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[Grimalkin]

Question about the media center builds... is there any reason none of them are using the GTX 970? Is that card just too big to fit in any of the cases?

And in terms of building time... is there any reason to wait? I understand that Intel's Skylake is coming out late 2015 but besides that are there any other reasons to wait to build a new PC?

 

[The Llama]

Question about the media center builds... is there any reason none of them are using the GTX 970? Is that card just too big to fit in any of the cases?

And in terms of building time... is there any reason to wait? I understand that Intel's Skylake is coming out late 2015 but besides that are there any other reasons to wait to build a new PC?

You mean the small form factor builds in the OP? They just haven't been updated in a long time.

 

[ISOM]

Should I go with an R9 280x for €180 or put the extra money toward a GTX970 at ~€340? Money isn't really a sticking point, but if there's a negligible difference for gaming at 1080p, I might as well put the money elsewhere.

There is a big difference between a 280x and a gtx970. It's not neglible. If I was you, I would future proof for awhile with the gtx970. That's what I did, but it's your choice.

 

[RGM79]

Thanks for taking the time to put that together and for reviewing my post.
Other than playing games, I'm going to use it for Photoshop and Illustrator a fair amount. I might open Premiere on the rare occasion, but it's not something that I, at least currently, I use a whole lot for anything. As far as I know, Verkkokauppa doesn't do assembly - but I don't suppose making an enquiry about it would hurt.

I went back to Jimms.fi, the website on which I put together that shopping cart from my earlier post. There's some obvious cuts I could make on that original list using yours as reference, though the savings aren't that substantial.

Stepping from i7-4790 4.0Ghz + Sabertooth Z97 MARK 2 bundle to i5-4690 3.5Ghz and Gigabyte Z97X-SLI saves 77€
Stepping from Western Digital 2TB Desktop Performance to Seagate Barracuda 2TB saves 73€ (most obvious cut)
Stepping from Noctua NH-U12S CPU cooler to Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU cooler saves 25€
Stepping from Cooler Master CM 690 III to Fractal Design Define R5 saves 12€

TOTAL SAVINGS: 187€
​

I also managed to find the price they charge for assembly on their site - They'd charge a flat 79€.
As for the CPU here, I'm leaning towards the i7. I'm curious as to why you suggested the i5 in it's stead though. Would you say it's not worth the difference in coin?

Generally i7 is seen as a more capable processor than i5, but for the Z97 motherboard platform the i5 4690K and i7 4790K both are quad core processors, the main difference between them is that the i7 has hyperthreading and that the i7 is clocked a bit higher. For games, this means there is almost no difference in framerate performance between the 4690K and 4790K. Here is a performance comparison (scroll down for games) and these benchmark graphs of processor performance for recent games. It depends on the game, but consumer i5 and i7 processors tend to perform very similarly. What the i5 lacks can generally be made up through overclocking.

If you wanted a higher end processor, I'd look at the i7 models for the X99 motherboard platform. Those are more of a change from quad core i5 and i7 Z97 processors, being hexa core and octo core, they offer greater performance difference, but are also much more expensive.

As for Photoshop, there is a bit greater performance difference, but mainly due to i7's higher base clock speed, not because of hyperthreading. According to this official Adobe CS6 document on performance they say virtual cores (hyper-threading in the document) do not matter. Search the document for the terms "hyper-threading", "hyperthreading", and "multiprocessing" to see the relevant lines. An independent test was done by X-Bit labs, they saw a difference on the order of 11 seconds during heavy graphics processor when comparing the processors at normal speed, but the overclocked i5 4690K was able to nearly match the 4790K, only a 1.4 second difference.

Well, let me make this short - if you don't mind overclocking the i5 4690K processor, it can match the i7 4790K. It is up to you to decide the price difference. If you will never overclock, then you could save a bit more money by buying a non-K series processor.

Hey everyone,

I'm thinking of replacing my AMD Radeon HD6870. Technically it's still running well, but it's really starting to getting old.

I don't want to spend more than 200€ (I live in Germany).

In the OP two GPUs in that range a recommended: the GTX 760 and the Radeon R9 280. Is there any reason to choose one over the other (the GTX having more ram for example)?

Also is now a good time to make such a purchase?

Here's the rest of my PC:

i5 3470
ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP
8GB Ram
Be Quiet! E5 450W

Oh yeah, the maximal resolution I tend to play games in is 1080p.

Sure, but I don't really want to spend 300+ € just for a GPU.

I'd go for the R9 280, it is a bit better than the GTX 760 which is due to be replaced by the GTX 960. It may be worth waiting for the GTX 960, rumors say it'll launch in about a week or two.

Should I go with an R9 280x for €180 or put the extra money toward a GTX970 at ~€340? Money isn't really a sticking point, but if there's a negligible difference for gaming at 1080p, I might as well put the money elsewhere.

It's a choice between cheaper card now that you may have to replace sooner now, or better performance at higher cost that will last longer before upgrading. The 280X will be fine for 1080p games, but the GTX 970 is more efficient and powerful.

