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.
Hello. I am thinking about buying a new cpu, motherboard and memory for gaming(until i get some more money for a gpu) My budget is around 260 USD. I was doing some research but I kinda confused myself with so much options. My current pc: gpu - XFX 280GTX cpu - Intel Q6600 ram - 2gb kingston mbo - Gigabyte X48-DS6 psu - Chieftec 750 14c Thanks.
You probably want to save until about 300 USD, the cost of a Core i5-4xxx, low-end compatible LGA 1150 motherboard (check motherboard CPU support list on the manufacturer's website), and 4 GB of DDR3 RAM. With your money all you could buy is a Core i3-4xxx with the same motherboard and RAM. A Core i3 is just a dual core, which in some games is starting to become an issue. And that's assuming you did all the currency conversion and buying power estimation correctly.
For the same money now, you could also get an FX-6300 and compatible AM3+ motherboard from AMD, but in most games the Core i3 is better. And there are no worthwhile upgrade options keeping that motherboard.
I did some googling and one suggestion was to change "maximum processor state" to 80%. That seems to have dropped the temperatures 10-15 degrees. Is this good or bad?
On November 24 2014 10:18 KingofGods wrote: I did some googling and one suggestion was to change "maximum processor state" to 80%. That seems to have dropped the temperatures 10-15 degrees. Is this good or bad?
That sounds like you're intentionally throttling your processor to make it run slower. I mean, if the objective is to reduce temperatures, you succeeded. But turning your computer off does an even better job at that. You didn't address the root problem, an abnormality causing the high temperatures.
Like everyone is saying, something is wrong with either the CPU cooler or the way it was installed. With a cooler like that, you are running at tens of degrees higher than is normally expected at the most extreme loads possible.
On November 23 2014 18:05 KwarK wrote: Okay so I have the computer I built earlier this year with the help of this topic and it's amazing but I want to go further. My main activity is eve online multiboxing which I would assume is very processor and multitasking heavy, eve online is unlike many other games in that it's not unusual to play it with yourself due to the way it scales. I'm currently running 20 or so characters but would like to maybe add another 10-15 to that.
I saved my dxdiag as text which is spoilered below, hopefully that contains the useful information you need. + Show Spoiler +
------------------ System Information ------------------ Time of this report: 11/23/2014, 02:01:13 Machine name: DAVID-PC Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.140303-2144) Language: English (Regional Setting: English) System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. System Model: GA-78LMT-USB3 BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG Processor: AMD FX(tm)-8320 Eight-Core Processor (8 CPUs), ~3.5GHz Memory: 16384MB RAM Available OS Memory: 16366MB RAM Page File: 15679MB used, 17049MB available Windows Dir: C:\Windows DirectX Version: DirectX 11 DX Setup Parameters: Not found User DPI Setting: Using System DPI System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent) DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode
------------ DxDiag Notes ------------ Display Tab 1: No problems found. Display Tab 2: No problems found. Sound Tab 1: No problems found. Sound Tab 2: No problems found. Input Tab: No problems found.
