PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[Senji]

Honestly just want to get back into gaming on pc again. Not looking for anything too fancy or expensive. Is this decent enough?

On a lot of boards, combined with larger tower cpu coolers; those giant ram heat spreaders will hit. They don't even do anything on modern ram anyways.

Get a cheap/on sale SSD and never look back.

[Mrbeansman]

Don't get me wrong the Gameworks shit is fucking rage inducing. Three times this year I've had a game run like shit simply by virtue of having an AMD card. And I'm not gonna keep getting shit on in the name of the moral high ground.


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[Kalmado]

Don't get me wrong the Gameworks shit is fucking rage inducing. Three times this year I've had a game run like shit simply by virtue of having an AMD card. And I'm not gonna keep getting shit on in the name of the moral high ground.


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Was gonna say don't know why you would go AMD after the events of this year.


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So again, what did AMD do during the events of this year?

[Darus Grey]

I'd argue that AMD cards are strictly superior in terms of architecture.

Nvidia has always been better at marketing and lock-in, outside gaming I have a lot of experience with using GPUs for scientific computing and it's insane. Nvidia is constantly sending reps to my school to convince faculty to buy into their CUDA platform.

Despite my objections my department bought like 50k worth of their GPUS targeted at Scientific Computing for our super computing cluster(The Tesla line).The department is software experts mostly, not hardware experts, so they truly didn't understand the difference in parallel architectures between the platforms.

Their 5 Tesla cluster performs worse than a single 5870 at the same tasks. In the same vein that Nvidia cards have always been terrible at mining bitcoins, for the same reason AMD's architecture is an order of magnitude better at most scientific computing tasks, and destroys DX12 benchmarks.

But, we bought into Tesla cause Nvidia's marketing and lock-in via CUDA, blargh.

That said, I just got a 980ti because for single card GAMING performance, you can't argue it's not superior(not price-wise, but best single card performance cause SLI/Crossfire both suck).

Which makes me sad, cause I know DX12 is going to make me completely regret it, hopefully I'll just be able to upgrade by the time DX12 games are becoming mainstream. Nvidia's performance penalty here is due to a significant philosophical difference in architecture basically in the same way that intel's differs from AMDs on the CPU front. AMD cards/CPUs have many weaker cores working towards an end-result where both intel and Nvidia take a more lower count stronger core approach.

When I teach these architectures to students I basically use an analogy of shovels and ants. You can move a lot of earth with a shovel compared to a single ant, and you can have multiple people with shovels, but each person requires room to work around each other.
However thousands of ants can move more earth, because not only can each ant move small bits of earth, but they make more efficient use of the total surface area due to being smaller.

AMD's big mistake on both the CPU and GPU front have been emphasizing the Ant strategy too early, like the recent FX architecture is amazing at parallel tasks but still loses on many parallel tasks to intel because frankly it doesn't have enough Ants. On the GPU front though the strategy was always superior in every front except gaming due to historical reasons in game engine architecture. That's why they built mantle, to show that with proper software support their approach is clearly superior.

Anyways, got off-track. Mostly upset I bought a 980ti knowing what I know.

[DrClout]

Lol, thanks for the early morning lecture.

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[Purrrfect]

I would have been happy with my 290x if amd's drivers didn't fuck up my resolution and desktop and lose displayport connection every time my monitor went to sleep, but the 970 has no issues there...

[Kalmado]

I would have been happy with my 290x if amd's drivers didn't fuck up my resolution and desktop and lose displayport connection every time my monitor went to sleep, but the 970 has no issues there...

I'll take that 290x off your hands. I can offer $150 and two dozen home made cookies. Can have the wife whip up some dinner to ship as well. PM ME!!!

[Gryffes]

I would have been happy with my 290x if amd's drivers didn't fuck up my resolution and desktop and lose displayport connection every time my monitor went to sleep, but the 970 has no issues there...

I had way less problems with hydravision for spanning monitors for triple setups, than I do using nvidia control panel.
It's frustrating as shit.

[Obiron]

I haven't looked at budget PCs (or any new builds for that matter) in the last 4+ years. My brother's PC is ancient and I told him I would be willing build a new PC for him. I'm trying to stay around $400, but he's a bit flexible if it takes more than that. He doesn't do any gaming, this will mostly be for internet browsing, and a couple programs he uses for cooking, beer brewing, etc. I think I have a Windows 7 key floating around that I can upgrade to 10. And no Microcenter nearby unfortunately.

Here's what I threw together in just a few minutes on newegg. I haven't started researching the parts yet, I figured I'd start here to see if anyone has any recommended modifications to this build.

Spoiler: show

[Kalmado]

I haven't looked at budget PCs (or any new builds for that matter) in the last 4+ years. My brother's PC is ancient and I told him I would be willing build a new PC for him. I'm trying to stay around $400, but he's a bit flexible if it takes more than that. He doesn't do any gaming, this will mostly be for internet browsing, and a couple programs he uses for cooking, beer brewing, etc. I think I have a Windows 7 key floating around that I can upgrade to 10. And no Microcenter nearby unfortunately.

Here's what I threw together in just a few minutes on newegg. I haven't started researching the parts yet, I figured I'd start here to see if anyone has any recommended modifications to this build.

