Help Me Build My PC Catch-All

Scratched wrote:

Something I wonder about is what's happening to intel's R+D investment. Without the pressure to release something fast and impressive, assuming a constant rate of improvement wouldn't they get backlogged in stuff to release. The other way of looking at it, and I know chip R+D and design is a very long term process, is that they'll shift the focus of their R+D to other areas that are currently where they can see a return on that investment.

I think the R&D is now focused mobile-ifying processors for power efficiencies, etc. That stuff can obviously benefit desktop chips, but the market has moved to laptops and other mobile documents as the dominant players.

Malor wrote:

Well, we know that the 2500 and 2600Ks have a TON of room, and that they actively sandbagged the 35XX series with a sh*tty internal thermal material to, presumably, impair their overclockability.

If Intel really wanted to, I suspect they could probably ship 5Ghz parts today. There wouldn't be very many, but I'm sure they could ship at least some. About the only thing that would make them do that, though, is competitive pressure, and there just isn't any.

It's been said that Intel is its own strongest competitor, they're dealing with the installed base -- so moving as slowly as possible means that they're making their own lives easier in future years.

But those O/C don't match up on a straight % increase in the real world. So that's great but its not going to provide a huge boost to real world performance. Going from 3.2ghz to 5ghz doesn't improve my scores by 60%

If I have this
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black
on a
ASUS M4A89TD PRO
With 2 of these
G.SKILL F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM Ripjaws PC3-12800 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1600
All powered by
XFX 850W Black Edition Single Rail Semi Modular ATX 12V 70A 24PIN ATX Power Supply

Would I be able to improve on my 6870 HD? I'd like to stick with ATI but would be willing to change if the specs were good. I don't think that MB would take a better CPU.

Would I be bottlenecking anywhere?
What about doubling it up? I don't know much of such things...

think in the $300 or less range.

groan wrote:

think in the $300 or less range.

Probably the best buy at $300 right now are the 660 Nvidia boards that just came out. They also include copies of Borderlands 2 if that matters 2 you.

What screen resolution are you running? You might be getting to the point where throwing more graphics card at it isn't your weak spot depending on your resolution.

My post was basically redundant. Oops.

MannishBoy wrote:
groan wrote:

think in the $300 or less range.

Probably the best buy at $300 right now are the 660 Nvidia boards that just came out. They also include copies of Borderlands 2 if that matters 2 you.

What screen resolution are you running? You might be getting to the point where throwing more graphics card at it isn't your weak spot depending on your resolution.

27 inch at 1920 x 1080

GW2 and Planetside 2 are making me do it!

For 1080p I'd say more GPU is going to be your better choice for most games.

*To help, a direct comparison between the 6870 and the 660Ti on Anandtech's GPU Bench thingie.

Thin_J wrote:

For 1080p I'd say more GPU is going to be your better choice for most games.

*To help, a direct comparison between the 6870 and the 660Ti on Anandtech's GPU Bench thingie.

Thanks!
Pretty much doubles on everything.
I cant afford a MoBo/CPU/GPU upgrade at the moment so you suggest as the next best thing?

Now I just have to sell my AR Drone.

So I have this lamp. I then saw this case. Then I measured the space between the shelves and compared it to the case specs. It'll fit.

I think I know what I am going to do when I can build a new PC.

Edwin wrote:

So I have this lamp. I then saw this case. Then I measured the space between the shelves and compared it to the case specs. It'll fit.

I think I know what I am going to do when I can build a new PC.

Looks awesome.. will have to get one to play with when it releases.

There's a thread dedicated to that case on the hardforums with some pretty exhaustive talk about the pros and cons and lots of pictures of builds.

Always worth reading through case threads over there if you want a full list of the problems you might encounter with one

Edwin wrote:

So I have this lamp. I then saw this case. Then I measured the space between the shelves and compared it to the case specs. It'll fit.

I think I know what I am going to do when I can build a new PC.

The case looks pretty neat I guess but one HDD bay? Seems like they could have added a few more if they had wanted to.

Gaald wrote:

The case looks pretty neat I guess but one HDD bay? Seems like they could have added a few more if they had wanted to.

And mount them... where exactly? There's no room.

Pictures from a completed build:

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/8obHol.jpg)
IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/7Jht5l.jpg)

Thin_J wrote:

There's a thread dedicated to that case on the hardforums with some pretty exhaustive talk about the pros and cons and lots of pictures of builds.

Always worth reading through case threads over there if you want a full list of the problems you might encounter with one :)

oh cool.. when I didnt see it on Newegg I assumed it wasnt released yet.. found it on Amazon.