Look for the R9 290 if you can. It offers slightly slower performance than the GTX 970 but should sell for quite a bit less.

 

[reKon]

My cousin is heavily warning me not to eventually put GTX 970 in the Alienware X51 and to just build a custom PC that's designed around a proper PSU, lol...

Is there a reason to be concerned here I was to do if I'm go the X51 route anyways, and just choose the proper version of the 970 GTX? I'm likely going to remove the DVD drive and maybe have two hard drives...

 

[bananafactory]

I haven't posted in this thread before so I apologize if I'm in the wrong place.

I'm pretty out of touch with PC gaming these days as I've been playing most stuff the past year + on my PS4, since my PC seems to be no longer capable of running games at max/ultra settings.

Just looking to see if someone can advise me on how my current config stacks up against the latest and greatest releases, and what I should look at upgrading first if I want my system to be relevant again.

Here's what I'm using:

Processor: i5 2500k
Graphics: 2 x Radeon HD 6950 (Crossfire)
Memory: 8 GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance

 

[hitgirl]

Haha wtf. Powered on my computer and was hearing a loud tick. First though it was coming from the wall then realized it was coming from my PC. Opened it up and saw that my front Corsair 140MM fan wasn't spinning. Couldn't figure out why but then I started pushing on it and I noticed that one of the blades came clean right off and was jamming the fan. Wow, I'm going to email Corsair, but I doubt they will send me a new fan.

 

[RGM79]

My motherboard Gigabyte Z97x-sli has 2x4 pin cpu power connector. do both of them need to be connected? my psu (a old one) has one 4 pin connector.

You could plug in just the 4 pin CPU power cable and it will work, but I wouldn't recommend overclocking with just the 4 pin power. That 4 pin power cable only delivers half the power of the 8 pin cable. Maybe a power supply upgrade is in order.

Question about the media center builds... is there any reason none of them are using the GTX 970? Is that card just too big to fit in any of the cases?

And in terms of building time... is there any reason to wait? I understand that Intel's Skylake is coming out late 2015 but besides that are there any other reasons to wait to build a new PC?

AMD should be releasing their new R9 390/390X flagship sometime in the next couple of months, more or less around the same time the new Intel processors are coming out.

My cousin is heavily warning me not to eventually put GTX 970 in the Alienware X51 and to just build a custom PC that's designed around a proper PSU, lol...

Is there a reason to be concerned here I was to do if I'm go the X51 route anyways, and just choose the proper version of the 970 GTX? I'm likely going to remove the DVD drive and maybe have two hard drives...

The main reason to be concerned is wattage. Technically 330 watts shouldn't be enough for that graphics card, but some people say it works anyway. Dell somehow made the GTX 660 Ti and 760 Ti work when those also require 500 watts, but I wonder if it's not some special low power and/or more efficient version of the graphics card, Dell has had Nvidia make special graphics cards that are modified versions of existing graphics cards that are specific to Dell only, like a lower power GT 745 desktop card with 4GB RAM.

How about this: order parts for a custom PC from NCIX or Microcenter and have them assemble it for you. NCIX offers one year warranty for the entire custom PC as a single unit, and they give you all the packaging boxes from the individual parts in case you ever need to invoke warranty on a single part that goes wrong. Or maybe get your cousin to help you build the PC if he's inclined.

I haven't posted in this thread before so I apologize if I'm in the wrong place.

I'm pretty out of touch with PC gaming these days as I've been playing most stuff the past year + on my PS4, since my PC seems to be no longer capable of running games at max/ultra settings.

Just looking to see if someone can advise me on how my current config stacks up against the latest and greatest releases, and what I should look at upgrading first if I want my system to be relevant again.

Here's what I'm using:

Processor: i5 2500k
Graphics: 2 x Radeon HD 6950 (Crossfire)
Memory: 8 GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance

Overclock the processor, it's still a very potent CPU for gaming, and maybe look into a graphics card upgrade. What games do you play, and what kind of performance are you looking for in those games?

 

[nilbog21]

Guys I posted about my problem with the HTPC I built a while ago, I've tried some people's suggestions, reformatted the SSD and HDD, but the problem is still occuring......

In short, I just get a bunch of BSOD's and random windows errors all the time, always giving me different error codes. Most common ones are: NTSF_FILE_SYSTEM and System_Service_Exception

I think it has something to do with the motherboard and RAM

The RAM is G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

The mainboard is GIGABYTE GA-B85M-D3H LGA 1150 Intel B85

In the BIOS, I noticed the DRAM voltage is set to 1.53V when I think it should be 1.5V ? I know some people who have had this problem was related to the DRAM voltage/settings in BIOS. I've posted the BIOS settings here, but I don't really know what I'm doing. I've kind of messed around and changed stuff with no success so I just restore it to default settings. Anyone ever had a similar problem? Any ideas or suggestions? I've been trying to fix this problem for MONTHS now, it's driving me crazy! I wiped the SSD last night but the problem is just re-occuring

http://i.imgur.com/wN9Cuos.jpg[IMG]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/x3ajdxf.jpg[IMG]

I updated the BIOS to F6 so I could overclock the CPU (G3258). Would it be worth it trying to set it back to the default BIOS or something? I'm at a loss here..[/QUOTE]

Hey guys I have an update.

