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.
As iTzSnypah was linking to the Macho 120, I just wanted to note a new cooler came out which can be bought cheap but is still a beast and competing with the air coolers at the very top:
It has fat 8mm heat-pipes compared to the normal TS140 model with 6mm pipes.
Its problem is it needs a wide case with room for a 170mm cooler so a lot of cheap cases are out. It needs ATX as it will hang over the graphics card slot on mATX.
What is your monitor's native resolution? 1920x1080
What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings? Medium to high setting of most of the games out right now. And at least medium setting of "next gen" games.
What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming? Not much else besides playing videogames. No streaming and no editing
Do you intend to overclock? Nope
Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire? Nope
Do you need an operating system? Nope
Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget? Nope
If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify. Nope
What country will you be buying your parts in? Italy
If you have any retailer preferences, please specify. Nope
Unfortunately I can't recycle any of my old PC parts because I still have to use it for work and university. The only things I already have are the hard disk and monitor I came up with this build after checking out the recomended builds in the first page:
Processor (CPU) : Intel Core i5-4670 Motherboard : MSI B85-G43 Gaming Memory (RAM) : G.Skill Ares F3-1600C9D-8GAO 2x4GB Video Card (GPU) : ASUS GTX760 2GB Power Supply (PSU): Corsair Cx500M Modular ATX Case : Corsair Carbide 300R
This would cost me more or less around 700€.
My questions are: 1) Will this PC work ? 3) How long will a PC like this last me before it becomes too outdated to run newer games ? 2) Will I be able to upgrade some parts of it in the future without much problems ?
Everything looks good except for the PSU, which is kind of sucky. What retailer are you buying from? Superflower are PSUs you should be looking at in Europe, iirc. They more expensive than the CX500 but that's because they're actual good units, the CX series from corsair is quite mediocre for all builds except the most basic possible build which would use a CX430 (htpc, that sort of thing).
Also there's no need to get an MSI B85 gaming motherboard when you can get a standard H81 or B85 motherboard, which is probably less expensive.
Depending on how much you're going to pay for the 300R case, there could be better options. It's better to list the price of every part so that people in this thread can tell you whether what you're getting is a good deal or not.
Look up benchmarks for the GTX 760 if you want more precise information on how the PC will perform; it should do quite well though, even in the future, don't worry about it.
There's no reason for it not to work, nothing is incompatible. You should also be able to upgrade without any hassle in the future.
Seems like excellent work done by them as they managed to build a seriously great cooler while still staying with a modest price.
Its size is ridiculous (http://i.imgur.com/bHaUiIA.jpg) but if it fits in a case it should be a great choice as it will be easy to handle and install compared to something shaped like the HR-02 Macho or two-tower coolers.
On April 16 2014 18:26 Incognoto wrote: Everything looks good except for the PSU, which is kind of sucky. What retailer are you buying from? Superflower are PSUs you should be looking at in Europe, iirc. They more expensive than the CX500 but that's because they're actual good units, the CX series from corsair is quite mediocre for all builds except the most basic possible build which would use a CX430 (htpc, that sort of thing).
Also there's no need to get an MSI B85 gaming motherboard when you can get a standard H81 or B85 motherboard, which is probably less expensive.
Depending on how much you're going to pay for the 300R case, there could be better options. It's better to list the price of every part so that people in this thread can tell you whether what you're getting is a good deal or not.
Look up benchmarks for the GTX 760 if you want more precise information on how the PC will perform; it should do quite well though, even in the future, don't worry about it.
There's no reason for it not to work, nothing is incompatible. You should also be able to upgrade without any hassle in the future.
I'm buying from Amazon.it since I always had good experiences with it. These are the prices:
Processor (CPU) : Intel Core i5-4670 (193€) Motherboard : MSI B85-G43 Gaming (90€) Memory (RAM) : G.Skill Ares F3-1600C9D-8GAO 2x4GB (73€) Video Card (GPU) : ASUS GTX760 2GB (207€) Power Supply (PSU): Corsair Cx500M Modular ATX (61€) Case : Corsair Carbide 300R (81€ with side window)
Regarding PSUs, Amazon.it currently has a Super Flower SF-450P14XE for 90€ and a Super Flower SF550P-14XE for 103 €. Afaik they are not modular, which is quite a bummer. How good are those prices ? Which one is better ? I'm not sure if 450W is enough for my build. Do you know any other PSU I could buy ?
