|
When using this resource, please read the opening post. The Tech Support forum regulars have helped create countless of desktop systems without any compensation. The least you can do is provide all of the information required for them to help you properly. |
On January 21 2014 18:32 CerpinTaxt wrote:+ Show Spoiler +What is your budget?$1200-$1300 ($1500 is my dead stop top end line, but would like to stay a little lower) What is your monitor's native resolution?1920×1080 (two monitors, both the same resolution) What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings?Wildstar, SC2, anything else that comes out new - max settings. What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming?Small amounts of video editing, streaming myself, frapsing, watching multiple HD streams. Do you intend to overclock?Yes. Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire?No. Do you need an operating system?No. (windows 7 copy owned) Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget?Do not need any peripherals. My budget ignores all monitors/mice/keyboards etc. If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify.What I Have: RAM - 8gb (68$) What I Need: CPU - Thinking I7-4770k GPU - 760 2gb? PSupply - Modular or semi-modular is a must. Open to suggestions. MoBo - This along with the case is where I need some help. My knowledge is pretty limited on Mother boards, basically I know I need one that my 1150 intel CPU fits into, I can OC with, and aside from that, it must fit into the case; where another problem arises. Case - I've read my GPU of choice is pretty big, and really want to make sure I don't fuck up case size so Mother board and all components fit. Also really like to save money on a case (don't want to spend more then 100$). As long as everything fits, and there is good cooling, I'm fine with that. Optical - Standard nice cheaper optical. SSD/HDD - Thinking i Only need a 120gb SSD, maybe more if budget allows. Already have a 1 tb exteral for storage (Videos/Music/ETC) so probably just a 1tb internal should be fine. What country will you be buying your parts in?USA If you have any retailer preferences, please specify.Microcenter nearby (which I think I can get CPU of choice and such for ~40 bucks cheaper then online. Newegg otherwise.
Most GTX 760 are around 10" in length and most modern cases around $70 price point will have clearance for up to ~15" so clearance will not be an issue as long as you don't pick a $30 case or one of Antec's old cases. Fractal Design Define R4 and Arc Midi R2 are popular choices.
For power supplies, XFX XTR 550 is an excellent choice at $90 if you want fully modular: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207032 If you don't mind semi-modular than there's the Rosewill Capstone 450-M for $70: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182261
Microcenter has motherboard discounts if you purchase an unlocked processor with them. An Asrock Z87 Extreme4 is around $120 while Gigabyte Z87X UD4H is around $140 with them.
You'll need a heatsink too if you want to overclock.
Budget easily allows for a ~250GB SSD.
|
Thx Cyro ! You were very helpfull as always. I'm gonna go with 290X tri-X. I have the money for it now. And with that kind of computer i don't think i'll buy a new one before a LOT of years :p
Thank you !
|
On January 21 2014 19:12 skyR wrote:Show nested quote +On January 21 2014 18:32 CerpinTaxt wrote:+ Show Spoiler +What is your budget?$1200-$1300 ($1500 is my dead stop top end line, but would like to stay a little lower) What is your monitor's native resolution?1920×1080 (two monitors, both the same resolution) What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings?Wildstar, SC2, anything else that comes out new - max settings. What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming?Small amounts of video editing, streaming myself, frapsing, watching multiple HD streams. Do you intend to overclock?Yes. Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire?No. Do you need an operating system?No. (windows 7 copy owned) Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget?Do not need any peripherals. My budget ignores all monitors/mice/keyboards etc. If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify.What I Have: RAM - 8gb (68$) What I Need: CPU - Thinking I7-4770k GPU - 760 2gb? PSupply - Modular or semi-modular is a must. Open to suggestions. MoBo - This along with the case is where I need some help. My knowledge is pretty limited on Mother boards, basically I know I need one that my 1150 intel CPU fits into, I can OC with, and aside from that, it must fit into the case; where another problem arises. Case - I've read my GPU of choice is pretty big, and really want to make sure I don't fuck up case size so Mother board and all components fit. Also really like to save money on a case (don't want to spend more then 100$). As long as everything fits, and there is good cooling, I'm fine with that. Optical - Standard nice cheaper optical. SSD/HDD - Thinking i Only need a 120gb SSD, maybe more if budget allows. Already have a 1 tb exteral for storage (Videos/Music/ETC) so probably just a 1tb internal should be fine. What country will you be buying your parts in?USA If you have any retailer preferences, please specify.Microcenter nearby (which I think I can get CPU of choice and such for ~40 bucks cheaper then online. Newegg otherwise. Most GTX 760 are around 10" in length and most modern cases around $70 price point will have clearance for up to ~15" so clearance will not be an issue as long as you don't pick a $30 case or one of Antec's old cases. Fractal Design Define R4 and Arc Midi R2 are popular choices. For power supplies, XFX XTR 550 is an excellent choice at $90 if you want fully modular: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207032 If you don't mind semi-modular than there's the Rosewill Capstone 450-M for $70: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182261Microcenter has motherboard discounts if you purchase an unlocked processor with them. An Asrock Z87 Extreme4 is around $120 while Gigabyte Z87X UD4H is around $140 with them. You'll need a heatsink too if you want to overclock. Budget easily allows for a ~250GB SSD.
