EPTComputer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread - Page 577
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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. | ||
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Cyro
United Kingdom20262 Posts
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mantequilla
Turkey775 Posts
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Cyro
United Kingdom20262 Posts
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mantequilla
Turkey775 Posts
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Cyro
United Kingdom20262 Posts
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Intact
Sweden634 Posts
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Cyro
United Kingdom20262 Posts
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Hyren
United States817 Posts
Some of my own thoughts on the build (feel free to critique): My initial hope was to squeeze a 980 ti in here, but it appears that it simply eats up too much of the budget. My next choice is to look past the regular 980 and go with the 390x. The 8 gb doesn't really mean anything right now but I like the price-point of the card and it appears to have some staying power for the foreseeable future. Going with a Haswell i5 over Skylake was also a conscious budget-saving effort. I'm leaning away from the 4690k, I don't know if I trust his tech-savviness to utilize overclocking and I don't think a regular 4690 will bottleneck regardless. He specified that he wanted 2 monitors so I just picked 2 reasonably priced1080p 23" that had decent reviews, maybe look into IPS monitors? I would appreciate any critique/ideas on this build (is the ssd a decent one? Is the motherboard ok? etc.) | ||
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XenOmega
Canada2822 Posts
Do you think its possible to build a capable machine that is cheaper than building 2 separate PC? | ||
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Intact
Sweden634 Posts
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Craton
United States17186 Posts
I think with 2 for 1 it's possible to be cheaper, but I'm unfamiliar with the software that you'd use (they used unRAID in the 7). In theory, a typical configuration could use a quad core and dual GPU and dedicate 2 cores + 1 GPU to each instance, which I would think sufficient with so many games only leveraging 1-2 cores. This might also be a good candidate for a hex core (3 each). RAM is easy since you could give each 8-16GB for pretty cheap. You would be fine with just air cooling and would only need a single chassis, set of fans, and aftermarket heatsink, and I'd think a single PSU would be cheaper than two lesser ones. I suppose mainly it comes down to can you split the resources efficiently (i.e. did those Linus configurations need something specific from the server hardware used) and is two cores enough? I would think it'd be fine. | ||
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Deleuze
United Kingdom2102 Posts
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Craton
United States17186 Posts
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micronesia
United States24475 Posts
What is your budget? Less than 1000 but I probably won't need that much since I don't have any hard performance requirements... the thing I care most about is that I hate troubleshooting problems with my computer! What is your monitor's native resolution? One is 1280x1024 and the other is 1920x1080. What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings? I don't usually play games with technical requirements beyond blizzard games. I can't think of anything specific right now (unless I decide I won't spring for the ps4 and want to play the ff7 remake pc version :p) What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming? Nothing taxing (no encoding or heavy-duty processing). Watch video, browse, fool around with computer programming. Do you intend to overclock? I did for my current PC but I don't think I need to. Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire? Don't know what that is. Do you need an operating system? I plan to put Windows on it. Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget? I'll take care of that stuff later if necessary. I might get a new receiver at some point for the surround sound I use for my computer and tv. If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify. I really like for my computer to be quiet. Also, I want to be able to hook up several internal hard drives (right now I'm using 3 including two SSDs and an external). What country will you be buying your parts in? Everything in USA If you have any retailer preferences, please specify. I'm comfortable buying from Amazon, Newegg, and Microcenter (brick and mortar). I could shop elsewhere but it would be different from what I did previously. Please point me in the right direction. Also, it's been a while so I might not remember what other tools or supplies I will need once the parts come in order to build the computer. I'd like to avoid multiple follow-up trips to microcenter to get the necessary wires/parts/etc if possible. | ||
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felisconcolori
United States6168 Posts
