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Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread - Page 563

Forum Index > Tech Support
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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.
SetGuitarsToKill
Profile Blog Joined December 2013
Canada28396 Posts
November 17 2015 10:43 GMT
#11241
plzplzplzplzplz help

I have all my parts assembled and windows 10 ready on a usb but when I plug my cpu in everything just pulsates. The lights inside go on-off-on-off as well as the fan. Im so fucking scared I ruined something. PLEASE HELP
Community News"As long as you have a warp prism you can't be bad at harassment" - Maru | @SetGuitars2Kill
Blazinghand *
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States25559 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-11-17 10:54:24
November 17 2015 10:54 GMT
#11242
On November 17 2015 19:43 SetGuitarsToKill wrote:
plzplzplzplzplz help

I have all my parts assembled and windows 10 ready on a usb but when I plug my cpu in everything just pulsates. The lights inside go on-off-on-off as well as the fan. Im so fucking scared I ruined something. PLEASE HELP


So, there's a number of things this can be.

Step 1, make sure you have installed all of your components, and your motherboard has power. In particular, it's easy to forget to plug in power for the CPU. There should be a 12v ATX plug, either 4 pins or 8 pins, for doing this. double check ot make sure everything that needs power has it.

Also, make sure your memory is inserted fully into the memory slots.

2. Make sure you don't have any spare standoffs, screws, etc that are lying around on your motherboard and causing a short. If you used thermal grease/paste during your HSF installation, did any get somewhere it should not have? That may also cause a short.

Typically like a decent % of the time this happens it's like, something wasn't installed fully or wasn't seated properly.
When you stare into the iCCup, the iCCup stares back.
TL+ Member
SetGuitarsToKill
Profile Blog Joined December 2013
Canada28396 Posts
November 17 2015 11:08 GMT
#11243
On November 17 2015 19:54 Blazinghand wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 17 2015 19:43 SetGuitarsToKill wrote:
plzplzplzplzplz help

I have all my parts assembled and windows 10 ready on a usb but when I plug my cpu in everything just pulsates. The lights inside go on-off-on-off as well as the fan. Im so fucking scared I ruined something. PLEASE HELP


So, there's a number of things this can be.

Step 1, make sure you have installed all of your components, and your motherboard has power. In particular, it's easy to forget to plug in power for the CPU. There should be a 12v ATX plug, either 4 pins or 8 pins, for doing this. double check ot make sure everything that needs power has it.

Also, make sure your memory is inserted fully into the memory slots.

2. Make sure you don't have any spare standoffs, screws, etc that are lying around on your motherboard and causing a short. If you used thermal grease/paste during your HSF installation, did any get somewhere it should not have? That may also cause a short.

Typically like a decent % of the time this happens it's like, something wasn't installed fully or wasn't seated properly.

CPU is plugged in, memory is all the way in. But I got a tiny bit of thermal paste just off the cpu that I thought I cleaned up well enough. If that fucks me over I give up.
Community News"As long as you have a warp prism you can't be bad at harassment" - Maru | @SetGuitars2Kill
Blazinghand *
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States25559 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-11-17 12:10:12
November 17 2015 11:17 GMT
#11244
On November 17 2015 20:08 SetGuitarsToKill wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 17 2015 19:54 Blazinghand wrote:
On November 17 2015 19:43 SetGuitarsToKill wrote:
plzplzplzplzplz help

I have all my parts assembled and windows 10 ready on a usb but when I plug my cpu in everything just pulsates. The lights inside go on-off-on-off as well as the fan. Im so fucking scared I ruined something. PLEASE HELP


So, there's a number of things this can be.

Step 1, make sure you have installed all of your components, and your motherboard has power. In particular, it's easy to forget to plug in power for the CPU. There should be a 12v ATX plug, either 4 pins or 8 pins, for doing this. double check ot make sure everything that needs power has it.

Also, make sure your memory is inserted fully into the memory slots.

2. Make sure you don't have any spare standoffs, screws, etc that are lying around on your motherboard and causing a short. If you used thermal grease/paste during your HSF installation, did any get somewhere it should not have? That may also cause a short.

