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"I Need a New PC!" 2015 Part 2. Read the OP. Rocking 2500K's until HBM2 and beyond.

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Not anymore. I was even able to use my 'old' win 8 key to activate a freshly installed win 10 after upgrading my cpu, mobo and ram. Microsoft changed the whole thing a while ago. Of course you first have to upgrade to win 10 before being able to use your win 8 (or 7) key for fresh win 10 installs in the future.
What if you've already upgraded to Windows 10 and don't know what your Windows 8 key is/was?
 
i can offload my 970 for $300 and get a 980ti for $400, so $100 to upgrade

worth it or wait for the 1070/1080? seems like a pretty good deal to me

its the asus strix model for both, so non-reference cards that are factory OC'd. All prices are in CAD, components are a lot more expensive here. 980tis are still $850 plus taxes in stores
If you can find a 1070 that would seemingly be potentially more performance and cheaper than a 980 ti (at the $379 MSRP for the 1070).
 

ISee

Member
What if you've already upgraded to Windows 10 and don't know what your Windows 8 key is/was?

That could be a bit of a problem. During windows 7/8 times tools like Magical JellyBean Keyfinder worked pretty good to recover your windows key. But I never tried it on win 10 so...
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Skylake OC is the same. Increase multiplier and vcore, stress test, reduce vcore until things become unstable and finally change vcore to adaptive/offset from the last value that was stable.

I used the OC.net guide.

Cool man. Currently on 4.7GHz @ 1.38VCore with Witcher 3 load temps of ~48°C. Might see if I can go further tomorrow even though the gains are non-existent.

Speaking of, in retrospect I suppose I didn't need to upgrade from the i7 2600K at all. I'm not noticing maximum framerate increases in any games, especially since at 1440p and maxed out they're putting more load on the GPU than the CPU. However, stuttering seems reduced in Wild Hunt, with all my crazy draw distance tweaks. It's still present absolutely, but overall seems less frequent and also less obvious. I assume this is simply an advantage in the 6700K's efficiency in preparing information for the GPU, working more coherently with the 980 Ti.
 

ISee

Member
Cool man. Currently on 4.7GHz @ 1.38VCore with Witcher 3 load temps of ~48°C. Might see if I can go further tomorrow even though the gains are non-existent.

Speaking of, in retrospect I suppose I didn't need to upgrade from the i7 2600K at all. I'm not noticing maximum framerate increases in any games, especially since at 1440p and maxed out they're putting more load on the GPU than the CPU. However, stuttering seems reduced in Wild Hunt, with all my crazy draw distance tweaks. It's still present absolutely, but overall seems less frequent and also less obvious. I assume this is simply an advantage in the 6700K's efficiency in preparing information for the GPU, working more coherently with the 980 Ti.

Hmm interesting. What was your 2600k OC and how fast was your ddr3 ram?
 
If you can find a 1070 that would seemingly be potentially more performance and cheaper than a 980 ti (at the $379 MSRP for the 1070).

the prices above are used, that $379 price tag is in the USA and components are much more expensive here (Canada)

1070 will likely be $500 - 550 here right off the bat, and the resale value of my 970 will drop even further by then
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Hmm interesting. What was your 2600k OC and how fast was your ddr3 ram?

I...don't remember lol. Something like 4.4Ghz, 2133MHz. Witcher 3 is a hard one to test though, and I don't know if I'm just seeing things. Certain vistas are basically frame-for-frame identical, but minimum framerate might be higher, especially when it comes to general exploration and loading. Less hitching, though not perfect.
 

ISee

Member
I...don't remember lol. Something like 4.4Ghz, 2133MHz. Witcher 3 is a hard one to test though, and I don't know if I'm just seeing things. Certain vistas are basically frame-for-frame identical, but minimum framerate might be higher, especially when it comes to general exploration and loading. Less hitching, though not perfect.

That was already a fast 2600k, especially paired with 2133 ddr3 ram as w3 really loves faster ram. Still getting a better minimum frame rate would indicate that upgrading your cpu helped, but it's hard to tell without comparing the same location/savegame.
Still I hope it will at least help in future games and that my recommendation wasn't pure nonsense (a.k.a. bullshit).

edit: and btw could you link me to your ini tweak? I'd like to try them out myself.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
That was already a fast 2600k, especially paired with 2133 ddr3 ram as w3 really loves faster ram. Still getting a better minimum frame rate would indicate that upgrading your cpu helped, but it's hard to tell without comparing the same location/savegame.
Still I hope it will at least help in future games and that my recommendation wasn't pure nonsense (a.k.a. bullshit).