TheGameguru wrote:

oh cool.. when I didnt see it on Newegg I assumed it wasnt released yet.. found it on Amazon.

Newegg Link to all three versions.

*There is one guy in that thread that managed to add an SSD in by drilling and tapping his own holes in the back of the motherboard tray and mounting it behind there. There's enough space between it and the side of the case for one to fit ok.

That first shot looks like the whole back has a great spot to mount a drive. a removable bracket that you could place an HDD in there. Voila!

Gaald wrote:

That first shot looks like the whole back has a great spot to mount a drive. a removable bracket that you could place an HDD in there. Voila!

No, that's where all the cabling comes out of the power supply. There simply isn't enough space.

You could make a bracket to mount one horizontally, but then you're totally boning your airflow and you'll be overheating anything above the HD in no time.

Just get rid of that graphics card and there is all kinds of room. Intel video is good enough right

Rykin wrote:

Just get rid of that graphics card and there is all kinds of room. Intel video is good enough right ;)

If you're just going to go home theater or something, sure. Absolutely. But if you put a videocard in you lose the only real potentially available space.

TheGameguru wrote:
Edwin wrote:

So I have this lamp. I then saw this case. Then I measured the space between the shelves and compared it to the case specs. It'll fit.

I think I know what I am going to do when I can build a new PC.

Looks awesome.. will have to get one to play with when it releases.

I think it'll work especially well with my current setup. I'll just put it where the envelope is in the picture and that frees up the whole desk and keeps it off the carpet.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/dt2Gxl.jpg)

Gaald wrote:
Edwin wrote:

So I have this lamp. I then saw this case. Then I measured the space between the shelves and compared it to the case specs. It'll fit.

I think I know what I am going to do when I can build a new PC.

The case looks pretty neat I guess but one HDD bay? Seems like they could have added a few more if they had wanted to.

Honestly? I don't really need it. I won't even be putting in an optical drive. I just don't have the need. I got my Raspberry Pi working as a NAS. If I really wanted to, I could put a 2nd SSD in the optical drive slot.

Edwin wrote:
Gaald wrote:
Edwin wrote:

So I have this lamp. I then saw this case. Then I measured the space between the shelves and compared it to the case specs. It'll fit.

I think I know what I am going to do when I can build a new PC.

The case looks pretty neat I guess but one HDD bay? Seems like they could have added a few more if they had wanted to.

Honestly? I don't really need it. I won't even be putting in an optical drive. I just don't have the need. I got my Raspberry Pi working as a NAS. If I really wanted to, I could put a 2nd SSD in the optical drive slot.

Yeah not everyone needs multiple drive bays, I just found it odd that in this day and age, they didn't give you room for a couple of 3.5" hdd's. I can't remember the last time I had a computer that wasn't a laptop that only had one drive in it.

Looks pretty cool though, I hope it works out for you!

All I have to say is: Just fired up my new upgrade.

i5-2500k + 8gb ram + GTX 560 Ti = Win

El-Producto wrote:

All I have to say is: Just fired up my new upgrade.

i5-2500k + 8gb ram + GTX 560 Ti = Win

I've been running a similar setup(16 gigs RAM) and have been thoroughly pleased with my little rig.

Oh, and a question: the 200mm side fan in my case stopped spinning. Any suggestions on getting it running, or should I just buy a new fan?

AnimeJ wrote:

Oh, and a question: the 200mm side fan in my case stopped spinning. Any suggestions on getting it running, or should I just buy a new fan?

If it's plugged in and you're sure it's getting power but not working, then yeah just buy a new one.

So I have started looking into building myself a PC that is a bit more expensive. around $2000 (cdn). Now, given that my knowledge is quite limited, what are some good places that I can look at to get an idea of what things are good and not?

Just for the heck of it, I put this together last night. There are probably lots of things wrong with it.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.99 @ Amazon Canada)
CPU Cooler: Enermax ETD-T60-VD 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-GD65 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Canada Computers)
Memory: Patriot G2 Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($99.99 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($179.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti 2GB Video Card ($125.84 @ DirectCanada)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($149.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: Plextor PX-L890SA R DVD/CD Writer ($36.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Monitor: ViewSonic VA2231wm-LED 22.0" Monitor ($140.99 @ Computer Valley)
Monitor: ViewSonic VA2231wm-LED 22.0" Monitor ($140.99 @ Computer Valley)
Total: $1624.73
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-26 10:56 EDT-0400)

The 3470K and 3570K are probably the best overall bang-per-buck, at least if you're gaming. The 3770K adds hyperthreading, and it's a hundred bucks more. Hyperthreading is only useful on fairly rare occasions, and they charge a lot more for the feature. Up to you, but unless you actively know you have programs that can use hyperthreading, the cheaper chips will feel almost exactly the same speed. The 3470K and 3570K both have about the same bang-per-buck -- one's a little cheaper and a little slower. I'm not sure what the difference is, if any, with their overclocking potential. (which is what the K suffix means.)

