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phipsL

Germany189 Posts

July 29 2015 16:34 GMT

#10301

On July 30 2015 01:19 IceHism wrote:

Show nested quote +

Id suggest another stick of ram and a better graphics card.
GTX 970 or radeon r380/390
What is your budget?

I'd like to spend like 200-250€, if it's possible to get the stuff I need with that budget. If I need more money I will just have to wait another month I guess.

mantequilla

Turkey779 Posts

July 29 2015 16:37 GMT

#10302

I have a small itx case with a i3 4160 in it. It's ~42C idle and 65-68C in a game, running on stock cooler. Room is 32C. Do I need better cooling or temps are ok?

Incognoto

France10239 Posts

July 29 2015 18:57 GMT

#10303

temperatures are slightly high i'd say but nothing to worry about

32°C ambient can be tough to deal with for the poor little stock cooler

Cyro

United Kingdom20321 Posts

July 29 2015 20:51 GMT

#10304

32c ambient = your temps will be at least ~15c hotter than somebody with 17c ambient. They still look ok but it's probably hot if you run a sustained 100% CPU load.

xeo1

United States429 Posts

July 30 2015 18:18 GMT

#10305

I'm looking for a laptop for my brother for around $500, would be used for school, surfing, and gaming (mainly csgo on low settings). I narrowed it down to 3:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15-6-laptop-amd-a10-series-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-gray/4882013.p?id=1219644187138&skuId=4882013&ref=199&loc=vfjoCcdk2O4&acampID=1&siteID=vfjoCcdk2O4-sTSwvJukBxmMimHQMdlLRA

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314813&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=11552995&PID=7247212&SID=

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V3QEAOW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?&ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00V3PW15I&linkCode=as2&tag=hardwarevol03-20

I'm leaning towards the first one, would it be a good choice?

iTzSnypah

United States1738 Posts

July 30 2015 19:18 GMT

#10306

Out of the 3 I would pick the second one for a few reasons:

1) 2x4GB of ram vs 1x8GB <- this will make a gpu perform a measurable (albeit small) amount better.
2) Cheaper. Can use money saved for an SSD (~256gb) and thus the laptop will 'feel' faster during everyday use.
3) The ASUS laptop has a 5400rpm HDD....

I guess the main thing the ASUS has going for it is better looking chassis and half a pound lighter...

xeo1

United States429 Posts

July 30 2015 19:32 GMT

#10307

Good points. They both have 5400rpm drives though. Also battery life is better with the second one.

IceHism

United States1903 Posts

July 30 2015 19:42 GMT

#10308

On July 31 2015 03:18 xeo1 wrote:
I'm looking for a laptop for my brother for around $500, would be used for school, surfing, and gaming (mainly csgo on low settings). I narrowed it down to 3:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15-6-laptop-amd-a10-series-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-gray/4882013.p?id=1219644187138&skuId=4882013&ref=199&loc=vfjoCcdk2O4&acampID=1&siteID=vfjoCcdk2O4-sTSwvJukBxmMimHQMdlLRA

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314813&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=11552995&PID=7247212&SID=

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V3QEAOW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?&ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00V3PW15I&linkCode=as2&tag=hardwarevol03-20

I'm leaning towards the first one, would it be a good choice?

if he's only doing csgo on low, i don't think he really needs a gpu.

how about this? it has ssd, 8gb memory, 5th gen i5, 1080p
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA15T2WH4703

mantequilla

Turkey779 Posts

July 30 2015 21:05 GMT

#10309

The thing with laptops is, you can't really decide solely based on hardware specs, like you could with a desktop pc.

For example there's a local laptop manufacturer in my country. They usually sell high spec laptops for cheaper than premium brands. On paper they should perform way better but they get so hot, build quality is so low that you can't use that hardware to it's full extend. So imo an aluminium case, better cooling, better screen quality, keyboard - touchpad quality, better battery they all contribute to a laptop's value immensely so one with a %25 faster cpu or gpu or 5400-7200rpm disk/ssd is not necessarily better than the other one.

xeo1

United States429 Posts

July 31 2015 01:38 GMT

#10310

@icehism GPU is really important, I'm sure he will play other games so there is no way he could do without a 'dedicated' one

@mantequilla that is another good point, but for gaming be some features shouldn't be sacrificed, such as 8GB ram or a good GPU

Cyro

United Kingdom20321 Posts

July 31 2015 02:02 GMT

#10311

if he's only doing csgo on low, i don't think he really needs a gpu.

how about this? it has ssd, 8gb memory, 5th gen i5, 1080p
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA15T2WH4703

Ultra-low power rated integrated graphics (it's a 5200-U) will not handle 1080p at good framerates even on some graphically light games. Integrated graphics share a power budget with the CPU, which means that they can throttle each other. On the "U" parts, that power budget is usually way too small to run both at full load, and full load on those integrated isn't particularly fast in the first place.

mantequilla

Turkey779 Posts

July 31 2015 09:02 GMT

#10312

How about this @xeo1: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315016

Build quality is low but decent hardware at a low price.