Nah, no regrets in the slightest. I hadn't splurged on tech stuff in awhile, I'll get a little back selling my old MBO, 2600K, RAM combo, and it should future proof me for a little bit.

And by a little bit I mean until affordable 8-core CPUs become the norm :p
 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
Hey all, is this used PC worth £435pounds?

Alienware x51 graphics, GTX 760 TI, 8 gb of memory, I7-4770-3.40 GHz processor.

CU345gD.jpg


Thanks you.
 

Canklestank

Neo Member
UPDATE:

This is where I´m at now.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (€340.95 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (€157.84 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€115.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€251.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€89.40 @ Mindfactory)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (€87.83 @ Mindfactory)
Power Supply: Corsair 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€131.90 @ Mindfactory)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) (€95.75 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1271.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-12 11:31 CEST+0200


Is there a specific reason you're going with Dominator Platinum? Is it an aesthetic choice? Because you can find similar spec'ed RAM for much cheaper from Corsair or GSKILL. There's nothing wrong with Dominator Platinum, just seems like overkill, imo.
 

GlamFM

Banned
Did the remove the Laptop 2015-2016 thread? I can't find it!



If you need a laptop and your light on cash, this Dell Inspirion 7000 sounds fucking amazing. 750 dollars for a entry level gaming laptop; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9KzjdfDXmI

< looks sharp in black/red
< 960m 4GB GGDR5
< i5 quad
< 1080p IPS with MATTE display (matte, so you can use the damn thing outside in daylight)
< decent battery, audio, keyboard.
< seems to run cool under load (no throttle, high temps)
< can upgrade ram and harddrive after market. has a m2 slot, so you can do 512gb m2, and then a big SSHD or big SSD or keep the HDD.

Bad sides seems to be; not a good trackpad, no touchscreen, and at 6 pounds it isn't as comfortable to carry around as you might have wanted. Furthermore Dell customer support is not the stuff made of legends.
Lastly, a new generation of pascal mobile GPUs are inbound and depending on their power efficiency they might be quite a bit more powerful than these maxwell 960m GPUs.
On the other hand, Dell and other vendors must be clearing out all their maxwell volumes to make way for the new cards.
But I am sitting here jumping up and down. This thing looks nice. The prospect of a really solid gaming laptop for 750 dollars? What a time to be alive! It's not long ago since gaming laptops were a bad value.
If you're someone who has a powerful pc, but would still like the luxury of having a backup mobile PC which holds all your steam games, this here could be a good option.



I hope its a sign of things to come. I like having the laptops thick enough to give really solid cooling and thick enough to let you do your own aftermarket upgrades.
 

blitzkrieg184

Neo Member
If you'Re willing to spent more than your old $700 limit and now moved on to even ~$1100 may I suggest another build?



I think you're overpaying significantly on the mouse + keyboard. Get something cheap to start with and invest your money into hardware first. Than, after a couple of months get a better mouse and keyboard (if you really need/want one). It's much more easy to change a mouse than a much more important GPU.

This build is a bit low on disc space but that's something you can easily change by buying a 2tb HHD at some point in the future and games need a lot of space today, you'll be happy about the larger ssd. Trust me.

The CPU is faster (obviously) and it sits on a z170 board, so if you want to upgrade into a k model or even an i7 6700k in the future you have the option to do so. Also this mainboard is able to support faster DDR4 ram which will definitely help you in cpu heavy games, a lot!

The 380x is a descent GPU. It performs quiet well and with the i5 6500 you'll be able to hit 1080p/60fps if you're willing to turn down some settings. Still I'd recommend (and I know I'm repeating myself) to wait before buying a mind range gpu now. But if you really have to, get all the other parts , use the integrated GPU on your i5 processor for 4-5 weeks and get the 480(x) and enjoy even better performance for the same amount of money.

Thanks again ISee! Ya I wasn't completely sold on the mouse and keyboard so I'm glad someone caught that and said something.

SSDs just make things boot quicker correct? So the OS and any games I put in it will start quick?

How do I know what RAMs are quicker?

I'd be happy at medium or high settings. 380x is good then? What's the difference between the 380 and 380x?
I'm definitely going to wait and look at the ones you recommended first don't worry! But when I looked I thought I saw it would be like $400 or something so I made a plan b. But I'm not sure. Who makes it and what's the GPUs name? I don't understand GPUs much. Every company seems to have the same thing but different colours. Is this the Polaris 480 or something? Whats better about them? I think I saw a Polaris 10 and 11 but I'm not sure what those are. :s where can I find info on these things?
 