As I suspected, I think it was indeed related to my RAM. When I ran memtest86 with default BIOS settings I would get errors. However, when I lower the voltage on DRAM to 1.4V, I get no errors and so far no BSOD..

What is the drawback of setting my DRAM to 1.4V? What are the implications of doing so? Could I still overclock my CPU? Could someone explain to me why DRAM voltage could be causing this problem? I'm just trying to understand what is going on..

 

[Verder]

Im thinking of changing some things up to make it more Cheaper but still effective. Any ideas? So far i have this

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($333.90 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: CORSAIR Hydro Series H100i Extreme Performance Water/Liquid CPU Cooler. 240mm (94.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 Low Profile Red 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($98.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA 04G-2983-KR GeForce GTX 980 Superclocked 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 ACX 2.0 PCI Express 3.0 ($559.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)

Works out good? tweak it abit?

 

[bananafactory]

Overclock the processor, it's still a very potent CPU for gaming, and maybe look into a graphics card upgrade. What games do you play, and what kind of performance are you looking for in those games?

Thanks, I was worried about overclocking the processor since I just have stock fans in my tower and no other cooling system. But I guess I can just keep an eye on the temps.

In terms of games, I play literally everything from indie to AAA. I haven't even bothered looking at the latest Ubi titles on PC due to the stories I heard about poor optimization (Watch Dogs, ACU, etc). But I do play most of the big releases like GTA, Far Cry, Dragon Age, etc.

Performance-wise I'm pretty picky, I want high/ultra settings with minimum 40 fps, ideally 45-60. I'm a bit more lenient when it comes to AA and such, I can deal with a small amount of aliasing if it means a big performance boost.

 

[RGM79]

Hey guys I have an update.

As I suspected, I think it was indeed related to my RAM. When I ran memtest86 with default BIOS settings I would get errors. However, when I lower the voltage on DRAM to 1.4V, I get no errors and so far no BSOD..

What is the drawback of setting my DRAM to 1.4V? What are the implications of doing so? Could I still overclock my CPU? Could someone explain to me why this could be happening?

RAM undervolting comes with its own issues, but is more safe than RAM running at higher than necessary voltage. Some RAM require a certain voltage to run at a certain speed, so if 1.4V is not enough then the system won't be stable or it won't run at its specified speed, either.

I'm not sure if 1.53 volts is really that bad - DDR3 RAM voltages can go as high as 1.65V for some models. In any case, 1.4V might be more stable than 1.53V, but I'd just set it to the RAM's normal specified voltage of 1.5V and then test it. If it's not even stable at the 1.5V it's specified to run at, I'd look into getting that memory RMA'd, maybe get a replacement.

Haha wtf. Powered on my computer and was hearing a loud tick. First though it was coming from the wall then realized it was coming from my PC. Opened it up and saw that my front Corsair 140MM fan wasn't spinning. Couldn't figure out why but then I started pushing on it and I noticed that one of the blades came clean right off and was jamming the fan. Wow, I'm going to email Corsair, but I doubt they will send me a new fan.

Wow, any pictures? Never heard of a fan blade breaking straight off.

Im thinking of changing some things up to make it more Cheaper but still effective. Any ideas? So far i have this

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($333.90 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: CORSAIR Hydro Series H100i Extreme Performance Water/Liquid CPU Cooler. 240mm (94.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 Low Profile Red 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($98.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA 04G-2983-KR GeForce GTX 980 Superclocked 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 ACX 2.0 PCI Express 3.0 ($559.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)

Works out good? tweak it abit?

What are you using the PC for? Just games?

Thanks, I was worried about overclocking the processor since I just have stock fans in my tower and no other cooling system. But I guess I can just keep an eye on the temps.

In terms of games, I play literally everything from indie to AAA. I haven't even bothered looking at the latest Ubi titles on PC due to the stories I heard about poor optimization (Watch Dogs, ACU, etc). But I do play most of the big releases like GTA, Far Cry, Dragon Age, etc.

Performance-wise I'm pretty picky, I want high/ultra settings with minimum 40 fps, ideally 45-60. I'm a bit more lenient when it comes to AA and such, I can deal with a small amount of aliasing if it means a big performance boost.

Your i5 2500K is definitely enough to get the framerate you want, so I think it's just being held back by the graphics cards. Do you have a budget for a graphics card upgrade?

I do not recommend overclocking with the stock Intel CPU cooler (short little aluminum puck with a fan on top) at all. It won't be able to handle the temperatures. What case do you have? For a little less than $30 you can pick up the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo, a great budget cooler that will handle 4.5GHz overclocking, if it fits in your case. It does fit most common mid tower ATX cases.

 

[bomblord1]

Gaf...

Why does my bios have a web browser...?

 

[The Llama]

Gaf...

Why does my bios have a web browser...?