Typically like a decent % of the time this happens it's like, something wasn't installed fully or wasn't seated properly.

CPU is plugged in, memory is all the way in. But I got a tiny bit of thermal paste just off the cpu that I thought I cleaned up well enough. If that fucks me over I give up.


make sure all the things on your motherboard need to jbe plugged in got plugged in

EDIT: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/28r5pt/why_wont_this_fng_thing_work_a_guide_to/
When you stare into the iCCup, the iCCup stares back.
TL+ Member
SetGuitarsToKill
Profile Blog Joined December 2013
Canada28396 Posts
November 17 2015 23:37 GMT
#11245
Alright guys. I got it to power on right, I'm not sure what I fixed but it works now. Now the problem is that I cannot get any signal to my monitor. I've tried several different cables from both the graphics card and the motherboard to the monitor, and none give me a signal. I know this monitor works because I use it with my laptop.
Community News"As long as you have a warp prism you can't be bad at harassment" - Maru | @SetGuitars2Kill
Blazinghand *
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States25559 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-11-17 23:46:32
November 17 2015 23:46 GMT
#11246
On November 18 2015 08:37 SetGuitarsToKill wrote:
Alright guys. I got it to power on right, I'm not sure what I fixed but it works now. Now the problem is that I cannot get any signal to my monitor. I've tried several different cables from both the graphics card and the motherboard to the monitor, and none give me a signal. I know this monitor works because I use it with my laptop.


So my recommendaiton here, assuming you're certain that the monitor works with the other computers you have, is to plug direclty into the motherboard (in case you're having a GPU problem) and double-check that you're plugged in. There should be a VGA or DVI or HDMI port on your mobo that will let you do this, as you've mentioned. Now, when it's plugged into the monitor and powers up, cycle through each of the input settings on your monitor one by one and make completely sure that none of them are getting input from a computer. The classic mistake is the monitor being on the wrong port. Also double check both ends of the cable: is one end plugged into your computer, and the other into the monitor you're using now? Make sure that's the case.

So basically:

1. turn off computer
2. DOUBLE CHECK that cable from your mobo to your monitor is plugged in. Try unseating and reseating the cable on both ends!!!
3. cycle through monitor input options
When you stare into the iCCup, the iCCup stares back.
TL+ Member
SetGuitarsToKill
Profile Blog Joined December 2013
Canada28396 Posts
November 18 2015 00:01 GMT
#11247
On November 18 2015 08:46 Blazinghand wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 18 2015 08:37 SetGuitarsToKill wrote:
Alright guys. I got it to power on right, I'm not sure what I fixed but it works now. Now the problem is that I cannot get any signal to my monitor. I've tried several different cables from both the graphics card and the motherboard to the monitor, and none give me a signal. I know this monitor works because I use it with my laptop.


So my recommendaiton here, assuming you're certain that the monitor works with the other computers you have, is to plug direclty into the motherboard (in case you're having a GPU problem) and double-check that you're plugged in. There should be a VGA or DVI or HDMI port on your mobo that will let you do this, as you've mentioned. Now, when it's plugged into the monitor and powers up, cycle through each of the input settings on your monitor one by one and make completely sure that none of them are getting input from a computer. The classic mistake is the monitor being on the wrong port. Also double check both ends of the cable: is one end plugged into your computer, and the other into the monitor you're using now? Make sure that's the case.

So basically:

1. turn off computer
2. DOUBLE CHECK that cable from your mobo to your monitor is plugged in. Try unseating and reseating the cable on both ends!!!
3. cycle through monitor input options


I've tried with DVI, VGA and HDMI from the mobo, and VGA and HDMI from the graphics card. Cycled through and none of them gave a signal to the monitor.
Community News"As long as you have a warp prism you can't be bad at harassment" - Maru | @SetGuitars2Kill
Blazinghand *
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States25559 Posts
November 18 2015 00:07 GMT
#11248
On November 18 2015 09:01 SetGuitarsToKill wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 18 2015 08:46 Blazinghand wrote:
On November 18 2015 08:37 SetGuitarsToKill wrote:
Alright guys. I got it to power on right, I'm not sure what I fixed but it works now. Now the problem is that I cannot get any signal to my monitor. I've tried several different cables from both the graphics card and the motherboard to the monitor, and none give me a signal. I know this monitor works because I use it with my laptop.


