that if I got a GTX 970 that would be the first next best thing to upgrade. My other question is, should I also upgrade the i5 2500 to a faster 2500 or is my OC to 4.5 good enough for now?

The i5 2500K you have now should be enough for a good framerate on the games you play. What games do you play, exactly? Few games benefit from an i7 2600K/3770K/4790K, for example.

http--www.gamegpu.ru-images-stories-Test_GPU-Action-Metal_Gear_Solid_V_Ground_Zeroes_-test-mgs_proz.jpg
http--www.gamegpu.ru-images-stories-Test_GPU-strategy-Sid_Meiers_Civilization_Beyond_Earth-test-civilizationbe_proz.jpg

coh%20proz.png
http--www.gamegpu.ru-images-stories-Test_GPU-Action-Far_Cry_4-nv-test-fc_proz.jpg


I wouldn't recommend a socket 1155/1150 i7 processor for gaming. The hyperthreading that the 2600K/3770K have over the i5 2500K/3550K won't really give you a performance increase in game framerate. The gulf between midrange P67 i5 and high end X79/X99 i7 isn't even that great most of the time.
 

jbpaz

Member
How much are you paying for that second 7970? You will need an 800 watt power supply to run dual 7970s. Is selling your existing 7970 and buying a single better graphics card an option for you?

The best priced decent quality power supply I can recommend you is the EVGA 850 watt Supernova B2 for $70 after $20 rebate. It's made by Super Flower, which is a high quality power supply manufacturer. I can't find any reviews for that specific model, but the 750 watt version was well-reviewed by Jonny Guru.

I'm paying 144$ for the second 7970 Lightning.
 

Arsin

Member
So, I was lucky enough to find an ASUS ROG Swift 27 inch monitor in stock over this past week. I am loving it so far, but I think my 780ti might not be enough to take full advantage of the G-Sync. Am I going to have to get a 980? Or would an 970 be enough to get the most out of this monitor?
 

Kayant

Member
Do you still need Classic Shell for a proper start menu, or have MS come to their senses and given a proper start menu?

For Windows 10 yes. Windows 8 sadly not but Classic shell and Startisback(paid) work great in my experience. It just like using Windows 7. You can disable all the windows 8 corner stuff like the charms menu if you want also.
 

xezuru

Member
For Windows 10 yes. Windows 8 sadly not but Classic shell and Startisback(paid) work great in my experience. It just like using Windows 7. You can disable all the windows 8 corner stuff like the charms menu if you want also.

So classic shell or settings within Windows themselves let you bootup into Desktop mode and keep normal stuff to classic windows? Only experience with Win8 has been trying to get family members stuff to work, and I want no part of that Touch Squares layout.
 
I would love to know why CoH2 runs so terribly. Graphically it's not super impressive, and the only major features I can think of that they added were line of sight modeling and occasional things like Blizzards. There must be some serious inefficiencies going on at some level, likely due to a rushed development cycle on account of THQ dying.
 

kennah

Member
Put a Watt measuring device on my computer today on a lark. .

My i3 3220 with GTX 670 pulls 70w at idle an 150 under game load. Heh.
 

RGM79

Member
I would love to know why CoH2 runs so terribly. Graphically it's not super impressive, and the only major features I can think of that they added were line of sight modeling and occasional things like Blizzards. There must be some serious inefficiencies going on at some level, likely due to a rushed development cycle on account of THQ dying.
The software optimization wasn't as nice as I'd like it to be. I think they said that the graphical engine's snow/blizzard features prevent the game from ever working with crossfire or SLI, something to that effect, which sucks. They basically said they weren't willing to out the effort in for it.
 

DrForester

Kills Photobucket
My new build is running, and seems to be in good spirits.

I am using one of the CPU liquid coolers for the first time, and I had to make a small adjustment to make it fit. Rather than positioning the fan to push air onto the radiator, I had to put it the other way so the fan is now pulling air onto the radiator. Will that affect performance?
 

RGM79

Member
My new build is running, and seems to be in good spirits.

I am using one of the CPU liquid coolers for the first time, and I had to make a small adjustment to make it fit. Rather than positioning the fan to push air onto the radiator, I had to put it the other way so the fan is now pulling air onto the radiator. Will that affect performance?

Generally it's better to have the fan blowing into the radiator. Is there a reason why you couldn't make it fit the other way around?

Try running some games and CPU benchmarks.
 

DrForester

Kills Photobucket
Generally it's better to have the fan blowing into the radiator. Is there a reason why you couldn't make it fit the other way around?

Try running some games and CPU benchmarks.

Radiator is a half centimeter too big and the top card mounts get it it's way. It's got screws on both sides, so worst case, I use a spare fan and blow it on both sides.
 

Smokey

Member
So, I was lucky enough to find an ASUS ROG Swift 27 inch monitor in stock over this past week. I am loving it so far, but I think my 780ti might not be enough to take full advantage of the G-Sync. Am I going to have to get a 980? Or would an 970 be enough to get the most out of this monitor?

