PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[Kalmado]

so you bros helped me build a computer in late 2011 recommending an intel 2500k and gtx 570. ive come to learn that it might be time to update my rig. can anyone tell me what the 2014 versions of the 2011 2500k and gtx 570 are? thanks yous

Not sure about the cpu, but for the gpu you can compare how good they are using tomshardware gpu hierarchy chart. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ew,3107-7.html I'd go with a 970 or R9 290(x). Or you can take a chance on a refurb/open box 7990, 690, etc.

[Krandor]

970 is thru the roof in the performance you get in that price range.

For CPU you're probably still fine, especially if you have it over clocked.

[Senji]

so you bros helped me build a computer in late 2011 recommending an intel 2500k and gtx 570. ive come to learn that it might be time to update my rig. can anyone tell me what the 2014 versions of the 2011 2500k and gtx 570 are? thanks yous

i5 4690k and GTX 970. Though as said, dont need to upgrade CPU. Intel core has just been getting more efficient rather than omgbrutegforce power. i7 920s on later model boards are still diesel.

An upgrade to broadwell when it releases sometime later this year would be something to look at though.



GTX 960's released today. $200.

[Deejay]

I'm thinking of getting a rig, but I honestly don't trust myself putting something together all by myself. I'm running a hand me down i3 with a Radeon HD 5700, which is pretty shit tier this days.

What's the best bang for my buck system that I can get prebuilt? I'm trying to keep the price under $1000, but I'd spend a COUPLE hundred extra if the deal is good.

[Senji]

The only thing that even takes any thought in building your own rig is applying the thermal paste. Look at a pic online for sizing, squirt out a dot, and clamp it down with an aftermarket cpu cooler with flat metal plates; done, good to go.

[tyven]

Thanks for all the advice, guys

[avelle]

Follow up question from my other thread because I totally forgot we had a sticky for this stuff. I was running 2 580gtx cards on a i7 2600k @ 4.4ghz with a resolution of 1920x1200. Benchmark performance with a single 580 vs 580 SLI seemed to show promising results but in game the difference appeared to be negligible. I opted to buy a 970 gtx and installed it tonight and the benchmark between the 580gtx SLI setup and the 970gtx are nearly identical. In game my fps is capped at 60 in most places except in mor dhona which appears to be about a 10 fps increase.

580 SLI Results:
FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn Official Benchmark (Character Creation)
Tested on:1/22/2015 6:15:08 PM
Score:12436
Average Framerate:109.417
Performance:Extremely High
-Easily capable of running the game on the highest settings.

970 Results:
FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn Official Benchmark (Character Creation)
Tested on:1/22/2015 8:04:35 PM
Score:12454
Average Framerate:110.166
Performance:Extremely High
-Easily capable of running the game on the highest settings.

tl;dr is this, did I waste 350 bucks upgrading from SLI 580s to a 970? Various benchmarks on the web seem to indicate that the 970 is a superior setup but I was a little concerned because I did not see the improvements I was hoping for in FFXIV.

[avelle]

I will also say this, it is at the very least a clear upgrade over situations when I could not use SLI and had to rely on a single video card. I am also using one of the 580s as a dedicated PhysX processor but I think the only game I have noticed that supports that recently is Borderlands.

[Adajer]

i5 4690k and GTX 970. Though as said, dont need to upgrade CPU. Intel core has just been getting more efficient rather than omgbrutegforce power. i7 920s on later model boards are still diesel.

An upgrade to broadwell when it releases sometime later this year would be something to look at though.



GTX 960's released today. $200.

The Skylake series is rumored to still be released later this year.

Broadwell got pushed back a bunch and Skylake was originally slated to release q4 ish this year. So they are keeping their Skylake time slot. (supposedly)

I have a 3770k. I am going to probably sell my entire system when Skylake comes out and build a new Skylake system.

[Senji]

Follow up question from my other thread because I totally forgot we had a sticky for this stuff. I was running 2 580gtx cards on a i7 2600k @ 4.4ghz with a resolution of 1920x1200. Benchmark performance with a single 580 vs 580 SLI seemed to show promising results but in game the difference appeared to be negligible. I opted to buy a 970 gtx and installed it tonight and the benchmark between the 580gtx SLI setup and the 970gtx are nearly identical. In game my fps is capped at 60 in most places except in mor dhona which appears to be about a 10 fps increase.

580 SLI Results:
FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn Official Benchmark (Character Creation)
Tested on:1/22/2015 6:15:08 PM
Score:12436
Average Framerate:109.417
Performance:Extremely High
-Easily capable of running the game on the highest settings.

970 Results:
FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn Official Benchmark (Character Creation)
Tested on:1/22/2015 8:04:35 PM
Score:12454
Average Framerate:110.166
Performance:Extremely High
-Easily capable of running the game on the highest settings.

tl;dr is this, did I waste 350 bucks upgrading from SLI 580s to a 970? Various benchmarks on the web seem to indicate that the 970 is a superior setup but I was a little concerned because I did not see the improvements I was hoping for in FFXIV.

If you already had max fps+settings, what did you expect would happen at 1080p? Can sell your two 580s.

[avelle]

If you already had max fps+settings, what did you expect would happen at 1080p? Can sell your two 580s.

In game I was running on high settings because I was not getting 60 fps everywhere. My aim was to get 60 fps everywhere after the upgrade but still not seeing that in areas like Mor Dhona. Maybe that is not possible or there is some bottleneck on my system. I would have expected to see a higher score on the benchmark also but alas that was also not the case.

[Kalmado]

Is it just FFXIV you are seeing a low performance increase? Doing a quick search of 580 sli vs. 970 it would seem the 970 is the clear cut winner.

[avelle]

Is it just FFXIV you are seeing a low performance increase? Doing a quick search of 580 sli vs. 970 it would seem the 970 is the clear cut winner.

Unfortunately FF14 was the only benchmark I ran before I swapped to the new gpu setup so that is the only comparison with numbers I have. I have not tried any other games yet but I definitely have a todo list to get around to this weekend. I think all is well though. May see better performance come DX11 client also later this year.

[Kalmado]

Unfortunately FF14 was the only benchmark I ran before I swapped to the new gpu setup so that is the only comparison with numbers I have. I have not tried any other games yet but I definitely have a todo list to get around to this weekend. I think all is well though. May see better performance come DX11 client also later this year.

If you have not, also overclock that 970. From what I read there is a ton of headroom for overclocking. I would imagine you should be able to get a few more fps in FFXIV that way. I hope it works out!

[avelle]

If you have not, also overclock that 970. From what I read there is a ton of headroom for overclocking. I would imagine you should be able to get a few more fps in FFXIV that way. I hope it works out!

I will look into it, thanks!

[Reposado]

EVGA GeForce GTX 970 Superclocked

Part Number: 04G-P4-1972-KR

Still a somewhat 'best bang for your buck'? My vid card is starting to go through the tearing phase. Don't want to drop a crapload on it due to only playing D3 and FF..

[Krandor]

If you're buying an EVGA 970 try to get one that ends in 2XXX-KR instead of 1XXX-KR. There were some tweaks made to the cooler that reduce noise and improve performance.

You also won't have to bother with updating the VBIOS since the later models have the newer one with a quieter fan profile.

[Reposado]

Crap, all superclocked on backorder on eVGA website. Amazon, ehh, had a bad incident with them more than once. Guess I play the waiting game

[Boyiee]

There is no reason to buy a superclocked version. Grab the Asus strix or g1 or msi versions.

[Krandor]

Superclocked is pretty much just the basic model for EVGA. Tbh as long you don't get coil whine (which cards from any developer could end with) there's not a huge difference between all the versions.