Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread - Page 572

On December 13 2015 06:00 Justifier wrote:
Hello guys! Thank you very much for this thread. My friend and I built my current PC in August 2010 just for Starcraft 2 WOL. I ran the game on max graphics settings and recorded and rendered live Starcraft 2 FPVOD's for several years.

I just purchased LOTV after taking a break and cannot run the game on max graphics anymore; I have significant framerate issues even at the start of a game and my PC has slowed down in performing regular everyday tasks as well. I am wondering whether I should upgrade my PC or build a new PC from scratch and give my old one to my parents. If upgrading is the better option, I would really appreciate any advice on which components are bottlenecking me.

If you instead recommend building a new PC from scratch, please let me know and I will fill out a "Critique My Build" form with a proposed build.

Thank you so much!

What is your current build?

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Processor: Intel Core i7 930 2.8 GHz
Video Card: ATI Radeon 5870
Memory: 3x G.Skill ECO 2GB DDR3 1600MHz
Mother Board: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R
Power Supply: ModXStream Pro 600W
Hard Disk: 2x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3

I have not overclocked anything.

What is your monitor's native resolution?

1920 x 1080

Why do you want to upgrade? What do you want to achieve with the upgrade?

I would like to be able to run Starcraft 2 at max settings with a smooth framerate.

I also do some video recording, editing, and rendering. Ideally, I would like to be able to record Starcraft 2 FPVOD footage using Fraps while playing without suffering a noticeable framerate drop.

Also, I intend on purchasing a second monitor in the future so I would like my upgrades to be in line with that goal.

What is your budget?

$2500 CAD.

What country will you be buying your parts in?

Canada.

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

I would prefer to stick with Intel processors and AMD graphics cards just because it is what I have used in the past without any issues.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

On December 13 2015 08:04 pEcul!Ar wrote:


I'd start by upgrading your CPU before you touch anything else.

Do you already have an idea about the 2nd monitor, which one you'll be purchasing? If not, do you have any requirements regarding your 2nd monitor? (refresh rate, size,..)

On December 13 2015 02:01 Darkness2k11 wrote:
Thanks a lot for replying!, so the concensus would be to get a CPU cooler and overclock?, I really liked the build Firkraag8 made although I find the CPU to be too expensive, is it reasonable to go for those components while changing the CPU?.

On December 14 2015 12:00 Justifier wrote:
@ pEcul!Ar and Cyro

Thanks a lot to both of you for your advice! I really appreciate you taking the time to look over my post.

With your suggestions, I have put together a proposed build; would you mind taking a look and letting me know what you think? I'm not very experienced with this, so my fear is that I may be going overboard with some components or that certain parts are not compatible with each other.

Here it is:

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
I’m happy with Windows 7 and have not felt the need to change yet, but I could definitely be persuaded if you think the newer versions are better.

CPU: Intel i7 6700k
I don’t intend on overclocking, so I thought I’d get a really solid CPU as per Cyro’s suggestion. pEcul!Ar, you recommended the 4970k; do you guys think the extra cost for the 6700k is justified? Also, do you think I would need an additional cooling system even without overclocking these CPU’s, or would the stock fan suffice?

GPU: Undecided.
I am really not sure what to get here. Please forget what I said about preferring AMD, I am certainly open to both brands. Which video card do you guys think makes sense to go with the rest of this build? The GTX 980 looks good, but it is so expensive that I am not sure whether it’s worth it.

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB 2X8GB 2133MHZ DDR4
This seemed like pretty good memory, and there is an attractive sale on at NCIX.

Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z170X-GAMING 5 LGA 1151
I took pEcul!Ar’s advice and went for the GIGABYTE motherboard. My search online yielded this one as a good option for the processor I selected.

SSD: Samsung 850 EVO-SERIES 1TB SSD
Not sure whether I would need 1TB, but with the size of games growing these days I thought it wouldn’t hurt.

Hard Drive: 2x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3
These are my drives from my old PC.

