PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[Tokitoki]

Pretty solid, I'd get a 970 or a 390 for the graphics card though, it'll last you all the way to next gen multi-platforms or VR headsets.

The other option is to go Z170 now with an i5 6600 and ddr4, it'd give you the option to do cost efficient upgrades in a year or two if you do wanna beef up the rig for VR.

I don't think I'll be doing any VR gaming in the near future. I don't even have much time to play any games as is and have a ridiculous backlog to work through. Most of the games I'll be playing would be 2+ years old.

Only real gripe is the psu. I really dislike Corsair CX. They are low quality. Get an Antec, XFX, Seasonic, or EVGA B2/G2/GS. Last thing to skimp on is the psu. A quality 550w 80+ bronze will handle a 390 or 970 with no issues. As Gryffes said, I'd go with a higher quality card as well. I really dislike the 950/960 as AMD's lineup offers more bang for the buck at those price points and for usually much much less.

I'll take a look at those PSUs.

Since you've both said it, I'll take a look at the 970 and the Radeon equivalents. I used to get Radeon almost exclusively when I actually kept up with the tech despite them not always being as well rated. Is the current gen AMD rated better, the same, or worse than nVidia at this point?

My current PC was actually decent until it died (considering it was put together in 2009). Radeon HD 4870 1GB, Phenom II X3 2.8GHz overclocked to something, 6GB DDR3-1600 RAM...

[Kalmado]

Right now Jet.com will randomly have some killer deals on video cards when using a new account, promo code 20NOW, waiving returns, and using a debit card. There was a VisionTek R9 390 for about $190. Other 390s have floated around $250 ish and as low as $225. GTX 970s look to be around $250-$275. Newegg recently also had a Zotac 970 for $250 I think. Keep your eyes glued to slickdeals.net and set up some deal alerts.

If looking to stick around the $150 mark I personally think something like a R9 280(x) with 3gb vram is the better deal than a 950/960. 280s go on sale regularly for $150 after rebate and if it's the XFX model it has lifetime warranty when registering within 30 days of purchase. Jet.com had a PowerColor R9 380 4gb for $177 using the above methods. Yes they run hotter and use more watts, but I'd rather get the performance out of the card than save a couple bucks per year on electricity.

[Kalmado]

Newegg via Ebay still has that Zotac GTX 970 for $250. No rebate and you get the free game which you can sell to help with the cost. If you really would like to go with Nvidia I'd say this is a really good deal. http://www.ebay.com/itm/ZOTAC-GeForc...YAAOSwZVhWSoGH

[Senji]

Not going to lie, if you guys can point out where I'm wrong, I'd greatly appreciate it. I build all of my PCs myself, but don't have any formal education in doing so. In my current build I use a SSD for my main drive, but it only has Windows on it. I could certainly see a benefit of having a large SSD as a second drive, but it seems like more of a convenience issue, as most of the people you play with in a multiplayer game will be using traditional HHDs.

HHD are far more economical as storage drives, yes. SSD has the typical faster boot and loading screens, however also anytime a game has to pull to render. In say an instanced PvP match; you will load in faster, and render the enemy textures while a HDD users trickle in slower and may see non rendered 'shadows' in larger battles. Quite the disadvantage, so the majority of people that care are on a SSD.

People put Windows only on a drive back when they were expensive and you could -only- fit Windows on it. Maybe a game of choice if you were lucky, but chances are not a mmo. First tier 250 gb drives have been $100 on sale for over a year now. People toss all their apps on and raid them before bothering to pick up a smaller dedicated drive for the sole sake of Windows installs. Yeah, I'm sure some do, most play musical chairs when they have to cross that road. Anyone on a new budget build should be grabbing an on sale 250gb if that's all they can float for a while, and then think about a 1tb for $50. Let's be honest, either it's a tax write off, you horde crap games you'll never play again, or you're just archiving your favorite porn. Otherwise you already built a separate media server.

I don't think I'll be doing any VR gaming in the near future. I don't even have much time to play any games as is and have a ridiculous backlog to work through. Most of the games I'll be playing would be 2+ years old.



I'll take a look at those PSUs.

Since you've both said it, I'll take a look at the 970 and the Radeon equivalents. I used to get Radeon almost exclusively when I actually kept up with the tech despite them not always being as well rated. Is the current gen AMD rated better, the same, or worse than nVidia at this point?

My current PC was actually decent until it died (considering it was put together in 2009). Radeon HD 4870 1GB, Phenom II X3 2.8GHz overclocked to something, 6GB DDR3-1600 RAM...

ATI has solid hardware, problem is drivers. Newer games having random crashes, or eating some random poison cloud or boss tell; I just don't mind paying an extra 20 spot or two to have the reliability and hands washed clean of that. If you're only playing 2+ year old games, I imagine you won't have any issues though.

