PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[Boyiee]

Only thing that makes me not want to get an ssd is my laziness, lol. I just finished reinstalling windows on my old hard drives and my games over again, i just don't feel like going thru the process. Other than that, i may just do the ssd and just reinstall all the games again, thank god most of my stuff is on steam, so it's as easy as moving the folder pretty much.

It takes MAYBE 30minutes to reformat an SSD and put a fresh install of windows7 and all updates onto it. All games and shit, apps that don't need to be on it are all on HDD's and there is no reinstalling anything.

[Fairy-Killer]

What's the recommendation for a good sound card to get a bit of a performance boost? I know sound cards help out a bit. Also is OCZ a good brand for SSDs? seems to be featured a lot in pcpartpicker.com

Sounds cards... I'm not sure. OCZ had some of the fastest SSDs out there for a bit, but Intel (iirc) took the crown in the latest batch. That being said, OCZ seems to be a hit or miss on SSDs with their reliability being on the low end. I have absolutely no problem with my OCZ Vertex 3, but my Samsung 830 is almost on par with it in terms of theoretical speeds and actual speeds and appears to be more reliable among users. The speed isn't really that noticeable between the two, but if you can somehow grab either one for cheap (I got my 830 128 GB and Vertex 3 120 GB for $70 a piece), I'd say try it out.

[Isiolia]

What's the recommendation for a good sound card to get a bit of a performance boost? I know sound cards help out a bit. Also is OCZ a good brand for SSDs? seems to be featured a lot in pcpartpicker.com

The impact of a sound card on performance is no longer particularly relevant. More or less its one those things that didn't scale up as CPU power did, so any additional CPU load that integrated solutions incur is so small as to be irrelevant.

Additionally, Windows Vista (and on) utilize a different audio engine, which pretty much breaks EAX/etc. If developers do want to incorporate that kind of thing, they can, and there's enough CPU power in modern machines to do it without dedicated hardware.

More or less, you get a discrete card for audio quality, if integrated doesn't cut it for you (though it does for a good many people). ASUS's Xonar line is pretty solid if you do decide you want one.

OCZ has had some good SSDs (I own two by them), but I think the current market is a lot more about Crucial m4 and Samsung 830s. If you do look at OCZ, the Vertex series are performance, Agility more of a value product. Tom's is now doing an SSD roundup, so you can look at that for ideas on what to look for too.

[Caiyuo]

So in looking at RAM, is there much that separates different sticks and brands outside of timing and maybe heat spreaders if things like voltage and speed are matched up? I'm looking at 2 sets of Kingston ram from Staples in order to use some rewards money and coupons, and aside from the heat spreaders I don't see a difference between a set of valueRAM and HyperX.

HyperX: http://www.staples.com/Kingston-Hype...product_651485
valueRAM: http://www.staples.com/Kingston-Valu...product_651490

With a 25 off 75 coupon the 16GB set's almost the same price, so it seemed worth getting the extra if there isn't any worthwhile difference. They carry Corsair, Patriot and a few other brands, too, if Kingston isn't reliable. I just don't know what else to look at regarding specs because they all seem identical outside of the higher-priced stuff with different timings and higher voltages.

[Jojimbo]

What CPU/MB are you using and what do you use the PC for? And I assume they have to be from staples, what's the total discount?

[Caiyuo]

This is all planning for a build so far. The 25 off would only apply to something over 75, otherwise I wouldn't be eyeballing the 16GB set. Anything below 75 has no discounts, but I can pay for all of it with rewards regardless. Because of that I'd be open to more expensive 8GB sets, I just didn't think the more expensive specs really made much of a difference. Use would be gaming, photoshop and potentially photo & video editing. I know 8GB is usually considered more than enough, but with the price 16 seemed worth considering.

I haven't picked out MB yet, but I know it'll be either an i3 or i5 build, I just haven't decided. I've been looking for 1.5v RAM and hadn't intended to overclock. I know a 4-stick set will lock me out of using a mATX board, so I'd make that decision prior to buying any of this.

[Jojimbo]

Well the best RAM you can pretty much get atm is this stuff which can OC to 2133~MHz at 1.5v with 10-10-10-28 timings, however with SB/IB memory speeds make minimal difference in FPS and everyday activities (and barely so in the more intensive tasks). Of course you have to be willing and able to OC the RAM to get it's full potential so don't think this applies here.

As you are going to be using photoshop and such then it may be worth investing in a 1600MHz CAS9 1.5v set of 16GB RAM, they are usually pretty cheap upgrade from 1333MHz. Unfortunately staples has a pretty shit choice for RAM and their prices (before all the discounts) aren't that amazing so there is no option other than to go with the 1333MHz value set as even with discounts this 16GB set is cheaper than the options on staples. As I said the difference is rather minimal in most tasks (2~5%) and may not make much of a difference at all depending on the budget of the rest of the build.