------------- Sound Devices ------------- Description: Speakers (3- Plantronics GameCom 780) Default Sound Playback: Yes Default Voice Playback: Yes Hardware ID: USB\VID_047F&PID_C010&REV_0100&MI_00 Manufacturer ID: 65535 Product ID: 65535 Type: WDM Driver Name: USBAUDIO.sys Driver Version: 6.01.7601.18208 (English) Driver Attributes: Final Retail WHQL Logo'd: n/a Date and Size: 7/12/2013 03:40:58, 109824 bytes Other Files: Driver Provider: Microsoft HW Accel Level: Basic Cap Flags: 0x0 Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0 Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 0, 0 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0 HW Memory: 0 Voice Management: No EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
Description: Digital Audio (S/PDIF) (High Definition Audio Device) Default Sound Playback: No Default Voice Playback: No Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_1106&DEV_0441&SUBSYS_1458A014&REV_1001 Manufacturer ID: 1 Product ID: 65535 Type: WDM Driver Name: HdAudio.sys Driver Version: 6.01.7601.17514 (English) Driver Attributes: Final Retail WHQL Logo'd: n/a Date and Size: 11/20/2010 20:23:47, 350208 bytes Other Files: Driver Provider: Microsoft HW Accel Level: Basic Cap Flags: 0x0 Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0 Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 0, 0 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0 HW Memory: 0 Voice Management: No EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
--------------------- Sound Capture Devices --------------------- Description: Microphone (3- Plantronics GameCom 780) Default Sound Capture: Yes Default Voice Capture: Yes Driver Name: USBAUDIO.sys Driver Version: 6.01.7601.18208 (English) Driver Attributes: Final Retail Date and Size: 7/12/2013 03:40:58, 109824 bytes Cap Flags: 0x0 Format Flags: 0x0
Description: Line (3- Plantronics GameCom 780) Default Sound Capture: No Default Voice Capture: No Driver Name: USBAUDIO.sys Driver Version: 6.01.7601.18208 (English) Driver Attributes: Final Retail Date and Size: 7/12/2013 03:40:58, 109824 bytes Cap Flags: 0x0 Format Flags: 0x0
Description: SPDIF Interface (3- Plantronics GameCom 780) Default Sound Capture: No Default Voice Capture: No Driver Name: USBAUDIO.sys Driver Version: 6.01.7601.18208 (English) Driver Attributes: Final Retail Date and Size: 7/12/2013 03:40:58, 109824 bytes Cap Flags: 0x0 Format Flags: 0x0
-------------- System Devices -------------- Name: PCI standard host CPU bridge Device ID: PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_1605&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_00\3&2B8E0B4B&0&C5 Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard ISA bridge Device ID: PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_439D&SUBSYS_439D1002&REV_00\3&2B8E0B4B&0&A3 Driver: n/a
Name: Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller Device ID: PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4396&SUBSYS_50041458&REV_00\3&2B8E0B4B&0&92 Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard host CPU bridge Device ID: PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_1604&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_00\3&2B8E0B4B&0&C4 Driver: n/a
Name: Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller Device ID: PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_439C&SUBSYS_50021458&REV_00\3&2B8E0B4B&0&A1 Driver: n/a
Name: Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller Device ID: PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4390&SUBSYS_B0021458&REV_00\3&2B8E0B4B&0&88 Driver: n/a
Name: Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller Device ID: PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_3483&SUBSYS_50071458&REV_01\4&324195DD&0&0020 Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard host CPU bridge Device ID: PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_1603&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_00\3&2B8E0B4B&0&C3 Driver: n/a