[Tokitoki]

ATI has solid hardware, problem is drivers. Newer games having random crashes, or eating some random poison cloud or boss tell; I just don't mind paying an extra 20 spot or two to have the reliability and hands washed clean of that. If you're only playing 2+ year old games, I imagine you won't have any issues though.

Thanks. I'll just take a look after the holidays, or Cyber Monday, and see what my budget will allow. Will probably have to put it off until after the holidays.

The most current game I've played is XIV, and I haven't logged on in a few months now. My current PC was able to run that on High fine.

[Kalmado]

I'm running crossfire 290x. The newest game I play is GTA V and it does have the xfire stutter, but when using a single card at 1440p it's smooth and very enjoyable. Xfire worked fine playing Far Cry 4. I personally haven't had any driver issues. Even Nvidia had some issues semi recent, but it appears to have been fixed. For more specific info I would refer to hardforum.com.

[notorious bum]

Isn't Nvidia working on enforcing their "experience" platform in order to get driver updates in the near future? I've read some grumblings about that when I was researching cards.

[Kalmado]

Isn't Nvidia working on enforcing their "experience" platform in order to get driver updates in the near future? I've read some grumblings about that when I was researching cards.

Nvidia Game-Ready drivers to be locked behind GeForce Experience.

[Purrrfect]

The 970 with the new user promo code on jet worked out, and I also found by looking at newegg that there is also another mail-in rebate I can do too, however when I placed my order and in all of my emails I had ordered a MSI card but they sent a Gigabyte card. Dunno if this is a normal thing for them to get whatever deals they do with suppliers, but fyi.

[Kalmado]

The 970 with the new user promo code on jet worked out, and I also found by looking at newegg that there is also another mail-in rebate I can do too, however when I placed my order and in all of my emails I had ordered a MSI card but they sent a Gigabyte card. Dunno if this is a normal thing for them to get whatever deals they do with suppliers, but fyi.

Jet uses third parties for shipping so it sounds like the item was picked incorrectly. What model Gigabyte did you get? Could possibly be a win!

[Purrrfect]

Jet uses third parties for shipping so it sounds like the item was picked incorrectly. What model Gigabyte did you get? Could possibly be a win!

This was what it was supposed to be, and this is what I got. Pretty close, the clocks are just a hair different and the port configuration is a bit different. I'm ok with it, was just a bit of a concern at first when I opened the box and saw a different brand lol.

On another note, I've been wanting to get a new power supply for a while (mine works fine except that it makes fast ticking or clicking type noise when it has a load on it) and saw this on the shell shocker deal. It's way overkill for me, but a quality 5-600W unit is almost just as much and the newegg reviews appear to be pretty favorable.

[Kalmado]

This was what it was supposed to be, and this is what I got. Pretty close, the clocks are just a hair different and the port configuration is a bit different. I'm ok with it, was just a bit of a concern at first when I opened the box and saw a different brand lol.

On another note, I've been wanting to get a new power supply for a while (mine works fine except that it makes fast ticking or clicking type noise when it has a load on it) and saw this on the shell shocker deal. It's way overkill for me, but a quality 5-600W unit is almost just as much and the newegg reviews appear to be pretty favorable.

I've had that G1 and it is a great card. Did very well at 1440p. Only games I had trouble maxing and keeping 55+ fps was GTA V and FC 4. I personally think you got an upgrade.

Regarding the psu, I'd pass on that and get this XFX 550w unit instead. If you're only planning to run a single gpu, the XFX unit will be great. It's Seasonic OEM and for $27 after rebate and promo code it's an incredible value.

[Purrrfect]

Thanks! That looks like a good deal, guess I didn't see it because I only had the gold checked when I looked.

[Yabby]

I've read the last few pages, but most of it seems to focus on getting good deals more than having performance. I'm looking to build my 1st custom PC. I've normally been getting gaming laptops from ASUS and Origin. For the most people they have been amazing. The last Origin laptop we ordered has run almost everything on ultra without issues. That said, i've slowly gotten accustom to having more than one screen, and my laptop almost never moves from it's spot anymore, so... PC time.

I looked at just having Origin build me one, but i think it would be enjoyable to do it myself. I just don't want to order a bunch of stuff, and when i get them, nothing fits or goes together.

Also, please just tell me to go fuck myself if i'm asking too many questions.

Motherboards/CPU

So i need to buy these as a pair, and i keep seeing two: Intel Z170, and X99

The only real difference i see with the X99 is it has more L2/3 Cache. That said i don't do much video or audio stuff, just gaming. So do i even need the X99? This is the main things i'm not sure about, considering i don't want to buy a motherboard that doesn't have everything i need. What would be the best possible combo? I'm planing on just having one G-card for now, but someday might want to duel them.