Overall budget? Does hadn't intended to OC apply to CPU/GPU as well?

[Treble]

I think I have pretty much everything hooked up right on my first build, except there are a few things that are bothering me..
The PSU I have (Corsair TX750 V2) has an EPS/ATX12V 4~8 pin hybrid plug, while my Asus P8Z77-V motherboard has an 8-socket connector. If the plug is "4-pin & 8-pin compatible" then I should be able to use this plug, right? Except the holes don't match the plugs.

Spoiler: show

The picture is an example of what it looks like in the booklet. Square-hexagon-hexagon-square top row, hexagon-square-square-hexagon bottom row.
This is what the plug should look like though:

Spoiler: show

http://www.wolfmanzbytes.com/pc/cors...caps7509lg.jpg

Except the plug I have (two joined 4-pins I'm guessing) hexagon-hexagon-hexagon-square top row, hexagon-hexagon-square-hexagon bottom row. Do these shapes matter that much? Both plugs fit into the sockets, I'm just worried that it would cause problems or that I got a bad PSU connector and possibly need to RMA.
The power cable also passes over my video card (GTX 680) and the rear heatsink of my cooler (Noctua DH-14). I can't make it reach the mobo socket any other way, but is that dangerous enough to be a concern?
Also, what does it mean in diagrams when sockets are whited out like in that first picture?

[Jojimbo]

What case do you have? If you can't route it around the back of the MB tray then there is normally a gap just between the PCI-E slot and the bracket at end of the GPU that you can fit cables through.

Got a camera to take a picture of the problem plug, tempted to say it won't matter though as long as it fits though.

[Caiyuo]

Well the best RAM you can pretty much get atm is this stuff which can OC to 2133~MHz at 1.5v with 10-10-10-28 timings, however with SB/IB memory speeds make minimal difference in FPS and everyday activities (and barely so in the more intensive tasks). Of course you have to be willing and able to OC the RAM to get it's full potential so don't think this applies here.

As you are going to be using photoshop and such then it may be worth investing in a 1600MHz CAS9 1.5v set of 16GB RAM, they are usually pretty cheap upgrade from 1333MHz. Unfortunately staples has a pretty shit choice for RAM and their prices (before all the discounts) aren't that amazing so there is no option other than to go with the 1333MHz value set as even with discounts this 16GB set is cheaper than the options on staples. As I said the difference is rather minimal in most tasks (2~5%) and may not make much of a difference at all depending on the budget of the rest of the build.

Overall budget? Does hadn't intended to OC apply to CPU/GPU as well?

Overall I was thinking about $600 (not including cost of RAM and SSD), and the aversion to overclocking is just with RAM as it seems like a pain in the ass, but I'm not completely against it. Totally open to OCing CPU, but know nothing about OCing GPUs. I can pickup RAM and an SSD at Staples with the rewards and write those things right out of the budget, which leaves me with a lot more to play with, hence wanting to find what I can with them. They have M4s and HyperX 3Ks so I think I'm okay there.

The only other upside to Staples, assuming they carry something worthwhile, is that they'll pricematch a few big vendors. They won't do Newegg, but they'll do Amazon and usually you can get Amazon to pricematch Newegg if it isn't a promotion with a code.

[Treble]

Sorry if they're low quality, can take higher quality pictures tomorrow if these aren't clear enough.
Connectors:

Spoiler: show

Top:

Spoiler: show

Bottom:

Spoiler: show

Also, my case is Corsair Carbide 500R black. It doesn't feel like the cable is long enough to slip through the holes to the back side and be able to reach the adapter at the top of the mobo.

[Jojimbo]

I did some googling and did find some pictures of split 4+4s with one half being all hex's like yours is so I'm inclined to say that it's ok. As for reach, is your PSU mounted fan up or fan down? If you mounted it fan down so the leads come out next to the MB tray you might be able to get enough slack to reach (if not you can get extensions for all types of PSU leads). EDIT:: nvm, looks like 500r doesn't have room at the top for EPS hole, best bet would be to use the hole between the GPU and MB so it looks neater and doesn't block as much airflow.

@Caiyuo: $600 limits a bit in terms of CPU and such unless you make sacrifices elsewhere, http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gXGr is i3 3220, HD 7850, 1TB HDD, ATX MB/Case. If you want an i5 you'll either have to spend the $150~ more for better CPU/MB/Cooler like this http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gXHV (although it is a large boost in CPU power, 3.2GHz 2 core + HT vs 4.4Ghz 4 core when OCed) or make cuts elsewhere, which is basically the HDD or GPU (as in no HDD or a GPU that is a bit weak for gaming)

[Treble]

Fan-down. I did a little wire rearranging and I can get it to reach, but I have to loop it through a hole without a gromit to get to that particular side of the mobo without touching the heatsink. I kinda wish I'd gotten a smaller cooler now, the noctua DH-14 is really monstrous.