What type of games are you playing? If you're used to 1080p, the leap to 1440p is a pretty decent step up.
 

Kayant

Member
So classic shell or settings within Windows themselves let you bootup into Desktop mode and keep normal stuff to classic windows? Only experience with Win8 has been trying to get family members stuff to work, and I want no part of that Touch Squares layout.

Yes windows 8.1 itself allows that option now but only things like classic shell give you the ability to disable to other windows 8 stuff like charms and gives you the start menu back otherwise you will still see the square nonsense with the windows option. To make it like windows 7 again with classic shell you need to checkmark the all option in the windows 8.1 settings ---> Disable active corners within classic shell. Boot to desktop is enable by default.
 

Monkeybutlerz

Neo Member
Looking to start a new build and wondering if anyone would have any suggestions.

My budget is $1000 CAD, excluding the GPU. I'd like to try a mATX build; should I base myself primarily on the builds in the OP or have there been recent developments presenting alternatives that I should seriously consider?

The computer is for my dad who's been running the same system for 8 or so years, would like to surprise him with a nice new rig (have an old GPU from a prior build that I'm going to use).
 

RGM79

Member
Looking to start a new build and wondering if anyone would have any suggestions.

My budget is $1000 CAD, excluding the GPU. I'd like to try a mATX build; should I base myself primarily on the builds in the OP or have there been recent developments presenting alternatives that I should seriously consider?

The computer is for my dad who's been running the same system for 8 or so years, would like to surprise him with a nice new rig (have an old GPU from a prior build that I'm going to use).

New consumer platform (Skylake) is due out in the middle of 2015, but it is still a while away with no news on performance. If you don't want to wait, buying now is an option. Parts recommendations in the OP are geared toward US pricing.

Here's my suggested build, a starting point to work from. With more knowledge of what your dad uses the PC for and what graphics card you're giving him, we can further narrow down the build and probably save some money.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($367.95 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Memory Express)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($109.95 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 Low Profile Red 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($169.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($122.89 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Toshiba Product Series:DT01ACA 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($47.95 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($67.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $1001.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-11 04:39 EST-0500

Depending on what graphics card you are giving him, the power supply I recommended can probably be replaced with something lower capacity and possibly cheaper. If CPU overclocking won't be a thing, then it's possible to save some money there too. Likewise, the 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD and 2TB hard drive are just there to fill up the budget - maybe drop capacity as according to his needs. If the case is a bit too plain, then with money saved elsewhere, you could move up to a more premium looking case like a Corsair 350D or something.
 

Updawgs

Member
Looking to build a dedicated encoding rig based on a 4790k; at this point, would it be worth waiting for MLK or President's Day sales?
 
Best way to reflash the MBO?
I'm having some weird issues with my MBO and I want to "factory reset" it as hard as possible to be sure.
Is reflashing + clear cmos + battery out the best way to go?
 

Monkeybutlerz

Neo Member
New consumer platform (Skylake) is due out in the middle of 2015, but it is still a while away with no news on performance. If you don't want to wait, buying now is an option. Parts recommendations in the OP are geared toward US pricing.

Here's my suggested build, a starting point to work from. With more knowledge of what your dad uses the PC for and what graphics card you're giving him, we can further narrow down the build and probably save some money.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($367.95 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Memory Express)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($109.95 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 Low Profile Red 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($169.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($122.89 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Toshiba Product Series:DT01ACA 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($47.95 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($67.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $1001.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-11 04:39 EST-0500

Depending on what graphics card you are giving him, the power supply I recommended can probably be replaced with something lower capacity and possibly cheaper. If CPU overclocking won't be a thing, then it's possible to save some money there too. Likewise, the 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD and 2TB hard drive are just there to fill up the budget - maybe drop capacity as according to his needs. If the case is a bit too plain, then with money saved elsewhere, you could move up to a more premium looking case like a Corsair 350D or something.

Thanks for the reply, this is really helpful! My dad does photo, video editing, internet browsing and programming (I'm not too familiar about which programs he uses). He does some gaming as well, but nothing too hefty - I'll be giving him an old GTX 760, which should suit his needs just fine and it could always be upgraded down the line.

I think the SSD and HDD are fine, he takes a LOT of pictures so the extra storage is nice and he's never had an SSD before, so that should be a treat. I also don't mind spending on the RAM because he'll be using this system for a long time. I don't think he'll need to overclock the CPU for his usage.
 

jett

D-Member
Please help me guys to identify the issue here!

PC:
ASUS Z97-A
4670K
AMD 280X
WD 1TB HDD
850W Seasonic-X

Last night Windows 7 crashed out of the blue for like the first time ever, was watching a twitch stream, using two screens. It wasn't a BSOD, the image on the screen just became totally garbled.

Upon reboot, the bios would not detect the HDD, as if it wasn't connected. But upon powering down the computer and powering it up again, it detected the HDD again. Windows loaded fine, but it crashed again within a few minutes. Again, no BSOD. First Windows Aero was automatically disabled and then every window started closing up, until I was left with nothing but my backdrop.