I'm currently looking at these two things
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-869-_-Product
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-559-_-Product


Ram:

I seem to have a hard time sorting newegg/amazing/etc by speed.

I'm looking for something around 2800MHz +. Will i really notice anything above this? Do i even need to be this fast? would 2666 be fine? What brands do people trust the most?

Graphics Card

So i'm looking for a Nvidia GTX 980 ti.
I see a ton of different brands with GTX 980 ti on the end, so i'm not really sure what would be best. I was looking at the titan X and Z, but almost everywhere i'm looking is saying the ti is just as good if not better in some area's.... and it is almost half the price (700 instead of 1000 to 1500)

So what brand, or what should i look for to get the best 980 ti?

Power Supply/Case

I'm guessing i should look at something around 1000W's? I really have no clue, but figured if i ever wanted to duel 980ti's i would need the power for it. Does brands matter much in this? Power is power? No fucking clue myself. Do i need to pick my power supply based around my tower? How do people know what will fit and what won't? I figured i would go with a coolmaster considering their size would allow me to put anything inside? Does it even matter? I don't really care about look, just something to put things in, with a few 3.0 usb ports where i need them.

Do i need to buy extra cords (SATA, etc) or does it come with the power supply/case/motherboard?

Thermal Compound/ Cooling

I don't plan on overclocking just yet, so do i need anything beyond some good fans? Do i need to buy a fan for the CPU or do they come with them? Is there a thermal compound that is better than others? Does the case come with all the fans i need, or do i need to buy extra?


Hard drives

I figured i would go with a small 128 gig SSD for the OS

512 gig SSD for games

3TB+ HDD for storage.

Which brands do people like the most? Should i bother getting two 128 gig SSD's for the OS and RAID 0 them? Will i even notice?

I think that is everything i would need, or am i missing something? Any help or advice is welcome. I'm not worried about price, but any deals are welcome.

[Kalmado]

stuff

First thing I would ask is do you have a budget that you must work within? And do you you live near a Micro Center or Frys? After those are answered I'll break it down the best I can. Others can chime in if I misstep or better information is available.

cpu/mb: If building from the ground up and you do not already have Haswell for a desktop cpu, Skylake is fine.

Cooler: If not overclocking then go with a Cooler Master Hyper 212 +/Evo. Best performance to cost period.

Memory: After watching a few benchmark videos regarding higher speed (plus higher CAS) ram, I would go with what's most affordable. Regarding DDR4 I'm not the best to talk on the subject.


Storage: At least a 240gb SSD as prices have fallen so dramatically it's very affordable. For HDD and 3+ TB look to Toshiba, WD, and HGST. Seagate's failure rate is high. Consulte here: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/best-hard-drive/

gpu: Nvidia offers the best single gpu option available in the 980ti. Rumors about Pascal is that it will crush current offerings. If dead set on getting what's out now I would pick a 980ti by MSI or Gigabyte. Because Fuck Asus. Fuck them in their stupid asses. And yes I have their reasons and it's terrible customer service.

psu: Ante/EVGA B2.P2.G2.GS/Seasonic/XFX - That's all you need to know. Corsair is overpriced and the CX line is garbage. There are a few other contenders but it's case by case. XFX probably offers the best price to performance.

case: Up to you. I recently purchased a Phanteks Enthoo Pro full tower and it's very nice for retail of $100. Others can be had for as low as $30 after rebate. It's all personal preference.

thermal compound: Recent studies have shown Arctic Silver 5 takes 200 hours to cure so I would probably pass on that. Something like Arctic MX2/4 will do nicely as well as Noctua NT-H1.

I hope this helps!

[Zetanio]

Ok, my friend asked me to help him find the best gaming rig he can build for under $2,000

Here's my current idea.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KPRWAX8/...I0RHFV6D&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UN7AWIK/...I1JAVY1MGDUBCS

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MTSWFMM/...3A7TUTGM&psc=1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814487142

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-051-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-373-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119297


Seems to be about 1600 bucks or so. Looking for input.

[Kalmado]

Comcast just shit the bed again. I'll reply once my net is up.


Sent from my XT1526 using Tapatalk

[Enkidu]

Ok, my friend asked me to help him find the best gaming rig he can build for under $2,000

Here's my current idea.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KPRWAX8/...I0RHFV6D&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UN7AWIK/...I1JAVY1MGDUBCS

Stopped right there. That's a LGA1150 cpu and a LGA2011 mobo. Use pcpartpicker, it wont let you do that.

[Zetanio]

Stopped right there. That's a LGA1150 cpu and a LGA2011 mobo. Use pcpartpicker, it wont let you do that.

Oh sorry. I didn't check. My b

[Zetanio]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gQYFjX