Edit: Found this article that is relevant to my earlier post about the different ports fitting. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/247828-28-what-eps12v
The mobo has an 8-pin port but refers to it as using ATX power; isn't 8pin EPS? The diagram

Spoiler: show

has it as okay to just use 4 ports (if I'm assuming the 'whited out' mobo ports mean to ignore them), and there's nothing for the clip on the second group of 4 (with mismatched heads) to hold on to and it doesn't want to stay in when the first group is clipped in. Should I just use the first 4-pin like in the second option on the diagram? The ATX / EPS thing really confuses me.

Also, just as a potential warning/something to consider involving the Corsair Carbide 400r and 500r (maybe the 600T) cases, apparently the PSU screws don't all match up even if you're using a Corsair PSU. It might not be too big of an issue since the PSU is installed in the bottom of the case, but I was only able to fit two of the four screws; looking it up online, a bunch of people were only to fit 2~3 of the screws as well.

[Jojimbo]

I think the 4 pin on it's own is called ATX and the 8 pin is EPS (which is basically ATX + another one). With modern CPU's I believe you want to be using all 8 but I'm not sure as I've never really ran into this problem before, tempted to just buy one of these but that's extra money and time you shouldn't have to spend, annoying =/

Could send Corsair a e-mail, or ask on their forums for help, they'll probably be able to tell you if it's an actual fault or not.

[Adajer]

Newegg was having a 48-72 hr sale, that started Friday, with 15% off ram, certain cases, psus, and some other things. Also giving away a set of 8gb g.skill ares 1600 ram with the purchase of certain low end - mid range motherboards. If you are looking to build a pc in the near future. I strongly suggest you sign up to newegg's newletter.

[Nitsuki]

Thanks for letting me know about the sound card, pretty much convinces me that i can stick to my onboard audio and not blow money one a sound card. Once i start getting money tho, i will look into SSDs, now that i'm more into the knowhow of it, i'll be looking into a samsung or intel one. My worry really is reliability more than anything else, i've dealt w/ crashed HDDs in the past where i lost extremely important items, don't ever want to go thru it again. Sounds like reinstalling windows won't be a bad thing, and i can partition a second gaming portion of the drive for the games i mostly play.

[Caiyuo]

@Caiyuo: $600 limits a bit in terms of CPU and such unless you make sacrifices elsewhere, http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gXGr is i3 3220, HD 7850, 1TB HDD, ATX MB/Case. If you want an i5 you'll either have to spend the $150~ more for better CPU/MB/Cooler like this http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gXHV (although it is a large boost in CPU power, 3.2GHz 2 core + HT vs 4.4Ghz 4 core when OCed) or make cuts elsewhere, which is basically the HDD or GPU (as in no HDD or a GPU that is a bit weak for gaming)

Thanks! I appreciate the samples. I've been incredibly wishy-washy about picking parts through this entire process, hopefully will have a finished build to bounce off you guys soon.

[Don Katsu]

What is this build for exactly? You could do a bit better for the price if gaming. If you have no desire to OC then aftermarket cooler is a waste of money. That 660Ti is a bit expensive, you can get some for under $300, I would personally go with a different SSD. Can't comment on MB. 16GB RAM is only needed if you use RAM intensive programs, for general use/gaming 8GB is more than enough.



You could always just get an 7850 and if you run into a bottleneck upgrade the rest of the system. The CPU/MB is a bit outdated but should work, what would your budget be for a rebuild?

I was thinking of getting a 7850 and overclocking the Processor (Phenom 955). I don't know what a decent overclock would be though, I'm using the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo Cooler which is really good. If anything I think I could get a new MB/CPU and RAM. The power supply, HD, and case should be fine.

[Jojimbo]

I was thinking of getting a 7850 and overclocking the Processor (Phenom 955). I don't know what a decent overclock would be though, I'm using the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo Cooler which is really good. If anything I think I could get a new MB/CPU and RAM. The power supply, HD, and case should be fine.

Did some googling, looks like 3.8GHz might be a good place to aim for (3.4Ghz doable with no voltage tweaking), but I need to look at it more to sell if the cooler is up to the task

[RKenshin]

Might be a bit late, but BG was down earlier when I first saw the deal.

Awesome deal today on Amazon for SSD drives:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...Q34K34CR4K47WW

Crucial M4s, 256GB for $165 and 512GB for $350