So my recommendaiton here, assuming you're certain that the monitor works with the other computers you have, is to plug direclty into the motherboard (in case you're having a GPU problem) and double-check that you're plugged in. There should be a VGA or DVI or HDMI port on your mobo that will let you do this, as you've mentioned. Now, when it's plugged into the monitor and powers up, cycle through each of the input settings on your monitor one by one and make completely sure that none of them are getting input from a computer. The classic mistake is the monitor being on the wrong port. Also double check both ends of the cable: is one end plugged into your computer, and the other into the monitor you're using now? Make sure that's the case.

So basically:

1. turn off computer
2. DOUBLE CHECK that cable from your mobo to your monitor is plugged in. Try unseating and reseating the cable on both ends!!!
3. cycle through monitor input options


I've tried with DVI, VGA and HDMI from the mobo, and VGA and HDMI from the graphics card. Cycled through and none of them gave a signal to the monitor.

Are you certain the computer is turned on, and the monitor is also turned on? Check for noises from your computer like fans, or lights, during this time. Your monitor should also have some sort of light coming from it, usually near a power button.
When you stare into the iCCup, the iCCup stares back.
TL+ Member
SetGuitarsToKill
Profile Blog Joined December 2013
Canada28396 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-11-18 00:21:15
November 18 2015 00:08 GMT
#11249
On November 18 2015 09:07 Blazinghand wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 18 2015 09:01 SetGuitarsToKill wrote:
On November 18 2015 08:46 Blazinghand wrote:
On November 18 2015 08:37 SetGuitarsToKill wrote:
Alright guys. I got it to power on right, I'm not sure what I fixed but it works now. Now the problem is that I cannot get any signal to my monitor. I've tried several different cables from both the graphics card and the motherboard to the monitor, and none give me a signal. I know this monitor works because I use it with my laptop.


So my recommendaiton here, assuming you're certain that the monitor works with the other computers you have, is to plug direclty into the motherboard (in case you're having a GPU problem) and double-check that you're plugged in. There should be a VGA or DVI or HDMI port on your mobo that will let you do this, as you've mentioned. Now, when it's plugged into the monitor and powers up, cycle through each of the input settings on your monitor one by one and make completely sure that none of them are getting input from a computer. The classic mistake is the monitor being on the wrong port. Also double check both ends of the cable: is one end plugged into your computer, and the other into the monitor you're using now? Make sure that's the case.

So basically:

1. turn off computer
2. DOUBLE CHECK that cable from your mobo to your monitor is plugged in. Try unseating and reseating the cable on both ends!!!
3. cycle through monitor input options


I've tried with DVI, VGA and HDMI from the mobo, and VGA and HDMI from the graphics card. Cycled through and none of them gave a signal to the monitor.

Are you certain the computer is turned on, and the monitor is also turned on? Check for noises from your computer like fans, or lights, during this time. Your monitor should also have some sort of light coming from it, usually near a power button.


-_-

Ya I made sure

I have some other friends telling me that it's probably a PSU problem, and 465 draw on a 500 supply is just cutting it too close. I'll go to a shop and try a different one tomorrow see if that helps
Community News"As long as you have a warp prism you can't be bad at harassment" - Maru | @SetGuitars2Kill
Craton
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United States17281 Posts
November 18 2015 02:07 GMT
#11250
Where are you getting 465? Estimated draw is almost always much higher than real draw. Get something like a Kill-a-watt
and measure it if you want. I doubt you're anywhere near overdrawing the PSU, especially on bootup where the GPU is at ~1% usage.
twitch.tv/cratonz
Blazinghand *
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States25559 Posts
November 18 2015 02:09 GMT
#11251
On November 18 2015 11:07 Craton wrote:
Where are you getting 465? Estimated draw is almost always much higher than real draw. Get something like a Kill-a-watt
and measure it if you want. I doubt you're anywhere near overdrawing the PSU, especially on bootup where the GPU is at ~1% usage.


