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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.
Craton
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United States17303 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-11-28 04:11:26
November 28 2015 04:08 GMT
#11341
I use this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826995042

It's oversized without being a tablecloth like FPS mousepads, but more importantly it's thick and provides cushion for the heel of my hand.

I think the QCK Heavy is the same mousepad but a little bigger.
twitch.tv/cratonz
Introvert
Profile Joined April 2011
United States5068 Posts
November 28 2015 08:40 GMT
#11342
Thanks for the suggestion! That one looks good as well. I'll probably get it.
"But, as the conservative understands it, modification of the rules should always reflect, and never impose, a change in the activities and beliefs of those who are subject to them, and should never on any occasion be so great as to destroy the ensemble."
bluegarfield
Profile Joined December 2010
Singapore1128 Posts
November 28 2015 11:21 GMT
#11343
welp, I fucked up. I know this day will come, just dont expect it comes so fast.

Was putting together my friend's pc http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cPWzQ7.

turn on the power, it boots for 5 sec then auto shutdown and auto reboot again. Didnt even reach bios logo (or may be it's because HDMI to TV instead of normal monitor). Anyway, remove everything, only CPU+cooler and 1 stick of ram, still same issue. Suspecting mobo fail, will have to bring everything to the shop for them to check, because I dont have any spare parts to test myself. emo now
ELqQQT_T
Craton
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United States17303 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-11-28 12:51:28
November 28 2015 12:51 GMT
#11344
Sounds more like a short. Motherboard touching metal instead of on standoffs or PSU fan cable plugged into mobo (instead of a fan) kind of thing. I guess that'd usually be faster than 5 seconds, though.
twitch.tv/cratonz
bluegarfield
Profile Joined December 2010
Singapore1128 Posts
November 28 2015 12:54 GMT
#11345
hmm, if it's short I guess that's a dead mobo then?

If not dead, I guess taking the mobo out of the case to test is the last thing I didn't try. Or rather, I should have tested everything before putting into the case instead of being too rushed.
ELqQQT_T
Capresis
Profile Joined September 2008
United States518 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-11-29 03:18:20
November 28 2015 23:25 GMT
#11346
On November 27 2015 22:23 bluegarfield wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 27 2015 18:39 Capricis wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +
Looking to get a good laptop during Black Friday / Cyber Monday. By God I wish I started looking earlier. Overwhelmed by choice and ignorance. Please advise!

I can't get a desktop due to lack of space, so I intend this to be my one and only computer to use many hours a day. Hopefully will last me about 2 years.

Budget:$1000
Games: If it can run Dota 2, CS:GO, SC2 at 30+fps at low settings, fantastic.
Other Uses: Just basic everyday stuff.
Storage: 240 SSD, 500 HD
RAM: 8
OS: Windows 8+
Screen Size: 14" - 18"
Location: USA
Other: Weight / battery life / touchscreen are more or less irrelevant.



My current soulmate
Toshiba Tecra M11-S3440
CPU: i5 M 520
GPU: NVS 2100M
RAM: 8gb
Memory: 256gb

Some things I've looked at:

HP Envy 17T
Price:$725
CPU: i7-5500U
GPU: 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M
RAM: 16GB
Memory: 1TB

Lenovo Flex 3
Price:$630
CPU: i5-6200U
GPU: Integrated
RAM: 8GB
Memory: 1TB

Acer Aspire Nitro Black Edition VN7-571G-719D
Price:$900
CPU: i7 5500U
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M 4 GB
RAM: 8GB (supports 16)
Memory: 1TB

I've spent hours looking at specs and comparing processors and gpu's at cpuboss and I came to the conclusion I just don't know what I'm doing and need help. Can someone please? (: Anything else I need to say?


not sure how integrated GPU in skylake handles those game, it might be able to get low setting 30fps but driver and game optimization might be painful. So best is just stay away if you have other option.

Of HP and Acer, those 2 can and should deliver those games at at least low-medium setting 60fps. Acer is slightly stronger, but more expensive. The HP one is big though, 17inches can be quite a hassle if you plan to carry it around, but bigger screen is more pleasant for movies and stuff if your laptop just sit on your table. I would pick either the HP and Acer depending on size and cost. Other than that I am not very familiar with laptop market anymore to recommend any other options. cheers


+ Show Spoiler +

EDIT EDIT: And 5400 vs 7200 rpm hard drive. Lots faster?

What kind of a difference will having a 2gb cache compared to 4gb on my video card make?


