• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 17:26
CET 23:26
KST 07:26
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Finals Preview: Sweet Victory!12[ASL22] Ro4 Preview: Mirror Mirror6[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: Within Reach5[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: In A Tizzy11[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5
Community News
Weekly Cups (Oct 26 - Nov 1): MaxPax, herO, Solar win0Weekly Cups (October 19-25): Clem triples first in 5.0.175Evil Geniuses - shutting down23ISSL (IntoTheTV x SOOP SC2 League): Premier7Weekly Cups (October 12-18): 5.0.17 era begins1
StarCraft 2
General
[D] Hacker peak in sc2 ? No more SC2 streamers on team liquid? Liquibets sc2 season 30 Evil Geniuses - shutting down Weekly Cups (Oct 26 - Nov 1): MaxPax, herO, Solar win
Tourneys
SC4ALL: II Venue Change Announcement! Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament WardiTV Mondays ISSL (IntoTheTV x SOOP SC2 League): Premier Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20)
Strategy
[H] ZvP Mid-Late Game: Stalkers Collossi HT
Custom Maps
[G] How to playtest arcade maps Starcraft 2 Advance [D] the control group Simple Questions/Answers
External Content
Mutation # 550 Graveyard Shift The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 549 Endless Sparkles Mutation # 548 Shining Bright
Brood War
General
BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Rollback Netcode in Brood War SC4ALL: II Venue Change Announcement! Ziemie's Starcraft 1 Prequel Campaign 🇺🇦 Ukrainian StarCraft:BroodWar community reborn
Tourneys
[$1250] International ShieldBattery League [Megathread] Daily Proleagues Small VOD Thread 2.0 KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 4
Strategy
50,000-Word Terran Builds Memo 2026-10-22 Cliff Jump Revisited (1 in a 1000 strategy) Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Deus Ex 3!? Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Armies of Exigo - YesYes?
Dota 2
Dota 2 Champions League Season 3 Begins April 25!
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Dating: How's your luck? Trading/Investing Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
Fan Club Resource Thread Reynor Fan Club The Flash Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
Why I built Repalyzer (1.1.…
BlueStar
Innovate or Game Over?
TrAiDoS
ShieldBattery on Mac
Kraekkling
[ASL22] Ro4 Day1 Ticket Giv…
bITt.mAN
Can Bots Beat Pros?? Starcr…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 12894 users

Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread - Page 608

Forum Index > Tech Support
Post a Reply
Prev 1 606 607 608 609 610 746 Next
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.
mantequilla
Profile Blog Joined June 2012
Turkey781 Posts
June 16 2016 15:37 GMT
#12141
what do you guys think about [a cheap non-touch light laptop] VS [mini pc + small portable screen] for mobile light usage?

battery life is not very important because laptop batteries die anyways.

first came to mind:

- mini pc is a hassle to carry with seperate pc, screen and keyboard.
+ you can reuse your old hdd and ram lying around with a barebone mini pc (better cost-performance) And because parts are seperate, you can replace the ones that fail.
Age of Mythology forever!
Craton
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United States17303 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-06-16 16:48:17
June 16 2016 16:45 GMT
#12142
You really haven't outlined your use-case at all, which is needed to make this decision.

Mini PCs must always be plugged in, which makes them far less mobile. Batteries also function as a de facto UPS, Similarly, carrying around a separate monitor is cumbersome (which is going to involve setting up when you want to use it and putting it away afterwards). You can theoretically get a monitor that powers off usb ports, but you'd have to be plugging in your PC anyway, so it's not worth the added cost.

Even a mini PC is going to be very bulky to carry around if it's something big enough to use your old HDD/RAM in. If you actually want a mobile mini PC then you should be looking more at those mini cube cases that are small enough to mount on the back of a monitor (using the VESA holes). That said, I don't know what kind of graphics card you can get into one of those.

You can get a portable enclosure for old drives to reuse them, but I'm not sure if you can run a full-size HDD off USB. Seems like worst case you could find one that connects to multiple USB ports for added power draw.

If you're just looking for something portable in the sense of visiting a friend or a LAN party, a mini PC might be a better option. For gaming, the mini is probably better. But, if you're looking for something to take to class, take on a trip (e.g. car, train, plane), or take to a coffee shop, a laptop is going to be better.
twitch.tv/cratonz
XenOmega
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Canada2822 Posts
June 17 2016 02:11 GMT
#12143
corsair air 540
i7 4790k
corsair h100i cooler
16 gig of ram 2400hz corsair dominator
msi gaming 7 motheboard
evga 850watt modular hold power supply
780 ti gpu
asus xonar essence stx soundcard
240 gig samsung 840ssd
1 tb mypass external hdd
2 extra corsair fans
comes with window 10 professional installed

On kijiji, for 1200$ CAD. I estimated about 1525$+++ (lowballing some of the stuffs because they are 1-3 generation behind).