Welcome to the future.

 

[reKon]

You could plug in just the 4 pin CPU power cable and it will work, but I wouldn't recommend overclocking with just the 4 pin power. That 4 pin power cable only delivers half the power of the 8 pin cable. Maybe a power supply upgrade is in order.

AMD should be releasing their new R9 390/390X flagship sometime in the next couple of months, more or less around the same time the new Intel processors are coming out.



The main reason to be concerned is wattage. Technically 330 watts shouldn't be enough for that graphics card, but some people say it works anyway. Dell somehow made the GTX 660 Ti and 760 Ti work when those also require 500 watts, but I wonder if it's not some special low power and/or more efficient version of the graphics card, Dell has had Nvidia make special graphics cards that are modified versions of existing graphics cards that are specific to Dell only, like a lower power GT 745 desktop card with 4GB RAM.

How about this: order parts for a custom PC from NCIX or Microcenter and have them assemble it for you. NCIX offers one year warranty for the entire custom PC as a single unit, and they give you all the packaging boxes from the individual parts in case you ever need to invoke warranty on a single part that goes wrong. Or maybe get your cousin to help you build the PC if he's inclined.



Overclock the processor, it's still a very potent CPU for gaming, and maybe look into a graphics card upgrade. What games do you play, and what kind of performance are you looking for in those games?

The thing is that I'm looking for something that mirrors the size of the X51 and that will won't be a hassle to get back into and upgrade components in the future. That's the main thing I'm going for here - a extremely compact size. If the X51 + 970 GTX is not a wise solution going forward, I'd like to know what I could build to match that. From what I've seen, it's pretty tough...

 

[RGM79]

The thing is that I'm looking for something that mirrors the size of the X51 and that will won't be a hassle to get back into and upgrade components in the future. That's the main thing I'm going for here - a extremely compact size. If the X51 + 970 GTX is not a wise solution going forward, I'd like to know what I could build to match that. From what I've seen, it's pretty tough...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($176.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Toshiba Product SeriesT01ACA 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($72.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($344.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Silverstone RVZ01B Mini ITX Desktop Case ($83.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Silverstone 600W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1018.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-12 16:29 EST-0500

The Silverstone RVZ01 isn't quite as small as the Alienware X51, but it's easier to work with given the larger size. Here's a comparison between the RVZ01 and the old style Xbox 360:

 

[Verder]

What are you using the PC for? Just games?

Gaming and some developing on it.

 

[reKon]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($176.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Toshiba Product SeriesT01ACA 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($72.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($344.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Silverstone RVZ01B Mini ITX Desktop Case ($83.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Silverstone 600W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1018.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-12 16:29 EST-0500

The Silverstone RVZ01 isn't quite as small as the Alienware X51, but it's easier to work with given the larger size. Here's a comparison between the RVZ01 and the old style Xbox 360:

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm definitely going to look into this.

In terms of the cases, I'm liking this that was announced at CES: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/silverstone-raven-rvz02,28312.html

This should be sufficient for my needs right?

 

[roddur]

You could plug in just the 4 pin CPU power cable and it will work, but I wouldn't recommend overclocking with just the 4 pin power. That 4 pin power cable only delivers half the power of the 8 pin cable. Maybe a power supply upgrade is in order.

thanks.

 

[element]

my 5930k shipped. Now I need to pick a mobo. ASRock X99 Extreme4 or MSI X99S SLI Plus?

 

[MurkyZebra2417]

I will need a new PC sometimes this year. The following is with 5 year warranty.

http://www.atelco.de/Intel/180042/ATELCO+4gamez%21+Intel+Core+i7-4790K+%28N970-16G-2T-SSD256%29.article

I built it one some sites and the price always matches up (sometimes a bit cheaper, but no 5 year warranty).

So the deal seems pretty good? I can wait another 6 months for it to drop below 1.000€.

 

[BeEatNU]

my 5930k shipped. Now I need to pick a mobo. ASRock X99 Extreme4 or MSI X99S SLI Plus?

I just recieved my MSI X99S SLI plus and I dig it

 

[michaelius]

my 5930k shipped. Now I need to pick a mobo. ASRock X99 Extreme4 or MSI X99S SLI Plus?

By elimation Extreme4 as Sli plus is not so great

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8557/...k-x99-ws-msi-x99s-sli-plus-intel-haswell-e/18

 

[Dio Brando]

So, just to be sure I'm not making a mistake in the next few days, here my question: right now I have a gtx670, and wanted to upgrade. Is getting a 970 a good idea? I know the performance is better, but I mean in the grand scheme of things, as in if the next gen is going to be way better; I should wait, etc

 

[element]

By elimation Extreme4 as Sli plus is not so great

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8557/...k-x99-ws-msi-x99s-sli-plus-intel-haswell-e/18

I'm confused. You say x99S SLI Plus isn't great, but link to an article that Anandtech recommends it :\

 

[AngryPuppy]

So, just to be sure I'm not making a mistake in the next few days, here my question: right now I have a gtx670, and wanted to upgrade. Is getting a 970 a good idea? I know the performance is better, but I mean in the grand scheme of things, as in if the next gen is going to be way better; I should wait, etc

Buy it now and don't look back

 

[Home]

A quick question regarding upgrading my video card.