Thank you very much! I would have chosen the HP thanks to you but I've looked at a lot more things since then that may be significantly better, so I need more help deciding!

Here's a google spreadsheet of all the stuff I'm looking at now. This will be the final list unless someone recommends me something else.

And I have some questions about all this:

And I'm looking at cpubenchmark.net's laptop processor chart and see some with processors that have a score of ~8000 compared to ~4000 on others. Does that mean the 8000 processor is twice as powerful?

And how do people feel about refurbished laptops?

EDIT: I'm also looking at this laptop gpu chart and don't really know what to look for in it. I'm assuming the higher up the list it is, the better it is, but is there anything else I should look at on that chart?

EDIT EDIT: Down to six. They all look the same to me. Reading reviews and it's not helping me decide either. Anyone have any insight on these? ha.
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20345 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-11-29 04:07:27
November 29 2015 03:55 GMT
#11347
That CPU benchmark is not great, there are better ones to look at (or you can figure out performance roughly from knowledge of how higher and unrestricted models perform)

That GPU info page mixes a bunch of things together. It's much simpler to look at pages like these:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_graphics_processing_units#GeForce_900M_.289xxM.29_Series
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_graphics_processing_units#GeForce_900_Series

where you don't have core counts listed for kepler, maxwell and GCN side by side as if they're equivelant (they're not at all)

+ Show Spoiler +
from above links you can see for example a 980ti has 22smm (clusters of 128 cores and some other resources) which are probably running at 1250-1550mhz (out of the box factory OC or manual OC) as it's a desktop part. It also has 336GB/s of memory bandwidth.

960m has 5smm at ~1100mhz and 80GB/s, so it's roughly about 1/5'th performance

^not particularly easy to understand i guess. Same applies for CPU's, within the same CPU architecture you're mainly looking at actual core count, clock speeds/turbo and how restrictive the power limit is.

IMO buying decent laptop hardware is a big pain for tech enthusiasts and way worse for others if you don't know how to figure out exactly what you want
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
bluegarfield
Profile Joined December 2010
Singapore1128 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-11-29 05:16:51
November 29 2015 05:15 GMT
#11348
alright, apparently one of the motherboard standoff is broken, and it short the mobo somehow leading to boot loop.

my question is is it ok to use the mobo with only 3 stand off? feel a bit risky as the broken standoff is at the bottom below the gpu.

eidt: can i use blu-tack or some silicon thing to stand off instead?
ELqQQT_T
Craton
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United States17303 Posts
November 29 2015 08:23 GMT
#11349
You've only got 3 standoffs? My cases usually come with a dozen or so, with some already in place and others in a bag since you need different amounts and locations for different motherboard styles. Are you sure you don't have more you can install?

You can also buy packs of them from Amazon or Newegg for $3-5:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Description=motherboard standoffs

While we're on the topic, they also sell standoff removers. It basically looks like the back of a thumb screw and sits overtop a standoff, allowing you to screw it off more easily with your fingers and to use a screwdriver for the more stubborn ones. Don't know what it's called, though.

I can't really answer if 3 is enough. My ATX motherboards usually use 8-10 iirc. I've been known to leave off one or two if the location was too hard to work with, but that's still a lot more than just 3.
twitch.tv/cratonz
bluegarfield
Profile Joined December 2010
Singapore1128 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-11-29 09:14:42
November 29 2015 08:42 GMT
#11350
the leg/threaded part of the stand off broke and stuck in the hole. I cant remove it without professional equipments. so basically that standoff hole is unusable fractal arc mini case gives a lot of stand off, just that it happened to have a bad one
edit: I tried leaving it for now. the motherboard is mounted vertically, so the bottom right stand off is missing. Doesnt seem to affect anything so far, but not sure about long term effect. May add some fishing line or zip tie to hold up the gpu as well XD

Thanks Craton, your guess was spot on with the mobo being shorted. at least everything works now, barring the missing standoff.
ELqQQT_T
Divine-Sneaker
Profile Joined August 2010
Denmark1225 Posts
November 29 2015 15:07 GMT
#11351
I've had my pc run for 2 years in a row with a big cpu cooler and heavy gpu attached to the mobo, all while having it only stuck to 3 or 4 standoffs because the case wasn't compatible with non matx.
Hwotk
Profile Joined October 2011
32 Posts
November 29 2015 17:43 GMT
#11352
Hi guys thx for help with previous build Esp. you CYro

I need to get a 2nd pc for My GF (mostly to play LOL, Wow)
Would this be enough ?? i have around 400-500 £ budget for it dont need operating system or other paripherals
www.overclockers.co.uk

I will change the hdd to SSD and add 3200 mhz ram but unsure about the processor and Graphics card in there.
THx for help in advance
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20345 Posts
November 29 2015 18:04 GMT
#11353
Faster RAM only works (and makes sense) with unlocked i5/i7

Nvidia works better for WoW (allows for more FPS when CPU limited on any given CPU), other than that it looks mostly fine.