Name: Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller Device ID: PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4399&SUBSYS_50041458&REV_00\3&2B8E0B4B&0&A5 Driver: n/a
Video Compressors: WMVideo8 Encoder DMO,0x00600800,1,1,wmvxencd.dll,6.01.7600.16385 WMVideo9 Encoder DMO,0x00600800,1,1,wmvencod.dll,6.01.7600.16385 MSScreen 9 encoder DMO,0x00600800,1,1,wmvsencd.dll,6.01.7600.16385 DV Video Encoder,0x00200000,0,0,qdv.dll,6.06.7601.17514 MJPEG Compressor,0x00200000,0,0,quartz.dll,6.06.7601.17713 Cinepak Codec by Radius,0x00200000,1,1,qcap.dll,6.06.7601.17514 Intel IYUV codec,0x00200000,1,1,qcap.dll,6.06.7601.17514 Intel IYUV codec,0x00200000,1,1,qcap.dll,6.06.7601.17514 Microsoft RLE,0x00200000,1,1,qcap.dll,6.06.7601.17514 Microsoft Video 1,0x00200000,1,1,qcap.dll,6.06.7601.17514
Audio Compressors: WM Speech Encoder DMO,0x00600800,1,1,WMSPDMOE.DLL,6.01.7600.16385 WMAudio Encoder DMO,0x00600800,1,1,WMADMOE.DLL,6.01.7600.16385 ATI MPEG Audio Encoder,0x00200000,1,1,atimpenc.dll,13.20.0000.31206 IMA ADPCM,0x00200000,1,1,quartz.dll,6.06.7601.17713 PCM,0x00200000,1,1,quartz.dll,6.06.7601.17713 Microsoft ADPCM,0x00200000,1,1,quartz.dll,6.06.7601.17713 GSM 6.10,0x00200000,1,1,quartz.dll,6.06.7601.17713 CCITT A-Law,0x00200000,1,1,quartz.dll,6.06.7601.17713 CCITT u-Law,0x00200000,1,1,quartz.dll,6.06.7601.17713 MPEG Layer-3,0x00200000,1,1,quartz.dll,6.06.7601.17713
BDA Network Providers: Microsoft ATSC Network Provider,0x00200000,0,1,MSDvbNP.ax,6.06.7601.17514 Microsoft DVBC Network Provider,0x00200000,0,1,MSDvbNP.ax,6.06.7601.17514 Microsoft DVBS Network Provider,0x00200000,0,1,MSDvbNP.ax,6.06.7601.17514 Microsoft DVBT Network Provider,0x00200000,0,1,MSDvbNP.ax,6.06.7601.17514 Microsoft Network Provider,0x00200000,0,1,MSNP.ax,6.06.7601.17514
BDA Transport Information Renderers: BDA MPEG2 Transport Information Filter,0x00600000,2,0,psisrndr.ax,6.06.7601.17669 MPEG-2 Sections and Tables,0x00600000,1,0,Mpeg2Data.ax,6.06.7601.17514
--------------- EVR Power Information --------------- Current Setting: {5C67A112-A4C9-483F-B4A7-1D473BECAFDC} (Quality) Quality Flags: 2576 Enabled: Force throttling Allow half deinterlace Allow scaling Decode Power Usage: 100 Balanced Flags: 1424 Enabled: Force throttling Allow batching Force half deinterlace Force scaling Decode Power Usage: 50 PowerFlags: 1424 Enabled: Force throttling Allow batching Force half deinterlace Force scaling Decode Power Usage: 0
My thoughts are to pick up some more RAM and a newer graphics card than my Radeon 6670 on Cyber Monday. Would that help or am I bottlenecked elsewhere? If it would help, what should I look to be buying?
Are you maxing your RAM before FPS becomes an issue?
Just run however many clients like you would normally and open the task manager performance tab, look at CPU usage for each core and how much memory is "Available" (not free! available is way higher than free sometimes)
Of my 16365 MB I'm hovering around 1550 available and 450 free.
On November 24 2014 08:03 marioslayer wrote: Hello. I am thinking about buying a new cpu, motherboard and memory for gaming(until i get some more money for a gpu) My budget is around 260 USD. I was doing some research but I kinda confused myself with so much options. My current pc: gpu - XFX 280GTX cpu - Intel Q6600 ram - 2gb kingston mbo - Gigabyte X48-DS6 psu - Chieftec 750 14c Thanks.
Be ready for Black Friday / Cyber Monday. I picked up an i5-4670, mATX h81 mobo and 8gb of ram for under 300 last year (on Newegg). ...It might have actually been the Pre-BF sale.
On November 23 2014 18:05 KwarK wrote: Okay so I have the computer I built earlier this year with the help of this topic and it's amazing but I want to go further. My main activity is eve online multiboxing which I would assume is very processor and multitasking heavy, eve online is unlike many other games in that it's not unusual to play it with yourself due to the way it scales. I'm currently running 20 or so characters but would like to maybe add another 10-15 to that.