The 3550 also looks like it might be very good, but I haven't seen it benched the same way.

That's a very interesting CPU cooler. Enermax claims that the 'twister bearing' tech they're using in the fan will last about twice as long as ball bearings.... over 100,000 hours at 85C, more than 12 years, 24x7x365. (They don't actually KNOW that, as it would take 12+ years to find out absolutely for sure, but that's their projection.) If you want to spend a little less, there are zillions of options for CPU coolers out there, but I'd love some feedback on the one you've picked. It looks interesting.

That motherboard looks like an excellent choice, with the good Intel networking. You should like that board a lot, I think.

Hard drive seems fine.

Wow, 128 gigs for $99? SSDs are finally getting reasonable. 128 gigs won't give you room for very many programs running from the fast drive, though. You'll definitely be able to have a few at a time, and you can use Steam Mover to shift things back and forth if you use Steam, but be aware that you'll have to think about and kind of manage that space. A larger SSD would require less attention.

Your choice for video card, the 550Ti, is way weak. Way weak. You don't want that card. You want at least a 560Ti, and you'd probably prefer the new 660. Drop the SSD to make room, if this is a gaming computer. Drop anything else you need to drop to make room, in fact. Gaming computers are, more or less, big hunks of silicon and plastic to support the video card.

A 560Ti is okay, but a little weak, running one 1920x1080 screen. Definitely not enough for the two you're planning on. I'm not sure how well the 660Ti does multimonitor, but it should be superb on one screen. If you want to game on both monitors at once, you may need to get even more expensive than that. A 670 will handle it for sure.

Case and power supply are fine. You can drop back to a 550 watter if you're sure you won't add a second video card. That 750W unit is big enough to let you run SLI with two strong cards.

Plextor always used to be first-rate, back in the day, dunno what they're like now. But I'd give it a try, it's not like a hugely expensive drive or anything.

Dunno nothin' about those monitors. Someone else may have comments, but I just don't know anything about the low end of the monitor market at all.

I always assume anybody getting just two screens (like me) does not plan to actually output games on both screens at the same time. Just never made any sense to me to have the bezel right in the middle.

I assume screen 2 is for secondary stuff like Vent, media programs, maybe communications clients like email or twitter. Not gaming.

There just aren't that many games that work well with two screens. Three makes more sense if you want multimonitor gaming.

The comment I'd have about the monitors is that if you're looking at TN monitors (the cheaper/faster type), going from 22" to 23.5" or 24" isn't that expensive, and is probably worth it.

Yeah, you're probably right that he doesn't intend to game on both, but if I skipped that and he actually WAS doing multi-monitor, he'd be unhappy.

Repeating this part, for mudbunny's benefit, because it's so central to a gaming build: a 560Ti is weakish but acceptable at 1920x1080, generally hitting low-50s for framerates in better-looking games. A 660 should be solidly over 60 with most current titles on one monitor. Not certain how it would deal with two, but I suspect probably not that well.

As long as one monitor is in 2-D mode, you're fine, it's only a problem if you want heavily 3D-accelerated stuff on both screens at once.

MannishBoy wrote:

I always assume anybody getting just two screens (like me) does not plan to actually output games on both screens at the same time. Just never made any sense to me to have the bezel right in the middle.

I assume screen 2 is for secondary stuff like Vent, media programs, maybe communications clients like email or twitter. Not gaming.

There just aren't that many games that work well with two screens. Three makes more sense if you want multimonitor gaming.

The comment I'd have about the monitors is that if you're looking at TN monitors (the cheaper/faster type), going from 22" to 23.5" or 24" isn't that expensive, and is probably worth it.

Yeah, the multi monitors is not to play a game across two monitors. More to have one program on one and a couple more on another.

I know less than nothing about monitors, so any guidance/advice would be appreciated. For example, what do you mean by TN monitors? I couldn't find that using the PCPartpicker interface.

Thanks for the suggestions Malor. I took all of them into account.

One thing that I found weird was the RAM. I don't know if it is the PCPartpicker programming or what, but I couldn't find any 8GB sticks of RAM. If I wanted 16 I had to grab 4x4. Is that because of the motherboard or do they just not make 8GB sticks?