Korosenai

Member
So currently building a pc and i'm down to a couple monitors, just wondering which one to go with

AOC - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BV1XBEI/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Acer - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KO4518I/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Unstable keeps telling me to go AOC because of the freesync but i'm planning on getting the gtx 1070 so free sync won't really matter, but I guess if I get an amd gpu in the future it could be a hidden bonus. It's just that I haven't really heard of AOC before.

Also this is my first pc and here is what I have built (thanks to Unstable for basically building it for me). I got a different cpu cooler than the one listed because its not on the site for some reason, and like I said i'm getting the gtx 1070 so it will replace the 970.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RGPYP6
 

LilJoka

Member
How do I know what RAMs are quicker?


Ram speed is defined by frequency in MHz and Timings (latency, usually formatted X-X-X-XX).
Higher frequency the better.
Lower timings the better.

There is a trade off with frequency and timings, a good 3000Mhz kit should be CL15 (first timing in the format). For 2666Mhz CL13/14. Usually each step up in frequency has 1 higher CL. A decent 2133Mhz kit should be CL12.
 

Surfinn

Member
Gunna use some of the parts I have to upgrade my computer.

Question.. I've had my Corsair H80 for a year or two now and it's still going strong. It should be enough for a 6700k, right? Was planning on trying to get it to 4.3-4.4GHz.

New parts:

ASUS Z170-A ATX DDR4 Motherboards
Intel Boxed Core I7-6700K 4.00 GHz 8M Processor Cache 4 LGA 1151 BX80662I76700K
Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 DRAM 3000MHz
Seagate 2TB Desktop HDD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive (ST2000DM001)
 

LilJoka

Member
Gunna use some of the parts I have to upgrade my computer.

Question.. I've had my Corsair H80 for a year or two now and it's still going strong. It should be enough for a 6700k, right? Was planning on trying to get it to 4.3-4.4GHz.

New parts:

ASUS Z170-A ATX DDR4 Motherboards
Intel Boxed Core I7-6700K 4.00 GHz 8M Processor Cache 4 LGA 1151 BX80662I76700K
Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 DRAM 3000MHz
Seagate 2TB Desktop HDD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive (ST2000DM001)

It'll be fine. Would go for a Hitachi/Toshiba or WD HDD. Seagate tend to have the highest failure rates.
 

Lucario

Member
Current Specs: i5-2500k / 8GB slow DDR3 / Sapphire Radeon 7970 / That bigass white NZXT case that everyone wanted in 2012 but is embarassing now / OCZ Vertex 3 2.5" 120GB
Budget: Looking to spend around $1200 total, including the GPU, but I'm flexible.
Main Use: Plex server, web browsing, gaming, software development (mostly big data stuff).
Monitor Resolution: 3440 x 1440. (LG 34UM95)
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Dark Souls 3. Any future Souls games. VR (oculus rift.)
Looking to reuse any parts?: List make and model: My GPU (Sapphire Radeon 7970) will be re-used until I can secure a GTX 1080. Might also reuse my SSD unless someone strongly recommends against doing so. Everything else will be re-purposed as a plex server for my parents.
When will you build?: Do you have a deadline?: I intend to buy parts this week, while the price mistake on motherboards is still active at my MicroCenter.
Will you be overclocking?: Ideally, depending on heat constraints from a small case.


Finally thinking about upgrading my 2500k/7970 build! I built this damn thing while applying for college, so I think it's about time to retire it.

I'd like to go MicroATX or MiniITX, since my new place is pretty small, but I have some questions first.

1: Is MiniITX worth going for? I'd be using my massive brick of a 7970 until I can get hold of a 1080. I ask because my local Microcenter has an open-box Gigabye G1 for around $110, complete. Seems to have much better reviews than the MicroATX boards.

1b: If I do decide to stick with MiniATX, does anyone have case recommendations, considering that I'll be fitting a huge old GPU in there for a while? Any particular warnings? This is going to be my first time with a tiny build.

2: If MiniATX still isn't 'there' yet, I'm going with Micro. Only one issue - all of the boards I've been looking at seem to have terrible reviews. Z170 boards in general seem to all have below a 3 on newegg, which makes me nervous.
This seems to be the only one in stock with good reviews, but I'm hesitant to spend $180 on a motherboard with features I'll never use.