The parts will use something like 250W at most I'm pretty sure. The GPU by itself is around 150W when stressed fully. That will be the only number that can increase if you overclock it somewhat, but that won't ever be enough to get to the limits of a 450W PSU.
On some PSUs the marketing is lying quite a bit and adding up what Watts the PSU can do on 5V and 3.3V and 12V while only 12V is interesting. That's probably where the very high recommendations of NVIDIA and AMD are coming from which means you can safely ignore those. You can pretty much just buy something that has the PCI-E power connectors your card needs.
If you look on the label of the CX500M, it says it can do 12V * 38A = 456W. The SF-450P14XE you mentioned does 12V * 37A = 444W. The difference is very little so if one of those will take heat or age better, that one will be the more powerful PSU, not the necessarily the one sold as 500W.
450W is more than enough for your build, you just have to look at any of Cyro's posts in the last couple of pages to realize that. 350W might even be good however that would hinder your ability to overclock in the future if you would want to do so, I would think.
It's got a decent review though, only gripe jonny had was price and on amazon.it it seems that this PSU is better priced than the other names mentioned in that review.
You could do some research on the side if you want to find a fully modular PSU or maybe a better priced PSU. jonnyguru is great for PSU reviews and I can link you this thread on oc.net which seems complete:
Hey guys sorry to post again but I decided I am going to bump up my budget with a cap of 800 so was wondering if someone could help me out again with a new possible build (if 100 dollars will make much a difference)
600-800 USD ideally
1920x1080
Diablo 3, Hearthstone, Starcraft 2, FPS games such as the Bioshocks, Dishonored, Titan Fall, Team Fortress 2, Loadout
I would like to be able to watch a downloaded video or stream a video that's 720-1080p quality without any quality issues. Also if possible I would like to be able to stream my gameplay(on twitchtv) at a decent quality since I have a 20-25 mb upload.
Yes and no. I would prefer not to overclock if it's not necessary but if there comes a time when there is a large upside to doing so then I would like to have the option to do so.
I don't intend to use Crossfire/SLI as I can't really see when I would ever need to do so but if a pro on here suggests I should then I will reconsider.
No I believe I still have my Windows 7 64bit from my old computer that died.
I still have my monitor and all peripherals form old computer.
No requirements on brands as long as it's not crap haha.
I live in the North East of the United States. So basically will be buying parts in the US
No retailer preferences as long as its trustworthy
Also I have decided to use no parts from my old computer. I figured if need be I can use them as emergency backup parts.
EDIT: I should be able to use my old CD/DVD burner no problem I am guessing? It was in good condition and no liquid from the liquid cooler got near it.
Seems like excellent work done by them as they managed to build a seriously great cooler while still staying with a modest price.
Its size is ridiculous (http://i.imgur.com/bHaUiIA.jpg) but if it fits in a case it should be a great choice as it will be easy to handle and install compared to something shaped like the HR-02 Macho or two-tower coolers.
Looks awesome! If that thing comes out at 40 euros it'll be great here
On April 16 2014 23:17 Ropid wrote: The parts will use something like 250W at most I'm pretty sure. The GPU by itself is around 150W when stressed fully. That will be the only number that can increase if you overclock it somewhat, but that won't ever be enough to get to the limits of a 450W PSU.
The gk104 GPU's are locked at 1.212v, and they use like 1.2v stock, they also have way higher stock clocks than gk110 cards so in the end "overclocking" is usually just adding like 50-100mhz and setting the memory to whatever works without throwing errors, it hardly affects power consumption. It's actually hard to buy a decent PSU that's small enough :D
Hey guys sorry to post again but I decided I am going to bump up my budget with a cap of 800 so was wondering if someone could help me out again with a new possible build (if 100 dollars will make much a difference)
600-800 USD ideally
1920x1080
Diablo 3, Hearthstone, Starcraft 2, FPS games such as the Bioshocks, Dishonored, Titan Fall, Team Fortress 2, Loadout
I would like to be able to watch a downloaded video or stream a video that's 720-1080p quality without any quality issues. Also if possible I would like to be able to stream my gameplay(on twitchtv) at a decent quality since I have a 20-25 mb upload.