What does an "unlocked processor" mean? ><
Any suggestions for a good bundle?
|
You'll see what's an unlocked CPU by that "k" at the end of its name. It means you will be able to change its speed upwards however you like. Intel usually locks that setting on all of their CPUs.
|
On January 21 2014 02:50 skyR wrote:+ Show Spoiler +On January 20 2014 19:36 cooked wrote:+ Show Spoiler +Amazing OP  I'm looking to build primarily for CSGO and its notoriously CPU-hungry ways, hopefully some of the experts in the thread will be familiar with it. My main question is, will a non-overclocked CPU with a sub-$200 video card be sufficient to obtain a consistent 150-200 fps in a 10-15 man server on a moderately-sized map? Here's my request info: + Show Spoiler +What is your budget? $900
What is your monitor's native resolution? 1680x1050
What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings? Primarily Dota2 (native res, ~100fps on all low-to-medium settings) & CSGO (1024x768 non-stretched, 150-200fps on all low-to-medium settings), some WoW (native res, ~100fps medium-to-high settings in 20-25 player environments if possible)
What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming? Some occasional video (720p) encoding
Do you intend to overclock? No
Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire? No
Do you need an operating system? No
Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget? No and no
If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify. Prefer to stick with Intel and Nvidia
What country will you be buying your parts in? US
If you have any retailer preferences, please specify. None Here's what I have so far: ($642) CPU: i5-4570 ($160, Microcenter) - I would go with the $220 4670 if it wasn't for the $60 price difference from Microcenter MB: MSI B85 mATX ($68, Amazon) or ATX ($85, Amazon) - is there a reason to not get micro-ATX? GPU: MSI GTX 650 Ti ($135, Amazon) or GTX 660 ($190, Amazon) - is there any need for the 660 for my games? SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB ($89, Amazon) RAM: Kingston 8GB 1600 ($70, Newegg) PSU: Rosewill Capstone 450W Modular ($60, Newegg) Case: Corsair Carbide 200R ($60, Newegg) For what it's worth. A 2500k with GTX 460 will get you about 100 FPS on high / max settings @ 1080p and a 2500k with a GT 610 will get you about 40 FPS on low settings @ 1366x768. So yes a GTX 650 Ti is ridiculous for low settings at a low resolution. Source engine is extremely CPU dependent fyi and WoW is as well.
Had to leave the thread for a few days, but thanks for the advice, Sky, as well as Cyro for the advice on lightboost/monitors. Very glad to hear that a 4570 should be enough for csgo.
|
On January 21 2014 05:55 Myrmidon wrote:
What's the CPU cooler and graphics card model? In plenty of setups the side panel slot may be better as intake.
ah sorry for late reply
stock intel cooler in 4670 and a sapphire dual-x 7970. one of the reasons i'm careful about spending money on case fans is that they're probably going to cost as much as a decent entry-level CPU cooler.
one reason I want case fans rather than an aftermarket heatsink is that i care about cooling the GPU (which will hit 75°C in longish gaming sessions, at STOCK clocks: 1000 MHz core clock) more than i do about the CPU, which doesn't work as much as the GPU. i figure that good airflow in the case is more useful overall. note that my case only has a single 120mm Silent Series R2 fan atm (1200 rpm). i've heard they're very quiet fans but don't move much air.
edit: maybe this http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B007RESG7G/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers
€25 for two fans. if both go to intake i should be all right (i'll mod the case). sound good or wat?
|
Your case was a Core 1000, right? What about putting a 120mm intake fan into the side panel and keeping the rear spot empty, banking on positive pressure pushing air out in the back? I don't know if it would work, but it might. You could also remove the two expansion card slot cover thingies next to your graphics card to have air to leave the case better in the back.