This Gigabyte board ($70) is the only other reasonable choice they have in stock. Everything else is a $200+ enthusiast board, or sub-$60 trash.

3: Is it worth the $110 difference between a 6600k and a 6700k? I have the money, I just want to know if it's pointless, or doesn't make sense in terms of price/performance.

Sorry for all the questions, and thanks! I'm excited.
 

hivycox

Member
Hi guys,

I'm also building my very first gaming rig with the upcoming gtx 1070.
I'm intending to use an Asus z170-P board with 2x8GB Corsair Vengeance IPX DDR4-3000 sticks and an i7-6700k. The cooler should be a Noctua NH-D14 (I'm also intending to OC my CPU)
My question is:

Will all the components above fit in the Fractal Design Define R4 without blocking off some RAM slots?

here is my config for a more detailed picture (ignore the 970 - its just a placeholder for the 1070 since they're around the same price):
http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/qBRHf7

Thank you!
 

TaterTots

Banned
GAF, I need to know if I should upgrade my processor. When I'm on certain web pages and scroll the page freezes and then catches up after a couple of seconds. However, I can still move my mouse around and do other things..just not on the web browser. This happens a lot on GAF...is it because of all the GIF's and my adblocker being disabled for the site? I do not have this issue in games at all. I've never "froze" in a game before. Here are my specs.

XSTuKbh.png
[/IMG]
 

Vaettir

Member
GAF, I need to know if I should upgrade my processor. When I'm on certain web pages and scroll the page freezes and then catches up after a couple of seconds. However, I can still move my mouse around and do other things..just not on the web browser. This happens a lot on GAF...is it because of all the GIF's and my adblocker being disabled for the site? I do not have this issue in games at all. I've never "froze" in a game before. Here are my specs.

That's not really you. I use Waterfox and once in a while scrolling pages on GAF with many gifs or pictures and it'll hitch. Use another browser and see if it still happens.
 

TaterTots

Banned
That's not really you. I use Waterfox and once in a while scrolling pages on GAF with many gifs or pictures and it'll hitch. Use another browser and see if it still happens.

Ok. I currently use Firefox, but I can't remember if it happened on Chrome or not. I'll give it a go.
 
Ok ladies and gents. Started putting my PC together. It's starting to come back to me, and then I get to the power supply. It's on the bottom of the case, and has a filter below it, but the instructions for the case show the fan side up. There seems to be some debate about which is better, but fan up or down? I'm guessing down, since there's a filter, but the manual is throwing me.

It's a Phantek P400 case.
 

hivycox

Member
Ok ladies and gents. Started putting my PC together. It's starting to come back to me, and then I get to the power supply. It's on the bottom of the case, and has a filter below it, but the instructions for the case show the fan side up. There seems to be some debate about which is better, but fan up or down?

It's a Phantek P400 case.

I have recently saw a video from LinusTechTips. generally it can go either way but if you put it fan-side down you must be careful where you put you PC: carpets i.e.
in the video they put it fan-side up which isn't a perfect choice since there is warmer air but the better of the two situation. Unfortunately I can't find the video but I hope this info helped you at least a bit ;)

UPDATE:
found the video: https://youtu.be/roFb3TNePIg?t=15m51s
 
I have recently saw a video from LinusTechTips. generally it can go either way but if you put it fan-side down you must be careful where you put you PC: carpets i.e.
in the video they put it fan-side up which isn't a perfect choice since there is warmer air but the better of the two situation. Unfortunately I can't find the video but I hope this info helped you at least a bit ;)

Ok. I'm pretty sure this will stay on my desk, and the P400 has some good risers on the bottom of the case. I'll flip it if it ever comes time to put it on the ground. Thank you!!
 

Dipper145

Member
Got my pc this past weekend. i5-6500, gigabyte b7 sniper mobo, r9 380 4gb, 8gb 2133 ram, 500w evga power supply and a free upgrade to a case with silent foam on the inside since the case I ordered from ncix wouldn't get there till may 20+ or something. New case is way better than what I had originally ordered.

Picked up a 120gb ssd on my way home to get the computer (essentially a ssd just to hold win7/10), and oh my god it's an investment I would have made a long time ago if I knew how nice it would be. Although I didn't test it in my old computer, and that thing was falling apart, the boot time went from over 3 minutes to under 30 seconds.