I agree with Craton. Even if this was the case, that somehow you were overdrawing, you could uninstall the GPU and that's like half of your power draw right there.
When you stare into the iCCup, the iCCup stares back.
TL+ Member
Velocirapture
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States983 Posts
November 18 2015 04:40 GMT
#11252
So I built my last computer nearly 6 years ago and it is time to start fresh and learn from my mistakes. As I tend to run my computers into the ground, or at least until they stop running current game titles without major problems, price is less of an issue. Reading through the thread I feel pretty confident in the following purchases but I need help filling in the blanks.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Cs39gs

I do not know what metrics are most important for a motherboard other than that it support the DDR4 memory and i7 I have chosen. I have never had a solid state drive so if there are any issues there please let me know. The last time I chose a power supply I did it by picking out all the other parts first and then buying one with all the connectors I needed and it worked fine. For the case I just chose the best reviewed one on Newegg so I am open to suggestions there, especially if size/sound is an issue. I remember when buying Windows 7 I was warned to buy Pro instead of Home because it had fewer issues so if there is anything like that with Windows 10 please let me know.

Now for the big lesson I learned from last time. I would love the rig to be as quiet as possible without using anything strange like a noise muffling case. With all of the deceptive marketing I would love some info on a CPU cooler and case setup where the fans are effective and quiet.
Panzemek
Profile Joined November 2015
13 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-11-18 05:17:56
November 18 2015 05:10 GMT
#11253
On November 16 2015 11:12 bluegarfield wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 16 2015 04:49 Panzemek wrote:
On November 15 2015 15:25 bluegarfield wrote:
On November 15 2015 03:35 Panzemek wrote:
Ok! It's been a while (long enough to forget my password; farewell, Melancholia -_-) I've got another friend in need of a new computer, and I come once more for advice!

-Budget: $800 for everything
-Location: US (Michigan)
-Build date: Soon. I expect to wait for the Thanksgiving deals, but if that's no longer worthwhile then it can be now.
-Need: Monitor, speakers, and full computer build. Do not need an OS, mouse, keyboard.
-Usage: Streaming while drawing is the biggest need (using Manga Studio 5, maybe Photoshop CS6), gaming on "...decent settings XD". Bonuses would be record herself playing games, potentially doing some animation.
-Overclocking: I could convince her to do so if it's clearly the best option, but would prefer not to. She'd rather play things safe since this is her first build.

I'm a little out of the loop on builds nowadays, so I'm looking forward to see where this lands at!


Alright, here is my attempt at it, I'm not veteran so take this as reference and do your own research on top of it.

Something to note, I am not familiar with purchasing things in the US, so I just use whatever price pcpartpicker gave me.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
+ Show Spoiler +
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($232.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($67.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card ($168.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N300 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($53.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Asus VH238H 23.0" Monitor ($106.99 @ NCIX US)
Speakers: Logitech S-150 1.2W 2ch Speakers ($9.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $830.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-15 01:15 EST-0500


Some adjustments that can be made are:
+ Show Spoiler +
- dropping to 8GB ram (2x4GB), that's going to save around $30
- Storage is probably not enough. Popular storage setup is 250GB SSD + 1TB HDD. but since this is a bit over budget, I guess going with SSD first for some speed + save the trouble of having to transfer/reinstall OS later. You can always add another HDD later to solve storage problem, like +$50. Alternatively, do without SSD altogether and switch to this will also save some money, if speed is not a concern.
- GPU: I think R9 380 is really well priced right now, but depending on what game your friend may play, can also drop down to GTX950 to cut cost more
- PSU: for some reason, pcpartpicker didnt list price for some common choice like SuperFlower Golden Green 450W, Rosewill Capstone 450W, etc. But this one is still Seasonic, and still good quality
- Monitor: just randomly picked something that doesn't have bad review. Sorry about this ^^
- Speaker: I mean, this produces some sound. Should work.