I saved my dxdiag as text which is spoilered below, hopefully that contains the useful information you need. + Show Spoiler +
------------------ System Information ------------------ Time of this report: 11/23/2014, 02:01:13 Machine name: DAVID-PC Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.140303-2144) Language: English (Regional Setting: English) System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. System Model: GA-78LMT-USB3 BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG Processor: AMD FX(tm)-8320 Eight-Core Processor (8 CPUs), ~3.5GHz Memory: 16384MB RAM Available OS Memory: 16366MB RAM Page File: 15679MB used, 17049MB available Windows Dir: C:\Windows DirectX Version: DirectX 11 DX Setup Parameters: Not found User DPI Setting: Using System DPI System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent) DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode
------------ DxDiag Notes ------------ Display Tab 1: No problems found. Display Tab 2: No problems found. Sound Tab 1: No problems found. Sound Tab 2: No problems found. Input Tab: No problems found.
------------- Sound Devices ------------- Description: Speakers (3- Plantronics GameCom 780) Default Sound Playback: Yes Default Voice Playback: Yes Hardware ID: USB\VID_047F&PID_C010&REV_0100&MI_00 Manufacturer ID: 65535 Product ID: 65535 Type: WDM Driver Name: USBAUDIO.sys Driver Version: 6.01.7601.18208 (English) Driver Attributes: Final Retail WHQL Logo'd: n/a Date and Size: 7/12/2013 03:40:58, 109824 bytes Other Files: Driver Provider: Microsoft HW Accel Level: Basic Cap Flags: 0x0 Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0 Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 0, 0 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0 HW Memory: 0 Voice Management: No EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
Description: Digital Audio (S/PDIF) (High Definition Audio Device) Default Sound Playback: No Default Voice Playback: No Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_1106&DEV_0441&SUBSYS_1458A014&REV_1001 Manufacturer ID: 1 Product ID: 65535 Type: WDM Driver Name: HdAudio.sys Driver Version: 6.01.7601.17514 (English) Driver Attributes: Final Retail WHQL Logo'd: n/a Date and Size: 11/20/2010 20:23:47, 350208 bytes Other Files: Driver Provider: Microsoft HW Accel Level: Basic Cap Flags: 0x0 Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0 Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 0, 0 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0 HW Memory: 0 Voice Management: No EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
--------------------- Sound Capture Devices --------------------- Description: Microphone (3- Plantronics GameCom 780) Default Sound Capture: Yes Default Voice Capture: Yes Driver Name: USBAUDIO.sys Driver Version: 6.01.7601.18208 (English) Driver Attributes: Final Retail Date and Size: 7/12/2013 03:40:58, 109824 bytes Cap Flags: 0x0 Format Flags: 0x0
Description: Line (3- Plantronics GameCom 780) Default Sound Capture: No Default Voice Capture: No Driver Name: USBAUDIO.sys Driver Version: 6.01.7601.18208 (English) Driver Attributes: Final Retail Date and Size: 7/12/2013 03:40:58, 109824 bytes Cap Flags: 0x0 Format Flags: 0x0
Description: SPDIF Interface (3- Plantronics GameCom 780) Default Sound Capture: No Default Voice Capture: No Driver Name: USBAUDIO.sys Driver Version: 6.01.7601.18208 (English) Driver Attributes: Final Retail Date and Size: 7/12/2013 03:40:58, 109824 bytes Cap Flags: 0x0 Format Flags: 0x0
-------------- System Devices -------------- Name: PCI standard host CPU bridge Device ID: PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_1605&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_00\3&2B8E0B4B&0&C5 Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard ISA bridge Device ID: PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_439D&SUBSYS_439D1002&REV_00\3&2B8E0B4B&0&A3 Driver: n/a