The ssd made it actually kind of enjoyable installing everything. So many things want you to restart after update/install and I didn't really care cause I'd be back installing the next update in 15 seconds.
 

hohoXD123

Member
Technically yes, but I'm assuming what you think is too much, probably isn't all that bad enough. (whole tube)

Turns out the problem wasn't with the cooler but with the motherboard. My Hero Alpha board put the voltage up to 1.3 from the start while keeping the clock speeds the same. I manually put it down to 1.18 and I'm averaging ~62C now. Can finally start overclocking.
 

OraleeWey

Member
I know you say you don't have patience but I would get some details on what your currently running at vcore wise and temp wise.

I'm running a Maximus VII GENE, with the 4790K on a H100i

On auto settings my 4790k was using 1.28vcore at stock, i managed to lower this to just under 1.2v at stock speeds dropping my load temps in prime by about 15c.

Today i have it running prime stable at 4.6Ghz @ 70c on 1.25v, back when i first got the chip i managed to squeeze 4.8Ghz out of it at 1.3v but the temps were close to 85c in Prime, although no where near the thermal throttle of the chip i like it to be under 80.

Once you find out what your current vcore is try manually setting that vcore with an overclock and test, keep bumping the clock by 100mhz until your stability test crashes, then you either move the speed down to stabilize, or boost voltage.

You need voltage under full load, so you'll need to run something stressful on the CPU

Does this provide you with enough information?
 

DJ_Lae

Member
Well, after about 4 years my PSU seems to be on its way out (Antec HCP 750). I believe it has a 5 year warranty, so we'll see how much fun it is dealing with that process, but I figured I should probably nab a backup anyway just to be safe.

Right now I've got my finger over EVGA's 750w Supernova G2, which is $110CDN after rebate at the moment - the P2 is $30 more but is it even worth the increase? I also don't really need anything more powerful as I doubt I'll ever go SLI.
 

ISee

Member
SSDs just make things boot quicker correct? So the OS and any games I put in it will start quick?

More or less. Yes, that's it.

How do I know what RAMs are quicker?

In the old days it was all about latency and it's still important but to make stuff more easy concentrate on clockspeed (mhz). The higher the better is the general rule here. Still you have to watch out if the mobo you picked is able to 'work' with faster clocked ddr4 above the standard 2133mhz.

I'd be happy at medium or high settings. 380x is good then? What's the difference between the 380 and 380x?

Yes it's better/faster. Both are based on the same 28nm Tonga chip and clocked at the same speed but for example the 380x has more shader and Texture Mapping Units overall making it a better choice. It's much better than a nvidia gtx 960, but still slower than a gtx 970.

average in percent (tested in 18 games) said:


I'm definitely going to wait and look at the ones you recommended first don't worry! But when I looked I thought I saw it would be like $400 or something so I made a plan b. But I'm not sure. Who makes it and what's the GPUs name? I don't understand GPUs much. Every company seems to have the same thing but different colours. Is this the Polaris 480 or something? Whats better about them? I think I saw a Polaris 10 and 11 but I'm not sure what those are. :s where can I find info on these things?

Ok let's make this as easy as I can. AMDs mainstream gpus are called 370,380(x). High end gpus are the 390 and 390x and Fury X aims for enthusiasts. Different manufacturers like MSI, ASUS, Gigabyte (etc.) offer custom designs of those graphic cards. They mostly change the cooling and the look of the card and sometimes offer stable factory over clocks.

AMD should very soon start to present the successors to the 370 and 380 series (most probably called similar: 470 and 480) based on Polaris 10 (the 380 is based on Tonga). Different manufacturers will also of course present custom designed 470/480 cards with better cooling, better looks and overclocks. According to rumors (but very trustworthy ones) the 470/480 crads are going to perform around current 390/390X levels (pls check the benchmark I postet for you above) making them extremely good, if they're priced at 370/380 levels.

But enough of me talking (and my broken english). Please listen to Richard from DF about Polaris 10/11, he knows and understand that stuff much better than me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMfGJf1KWWk
 

LilJoka

Member
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/wp-c.../blog_q3stats_manufacturer-e1444680042365.jpg

If I'm reading that correctly.. looks like the failure rate has dropped back in line with most other manufacturers in 2015?

Read this bit
The Seagate 2TB drives were also removed from service in 2015. While their cumulative failure rate was slightly high at 10.1%, they were removed from service because we only had 225 of those drives and it was easier to upgrade the Storage Pods to 4TB drives than to buy and stock the 2TB Seagate drives.
 
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