I expect she'll be playing some new games, Dragon Age and the like, but won't be trying to mod the hell out of Fallout 4 or anything. Future proofing the GPU is better.

Delaying a larger hard drive is probably just fine for now, and an SSD is going to be a big enough improvement over what she's accustomed to that I prefer it over size.

That monitor looks good to my (entirely untrained) eye. Certainly way better than she would have got if left to her own devices

Did Rosewill move on to a new line of supplies? I'm seeing these on Newegg (also, any reason this one would be bad?): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA07236V1500&cm_re=Rosewill-_-17-182-044-_-Product

And this is a lot more nebulous, but do you have any sense of what the discount is likely to look like if we wait for the holiday deals, versus buying now?

R9 380 can play Fallout 4 smoothly at 1089p medium setting. and it should handle other games decently as well. if you can increase the budget, the reasonable future proofing solution is going for gtx970/r9 390 instead.

For monitor, i am as clueless as you. head over here for better advice: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/tech-support/308280-teamliquid-monitor-thread

PSU, i just go by psu tier list on google. there is not enough info on the one you link, so not sure if good or bad. for rosewill, their good and budget option has been capstone series i believe. otherwise i just stick to more reliable brand like seasonic or super flower.

I have not been there or purchased anything from the US, so no idea how discount works there


Would anyone in the US have any recommendations for what to look for on Cyber Monday? I imagine that not every specific part in the recommended build will be the one that happens to be on sale; what sorts of things should I be looking for as rough equivalents? And how quickly does PCPartPicker update? If it's very fast then that'll be quite helpful.

CPU: This is one of the categories I am most out of date with. I am assuming the Xeon line was recommended for the drawing and animation side of things, rather than gaming, but this also means I am very unsure whether any i5 or i7 CPUs are reasonable things to look at for this build. I also don't know much about what I would need to look for with motherboard compatibility.
Motherboard: Compatibility is the biggest concern. Overclocking or other modifications are very low priority unless there is significant value to be found by doing so.
Memory: 16GB of brand name, right? Last I checked, RAM was RAM, ignoring some minor differences that didn't matter much in the end. Any pitfalls to watch out for nowadays?
Storage: Basically just any brand name SSD? Any important details here? I confirmed that she's got plenty of space on an external for media storage, so having an HDD in the build right now is not important at all.
Video Card: This seems more likely to have a few specfic ones to look for being on significant sale. The R9 380 and GTX 960 seem to be the cards in the right price range pre-deals; is there any chance that the next tier up would drop low enough to consider? What about something like the R9 285? That looks like it's similar in specs. This comparison list is the sort of thing I get confused on, since the only difference I can follow is the 960 having a higher core speed, which sounds better absent more knowledge. I'm sure there's more to it than that, like the reason for the 285 being so much smaller, or the 960 having a listed power draw that is so much lower.
Case: Any normal sized one? Definitely don't need any pretty lights, and don't care very much about noise reduction. I just need the stuff to fit inside and stay in place.
Power Supply: I know to go with a brand name one, and will probably just compile a list of the ones that have been recommended in the 420W-500W range in recent builds around here for the production lines to consider. That wattage range seems fine?
Monitor: I need to do more research here in general. I feel like this will be the hardest part of the build. Less than 5ms latency seems important, and something to do with the contrast having a very large number next to a one. I'll look into that other thread.
Speakers: Things that make sound. May even bail on them entirely if the monitor has (assuredly awful) built-in ones, since they are easy to pick up later.
Velocirapture
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States983 Posts
November 18 2015 05:25 GMT
#11254
Thank you Panzemek for reminding me. I am using the same Dell monitor that came with the family computer my parents bought in like 2001 as well as an LG FLATRON M2380D I got given randomly. If there are any significant advances in technology for monitors I would be all ears.
Craton
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United States17281 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-11-18 05:51:25
November 18 2015 05:48 GMT
#11255
I dunno what you're talking about with motherboard compatibility. There is almost complete compatibility for any CPU of a certain socket and motherboard of said socket. The few holes are almost entirely remedied with a BIOS/UEFI update. I've never heard of a stick of RAM or a graphics card being specially incompatible with a motherboard.