I'm using an older AMD Radeon HD 7700 and I'm looking to upgrade to a 970. I'm just wondering if my intel i3-2120 processor will be a bad bottleneck and if I should wait until I can replace the entire system?

Thanks

 

[kharma45]

A quick question regarding upgrading my video card.

I'm using an older AMD Radeon HD 7700 and I'm looking to upgrade to a 970. I'm just wondering if my intel i3-2120 processor will be a bad bottleneck and if I should wait until I can replace the entire system?

Thanks

It will in some games, it won't in others. You'll notice a huge upgrade regardless.

 

[UND3RxOATH]

Is anyone able to recommend a good wireless network card? I would really like to upgrade my $10 D-Link. Speeds are going all over the place and wired is unable to happen in my part of the house.

Thanks!

 

[BeEatNU]

I'm confused. You say x99S SLI Plus isn't great, but link to an article that Anandtech recommends it :\

lol I was confused also.

 

[TC McQueen]

Is anyone able to recommend a good wireless network card? I would really like to upgrade my $10 D-Link. Speeds are going all over the place and wired is unable to happen in my part of the house.

Thanks!

TP-Link TL-WDN4800. I've got one in my rig and I can vouch for it.

 

[RGM79]

Gaming and some developing on it.

Developing as in software programming and scripting? You can save some money then. Some of your prices seem to be outdated or incorrect. Couldn't find Patriot Viper 3 for that cheap, nor with the MX100 SSD.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.88 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($124.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($133.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($98.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($344.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($93.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1230.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-12 19:24 EST-0500

Saved about $360. Parts change reasons stated below.

1. The 4690K is just as good as the 4790K when it comes to gaming performance. Source: [1][2]
2. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is good enough for a 4.5GHz overclock at moderate temperatures. Water cooling is generally more expensive than air cooling for the same performance. I'm not saying the 212 Evo is as good as the H100i, but it does have better performance-to-cost considerations. If you want water cooling to make the inside of the case look nice, I'd recommend a cheaper water cooler like the Corsair H60 ($60) or H80i ($75), either will be enough for your needs and any potential overclocking.
3. I and most other people can't really recommend the GTX 980 for the price. It's really expensive and only somewhat faster than the GTX 970. If you're willing to spend that kind of money, I'd recommend GTX 970 SLI before the GTX 980. Some GTX 970 models can be overclocked to match the GTX 980 - that's how close they are in performance.
4. The EVGA Supernova G2 power supply you picked was a great choice, but is currently expensive at $109. The Rosewill Capstone Modular 750 watt ($94) is also very good, at a lower price. Both are manufactured by Super Flower, so you're getting the same build quality. Review of the Capstone Modular here.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm definitely going to look into this.

In terms of the cases, I'm liking this that was announced at CES: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/silverstone-raven-rvz02,28312.html

This should be sufficient for my needs right?

Yep. According to what info I can find, those cases will be made available in the next few months, I'm guessing. You can probably get those with a 600 watt power supply, which gives you a lot more breathing room to upgrade.

I will need a new PC sometimes this year. The following is with 5 year warranty.

http://www.atelco.de/Intel/180042/ATELCO+4gamez%21+Intel+Core+i7-4790K+%28N970-16G-2T-SSD256%29.article

I built it one some sites and the price always matches up (sometimes a bit cheaper, but no 5 year warranty).

So the deal seems pretty good? I can wait another 6 months for it to drop below 1.000€.

Will you be using it for games only? Like with the parts list I have above, you could likely go with the i5 4690K as well as some other parts to save money. I put together a similar build, but the savings is only about 110€. I admit, I don't know which are the best German retailers, and PCPartPicker's German database is very small and I even found some wrong prices.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€228.48 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (€32.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€109.90 @ Caseking)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (€137.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€107.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€74.90 @ Caseking)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (€92.58 @ Hardwareversand)
Other: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (€351.99)
Other: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case (PH-ES614P_BK) (€98.35)
Total: €1234.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-13 02:12 CET+0100

If you know for sure the prebuilt computer will drop below 1000€ then go for it, but by then you might want to get the latest products, Intel will be releasing two new lines of desktop processors (Broadwell K and Skylake) by the middle of this year, if there are no delays.

 

[Verder]

Developing as in software programming and scripting? You can save some money then. Some of your prices seem to be outdated or incorrect. Couldn't find Patriot Viper 3 for that cheap, nor with the MX100 SSD.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.88 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($124.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($133.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($98.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($344.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($93.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1230.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-12 19:24 EST-0500

Saved about $360. Parts change reasons stated below.