Shield

Bulgaria4824 Posts

July 31 2015 23:39 GMT

#10313

I don't know how you find these laptops useful, but mine has 2.3 GHz (i5-2410M). It's an old CPU already, but isn't one supposed to go for higher frequency?

Cyro

United Kingdom20321 Posts

August 01 2015 03:37 GMT

#10314

Laptop CPU's have low base clocks because that's the guranteed CPU clock. They run a lot faster (in the upper 2ghz to lower 3ghz range) when they have spare power.

It's just that many of the -U CPU's never have spare power when gaming, so they run the CPU at the base clock and have the capability to throttle the iGPU to as much as 1/4 of usual performance to meet the power budget

Keep in mind also that Haswell is substantially faster than sandy bridge, IPC gains range from about 10 to 20 percent

z0rz

United States350 Posts

August 01 2015 06:27 GMT

#10315

If you're willing to go pre-owned, Cowboom has some used Lenovo Y50s (i7-4700HQ, 8GB, 1TB, 860m, 1080p touchscreen) for pretty cheap, but sometimes they don't include the AC adapter (it'll tell you what it does or does not include).

I snagged one for ~$530 after shipping/tax/etc and I don't see anything wrong with it, passing all the stress tests no problem. The screen isn't the best but it still feels like a steal for the price.

http://www.cowboom.com/product/1540232/

wabbazoo

Canada2 Posts

August 01 2015 16:49 GMT

#10316

Trying to put together a machine for sc2 for less than $800 CAD.

+ Show Spoiler [build questionnaire] +

What is your budget?
Less than $800 CAD, preferably closer to $700.

What is your monitor's native resolution?
1920*1080

What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings?
Primarily for sc2, using settings similar to the 'Hybrid Settings'. I want a consistent 60 fps at all times.

What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming?
Not much else.

Do you intend to overclock?
I would if its the best option. I considered getting the G3258 and overclocking it but I think the i3 is a better choice.

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

If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify.
No

What country will you be buying your parts in?
Canada

If you have any retailer preferences, please specify.
No

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4170 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($144.98 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($64.95 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($50.88 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 265 2GB Video Card ($168.00 @ Vuugo)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($52.25 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($64.98 @ DirectCanada)
Other: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99)
Total: $646.03
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-01 12:40 EDT-0400

That's the build I've come up with. I think the video card is probably overkill. The r7 260x and 750 Ti are pretty much the same price here. I'm sort of stuck on deciding. Would the 750 be a good choice? It's about $40 cheaper here. It'll hurt performance in other games but it's not something I'm too worried about.

I've thought about going with a G3258 and overclocking it. It's about $30 cheaper than the i3 and from reviews I've read should reach similar performance. Anyone have any insight here?

B.I.G.

3251 Posts

August 01 2015 18:05 GMT

#10317

for RAM 2 x 4 GB would be better if im not mistaken (since you mentioned gaming)

wabbazoo

Canada2 Posts

August 01 2015 19:45 GMT

#10318

On August 02 2015 03:05 B.I.G. wrote:
for RAM 2 x 4 GB would be better if im not mistaken (since you mentioned gaming)

I've read it really only makes a difference in synthetic benchmarks. This RAM was the best deal I could find. When I order the parts I'll probably just pick whatever the best deal is then.

Craton

United States17265 Posts

August 01 2015 19:58 GMT

#10319

Dual channel should have real-world impact. Overclocking memory is usually only synthetic.

mantequilla

Turkey779 Posts

August 01 2015 22:54 GMT

#10320

i3 is the better choice because there are games that require 4 cores, like dragon age inq or farcry4, maybe more. Someday you may want to play such a game.

You may go itx for such a small build. I'm very happy with one. Wouldn't change it for a bulky mAtx unless I had way more things to put in.

40 dollars is a bit too much for what 750 ti offers over 750 imho (it's like what, %10 faster?). Better spend it on a good mech keyboard or a good mouse for sc2

For 1 vs 2 sticks ram, if you get 1x8 you will have an easier time upgrading to 2x8 if you ever want, but 2x4 maybe a lil faster. But I don't think you wouldn't be able to play something just because you don't have dual channel ram.