Shopping for motherboards is hard to do because what matters most is that which is hardest to gauge. You want the voltage supplied to parts to be correct and within tight margins (closer to what it should be the better), you want components (e.g. capacitors) that work well and are long-lasting, and so forth.

Mostly you end up shopping based on the features you want (supports overclocking, # of SATA ports, # of USB ports or internal connectors, backup BIOS/UEFI, on-motherboard status info, aesthetics, etc.) and coming up with a list of candidates, then looking for technical reviews of the motherboards that cover their parts and reviews from consumers looking for any problematic trends (like the ASRocks which had issues with erratic/high vcore).

It's hard to say what's a good or bad motherboard without really digging into all the little pieces and scouring the web for those hard to find, detailed reviews. For the most part they tend to be similarly reliable and feature-laden within matching price ranges. It's good to check in on companies' return processes, since some are less hassle or longer lasting than others.
twitch.tv/cratonz
Panzemek
Profile Joined November 2015
13 Posts
November 18 2015 07:07 GMT
#11256
That helps a lot, Craton! Knowing when my question doesn't make sense gives me a much better sense of what I should be paying attention to.
Amui
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Canada10567 Posts
November 18 2015 08:17 GMT
#11257
On November 18 2015 09:01 SetGuitarsToKill wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 18 2015 08:46 Blazinghand wrote:
On November 18 2015 08:37 SetGuitarsToKill wrote:
Alright guys. I got it to power on right, I'm not sure what I fixed but it works now. Now the problem is that I cannot get any signal to my monitor. I've tried several different cables from both the graphics card and the motherboard to the monitor, and none give me a signal. I know this monitor works because I use it with my laptop.


So my recommendaiton here, assuming you're certain that the monitor works with the other computers you have, is to plug direclty into the motherboard (in case you're having a GPU problem) and double-check that you're plugged in. There should be a VGA or DVI or HDMI port on your mobo that will let you do this, as you've mentioned. Now, when it's plugged into the monitor and powers up, cycle through each of the input settings on your monitor one by one and make completely sure that none of them are getting input from a computer. The classic mistake is the monitor being on the wrong port. Also double check both ends of the cable: is one end plugged into your computer, and the other into the monitor you're using now? Make sure that's the case.

So basically:

1. turn off computer
2. DOUBLE CHECK that cable from your mobo to your monitor is plugged in. Try unseating and reseating the cable on both ends!!!
3. cycle through monitor input options


I've tried with DVI, VGA and HDMI from the mobo, and VGA and HDMI from the graphics card. Cycled through and none of them gave a signal to the monitor.

Things that it most likely is.

1. Take out the GPU before powering it on with monitor connected to various outputs from the mobo. If the GPU is in there the mobo outputs are disabled.

2. Make sure you plug in all the 6/8pin to the GPU.
Porouscloud - NA LoL
bluegarfield
Profile Joined December 2010
Singapore1128 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-11-18 08:53:29
November 18 2015 08:48 GMT
#11258
On November 18 2015 14:10 Panzemek wrote:+ Show Spoiler +

On November 16 2015 11:12 bluegarfield wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 16 2015 04:49 Panzemek wrote:
On November 15 2015 15:25 bluegarfield wrote:
On November 15 2015 03:35 Panzemek wrote:
Ok! It's been a while (long enough to forget my password; farewell, Melancholia -_-) I've got another friend in need of a new computer, and I come once more for advice!

-Budget: $800 for everything
-Location: US (Michigan)
-Build date: Soon. I expect to wait for the Thanksgiving deals, but if that's no longer worthwhile then it can be now.
-Need: Monitor, speakers, and full computer build. Do not need an OS, mouse, keyboard.
-Usage: Streaming while drawing is the biggest need (using Manga Studio 5, maybe Photoshop CS6), gaming on "...decent settings XD". Bonuses would be record herself playing games, potentially doing some animation.
-Overclocking: I could convince her to do so if it's clearly the best option, but would prefer not to. She'd rather play things safe since this is her first build.