Same deal, rebooted, bios couldn't find the HDD. Powered down/powered on, bios detected my HDD again. Windows loaded but became unusable soon enough.

What's going on??? In all my years of using a computer I've never experienced this. I ran chkdsk. Changed SATA cables and SATA ports. I've rolled back to an older bios. No change. If I boot into safe mode or into Windows Repair, it doesn't crash, but everytime I hit the reset button the bios once again fails to detect the HDD.

I don't have an additional HDD to test it out unfortunately, but I have another power supply to test it out in case that's the problem. I hope it's just the HDD cuz that's just the easiest thing to fix. This is really bewildering.
 

LilJoka

Member
Please help me guys to identify the issue here!

PC:
ASUS Z97-A
4670K
AMD 280X
WD 1TB HDD
850W Seasonic-X

Last night Windows 7 crashed out of the blue for like the first time ever, was watching a twitch stream, using two screens. It wasn't a BSOD, the image on the screen just became totally garbled.

Upon reboot, the bios would not detect the HDD, as if it wasn't connected. But upon powering down the computer and powering it up again, it detected the HDD again. Windows loaded fine, but it crashed again within a few minutes. Again, no BSOD. First Windows Aero was automatically disabled and then every window started closing up, until I was left with nothing but my backdrop.

Same deal, rebooted, bios couldn't find the HDD. Powered down/powered on, bios detected my HDD again. Windows loaded but became unusable soon enough.

What's going on??? In all my years of using a computer I've never experienced this. I ran chkdsk. Changed SATA cables and SATA ports. I've rolled back to an older bios. No change. If I boot into safe mode or into Windows Repair, it doesn't crash, but everytime I hit the reset button the bios once again fails to detect the HDD.

I don't have an additional HDD to test it out unfortunately, but I have another power supply to test it out in case that's the problem. I hope it's just the HDD cuz that's just the easiest thing to fix. This is really bewildering.

Rule out the GPU. Unplug the GPU and use onboard video.
 

Matty8787

Member
So I have decided that I want to buy a motherboard/ram/cpu bundle.

I want a good bundle with 16gb ram and an i5 k.

Where is the best price and what bundle should I look at?

I am currently rocking an i5 2500k with 8gb of ram.

Cheers.

Edit: should add I am in the UK
 

kharma45

Member
So I have decided that I want to buy a motherboard/ram/cpu bundle.

I want a good bundle with 16gb ram and an i5 k.

Where is the best price and what bundle should I look at?

I am currently rocking an i5 2500k with 8gb of ram.

Cheers.

Edit: should add I am in the UK

Why do you want to upgrade?
 

kharma45

Member
Cause I am crap at spending wisely and feel like I have to.

Going from a 2500K to a 4690K will be a very sideways move. Not worth doing. If you feel the need to do some fiddling then overclock your CPU if you havent done so already and get a good cooler if you're using the stock Intel one. What GPU Do you have?

Changing your CPU will leave you massively disappointed.
 

RGM79

Member
Thanks for the reply, this is really helpful! My dad does photo, video editing, internet browsing and programming (I'm not too familiar about which programs he uses). He does some gaming as well, but nothing too hefty - I'll be giving him an old GTX 760, which should suit his needs just fine and it could always be upgraded down the line.

I think the SSD and HDD are fine, he takes a LOT of pictures so the extra storage is nice and he's never had an SSD before, so that should be a treat. I also don't mind spending on the RAM because he'll be using this system for a long time. I don't think he'll need to overclock the CPU for his usage.

Alright, I updated the processor and motherboard for cheaper non-overclocking models. Decided to keep the power supply as it's actually one of the cheapest models I can recommend. It'll power any graphics card upgrade in the future. Saved a bit over $100.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($284.98 @ Newegg Canada)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Memory Express)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.95 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 Low Profile Red 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($169.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($122.89 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Toshiba Product Series:DT01ACA 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($47.95 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($67.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $888.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-11 07:01 EST-0500
 

Matty8787

Member
Going from a 2500K to a 4690K will be a very sideways move. Not worth doing. If you feel the need to do some fiddling then overclock your CPU if you havent done so already and get a good cooler if you're using the stock Intel one. What GPU Do you have?

Changing your CPU will leave you massively disappointed.

I use the CM Hyper 212 evo cooler, which is brilliant imo.

My GPU is MSI GTX 770 4gb.

As for overclocking the CPU, I am scared to do it, never fiddled with the BIOS before and I would be worried I would fry it or something.
 

jett

D-Member
Rule out the GPU. Unplug the GPU and use onboard video.

I did that last night, Windows 7 would hang on the booting logo, upon reset the HDD wasn't detected.

I just booted up my PC though today after about 4 hours of being off and it's running normally for some reason, but I expect a failure at any moment. :( Tried playing Street Fighter 4 and seems that it ran it without any hitches. This is an awful feeling, I feel like my computer is holding a gun to my head and will fire at any moment.

edit: welp it started messing up again. :(
 
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