Thoughts?
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20345 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-06-17 03:35:33
June 17 2016 03:24 GMT
#12144
You may have given too much value to the 780ti (that performance level can be beat for $200 USD now, but it's also 2 generations out of date for technologies like NVENC, 2.5x more power usage/heat etc.)

The samsung 840 and 840 evo also have a signifiacnt performance/longevity issue that degrades their value - especially the regular 840. There's a fix that clears up most of the symptoms for the 840 evo but not one for the regular 840
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
XenOmega
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Canada2822 Posts
June 17 2016 13:11 GMT
#12145
On June 17 2016 12:24 Cyro wrote:
You may have given too much value to the 780ti (that performance level can be beat for $200 USD now, but it's also 2 generations out of date for technologies like NVENC, 2.5x more power usage/heat etc.)

The samsung 840 and 840 evo also have a signifiacnt performance/longevity issue that degrades their value - especially the regular 840. There's a fix that clears up most of the symptoms for the 840 evo but not one for the regular 840


Hey Cyro, ty for the fast reply

So all in all, it's not a good deal at that price?
trifecta
Profile Joined April 2010
United States6795 Posts
June 17 2016 21:57 GMT
#12146
On June 17 2016 22:11 XenOmega wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 17 2016 12:24 Cyro wrote:
You may have given too much value to the 780ti (that performance level can be beat for $200 USD now, but it's also 2 generations out of date for technologies like NVENC, 2.5x more power usage/heat etc.)

The samsung 840 and 840 evo also have a signifiacnt performance/longevity issue that degrades their value - especially the regular 840. There's a fix that clears up most of the symptoms for the 840 evo but not one for the regular 840


Hey Cyro, ty for the fast reply

So all in all, it's not a good deal at that price?


imo not really. The soundcard, 850w psu (overkill nowadays) and watercooler don't add much value in my opinion. you could build something better for the same money esp without those
XenOmega
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Canada2822 Posts
June 18 2016 02:19 GMT
#12147
Alright!

I'm also looking for an used laptop for a friend. Some light gaming :

How's this one looking?
Portable HP Envy 17" HD Blu-Ray, GTX850, 120GB SSD, Intel i7

17-j070ca

Asking price is 650$. Maybe I can negotiate it to 500-550$ (CAD) ?
Craton
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United States17303 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-06-18 02:25:49
June 18 2016 02:25 GMT
#12148
Is there actually any difference between the GTX 1070 founders edition of the different manufacturers? I'm looking at NCIX (http://www.ncix.com/article/nvidia_GTX1070.htm) and they all look identical and seem to have the same specs.
twitch.tv/cratonz
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20345 Posts
June 18 2016 02:35 GMT
#12149
On June 18 2016 11:25 Craton wrote:
Is there actually any difference between the GTX 1070 founders edition of the different manufacturers? I'm looking at NCIX (http://www.ncix.com/article/nvidia_GTX1070.htm) and they all look identical and seem to have the same specs.


I don't think so aside from warranties. Even if a warranty says it's the same, dealing with different companies is different
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
adaro
Profile Joined April 2016
9 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-06-23 17:14:19
June 20 2016 13:47 GMT
#12150
--- Nuked ---
gobbledydook
Profile Joined October 2012
Australia2605 Posts
June 20 2016 14:08 GMT
#12151
RIP old computer, so I need a new one.


What is your budget?

Let's say $1000. I don't have a firm budget.

What is your monitor's native resolution?

1080p. I'm probably not buying a new monitor.

What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings?

LoL: Highest, though LoL graphics aren't the most demanding so that's probably not the problem.
SC2: Ideally, it would run those mass unit arcade games on highest settings.
Civ6: I'm probably going to buy Civ6. I read that for this sort of game you need a good CPU too. It needs to resolve turns fast and not lag on highest settings when I scroll the map around.

What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming?

Chemical engineering coursework, this would include industry specific simulation software. So a good CPU is a must.

Do you intend to overclock?

No

Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire?

No

Do you need an operating system?

Windows 10


Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget?

No monitor needed at this stage.
I already have a 5.1 surround sound system.


If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify.

I'd prefer to buy parts from quality brands. My last computer died partly because I got dud parts from a computer shop in Melbourne. (I picked a 'gamers package', they built the computer from generic brand parts for me, not making this mistake again)

The case should be miniATX or microATX. I intend to carry it as hand luggage on a plane. I do want it to be big enough to fit a good GPU though.

What country will you be buying your parts in?

Hong Kong. I will probably have it built at a local computer shop there. They will have anything that you can suggest.