1. The 4690K is just as good as the 4790K when it comes to gaming performance. Source: [1][2]
2. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is good enough for a 4.5GHz overclock at moderate temperatures. Water cooling is generally more expensive than air cooling for the same performance. I'm not saying the 212 Evo is as good as the H100i, but it does have better performance-to-cost considerations. If you want water cooling to make the inside of the case look nice, I'd recommend a cheaper water cooler like the Corsair H60 ($60) or H80i ($75), either will be enough for your needs and any potential overclocking.
3. I and most other people can't really recommend the GTX 980 for the price. It's really expensive and only somewhat faster than the GTX 970. If you're willing to spend that kind of money, I'd recommend GTX 970 SLI before the GTX 980. Some GTX 970 models can be overclocked to match the GTX 980 - that's how close they are in performance.
4. The EVGA Supernova G2 power supply you picked was a great choice, but is currently expensive at $109. The Rosewill Capstone Modular 750 watt ($94) is also very good, at a lower price. Both are manufactured by Super Flower, so you're getting the same build quality. Review of the Capstone Modular here..

Im going the SLI route instead of the 980!.

ended up with the H60 instead of the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 .

 

[UND3RxOATH]

TP-Link TL-WDN4800. I've got one in my rig and I can vouch for it.

Thank you. I've gone ahead and made the purchase.

 

[Arsin]

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

Sorry for the late reply. I am coming from 1080p. I can defiantly tell that the leap is much bigger than I was expecting. the games don't have to be perfect, but getting them as close as possible to 120 fps would be nice. What card would you recommend the most?

 

[element]

lol I was confused also.

Went with ASRock X99 Extreme4 from Newegg, but wish Amazon had it. I swear Newegg is the slowest company to do fulfillment on orders. I hope I get it by Friday. The RAM I ordered on Amazon has already been processed. PRIME!!!

 

[GurgleBot20]

Hi Everyone. My laptop is over four years old and I have a pretty stable well paying job, so I figure soon would be a nice time to upgrade. My old laptop is a Dell Studio XPS1647

Your Current Specs: CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU M450 W2.40GHz / RAM: 6.00 GB / Motherboard: Not sure(How can I look this up) / GPU (Graphics): ATI Radeon 4670 / PSU (Power Supply): Not sure? / Case: N/A / HDD (Hard Drive): 250 gb

Budget: I'd say around $1000, a little bit less would be nice, but I wouldn't mind going over a little (no more than 200).

Main Use: Gaming, Emulation, and Video editing + general use.
Monitor Resolution: I will be buying a new monitor. I doubt I'll go higher than 1080p but I'm not opposed to upgrading someday.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Is 30FPS acceptable? 60? 120? How important is PhysX / SuperSampling / CUDA to you?:
I am looking forward to Metal Gear Solid V and Witcher 3, and I would like to run the vast majority of games at 60fps. I also have a backlog of games I would like to go back to that did not run too well on my laptop (Crysis, Dark Souls, GTA4). I'm not too picky on extra effects.
Looking to reuse any parts?: No
When will you build?: Sometime soon.
Will you be overclocking?:Maybe (I would like more information on the benefits)

You may be able to tell that I'm ignorant regarding a few things, but I appreciate any help you guys may be able to provide. I'm willing to answer more questions if needed.

 

[Celcius]

If I uninstall Chrome and then re-install it, it says that an extension called avira browser protection or something was added and asks if I want to remove it. I uninstalled the Avira trial a long time ago. How can I stop this from happening?

 

[RGM79]

Hi Everyone. My laptop is over four years old and I have a pretty stable well paying job, so I figure soon would be a nice time to upgrade. My old laptop is a Dell Studio XPS1647

Your Current Specs: CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU M450 W2.40GHz / RAM: 6.00 GB / Motherboard: Not sure(How can I look this up) / GPU (Graphics): ATI Radeon 4670 / PSU (Power Supply): Not sure? / Case: N/A / HDD (Hard Drive): 250 gb

Budget: I'd say around $1000, a little bit less would be nice, but I wouldn't mind going over a little (no more than 200).

Main Use: Gaming, Emulation, and Video editing + general use.
Monitor Resolution: I will be buying a new monitor. I doubt I'll go higher than 1080p but I'm not opposed to upgrading someday.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Is 30FPS acceptable? 60? 120? How important is PhysX / SuperSampling / CUDA to you?:
I am looking forward to Metal Gear Solid V and Witcher 3, and I would like to run the vast majority of games at 60fps. I also have a backlog of games I would like to go back to that did not run too well on my laptop (Crysis, Dark Souls, GTA4). I'm not too picky on extra effects.
Looking to reuse any parts?: No
When will you build?: Sometime soon.
Will you be overclocking?:Maybe (I would like more information on the benefits)

You may be able to tell that I'm ignorant regarding a few things, but I appreciate any help you guys may be able to provide. I'm willing to answer more questions if needed.

Is the monitor to be included in the budget? Do you have any preference on the size of the PC?

Overclocking requires spending a bit more on the processor, motherboard, and CPU cooler. It's maybe a $50 difference all together, but it means the computer will last longer before needing an upgrade, because you can make it run faster and get more performance out of it.

