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That being said, it does sound like Star Citizen is a beastly rig tester (GTX 460 bare minimum, jeeeeez)
A gtx460 is pretty bad nowadays. Isn't a 750 better in pretty much every way? And that's like.. bottom of the line entry level.
@above build: Don't get EVGA 970
I only put the EVGA in the build because it was the only 970 not sold out on newegg. I've also heard that the EVGA has issues. Point moe than anything is to put a 970 in the build.
I have a 460 in my rig atm and it still runs pretty much everything I throw at it. It's not that bad T_T
Why do you want to upgrade? What do you want to achieve with the upgrade? Good question lol. It runs everything I need it to run now, might not max every game out but it does an admirable job generally. It's a few years old, some components are older was just entertaining the idea. Though I don't want to waste money if its not warranted.
What is your monitor's native resolution? 1920x1080 dual monitors 23"
What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings? DotA 2, Arma 3 Mods, Random steam games, MMOs (if any that don't suck ever come out). Highest possible I guess but I'm not a graphics whore.
What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming? Just basic stuff. Watching streams and videos, surfing the net, POSSIBLY streaming but like a 15% chance that ever happens at best
Do you intend to overclock? Absolutely
Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire? Maybe down the road once the GPU isn't hacking it.
Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget? New mouse and hard mouse pad (RGB LEDs a plus)
If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify. Nvidia, EVGA preferred. At least name brand non sketch memory and PSU
If you have any retailer preferences, please specify. Newegg, Microcenter in my area, Amazon Prime for shipping available, any reputable retailer is fine though.
Sorry i forgot/didn't read a few things. Specifically mainly the waiting til christmas and microcenter that both change stuff (day to day deals, but microcenter often has cheap cpu's and cpu+mobo combo's and i'm not sure how that applies to you or what is available ATM)
I made this new build on Newegg/Amazon if you are interested in something like this -
There are a few kinda luxury choices in there but no way to save significant money without significantly altering the build (like no CPU overclock capability) - SSD is 256GB because it's cheap these days and 128 is somewhat limiting, everything else is at least "great" tier. EVGA, at least until they release the FTW edition 970, makes the worst custom model (below gigabyte, msi, asus, maybe more) so i skipped over that.
What would the step down from this build be? I.e. what would be the "good" tier choices vs "great"? Would you still get an aftermarket cooler with a 4690 (or 4690k) if you weren't overclocking?
I don't think you need an aftermarket cooler if you're not planning to overclock. I actually think it would be a waste of money.
[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mQdgCJ) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mQdgCJ/by_merchant/)
Why do you want to upgrade? What do you want to achieve with the upgrade? Good question lol. It runs everything I need it to run now, might not max every game out but it does an admirable job generally. It's a few years old, some components are older was just entertaining the idea. Though I don't want to waste money if its not warranted.
What is your monitor's native resolution? 1920x1080 dual monitors 23"
What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings? DotA 2, Arma 3 Mods, Random steam games, MMOs (if any that don't suck ever come out). Highest possible I guess but I'm not a graphics whore.
What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming? Just basic stuff. Watching streams and videos, surfing the net, POSSIBLY streaming but like a 15% chance that ever happens at best
Do you intend to overclock? Absolutely
Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire? Maybe down the road once the GPU isn't hacking it.
Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget? New mouse and hard mouse pad (RGB LEDs a plus)
If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify. Nvidia, EVGA preferred. At least name brand non sketch memory and PSU
If you have any retailer preferences, please specify. Newegg, Microcenter in my area, Amazon Prime for shipping available, any reputable retailer is fine though.
Sorry i forgot/didn't read a few things. Specifically mainly the waiting til christmas and microcenter that both change stuff (day to day deals, but microcenter often has cheap cpu's and cpu+mobo combo's and i'm not sure how that applies to you or what is available ATM)
I made this new build on Newegg/Amazon if you are interested in something like this -
There are a few kinda luxury choices in there but no way to save significant money without significantly altering the build (like no CPU overclock capability) - SSD is 256GB because it's cheap these days and 128 is somewhat limiting, everything else is at least "great" tier. EVGA, at least until they release the FTW edition 970, makes the worst custom model (below gigabyte, msi, asus, maybe more) so i skipped over that.