Don't worry about looking for the lowest price retailer for each part. The budget is a rough ballpark. I just want a setup that works so I can go look it up at the shop.

If you have any retailer preferences, please specify.

See above

I am a dirty Protoss bullshit abuser
ExPresident
Profile Joined January 2010
United States215 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-06-20 14:53:16
June 20 2016 14:52 GMT
#12152
What is your budget?
$1000 - 1200 USD

What is your monitor's native resolution?
1080P and most likely purchase a better one down the road.

What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings?
Civ 5 & Civ 6 - High - Ultimate
Rainbow Six - High
XCom 2 - High
* Most likely future FPS titles. I've currently got a PS4 but feel the need to go to PC gaming so I want better quality visuals than I get from my PS4 on those FPS general titles like Battlefield or RB6 Siege.

What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming?
Typical video/movie watching via Netflix, Hulu etc.

Do you intend to overclock?
No unless I could save significantly by doing so. I've never done it and not sure I feel comfortable with it.

Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire?
Most likely no

Do you need an operating system?
Yes

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.
Nvidia?

What country will you be buying your parts in?
U.S.


If you have any retailer preferences, please specify.
Amazon or Newegg is fine. I don't have a real preference as long as dealing with the company is relatively easy.
XenOmega
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Canada2822 Posts
June 21 2016 20:45 GMT
#12153
Is it worth paying 100$ more to go from GTX 850M (mobile) to GTX 860M ?

Both are using I7 processor 4xxx.

The cheapest of the two has 16 GB ram. The one with a more power GPU has 8 GB ram.
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20345 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-06-22 03:51:35
June 22 2016 03:49 GMT
#12154
850m vs 860m is only a fraction of the information that you need to make that choice, mobile parts often (even usually) have multiple parts or configurations with the same name written on them that can perform very differently.

850m can have ddr3 or gddr5 memory (32GB/s vs 80GB/s bandwidth)

860m can be kepler or maxwell, two entirely different GPU gens with different performance, capabilities and power efficiency

Either way, your overall performance per dollar will probably be pretty awful with this kind of hardware
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
kornetka
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
Poland129 Posts
June 22 2016 09:00 GMT
#12155
Hi guys, I'm trying to assemble a PC for the first time.

What is your budget?
Around 1100$, but I can spend a little bit more if necessary.

What is your monitor's native resolution?
1920x1080.

What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings?
Witcher 3, Eu4, HoI4 on maxed settings.

What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming?
Little bit of matlab and autocadish programs.

Do you intend to overclock?
Yes, though I have never done it before.

Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire?
Not really, no.

Do you need an operating system?
Yes.

Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget?
No, but I already have a pair of nice stereo speakers. I think I need dedicated sound card for them, right?

If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify.
No specific brands, but I'd like to buy solid/trusted components.

What country will you be buying your parts in?
Poland.

If you have any retailer preferences, please specify.
Not really.

So far I came up with something like this:
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K
CPU cooler: ?
Motherboard: ? + Show Spoiler +
Gigabyte GA-Z170-Gaming K3, ASRock Z170 GAMING K4, ASUS Z170a PRO, ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming, Asus Z170-A. Are there any significant differences between them, they all look the same to me.

Memory: ?
Storage SDD: Already have one
Storage HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200 ST2000DM001
Video Card: gtx 970, 980? + Show Spoiler +
I didn't notice a dramatic drop of prices since release of 10xx. Should I wait till release of AMD cards or is it futile to wait for better deals?

Case: Fractal Design Define S - Black
Power Supply: ?
Sound Card: Asus Xonar DSX

Would really appreaciate some insight about this composition. Cheers.
broodwar for ever
mantequilla
Profile Blog Joined June 2012
Turkey781 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-06-22 09:12:33
June 22 2016 09:07 GMT
#12156
I found two cheap monitors, asus VS229DA-W and VS229NA-W (don't know if there's any difference between them, second one is 6 bucks cheaper). They have VA panels. I'm thinking of replacing my old 1600x900 monitor. From what I read on the net VA panels have the worst input lag and not good for gaming, although these monitors say its 5ms gray to gray.

Question is, how bad is bad for gaming I don't understand. Bad for gaming when you play cs:go competitively or bad for gaming that you have trouble playing witcher 3, or stalkers lag when blinking, what degree is bad for gaming?

When you hook up the tv to computer and don't turn on the gaming mode, it lags so bad that even with regular windows usage it's noticable. Is it that bad?
Age of Mythology forever!
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20345 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-06-22 12:55:21
June 22 2016 12:39 GMT
#12157
From what I read on the net VA panels have the worst input lag and not good for gaming, although these monitors say its 5ms gray to gray.