I'm a little out of the loop on builds nowadays, so I'm looking forward to see where this lands at!


Alright, here is my attempt at it, I'm not veteran so take this as reference and do your own research on top of it.

Something to note, I am not familiar with purchasing things in the US, so I just use whatever price pcpartpicker gave me.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
+ Show Spoiler +
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($232.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($67.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card ($168.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N300 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($53.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Asus VH238H 23.0" Monitor ($106.99 @ NCIX US)
Speakers: Logitech S-150 1.2W 2ch Speakers ($9.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $830.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-15 01:15 EST-0500


Some adjustments that can be made are:
+ Show Spoiler +
- dropping to 8GB ram (2x4GB), that's going to save around $30
- Storage is probably not enough. Popular storage setup is 250GB SSD + 1TB HDD. but since this is a bit over budget, I guess going with SSD first for some speed + save the trouble of having to transfer/reinstall OS later. You can always add another HDD later to solve storage problem, like +$50. Alternatively, do without SSD altogether and switch to this will also save some money, if speed is not a concern.
- GPU: I think R9 380 is really well priced right now, but depending on what game your friend may play, can also drop down to GTX950 to cut cost more
- PSU: for some reason, pcpartpicker didnt list price for some common choice like SuperFlower Golden Green 450W, Rosewill Capstone 450W, etc. But this one is still Seasonic, and still good quality
- Monitor: just randomly picked something that doesn't have bad review. Sorry about this ^^
- Speaker: I mean, this produces some sound. Should work.

I expect she'll be playing some new games, Dragon Age and the like, but won't be trying to mod the hell out of Fallout 4 or anything. Future proofing the GPU is better.

Delaying a larger hard drive is probably just fine for now, and an SSD is going to be a big enough improvement over what she's accustomed to that I prefer it over size.

That monitor looks good to my (entirely untrained) eye. Certainly way better than she would have got if left to her own devices

Did Rosewill move on to a new line of supplies? I'm seeing these on Newegg (also, any reason this one would be bad?): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA07236V1500&cm_re=Rosewill-_-17-182-044-_-Product

And this is a lot more nebulous, but do you have any sense of what the discount is likely to look like if we wait for the holiday deals, versus buying now?

R9 380 can play Fallout 4 smoothly at 1089p medium setting. and it should handle other games decently as well. if you can increase the budget, the reasonable future proofing solution is going for gtx970/r9 390 instead.

For monitor, i am as clueless as you. head over here for better advice: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/tech-support/308280-teamliquid-monitor-thread

PSU, i just go by psu tier list on google. there is not enough info on the one you link, so not sure if good or bad. for rosewill, their good and budget option has been capstone series i believe. otherwise i just stick to more reliable brand like seasonic or super flower.

I have not been there or purchased anything from the US, so no idea how discount works there


Would anyone in the US have any recommendations for what to look for on Cyber Monday? I imagine that not every specific part in the recommended build will be the one that happens to be on sale; what sorts of things should I be looking for as rough equivalents? And how quickly does PCPartPicker update? If it's very fast then that'll be quite helpful.