Name: Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller Device ID: PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4396&SUBSYS_50041458&REV_00\3&2B8E0B4B&0&92 Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard host CPU bridge Device ID: PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_1604&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_00\3&2B8E0B4B&0&C4 Driver: n/a
Name: Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller Device ID: PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_439C&SUBSYS_50021458&REV_00\3&2B8E0B4B&0&A1 Driver: n/a
Name: Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller Device ID: PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4390&SUBSYS_B0021458&REV_00\3&2B8E0B4B&0&88 Driver: n/a
Name: Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller Device ID: PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_3483&SUBSYS_50071458&REV_01\4&324195DD&0&0020 Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard host CPU bridge Device ID: PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_1603&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_00\3&2B8E0B4B&0&C3 Driver: n/a
Name: Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller Device ID: PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4399&SUBSYS_50041458&REV_00\3&2B8E0B4B&0&A5 Driver: n/a
Video Compressors: WMVideo8 Encoder DMO,0x00600800,1,1,wmvxencd.dll,6.01.7600.16385 WMVideo9 Encoder DMO,0x00600800,1,1,wmvencod.dll,6.01.7600.16385 MSScreen 9 encoder DMO,0x00600800,1,1,wmvsencd.dll,6.01.7600.16385 DV Video Encoder,0x00200000,0,0,qdv.dll,6.06.7601.17514 MJPEG Compressor,0x00200000,0,0,quartz.dll,6.06.7601.17713 Cinepak Codec by Radius,0x00200000,1,1,qcap.dll,6.06.7601.17514 Intel IYUV codec,0x00200000,1,1,qcap.dll,6.06.7601.17514 Intel IYUV codec,0x00200000,1,1,qcap.dll,6.06.7601.17514 Microsoft RLE,0x00200000,1,1,qcap.dll,6.06.7601.17514 Microsoft Video 1,0x00200000,1,1,qcap.dll,6.06.7601.17514
Audio Compressors: WM Speech Encoder DMO,0x00600800,1,1,WMSPDMOE.DLL,6.01.7600.16385 WMAudio Encoder DMO,0x00600800,1,1,WMADMOE.DLL,6.01.7600.16385 ATI MPEG Audio Encoder,0x00200000,1,1,atimpenc.dll,13.20.0000.31206 IMA ADPCM,0x00200000,1,1,quartz.dll,6.06.7601.17713 PCM,0x00200000,1,1,quartz.dll,6.06.7601.17713 Microsoft ADPCM,0x00200000,1,1,quartz.dll,6.06.7601.17713 GSM 6.10,0x00200000,1,1,quartz.dll,6.06.7601.17713 CCITT A-Law,0x00200000,1,1,quartz.dll,6.06.7601.17713 CCITT u-Law,0x00200000,1,1,quartz.dll,6.06.7601.17713 MPEG Layer-3,0x00200000,1,1,quartz.dll,6.06.7601.17713
BDA Network Providers: Microsoft ATSC Network Provider,0x00200000,0,1,MSDvbNP.ax,6.06.7601.17514 Microsoft DVBC Network Provider,0x00200000,0,1,MSDvbNP.ax,6.06.7601.17514 Microsoft DVBS Network Provider,0x00200000,0,1,MSDvbNP.ax,6.06.7601.17514 Microsoft DVBT Network Provider,0x00200000,0,1,MSDvbNP.ax,6.06.7601.17514 Microsoft Network Provider,0x00200000,0,1,MSNP.ax,6.06.7601.17514
BDA Transport Information Renderers: BDA MPEG2 Transport Information Filter,0x00600000,2,0,psisrndr.ax,6.06.7601.17669 MPEG-2 Sections and Tables,0x00600000,1,0,Mpeg2Data.ax,6.06.7601.17514
--------------- EVR Power Information --------------- Current Setting: {5C67A112-A4C9-483F-B4A7-1D473BECAFDC} (Quality) Quality Flags: 2576 Enabled: Force throttling Allow half deinterlace Allow scaling Decode Power Usage: 100 Balanced Flags: 1424 Enabled: Force throttling Allow batching Force half deinterlace Force scaling Decode Power Usage: 50 PowerFlags: 1424 Enabled: Force throttling Allow batching Force half deinterlace Force scaling Decode Power Usage: 0
My thoughts are to pick up some more RAM and a newer graphics card than my Radeon 6670 on Cyber Monday. Would that help or am I bottlenecked elsewhere? If it would help, what should I look to be buying?
Are you maxing your RAM before FPS becomes an issue?
