I'd recommend just reading various GTX 970 reviews to get a rough idea. The test computers they use do have very expensive CPUs, but that's just to make sure the CPU isn't a limiting factor.
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Help me build a decent gaming PC for around $2,000 (including monitor, keyboard, etc)
- Thread starter Neiteio
- Start date
I'd recommend just reading various GTX 970 reviews to get a rough idea. The test computers they use do have very expensive CPUs, but that's just to make sure the CPU isn't a limiting factor.
I should note the VRAM issue with the 970. A explanation of the problem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPlCIUh_Tp0
Honestly you shouldn't worry about that much. It's a pretty rare to encounter a game that uses more than 3.5GBs of VRAM unless your running at higher than 1080p resolution, like 1440p. Even then it's still not common, but you should be aware of it anyways.
Honestly you shouldn't worry about that much. It's a pretty rare to encounter a game that uses more than 3.5GBs of VRAM unless your running at higher than 1080p resolution, like 1440p. Even then it's still not common, but you should be aware of it anyways.
I don't think anyone mentioned this, but if this is also a work computer and you do a lot of typing, investing in a good keyboard is pretty important. A mechanical keyboard really helps reduce fatigue when typing for long periods and is pretty good for gaming too. Daskeyboard's are really good (pretty high end at around $170), but you should be able to get a good mechanical for a little under $100
I personally use the K70s. I have red switches, but blue switches are good for writing.
radioactivez0r
Member
I know it's not the point of the thread, OP, but why are you intent on replacing a 3 year old gaming laptop due to some freezing issues? I mean, why not try to fix it?
Regardless of 970 VRAM problems, it's still worth considering a 290 to save some cash. The piece of mind that it should age more gracefully with better memory and more ROPs is a nice bonus.
Also, anyone consider the Transcend SSD370?
http://anandtech.com/show/8792/transcend-ssd370-128gb-256gb-512gb-review/3
Seems better than the MX100 for the same price. I'm not sure about the brand, but it should be the go-to mainstream SSD based on what it offers. I never see it mentioned. I know the MX100 was hailed with its own thread here on gaf, as was the 970, but we shouldn't ignore new developments in the price to performance war.
Also, anyone consider the Transcend SSD370?
http://anandtech.com/show/8792/transcend-ssd370-128gb-256gb-512gb-review/3
Seems better than the MX100 for the same price. I'm not sure about the brand, but it should be the go-to mainstream SSD based on what it offers. I never see it mentioned. I know the MX100 was hailed with its own thread here on gaf, as was the 970, but we shouldn't ignore new developments in the price to performance war.
I'm not sure how to fix it. Freezes during disk check, disk cleanup, defragmentation, etc. No malware detected when I'm able to scan it. Moving super-slow. Windows fails to load sometimes. I think it's mechanical failure.
Compsiox
Banned
I had a laptop for 5 years, I wasn't enjoying the limits of the hardware from the start. PC will be much more enjoyable for you. I'm very sure of it.
While the R9 290 is a heck of a deal, I think the GTX 970 is the better deal, even after the VRAM debacle. The 970's performance hasn't changed, it still wins the price/performance battle, but if the requested build was $200 less. I would have went with the 290.
As for that SSD, I tend to recommend products/brands that I've personally used and can vouch for. Not to say there's anything wrong with Transcend's SSD, I just wouldn't feel conformable recommending a relatively unknown and unproven brand that I haven't tried. Especially to a first time builder.
protomouse
Member
This is the rig I built for my girlfriend over Christmas (including monitor):
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.69 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.93 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Value 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($319.99 @ B&H)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Asus VN289Q 60Hz 28.0" Monitor ($256.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1176.55
So without monitor it's $920 (the build was price-optimized for Germany).
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.69 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.93 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Value 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($319.99 @ B&H)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Asus VN289Q 60Hz 28.0" Monitor ($256.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1176.55
So without monitor it's $920 (the build was price-optimized for Germany).
EASTC0AST_GH05T
Member
8K res compatible or bust.
No, it doesn't. An aftermarket 290 is usually 2-7% slower than a 970 at 1080 right now (and over time, the 290 will lower that gap). There have been plenty of deals for $240-$270 290s this year. I trust you can do the simple math to see that the 970 is way more than 7% more expensive. 970 has power consumption as a big win, features are subjective between both camps arguably favouring Nvidia, but don't you question who wins price to performance. It's not the same market as when the 970 launched.
This is from 10 games released in 2H of 2014 - no single game cherry picking. Please, justify the price premium. This is even at 1080.
Source:
http://gamegpu.ru/test-video-cards/igry-2014-goda-protiv-sovremennykh-videokart.html
Less than 3% difference. I should really post this more.
Are you sure we can't budget some of that price difference elsewhere? This is why I still find it very odd that the 970 is the always default choice on gaf. Unless you are sticking with a very small case, I think you have to justify considering a 970, especially now that we know it'll age worse.
If we're comparing performance I'm not going to argue, the 290 is a great deal. However I find Nvidia's ecosystem much better and worth the price premium. Especially for someone new to PC gaming. To give some examples, Geforce Experience (you may not agree but for someone that just wants optimal settings it works) shadow play, and MUCH better driver support than AMD,
970 runs faster, cooler, quieter, and consumes less power than the 290. Overall I find it to be the more elegant solution than the 290.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
My new rig will come out to some $3000. And I already have stuff like the monitor, KB/m, and some storage.