Spoiler: show

If they do not game at all then getting the I3 is somewhat a waste of money as really just having a very strong single threaded processor will do. Below is what I would use even if it's adding a gpu that they may not need. If so, minus the cost and you're almost $300 even with adding a 1tb hdd. The Pentium G3258 is very easy to overclock and will save some good money. Case and psu is really only for price point. Even though you do not need a high watt psu, I would wait until Newegg has the XFX TS 550w psu for $27 after rebate and get that. It's usually once a month. I really dislike the CX series even when only used in a basic machine. I'd just spend an extra $7 for a Seasonic OEM psu.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($65.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-HD2 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($30.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Team Ultra L5 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.50 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($106.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Azza Cosmas ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $411.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-10 21:11 EST-0500

[Obiron]

Any thoughts on how the Pentium does with onboard graphics? You cut down on the CPU, but then add the GPU, and together that cost is more than the i3. Just curious for a non gamer what benefit that would provide, and if the Pentium would do graphics well while still having decent processing power for normal usage if I left out the GPU.

I'm also hesitant on the case just because I like the USB 3.0 ports on front in case he gets an external drive or anything that would benefit from that. I'll take a look at your other recommendations though, I think they would give some good savings.

[Kalmado]

Any thoughts on how the Pentium does with onboard graphics? You cut down on the CPU, but then add the GPU, and together that cost is more than the i3. Just curious for a non gamer what benefit that would provide, and if the Pentium would do graphics well while still having decent processing power for normal usage if I left out the GPU.

I'm also hesitant on the case just because I like the USB 3.0 ports on front in case he gets an external drive or anything that would benefit from that. I'll take a look at your other recommendations though, I think they would give some good savings.

As I said about the case, it's strictly for price point. If front usb 3.0 is a must there are still tons of options under $40 for cases. As far as the Pentium I'm unsure of on board graphics as I've always used them in budget gaming builds. It's a fantastic cpu for little cost. Having a dedicated graphics card is always preferred over on board for overall quality. Also this allows more ease when using a multi monitor setup or has everything for a future monitor upgrade(s). If your brother does literally zero gaming and really does not care, you could pick up a basic gpu with hdmi and dvi. I personally have a AMD Radeon 6450 1gb in my HTPC and it's been great for movies and streaming. I actually should sell that because I rarely use it...

Updated list with a front panel usb 3.0 and cheap gpu (fanless to cut on noise) that has hdmi, dvi, and vga.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($65.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-HD2 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($30.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Team Ultra L5 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.50 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GT 610 2GB Video Card ($37.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H21 Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $320.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-10 21:42 EST-0500

[Kalmado]

Can also get the Pentium G3258 for about $56 using promo code 20now on a new account from Jet.com.
https://jet.com/product/Intel-Corp-P...5bbb2ec72b33b2

[Obiron]

Thanks again. I'll make sure his kids don't do any gaming on his PC, but they have their own so I really think it is zero gaming. I'd be ok with a cheaper GPU like you mentioned though.

Looks like I'll need to bump up the motherboard as well, the H81 looks like it doesn't have a USB 3 header. I want to make sure the SSD is good quality too, so I might stick with the Samsung anyway. I'm not familiar with Team Ultra.

I think I'll start with this list and start researching the parts in case there are any changes I want to make.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($71.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($77.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.50 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GT 610 2GB Video Card ($37.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H21 Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $367.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-10 22:08 EST-0500

I'll have to get my brother to do the jet.com order so I can save the discount for myself when I do my next build.

[Kalmado]

The thing with ordering from Jet is you can create as many new accounts and keep getting the discount. You just need to use a different card for payment. Really nice way to save some good money.

[Deadgye]

I'd argue that AMD cards are strictly superior in terms of architecture.

I've been inclined to believe this as well. And the more I learn about related material, the more I'm inclined so. Although in the recent years it seems like either nVidia has become better optimized in regards to power when pushing the envelope, or AMD has gotten worse at it. The difference between pure throughput and gaming performance leads me to believe that nVidia either has better instruction sets or better compilation. It's all about getting stuff to be as parallel as possible, especially when dealing with symmetric cores. Graphics screams parallel after all, SIMD being a perfect example.

For CPUs though, it's evident how much a lack of parallel is present. 'More smaller symmetric cores' don't really show their strength. Honestly I wish we would start seeing CPUs with asymmetric cores and specialized cores, or an FPGA as an accelerator in the place of one core per chip.

[Senji]

The Intel integrated graphics were the equivalent of those passive cooler gpus last I checked.

Team stuff is good. They, along with gskill, are my first choices for ram.

Those Hitachi Deskstars are high end, quality, expensive hard drives. Those ones that are being listed on Amazon are refurbs/straight up used, with reports of high hours. They are being sold by fly by night third party sellers, so they have essentially no warranty. They will have moved on to the next store front name if their is an issue, so it's your dice to roll if they will last five months or five years.

[Kalmado]

Good post about the Hitachi I linked Senji. I always forget when linking them from pcpartpicker that it's the refurb and not the retail or oem. With that being said it's still reasonable to get a 1tb for $40 ish. My first choice would be Hitachi/HGST, then WD/Toshiba, and lastly Seagate.

[Darus Grey]

Good post about the Hitachi I linked Senji. I always forget when linking them from pcpartpicker that it's the refurb and not the retail or oem. With that being said it's still reasonable to get a 1tb for $40 ish. My first choice would be Hitachi/HGST, then WD/Toshiba, and lastly write everything down on paper

Honestly I would never recommend seagate in any circumstance, no matter how cheap, discounted, anything, they're not even on the list of choices. Seagate's failure rate is two-three orders of magnitude higher than HGST/WD...(15%~ as opposed to less than 1%), I would just never trust them ever.

[DrClout]

I'm in the good 1/3. My Seagate hybrid 2TB drive has been on point for 4 years running.

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