What would the step down from this build be? I.e. what would be the "good" tier choices vs "great"? Would you still get an aftermarket cooler with a 4690 (or 4690k) if you weren't overclocking?
I don't think you need an aftermarket cooler if you're not planning to overclock. I actually think it would be a waste of money.
[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mQdgCJ) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mQdgCJ/by_merchant/)
And I already know somebody is going to say it, the EVGA 970 is bad, for whatever reason
The i5 4690 and the i5 3590 are Devil's Canyon, i.e. Haswell refresh.
You can't get a Z87 board with Devil's Canyon, you'll need a Z97 or an H97 board. Or, you can look up the B85 / H81 boards that are compatible with it. Among the B85 and H81 boards, some of them need a BIOS update to run Devil's Canyon, which is something to consider when buying these cheaper boards: http://thepcenthusiast.com/list-of-8-series-motherboards-compatible-with-intel-devils-canyon/
I believe the GA-B85M-D2V comes with the BIOS update right out of the box.
A Z97 board is for overclocking, if you're not going to overclock you're good to go with a cheaper H97 board or even a B85 / H81 board. I believe Gigabyte's GA-B85M-D2V supports DC out of the box, without BIOS update for example.
Why do you want to upgrade? What do you want to achieve with the upgrade? Good question lol. It runs everything I need it to run now, might not max every game out but it does an admirable job generally. It's a few years old, some components are older was just entertaining the idea. Though I don't want to waste money if its not warranted.
What is your monitor's native resolution? 1920x1080 dual monitors 23"
What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings? DotA 2, Arma 3 Mods, Random steam games, MMOs (if any that don't suck ever come out). Highest possible I guess but I'm not a graphics whore.
What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming? Just basic stuff. Watching streams and videos, surfing the net, POSSIBLY streaming but like a 15% chance that ever happens at best
Do you intend to overclock? Absolutely
Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire? Maybe down the road once the GPU isn't hacking it.
Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget? New mouse and hard mouse pad (RGB LEDs a plus)
If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify. Nvidia, EVGA preferred. At least name brand non sketch memory and PSU
If you have any retailer preferences, please specify. Newegg, Microcenter in my area, Amazon Prime for shipping available, any reputable retailer is fine though.
Sorry i forgot/didn't read a few things. Specifically mainly the waiting til christmas and microcenter that both change stuff (day to day deals, but microcenter often has cheap cpu's and cpu+mobo combo's and i'm not sure how that applies to you or what is available ATM)
I made this new build on Newegg/Amazon if you are interested in something like this -
There are a few kinda luxury choices in there but no way to save significant money without significantly altering the build (like no CPU overclock capability) - SSD is 256GB because it's cheap these days and 128 is somewhat limiting, everything else is at least "great" tier. EVGA, at least until they release the FTW edition 970, makes the worst custom model (below gigabyte, msi, asus, maybe more) so i skipped over that.
What would the step down from this build be? I.e. what would be the "good" tier choices vs "great"? Would you still get an aftermarket cooler with a 4690 (or 4690k) if you weren't overclocking?
I don't think you need an aftermarket cooler if you're not planning to overclock. I actually think it would be a waste of money.
[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mQdgCJ) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mQdgCJ/by_merchant/)
And I already know somebody is going to say it, the EVGA 970 is bad, for whatever reason
The i5 4690 and the i5 3590 are Devil's Canyon, i.e. Haswell refresh.
You can't get a Z87 board with Devil's Canyon, you'll need a Z97 or an H97 board. Or, you can look up the B85 / H81 boards that are compatible with it. Among the B85 and H81 boards, some of them need a BIOS update to run Devil's Canyon, which is something to consider when buying these cheaper boards: http://thepcenthusiast.com/list-of-8-series-motherboards-compatible-with-intel-devils-canyon/
I believe the GA-B85M-D2V comes with the BIOS update right out of the box.