EDIT: Those AF120 are not good generally. They create no pressure, so their air flow number is worthless if there is anything in the way like grating or a dust filter.
EDIT2: I might be wrong because this test found them to be alright: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1342-page9.html
|
I think the back 92 mm exhaust might be more important. Anyway, a two-pack doesn't make sense because it's not like the stock fan is all that much worse than whatever you could get it... unless you plan on moving that to the side after you've been through the effort of modding another intake for that extra degree or two.
Rather than add an intake fan that's kind of far away and above the area of the graphics card anyway, try removing the bottom two slot covers. Actually, if you add intake fans and especially if you don't add the exhaust, making the back less restrictive would be even more important.
But 75C isn't much anyway. Were you wanting a greater margin so you could overclock? Unless you're going for a higher clock, you could probably undervolt the thing to get lower temperatures.
edit: it seems like maybe the P-Q curve on the AF fans isn''t that bad, so without fairly heavy obstructions they should be comparable or better than SP (nobody's operating fans on the 100%-obstructed part of the curve where static pressure is measured). There's not all that much grating or similar in the front of the Core 1000, and there's not really a drive cage on the inside either.
|
Here's something I've seen someone do, which you could maybe copy to not have to mod your case in any way:
+ Show Spoiler +
If the picture is unclear, that fan is just tied up below the drive cage. You also might be able to do the same in your case.
|
Guys, thanks for the tips! Great resource thread =]
|
United Kingdom20345 Posts
On January 21 2014 19:56 FFW_Rude wrote:
Thx Cyro ! You were very helpfull as always. I'm gonna go with 290X tri-X. I have the money for it now. And with that kind of computer i don't think i'll buy a new one before a LOT of years :p
Thank you !
Thanks for the thanks, but you're spending like 150 euro on about ~3-4% performance if you get 290x tri-x instead of regular 290 tri-x. There's better ways to return way more performance if you want to up budget by that much.
The performance difference at stock/reference is inflated because the 290 is artificially underclocked. If you manually set clocks with tri-x cooling, from what i know it's somewhat easy to hit 1150mhz or so and then both 290 and 290x seem to wall around low 1.2k's (though it's achievable with regularity)
290x is clocked 5.6% higher at stock, but oc vs oc it loses that advantage - which makes up for the majority of the performance difference between 290 and 290x.
An OCN member tested this, it's literally ~2.5-4% performance difference across a range of games and benchmarks with them at same clocks (which they should be unless you stay on factory settings)
|
@Ropid/Myrmidon:
This is how I plan it overall: http://imgur.com/Mw5dbbD
All the heat produced by the GPU and CPU is shown in orange. So that's the air that needs to circulate the most. The pink rectangle shows where the side fan is (roughly) located, I think that putting up an exhaust there would help the move the hot air in that area out of the case. The most important thing is getting hot air out and cool air in, right?
The yellow arrows show the air that the fans are going to blow over the heatsink to cool everything down, so the air around the yellow arrows should be as cool as possible (it's understandable why CPU heatsinks stick out from the motherboard, isn't it?). That's why I thought maybe instead of modding the case to have a second intake right above the original intake, I could instead put a second intake fan where the green arrow is. OR do what you showed me in that pic, Ropid, that looks quite clever. However it wouldn't bring much cool air to the GPU, I think.
Btw Ropid, instead of the AF120, what might have you recommended (before doing your google search)?
And yeah, I read that good airflow is pretty much the only way (along with low ambient temperature) to lower temps on a GPU. 75°C is what I would consider a target temperature for an overclocked card and it's already hitting that temp at stock clocks. Though I could indeed undervolt it, I would rather add voltage actually to get to a higher overclock. It's currently at a pretty meek 1.2V.
Those extra MHz make a noticeable difference, also I don't like the idea of using a card underneath what it can do. :p :p Hence all these questions from me. it's a fun learning experience too
|
Side panel fans are hard to determine because they really depend a lot on the coolers and other fan speeds and such when dealing with open-air graphics cards (unlike the one in the picture, which threw me off for a sec).
I'd just add the 92 mm back exhaust, remove the lower two slot covers beneath the graphics card, and see what's changed before figuring out if anything else should be added.