Just run however many clients like you would normally and open the task manager performance tab, look at CPU usage for each core and how much memory is "Available" (not free! available is way higher than free sometimes)
Of my 16365 MB I'm hovering around 1550 available and 450 free.
Then you need more, but if your CPU is constantly maxed then it might not really help you
On November 24 2014 13:33 KingofGods wrote: Yeah I will get more thermal paste and see if that helps.
Remember that it's about application, you want enough for good contact everywhere but not more. People usually put on too much thermal paste, and somebody using 5x too much isn't particularly uncommon. It's best to put an "0" or "O" shaped small amount in the middle of the CPU IHS and then press the cooler down onto it to spread it - if any comes out of the sides, you used too much paste. It's ok to use a bit too much, but a lot too much (or if you were to to spread it manually for example and leave air bubbles and uneven areas) can mess up heat transfer a lot
That processor is pretty old but I don't believe that Witcher 3 is CPU bound game. So you could do that graphics card with an SSD perhaps. This one for example: http://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00167943.html
Then again if you're not running into trouble with 6 gb of RAM maybe you're fine with just that.
I would, in your place, probably hold off upgrading the CPU until I really needed to. As long as you aren't playing CPU bound games I think you should be OK.
Thanks a lot! Followed pretty much exactly your recommendations. GPU had sick reviews so I went with that. I did took the extra RAM, I recall having a few instances where I was running short, probably not the biggest upgrade but as you said, given the price, no reason not to. I wasn't sure about 256 or 512 Go SSD but for 3 times the price, probably not worth it, especially considering I still have my 1 To hard drive available.
Quick question though. What do you mean by "CPU bound"? How can I know that it's my limitation?
That processor is pretty old but I don't believe that Witcher 3 is CPU bound game. So you could do that graphics card with an SSD perhaps. This one for example: http://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00167943.html
Then again if you're not running into trouble with 6 gb of RAM maybe you're fine with just that.
I would, in your place, probably hold off upgrading the CPU until I really needed to. As long as you aren't playing CPU bound games I think you should be OK.
Thanks a lot! Followed pretty much exactly your recommendations. GPU had sick reviews so I went with that. I did took the extra RAM, I recall having a few instances where I was running short, probably not the biggest upgrade but as you said, given the price, no reason not to. I wasn't sure about 256 or 512 Go SSD but for 3 times the price, probably not worth it, especially considering I still have my 1 To hard drive available.
Quick question though. What do you mean by "CPU bound"? How can I know that it's my limitation?
Quick and easy checks, if you're on w7 then many CPU bound games will show one core at 80+% CPU load
on any OS, if you're limited by the GPU, your GPU will probably be at or very close to 100% load
I've hoping to pick up a new laptop between $600-$750 15-17'' 1920x1080 resolution Most used for entertainment purposes (movies/watching streams) and a little bit of programming Light gaming (LoL, HotS, SC2 on low/medium)
Here are two that I've been looking at:
MSI GP Series GP60 on Newegg for $769, no tax 15.6'' 1920x1080 Intel Core i7 4710HQ (2.50GHz) NVIDIA GeForce GT 840M 2GB 8 GB Ram
Acer Aspire V3 on Newegg for $579, no tax 15.6'' 1920x1080 Intel Core i5 4210U (1.70GHz) Intel HD Graphics 4400 8 GB Ram
Do you guys think that the extra $200 would warrant the upgraded processor and graphics (840M isn't the greatest, but it's better than onboard)? I could probably get away without a dedicated graphics card since I won't be doing a ton of gaming, so I'm most concerned with value. I've also heard a lot of horror stories from Acer, but I haven't had any issues myself.