A Z97 board is for overclocking, if you're not going to overclock you're good to go with a cheaper H97 board or even a B85 / H81 board. I believe Gigabyte's GA-B85M-D2V supports DC out of the box, without BIOS update for example.
Devil's Canyon is i5-4690k and i7-4790k only. The rest of Haswell refresh like i5-4690 and i5-4590 may also need BIOS updates on older boards to work properly.
As for the EVGA, it's out of stock now anyway, but EVGA GTX 970 ACX 2.0 cards are not the same thing those news stories were about (not like even if that third heatpipe touched, it would do all that much... probably would take away surface area from the two heatpipes that are larger and going places).
Oh my bad, I thought all Haswell refresh processors were named Devil's Canyon. Guess I was wrong, what a confusing naming scheme. Though regardless, you'll need an H81 or B85 board with an updated BIOS or an H97 board to run a Haswell refresh processor, such as the i5 4690 or i5 4590, without issues.
As for EVGA, ah there's a difference between ACX and ACX 2.0, ah I see. Looks like 2.0 is a better cooler than ACX though I would personally still take a card from MSI or Gigabyte either way since I can get those cards which I know are good without thinking twice. Well, as long as it's not an ACX cooled card, getting most GTX 970s with aftermarket coolers should be fine.
Side note - anyone have USB/PCI recommendations for network adapters? I've got a fairly old one on my desktop and i get garbage signal strength on my PC compared to my laptop and phone in the same spot.
With skylake arriving in h2 of 2015, there seems to be great incentive to wait for its release to purchase a new cpu. Do you project that a skylake based all in one device will be capable of playing star citizen?
On October 16 2014 11:29 Lothor wrote: With skylake arriving in h2 of 2015, there seems to be great incentive to wait for its release to purchase a new cpu. Do you project that a skylake based all in one device will be capable of playing star citizen?
Star Citizen needs a strong GPU to play well, i'm not sure how strong but people seem to have trouble enabling antialiasing etc because of graphical demand. Desktop is still where it's at for GPU, because a 970 at tweaked clock speeds (~1500/8000) is way faster than a 980m.. by like 1.5x.
The 970 has 8.33% more cores (13 clusters instead of 12) as well as a guaranteed core frequency of about 1500 instead of "1038+boost", guaranteed memory frequency of about 7600-8200 instead of 5000.
I would consider a laptop if mobility was a high priority, but "all in one".. that sounds pretty bad for a GPU intensive game that scales to many CPU cores. It depends a lot what you mean by "capable of playing" i guess - there is a big difference between loading into the game, vs sustaining 60fps and low latency input while dogfighting. I have not seen very much of the game yet (waiting til it was more developed instead of jumping in aaaages ago) but it seemed to be turning into more of a twitchy action game and not some naval fighter EVE style where you make decisions and sit around for 25 seconds sometimes waiting for your guns to reload
Skylake in 2h 2015 might be a nice 20% upgrade but it also might get delayed to 1h 2016 and be a smaller upgrade. If it was 6 months and more confirmed then i'd say wait but we know almost nothing of skylake, we know very little of desktop broadwell right now to know how intel's 14nm process performs. I got too excited over Haswell, there was a lot of things like Intel throwing out new batches of 3570k's doing 5ghz below 1.3vcore to add to that as well. In the end, it was probably like an 8% upgrade over Ivy Bridge for many loads.. ~13% for video encoding, hardly worth delaying a build for over a year for.
Why do you want to upgrade? What do you want to achieve with the upgrade? Good question lol. It runs everything I need it to run now, might not max every game out but it does an admirable job generally. It's a few years old, some components are older was just entertaining the idea. Though I don't want to waste money if its not warranted.
What is your monitor's native resolution? 1920x1080 dual monitors 23"
What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings? DotA 2, Arma 3 Mods, Random steam games, MMOs (if any that don't suck ever come out). Highest possible I guess but I'm not a graphics whore.
What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming? Just basic stuff. Watching streams and videos, surfing the net, POSSIBLY streaming but like a 15% chance that ever happens at best
Do you intend to overclock? Absolutely
Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire? Maybe down the road once the GPU isn't hacking it.
Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget? New mouse and hard mouse pad (RGB LEDs a plus)
If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify. Nvidia, EVGA preferred. At least name brand non sketch memory and PSU
If you have any retailer preferences, please specify. Newegg, Microcenter in my area, Amazon Prime for shipping available, any reputable retailer is fine though.
Sorry i forgot/didn't read a few things. Specifically mainly the waiting til christmas and microcenter that both change stuff (day to day deals, but microcenter often has cheap cpu's and cpu+mobo combo's and i'm not sure how that applies to you or what is available ATM)
I made this new build on Newegg/Amazon if you are interested in something like this -
There are a few kinda luxury choices in there but no way to save significant money without significantly altering the build (like no CPU overclock capability) - SSD is 256GB because it's cheap these days and 128 is somewhat limiting, everything else is at least "great" tier. EVGA, at least until they release the FTW edition 970, makes the worst custom model (below gigabyte, msi, asus, maybe more) so i skipped over that.
What would the step down from this build be? I.e. what would be the "good" tier choices vs "great"? Would you still get an aftermarket cooler with a 4690 (or 4690k) if you weren't overclocking?
Good stuff: 128gb SSD, cheaper 970 (maybe msi gaming if it can be found $15 cheaper) - maybe trying to get a ~cx430 PSU for $19.99 AR or a ~$20-25 hyper 212 cooler. But all of those are sacrifices not worth the money gains, IMO.
Step down would be a h81/b85/h97(?) board with a ~4570-4690 and stock cooler, with like $10 shaved off for 1600mhz RAM too because that setup can't run 2400. There's no need for a $55 cooler then, you can save a lot on mobo and then RAM+cpu cost cuts a tiny bit extra off, too. Very exact price savings kinda has to be done when you're buying, because stuff changes a lot - like the -25$ combo deal on the z97x-gaming 5 and the 4690k when i made that. If it wasn't there, there's maybe reason to take a cheaper z97 board because the price difference could potentially be ~$40 instead of ~$15.
So of the various current 970 models, which one is most recommended? That's something that I've always struggled with when looking at GPUs. I've been playing the waiting game on upgrading my 5870 since it did what I needed it to, but I was so busy with school and working in Yellowstone that I never saw the point in upgrading just yet. Since I am all done with all of that now, it seems like it's finally time to upgrade my GPU to better suit my Haswell rig.
Gigabyte G1 for performance, MSI gaming 970 is pretty good if you want to save money or the g1 isn't available. The STRIX has a lower power limit and lower voltage cap (and i dont think it's possible to be quieter than the msi 970..)
g1 > msi gaming > strix. I'm not sure where the gigabyte windforce (non-g1) fits into that, or other cards
Here the G1 and MSI are equal in pricing, and it very much depends on the card you're getting which one's best. G1 gaming is rated highest for OCing, while the MSI has some advantages of staying silent until heavy load (+60C). Overall REALLY satisfied with this card.
I have the Gigabyte G1, and it definitely looks great but it's a VERY long card that you need to account for. the MSI's very much smaller but also has less monitor options. (G1 has 3x DP as well as HDMI and DVI and DVI-D). The difference is marginal. I don't think Cyro's done the exact same stuff as me, but I can clock my card to about ~1530Mhz stable (1540 is iffy) and we both get about 80FPS in Heaven.. he gets slightly higher than me last time I asked so I'm gonna need to try harder and bench better! =P If I have time and don't forget I can do some bench graphs for my particuliar G1, but there's a bunch of them out there already for you to watch if you want to!
I have a Fractal Arc Midi R2 with the top HDD cage (and hopefully soon the bottom one) removed, so I have the space.
I was just curious for the most part, since GPU models vary quite a bit, and it's often hard to know which is the best in terms of thermal performance, as well as knowing which ones (for AMD, I don't know much about Nvidia) are unlocked and such.
What's the best way to switch from AMD to Nvidia drivers properly and cleanly? Is it just a simple uninstall, or do I need something else to make sure it's swept from the system.