Power Supply: Corsair CX Series CX750M 750W ATX 12V 80 Plus Bronze Modular Power Supply
I just picked a power supply with solid reviews and higher wattage than my current one. Do you think this is overkill and that my old PSU (ModXStream Pro 600W) would suffice?

Case: Fractal Design Define R5 ATX Mid Tower Window Case, or the same one without a window
I want my case to be as user-friendly as possible, and as long as the sound-dampening is not compromised, a window would be nice so I can see if the guts are due for a cleaning.

Monitor: Asus VN247H
From my old build. I am considering adding another one of these in the future.

Thanks again so much for your feedback.

On December 15 2015 03:24 pEcul!Ar wrote:



Either CPU is fine for what you're planning to do with it, but it really depends on whether you WANT to spend the extra money, and yes, you do need a custom CPU cooler (personally I have a Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 on it and my temps are better than I had expected (http://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/482)), and don't forget to apply cooling paste.

The motherboard you picked is a good one, the place where I get my parts (alternate in europe) has a top rating for it. The only "downside" to it is it's not a full ATX motherboard (size), depending on your case, you might not be able to screw the right side (it's the only con someone's mentioned when he bought it, I do not know which case the man was using for his build). <- personally, I take it with a grain of salt, as I have yet to discover a motherboard that isn't capable of getting screwed in well enough to hold.

Regarding the SSD.. sure, SSD's make a huge difference, but the biggest difference it makes is with your OS itself, install your OS on your ssd (I'd even recommend buying a 120gb one just purely for your OS + the most vital program (antivirus, microsoft office etc..), but looking at the fact you have 2 HDD's, I personally, if you're on a budget, wouldn't throw too much money at such a large SSD. I'm using 2 Kingston HyperX FURY SHFS37A/120G's (120gb each), one for my OS and the other for games. Have 2 very old HDD's for documents, pictures etc.. I'd say, save yourself some money, grab a 120gb ssd and grab a second one for your games (1tb is beyond what you need, especially when you look at the fact you have 2 HDD's as well)

The case, well, for the largest part it comes down to personal preference.. I have 2 gaming systems, 1 with a be quiet! case (the lightweight gaming system pretty much) and one from Aerocool for my main gaming system, and they both do the job just fine. Just make sure the airflow's good, make sure you have a good CPU cooler, and I can't see why your temps should be causing any problems. Don't make the same mistake as many others and put too many coolers in your system as that might have the opposite effect of what you want to achieve. In both of my systems I have 3 coolers, that's all. 3 case fans and a CPU cooler, and my temps are never near the danger zone, not even close. Quantity =! quality. !make sure everything is going to fit in the case you want to buy!

About your PSU: 600w is enough, but if YOU'd be feeling safer with the 750w, then go for it, but it's a waste of money to be honest. Just make sure you have a quality PSU. The only advice I'd add to that is get a PSU that has the 80 Plus certification -> has to do with power efficiency.. 80 Plus -> 80 Plus Bronze -> 80 Plus Silver -> 80 Plus Gold. So my advice boils down to get a PSU with at least an 80 Plus certification. Your ModXStream Pro 600W is a 80 Plus certified PSU, so you're fine.

About the RAM memory, I'd follow Cyro's advice all the way.

GPU wise: All I know about the AMD gpu's is the r9 series is the best one they have, they've just released a new one, but personally I've only had bad experiences with AMD (ATI back then) so I even refuse to consider them an option personally. Sure, they cost less, and performance wise they're good as well, but for me, it was the temperatures, it had a custom cooler on it and it would still overheat, I smacked it against the wall, went to nvidia and never looked back again. Drivers were shit as well back then, but who knows, maybe they've improved in all of those departments, I sure hope so for their customers.

If you might want to consider going for nvidia, again, Cyro's advice all the way. I do want to add though, personally I'm using a 780Ti (Gigabyte GTX 780Ti Windforce OC), playing fallout 4, the witcher 3, it never struggles with anything I've thrown at it so far, but then again, prices have dropped a fair amount by now, and so the 980Ti etc.. are the obvious go-to's but if you're on a budget, from my personal experience, I can recommend the 780Ti. If you're fine with the price of a 980Ti, get one.