Yes and no. I would prefer not to overclock if it's not necessary but if there comes a time when there is a large upside to doing so then I would like to have the option to do so.
I don't intend to use Crossfire/SLI as I can't really see when I would ever need to do so but if a pro on here suggests I should then I will reconsider.
No I believe I still have my Windows 7 64bit from my old computer that died.
I still have my monitor and all peripherals form old computer.
No requirements on brands as long as it's not crap haha.
I live in the North East of the United States. So basically will be buying parts in the US
No retailer preferences as long as its trustworthy
Also I have decided to use no parts from my old computer. I figured if need be I can use them as emergency backup parts.
EDIT: I should be able to use my old CD/DVD burner no problem I am guessing? It was in good condition and no liquid from the liquid cooler got near it.
For $800 overclocking equipment isn't really where you should be allocating money. Maybe you could justify it for overclocking an AMD processor but generally speaking for a gaming computer a non-overclocked Haswell quad-core works out just fine.
Downloading and watching 1080p streams is more about network connection than your computer hardware. The same thing could eventually be said for actually streaming. I know that my own rig is perfectly fine for streaming but my internet connection can't pull off a decent 720p stream (let alone 480p).
An i5 4670 is the go-to processor for the kind of building you're describing: gaming rig with no overclock, capable of doing almost anything decently but nothing excellently. The real question in your build is what kind of GPU you're going to get. For high settings on 1080p, a GTX 760 would do nicely (the AMD alternative is the R9 280 but it's a tad more expensive than the 760). For ultra settings on 1080p then you could step up to an R9 280X (not sure about pricing atm) or a GTX 770. Though I'm guessing you'll run out of cash before you step up to the latter two, with $800. Try to put something together and have others take a look at it.
Hey guys sorry to post again but I decided I am going to bump up my budget with a cap of 800 so was wondering if someone could help me out again with a new possible build (if 100 dollars will make much a difference)
600-800 USD ideally
1920x1080
Diablo 3, Hearthstone, Starcraft 2, FPS games such as the Bioshocks, Dishonored, Titan Fall, Team Fortress 2, Loadout
I would like to be able to watch a downloaded video or stream a video that's 720-1080p quality without any quality issues. Also if possible I would like to be able to stream my gameplay(on twitchtv) at a decent quality since I have a 20-25 mb upload.
Yes and no. I would prefer not to overclock if it's not necessary but if there comes a time when there is a large upside to doing so then I would like to have the option to do so.
I don't intend to use Crossfire/SLI as I can't really see when I would ever need to do so but if a pro on here suggests I should then I will reconsider.
No I believe I still have my Windows 7 64bit from my old computer that died.
I still have my monitor and all peripherals form old computer.
No requirements on brands as long as it's not crap haha.
I live in the North East of the United States. So basically will be buying parts in the US
No retailer preferences as long as its trustworthy
Also I have decided to use no parts from my old computer. I figured if need be I can use them as emergency backup parts.
EDIT: I should be able to use my old CD/DVD burner no problem I am guessing? It was in good condition and no liquid from the liquid cooler got near it.
For $800 overclocking equipment isn't really where you should be allocating money. Maybe you could justify it for overclocking an AMD processor but generally speaking for a gaming computer a non-overclocked Haswell quad-core works out just fine.
Downloading and watching 1080p streams is more about network connection than your computer hardware. The same thing could eventually be said for actually streaming. I know that my own rig is perfectly fine for streaming but my internet connection can't pull off a decent 720p stream (let alone 480p).
An i5 4670 is the go-to processor for the kind of building you're describing: gaming rig with no overclock, capable of doing almost anything decently but nothing excellently. The real question in your build is what kind of GPU you're going to get. For high settings on 1080p, a GTX 760 would do nicely (the AMD alternative is the R9 280 but it's a tad more expensive than the 760). For ultra settings on 1080p then you could step up to an R9 280X (not sure about pricing atm) or a GTX 770. Though I'm guessing you'll run out of cash before you step up to the latter two, with $800. Try to put something together and have others take a look at it.
CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($204.99 @ Amazon) CPU Cooler: NZXT Respire T40 68.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($65.98 @ Newegg) Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($142.99 @ Newegg) Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC) Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card ($184.99 @ Amazon) Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($45.49 @ NCIX US) Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Micro Center) Total: $749.39 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-16 18:43 EDT-0400)
This is kind of what I came up with taking advice from people/reading reviews. Does this all mesh well together or are there certain things that aren't compatible (such as if my power supply is good/big enough etc) ?
Hey guys sorry to post again but I decided I am going to bump up my budget with a cap of 800 so was wondering if someone could help me out again with a new possible build (if 100 dollars will make much a difference)
600-800 USD ideally
1920x1080
Diablo 3, Hearthstone, Starcraft 2, FPS games such as the Bioshocks, Dishonored, Titan Fall, Team Fortress 2, Loadout
I would like to be able to watch a downloaded video or stream a video that's 720-1080p quality without any quality issues. Also if possible I would like to be able to stream my gameplay(on twitchtv) at a decent quality since I have a 20-25 mb upload.
Yes and no. I would prefer not to overclock if it's not necessary but if there comes a time when there is a large upside to doing so then I would like to have the option to do so.
I don't intend to use Crossfire/SLI as I can't really see when I would ever need to do so but if a pro on here suggests I should then I will reconsider.
No I believe I still have my Windows 7 64bit from my old computer that died.
I still have my monitor and all peripherals form old computer.
No requirements on brands as long as it's not crap haha.
I live in the North East of the United States. So basically will be buying parts in the US
No retailer preferences as long as its trustworthy
Also I have decided to use no parts from my old computer. I figured if need be I can use them as emergency backup parts.
EDIT: I should be able to use my old CD/DVD burner no problem I am guessing? It was in good condition and no liquid from the liquid cooler got near it.
For $800 overclocking equipment isn't really where you should be allocating money. Maybe you could justify it for overclocking an AMD processor but generally speaking for a gaming computer a non-overclocked Haswell quad-core works out just fine.
Downloading and watching 1080p streams is more about network connection than your computer hardware. The same thing could eventually be said for actually streaming. I know that my own rig is perfectly fine for streaming but my internet connection can't pull off a decent 720p stream (let alone 480p).
An i5 4670 is the go-to processor for the kind of building you're describing: gaming rig with no overclock, capable of doing almost anything decently but nothing excellently. The real question in your build is what kind of GPU you're going to get. For high settings on 1080p, a GTX 760 would do nicely (the AMD alternative is the R9 280 but it's a tad more expensive than the 760). For ultra settings on 1080p then you could step up to an R9 280X (not sure about pricing atm) or a GTX 770. Though I'm guessing you'll run out of cash before you step up to the latter two, with $800. Try to put something together and have others take a look at it.
CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($204.99 @ Amazon) CPU Cooler: NZXT Respire T40 68.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($65.98 @ Newegg) Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($142.99 @ Newegg) Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC) Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card ($184.99 @ Amazon) Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($45.49 @ NCIX US) Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Micro Center) Total: $749.39 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-16 18:43 EDT-0400)
This is kind of what I came up with taking advice from people/reading reviews. Does this all mesh well together or are there certain things that aren't compatible (such as if my power supply is good/big enough etc) ?
Looks good from first glance, i'd rather not make a statement like "absolutely everything will fit and work perfectly together WITH NO EXCEPTIONS" for somewhat obvious reasons (takes a lot of research unless you know the specific parts/case etc quite well)
You should look to compare graphics card technologies before committing to either side
This video is somewhat relevant to that:
The most important one for Nvidia right now i would say, as it's relevant to pretty much everyone, is NVENC. It's a hardware h264 encoder built and integrated pretty deeply into the GPU, which lets you record gameplay in good (not the best, but somewhat close) quality, such as dumping ~1080p, 60fps footage at like 4gigabytes an hour and good quality (very configurable with OBS) with a performance hit of only 5-10% or so on your game and no other negative effects like a weird feel to the game like a lot of screen capture software ends up with. It can be used for streaming too, if you want to have a lower performance hit on your game, or if that particular game (think bf4, crysis 3, some others) is CPU heavy across many of your cores, so you don't have the CPU left over for encoding.