Also, if you guys have come across any Black Friday deals that would be better alternatives, any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
I've never had issues with the Acer Aspire that I own, though its fan systems are too weak to dissipate heat so I have to sit it on a cooling pad whenever I do anything serious with it. That being said, if you're getting integrated graphics and an i5 4210U, you're not going to have a very powerful computer. The U suffix is for the underpowered version of the processor that uses much less energy (so you get a lot better battery life) at the cost of performance. I don't recommend if you're mostly going to be plugged in and gaming. That being said, it seems like Acer cuts a fair number of corners when they make computers-- not corners I care about, but corners nonetheless. The Aspire I had had a good screen and built-in keyboard, but bad fans, bad mouse/touchpad, and bad speakers (it had one single mono speaker and could barely go loud enough to fill a small bedroom with music). Nothing that made it unusable for my purposes, but could be annoying to someone else.
The 840M is enough to do any gaming you want at low settings, and is significantly better than integrated graphics-- you'll notice the difference.
On November 21 2014 03:59 AliuS wrote: What is your budget? ~ $1200.
What is your monitor's native resolution? 1920x1080 most likely (need a new one).
What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings? High settings on such things as Farcry 4, Dragon Age, Civ 5, Diablo 3. I'll stream occassionally, but as a hobby, not a career path.
What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming? Watching movies/streams, photo development (Adobe Lightroom, etc), general office tasks.
Do you intend to overclock? Yes.
Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire? No.
Do you need an operating system? Yes. Probably Windows 7.
Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget? Yes, a new monitor. This is one area that I definitely need help picking something nice without getting ripped off.
What country will you be buying your parts in? U.S.A.
In short, I'm trying to decide whether to buy during black Friday or wait until Christmas. Since I haven't been tracking technology that much, I'm not sure which components to expect to find deals on (i.e. will there be a good enough deal on a higher end component to warrant changing my entire build?). I have flexibility in how much I'm spending so I'm trying to get the most value out of whatever I end up buying. Thanks for the help.
I'll be using a previous case/dvd rom etc. I have a 450w power supply that's a couple years old - will that be enough for this build? I went with what seemed a safe/popular monitor, so if someone has a better option please let me know. Any feedback is much appreciated.
On November 25 2014 03:05 kitaman27 wrote: I've hoping to pick up a new laptop between $600-$750 15-17'' 1920x1080 resolution Most used for entertainment purposes (movies/watching streams) and a little bit of programming Light gaming (LoL, HotS, SC2 on low/medium)
Here are two that I've been looking at:
MSI GP Series GP60 on Newegg for $769, no tax 15.6'' 1920x1080 Intel Core i7 4710HQ (2.50GHz) NVIDIA GeForce GT 840M 2GB 8 GB Ram
Acer Aspire V3 on Newegg for $579, no tax 15.6'' 1920x1080 Intel Core i5 4210U (1.70GHz) Intel HD Graphics 4400 8 GB Ram
Do you guys think that the extra $200 would warrant the upgraded processor and graphics (840M isn't the greatest, but it's better than onboard)? I could probably get away without a dedicated graphics card since I won't be doing a ton of gaming, so I'm most concerned with value. I've also heard a lot of horror stories from Acer, but I haven't had any issues myself.
Also, if you guys have come across any Black Friday deals that would be better alternatives, any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
the 4210U has a 15w power budget for CPU and GPU combined, which means it'd pretty much always be at 1.7ghz CPU with integrated graphics at a fraction of max speed when playing a game.
The 4710HQ is not only a quad core, instead of having to share 15w budget with the graphics, it has 47w to it alone - which means twice as many cores with like 5x as much power for them. 4 cores at 3.3ghz is a LOT better than 2 cores at 1.7ghz.
the 840m always has ddr3 instead of gddr5, so it's bad - maybe not even a big upgrade over integrated, i have no idea how they perform relative to eachother, but the main goal is having 2 power budgets instead of having igpu ruining your cpu's performance
fwiw in laptop systems like that with relatively modest discrete GPU, the CPU and GPU are probably heatpiped to the same small heatsink and single fan (nobody sizes these to handle full 100% load on both), so depending on temps, the power budgets are maybe not even the limiting factor. Some of these even lock out turbo boost speeds on the CPU with the dGPU active. That said, it still handily beats a CPU relying on integrated graphics all in the 15W TDP set.
