PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[Reality]

WAY OVERPRICED HOLY SHIT, just get a reference card and overclock it! both my reference non-ghz edition cards can run 1250/1800 on their own

[Oreth]

I'm not that familiar with doing that.. is it easy enough? Iv just used the overclock feature in the catalyst control centre ..

I guess u have to use msi afterburner etc? How are your temps?

[Reality]

yes msi afterburner. you can run the simple catalyst overclocking and hit the max 1175/1575 (or whatever it maxes at) with ease without worrying about overheating

mine are watercooled so it isn't an accurate comparison but on air they hit 1200/1650 stable, and these are just reference design cards, one asus and one msi

[Kuishen]

Alright so just gonna go ahead and replace my Mobo, CPU and PSU. I've got $350 to spend on this. I'm not expecting top of the line shit but would obviously like it to be better than my current gear. My PSU is a piece of shit RAIDMAX so pretty much anything will be better than that, am thinking of going Corsair for that.

What I really need help with is finding a good mobo with a wireless card. I prefer AMD CPUs but am not decided on that yet. The problem is actually finding a mobo with a wireless card on it. I don't know if I'm blind or what but finding them on newegg and amazon just isn't happening.

Any suggestions for a good Mobo/CPU combo that'll fit within my budget? Preferrably with the mobo having a wireless card. I was told ones with onboard wireless cards are best, if they aren't then by all means alternatives are great, because with my current mobo I'm using a piece of shit cisco wireless usb receiver.

My current gear is

Mobo: ASUS M4A89GTD Pro
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 3.5Ghz 8.0mb Cache

EDIT: Rest of it for clarity

2x 4gb RAM DDR3 1333
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460
Windows 7 64 bit

[Jojimbo]

Is your current MB/CPU damaged in any way? Depending on what you want to do with the PC a GPU upgrade would be more beneficial, wifi can just be sorted with a usb or pci adapter (only high end MBs have WiFi cards in them afaik).

If you are using it as a gaming PC then this modular OCZ PSU and this Sapphire HD 7950 would work. There are alternatives to the PSU but within the price range (after MIR) you'll only be getting non-modular until you spend $80+

[Cadsuane]

So I built my first PC. Asked around on another forum for some advice and it only occurred to me now to ask here... bit late to change things but I thought I'd see what you guys think of it.

Spoiler: show

List of parts:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
CPU: Intel core i5 3770k (ivy bridge)
GPU: Nvidia GTX670
SSD: Intel 330 series 180GB
PSU: Corsair HX650W
Case: Corsair 600t
OS: Windows 8 OEM
RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 (2x 8GB)

Plus a DVD drive and a couple of conventional HDDs salvaged from a previous tower, and the four fans mounted on the side mesh. I think I spent about 1100 on it total, and at some point I'd like to upgrade the CPU cooler and maybe slide a second GPU in there. What would you guys have done differently?

[Jojimbo]

Looks fine, no aftermarket cooler though? Stock seems out of place given every other component.

[Cadsuane]

Next item on the list for sure. There is so much air being blasted into this case though that temps have never risen above 60C on any component, and that only happened to the GPU with furmark doing a burn in. I haven't dipped my feet into overclocking yet though.

[Kuishen]

Is your current MB/CPU damaged in any way? Depending on what you want to do with the PC a GPU upgrade would be more beneficial, wifi can just be sorted with a usb or pci adapter (only high end MBs have WiFi cards in them afaik).

If you are using it as a gaming PC then this modular OCZ PSU and this Sapphire HD 7950 would work. There are alternatives to the PSU but within the price range (after MIR) you'll only be getting non-modular until you spend $80+

One of them is damaged and I've been diagnosing it over the past month and a half. It's one of those 3 parts, and I may as well upgrade my PSU since it's a piece of crap, and if I'm getting another mobo I may as well get another cpu.

[Jojimbo]

$350 is actually quite hard to fit in a decent CPU/MB/PSU, you could try http://pcpartpicker.com/p/t3kx (Intel) or http://pcpartpicker.com/p/t3mh (AMD). I think the Intel would be faster and use less power, but depends on how far you OC (non-k CPUs are limited to 4 bins higher, so +400MHz unless you want to risk Bclk overclocking)

[hey]

I think the Intel would be faster and use less power, but depends on how far you OC (non-k CPUs are limited to 4 bins higher, so +400MHz unless you want to risk Bclk overclocking)

It actually depends on what you're using it for, really. The amd would be better for video encoding, or anything else that can use 6 threads, but otherwise even without an unlocked multiplier, intel is just way better.

[Jojimbo]

It actually depends on what you're using it for, really. The amd would be better for video encoding, or anything else that can use 6 threads, but otherwise even without an unlocked multiplier, intel is just way better.

The FX-8300 maybe, but the 6300 is barely on par with a 3570k (both at stock of course) and often behind it even in CPU intensive programs judging from various reviews.

[Kuishen]

$350 is actually quite hard to fit in a decent CPU/MB/PSU, you could try http://pcpartpicker.com/p/t3kx (Intel) or http://pcpartpicker.com/p/t3mh (AMD). I think the Intel would be faster and use less power, but depends on how far you OC (non-k CPUs are limited to 4 bins higher, so +400MHz unless you want to risk Bclk overclocking)

Thanks. I was actually looking at that AMD mobo before you posted. The only problem is my current RAM isn't compatible with it (via Asus website), so I would have to forego getting a CPU and get RAM instead, but would be able to get a nicer PSU. I hadn't checked to make sure my CPU is compatible yet but assuming it is, what would you suggest?

Getting that AMD mobo, foregoing a new cpu and getting RAM and a better PSU or go with that intel set (which does look fairly nice).

I don't fuck around with OCing and don't really plan to. I use my PC for Guild Wars 2 and various other gaming, majority of it is Steam/Older games with a few new ones mixed in like Dishonored; and my current setup can run those with high settings without OCing anything and get an acceptable framerate. Maybe in the future I would get into OCing but really I'm not that picky. As long as it runs smooth and looks fairly pretty I'm good.

[Jojimbo]

What RAM do you have atm? It could just be they haven't tested it yet, not that it 100% doesn't work. Without identifying the fault it is kinda hard to determine what to 'upgrade' though

[Kuishen]

What RAM do you have atm? It could just be they haven't tested it yet, not that it 100% doesn't work. Without identifying the fault it is kinda hard to determine what to 'upgrade' though

Kingston KHX1333C9D3B1K2/8G 2x 4G

[hey]

That ram is compatible with every motherboard you would ever even consider buying.

[Kuishen]

I figured as much after looking around a bit after I posted that.

[Nitsuki]

A quick reply if someone can please, my gf wants to buy me an ssd for xmas, there's a 256gb samsung 840 for $189.99 right now at tiger direct. Opinions?

[Jojimbo]

First thought is that it's a pretty bad price. Decent budget SSD other than that I think.

[Nitsuki]

Well considering shipping charges and all, i have a tigerdirect 5 min away from where i live. I can just puck one up there w/ ease. $20 difference is hefty, but we'll see. But as far as quality, how good is it? This will be for my games. I'm picking up an intel 60gb ssd for windows 7.