You're talking about input lag but quoting response time, input lag and response time are not the same thing and only loosely related. "Response time" refers to the time that it takes for pixels to change color after recieving the signal to change (so from black to white for example, they'll spend a much longer time transitioning through shades of grey before reaching the final color). The biggest thing that this affects is making the image a bit more blurry and smeared across the screen in motion.

Grey to grey is one of the fastest transitions so with 5ms g2g, some of the harder transitions might take much longer (~20-50ms). One frame @60hz is 16.67ms.

Look at this vid from 0:27 - 0:37 (rest of video is unrelated) for slowmotion camera of what this can look like with a regular screen. You can still see the previous frame fading away for a period of time after the refresh. Some screens are faster and slower. This is a bit of a worst case test, you're not usually flashing between black and white 60 times per second so the effects are usually noticed with moving objects having visible trails behind them.
+ Show Spoiler +




When you hook up the tv to computer and don't turn on the gaming mode, it lags so bad that even with regular windows usage it's noticable. Is it that bad?


That's straight up input lag from processing time in the screen and it varies a lot screen-to-screen. Good PC monitors of any type will have almost no or no notable latency added here AFAIK
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
mantequilla
Profile Blog Joined June 2012
Turkey781 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-06-22 16:39:23
June 22 2016 16:39 GMT
#12158
Hmm. I always assumed without looking it up that response time is how fast the screen changes when input (like vga signal) is changed, so thought there was a direct correlation with input lag.

So if that isn't the case what makes monitors bad for gaming? That blur in fast paced games?
Age of Mythology forever!
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20345 Posts
June 23 2016 05:23 GMT
#12159
Blur and any input lag that does exist

Input lag from other sources will be delay before the pixels even start to change color while "response time" is the time that they take to switch from A to B after that
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Ethelis
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
United States2400 Posts
June 23 2016 18:17 GMT
#12160
What is your budget?
About $1300 USD

What is your monitor's native resolution?
1920x1080

What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings?
Most taxing game atm would be Overwatch on max settings I guess. Looking to move possibly to move to a 144hz monitor sometime later.

What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming?
Nothing else worth listing

Do you intend to overclock?
No

Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire?
No

Do you need an operating system?
Yes, prefer Windows 7

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.


What country will you be buying your parts in?
U.S

If you have any retailer preferences, please specify.
Disabled gamer - Diamond 3 (LoL) D+ Rank scrublord on BW. Bisu doesnt need DTs, He uses probes. just ask Flash.
Prev 1 606 607 608 609 610 746 Next
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 12h 34m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Nathanias 119
EmSc Tv 19
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 8990
Shuttle 374
Shinee 35
LuMiX 1
Dota 2
PGG 165
League of Legends
Doublelift3573
JimRising 422
Counter-Strike
zeus564
Super Smash Bros
hungrybox82
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu629
Other Games
gofns7795
summit1g5742
Grubby2439
FrodaN838
shahzam420
PiGStarcraft297
C9.Mang0202
Fuzer 183
syndereN177
XaKoH 115
NeuroSwarm70
ViBE41
KnowMe32
ZombieGrub30
Railgan24
JuggernautJason19
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV171
Counter-Strike
PGL99
StarCraft 2
EmSc Tv 19
EmSc2Tv 19
[ Show 19 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Adnapsc2 18
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Laughngamez YouTube
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• Azhi_Dahaki45
• FirePhoenix14
• HerbMon 6
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• WagamamaTV679
League of Legends
• Jankos3517
• Nemesis3361
• Scarra714
Other Games
• imaqtpie743
• Shiphtur238
Upcoming Events
IntoTheTV X SOOP
12h 34m
Reynor vs Solar
ByuN vs SHIN
Clem vs MaxPax
herO vs Rogue
IPSL
18h 34m
WorsT vs nOmaD
Dewalt vs andersOn
AI Arena Tournament
20h 34m
IntoTheTV X SOOP
1d 12h
IPSL
1d 18h
Azhi_Dahaki vs ggnore13
Double vs WIZARD
Replay Cast
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
WardiTV Invitational
3 days
YoungYakov vs Lambo
SHIN vs TBD
Percival vs Shameless
Solar vs TBD
PiGosaur Cup
4 days
[ Show More ]
The PondCast
5 days
KCM Race Survival
5 days
WardiTV Invitational
5 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-11-05
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
HCC Season 3

Ongoing

Acropolis #5
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 4
International ShieldBattery League
BSL Season 23
IPSL Winter 2026-27
Calamity Cup Div. A Season 8
IEM Beijing 2026
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026

Upcoming

Sector 951
SC4ALL II: Brood War
BSL 23: Non-Korean Championship
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
Underdog Cup 2026 Div 2-3
PGL Bucharest 2027
BLAST Bounty Winter 2027
eXTREMESLAND 2026
PGL Major Singapore 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.