CPU: This is one of the categories I am most out of date with. I am assuming the Xeon line was recommended for the drawing and animation side of things, rather than gaming, but this also means I am very unsure whether any i5 or i7 CPUs are reasonable things to look at for this build. I also don't know much about what I would need to look for with motherboard compatibility.
Motherboard: Compatibility is the biggest concern. Overclocking or other modifications are very low priority unless there is significant value to be found by doing so.
Memory: 16GB of brand name, right? Last I checked, RAM was RAM, ignoring some minor differences that didn't matter much in the end. Any pitfalls to watch out for nowadays?
Storage: Basically just any brand name SSD? Any important details here? I confirmed that she's got plenty of space on an external for media storage, so having an HDD in the build right now is not important at all.
Video Card: This seems more likely to have a few specfic ones to look for being on significant sale. The R9 380 and GTX 960 seem to be the cards in the right price range pre-deals; is there any chance that the next tier up would drop low enough to consider? What about something like the R9 285? That looks like it's similar in specs. This comparison list is the sort of thing I get confused on, since the only difference I can follow is the 960 having a higher core speed, which sounds better absent more knowledge. I'm sure there's more to it than that, like the reason for the 285 being so much smaller, or the 960 having a listed power draw that is so much lower.
Case: Any normal sized one? Definitely don't need any pretty lights, and don't care very much about noise reduction. I just need the stuff to fit inside and stay in place.
Power Supply: I know to go with a brand name one, and will probably just compile a list of the ones that have been recommended in the 420W-500W range in recent builds around here for the production lines to consider. That wattage range seems fine?
Monitor: I need to do more research here in general. I feel like this will be the hardest part of the build. Less than 5ms latency seems important, and something to do with the contrast having a very large number next to a one. I'll look into that other thread.
Speakers: Things that make sound. May even bail on them entirely if the monitor has (assuredly awful) built-in ones, since they are easy to pick up later.


xeon 1231v3 is for rendering, video encoding and streaming, since you said usage will be streaming while drawing. it's just the cheaper alternative to i7. i7 will be better, but more expensive. for gaming you only need i5, for now. without overclocking, the xeon only lose 0.1GHz per core compare to i5, so you dont really lose much gaming power.

motherboard: craton has already covered that. it's more important when you are overclocking to have super high quality components and more phase counts, but other than that just look for features you need and good review in term of longevity.

ram is ram, yes.

ssd: some brands are worse than other, be it slower or straight up fails. most recommended models are crucial bx100, mx100 and samsung 850evo. there are others but those are few that available at my area so i only know those

gpu: need more research on that, on phone atm so will update this later.

case: not sure what you mean by normal size. mid tower atx case are pretty normal. or just pick whatever case that you like and that fit all the components inside, and fit your budget.

psu: yeah that range is fine.

monitor: 5ms latency is not that important, especially you are neither hardcore gamer nor whatever. it's good to have, but not top priority. for drawing, important things will be image reproduction (? is it the right term?) and color accuracy.
ELqQQT_T
Panzemek
Profile Joined November 2015
13 Posts
November 18 2015 10:02 GMT
#11259
Thank you, bluegarfield! That Monday is probably going to be pretty hectic, but this is all helping a ton. This thread has basically been the only place I learn about this stuff since the Tech Support forum was created XD

(Random side note that no one has any reason to care about, apparently my browser had the password saved for my old account, so Melancholia is saved! Apparently all those years ago I decided that "protoss" was a sufficiently secure password -_-)
Termi
Profile Joined March 2012
Denmark23 Posts
November 18 2015 15:21 GMT
#11260
Hello TL
With Black Friday and Christmas coming up, I think it is time for me to get a new pc.
I've been looking through the builds here and some on pcpartpicker and finally got a friend to recommend me something.
His idea of a build - all the components are from www.komplett.dk
Case: Cooler Master Silencio 352 Mini Tower | 499 DKK
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor | 1439 DKK
Motherboard: ASUS H97M-E, Socket-1150 | 789 DKK
Memory: Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600MHz 8GB CL8 | 769 DKK
Video card: MSI GeForce GTX 960 Gaming 2GB | 1649 DKK
Power supply: Corsair CX 500M, 500W PSU | 549 DKK
This adds up to 5644 DKK or 806.5 USD

Now for storage i already have a 240 GB SSD, so i dont know whether to get another SSD/HDD or just completely skip it.
A concern of my however is with internet. I need it to be able to connect to a wireless network, since it is going to be somewhat "far" from the internet router. We have 100 down and 50 up, and my current pc can only get up to 40/20. So I don't know whether to get an integrated wireless adapter or just get something powerful you can plug in via USB like this https://goo.gl/i9HEdk.

I would appreciate your guys' feedback on the build :-)
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