On October 13 2014 06:41 Durak wrote: Helping a friend put together a computer. I need some help picking out parts.
Budget Up to $1500 total but probably more like $1200. I am thinking ~$900 for the computer and then the rest for a monitor.
Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget? Monitor as mentioned above.
What is your monitor's native resolution? No monitor yet. 23" or 27". He doesn't play games competitively nor does photo editing so I'm not sure what he needs.
What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings? He'll play whatever AAA titles come out most likely. Doubt he cares about anti-aliasing but looking at high settings.
What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming? Word processing and movie watching.
Do you intend to overclock? I can overclock it before handing it off to him. I understand how to do it generally but I haven't done it before.
Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire? No
Do you need an operating system? I plan to get him a Win 8 key.
What country will you be buying your parts in? Canada
If you have any retailer preferences, please specify. Any online retailer is fine. I'm familiar with NCIX, Memoryexpress, and Newegg.
As for storage, Crucial MX100 256GB and a 1.5 or 2TB mechanical drive would suffice. Also, unless we need a big case for the videocard or aftermarket CPU cooler for overclocking, I really like the Corsair 350D mATX.
You guys are awesome; Thanks for any help! I'll post in the TL Monitor Thread if you guys don't want to worry about that part of it.
I stuck to your exact parts / desired specs as close as possible.
Ended up being a shade under $1000 before shipping, so a little above your $900 budget. I think it's worth stretching to get up to a GTX 970. I also think the Haswell i5 is a worthwhile investment. If I was going to try to find something to trim, I think your storage requirements and case are a little pricey. I already cut back from a 1.5/2 TB (on newegg anyway, the 2 TB is less expensive than 1.5TB anyway) to a 1 TB HDD to get it under $1000.
If you had to get it down to $900 you could always scale back on graphics, but this seems like gtx 970 level budget. You can also pick up a perfectly nice case for $50 or so to save yourself a few pennies.
That's what I've got though
I'd get the XFX Core 450W if you have it or the Capstone 450W. The CX430 is OK for small web-browsing / office builds, less good if you're going for a gaming rig. Even if Haswell and Maxwell don't draw a lot of power, you should spend $10-20 more to get a good PSU.
I'd skimp on the case here and get something like a Cooler Master N200 to save money though that's just me. I guess the 350D looks nice enough. I would still consider the N200 just because it's such a nice case for $57.
Another case you should get your friend to look at is the NZXT S340, which is actually a pretty nice case for a rig such as this one. At $80 I think it's better than the 350D. Normally I would also recommend the Fractal Core 3500 however it's actually a bit too expensive at NCIX.
I'm really liking mATX cases because they're smaller and lighter with no disadvantages that I can see. I don't know why I would ever build with an ATX case again if I can get the same performance out of a smaller case. Don't need all that extra room for SLI/Crossfire, never going to need more than one optical drive, more than two SSDs+two HDs, etc.
The NZXT S340 is ATX so I'm not a fan. Are there any other well-priced and well-regarded mATX cases that you guys can recommend?
Generally speaking, ATX sized motherboards will support overclocking a bit better than mATX motherboards. You also have more room on your board which is nice for cable management and ease of installation.
The Corsair Obsidian 350D is 450x210x440 mm in its dimensions, whereas the S340 is at 445x200x432 mm, so the S340 is actually a little smaller (also lighter by ~100 grams). It's just that they managed the internal space differently so as to accommodate bigger motherboards. The S340 doesn't have 5"25 bays for example, so I'm guessing if you're going to need an optical bay, this case isn't a no-go (unless you get an external USB optical drive). S340 can have 2 SSDs and 2 HDDs and not much more. At $80 that's pretty good bang for buck.
Other choices would be something like the Cooler Master N200, the Corsair Carbide Air 240, Fractal Design Node 804 or even the overly expensive Phanteks Enthoo Evolv. I'm not entirely sure which cases are the good ones from that list, however all of them come from reputable companies. I guess it's up to you to look at pricing / features / aesthetics and make your own choice.
EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/iY9i8jA.png)