 

[NoRéN]

If I uninstall Chrome and then re-install it, it says that an extension called avira browser protection or something was added and asks if I want to remove it. I uninstalled the Avira trial a long time ago. How can I stop this from happening?

Avila browser safety?

Go into the setting> extensions section and disable or delete it.

Went with ASRock X99 Extreme4 from Newegg, but wish Amazon had it. I swear Newegg is the slowest company to do fulfillment on orders. I hope I get it by Friday. The RAM I ordered on Amazon has already been processed. PRIME!!!

Yeah, that's how free shipping works, even on Amazon.

If you haven't done so, sign up for newegg premier trial. It's their version of prime.

 

[KevMan1815]

Been lurking in this thread for awhile now as I plan building my next PC. My current PC is a Dell XPS 730X I got back in 2008, so some of my parts are pretty old. The only thing I ever replaced in it was the videocard (mentioned below). Although I feel like no matter how much research I do I can't pinpoint the best of certain things.

For example, I know I want to get a GTX 970 (upgrading from an ASUS GTX 570), but there are so many choices it is driving me crazy reading up on them. I know I want to stick to around $350 most likely, which is pretty much most of the ones I have seen.

Another problem I'm having is deciding on a SSD as I currently do not have one. From the research I have done, people seem to think that Samsung is a pretty good SSD, however I have noticed on here that Crucial gets some mentions as well. It also looks like usually Samsung is a little more expensive. I think I want to get 512 GB.

I do think I'm decided on the i5 4690K (upgrading from an i7 920 @ 2.66). I personally can't justify the newer i7s when it sounds like for games I won't even notice any difference.

Parts I have no clue on: MOBO and PSU. My current PC is labeled as having a 980W PSU, but I still think I'm going to replace it because it's old and it's Dell. That is based on no research whatsoever though.

Anyway, thanks for reading. And thank you for the excellent thread to surf around on my lunch breaks!

 

[mercenar1e]

should i upgrade my CPU + Motherboard (Intel i5 2500K) or just get an SSD?

 

[Nostremitus]

should i upgrade my CPU + Motherboard (Intel i5 2500K) or just get an SSD?

If you haven't already, overclock to 4.5GHz (will require an aftermarket cooler like the 121 Evo) and get an SSD.

 

[mercenar1e]

If you haven't already, overclock to 4.5GHz (will require an aftermarket cooler like the 121 Evo) and get an SSD.

i already have an aftermarket cooler, should i select the turbo boost or manual oc to 4.5?

 

[RGM79]

Been lurking in this thread for awhile now as I plan building my next PC. My current PC is a Dell XPS 730X I got back in 2008, so some of my parts are pretty old. The only thing I ever replaced in it was the videocard (mentioned below). Although I feel like no matter how much research I do I can't pinpoint the best of certain things.

For example, I know I want to get a GTX 970 (upgrading from an ASUS GTX 570), but there are so many choices it is driving me crazy reading up on them. I know I want to stick to around $350 most likely, which is pretty much most of the ones I have seen.

Another problem I'm having is deciding on a SSD as I currently do not have one. From the research I have done, people seem to think that Samsung is a pretty good SSD, however I have noticed on here that Crucial gets some mentions as well. It also looks like usually Samsung is a little more expensive. I think I want to get 512 GB.

I do think I'm decided on the i5 4690K (upgrading from an i7 920 @ 2.66). I personally can't justify the newer i7s when it sounds like for games I won't even notice any difference.

Parts I have no clue on: MOBO and PSU. My current PC is labeled as having a 980W PSU, but I still think I'm going to replace it because it's old and it's Dell. That is based on no research whatsoever though.

Anyway, thanks for reading. And thank you for the excellent thread to surf around on my lunch breaks!

You can't really go wrong with the MSI Gaming 4G, EVGA SC/SSC/FTW, Asus Strix, or Gigabyte G1 Gaming models of the GTX 970. The Gigabyte model might be a bit long, make sure it'll fit the case you selected, or just go with the other three brands. MSI, Asus, and certain EVGA models feature silent fan modes that turn off the fans under 60 degrees, so look into those if you are interested in low noise. The best priced model I see right now is the MSI Gaming 4G for $345.

Samsung 840/850 Evo/Pro or Crucial MX100/MX200 are solid choices. Just go with the cheapest you find. Don't fret over slight differences in performance as you won't be able to tell the difference. The MX100 512GB is selling for just under $200 now.

You don't really need to spend a lot of money on a motherboard. I recommend the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ($117) and the MSI Z97S SLI Plus ($111). More expensive motherboards tend to have features you won't really need. Buy according to the features you need, I doubt most people ever need to spend more than about $150 on a motherboard.

It's not that bad an idea to retire a 6+ year old power supply, especially if it's Dell. New power supplies support low power modes that were introduced a few years after 2008, and Dell's not really known for quality. A 700 watt power supply will be enough for SLI GTX 970, so I recommend the following:

EVGA Supernova B2 750 watt bronze-rated semi-modular for $50 - solid choice for a budget price. Manufactured by Super Flower, one of the two best OEMs for power supplies. Review.
Antec TruePower Classic 750 watt gold-rated non-modular for $73 - a bump up in efficiency with a corresponding bump in price. Manufactured by Seasonic, the other best OEM. Review.

i already have an aftermarket cooler, should i select the turbo boost or manual oc to 4.5?