On November 25 2014 00:10 KwarK wrote: Do I just wait until Cyber Monday and then buy the highest RAM number for the lowest $ number?
More or less. That said, I don't know if the RAM clocks actually matter much for the usage, but you may as well not buy something rated for less than whatever it is you currently use. i.e. if there those are 1600 MHz sticks, don't buy 1333 MHz.
Also, I hope that 16 GB is in 8 GB sticks. I presume you actually have slots open? Or you'd just need to go 4 x 8 GB to replace an existing 4 x 4 GB config.
On November 21 2014 03:59 AliuS wrote: What is your budget? ~ $1200.
What is your monitor's native resolution? 1920x1080 most likely (need a new one).
What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings? High settings on such things as Farcry 4, Dragon Age, Civ 5, Diablo 3. I'll stream occassionally, but as a hobby, not a career path.
What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming? Watching movies/streams, photo development (Adobe Lightroom, etc), general office tasks.
Do you intend to overclock? Yes.
Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire? No.
Do you need an operating system? Yes. Probably Windows 7.
Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget? Yes, a new monitor. This is one area that I definitely need help picking something nice without getting ripped off.
What country will you be buying your parts in? U.S.A.
In short, I'm trying to decide whether to buy during black Friday or wait until Christmas. Since I haven't been tracking technology that much, I'm not sure which components to expect to find deals on (i.e. will there be a good enough deal on a higher end component to warrant changing my entire build?). I have flexibility in how much I'm spending so I'm trying to get the most value out of whatever I end up buying. Thanks for the help.
I'll be using a previous case/dvd rom etc. I have a 450w power supply that's a couple years old - will that be enough for this build? I went with what seemed a safe/popular monitor, so if someone has a better option please let me know. Any feedback is much appreciated.
I feel like there's virtually no reason to spend that much on a computer and use a standard 24" 1080p TN monitor like that like most people get, especially at that kind of price.
All monitors are compromised in one way or another, so it's up to you which attributes you prioritize, but something like that is ticking the good-at-nothing box. If you want the best responsiveness and low blur for a better gaming experience without losing out in quality anywhere, you can pay $100 more for that, and it might well be worth it. If you want much better color consistency across the whole screen (no solid colors, webpages looking like gradients from top to bottom when they're not supposed to be) and better overall picture quality and ability to judge and process photos at the expense of very slightly more motion blur, you can get that for a similar price. If you want better color consistency and much deeper blacks at the expense of somewhat more motion blur, that's also available at a similar price.
Well, HR-02 Macho / True Spirit 140 class is some $30-35 more in the States and gets you what, maybe 100-200 MHz more tops for people who are willing to spend more time tweaking and checking to optimize the overclock? I mean, I'd do it, but I don't think that's necessarily for most people coming in and asking for advice if they consider overclocking a chore and are weighing cost/time/stability/power consumption benefit (worst-case scenario). For those who don't mind or enjoy it, that's an entirely different matter.
So I guess it depends. Probably should be mentioned, though, so good.
Hello, I bought this Alienware M14x R2 about a year and a half ago or maybe two years, but recently, I'm starting to question if my computer is bugged. I've tried communicating with Dell but all they do is tell me to update my drivers and ect, which I've done. So, my computer is as follows Intel Core i7-3630QM CPU @2.40Ghz GeForce GT 650M 12 GB RAM For whatever reason, most new games I install believe my computer can run them at max graphics, but then my fps hits like 10 - 15~, notably StarCraft II and DOTA 2, and I would say DOTA 2 over the course of the past year or so, has dramatically slowed down, I mean I bring all graphics down to lowest and yet I still barely get 30fps. StarCraft II is only playable at the absolute lowest graphic settings. I also did a bench mark test to see if I could play Dragon Age Inquisition and I bought the game only to find I only 5fps with everything turned to the absolute minimum, completely unplayable. It would seem either my hardware is defective, or I am simply just overestimating the longevity of my 1700$ laptop, which both are likely. Thank you for any help...
EPT