This tech is a big reason for my favoring them right now - Mantle is a big thing and i love what AMD did there, but as an API it has struggled to get off the ground and taken a while (being in only two games, neither at launch) while meanwhile Nvidia is taking massive strides, such as 25-40% performance gains in battlefield 3 and 4 (+ gains in many other games, mostly smaller but a few stand out) with their 337.5 driver in CPU bound situations - so it's kinda yet to be seen if it will be worth investing in it (mantle support for new civilization game and a few others could be good) and i'm banking on DX perf updates (like 337.5 driver) and waiting to see what the future brings there, and with gsync monitors etc. Since NVENC is somewhat important to me and i love 120hz as well as strobing, i'd probably already have the new monitor tech to run gsync, so need pretty big motivation to switch over there - it's just a pretty big choice for somebody buying a new GPU to make, and definitely not one to make blind, i feel
Gsync is hardly relevant to the average consumer right now, as there are A; no screens with it released aside from modded vg248qe and B; a big focus on 120hz monitors with it, to combine Gsync and ULMB as a branding. This is like the $250-300+, 300 euro monitors, stuff like the ROG swift (1440p 120hz strobe/gsync, $800 launch), so somebody buying a mid-tier graphics card probably won't care about this, at least until significant changes are made to market availability and pricing of everything involved
--
Since this just broke for me and i had to fix it again: PSA
If you have an nvidia card, fix this. 0-255, other 2 things disabled unless you specifically want them - otherwise your whites and blacks will be messed up. If you ever saw a remotely dark scene in a video player or stream and thought "wtf, everything is a grey blob" then it's probably this setting.
It drove me crazy until i figured out how to fix it, but AFAIK it affects a >lot< of people.
Alrighty guys. My post is a little different then some of these but I'm just trying to get some help. Lacking some knowledge about specs and building so I'm searching for one that's already built for me. I'm more price driven and since I don't know much about it I'm curious as to what I should pay or what a fair deal is for these specs? It looks like a legit set up. Any help would be awesome.
-Mobo: Asus P6T -Ram: 18 GB -Cpu: Intel i7 940 (Currently overclocked to 3.6 Ghz) -PSU: 800 W ZXT -GPU: Nvidia 760 GTX -Hdd: 1 500 GB, 1 TB standard disc driven -Case: NZXT Apollo -DVD: Blu-ray DVD drive -Monitor: 23 Inch Acer -Keyboard and mouse: Roccat ISKU and Razer Deathadder -Wireless: Belking Share and Surf
Alrighty guys. My post is a little different then some of these but I'm just trying to get some help. Lacking some knowledge about specs and building so I'm searching for one that's already built for me. I'm more price driven and since I don't know much about it I'm curious as to what I should pay or what a fair deal is for these specs? It looks like a legit set up. Any help would be awesome.
-Mobo: Asus P6T -Ram: 18 GB -Cpu: Intel i7 940 (Currently overclocked to 3.6 Ghz) -PSU: 800 W ZXT -GPU: Nvidia 760 GTX -Hdd: 1 500 GB, 1 TB standard disc driven -Case: NZXT Apollo -DVD: Blu-ray DVD drive -Monitor: 23 Inch Acer -Keyboard and mouse: Roccat ISKU and Razer Deathadder -Wireless: Belking Share and Surf
Thanks TL.
Really old and lots of missing information so it's not worth much, maybe like $800 or so, maybe less?
On April 17 2014 07:46 TraXXas wrote: Yep its a prebuilt so the gtx 760 3gb should be fine?
Sorry, you might have stated before but....what monitor resolution are you using? Which games do you play? What kind of graphic settings do you like to use?
Seeing this is mostly an SC2 and Dota2 forum, the 760 will be able to run those games smoothly at maxed settings. However, depending on the situation (4v4 everyone mass lings) SC2 might lag in the late game (not at the fault of the GPU though).