What cooler do you have?

Manual overclocking is better. It's not too hard. Here's a short guide by Bit-Tech. Your motherboard may not match theirs, but the same settings and voltages apply. Some settings may be called different names by different manufacturers.

Here's a forum thread detailing overclocking experiences, cooling setups, and settings from other users. Guaranteed stability. Also includes tips, information on what different settings means, help with errors, and links to other resources.

 

[Nostremitus]

i already have an aftermarket cooler, should i select the turbo boost or manual oc to 4.5?

A short and dirty guide Mkenyon gave me when I OC'd mine.

Short and dirty guide:

1. Set PLL to extreme.
2. Disable most C states unless you need it.
3. Memory to XMP.
4. Core Voltage to 1.35
5. CPU ratio to 45

 

[MurkyZebra2417]

Will you be using it for games only? Like with the parts list I have above, you could likely go with the i5 4690K as well as some other parts to save money. I put together a similar build, but the savings is only about 110€. I admit, I don't know which are the best German retailers, and PCPartPicker's German database is very small and I even found some wrong prices.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€228.48 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (€32.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€109.90 @ Caseking)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (€137.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€107.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€74.90 @ Caseking)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (€92.58 @ Hardwareversand)
Other: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (€351.99)
Other: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case (PH-ES614P_BK) (€98.35)
Total: €1234.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-13 02:12 CET+0100

If you know for sure the prebuilt computer will drop below 1000€ then go for it, but by then you might want to get the latest products, Intel will be releasing two new lines of desktop processors (Broadwell K and Skylake) by the middle of this year, if there are no delays.

Yes, games only.
Thanks for the feedback. I think I will check back with the thread in a few months to get the latest prices/parts. They (atelco) change their inventory around every 3-4 months and then update the prices on the prebuilt computers as well.

 

[SpyGuy239]

Hi GAF just want to know how well my i7 860 no over clock will stand the test of time with games the like of GTA V and Ground Zeroes?

I see the recommended specs these days are much newer generations of intel processors like the i5 3570 or xxxxK series processors.

I've got a GTX 780 and have managed to run advanced warfare and shadow Of mordor at max settings with no problems with variable frame rates between 30 and solid 60s if not more. Also 8gb RAM.

I understand that these newer processors will definitely beat out mine in synthetic benchmarks and even video rendering. What I want to know is how well they will hold up for games? Will I be able to run the above mentioned at max or close to max settings?

I can't bring myself to spring for an upgrade yet with a whole new generation of motherboard. Probably will wait for he next intel chips towards the end of 2015...

Thanks for the input GAF!

 

[Jeff-DSA]

So I used PC Part Picker for my build, and three of the items I ended up ordering from OutletPC. I've already received my orders from Amazon and Newegg, and my order status at OutletPC still says, "pending." Everything was marked as in stock when I ordered, but I've had no movement on anything. I went to try to cancel my order, and there's no option to do so. Ugh.

Is OutletPC going to be a pain in the butt? Did I screw up ordering from them? Now that I looked at some reviews, it seems that they have a lot of bad reviews in regards to items being in stock, shipping times, communication, and even quality of product (open packages, damaged stuff, broken stuff) mixed in with glowing (suspicious) 5-star reviews with only passable English.

I was only saving like $20 on my CPU and about $4-5 each on the other two things. It's really not worth the extra wait/hassle at this point. Any ideas on how to deal with them? I just want an idea of what's going on with my order.

 

[Tomodachi]

Hey guys, my western digital blue (1TB) is having some issues, I got it less than one year ago but for the last few weeks my pc had trouble reading some stuff (stuttering in games and playing videos with the led for hd reading lightning up like crazy) and a few days ago my boot partition got corrupted and I had to format the drive (good thing I managed to same some important stuff from it with another pc, apparently no personal files were lost).
How does warranty work on hard drives? Does it cover this kind of problem? I live in Europe if that helps (2 years of warranty on anything afaik).

Now I'm wondering if there's any way of delaying the purchase of a new HD since I plan on upgrading my pc in a few months (ssd + new video card). After the formatting and reinstalling windows I can use it just fine, it takes some time to read some stuff but it's working (although this morning I was playing the walking dead and it stuttered a lot trying to read the hd). Is there anything I can do to repair the bad sectors and continue using it until it ultimately fails? I won't load it with important stuff of course, I know it could fail at any moment, I'd just like to finish the games I'm playing at the moment and keep using it as a media center until it lasts. I read about chkdsk but it takes ages, do you think it could actually help? Is that data salvage software from western digital able to repair the disk or does it simply test it?

Also, should I get a seagate next time or stay with western digital blue? With a damaged hard drive after less than a year I don't feel confident about getting a new, identical one. But I read in the OP that hard disks aren't good as they used to, so it could be a generalized problem