After a certain point, you're looking at very diminishing returns on case airflow. May as well have just gotten a better stock cooler in the first place or go with an aftermarket graphics cooler.
|
Hmm, that makes sense. it's a good compromise between not wasting money and trying to optimize cooling. i like it, thanks for the advice.
|
United Kingdom20345 Posts
|
On January 21 2014 18:32 CerpinTaxt wrote:What is your budget?$1200-$1300 ($1500 is my dead stop top end line, but would like to stay a little lower) + Show Spoiler +What is your monitor's native resolution?1920×1080 (two monitors, both the same resolution) What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings?Wildstar, SC2, anything else that comes out new - max settings. What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming?Small amounts of video editing, streaming myself, frapsing, watching multiple HD streams. Do you intend to overclock?Yes. Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire?No. Do you need an operating system?No. (windows 7 copy owned) Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget?Do not need any peripherals. My budget ignores all monitors/mice/keyboards etc. If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify.What I Have: RAM - 8gb (68$) What I Need: CPU - Thinking I7-4770k GPU - 760 2gb? PSupply - Modular or semi-modular is a must. Open to suggestions. MoBo - This along with the case is where I need some help. My knowledge is pretty limited on Mother boards, basically I know I need one that my 1150 intel CPU fits into, I can OC with, and aside from that, it must fit into the case; where another problem arises. Case - I've read my GPU of choice is pretty big, and really want to make sure I don't fuck up case size so Mother board and all components fit. Also really like to save money on a case (don't want to spend more then 100$). As long as everything fits, and there is good cooling, I'm fine with that. Optical - Standard nice cheaper optical. SSD/HDD - Thinking i Only need a 120gb SSD, maybe more if budget allows. Already have a 1 tb exteral for storage (Videos/Music/ETC) so probably just a 1tb internal should be fine. What country will you be buying your parts in?USA If you have any retailer preferences, please specify.Microcenter nearby (which I think I can get CPU of choice and such for ~40 bucks cheaper then online. Newegg otherwise.
An i7 generally isn't very useful for gaming. It offers hyperthreading over an i5, which... generally isn't very useful for gaming. Modular PSU also seems a little silly, but that's just me. Here's my advice:
CPU & Mobo: i5-4670k & Asrock z87 Extreme 4 ($315 + sales tax)
@Microcenter
Edit: with streaming, wouldn't be a terrible idea to bump up the $80ish to the i7 either, I suppose.
CPU cooler: Thermalright Macho HR-02 ($50)
http://www.amazon.com/Thermalright-Macho-Support-Socket-Driver/dp/B009MS326U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390347663&sr=8-1&keywords=hr-02 macho
GPU: Sapphire R9 280x ($350)
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=91074&vpn=11221-00-20G&manufacture=SAPPHIRE&promoid=1233
With your budget you can pretty easily afford one of the big boys. Yes, a Sapphire r9 270x ($215 @us.ncix.com) or something like that would do you just fine, especially at 1920x1080. So drop down to something like that if you want to save money. Stay with this if dropping below 60fps bugs you in AAA titles or if you plan on upgrading to a bigger monitor at some point in the future
RAM you have.
Case: Nanoxia DS2 ($102)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811281002
performance + low noise. You can save $30 or so and go with a Corsair 330R from us.ncix.com, but the 330R just isn't quite as nice & you have a sizeable budget. I suppose the 330R would fit your instructions better though...
PSU: See SkyR, above (budgeting $90 for flex room)
DVD-burner. (<$20)
I'll let you handle this one
SSD: Crucial m500 240gb ($156)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148694
HDD: Seagate 1TB ($60)
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=65701&vpn=ST1000DM003&manufacture=Seagate&promoid=1217
Total: ~$1145
|
United Kingdom20345 Posts
I'd consider crossfire 270 at same price as 280x
pro: more gpu power by a sizable margin
con: xfire
|
I'm looking to either use Green Led strips or use Green fans to light up my case. I thought of doing UV but it is too hard to find.
I have a Switch 810 so I would need a large amount of LED strips to cover the case.
Has anyone used the Gelid wing Green 120mm fans?
|
On January 22 2014 10:02 Cyro wrote:
I'd consider crossfire 270 at same price as 280x
pro: more gpu power by a sizable margin
con: xfire
It's also not the same price.
|
On January 22 2014 10:41 MisterFred wrote:Show nested quote +On January 22 2014 10:02 Cyro wrote:
I'd consider crossfire 270 at same price as 280x
pro: more gpu power by a sizable margin
con: xfire It's also not the same price.
280X costs over $400 2x 270 costs what $380?
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/cV6aqys.png)