Mobo choice is a little weird in there (don't need z170 for i3! It's maybe better to get either a cheaper non-z170 board, rather than one of the cheap z170's)
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Hwotk
Profile Joined October 2011
32 Posts
November 29 2015 18:29 GMT
#11354
i, thinking Z170 mainly for upgrading it later with 6600 its a full budget build just to play lol and wow atm
i'll swap GFX to geforce 950
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20345 Posts
November 29 2015 18:37 GMT
#11355
you can use any CPU on other boards, you just can't overclock - and if overclocking in the future, it's better to get a decent z170 board or probably even just buy a 6600k and £25 cooler outright
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Hwotk
Profile Joined October 2011
32 Posts
November 29 2015 18:39 GMT
#11356
BUT tbh does it make sense ?? if the most demanding game she's gonna run on this pc will be WOW ?
what would be the cheapest cpu that would run it well ?
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20345 Posts
November 29 2015 18:57 GMT
#11357
WoW is actually quite demanding on CPU, especially in environments with a lot of players. It relies quite heavily on singlethreaded performance though so i3 is a great choice overall. There's money to be saved going to a cheaper CPU that will run it and other stuff worse (like maybe a haswell g3258 setup) but they're much more limited
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Hwotk
Profile Joined October 2011
32 Posts
November 29 2015 19:02 GMT
#11358
I was originally going for this
www.overclockers.co.uk

but it doesnt seem to be cheaper at all
Except its oc'able so i'm confused between the 2
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20345 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-11-29 19:46:41
November 29 2015 19:26 GMT
#11359
The i3-6xxx has faster cores and hyperthreading, it also has avx and avx2 instructions which are disabled on the g3258. The hyperthreading helps a LOT when it's going from 2 cores to 2 cores 4 threads (as 4 threads are much, much easier to load with software than 8!)

the appeal for a g3258 or cheap amd CPU (like a piledriver/steamroller 2m4t CPU) is undercutting i3 by a lot and probably overclocking at the same time. i3 pricing and performance isn't bad at all this gen though, it's a pretty great option vs competition
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Capresis
Profile Joined September 2008
United States518 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-11-29 23:48:39
November 29 2015 22:20 GMT
#11360
On November 29 2015 12:55 Cyro wrote:
That CPU benchmark is not great, there are better ones to look at (or you can figure out performance roughly from knowledge of how higher and unrestricted models perform)

That GPU info page mixes a bunch of things together. It's much simpler to look at pages like these:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_graphics_processing_units#GeForce_900M_.289xxM.29_Series
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_graphics_processing_units#GeForce_900_Series

where you don't have core counts listed for kepler, maxwell and GCN side by side as if they're equivelant (they're not at all)

+ Show Spoiler +
from above links you can see for example a 980ti has 22smm (clusters of 128 cores and some other resources) which are probably running at 1250-1550mhz (out of the box factory OC or manual OC) as it's a desktop part. It also has 336GB/s of memory bandwidth.

960m has 5smm at ~1100mhz and 80GB/s, so it's roughly about 1/5'th performance

^not particularly easy to understand i guess. Same applies for CPU's, within the same CPU architecture you're mainly looking at actual core count, clock speeds/turbo and how restrictive the power limit is.

IMO buying decent laptop hardware is a big pain for tech enthusiasts and way worse for others if you don't know how to figure out exactly what you want


Hey. Thanks for the response. I greatly appreciate the advise but I must confess it was a bit too much for my layman ears...

I have decided I'm going to buy a Lenovo Y700-15 and I have one final question.

Should I get warranty? Laptop total cost $1049.

     Base Warranty  +Accidental Damage
1yr Free $31.20
2yr $39.20 $87.20
3yr $79.20 $143.20

I also have the option of buying about the same extended protection from Newegg. I'll be using this thing daily for hopefully the next 3 years, so seems like a good bet to me to even get the 3 year base + accidental, but I don't know much about warranties from either company. I also note that it seems low cost compared to the total price of the laptop.

EDIT: Bought it from Lenovo, 3yr base + accidental. $1255.14 tax and all. Thanks TL.
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