He was looking at asking me to build a computer for the sole purpose of running X-Plane (10) as a flight simulator for his son, who is currently taking lessons. He's got the software already and also a full set of peripherals (not the $6k full simulator setup, but at least one of the nicer yoke/pedal combinations), but when I was looking at the kinds of hardware recommended for it and checking prices he appeared to be pretty twitchy. I'm wondering if I could get a better idea of what would work well in this specific niche - the only purpose of the computer would be to run X-Plane and drive one monitor (to start). Looking at the recommended system specs, it's quad-core 3Ghz or faster, 16-20gb of RAM, and a "high performance" GPU with 4GB of dedicated VRAM. I started looking at the obvious GPUs, and he about needed oxygen as they were up around the $600+ range for just a GPU. What I'm wondering, to be specific, is if there's something I'm missing regarding cost cutting opportunities to be had (I'm US, midwest, sadly not near a Microcenter) - would an AMD processor work as well as an Intel, are there less expensive video options? I get the feeling he was looking in a price range closer to $500-800 for this PC project - no fancy case, no overclocking, just a decent simulator box. | ||
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Cyro
United Kingdom20262 Posts
i can't say how cpu or gpu demanding it would be | ||
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felisconcolori
United States6168 Posts
On January 05 2016 15:43 Cyro wrote: You can get a 4GB 380 for ~$170 AR. If not that, there are better gpu's well below the $600 range i can't say how cpu or gpu demanding it would be I know, based on looking at a few other places, that the real hardcore sim setups can wind up pushing 6 monitors with a wide array of peripherals running to full custom cockpits. But I'm not sure if the primary choke on a system might be CPU and threading - how it handles everything or if it would be a good candidate for stronger multi-threading processors. | ||
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GreenHorizons
United States22329 Posts
Storage would be helpful but I seem to be running into an issue finding smaller laptops that still have HDD's. Otherwise it's difficult to find larger storage in the smaller budget. I'd like to find something around $400. just looking for some assistance being pointed in the right direction or some suggestions. I'm kind of liking the ASUS Transformer Book T300 Chi I'd be happy to sacrifice a bit of portability and performance to get closer to the budget and storage I'd prefer. So basically a slimtop version of the hybrid I imagine? Edit: apologies if thats not specific enough. | ||
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Cyro
United Kingdom20262 Posts
red vs teal | ||
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ragnasaur
United States804 Posts
On December 17 2015 14:08 Blazinghand wrote: A top notch i7, even one from the previous gen (the 4690k) is very expensive. A 4690k with a fan and a mobo together would cost about 500 bucks on their own. Good news is Sc2 is more cpu than gpu limited so you could get a cheaper gpu and a more expensive cpu, but for 500 dollars it's pretty much non-possible to get a nice i7 in a computer. In that range, something like this is possible: PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Core i3-4170 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Newegg) Motherboard: *ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($71.98 @ Newegg) Memory: *G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg) Storage: *Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.99 @ Amazon) Video Card: *MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB Video Card ($189.99 @ Amazon) Case: NZXT Phantom 240 ATX Mid Tower Case ($62.99 @ Newegg) Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ Amazon) Total: $582.92 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available *Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-17 00:08 EST-0500 Though his is more of a "get a nice GPU and a cost-effective CPU" solution, not what you'd want for your CPU heavy work. On December 17 2015 14:33 Cyro wrote: "i7" doesn't indicate performance - it indicates feature set. For desktop that includes 4 cores and hyperthreading ability, neither of which help at all for sc2. Sc2 performance is based almost entirely on how fast you can run 1 thread, you just need 2 cores (one for the main game thread, one for everything else) that are as fast as possible. For an sc2 dedicated rig - especially if price is a concern - you should be looking at the skylake i3's - the i3 6100-6320. Compared to a 4170, they might cost a bit more but would run it ~12-25% faster ----- if FPS is the concern and you don't mind running at medium settings (like competitive/performance settings) then you can use a very low end GPU and it'll run as well as a flagship GPU. Think something like a gtx950 being overkill. For max max settings, a 950-960 is appropriate; a 960 or r9 380 would probably be a bit overkill. ----- You CAN unlock i3's in some way and raise the bclk to OC to get from ~3.7-4.0ghz base clocks to the mid 4ghz range - about a 10-20% performance gain - but that's quite complicated and new at the moment, not great for a beginner. For officially unlocked chips (that work better and allow for fast memory etc) the one to look at would be the 6600k. Given the graphic design, 6600k might be a good idea. There's nothing wrong with a desktop i3 if it doesn't fit in the budget - they're still better than most of the laptop i5/i7's! ----- capacity isn't a big concern on psu either - a decent 450w PSU is a good buy. Could go much lower if available but it's cost ineffective to buy a low capacity PSU and then replace it later if you decided that you wanted a meaty graphics card. 450 is a safe number  Ok, I think I got something going here. Would all of these parts be compatible with each other for a SC2 dedicated rig? No hard drive motherboard memory processor graphics card power supply solid state drive | ||
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