I'd also suggest a 970 at this price point for the whole build, to someone new to PC gaming. Because of the less finnicky day 1 performance and better ecosystem among other things, and because at this price point it's rather easy to justify.
Also, the power consumption means that you can be a bit more relaxed about case and PSU choices than with a 290.
Also, the power consumption means that you can be a bit more relaxed about case and PSU choices than with a 290.
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
dream-seller is the most reliable seller I know about. Some review sites even just mention it specifically when describing where to buy them. As for the brands, last time I checked Qnix (x-star are the same thing) had the edge for gaming because they have a model that is more reliably overclocked from the stock 60hz up to 96hz - 120hz.
L4DANathan
Member
My friend just built a monster at $1000. You're going to have half your stuff be extreme top-of-the-line at $2000.
Mister0079
Member
I'm surprised nobody in this thread told you to try replacing your laptop's HDD.
D
Deleted member 325805
Unconfirmed Member
As a MSI 970 4G owner I do feel slightly cheated if I'm honest, I specifically bought a 4GB card for future proofing, and I fear that 500mb of slower memory will play a factor sooner rather than later, right now at 1080p it's not so much of an issue, but what if I wanted to upgrade my monitor? If they had sold it as a 3.5GB card it would have still been good, and their customers would know exactly what they were buying.
SneakyStephan
Banned
Yeah, that sounds like a borked hard drive, pretty cheap fix (how much is a decent laptop hdd? 50 bucks? my 1TB wd blue was 40 euros 6 months ago)
I'd be surprised if a 3 year old gaming laptop can even run modern games though, gaming laptops, woefully underpowerred, horribly overpriced
AMD already had a shadow play equivalent.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
That's a review for the OEM-only M600, which comes a price premium over the previous models. I'm not going to read the whole review, so please tell me what your point was. The Final Words section don't seem to be particularly scathing of it.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
That was a single point in his post. Look at everything you gain with Nvidia as a package, and depending on how much that stuff means to you, paying a bit more can easily make it worth when you're going to be using a video card for a couple of years.
I'm kind of torn, personally. I hate proprietary technology being exclusive to one manufacturer. Stuff like PhysX will never see wide-scale adoption because of it unless Nvidia gets a monopoly on the market, which would not be good for anyone, either.
I only recently switched to Nvidia for the 970 because I really wanted G-Sync. Hopefully Free Sync is just as good, if not better, and AMD's next batch of cards comes out of the gate with great performance for the price.
Metal Gear?!
Member
Did you miss the part where Crucial flat out lied about features they said their drive had that they did not actually have? They might not be what OCZ was, but they are not a trustworthy company for SSDs right now. Even Samsung is more trustworthy now that they finally fixed the extreme slowdown on their 840 Evos.
Also some of the comments reference the 100 series and other Crucial drives.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
I only read the final words, so no, I didn't see anything about what you wrote. What did they lie about?
All I know is that I have a M4 256GB SSD and M550 512GB from them and both have been very reliable and great performers, especially considering how cheap they were when I got them.
Would I have to repurchase Windows, Microsoft Office, etc, for this new HDD?
SneakyStephan
Banned
No, your laptop/box should have either come with a windows cd or should have a windows product key on it somewhere.
You can just redownload windows and enter the product key.
If you can't find the box/manual/documents I believe there is a tool that lets you find your windows key in the registry (don't ask me what it's called though
)Metal Gear?!
Member
That their drive could actually protect your data in the case of sudden power loss. It cannot.
PastorOfMuppets
Banned
Damn dude forget decent, for $2000 you can pretty much build a computer that could power the Federation Starship Enterprise.
SneakyStephan
Banned
I take it all back, don't buy a TN panel
Just got my RL2455HM and what the fucking fuck.
Even after calibrating... I can't...
I knew it would be bad but not like this.
I had the moth pictures thread open in gaf on my crt and then set up this monitor and the thread was still open and it shows just how fucking terrible the colors are.
Opened blur busters checked the UFO test and it is terrible (though this monitor is only 60 hz so it was gona be pretty bad regardless) much much much worse than I expected.
On my crt it I could track the ufo with my eyes and it was pinsharp, here it's blurred literally beyond recognition (and twice as wide due to blur as it was on my crt)
This is so bad it makes my 2008 samsung VA panel tv look godlike in comparison (and that tv looks bad next to my crt)
Just got my RL2455HM and what the fucking fuck.
Even after calibrating... I can't...
I knew it would be bad but not like this.
I had the moth pictures thread open in gaf on my crt and then set up this monitor and the thread was still open and it shows just how fucking terrible the colors are.
Opened blur busters checked the UFO test and it is terrible (though this monitor is only 60 hz so it was gona be pretty bad regardless) much much much worse than I expected.
On my crt it I could track the ufo with my eyes and it was pinsharp, here it's blurred literally beyond recognition (and twice as wide due to blur as it was on my crt)
This is so bad it makes my 2008 samsung VA panel tv look godlike in comparison (and that tv looks bad next to my crt)
SneakyStephan
Banned
I might trade it in but I wouldn't even know for what... I didn't understate how allergic I am to blur in games, it's disorienting as hell especially in first person games. I could adapt to terrible image quality but never to smeary blur like I get on my TV (this monitor is not as blurry as the tv, but way worse than I hoped)
I can't get over the low pixel density at 24" either (my crt was 19"), every image looks like it's compressed or something to me because of it, I guess I need to sit way further away from it?
edit: wow I had this beautiful cyberpunk paris wallpaper that I've been looking at every day for the past 3 years and this monitor butchers it so hard it's not even funny